40 ~ The Curse's Song

When your worst nightmare turns out to know your name

     I felt the presence of the moon. The blood in my veins began to roar, my heart to race. I stopped briefly and looked up at the glowing sphere. It stretched its claws towards me and I sensed its power. The moon even seemed to speak to me, to call me to itself. It wanted me to become what I was.

I know, I thought and looked towards the moon. I knew that it was time.

     I could not resist for long, gave in to the call from within, followed the moon. I pulled off my clothes and immediately dropped to my knees. An impulse shot through my body. I gasped, my body began to twitch. I did not scream, but from the pain I bit into my cheek until I tasted something metallic, blood. I breathed in and out in short bursts until I fell onto my side. My body transformed and for a moment I looked up at the full moon again. This time its glow seemed threatening, power-hungry. Its calling turned into roaring and my heart threatened to burst from my chest.     As my bones warped and hair forced its way through my skin, a dull grunt escaped my throat. I felt my thoughts being pushed aside, my wolf-self moving to the forefront. In this state my human problems were no longer important.     For a brief moment I lost consciousness, but when the transformation was complete, I pushed myself up. I shook my body to settle my fur, then charged into the forest, because my wolf's body demanded movement.

     As on every full moon, I roamed through the forest. My nose sniffing towards the ground. It was already late autumn and only a few leaves still clung to the deciduous trees. In the Forbidden Forest, however, there were areas that looked the same all year round, but I avoided them. Earlier on I had once accidentally made the acquaintance of spiders and centaurs. I did not want a repeat of that.     That was why I was now drinking from a small stream. Its trickling echoed in my ears and in the darkness the water looked like a wet film. It was ice-cold as it ran down my throat.     Today the forest felt far too peaceful. From time to time one could hear the singing of nocturnal creatures and a light wind made the treetops rustle.     It was not yet cold enough for me to see my breath, and after I had finished drinking, I briefly sat back on my hind legs. With my right hind paw I scratched behind my ear and for a while I did not know what to do. Earlier I had chased a squirrel until I remembered that I did not want to kill an animal, so I had gone to the stream. Before that I had sniffed at countless trees, but everything had been normal, at least on the surface.     Full moon was almost over and the night had passed quietly so far. I could not have guessed what would happen next, no one could have.

     When a short time later I wanted to make my way back to my discarded coat and clothes to wait there for the end of the night, my ears caught the sound of rustling leaves. It came from the right.     I froze in my movement, pricked up my fur-covered ears and looked into the dark forest. The tree trunks looked grey, once again I heard a rustle. And although I had control over myself in my wolf form, there were always moments when I acted against my human reason. My animal instinct told me in that moment that I should follow the sound, that it could be an enemy who might attack me from behind, who could be entering my territory.     For that reason my two natures began to argue with one another. The wolf within me won. I turned fully towards the sound and pricked my ears in its direction.     I began to move. At first slowly, but as the sounds grew clearer, I increased my pace. I leapt over roots, branches and ditches. All the while I tried to pick up the trail of the thing. I was sure that it was an animal, because when I had begun to move, it had started to run away from me. It was not very good at moving silently through the forest, which made it easy for me to follow.     When a little later I came upon a large hollow, I could see a shadow on the other side moving away from me. In that moment it really should have become clear to me that the creature was moving deliberately slowly so that I could follow it.     Unfortunately the thought did not occur to me and quickly I crossed the hollow. On the other side I noticed that I had pushed far into the forest. The moon's power was also slowly fading from me, but it would take a little while yet.

What are you?

     I asked myself, but as I wanted to continue following the figure, it happened. In front of me was the trail I had been following, but to my right a threatening growl sounded. It was so close that I had no time left to continue my previous intention, because unlike the strange figure, the newcomer would hunt me.     I looked to the right. As expected, a werewolf appeared. I had seen him once before and while I had been wondering the whole time what would happen if I ever met Remus Lupin again in his werewolf form during full moon, I was about to find out now.     I looked into his dark eyes and knew that it was my fault; I had entered his territory. I was, of course, aware that the Marauders always stayed east of me, yet now I had run straight into their arms. During the chase I had not noticed that I had come closer to them. Now I would have to live with the consequences.     In the next moment I moved cautiously away from my opponent. I knew that I would hardly be able to avoid a fight. My only hope was that the moon's power was slowly fading. I did not want to fight another battle against Remus, which was why I would not attack. I only had to hold out, wait until the other werewolf would have to transform back.     For that reason I kept my distance. A few heartbeats later a dog and a stag appeared. Perched awkwardly on the stag's antlers was a rat, half dangling down, kicking its small pink hind paws. The Marauders were complete.     I looked into their eyes and imagined that Black, as a dog, had tilted his head. He seemed to be asking me why I was here, but of course I could not answer that question. And one certain werewolf among us was the only one not conscious.     For a brief moment my stomach tightened. It must be terrible for Remus to always have a blackout after full moon, but today he would probably prefer it that way. He would not remember what was about to happen, the rest of us, however, would.

Those eyes...

     Again I was held captive by the werewolf's gaze, because the green appeared black, and there was no trace left of the kind, if sometimes annoying Remus Lupin. Before me stood a werewolf who wanted to attack me, and I had to listen to my human side. My wolf-self wanted to attack my opponent, but I must not provoke a fight. I also did not move from the spot and continued staring into the werewolf's eyes. The Forbidden Forest surrounded us.     For a short time nothing happened, only the growing tension could be felt. My muscles were ready to defend themselves, and the dog and stag also seemed to understand what would follow.     Slowly they moved from behind the werewolf to his sides, coming closer to me. I caught Black's gaze and gestured upwards into the sky, then gave Potter the same look. They seemed to have understood me. Soon Remus would transform back and only at that moment did I realise that I no longer called Remus Lupin Lupin in my thoughts.

Yes, brilliant...

     Inside I cursed myself for that, but I had other problems, because the werewolf began to move. I took a step back and that was my mistake.     In a flash Remus lunged at me. I just barely managed to dodge him. A growl escaped my throat in response, which was returned as Remus and I circled each other. My front paws crossed and both of us were tense. I had to focus on getting us both through the fight as best as possible.     As soon as I had thought that, my opponent lunged again, this time more slowly. The strength of the full moon seemed to be leaving his body, but not mine. That was why I accepted the collision and was thrown to the side. I whimpered as I felt a burning pain in my left shoulder, but my hind legs hurled the wolf away from me. Remus crashed against the nearest trunk, sending leaves swirling that looked dull in the darkness. I, on the other hand, got back onto my feet and knew that I had made the werewolf angry.     I was just about to prepare for the next attack when Black and Potter crossed my strategy. They did not seem to realise that Remus was extremely angry at that moment, and when a barking dog approached him, the werewolf forgot about me. He wanted to rush at Black, but I could not allow that. I could not allow Black to be attacked now because of my stupidity, because I had not paid attention to my surroundings.     This time I attacked on my own and threw myself onto the werewolf's back. I made sure not to hurt him, but my right hind claw dug into the wolf's hind leg. A whine escaped his throat and the force of my jump had thrown both of us to the ground.     Air left my lungs as I landed in the leaves. The werewolf was above me. Again he felt my hind legs, and this time in his stomach. He fell back, but I had to take a claw mark that ran from my chest to my hip. It was deeper than the first injury and in the same instant my vision began to flicker.

You must not give up!

     These words surged through my body. I got back onto my feet. Once more I created distance between us and we moved in circles. I growled at my opponent to signal that I was not finished, but he was not finished either, because in the next second Remus rushed towards me, but he did not reach me. In the middle of his leap all his energy left the werewolf. He collapsed. With his snout first, he crashed into the ground.     The power of the full moon faded and Remus Lupin became human. My own body also shuddered, but I resisted it. I did not want to transform yet, I still had to follow the thing that I had chased; otherwise this fight would have been pointless.     That was why I only saw how the werewolf turned into a human, and with one last look at the other Marauders I ran past them. Immediately I picked up the trail again and chased after the creature.

But is it a mistake?I did not know.

     I did not think about that, because strangely I soon recognised the area of the forest I was in. At once my stomach tightened; in front of me my place appeared.     The large tree stood on a small rise and before its trunk sat my doom. Blue wolf eyes flashed in the darkness. Another werewolf sat before me. One who, however, was calm, conscious, because the power of the moon was over. Before me sat my father and the entire chase suddenly made sense; he had lured me to him.     Now we stood facing one another. I felt something like fear, fear of what was to come.

"You forget, Phil," his voice spoke inside my head. I had not heard it for a long time. I wanted to drive it away, but I could not."You forget, the source of fear lies in the future, and whoever is free from the future has nothing to fear."

     That was what my father had always said to me, always when I had been afraid, and this one time the voice in my head was even right. I did not know what lay in the future, and to fear something that might happen made no sense. Even now it made no sense, because the wolf made no attempt to move. We faced each other in silence and my heart pounded in my chest.     What would happen?

***

Hey^^

Another ten days have passed. I hope you're still enjoying the fanfic so far and yessss, cliffhanger, but it continues tomorrow, hehe

In honour of the 40th chapter, I want to say thank you to everyone who reads and votes :)

Thanks to @Amyyzee for the recent votes!!!

See you again tomorrow :)

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Love,RaVen