scars || sirius black

4 - the moon was full

Marlene grinned back at her friends as she ascended into the air. She looked like a natural.

She rode smoothly but cut some corners which Potter yelled at her for. She scored all three goals in a row and then did an intricate zigzag through the hoops.

Emmy began hesitantly. Gaining confidence with altitude, she zipped around the pitch before catching the quaffle from Sirius.

Frank cracked his knuckles but gave her a friendly smile as she approached. She picked up speed then dodged under his arm, having to drop quite low to throw the ball up to get it through the hoop. She could hear the others yelling in the stands and they fuelled her on as she scored another two goals in quick succession before completing her final trick.

It was something Sirius had shown her but she'd only managed it once before without him having to sprint over to break her fall. Well if the worst came to the worst, she'd just break a couple of bones. James wouldn't let her die, surely? On second thoughts he seemed like the type of person to take quidditch that seriously.

She clenched her jaw and began her ascent, shooting up into the sky and then leaned back to stop the acceleration. She could feel the wind rushing through her hair as she fell back down to earth then quickly twisted herself over and leant forwards to catch herself before she smashed into the pitch. She could hear cheering from the stands and as she righted herself, spotted Sirius below grinning as she flew past overhead.

She dropped off her broom a couple of feet from Marlene who ran to hug her, yelling about how unbelievably-cool-that-was-and-why-didn't-you-tell-us-you-were-that-good. She laughed and held her tight, adrenaline still coursing through her veins.

—————

When the full moon arrived on the night of the first of October, Emmy was frantic with worry.

Professor Dippet, McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey were the only ones who knew about her condition and they'd all agreed she should head into the mountains to lower the risk of her finding Remus during the night. Two werewolves in the same five-mile radius would be fatal, but if there were at least fifteen miles away, they might stand a chance of surviving if they didn't find each other. She'd told Remus her plan  as a curtesy but they both knew there was absolutely nothing else wither of them could do.

And so she set off just after dinner with Madam Pomfrey, her backpack full of spare clothes, healing potions, a flask of tea and with the desperate hope that no one would get hurt.

The nurse left her under the shelter of an overhanging cave half an hour before sundown, with a gentle embrace and kind words.

Those next thirty minutes were bitterly cold as she sat shivering on the mountainside.

But she would have rather than what happened when the first beams of moonlight hit her.

The bones popping out of her joints were the last thing she remembered as she lost conscious, caving to the monster inside of her.

In the forbidden forest, the same thing was happening to Remus, but instead he was surrounded by his friends who were fighting tooth and nail to make it any less painful. Despite this, he could never forget that somewhere out there his sister was facing the same pain with no one by her side, and it was his fault.

The blinding pain was the only part of the transformation he ever remembered, and it came all too quickly as the sun dipped behind the branches of the Forbidden Forest.

—————

An hour and ten miles later, James, Sirius and Peter watched in horror as their best friend tore at another of his kind.