Remus Lupin and the Prisoner of Azkaban (#Wolfstar)

Chapter Twenty One- The Dream

Wordcount: 1907

April, 1977.

Sixth Year Gryffindor Boys' Dormitories

In the Gryffindor Boys' Dormitories, with the old four-poster beds and the wine red curtains, the clock on the wall read half-past four a.m. and the four boys were sleeping deeply. Only Remus Lupin was tossing and turning in his sleep. He was having his nightmare again and it was the most terrible one at that. It was about what happened just a few weeks ago during a full moon.

He saw himself turning into the wolf in the Shrieking Shack, the full moon shining through cracks in the walls. It was painful; it was always so painful. His bones cracked and broke as his body grew. The older Remus became, the more aggressive the wolf became. When the transformation was over, he bent over and breathed to ease the pain. Then, he felt the fur of a familiar, big black dog rubbing his head against the werewolf's side. A majestic stag stood behind the dog, it had a small rat on its back. The werewolf recognized the animals, they were his friends, transformed into Animagi. 

At first, it was fine, it was like always. But when they went to leave the Shrieking Shack and explore the grounds, they only stepped one foot outside the Whomping Willow and the struggle to keep the werewolf between the stag, and the dog began.

The werewolf began to scratch itself and when the dog tried to restrain its claws, it reached back and hit the dog right across the back. How severe the damage was, it wasn't aware and it didn't care. The stag and the rat had jumped back, afraid of being bitten by the werewolf's fatal bite. Only the dog stayed at its side, trying to keep it from running away. The dog was hit three more times before the stag pushed the werewolf back into the tunnel underneath the willow. That night, the werewolf trashed the Shrieking Shack like never before and the three other animals could only watch and stay out of the way. 

Then the dream changed, from accurate events to Remus' mind playing tricks on him. He dreamed that he, the werewolf, had attacked the dog further, that he had injured it beyond recovery. That he had bitten it and watched it transform back into a boy, into Sirius. He dreamed that the werewolf had sunken its claws into the body of the boy in front of him and killed him.

With a terrified scream, sixteen-year-old Remus woke up in cold sweat and hit his head hard on the bed when he bolted up. The three other boys each almost had a heart attack. James Potter was the first to grab his wand and stand up. "Lumos!" he yelled and looked at Remus, sitting on his bed wide-eyed and breathing hard. When Sirius Black in the bed beside Remus's realized what had happened, he stumbled up and crouched down in front of the other boy. He took his hand and looked up at him. James sat right next to Remus and put an arm around his shoulder comfortingly. Only then Remus noticed that he was crying and immediately tried to wipe away the tears with the sleeves of his sweater.

"Was it that dream again, Moony?" asked James as Peter rushed to get tissues and a glass of water from the windowsill and handed them to Remus, who only managed a week smile as thanks. "Thanks, Pete," he tried to say, but it was more of an inarticulate mumble.

There was a worried, anxious silence in the room as Remus calmed down and wiped his face. He drank all of the water before someone spoke up again.

"Moony, please tell me if this about what happened last month, " said Sirius, a hint of desperation swinging in his voice. Remus just nodded and stared down at their hands, he didn't dare to look at him. There had not been a single day since, where he didn't feel terrible about this. Every time he had seen Sirius' face twist when he moved too quickly, or every time he had seen him try to get into bed without hurting his back, or every time he had seen him change his shirt in the morning, Remus just wanted to cry. He had done this to him.