The Marauders: Year Four

Quite a Pair

Quite a Pair

Sirius woke up in his human form in the woods as the moon was rising in the sky. He stared up at it, looming over the gap in the trees, marking where the tracks for the Hogwarts Express stretched on through the great forests, headed on ever north toward the castle. It was a gibbous moon, only a day away from being full. He stared up at it, at the grey spots of the craters and the glow about it in the dark of the night sky... Somewhere, Remus was experiencing his pre-moon pain, probably lying awake in his bed in the dormitory, and maybe even staring out the window, looking at the moon as well. Sirius hoped he was - he felt a little bit closer to him at the idea that they could both be looking at the same moon at that very moment... Soon, he'd be to Hogwarts and he'd see the werewolf himself, he told himself. All the sooner if he'd just get on the move again... He smiled to himself, and sat up, hugging his knees to his chest and rocked himself for a few moments, then forced himself to get up and change back into Snuffles.

He was starving, and his muscles were desperately sore from all the miles he had already travelled since he'd left the Potter house in Godric's Hollow. It seemed like eons ago, rather than just days. It had, in fact, been eleven days - eleven days running the tracks of the Hogwarts Express, eleven days of pushing himself to keep moving, even when all he wanted to do was lay and sleep. But every time he stopped, he would only sleep a few hours before he would wake up, thinking of his friends and the things they were planning to do - the revolution they were thinking of starting - and he'd feel adrenaline rush through his veins once again and he'd get up and move onward...

Remus was indeed awake and staring at the gibbous moon, sitting up, rubbing his sore knee joints and chewing the last of the aconite leaves he had in the box that Ned Veigler had given him. He tried not to think about how terrible the next moon would be without them. The night stretched on and on - he was still up by the time the other boys started to stir in their beds.

"Happy Birthday," Remus said when James awoke and reached for his spectacles on the night stand.

"Thanks," murmured James, voice slurred from sleep. His hair stood up on end on one side.

Remus smiled. "How's fifteen treating you so far?"

"Fifteen!" James exclaimed, "Bloody hell I'm growing old." He ran his hands over his cheeks, under his glasses, and rubbed his eyes.

"Practically geriatric," agreed Remus. James threw himself down into the pillows again and his hair puffed up even worse than it had been before.

The day was all about James. Everyone in the school seemed to be stopping in the halls to pat him on the back - other than the Slytherins, of course. The Gryffindors especially were excited and they talked happily during breakfast in the Great Hall about the grand party they planned to throw that evening for James. Remus smiled and tried to stay inconspicuous in the plans, as he'd be leaving right after lunch to head to the Shrieking Shack.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come out with you?" James asked as he slung his book bag onto the floor beside his bed after their morning classes.

Remus laughed, "The whole of Gryffindor house would be trying to find you within minutes if you did."

James rubbed the back of his neck, "I could feign illness."

"You need to enjoy your party," Remus answered. "Don't worry about me."

James smiled crookedly and mussed up his hair a bit, glancing in the mirror. "Maryrose asked me to meet her after lunch, too," he said, "But I'd cancel it all if you wanted me to."