Chapter 22: Full Moon

Disclaimer: Do I really have to say, after twenty-one chapters, that I don't own any of this?

Author's Notes: As always, the beta credit goes to DracoGurlFurever and I must also thank the Admins here for all their hard work too.

Chapter 22: Full Moon

It was a nearly a full week before Sophia could sit down again comfortably after her date with Sirius. She wasn't angry, though; if anything, she found it mildly amusing. When they had both returned to the castle, limping and sore, they had been in for some serious questions from their friends. However, once the truth was told, the Marauders certainly wasted no more time before they began teasing and tormenting Sirius for the misfortunate kiss. She felt extremely sorry for Sirius, and she'd assured him in front of everyone that she'd loved every moment of the date. Her heart had swelled at the grateful look he'd given her at her proclamation.

And it was true ... she had loved her date with him. He'd eased her early nerves, taken her somewhere private where they could talk, gone to the efforts of speaking to Lily and organising something special for them to do ... all so that she would have a wonderful time. It made her feel special. Also, the near-fatal kiss had been extremely romantic, if a little surprising, right up to the point where she had lost her footing.

The rest of February drifted by easily. The weather began to get warmer, though there was still the occasional cold night that caused a hard ground frost, and the days began to draw longer. Her classes and homework carried on as usual. The only slight change was that it was now even harder to get Sirius to work during their shared free periods when they were alone. He seemed to think of those free periods as mini-dates and insisted on dragging her out for walks or sitting with her on the sofas. In truth, though, he didn't have to persuade her that much to join him and forget about her work for a little while.

At the beginning of March, Sophia noticed Remus' complexion begin to pale, and he seemed to become more withdrawn once more. She didn't raise the issue with Remus; he always seemed reluctant to talk about what was happening to him, and she reasoned that if he wanted to talk, he knew where she was. That didn't stop her observing him closely as the full moon drew closer.

That month, the full moon was on a Saturday, and so, on Sunday morning, Sophia had risen reasonably early before going down to the common room to wait for Sirius so that they could go to breakfast together. However, twenty minutes later, neither Sirius, nor any of the Marauders, for that matter, had appeared. It was usual for her not to see Remus until late afternoon at the earliest the day after a full moon, but normally, the others would be around. She began to worry and so decided to nip up to their bedroom and make sure everything was fine.

After climbing the stairs, she found herself at their door. She rasped her knuckles against the door lightly, but there was no answer. She couldn't even hear anyone moving in there. Pausing and wondering what to do for the best, she finally decided to take a peek inside and at least determine whether they were there or not. It was possible Remus might have ended up in the Hospital Wing; they might all be away, visiting him. That thought made her feel ill and convinced her of her plan.

As quietly as she could, she twisted the door handle and prised the door open enough to poke her head inside the room. She had to stifle a chuckle at what she saw. All four boys were still in bed, all completely dead to the world. Her eyes fell on Sirius. His bedcovers were in a mess, all scrunched up as they covered his body apart from the bare foot that hung off the bottom corner of his bed. He was lying on his front; one arm also hung off the side of the bed, his knuckles nearly brushing the floor, while the other hand was shoved under his pillow where his head rested. He looked so peaceful in his sleep that she didn't want to disturb him. He clearly had to be exhausted, but she couldn't think of what would have caused him to become that tired since she'd said good night to him the night before.

A quick glance around the room told her that none of the boys had stirred at her intrusion, so she carefully withdrew from the room, closing the door softly before heading down to breakfast alone, making the decision to bring them back some food for when they awoke. She was sure they would appreciate it.

~~~~~

Sirius slowly began to wake up, feeling like he'd been run over by the Knight Bus. His whole body felt tired and drained after the night's activities. He listened to the sounds of the room and realised his friends were all still sleeping deeply, so he allowed his eyes to close as he dozed. Clearly, there was no hurry for him to get up just yet.

The night had started out like any other full moon night. James, Peter, and himself had retired to their bedroom by ten o' clock, when they'd then squeezed themselves under James' invisibility cloak in order for them to sneak out of the castle once more. They had headed across the lawns of the castle in the direction of the Quiddich stands, the high walls of the stadium seats giving them ample coverage to complete their Animagus transformations.

Once all three had changed their forms, they'd stealthily made their way to the Whomping Willow. Peter, in his rat form, had pressed the knot at the base of the tree to immobilise the branches allowing all three of them to squeeze their way down the tunnel towards the Shrieking Shack. As James had opened the hatch with his horns, Sirius had heard Remus' sad howl, and he was glad his friend hadn't been left to suffer alone for any longer.

Remus had settled quickly once the three had joined him in one of the downstairs rooms, all of them content to curl up and sleep for a few hours. However, just after one in the morning, Sirius had stirred, waking up the rest of his friends. Bouncing and barking excitedly, he'd displayed his desire to venture out of the Shack and explore. Soon, they had all been outside, making their way through the woods to the outskirts of the village.

They had roamed happily, and Sirius had been pleased to see Remus' wolf eyes alight with curiosity and peace ... a peace he knew his friend would not have experienced if he'd been left alone, as he had once been in the past. Everything had been going brilliantly until Remus' head had whipped to the side, his nose straining as he caught the scent of something.

Suddenly alert, Sirius had raised his own canine nose, sucking in the air over his own sensitive receptors in order to find the source of his friend's interest. Human.

In that moment, panic had raced through him, and he'd leapt athletically through the air to land in front of Remus, baring his teeth as he issued a low, guttural growl in warning. James had been quick to join him, lowering his horns at Remus in preparation.

Remus' instincts though, were not so easily dissuaded. The werewolf within had been released, and it was prepared to fight to get to the prey it so hungrily desired. The three forms had clashed in a vicious tangle of sharp teeth and pointed horns. Sirius and James fought to simply push Remus back in the direction of the Shack, hoping that if they could just get him far enough from the human scent that hung in the air, the wolf's lust for blood would slowly die and he would return with them willingly.

James made good use of his horns, driving them down low to catch Remus behind his front legs, lifting him slightly, throwing Remus off balance, and using those split seconds to drive him backwards. Sirius, for his part, tried to aggravate Remus enough that the wolf would turn his attention to him and temporarily forget the sweeter tasting prey that was waiting further afield.

Together, they slowly won ground against their friend, but it was a tough fight. Remus' wolf form was bulky and powerful, his long paws tipped with sharp claws, his strong jaw incredibly dangerous. Though they knew that, in their Animagus form, they were not in danger of a werewolf bite because it would not cause the lycanthropy to spread, it would still hurt. A lot.

At one point, Sirius had been too slow to move out of the reach of Remus' paw, and had found himself lifted from the ground. He collided forcefully with James' horns, badly winding him. He'd struggled for a moment to suck air back into his lungs and then was back by James' side, fighting once more.

After what felt like an eternity, but was in fact only about quarter of an hour, the human scent faded away into the distance enough to help calm the werewolf down. The fight became easier, and slowly Remus was lead back to the Shrieking Shack.

Thinking about it again from the comfort of his bed, Sirius shuddered. They had come far too close to not being able to stop Remus last night. He knew that Remus would never be able to live with himself if he caused harm to another human being. If possible, Sirius would have kept the events of last night to himself. However, though Remus remembered little of what happened whilst he was transformed, Sirius knew Remus would feel the deep muscle pain just like he was this morning and would demand to know what had happened. Sirius knew it would not be a pretty discussion.

Eventually, he heaved himself out of bed, stumbling his way to the bathroom for a shower, leaving the rest of the Marauders in their beds. The hot water helped to ease some of his muscle ache; when he finally emerged from the shower, he was beginning to feel much better. That was, until he looked in the mirror. A deep scratch mark ran down from his right temple across his cheek to jaw, and above his left eye, he was sporting a large, black bruise. Tentatively, he touched his fingertips to the marks. They weren't as sore as the bruising to his ribs, but his ribs he could easily cover up. These marks were plain as day, and Sophia was going to see. Cursing his lack of knowledge of healing spells, he knew he would have to sneak his way to Madam Pomfrey before he saw Sophia.

Back in his room, he dressed quickly and quietly before leaving again, only this time going down to the common room. His hopes of a sneaky trip to the Hospital Wing died instantly, though. Sophia was sitting on one of the sofas by the fire.

'Morning, sleepy...'

Sophia's bright welcome died on her lips as she stared at him in disbelief. She rose quickly from her seat, reaching him in a few long strides before gently reaching out to his chin, holding it while she looked over his injuries.

'Merlin, Sirius,' she exclaimed softly; he could see the concern in her eyes. 'What on earth have you done to yourself? How did this happen? When did this happen?' Her voice rose in pitch as she spoke, and Sirius knew she was both concerned and suspicious.

'It's fine,' he assured her, giving his best smile. 'Just a scratch.'

'I can see it's a scratch, Sirius. A bloody big one. You're also ignoring the bright shiner you have over your other eye. How did this happen?' Sophia continued to stare at him, clearly baffled. Suddenly, her eyes narrowed to slits and Sirius felt nervous. Sophia in a strop was not something he cared to deal with; he was too tired. 'Did you get in a fight with the Slytherins? I don't remember seeing Snape or your brother in the Great Hall this morning.'

'What? No,' he protested; Sophia still held her steely gaze. 'Honestly, Soph, we did not get into a fight with the Slytherins last night. I promise you.'

Slowly, Sophia's face softened again, and Sirius breathed a mental sigh of relief.

'Okay, so what did happen? You still haven't told me,' she persisted.

Hoping to stall her to give him time to think of a plausible excuse, he directed her over to the sofa once more, pulling her down to sit beside her. Sophia twisted so she could more clearly see his face while he reclined against the back of the sofa, leg stretched out in front of him.

'I ... I ...' he swallowed. He only had one idea in his head, and it sounded positively ridiculous. However, it was all he had, so he went with it. 'I sleep-walked last night, if you must know.' He dropped his gaze to his fingers.

Sophia was silent for a long time, but he waited her out. Eventually, she spoke again. 'Sleep-walked? You did this sleep-walking?' The disbelief in her voice nearly made him cringe.

'Yes,' he confirmed, feeling two inches tall for lying to her. 'I think I stumbled round our bedroom for a while and must have walked into something to cause this...' he pointed at the bruise '...and I have no idea how this...' he gestured to the scratch '...happened, but I guess I did something to myself. First thing I knew about it was James standing over me, asking if I was okay before he started laughing hysterically.'

Sophia still looked dubious, and he knew she would be asking James if that was really what happened as soon as she saw him. Sirius hated lying to her, but he didn't have much choice. He knew she knew of Remus' lycanthropy, but she had no idea of his Animagus skills and, unfortunately, he couldn't risk telling her.

She studied him for a few moments more, and Sirius struggled not to shift under her gaze. This was the first time that she really reminded him of the Headmaster ... the way Dumbledore would look at you as if he could straight through you to the truth you were desperately trying to hide. Eventually, she sighed and said, 'You should really go to the Hospital Wing to get that seen to.'

'Yeah, I know. I was going to go straight there this morning,' he confessed.

Sophia nodded, smiling slightly as she did. 'Do you want me to come with you?'

Sirius thought quickly. If Sophia stayed here there was a risk she could talk to James before he got a chance to tell his friend the story he'd concocted. 'Yes, please. Might need someone to hold my hand,' he said with a wink, causing Sophia to chuckle.

'Indeed, you big baby. Come on, then,' she said, standing up and holding a hand out to him.

He grasped it firmly; instead of rising, he tugged her arm quickly, pulling her down towards him.

Sophia had to reach a hand out to the back of the sofa beside his head to steady herself. 'Sirius! What the...'

He held a finger out to her lips to silence her, grinning playfully as he did. 'You haven't given me my morning kiss yet, and I simply refuse to budge until I get it.' He figured the best way to get her over her suspicions was to distract her with other things. And, besides, he really did want his good morning kiss.

Sophia lips twisted into a grin of her own, and he let his finger drop.

'Why, how remiss of me,' she said quietly before leaning to give him a kiss that suddenly made this a very good morning.

~~~~~

Sophia accompanied Sirius to the Hospital Wing, and Madam Pomfrey had Sirius patched up in no time. She still wasn't sure she fully believed his story about sleep-walking, but she couldn't think of any reason why he would lie. If James corroborated his story, then she wouldn't think about it anymore.

As they were walking back to the common room, Sirius' stomach gave a loud grumble, causing her to laugh and him to moan.

'Oh, I'm so hungry,' he whined pathetically, rubbing his belly with a forlorn look on his face.

'Well, you'll be glad to know, being the kind, caring girlfriend I am, I brought you back some food from breakfast.'

Sirius turned to look at her, a hopeful smile on his face. 'Really?'

'Yes,' she replied.

Sirius' smile grew to grin. 'You are the best girlfriend in the whole world; you know that, don't you?'

'I know,' she replied smugly before giggling lightly.

Once back in the common room, Sophia left Sirius on the sofa as she darted up to her room to grab one of the plates of food she'd brought back with her. Casting a warming spell over the plate, she brought it back down to Sirius, who took the plate quickly before shovelling a large forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth, his eyes closing in bliss as a contented hum escaped.

'Merlin, Soph. You are brilliant. I love you.'

Sophia sat in shock. Did she dare draw attention to what he had just said, or had it just been his excitement over food that had made him say that? Stuttering slightly, she replied with a quick, 'You're welcome.'

However, her tone was off enough to break Sirius' concentration of his food. He looked at her quizzically. 'What's wrong?' he asked before biting the end off of a sausage.

'Nothing,' she replied, desperately wishing her cheeks wouldn't blush.

Sirius continued to chew, but he raised an eyebrow at her. Swallowing, he repeated his question. 'No, come on; what's up?'

Sophia's jaw floundered, opening and closing as she tried to think of something to say. Unbidden, the truth blurted from her mouth. 'Do you know what you just said to me?' Someone kill me, please, she groaned mentally as she watched Sirius try to think about what he'd just said.

Again, he looked at her in confusion. As she felt her cheeks flame red, she looked away to the side, still cursing herself for being so stupid. They'd only been dating a short while; just because she knew how she felt didn't mean Sirius was that far along yet.

'Soph, please, just tell me what I said that's upset you,' Sirius pleaded.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at him once more, trying her best to smile. 'You said you love me.' Sirius sat there, dumbfounded for a moment, and Sophia quickly tried to ease the situation. 'It's okay, though, I know it was a joke. It just, er, caught me by surprise, I guess. It's fine. Carry on,' she said, gesturing to the plate in his lap before looking about the common room once more.

'Soph,' Sirius started. She turned her attention back to him just in time to see him place the plate carefully on the ground by his feet, wiping his hands quickly on his trousers and turning to face her fully. She held still as she waited for him to continue.

'That was, admittedly, not the most romantic way I could have said that,' he said, giving her a self-deprecating smile as he reached out to her hand, 'but it's still true. I do love you.'

'Really?'

Sirius nodded, his grey eyes serious and sincere for once.

Sophia's previous anxiety left her in a soft giggle ... which she instantly regretted when she saw Sirius frown and look away.

'Oh, Sirius,' she said leaning over to grab his shoulders, trying to turn him to face her. 'I'm sorry. I love you, too.'

Sirius finally turned to face her; she saw he was grinning mischievously at her and she knew he'd just tricked her.

'Oh, you ... prat!' she spluttered, though she was still too happy to be truly mad at him.

'Ah, but you love me,' Sirius said proudly, like it justified everything. He grinned winningly while she tried to think of a comeback, but failed. 'See?' Oh, he was far too smug. However, he gave her no chance to protest further as he gave her a quick kiss before letting her go and picking up his breakfast plate once more, smirking as he chewed on a piece of bacon.

Sophia decided she was too happy to really care. He could win this one.