News of the fight with the Slytherins had spread around Hogwarts like wildfire. Already everyone was telling their friends their own version of the fight, and Sirius had overheard one Hufflepuff telling his friend about how Sirius had attacked the Slytherins with his mind powers. Sirius and James couldn’t get enough of this, and Remus thought personally that it was beginning to show. James and Sirius had rather cocky grins on their faces wherever they went, and even Peter bragged to anyone who would listen about all the adventures he had.
For Remus, the full moon grew closer and closer. He wished frantically that someone would soon explain to him what exactly he was supposed to do when it happened. He just hoped that he could come up with an interesting enough excuse to keep James and Sirius from becoming too suspicious. He didn’t have to worry about Peter, though “ he wouldn’t have known Remus was a werewolf had he transformed right in front of him.
It was early morning the Gryffindor Common Room, and Remus was already wide awake and flipping through a copy of his Potions book with mild interest. The schedule he had been given read that they were due to have double Potions with Professor Slughorn the next day. It was already Thursday, the day that James had been eagerly awaiting “ flying lessons. Sirius was excited as well, but Remus was somewhat afraid of heights.
Flip.
He turned to his left and saw Lily sitting on the floor with several books laying beside her, her back against a chair and schoolbook open in her lap. He opened his mouth to speak to her, but then remembered the events of the previous day and changed his mind. Before he could decide what to do next, James and Sirius leapt down the staircase, their robes billowing about as they did.
“G’morning, Remus,” said James cheerily, adjusting his glasses.
Sirius merely grunted a greeting, obviously not cheerful in the mornings, and plopped down in the chair against which Lily happened to be sitting. He then stretched out his legs and, not paying attention, hit Lily’s head with his feet, making her jump.
“Ugh, get your feet off me, Black!” snapped Lily, reaching up and knocking Sirius’ legs off of her head.
He grinned. “What, Evans? Your head happens to be very comfy, and my feet are very sore.”
James and Remus couldn’t help but laugh at the shocked look on Lily’s face. Lily, rolling her eyes, scooped up her books and headed out of the common room irately.
Sirius shook his head. “That girl needs a sense of humor,” he stated.
James nodded, heading out of the common room with his two friends. Peter came bounding after them with a squeak, tripping over his own feet in his haste.
Sirius snorted.
At breakfast Remus chewed thoughtfully on a muffin, watching as owls swooped down toward the dining students, brightly colored letters clutched in their claws. He watched a dark owl head toward Sirius, holding an envelope that seemed to be rattling. The owl landed on the table next to Sirius, the envelope in his claws hitting the table lightly. He gave Sirius a sharp peck on the hand to gain his attention, then flew off.
“Great,” said Sirius, picking up the envelope grumpily, “even my owl hates me now.”
Remus watched the bird fly off haughtily.
“You’re in trouble!” squeaked Peter suddenly. “You got a howler!”
Half the Gryffindor table craned their necks toward Sirius, eyes wide.
Sirius glared at Peter and hissed, “Thanks for telling everyone.”
Peter blushed.
“It’s okay, Sirius,” James said bracingly. “Just open it now and get it over with. There’s no way out of it.”
Sirius reached forward and pulled the scarlet ribbon off of the envelope, letting the paper unfold magically onto the table. A loud, hawk-like voice began to scream loudly, the sound reverberating throughout the Great Hall.
“SIRIUS ORION BLACK! YOU ARE A DISGRACE AND A SHAME TO THE NOBLE HOUSE OF BLACK. DO YOU REALIZE, FOOLISH BOY, THAT YOU ARE THE FIRST BLACK TO BE SORTED WOMEWHERE OTHER THAN SLYTHERIN IN CENTURIES! CENTURIES! THERE IS ONLY ONE PLACE THAT A BLACK BELONGS, AND THAT IS SLYTHERIN! AND, AS YOUR COUSIN BELLATRIX HAS INFORMED ME, YOU ARE DEFENDING MUDBLOODS NOW! THEIR SCUM DESERVES NOTHING LESS THAN TO BE BLASTED OFF OF THE FACE OF THE EARTH! AND WHAT IS WORSE, YOU HAVE EVEN ATTACKED BELLATRIX, WHO ONLY HAS YOUR BEST INTERESTS IN MIND! YOU DARE TO ATTACK HER! YOU ARE NO BETTER THAN THE MUDBLOODS! IF I HEAR OF SUCH BEHAVIOR AGAIN, YOU WILL NOT BE RETURNING TO HOGWARTS NEXT YEAR! HOW DARE YOU TAINT THE NAME OF BLACK! YOU ARE A DISGRACE. A DISGRACE TO THE NAME BLACK!
The letter burst into flames and disappeared. A hush fell over the Great Hall; only the furious breathing of Sirius could be heard in the silence.
Suddenly, several Slytherins began snickering, and Bellatrix looked especially smug. Sirius’ face was cold and expressionless.
Breaking the silence, James stood up. “Who cares what she says?” he proclaimed.
Sirius looked up, surprised.
“She’s a right old hag, she is!” continued James.
Sirius continued to stare blankly ahead, his eyes dark and unreadable.
Snickering rose again from the end of the Slytherin table, and Remus distinctly heard Bellatrix’s voice mockingly tell the others, “Now let’s see if everything thinks he’s so big.”
For a moment, Sirius looked like he would very much like to attack Bellatrix, but then the spark in his eyes faded, and he looked up at his friends and gave a convincing grin. “You know,” he said loudly, so the Slytherins could hear, “I really don’t care what that old bat thinks. Let’s go.”
James grinned and slapped Sirius on the back as he stood up from the table. “That’s the spirit!” he said proudly, and the four of them walked off together toward classes, leaving the Slytherins speechless as they passed by their table. Remus could feel their hateful eyes on his back as they walked off, but did not let it faze him in the least. He looked admiringly at Sirius, wishing he could have as much nonchalance about being a werewolf as Sirius could have about having a particularly nasty family.
It was already time for the students’ first flying lesson, and Remus was gathered with James, Sirius, and Peter with many other first years in the grounds of Hogwarts. James, despite hours of boasting to Sirius and Remus of his extraordinary Quidditch talent, was as pale as the Bloody Baron and shaking violently. Suddenly, their teacher, Madam Hooch, a woman who looked uncomfortably like a hawk, arrived. James whitened even more.
Madam Hooch walked in between the two lines of students. She looked at them impatiently. “Well, come on then. Find a broomstick and stand by it.”
Students from all over scurried to find their positions. James had his eye on a broomstick and ran over to it, but the sullen dark-haired boy, who, as the four had found out, went by the name of Severus Snape, was already there.
James frowned. “Find another broom stick,” he demanded impatiently. “I’ve already got this one picked out.”
Severus shook his head angrily. “No. I was already here. You have no right to-“
“Mr. Potter! Mr. Snape!” Madam Hooch barked. “What’s going on?”
“Yes!” exclaimed James in his innocent voice. “Severus just came over here and decided he’d take this broomstick from me.”
Severus’ eyes darkened.
Remus almost blurted out that James was lying, but then bit the remark back. After all, he though, Snape does deserve this after the way he treated Lily. But he couldn’t quite convince himself to think that way, no matter how hard he tried.
“Mr. Snape,” Madam Hooch said sharply, loudly enough for the other students to here, “go and get your own broomstick so we can start the lesson.”
Severus, without a word or even so much as a glance in the teacher’s direction, dropped his broomstick and skulked over to another battered one none of the other students had wanted. Remus fingered his own broomstick guiltily.
Suddenly, Madam Hooch barked out another order to all of her students. “All of you stand next to your broomstick,” she said, walking to the front of the line of students, “and shout, “Up!’”
Remus shouted “Up!” as loudly as he could muster, but his broomstick merely moved a few inches closer to him, then flopped to the ground weakly. He glanced over to see Sirius angrily barking “Up!” at his stubborn broomstick. The broomstick seemed to respond to Sirius’ voice slightly better than it did to Remus’, for it was doing a series of small hops and jumps toward Sirius’ hand, although he was unable to coax it into coming any closer.
Then Remus saw James. The broomstick had flown to his hand like a magnet, and James was grinning widely, his hazel eyes sparkling. His fear had seemed to vanish instantly once he had the broomstick in his hand.
Madam Hooch’s eyes fastened on James in slight surprise, and she gave him a curt smile. Remus could see James’ look of triumph as he turned his head in Snape’s direction, whose broomstick was moving not closer, but further away from him. Several students, led by Sirius, began to laugh. Remus did not join them.
They quieted down instantly when Madam Hooch began to pace down the rows, showing students how to grip their broomsticks properly. She had helped Remus to space his hands in the proper way, and had even corrected Sirius’ grip on the broom. When she approached James, she merely gave him a quick glance of approval and walked on to the next student. James’ grin grew so wide Remus thought it might actually outgrow his face.
“When I blow my whistle, I want you all to kick off the ground, hard,” ordered Madam Hooch. “Make sure you keep your brooms steady, and rise only a few feet, then come back down. You can do that by leaning forward slightly. One, two, three!”
The cry of the whistle rang through the crisp fall air, and Remus pushed himself off the ground softly. He and Sirius rose a few feet, and Remus glanced down at the ground, feeling his insides flutter slightly. He had never felt a feeling like this, a feeling of such danger and freedom combined. He looked up and saw James, already several feet above of all of the other students, zooming about and whooping with glee.
Snape nearly fell backwards off his broomstick as it rose from the ground with a jerk, right toward James. Instead of veering out of the way, James purposely whisked his broom out of the way several inches within colliding with Snape’s broomstick. Snape reacted to this by yanking his handle sharply to the left, tilting the broomstick widely and loosing his grip, sliding off. He hit the ground with a soft thump, and Remus glanced down at his pale form, feeling slightly sorry for him.
Madam Hooch blew her whistle, ordering all of the other students back to the ground, and attempted to help Snape to his feet. “Anything broken, Mr. Snape?” she questioned quickly, reaching out and helping him to his feet.
He pulled away from her, shaking his head angrily.
James, Sirius, and Remus headed toward the ground, landing softly along with the other students. Severus’ eyes found James and he stared at him darkly for several seconds before breaking his gaze and snatching up his broomstick.
Madam Hooch looked too pleased to chide James. She had not been watching when he nearly collided with Snape, only when he had been flying above the other students, diving toward the ground and zooming up moments before he hit the ground.
She walked over to him and patted him on the back. “Keep this up, Mr. Potter,” she proclaimed proudly, “and you’ll be an expert Quidditch player in no time!”
Remus picked at his chicken with his fork. It looked tender and delicious, but Remus didn’t exactly have the appetite for anything, especially after what they had done to Severus. Most other eleven-year-olds probably wouldn’t have thought twice about doing something like lying about something, but Remus had always been a very honest boy, and lying out of spite was new to him. He felt especially bad after what had happened with James and Snape. Sirius was grinning as he listening to Peter ramble on about how great Sirius and James were, and James was using his orange as a substitute snitch.
Remus cleared his throat. “Um, I think I’ll go get another roll. We’re all out down here. There’re some down at the other end of the table.”
“You already have a roll on your plate, Remus,” James pointed out.
Remus bit his lip. “Er, well, I might not feel like getting up after I’ve finished this roll. Maybe I should just do it now, right?”
James stared at him. “I like you, mate, but sometimes you don’t make any sense.”
Sirius snickered. “Neither do you, mate,” he chortled, prodding his friend with his elbow.
James rolled his eyes, taking a rather large gulp of pumpkin juice.
Peter blinked in a clueless manor. “I don’t get it. I understand you both very well,” he asserted confidently.
Sirius let out a loud snort and nearly sprayed pumpkin juice out of his nose.
Remus took this opportunity to slide from his seat and head down to the end of the table “ where Lily Evans happened to be sitting, and this time, she was sitting alone. The other girls were gathered together, giggling and staring bashfully at several Gryffindor boys.
Remus nervously slid into the seat beside Lily. She turned as she heard the shuffle of his robes and stared at him angrily. Remus took a deep breath, knowing that this would be a tough conversation. He just felt he needed to make things right with the girl who had befriended him, and had seemed so kind.
“What do you want?” inquired Lily coldly, jolting Remus from his thoughts.
Remus cleared his throat and began. “I…I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. For all the pranks…and stuff.”
Lily’s eyes widened curiously. To Remus’ relief her expression softened somewhat and she gave him a kind smile.
“It’s all right. It’s not you I’m mad at “ it’s Potter and Black. Laughing at someone else’s problems…it’s just mean, that’s what. I understand that it’s probably hard for you. I mean, they seem so very nice, when they aren’t pulling a prank, but you shouldn’t be around them, Remus, you really shouldn’t.”
Remus looked down the table at his three new friends. They were all laughing, talking, and eating happily, and he was a part of that group. He no longer had to be alone like he once was, standing sadly behind the dark windows of his house watching all the other children play together happily without him. This time he was part of something. He was accepted.
He looked back at Lily. “They’re my friends,” he said simply. “I want to be around them.”
Lily’s mouth tightened slightly, and a frown appeared at the corners of her lips, but she said nothing.
Remus continued. “But I promise that I will try to stay out of their pranks as much as I can. I really don’t enjoy them that much, to be honest.”
Lily looked at him for a few seconds, as if she was trying to figure out if he was telling the truth of not. Finally, she shrugged and sighed. “You don’t have to promise me anything, Remus. But I’m glad you really care how I feel. You’re a really nice boy, you know. ” She beamed and gave him and quick hug.
At first Remus tensed “ ever since he had been bitten, he had always pulled away from the hugs his parents gave him. It just made him feel strange, like he was a creature that didn’t deserve physical affection. But something about Lily’s bubbly, caring smiling made him relax and he hesitantly returned her hug. Lily grinned at him and went back to eating and Remus stood up and headed back toward his friends.
It was Friday, and the last class had finally ended, leaving all four of the boys nearly buried in homework. Students were walking the halls, chatting happily or groaning about the massive amounts of homework given. Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter walked down the hall, aware of the many eyes staring at them. Some gave admiring glances, primary the Gryffindor students, but some students, mainly Slytherins, shot them hateful glares.
James sighed, proclaiming loudly, “I’m bloody bored.”
Sirius nodded in agreement.
Suddenly James’ eyes lit up as he got an idea. “I know,” he said, looking at his friends. “Why don’t we sneak out to the Quidditch pitch tonight and I can try out the brooms?”
Remus eyed him worriedly, shifting the weight of the books in his arms to another arm. “What’s to say we won’t get caught?” he objected.
James laughed confidently. “Remus, Remus, Remus,” he said, placing a hand on Remus’ shoulder. “I’ve snuck out at night at my house and practiced Quidditch too many times to count “ and I haven’t gotten caught. Trust me.”
“Fine,” agreed Sirius, “but I want to ride one of the brooms, too, all right?”
James nodded. Peter’s eyes glowed, as they always did when the four of them were planning something.
Suddenly, as they rounded a corner, they ran into the dark figure of no other than Snape. He jumped slightly as they caught sight of him, almost as if he had been listening in on something he shouldn’t have.
James glared. “Listening in, were we?” he said, drawing his wand out of his robes. Snape did the same, as well as Sirius.
Remus reached out a hand and pushed James’ wand away from Snape’s forehead. “Listen, James, just leave it alone, all right?” he whispered worriedly. He wasn’t exactly worried about the well-being of his friends, but he was trying his best to keep in mind what he had promised Lily earlier.
“I don’t need your help, Lupin,” hissed Snape. “Get out of the way.”
Remus’ eyes darted back and forth between the two. He desperately wanted to get a teacher, but he wasn’t sure what James and Sirius would think of him if he did “ he didn’t want to make them think he was some sniveling five-year-old, after all.
“I’m sure you’re worried about Snape, Remus,” grinned Sirius, “but trust me, we’ll go easy on him.”
He and James slowly circled around Snape, their eyes gleaming. Remus closed his mouth and sighed, taking a step back regretfully and making room for the three to duel. There was nothing left that he could do or say, he concluded.
To Remus’ extreme relief, a tall, solemn-looking prefect appeared around the corner, books in his hands. Sirius and James stuffed their wands back into their pockets and grinned innocently at the boy, who looked at the five boys suspiciously, but did not say anything. Peter looked disappointed.
When the prefect left, Snape, who had already lowered his wand, sneered at the two. “So you are too frightened to attack me with a perfect watching? You’re just cowards. Not heroes like all of your precious Gryffindors think you are.”
Something flashed in James’ and Sirius’ eyes, but they didn’t reply. The remark had apparently hit home.
With that, Snape whipped around in a bat-like manner and left the four boys standing there. James’ face was bright red with anger, and even Sirius, who usually grinned and shrugged things off, looked furious. The four boys headed toward the Gryffindor dormitory together in silence.
“We’re the cowards?” hissed James suddenly, whose fists were clenched and hair was in even more disarray than usual. “We’re the cowards? Who’s the one who hangs out with the people who hurt people who can’t fight for themselves, or kick people just because they aren’t pureblood, or…” He trailed off angrily, staring at the ground.
Remus could help but agree, as much as he hated to, with Snape’s words.
Suddenly, he felt guilty for thinking of his friends as cowards, when he, after all, was a coward for not telling his friends about his…secret. Remus shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.
James eyed him. “Is something wrong, mate?” he inquired as they ascended the staircase.
Remus looked at him thoughtfully, and then shook his head. “No, no, I’m fine,” he said finally.
James shrugged and turned to Sirius, apparently trying to forget the biting remark of Snape’s. “Ready for some midnight Quidditch?” he grinned. Peter’s eyes lit up, and Sirius smiled.
“Yep.”
The four boys darted into shadows of the Quidditch field, their goal in site “ the broom shed. James had already worked out a plan of how to break in, one he had promised his friends he would show them as soon as they arrived. Peter kept letting out loud squeaks of excitement, and Sirius kept rolling his eyes and urging him to be quiet. Remus looked back at the depths of the Forbidden Forest, a sinking feeling in his stomach that someone was watching him.
Approaching the door of the broom shed, Remus narrowed his eyes, puzzled. There seemed to be no lock on the door, or any way of keeping students out. James and Sirius looked equally puzzled. James cautiously reached out and placed a hand on the door, seeming to half-expect to be struck by lightening. Nothing happened, even when he tugged on the door and it creaked open.
James ran back into the shed and selected the broom he had ridden before at class. Remus followed him in and felt his eyes widen. The shed was full of brooms of different shapes and sizes. Some looked like they were about to fall apart, and some gleamed in the moonlight, their polished handles clean and smooth. Remus had never been partial to flying, but at the sight of all the various brooms, he felt excitement at the prospect of that night and the chance to fly on one of the brooms.
James and Sirius already exited the shed, choice brooms in hand, and were preparing to kick off the ground. Suddenly, Remus thought he caught the back of a dark figure dashing off into the Forbidden Forest. He blinked and searched to the figure again to no avail “ perhaps it was just his imagination.
James turned around and grinned at Remus. “Could you get the Quidditch case out from in there? Sirius and I reckon it would be fun to have a Quidditch game. You know how to play, don’t you?”
Remus nodded, but Peter shook his head. “Well, I’m kind of confused about the Quaffle part. Is that the one you hit at people or the one you throw through the hoop?”
Sirius glanced at James, smirking.
Remus dug through the piles of dusty brooms until he came to a large wooden case, with a picture of a Snitch engraved in it. He dragged it out into the moonlight, watching as James and Sirius zoomed around on their brooms, whooping with glee.
Without warning, James’ broomstick began to jerk him around wildly. Sirius stopped mid-whoop and flew over toward his friend, who began to hold on for dear life. The broomstick flipped over and over, leaving James hanging on by one arm. Remus knew one thing “ the broomstick had been jinxed, that much was certain. James’ eyes grew wide with fear as Sirius reached out to stop the broomstick from throwing James off backwards, which it was now fervently attempting to do. As if expecting this, the broomstick yanked James off in another direction, taking him further and further from the ground.
With one last brutal jerk, the broom stick freed itself of the desperate clutch of James, who, letting out a cry of fear, fell swiftly toward the hard ground of the Quidditch pitch. Remus ran toward him, but was too late. James hit the ground with a sickening crunch.