GYMNOPÉDIE

Chapter 25

        The raven spread her wings and she took off from the ground flying smugly. She felt the cold air blessed her wings as she shot up flawlessly before dived down in the entrance, "Come on in, loser!"

Prongs and Padfoot shared a knowing look, "We shouldn't have asked her." said Padfoot briskly, "We corrupted her, Prongs."

The stag huffed, stepping in, "It was your idea." then the black dog followed the stag vanished in the dark tunnel under the willow tree.

         Remus Lupin once loved the moon.

        The moon's silver hues would chase his fears of the dark. Had it not because of Greyback, he would still love the satellite. Now, it reminded him of the monster nettled in his soul, he refused the idea of it defined him, outshined his courage and intelligence. But profanities won, and society labeled him as a low-life being. Remus was trapped in a simulation of hell, every month, while his russet eyes watched the moon unraveled from the cloud.

        Remus could feel his bones were set on hell-fire from inside out, and pain built up in his flesh, built and built and built without an escape nor relief. His body recoiled, writhed in agony for what seemed to be an eternity. Sweats beaded on his forehead, and he heard footsteps coming nearer. Antlers poked in from the door's gap and then he heard a bark, a weak smile carved on his face.

       The stag stepped in first, then a black dog barked in happily. Remus narrowed his eyes once he noticed a raven sat on Prongs' antlers watching with its jewel eyes, blue. James and Sirius told him they would take someone with them, a trusted animagus, and from the eyes it was unmistakable.

"Gemma?" Remus's eyes narrowed, he held back his wince, "Is that you?"

The raven flew off the stag and twirled above him as she cawed in confirmation. Remus smiled kindly but soon groaned as he tossed his head back to the wall. His breath hitched as he heard his bone cracked inside his body, reshaped into a new being. Remus clawed the floor, gave a warning look to the raven. He couldn't feel his lungs, and his skin felt foreign. It was an entirely different being, trying to unleash itself out as the moonlit graced the shack.

       "It starts." stated Prongs, "Merlin, get back to my antlers." he said carefully, the raven flew away to settle herself on the stag's antlers.

The black dog sat himself up, his tail wagging calmly behind his body. "You might want to close your eyes for this one, little bird."

Gemma watched the kind and mannered boy screamed and wailed trying to subdue his pain. Pain hammered his body to his limits, feeling his world crumbled. His muscle twitched violently, morphing into beast posture. His voice was long gone, and his chest heaving with sobs. The raven raised her wings to cover her eyes, unbearing to witness the pain. Remus's pant slowly became heavier and heavier and then a ravaged howl echoed in the room.

Nitewings peered behind her feathers, heart thudding inside her ears. Even though she was safe under her raven wings, she was still scared of the monster that nearly attacked her. There laid the fury monster sat on the floor as he watched a stag, a dog and a raven in front of it. The werewolf's red eyes pierced to the moon devastatingly, Gemma would like to believe that inside the monster Remus was fighting his consciousness.

         Once in a while, the dog barked to warn the stag when it wanted to run away, the raven would try to distract the beast, flying above it. While the stag pushed the werewolf away from the door, slammed its back to the wall. The sleepless night of the marauders was not due to atrocious mischief. Sure, they were a bully, arrogant pranksters with meticulous brains. But their friendship was a prove Gryffindor dwelled in their hearts.