31 Days of Fic: Thirteen
Here it is. I swear, writing this one was like pulling teeth. A bored Sirius, a full moon night, and a potentially frightening discovery.
May 13, 1976:
Madame Pomfrey comes for Remus as soon as classes let out, which strikes Sirius as distinctly unfair, especially as Prongs and Wormtail are upstairs working on something for Divination and have left him to his own devices until nightfall. He considers settling in for a lengthy brood, but decides that it's too much effort. Instead, he swipes Prongs' Invisibility Cloak, and takes it down to the dungeons. Once there, he ducks beneath it and proceeds to chuck dungbombs at the Slytherin portrait hole until he is mistaken for Peeves and threatened with the Bloody Baron. At this point, he decides that he should probably find something else to do.
Ordinarily, this would not be a problem. Hogwarts is full of unwary students who are just asking to fall prey to such a clever Marauder as himself. Unfortunately, the day of the full moon is the Day of Not Getting Caught (it has been since Sirius realized that getting detention would keep him from being there for Remus), and Not Getting Caught is Not Sirius' Strong Point. He is bored, bored, bored. Much more of this, and he will be off looking for someone to prank, which would not be a good idea. McGonagall looked ready to skin him alive last night, and after yesterday, it's probably best not to test her.
In the end, he goes upstairs and raids Remus' collection of Muggle books, settling on something called The Hobbit, which sounds like an instruction manual for some strange Muggle tool but proves to be much more interesting. By the time James and Peter come to collect him for dinner, Sirius is certain that Gandalf is somehow based on Dumbledore, and has determined to ask the Headmaster about it at some point.
After supper -- which Sirius bolts down so quickly that after twenty minutes he cannot remember what he ate -- James and Peter go back upstairs to finish their homework, and Sirius takes the Cloak down to keep watch for Remus near the Whomping Willow. Even at this late hour, the heat is oppressive, and Sirius is sweating beneath the weight of the Cloak before he's properly settled in. When he sees the two figures, dim in the fading light, pause before the Willow; sees the restless branches slow to immobility, he knows it's almost time. Ten minutes later, Madam Pomfrey makes her way back up the hill towards the castle.
"Loquorum et audium James Potter," Sirius whispers, throwing aside the Cloak and putting his wand to his throat. A moment later, he hears James' voice in his right ear.
"Pads?"
"It's me," he whispers. "Come on."
"On our way," James says, and Sirius feels the distinctive pop in his ear that signals the end of the spell. Twenty minutes later, the three of them are standing in front of the Willow, with James and Sirius between Peter and the castle, blocking his transformation from any prying eyes. Sirius has changed, and is halfway to the mouth of the tunnel before the tree creaks to a standstill.
Moony is waiting for Padfoot at the end of the tunnel, already transformed and eager for escape. Padfoot barks once in greeting, and Moony follows him back down the tunnel and out into the hot, moonlit night to where Prongs and Wormtail are waiting, a blurred shadow at the edge of the Forest. The challenge of a race is all it takes to get Moony headed in the right direction, and before long they are all in deep woods, racing about like lunatics.
When he is human, Sirius sometimes reflects on how strange they must look, playing like this, but at the moment, all he cares about are the leaves underfoot and the scent of pack in the air. Even the occasional detour to recover an errant Moony is less of a concern than an adventure. Full moon nights are even better than flight, and Padfoot never wants them to end.
He and Moony are chasing Prongs, barking at his heels and generally making a nuisance of themselves when Padfoot realizes that something smells wrong. It's a cold smell, like long-dead bones, but with a foul underlay that clings like death-odor in his nose. At first, he is puzzled; then he recognizes the scent as the icy, skin-crawling feel of dark magic, filtered through canine senses. For a moment, he's tempted to transform, to examine the threat with a human mind, but a growl from Moony nips that impulse in the bud.
Instead, he takes off running in the opposite direction, turning the chase onto himself in order to lead his friends away from the whatever-it-is that smells so dangerous while at the same time marking the location carefully in his mind. He can come back to it tomorrow. Tonight is for other things.
( Day Twelve)***(Day Fourteen)
***
Author's Notes: My thanks to
molsymo and
elsane for beta-help, and to everyone who has left feedback so far.
Just in case anyone was wondering -- in May of 1976, the full moon did indeed fall on the night of the thirteenth. (thank you,
marauderswolf.)
May 13, 1976:
Madame Pomfrey comes for Remus as soon as classes let out, which strikes Sirius as distinctly unfair, especially as Prongs and Wormtail are upstairs working on something for Divination and have left him to his own devices until nightfall. He considers settling in for a lengthy brood, but decides that it's too much effort. Instead, he swipes Prongs' Invisibility Cloak, and takes it down to the dungeons. Once there, he ducks beneath it and proceeds to chuck dungbombs at the Slytherin portrait hole until he is mistaken for Peeves and threatened with the Bloody Baron. At this point, he decides that he should probably find something else to do.
Ordinarily, this would not be a problem. Hogwarts is full of unwary students who are just asking to fall prey to such a clever Marauder as himself. Unfortunately, the day of the full moon is the Day of Not Getting Caught (it has been since Sirius realized that getting detention would keep him from being there for Remus), and Not Getting Caught is Not Sirius' Strong Point. He is bored, bored, bored. Much more of this, and he will be off looking for someone to prank, which would not be a good idea. McGonagall looked ready to skin him alive last night, and after yesterday, it's probably best not to test her.
In the end, he goes upstairs and raids Remus' collection of Muggle books, settling on something called The Hobbit, which sounds like an instruction manual for some strange Muggle tool but proves to be much more interesting. By the time James and Peter come to collect him for dinner, Sirius is certain that Gandalf is somehow based on Dumbledore, and has determined to ask the Headmaster about it at some point.
After supper -- which Sirius bolts down so quickly that after twenty minutes he cannot remember what he ate -- James and Peter go back upstairs to finish their homework, and Sirius takes the Cloak down to keep watch for Remus near the Whomping Willow. Even at this late hour, the heat is oppressive, and Sirius is sweating beneath the weight of the Cloak before he's properly settled in. When he sees the two figures, dim in the fading light, pause before the Willow; sees the restless branches slow to immobility, he knows it's almost time. Ten minutes later, Madam Pomfrey makes her way back up the hill towards the castle.
"Loquorum et audium James Potter," Sirius whispers, throwing aside the Cloak and putting his wand to his throat. A moment later, he hears James' voice in his right ear.
"Pads?"
"It's me," he whispers. "Come on."
"On our way," James says, and Sirius feels the distinctive pop in his ear that signals the end of the spell. Twenty minutes later, the three of them are standing in front of the Willow, with James and Sirius between Peter and the castle, blocking his transformation from any prying eyes. Sirius has changed, and is halfway to the mouth of the tunnel before the tree creaks to a standstill.
Moony is waiting for Padfoot at the end of the tunnel, already transformed and eager for escape. Padfoot barks once in greeting, and Moony follows him back down the tunnel and out into the hot, moonlit night to where Prongs and Wormtail are waiting, a blurred shadow at the edge of the Forest. The challenge of a race is all it takes to get Moony headed in the right direction, and before long they are all in deep woods, racing about like lunatics.
When he is human, Sirius sometimes reflects on how strange they must look, playing like this, but at the moment, all he cares about are the leaves underfoot and the scent of pack in the air. Even the occasional detour to recover an errant Moony is less of a concern than an adventure. Full moon nights are even better than flight, and Padfoot never wants them to end.
He and Moony are chasing Prongs, barking at his heels and generally making a nuisance of themselves when Padfoot realizes that something smells wrong. It's a cold smell, like long-dead bones, but with a foul underlay that clings like death-odor in his nose. At first, he is puzzled; then he recognizes the scent as the icy, skin-crawling feel of dark magic, filtered through canine senses. For a moment, he's tempted to transform, to examine the threat with a human mind, but a growl from Moony nips that impulse in the bud.
Instead, he takes off running in the opposite direction, turning the chase onto himself in order to lead his friends away from the whatever-it-is that smells so dangerous while at the same time marking the location carefully in his mind. He can come back to it tomorrow. Tonight is for other things.
( Day Twelve)***(Day Fourteen)
***
Author's Notes: My thanks to
molsymo and
elsane for beta-help, and to everyone who has left feedback so far.
Just in case anyone was wondering -- in May of 1976, the full moon did indeed fall on the night of the thirteenth. (thank you,
marauderswolf.)