FOURTH YEAR
FOURTH YEAR
.... --- -- . / ... .-- . . - / .... --- -- .
Hope and Lyall were shocked at their son's appearance. His hair was wild and long and curly, just like Hope’s, and he had grown several inches. But it was the fresh scaring down his back that peaked through when he pulled off his sweater. “What in Bart’s beard happened?” Lyall exclaimed, dropping his coffee on the ground.
“Who’s Bart?”
“Don’t be silly Rem, was it a moon thing?”
“Yeah, during my transformation, two moons back.”
“More information, please, RJ, and you need actually to be telling us about this shit in your letters.”
“I don’t want to upset you; my friends get upset enough.” Remus realised by letting that slip he was going to hear it. “Oh, so it upset threeteenageboys, Remus John Lupin. That’s our bloody job! now tell me what happened?”
He told them. He told them exactly how terrible the moon could be at school and how the scars on his body were all him. He told them about the days spent in the Hospital Wing and how he now was on a first name basis with Madam Pomfrey.
He watched his parent's face's phase between shock, horror, sadness and pity. He pulled out his copy of Living Lycanthrope by Maxwell, now annotated and filled with his marginalia. “Sirius found this is his family’s personal library, and he let me have it because of how useful I found his accounts.”
This break felt longer and stuffier. Remus missed his friends mainly. He loved his parents, but their house in the middle of nowhere really did bum him out.
“You know…you don’t have to live out here anymore like you guys could move to a city?”
He bought it up after being left alone for most of the day. His mother had gotten a position as a librarian for the library a town over.
“Why would we do that?” Lyall asked as he shovelled more creamy potato bake onto his plate.
“I assumed we still lived in the middle of nowhere because of me.”
“We moved here because of that; we stayed here because it's home.”
The moon with his parents was a lovely one, the happy little howling noises as he bound around the wooded area. He happily sniffed around and caught small birds.
“We should probably start bringing raw meat out again. It’s probably not ideal to have bird.”
“He’s a wolf right now, Hope, don’t stress.”
“They carry diseases, Lyall! wolf or not, he’s not getting some kinda birdflu.”
“RJ!”
The wolf peered over at the call and cocked his head. Lyall called him to make sure he was still in the perimeter set. He padded over and dropped a kitten at their feet.
“Oh my”
“Well, at least he didn’t eat it” Hope scooped up the black and white kitten and bundled it in her jumper. “Oh, shush Ly—” Remus nudged his mum with his snout and gave a worried look.
.-- .. -. .. ..-. .-. . -..
“Meet Winifred” Hope reintroduced a cleaner version of the kitten to Remus and Lyall as they ate breakfast that morning. Remus took the kitten, and she sat in his lap. “You were so gentle when you dropped her in your mother’s lap, and I noted that in my observations” Lyall smiled at Remus. “Now, you won’t be all alone,” Hope said optimistically.
“Alright, Winifred, you gotta keep me company.” He looks down, and the kitten is already asleep.
He wrote letters to the boys telling them about his parents' conversations and how he found Winifred. He also mentioned how he was left alone most days, so he had already started prep for his OWLs. I know they are next year, but I am so bored, and daytime television is boring as fuck. There's a channel that just is advertisements for things to buy over the phone. No one wants your fancy knife set, Cheryl.
The day before, Remus returned to school, and his parents were acting strange, secretive and giggly. He shrugged it off, maybe his mother bought home some baileys, and they were secretly celebrating having the house to themselves. “Remus dear, come to the study!” He heard his mother call for him from the bathroom. He was waiting for Winnie to use the litterbox; she was still learning. He couldn’t leave her because she had now learnt to scream when he left the room. He worried about her when he would leave. He stuffed her in his pants pocket and made his way into the study.
They were at the head of the long table that his father used as a desk, “RJ” Lyall and Hope looked at Remus, who was just outright confused. “Your mother and I got you a few things.”
Hope slid over some paper wrapped gifts.
“It’s not my birthday or Christmas.”
“You’ve been working so hard at school despite everything, and we just thought some new things would be nice, and we love you, you silly pumpkin.”
He unwrapped the gifts. One was a new leather (fake, his mother was not about that) book bag with his initials embossed in gold. Several new journals, a fancy self-inking quill, and a costly pen his mother picked out were metallic midnight blue with gold stars.
"What is all this for?"
"You...you just deserve it, that's all," Hope responded as she watched her son, who was so happy, so optimistic despite everything.
--. --- --- -.. / -.. .- -.-- ...
Sirius popped his head in and saw Remus with everyone’s things. “Where did everyone go?”
“James had to shit, and Peter went with him.” Remus shrugged. He was reading a shitty romance novel his mother found. “Lost at Sea? good to know you are into dudes with long hair.” Sirius laughed as he flicked his hair. “That was underwhelming, Sirius”, Remus held in a smirk.
“Fuck off, you’re the wank reading an erotic romance. You spend too much time with ya mum.”
“I like to read, Sirius. I am not fussy.”
“Alright, summarise the plot for me then.”
“Well, the long-haired bloke on the front’s name is Marco Delavichi, and he meets Sophia Maria Montenegro as they board a ship, the ship is wrecked and then well…they get lost at sea.”
Remus is trying not to laugh at Sirius’s face. “Do they at least boink?”
“Yes, frequently”
“Read me a passage.”
“Fuck off”
“Come on, you have such a lovely voice.”
“Someone is horned out.”
“Read me the story Remus John Lupin.”
Marco caressed her face. “Sophia Maria, we may die out here, but you must know I am in love with you—”
“He calls her both names?”
“Yes, don’t interrupt, Sophia Maria felt his hand search her body as his lips met hers. She was melting at his touch. “Sophia Maria, I must have you.”
“You have all of me Marco, this body is yours.”
He kissed her once again and then ripped her blouse buttons cascaded over the floor of the ship, and some went overboard. He pulled down her brassiere and kissed her breasts, “Your nipples are the lighthouses that will guide me home to you.”
Sirius and Remus broke into laughter. “See what I mean, it’s super weird.”
“Remus, I hope you know your nipples would guide me back to you any day.”
“What the fuck did we walk into?” Peter and James were at the carriage door.
“Yeah, Moony, since when were your nipples maps.”
“Would that make you a guide dog?”
“Shut up, all of you.”
“I regret how much I had to drink.”
“Peter, it was chocolate milk, not absinthe”, James said as he unpacked his things. Peter was lying down now. “Yeah, well, milk has started giving me wicked d—”
“I love you, mate, but please don’t describe your shit to us,” Remus said as he picked up Lost at Sea from his bedside. Sirius was picking at a pimple on his arm. “I think there's a hair in it”, the pop was audible, and the satisfied face of Sirius Black graced everyone. “See, look. It's curly.”
“Ew, dude, what is with you guys?” James made a face.
“You literally have shown me your nasty ingrown toenail. You aren’t better than us, babes.”
James gave Sirius a rude gesture and headed for the shower. Moments later, and a loud gurgle from Peter’s stomach, he was legging it for the toilet.
“Moony?”
“Yes dear”
“How many romance novels did you bring?” Sirius moved towards the shelf nearest Remus’s bed. “A few”
“You could just buy porn?”
“You need to be 18 to buy it. Also, I like the story.”
“HA, I am sure you do.”
Remus sat up. “Oh my god, wizarding porn moves.”
Sirius snorted. “Well done, ReeRee.”
“oh shut it, have you seen any?”
“Are you asking me about the porn I’ve seen?”
“You know what I mean, Sirius…you know, forget it.”
“Only once or twice at the newsagency in Diagonalley, before they started keeping behind an age limit spell.”
“Crazy, you have to buy a whole ass video cassette to watch muggle porn.”
“You mean on those TV things?”
“Yeah, mum has a stack of them on display because she thinks the names are funny, and my dad thinks anything my mum does is brilliant, so we just have porn in the living room”, Remus explained to the ceiling.
“Well, what are they called?” Sirius laid next to Remus.
“Hehe, Snakes in the Bush, It’s Been a Schlong Time Cumming, Nightly Boob Report and my favourite Mr Dicks bag of Magic Tits.”
Sirius laughed mainly at Remus for finding these titles amusing.
“Are you talking about Remus’s nipples again? should I be concerned?” James returned, hair wet from his shower. He shook it like a dog so it could dry the way it always dried, messily.
“I learnt braille and Remus’s nipples tell you to fuck off.”
-... .- -.. / -... --- -.-- ...
James was buzzing, practically vibrating with excitement as he ran up to the room one Saturday, clutching the package from his father. “Oi, look what me dad sent me!” he spun the cloak around as the 3 other boys looked at him in astonishment. “Fuck me, Jamie, that’s wicked” Sirius got up and grabbed the material. “It’s like, been passed down for generations, and dad told me to use it wisely.”
Remus was sat in the back of Arithmancy, he was tired, and the moon was only hours away. He listened to the professor talk, and he took his notes as diligently as he could. Lily was sat next to him, who was happy to sit in the silence. When the class finished, she helped him pack his stuff away. “You know you d—”
“I know, but I want to dummy, you are basically falling asleep…can you go for a quick snooze?”
“Yeah, I’m gonna, pre-moon, I get some wicked dreams.”
“You should take divination; they’d love you in there.”
“Moon-me ordered McDonald's. I think I got nuggets.”
“The animal side of you is ambitious, Remus”, Lily mocked prophetically.
“His animal side is scandalous, Lily, truly he pisses in our shoes” James appeared next to them as they made their way back to the common room.
“Sirius and Peter are stuffing dinner down their pants for you.”
“Sirius better be wearing underwear this time.”
They let Remus sleep as late as they could. Sirius poked his head through his bedcurtains and caught a glimpse of the shirtless pre-moon Remus. He noticed his face was content, but his skin was starting to blotch bruise colours, and there were sweat stains on his sheets. He shook him lightly, and he woke pretty quick. “Moony, time to go.”
Remus nodded and put his shirt back on. Sirius handed him some dinner rolls with butter and “The meat went cold, and the mashed potato ended in a hairy situation.”
Remus rolled his eyes, and he ate the dinner rolls. They found Peter and James in the common room pretending to study. “Alright, Moony, hope you feel better,” Peter said as he bid them a quiet goodbye.
He was happy to briefly be in the fresh air as he followed the two women down to his monthly prison. The sun had just left the sky as they left him alone. This moon felt sticky and heavy and made his headache pulsate behind his eyes. His body cracked and stretched, and his form switched places for the night. Midst transformation, the bread rolls made their way back up. He felt his fur grow slick with sweat. He tried to find somewhere cool to sit, to pass the time. He grew more frustrated as the slick feeling of stagnant air ate at his throat. He just wanted fresh air.
When he bounded out the window, he was used to being thrown back inside. The cool air bit at his skin, and his fur stood up. He tumbled through the glass and onto the damp grass surrounding the shack. The moon was up high, and as Remus looked up, he felt invigorated. He padded around happily, sniffing the perimeter of the shack. The fresh air instantly made him feel better. He caught a small bird and ate it happily as he sat near the shack.
------
“I wish he gave me the bloody thing a few years ago. My knees are gonna give way,” James hissed as they made it out of the castle. “Do we even know where he’d be?” Peter trembled.
“I have an idea.”
“Dad mentioned the shack to me last Christmas, said it was haunted. The Horrors of Hogsmeade did not mention any haunted buildings.” James explained as they made their way into Hogsmeade.
“So?” Sirius asked as he scanned the area. The only other noise was the whistle of the night winds. “You trying to say they hid werewolves in it before?”
“Maybe? they can’t take him too far, or they’d apparate, and it’s the only building referred to as a shack.” Sirius hummed, happy with that response.
“Didn’t Moony mention they warded the shack?” Peter chattered as they could finally see the roof in the distance.
“Yeah, I mean, we aren’t going to go in. I think that’d piss him off,” James said as he pulled the cloak off them.
When they could see the building in full, James noticed the green door, the sad grey bricks and the moss-covered roof tiles. They sat under a tree and watched the building in silence.
There were several loud howls, various pitches, and some sounded like sobs. Sirius had never heard such upsetting sounds. He glanced over at James and Peter. James’s dark eyebrows were knit together in worry, and Peter had gone a little pale, most likely out of fear.
They heard a few barks, and within seconds there was an explosion of glass as a large wolf burst from the window. The wolf toppled over and laid on the dirt, the glass glimmering in the moonlight. The wolf licked some of the larger cuts and got up. Long legs padded around slowly, assessing the area around the building. Several spots were marked as territory.
They stood in awe as they watched the wolf pace, getting closer to where they were and equally far away. The wolf caught a bird. Sirius heard Peter swallow back a gag.
“I thought he couldn’t get out?” James said softly.
“Me too. Guess they missed a ward, maybe?”
“Wolf magic?”
James went to snicker at Peter’s comment but stepped back on a large stick. The crack was loud, loud enough for the wolf’s head to snap over in their direction.
Large legs bounded quickly in their direction. “What the fuck do we do?”
Sirius moved into the wolf’s line of sight. “Remus?”
The wolf stopped and looked up at him, cocking his head.
“Hi Remus, sorry we scared you.”
Remus’s ears went down as he crept towards Sirius. “What do I do?” Sirius hissed at the others.
“He said his parents pat him!” James answered quickly. Sirius knelt and stuck out his hand, and Remus came over and sniffed it. He felt his wet nose touch his hand as he sniffed him, and then he licked him a few times. Remus’s ears went up, and he let out a happy yip. Sirius lent down and scratched behind his ears. The wolf met him at his torso, startled by the sheer size of Remus.
Remus barked again, and he wanted Sirius to speak to him. “Okay, Moony, touch this hand with your paw if yes and this one if no” He held out his hands.
“Do you know who I am?”
Remus licked the yes hand and yipped as if he was laughing at Sirius. “I just had to check, smartass.”
Sirius sat down in the grass, and Remus sat next to him. James and Peter emerged from the trees startling Remus, who instantly moved to guard Sirius.
“Remus”, James said, the confidence in his voice wavering. Remus ran over to him and nudged his side. All three boys were now sat with the large wolf. His tail swayed happily as he sat with his friends, only once grossing them all out by catching another bird.
“Keep ya eyes close, Petey. He’s almost done,” Sirius said as he watched Remus happily finish off his snack. The loud crunches and cracks of bones made James start humming to drown it out.
The wolf came over and sat next to Sirius, who gave him ear scratches. “You freaked out, Peter.”
Remus turned to look over and Peter and gave him real puppy dog eyes. Peter leant over and scratched Remus on the head.
Remus eventually started bounding around again, and the moon only had a couple of hours left in the sky. “He said his parents play ball with him,” Sirius said as they watched him chase a moth.
“Someone remember that for next month.”
“It’s almost 5 am,” Peter said yawning, the sun was only just making itself known. The gold lit the clouds over the castle. Remus stood up and moved away from his friends. Silence met them as they watched his body convulse and spasm. Loud barks broke as Remus slowly turned back into himself.
“Fuck me”, he hissed as he stood up.
“Moony?” Remus snapped around and saw his three friends sat watching him, last night slowly piecing itself together. He gave a shy smile. “Hi!”
“I can see your furry little problem, mate”, Sirius laughed. Remus tried to cover himself. James shed his jacket and threw it at him. “There you go, put him away.”
“How’d you make it out here?”
“The cloak and courage, my friend”
Remus laughed and then eyed them all off “but why?”
“We were going to keep an eye, and if we heard anything bad, we would have come in.”
“But you broke out!”
“Yeah, I just remember feeling sick and the fall out of the window.”
“Do you remember devouring that bird?” Peter asked as he made a face. Remus grinned.
“Yeah, I ate a few last night, shitting will be interesting.”