pure ; james potter [marauders era]

e i g h t e e n ;

[ January 9th, 1977 ]

It was unbearable. He could feel every bone in his body break and re-shape as he transformed. It was horrible every full moon, but this transformation was particularly excruciating. He hauled deep breaths as quick as he could, focusing solely on his four best friends, who were due to join him shortly. Nothing, though, could contain the levels of panic bubbling inside the young wolf. Something was wrong. He could feel it. He could feel the last bits of control slip through his long, hairy fingers. Moony howled in pain. Remus was no longer in control, nor was he conscious.

A stag, a dog, a fox and a rat came running in. They ran up to him, as they did every month and pushed Moony against the wall. But something was wrong, they could all feel it. Moony threw the stag off of him with such a force that he was thrown across the room and into the wall. The stag stayed down for a second, never expecting to be handled like that. While the dog and fox were staring at the stag, waiting for him to get up, the werewolf walked towards them and simultaneously swiped his arms at them. Their bodies hit the floor with a harsh thud, and the rat ran out of the room. He ran far, and he ran fast.

The werewolf walked up to the black dog, who was closest to him at the time. He grabbed the dog by the head, ignoring it's snarling mouth, and crushed it between his big hands. The two sane animals left in the room were in shock. Sirius Black was dead. The two were so paralysed that they didn't notice the werewolf standing right in front of them. The stag jumped in front of the fox protectively, as if to spare it enough time to run off. The werewolf grabbed the stag's prongs roughly, snapping one off.

The sound of agony, even from an animal, was enough to send anyone crazy. The werewolf then swung the prongs at the fox, hitting her in the head. She was down, but the werewolf advanced her anyway. It raised the prongs above his head, and then brought them down into hers harshly. And then again. And again until blood and brain was splattered throughout the shack.

With one final, horrible blow, the werewolf turned around and hit the stag. And that was it. He was the last one standing.

Remus woke up in a cold sweat. He had tears bawling down his face, but he quickly turned and bit into his pillow, making sure his sobs couldn't be heard by the other four boys in his dormitory. How could he possibly be sick enough to imagine something so brutal? So vile?

The full moon was less than twenty-four hours away, and he knew it was going to be a big one. Remus was wary of his friends helping him tonight. He knew it was necessary, but that dream was too horrifying. He couldn't risk it coming true. He'd rather die.

Remus couldn't fall back asleep, and he stayed up all night freting over every gory detail.

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Octavia sat with Regulus in the room of requirement. They found it quite helpful because as far as they knew, Sirius still didn't know about them being friends. Sirius though, did know. He saw them together in the hospital wing. It angered him at first, he was beyond furious. He went back to his dormitory that night and thought about it until his eyes stung.

He came to the conclusion that he didn't mind though. Sirius had noticed over the past few years how his brother had come to school with bruises and a new scar. He knew what his parents were doing, but he was too scared to speak up.

Octavia helped him through this, and he was grateful she was helping his brother, too.

"I don't think i've seen you without your two side-kicks for this long before." Octavia announced, referring to Valentino and Severus. "Where are they?"

"Well I've got to take care of you," He chuckled, staring up at the ceiling. "I can't have you trying to do things alone with that arm."

"Regulus it's in a sling, not torn off."

"You need to be careful."

She giggled to herself, her eyes gazing over towards the full moon. Worry bubbled in her stomach as she thought of Remus. She had already talked to him about sitting this full moon out because of her arm, but she still felt guilty. 

Octavia has never missed a full moon, and she can't shake the bad feeling inside her. "You never answered my question; where are they?"

"Well Valentino is with Lucius and Severus is on his way to the whomping willow."

Octavia's throat dried and her pulse increased instantly. "Excuse me?"

"I said, Valenti-"

"Whomping willow, you said?"

Regulus sighed in frustration, "No, Severus is heading to the whomping willow, Val-"

Before he could finish, Octavia was up and running towards the shack. A weird sense of deja vu hit her and tears were threatening to fall. From a distance, she saw a mop of greasy curls enter through the hole under the whomping willow and her body went cold.

This can't be happening.

She followed him in shortly after and the scene before her stopped her in her tracks. The werewolf was still. He had Sirius' neck trapped between his hand. One small movement would result in a broken neck. Moony's eyes, though, were focused on Severus. Who was briefly the only human in the room.

When Octavia entered it only became more of a challenge for the werewolf. It snarled loudly. But before it got to pounce, James charged at it. James had Moony trapped against the wall with his antlers, and while she had the chance, Octavia grabbed Severus and lead him out.

He was shaking furiously and she knew he wasn't in good shape. Not long after, James walked out and grabbed hold of Severus. "Mate, are you okay?"

"That's where you've been disappearing to..."

"We're so sorry you had to see that," James said. Octavia noticed the distress on his face. She's never seen him in this state before.

"I-" Severus swallowed hard as his eyes cautiously flickered back over to the entrance, "I'm telling everyone! He's a monster, and you- you're all illegal animagus'"

"Severus please, let us explain." Octavia pleaded, but it was too late, he ran off into the darkness.

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published [11/3/2017]