Reading Between The Lines ~ Remus Lupin ~ Book 1

chapter 36

Saturday, 12 March 1977

"Hey, Lee."

"Hey, Pete. What's up?" Lena asked her brother as she walked out of the Great Hall after breakfast.

"I want to talk to you about something."

"Nope."

"What do you mean 'Nope?'"

"You have the same look on your face that Mum had when I shrunk the fancy table cloth in the washing machine. You're mad at me for some reason and I'm in trouble."

"I'm not mad at you and you're not in trouble."

"You sound just like Mum when she lulls me into a false sense of security."

Peter tilted his head and gave his sister an annoyed look. "I promise I will not get mad at you."

"I don't believe you, but fine. Let's talk."

Peter and Lena stopped walking.

"Alright, I'm just gonna come out and ask you... Do you like Remus?"

Lena went completely red and began to choke on the air around her. "No, of course not," Lena sputtered. "Why would you even think that?"

"Yeah, I totally believe you based on the reaction," Peter said sarcastically.

"I don't like Remus," Lena said, her voice getting higher.

"Please just be honest, Lee. I'm not going to be mad."

Lena sighed and looked down at her shoes, unable to face her brother. "I'm so sorry, Peter. I didn't mean to. I know he's your best mate and all. It's just, he's so smart and he's nice and caring. And he's handsome too. But you don't worry about me like him because nothing's going to happen. He definitely doesn't see me that way," Lena said, beginning to sound a bit teary.

"Oh, Lena," Peter said quietly, and pulled his sister into a hug. "It's alright. I'm not mad."

"I'm really sorry," Lena mumbled in despair.

"You don't need to be sorry, Lena," Peter said before taking a deep breath. "And I just want you to be happy. So if you ever want to ask Remus out or something, you should. You don't have to worry about me."

Lena hugged her brother more tightly. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"How'd you know I liked him?" she sniffed. "I didn't think it was obvious."

"I figured it out on Moony's birthday," Peter said, partially telling the truth. "Once I figured it out, it was pretty obvious. I still can't believe I didn't see it. I thought you fancied Raj."

All Lena could do was laugh.

<><><><><>

Monday, 14 March 1977

"Lena," a voice called from down the corridor. The voice was loud as Lena was able to hear it over

"Hey, Remus," Lena said, her bracelet jingling as she played with her hands. She attempted to keep the blush off her cheeks as Remus approached. "What's up?"

"Nothing much. Well, that's not entirely true," Remus began nervously.

"Is everything okay? You sound a bit... frazzled."

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just wanted to ask you something."

"Oh, you don't need to be nervous about asking me something. Ask away."

Remus smiled softly at her. "So, I've been thinking—"

Remus was cut off by the sound of thunder and a bolt of lightning in the sky. Lena's eyes widened. It was time.

"Anyways—"

"I've gotta pee!"

"What?"

"I really need to pee!" Lena cried once again.

"Right, um. Okay... I'll wait for you to come out," Remus offered.

"No need to do that. I think I'm gonna be in there for a while."

"Oh, okay... I'll see you later, I guess," Remus said, sounding a bit dejected.

"Bye, Remus!" Lena called as she dashed down the corridor.

<><><><><>

Lena got on all fours and pulled the trunk out from out of her bed and removed all the charms she placed on it. She flung open the trunk and took out the small wooden box and removed its charms as well. Lena opened it and carefully placed the crystal vial into her pocket. Lena slid the trunk under her bed and left her room in search of a place to be alone for her transformation.

<><><><><>

"How'd it go?" Sirius asked as Remus walked into the room.

"I didn't ask," Remus said woefully.

"Why not?" Peter asked.

"Because she knew I was about to ask and just as I was about to, she said she had to pee and ran off?"

"Sounds like she took a page from your book," James commented.

"Oh shut up," Remus said as he laid face down on his bed.

"I'm sure she just actually had to go pee," Peter said awkwardly. Even though he supported his friend and sister, he still found the prospect of them dating odd.

"It's really coming down out there," James murmured as lightning lit up the dark sky.

"Oh Merlin! It's lightning outside!" Sirius cried, realizing why ran Lena off.

Remus moved his head to give him an odd look. "Yeah, we know."

<><><><><>

The Room of Requirement was rather handy and Lena was glad James and Sirius had suggested it for her transformation. It really did know what she required, or rather wanted. The room was completely bare and spacious for the transformation. There were four long, wide mirrors on each of the walls. While the mirrors weren't what Lena required, they were what Lena wanted. She wanted to know what she looked like in her Animagus form.

Lena took out her wand. "Amato Animo Animato Animagus."

Lena uncorked the vial and drank the potion that had been sitting in darkness since early February. Lena frowned. Nothing happened.

Lena grunted and arched her back forward. She was in pain. She felt as if her bones were cracking. Lena looked in the mirror and immediately closed her eyes. She didn't like seeing how her body was morphing.

Lena let out a cry and fell to the floor as she grew shorter in height. Lena opened her eyes and looked in the mirror. Her eyes were brown just like they always were. But that was the only thing about her that was the same. Lena was now a wolf with a coat of grey fur. Right above her front left paw, near the ankle, was a rim of dark fur. It was in the same place she wore the charm bracelet Remus had given her.

Lena started to walk around in her wolf form and failed. She fell to the ground as she became accustomed to her new body. Lena hesitantly walked around the room in a circle. As she got more comfortable, she walked around more quickly and began to pounce around. Lena walked over to her discarded wand and picked it up in her mouth. Lena wished it to turn back into her human form. The transformation was less painful than the previous one.

Lena smiled at herself in the mirror. She had succeeded.