chapter thirteen ; the full moon
1976

"PEST! WHAT'S THE ANSWER TO QUESTION SIX?" JAMES SHOUTED ACROSS THE HISTORY OF MAGIC CLASSROOM. The students in the room all looked in the direction of Tempest and Fergus, who were busy finishing Professor Binns' topic test. The old ghost was bumbling around the front of the classroom, writing down the lesson plan, not noticing how his pupils were trying to trade answers. He was the one teacher in Hogwarts who could put people to sleep with just his voice -- that had apparently been the case since even before he had died.

"Work it out yourself, Potter," she called back, not lifting her eyes from her parchment. The dark haired girl rolled her eyes as she heard other members of the class groan in disappointment, seeing as she was one of the only students who knew what she was doing and they all needed help. Once again, Tempest wasn't really in the mood for games that day, as she was far too busy worrying about the full moon.

There hadn't been an incident as of yet, but she always grew anxious about Remus' wellbeing when it was his time of the month (hehe). Though he was far happier in the company of his friends, it was still an incredibly exhausting and painful experience for the sixteen year old. Tempest knew she wasn't the only one who looked out for the boy when the full moon was scheduled to arrive, as the rest of the boys were constantly checking up on him whenever they could. 

Once she had finished her test she slid her parchment over to Fergus, who had been struggling with the eighth question regarding the first broomstick service. She heardJames and Sirius whine in annoyance. "How come he gets the answers and we don't?!"

"Because he's not a pain in the backside like yourselves," Tempest turned her head and glanced disapprovingly in their direction.  With her arm still in bandages after her nasty quidditch injury, she wasn't in the best shape to transform into her animagus, which was putting a damper on her attitude. The next game was in another month's time, and she was dreading it. James was trying to egg her on to come and practice, but she refused. 

She hated feeling disappointed in herself, but as time passed, it became more and more common.

★☆

"The boys are trying to get into the girls dorms again, Pest," Marlene sighed as she walked past the window between her and Tempest's bed, where Tempest was curled up in an exhausted state. The raven-haired girl's eyes were shut and she didn't bother opening them, instead electing to groan in annoyance. She was trying to take a quick nap before she had to go out again that night, and her favourite place to do so was in the window where the light shone in and warmed her up. She was covered by a blanket and had a dozen pillows to soften the space, and she wasn't in any mood to leave her spot. 

"What do they want this time?" She mumbled, pulling the blanket further over her body. 

"Sirius said they needed to talk to you about something 'top secret'," Marlene said the last two words in a taunting fashion. Tempest didn't really care. "When I came in just now Peter was on James' shoulders, trying to dive inside each time the door opens. I'm lucky I made it in one piece. Poor Lily wanted an early night, but there's no way she'll chance letting the boys figure out a way in here."

"What about the slide?" Tempest gave in and her eyes fluttered open, squinting slightly as if she were blinded a little. She was referring to the spell Godric Gryffindor had charmed the stairs leading up to the girls dormitories with to keep boys out. There was no such spell on the other dormitory, which was advantageous whenever Tempest wanted to prank her friends. 

"Sirius was nursing a bloody chin," Marlene continued, and Tempest sighed, turning her head to look out into the Hogwarts grounds. She could see students walking around like little ants, and trees blowing in the wind like tiny flags. She loved overlooking such a beautiful place; it made her feel the serenity she craved, especially amongst the other emotions she had been feeling lately. 

Marlene sighed softly at the sight of the depressed girl, stepping over and sliding down next to her. The two sat in silence for a while, before Tempest rested her head on her friend's shoulder. It was a quiet and peaceful moment that washed over her for a moment, and she exhaled softly, knowing that she would eventually have to see what the boys wanted outside. 

"Are you okay, Tempest?" Marlene asked ever so softly, and Tempest felt a little odd inside. She hated being asked that question, because she never knew how to respond. She wasn't a huge fan of opening up to people, which was why she was close to a few, but not emotionally available to any. Her sister, Tanusha, had made it very clear that you don't go places if you're crying all the time, and she had thought about that almost every time she felt attacked. 

"I'm fine," Tempest's lips pressed together in a smile, and she knew Marlene didn't believe her. Marlene was the type of person to keep pushing if she knew something was wrong, and though she knew about the struggles Tempest faced at home (she had worked a lot of it out herself), she didn't know about the other things that troubled the sixth year. 

"No, you're not," Marlene responded, watching sadly as Tempest stood up, wrapping her blanket around her shoulders and shuffling off. "C'mon Tempest, you can talk to me."

"I'm okay," Tempest tried to chuckle it off, shrugging a little. Marlene flashed her a look. "I promise."

"You're a terrible liar, Thatcher," the McKinnon girl called as Tempest disappeared into the corridor. 

"Love you!" Tempest shouted back, reaching the front door that connected to all the dormitories. She heard muffled yelling from the other side, and the girl huffed as she grabbed the doorknob. 

As she twisted the knob and opened the door, she heard a chair, and she yelped as she was tackled to the ground. She groaned as she hit the stone, her bad arm twisting a little as she fell onto it. She looked up and saw half of Peter lying on top of her, whooping in success. He seemed to be the only one who was laughing, and upon noticing that the other boys were silent, he looked down at who he had hit, and his eyes widened once he noticed that it was Tempest. He quickly scrambled to his feet, before squealing in surprise when the floor under his feet tipped, transforming into a slide and pulling him away. 

Tempest angrily got to her feet and stood in the doorway, glaring at the sheepish boys who stared back at her. "What do you want?"

"Did you hurt yourself?" Sirius jumped forward, reaching for the arm she was cradling. Tempest shook her head as she stepped down to his level, lowering her painful limb down to her side. Just as Marlene had said, he was sporting a bleeding chin, and she rolled her eyes at the sight of it, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a tissue. She handed it to the boy, before she looked over at James. 

"You wanted me?" She asked tiredly, and he grinned, nodding eagerly. He grabbed her hand and tugged her in the direction of the boys dormitories, through the door and into the sixth year room, where Remus was sitting cross-legged with a piece of parchment set out in front of him. "What's this?"

James sat down beside Remus while Peter heaved himself inside, practically collapsing onto the floor. Sirius and Tempest both lowered themselves opposite the other two, the latter holding the blanket closer to her body as she felt a chill. Sirius noticed this, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. 

"You know how we've been trying to make the map to keep an eye on everyone?" James began, his eyes sparkling mischievously. Tempest nodded in response, watching as the spectacled boy held his hands out in the direction of the folded parchment. "Ta-da!"

"It's blank," she pointed out, and all of the boys grinned, observing as Remus picked up his wand and tapped the surface. 

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he said clearly, and Tempest's eyes widened a little as brown ink appeared on the parchment, forming a picture of Hogwarts, as well as a small section of writing at the top. 

Remus turned it around so that she could read it. "Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, are proud to present the Marauder's Map."

"You said you didn't want to be put in the title, but we included you down here," Sirius pointed out, nodding towards the bottom right hand corner. 

"An honourable mention to Onyx, the one who always makes sure we don't end up dead," she read aloud, before smiling a little. It was scrawled in Sirius' neat handwriting, as he had the nicest out of the group, and that made Tempest's heart swell a little bit. "So you're the Marauders?"

"Peter came up with it when he found it in our History of Magic textbook," James said, nodding in Peter's direction, who inhaled sharply in acknowledgement. The other three boys looked back at Tempest, all of them a little saddened. "Are you sure you don't want to be part of it?"

Tempest shook her head. She didn't want to intrude on their group, she didn't feel like she deserved to be a part of it. Instead of vocally replying with that answer, she gestured towards the map. "Let's see what else you've done."

Remus tapped the map again and it opened at his command, the brown ink spreading to the unfolded pages and creating an entire replica of the school. Tempest leaned forward a little eagerly to see the drawings come to life, small, particular footsteps moving around the campus with tiny names scrawled underneath as people walked. 

Tempest looked around, her mouth slacked a little. "Is that..."

"Professor Dumbledore," Sirius nodded proudly, before pointing towards the potions classroom. "There's Slughorn, and here's the lovely McGonagall. And look, we're up here too!"

Tempest followed his gesture to see them all gathered in Gryffindor tower, their names over lapping each other due to the closeness of them all. James bounced up and down. "We're the only ones that can see us, if anyone else tries to open the map, we'll disappear."

"How did you do it?" Tempest asked, picking the map up and studying it even more. She spotted Lily and Willa in the library, Marlene in the girls dormitories, and Fergus in the Ravenclaw common room.

"A simple Homunculus charm," Sirius bragged, a boastful grin on his face. Tempest's eyes widened a fraction and she whipped her head back to look at him in surprise. "What?"

"That's an incredibly advanced spell," she commented, causing the boy's smug expression to grow. "I'm impressed."

"You hear that, Padfoot?" James cheered, throwing his hands up in the air. "We've cracked Tempest Thatcher!" 

★☆

"This is so much easier now that we've got this blasted map," Tempest mumbled as she followed the Marauders down through the Whomping Willow tunnel, prodding her arm and grimacing in pain. Sirius and James were holding it in that moment, chuckling to themselves about something. Tempest didn't want to know what they were doing, she was long past caring about their silly antics. 

She had her arm around Remus' waist so that she could support his weak body; he became incredibly incapable as the moon drew nearer. His hairline was sweaty and he was already breathing heavily, which wasn't uncommon when it came to his transformation. Peter was scurrying in front of them all in his animagus form, as he genuinely preferred being a rat instead of being human. 

"We're almost there," Sirius said as they passed the familiar indent in the wall. Tempest exhaled in relief when she saw the trap door come into view. The girl pushed her way to the front and helped Remus up so that he was safe, before she went up to follow him. Upon entering the creepy, empty house, she saw Remus on the floor, writing in pain. Her eyes widened and she reached into her pocket to grab her watch to check the time. 

"Merlin!" she cursed, her eyes flickering back to Remus, whose skin was beginning to stretch into a distorted shape. She was used to seeing his transformation, but it didn't mean she felt sick to her stomach each time, especially since the boy who was being affected was one of the kindest people she'd ever known. She rushed over to him and rested her hand on his arm, her eyes wide. "Padfoot, Prongs! He's changing!"

"What?" She heard Sirius shout back, before he rushed up to help her. Peter was cowering in the corner, still in his rat form, though that wasn't too surprising. Before Tempest heard Sirius' footsteps, she looked back to Remus, who was now completely unrecognisable. She knew she couldn't show any fear, and she couldn't transform in front of him due to the fact that he would get scared and attack her (they had already had that experience with Peter once). 

"Remus, it's me," she said calmly, watching as the werewolf pushed itself up to its feet, it's tiny button eyes staring down its ugly snout in her direction. Remus huffed, and Tempest swallowed nervously.

She took a step back, trying to be quiet. The Shrieking Shack wasn't the right place to be quiet. The floorboards under her feet screeched, and she flinched. The next thing she heard was a rough howl, before she was knocked to her feet with a swipe to the face. 

Tears quickly filled her vision as the left side of her face fell numb, and she gasped as she hit the wooden floor. She heard a brief brawl, and then an 'oi!' from in the tunnel below the house. The girl curled up in agony, before she shrunk into her animagus form so that she was less of a threat. Lifting her head, she saw a black dog trying to settle Remus, who was panting at the top of the staircase. 

"Get out of here!" she vaguely heard James yell from under the house, before she dropped her head and closed her eyes, the world around her going black. 

★☆

dang!

hope you enjoyed fellas, tell me what you thought!!