A/N: I'm so sorry that I'm late getting this in. I'm coming down with the flu and fell asleep without writing a chapter! I'll make it up to you guys somehow.
Peter shivered and looked up at the castle. Where were the rest of the marauders? The sun was setting and the moon would be out soon. He would not be able to do this alone. He scratched behind his ears. He had already transformed and was simply scratching to entertain himself.
Remus came running down the steps and towards the tree. "Wormtail? Padfoot? Prongs?" he begged, looking into the shadows for his friends. Peter scurried over to his foot. "Wormtail. Do you know where the others are?"
Peter looked up at him sadly. They had never missed a full moon before. Peter noticed that the moon would be up soon, so he quickly ran up to the tree and pushed the knot. Remus went through the hole and down the passage and Peter assumed that it would be best for him to wait outside. He assured himself that it wasn't because he was afraid of being alone in a boarded up room with a werewolf, but because he was looking for James and Sirius.
But they never came.
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James ended up spending most of the day and night exploring hidden, dusty corridors. He was so lost in his thoughts that he did not know the time. He never noticed his hunger or his thirst, but his fatigue got him in the end. He walked back to the head's dorm, surprised to find no one walking the halls. Is it really that late? He asked himself.
He walked into his room and collapsed upon the soft mattress. He rolled over to observe the time listed on the clock. 4:48?! No wonder the corridor was empty! He fell asleep, without looking out the window, where he would have been able to see two figures walking slowly towards the castle.
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Sirius was confused. Why had Lily run out on him? Surely she wanted him! He had never met a girl who didn't. He sat up in bed. His attempt at sleep was futile. He refused to think that she had rejected him. Maybe she was so shocked she simply had to run! Or, maybe she really did have to leave. Those positive thoughts helped him drift off to sleep.
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Dany was winning a wizard chess game against Brea for the first time, when Heidi came downstairs and dragged her up the stairs. "What the heck? I was finally winning!"
"Whatever. Lily has something to tell you and I doubt you want to miss it." All thoughts of chess left her mind. Her need for gossip was insatiable.
"Let's go then!" Dany practically ran up the stairs.
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Lily had just finished retelling the story for Dany. She prayed silently that she would have a solution, and luckily, she did.
"Well you have to say yes."
"What?!" That was not the answer she had been expecting.
"If you don't, then he will be mad and hurt and whatever. Then the plan would have been a total waste." She was giving Lily that look as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And plus, the plan might work even better because he won't be acting anymore. It'd just be natural."
Dany was making sense now. Lily looked to Heidi for a second approval, only to find that she had fallen asleep leaning against Lily's headboard. "Thanks so much for your help Heidi." Lily whispered, then looked at the clock. "4:48! No wonder she fell asleep!"
"Yeah, I'm going to bed. And you're going to tell him tomorrow right?" Dany got off the bed and stretched. Lily nodded and fell asleep right on top of her covers, school robes and all.
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Once Remus woke up he winced and grabbed his side. He looked down and saw a particularly bad bite that was bleeding through its bandage. Madam Pomfrey walked out of her office and straight towards him with a roll of bandages and her wand.
"These are some bad bites Mr. Lupin. It's a good thing that you came straight to me instead of letting these wounds get infected overnight." She removed his previous bandage and he almost cried out in pain.
"I've had worse. I've always come straight here Madam Pomfrey." He smiled and Poppy glowed. She treated Remus as a son. "I didn't have any visitor's when I was asleep did I?"
"Oh yes, that boy Peter brought you in and stayed for awhile."
Remus frowned. James and Sirius did not show themselves at all through the night? He tried to remember what happened the night previous, but all he could remember was waking up and leaving the castle. Everything else was fuzzy.
"How long do you think I'll be in here this time?" He asked.
"At least a week. These wounds are messy and I need to clean them before I heal them, and then you need to rest up." She went back to her office and brought out a sleeping draught, saying he would want to be asleep for the disinfecting.
Remus drank without a word and then he gently drifted off to a deep and dreamless sleep.
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James woke up and padded around his bedside table for a minute looking for his glasses and wand. Having found them both, he dressed and prepared for an average Monday morning.
He was exhausted from his lack of sleep but made himself stay awake. He drank three cups of coffee and figured that that would be enough to keep him wired until lunch. He didn't notice Nova sit down beside him and rub his shoulders, and he jumped, spilling coffee all over himself. As he cleaned up the stain with a banishing spell, Nova hugged him.
"Happy belated Halloween. I looked everywhere for you yesterday."
"Oh, I wasn't feeling well. I took a trip to Madam Pomfrey." He lied simply.
"It's too bad. There was a lovely full moon last night." She said dreamily.
"What? A full moon?" He jumped again, this time from the table. "I'm sorry Nova, I'll see you later. Save me a seat in Transfiguration." Then he ran off towards the hospital wing. Leaving one ticked off Nova in his wake.
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Lily walked down the staircase, relieved to find Sirius at the bottom.
"Sirius!" She called. "I was trying to find you yesterday after I met up with Heidi. I need to tell you something." Sirius' face lit up. "I wanted to say, yes. Yes we should definitely make our relationship more realistic." She hoped her voice sounded flirtatious, not nauseous.
"Yes! That's amazing then isn't it." He responded with a smile. "Shall I escort you to breakfast then?" As Lily gave him her arm James came running down the hallway.
"Sirius!" James gasped, breathless. "Last night was a full moon."
"What?!" Sirius shouted. "Lily I have to go. I'll meet up with you later." He ran down the hallway. Lily was confused. What did a full moon have to do with anything? James faced her and the two locked eyes. His eyes. They were a glorious shade of amber. She wanted to get lost in them forever, but unfortunately, forever was cut short when James took off after Sirius.
She swayed where she stood and leaned against the wall, feeling very much like a silly schoolgirl with a silly schoolgirl crush.
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Poppy was gently swabbing clean a gash on Remus' shoulder when Sirius and James came rushing into the hospital wing. They immediately ran to Remus' side and stared at him. "May I help you boys?" She asked, without moving her eyes.
"Is he okay? Is there anything I can do to help? How long will he be in here? What happened to him? Is he unconscious?" The questions were flying at her before she could answer them.
"He will be fine, the only thing you can do to help is leave him alone, at least a week, none of your business and no, he's sleeping." She answered the questions and shooed them away. Nosy little twits.
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Transfiguration couldn't hold Sirius' attention. His thoughts kept wandering to Remus in the hospital wing and to a certain redhead sitting beside him, taking notes. When McGonagall mentioned something about the difficulties of transfiguring a smaller object into something larger, he was mentally kicking himself for not keeping up with the moon schedule. He had done so well last year, never missing a single one, but this year he had seemed to lose his touch.
"I will assign you to a partner, and you two will turn a rat into a good-sized desk. Johnson with Cabot, Winthrope with Laurel-" McGonagall read off, stopping when Dany raised her hand. Minerva raised her eyebrows.
"Excuse me, but which one do you mean?" Dany asked, pointing to herself then to Heidi.
"You Hilda." Dany looked murderous at the use of her real name, but followed instructions anyway.
"Winthrope with Laurel, the other Winthrope with Crisaf, Black with Lupin-" Minerva was cut off again. "Yes Mr. Black?"
"Remus is in the hospital wing."
"Of course. How could I forget?" Sirius was surprised. He didn't know that McGonagall knew about Remus' furry little problem. "I shall pair you with Pettigrew then." She read off a few more names, pairing Lily with Nova and James with Matthew Smith.
Sirius ended up having to do most of the work, as Peter was quite squeamish transfiguring rats. Sirius didn't blame him. He wouldn't want to transfigure dogs. In the end he managed to have a thin, short gray desk. It wasn't his best work, but he blamed it on his lack of concentration.
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Once Lily heard her name called to work with Nova, she immediately wanted to sink into her seat and disappear, but unfortunately Nova came up to her with one of those "I'm-superior" looks upon her face. But Lily didn't care. She stood up.
"Did you get the rat?" Lily asked her.
Nova made a face. "I'd rather not."
Lily sighed and went to retrieve the rodent. When she arrived back, Nova was smiling. "Okay. What do you want me to do?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'll just try it and see what I make."
Nova sat back, satisfied. "Okay, I'll just sit here then."
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Remus had three more days until he was released from the hospital wing. James and Sirius had apologized to him more times than he could count, and he forgave them, but he still felt a little betrayed whenever he thought about it.
He was finishing his make-up essay for history of magic when someone spoke to him. He turned and a girl was smiling at him. "Hi." She said again.
"Oh hey." Remus said back, then returned to his work. It was a girl named Kayla from Hufflepuff.
"I'm Kayla." She offered.
Remus reluctantly put down his essay and turned back to her. She obviously wanted to make conversation, and he didn't want to be rude. "Nice to meet you. I'm Remus."
She squealed. "I know."
"Right." Kind of weirded out, he picked up his work again.
"What happened to you?" She asked, excited.
"Er- a dog bit me." It was close enough to the truth.
"Wow." She said. Staring at his wounds.
"Yeah, okay. I think I'm going to go back to my work now, okay?" He asked gently. Not wanting to offend her.
She stiffened. "Fine." Remus thought she reminded him of one of Sirius' stalkers. It was going to be a long three days.
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A/N: I'm really sorry again about getting this late, guys. Tomorrow's Saturday so I might get to write some more while I'm indisposed, I might. We'll see.
