The Brothers Black

Chapter 42

As it turned out, James had planned the full moon night quite meticulously. He'd left out ads for the Hobgoblins concert all the way back into the summer, convinced that it would be enough to bait Dad to see his favorite band, and, as always, dragging Mum with him. So the house was ours for the night.

However, as Regulus and I were the sole two who weren't Animagi, we had to stay home. Regulus seemed pretty content about this, but I'd been feeling more and more left out of adventures lately. I didn't like that.

"Let's go over the plan one more time," Sirius said, tapping his foot as we sat around a map of the surrounding woods in the attic. It was 6, so we had a few hours before everything would get started.

Remus had looked sickly all day. His feet tapped the floor nervously, and his eyes were covered in dark circles. Peter didn't look much better, hugging his knees in a corner on the floor. His lack of strength and size in Animagi form seemed pretty daunting for being in new territory.

James stood, glasses atop his nose, using a stick to trace the outlined trail. He looked official, like he was about to lead us all into the Quidditch finals. "Alright. Remus will transform in the thicket by the apple tree. Peter and I will be with him while Sirius stays along the border of the house to make sure it all goes okay. Then, a quarter past 12, we meet at the big oak tree and we enter phase one. "

I yawned, leaning on Regulus's outstretched arm behind me, knowing we would be here for a while.

"It will all be fine," James said, convincing himself more than me. I hugged him as he headed out to where Remus would transform. 

"Good luck, Pete," I said, patting him on the back.

"You too," Peter said, looking as if he needed the luck.

I nervously watched them walk away into the darkness. A hand wrapped around my shoulder.

"I won't let anything happen to them," Sirius said, squeezing my arm. "Or you. I promise."

I rested my head on his shoulder and he pulled me in closer. "It will all be fine."

Sirius patted me again before I felt his hand shrink away and found a large black dog by my side. He circled me three times and I scratched him behind the ears. He barked at me and I took it as my sign to go inside. 

I locked all the windows, bolted the door, and turned the lights off – doing all of this as if it would impede a willing werewolf from breaking in. I reached out, touching the door, willing and praying that my friends would be safe. That everything would go according to plan.

"You okay, Ads?"

I turned to find Regulus, fresh out of the shower in only sweats, rubbing his hair dry with a towel.

"Just scared," I said.

He threw the towel over his shoulder. "You need to get your mind off of it."

A grin spread across my face. "You're doing a pretty good job of distracting me right now."

He narrowed his eyes and boyishly cocked his head to the side. "We haven't been alone in a while."

"No," I said, a smile playing on my lips. "But Sirius is right outside."

"I'll make sure no one can hear us."

"You can't do a charm here."

He took a step forward, backing me up to the wall behind me. Staring directly into my eyes, he whispered, "I don't need magic"