RUNNING WITH WOLVES remus lupin

O1O. 𝐒𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐔𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐄

𝐓 𝐄 𝐍

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

REMUS HAD DECIDED NOT TO GO DOWN TO THE HALLOWEEN FEAST; he just couldn't face it. Instead, he waited until the feast had already begun, then slipped out of his corridors and walked down to the kitchens to ask the house-elves to build a plate for him.

He wasn't hungry, not really, but knew better than to skip meals the week before the full moon.

He barely knew what he ate, and she certainly didn't taste it. He had just pushed the plate aside on his desk and dropped his head into his hands as if he could force himself to concentrate on his lesson plans that way when a gleaming silver cat leapt through his window.

His back stiffened as the Patronus stepped across his desk, and he felt himself clutching his wand inside his robes. The cat's mouth opened, and Minerva McGonagall's voice spoke.

"Come to the staffroom immediately."

He stared at the Patronus, expecting more, but it faded away as quickly as it had come. Remus's heart began to pound. He drew his wand and stood, rushing out the door.

He didn't see any of the students in the corridors, but he could hear them -- on the floor below, on the marble staircase, their feet pounding together as they all moved in what sounded like the direction of the Great Hall. Remus sped up.

The staffroom was nearly full when he reached it, nervous chatter hovering on the air. Minerva caught his eye from across the room and beckoned him to her side. He moved to join her just as Dumbledore entered, closely followed by Amelia Bones and Rufus Scrimgeour.

And Remus knew.

Sirius had gotten in.

Without any preamble, Scrimgeour lifted his grizzled head and began to speak. "At some point during the Halloween feast, Sirius Black attempted to gain entry to Gryffindor Tower."

Remus went rigid. Harry. His mind also went to Elodie... I hope that Sirius wouldn't try to hurt other students in Gryffindor.

No one noticed Remus's reaction. Scrimgeour, deadpan, went on. "No students were harmed, and the whole student body has been relocated to the Great Hall. My Aurors are conducting a search of the grounds, and we need you all to partner with one other teacher and search the castle. Thank you."

Without another word, Scrimgeour swept from the room, brushing Aurora Sinistra aside in his wake. Immediately, the buzz of alarmed confusion swept the room, and beside Remus, Minerva spun on Albus. "What happened?"

Dumbledore drew himself up to his full height, and his blue eyes burned ice cold. "I am afraid we have no time to provide you all with a fuller explanation. We must all immediately do as the Auror head suggested. Please partner with a colleague and begin to conduct a search."

Remus was still frozen in place when he felt Minerva's hand wrap around his elbow. "You're with me," she hissed. "I don't want anyone asking you anything, the way your face looks right now."

They were the first two out of the room and had made it down the corridor and up a flight of stairs before Remus managed to speak. "What did you mean by that?" His voice was hoarse.

She looked sideways at him. "Simply that you wouldn't be able to answer something coherently. Harry is fine, Remus."

Remus let out a breath and drew his wand. "Right."

He shadowed Minerva through the halls, hearing her murmur. " Homenum revelio ."

𝙛𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠. . .

"You know," Sirius said, popping a handful of blueberries in his mouth, "we could easily write a map. And. You know. Enchant it to show where everyone in the castle is."

Remus raised his eyebrows. "That sounds... Impossible."

"Ah, come on." Sirius scoffed. "You don't know that."

𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠. . .

Remus braced himself and followed Minerva. He'd been stupid, so stupid , to consider that something had been wrong about Sirius's arrest. Sirius had killed James and Lily, and he had killed Peter, and he had killed those twelve Muggles, and now he had broken into Hogwarts on the anniversary of James and Lily's deaths to try and kill Harry.

And that was all there was to it. He had to be stopped. Remus had to stop him.