Illicit | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 4

The next day, a Saturday morning, Eleanor slept in. She had only managed to fall asleep after she had made up a plan of attack in her head. She was determined to do whatever it took to become an Animagus. But she wasn't going to tell anyone, especially not Remus. 

It was already past ten when she came down for breakfast in the Great Hall. Not feeling very hungry, she only grabbed a piece of toast. She didn't know where Amelia, Kathy, or Doris were, but that didn't really bother her. It would make her secret plan just a little bit easier.

After breakfast she went to the Library, to look up as much information as she could on how to become an Animagus. The book Kathy had given her turned out to be completely useless once she had flipped it through. So she had to find another different one, one which had all of the steps written down in it. Be didn't Kathy say it took her ages to find the book she had already given her? Eleanor sighed and rested her head in her hand, staring out into the distance.

"What's got your wand tied up in a knot, Lupin?" she heard someone behind her say. 

Her head shot up and she turned around, only to see Sirius sitting behind, a smirk playing on his lips.

"You really do like scaring people don't you Black?" she chuckled and moved her chair over so she could face him. 

He shrugged and looked over her shoulder, "What d'you have there?" 

"Nothing, just-" but before she could put it away he had already grabbed the book out of her hands.

He frowned and read the chapter which she had laid open in front of her, the one about Animagi. Sirius grinned and closed it, giving it back to her, "What are you on about Ella?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing," she said, crossing her arms over her chest, "Where are your loyal subjects anyway? Have they abandoned their king?" she grinned, trying to change the subject.

"I see what you did there, tsk tsk," he said, pointing a finger at her, "But eh, James has his first Quidditch practice, Peter went to watch and Remus told me he had to leave," he explained, grabbing a book from one of the nearby shelves and flipping through it.

"Oh did he, well I better go check on him then," she said grabbing her stuff and putting it into her bag.

Sirius looked confused but decided not to say anything, wondering where this would lead to.

"Smell ya later Black," she grinned and left the Library.

"Hey! You take-" 

"SHHHHH!" Madam Pince spat.

Eleanor made her way over to the Hospital Wing, knowing Remus would be there after Sirius told her he left. She knocked on the door and opened it slightly. Madam Pomfrey noticed her and nodded, allowing her to come in. She closed the door behind her and saw Remus laying on a bed in the far corner of the room, sleeping, so she went over to him. Eleanor's heart sank; she had never seen him in such a bad state before.

Pomfrey got her a chair and she sat down, "Thank you," she looked up at her, "How is he?" she whispered.

"Well, it surely wasn't as bad last year, but you have to keep in mind that he is getting older now. He is reaching puberty, so his body has to do enough already" Pomfrey sighed, "Having to turn into a werewolf every month definitely does not help." 

Eleanor heard a soft thud and quickly scanned the room, but nobody was there. Pomfrey obviously knew that, or she wouldn't have said those words. Remus groaned and opened his eyes slightly.

"Hey, Remy," she whispered, gently laying her hand on top of her brother's. He grabbed it, but his grip was very weak. 

Pomfrey sat him up slightly and handed him his bar of chocolate, which he then took a small bite of.

"Tired?" she asked softly, rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb.

He nodded and closed his eyes again, drifting off to sleep.

"It's best if he just gets as much rest as he can before tonight, it already wears him out so much," said Madam Pomfrey, looking down at him, smiling sadly.

Eleanor nodded, taking that as her cue to leave. She let go of Remus' hand, stood up from her chair, and hung her bag over her shoulder. She took one last look at him, holding back some tears.

"You're welcome to come back tomorrow morning, miss Lupin, if you want," Pomfrey said softly, filling out some paperwork.

"Thank you," she smiled shortly and walked out of the Hospital Wing.

As soon as she closed the door, she leaned against the wall and started to sob quietly. Why wasn't there anything she could do? All she wanted was to just take away his pain for one night, to do it for him one night. He didn't deserve this.

She needed to get started on project Animagus as soon as possible, and she had just the idea of how to get the information she needed.

***

She stood in front of a small door at the end of a corridor and knocked three times. The door opened.

"Yes?" Professor Slughorn asked, "Ah miss Lupin, for what do I owe the pleasure?" he smiled underneath his large mustache.

"Well sir, I don't mean to bother you, but I'm interested in a Potions book which contains rather advanced stuff," Eleanor began, looking as innocent as possible, "But I found out today that this book can only be found in the Restricted Section of the Library, so I was wondering-"

"If I could give you permission?" Slughorn beamed down at her.

Eleanor blushed lightly and nodded, "Yes, that would be very kind."

Without saying anything he went back into his office and took a piece of parchment from a pile on his desk. He scribbled something on it and handed it to her.

"Thank you, sir," she smiled and headed over to the Library.

She showed the permission slip to Madam Pince and entered the Restricted Section, which was full of strange and fascinating books. After about half an hour of searching, she found what she was looking for and took the book with her to the Gryffindor common room.

She sat down in the same corner as the day before and paged through the book, her eyes eventually landing on the exact steps on how to become an Animagus. She smiled to herself. She got a piece of parchment, her quill, and a bottle of ink from her bag, and began copying the steps from the book.

This is going to be so difficult, she thought as she reached the third step, which was to add a silver teaspoon of dew from a place that neither sunlight nor human feet had touched to the saliva-filled Mandrake leaf.

When she heard three loud boys enter the common room she quickly hid the parchment under her book. Just in time, because Peter, James, and Sirius headed straight over to her. The three of them were looking confused. James grabbed a chair and sat across the table from her.

"So," he started, looking straight into her eyes, "when exactly were you going to tell us Remus is a werewolf?"