Disclaimer: I do not own anything created for the Harry Potter world.

Bandages (James)

James rolled out of bed and grabbed his glasses from off his night stand. He yawned, stretched, and ran a hand through his extraordinarily untidy hair. Why had he woken up before his alarm had gone off? That was stupid. Maybe he should just go back to bed for four more minutes. Nah, I'm already up and I need to pee. He pushed through the bathroom door.

There was Remus, standing in front of the mirror. He was holding a swath of medical cloth to a long, deep gash in his side just above his waistline. His expression turned to one of horror as he saw James enter.

"Sorry. Didn't know it was occupied." The bespectacled boy backed out and closed the door.

James returned to his bed and waited for his alarm to go off. What had that been all about? That looked like it really hurt. And what's with all those weird scars? It's like this happens all the time. James hadn't noticed that his roommate was particularly accident-prone. He'd said he'd left to visit his ill mother. What could have happened?

"Hey man, sorry for walking in on you," James said casually as Remus left the bathroom.

Remus' eyes flicked over to him. Then they flicked away just as quickly.

There's something wrong with that bloke, James decided as he brushed his teeth.

"D'you reckon something's wrong with Remus?" James asked Sirius as the two skipped over the trick-stair going down.

"Not really, no."

"I just think it's odd-"

They heard a scream from further down the hall.

"Get off me or I'll kick your nuts in you-"

There was the thud of flesh walloping flesh. The words broke off into a choking sob.

"Can it, you filthy little mudblood!"

The boys broke into a run. Evans? James thought, alarmed. He desperately hoped not, but the voice had been a girl's. Four older boys were circled about a crumpled figure, jeering.

"You're nothing, McDonald. You and your squib father should get the hell out. You're not one of us and you never will be." He kicked her in the ribcage.

"Oi!" Sirius yelled angrily.

The four Slytherins turned their heads to see the advancing Gryffindors. James ignored his momentary relief that it wasn't Evans and focused on the anger he felt towards the bullies because it was McDonald. He darted up to the group before they could think and knocked one of the boys flat.

Now, that was very courageous and all, but James was rather small and skinny for his age, so he didn't manage to stay on his feet for very long after that. A taller, broader Slytherin boy rammed him to the ground. Sirius joined the fray shouting a battle cry. He whopped the Slytherin who'd run over James in the side of the head, allowing his friend to regain his feet.

"Mary move!" Sirius belted out between blows. Mary crawled away from the fight, a hand on her broken nose.

James dodged one Slytherin, but another grabbed the hood of his robes and pulled him back. The Gryffindor slid out of his cloak and rolled, but yet another boy lashed out with his foot and kicked him, sending him sprawling. Sirius nailed that fellow in the kidneys.

Still, it was four against two and the fight was going badly. Before James could stand, one of the boys yanked him up and punched him in the face, breaking his glasses in the process.

"What is the meaning of this outlandish behavior? Brawling about like a pack of unschooled muggles." Professor McGonagall stood there, her wand still raised after performing the shielding charms that now separated to students.

"They were beating up on Mary, Professor," Sirius protested.

"And you decided to dole out punishment by yourselves? Why didn't you come inform a teacher? Professor Bookle was in his office down the-"

"Is there a problem out here, Minerva?" asked a squint-eyed old warlock with a wispy, grey mustache. He dug a finger into his ear and twisted, as if that would help rid his deafness.

"Yes, thank you, Cyrus. If you could help Ms. McDonald to the infirmary, please. I'm not yet done with these six." She turned her beady eyes on the remaining boys.

"Well, it could've been worse," Sirius said. The two boys were laying on cots in the Hospital Wing, their wounds wrapped and treated. Mary was asleep two cots over and the Slytherin boys had been set up on the far side of the wing to prevent any disputes.

James shrugged. "Four points were taken away from us each and three were added to the both of us. That means that we lost two points for Gryffindor total, right?" He shook his head. "I don't get it. We were helping her."

"Fighting is still against the rules. You didn't think Professor McGonagall would let you off without any sort of reprimand, would you?" Remus Lupin had entered the room, three bags of chocolate frogs in his arms.

"Still," James protested.

Remus smiled. "And how much worse off are the Slytherins? Here you go." He handed them each a bag of sweets.

The two other boys smirked.

"I thought so," Remus commented dryly.

Just then, the nurse came in with two blue, smoking potions. "Finish this up and the two of you will be free to go." She blinked twice at James and Sirius' visitor. "Well hello, Remus. Do you need anything?"

The brunette boy's face began to color and he stared at the chocolate frog he was about to unwrap. "No thank you, Mme. Pomfrey. I just stopped by to see how my roommates were doing."

"Well," she said briskly. "You can make sure they don't skip finishing their potions, then."

Remus smiled politely. "Yes, Mme. Pomfrey."

She turned to leave. The other two boys were eyeing their potions distrustfully.

"I'd pinch my nose if I were you," Remus suggested.

"Does that actually help?" James wanted to know.

"Not really, but it could trick you into thinking so."

James laughed and took a big swig. He gagged.

"Is it more tart or sour, do you think?" he asked Sirius, his eyes watering behind his glasses. The other boy's lips were puckering and had been stained a nice shade of blue from his own drink of potion.

Soon the boys were released from the Hospital Wing. The trio made their way to the Gryffindor common room, Sirius and James chattering to Remus about their adventure.

"We're going to have to do something to those gits," James said finally.

Sirius nodded emphatically, his eyes stormy. "We'll get Peter to help us. Then we'll find a way to get some of his fire crackers in the beds of those Slytherins. They won't know what hit them."

"And how do you propose to do that?" Remus asked, rolling his eyes. " You don't know how to get into the Slytherin dormitories. Wouldn't it be easier to wait for them in the bathroom closest to the dungeons and set off dung bombs in their stalls?"

Sirius and James just gaped at him. Then wicked smiles slowly began to creep onto their faces.

"What?" the other boy said defensively. "It would be easier that way."

A/N: Yep, that's how Remus finally started getting out of his shell. If you could leave a review that would be superb. Thanks so much for reading!