Origin Stories - Marauders Era - ATQ Contingency

Chapter 5: First Year Flies By

The rest of first year flew by. Since first years were not allowed to take part in any of the extra-curricula activities, there was not much to do except for study and hang out with our friends.

Lily and I were top of the year level. She was slightly better than me in Charms and Potions (although, Sevs was better than both of us in that area) and I was better than her at Defence Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration. James seemed to have a talent for it. Him and I were pretty much equal in our class.

I hung out with many people. I had found friends with the girls in my dorm as well as with Remus, James, Sirius and Peter or the Marauders as they called themselves. I also made some close friends with children from other houses. Magnus Applesmith, Marina Farrow, Sally Grey and I had struck up a friendship. When I wasn't hanging out with Lily or narrowly missing getting into trouble with the Marauders, I was exploring with them.

Despite overall, my year being pretty much perfect, there were a few things that troubled me. The articles in the Daily Prophet became increasingly worse over the year. At first, they were joking. No one took this 'Voldemort' seriously. However, after three attacks on muggleborns and two dead metamorphagi, people were starting to look at him in a different light. However, they were still skeptical. He couldn't be worse than Grindelwald right?

There was one other thing that didn't seem quite right. That thing, - well, person - was Remus Lupin. Don't get me wrong, I liked him very much and I valued him as a friend, but there was just something off about him.

I first noticed it about four weeks into the year. Remus had been acting strangely all day. He didn't eat and kept on complaining about the noise and smell. During lunch, I found him curled up in a dark corner of the common room, fast asleep. I didn't say anything to anyone, instead going up to my dorm to sleep. I'd been feeling tired lately. He didn't turn up to Astronomy that night either, nor classes the next morning. Sirius said that he had to go visit his sick mum.

These 'visits' always happened once a month exactly. As did his little sick spells. Funnily enough, they all correlated with the full moon. I'd seen these symptoms before. I thought I knew exactly what he was. However, I waited till the end of the year before confronting him.  I wanted to be certain. Especially since I wasn't exactly the most attentive around the full moon.  In fact, I usually  tried to actively avoid people at that time.

I confronted Remus two weeks out from the end of the year. We'd just finished our exams two days before and it was one day until the full moon. I found Remus in the Common Room in the middle of the night. He was curled up on the couch, trying (and failing) to go to sleep.

"Why are you out here?" he asked when he saw me emerge from the girl's dorms.

"I could say the same for you."

"It seems my dorm-mates are unusually loud sleepers tonight. Especially James," Remus scowled.

"Mine too," I groaned, rubbing my eyes tiredly.

"You need to go to sleep," Remus insisted.

"So do you," I replied.

"Well, you can take that couch over there." He gestured lazily to one by the fire.

I shook my head, brushing aside my drowsiness.

"No. I need to talk to you, Remus."

Remus looked startled. Maybe even slightly alarmed. He pushed himself up on one arm, his eyes widening.

"What is it?" he asked, voice shaking slightly.