The Noble House Of Black

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: Monsters and Moons

The last memory of warm summer days had come and gone with the falling of golden and red-hued leaves. The trees were now bare and fresh snow muffled all the normal sounds, creating a eerie silence across the grounds as Hogwarts welcomed December.

There was tension within the Marauders to match the season, because there was tension between the twins, and it was proving impossible to overcome no matter how hard or how many attempts their friends made to recreate some semblance of normalcy.

Sirius, Caelum, James and Peter lounged in their dormitory in a tense and awkward silence while they waited for the clock to strike time for the evening meal. At least in the Great Hall they could sit apart from each other, with other Gryffindors, as was now their habit. The quiet moments were only interrupted by the turning of the pages in Caelum's book, Magical Cartography by Isolde Spellman. Unlike the others, she was doing a wonderful job ignoring Sirius's stares and James' sporadic glances, which were becoming more desperate by the moment.

Caelum let out a sigh and glanced up from her book, "It is not that I cannot feel your eyes on me Jameson, it is just that I choose to wait until you learn to summon the courage to speak, at least if whatever you have to say is actually important." Caelum looked expectantly at James; perhaps she was not doing such a wonderful job.

"Cael, you know I love you, but you are scaring me. All of us, I think."

Caelum froze. He loved her? That was not a word to easily used in her house, but Caelum knew that James meant it. That was the worst part. She let out a short breath and looked back at James. He had also said she was scaring him, that had been easier to handle, fear was so much more familiar than love.

Her life had fallen apart, in a sense, and yet everything was so painfully normal. Caelum wasn't sure what she had expected to happen after her 'induction' into Dumbledore's ranks, perhaps it was that she didn't know what to expect that made her expect more, but whatever it was, it was not this. She knew that Sirius was angry with her, but it was important for him to know that they were no longer what they once were; there was a time when Caelum would have told Sirius everything, all of her schemes, her theories, but now he was just like all the others. Caelum still had so much love for him, yes, but it was not the same, she was not the same. There was now, for the first time, a very real distance between the two of them, siblings who had never so much as slept in separate rooms. But that was all part of his plan, all part of their plan? Sirius would forgive her, in time, she knew that, but it didn't make it hurt any less. It felt like something was missing from her life; she had walked through a door and now the life on the other side of that door was no longer accessible to her. She could see it, remember it, but she could not occupy that space. It was unreachable now that she had left it. Perhaps that was also part of his plan.

"Not to interrupt whatever this is," Peter gestured with his hands towards Caelum and James. "But has anyone else noticed that Remus is just, gone?" Peter didn't talk much, but it didn't matter, because as strange as he might have been, he was a Marauder, just like them.

Caelum thought for a moment. She needed to find a way to reconnect them all, to build something that would allow for the new independence that was required of her, but would also restore their bond. She needed to make them Marauders again. She had been working on a plan to accomplish this for some time. Perhaps it was now the moment to put it into action. Enough delaying. She slammed her book shut and walked out of the room with only her wand. All three of them followed her, even Sirius.

It was clear that Caelum was looking for something, but she hadn't said what, and none of them dared to ask. James was sure they were walking in circles at one point as they followed her up and down the hallways and moving staircases of the castle.

Caelum eventually led them to the astronomy tower. The time had just come for dinner in the Great Hall and as they summited the steps and entered the classroom James felt relieved that Professor Volaris was absent. Caelum walked to the large window showing the early night sky and tilted her head at the moon as if this meant something. Clearly Sirius was following better than they were because he shot out an exclamation that still left James and Peter in the dark, "It is the night of Purnima, Blood Moon."

Sirius looked as if he had something else on the tip of his tongue, but neither James nor Peter got to hear it; instead Sirius turned towards Caelum with a grave look on his face. Seemingly, he had finally caught up with her. "You cannot possibly think?"

Caelum just nodded and breathed out. She felt now as if she must have been holding her breath for the last two months. There was a grin etched on her face, the same one now worn by Sirius. Peter hated when they did this, forgot the others existed and spoke of forbidden knowledge, not bothering to clue anyone else in.

"Where would they even keep it?" Sirius asked. He knew his sister was right, she was always right, especially when she had that glint in her eye. Nothing could have made him happier than that glint. He had solved her puzzle and the delight of feeling connected to her again overshadowed even the incredible revelation she had discovered.

"The best way to hide something is not to make it seem hidden at all." Caelum knew her brother would follow well enough, he was clever. In truth, for months Caelum had some sort of understanding that this was Remus's situation. She had formulated a plan, which would take a significant amount of trust and time, and well, there wasn't much of either to spare at the moment.

"Like a tree in a forest," Sirius smiled. He was right there with her. "Or, a monster in a haunted house."

"Exactly," Caelum grinned.

Peter often wondered why the others were friends with him, they all had something to offer. Caelum was a genius, Sirius was a rebel, James was the brave one, the true Gryffindor, and Remus was their mystery, he always had another secret. But Peter? What did he offer? The others would have all said the same thing, Peter was kind. But he doubted even that. What he wanted more than anything was to feel like one of them, on equal footing, but he was not a changeling twin followed by omens of death, nor was he the valiant soldier, bright as the sun, he was not even a sharp-witted street boy. Still at a loss for what the twins were discussing he inwardly cursed his own stupidity. There was nothing at all special about him. Could he ever truly be a Marauder?

"How will we get in?" Sirius asked.

"Follow the beast," Caelum shrugged, she always had the answers. "He must have some sort of help. I imagine it doesn't just tickle to change forms like that. And he wouldn't have access to the place on his own."

Sirius nodded in understanding, and James felt the need to demand an explanation. "What in hells bells are you two talking about?"

Caelum and Sirius exchanged an entire silent conversation through a short series of looks, and then turned to James in their odd, grim-like fashion. "Remus has a secret." The twins spoke simultaneously, as if they had somehow prepared their statement telepathically, and Peter let out an involuntarily shudder. James seemed not to understand either, or at least not fully, but he trusted the twins enough not to ask any more. Truly he just seemed relieved that things were finally feeling back to normal and he didn't want to threaten anything with further questions.

Let the twins have their secret then, Peter thought. I can at least pretend to be like James. Definitely safer that way. 

"Midnight?" Sirius asked, grinning like a madman.

"Midnight," Caelum confirmed, grinning back at Sirius.

A/N:

Do you know their discovery?

-Maia🖤