WHEN WE WERE YOUNG : marauders era

40. her realization

Remus was a werewolf.

She had been suspecting this for quite some time now but it, nevertheless, came as a shock. She had always found his scars and frequent illness mysterious. Soon, she realised that he always got ill around the same time - when the full moon was approaching - and he would be in an awfully bad mood then.

His senses also got a lot more stronger during that time. Once, he had told her that his head was hurting because of the smell of something rotten. She hadn't been able to detect any such smell at that time but later, they had seen Mr. Filch cleaning out some mess, among which was the body of a dead rat.

As she looked at him now, taking in every detail, she felt terribly sad.

She didn't mind that he hadn't confided in them; after all, there were some things which were difficult to share even with people they trusted. She knew that better than anyone.

But she couldn't bear the thought of him suffering like that all alone somewhere. Then the thought struck her: Where did he go to transform? Did anyone help him?

She assumed the professors knew, so there must be someone who helped him right?

Remus noticed Mareena looking at him and smiled, although he could feel his face heat up and turn red already.

Mareena smiled back, trying to act natural and not like someone who'd just got caught staring.

Remus looked around and as he looked back at her, he mouthed, "How are you?"

"Fine," she mouthed back and they smiled at their little exchange.

"Did you like my gift?" He asked as he leaned forward. It was fairly noisy now as James and Sirius began jumping on their seats. They looked like they were giving a concert of some sorts.

"Loved it," she replied enthusiastically. "Your mom knits really well. Those are the BEST scarves I've ever had! Julie liked them a lot too. Thanks again!"

"I'm glad you like it," Remus said with a smile. Mareena's heart ached as she thought about how her friend, who was always so sweet, had to suffer so much. But even though she had found out the truth, she knew she couldn't possibly confront him about it. However, she also couldn't just stay without doing anything.

Remus could see Mareena was bothered by something. He figured it must be regarding her mother's health so he decided not to ask too many questions. Instead, he gave her some chocolates to cheer her up.

"Oh, you don't have to," Mareena began saying.

"Ree, this is for you. And when someone gives you something, what do you say?" Remus asked with a mischievous grin, as he used her own words against her this time.

Mareena stared at him for a while before replying, "Thank you," with a light laugh, shaking her head.

"No problem." He noticed that she was wearing tiny earrings each in the shape of a cat and he smiled secretly to himself. Those were really cute.

Juliana was currently helping Peter with his holiday homework while James and Sirius were now talking about the latest broom in the market.

The compartment door suddenly slid open to reveal three familiar faces.

"Julliiieee! Reeeee!" Marlene exclaimed excitedly as the girls did a group hug. "How are you? Did you like my Christmas gift? Blimey, you're wearing them! Oh, I'm so glad!!!"

As the girls stood by the door, talking, Sirius cleared his throat loudly to get their attention.

"If you want, you can join us girls," he said, glancing mischievously at James, who seemed pleasantly surprised that his friend was willingly becoming his wingman.

Marlene and Alice didn't seem to mind but Lily narrowed her eyes before replying, "Actually, we wanted Ree and Julie to sit with us in our compartment for today. If you want to, that is," she added, looking at her two friends whilst silently pleading them to say yes.

James' face fell but he wasn't surprised. He had expected this and honestly, he didn't mind. He liked her a lot and he knew, one day, she would realise that. He just hoped that day would come soon.

"Sure," Mareena replied, sensing Lily's discomfort. She glanced apologetically at James and followed Lily and the rest out of the compartment.

With Mareena and Juliana gone, Remus, Peter, James and Sirius looked at each other with knowing looks.

"Perfect timing, eh?" Sirius asked, getting up.

"Couldn't have been better," James agreed and both boys bent down under their seats and took out a black wooden box.

"How many did you bring?" Remus asked, looking into the box a bit doubtfully.

"Just enough to surprise everyone at Hogwarts," Sirius replied, looking smug.

"Uh- are you sure they're safe?" Peter asked nervously.

"Of course! The ones we sent Ree and Julie for Christmas didn't hurt them, did they? I mean, we wouldn't have sent it if we weren't sure. These are the exact same ones, except bigger explosions!" James exclaimed excitedly.

Remus felt the urge to tell James that it was exactly the reason why it could be dangerous, but he decided not to. This wasn't just another prank; this was for Ree and Julie.

They had planned during the Christmas holidays to do something that would cheer them up. Something to distract them from their mother's health condition, whatever it was.

They had decided on Fireworks because they were absolutely beautiful and the two girls seemed to really like them. They had received a thank you letter almost immediately after sending that box on Christmas morning.

Also, these fireworks could be pre-set, like the ones inside the box they had sent to Mareena and Juliana, which meant they couldn't be caught setting them off.

Although, knowing Professor McGonagall, they would probably get detention anyway.

"When are we doing it?" Remus asked.

"Tonight, after dinner," James and Sirius replied together, both grinning excitedly.

The four boys looked at each other happily and gave each other high fives. This was going to be fun.