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Author: Seedy_Bea Story: Once in a Blue Moon ... Rating: Teens Setting: Post-DH Status: WIP Reviews: 6 Words: 4,999
They’d been searching for seven hours before Sirius finally hit on a fresh scent. He bounded off, into a patch of deep, deep undergrowth. There was a clearly defined path, which had obviously been made by a large animal. They broke into a run. Sirius now had his nose in the air. If he could smell Remus on the air, they were within a hundred meters. Through the bushes, over a hill, down a valley, around a corner… and there he was. An enormous wolf, flanks heaving, mouth frothing, skin stretched taut with the muscles. It was at least three times as big as Sirius’ dog, and was obviously strong and smart enough to kill them all. It snarled at them and advanced. They backed away. It advanced further. They backed off. It lunged at James. James leaped straight into the air, high over the gigantic thing. But now the first move had been made. The fight was on, but they couldn’t risk it. They tried to run away, but they couldn’t outrun it. Their only hope was that the moon would die. Then he’d transform back, and they could take him to the hospital wing. But although it was nearly dawn, the moon showed no signs of going down, and they were getting tired. They’d managed to keep from being torn open by turning and ducking so far, but not for much longer. A hundred meters off was a clump of thick trees with low branches. If they ran in there, they’d be able to catch their breath while the monster wolf tried to find a way in. James felt a surge of hope. He pushed himself a bit further, straining every muscle, thinking he might make it. Then he felt warm breath on his neck. The monster was right behind him. If he’d thought he was sprinting before, he’d been wrong. Now he was sprinting, going at least 65 kilometers an hour. He’d almost reached the clump… he was there! He’d made it! He was safe for a while! But then… He heard an unearthly scream. The wolf had found something. He peered out. Apparently the wolf had figured out that if it couldn’t catch something with its teeth, its forelegs had a longer reach… Sirius was lying on his side, with one of his legs torn open to the bone. It wouldn’t kill him, but it would stop him using it. And he was gushing blood. The wolf was above him. Sirius was about to die. No hope. But maybe, just possibly… Sirius looked at him. A mournful look. He seemed to be losing consciousness. Then he whined, and passed out. That decided it. He shook his head until Wormtail fell out of his antlers. Then he lined himself up and charged. The wolf looked at him, an inch away from biting into Sirius’ remaining limbs. It must have been surprised. It closed its mouth, faced James, opened it again and roared loud enough to slow James in his stride. And that was when James lowered his head, and stabbed the wolf in the face with all fourteen points on his antlers. There was another unearthly scream, and the wolf shook himself free, prancing about with the pain. James galloped over to Sirius and pushed him. The wolf was angry, but Sirius was almost there. One last shove… Sirius was safe. And the wolf had recovered. James sprang for the bush, and he almost made it. A hole appeared in his flank as he flew through the air. He landed hard and fell over. He and Sirius were both bleeding heavily. His own wound wasn’t that serious, just painful. The wolf, now mad with pain and anger, was literally ripping branches off the trees. He’d be in within ten minutes. But at last - at long last - the sun was rising. And the moon was setting. The wolf was getting weaker. It was a race between how long it took for the wolf to get in and how long the moon took to set. It would be close. And if the wolf won, they were finished. They could run no more. * * * Ten minutes later, the wolf was one branch away from killing them. The moon was almost down, but it would take too long. Too long! They were dead for sure. From where he was laying, James could see Peter in a tree. Just sitting there, staring alternately at them and the wolf. He appeared to come to a conclusion of some sort. He sprang from the tree, landing right next to James, while changing into his human form. “Quick, James! Become human! I need you to help me!” James had no idea what he was babbling about. “You’re too heavy for me to drag like this! Come on, James!” Finally, James understood. He quickly transformed and pushed with his good leg while Peter pulled. They managed to move a bit, enough to give him about ten seconds more, at the rate Remus was going. But the beast, seeing his meal escaping, became even angrier. He began tearing apart the foliage with renewed energy. And, even with both of them working at getting away as hard as they could, soon they would be caught. Sirius was far enough off to not be hurt, but he already was hurt badly. He couldn’t help. Another clock had been set and was ticking. Now it was a race between how fast they could go, how fast Remus could go, and when the moon went down. There was a sliver of moon above the horizon, a sliver of wood left, and not even a sliver of energy left in their tired limbs. One clock had stopped. The others would both stop in under half a minute. And then it really would be the end. James shut his eyes and felt Peter shrink. His last thought was, At least my friends are safe. The wolf tore off the last branch and pounced. * * * James opened his eyes and wondered why he was alive. He’d felt the pain and weight as the wolf landed on him, razor-sharp claws out. He’d felt the shift in weight as it leaned forward, head lowering. He’d passed out from pain and loss of blood. And now, after being unconscious for God knew how long, he was still alive. Had Sirius woken up and knocked the wolf off him? Had Peter, small though he was, done it? He looked up. He’d only been out a few minutes; the sun still hadn’t quite risen. There was a weight on his stomach. He looked down. It was Remus. No longer an enormous wolf, but a smallish boy; he was unconscious, as he always was after a change. He looked around. Peter was trying to waken an unconscious Sirius. He looked bad. He was still a dog, which was good, because the dog could stand to lose a lot more blood than a human could. James changed to a stag. He twisted so Remus was on his back and stood up. He scooped Sirius onto his back as well, and collapsed under the weight. He was still bleeding from the leg, and the dog was heavy. Peter pulled out his wand and was obviously going to try to make Sirius float. He managed the tricky charm, and James was able to stagger forwards. In this manner, with Peter running along, Sirius floating ahead - somewhat erratically from being held there by unpractised hands - Remus waking up on James’ back, and James bleeding, they made it to the edge of the woods. Here, Peter put down Sirius and ran to Madam Pomfrey while James tried to wake Sirius so he could transform. “Enervate. Enervate. Enervate,” he muttered over and over. Finally, Sirius woke up, and he changed back just as Madam Pomfrey came bustling towards them. “Oh, what have you boys been doing this time? Oh no…” she said, her voice softening after seeing Remus. “He changed to a wolf again last night, didn’t he? And you went after him? You poor fools. But why did he change?” she muttered to herself. After a while, in which she stopped their bleeding, she suddenly became her own brisk self again. “Right! I’d better get you boys up to the castle.” She conjured up a few stretchers, and floated the boys onto them. Up at the hospital, she rubbed something into their wounds that stung, but made the wounds disappear. After that, she forced them all to drink a blood-replenishing potion. After fifteen minutes, James glanced at the clock. “Madam Pomfrey?” She poked her head in. “Yes, dear?” “Is that clock right?” “Yes, of course it is,” she sniffed. James bolted from his bed and ran all the way to the Gryffindor common room. He was just in time for his date with Lily.
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