Mischief Managed Y2 Part 2: The Truth of the Tournament

Chapter Thirty-Six: Loony Lupin

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The whole of Gryffindor threw a rager that night with so many students from so many houses trying to squeeze their way through the common room that it was a mass of bodies all pushed together as they listened to Gideon recount his adventure for what must have been the fifth time. As Gideon was finishing his butterbeer and Fabian was starting up a chorus of cheers once more of "Gryffindor's Greatest," and, "Godric's protegee Gideon," Remus was doing his best to leave the common room which was proving quite a feat. He did his best to squeeze through the crowd, his chest tight and his palms sweaty. There were too many people! He had wanted to stay hidden in the dorm. But after the third time Gideon told the tale, while Fabian dramatically reenacted it, exaggerating Gideon's wand swishes and ducks to the amusement of the crowd, Sirius and James had gathered a different group in the dorm and were bragging about their involvement.

A crowd in their dorm! Remus was thoroughly annoyed and tried to hide it as he left. While Remus was thrilled for Gideon's win he did not see how that meant his roommates could bring three third-year Ravenclaws, two second-year Hufflepuffs, two sixth-year Gryffindors, and five first-years of all houses crowding into his room!

This was why Remus thought that leaving the dorm would be an acceptable move, rather than start shouting with the still new bouts of anger that he'd been experiencing from time to time. Remus blamed Patricia for that completely. It was all because of that rubbish quaffle exercise of hers. At the moment anger was evading him entirely and instead he was trying not to panic as elbows jammed into his rib cage and knees pressed against his thighs. Remus felt hot and dizzy and was pretty sure he was going to die if he didn't leave immediately because breathing was becoming harder and harder. He wasn't sure who it was but someone's hand brushed his neck as he kept trying to squirm his way out. The hand brushing his neck was an innocent accidental gesture in the chaos. But in Remus's mind, it was anything but and he let out a choking sound, his knees giving way as he collapsed to the ground, shaking badly.

He...he was there with Greyback and the scary werewolf's hand was around Remus' throat, dangling his very tiny body and laughing at him in that low husky laugh that made his skin crawl. Remus could feel the hand squeezing and the hot breath that stank like rotten meat and blood. In the panicking werewolf's mind, he was no longer in the Gryffindor common room but in that dreaded cave, alone with Greyback, horribly alone.

"NOOOOOOO, STOOOOOOOOP!" Remus screamed, loud and raw, trying to curl in on himself. His scream had broken up Gideon's story and the crowd around Remus parted.

"Has he been cursed?" came one curious voice.

"What's wrong with him?" asked another person, sounding concerned.

"Lupin...Lupin what's wrong? Can you hear me?" Someone far away called for him, though he barely registered it. Remus felt hands on his shoulders pulling him up from the fetal position he had been trying to pull himself into. The traumatized boy whimpered at the contact, currently pale as death and covered in a cold clammy sweat.

"Nooooo," Remus moaned, quieter now, still in that terrible cave. However, the hand that grabbed him was a cold hand that pressed itself firmly to his forehead. It was that grounding gesture that brought him back to where he was. Remus' vision swam slightly and for a moment he was aware his body was curled on the ground but he could still see the cave so clearly, could feel it all so vividly. Then Remus saw Frank who had reached him first, eyes full of concern, and Patricia whose naturally cold hand was still on his forehead, shooting the prefect a helpless panicked look.

"Hey, kid...kid, can you hear us?" Patricia asked, finally noticing Remus' eyes, now open and full of tears. Remus nodded slightly, face going red as he heard some snickers. Then someone muttered, "Lupin? More like Loony Lupin, aye," which caused nervous laughter to fill the room. To Remus, it didn't sound like the laughter of those who had no idea how to understand what had just happened and were frightened of what they could not comprehend. Lupin could not grasp that his peers simply could not even begin to imagine the horrors that had caused what they saw as a meltdown for no reason. All the werewolf knew is that it felt like the entirety of Hogwarts was laughing at him.