Roses in the Moonlight

Chapter 6

Remus POV

I was reminded of the important Gryffindor vs Slytherin match early the next morning when I heard James and Sirius bickering. I cast a silencing charm so that I was able to resume my rest. The full moon is tonight so I'm going to need all the sleep I can get to prepare. When I was younger, I was controlled by the wolf. I would wake up each morning after the full moon with fresh, self inflicted scars. If it wasn't for Madame Pomfrey, these injuries would have killed me. What really saved me was my best mates breaking countless wizarding rules to become animagi. As animals, they can keep the wolf happy and prevent the agitated outbursts that resulted in deep wounds. Whether we have exams the next morning, or even if there's an important quidditch match, the marauders come to my aid every single month.

After a couple more hours of rest, I woke up to achy joints and a pounding headache. I get out of bed and prepare myself for the long day ahead. I go down to the common room to find Peter on the couch catching up on some school work, waiting for me. He was dressed head to toe in Gryffindor gear, obviously in anticipation for the big game. We walked down to the great hall together.

"Are you excited Remus?" Peter asked enthusiastically.

"Yeah I am," I reply.

"This is one of the most important matches of the year. Gryffindor has to win. And we will."

I continue listening to Peter and giving him an occasional nod or grunt to indicate I was listening. I will always care for Peter, he is a marauder after all, but he can be a bit much sometimes, especially due to his inability to tell how tired I'm feeling around a full moon.

Peter continues his overjoyous ramblings throughout breakfast and I stuff myself full of the delectable meal. Always good to prepare myself on full moons. I need my strength.

After breakfast, Peter and I show up at the pitch early to save our seats and watch James and Sirius warm up. I scan over the pitch to find James and Sirius, but to my surprise, I spot Tobias instead. I feel my cheeks warm up and my heart start racing. Tobias already made the team? He must be pretty good. I watch as he gracefully soars across the sky. It looks like he's passing a quaffle around, so he must be a chaser like James. I find it hard to take my eyes off him. I see his hair flowing out of his helmet, and I can see his muscles moving through his quidditch jersey. As he turns around to get another quaffle, I think we make eye contact as he slows his pace for a second. I could be delusional though.

"He looks really strong, right?" Peter asks.

"Yeah he does," I responded. After a second I realized that Peter was obviously not talking about Tobias and I tear my gaze from him and look over to Gryffindors side of the pitch. I realize that Peter is talking about Sirius who is practicing hitting bulgers at targets, and absolutely obliterating them. Strong indeed.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Not again. I thought I was just getting over Sirius. I have Tobias now. He kissed me! Tobias is actually interested in me that way. Sirius is not. I feel my nerves burning inside of me. My agitation is always amplified during the moon. Fuck, I need to pull myself together.

I decided watching James is the best course of action at this moment. That will take my mind off both Tobias and Sirius. My plan was foiled when I looked back to see Tobias flying my way.

"Hey Remus," Tobias says with a wink.

I hesitated for a moment, too stunned to speak.

"Hey Tobias! You already made the team?" I finally responded.

"Sure did! They apparently had my stats from my last school and let me join!" 

"WELCOME TO THE FIRST GRYFFINDOR VERSUS SLYTHERIN MATCH OF THE YEAR!" The announcer's booming voice caught me off guard, and I jumped.

"Well, I have to go get ready! Tobias smiled.

"Good luck!" I respond and return his smile. Tobias flies back to his team, and I turn to look at Peter. He is sitting in silence, his mouth agape. I decided to just leave him be and let him process what happened on his own time, and I turned back to the game.

The teams were lined up in their starting positions. I catch a glimpse of Sirius and notice that he is staring at Tobias with a menacing look on this face. What is that about? Before I could process the meaning of the look any longer, Madame Hooch blew her whistle, and the game began.