The Marauders: Year One (female)

47. Flaming Owls

Remus awoke to a hand shaking her shoulder roughly. 'Remus! Remus!'

She blinked. It was dark, and her eyesight was still fuzzy, but she could make out shadowy shapes lined up all around the room she was in. She yawned, stretched, and sat up. 'Whoozit?' she said sleepily, her speech muffled by the huge yawn that erupted from her mouth.

Damocles' face came in and out of focus. His blue eyes were wide, and he looked tense. 'You have to get up. Now,' he said urgently. 'The moon is going to reach its highest point in in a few minutes. I'd put you with everyone else, but they're much larger, much more mature wolves, and it is highly likely that there are going to be more than a few fights. That's the problem with this whole place,' he sighed. 'And the Ministry. If only people weren't so close minded... well, I could have had a much bigger place, and then I could actually keep the wolves all separate. But unfortunately, I can't. The hospital is going to be full tonight,' he said grimly.

Remus cracked her neck, which was already feeling sore and painful, the muscles stretching and cramping in ways that were not natural in preparation for the transformation. As her eyes stopped being fuzzy, she made out Dahlia, and a few of the others she knew making their way out of the ward, and into the underground chamber, which was fortified with protection spells and charms to transform. Dahlia nodded.

'Come on, come on, we haven't got all night!' Damocles prompted her impatiently, checking an odd device on his wrist, with ancient runes, and odd diagrams of the moon.

Remus shuffled her bare feet into her slippers, and took Damocles' extended palm as he held it out behind him. 'That's it,' he said, immediately leading her off. They made their way down a few dark tunnels, like twisting catacombs in pitch black. The only noise to be heard was Damocles muttering under his breath, and Remus' slippers shuffling along, and the muffled thumps of Remus occasionally bumping into something.

'Here we are,' said Damocles at last, stopping. He fished his wand out of his pocket, and lit it. 'Sorry about that,' he added, noticing Remus' look of outrage. 'We had to go all that way in the dark for a good reason, I'm afraid. Top secret. Some of the things in these rooms... Well, if the Ministry ever found out, it'd be more than a life sentence.' He shuddered. 'Ignorance is bliss.'

Remus watched him unlock a barred wooden door in front of them, bemused by the whole display. What could be in those rooms that was so bad? Damocles flicked his wand, and the lamps on the walls immediately switched on. The room was large, and empty, apart from an odd loop of metal on the wall. Dust had collected in the corners in great quantities. 'Am I to change here?' she asked, her voice scratchy and painful. She didn't like the look of the room, and it had a dangerous, tight feeling to it.

Damocles nodded. 'It's far too dangerous to make to change with all the others. They'd tear you to shreds, I'm afraid. The room's been fortified with extra charms, so you should be safe in here. He checked his device again, and started in surprise. 'Oh, dear! It's that time already. I'd best be on my way. Oh, and before I forget...' Pulling a metal cup out of his robes, he poured a steaming concoction into it from a flask, and handed it to her. 'Drink. This should help ease the transformation.'

Remus took the cup, and stared into it gingerly. It was a deep purple colour with foam on top, hissing and fizzing sinisterly. Damocles had a wide-eyed, excited look on his face. 'Go on,' he said encouragingly, not taking his eyes off her.

She brought the cup up to her lips, and took a cautious gulp, wincing as it sizzled and burnt her throat like acid. He was still watching her. Eyes watering, she passed the cup back to him. He stowed it away hastily, looking strangely triumphant. 'Thank you,' he said reverently. His face looked ghostly in the odd lighting, and his uncanny smile added a positively ghoulish touch to it.