The smell of dusty air and blood filled the room. A faint ray of light shining through some cracks in the wall. There was only a thin, dirty blanket covering his naked frame, now likely stained with blood from his cuts. Remus' eyes slowly pulled open to see one of his best friends sitting quietly across the room flipping through an old issue of Which Broomstick?. He smiled softly seeing him there, he hated waking up after these nights to find himself alone.
Remus' brain hadn't fully woken up yet and the pain along his left side still hadn't registered. He gave a small yawn, stretching his arm and arching his back. Then, oh then the pain hit. He winced and let out a strangled groan as his left abdomen and hip started to throb. His noises sparked Sirius' attention. "Woah, there!" He called out, quickly dropping the magazine he was reading to rush to his friends side. "Freeze. Don't make any sudden movements." He grinned, trying Remus at a joke to hopefully diffuse any grumpy bitterness that was leftover from the night before.
As soon as Sirius was over, he held out his hand so he could help him sit up in the least painful way possible. Remus shook his head and gave a slight roll of his eyes, "Sudden movements are not an option, you git. Now help me up or I'll be sure to give you a few good scratches next moon." He grumbled, glaring up at Sirius. He could already tell by the pain in his side that this had been a particularly bad moon, one from which he'd have the scars to prove it.
"Moony. Moons… put away the claws." He said in a defence, taking Remus' hand and gently placing his other under the boy's elbow. Together, they slowly sat the pained Marauder up, Sirius trying his best not to touch an scars and Remus trying not to shrug off Sirius' help. He quickly pulled the thin sheet up closer around his waist, not wanting to flash his bits. He was already ashamed enough with himself, having been seen through his transformation and now scratched and bloody. The last thing he needed was to show off any other parts of his body.
Remus let out a heavy sigh, his eyes closed again once he was sat up. The truth was, he didn't want to face the outcome of last nights transformation. He had always gone to great lengths to see that they would run smoothly. Or, as smooth as a werewolf transformation could possibly go. The reality was, he was stressed. He had OWLs the three days following the full moon, for which he was not entirely prepared for. Plus, the added stress of James' girlfriend-by-his-decision-not-her-acception well on her way to figuring out where they'd been disappearing to once a month. The last thing he needed was anyone else finding out about his furry-little-problem.
He pushed his internal banter aside, hoping to focus on the present situation at hand. Slowly he opened his eyes, Sirius standing there patiently. Sirius knew what Remus was doing and wouldn't dare to interrupt him. He was sorting his thoughts. Preparing himself. It took a lot of courage to have to face this twelve times a year. "How bad is it?" The shaky voice asked, not daring to look down yet.
In response, Sirius shrugged, knowing that he wasn't deemed to be the true judge of that. "You'll have to see for yourself." He gave a small nod, encouraging his friend to look. Remus swallowed thickly and nodded himself, looking down. The large gash on his left side spread almost to the centre of his abdomen. Below it, a few more smaller, less deep scratches ran along his hip. The dried blood and pain told him all he needed.