so in love with you // sirius black

chapter 15

    "Oh my god," I looked over to see Lily staring at the morning paper with a hand over her mouth.

    "What is it?" James asked, with a concerned look. She shook her head, as though she didn't want to say it out loud, and handed the paper to James. His eyes widened as his eyes scanned the article and began to read out loud.

    "Three muggle-born witches were murdered by a group of purebloods. There was no explanation for the murder. The killers . . . haven't been caught."

    I gasped, I knew that there was a group of pureblood supremacists but I never thought they would go as far as killing. Our group of friends were not the only people to have read the news, many people around the Great Hall were frantically whispering to their friends, I even saw a few younger kids crying. I heard a laugh from the Slytherin table and turned to see Sirius's cousin, Bellatrix, laughing loudly at the paper, as though the whole thing was a big joke. I looked to Sirius who was glaring daggers at her.

    Throughout the day I heard strange rumors in all of my classes. One girl claimed that Bellatrix had snuck out of school to do it, while others said it was some sort of secret organization that wanted to kill all muggle-borns. I didn't know what to believe, but the murders set an ominous tone for the coming year.

•••

    It was the middle of the night, but I couldn't sleep. My mind kept wandering back to the horrible news from the morning and the full moon was shining so brightly that our room was completely illuminated.

    I looked over to Marlene who was sound asleep and then to the bed that Lily used to sleep in. Because she had been named head girl she now lived in a different dorm with James. After laying in bed for a while longer I gave up on sleep and slipped out of bed.

    After last year's late-night excursions to the Astronomy Tower, I had gotten rather good at roaming the empty hallways undetected. I walked around not heading in any certain direction, and eventually I found myself in the entrance hall. I knew I shouldn't, but I slipped out the front door and sat down on the steps, breathing in the cool night air. I looked out towards the Black Lake where the moon was reflected on the rippling surface. The sight calmed me and I was about to head back to the common room when a loud howl pierced the night sky. I froze in place, as the sound got louder and more persistent. 

    All of a sudden I saw a large grey form barrel out of the forest. I knew that the werewolf was too close to me for there to be any point in trying to escape. I fumbled for my wand, only to remember it was sitting on the nightstand in the dorm. 

    I was so, so screwed.

    In moments the werewolf was only a couple of meters in front of me. It paused for a second, tilting it's head at me, and for a moment I thought that it might leave me alone. That thought quickly left my mind as the wolf seemed to come to his senses and started to slowly stalk towards me. I backed up against the door behind me, reaching for the handle, hoping I might be able to slip inside when a blur of black fur jumped in front of me. I was able to make out the form of a large black dog. He snarled at the werewolf who reluctantly backed off as a large stag appeared and herded the werewolf away. I watched everything unfold in awe, shocked by the strangeness of it. The dog turned to me and I noticed its bright grey eyes, which seemed oddly familiar, but I didn't have time to dwell on it as the dog started barking loudly at me. He didn't stop until I pulled the door open and entered the castle.

    I leaned against the wall breathing heavily and trying to process what had just happened. I scolded myself for going outside in the first place, the Hogwarts grounds are dangerous at night, especially during the full moon. If it hadn't been for that dog I may have died. When I finally caught my breath, I rushed back up to the common room and collapsed in my bed.

    Contrary to what I had hoped, the walk had shaken me up even more. I finally fell asleep as the sun started to peek out of the hills.

•••

    I felt Marlene shaking me awake. I groaned turning over in my bed, I feel as though I'd only been sleeping for five minutes, but I knew it had at least been a little while longer than that.

    When I sat down in my usual seat at the Gryffindor table I noticed Remus was missing and that the rest of the Marauders look as tired as I felt.

    "Where's Remus?" I asked James. He looked over to Sirius and Peter, the three of them seemed to have some sort of silent conversation, then he turned back to me.

    "Uh, Moony is asleep, he didn't feel so good." He answered.

    Moony, wait a second.

    All of the sudden everything clicked into place. The nicknames. Remus's monthly disappearances. All the animal-related humor. The black dog's human-like eyes. It all made perfect sense now.

    "Holy shit," I muttered. Remus was a werewolf.