The Last Marauder Standing || Sirius Black

21-The Full Moon

"Hey, you ready for tonight?" I heard a voice in my ear. I jumped a little, looking over my shoulder to see Sirius looking down at me. I was sitting in the common room after dinner with my head stuck in a book as always. I wasn't really reading, though. I couldn't bring myself to focus on the words filling the pages in front of me; I couldn't stop thinking about tonight. It was my first real full moon with the boys, and I was feeling a little nervous.

"Um... Yeah..." I trailed off as he sat at the table next to me.

"What's wrong?" He asked, concern etched onto his face.

"Nothing, I just said I'm ready" I shrugged, closing my book in front of me.

"I can see it in your eyes. The fear. What's bugging you?" He asked, placing a hand on my upper arm as a means to comfort me. I sighed, looking at him again.

"I'm just nervous I guess... adding a new person to the group seems dangerous. We don't know how Moony will react. Especially since I'm a cat and he's a wolf. There is that whole instinctive hatred between them you know" I told him.

"I know, you hated me for months," He grinned, teasing me. I slapped his arm lightly.

"I'm being serious!" I exclaimed, and right before he went to open his mouth to respond I stopped him. "Don't even try making a name joke right now" I sighed.

"Wow, you are in a bad mood" he rolled his eyes. "Look, everything will be fine. We've been planning for this since you became a marauder. We already know you're able to handle Moony if it comes down to that, but as long as he takes his wolfsbane we don't even have to worry about that"

"I know, but last time-"

"Last time he didn't take the full potion. This time he will. Trust me, I've been with him on countless full moons. I wouldn't let you come along unless I knew it was absolutely safe" Sirius nodded, and I felt a little better knowing he had experience.

"Thanks... I don't know why I have such a bad feeling about this" I sighed.

"It's normal to be nervous. Even the bravest Gryffindors feel that way" He patted me on the back. I sighed, nodding my head.

Soon James and Peter joined us at the table as well as the usual crowd in the common room slowly began thinning out. It was around eleven o'clock and all of the students have gone up to bed. It's a Friday night, luckily for us, but McGonagall likes the common room to be empty before midnight.

"Alright, Estella you know the plan, right?" James asked. I nodded my head, shaking out my hands, trying not to let my nerves get the better of me.

"Yes. We meet Moony in the Shrieking Shack and you guys go into see him first. I'll walk in with Sirius so he knows I'm a friend and give him a minute to sniff me and make sure I'm not a threat" I gulped.

"Perfect, and if everything goes according to plan then Moony will accept you and we won't have any problems. I think we should take it easy this full moon though. Usually, we wander the grounds together but to avoid any trouble I think we should just stay within the Shrieking Shack for tonight." James informed everyone, and we all nodded. He pulled his invisibility cloak out of his bag and turned to us. "Ready?" He asked, and we all nodded.

"Are we all going to fit under that thing?" I asked, looking at the normal-sized cloak in his hands.

"I mean, it used to be able to fit the four of us when we were younger..." James trailed off.

"Mate, we have the map now. Maybe we don't need the cloak anymore. We could just make sure the coast is clear before turning down each hallway" Sirius shrugged.