| I Hope We're Still Friends, Yeah I Hope You Don't Mind|
The full moon of November 1976 was on the 6th. All the preparations for Remus' transformations were in place, as per usual. By 9 o'clock that evening, Sirius and Remus made their way to the hospital wing.
"You'll be alright, Moony?"
"Of course, as usual."
"Alright then, we'll be there as usual too," Sirius smiled tentatively.
"I know," Remus grinned back appreciatively and stumbled in to the hospital wing.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
After sneaking into the Shrieking Shack, and transforming into their animagus forms, the Marauders and Moony did their tour of Hogsmeade and the hills nearby. They were making their way through the Forbidden Forest, the wolf, the black dog, the stag with a little mouse on his back and the large black cat. It was definitely a sight to behold. When they were in the shack again, Prongs pushed the door closed behind him.
As the wolf was chasing the black dog and rolling around with him, the door opened. All animals turned towards the opening which caused the moonlight to light up the wooden insides of the shack. James' heart, even as a stag, fell. It was Severus. Severus Snape was standing right there, staring wide-eyed and terrified at the wolf inside. The cat started screeching and running towards the door, wanting to shut it, which caused the wolf to spring into action.
It was a quick flash, a large flash of brown pushed Severus away and made him fall on the cold grass a few metres away from the shack. The dog, Padfoot, closed the door hurriedly, snarling and growling at the wolf to keep him inside. The big black cat was frozen to her place, her heart producing a humming because of it's speed.
"WHAT THE FUCK, SEVERUS?!" roared James, when he had transformed back. He kept looking back at the shack, as if the door would open at any moment. His whole body was shivering and the cold sweat on his face was glowing in the moonlight. However majestic he would have looked, his anger was unimaginable, changing his whole face.
"BLACK! B-black told me to come here before dawn! I-I knew it! That was L-lupin, w-wasn't it?!" Snape had a crazed look on his face. It was fear, excitement and happiness all mingled together. He was shaking violently and rubbing his arms from the cold, rocking back and forth in his sitting position on the wet grass. He looked bad, to say the least. James could even see his eyes glassy, and a tear rolled down Severus' face.
"SIRIUS TOLD YOU TO COME HERE?!" James yelled in disbelief, anger coursing through his veins. He couldn't believe his best friend would ever do this to Remus. He just couldn't.
"YES!"
"YOU'RE A LIAR!" shouted James, determined not to doubt Sirius' loyalty.
It really was a sight to see; James, curly haired and standing over Severus with cold sweat on his anger-contorted face, pointing an accusing finger at the greasy haired Slytherin sat on the floor, a maniacal expression on his face as he laughed to himself and rocked back and forth on the wet grass.
The door to the shack opened just then and James flinched so hard before transforming immediately. His fast reaction was met with a black cat in front of a closed door.
She just stared at them. Severus and James, who had transformed back, both had the same thoughts. Now they understood why muggles thought black cats were scary and bad omens. The dog-sized cat walked forward towards them until she was right in front of Severus. Diane transformed back and stayed quiet. She wore her pyjamas; red and green plaid top and bottoms. Her curly hair was messed up, her cheeks flushed from the cold, her arms hugging her body and her glassy red eyes were glued to the Slytherin. Snape had stopped laughing and looked up at her, honestly very scared for his life.
"Sirius?" she asked him, after he felt a sudden strange prickling in the back of his head.
"Y-yes." answered Severus quietly, nodding.
"But how?! He would never do such a thing!" yelled James, desperately trying to stand up for his best mate. Diane didn't answer, instead lending a hand to Severus so he could get up.
"Are you going to keep your mouth shut?" she asked.
"Ofcourse not! A-are you joking?" he spat back, standing up now.
"Oh, so we're forgetting the fact that I am the reason Lily even looks at you anymore?" Diane retorted instantly. Hit the weak spot faster, get the results faster.
"That's not- that's not fair," he mumbled, looking at her eyes that were still shining with tears.
"Oh, but it's true."
"...Fine, I won't tell."
She scoffed, "Do think so lowly of me? What am I, an idiot? Unbreakable Vow."
James' jaw dropped. "W-what? No, c'mon Diane that's just-"
"Now." she ordered, her clear voice ringing in the silence. She stretched her arm and grabbed Severus' hand in her own. She clasped it and he clasped hers.
"Hurry up, James, no need to stretch out the dreadful experience." she told him, her tone steady and cold.
James preformed the Bonding spell while Snape said his vows, which took about 2 minutes. After he was done, Diane let go of Snape's arm.
"You're free to go now, Snape." she said, tilting her head towards the castle. He gave James a dirty look and a unreadable look towards Diane. When he had walked away, Diane turned towards her brother who was looking so lost.
"Why would he- how could he do that?" he asked her, looking hopeless and betrayed. Diane's cold expression and tone did not waver; "We'll see."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"WHAT?!"
"I-I'm sorry, Prongs, I didn't mean to I was just-"
"NO! NO DON'T 'PRONGS' ME, SIRIUS!" roared James at 8 am for the second time that day. Diane was sitting on a chair a few feet away from the two boys, rubbing her head. It was about time that Remus woke up, so she went into the hospital wing and towards his bed. The claw marks on his face were healed in such an impressive way that Diane wanted to hug Madam Pomfrey. And she was correct; Remus had woken up and was stirring in the bed.
"Hey, Lynxy," he smiled tiredly, glad to see his best friend beside his bed.
"Good morning, Moony." she tried to smile, but it ended up looking like a grimace. Remus caught onto that at once.
"What's wrong? Did I hurt any of you?" he sat up and asked immediately.
"No. Remus I'm really sorry to tell you this. Please, I beg of you, don't treat Sirius too harshly. I can't believe him but please remember he has been with you since the beginning, alright?" she looked at him pleadingly. Remus didn't know what Sirius had done yet, but he could already feel his anger building. If Diane was begging for Remus to go easy on him, it must be terribly grim.
"He told Snape about the- he's told him about the shack. He told him to come at dawn to see if you really are a- a werewolf. He told him as a joke to get him scared or injured. He told him as a prank, Remus, he didn't mean it, please!" Diane's speech progressively turned into uncharacteristic, desperate pleading because of Remus' expression. His face was contorted with anger, his eyes were wet with angry tears and he was shaking. He could feel the wolf inside him, still there, urging him to go rip the traitor apart.
"P-please tell me you're pulling my leg. Please tell me this is some- some kind of sick joke?" he asked her, desperately trying to grasp the last rope of Sirius' loyalty. He loved his best friend, he really did. How could he have done that to him? How could he have reduced the strong Diane to a crying, begging mess sitting in front of him on this hospital bed? How could he have given Remus the power to murder Severus? Why?
He got up wordlessly, in his pyjamas and bed head hair and passed by all the hospital wing beds counting them in his mind. 1,2,3,4,5,6... anything to distract him from the boiling of his blood as he made his way to the door to exit. He could hear Diane's hurried footsteps behind him and her muffled sobs, telling him to slow down and think. He couldn't believe Sirius had been the cause of Diane forgetting her pride and crying in the big hospital wing like this. There weren't much people, he noticed as he looked around, but still.
Remus opened the door gently and found James and Sirius sitting on chairs, Sirius had his hands on his knees fiddling nervously and James had his face in his hands. Peter was pacing back and forth until he froze when he saw Remus.
"M-moony! You're- you're awake!" jumped up Sirius, making his way towards Diane and Remus. James looked up to see his sister wiping her tears that were streaming down her face. He quickly got up and hugged her from the side, wiping her tears with the back of his hand. They both watched Remus to see what he would do.
"Don't 'Moony' me. You don't have the right to call me that anymore. Only my friends call me Moony." he said, coldly but composed, shocking everyone around him.
Sirius face dropped. What was he expecting? For Remus to be all 'ah, it's alright, mate!'? He deserved this, he told himself, but it still felt like he had just been punched in the stomach.
"No, no Remus, please! I'm so terribly sorry, I really am! It was so disloyal of me to do that, I know! I am unworthy of you and your friendship to begin with, but please forgive me! I swear I won't do anything like it again! If you want to forbid me from coming with you on full moons, I won't! Really, Remus!" Sirius' posh childhood accent had slipped in during his moment of panic, because Remus didn't stand and wait for him to finish. He kept walking straight ahead, ignoring Sirius' words. He turned a right and then he was out of the hallway.
Sirius' eyes were glassy as he turned around to face James, Diane and Peter. He wondered if they would all ignore him now, like Remus did. He tried his luck.
"What am I supposed to do now?" he asked them, hopelessly.
"I don't know what to say to you, honestly." replied James, flatly.
"Why would you do that, Sirius? I know you like pranks and hate Snape, but how could you do that to Moony?" Peter blurted suddenly, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion and frustration.
"I didn't think it through! I'm sorry, I know it was dumb to tell Snape that, but it just- it just slipped!" he protested. He turned towards Diane. "Lyn- Diane, you haven't said anything?" he reminded her, hoping she would defend him. He felt like he could always count on her, no matter what the situation was.
"Well, Snape and I have preformed the Unbreakable Vow in order to make sure Moony's secret is safe with him." she explained, hesitantly.
"What? You preformed the Unbreakable Vow? What kind of Slytherin- wait, who was the Bonder?"
"James,"
Sirius turned towards him and raised an eyebrow, despit himself. He normally would have never agreed for his sister or any of his brothers to participate in an Unbreakable Vow, nonetheless actually preform it himself.
"Yeah, I did that. You know why? Because you thought it necessary to out Moony's condition to Snape, of all people! As what? As a 'prank'? He could have died! He could have been bitten!" he attacked, accusingly.
"James, you know I- I would-"
"What is wrong with you? How could you do this? I thought you were the most loyal person I've ever met. What happened to that?" James questioned, disappointed in his friend. He was met with shameful silence. He scoffed and walked away, heading to where Remus went.
A tear fell down Sirius' face. His best friend. His brother. James had just walked away from him. This could be the end of their friendship. He turned towards Peter. "Pete?"
"I'm so disappointed in you, Padfoot. I might forgive you sooner than the others but I'm still angry with you." he spoke with an air of uncharacteristic finality. He walked away, the same direction both James and Remus went.
This could be the end of everything, he realised, as he peered at Diane's face. The only one left. She looked like she was going through an internal struggle, her face contorted in a pained way. Her eyes were full of tears and her cheeks and nose were pink.
"Diane?" he spoke softly, stepping towards her carefully. He reached for her hands slowly and held them in his. "Please tell me you're not going to leave me. T-that you're not going to stop talking to me," he pleaded. "I don't know what I'd do with myself if you did." he breathed, nervous.
She looked in such utter pain when she removed her hands from his and stepped back.
"I'm sorry." she said finally, and wiped a tear from her face. Sirius gulped. He really was all alone now. He looked down, tears finally falling down. He looked back up, "It's- it's alright."
Diane gave him one last look of complete sadness and left. She left him to sink in the despair he caused himself.
well, hello dear readers
I present to you the longest, and best in my opinion, chapter ever. so worth it.
anyway, i'm so exhausted i'm sleeping with my eyes open
bye
xoxo
Hade