The Werewolf and the Centaur
A/N: This story takes place in Harry’s 3rd
year after Remus has transformed back into a human. I hope you like it! Again,
many thanks to Arianrhod.
Remus lay on the floor of the Forbidden
Forest, watching the sunrise and willing it all to end. The Wolf inside him had
taken over completely after 8 years, almost 100 full moons of suppression under
the Wolfsbane Potion. However, the physical pain of changing from a human to
wolf and back again in less than 24 hours was nothing compared to the memories
that wreaked havoc on his emotions. The aftermath of turning into the Wolf
caused him to remember the worst times in his life. After he became human again
when the Wolf had been released, fully fledged, only moments ago, without the
influence of the Wolfsbane Potion, Remus felt as though a dementor had caught
him in a gigantic bear hug. He remembered all the horrible memories of his
life; the day he was bitten, the night Lily and James died, the day he found
out that his best friend, Sirius, had been responsible, these memories made him
feel as though he were drowning in his own mind. The night Sirius went to
prison was probably his worst memory of all. The only family members he ever really
had were either dead, or as good as dead. Voldemort had killed Lily and James;
Sirius had supposedly killed Peter, and was now spending a life sentence in
prison for murder. Tonight, he felt as though a part of his family who he had
lost forever was back, and then as quick as he retuned, was snatched away from
him. He would make sure Peter would pay one day. If Sirius didn’t find him, he
would. Between he and Sirius, Remus was sure that one day, Peter would pay with
his lying, cheating, murdering, waste of a life.
As Remus lay on the forest floor,
wiling it all to end, he saw a centaur, which he had met on various occasions,
lurking over by a tree. Remus had the peculiar feeling that Firenze had been
watching him all night.
“Back again, Remus?” Firenze
inquired of him. “I’d have thought that you and Mr. Black had grown too old for
midnight runs through the forest, even if you haven’t seen each other in 12
years.”
“How did you…?”
“I’ve been watching from behind this
tree all night. I saw everything that transpired yesterday night, and this
morning, from when young Mr. Weasley was dragged into that horrible willow tree
by Mr. Black, up until now. Of course I didn’t actually see what happened while
you were all inside the Whomping Willow, however, I assume that you will be
able to adequately fill me in.”
Remus was shocked. Of everyone he
thought of who would believe he and Sirius’ story, Centaurs were the last
creatures he thought of, although, Firenze had always been the exception in
most cases concerning centaurs.
“Here, let me help you up to the
school, and we can talk on the way.”
“Yeah,” Responded Remus, though he’d
rather not talk about what happened the night before. “Yeah, that be great
Firenze, I could really use the help.”
As Firenze and Remus walked through
the forest towards Hogwarts, Remus retold the whole story to Firenze. He told
Firenze everything from when he had seen Sirius and Peter on the Marauders Map,
to when he had realized he had forgotten to take his potion that evening. Firenze
listened with a caring ear, without changing his facial expression or
interrupting to ask questions. When Remus finished his story, Firenze only
said, “It sounds as though you had quite an interesting night.”
Remus was puzzled. How could
Firenze, or anyone for that matter, call what had happened to him that night
“interesting”? It had been pure hell, and he was not anxious to repeat the
experience. He kept his mouth hut, however, and simply lay in silence across
Firenze’s back, reveling in the mystery of what made Centaurs so mystifying.
He knew that once he got back to the
school, he would have to deal with making sure Dumbledore knew the truth about
last night, parents not wanting a Werewolf teaching their children, and making
sure that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were okay, but for now, he enjoyed riding
almost carelessly across the Centaurs back. After a few minutes of quiet
thought, he fell asleep, still puzzling the mysteries of the Centaur.
THE END
