Selenophile // Marauders

|55| Curse, Fifth Year

Riley gulped as she heard those words come out of Marlene's mouth. She let that sink in for a moment, she took a deep breath and then looked at Marlene again.

Nobody said anything, they all looked horrified. The color from their face was drained.

"C— cursed?" James asked.

"They did that to her..." Marlene said. "She's in the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey said that we could go and see her. Lily's there too..."

They all rushed to the hospital wing. It was after curfew but they didn't care. Lily stood up from next to Mary. She was now unconscious, her curly hair fell to her face with her sweet dark eyes closed.

"When will she wake up?" Remus asked.

"Tomorrow, most probably..." Madam Pomfrey said.

"What did they do to her?" Sirius asked.

"She was lured into a trap, I assume the Imperius Curse, and they used a severing charm on her. It's a different kind of spell that I hadn't seen until now, they must've invented it themselves..."

"Who are they?" Riley asked quietly. "Who is 'them'?"

"I don't think I'm the right person to give such information..." Pomfrey said.

"She's our friend and we want to know who cursed her, please?" pleaded Riley.

"I'm afraid it's... Mr Mulciber and Avery..."

"Those bastards!" James said and Pomfrey didn't warn him.

***

16th of March, 1976

Mary was finally out of the hospital wing. They had been worried for her, each one of them. Dumbledore restricted everyone from going to the forest without teachers and the rules were much stricter.

There was unfortunately no evidence of Mulciber and Avery cursing Mary, therefore they only received detention. Riley had managed to eavesdrop on the teachers discussing.

McGonagall was worried sick. She insisted on them both getting expelled but Dumbledore wasn't as worried for some reason. Slughorn gave them detention for the rest of the school year, every day. Sprout suggested new rules. Flitwick enhanced security.

Riley couldn't understand why Dumbledore wasn't taking any action except for new rules. It was obviously Mulciber and Avery. Anyone could see that.

The thing which worried her the most was that she knew exactly why they chose Mary as their target but didn't want to tell anyone else about it.

Mary Macdonald, a muggle-born. The Wizarding World disliked muggles and the people born to them, this especially included the Slytherin's and the death eaters.

Riley was also aware of the fact that she was a muggle-born. The death eaters were already trying to hunt her family down. So why wouldn't Mulciber and Avery? It could've been her who was cursed...

Mary felt fine, but didn't want to come out of the dormitory. The teachers had talked to her, she didn't remember anything.

"Hi, Mary," Riley said as she entered the girl's dorm.

"Hey..." she replied. She was sitting on her bed, staring at an empty wall.

"Are you alright?" Riley asked. "I can get some food from the kitchens—"

"Why me?" Mary asked softly as she stared at the wall. "Why are people so evil?"

Riley didn't reply. She asked the same question to herself everyday but didn't get an answer.

"Maybe there needs to be a balance... Y'know, all the evils and the goods... Maybe they cancel each other out."

"No, they don't..." said Mary. "The evil cancel out the good and they corrupt the government..."

"So you're worried about the war, too?" Riley said as she sat next to her. "Me too..."

"No, I'm not worried about the war, because I know we won't survive this. Because I know I won't survive this. So why should I worry, already knowing I will get murdered?" asked Mary as tears rolled down her cheeks. Riley didn't notice herself nervously cracking her knuckles.

"I've tried to— I've tried to think on the bright side but I'm afraid this doesn't really have a bright side..." Riley stuttered.

"No, it doesn't. The only bright side is going to the afterlife and escaping this filthy world..." Mary said. Riley couldn't believe how an optimistic person like Mary said these. The sad part was that she was correct... It was like hearing the voice in her head speak out loud.

"It doesn't make sense, nothing does! I mean, they say 'everything happens for a reason,' right?! But why do people get murdered, why do they get cursed? Why do we have to go through this then?" Riley said quietly.

The dorm room opened as Dorcas entered with Marlene.

"Wh— are you two alright?" Dorcas asked.

"Wait— what's the time?!" Riley asked.

"Uh— 7:30?" Marlene said as she tried to read the clock on the wall. Riley remembered how they were going to spend the full moon with Remus.

"Oh— sorry— I have to go, I think I'll study tonight, so I won't come to the dorm, don't worry about me— bye!" Riley said and quickly ran downstairs out the yard.

"Where the hell have you been?" James asked as he saw Riley.

"It's not totally dark yet!" Riley said in reply. "I'm not late!"

"Oi! You two, shut the fuck up! Now!" Remus said angrily. "Madam Pomfrey will be here any second!"

The four friends got under the invisibility cloak and watched as Pomfrey took Remus into the Whomping Willow.

As Madam Pomfrey went to the castle again, Peter turned into a rat and pressed the knot in the tree. The four of them followed the stairs into the Whomping Willow and to the Shrieking Shack.

"Y'know... you don't have to stay here if you don't want to... You don't have to stay if you get scared—" Remus said but Sirius cut him off.

"We'll stay here, don't worry."

Remus paced nervously as he waited for the moon to rise.

"Now— transform— hide— it's time, I know it..." Remus said. The four transformed into animals and went to the door as they waited for Remus to turn into a wolf.

His pupils dilated as the veins in his eyes became more visible. He screamed in pain, trying to stop the transformation, but of course, he couldn't. The sound of his bones cracking as he grew grey fur made Peter hide behind Riley.

Riley watched as Remus turned into a wolf. Anybody could tell he was in a lot of pain. The wolf then stopped as he howled in the shack.

Sirius barked as he took a step towards the wolf. The angry wolf stopped growling and looked at the black dog. He didn't mean any harm, the dog was a friend.