When Remus awoke he felt incredibly groggy. It was getting dark outside, and he was obviously the only one in the room. Even though he was still feeling only half-awake, still very sleepy, at least there was no more pain; his body felt the most relaxed it had been in a week. The nausea had been replaced by a gnawing hunger, and he realized he hadn't eaten in…well...when was the last time he'd eaten anything besides chocolate? No wonder he was so hungry—chocolate makes everything better, of course, but one thing it doesn't do is fill you up. And where on Earth were his roommates?
Remus checked the clock on the nightstand. It was 6:45 at night, which meant he might have been sleeping for eleven or twelve hours. It also meant that his friends wouldn't be back for at least a couple hours, because on Sundays at Hogwarts dinner was usually held at 6:30-8:30 at night, and sometimes they'd buy some drinks in the school gift shop and drink them in the common room after dinner…well, they wouldn't do that without Remus, would they? Would they?
Well, maybe he'd just have to go down to the Great Hall and get some dinner for himself…but that would mean he'd have to take a shower, unless he wanted to look like Snape, because he very well knew he looked like death, which is why the "I was ill" excuse worked so well. That morning, when Sirius and James had basically towed Remus back to the dorm room, he had barely been able to keep his eyes open. It was all they could do to help him on with some clean pajamas before he passed out cold in his four-poster.
The common room had been nearly deserted that morning, since almost every student had stayed up far too late on prom night and was sleeping in. It had also been a mess, suggesting that prom had not stayed confined to the Great Hall, and there were empty tankards everywhere, which suggested that certain students were sleeping off something a bit heavier than butterbeer.
So he had three choices…he could stay in bed feeling hungry, he could stumble out of bed and wander down to the Great Hall looking like a zombie, or he could clean up nicely—but he was so tired…maybe he could just sit here…waiting…and wishing he had some—
"Food!" two voices chimed gleefully as the door to the dorm room swung open. Remus blinked as Sirius and James came sauntering in.
"J-James? Sirius?"
"Oh, good, you're awake!" James smiled.
"We were just about to eat down in the Great Hall, when we figured we'd eat dinner up here with you instead," Sirius told him. "We nicked you some food."
Sirius and James turned out their pockets, and sure enough, they had a couple boxes of food in there. Obviously, their pockets had some kind of spell cast on them—perhaps the same spell that allowed so many magical people to fit into one small car. When Remus opened his boxes, he found eggs, bacon, smoked sausages, hash browns, muffins, pancakes, and fruit.
"They were serving breakfast for dinner," James said. "Hope you're cool with that."
"I'm cool with anything," Remus said truthfully, shoving a blueberry muffin into his mouth whole. "Where's Peter?"
"Oh, he has detention to serve," Sirius replied.
"And you two don't?"
"Sure we do, but I'm serving mine tomorrow, and Sirius is serving his on Tuesday," James explained, grinning. "McGonagall knows better than to put us all in detention at the same time."
"Anyway…" Sirius sat down on the side of the bed while Remus ate. "How are you?"
"Tired," said Remus. "I-I usually get this day off. Need a couple days off a month, so I can do well on all the others…lucky I even get to go to school at all…"
"There's no reason why you shouldn't go to school." Sirius looked a little frustrated. "People are so stupid. You're not dangerous every day of the month."
"I know that, and you know that, but Dumbledore basically said that before people will accept me for what I am, we'd have to end the stigma surrounding lycanthropy." Remus felt downcast. "Not everyone is as open-minded as you two are. Most people judge."
"You…you don't have to answer this, mate, but…" James looked uncharacteristically nervous. "What's it like to turn into your wolf form?"
"Well, it hurts a real lot," said Remus, not really knowing how to describe the experience. "It's just…you don't have any control over your body for a couple minutes…then you just kind of lose your mind. I'm…I'm not me when I'm in my wolf form, I'm just…I don't know what…a monster, maybe."
"And they just stick you in the Forbidden Forest to run around like that?" Sirius pressed.
"No, they—they gave me this…well, we've been to the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade, haven't we?" Remus began.
"Yeah," his two friends said together.
"You know the Whomping Willow? Well…on the day of the full moon…just as night is falling…" Remus felt his heart start to beat faster as heat rose in his cheeks. "I have to go out and touch this knot that makes the tree freeze…then I go down the passage to the Shrieking Shack, and—and that's where I stay, until the next morning…I would've done it this time, but I got the date wrong…."
"R-Remus, no, it's okay…" James looked worried now. "It—it was a stupid question, I shouldn't have asked—"
"I-I don't mind," Remus told him, but he could feel tears burning in his eyes again. "It…it used to be really scary. My first year here, they always had Madame Pomfrey escort me to the tree, and I would cry every time, and she'd have to lead me by the hand. They had a bed for me there…she told me, just sit in the bed here until you turn into a werewolf, do your homework or something, but I just cried because I was in so much pain and so scared…
"By my second year they trusted me to do it on my own, as long as I kept track of the lunar cycle, and of course I did...but that didn't make it any easier." Remus felt like his heart was on the ground; he had been sure he was finished crying by now. "It's still really horrible."
"Reem, your…your…your Transformations are going to be better now," Sirius said firmly. "We're going to help you out."
"No, Sirius, you can't! You'll get yourself bitten!"
"We're not going to get bitten," James told Remus. "You see, we were reading up on werewolves in the library for you alone, Remus, and we found out werewolves are only a danger to humans. If you can't be human on the night of the full moon…why do we need to be either?"
"We can't keep you company as humans, but we can keep you company as Animagi," Sirius clarified.
"But it's hard to turn into an Animagus…"
"So what?" James shrugged. "We're the smartest kids in school. We'll be able to figure it out."
Remus thought of what it would be like to have company in his werewolf form—friends he couldn't hurt, friends who could stay by his side until he felt better. The prospect was so amazing…
"H-How can I ever thank you?" he whispered hoarsely.
"It's our pleasure, mate," Sirius reassured him. "Besides…someday there'll be a medicine or something, something you can take so it isn't so hard, y'know, being a werewolf and all. Like you wouldn't have to have your Nightmare Week. No more of that Advil. You'd just be a harmless wolf, a real sleepy one…" Sirius punched his arm in the air and said in a perky voice, "Not just pain relief…WEREWOLF RELIEF!"
"And it would be a potion, a real stinky potion, and that slimy potions nerd Snivelly would have to make it for you every month," James added. "One big cauldronful, and it takes him the whole morning. Damn, he could've spent it washing his hair…oh wait…"
"But I'm no good at Potions. What if he doesn't want to make it for me?"
"Then you bite him, and see how he likes it!" Sirius yelled happily, falling backwards onto the bed with laughter.
Remus kept eating his first good square meal in a long time, and felt himself getting stronger. Only after he'd eaten three servings of scrambled eggs did he think about prom.
"What happened at prom, anyway?" he asked. "Besides the obvious, I mean…"
"Well, Sirius was holding you back while I took care of Evvy and Lucy," James explained. "Then we had to take you into the Forbidden Forest because we couldn't think where else to go, we didn't know about you and the Shrieking Shack and all that. When we got back to prom, we told Evvy you had a mild form of agoraphobia and sometimes had panic attacks if there were too many people in the room. We told her you were with Madame Pomfrey. She said to look her up when you felt better."
"We've got all your bases covered," Sirius added.
"Speaking of covering bases…" Remus frowned. "How far did you actually get with Lucy last night? Bases-wise, I mean? Because I know you slid in first before 'Can't Help Falling in Love' was even over…"
"Please, Reem." Sirius pretended to blush. "You know a gentleman doesn't kiss and tell."
"Since when have you ever been a gentleman?" James smirked. "And you did a lot more than kiss, I know you did."
"You know she was sixteen years old, right?" Remus said.
"Well, I didn't know for a fact, but I could sure as hell tell you she was older than thirteen, if you catch my meaning." Sirius gave a mischievous grin and held up two fingers. "I'm glad that bronze dress was strapless. But so form-fitting…not that I'm complaining."
"Sirius, you dog," James said, elbowing him.
"So where'd you do it?" Remus continued. "I hope Dumbledore didn't just let you start pawing at each other right there in the Great Hall."
"Well, actually…" Sirius was squinting up at the ceiling, as if trying to remember. "After we got it all sorted out, by then a fast song was playing, so we all kind of migrated to the middle of the floor and danced there in one big pack, y'know, like we did to 'I'm a Believer'. But after that, they played 'Unchained Melody, and we started making out, and, well…I guess 'pawing' is kind of a good word…so before the song ended, we'd shoved ourselves into an empty supply closet, it got really passionate, it was dark…well, you know how these things happen. But oh God…Lucy's very gifted…up there."
"She's sixteen, Sirius!" Remus repeated, sounding a little hoarse, imagining Sirius and Lucy in the supply closet, Lucy's blue hair going everywhere, just like Sirius's hands, probably.
"Well, you know, I had my glory moment too," James said indignantly. "I got my dance with Evans!"
"You did?" Remus asked. "How did that happen?"
"Well, ol' Snivelly did a total face-plant and wiped out in front of a thousand people right in the middle of 'Twist and Shout'." James looked positively gleeful at the memory. "And he really did have to go see Madame Pomfrey. Well, Evans wanted to dance during 'Unchained Melody'…so….who was I to refuse her?"
"Hmm, maybe it was that duck," said Sirius sarcastically.
As if on cue, that was when the door cracked open, and there was Lily Evans yet again, this time holding a bouquet of flowers.
"Oh, hello, Remus, I just—goodness, what's happened to you?"
"W-What?" Remus asked uncomfortably. Even if Lily was only a friend, a female presence suddenly alerted him to how awful he must look (and smell) right now. Spending a night in the Forbidden Forest as a werewolf does not do wonders for one's appearance, and Remus realized his stench must be dreadful too.
"You're all scraped up!" Lily looked a little horrified. "It—it looks like something's clawed you!"
"O-Oh…" Remus rubbed the gigantic bandage on the side of his cheek. Down the sides of his arms were claw marks that of course he didn't remember putting there, all he knew was that he had, and he had a few on his face too.
"Mrs. Norris," said Sirius, without missing a beat. "They had a bit of a row."
"Oh, that Filch!" Lily looked indignant. "Anyway, Reem, I was worried, thought I might bring you some flowers…By the way, I have to tell you, I am never going to dance with Severus Snape again."
"Why?" said Remus. "Because of his wipe-out?"
"No, not at all." Lily scrunched up her nose. "I think it had more to do with the fact that he smelled horrible. I mean, has he taken a shower once since he got off the Hogwarts Express?"
"Probably not, the greaseball," said James.
"But you, James, you smelled nice." Lily grinned. "Now…if only you could get your head on straight."
Lily winked and left the room, leaving James with that dazed expression that only she could cause him to have; he didn't awaken from his Lily-induced trance until Sirius snapped his fingers impatiently so as to bring him down to Earth.
"It's like Beauty and the Beast," Remus remarked. "And when I say 'beast', I'm not talking about myself."
Sirius let out a snort of laughter (poorly disguised as a cough), Remus gave the heartiest laugh he'd been able to muster in ages, James glared at first but then started chuckling too, and soon all three of them were positively howling with mirth, tears streaming from their eyes, hands over their aching sides.
Remus had learned, somehow, that the revelation of his secret wasn't the end of his friendship with James and Sirius; it was only the beginning. And these three boys knew that no matter what Fate would deal them in the years to come, they would always be together, whether in this world or the next.
-the end-