Remus Lupin
was nothing if not studious. So when his note-taking took a back seat to
staring off into space during one Transfiguration lesson, his friends
immediately took note. Just as surprising was when he seemed to snap out of it
and leaned over to James with a whisper, "Did you catch that last bit?" James
wasn't sure how far back Remus meant but he hadn't been paying much attention
himself, considering Lily Evans was in his line of sight.
The class
began the practical part of their lesson not seconds later, and by the end of
the class Remus was the only one unable to properly transfigure his raven into
a writing desk. Thus, he was the only one with homework when McGonagal
dismissed them. And while he didn't mind homework, he couldn't help beating
himself up for not being able to do the work properly during practical.
"I'm really
sorry, mates, but I'm skiving off dinner," Remus mumbled to his friends as soon
as they'd left the classroom. He felt miserable and his body was screaming at
him to get some sleep.
"Remus, are
you feeling all right?" asked James concernedly. He patted the young man on the
back.
"You look a
bit peaky," Peter observed.
"I'm going
to go take a nap," he announced, rubbing the back of his neck and stifling a yawn.
"Do you
want us to save you dessert at least?" Sirius asked.
"No
thanks." Remus quickened his pace and passed them. "I feel like I might be
coming down with something. I'm not really hungry." He turned and gave his
three friends and roommates a wave. "I'll see you all later." Then he headed up
the stairs towards the Gryffindor dormitory.
James and
Peter, looking sympathetic, continued on down the hallway, but Sirius paused a
little longer to watch Remus go until the young man was out of sight. But, by
then, he'd formulated a plan. He jogged to catch up with James and Peter, his
schoolbag slapping against his hip until he came to a halt right between his
two friends. Draping his arms around the two sets of shoulders, he put on his
charming grin. "Oy, I need your help with a project..."
*
Remus woke late
the night in a cold sweat. He felt awful having slept in his school robes and
felt disoriented to find the room dark when it had been so bright and sunny
when he'd fallen asleep. "Hello?" he called out, blinking and swallowing to
find his throat in considerable pain. He hoped that one of his friends might be
around. And, luckily, he heard footsteps. Remus looked up just in time to find
Sirius jumping onto the bed beside him.
"Hullo,
Moony!" Sirius said cheerfully. "How are you tonight?"
Remus
pulled his arms close and propped himself up on his forearms. "I'm... huhhh-huhhh-HEHChoo!" Remus' head
snapped downwards. He sniffled and looked weakly over at Sirius. "I'm sick."
Sirius
shook his head. "Nah. It's just exhaustion. You work yourself too hard, Moony.
Always have."
Shaking his
head, "I don't think so, Padfoot. I feel pretty bad... hehhh..." He lifted a hand and cupped it over his nose and mouth. His
eyes closed and he took a deep breath. "EHHShhooo!"
"Aww,
you're fine," Sirius said casually as he passed Remus a tissue.
As Remus
blew his nose, he noticed Sirius had not only brought over a tissue box but
just about everything else a sick person might need. The pile started with an
extra blanket and ended with a pair of Remus' pajamas. "If I'm so fine, what's
with all this?"
"Just to be
sure. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you're fine."
"ehhhh... hehhhChooo!"
Sirius
handed over another tissue, eyed Remus critically for a moment, then pulled two
more out of the box and handed those over as well. "You're not sick," he told
Remus, climbing off the bed and pushing the pajamas closer as a hint.
Remus
coughed and picked up the pajamas, finding them warm for the hot water bottle
they had been sitting upon. "Sniff!
Sniff! How do you know I'm not sick?" Remus asked skeptically as he pulled
his robes off over his head and pulled on the pajama top. He certainly felt
sick.
"Because
you and I are supposed to go to Hogsmede tomorrow. You can't be sick now. It's just not possible." He pulled the hangings
around Remus' bed closed. "Sweet dreams, Moony!"
"See you in
the morning, Padfoot," Remus replied, sounding worried but done changing now.
He snuggled under his covers with the hot water bottle and tissue box, and
Remus fell asleep in no time at all.
*
"Pads... I
don't think this is such a good idea," James said, standing beside Remus' bed
with his arms crossed over his chest.
"You don't
know what you're talking about, Prongs."
Standing on
the other side of his bed with Sirius, Remus put his hand down on the bed to
keep himself upright as he sneezed. "ehhh...
hehhhh-heh-HEHTChooo! Sniff!
hehh-EHShooo!"
"I don't
know what I'm talking about?" James laughed, gesturing towards Remus. "It's
obvious he's sick."
"He isn't!"
Sirius insisted, handing Remus a tissue then continuing to load Remus' pockets
up with tissue after tissue. "He's just fine. Remus, tell James here how you're
feeling."
"Well--"
"See that?"
Sirius said, grinning over at James. "He says he's well." He patted Remus'
shoulder reassuringly. "He's not sick. Because he can't be sick. He just can't
be. We're going to Hogsmede for our date and we're going to have a lovely
time." He straightened Remus' robes so the bulges in the pockets weren't
noticeable. "Aren't we, Remus?"
Remus
sniffled and looked incredibly doubtful. But he saw the desperation in Sirius'
eyes and nodded. "We are," he agreed. Then he looked over at James. "Don't
worry about me, Prongs."
James sighed
and shook his head. He leaned over the bed and pressed his palm to Remus'
forehead. Frowning, "We'll see how you do over breakfast, all right?"
Remus
nodded, appreciating James' concern. But, more than anything, he hated to
disappoint his friends. And Sirius really needed him to be well right now. So he
straightened and cleared his throat and led the way down to breakfast.
While there
was no reason to save seats, Peter had been saving them the best pancakes and
French toast. The others ate hungrily while Remus sat at the Gryffindor table,
practicing not looking as sick as he felt.
In truth,
every bit of him felt rotten. His nose was running and tickling. His throat was
raw. His head throbbed. And his whole body ached. He felt weak and shivery, and
the cup of tea he had been hoping would somehow magically cure him wasn't even
making a dent. "ehhh..." He pressed two
fingers beneath his nose and closed his eyes, waiting it out. The tickle backed
down and he sighed deeply with relief.
"Mister
Lupin?" Apparently he had celebrated too early. He turned and looked up to see
Professor McGonagal. "Are you quite all right? Or should I send you off to Madam
Pomfrey?"
As he
considered his answer for a moment, he caught sight of Sirius, who looked
terribly anxious. "There's no need. I'm all right," he told her. "Thank you,
Professor." She hesitated, looking him over, then headed back to the staff
table. Remus sighed and scrubbed very hard at his nose, muttering to Sirius
beside him, "You owe me big for lying to a professor."
"It's not
lying," Sirius said, sounding more and more in denial as time went on. Remus
could hardly believe he was the same person who had brought him extra pillows
and water last night. "You are all
right." He put his arm around Remus' shoulders and gave a quick, tight squeeze.
"Right,"
replied Remus, not sounding convinced but rather sounding like he needed to
sneeze. "hehhh..." He pressed his
fingers against his nose again. "hehh-INGuhhhh!
Owww..." He shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Not going to do
that again." He reached for his tea and didn't protest when Peter piled two
pancakes on his plate and James dribbled syrup on them. With a smile on his
face, and a bit more sniffling than he might have liked, he forced himself to
eat breakfast.
He was glad
to have a bit of food in his stomach as he waited in line with the other
students who intended to go out to Hogsmede. Sirius was twitchy and nervous
beside him, repeatedly looking in front and behind. Remus knew he wasn't
looking out for professors. And with Sirius beside him, Peter in front, and
James behind, he felt safe to be a little sick. He pulled out one of the
tissues and held it against his nose as inconspicuously as possible. "ehhh-ehh-HShphhh!" The sneeze, muffled
into the tissue in his hand was just as quiet as the one he'd tried to stifle,
but not the least bit painful, except when he rubbed his nose. That was
starting to feel a bit sensitive. Feeling shivery on top of that, he stepped a
little closer to Sirius. He felt James pat his back.
By the time
they were at the front of the line Remus had tucked the tissue away and was
standing straight and tall, looking as though nothing were wrong. He smiled as
Filch checked his name off and let him pass through the doors and towards the
town. He waited with Peter in the cool autumn wind as Sirius and James were
waved through as well, then they all headed down the path to Hogsmede.
Peter broke
off when they passed Honeydukes, his hands in his pockets, jingling the coins
within. James spotted Lily having a laugh with a few of the girls outside the
post office and he was immediately drawn to her, wishing his friends good luck.
Remus hated
to admit that he probably needed more than luck at the moment. He needed to be
back in bed with that hot water bottle and another cup of tea. His sniffling
was getting bad, louder, noticeable. So he took out another tissue and blew his
nose. "Hey," Sirius hissed in a whisper to him. "Buck up. We're nearly there."
Remus nodded, wiping his nose dry and hiding the tissue just as they arrived in
front of The Three Broomsticks.
Standing in
front, by the door, were two lovely young women: Claire Hampton and Margie
Glint, both in Ravenclaw. Sirius had fancied Claire since their fifth year, and
as Margie had a bit of a thing for Remus, Sirius had used that to his advantage
in pressuring Claire for a date. It had taken nearly a month to arrange the
double-date and Sirius had spoken of nothing else for the last week. He had
even let his pranking slide, which was really saying something.
"Hello
Ladies," Sirius said charmingly, and both of the girls smiled. Claire giggled
and offered him a hello kiss on the cheek. Margie seemed too shy to do so with
Remus, but they exchanged warm, friendly smiles. She was just about his height
and was rather pretty with a head full of golden curls. Claire was equally
attractive, with so many nice features Sirius could probably take an hour to
list them all out. The gentlemen offered their arms and escorted their dates
into the establishment.
Remus was
terribly glad to be out of the cool weather and inside where it was warm. And,
once he'd pulled out Margie's chair for her and pushed it in when she sat, he
was glad to get off his feet as well in the chair beside her. He could not
relax, however, as there was still much more to do. He had to constantly sniff
silently to keep his nose from running visibly. Every time his throat itched,
he went straight for his glass of water. And he went through all the excuses he
could think of to casually rub at his nose so they wouldn't think he was
fighting off sneezes.
They
ordered and began to converse. Remus knew Margie was smart-- she had to be to
have been sorted into Ravenclaw-- but he hadn't counted on enjoying talking with
her as much as he was. She had a fascinating take on combining the subjects of
Arithmancy and Ancient Runes and she seemed equally fascinated by his theories
on Defense Against the Dark Arts. He was so absorbed in conversation that he
only briefly noticed that Sirius and Claire seemed to be nursing their Butter
Beers more than actually talking. However, Remus couldn't see one of Sirius'
hands and had a bit of an idea of why Claire was smiling so brightly.
Everyone
seemed to be getting on so well that the date went on longer than Remus had
anticipated. The girls wanted to go see the Shrieking Shack, thanks to a
completely fabricated story Sirius had told about their attempt at breaking in
last year. Of course there was no way Claire or Margie could possibly know the
truth, even as smart as they were, but they giggled and convinced the boys to
take them over to see the shack. Then they wanted to go by Zonkos and maybe
Honeydukes and Remus' head was starting to feel heavy.
The warming
effect of his two Butter Beers was wearing off, and his fatigue was taking
over. So much so that, when he felt a fierce tickle brewing in his nose, he
didn't get his hand up to rub early on and, as a result, couldn't stop the
sneeze from coming. "hahhhhh-CHISHHHHHH!"
He sneezed wetly into his hand, cupped over the lower half of his countenance. "Sorry,"
he muttered. "I..." But his eyes snapped shut and he couldn't finish. Letting the
one sneeze out seemed to make it impossible for him to hold back the rest. "ehhh-Chhoo! hehhhChooo! Hehh-ehhh-IH-Chooo!
K'TChooo! hehhhShooo!" When the small fit passed, he rubbed his nose with a
tissue as politely as possible. He looked up to see both girls staring at him,
and he gave them a weak smile. "I'b sorry. Dod't dow what cabe over be." He
swore to himself at hearing the stuffiness in his voice but couldn't risk
further suspicion by blowing his nose, much as he needed to.
"Are you
sick?" Margie asked concernedly.
"Be?" said
Remus innocently. "Oh doe. I'b... fide... hehhh!"
He pressed a finger under his nose until his breath slowed and the sneeze
backed off.
"You don't
sound so fine," Claire said. Margie looked sympathetic and went to feel his
forehead. But Remus pulled away quickly before she could touch him, making it
look like a natural movement caused by him laughing so she wouldn't be
offended. "If you're sick, maybe we should cut the date short..."
"No!"
exclaimed Sirius at once. Then, speaking with a very serious tone, "Remus is
fine. He's fine! Aren't you Remus? Fine enough to spend the rest of the day
with these lovely ladies. Perfectly fine."
Remus
paused a moment then nodded. "Right." He cleared his throat as he pushed back
from the table, using the chair scraping across the floor to cover the sound. Then
he stood. "Just fi..." He trailed away as darkness passed over his eyes. It was
confusing, as he was sure his eyes were open, but he was overwhelmed with the
sensation of falling. Something hard struck his rear and his back and his head
and by that time his eyes were closed.
When he
opened them, he found himself propped up in his chair again, with Sirius
squatting to his side and the girls on the other side of the table looking
terribly angry. "...right now or so help me, Sirius, you won't be the only one in
this school starting nasty rumors." Claire noticed Remus was awake and softened
slightly when she addressed him. "Feel better, Remus. And make sure that one
does as he's supposed to, got it?" she gestured to Sirius.
Dumbly,
Remus nodded and sniffled again. He looked over at Margie. "I'm so sorry."
She shook
her head. "We don't blame you Remus.
But you really should have told us you were unwell." She paused, then, "Feel
better." Then she and Claire left and Remus was left feeling confused still. He
looked over at Sirius and sniffed hard.
Sirius
sighed, rubbing his forehead in frustration. Then he stood and took hold of
Remus' arm. "Come on. Lean on me if you need to. We're going back to Hogwarts."
Remus
decided it was best not to ask questions on the trip back, especially as he was
using all the strength he had just to walk. Once he had been deposited on his
four poster bed, however, he pressed Sirius about it. "I'm so sorry for getting
sick, Padfoot. But why were the girls so angry at you?"
Sirius held
Remus' pajamas out again and Remus obediently shook off his cloak and pulled
off his school robes. "Well, you passed out. You remember that, right?" Remus
nodded and reached for his pajama top. "You hit the chair on your way down and
it softened your fall. And luckily I was able to jump up and do a spell to keep
you from cracking your head open on the floor. Then I got you back up into the
chair but the damage had been done. They got mad at me for letting you come out
today even though I knew you were sick. They said I was a terrible friend and
Claire said she wanted nothing to do with me. She said she wouldn't even speak
to me again if I didn't get you back here right away." Remus had finished
changing and Sirius pulled down the covers so Remus could get into bed. He
forced a laugh. Indignantly, "But can you believe that? Me a terrible friend? Me!"
Remus was
glad the tickle in his nose prevented him from answering. He grabbed liberally
at the tissues and pressed a small bunch to his face. "HEHKSchhphhhh! Ehhh-ehhhh-HEH-Chhhphhhhh!"
As Remus
blew his nose, Sirius sighed deeply and sat down on the side of Remus' bed.
"The thing is, I don't think they're wrong."
"Sirius..."
Remus said weakly, pushing himself up on an arm so he could see better despite
the fact that his pillows were so soft and comfortable.
But Sirius
barged in before Remus could continue. "I'm such a screw-up. I was awful to
make you go out there with me when you were sick just because I fancied a bird.
You could have gotten worse." Panic rose in his voice, "You're not worse, are you? I mean, apart from
the fainting? Did you hurt your head? Can I get you a cold compress?"
Remus shook
his head. "It's just a cold, Padfoot. I really will be all right. I could just
use some more sleep... And it's not just your fault."
Sirius
shrugged and pulled his legs up onto the bed with him, bending them at the
knees and hugging them to his chest. "Nah, it is. I pressured you to go. I took
advantage of how nice you are. And I put you at risk. Merlin, Remus..." He took a
deep breath, then quickly admitted, "Imsosorry."
Remus
chuckled, hoping it wasn't just his illness making him hear things because it
really seemed that Sirius had actually apologized. "Thank you. But, Sirius,
don't beat yourself up over this. I made my own decision. Apart from some
embarrassment, nothing happened to me. And, believe me, I can handle
embarrassment." He coughed and lowered himself back onto the pillows, hugging
the blankets to his chest. Sirius pulled the blankets up to Remus' chin and
tucked them around his friend. Remus could tell that Sirius still felt badly. Smiling,
"You want to make it up to me?" Sirius nodded. "Can you read me to sleep? Or...
just sit with me a little while? Sleeping during the day makes me uneasy. Makes
me feel like it's the day after my transformation."
Sirius'
face brightened. "I'll sit with you all day if you want me to," he said,
grabbing the novel off of Remus' bedside table. "I've got nothing else to do
today anyway, right? After doing such a smashing job of ruining the date."
Remus
smiled sympathetically. And closed his eyes as Sirius opened up the book and
flipped to the page Remus had marked. As a bookmark, Remus was using a strip of
photo paper. Sirius recognized it as a series of four photos they'd taken in
one of those machines over the summer. It had been difficult to get all four of
the Marauders into the booth at one time, but the series of pictures of them
laughing and fighting for the best spot was worth it. Sirius smiled and looked
from it over to Remus. "But I think I might enjoy spending the day here with
you," he said. "We can have our own date."
Remus nodded,
chuckled, and coughed. Sirius patted his arm through the blankets. Then he
started reading at the top of the page.