Four To The End Book Two (Marauders Era)

Chapter One Hundred-Thirty-Two - Over The Balcony

Remus began his week of detention on Saturday morning. He had to be at the greenhouses by eight in the morning which was, in his opinion, far too early for detention. James's Sunday morning practices were worse, but at least all Remus had to do was sleepily watch his friend fly around; he didn't need to really do anything.

It was quite chilly and very foggy when he trudged out of the castle. He got lost once before finally stumbling into Greenhouse Three, the one he was supposed to go in. Sprout was already there, looking disgustingly cheerful for such a miserable hour. At least the hour made sense when she explained what he was to do: help her replant some plants that could only be moved during the morning hours.

"After around eleven, noon hits they become very testy being touched," she explained.

They went to the back of the greenhouse where there were several tables set up with loads of plants that were getting too big for their pots. They were a magical variant of morning glories. The second years hadn't studied them quite yet, but Remus recognized them from the book. In the afternoon they started curling up on themselves and their razor-sharp leaves would attack anyone who tried to bother them.

At the moment they were perky, their petals quivering with joy as Sprout complimented them.

"You need to compliment them," she explained as she handed him some gloves.

"Is this detention or a lesson?" he asked, intrigued. If it was more like a lesson then he definitely didn't mind.

"Both, I suppose," Sprout laughed. "You'll start with filling the pots. I need a mix of 70 percent plain dirt, twenty percent Grade B compost, and ten percent dragon fertilizer."

Remus began mixing everything together, being careful with the measuring. He began dumping the mix into the pots as Sprout began moving them, then when he had all the pots filled he helped her with moving the biggest, sturdier plants. They finished up a little after eighty-thirty and after that Sprout took him to one of the storage rooms to mix compost. There were dozens of enormous barrels that needed turning, and a sickly rotting stench in the air that made him gag a bit.

"Isn't this done by magic?" he asked.

"It can be," she said. "Just as there are also spells used to clean trophies. This is detention, Mr. Lupin. Start cranking."

He grabbed the handle and tugged, hoping he wouldn't need to rely on full werewolf strength to turn the barrels! However, while the initial pulls were a struggle (mostly due to his height), once he got it going it wasn't too difficult. He did work up quite a sweat and by the time Sprout released him, he was completely soaked.

*

The next couple of days were a blur of hanging out, playing pranks, playing Wild Adventures, preparing to study for the exams, starting to study for the exams, and doing his best to avoid Malfoy who continually glared at him whenever they were in the same vicinity—minus the Great Hall, thankfully. Mostly when they happened to pass each other in the halls. There was also, of course, detention.

On Sunday it was with McGonagall, writing an essay on why what he did was wrong. Since it only took about twenty minutes he was afraid he'd be made to do cleaning afterwards, as twenty minutes hardly seemed to be a decent detention. But after McGonagall looked it over, she discussed with him the finer points of the essay, then reminded him of the dangers of using advanced spells on himself. All he did was nod in agreement, not pointing out he couldn't do any damage to his body. She also tried talking to him about everything, however he didn't really know what to say in response; that discussion sorta fizzled which he felt guilty about. The detention only lasted about thirty-five minutes total.