A/N: AHHH! I'm SOOOOOO sorry for the sudden lack of update despite me promising it soon after the first part. I've had a bad week, snow, car crashes, The Sky man killing the internet connection, my mother being ill....About 3 millions jobs to do and I never got time to write. I'm so sorry. I hope this part makes up for the wait. A HUGE thanks to all who reviewed this and added it to the Story Alerts. It means a lot to me. xx
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"REMUS LOOK OUT!"
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Seeing the sudden panic written across his best friend's face, Remus felt his rant die on his lips, the crescendo of hissing and rattling from behind him telling the young wolf everything he needed to know.
The potion.
Instinct kicked in and Remus span on his heel to try and diffuse the potential time bomb he had unintentionally created, but he wasn't fast enough. In the split second that had past between Sirius shouting out his warning and Remus turning away, the timer ran out. With an almighty boom of power, the Cauldron exploded, the roar of the liquid quickly being accompanied by an array of terrified screams from fellow students and the scraping of chairs and work benches as they were either knocked over for being in the way of escaping bodies, or thrown back with the force of the calamity.
Sirius watched in horror as the mass of boiling Pewter scattered across the laboratory, the majority of the explosion slamming into Remus, covering his head and upper body in hot metallic chunks and bubbling liquid, his Amber eyes widening in pain as he was thrown forward into the next work bench, his body crumpling beneath him. The power of the explosion rippled further through the air, pushing Sirius backwards, the young male trying to sustain his balance as the entire room seemed to shake with the intensity of the waves pulsing around it.
A large chunk of metal flew towards the animagus, his silver eyes widening as it collided sharply with his temple, sweeping the tall male off his feet and smacking him awkwardly against an overturned stool. Pain shot up his elbow as it absorbed the full force of the fall, before snapping under the pressure, causing a sharp cry of pain to escape his lips.
His vision blurred, everything fogged in his brain as he tried to remain conscious, somewhere in the back of his head, a voice screamed at him to forget his own agony and to find Remus, but none of his limbs would co-operate, merely twitching slightly against the dusky floor tiles.
It was all over in a few seconds, a thin layer of dust clouding the air as everything finally settled down, a few daring students peeking up over their upturned desks, or round the door frame of Slughorn's office where those out of their seats had taken refuge. Sirius remained on the floor, his eyes attempting to focus on something, anything to keep those Silver irises working.
"Sirius? Sirius mate you okay?" James' voice cut through the haze, a blurred mass of black hair, soot covered cheekbones and slanted glasses appearing overhead.
"He's got a bad cut on his head." Peter added, not noticing the well-done-Sherlock look the ebony haired male shot his way.
Sirius tried to respond, tried to communicate with his oldest friend, inform him that indeed he was okay, but he also wanted to scream and curse the two other Marauder's for bothering with him, Remus was hurt, he needed help.
"Sixth Years! Please, I want all of those who can walk to head towards the infirmary, those who are unable to walk unaided, please pair up with someone who can, you must all get checked over and treated, this room is not safe!" Professor Slughorn barked, striding towards the Gryffindor end of the room, his eyes fixed on the large crack spreading up the brickwork in the corner as he knelt down beside Remus' form and quickly cast a few charms over the blond.
"I have alerted the other teachers, some will come to help you to the Hospital Wing, others are coming to help your injured peers. Please do not try to help them yourself! It could cause them even more pain." He added before rounding on the Marauder's. "That includes you and Mr. Pettigrew, Mr. Potter." He snapped as James bent down to try and lift Sirius to his feet. "Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin are in need of serious medical attention, the likes of which you cannot give!"
"But Professor!" James exclaimed staring at the Potions Master like he had just grown another head. "You can't expect us to leave!"
"I bloody well do Mr. Potter! Out! Both of you! This is not a debatable matter!" Slughorn hissed angrily, before stopping as the sound of hurried footsteps reached the door of the laboratory.
"We'll wait at the Hospital Wing Professor." Peter whispered grabbing the back of James' robes and beginning to pull him away, his eyes fixed on the werewolf's unconscious body. "James! Come on! We can't help them at the moment!" he continued successfully pulling the Raven haired male out into the corridor, just as the teachers piled through the doorway.
"What happened Horace?!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed as she spotted many of her house students scattered across the classroom groaning in pain.
"Mr. Lupin's Runeswort Potion backfired, he's in a serious condition Minerva, I've managed to slow the bleeding to an extent but I fear it may not be enough, we must get him to Poppy." Slughorn answered not looking up from the frail boy in front of him.
Sirius' breath rattled as the realisation hit him, Remus was in danger, the solemn tone of Slughorn's voice only adding to his fearful words, causing the wave of panic to crash that extra bit harder into the older male. Slughorn never talked in that tone, even when it concerned his precious Slytherin's.
"Of course!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed rushing forward, her motherly instincts always kicked in when it concerned Remus.
"I'll carry him." Professor Slughorn stated suddenly, gently pulling the fragile body off the floor and into his arms, before he staggered to his feet, and turned on his heel to exit the lab.
As Slughorn came into view, Sirius felt his heart sink into his stomach at the sight of the werewolf's tiny frame hanging limply over his forearms. The traditionally pale complexion, now a deathly white hue, the once sleek mass of blond locks, dirty and matted with blood. The offending red liquid still oozing down the side of his head, mixing with the black scarring from scolding heat, contrasting harshly against the white skin.
"R-Rem." Sirius managed to choke out, before his eyes locked on a pair of bright blue orbs hidden beneath a shimmering mane of white hair, hovering above his head.
"He'll be okay my dear boy." filtered into his ears as Sirius gazed up at the Headmaster. "But he needs to go to Madam Pomfrey."
Sirius tried to say that he understood, but all he could manage was a slight incline of his head, the movement resembling a twitch more then an actual nod. However, as Dumbledore wrapped his slender fingers around the animagus' upper arms in a surprisingly strong grip, and hauled him to his feet. Sirius knew he had successfully gotten his point across.
"Ugh." Was all Sirius managed to give in warning as he was placed back on his feet, the room span before his eyes, and his legs shook and crumbled beneath him, before he collapsed forward, the last thing to register in his mind, being the floor coming up towards him.
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Peeling his eyes open, Sirius found himself gazing blearily at the pearlescent architecture of the Hospital Wing ceiling, high above his head, twinkling as the starlight danced across it. With a small groan of pain, the young male stretched out along the bed he was currently tucked into, his arms reaching for the bar headboard overhead, whilst pointing his toes towards the other side of the wing.
He couldn't recall what he had done to warrant a stay in the Medical ward, no memories of cleverly thought out pranks, no recollection of a fuming Snivellus smoking at the ears as his fury built, clearly it wasn't because of James' idea of fun that he was here then.
Allowing his arms to relax, Sirius pulled them back down towards his sides, one of them pausing at his hairline to run fingers through the untidy locks, before connecting with something that definitely wasn't part of his natural style.
Using both his hands now, Sirius dragged his enquiring fingertips along the strips of gauze wrapped tightly around his head, before reaching his right temple where a miniature square of padding was pressed against his skin. Dancing his digits across the soft padding, Sirius grimaced as a slight tingling of pain sparked from his touch, before freezing, his body starting to shake as he recalled the series of events that had caused his head to need bandaging.
Remus.
Potions.
Explosion.
Pain.
Blood.
Remus.
"REMUS!" Sirius gasped throwing himself into a sitting position, regretting it instantly as his head screamed, poking him spitefully behind the eyes. Dropping his head into his hands, Sirius tried to will the pain away, as well as the image of his friend all pale and bloody.
"Sirius?!" a voice suddenly screamed from the doorway, successfully shattering the thick silence that had filled the atmosphere. Said Animagus turned his head at the sound, his pale eyes fixing on two gaping Gryffindor's, their arms laden with goodies, which Sirius assumed were get well gifts.
"Are you okay?" Peter questioned shuffling forward slightly, almost as if he was too scared to move forward properly.
"Where's Remus?" Sirius quizzed, purposefully ignoring his friend's question as his eyes darted over the deserted wing.
Without bothering to respond, James marched forward and hastily deposited his collection of sweets and joke products onto the end of Padfoot's quilt, before calming raising his right arm and pointing towards the isolation room.
"He's in there," James began as Peter joined him and mirrored his actions and dropped all his gifts next to the taller male's. "He was taken straight in there, no matter how many times we ask Madam Pomfrey wont tell us anything, we've been threatened with removal, Merlin knows how many times."
"The isolation room?" Sirius echoed, turning to gaze at the thick mahogany doorway which lead to the room Remus normally found refuge in after his transformation. "Is it serious do you think?"
"And I think Dumbled-" James continued, until Sirius' second question cut him off mid-rant. "I...I don't know, I suppose if it was really serious they would of told us by now, even they aren't that cruel."
"I guess." Sirius breathed, his eyes once again locking on the old wooden panelling, blocking everything out as he tried to imagine what was happening in that other room. His head was swimming with the image of Remus' wide Amber eyes filling with pain as the cauldron exploded, each recollection of those few moments only added to the lead guilt corrupting his insides. He felt physically sick, he knew that all this had happened because of his foul mood, and he hated himself for it.
Lost in his thoughts, Sirius failed to notice the doorway to the extra room creak open, in fact it wasn't until Peter gasped that he broke out of his reverie and fixed his attention to the slit of artificial light pouring out into the main ward, his heart beat racing as his imagination run wild.
Was it all over?
Was Remus okay?
Was he alive?
"Of course Poppy, I will not keep you any longer, I dare say our young Mr. Lupin requires all your attention." was all the three Marauder's heard before a mass of slightly frizzed white hair and elaborately decorated Scarlet robes floated out of the doorway.
"Professor Dumbledore!" Sirius all but yelled, succeeding in dragging the Headmaster's attention away from the presumably agitated Matron.
"Ah, Mr. Black I see you are awake." the headmaster stated stalking over towards the group in a flurry of cloth.
"How's Remus? Is he okay? What happened to him?" Sirius babbled, bombarding the Professor with questions before he had even reached his bedside.
"Calm, my dear boy. Young Mr. Lupin is fine." Dumbledore replied in his traditional soft and elegant vocals Sirius was growing used to. It seemed to be a voice the elderly man saved for those he visited in the Hospital Wing, and after many pranks gone awry, Sirius was finding himself becoming more and more acquainted with the area.
With a sense of mild curiosity, the Animagus watched as the head teacher calmly removed his wand from one of the many folds in his attire and wordlessly summoned himself a chair beside the bed, opposite to where James and Peter were gathered. Clearly he hadn't finished explaining.
"What is it?" Sirius snapped, cringing slightly at the amount of venom his words projected, he hadn't meant to sound so vicious, but sometimes he felt Dumbledore was going so slow he'd reached a complete standstill.
"All in time my dear boy. First I need to talk to you three about what happened in the Dungeons this afternoon."
That was all it took, as the Professor's words sunk in, the Three Marauder's burst into their explanation of things, each taking it in turn to offer their own aspect to the older man. Beginning at that morning's Guitar episode, before trudging needlessly through Breakfast, Sirius moaning throughout his morning's lessons about hating Potions, Lunch, the dreaded walk to the Dungeons, then eventually the actual lesson itself.
"I don't really know what happened, all I remember is Moony turned to put the last thing into our potion, and he seemed to go into a panic." James offered.
"Yeah, and me being in my stupid mood managed to put him off fixing it and made it worse and caused it to explode." Sirius spat spitefully.
Upon hearing this, Dumbledore turned his head to gaze fully at the bed ridden male, his face dropping from remote amusement at the story, to quiet regard as he surveyed the ebony haired Gryffindor.
"My dear boy this is not your fault." Dumbledore began, before holding his hand up to silence any remark Sirius was about to interrupt with. "But, I do believe this whole ordeal could have been avoided by Remus' full attention being on his Cauldron and not yourself."
"So, basically it is my fault." Sirius retorted, grimacing at the piercing look the headmaster gave him in response.
"No my dear boy, in fact Professor Slughorn has informed me, that after conducting a thorough examination of the scene, it appears someone had dropped a few Gillyweed seeds into young Mr. Lupin's potion and that is what caused the explosion."
"What?! Someone intentionally tried to blow up Remus?!" Sirius gasped, he couldn't understand someone having a grudge against the werewolf, he was the only Marauder who regarded the Slytherin's equally to any other house student.
"Yes I am afraid so. Which brings me to another pointer. You asked earlier about Mr. Lupin's condition," Dumbledore began as Sirius held his breath, his body filling with dread at the thought of the Professor's next words, as he noticed the solemn look on the old man's face.
"What is it Professor?" Peter squeaked.
"I am afraid that Remus' memory has taken a knock and Madam Pomfrey is still unsure how permanent this factor is." the Headmaster explained. "But, there is one thing we are sure is permanent. I am afraid our young Mr. Lupin is deaf."
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A/N: How was that? Reviews are greatly appreciated. Also thanks once again to my darling Mads for the Beta. xxx