The Marauders: Moony

Remus and Senses

Remus could feel it coming without even having to look up at the sky.

He knew it was the day of the full moon. 

Every fibre of his body stood on edge.

In the Great Hall at breakfast time, the smell of toast filled his nostrils, making him feel nauseous. Sirius gave him a glare as though to say you better eat your food Moony, you need your strength. So Remus poured himself a bowl of cereal, his hands trembling as he did so. He felt as though he was overloaded with coffee. Everything around him vibrated with energy. and every tiny movement caught his eye.

He noticed Freya at the other end of the hall. He couldn't help but notice the swish of her hair as she laughed at a joke one of her friends told. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. He could see everything, smell everything, hear everything.

Remus almost laughed himself but had learned to hide his heightened senses, and laughing at a joke someone had told at the other end of the room would most certainly give him away.

The first lesson Remus had that morning was potions with the Ravenclaws.

"This morning, you will be making the draught of peace." The professor stated, shuffling around the front of the class and writing The Draught of Peace in large letters on the blackboard. Remus winced as the chalk scraped across the blackboard. He looked around, nobody else had noticed the horrifying sound.

"The draught of peace calms anxiety and soothes agitation." He added, dropping the chalk on the large wooden desk at the front. Remus noticed tiny fibres of chalk dust floating through the air from where the professor had dropped the chalk. The sunlight streaming in from the window illuminated every speck.

Remus looked down at his trembling hands and thought about how he could do with a sip of the potion himself.

"You may pick your own partners."

Remus turned to Peter but found him already paired up with James. James would usually partner up with Sirius, but Sirius had found himself a blonde girl to partner up with, giving Remus a small smirk.

Remus turned around looking for a partner, and his eyes landed on Freya. He knew Sirius had been planning this.

"Guess it's you and I then Remus." She said, wandering over to his desk, her shoes squeaking across the dungeon floor.

Remus could smell flowers, and something familiar that he couldn't quite put his finger on as she approached.

"I guess so." Remus replied, turning around to give Sirius a glare, but Sirius merely blew him a kiss in response.

Freya wandered off to gather the ingredients, which included powdered moonstone, syrup of Hellebore, powdered unicorn horn and powdered porcupine quills. As the reached the table, the moonstone fell from her grip.

Remus noticed as it slipped through her fingers and began to tumble through the air. Next thing he knew, it was in his own hands.

"Wow... Fast reaction!" Freya exclaimed in surprise.

"Umm... Yeah." Remus mumbled, turning away in embarrassment. He couldn't believe he almost gave himself away like that. Freya was smart, if he kept pulling stunts like that it wouldn't be long before she figured out his secret.

As they worked through the potion, Remus noticed that potions were definitely one of Freya's strong points. 

Freya powdered the moonstone, while Remus did the porcupine quills. He noticed how it took her hardly any time before the moonstone was ground into a fine powder, while his porcupine quills were in mushy lumps. She worked fast, yet efficiently. Everything was perfect and precise.

He watched as she expertly weighed out the correct amounts, and slowly stirred the cauldron, her eyes calculating every degree to ensure that she had completed a perfect circle with the spoon.

Remus glanced around the room and noticed everyone else's potions going wrong.

"Sirius! You forgot the unicorn horn!" The blonde girl said, pulling on her hair. A moment later, purple smoke began to fill their corner of the classroom, and coughs and splutters could be heard from the students near them.

"It's not my fault!" Sirius exclaimed, waltzing out of the purple cloud, swishing his arms to try to clear the smoke.

"Peter, how many times did you stir this?" James asked, watching wide-eyed as their potion slowly turned black and began to bubble suspiciously.

"Right, we need to allow this to simmer for exactly seven minutes." Freya said, glancing down at her watch and making a mental note of the time. She seemed unphased by the chaos erupting around them.

Remus nodded in response, leaning back on the table and closing his eyes.

"Tired?" Freya asked him.

"You have no idea how much I cannot wait for this day to be over." He said, opening his eyes and rummaging in his pocket until he found what he was looking for.

Remus offered Freya first, and she smiled, breaking off a piece of chocolate and popping it into her mouth. Remus did the same before wrapping the foil back around it and placing it back into his pocket.

The seven minutes passed quickly, and then it was time to add the final ingredient, hellebore.

Freya slowly added seven drops, and they both watched in anticipation as a wispy silver vapour poured from the cauldron.

"You've got it!" The professor exclaimed, running over to take a look at the potion.

He inspected it, taking a large spoon and dipping it in. He brought the spoon up to his nose and smelled it, before nodding approvingly at the pair.

"Perfect!" He exclaimed, before dropping the spoon and running off towards the screams that could be heard from the front of the classroom. 

Remus stretched his neck a little and noticed green sparks. He and Freya smiled at each other, although he knew the success was mainly down to her.

Remus rolled up his sleeves and glanced down at his watch. 

Only another ten hours to go until the full moon.