What Sirius never said

Chapter 80

After the Padleigh match there was a slight cooling in relations between my two groups of friends. Although Andy was still very much team Sirius, Helen was getting more and more jumpy about the amount of time I was spending with him, so I was actually quite glad when, at the end of October, McGonagall set a large essay for AMT. It meant that I could spend as much time with him as I wanted under the pretext of working. So I made the most of it. On Monday we could be found in the orangerie working hard together. Mostly. At a quarter to nine Sirius put down his quill.
"I'm really sorry Trudy, I've got to go" he told me, looking properly apologetic. "I said I'd meet the boys at nine."
"That's okay." I replied. "I'll finish this off. You go, have a good time!"
It didn't take me long to finish the work but as I was packing up my homework diary fell out of my bag. I glanced down quickly at it and panicked when I saw the essay for Slughorn. Set last week and due tomorrow. Quaffles. I was not going to get any sleep tonight!

It was closing in on one o'clock in the morning by the time I put down my quill. The full moon was high in the sky lighting the grounds outside. The fresh air outside the orangerie rejuvenated me a little as I walked. My mind turned to Sirius. What had he been up to tonight? I hoped he had made it back to James and the others in time, and that they had had fun. And that no one else was going to suffer for their entertainment. I loved the guys but their pranks weren't always so harmless as I would have liked. I froze mid footstep when I noticed movement at the edge of the forest. I watched as a giant stag manoeuvred its way between some tree trunks and out into the moon light. It moved carefully, ensuring not to catch the prongs of its antlers on the trees. It was an enormous thing, huge and elegant. And in its wake, came a very unexpected companion. A huge black dog. Giant and cumbersome, it padded out behind the deer and seemed to nudge it forward as if communicating with it which direction to go in. And finally, behind the dog, stepped a wolf. Wild and hairy, it followed its two companions. I couldn't help but watch. This was perhaps the strangest collection of creatures. But as I watched I started to notice things. The length of the nose, the shape of the head. My mind kicked up a gear and started ticking things off the list I had learnt. The list I had regurgitated for my Defence OWL exam. The list of how to recognise a werewolf. There was a werewolf loose in the grounds of Hogwarts. I wasn't aware of the sqeak of fear that escaped my lips until the three companions turned to look at me. There was a heart beat, then I sprinted for my life. No thoughts crossed my mind but get to the castle. I ran hard along the wall, windows flashing past but as I turned the last corner, the worst happened. My foot slipped on the wet grass and I fell, sprawled upon the ground. They were on me. I felt the hot breath, the jaws clasp around my wrist. It was tugging me along. But to my surprise, when I looked up, it was the black dog pulling at my sleeve and not the werewolf. It was trying to pull me towards the castle, backing up to the oak front doors.
Get up Trudy.
I scrambled to get my feet back under me and followed the giant dog as it bounded towards the castle doors. It reached them first and jumped up at them, using its front paws to push it open. It was unlocked. The doors opened with a creak and I ran in, sprawling once again on the floor of the entrance hall. The dog turned and slammed the door shut again with its front paws. I watched it, panting hard. And witnessed as it turned into Sirius. It turned into Sirius.
"Sirius!"
"Thank Merlin Prongs got ahead of him! What on earth are you still doing out at this time Trudy?!" He almost shouted at me, also panting hard from running.
"Prongs?! You mean James is out there?" I asked, terrified for him. But my brain was spinning. Sirius was the dog. He was an animagus. And he likely wasn't alone in that. If James, Prongs, was... He was the stag. So Remus and Peter? Wormtail and... Moony.
Poor poor Remus. The unexplained absences, the monthly disappearances. All now explained. I gasped as it hit me and Sirius evidently read it in my face. "Please don't tell anyone. It's Remus's secret" he emplored of me quietly.
"I won't" I promised. Then the panic kicked in and I turned tail and ran.

I made it back to my dormitory and sunk down onto the floor by the door, crying with great wracking sobs. My shoulders shook uncontrollably and I could only breath with  ragged breaths. My mind raced through this revelation going over and over and over the facts. Remus, sweet, caring, kind, reserved Remus Lupin, known as Moony to his friends, was a werewolf. That was where he disappeared to every month. That was his ill health. That was their secret. And on top of that, Sirius Black, my Sirius Black and James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, were animagi. I had no idea what Peter could turn into but if Sirius and James could become animals then Merlins beard, Peter would be able to as well.
As the night wore on my sobs lessened. Eventually I made my way into my bed where I lay awake, my mind still racing. Very slowly the ball of fear and pain in my chest turned to anger.