"Wake up. Moony, wake up!"
Sirius shook his friend hard. Remus jolted upright, his eyes snapping wide open. "What? Where?" he asked frantically, taking in his surroundings. His rigid body instantly relaxed when he saw it was only Sirius and he was in his bed. "Why did you wake me?" he asked, noticing his rapid heart rate.
"You were having a nightmare." Sirius explained, his eyebrows knitting together with concern.
"Oh." He responded simply. Remus looked down at his clothes and saw that his shirt was damp with sweat. "Sorry." he muttered.
"You're apologising for having a nightmare?" Sirius said with a light laugh. "You apologise too much. You may as well be the Queen of bloody England."
"Sorry…I mean…shit." He replied with a weak smile. He then took his sleeve and wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. "What time is it?"
"Almost time to get up…Are you feeling okay? You looked bloody awful last night, and your shirt's been soaked right through." He commented.
"A little hot, actually. It's probably just from the nightmare." Remus shrugged. "What happened last night anyway? I don't even remember going up to bed and I'm still wearing my uniform."
"You were completely knackered. You zonked out during our game of Exploding Snap, so we carried you upstairs." Sirius explained, deliberately leaving out certain details.
"Oh…thanks." Remus replied, feeling a little awkward. He imagined the marauders attempting to haul his lanky frame upstairs. He was about to say sorry but caught himself before he did, remembering what Sirius had said about apologising too much.
Without any warning, Sirius leaned forward and pressed the back of his firm hand against his clammy forehead. Remus inhaled sharply at the touch, slightly taken aback by the sudden contact. His hand felt refreshingly cool.
"Bloody hell, you're burning up." Sirius muttered, pulling his hand away. "We should take you to Madam Pomfrey."
"No! No. I'm fine, honestly. Just a little hot, that's all. It's just the side effects of the full moon tonight. I really hate being stuck in the Hospital Wing, and I'm going to have to be there tomorrow anyway." Remus begged, wincing slightly at the thought of having to be there tomorrow to recover from his transformation.
Sirius looked into Remus' amber hues, every fibre of his being wanting to bundle him up in his arms and force him to see the nurse so he could be looked after properly. But how could he resist that look? Sirius was a sucker for Remus' puppy eyes. Damn werewolf. "Fine. Fine. But if you get any worse, I'm taking you straight there, whether you like it or not." He sighed.
"Thanks, Padfoot." Remus replied, a small smile playing on his lips.
"Right. Take your bloody shirt off then, and I'll get something to cool you down. Nurse Black, at your service." He said sarcastically, before doing a highly exaggerated curtesy.
Remus glanced down at his shirt, then back to Sirius. He licked his lips and scratched the back of his neck, looking at his friend anxiously.
"Merlin's Pants, Remus. Is this about your scars? We've all seen them."
"You've seen the odd one or two by accident. This is different."
"You're the only one who's worried about them. None of us care, Moony."
Remus had a pained expression on his face, before he reluctantly took off his shirt and chucked it on the floor. He stared at Sirius in silence, watching to see what his reaction would be.
Sirius couldn't help but widen his eyes slightly in surprise at what he saw. Remus had hundreds of tiny scars all over his chest. He even had some particularly deep ones that ran across his stomach. Yet, perhaps the most salient one was the one of teeth marks on his shoulder, where had been bit by Fenrir Greyback all those years ago.
"I like them." Sirius commented.
"You ike them?" Remus snorted, giving his friend an incredulous look.
"No, that's not what I mean. I mean…I like them because…well, because they're you. Your scars make you, you. They make you special. Does that make sense? Sorry, it sounds like bollocks doesn't it? But trust me, in my head it makes sense."
Remus raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise. Sirius thought he was special? "No, no…that…that makes sense." He said, his words slightly garbled. "Thank you." He added.
Sirius gave a small nod in reply, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Anyway…won't be a minute." He said.
Remus fell back down into the comfort of his bed and sighed. His whole body was aching and he could feel the heat radiating off his skin. Eventually, in what felt like eons, Sirius finally returned. He held a wet flannel and pointed his wand deliberately at it. "Glacius." He instructed, causing the flannel to freeze, acting as a makeshift icepack. He gently placed it on Remus' forehead. "Better?" he asked, cocking his head slightly like a dog.
"Much." Remus mumbled, feeling soothed by the cool material.
"I'd give Madam Pomfrey a run for her money."
"I'm not sure you're quite up to that standard yet."
"Moony, you wound me. Y'know I could just take this flannel away right now?"
"You won't." Remus said with a cocky smile.
"Don't tempt me." Sirius replied with a grin.