10th August 1976
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Of course being Head Of Gryffindor and having looked after Remus since first year, Minerva had already prepared and put precautions in place for when the full moon finally came around again.
It was odd for Carina to constantly see Remus before his transformation. She wasn't used to it, as he was often in the Hospital Wing or his dorms but now he was just in her house. While he wouldn't have full transformations until that night, his limbs would throb and twitch, as if all his muscles had been pulled and his head pounded.
With the help of some of the best chocolate Honeydukes could offer and a large mug of hot tea, Remus was able to pull himself into a sitting position in his bed. Carina stayed by his side; it was the least she could do for him. She had known him since their first year and to think he went through this every month and still put up with school and drama and the everyday life of a teenager? It made her want to cry for him.
A little while before lunch, Remus fell asleep. The others agreed to take turns keeping an eye on him. So while James sat by Remus' bedside and Peter helped Minerva prepare the food - something he was rather good at, as he impressed even Minerva with his recipes - Carina and Sirius had more alone time.
They sat in the backyard; Carina's feet bare; both of them just staring out over the lake. For a little while, they were silent. Both seemed to know what the other was thinking, but were unsure of quite how to say it. Carina leaned against Sirius's shoulder and he gazed down at her. After a second, he spoke.
"Do you remember... in second year.... when I used that spell to pull your hair every lesson we were in together?" Sirius finally spoke up.
Carina grinned, pulling her knees up to her chin and gazing into Sirius's almost mystifying, moon-like grey eyes.
"Obviously I remember it. How could I ever forget? Half the girls were totally jealous that I was getting so much attention from you, the cool mysterious Sirius Black." Carina pretended to swoon as she flopped backwards across Sirius's lap.
"I just thought it hurt and you were annoying," she added, laughing.
"You wore your hair up every day since that Charms class when I got that jinxed ink in your hair and dyed it yellow for a week." His smile was knowing as he fondly recalled the incident.
Carina nodded in agreement. "James told me that that was the inspiration for the Marlene blue hair thing in fourth year. Now that was impressive seeing as Marlene is so guarded and used to pranks with all her brothers and you still managed to get that ink into her pumpkin juice. It was an awesome shade of blue though, I will credit you for that," she giggled as Sirius's grin widened.
"And yet you've been wearing your hair down all summer that we've been here?"
A blush ran across Carina's face as she avoided his eyes.
"Well maybe I trust you more now to not do that..."
"And you like it when I play with your hair."
"Perhaps that too. Although, you have very nice hair too, Mr Black. Very swishy and at a length where I could maybe plait it?" She raised a suggestive eyebrow as she coyly smiled up at Sirius.
"I'll think about it," was all he said in reply as he tried to fight the grin that was tugging on his lips.
"No! Please smile. It's so cute when you smile. You get little lines by your eyes when you smile, it's adorable."
Before Sirius could make any reply, the voice of Minerva McGonagall rang out across the yard - "Carina! Sirius! Time to come inside now!"
Sirius was on his feet before his girlfriend, but the second she was up, Carina pulled Sirius close to her and planted a firm kiss on his mouth. And then she sprinted into the house, barely making a noise as she ran. He shook his head for a second, trying to comprehend what had actually happened before Sirius headed inside himself.
Dusk was clearly starting to settle over the Scottish countryside, so Minerva had decided it was time to transfer Remus over into a safer place for his transformation. Over the previous weeks, Carina had been practising making Wolfsbane as much as she could so by the time the full moon rolled around, her formula was perfect. As well as the potion, it had been decided that all of the other Marauders and Carina would all stay with Remus. Originally, they had all been worried about the idea of using their Animagus form, seeing as only Carina was on the register. But of course, Minerva being Minerva, she already knew about the boys and their powers.
"It's their choice to get registered or not. I don't have any right to force them into anything, I can only hope to guide them to the right decision," Minerva had said after being asked about her opinion on the matter.
So as the sky's soft shade of blue began to deepen and darken into night, it was time to leave the McGonagall house for the Shrieking Shack. Minerva had made an entrance to the shack for Remus a little while before the actual full moon, as they weren't too far from Hogsmeade and Hogwarts any way. Remus walked alongside his friends, all in their animal form. It would have looked very peculiar to any onlooker to see a talk teenaged boy walking along with a stag, a large dog, a rat and a cat, but no one really seemed to care. The important thing was getting Remus into a safe place.
Once they reached the Shrieking Shack through a passageway Minerva had set up, everything was just the same as every full moon at Hogwarts. Sirius and Carina settled down in the corner and Remus lay down to rest beside them. The Wolfsbane made him sleepy so the transformation would be less painful as he could sleep through it. Having Sirius and Carina near to him helped however, as Carina was always calming for Remus and Sirius was an equal to Remus' werewolf form if anything was to happen. James guarded the exit from the inside and Peter took his place on Remus' shoulder.
They were all hoping the night would be as uneventful as usual. As Remus drifted off into a sleep, the others watched carefully. They were all waiting for the same thing - the moment Remus' tall skinny form would grow fur; his face elongated; his shape changed into a one more suited for on all-fours. His eyes were no longer the kind dark ones that belonged to Remus Lupin; they were wolf-like, feral and empty.
The night went relatively smoothly. The lycanthrope slept soundly for the majority of the night, only raising his head once around midnight. Despite being in cat form, Carina held her breath as the eyes shifted around the room. A low growl was released towards Sirius but the creature immediately went back to sleep. She had to admit, Carina hated referring to the vicious animal lying before her as Remus. That beast was not her lovely friend, it wasn't Remus's mind inside that thing, not his heart either. That was a separate entity to him in her head.
As dawn slowly rose, the werewolf began to shift back into the shape of a sleeping Remus Lupin. His body was marred with self-inflicted cuts, bruises and marks from where the pain of transformation and being helpless in that body under potion had caused the beast inside of Remus to lash out at himself. James and Sirius carefully helped Remus to his feet and they began to leave the Shack for that month. After a long night, the little group of five were ready to go.
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