The Easter holidays were not exactly relaxing. Sarai and the rest of the third years of the school had never been given so much homework to complete. Neville Longbottom seemed close to a nervous collapse, and he wasn't the only one.
"Call this a holiday!" Seamus roared at the common room one afternoon. "The exams are ages away, what're they playing at?"
Sarai nodded, as she flexed her hand. It had started cramping from the countless essays she had written throughout their break. But despite the throbbing pain in her right hand, she was very grateful she wasn't Hermione. Despite dropping her Divination class, which Sarai had already commended her for, she was still taking more subjects than anyone else. There had been multiple nights, where Sarai had awoken to Hermione returning to the dorm much later than the rest of her dorm mates. She was also the first one to leave the dorms in the early morning to continue her endless preparations for her exams.
"She's starting to look worse than Uncle Remus, when he falls ill." She commented to Dean, who was currently working on a potion essay.
"I haven't a clue as to why she's taken so many subjects this year," Dean said in agreement, "I wonder how she'll be able to get through the exams this year."
Meanwhile, as the end of the Easter holiday drew near, so did the tension for the upcoming Quidditch match between Slytherin and Gryffindor. The whole of Gryffindor House was obsessed with the coming match. Gryffindor hadn't won the Quidditch Cup since the legendary Charlie Weasley (Ron's second oldest brother) had been seeker. Blaise had somehow warped Sarai into quite an expensive bet on the match, that day in Ancient-Runes together. Sarai was placing all her hopes in Harry and his shiny new Firebolt. She'd claimed boldly to Dean and Seamus that she'd rather eat her own sock than have to lose to Slytherin this match.
Never, in anyone's memory, had a match approached in such a highly charged atmosphere. By the time the holidays were over, tension between the two teams and their Houses was at the breaking point. A number of small scuffles broke out in the corridors, resulting in a nasty incident in which a Gryffindor fourth year and a Slytherin sixth year ended up in the hospital wing with leeks sprouting out of their ears.
Sarai pitied Harry, who was taking the brunt of it all. She had heard from Seamus that multiple students from Slytherin house, would stick their legs out in the corridors in an effort to trip him. It had gotten so bad, that the entirety of Gryffindor House had taken the challenge to walking Harry to his classes, and anywhere else he wanted to roam throughout the castle.
Sarai could hardly focus in class, and she had an especially difficult time through her Defense Against the Dark Arts' class. She had yet to speak to Remus about the spat that they had that day in his office, and she was skillfully avoiding the topic entirely. She was always one of the last students to arrive to his class, and the first to leave when class was dismissed.
However, as stubborn as Sarai was on avoiding Remus, her Uncle was just as stubborn as speaking with her. The day before the famous quidditch match, he requested for her to stay behind after class.
"Sorry, Professor," Sarai said, without an ounce of regret in her voice. The rest of her class was filing out of of the room, Dean and Seamus shooting her looks. "But I'll be late for my next class."
Remus raised an eyebrow, and gave her a look as if to question, 'Really?' But he remained unfazed, "It won't take long. I'll write you a pass." He insisted.
Sarai frowned, but remained standing in the classroom, relenting to her Uncle's request. Remus seemed to have taken the hint, because he let out a small breath of relief. He then made his way to shut the classroom door after Parvati and Lavender, whom were the last two students to exit the room. While his back was turned, Sarai shifted her weight uncomfortably. She had been dreading their next conversation since their spat. She still had no idea what to even say, about the whole thing. The entire debacle had left her speechless. Sarai hadn't even known what to expect, when they finally did speak for the first time in what seemed like ages.
"Now," Remus said, interrupting Sarai from her thoughts, "Please, take a seat." He motioned to a chair that had been pulled up to his desk.
Sarai plopped down in the wooden seat, eyeing Remus carefully. Remus, himself looked as if he didn't know how to start the conversation, as he glanced around quickly at the empty room, before taking a seat in front of her.
"I've some progress on the Himitsu-baku." Sarai said, gingerly pulling out the box from her bag. "Check it out."
Remus very gratefully took the piece-offering, Sarai held out towards him and examined it closely.
"Wow, you're really getting there, Sarai." Remus said impressed. "Great job."
"Thank you," Sarai said quietly, looking down at her hands. "So..." Her voice trailed off as she looked at Remus expectantly.
"I want to start off with an apology," Remus said, thoughtfully. "My anger, and my actions were a poor display as your Uncle."
Sarai fiddled with her thumbs uncomfortably, "Yeah," She mumbled, "It was."
"When I had found out you were with that dog--"
"Snuffles." Sarai interrupted defiantly.
Remus paused for a moment to study her. His face had an unreadable expression on it.
"Snuffles." He amended carefully. "When I found out you were with Snuffles, I was beyond terrified."
"But why?" Sarai demanded, "Why is Snuffles so dangerous? And how did you find out? You told me you were holed up in your office all day that Saturday."
Remus bowed his head in acknowledgement to her questions, as he pulled out a small packet of parchment and placed in on the desk. Sarai craned her neck, but the parchment was blank. She furrowed her brows, "Um, Remi? This is blank." She said flatly.
"Patience," Remus chided gently, before pulling his wand from his robe pocket. He pointed his wand to the parchment and said clearly, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Sarai let out a snort, "Well that--" Her words trailed off.
At once, thin ink lines began to spread like a spiders web from the point that Remus's wand touched. They ink began to slowly fanned every inch of the parchment, and then great curly letters began to blossom across the top.
Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-makers are proud to present THE MARAUDER'S MAP.
It was a map showing every detail of the Hogwarts Castle and grounds. But the truly remarkable thing that Sarai had noticed, were the tink ink dots moving around it. Each labeled with a name in miniscule writing. Astonished, Sarai bent over the desk to get a closer look. A labeled dot in the library showed Michael and Terry Boot, seated at one of the tables. Dean and Seamus were lounging the Gryffindor Common-room. Sarai had even spotted Professor Dumbledore pacing back and forth in his study.
"Moony?" Sarai questioned looking up at him, "You made this?"
Remus nodded his head, "along with Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs."
"Who were they?" Sarai asked curiously. She understood Moony's nickname but Wormtail, Prongs, Padfoot were completely lost to her.
At the question, a pained expression formed on his face. He rubbed his temples before answering, "James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew."
Sarai's eyes widened as she took the information in. She sat in awe as she listened to Remus breathlessly.
"The four of us were the best of mates. Especially James and Sirius. We all knew each other like the backs of our hands. So it wasn't too surprising that the three of them noticed I'd disappear every month. My transformations back then," He took a deep breath, "Back then, they were painful. Wolfsbane hadn't been invented yet. When Dumbledore had first become Headmaster, he was sympathetic to me. He said as long as we had taken certain precautions regarding my Lycanthropy, there wasn't any reason I shouldn't come to school." Remus sighed, and looked directly at Sarai. "The whomping willow was planted the same year I joined Hogwarts. There's a tunnel that leads to the shrieking shack. It was built for my use. Once a month I was smuggled out of the castle into the house to transform. The tree was planted at the tunnel mouth to stop anyone from coming across me while I was dangerous."
"My transformations in those days were -- were terrible. It is very painful to turn into a werewolf. I was separated from humans to bite, so I bit and scratched myself instead. The villagers heard the noise and the screaming and thought they were hearing particularly violent spirits. Dumbledore encouraged the rumor.... Even now, when the house has been silent for years, the villagers don't dare approach it...."
"But apart from my transformations, I was happier than I had ever been in my life. For the first time ever, I had friends, three great friends. Sirius Black...known as Padfoot, Peter Pettigrew... Wormtail, and, of course James Potter. Prongs."
"Now, my three friends could hardly fail to notice that I disappeared once a month. I made up all sorts of stories. I told them my mother was ill, and that I had to go home to see her... I was terrified they would desert me the moment they found out what I was."
Sarai shuddered and held her breath. She couldn't imagine how lonely Remus could have been if his friends had decided to abandon him.
"But of course, they worked out the truth." Remus said, this time with a slight smile on his face, "And they didn't desert me at all."
Sarai let out a breath of relief. Very grateful that Remus didn't have to endure that pain alone for so long. "But--" She said curiously, "What does all of this have to do with Snuffles?"
Remus tilted his head down slightly, "I'm getting there" He reminded her, "So, Sirius, Was unusually good with animals." Remus said, swallowing hard, "He--uh--He could communicate with them very well. Especially, dogs."
Sarai scrunched up her nose, "What kind of magic is that?"
"That's an explanation for another time," Remus said quickly. Sarai raised an eyebrow, but decidedly chose to ignore it. "During the war, James and Lily were extremely vocal about their views against Voldemort."
Sarai flinched at her Uncle's use of the dark lord's name.
"So when Harry was born, they were forced to go into hiding. They needed a secret keeper." Remus explained, "Well, Sirius was James' best friend. The pair were inseparable. James' and his parents had given Sirius a home when he was disowned from his family. He came from a long line of Pureblood elitists. So naturally, James made Sirius, his secret-keeper."
"Secret-keeper?"
"It's from the Fidelius charm," Remus explained quickly, "It's a complex spell involving the concealment of a secret inside a single living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or secret-keeper. And is henceforth, impossible to find. Unless the Secret-keeper chooses to divulge it." Remus said. A dark look crossed his face. "Not even Voldemort would have been able to find them if Sirius hadn't betrayed them."
Sarai tilted her head, "If Sirius had given up his entire family, his livelihood for you three, then why would he sell James out?" She asked, not understanding what had gone wrong.
"People become desperate," Remus answered with a shrug, "The war was brutal, and dangerous. Many of our Hogwarts friends were dead or worse during the war. People were scared. I had never imagined Sirius to be so."
Sarai clamped her mouth shut as she had seen another pained look on Remus' face.
"When Sirius sold James and Lily out to Voldemort---,"
"Quit saying his name," Sarai said nervously looking around. "It's bad-luck." She said superstitiously.
Remus snorted, "You're starting to sound like Sybil. But fine." He relented. "I won't say his name."
"When he sold them out to you-know-who, Peter confronted him. " Remus said. He leaned back in his chair, and the sunlight illuminated his tired face. "He went after Sirius alone. Word is, he confronted Sirius in the middle of the street where loads of muggles were watching. Eyewitnesses -- Muggles, of course, we wiped their, memories later -- told us how Peter cornered Sirius. They say he was sobbing, 'Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?' And then he went for his wand. Well, of course, Sirius was quicker. Blew Peter to smithereens...."
Remus let out a shaky breath as he relived the dark memories from his past. "All that was left was a finger."
Sarai sat wordlessly. The images of a blown up body appeared in her head, as she imagined the sight. She shuddered again, before quickly moving on,
"Again, what does this have to do with Snuffles?" She asked, more forcefully this time.
"Sirius, like I said earlier, was great with animals." Remus said, tugging at the tie on his collar trying to loosen it, "He was especially good at communicating with dogs."
Sarai stared at Remus dumbfounded. Did he think Black sent Snuffles to lure her? And if Snuffles did his bidding, the dog would have been able to eat her by now.
"If snuffles was working for Black, don't you think he would have eaten me by now? I've been alone with Snuffles loads of times."
Remus gave her a sharp look, before taking a deep breath, as if he was choosing his battles. "Well, Sarai. Sirius isn't trying to kill you. At least I don't think." He said quickly.
Sarai narrowed her eyes, "Why?" She asked slowly. "I thought him and my father didn't get along." She pondered aloud.
Remus heaved a heavy sigh, nerves written all over his tired face. "Sirius isn't trying to kill you, because," He swallowed a lump of air, before looking directly into Sarai's eyes.
"Sirius Black is your father."
--