Chasing The Stars | Marauders | Sirius Black

6 ~ Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs and Puff

"No!" Eloise heard Remus exclaim. "No! No! Stop! Don't follow me! It's too dangerous!" He gave up when he got no reply. Remus could see he was fighting a losing battle; his friends were determined to help him and that was that. The tunnel became narrow and winding. The ceiling was no more than waist height, and the soil lining the walls and ceilings was clay coloured and crumbling, with roots sticking out here and there. James and Sirius were forced to shift back to human form, as their animals physically couldn't fit through. James' antlers were far too wide, and the stag himself was much too tall. Similarly, Sirius' broad, tall, shaggy frame couldn't squeeze through the tunnel, so both boys, cursing and grumbling, crawled on their hands and knees. Eloise was immensely grateful for her tiny animal self. She had plenty of room to hop along, and she felt a rush of joy, knowing they were helping Remus through this night (and many more to come) that he had previously found extremely difficult.

Finally, the marauders reached the trapdoor in the dusty, apparently derelict Shrieking shack. Thankfully Remus hadn't begun to change yet, leaving Eloise and Peter time to change back and allowing all four of them to gather their bearings. Eloise noticed long, deep gouges taken out of the floor and walls. She assumed they were from Remus and felt a sudden fear arise in the pit of her stomach. She and the others hadn't truly thought of just how much their friend was capable of when fully transformed. Sirius seemed to sense her unease and stood close to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Eloise shivered. She hadn't realised until now how cold it was until now, and the strappy top that she'd needed in the heat of the great hall, provided her with very little warmth. "I'm begging you now, please go back to the castle!" Remus began again, "It's far too dangerous, you don't know what you're all getting yourselves in to!" 

"Remus..." James began, in a patronising tone, "You know there's no point trying. We're here to help and we're not going - " He was cut short as Remus let out a yell and began to shake uncontrollably.There was a terrible snarling noise. Remus' head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and hands, which were curling into clawed paws. He roared in agony and the four friends jumped back in shock. Remus Lupin was nowhere to be seen. In his place, a towering, menacing werewolf.

"Hello Moony." Muttered James, "Nice of you to show up." Remus turned and looked at him. He bared his teeth and started to tense. James, seeing the danger crouched down, and in the blink of an eye, was a magnificent stag, towering over the werewolf, in a fighting stance. The werewolf seemed to sense this was prey he couldn't have, and turned his attention one by one on Sirius, Peter and Eloise. They each transformed into their animal selves and stood in a line, facing their friend, waiting for the attack. However, none came. The werewolf known as Remus Lupin appeared to know it had met its match. Prongs bowed his head to Remus, as if to call a truce and the werewolf relaxed it's muscles and padded over to investigate the strange foursome. It sniffed, first at Prongs, then at Wormtail, then Padfoot and finally Puff. Padfoot tensed and growled at the beast as it sniffed her, ready to protect her if need be. The wolf seemed to declare them equals, as is meandered over to the other side of the room and began scratching the walls repetitively. Scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch. Over and over, It was enough to make anyone, animal, human or werewolf, crazy.