Waiting For You (A Marauders Story) [On Hold]

Chapter 2 - Monsters and Smuggled Chocolate

I spun around on my heels and laughed in delight. Surely this wasn't real. I had a room entirely to myself and it looked amazing! A four-poster double bed with gold and red sheets, and deep red curtains was pushed up against the far wall to make room for the shelves crammed with books. My window looked out onto the lake and the sun was beaming through it, giving the room a warm feel. Not only was the view beyond stunning, I had my very own window seat where I could read for hours on end! I clapped my hands and laughed again. Maybe this year wasn't going to be so bad after all. With a room like this, ignoring Potter would be a lot easier.

~o~

In the common room that Potter and I had to share, I waited for him so that we could begin our rounds for the night. I put down the book I had been reading and glared at his door impatiently. What was taking him so long?

I walked towards his room and hammered on his door. "Hurry up, Potter!"

I held my breath to listen for a response but when none came, I ambled to the window that looked out into the Forbidden Forest and yawned.

"Hurry up, Potter," I shook myself awake. "If you take any longer, I'm going to leave without you."

I pressed my forehead against the cool window pane and gazed down on the moonlit trees. A twitch in the trees caught my attention and as I watched, three small creatures ran into a clearing, biting and rolling around together. I shuffled closer and I could make out a black scruffy dog and a gorgeous stag running around a larger creature...a werewolf? My eyes widened of their own accord and flickered to the moon dancing with the clouds high above me. I glanced back down at the three animals, astounded at the bravery of the dog and the stag. Werewolves were known to not know a friend from an enemy but little was known about their actual thought process – it wasn't generally something they talked about. Perhaps the werewolf had made friends with other animals in a time of loneliness.

I shook my head and pushed away from the window.

"Hurry up, Potter!" I pounded on his door but when no answer came, I slowly pushed it open. "I'm coming in."

My eyes widened and my breath left me in a whoosh. Wow, I had thought Marlene's room could get messy but this was another level of mess. Clothes were thrown haphazardly around the room as though he had left them where he had taken them off. Books and quills tumbled over themselves throughout his room and I cringed at the bent and ripped covers. The only things that resembled neatness were his Quidditch supplies in the corner of his room. I rolled my eyes at his priorities. Only Potter.

I glanced around his room but when I didn't see the mess himself, I left the room. "Damn you, Potter!"

I slammed the double portraits of the Hogwarts founders that served as double doors for the Head Boy and Girl rooms, ignoring their protests of indignation. How dare Potter leave me to do the rounds by myself! He was probably off running around with Black causing mischief and doing Merlin-knows-what-else that I would have to clean up! Damn you, Potter!

As I walked along the corridors filled with only the sounds of gentle snores and my near-silent footsteps, I stopped at one of the floor-to-ceiling windows. The moon shone through silently graceful and I rested there for a moment, gazing up at it in its magnificence.

Wait a minute, I thought to myself. It's full tonight...but that means...

I glanced towards the Forbidden Forest but I was on the wrong side of the castle to see it completely. Was that him? But if that was him...does that mean those other animals were...?

I rubbed the bridge of my nose and sighed. Well, that certainly made sense. I rolled my eyes and continued walking down the corridor.

"Lily," one of the sixth year Hufflepuff Prefects who had been assigned this corridor whispered. "Where are James and Remus? Aren't they supposed to be on patrol tonight?"