The Marauders Story

The Forest Chapter ~ 11

On a cold and windy night, James, Sirius, Peter and Remus were sitting up in their dormitory, talking and telling ghost stories because of course, that's what you do on Halloween. It had been a few months since James' triumphant walk off the Quidditch pitch but he had been getting loads of attention from all the first year girls who wouldn't have talked to him if he hadn't gotten his butt on that broom.

"And then, the ghost yelled BOOOO! And all the children ran to their mums! Pretty scary huh?" said Peter as he finished telling his Halloween story.

"That's it?" asked Remus "No blood? No werewolves?"

"Oh heavens no! Even I can't come up with something as scary as that!" said Peter as he hid behind his hands.

"Right mate, sorry to break it to you, but you need to work on your spooky story telling abilities because that was more stupid than scary." Sirius said bluntly.

"Remember that Halloween dinner?" James said licking his lips.

"Oh yes, it was delicious!" Said Remus.

That evening the boys had gone down to the great hall with everyone else to have their Halloween dinner. They had gooey candy eyes, chicken with cherry flavored blood, roasted spider legs, all cooked by the house elves under their steamy fire. Everything tasted like it was supposed to on a Halloween night, and when the students went back to their dormitories they found boxes upon boxes of chocolate frogs, Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans, Cauldron Cakes and any other type of wizard's candy and chocolate you could name on their beds.

But that night wasn't going to be going as planned for the four boys because tonight was a full moon.

Remus looked down at his hands, they looked hairier than usual and his teeth were growing more and more sharp...it was happening.

"Hey Moony, are you...alright?" asked Sirius, looking at Remus's pale face.

"Er...I need to go! Excuse me!" and Remus fled through the doors of the dormitory, out the portrait hole, down the many flights of stairs, out the castle doors and towards the Forbidden Forest. All at an incredible speed as if he was as fast as a wolf.

"Where's he going?" asked Peter.

"I don't know but I think we should follow him!" said James.

The three of them ran out of the Gryffindor common room and down the stairs. They were struggling to keep quiet, for if they were caught, they would be in a lot of trouble. James might be threatened to be thrown out of Hogwarts for the third time in two months and he was sure this time they wouldn't let him off so easily. He still had to serve two more detentions with professor McGonagall, and each time he passed Malfoy in the halls him and his cronies would sneer and laugh.

Several times they were almost caught by McGonagall, Filch, Marauder and Flitwick but they managed to stay hidden behind statues and armor. They reached the castle doors and ran out to catch up with Remus who was going way too fast for an eleven year old boy. Finally they reached the entrance of the forest.

"Are you prepared for what's in there?" asked Sirius.

"Not one bit, but Remus is our friend and he might need our help." stated James.

A groan and a shriek came from inside the forest, startling the boys.

"I don't like this one bit..." whimpered Peter.

"Let's do this." Said James "Lumos" And the tip of his wand lit up.

--

The four of them had been wandering through the forest for what seemed like hours. Their only light source being their wands. Once they encountered a deer they thought was a Manticore and twice they encountered rabbits who they thought were vampires or dragons.

Then they heard a growl coming from behind. The three of them slowly turned around, and what they saw was terrifying. A tall, buff, snarling, fowl breathed humanoid wolf. Staring at them with vicious, blood thirsty eyes. The boys stood there, not even daring to make a sound. But then James spoke up.

"What did you do with Remus?" He whispered. Then he gasped "YOU ATE HIM! BAD DOG! STUPEFY!" He shouted, his spell missing the werewolf by a foot.

Then the werewolf pounced, running towards them at incredulous speeds. The boys couldn't do anything else but run. They darted away just as the monster was about to jump at them. They tried to throw the limited amount of curses they knew, each missing the creature by inches.

One of the spells hit it on it's forehead, slowing it down and rendering it confused. As it came back to it's senses it bared it's fangs and started attacking again. The werewolf was standing with it's foot tangled in a vine. James had an idea.

"Sirius! distract it! I have an idea!" James shouted. Sirius nodded and continued to throw curses and charms.

"Peter! I need your help!" and the two of them made their way behind the werewolf which was currently concentrating on Sirius and his curses that would hit it every once in a while.

James and Peter grabbed vines that were hanging from trees and attached them to make a long rope. They tied the rope through the creature's legs, eventually leaving it unable to move. They connected their long rope to a tree. Once the monster had come to realize what was happening, James and Peter hoisted it up in the air.

The werewolf growl and squirmed, trying to break free. But it was no use. James, being rather please with himself, bowed as Sirius applauded sarcastically. The three of them had won their first battle with a real monster and they couldn't wait to tell the rest of their friends at Hogwarts.

But as they were about to continue on their way to find Remus, they heard a bite, snap and thump as the werewolf escaped from it's tight bonds and started bounding towards the boys again.

James, being paralyzed with shock, was caught by the wolf and was being held in it's claws. He screamed and wailed, trying to break free. Just as the werewolf was about to have a nice midnight snack, the boys heard a rustle in the bushes and saw another werewolf jump out from the trees, and start to attack the werewolf who was holding James captive.

This one was a bit smaller, and resembled an 11 year old boy, but it was a lot quicker than their attacker. It bounded onto the monster's body, clawing at it and punching it continuously, until it shook it off and tried to attack their rescuer, without luck. The smaller werewolf leaped away from the larger one's path, resulting with it slamming into a tree.

The smaller one took it's chance to attack, jumping, pounding, kicking and clawing. It was the most intense battle the boys had ever seen, especially for James. During all of this commotion, he had been thrown into the mud.

The smaller werewolf clawed the larger one in the eye. The pain must have been terrible because the larger one, finally retreated into the forest.

The boys were astonished. They thought for sure this other werewolf was going to attack them now, but just as quickly as it came, it ran off into the forest again. The sun as beginning to rise. Had they really been out here the entire night?

"Hey wait!" shouted James "Thanks for...er...saving us!" he yelled into the forest.

"Come on, we need to find Remus-" Sirius was interrupted as the very boy they had been looking for came walking through the trees into the clearing they were standing in. Remus's clothing was ripped and tattered. His face bruised and his hair messy and ruffled.

"Er, hey..." He said.

"Remus!" exclaimed James "Where the bloody hell have you been!"

"Er...walking?"

"You made us go through a werewolf attack just 'cause you wanted to go for a stroll in the park? You look like you've been beaten to a pulp!" exclaimed Sirius.

"How did you find us anyway?" Asked Peter.

"Luck? Come on, lets go back to the castle." Remus said.

As Remus lead the way back to Hogwarts, the three others told him about their encounter with the two werewolves and how there had been their mysterious rescuer. But Remus didn't need the story to be told, because he already knew about their rescuer.