Once in a Blue Moon (COMPLETE)

-----------------------------------------
Racing Through the Darkness
-----------------------------------------

“Excellent work, Mr Black, wonderful! Ten points to Gryffindor.”

Sirius felt himself flush under the unexpected praise from Professor Flitwick. It was his first week back at school following the summer holidays and he had never found his lessons so easy. The extra practice he’d done during the holidays, and most especially during the final days whilst he’d been confined to his room, had certainly paid off.

He could see several of the other Gryffindors looking at him with pleasure for the points he’d earned, that made thirty this week, and he risked a smile at Lily Evans, one of the more friendly second years. She smiled back and he felt, for the first time, that perhaps this second year might be far better than he’d expected. He turned to look at the other students in the room and saw the familiar glare of James Potter cast in his direction.

“Or not,” Sirius mumbled under his breath as he wondered what he’d done to earn the other boy’s wrath this time.

“What was that?” the girl sitting beside him asked.

“Nothing,” Sirius replied with a sigh, wondering why he was always the Gryffindor who ended up working with the Slytherin students. It was especially bad when he found himself working with the overly chatty, and especially nosy, Rita Skeeter.

“So your younger brother will be at Hogwarts next year, won’t he?” Rita asked. “You think he’ll be in Slytherin? Or will he be following in your footsteps and branching out into Gryffindor or one of the other houses? Has your mother accepted you as a Gryffindor yet? Has it been difficult for you?”

Sirius groaned as Rita rattled off one question after another, never giving him the time to consider, let alone answer, any of them.

“I’m thinking of asking Dumbledore for permission to start a school newspaper,” Rita chirped. “I’m going to be a journalist you see and I feel the school really needs a paper for the students. I’m trying to think of a good name for the paper, how about The Slytherin Standard? Or perhaps simply Hogwarts News? What do you think?”

Sirius groaned as Rita rattled on beside him, completely oblivious to his utter lack of interest.

Finally the final class of the day was finished and Sirius made his escape.

“No wonder he’s doing so well,” he heard Pettigrew mutter as he passed the other boy. “He’s had all summer to practice because he’s not got any friends.”

Sirius felt his face reddening again and he pushed his way out of the door.

“At least he’s getting points for Gryffindor instead of losing them like last year,” Potter replied as they too stepped out into the corridor. “We’d better start working harder or he’ll be beating us on points. That’s thirty he’s got this week and we’ve only got ten a piece from Slughorn.”

So that was it, Sirius thought to himself with a frown. He’d earned more points than Potter and instead of being pleased that he was helping the house, he was jealous.

Suddenly the unfairness of it all was simply too much and Sirius spun round on his heel, bringing the two boys walking behind him to an abrupt halt of their own.

“Just what would it take to make the two of you lay off and leave me alone?” he snapped. “Last year I was losing points and you were hexing me every other day. This year I’m trying harder, I just got Gryffindor ten points, and you’re still not happy. What’s it going to take?”

“Er…” Peter mumbled as he cast a glance at James.

“Well?” Sirius asked again.

“Come on Pete,” James said. “Let’s head up to the common room. I want to get started on my Transfiguration homework.”

“Walking away from a fight are you?” Sirius asked. “Thought you said that was the sign of a coward? Someone who should be in Slytherin?”

James turned back with a scowl. “Been practising your hexes and jinxes too?” he asked.

“You got it!” Sirius replied as he pulled out his wand.

“I don’t see your crazy friend anywhere to back you up,” Peter snickered.

“Remus isn’t crazy,” Sirius snapped.

“Sounds it to me,” Peter argued. “Growling at people like some sort of animal.”

“Growling?” Sirius repeated with a questioning frown.

“Yeah, growling,” Peter repeated. “Like some crazy wild dog or something. No wonder he isn’t here in Hogwarts. He’s a right loon.”

“He is not!”

“Then why doesn’t he come to school here?” Peter asked with a smirk. “He’s a wizard so why isn’t he here in Hogwarts?”

“I don’t know,” Sirius admitted. “He just isn’t. It doesn’t mean he’s crazy. Lots of kids don’t get to come here.”

“Seems to me you don’t know much about your friend,” James commented. “Remus did you say his name was?”

Sirius opened his mouth to confirm the name before he remembered that Remus and Romulus were wanted by the Ministry of Magic, and with an unusual name like Remus he shouldn’t have revealed it to anyone else.

“Remus what?” Peter asked. “Or are you such good friends that you don’t even know his last name?”

“I do know his last name,” Sirius muttered. “I just don’t think I’ll tell you what it is.”

“Why not?” James asked, sounding genuinely curious.

“Oh forget it,” Sirius snapped and he hurried away towards Gryffindor Tower, hoping that Remus would be near his mirror so that he could confess what he’d done.

----------------------------------------

“I’m so sorry Remus,” Sirius gasped as soon as his friend’s face had appeared in the mirror. “It just slipped out and I don’t know why I said it and I’m so, so sorry.”

“Sirius, slow down,” Remus replied through the mirror. “What’s the matter? What happened?”

“I accidentally told Potter and Pettigrew your name,” Sirius admitted as he shook his head and the tears of shame started to fall.

“My full name?” asked Remus urgently.

“No, just your first name,” Sirius sniffled.

“Oh, don’t worry about it then,” Remus said. “Nothing you can do about it, not unless you’ve mastered memory spells already.”

“But I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone,” Sirius said. “You and Rom are on the run and I just told someone your name.”

“Sirius, calm down,” Remus instructed. “It’s not as bad as all that. This is Potter and Pettigrew we’re talking about. They’re not exactly Ministry workers.”

“But…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Remus repeated. “Just don’t tell them anything else, stay out of their way and they’ll forget all about me. It’s not like Rom’s letting me come up to the school, so they won’t see me again.”

“Are you sure I’ve not really screwed up?” Sirius asked quietly as he brushed away his tears. The frantic racing of his heart finally slowed and began to return to a normal pace at Remus’s assurances.

“Course you haven’t,” Remus assured him with a grin. “Just don’t let Rom know what you said or he’ll have us packed up and grabbing a portkey to Australia before you can blink.”

“I won’t,” Sirius promised. “I won’t mess up again, I promise.”

“It’s okay,” Remus said. “I trust you.”

“Thanks,” Sirius replied, even as he wondered if his friend’s unwavering trust was well placed or not.

-----------------------------------------

Remus put away the mirror and hurried downstairs when he saw Romulus walking up the path towards home. He threw himself down on the sofa and began to flick through the Quidditch Quarterly magazine that his brother had picked up for him the previous day. He knew it would be pointless to pretend to be practising his charms, it would throw up the red flag with Romulus immediately if he was doing what he’d been asked to when he returned home from work.

“Busy shift?” he asked as Romulus pulled out his wand and dried his cloak.

“Pretty dead,” Romulus replied. “It’s been pouring outside all day so no one wants to go out. Abe’s given me the rest of the night off. What you been doing all evening?”

“Nothing much,” Remus replied with a shrug and a nod to the magazine.

“Not snuck out to see Sirius then?” Romulus asked cautiously and Remus shook his head in reply. It was the first day since Remus had been put under constant surveillance that he’d been allowed to stay on his own whilst Romulus was at work. Normally he’d have been escorted to the centaur camp but the heavy rain of the last two days had flooded the camp and caused damage to several of the huts. Torin had sent a message advising them of the situation, and Romulus had decided that instead of adding to the burdens of the centaur, he would trust Remus to do as he was told and remain in the house…just this once.

Of course it helped Remus’s case that he’d been coughing and sneezing for two days with a cold and that, combined with the approaching full moon, meant he was too weak for running around the forest or getting into mischief at all.

“Glad to hear it,” Romulus said as he sat down and picked up the Daily Prophet.

“Rom?” Remus asked without looking up from his magazine.

“What is it?” Rom replied, peering over the paper as he spoke.

“I was wondering,” began Remus, wondering how to phrase what he wanted to ask without looking suspicious. “Well, I wondered if you’d heard of the Potters and the Pettigrews?”

“Those are the boys that are in Gryffindor with Sirius, yes?”

“Yeah.” Remus nodded. “Have you heard of them? Like you’d heard of the Black family?”

“I’ve heard of the Potters,” Romulus replied after a moment of thought. “They’re old, pureblood just like the Blacks are and how we used to be. Not sure about the Pettigrews though.”

“I thought we were half blood,” Remus asked curiously.

“We are,” Romulus explained. “But only because we have a muggle grandparent on our mother’s side.”

“We have?” Remus asked with surprise.

“Our mother’s mother was a muggle,” Romulus explained.

“What were they like?”

“I don’t really remember much of our grandparents,” Romulus admitted. “We never saw much of them, and I never met our muggle grandmother.”

“I meant mum and dad,” Remus whispered hesitantly.

“Oh.” Romulus looked at the fire; it was starting to die so he stood up to stoke it.

“Rom?” Remus asked.

“They were…well they…er…”

Remus sat up properly on the sofa and Romulus sat down beside him, at a total loss for the right words to say.

“I don’t remember them,” Remus admitted quietly. “I try to remember what they look like and I can’t remember seeing them.”

“Well our father looked a bit like me, or so I remember everyone saying. I never really saw the resemblance myself. His hair’s dark, more black rather than brown like ours. I think he was tall but I’ve not seen him since I was fifteen and since I was still a bit on the short side then, most people looked tall to me. As for mum, I remember she wore a lot of makeup, and really bright clothes. She used to change the colour of her hair all the time. She was blonde last time I saw her but I don’t even know what her original colour was.”

“Were they nice?” Remus whispered.

“Until that last day, I’d have said they were the best parents any two boys could have,” Romulus whispered. “Now I…”

“I’m sorry,” Remus exclaimed as he watched a single tear trickle from his brother’s eye. He reached up and awkwardly put an arm around his shoulders. “Is it wrong to miss them?”

Romulus pulled Remus towards him and sighed. “It’s not wrong to miss them Rem, but promise me never to go looking for them.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’d be too dangerous,” Romulus whispered quietly. “Promise me you’ll never try to find them. No matter what happens in the future, even if you’re on your own and I’m not around…never try to find them.”

“They’re still our parents though,” Remus pointed out.

“No they’re not,” Romulus snapped. “They’re not our parents any more. They disowned you; they disowned both of us. We’re not their sons and they’re not our parents.”

Remus listened quietly as his brother’s voice returned to something like it’s normal level as he pleaded with Remus to promise not to try to find their parents. “I promise,” Remus finally replied. “I’ll never look for them. Never.”

“Thank you,” Romulus sighed. “Now how about I quiz you on the Cannons before dinner?” He pointed to the quiz on the open page of Remus’s magazine and Remus was only too happy to change the subject to a more light-hearted one.

Half an hour later the atmosphere was back to the usual easy peace that resided in the house and Romulus went through to the kitchen to cook dinner.

Remus let his mind drift back to his initial question about the Potters and Pettigrews. He hoped that, unlike the Black family, these didn’t have connections to the Ministry of Magic, connections that might result in James and Peter figuring out exactly who he was.

-------------------------------------------

Remus was foraging for herbs on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest and was enjoying the freedom that he’d finally managed to persuade his brother he deserved once again.

He had his mirror in his pocket and wondered whether to call Sirius through it or not. It was a Saturday so he knew the other boy wouldn’t be in class, chances are he’d be on his own somewhere and would be only too eager to come and keep him company in the forest. But Remus knew that Romulus would angry if he knew that he’d betrayed his trust so soon and so the mirror remained in his pocket.

He’d been out in the forest for nearly an hour when he heard the familiar voice of Sirius Black emanating from his pocket and pulled out the mirror.

“Great day isn’t it?” Sirius asked as soon as Remus had activated his mirror.

“First day of Spring,” Remus replied back with a grin. “And my first official day of freedom.”

“Really?” Sirius asked.

“Yup!” Remus nodded. “No more being babysat by the centaurs or watched every minute of the day. Freedom at last.”

“So where are you right now?” Sirius asked excitedly.

“In the forest,” Remus replied. “About ten minutes west of the clearing where the Care of Magical Creatures classes take place.”

“You’ve been sneaking to watch the lessons?”

“No,” Remus shook his head. “I get my own lessons there sometimes.”

“I’m thinking of doing Care of Magical Creatures next year,” Sirius commented and Remus could tell that his breathing was becoming more laboured.

“Are you running or something?” Remus asked curiously.

“Just walking really quickly,” Sirius replied with a grin. “Got to make sure I get to you before you get put under house arrest again, haven’t I?”

Remus laughed. “Rom’s trusting me to behave. I can’t come up to the school at all. You really shouldn’t be coming to see me either.”

“Are you going to stop me?”

“No.”

“Do you want me to go back to the school?”

“No.”

“See you soon then!”

Remus slipped the mirror back into his pocket. It wasn’t like he’d contacted Sirius and asked him to join him. And what Romulus didn’t know, wouldn’t get him into trouble.

“Hi Remus!” Sirius called a short time later, and Remus looked up from where he was kneeling on the ground with a wide grin. “It’s been a long time.”

“Too long,” Remus agreed as he jumped to his feet and pulled Sirius into a tight hug. “It’s been nearly a year.”

“I know,” Sirius replied as he sat down in the grass. “I’ve missed this.”

“Me too,” Remus admitted. “So how’s school going?”

“Better. I’m in the top three of the class now that Potter and Pettigrew aren’t hexing me all the time and stopping me working.”

“So you’re all friends now?” asked Remus, shocked by the slight twinge of jealousy that accompanied his question.

“Not really. They pretty much leave me alone and I leave them alone. But a few of the other Gryffindors are more friendly than they were.”

“So you’ve got friends at school now?”

“Don’t worry,” Sirius laughed. “You’re not being replaced. You’re my best friend Remus.”

Remus felt his fears disappear as Sirius nudged him lightly with his arm. “Best friends,” he repeated with a smile.

----------------------------------------

Remus knew he was cutting things fine as he activated the two-way mirror early on the evening of the full moon.

“There you are!” Sirius exclaimed. “I thought you’d lost the mirror or something.”

“Sorry, I keep it in the bedroom when Rom’s in the house and he was late going to work tonight.”

“That’s okay,” Sirius assured him. “I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday. I didn’t get chance earlier and I couldn’t leave it ‘til tomorrow. It’d be too late then.”

“Thanks.”

“You didn’t think I’d forget did you?” Sirius asked. “Did you like your present?”

“It’s great,” Remus replied as he looked across to where the brand new Quidditch almanac was resting on his bed. “Really, it’s perfect. Just what I wanted.”

“I thought you’d like it. You’re as Quidditch mad as Potter is and he’s totally crazy about the game.”

“And you’re not?” Remus teased.

Sirius laughed, knowing that Remus had him with that one. Remus meanwhile chanced a look out of the window. The sun was about to set and he didn’t have much time to spare to get into the cellar. “I’ve gotta run,” he said as he jumped up from his bed and hurried towards the door that lead down to the basement.

“Where to?” Sirius asked curiously.

“I can’t tell you,” Remus said as he ran down the stairs. The sun was almost down and the magical barrier that kept him safely away from humans during the full moon would be appearing as soon as the sun disappeared over the horizon, making sure that he was secure for the rising of the moon. There were only seconds to spare as he skidded across the floor. “Made it!” he breathed.

Then the wolf was rising and with his last human thought Remus placed the mirror on the floor and slid it to the other side of the barrier, keeping it safe from the violence that he knew Moony was capable of.

------------------------------------------------

“Made it?” Sirius repeated as he looked into the mirror in confusion. “Remus?”

But Remus was no longer looking back at him through the mirror, instead all Sirius could see was the grey stone of the ceiling.

“Remus?” he called again. “Are you okay?”

Remus didn’t reply even though Sirius kept calling into the mirror. Then he heard the sound of a howl, loud and clear, echoing around the dormitory even though he knew it was coming from where Remus was.

Sirius didn’t think as he pulled on his outdoor robes and ran from the room. His mirror was still in his hand as he raced from the castle, the only thought in his mind was that Remus was in danger, on his own, and he had to get there as fast as he could.

He slid in the mud several times as he raced through the forest, unable to find the path in the darkness and making his way entirely from memory and instinct. The fourth time he stumbled he tore the knee of his trousers and grazed his knee. He swore under his breath but didn’t dare waste time in checking what damage he’d done.

Finally he reached the Lupin house and he banged loudly on the back door.

“Remus!” he yelled over and over, but no one was coming to the door. From inside the building Sirius heard the sound of howling once again, the eerie animal cries echoing strangely through the mirror that was now in his pocket.

“Remus! Romulus!” Sirius called as he ran round the building to try the front entrance. “Remus? Are you in there?”

The howling continued, louder than before and Sirius pounded on the front door so hard he nearly took it off the hinges. Moving back around the house again, he suddenly spotted the window to Remus’s bedroom was slightly ajar. “Hold on Remus!” he called as he eased the window open and climbed over the sill, landing with a thump on the bedside rug.

The inside of the house looked just the same as it always did. Remus’s room was as messy as it always was and Sirius’s birthday present to his friend was lying open on his bed.

“Remus?” he called again and the howls he’d heard before began again, louder now that he was in the building. Sirius pulled out his wand and edged towards the door. He pulled it open quickly but there was nothing out of place there either. In fact, Sirius realised as he walked slowly round the ground floor, nothing was out of place.

“Remus, where are you?” Sirius called. “Come on mate, this isn’t funny any more!”

Again the sounds of howling was the only response to him pleas. This time however, Sirius could tell where the noises were coming from.

The basement.

Sirius had never been in the basement of the Lupin house. He’d seen most of the rest of the house, Remus’s room, the kitchen, the attic where the ghost of a cantankerous old witch hung out…but never the basement. Remus had just shrugged and replied ‘nothing interesting’ when Sirius had asked what was down there. He’d not asked again, not when there was so much else to see and do around the house, the village and the forest.

But now there were strange and frightening sounds coming from the basement, Remus was missing, Romulus was at work, and it was up to Sirius to find out what had happened to his friend.

“It’s only a basement,” he told himself as he pulled open the door and looked down the dimly lit staircase.

“Lumos,” he commanded before making his way slowly down the stairs.

“Remus?” he called and the loudest howl yet answered him. Sirius stumbled on the stairs and he fell the remaining few steps, landing on his knees on the stone floor. He grunted at the further pain to his already grazed knee. His wand meanwhile had flown from his hand and was rapidly spinning on the floor, the light revolving round and round like the beam of a lighthouse. Sirius watched the light from where he knelt on the floor, trying to see into the darkest corners of the room, trying to see where Remus was.

The light reflected off of something shiny on the floor and Sirius reached out to pick up Remus’s mirror. “Remus?” he whispered into the darkness as he pocketed the mirror with his own and picked up his wand. He pointed it around the room and shrank back at the sight of a pair of golden eyes staring at him.

Sirius watched the eyes draw closer and closer to him before the room suddenly lit up with a pale blue light and the creature re-bounded off the magical barrier that was keeping it caged. It howled in pain and frustration and Sirius watched as it tried to break through time and time again, each attempt punctuated by the pale blue light and the howls.

Too shocked to do much more than sit and watch, Sirius edged backwards until he was pressed up against the wall, his eyes never leaving the animal pacing the basement cage. One word resounded through his mind over and over again.

Werewolf!