Miss Marauder //A Marauder's Era/Harry Potter Fanfiction\\ ON HIATUS

Chapter 9

We sprinted across the grounds, all the way to the Whomping Willow. As soon as we reached the tree and it had stopped thrashing at us, I leant back against the trunk, panting. I clutched my side.

"Owwww," I whined. "I think I have a stitch."

Sirius rolled his eyes and grabbed me by my robes, shoving me into the direction of the hole.

"Maisie, we don't have time for this!" James pushed me inside, and I fell down into the hole with a thump.

"OW," I yelled, my face squished up against the muddy floor, and I spat the dirt from my mouth. Sirius sighed, and hauled me up.

As soon as I was up on my feet, I shook him off glaring, before racing down the passageway. Soon enough, the sound of the boys' footsteps were right behind me.

When we were about halfway to the Shrieking Shack, I heard Remus give a loud grunt. I whipped around to see him hunched over on all fours, before he let out a terrifying roar. I stumbled back a little, my eyes wide and fixed on him.

"Crap," muttered Sirius.

"Is - is he..." I bit my lip.

I looked over to James to see his pair of worried eyes staring back at me. "You've never seen him change before," he said, already knowing the answer, "have you?"

I shook my head, and looked back to Remus, who gave another howl. I gasped as I saw that his teeth and fingers had already begun to evolve. I clasped my hands tightly together so the others wouldn't see that they were trembling.

"Maisie, you should probably go," said Sirius. "This isn't something you really want to watch - and he's the most dangerous when he's just changed."

I jumped as Remus let out another roar - which were progressively getting more and more wolf-like each time.

Sirius was right - this was something I really did not want to watch. But I wasn't going to let them know that.

I rolled my eyes, trying to keep up my calm facade. "Why do you all keep forgetting? He was as dangerous as a puppy last time, you said so yourself. So calm down, I'll be absolutely fine, and so will he."

I looked back to Remus, and he was almost fully-wolf now; his skin was covered in fur, his teeth and claws sharp, and his clothes were about to rip apart. James quickly changed into his stag, and the other boys quickly followed suit, changing into their animals.

I had never actually thought about what it must be like, when Remus changed into a werewolf, but nothing that I could have conjured up would come anywhere close to how truly horrific it really was. I can't even begin to explain what it was like, to watch one of your best friends turn into a monster-like creature - well, he was meant to be anyway, but I'd never seen him acting that dangerously.

I felt a pull on my robes, and I looked down to see Padfoot tugging at the cloth with his mouth. I rolled my eyes, knowing what he meant. He wanted me to turn into my lioness, but I wasn't going to. Not yet.

The werewolf's cries steadied to a halt, and turned into heavy pants. The transformation had finished. I carefully took a few steps towards him, and Moony raised his head.

"Hello," I said in almost a whisper. I couldn't hide my trembling hands anymore, they were shaking too much to conceal. I felt a pair of antlers nudge against my arm, but I brushed them off. I don't know why I was so terrified, I had seen him like this before. I guess watching him transform had really gotten to me somehow.

"Moony?"

Moony let out a soft whine, and padded across the small gap between us. His nose gently brushed my fingertips, before swiftly licking them. My hand snapped back in shock. Moony recoiled in fright, and retreated back to his original spot with his head down, almost in shame.