Harry Potter One-Shots

The Secret (Remus Lupin)

WORD COUNT: 1756

"James, have you seen Remus anywhere?" I asked the dark-haired boy sitting in the common room as I flopped down into the armchair next to him. He shook his head.

"Sorry Y/N, I haven't. He's been gone all day but he wasn't in our room this morning when I woke up... I wonder if he had to go home for something?" I frowned, confused. Remus was one of my best friends, why wouldn't he tell me if he had to leave? It must have been really urgent, then, if he departed without telling me OR his other closest group of friends.

"Okay, thanks anyways James," I sighed, and pulled out my Transfiguration textbook to get to work on some of the assigned reading for the evening. I was barely through the first paragraph of the chapter when James leaned over to me and whispered in my ear.

"Y/N, why do you only talk to me when it's about Lupin? Don't you ever just want to talk to me?" I turned to him, rolling my eyes. Since the day I was Sorted and sat next to the tight-knit group of boys in the year above me, James had not been shy about expressing his feelings for me. Unfortunately, it was another member of the group whose attention I really wanted.

"No James, I don't," I joked, pushing him away. He scowled playfully.

"You're the only girl who can resist my charm, Y/N. I don't know how you do it."

"Hmm, maybe because I like a boy with a little more brains inside his big fat head," I teased. James turned from me, pretending to clutch at his chest.

The rest of the night went by slowly as James, Sirius, and Peter joked around with each other and distracted me from doing my homework. By the time the fire in the common room fireplace had burned down to its embers and the clock was striking midnight, it was just me and the boys left in the common room. With no sign of Remus still, I decided to send a letter to him, just to see if he was okay.

I wrote a quick note, more concerned with sending it quickly than writing eloquently. Where are you? How are you? We miss you, hope everything's alright. That sort of thing. I decided to find my way up to the Owlery once the boys had gone to bed, slipping out of the portrait hole in silence. I had never broken curfew before, but there was a first time for everything. Besides, I told myself, it's not like I'm doing anything against the rules.

The light of the full moon lit the hallway and staircases on the way up to the Owlery. Once inside, I grabbed the nearest owl I could find since they all seemed to be out hunting, and tied the letter to its leg.

"This is for Remus Lupin. I don't exactly know where he lives... but I'm sure you can find him!" I took the bird to the window and let it fly. As I watched it soar gracefully into the clear midnight sky, movement on the ground below me caught my eye. A dark figure was running across the grounds, moving in an almost human-like way, but it was much larger and faster than any human I'd ever seen.

Before my eyes, as I watched, the owl entered a steep dive, down toward the figure streaking across the campus. What in Godric's name is it doing?! Unable to tear my eyes away, I watched as the bird swooped down to the ground to hover near the path of the animal, which stopped for a minute, seemingly contemplating the owl that had landed in its way. Then, without warning, it lunged and tackled the owl, and although I was too far away to see much detail, I knew exactly what was happening.

My hands flew to my mouth and I backed rapidly away from the window. What had I just watched?! I practically sprinted back to the common room, suddenly terrified of the long shadows of statues cast on the stone floors by the light of the moon.

Once back in the common room, I hurried right into bed and tried to banish the sight from my mind and let sleep take over. Why had the owl landed on the ground instead of finding Remus? What was that creature running around Hogwarts? Why did it have to eat that owl while I was watching? Suddenly feeling rather ill, I turned over and covered my head with my pillow, as though that would stop the images and questions from tumbling around inside my head. Eventually, sleep found me, and I drifted into a restless dream full of owls and letters and Remus Lupin's face on the creature's body, running straight at me as I stood paralyzed in its way.