The Marauders Year 2

by Fallen Crest

The Marauders are back for year 2 with new troubles, pranks, secrets, and discovering secrets. With the war becoming more known throughout the wizardry world, the Marauders try to learn more about the infamous Voldemort, while dealing with family problems

11. Chapter 11: Injuries

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: I finished my midterms today so I can update again! Enjoy the chapter!

Thanks for reviewing!

The Marauders Year 2

Chapter 11: Injuries

Sirius gritted his teeth. His hand was closed so tightly around his fork that it looked ready to break in half. A letter was clenched in his other fist. Pumpkin juice lay spilled all over the table around him and his friends were looking at him with worried and concerned expressions. An owl hooted at Sirius indignantly before flying away.

James took the fork out of Sirius's hand. He knew that Sirius could use it as a weapon if he was mad enough and he definitely looked mad enough to use it as a weapon right now. "Sirius, what is wrong? Did something happen?"

"My little brother is such a coward. He can't even fight his own damn battles." Sirius hissed. His eyes moved over to the Slytherin table and to his little brother, Regulus Black, who was smirking at him in satisfaction.

Blinking in confusion, James leaned over Sirius's arm to get a look at the letter. The whole time he was reading it, his frown deepened. "We didn't do anything like this to him. In fact, we haven't even touched him in two weeks. Why would he tell your parents that we did this?"

"Because he is a baby who wants to get me in trouble. He is a little bastard that likes making other people miserable." Sirius snarled. He kept the bottom half of the letter folded up so James couldn't see it. His friends didn't need to see that part of the letter, especially Remus.

James noticed this action and looked at Sirius suspiciously, but didn't call him on it. He knew that Sirius's family was full of nuts and that they didn't say very nice things. In any case, he would talk to Sirius about the second half of the letter later when Peter and Remus weren't around. From the way Sirius looked at him, he knew that Sirius knew that they were going to talk later about the letter, which caused James to smile. He and Sirius always knew what the other was thinking.

Shrugging, Sirius slipped the letter in his pocket and turned to Remus, who was pushing his food around on his plate, probably trying to make it look like he did eat, but Sirius wasn't buying it. "Remus, stop playing with your food and eat." He said sharply.

Remus looked up at him with tired eyes. "I'm not hungry."

"I know you feel queasy around this time of the month, but you need to eat to keep your strength up." Sirius whispered, looking around to make sure no one was listening to him. "I can give you options, Remus, if you want."

Remus looked at him, confused.

"You can either eat of your own free will or I can tie you up and force the food down your throat. It's your choice. Just tell me which one you choose." Sirius went back to eating his dinner after wrestling his fork back from James.

While Sirius was doing that, Remus was staring at Sirius as if he never saw anyone like him, which was probably true. Sirius was very different from everyone else. He was carefree and happy almost all the time. His grades were really high, even though he didn't try and always fooled around in class, which just showed how smart he is, but he liked to keep that he was smart a secret so he goofed off. It was very rare for Sirius to get upset. It was almost like nothing bothered him. The only things that could really upset him were his family, Slytherins, his friends being hurt, and Voldemort.

"Listen to him, Remus, and eat." James ordered.

James was another strange fellow. Like Sirius, he was really smart but hid it by goofing off. He would much rather have fun than listen in class. He and Sirius found Hogwarts to be a giant playground for them, not a school to learn. They found their enjoyment in hexing others and getting a lot of attention. James always helped the other three Marauders to calm down when something happened and got them through the tough situations. He was the only Marauder with a good past before Hogwarts and was always there for his friends.

"What did you guys do to Snape?" Peter asked, looking across the Great Hall.

Peter was more difficult for Remus to figure out. He didn't do as well in class as James, Sirius, or himself. When it came to things outside of class, Peter was very smart. He always knew what to say to get someone to stop insulting themselves and he was really good at spying on the teachers or other students so the boys knew when and where to get their pranks set up or where to go to escape on a midnight run through the castle. Most people thought that Peter was just a follower, but if they knew how much he helped in getting the pranks set up by spying, they wouldn't say that.

"We only washed his hair for him." Sirius said innocently.

Remus snorted and looked over at Snape when he came in. Washed his hair? Snape's hair looked greasier than ever and it was sticking straight in the air with two white stripes on each side of his head. "Why the hell did you do that to him?"

"Because of a Code 44." James hissed. "He deserved it."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Great excuse."

Remus was the only one he couldn't figure out and that disturbed him slightly. Why couldn't he figure himself out? What purpose did he serve to the Marauders? He got good grades, but that didn't help with anything. He didn't really offer anything to the Marauders besides doing all the research. His friends were the ones who did mostly everything with the pranks and getting them set up. He was just the werewolf in Gryffindor that belonged in Slytherin for being a Dark Creature.

"What'cha thinking about?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing, and don't say that. Say 'what are you'." Remus hissed.

"I think not! I will speak anyway I want." Sirius protested. He pointed a finger at Remus's plate. "Eat now!"

"Yes mother!" Remus snarled at him.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at him.

Grumbling, Remus took a bite, a very small bite, of his food before putting his fork down. He smiled at Sirius, claimed that he was full, and walked out of the Great Hall.

Sighing, Sirius turned to James and Peter. "I'm going to go get Remus and take him to the kitchen to get him to eat a little more, then I'll take him to the Hospital Wing. Tell anyone who asks that he went home to visit his sick mom. That's the story I'm going with this month. I'll see ya later."

"Good luck, Sirius." James waved him away.

As soon as he was out of the Great Hall, Sirius ran up the Entrance Hall stairs. He saw Remus not that far ahead of him. He ran over to Remus and grabbed him by the arm. "We're going to the kitchen."

Remus's protests were ignored as he was hauled back down the Entrance Hall steps and down into the dungeons to a painting of a bowl of fruit. Sirius tickled the pear, making a doorknob appear.

"Master Sirius, Master Remus, welcome back!" Binky greeted them when they came in. "What can Binky do for sirs?"

Sirius smiled. Maybe reading all those books about werewolves did do some good. "Can you get us a bloody steak, about well done?"

Remus perked up at that. "Why do you want a bloody steak?"

"Yes sir." Binky disappeared to get the steak.

"Well, werewolves like their meat bloody, don't they?" Sirius asked quietly. He wasn't sure if the House-elves knew about Remus's curse or not, so he wasn't going to take the chance of talking loudly about it in here.

Remus blinked. "Well, yes, but how do you know that?"

Sirius smirked. "Secret!"

Remus pouted. "I thought we said no more secrets among the Marauders."

"That is true, but it is also said that if Marauders are keeping secrets, the other Marauders have free permission to look into it, raid said Marauders things, and do anything to figure out the secret and said Marauder cannot get mad at the others for looking into it." Sirius replied, smirking when Remus groaned.

"Stupid James and his codes and rules," Remus muttered.

"Anyway, I know you like really rare meat. If that is what it takes to get you to eat, then I will let you have bloody meat, even if it is extremely unsafe for humans to eat." Sirius replied, wrinkling his nose.

As soon as the bloody steak arrived, Remus devoured it. Sirius was right. Werewolves love bloody meat. Even if he was queasy with the full moon being near, Remus wouldn't turn the bloody steak down. He very rarely got to eat meat like this because he has to keep his secret hidden and act like a real human, and with meat being cooked really rare like this was dangerous to humans, then Remus couldn't eat it in front of people who didn't know his secret.

Sirius looked away as Remus ate. It was slightly disgusting to watch someone eat something that bloody. "Remus, what were you thinking about earlier?"

"You and James can't ever let anything go." Remus growled.

"Remus." Sirius snarled.

Sighing, Remus put his knife and fork down. "I was just thinking about you guys and the Marauders. You each have a place in the Marauders. I don't. I'm just here. I don't really belong in the Marauders."

Sirius nodded his head in a serious manner. He tilted his head slightly to examine Remus more with dark and thoughtful eyes. "So, you're saying that you don't do anything to help the Marauders with pranks?"

"Yes." Remus replied. "I don't really do anything."

Nodding his head again, Sirius reached over to Remus and slapped him upside the head. "First of all, that's not true. You help us a lot. You do all the research and find spells we need. Then you teach yourself the spells so you can teach them to us and some of those spells are really hard because they are for older students to learn. Not only that, but you also help set up the prank. I don't know where you are getting the thoughts that you don't do anything in the Marauders. And secondly, don't think that kind of thing before the full moon, you idiot. You could make your transformation horrible."

"I can't help but get worried or stressed or think bad thoughts around the full moon though." Remus replied. "They just come."

"We'll find a way to fix that." Sirius said.

Remus shook his head. "There is nothing you can do to fix it."

"We'll figure something out." Sirius replied, determination shining in his eyes.

Remus sighed. His friends wouldn't understand that there was no helping a werewolf. It was best to let them figure that out themselves. They would learn that way that werewolves can't be helped. He went back to eating his steak. Some blood slid down his chin, making Sirius look at him disgusted before turning away again.

Remus noticed something sticking out of Sirius's pocket. It was the letter he got from his mom. He was going to just go back to his streak, but he noticed his name mentioned in it. He slipped the letter out of Sirius's pocket. He held the letter under the table he and Sirius were sitting at in the kitchen and read it quickly. After reading it, Remus stifled a sob and slipped the letter back into Sirius's pocket. Would Sirius really listen to her?

Sirius looked at his watch and paled a little. "Shit, I have to get you to the Hospital Wing. Come on, Remus."

For the second time that day, Remus was dragged away by Sirius. "But Sirius, you can't take me to the Hospital Wing! Madam Pomfrey will figure out that you know if she sees you."

"Relax Remy; I'm not entering the Hospital Wing. I'm just taking you to the doors to make sure you make it there safely and that you don't pass out on the way." Sirius replied.

"I have never passed out." Remus replied annoyed.

Sirius raised a brow. "You haven't?"

Remus blushed when Sirius gazed sternly at him. "Maybe I did once or twice."

"That's what I thought." Sirius said.

Outside the Hospital Wing, Sirius stopped and smiled reassuring at Remus. "Be safe tonight, Remus. By the way, we are telling everyone that you are visiting your sick mother." He gave Remus a quick hug before ushering him into the Hospital Wing. As soon as the Hospital Wing doors were closed, Sirius turned in the direction of the Gryffindor Tower.

"Where is Pete?" Sirius asked when he entered his dorm to find only James in there.

"Extra Potion lessons with Slughorn. He needs a lot of help in that class." James replied, putting his Quidditch magazine on his nightstand. "It gives us time to talk about that letter. Let me see the second half of it."

Sirius sighed and tossed the letter to James. "My mother is really horrible. Regulus told her about Remus."

"What about Remus? Why would Regulus do that? Remus has never done anything to him." James replied, frowning. He opened the letter to look at the second half.

And Regulus has told me about that half-blood friend of yours! You've destroyed the Black family name enough by being in Gryffindor, befriending two blood traitor families, and pulling all those pranks and getting detentions at that school, but this half-blood friend of yours is too far, Sirius Orion Black! How dare you befriend a weak, insignificant, and sickly half-blood like him! The Black name is being ruined greatly by you being friends with a half-blood that gets sick so easily. Regulus has told me that this half-blood is always following you around. I don't want that half-blood hanging with you anymore! You are to cut all ties with the half-blood friend of yours immediately!

By the time James finished the letter, he was bristling. How dare anyone say anything bad about his friend? He crumpled the letter up and threw it at the wall. "How dare she say Remus is weak and insignificant? And she basically called Remus a follower in this letter! Remus isn't a follower."

"I told you my mother is horrible." Sirius growled. He sat on his bed and rubbed his face tiredly. "Did you notice how she kept saying this half-blood and that half-blood? It's annoying and pissed me off. I'm sure Regulus told her his name but she can't even write it because she is so disgusted that I'm friends with a half-blood."

"What are you going to do?" James asked.

"About?" Sirius looked up, confused.

James sighed and motioned to the letter on the ground. "Your mother ordered you to cut all ties with Remus."

Sirius glared at James. "Do you really think I would obey my mother? I hate her. I'm not going to cut any ties with Remus. He is my friend!"

"Sorry, but if you don't break ties, not that I want you to, but Regulus will tell your mother and you will get in a lot of trouble when summer comes around. I don't want you to break ties with Remus, it would crush him, but I also don't want you to get in trouble with your mother. Who knows what she will do when you don't break ties?" James replied, running a hand through his hair. "It's really complicated. It's a lose-lose situation for you."

"I don't care about my mother. I'm not abandoning Remus just because she said to. You guys are more my family than my own family, so I'm not leaving Remus behind." Sirius snarled. He stood up. "I have a meeting. I'll be back later.

Sirius left the Gryffindor Tower and went to the Trophy Room on the third floor. He slipped into the room to find his little brother already there. "Regulus."

"Sirius, what do you want? I have better things I could do with my time." Regulus replied annoyed.

Narrowing his eyes, Sirius crossed the room over to his brother in three large strides. He grabbed him by the collar of his robe and slammed him into a wall. "Listen here, Regulus, I don't care if you tell mother things I did or didn't do, but you will leave my friends out of it. They have nothing to do with our family affairs. I especially want you to stop telling mother lies about Remus. He is not weak! He is stronger than you and at least he can fight his own battles, unlike you!"

Regulus snorted. "I'm just telling her the truth. Lupin is a weakling and looks sick all the time. It's hurting the family with you hanging around him. You are ruining our name."

"Ruining?" Sirius snarled. "I'm improving it! I don't know what happened to you, Regulus, but I don't like it. You never used to care about the family name. You didn't hate me like this when we were younger."

"That was when you weren't questioning mom and dad and getting me in trouble when you did that. I wasn't even the one questioning them and I got in trouble half the time you did." Regulus snarled.

"Is that why you always tell them that I do things when I don't do anything wrong? For revenge?" Sirius growled.

Regulus smirked. "Took you long enough to realize. Maybe you aren't as smart as everyone thinks."

Sirius hissed at him. "You're a coward! You can't go against what our parents say because you are afraid of getting yelled at or hurt! I was right. You are the weakling, not Remus. Remus can fight his own battles and oppose what people say."

"You can say anything you want, Sirius, but I'm not changing the way I think. I do believe in what mother and father say about half-bloods and Mudbloods." Regulus replied.

Sirius punched Regulus in the face, smirking when he heard his nose break. "Don't ever say that word again."

Regulus grabbed his nose in pain and glared at Sirius. Blood trickled out of his nose and down his face.

"Think what you like then. I no longer give a damn, but you will leave my friends out of this battle." Sirius snarled. He released Regulus and moved to the door. "Oh, and by the way, you can tell mother to go to hell. I'm not cutting ties with Remus. He's more of a brother to me than you ever were. My friends are my family."

Regulus growled.

Sirius slammed the Trophy Room door shut behind him and went back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Sirius, what happened? You're covered in blood!" Peter shouted when Sirius came into the dorm.

"It's not mine." Sirius took his bloody robes and shirt off. He threw them onto the floor and flopped onto his bed. "My meeting got a little messy at the end."

"Who were you meeting with?" James asked.

"Regulus." Sirius replied.

James looked up from the werewolf book he was reading. "What? Why the hell were you meeting him?"

Sighing, Sirius turned his head to look at James, whose bed was next to his. "I needed to talk to him about lying to mother."

"And it ended up with you punching him?" Peter asked, raising a brow.

"Yes!" Sirius declared. "He said….well…..he said….Mudblood."

James growled. "That prat!"

The next morning, the Black family owl landed in front of Sirius again. This time though, it was carrying a Howler. The owl dropped the letter and flew away. It knew not to stick around for Howlers from Mrs. Black.

Scowling, Sirius picked the Howler up.

"What now?" James asked. He looked over at the Slytherin table to see Regulus looking gleeful. "What did you tell Regulus last night that would make your mother send you a Howler?"

Sirius thought back to everything he said last night to Regulus and paled. "This isn't going to be good."

"Just open it now." Peter said, staring warily at the Howler.

Sirius ripped the seal off the Howler and dropped it.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK! HOW DARE YOU BREAK YOUR BROTHER'S NOSE? HE IS FAMILY! YOU DON'T FIGHT WITH FAMILY! AND DON'T YOU EVER CALL THAT HALF-BLOOD FRIEND OF YOURS AND THOSE TWO BLOOD TRAITORS FAMILY TO YOU AGAIN! I WILL NOT BE HAIVNG YOU CALL A HALF-BLOOD AND BLOOD TRAITORS BROTHERS TO YOU! IT'S A DISGRACE TO US! YOU WILL DO AS I SAY AND CUT TIES WITH THAT FILTHY HALF-BLOOD!"

Sirius clenched his fists and looked at James, who smiled reassuring back.

"THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY THE NEXT TIME I SEE YOU IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER AND START ACTING LIKE THE PROPER SON I RAISED YOU TO BE! CALLING HALF-BLOODS AND BLOOD TRAITORS FRIENDS! WHAT NEXT? MARRYING A MUDBLOOD LIKE YOUR TRAITOR OF A COUSIN!"

James shot Sirius a confused looked. Sirius mouthed 'one minute' to him.

"THE NEXT THING I HEAR FROM YOUR BROTHER ABOUT YOU BETTER BE THAT YOU CUT ALL TIES WITH THAT HALF-BLOOD!"

The Howler burst into flames.

Sirius shook his head. "My cousin, Andromeda, was in Slytherin, but she doesn't think like the rest of the Blacks. She was disowned a couple years ago when she married a muggle-born."

James shook his head. "Your family is unbelievable."

"We have a free period. Let's go visit Remus." Sirius whispered. He looked around at all the students to see that most of them were still watching the Marauders, shock on most of their faces from the Howler. Most of the Slytherins were laughing, but there was one who looked upset and staring resentfully after the Marauders.

James and Peter agreed and followed Sirius out of the Great Hall. They sent glares at the Slytherins as they left.

"How do we get into the Hospital Wing without alerting Madam Pomfrey?" Peter asked.

"It shouldn't be too hard." Sirius replied as he looked around the Hospital Wing doors. "Madam Pomfrey isn't even at her desk. I don't see Remus at any of the beds though. They are all empty."

"Remus said something about a private room for him in the back so no one would see him after the full moon." James whispered.

Sirius frowned. "That makes this hard. Madam Pomfrey might be in there."

"We can use the cloak." James replied.

"Where is it?" Peter asked.

James pulled it out of his bag. "I thought we might try to visit Remus today so I brought it with me just in case."

The boys threw the cloak over themselves and entered the Hospital Wing. They knew the door on the left in the back of the Hospital Wing went to Madam Pomfrey's office so they chose to check the door on the right of the back wall.

James quietly opened the door and the boys slid into the room. Madam Pomfrey had her back to the door and was bending over a bed so she didn't notice the door being opened. James led his friends to the opposite corner of the room to keep out of Madam Pomfrey's way. He had to slam one hand over Peter's mouth and the other over his mouth to keep from making any sound when they saw Remus, dressed only in boxers, on the bed. He looked worse than he did when they saw him in St. Mungo's. That was probably because by the time they saw him in St. Mungo's he was all bandaged up. Here, he wasn't bandaged up yet.

The boys could clearly see all the damage done to his body. He had deep cuts and scratches that were still oozing blood all over his body. His right leg was bent out an odd angle, showing that it was broken. His left ankle looked like it was twisted. Two of his fingers on his left hand were also broken. The skin on his right shoulder was torn away so much that the boys could see his bone. It also looked like his right shoulder was dislocated. The top of his head was bleeding really badly. His breathing was so shallow that the boys could barely see his chest moving up and down.

Madam Pomfrey was frowning. She stood up and left the room without a word or bothering to cast a healing spell on Remus.

Sirius whipped the cloak off himself as soon as the door to the room was shut. He ran over to Remus's bed and looked down at his friends with tears in his eyes. He looked up to see Peter and James appear in the room as well. James shoved the cloak in his bag. "He's dying." Sirius whispered, tears in his eyes.

"No." James said harshly. "He is not going to die."

"James, face it. Look at him." Sirius replied angrily.

"Don't you dare give up on him yet, Sirius. He's tough. He can pull through." James growled. He moved over to the opposite side of Remus's bed and pushed the hair out of his face to see his skull bent in a little and cuts all around his head. "I think he fractured his skull."

Sirius slapped James's hand. "Don't examine his injuries. I don't want to know. I want to know that he'll make it."

The boys whipped around when they heard the door open. Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall froze when they saw the boys there.

"W-what are you boys doing here?" McGonagall asked surprised.

"Is Remus going to be okay?" James asked, tears in his own eyes. "I've never seen him this bad before."

McGonagall frowned. "We will talk about this later. For now, we need to get Remus to St. Mungo's."

"WHAT?" James, Sirius, and Peter yelled, fear on their faces.

"We simply cannot heal him here. He needs a lot of Healers to help him. His cousin and Mrs. Potter are already at St. Mungo's waiting for him with a team of Healers by their side. They will save him." Madam Pomfrey replied, looking sadly at Remus. "We just need to transport him now. That's the tricky part. He is so injured that it will be hard to get him there safely."

James looked at Sirius and Peter, then back at Madam Pomfrey and McGonagall. "We're going to St. Mungo's too."

"You boys have classes to attend." McGonagall said sharply, though there was sympathy and pity in her eyes.

"Even if we do go to class, we won't be able to concentrate knowing that Remus is at St. Mungo's and he might die. We are going!" Sirius said angrily.

McGonagall sighed. "Alright boys, you may go, but you must stay out of the Healers way."

"Of course, we want them to save Remus. We're not going to get in their way." Peter said.

McGonagall nodded her head. She conjured up a stretcher and levitated Remus onto it. After that, she strapped Remus down. "You boys will Floo to St. Mungo's. I will be taking Remus by emergency transportation."

The boys followed the nurse and their professor into the main area of the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey handed the boys Floo Powder. They each took turns stepping into the fireplace in the Hospital Wing and Flooing to St. Mungo's.

James was the last to leave. His mother greeted him frantically when he arrived at St. Mungo's. Out of the corner of his eye, James saw Sirius and Peter talking urgently with Selene. "Mom, you will save Remus, right?"

"I'll do everything I can to save him." Mrs. Potter replied.

"Do you know Selene?" James asked, motioning to Remus's cousin.

"Yes, I trained her as a Healer." Mrs. Potter replied distractedly. "I want you and your friends to wait outside Remus's room while we heal him. I will send a Healer out occasionally to tell you of his condition."

"Yes mother." James replied. He saw Professor McGonagall appear with Remus. The Healers immediately took over for her in levitating Remus.

As the Healers went to the next floor to begin to work on Remus, the boys were addressed by McGonagall. "Boys, I have classes I have to attend so I must leave. I trust you to all behave here. I will inform Professor Dumbledore and your professors of where you are. I will be back later."

"Yes Professor." The boys chorused before running over to the elevator to go upstairs.

Outside of Remus's room, Peter sat against the wall with his head in his hands. Sirius was standing against the wall and kept shooting nervous looks at the door as they waited for a Healer to appear to tell them of Remus's condition. James was pacing up and down in front of the door and biting his thumb in a nervous manner.

"He will be fine. He will be fine. He will be fine." Peter kept chanting over and over to himself. Sirius and James didn't tell him to shut up. They were too nervous to want to tell him to.

After forty minutes, a Healer, who looked to be in his thirties, came out of the room. The boys gave him their full attention. "Your friend is still unconscious. His body is covered in cuts and scratches everywhere. He has twenty broken bones, including a few ribs. His skull is fractured. He has lost a lot of blood and will need a blood-replenishing potions as well as healing potions, Sleeping Draught, Draught of Peace, and a lot of healing spells, but I'm sure we can save your friend. I am curious though. How did he get himself into this state?"

James shared a look with Sirius and Peter. "W-we don't know. We just snuck into the Hospital Wing and saw him like this."

The healer sighed. "It seems no one knows how this happened." He went back into the room.

"Sure?" James shouted when he was gone. "Sure isn't good enough. I want him to be a hundred percent positive that Remus will make it through this in one piece!"

"There spent the last forty minutes just examining his body?" Sirius screamed angrily. "Remus is dying and they are just looking over his wounds!"

Peter looked up at James and Sirius. He couldn't voice his opinion. He didn't trust his voice to work.

"I want to know what is going on in there." James growled half an hour later. He pulled at his hair. "I want to know how Remus is. Is he conscious yet? Can the Healers heal his wounds?"

"Werewolf wounds can't be healed completely with magic though. They are wounds created by dark creatures so magic can't heal them fully." Peter said quietly.

James clenched his teeth. "He's not dark."

"I'm not saying he is. I'm saying werewolves are dark creatures." Peter replied.

"There has to be something we can do to keep Remus safe during the full moon so he doesn't end up as injured as this." Sirius said, staring at the door.

For the next five hours, Healers came to the boys to give them updates of what was happening with Remus. As each hour passed, Remus's condition improved than got worse than improved. It kept going back and forth. At one moment, Remus's heart stop and the Healers almost gave up on him, but Selene and Mrs. Potter would not have it. They made the Healers keep trying to restart his heart until it restarted two minutes after it stopped.

With each hour that went by, James, Sirius, and Peter got more and more nervous. The Healers weren't ceasing their nerves with each report they gave the boys. Each report either showed that Remus's condition improved or worsened.

After the sixth hour, all the Healers came out of the room covered in blood, sweat, and they smelled like a mix of potions. Selene and Mrs. Potter stayed with the boys as all the other Healers left to go get cleaned up and go back to their jobs.

"Well?" James asked nervously.

Selene smiled. "He'll be fine, but he needs to stay here for probably a week."

"Can we visit him?" Sirius asked.

Mrs. Potter frowned. "…..I guess, but be quiet and don't touch him."

"Yes ma'am." Sirius led his friends into Remus's room.

Remus looked like a mummy with bandages wrapped around his legs, arms, chest, and around the top of his head. The skin on his shoulder had been regrown with a potion and his two broken fingers were tied together so they would heal straight. His broken leg was back in its right angle and in a cast.

"A week in this place?" Sirius said. "He's going to hate that."

"For how much he hates hospitals, he sure does end up in them a lot." Peter said, looking around the room so he wouldn't have to see how bad Remus still was.

"The life of a werewolf." James replied sadly.

James convinced Professor McGonagall to let him, Sirius, and Peter spend the whole weekend at St. Mungo's. Remus slept the whole weekend, not waking up once. At the end of the weekend, the boys returned to school, but got permission to come to St. Mungo's every day after classes if they were able to keep up on their homework. Every day they brought Remus's notes and homework to St. Mungo's so he had something to do whenever he decided to wake up. It was almost like Remus was in a coma the way he wouldn't wake up to anything.

At school, the students were suspicious as to where the Marauders were going every day. James told them the half-truth and that Remus was in St. Mungo's, but how he ended up there was that when Remus was visiting his mother he had an explosion of magic go through him with all his worrying and fear for his mother. He said it was such a large amount of accidental magic that came from Remus that he ended up hurting himself terribly so he had to go to St. Mungo's. The lie worked, but the Slytherins found it extremely funny, so James and Sirius ended up getting a week worth of detentions for hexing them. They got McGonagall to agree to not make them serve the detentions until Remus was out of St. Mungo's. As for Quidditch practice for that week, James and Sirius promised to work for seven hours straight on Saturday if they could miss the week.

The Marauders were so engrossed in their essays and talking about a prank to use against the Slytherins for all the rude things they said about Remus the past few days that they didn't notice Remus's finger twitch or his eye flutter.

Remus held back a groan when he woke up. He looked around to find himself in a white room. On the left side of his bed were three blurry figures. He blinked his eyes a few times so he could see clearly. "James?" Remus said confused when he could see better.

James whipped around to find Remus frowning and staring at him. "REMUS, YOU'RE AWAKE!"

Remus winced from the volume of the scream. "Sensitive hearing, James."

"Sorry Remus." James said sheepishly before grinning. "So you decided to finally wake up."

"W-w…" Remus coughed violently.

Peter jumped forward and grabbed the glass of water off the table next to Remus's bed. He helped Remus drink it.

"T-hanks P-pe-peter." Remus replied in a raspy voice.

"What were you trying to say Remus?" James asked. He sat next to Remus on the bed.

Remus massaged his throat. "W-what do y-you….mean by f-finally?"

"Well, it's Tuesday and you've been asleep since Friday." Sirius said carefully.

"WHAT?" Remus yelled. He choked and grabbed his throat.

Peter poured Remus another glass of water and held the glass against Remus's lips to help him drink some more.

"Shh. Don't yell, Remy. You were really injured with the full moon this month." James said. He rubbed Remus's back. "Selene and mom say you might have to stay here until Friday or Saturday."

Remus groaned. "I don't want to be here. Where is here anyway?"

"St. Mungo's."

Remus choked. "St. Mungo's?"

James nodded his head.

"Wait, if you can be here…." Remus gasped.

"Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey caught us visiting you in the Hospital Wing before you were transported here. We are to speak with Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore when you can return to Hogwarts." James explained.

Remus smiled sadly. "Do you guys feel disgusted now?"

"What are you talking about?" James asked confused.

Remus's eyes shined with pain. "You have now seen what I do to myself on the full moon. You guys don't want to be around a freak like me anymore."

"Don't put words into our mouths." Sirius growled.

"Remus, we promise to always be with you after the full moon. Nothing will keep us away." James said, putting his hand out.

Sirius put his hand over James's. "I promise to always be there for you when you wake up after the full moon."

Peter put his hand over Sirius's hand. "I promise to bring you chocolate after every full moon and stay with you while you heal."

"I promise to help you catch up with all your work after the full moon." James said.

"We promise to always be there to help and make you feel better after the full moon." The boys said together.

Remus's eyes shined with unshed tears. "Thank you, thank you so much."

James gently grabbed Remus's hand and put it over Peter's.

"I promise to trust you guys with this and I will try to open up to you guys more. It's just that I think by saying anything to you guys about my lycanthropy will scare you away." Remus said, coughing a little.

"Nothing is going to scare us away from you." Peter said.

Remus beamed at his friends.

Sirius pulled a bag up off the floor. "Also, we have your homework and notes for the three days you missed. We can help you get it all done. Do you want to start now?" He said.

Remus smiled. "Sure."

Every day the Marauders went to St. Mungo's and worked on homework with Remus to get him all caught up so he wouldn't be behind when he returned to school. It was a little difficult because Remus could barely hold a quill. It hurt him, but he took pain relieving potions so he could do his homework. James and Sirius explained everything that was said in class and showed him how to do the spells they were taught. They were given permission by Selene to practice the spells in the room so Remus could learn them.

All of the boys were having a lot of fun now that they knew Remus was going to be fine. Each day Remus got more and more of his color back and the shine of amusement, life, determination, fear, confidence, and everything else was back in his eyes. A grin was slowly making its way onto his face which made his friends really happy. At first he was really upset and scared that they had to see him directly after the full moon. They showed him that they didn't care that he did that to himself. They were still his friends.

All of Remus's broken bones and most of his cuts and scratches were all healed now. He was just being kept in St. Mungo's now so he could rest and get his strength back. His cousin made him take healing potions and sleeping potions every day.

By Friday night, Remus was all caught up with his work thanks to his friends. Each night since Tuesday they worked with him and even gave him some of the answers if he couldn't figure it out and they explained why it was the answer to him so he would learn. Remus absolutely refused to copy any of their work. The boys only let Remus work on school work for about three to four hours a day. They didn't want him to wear himself out. After working with Remus with school work, the boys told him everything else that was going on at school. He got extremely upset when James and Sirius told him they got a week of detention for defending him. The boys convinced Remus that they didn't blame him and that they did it because he is their friend.

"When can I go back to Hogwarts?" Remus asked Selene Friday night. He looked up at her with pleading eyes.

"We are planning to keep you overnight one more night and to give you a final check-up tomorrow. If everything is well, you can go back tomorrow." Selene explained. She put down the clipboard that explained how Remus's condition was right now.

"Selene, can we stay the night again?" Peter asked.

"Again?"

"Sure. Just stay out of the Healers way and I should remind you that Remus is not allowed out of bed until I say so." Selene gave the boys a hard look.

"Again?"

James smiled. "Don't worry, Selene. We want Remus back at Hogwarts so we'll make sure he will stay in bed."

"Again?"

Selene conjured up some beds for the boys before leaving the room.

"Again? What do you mean by again?" Remus asked.

"We stayed here last weekend. We were hoping you would wake up sometime then." James explained.

"Oh."

The Marauders talked as long as they could before Remus passed out a few hours into the night. He was exhausted and needed all the rest he could get for the journey back to Hogwarts tomorrow. Peter followed Remus into Lalalala land a half an hour later. After Peter, Sirius fell asleep an hour later. James stayed up for an hour after all his friends fell into Lalalala land. He checked on Remus one more time before he decided to go to bed. Remus looked happy and calm so James knew it would be safe for him to go to sleep without having to worry about Remus.

"Come on, Selene, I feel fine." Remus whined. "Can I leave, pretty please?"

Selene laughed. "Yes, you may leave. Just take it easy for a while. You still aren't at full strength."

"Are we Flooing back?" Remus asked his friends when they got away from Selene and the other Healers. He fingered the bandage that was still on his wrist. It was wrapped from the end of his fingers to halfway to his elbow.

James smiled. "We are Flooing to the Hospital Wing. Just say Hogwart's Hospital Wing."

Remus nodded his head.

Immediately after their arrival in the Hospital Wing, the boys were greeted by Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey. Madam Pomfrey did a quick examine of Remus before allowing him to leave the Hospital Wing with his friends and Professor McGonagall. The Transfiguration professor lead the boys to the second floor. Being that it was a Hogsmeade Saturday, the school was mostly empty except for first and second years around the school.

As they were walking to the second floor, Remus was grumbling about Healers and nurses and not being able to get a moment of peace ever and insisting that he was fine. James, Sirius, and Peter were laughing at him, which annoyed Remus more. He was being serious about this!

"Chocolate Wand." McGonagall said to the gargoyle.

The gargoyle moved to the side and stairs started moving upwards. McGonagall climbed onto a step with the Marauders following her.

In the office, Dumbledore was sitting behind his dress with twinkling eyes and a smile on his face. "Welcome back boys. I'm glad to see you're well, Remus." Dumbledore greeted. He motioned to the seats. "Please take a seat."

The boys sat down in front of Dumbledore's desk while Professor McGonagall stood behind the boys.

"So sir, you wanted to see us?" Sirius asked. He smiled at his Headmaster. "I hope this won't take long. It's Remus first day back and we want to have some fun."

"Not too much fun I hope. Mr. Lupin still needs more rest." McGonagall said sharply.

Remus groaned. "I feel fine."

James and Sirius snickered.

Remus shot them a glare.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "I called you here for a reason."

Everyone turned their attention back to the Headmaster.

"It has come to my attention that you three," Dumbledore looked at James, Sirius, and Peter, "know about Mr. Lupin's curse. How long have the three of you known about it?" He smiled brightly at them.

James looked at his friends nervously. "We have known since the November full moon."

"How did you find out?" McGonagall asked sharply.

"We're not idiots. We noticed something was going on with Remus last year when he disappeared all the time. Ever since then we have been keeping track of when he leaves and we came to the conclusion that he is a werewolf." Sirius explained.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled even more. "I am very proud of you boys. You struck by your friend even when you know the truth about him. It is great that you can look past all the prejudice."

James nodded his head. "We would have been happier if Remus told us himself."

"I tried to tell him that, but he was so sure that you three would abandon him for it." Dumbledore said.

Remus's eyes snapped to him. He made hand motions at the Headmaster, trying to tell him to be quiet. His friends were going to call him on that. They hated hearing that Remus actually thought that and always scolded him for it and took time to remind Remus that they would never abandon their friend over something as little as this they say.

"And he absolutely refused to tell you boys. I'm glad you found out and are here to help him." Dumbledore continued as if he didn't see Remus. In actuality, he did see Remus. It was hard not to see him with his wild hand movements. He just thought his friends should hear and know how much it meant that they didn't leave Remus.

"See, Mr. Lupin, you found true friends." McGonagall said, smiling gently at Remus.

Remus recalled a conversation with his professor the year before and smiled a little back at McGonagall.

Sirius looked at Remus confused, but the smaller boy shook his head at him.

"I trust you boys will not let anyone know about Mr. Lupin's condition. If anyone else learns of it, they might not be as accepting as you and tell all the other students. If that happens, I will have no other choice but to expel Mr. Lupin." Dumbledore said.

"Don't worry, sir. We are not telling anyone." Sirius replied determinedly.

Dumbledore beamed. "I am glad to hear that." He turned to Remus, who was pouting. "Mr. Lupin, you have a lot of schoolwork to catch up on."

Remus smiled. "No, James, Sirius, and Peter brought me all my work when I was at St. Mungo's and they helped me with it all."

Dumbledore clapped his hands. "Wonderful, so you are all caught up?"

"Yes sir." Remus replied.

"I trust you three to be able to keep this a secret without me having to make you take a vow of secrecy." Dumbledore spoke to James, Sirius, and Peter.

The boys nodded their heads.

"If that is all, you four may leave and go enjoy the rest of your Saturday." Dumbledore motioned to his office door.

"Thank you sir." James said and he led his friends out of his office.

A/N: Code 44- Snivellus has hexed or pranked one of the Marauders

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