Let's be free
What Sirius craved most was freedom, in its purest state; and he was supposed to be free now, no longer tied to the Black family (being eradicated from the family tree), he had nothing to worry about.
Now the decisions of his 16-year-old self were beginning to take their toll on him.
He felt more upset than usual and thought that the trip would calm his nerves, but it wasn't quite like that. The Lupin thing was a bit of a trigger, the bomb was still ticking away, and he was afraid it would go off again, this time, in full fury.
After the reconciliation between Sirius and Lupin, James was so happy that he ran away from the group for a couple of hours, only to come back dragging a (whole) pig. Everyone looked at them dumbfounded, Marlene replied that this was abuse, but he turned a deaf ear and began to examine the animal (with magic) to see if it had some kind of disease.
After splitting the pig in half, giving Sirius the task of dividing what was left of the animal among his camper neighbors, Lupin went to borrow Thomas' grill, and they were able to begin preparing the meat.
A déjà vu came over him as all his friends gathered around the campfire, and he seemed to notice that Lupin felt the same way. This time they sat side by side, Sirius checking the meat every five minutes, so it wouldn't burn with James wanting to add more salt (something Lily prevented him from doing a hundred times).
He didn't really pay too much attention to the conversation going on around him, Sirius, for as much as he was on vacation, he continued to brood over the matter of his future. What was he going to do next year, when they were all finished with school and he, didn't even have a bed to sleep in? He didn't want to go to the Potter house and prevent James from doing whatever it was he wanted to do (he had never asked himself that) and the idea of moving in with Remus, as romantic as it sounded at first, didn't appeal to him either, after all, he had spent all his adolescence sharing the same space with his friends; he still wanted a bit of independence.
He still didn't dare visit his Gringotts vault, for fear of finding it empty. He only went to the elves, asking for a bag of gallons every year, wishing they could give it to him, and so far, the strategy had worked wonders.
“I think it's ready now,” James determined, everyone's faces lit up, and they let him serve them on each plate a piece of meat.
He felt Lupin's gaze on him, tried to ignore it, until Remus leaned close to your ear and whispered.
“Is something wrong? You're very quiet.”
“It's nothing,” he answered with a smile and giving her a little kiss on that freckle on his neck, which he liked so much. “Hurry up, Prongs!”
He felt the weight of the meat hit his plate and by the time he was halfway through, Lupin was already asking for his refill. He was still shocked by that, he too was one of those who ate a lot and didn't get fat, but the lycanthropic metabolism was out of this world.
When he finished, he stared at the slowly fading flames of the flares, feeling a little nostalgic. It was their last day at the campsite and tomorrow they would be heading back to James' house to conclude the trip.
Lupin ate his portion, Marlene's that she didn't eat, and the leftovers left by the other girls, he didn't know if it had anything to do with the upcoming full moon (which was going to be next week), but the taste of the meat was more appetizing than ever.
They continued talking and everything could have continued as normal if it hadn't been for the fact that Lupin stood up from his place somewhat confused, ran his hands over his head and turned with wide eyes to his friends.
“Did you hear that?”
Everyone was silent, but nothing was heard. Lupin shrunk in on himself covering his ears, Sirius ran to his side trying to reassure him. Lupin looked at him with his eyes shining.
“What day is it today?”
“Twelfth of July” Lily answered hurriedly. Then she understood everything and ran to her tent.
“Shit!”
Lupin got up from the ground and ran into the forest. He had mistaken the date. He should have foreseen it, that hunger wasn't normal, even for him.
The three boys looked at each other, understanding everything instantly, and by the time Lily came back out of the tent with a wolfsbane potion, it was obvious to all three of them. Whether Lupin wanted them to or not; they had to reveal their secret.
“Girls, make a cupula and put it all around the perimeter of the campers!”
“What's going on, James?” Mary asked, alarmed. “Why is Remus being like that? Is it a joke? Why isn't it funny!”
“I'll explain,” Lily said, handing the potion to Sirius, who was already turning into a dog. James thanked her as well, adopting his animagus form along with Peter, who climbed onto his back, “Hurry up and find him! You have about five minutes.”
“Can you become animagus?! I demand to know what's going on!”
“Lupin is a werewolf!” Lily shouted, making Dominique faint, “Let's put the protection on at once if you don't want to be bitten!”
Lupin fell on the shore of the beach, the water reflecting the moon's glint and the clouds uncovering his secret. He was wet from head to toe, so he couldn't tell if the wetness on his cheeks tears or water was. It was all the same to his, despite all He had eaten, his guts roared again, it was hunger.
He saw Sirius, like a dog approach him and force him to drink the disgusting potion. He had only taken one dose, for which his animal nature rejected it by vomiting instantly; the beast wanted to come out in all its splendor.
And so it did. He howled tearing his clothes clinging to the sand and began to search for the humans, which he could smell, but for some reason he could not break through that invisible barrier.
All night long he stayed trying to break through the barrier, until his body could not take it anymore, and he fell to the ground, hurt. His friends stayed by his side, unable to avoid Lupin's repeated attempts.
He woke up feeling his body bruised, sand stuck in his ears, with his own blood in his mouth and when he examined his body he noticed the recent bruises that covered his body.
He tried to stand up, however, his legs could not support him. James grabbed him and hoisted him onto his back, to return with Lupin carried back to camp, where the girls were sleeping outside in sleeping bags. To save Lupin the embarrassment, they passed him some clothes, but he merely put on his shorts, because the mere rubbing of the shirt against his recent wounds was hellish.
Sirius knew in that instant, when he saw Lupin try to smile despite all the pain, that their fate was clear; he had to go with him, whether he wanted to or not, because that wolf had already grown accustomed to the presence of his friends during transformations.
Lupin let Marlene, who was preparing to enter the faculty of healers, take care of his terrible wounds. The girls when they saw Lupin, wanted to go and hug him, but he pulled away trying to avoid as much contact as possible.
It had been one of his worst nights as a werewolf and none of his transformations were any good.
They unanimously determined that everyone's breakfast would go to Lupin, who began to devour it gratefully, over and over again, trying not to complain about the pain he was in while his friend healed him.
When he was all bandaged up, he sat still, with his head down, and the first embarrassed tears, running down his cheeks.
“I'm sorry, I'm an asshole” he sobbed, trying to keep as much composure as possible, “I could have killed them because of me… I understand if they don't want to be my friends anymore after this; I'm disgusting and a-”
“DON'T EVER SAY THAT AGAIN!” shouted the girls, at the same time.
“You're the smartest and nicest boy I know!” said Lily.
“You're the cutest boy and, in my opinion, the only one worth the trouble!” continued Marlene.
“You're our Moony! Do you understand? If I hear you put yourself down again, I'll smack you!” Mary concluded, crossing her arms.
The boys were stunned, somewhat offended that Lupin had surpassed them all, without even competing (or so they thought). Lupin, for his part, cried as he laughed, out of pure joy. And the girls hugged him, provoking a roar of pain.
They waited for tempers to calm down again, at which point Lupin cleared his voice, managing to get up to grab one of his sweatshirts, instead of James' little t-shirt and put it on.
His friends looked at him with puppy dog eyes, Remus shrugged. The time had come.
“The honors are yours, gentlemen.”
James smiled and began,
“Mr. Prongs would like to inform the ladies here in front that Mr. Moony is a werewolf, although he thinks your reaction was sublime.”
Sirius cleared his voice to continue.
“Mr. Padfoot, for his part, would like to thank you for the sincere understanding the ladies have shown, despite all the difficulties they went through last night, due to Mr. Moony's behavior.”
Peter straightened the collar of his shirt.
“Mr. Wormtail, is pleasantly surprised by the sincerity the ladies have shown in receiving the news and extends his sincerest respects.”
Everyone turned to Lupin, who rolled his eyes and finished.
“Mr. Moony, begs your pardon for all the trouble he has caused, however, thank you with the greatest respect for your understanding, and would like to ask, that the ladies here in front once again accept his friendship.”
They remained expectant. The girls gathered together and after determining said.
“I, Lily Evans, representing the “ladies here in front” accept your friendship and request that we stop talking like idiots.”
At last, they were free.
『 °*- ღ -*°』
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