Sirius sat outside the Hospital Wing, his back pressed against the coarse stone wall whilst his legs were tucked up into his chest. He folded his arms across his knees, and rested his forehead against them. He hated being stuck outside the infirmary, unable to be there for his friend or see how he was doing.
James and Peter were standing beside him, their hands tucked into their pockets. Sirius' silence was deafening. His reticence was making the boys extremely uncomfortable.
"He'll be okay. Remus is tough as nails." James mumbled, hoping to reassure Sirius and disturb the silence.
Sirius remained taciturn and motionless, lost in his own thoughts.
Just then, the door creaked open and Madam Pomfrey emerged. "I've given him a little Potion for Dreamless Sleep, but that's the best I can do for now." She informed them, giving them a small, sympathetic smile. "I suggest you go back to your common room. Mr. Lupin won't be stirring for at least a couple of hours, and he needs his rest." She added, before marching back into the infirmary and pulling the door closed behind her.
"We may as well go to the library and see if we can find something about the Supermoon, then." James suggested with a shrug.
Peter nodded. "Sounds like a good idea to me."
"You up for it, Padfoot?" James prompted.
Sirius remained speechless in his huddled position on the floor.
"Sirius, he's not going anywhere and he's getting the best help there is. You can't just sit here feeling sorry for yourself. We should at least try and help him by doing some research."
Sirius remained silent as he pondered the situation. Finally, he sluggishly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes fixated on James as he gave a weak nod. "Fine." He croaked.
James offered him his hand and pulled him back up on to his feet. "We've got three hours before the sun sets, so we better get going."
In the library, the boys had managed to accumulate an enormous pile of books on the lunar cycle and werewolves. James and Sirius were completely engrossed in their research, so when Peter decided to go to the bathroom, he had to tell them three times before they finally looked up from their books and acknowledged what he was saying. "Alright, see you in a bit." James muttered, his attention already drifting back to the words on the page.
Once Peter was out of earshot, James turned to face Sirius. He licked his lips apprehensively. "Do you like Remus?" he asked, adjusting the glasses that were perched on his nose.
Sirius furrowed his brows together in confusion. "What kind of question is that? Of course I like Remus." Sirius scoffed, slightly offended by his question.
"No, what I mean is…" James began, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "What I mean is…do you like him?"
"Do I what?" Sirius spluttered.
"I don't mind if you do." James added quickly.
"I'm not gay, James." Sirius retorted, his cheeks flushing furiously.
"I wouldn't care if you were. It's just…I can tell you really care about Moony, and…I don't know...I see the way you look at him. You and I…we're best friends, you know? You can tell me anything."
"I don't look at him in any special way! I like girls. I dated Marlene McKinnon in second year, didn't I?" Sirius growled.
"Yeah, for like a month. That doesn't exactly prove anything."
"You're full of bullshit, James. We've got more important things to do than argue about my sexuality." Sirius snapped as he slammed his book shut and reached for the next one in the pile. He flicked furiously through the pages, deliberately avoiding James' penetrating gaze.
"Fine." James replied curtly as he skipped to Chapter 3 of his copy of 'Wanderings with Werewolves', and proceeded to read.
Just then, Peter ambled back to their table. "Find anything yet?" he asked with curiosity, as he plonked himself down in his seat.
After a few moments awkward silence, James sighed. "No." he muttered.
"Okay…" Peter replied, feeling slightly uncomfortable. The atmosphere had certainly changed since he had left earlier. The two boys appeared to be fuming, and Sirius wouldn't even look up from his book. They must have had a row of some kind. Peter, not one to enjoy confrontations, decided to leave them to it, and instead focus on his research.
Just then, Sirius cleared his throat and spoke up. "What does 'dissociation of both entities' mean?"
"Where?" James asked with a frown, before snatching his book to take a closer look. Peter and Sirius waited with anticipation as James skim read the page.
"The book seems to suggest that a Supermoon makes Werewolves significantly stronger and more dangerous, and that prior to their transformation, they will experience more debilitating side effects. During a Supermoon, Werewolves are liable to attack anything, even animals. It also says that in exceptionally rare cases, if the person is particularly affected by the pull of the moon, they can transform without the physical side effects."
"Without the physical side effects? What does that even mean?" Sirius asked, looking bewildered.
"I don't know. It doesn't say." James shrugged.
"So, basically, Remus is going to turn into some sort of hulked out werewolf and we can't even use our Animagus abilities to help him."
James sighed. "Basically."
"Well, that's just fucking great." Sirius exploded. At his outburst, the pile of books on their table flew across the room in different directions, narrowly avoiding Peter and James' heads. Sirius very rarely lost his temper, but when he did, he wasn't able to control his abilities and he would often inadvertently cause a scene.
A group of first years who were sat nearby, stared dumfounded at the marauders.
"What are you looking at?" Sirius growled, scaring them into returning to their work.
"Look, just because some writer believes werewolves are dangerous to animals on a Supermoon, doesn't mean we can't test the theory out for ourselves. I mean, how many case studies do they have of three animagi keeping a werewolf company?" James offered, attempting to reassure him.
"I guess." Sirius responded, visibly relaxing a little. "So, we're still gonna join him?"
"I don't see why not. We'll just have to be really careful." James said, before adding "But if it becomes too dangerous, we'll have to leave."
Sirius raked his hand through his unruly mop of hair. "Alright." He agreed.
"You in, Peter?" James asked, raising his eyebrow inquisitively.
Peter let out a shaky breath. "Y-Yeah, I'm in." he stammered as he wrung his hands anxiously.
"Sounds like a plan." James said, grinning from ear to ear.
