Those Ocean Eyes

Chapter 39

Peter and James had matching sweaters, and Sirius insisted on them wearing the sweaters every non-uniform day until the weather got hotter.

Remus, who ran hot because of The Wolf, was sweating constantly, but Sirius was being annoying as usual and made him keep it on.

A full moon was just around the corner, which made Remus irritated and angry easily. Sirius backed off once Remus threatened to throw all of the sweaters under the invisibility cloak and set fire to it.

"Full moon's tomorrow night!" Sirius announced to half the common room.

"Shut up, Black." Remus growled.

"You know what that means!" James called out.

"I will murder. Both of you." Remus said, turning red.

"I still don't understand why you sing 'Here Comes The Sun' after every full moon while Remus tries to hit you with textbooks." Lily said, scrunching her eyebrows.

"Remus loves it!" Sirius said proudly. "And this time, we have props!"

He held up a cardboard sun and moon, grinning.

Remus groaned and slouched in his seat.

To be honest, he actually thought it was quite funny, but they sung it to the entire Great Hall, standing on the table and dancing. Someone was bound to find out sooner or later.

~~~

He hurried down the passage to the shack, his head grazing the low ceiling. Remus could feel the wolf scrambling to get out, clawing at his insides and, Remus knew, hoping to claw at the outside as well.

James wanted him to wear dueling gear, to help with the gashes, and offered to nick some from the Dueling Club that McGonagall and Slughorn ran, but Remus refused.

The wolf grew when he transformed, and it was much larger than him. The wolf was almost as huge as Hagrid, the ginormous grounds keeper. He knew that no matter how much protective gear he put on, the wolf could easily bust out of it.

He was at the shack in no time, his long legs finally becoming useful. He removed his clothes quickly, hoping not to rip another sweater in the process of transforming.

The wolf seemed to enjoy taking its time coming out. His body writhed in pain as he tried to contain his shrieks. Tears streamed out of his eyes and down his scarred face. He watched as his short fingernails turned into long claws, capable of ripping anything apart if they wanted to.

The wolf snarled at its reflection off of a small mirror hanging in the kitchen of the shack, baring its fangs. It smashed the mirror, leaving glass everywhere.

~~~

"HERE COMES THE SUN!" Sirius sang, holding up the cardboard sun as Peter and James danced around him, singing:

"Do do do do do!" James waved his arms in the air wildly, winking at Lily, who broke out in giggles.

"IT'S ALRIGHT!" Sirius said, finishing the song and posing dramatically with Peter and James, panting with exhilaration.

Remus sank lower into his seat as the Great Hall burst out laughing, as it did every full moon.

"Sit down, you absolute imbeciles." Remus snapped as his friends climbed down from the table, laughing.

"How was the moon? You sure you don't want the dueling gear?" Sirius said, sliding into the spot next to Remus.

"It wouldn't help. I didn't get any new scars, though. Just a few bruises and cuts." Remus said, trying to sound casual about it.

"But you shouldn't be getting anything! At all! Can't Madam Pomfrey help?" James exclaimed.

"She's doing all she can. It's fine, really. I don't even remember getting hurt most of the time. Last night all I remember is breaking a mirror." Remus said as he gobbled down his seventeenth egg that morning.

"Isn't that bad luck?" Peter said, his eyes wide. James aimed a kick at him under the table, hitting Remus instead.

"I've had enough bad luck already. Let's see, orphan? Check. Werewolf? Check. Poor? Check. Annoying friends? Check. Can't get much worse." Remus grinned.

"Oi! We aren't annoying!" Sirius said, putting a hand to his heart dramatically.

"Yeah, the song is really helpful, actually." Remus said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, well maybe that." James smiled bashfully. "But you're the one that plans all the pranks! You can't blame us for that."

"Yeah, you act like the innocent marauder, even though you're the worst out of any of us!" Sirius said, laughing.

"It's not that I'm the innocent one, it's that I'm the only one that's clever enough not to get caught." Remus said with a devilish grin.

His friends burst out laughing. Remus smiled. The marauders always knew how to make him feel better after a full moon.

~~~

"You're being ridiculous, James, a Thestral would obviously win."

It was almost three in the morning. Remus just wanted to go to bed. But his friends just had to find out if a Hippogriff or a Thestral would win in a fight.

"You're mental! A Hippogriff is way bigger and stronger!  A Thestral is all skin and bone, it would snap like a twig!" James glared at Sirius, shoving a picture of a Thestral from a textbook at his face.

"It wouldn't be able to see it! No snappy snappy if no seeing seeing." Sirius said angrily, throwing the textbook across the room.

"They kill to eat! They're Hippogriffs! They could obviously see a Thestral, I mean-"

Remus had had enough.

"Wait! Do you hear that?" He said dramatically from his bed, sitting up.

"What?" Sirius asked, turning towards Remus.

"Shh! Listen!" Remus glanced around.

"I don't hear anything." James said quietly, straining his ears.

"I know. It's glorious. Go the fuck to bed." Remus said, drawing his curtains closed. "And a Hippogriff would win, Sirius, Thestrals don't even have teeth, or claws."

James tried to exclaim proudly, starting to tease Sirius.

"Oh my Godric! Shut up! Just go to bed! It doesn't matter!"

James and Sirius collapsed onto their beds, one triumphantly and one moodily.