The Marauders//COMPLETED

21

When Remus returned, none of them mentioned what had happened. The teachers of course had informed him of the incident the moment he was back in his right mind, and he felt extremely guilty about it. He had expected his friends to want to talk about it, or to bombard him with questions as soon as they could, but they were silent.

In fact, they didn't talk about the incident until weeks after, when Remus returned from the Headmaster's office.

"What did you do, plagiarize your finals or something?" Sirius asked. Remus shook his head thoughtfully.

"Dumbledore wanted to let me know that they are working to advance the security around the shack so that I don't hurt anyone again." Remus said quietly.

"Ah, c'mon Remus! You didn't hurt anyone!" James said, slapping him on the shoulder. Peter's eyes narrowed and he bit his lip, looking intently at the floor. This went unnoticed by his friends.

"What kind of security are we talking here? Trolls? Ogres?" Sirius asked.

"I'm not sure, but it sounded like it was going to be pretty secure." Remus answered. "Which is a good thing."

"Sure. But how are we going to visit you?" Sirius smiled slightly at the look Remus gave him.

"I almost killed you guys. You will not come to visit me when I am like that." Remus shuddered. "You don't know what it's like. I completely lose control. I cannot tell friend from enemy."

"Yes...but can you tell human from animal?" Sirius asked quietly. Remus looked confused.

"What I mean is; would you attack an animal?"

"I don't know. I've never transformed anywhere other than my own bedroom back home and the shack here at Hogwarts," Remus shrugged. "There were no animals. Or people."

"Ok, well. Next time you transform, we should put an animal in with you and see what you do." Sirius said. Remus chuckled.

"It's very kind of you to want me to have company when I'm like that. But I've been doing this for years on my own, and it's safer that there is no one with me," Remus said. "I'd prefer loneliness over knowing that I killed or injured someone, whether they are human or animal."

Sirius and James exchanged a look, unsure if they should press the matter. They had rehearsed this conversation many times in the empty Gryffindor common room over the break, wanting to have the perfect way to bring this up with their logical, kind-hearted friend. They got the idea for this plan at the very beginning of the break, when Peter disappeared to detentions with McGonagall (he said he wanted to get as many detentions done before classes resumed) and James and Sirius were left alone and very bored. They had decided to research werewolves in the library, because although they hated reading, they genuinely loved their friend and wanted to know more about his condition.

That was when they ran across the section about how werewolves do not attack animals nearly as often as they attack humans. This reminded the boys of how McGonagall, on their very first day of school, had transfigured herself into a cat to impress the class. What if they could do the same thing? What if they could transform into animals on the full moon, so that their friend wouldn't have to be alone? What if they could contain him; take him out of the shack safely so that he could explore instead of harming himself out of frustration?

"No, absolutely not!" Remus exclaimed, jumping out of his chair when they suggested their plan to him. "I nearly killed you once, that is never happening again!"

"It might not, mate. We did our research very thoroughly-"

"That we can assure you of. Combed the library for the smallest details, we did." James nodded along with Sirius.

"Yes, anyways," Sirius continued. "We would still be at risk, but it would be significantly lesser than if we were humans. We took many books on werewolves to compare facts, and almost all of them agreed that werewolves don't often attack animals. Something to do with them only wanting to bite humans, to spread the 'disease'. Animals don't turn into werewolves, so the whole point of biting them would be useless! Remus, it could work!"

Remus was still shaking his head and was about to say something when James held up a hand.

"Before you say anything, picture this; you can leave the shack safely, because you have four animals to surround you and keep you away from people. You won't be shut up alone in that dark room hurting yourself because there are no humans to hurt. We could explore places that no humans have ever seen before."

Remus was still shaking his head, but there was a spark of excitement in his eye. After facing something as intense as being a werewolf alone for so many years, one can't help but feel enticed by the thought of having a small portion of freedom. Of not being alone.

Sirius and James exchanged smiles, knowing that Remus was convinced.

"It might work," Remus said with a serious expression, but his dancing eyes weren't missed by his friends and they silently rejoiced that they had convinced him. "But on one condition."

"Name it." his friends said.

"I do the research."

A\N This was a bit of a slow chapter, so I'm sorry about that! There will be some more action soon!
Please let me know what you think about this story or my writing style in general,  I'm always looking for areas to improve in, and I'd appreciate some feedback! :)

Take care of yourselves, protect others and stay safe!