Author's note: warnings for gore in this chapter

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The clinking sound of curtains opening penetrated Remus's thoughts, and he glanced up to see Pomfrey looking over at them, one hand pushing back the curtain a bit. Before she could say anything, Sirius rushed past her.

"James!"

Peter and Remus got up quickly, hurrying over. Pomfrey frowned, and Remus had a heart-stopping second of terror, convinced that she wouldn't allow them to see him.

"Please?" Remus asked, not even meaning to.

"For a quick moment," Pomfrey sighed. "After that he can only have one, all right? He needs to rest. He's got a lot of healing potions in and on him."

Peter and Remus ran in. Sirius was hovering next to the bed, one hand clasping James's right hand, his other hand resting on the side of James's head. James had bandages wrapped around most of his face and around his arm and chest, from what Remus could see under the hospital pajamas. His hazel eyes peered through the cloth covering his face.

"James," Sirius whispered, climbing into bed with him without any hesitation.

James let out a ragged breath, raising his right hand to give them a half-hearted thumbs up. Then he slumped against Sirius, clutching at him. All three of them stared silently at James. Remus's eyes flicked to James's chest, anxiously watching it rise and fall.

After a couple of minutes, Pomfrey returned to inform them they needed to go. Sirius frowned, asking if he could stay. Couldn't James have one visitor? Pomfrey pointed out first of all James needed to rest, second of all they had classes, which made Remus look at the clock. History had already started!

"I'm not going," Sirius said stubbornly. "He can have one visitor, you said, so I'm staying."

Pomfrey looked quite weary. "Mr. Black—"

Sirius sunk down against the bed, arms crossed. "I'm not leaving James. I don't care about class, he's more important." Pomfrey eyed him, probably trying to figure out if it was worth the argument or not. "You can kick me out of the hospital wing but I won't go to class," Sirius continued, "I'll just stay outside the doors."

"Very well, Mr. Black, you may stay." Pomfrey pulled out three slips of paper, writing quickly. "Mr. Lupin, Mr. Pettigrew, here are your slips for why you've missed your class, and this one is to give the teachers for Mr. Black."

"We—we only really have T—Transfiguration left, after History," Remus explained, taking the notes.

"Ah, I see. Professor McGonagall already has been informed about Mr. Potter. I doubt she'd be surprised at Mr. Black's insistence to stay… still, if you don't mind giving that to her?"

Peter and Remus left the hospital wing after giving James very careful, very light hugs. Remus picked up the MoonGlide which had been sitting on the floor for the entire time they were there. Neither boy spoke as they went through the corridors, though Remus figured they should probably take James's broom to the dorm even though it'd mean missing all of History instead of just part of it.

Remus slowed before turning down a corridor, heading to a bathroom instead of the Pits Passage to get the carrying case. Peter followed in confusion. Once in the bathroom Remus crouched down, hugging his arms around his knees, and crying into his arms. Peter crouched next to him, a hand on his back.

"James, James…!" Remus moaned.

"I know."

Remus knew he was all right for the most part. At least he had been awake for a moment. He wasn't… dying. But—God. God. He had—he had been—his flesh—he almost—

Peter hugged him tightly and the two remained there for probably far longer than they should have. Eventually Remus wiped his face off on his sleeves and got up.

Peter had managed to stay dry-eyed until after they fetched the broom's case and returned to the dorm. That's when it was Peter's turn to get distressed. Not full out crying like Remus had, just a couple of tears sliding down his cheek.

"I thought—James—"

Remus slid the broom under James's bed then knelt back against his feet, studying his shaky hands. "I did too. He looked…"

Peter plopped down onto the floor next to him. "He could have been killed," he whispered. Remus swallowed and shut his eyes tightly, not wanting to think about it. "The fireball was so big! Why would anyone do that? Rig a—a—a painting to do that?"

Someone who really wants to keep whatever's behind it a secret. "I don't know." He twisted to face Peter, and then they were hugging tightly again, Peter crying onto Remus's shoulder. "He's okay though. He's fine." He wasn't sure if he was saying it for Peter or himself.

"I know but—but he—but—"

"Yes, I know."

They stayed in the dorm until they had to go to Transfiguration. Neither of them wanted to go. Remus certainly didn't want to go to class. He wanted to go back to the hospital wing and insist on staying with his friend. Couldn't Pomfrey make an exception?

Instead, he found himself shuffling alongside Peter to McGonagall's class. Lily and her friends had arrived about the same time, and Lily demanded to know where they had been—accusing the Marauders of skipping History again. After what they had pulled Monday, did they really think that was a good idea? Did Remus really think it was fine to skip History?

She was going to keep going until Remus cut her off. "James is in the hospital wing," before going past her into the classroom. Lily fell silent, her mouth still slightly open. Remus handed the three notes to McGonagall.

"P—Peter and I—we—we m-missed all of—of History." It was hard to talk. Not because of the stutter but because he simply didn't feel present. At least when Peter was sick it had been on the weekend so they didn't have to deal with classes, and it hadn't been so… prominently in his face.

Remus could still smell James's burning flesh.

It wasn't fair to have to be in class. Which McGonagall apparently agreed with.

"That is fine, Mr. Lupin," McGonagall assured him. "You two don't need to be here if you don't want to. Nobody will blame you. You won't be in trouble."

Remus hesitated, glancing at Peter who gave a half shrug in return. It was tempting to leave. Very tempting. However, he knew even if they went to the hospital wing the likelihood of them being allowed to sit with James was next to none. This way there'd be a slight distraction.

"I think I'd like to stay. If Remus is, too," Peter mumbled.

"Yeah, I—th-thank you, Professor, but—but at least it's s-something to—to focus on instead of…" He didn't finish his sentence, and McGonagall nodded.

"I'm sorry!" Lily whispered after Remus sat down. "I'm so sorry, I didn't—is he all right?"

"Um, y—yeah, he'll be fine," Remus said, slowly getting his books out. His limbs were heavy and it felt like he was trying to maneuver through molasses.

"Is Black…?"

"St—staying with him, refused to budge," he said, finally giving a small smile. "Being stubborn."

Lily squeezed Remus's hand. "Is it like what Pettigrew had? That kind of—of medical thing?"

Peter stiffened a little, making a soft whimpering sort of sound. "No. Um, no, it's not—it's not like that."

"James is still here, he didn't need to go to Saint Mungo's," Remus added.

"What happened?"

Remus chewed his bottom lip. "I'll t-tell you after class."

He was very distracted all through class; Peter was too. Neither was able to do well and when Remus tried turning his crab apple into a crab all that happened was the apple grew legs and scuttled off. He folded his arms on his desk and rested his head on them until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

McGonagall stood over him. He thought he was in trouble however she motioned for him to follow her; Peter too. They obediently trailed after her into her office.

"Are you two certain you're doing all right?" she asked after shutting the door.

Peter and Remus exchanged looks. "Er, I—well. I don't know," Peter squeaked out.

"We know he'll be all r-right…" Remus twisted the hem of his jumper around his hands, grateful they weren't in trouble however still feeling guilty as if he should be in trouble. "I thought—thought staying in class w-would help but… I can't st-stop thinking abo—about it."

"I received a note from Poppy. She said you were present when the accident happened?" McGonagall raised an eyebrow, giving them both a curious look.

"Accident," Peter said distantly.

"Do you mind telling me what happened?" she asked.

"No." Remus's voice was rather hoarse and probably too soft. "He was… he—he…"

Suddenly two cups of tea appeared, and she pushed them across her desk. "It must have been hard, seeing it happen."

Peter took his cup though he was shaking so bad some of the tea sloshed out onto his trousers. He yelped, dropping the cup which shattered on the floor. "Oh no! P—Professor, I am so sorry!"

McGonagall repaired the teacup and made the liquid disappear before conjuring up another one for him. "It is perfectly all right, Mr. Pettigrew. I imagine it's very distressing, seeing your friend like that."

Remus stared down at his own tea, trying to force burnt-James out of his head for even a brief moment of respite. Except the knowledge—the guilt—that it was his fault pounded into his brain, like waves slowly beating down a boulder. If he hadn't have pointed out the seams—if he hadn't made it suspect there was something behind the painting then James would be fine.

He quickly set the cup down and buried his face in his hands. He wasn't aware he was speaking until McGonagall asked him why he thought it was his fault. That's when he realized he had been saying the words over and over. Slowly he lifted his chin, his fringe clinging to his face due to his tears. He pushed his hair back, head aching as he tried to figure out an answer without telling the truth. He knew he should tell the truth, but what if James and Sirius were telling Pomfrey something else? Of course they needed to say what actually happened, however he also didn't want to make worse trouble by saying one thing when they said another.

He remained silent for a few seconds to figure out what to say before burying his face in his hands once more to cry.

McGonagall came around the desk and crouched down, putting an arm around him. "You two may sit the rest of class out," she said.

"N… no, we can—can… we can c—continue… please…"

After a few more minutes of McGonagall consoling them and trying to lift their spirits, they returned to class where neither of them bothered to even try the spell again. Well, Remus tried once then gave up, instead spending the lesson with his head in his arms. Maybe he should have sat the class out.

Finally McGonagall dismissed everyone and Remus gladly gathered his things up. Peter asked if they should go right to the hospital wing to get an update and Remus nodded, agreeing with that plan. However, as soon as they left class they found Spinnet standing there with a frown.

"Potter's in the hospital wing?" he asked, rather bluntly.

Remus clenched his teeth, not wanting to deal with this. Not wanting to talk about it, only wanting to see James again. To know if… "Y—yes. He sh-should be—be back s-s-soon."

"Is he all right?"

You don't sound very concerned, he thought, annoyed. "He w-w-will be. Excuse me—"

"Is Black injured too?"

"N—no, he's staying with—with James. Excuse me." He brushed past Spinnet and would have walked off completely if it wasn't for the fact he heard Spinnet talking to Struthers.

"Of course those three get to miss classes because their friend is a little hurt, that's completely fair. Plus those two did nothing in class today, McGonagall didn't even care. It isn't right."

Remus stopped in his tracks. Peter stumbled a little, giving Remus a confused look since he hadn't heard what Spinnet said. Everything inside of Remus screamed to let it alone… except for the wolf stirring for the first time since Valentine's day events (well, aside from the full moon). Anger rushed through his body, rising up to consume him as Spinnet's words echoed through his mind.

Remus turned around, finding himself walking back to Spinnet, the words spitting out before he could stop himself. "Excuse me, what did you say?!" he demanded, then didn't wait for an answer. "You think it's unfair we missed History? And Sirius missed Transfiguration too? Unfair?"

Spinnet looked completely bewildered. "Er—"

"Well, perhaps it is a little unfair but excuse us for being upset over seeing our best friend's flesh being burnt off his body. That was a wee bit of a shock to the system. Maybe you'd be fine going to class after seeing that but we were just a tad bit perturbed over our friend being set ablaze."

Spinnet's eyes were huge, he looked completely shocked. Struthers's mouth hung open too. Peter looked quite startled as well.

Remus took in a deep breath, regretting what he just said. But he couldn't take it back.

After a few awkward silent seconds he turned and stormed off, red creeping across his face. He probably made a huge mistake doing that. Also, James might not have wanted anyone to know what happened. Crap, crap, crap. How could he have blurted it out? One of the things he should never do is blurt things out! His whole life depended on not blurting things out!

"You okay?" Peter asked, hurrying to stay caught up.

"Yes. He made me mad."

"What he say?"

Remus sighed, repeating what Spinnet had said. "It wasn't very bad. It just got under my skin for some reason."

Peter's nose wrinkled. "No, that was kinda rude to say. 'Specially since he didn't know why James was in the hospital wing. Should we have stayed in class? I couldn't do anything."

"I don't know. I thought it would help—"

"I thought so too," Peter admitted. "I thought hearing McGonagall talking would make me feel better. That's why I wanted to stay. It did. For me, I mean. A little."

Peter was right with that; hearing McGonagall talking had been nice, even if they had been unable to do anything. Having someone talking even if he wasn't fully listening maybe helped a little more than he realized.

They got to the hospital wing, seeing the curtains closed around James's bed. Remus went to Pomfrey's office and asked if they were allowed to visit James for a short while; she agreed, as long as they kept quiet. They went back to the room, cautiously opening the curtains to find James asleep though he stirred when they stepped closer.

"He's been asleep most this time," Sirius whispered. "He was awake a bit ago to take more medicine and talk to Pomfrey, I wasn't able to be there for that, and—"

"No… wake…" James stirred again then sat up slowly. "I'm awake." He had a very strange tone to his voice.

"You're okay!" Peter cried out.

"You're awake," Sirius said gently.

"Yeah. Hard to talk, can't nove jaw." That's when Remus realized James was talking through his teeth, not moving his lips. Or jaw.

"You're okay," Remus whispered, repeating Peter's words mostly for himself. James was awake. He was talking!

"Yeah," James said again. Then, "Oooww, okay, can't snile." He shifted, and Sirius helped him into a better sitting position. "I'n okay guys, really." He then made a few strange noises before making one of frustration. "Can't say nane. Okay. Nurse. Nurse says I'll heal ut real quickly when she gaje ne nedicine earlier. It's not that dad."

"Not that bad?!" Peter ogled James. "You—you—"

"I'n fine!" James promised. "I took a… a… er, a totion so I'n not in—in—uhh… hurting." Sirius carefully put an arm around him, holding him. "Nurse says it'll take all night for the durns to conletely heal and I… I… ugh, it's hard not deing adle to say sone letters!" His right hand smacked weakly against the bed as he gave a grunt. "Not. Fair. Anyway. I should de adle to cone dack to class on Friday."

"I'm sorry," Sirius blurted out, and James gave him a puzzled look. Remus realized Sirius's eyes were a little bright too, but that was from tears. He wasn't crying, not yet, only a little wetness in his eyes. "I didn't know what to do. I—I remembered last year, Peter putting the fire out."

"You're… sorry for rescuing ne?" James asked, sounding as confused as Remus felt.

Sirius went silent and then a tear did fall. He jerked his head, quickly wiping the tear away. "I ruined your jaw. Your face. I pulled the skin off. It's my fault."

"No!" James grabbed Sirius's hand. "No! Don't you—you—you h—you—you got the fire out! What else could you do?! Let ne durn?!"

"No," Sirius whispered. "But I should have been more careful. Your jaw…"

"It'll de fine," James whispered back, and Remus felt like maybe he and Peter should leave. It seemed like a rather private moment. "You sajed ne fron worse." He wrapped his right arm around Sirius tightly. "I'll heal. Conletely. Not ejen a scar, Nurse said."

So, it wasn't dark magic, Remus thought, not saying anything. That surprised him a little bit.

"Not ejen a cool scar to nake ne look like a hero," James continued, teasing. Sirius gave a faint smile. James moved his hand so it was on Sirius's cheek. "You hod—you—you nost likely sajed ny life, or at least sajed ne fron sonething loads worse. Okay? Okay?"

He slowly nodded, wiping his nose off on his sleeve. "Yeah, okay. I—okay."

They hugged (carefully) and then James turned back to the other two. "Okay, so what are we telling Nurse?" He sounded really exhausted but was obviously determined to keep talking.

"Huh?"

"Nurse. She asked ne what ha—how this ha—ha…" James gave another frustrated noise.

"Occurred?" Remus offered, thinking of an alternative to 'happened' with sounds he could make.

"Yes. How this occurred. Thank you, Reny. I told her I couldn't renender anything. Anyway—"

Remus rubbed his head, exhausted from all the emotion, and feeling even more confused than before. "We—we have to tell her the truth. She has to know what caused the burns."

"No!" James narrowed his eyes. "No. She said I'll de fine so we can't tell the truth. If they know we know they'll dlock off—they'll—they'll seal the—the… they'll seal it off. I'n not going to let that ha—ha—I don't want then doing that. I like it there. It's herfect. No, we are not telling the truth. All in fafor?"

James raised his hand a little, and Sirius and Peter followed suit, all of them looking at Remus who took a step back. He began winding the hem of his jumper around his fingers, a bad feeling sinking into his body.

"Najority rules," James said with a nod. "Got it, Reny?" Remus remained silent. "Renus?"

He let out a miserable sigh. "Yes, I've got it. We won't tell Madame Pomfrey what actually happened to give you vicious burns over your face, arm, and chest which could have killed you."

James stared at Remus in silence for several seconds before nodding again. "A sassy agreenent is still an agreenent."

Remus turned away, folding his arms. He couldn't believe James! No. No, he could. Still, it was utter insanity not to tell Madame Pomfrey exactly what gave him the burns! What if he didn't heal properly? She needed all the information in order to give him proper medical care!

"We could say we were practicing a potion for class, and you fell in the fire," Sirius suggested.

"Yeah, good, that's a good excuse," James agreed, then made a sleepy sort of sound.

"We should go," Remus said, tugging at Peter's sleeve. "You really need to rest."

"Yeah… goodnight guys…"

James was asleep before they even stepped away from the curtains, head resting against Sirius's shoulder.

/\/\/\/\/\

Remus had forgotten all about telling Lily about what happened after class—the Spinnet stuff had distracted him—so when he got to the common room he sought her out, telling her the lie about James falling into the fire while working on a potion. He also informed her he probably wouldn't be at Study Group that night.

It seemed the adults who had been told about the fire lie believed it, judging by the fact Dumbledore had an announcement at supper. He wanted everyone to understand the need for safety when working on potions, and that there'd be a mandatory lecture about it Friday at supper.

As soon as Pete and Remus finished eating they went back to the hospital wing since a couple of hours had passed and they wanted to see if James had improved any. Professor Shafiq was there instead of Pomfrey, and she informed them that Pomfrey had left a note stating that the two boys were permitted to visit with James for a short while.

James was sitting up in bed when they slipped past the curtains, a tray across his lap with a bowl of soup half-eaten. Sirius had a tray too, still in bed with James.

"Heya guys!" James said cheerfully, sounding a million times better than he had earlier. "Guess what? I can talk now! Kinda. I gotta be careful and not move my mouth too much, but I can actually say B. And P. And M." Despite the fact he was speaking a little bit slow and carefully, the excitement in his voice was clear; it made Remus so happy. "Also, Remus, you flew?"

Remus was busy dragging two chairs over and he froze at those words. "Wh—what?"

"You flew, Siri told me. Sirius carried me, and you flew my broom. You flew my broom?"

Remus sat down, feeling very awkward. "Your broom is okay, I promise—"

"Nono, not like that. I'm just impressed you flew. I wish I had been more aware to notice it. Petey, you look miserable. What's wrong?"

Peter jumped a little. "Oh! Um, no. I—I'm not. I mean, I guess I feel bad all I did was panic. I didn't help at all."

"Not much you could have done, really," James pointed out. "All four of us wouldn't have fit on the broom. Which Remus flew. Over pits, and not just hovering a few inches off the ground."

Remus glared. "If you weren't severely injured I would smack you."

"Besides, you did help. In a sense." James gave a half-shrug. "If you hadn't put the fire out in our dorm last year, Sirius wouldn't have known how to put me out."

"I… guess…" Peter still looked upset though, but didn't press the matter.

They chattered for a while about various things, James laughing when he was told about the mandatory lecture (then whimpering in pain, lightly touching his gauzed jaw). Sirius brought up the Stink Potion, reminding them they had to do stuff to it the next morning. James looked at Peter, saying he had to be the one to do it on his own.

"M—me?" Pete squeaked. "No! I'm not—I can't…"

"You're perfectly capable of doing it," James said. "Either that or we ruin the batch and need to make a new one, and I only bought enough spadetail scales for one so we'd have to go back to Hogsmeade."

Peter gave a little groan. 'I'll do it. But who will fly the broom?"

"No!" Remus snapped when James gave him a look. "Sirius can. I am not. It was an emergency, I wasn't even thinking! It happened so fast."

"How did Petey get out?" Sirius asked with an insufferable smirk. Peter pointed at Remus which made the smirk worse.

"I—I went back, but I still wasn't thinking clearly!" he protested. "All I thought was get you out, James, and I couldn't leave Peter behind. I forgot I even had the broom until here! It—it's in its case under your bed, though, don't worry."

Peter was still very concerned about having to take care of the Stink Potion without James around. He muttered about it after they left the hospital wing, all the way back to their dorms. Remus still had time to make it to the library except he was not in the right mental space to deal with it. Peter didn't want to go to Photography Club either. So the two of them huddled up on Peter's bed playing cards.

Sirius finally came in right before curfew, complaining bitterly about being kicked out. "I wanted to stay overnight but Pommy wouldn't let me," he grumbled, throwing himself across Remus's legs and upsetting the card pile. "I might try to sneak in tonight to see him."

"Are you doing all right?" Peter asked as Remus tried setting the pile back right.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You were rather upset earlier, blaming yourself for—for his cheek," Remus pointed out.

Sirius frowned, averting his gaze from both of them and focusing on the cuff of his shirt. "It was my fault his cheek—well, anyway, he's healing and will be back tomorrow. Er, tomorrow night I mean. Not in classes, Pomfrey said he can't go to classes until Friday. She also says I have to go to classes tomorrow! That isn't fair. I want to stay with Jamesy." He flopped backwards even more, more or less in Remus's lap. "Besides, all we have is Herbology and Defense tomorrow, I can miss those without much problem."

When Remus tried to push Sirius off his lap, Sirius somehow gained a hundred pounds, refusing to budge; Remus could have easily shoved him completely off the bed however he didn't want to push too hard, so he gave up. "You shouldn't miss classes—"

"Says the nerd," Sirius said, grinning up at Remus. Remus scowled down at him then reached over, grabbing Peter's glass of water. "You wouldn't!" Sirius gasped, then shrieked as Remus dumped it on him, flailing a bit before rolling off. "Tosser!"

"Twat," Remus retorted without even thinking.

Sirius looked amused. "You're so evil and mean. Petey, look what he did!"

Peter was eyeing the wet spot on his bed. "I am looking."

Remus gave a slight giggle, sliding off of Peter's bed. "I'll change your bed, I'm sorry."

"You are not sorry at all," Sirius sniffled rather dramatically.

"Okay, yes, you're right, I'm not!" he laughed as Peter took the cards off and he began stripping the sheets off. "It was worth it."

"Hmph."

/\/\/\/\/\

Remus wasn't at all surprised to have a horrible nightmare that night. He dreamt he was a wolf, chasing James through the castle until James jumped into the Great Hall's fireplace to avoid being eaten. He went up in flames, screaming as his body burned, falling out of the fireplace. Remus pounced, to finish him off—

And woke up screaming. The smell of burnt flesh clogged his nose, and he could almost taste seared human flesh in his mouth. His screams broke off as his hand covered his mouth, trying too late to keep himself quiet. He waited for Sirius… and waited…

After a few minutes stretched on in silence, Remus lowered his hand, looking at the curtains. Did he sneak out to the hospital wing? Surely he would have heard the door, right? He slithered out of his bed and saw Sirius's curtains were open, and his bed completely empty. James's curtains, however, were shut.

Curious, he went over and peeked into James's bed. Sirius was curled up, sound asleep. He stirred a little and Remus quickly let go of the curtains, returning to his own bed. He was a little disappointed—a sort've empty feeling—but then how selfish was that? Expecting comfort?

Remus crawled back into bed, feeling even worse thinking how he felt this way when James was in the hospital wing. He clutched Gwyllgi tightly, trying not to cry again over what happened to James.