Chloe Cullen 3 - A Harry Potter and Twilight Crossover

Chapter 9: The Marauder's Map

I'm out of the hospital wing by the next day, unlike Harry. Fred tries to get me to tell him what happened to me that made me fall off my broom, but I don't tell him and he drops it. I've got something to occupy my mind anyway. I work with Hermione to finish Snape's essay. "Chloe?" she asks the next afternoon as I'm finishing up the first roll of parchment. "Yeah?" "Have you written about the part of recognizing the signs of a werewolf?" she asks. I look up at her. She's got her nose in the textbook and she's got her notes next to her and comparing them to her lunar chart. "Yeah, why? Do you need help with something?" I ask skeptically. Hermione's not the type to need help with a class. "Look at this," she says and hands me her lunar chart along with her Defense Against the Dark Arts notes. "What am I supposed to be looking for?" I ask.

Hermione sighs impatiently. "I found it odd how often Professor Lupin is ill. Some days during the month, he looks like one hex would finish him off and the next day or so he wouldn't be at meals at all. He'd appear a few days later and look just as sick. Just as he starts to get better again, he's sick again and he'll disappear. Again. When Snape assigned that essay on werewolves, I noticed that Professor Lupin's symptoms and the symptoms of a werewolf look extremely similar," she says and points to a separate section in her notes where she's written down how Lupin looks and acts. "Hermione, that's just coincidence. Pale skin can mean anything," I say and set her stuff down. She normally doesn't just jump to conclusions like that. "It's not though. He always disappears on the full moon," she says and points to some dates in her notes and then compares them to her lunar chart. Sure enough, it's the same for both September and October. I've grown up hearing about werewolves and how careful I need to be with them. They could really hurt me and the Volturi doesn't tolerate alliances with werewolves. I remember what my grandpa told me - how to recognize them, where they live. "I don't know..." I say. Maybe I'm paranoid, or maybe Hermione's right. I agree to keep a closer eye on Lupin and see if Hermione's right. If she's right, and Lupin keeps his pattern, he should be at our next Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson.

The Slytherins are unbearable on Monday. Malfoy is all but skipping with glee at our defeat and several times, Fred has to hold me back so I don't clock him. It's also not at all a coincidence that he's chosen to announce that he has the use of his arms after we lost. Coward. I'm distracted, though, by Defense Against the Dark Arts. Lupin is here, and he looks very sick and his clothes don't fit him as well. He also looks like he could use a good night's sleep. Do I look like that when I'm sick? I sure hope I don't. At once, everyone bursts into complains about Snape's essay and I scrutinize his reaction to it. "It's not fair, he was only filling in, why should he give us homework?" "We don't know anything about werewolves -" "- two rolls of parchment!" Lupin frowns. It could easily be curiosity. It could also be concern...

"Did you tell Professor Snape we haven't covered them yet?" Lupin asks. "Yes, but he said we were really behind -" "- he wouldn't listen -" "- two rolls of parchment!" He smiles at us. Is he amused by our reaction? Or is it relief? It could be either. "Don't worry. I'll speak to Professor Snape. You don't have to do the essay." All through the lesson, I absentmindedly take notes while thinking about Lupin. The more I think about it, the more Hermione's observations make sense. He has almost the exact same symptoms for the past couple months, and they always happen during the lead up and few days after the full moon. Everything I've read about werewolves, heard about werewolves, makes sense with Lupin. I know that the symptoms could be for other things as well, but there's one thing that tips me over the edge. Lupin's boggart earlier in the year. I thought it was an orb. It wasn't. It was a full moon. Quietly, I take out a piece of paper and write a note to Hermione:

You were right. Everything that's happening with him is too much to be coincidence. Professor Lupin is a werewolf.