Riley Spade is the fifth member of the marauders. Her mind is full of ideas but also filled with worry. She looks like she has the perfect life; a loving family, life-long friends, good grades... It's all until the turning point of her life, war rag...
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25th of December, 1977
"Merry Christmas everyone," said James as he started giving gifts to everyone. He gave Lily a small kiss on the cheek and sat back down.
"Okay, I didn't get anyone anything but you can think of this as a gift," said Remus. He took out five books, they looked old. The covers looked like they had coffee stains on them. Riley opened hers, the pages were yellow-ish. It was a muggle book.
It wasn't just a book, Riley looked at the pages. There were many notes and annotations written inside. She recognized the small handwriting, crumpled in corners with arrows pointing at certain sentences in the margins.
They were all Remus's small notes and thoughts about the book.
"I love this!" said Lily. But then her face changed as she read the notes. "What do you mean here by saying you don't agree with her?! I've read this before and she's right!"
"No, she isn't! She was just being stupid!" said Remus. It was the full moon that night and Remus was not feeling well. He had been moody all day, getting frustrated and angry over the littlest of things. His senses were heightened, he was sensitive towards each sound and smell.
"Moony—" said Sirius.
"She was definitely wrong to not leave the house after what happened!" said Remus angrily and sat back on the couch. Riley laughed. "What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing!"
"Moony, maybe you should just sleep—" said James but then sat back down as Remus turned around. "Or, I've got chocolate!"
"Oh yeah?" he said. He had a frown on his face, but then he softened. "Yeah, that might be a good idea..."
James took the chocolate out of his pocket and handed it to Remus who ate a small piece. He then slowly closed his eyes right there on the spot. His head slowly fell over to the right side, right over to Sirius's shoulder.
Sirius looked nervous, he rolled his shoulders first as he looked at everyone else briskly. Remus seemed to be fast asleep, not reacting to any movement. He didn't lift his head from Sirius's shoulder, he just slept. Sirius was now just gazing at Remus with a smile on his face.
Nobody seemed to notice.
***
Madam Pomfrey walked Remus to the Whomping Willow.
The rest of the Marauders watched as they went inside the path. Pomfrey returned back and walked fast to the castle with worry on her face.
Peter turned into a rat, going towards the knot placed in the roots of the Whomping Willow. The branches of the tree stopped, allowing the three of them to quickly go into the Shrieking Shack under the invisibility cloak.
"It's about to start," said Remus nervously. "I know it. I can feel it."
"Calm down, Moony," said Sirius soothingly.
"You guys can go back to the castle and celebrate Christmas, I don't wanna spoil anything," said Remus.
"Spoil? We like keeping company and keeping you safe," said James.
"Merry Christmas everyone," said Riley with a smile. They all repeated after. But it was until Remus started to shake and tremble as the moon rose.
Sirius transformed into a dog, pacing around Remus's feet as he whimpered in pain. The rat squeaked and climbed to the stag's antlers. The fox closed the door shut.
Remus started growing fur, his hands started to form, his nails started to form claws. His jaw grew and his bones snapped. There was no longer a boy standing there, it was a wolf howling instead.
The fox howled in response as the wolf howled. The rat squeaked more as they howled. The dog went next to the wolf fast, running around in circles as the wolf watched calmly.
***
The morning after, James, Sirius, Peter, Riley, and Lily sat in the hospital wing around the hospital bed Remus was sleeping in. Madam Pomfrey was running around like usual, bringing bandages and more potions to the table.
Remus slowly opened his eyes. He tried to sit up, but Madam Pomfrey told him to lie back down.
"How are you feeling?" asked Sirius.
"Fine."
"By the way," said Lily, "I reread the notes and I wrote responses to your annotations. Here you go." She put a book on the table beside him and smiled.
"Leave the boy to rest!" scolded Pomfrey. "He needs his rest!"
"I'm okay, Madam Pomf—"
"No! You're staying here until I'm satisfied that you are all right!" she said and left briskly. Remus looked at her go and then sighed.
An owl came by, dropping a note on Peter's lap. Peter opened it hastily, rolling his eyes as he crumpled the letter.
"What's wrong?" asked James.
"It's Jasmine... She's mad because I didn't send a letter for one day. She says I didn't even write 'Merry Christmas,' but I sent a letter to her on Christmas Eve! Isn't that like the same thing?!" he said angrily. "I need to end this when she comes back... Any advice?"
"Don't insult her, that's the first rule," said Riley. "Or don't use an excuse about someone forcing you to end the relationship. That won't be helpful."
"How did you break up with Marlene?" asked Peter, he turned to Sirius. "You two are still friends."
"We sorta drifted apart," said Sirius. "Nothing really happened."
"Moony, have you got any helpful idea?" asked Peter softly.
"I've dated like one girl in my life, and I was the one who broke up with her. She still hates me." Remus shifted in his seat. "I'm really not the right person to ask advice on this, Wormy."
"Penny's still pissed," said Riley laughingly. "She was even sorta mad at me for being friends with you since you 'really hurt her feelings.'"
"We were like thirteen, plus I had my own reasons to break up with her."
"Come on, Moony. Have you really not dated anyone else in your life?" asked James. "I thought you were the one with the good advice."
Remus rolled his shoulders, and then looked down. "I've dated someone else."
"How come we never heard of this girl?" asked Peter. "Who was she?"
Remus looked up once again and looked at each person. "I'm gay."
