The Wolf and The Raven, Bk 2

Ch 13 - The Prank

As the Marauders drifted into December, end of term exams piled on them like the banks of snow swirling around the castle walls. Despite the increase in academic work though, they found studying much easier now that they had each other's help again. Remus helped Branwen finish her Transfiguration essay (and pass with flying colours) while Branwen was able to help Peter raise his Herbology scores. The only social event to interrupt the frantic pace of tests and homework was Professor Slughorn's annual Christmas do, an affair open only to the select members of his Club.

No longer with Lily for company, Remus was going stag ("you mean going wolf!" Sirius laughed). James had a date with Nina Dawson, while Sirius was taking Jemma Miller. The night of the party, Branwen finally managed to persuade them to wear the dress robes that otherwise hung useless in their wardrobes. When they were all ready, she stood back to admire them. Well, she intended to admire them all, but couldn't keep her eyes from lingering on Remus.

She tilted her head as she studied him, and it occurred to her, for the first time, that Remus was not actually attractive in the traditional sense. When her girl-friends brought up the subject of good-looking boys, James and Sirius would always rank among the top of their list, along with Frank Longbottom and seventh-year Ravenclaw, Wade Fawcett. Remus was never mentioned.

If someone was just meeting him, the scars would likely keep them from examining his features any further. But Branwen looked past them, admiring those bright, intelligent eyes, and the long nose that extended over his full lips.

That evening, he was wearing yet another hand-me-down from his father. It was tight across the chest and ended about a foot above his shoes which were two sizes too big. Despite approaching his sixteenth birthday, he still had the gawky appearance of an under-stuffed scarecrow.

Branwen felt a slight (very slight) twinge of gladness that Remus was so awkwardly built. Dealing with Lily had been straining enough; if she had to fight off the number of girls who flocked around James and Sirius, she would die from the effort.

Remus was blushing under her gaze. "Um, everything all right? Are they that bad? The robes, I mean?"

"No!" Branwen quickly assured him. "They're quite....lovely."

James, Sirius, and Peter snickered behind her.

"All right. You're going to be late. Get out of here!" She shooed them out the door.

While the other boys were at their party, Peter and Branwen did nothing more exciting than work on their homework – Peter on Muggle Studies and Branwen on Astronomy. Without their louder friends to distract them, they finished early, and Peter left for the common room to see if Luke Bryne would be interested in a game of Gobstones. Branwen remained in the room, perusing Remus' shelves for a book she had yet to read. She picked one called Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, then curled up on his bed to begin the story. She had just begun the second chapter ("Curiouser and curiouser!") when the boys shuffled through the door.

Remus said nothing, just started yanking off his robes and kicking his shoes into a corner of the room. One look at James and Sirius told Branwen the night had been a miserable disaster.

She sat up a little straighter, marking her place in the book, when James came and sat beside her. "It was a proper catastrophe," he whispered. "Snape was still sore over Remus going with Evans and even more sore at him breaking it off. Guess he thought Moony was trying to break her heart or some rubbish."

Sirius sat on her other side. "You should have seen the bastard. He deliberately spilled his full cup of hot tea on Moony's lap. Then there was a bit of dancing, and Snivellus knocked him off his feet. Poor Moony fell right on top of a house-elf carrying a tray of pickled eels."

"Worst of all," James continued, "he insulted him right to Slughorn. Said Moony didn't even care enough to get a proper set of clothes and that with him being ill all the time, he wasn't a good fit for the Club."

Branwen's jaw twitched, but she said nothing. Then, jumping from the bed, she snatched her wand, and raced for the door. She didn't know Remus had been listening the whole time, until she heard his voice yell, "Immobulus!"

She was frozen in mid-stride, her expression of fierce determination still plastered on her face.

"I'll let you go if you promise to stay in this room," Remus said.

She couldn't respond of course, so he used the Locking Spell on the door before releasing her.

"Now," he strode in front of her and crossed his arms, "where do you think you were going?"

Branwen had fallen to the floor when the spell was lifted and dusted herself off before looking up at Remus to answer. But it seemed all of a sudden that her vocal chords had left her body. Why else was her mouth open but no words were coming out? Oh yeah – shirtless Remus. With the fire behind her, his lanky frame was bathed in a golden light; she could see every scar, every lean muscle, every soft blonde hair leading to the waistband of his pyjama trousers.....

"Well?" he prompted. "Where were you going?"

She swallowed and grit her teeth. "I was going to kill Severus Snape."

"That's what I thought." Remus' face twitched as he held back a smirk. "You know, murder is illegal in both wizard and Muggle laws."

Behind him, James chuckled. "I'd take her seriously, Moony."

"Not too Siriusly," Sirius winked. "But, honestly, Feathers lives outside the law. Don't underestimate her."

Branwen grinned and started crawling toward the door again.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Remus lifted his wand again. "Levicorpus!"

She was jerked up into the air by her left foot. "Remus John Lupin! You put me down this instant!"

All the boys chuckled as she dangled in the air. Her arms were crossed and her long hair brushed against the floor.

"Promise that you're not going to kill Snape," Remus said.

Her mouth opened, but James jumped in. "Too many loopholes! Tell her she can't take out revenge on Snape at all." He saw the anger in his sister's narrowed eyes. "And tell her that she's not allowed to kill any of us either."

"You heard the man," Remus smirked.

She sighed. "Fine."

Remus smiled softly and, rather than let her drop to the floor again, levitated her over his bed, then lowered her gently. She groaned and rolled onto her stomach, burying her head in the pillow as she sent a rude gesture to the boys laughing behind her back.

Before long though, she heard the sound of the bathroom door opening and James and Sirius belting out "Sweet Home Azkaban" around the toothbrushes in their mouths. She felt the bed dip a little as Remus sat beside her. "Hey," he smiled.

She rolled over to face him, putting on her best pouting face. "Don't you 'hey' me. You're just as much a bully as Snape."

Remus' face fell. "I'm sorry, Branwen. I wasn't trying to hurt you. I really was worried you were going to hurt yourself going after Snape though. And I – I suppose a part of me was frustrated with myself." He reached out and tucked a strand of silky hair behind her ear. "I don't want you or anyone else to get hurt fighting my battles. I need to stand up for myself, and it's not something I'm going to learn to do if you and the lads come running to my rescue all the time."

She considered this and, though she was loathe to admit it, he was right. She sighed. "I'm sorry, Remus. I should have taken your feelings into consideration. Still, that Snape makes me so angry!"

"Well, that's all right," Remus laughed. "He makes me angry too."

She giggled. "Holy Merlin! Can you imagine if I had actually gone down there! Even if I survived, we could kiss the House Cup good-bye!"

They both laughed, then she lifted herself onto her elbows. "So....sleepover?"

"Oh, um," Remus scratched at an old scar above his elbow, "well, don't you think we're....well, a little too old for that?"

She frowned. She knew he was right, but it was still disappointing to hear it out loud. "I suppose you're right. I had better get going then. Al and Emmie will probably be asleep already. Good-night." She leaned forward, kissed him on the cheek, then left the room.



Though the Marauders had successfully kept Branwen from ending up in Azkaban for manslaughter, they couldn't stop Severus from continuing his campaign of hatred toward them. It was as though he had been waiting for Lily to extricate herself from the group so that he could resume his animosity. The Gryffindors would have rather come out and fought in the open, but as a Slytherin, Severus' attempts were more subtle. It was the day of the full moon, during their last DADA class of the term, when things came to a head.

They were reviewing hex-deflections that day. One-by-one, the professor brought them up, giving them a chance to deflect whatever came at them. Remus made sure he was first to go. He passed effortlessly and was able to return to pacing in the back of the room. The full moon was only a few hours away.

Severus also passed quickly and moved to stand against the wall with Mortimer Bulstrode and Eric Travers. He raised his head, pushing back his greasy curtain of hair to look down his hooked nose at the rowdy Marauders still in line. James, Sirius, and Peter were casting the Pepper Breath jinx on each other so that tiny jets of flames burst from their mouths every time they laughed.

Sirius, catching Severus' glare, shot his next fiery breath in the Slytherin's direction, simultaneously flipping him off. James and Peter doubled up in laughter until James was called up to the front of the line.

With Sirius and Peter distracted watching James' efforts, they failed to notice Severus lift his wand. Under his breath, he muttered, "Imperio."

Peter's face suddenly took on a vacant expression (even more than usual). Gazing into the distance, he shed his school robes and started removing his trousers.

"Wormtail!" Sirius yelped in surprise. But then he saw Severus chuckling with his friends. Gripping his own wand, Sirius raised it and yelled, "Stupefy!"

Severus was thrown against the wall with such force his wand went flying from his hand and blood started trickling from his ear. With Severus' attention on the curse broken, Peter was released and, with a flame-red face, fumbled to pull his trousers back up. James and Remus started to run to their friends, but the professor exploded, cutting them off.

"Mr. Black! Mr. Pettigrew!" the professor shouted. "What is the meaning of this?"

"We didn't do anything!" Sirius shouted back. "Snape was using an Unforgivable Curse on my friend!"

Severus stood, dusting himself off and smirking at the two boys. "I was doing no such thing, Professor. You know how these troublemakers are; always trying to avoid the consequences of their actions."

"Black, Pettigrew," the professor addressed them, "you have both earned yourself detention tonight. I believe Professor Kettleburn has some hippogriff dung that needs shovelling. Twenty points will be deducted from Gryffindor for cursing another student, Mr. Black, and another ten for...." the professor frowned at Peter "....public indecency."

Once the class let out, James and Remus cornered the other two in the hall. "How could you do this?" Remus hissed, grabbing Sirius by the front of his robes. "On tonight, of all nights!"

"It's not like I planned it!" Sirius shoved him away. "Besides, you'll be fine with Prongs and Feathers."

James was standing nearby, arms crossed. "Wrong, mate. I'm taking over Moony's prefect duties for the night."

Sirius cursed and kicked the wall, crushing his toe and resulting in more curses.

"Well, you still have Feathers," Peter said quietly.

"Great," Remus rolled his eyes. "One little pigeon against a full-fledged wolf?"

"I'm no pigeon! I'm a noble and intelligent bird of prey!" Branwen strolled up to the boys. Her smiled turned to a frown though when she saw their solemn faces. "What happened?"

Remus' eyes softened when he saw her. "Well, it's just going to be you and me tonight."

"Why?"

"Because Padfoot and Wormtail got themselves detention."

"What did you two do?" Her hands were on her hips.

Sirius was still glowering and favouring his toe. "It wasn't us. Snivellus used the Imperius Curse on Wormtail to make him pull down his trousers, so I stunned him."

"Oh, Peter." Even though the boys had defended their friend, Branwen was the first to offer sympathy. She pulled him into a tight hug, allowing him to bury his face in her shoulder and hide his tears from the others.

"Well, I don't blame you, Padfoot," Branwen sighed when Peter pulled away. "But I wish it hadn't happened tonight. We'll have to stay in the Shack, of course," she addressed Remus. "I may not be a pigeon, but I'm still not sure I could control the wolf out in the Forest."

The bell announcing the lunch hour rang, and the five of them headed to the Great Hall. They would all need to eat and keep up their strength for the night ahead.



The moon rose early that afternoon, as it often did in the winter months. Darkness was already creeping on the evening, so Remus and Branwen decided to forego the Invisibility Cloak as they made their way down to the tunnel, then through to the Shack.

After Remus' transformation it was, all things considered, a pleasant night. The wolf had an exceptional fondness for the raven and they enjoyed chasing each other up and down the flights of stairs. It gave the wolf special delight to snap at her dangling legs, satisfying his chase instinct without danger of injury to himself or anyone else, for the bird was nimble enough to escape his jaws with little effort.

Sirius and Peter were having a worse time, by far. Rather than shovelling manure, Kettleburn had them picking Chizpurfles from his pack of Crups. This was difficult for a number of reasons. It was bitterly cold and their fingers (which were un-gloved for their work) were frozen stiff. Then there were the Crups. They were two-tailed canines resembling Jack Russell Terriers, and were so full of energy, they were difficult to hang onto for more than a few minutes. And, as it happened, the Chizpurfles they sought were less than a centimetre in size.

The boys were working in the deep winter darkness by the light of the moon when they saw a shadow approaching, a figure blacker than the night around him.

"Enjoying your leisurely night, Marauders? Or should I say, Morons?" Severus was the only one who sniggered at his remark.

"Come here to undress some more lads, Snivellus?" The Crup on Sirius' lap jumped down as he stood.

Severus ignored him, crossing his arms. "Where's the other half of your little gang? Glasses, Scars, and Tag-Along."

Even Peter grabbed his wand at the insults to his friends, though he made sure to stand behind Sirius. Sirius' fingers flexed on his wand, then he smirked. "You want to know where they are, Grease-ball?"

Snape eyed him warily.

"They're off on a secret errand. You see, we discovered something in the Shrieking Shack. We know why it shrieks."

"Padfoot," Peter hissed at his elbow.

"Well," Snape prodded. "What is it?"

"What do you think it is?" Sirius raised his eyebrows, then pointed up at the moon.

Severus took a moment to consider the implications of this, then frowned. "How do you get in? To the Shack? I assume you lot wouldn't do something as simple as stroll through the front door?"

Sirius, smirk still firmly in place, leaned forward and whispered in Severus' ear. The Slytherin said nothing in response, but turned on his heel and stalked away.


James ran his fingers through his hair for the seventeenth time since he had started patrols with Lily. "So....uh....looking forward to Quidditch next term?"

She folded her arms. "Is that the silence I asked for?"

He fumed for a moment, then let loose with something that had been on his mind for a while. "Look, Evans....what did Remus have that I don't? Is it the scars? Makes him look cooler? Is the brains, because I'm above him in Divination and Muggle Studies!"

"Remus doesn't even take those classes, Potter!"

"Yeah....well...."

Lily stopped and placed her hands on her hips. "Why would you want to be like Remus anyway? We broke up. Is that why you want to date me? So we can break up a month later? Or do you actually want to commit?"

James' eyes first lit up, then grew wide. "I....I...."

They had paused near a window and James could see across to the Whomping Willow. By the light of the moon, he could also see a figure with long, greasy hair crouching toward the tree. There was no mistaking the familiar form of his nemesis. Snape had a long stick and he was poking amongst the roots. When he hit the right spot, the sweeping branches of the tree became still and he disappeared beneath their shadow,

"Remus! Branwen!" James gasped. He pointed his wand at the window. "Alohomora!" He leaped through the opening onto the soft snow outside and ran as fast as he could. He wished desperately that he could use the athletic legs of his stag form, but he was sure Lily was still watching. Reaching the tree and finding the immobilising trigger much faster than Severus had, he raced into the tunnel.

"Snape!" James called out. His voice didn't echo as it would have on stone, but sank deep into the earthen walls. "Snape! Get back here! You'll be killed!"

In the Shack, the animals noticed a disturbance. There was shouting and scurrying and the scent of fear. The wolf raised his nose in the air, inhaling deeply. His eyes rolled back and his lips curled back. A blood-curdling howl echoed through the night air.

When Severus heard the howl, he froze. A cold fear gripped him like he had never known and, though he no longer had the desire to move forward, he didn't have the strength to move back. The tension in his body was only broken when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Potter! What are you –"

"Shut up and get out of here!" James gripped the other boy's shoulder and forcibly dragged him from the tunnel, back into the cold night air. When they emerged, the two boys were panting, their breaths enveloping their faces in fog. Severus' eyes were still wide with fear, James' with surprise. Then Severus turned and ran.

I'm really interested to know what you guys think about my take on such a pivotal moment in canon. Besides obvious things (like Branwen) I do try to stay as true to canon and the wizarding world as possible. I do hate writing strife between the Marauders though, lol.