I Solemnly Swear: Book 1

Completely Impossible

It had been a week since I had seen Mr. Paterson being cursed and he was back to acting as normal, I couldn't help but be on edge every time I was around him. Sirius was rather angry and hadn't given up on the idea that we needed to solve this problem ourselves, coming up with schemes each more hair-brained and radical than the last; James encouraged these ideas with fervor so therefore Pete did as well, Remus and I were skeptical.

Remus huffed, "This is ridiculous, you really can't expect to trap a teacher."

"A net could work! Just listen, so we put it up in between some trees and get Paterson to come out to the Forbidden Forest-" I cut Sirius off.

"I agree with Rem, this sounds bloody insane and impossible."

"It would be pretty interesting to see a teacher squirm under a net though." James mused, I thwacked him on the arm.

"Not helping."

Sirius stuck his tongue out at me, "Party pooper. You need to at least help with coming up with the plans, Cas."

I stood up and gathered my books, "I don't have to do anything I don't want to, Black."

I walked away, hearing Sirius faintly mumble, "Jeez, someone obviously woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

I bristled slightly, having been in a bad mood all day long. Remus had gotten back from yet another three-day excursion and I was getting quite frustrated with him, he always looked so sickly and pale for days after he came back and I just couldn't figure out what was going on with him. I was overly worried because this time he came back with a scar trailing from his cheek to cut through his lip, it wasn't awful but it certainly wasn't pretty either.

I saw Narcissa, Lucius, and their gang of baby death eaters, I moved as far as I could to the other side of the corridor. As I walked past Narcissa gave me a small discreet wave and soft smile, I picked up the pace. Entering the Great Hall, I saw Marlene and Lily sitting at the end of the table, I sat down next to Lily.

"Whatcha reading Lils?" I questioned as I picked up a plate and began to grab some food.

She waved her hand as she talked, "Oh just this fascinating book on magical creatures, I'm on the chapter of werewolves. Did you know that when they are fully human, werewolves will often have scratches all over their body, be very pale for at least two weeks a month, and have their senses heightened around the full moon to the point where they can't stand certain smells because it makes them sick? I feel bad for the poor people, it must be so awful."

Before I could respond, Remus sat down in front of me, next to Marlene, and abruptly turned a shade of light green.

"What is that smell? It's so strong and overpowering, kind of like perfume." He looked between us, holding his nose.

"Erm, hat shmust be ve." Marls said this with her mouth full, making it barely coherent.

Remus raised an eyebrow, "Um, what?"

Marlene swallowed and cleared her throat, "I said, that must be me, I put on perfume earlier but not so much for it to be an overpowering smell." Marlene looked at Remus in confusion.

I looked at Remus, his face a faint shade of green but still rather pale. He was holding his nose as if the smell was attacking him when I could barely smell anything. The scratch on his face was slightly red and puffy. My eyes widened, I grabbed Remus' hand.

He looked at me startled, "What are you doing?"

"Just some divination book I read, told me you could read things off of peoples' hands," I replied quickly.

"Okay.." Remus replied, moving his gaze towards his hand.

His sleeve had ridden up slightly and I could see at least the start of three long scratches on his arm, my breath caught in my throat.

"Im-impossible." I stuttered quietly.

Remus looked at me in concern, "What? What is it?"

"Oh, er, it just says that you're going to be famous and that, um, you're gonna have a dog. Th-that's all." I quickly put his hand back on the table.

"You know what? I just realized I forgot some books that I need for class in the common room. I'll see you all later." I quickly gathered my things and walked out of the Great Hall, breaking into a sprint as soon as I was in the hallway. I ran up to the common room, muttered the password to the Fat Lady, and rushed up the girls' staircase to my dorm. Throwing my stuff haphazardly on my bed, I dove for my book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Flipping quickly to the werewolf chapter, I saw it. Pale complexion, scars, and heightened senses. I read further and it said that the full moon lasts one day but that werewolves often need two to four days to recover after each moon. My hand shakily rose to my mouth as the facts presented themselves before me.

My best friend was a bloody werewolf.