Lily made her way to Transfiguration with a note from Madam Pomfery to Professor McGonagall. She handed the note over and slipped into her seat, glancing past the empty one next to her, having her eyes fall on Remus. He made to stand up but the bell rang and Professor McGonagall called everyone to their seats. He continued to stare at Lily, but there was little she could do to explain why Emma wasn't there until after class.
The lesson seemed to drag on. Lily could tell that the boys were antsy, Remus especially. When class ended they gathered their things and met in the hall.
"Remus relax, I'm sure everything is fine." James patted him on the back before looking around for Lily. Sirius was looking around too, where had she gone?
Finally Lily strode up to them, she put her hand up before continuing, "I'm sure she is fine. She wasn't feeling well this morning so I took her to the hospital wing, I sat with her a while and that's why I was late getting to class. I am planning on going to see her during lunch."
Remus didn't seem satisfied, "What do you mean she 'didn't feel well'? That could mean like a billion things Lily."
Lily looked at him, but Sirius stepped in, "Moony, she didn't feel well so she went to see a nurse, I don't know what the problem is."
By now they were some of the last students left in the hall. They started making their way to charms but Remus was holding back.
"Remus, what are you going to do? She is probably taking a nap anyway, we will just go see her when Lily goes, c'mon," James reached out and grabbed Remus' robes at the shoulder. He obliged by moving his feet a bit in their direction, but still wanted to go back, 'I'm sure she is ok.' He thought to himself, 'Madam Pomfery can heal anything, I should know.'
If transfiguration dragged on then charms was at a stand-still. Remus was barely taking any notes, just staring at the clock on the wall. Lily was also nervously glancing at the clock every few moments, willing time to move faster. After walking Emma down to the hospital wing she had stayed for a while to keep her company while Madam Pomfery attended to a few other students, apparently it was cold/flu season and the students were getting hit hard. Lily tried to have Emma explain again what was "pulling" her.
"I told you Lily, I don't know. You know that feeling when someone is pulling you along and your body takes a second to catch up with you? It's like that, but a little more constant, oh I don't know. I don't really feel it anymore, let's just go." Emma had made to stand up but she swayed a little and gripped Lily's shoulder for support.
"Yeah," said Lily sarcastically, "you can't even stand up straight, we are staying."
Madam Pomfery came by and did some quick diagnostic spells, "Well, everything seems to be fine. You don't have a cold or the flu, and you still have color in your skin. How about I give you a Pepper-Up Potion and you can lay down for a little, I'll pass a note on excusing you with Miss Evans here." She wrote something down and gave it to Lily, "You can come visit during lunch, if not I am sure that Miss Maray will be back later today." She took under Emma's arm and led her to an empty bed in the back corner, "Get some rest, I'll be right back with the potion." With that she had shooed Lily out of the wing.
Remus practically ran out of charms and down the hall. The boys weren't far behind him. He stopped to open the door but heard a voice behind him, "And where do you think you are going?" Emma stood with her hands on her hips and a mock scowl on her face, her lips tugging up at the corners. Remus pushed through his friends and wrapped his arms around her, "What happened?" Now holding her at arms length, "Lily said you were ill."
Emma smiled, "From the looks of it she must have made it seem like I was on my death bed," she looked at their worried faces, "Guys, I'm fine! It must just be the beginning of a cold or something Madam Pomfery said. I took a nap and a potion and I'm back to my normal self," she looked directly at Remus, "I promise."
He still looked her over, as if Madam Pomfery may have missed something. Sirius came up behind Remus, "Now that that is settled, hungry?"
"Starved!" Emma laughed and waited for everyone to start towards the Great Hall. Remus was still standing in front of her, "Promise me that nothing is wrong," he stated plainly.
She looked up at him with her hands locked behind his head and stood on her toes, "Remus Lupin, Madam Pomfery doesn't think that anything out of the ordinary is wrong. I promise."
He gave a sigh and bent down to kiss her before walking into the Great Hall.
After their afternoon lessons they made their way up to the common room. All day Remus had been either watching Emma or somehow touching Emma so prove to himself that she was indeed, perfectly fine. They all spread out their books and got to work, the boys breaking more often than the girls but still getting work done.
Emma got up a stretched. She closed her ancient runes book with a loud 'clap' and yawned. She stood behind Remus and leaned against him, "Take a break?"
He put down his quill and walked with her out of the common room. They walked the halls hand in hand and found a window to sit by, away from everyone else. She leaned against him in his lap and gazed out the window.
"Lina, what happened this morning?" He started drawing circles down her arm lazily.
"I wasn't feeling well so Lily took me to the hospital wing." She replied.
Remus lowered his head so his mouth was level with her ear, "Please?" For some reason he thought that there was more to the story than what she was giving away.
She turned in his lap and placed his arms around her. He locked his hands on the small of her back, "I felt like something was pulling me." She stared up at him, gauging his reaction. What she had told Lily that, Lily looked at her like she had gone mental.
Remus considered this for a moment before unlocking a hand to run through her hair, "What did Madam Pomfery say about it?"
He was concerned, she knew that, but Madam Pomfery sent her back to classes for the day so she didn't think it was too serious, right? "She did her tests and said that everything was normal, no cold or flu or anything of the sort. Like I said, she told me to take a nap and then get to class."
Remus nodded. Emma put her hands on either side of his face, "If she thought something was wrong she would have kept me longer." She continued lightly outlining his face, "I feel much better, I'm sure it's nothing."
The next night was the full moon. Remus said his good byes and Emma walked with him to the entrance hall.
"Be careful please." Emma interlocked their fingers together as they walked. She always got nervous during the full moon, not that she was in any way afraid of Remus when he transformed, she just didn't like that someone else could unknowingly be out there and get hurt. She knew Remus enough to know that if he bit, or killed, anyone it would destroy him.
He smiled down at her, "It's not like I remember much from the night, and James and Sirius will watch out for me." He didn't mention Peter because of his animagus size, there was no way a rat could delay a werewolf attack in any way.
"I know." She pulled his head down and kissed him. They could hear Madam Pomfery starting to open the entrance hall doors.
He kissed her one last time and pushed her towards the hall lightly, "Get some sleep."
Author's Note: Now onto the good stuff... thanks for sticking with it so far!
