Author's Note: TW for… sort've self-harm? It's… intended self-harm but not intended as harm to self but more of to prove a point. Also warning for an ill pet.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Sirius was in a foul mood Thursday. He skipped breakfast to spend time with James, then stomped into Greenhouse Two, threw his bag on the bench where James usually sat and scowled all through class. He kept muttering under his breath, swearing occasionally.
When class ended, all three went straight to the hospital wing where Pomfrey let them all visit James for a while; Sirius immediately climbed into bed next to him. James no longer had most of the bandages on, though he still had one stuck to his cheek where his flesh had been pulled off. He had some faint scarring along his face and all over his left hand but he said it would be gone before the next morning. He had new glasses on—or rather very old ones that didn't fit too well. He later explained they were from when he was ten, but he'd be getting new ones soon.
The Potters were also there.
They had greeted Sirius happily, and both of them hugged Peter. Then they looked at Remus, who stood there, unsure.
"Remus Lupin, right?" Mrs. Potter asked, holding out her hand. "We met once before. Sort of."
"Um, y—yeah," he said faintly, cautiously taking her hand, burning with shame as he remembered how his mother had acted on the platform about a year ago.
"We're glad you boys were there for him yesterday," Mr. Potter said, shaking Remus's hand roughly once Mrs. Potter was done. "We didn't get here until around seven last night."
"We were in Germany on business," Mrs. Potter explained. "I feel awful—"
"Mummy, it's fine," James promised. "Sirius was with me the whole time, and Pete and Remus visited whenever Pommy let them."
"Pomfrey," Mr. Potter chided gently. "Madame Pomfrey."
"Pommy," James said stubbornly. Mr. Potter rolled his eyes, while Mrs. Potter snickered a little as she took James's hand.
"It's nice to meet you," Mr. Potter said to Remus. "I've met Sirius a couple of times, and Peter here stayed in the summer, but while James talks endlessly of you, we've not really met."
"N—no, s-s-sir."
"Monty, please, not sir," Mr. Potter said pleasantly. "Any Marauder is as good as being in the family."
Remus shot a nervous glance at James, wondering how much James shared with them if they knew about the Marauder thing. James looked insufferably smug, though that wasn't very unusual.
"As long as you are aware his full name is Fleamont," Mrs. Potter said.
"Yes, thank you for the reminder, dearest one," Mr. Potter sighed, adjusting his glasses.
Mrs. Potter smiled sweetly at her husband. "Anytime, darling. Now, I'm sure these boys have plenty of stuff they want to talk about without adult ears around." She stood up again then bent down to kiss James's cheek. "We'll be back in a little while, sweetheart."
"Okay Mummy. Love you. Love you, Dad."
"Love you too," they both said, then Mrs. Potter pulled Mr. Potter away.
"Your parents are great," Sirius said once they left the hospital wing.
James grinned. "Yeah, they are. Now, how are things going? I'm so bored! Tell me everything."
After about ten minutes of chatter, Pomfrey announced James had another visitor, and to everyone's shock Lily appeared. She stood awkwardly at the foot of the bed, looking faintly disgusted. Nobody spoke for a long time until James broke the silence.
"Need something, Red?"
"I—I wanted to see how you were doing," she replied, rather stiffly. "For the project."
James raised his eyebrows. "Ooh, for the project? Is that all? Or did you really just miss me that much?"
She glared at him. "Does one miss a wart when it is removed?"
"I dunno, I've never had one so you'd have to tell me."
"YUAAAGH!!" she shrieked, fingers curling into fists. Remus was a little impressed at the shades of red she turned. "I came by to say I hope you feel better soon but forget it, James Potter, you are a horrible slug! I can't believe I felt sorry for you!" She whirled around, her twin braids slinging around her head with a heavy sound, and she stormed out.
James and Sirius both burst into laughter while Remus frowned. "That—that was a little rude, she was only trying to be nice…"
James shook his head, picking up a box of chocolates from his side table. "She probably came to lecture me about doing work for the project. Here, Mum and Dad gave me these." He offered the box out. Sirius and Peter each took one of the truffles. James wriggled it at Remus who reluctantly took one. "How did the Stink Potion go?"
Peter's face went white. "Blast! I forgot all about it! I'm so sorry! I better go now." He jumped to his feet but didn't go anywhere; instead he stared at Remus who was stuffing the truffle in his mouth. "You coming?"
"Me?" He quickly swallowed the chocolate, disappointed he didn't get a chance to savor it. "Why?"
"Someone needs to fly the broom," Sirius snickered.
"What?! No! Not me—"
"I'm crap at flying!" Peter whined.
Remus stared in horror. "So am I! Why can't Sirius?"
Sirius snuggled closer to James. "I'm staying with Jimsy."
Peter tugged Remus's sleeve. "Please? I can't do it. I can barely do the potion by myself, I can't fly too. Please?"
Remus looked from him to Sirius then back at Peter. "I—Sirius, come on, it's—it's only a short while…?" But Sirius was looking extremely stubborn. "I can't! Please, Sirius? Please?" He knew it was futile, Sirius wouldn't do it. Remus would have to give up and attempt to fly James's broom.
Except to his surprise, Sirius wavered a little. "I really would like to stay here though."
Remus widened his eyes, unable to believe the unsure tone in Sirius's voice. "Pretty please?" he pressured, trying to sound as pleading as possible. "Please?" Sirius bit his bottom lip. "Pleaaaaase?"
He closed his eyes, groaning. "Fine!"
WHAT?! Remus fought to keep his expression impassive but he was absolutely shocked. Sirius swung his legs around, glowering at Remus as he got up.
"You better be grateful."
Remus smiled as sweetly as he could. "I am. Very much so."
Sirius huffed a bit, then left with Peter. Remus watched them go then looked at James, both of them shrugging before Remus sat on the edge of the bed.
"How did you manage that?" James asked, looking very impressed.
Remus wished he could answer but frankly, he had no idea. "Guess he was feeling charitable. Or he really did want to use your MoonGlide again."
"It is an incredible broom," James giggled before tugging at Remus's arm. "Lay down with me."
Remus felt extremely awkward as he pulled his legs up into the hospital bed and stretched out next to him. It did tug a little at the box inside of him but not too bad, nothing too threatening. Nothing like if he was laying in bed with Sirius.
James felt very warm next to him, and his knobbly limbs kept poking against Remus's side. How James managed to have such knobbly elbows and knees was beyond Remus. Lately it seemed like his elbows and knees were becoming knives. Remus subconsciously rubbed his own elbow, remembering the bit in Your Body stating there'd be physical changes—painful physical changes.
Are they as painful as becoming a wolf? he wondered, glancing down at his legs. He doubted his human bones would start poking through his skin, though. Then he wondered if he'd have growing pains. He was used to feeling his bones growing and body changing. Would it really bother him? It couldn't be as bad as the wolfy transformations, could it?
"You seem deep in thought." Remus glanced up, startled out of his thoughts. "Whatcha thinking about?"
"Puberty."
James blinked a couple times then rolled his eyes. "You're really weird, mate, you know that, right?" But he gave a grin to show he was only teasing.
After a few minutes of talking about various things, Remus cleared his throat and asked, "What all have you, uh, told your parents? About me, I mean. I—I know you'd never say that," he added in a whisper, "I was just wondering what they do know."
"Not much," James promised, linking his arm with Remus's. "Only that you're my good friend. Part of the group. Um, you're super smart. And that you're sick but you don't like talking about it, and I respect your privacy." James squeezed his arm. "They'll respect your privacy too. I promise."
They talked for nearly an hour before the other two returned, Peter a little flushed from having to work on such an important potion by himself. They hung around until nearly lunchtime, when Pomfrey shooed them out. Sirius and Peter went right for the Great Hall for lunch but Remus went to the dorms for a shower, feeling grimy from Herbology. It kinda grossed him out that Sirius and Peter didn't want to get cleaned up, but oh well. To each their own.
/\/\/\/\/\
In the late afternoon, Remus insisted he wanted to do some studying in the library and left Sirius and Peter. He went to the dorms to get a LiftAway before going down to the Pits Passage. He went to the first real pit then blew up the LiftAway until it just barely tugged at his body. He wrapped the string multiple times around one arm—tying it tight—and then took a running leap across the pit, coming softly down on the other side. He continued jumping across the pits until he wound up at the dragon painting. He let the LiftAway rise up to the ceiling while he approached the painting, heart pounding hard.
"Hey, w—wake up," he said as the dragon snored loudly. "Wake up." He purposely poked the dragon. "Or—or I'll dump paint thinner on you!" The dragon looked at him and, knowing what was about to happen, he ducked down as the fireball shot past his head. Slowly he stood up, panting hard at the near hit. "Yeah, wanna try that again?" he snapped. The dragon glared at him. "I know you're g-guarding something." He hoped he sounded braver than he felt. "I get it. Someone set you up to—to protect whatever you have behind you, but you could have killed my friend."
The memory of James on the ground filled his head, and fury rose hard; the wolf rose too, itching for revenge, which was strange since it was a painting.
"I am very angry right now. Secret entrances should not be set up to—to nearly kill people. Or kill, because you—you could have easily killed him if it—well, I don't know who did it, and frankly I don't care right now. All I care about is my friends are going to w-want to keep trying to get behind you because they are absolute idiots, and I have zero intention of letting you burning them up."
He yelped, ducking quickly as another fireball went past. He could feel the heat across his head.
"St—stop it," he said firmly. The dragon tilted its head. This was going nowhere. He needed to pull out the heavy spells. Almost literally. "For your information, hitting me with fire? It won't do much. Won't do anything lasting." The dragon took in a breath and Remus stepped back quickly. "Don't believe me?" He got his wand out and pointed it at his hand, wincing at the thought of what he was about to do, trying to steel himself for the pain coming. I've had worse, it won't last long, it's not that bad. He grit his teeth, and—"Incendio!"
The flames hit his hand and he cried out in pain, immediately slamming his hand against his robes, beating the fire out. Shakily he raised his burnt hand, holding it out for the dragon to watch it heal. He had considered letting the fireball hit his hand but it seemed riskier than being able to control the fire himself.
"I'm a werewolf." The dragon narrowed its eyes, a puff of smoke wafting from its nose. It emanated the aura of not caring. "I can—I can rip you off the wall and tear you to shreds, and you can't do a thing about it. Still don't believe me?" He punched the wall and the stone cracked, some of it crumbling to the floor. "I'll tear you down and take you with me when I—I transform, We can go snout to snout if that's what you want. I'm tempted to do it anyway because of what happened, but I'm going to ask you nicely. Whatever you're hiding isn't worth it. I'm sure it's been decades since whoever put you in charge of whatever is behind you. Whoever did it is graduated and gone. And either it was important what they kept there and they took it with them, or it doesn't matter. Either way whatever you're hiding isn't that important. So."
He stepped closer and reached up, grabbing one corner of the painting.
"Your choice. Give up or deal with a very angry werewolf."
The dragon stared at him for a long time and then gave a snorting sound, smoke pouring out of the painting. No heat, no flames. And then the stone around the painting shifted until a doorway formed, the painting lifted nearly to the ceiling.
Remus stared in surprised, unable to believe what happened. He took a hesitant step forward, sensing something more than simply a passage beyond the entrance… the temptation was super strong.
"Thank you," he said, forcing himself to step back. The painting lowered as the stone formed again. The dragon looked furious. "When we come back, you will open up or else I will destroy you, got it?"
The dragon yawned and curled up, giving a rather rude-looking flick of its tail.
Remus sucked in a deep breath and grabbed the LiftAway string to go back across the pits, feeling rather delirious over the fact it worked! He felt absolutely euphoric, even though he only succeeded by burning his hand and punching stone. Still, a victory was a victory and soon they'd be able to see whatever was behind the painting, assuming he was right in James being determined. Which he was about ninety-nine percent sure of, since James was an idiot.
/\/\/\/\/\
James returned to the dorms that night, excited to be back but angry he was missing another practice. The only evidence left of what happened was some faint scarring along his face. Still, despite his annoyance, he was in a very bouncy mood. Literally. He spent several minutes jumping on his bed and talking a mile a minute about the upcoming game, switching briefly to birthday plans for Remus, then his own birthday plans.
"We—should—sneak—into—Hogsmeade!" he panted as he bounced. "Celebrate there! Please? Please, Remy? For my birthday!" Remus ducked his head, pretending to focus on his homework instead of James. "Stop acting like you can't hear me, we all know you've got mega-hearing."
He set his quill down, glancing up at his friend. "When will the Stink Potion be done?"
"Tomorrow!" James leaped off his bed and crashed onto Sirius's bed. "Should we attack the dorms after Transfiguration or wait till Monday?"
"I vote Monday," Peter said. "That way if we get caught it doesn't ruin our plans for Saturday."
Sirius flung a paper crane at Peter. It fluttered a bit, then fell short. "Who says we'll be caught? That's so—so—um, you know—negative."
"Pessimistic?" Remus offered, suspecting that was the word Sirius was trying to find.
Sirius flung his second paper crane at Remus, and it once again fell short. "Yup. That. What's wrong with these cranes? The paper is not working!" He held up the package of charmed paper, rereading the instructions. "Am I doing the crane wrong?"
"Nah, maybe Petey's got the right idea—ow!" James fell off of Sirius's bed, thudding hard against the floor.
"Merlin's bushy beard, Jimsy, you wanna go back to the hospital wing already?" laughed Sirius, though there was definitely concern in his tone.
James wallowed back and forth, clutching his knee. "It's your fault, your blanket is too slippery!" Remus got a healing potion out of his desk and handed it to James. "Thanks." He just pushed his trousers down, sitting there in his pants as he rubbed the potion on his knee. Then he kicked the trousers off completely. "Anyway, yeah, there's a tiny slim chance of us getting caught and if we do, we'll definitely get detention Saturday because McGonsie hates us, and then we can't properly celebrate Remy's birthday."
Sirius tried another paper crane, carefully folding it up. "Yeah true, we don't wanna ruin birthday plans. AH!" This time the paper crane fluttered around the room. "Yes! Right-o, Monday. When do they have class that we don't?"
Peter got the third year Hufflepuff timetable out and carefully smoothed it out. "Ummm, let's see. They have… Care of Magical Creatures at one? And it says all three of them in the dorm does have—er, take that class, but some of the other third year Hufflepuff boys don't?"
"Mmm, that's a bit of a risk," sighed James. "Anything after Transfiguration? Our Transfiguration?"
"No, free period," he mumbled. "Tuesday they have Defense at eleven, which is free for us."
They agreed on Tuesday, and Remus said he'd let Bones know. Sirius frowned, and suggested he not tell Bones when, in case it was a trap. Remus shrugged, agreeing not to tell Bones exactly when. Except the next morning on the way to breakfast Bones grabbed Remus and pulled him into a side corridor.
"Soon," Remus promised before Bones could say anything. "The p—potion will be d-d-done tonight. It—it should be sometime next week."
"No, not… uh, no, I wanted—um, Potter didn't fall into the fire for that potion, did he?" Bones asked, forehead wrinkling.
"Huh? N—no, no, not that one," Remus promised. "They—it w-was something—something else."
Bones looked very relieved; apparently he had been worried since he heard the rumors about what happened that it might be in relation to the prank. He promised it was fine it hadn't been done yet, he was still excited to see what happened.
Shortly after Remus took his seat at the Gryffindor table the owl post came, and Arthur was one of the last owls in, haphazardly fluttering while trying to carry a box. He kept dipping and jerking, and then there were shrieks as he crashed into the table. Remus let out a cry of worry, jumping to his feet.
Arthur wobbled, standing up and shaking out his body. "Arthur?" Arthur hooted, depositing the box before huddling. "Arthur, are you—?"
"Is he all right?" Peter asked, and James and Sirius chimed in with their concerns.
"I—I don't know…" He carefully picked Arthur up, gently touching along his body. Arthur stared intently up at Remus during this, not complaining. "I—I better take him to the owlery, I don't think he can make it on his own."
"We can go with you," offered Sirius.
"No, it's fine." He jammed the box in his satchel and, cradling Arthur in one arm, headed out of the Great Hall. Most people were watching him due to the crash. He slipped out, going as quickly as he could up the too-many stairs. Arthur hooted whenever Remus asked him how he was doing, but definitely seemed out of it.
Once in the owlery, he carefully put Arthur in his nest and pet him again, determined to write his parents and suggest they not use Arthur anymore. He could use school owls. Somehow.
There was a side room where a lot of owl care supplies were held and it also had a board where students could leave notes about the owls. Remus went in, grabbing a piece of parchment.
Arthur Lupin, C. 302N. Concern over health
Remus paused, trying to remember everything his parents had said about Arthur's age.
Est. Age: 26?
He knew Arthur had been given to his father when he graduated Beauxbatons, and was fairly sure Arthur was about a year old at that point. How long did snowy owls live? He struggled to remember, and couldn't.
He poised the quill over the parchment again but didn't know what else to add. Finally, Please get back to Remus Lupin (Gryffindor, Y2) as soon as possible. Thank you.
He stuck the note onto the board and returned to the main room, looking up at Arthur who had fallen asleep. He wanted to go over and cuddle him but didn't want to wake him up. Part of him wanted to cry. Arthur had been there his whole life and was pretty much the only animal he had come across that didn't despise him.
Once he left the owlery, instead of going back down to the Great Hall, Remus collapsed onto one of the benches, covering his face. His nose burned and itched though no tears came out. It was longer than he meant before he got up, and he had to run all the way down to the dungeons but was still a couple of minutes late and lost five points. Three for being late and two for his sloppy tie as well as the fact his shirt wasn't tucked in.
"Everyone saw what happened with Arthur, what a tosser for taking points off," Sirius grumbled when Remus slid into his seat, tucking his shirt in as best he could.
Remus was quiet through class, more anxious than usual so his potion (which was made by himself) was even more of a disaster than usual. It kept belching orange smoke that smelled like burnt flowers. Slughorn gave him a P, one of his worst grades ever since Professor Dedenne left the school. Remus's heart sank, and he once again felt like crying.
After a long Charms (mostly long due to him being so hungry) he swung by Great Hall to grab a very quick bite then went back to the owlery to check up on Arthur. A shiver of trepidation went down his spine as he went up the stairs, terrified he'd find Arthur dead. For a split second Remus thought he was, then noticed his owl breathing gently.
Remus left him alone, not wanting to disturb him. He checked in the room to see if his note was still up (it was) before heading back down to the Great Hall. He was pretty worn out by that point, collapsing down at the Gryffindor table from going up and down all the stairs so many times!
"He's all right," he promised before his friends could ask. Then he folded his arms on the table, dropping his head down. "I'm going to rest a few minutes…"
He wound up falling sound asleep, waking up when Peter gave him a gentle shake.
"Why don't you take a nap before History?" Sirius suggested.
"The potion—we need to bottle it up, don't we?" Remus yawned.
"We can take care of it," James said.
Except as they were leaving the Great Hall, a seventh year approached them, asking if he was Remus Lupin. Remus recognized her as someone who worked in the owlery often, and his heart plummeted. He had seen Arthur just a few minutes ago!
"Arthur is fine," she said, noticing how white he went. "It's in regards to your note. I can't tell if there is anything particularly wrong, but I was wondering if you wanted the veterinarian to come see him."
He opened his mouth to say yes! Then shut his mouth. Then, "H—how much… how much would it be?"
"Three galleons base fee, and then more depending on how much medical care he needs," the seventh year replied.
He swallowed, curling his hands into fists. Immediately, he wondered what present his parents had sent him, and how much he could get for it if he sold it. Not enough. Surely not enough. Could he sell anything else? Nothing that could make up that much money. It would take a couple days to write his parents and get a reply, and would they be able to send much? Perhaps combined with anything he might find to pawn off in Hogsmeade—
"Yeah," James said. "That's fine."
"James—"
James turned, staring hard at Remus. "You are going to take the damn money, Remus, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, he flashed a smile at the seventh year. "He would like the vet to see Arthur."
The seventh year gave Remus a glance, and Remus gave a reluctant nod. "All right, I'll send a letter, and let you know as soon as I hear from him."
As soon as the girl disappeared, Remus started to tell James he'd pay him back, do his homework, anything he wanted to make up for it but James immediately put his hand over Remus's mouth.
"I just won't buy you anything next time we sneak into Hogsmeade," he said, removing his hand. "Is that an acceptable deal?"
"James, I—"
"Is that an acceptable deal?" he repeated, firmer.
No, he thought, wringing his hands. James bought him sweets all the time and sometimes bottles of butterbeer, but definitely not three galleons worth. "I'll do some of your homework too."
James gave Remus a pat on the head. "All right, then. Deal. Also, we'll help out with whatever medical care he needs, all right bye!"
He grabbed Sirius and Peter and took off down the hall before Remus could say anything in return.
"GO TAKE A NAP!" Sirius shouted over his shoulder before they clattered up the stairs and disappeared.
/\/\/\/\/\
The rest of Friday was spent worrying about Arthur, worrying about money, listening to the short lecture about safety around potions and fire (with so many students shooting James looks, and James smiling innocently the whole time), and forgetting until after Study Group he had a birthday present to open up. He finally did after getting ready for bed, opening up the package to find a nice card, and two wrapped presents. He knew one was a bar of chocolate, and the other was a book. Knitters Book Of Spells. The cover showed two knitting needles knitting by themselves in one corner, and in the other corner it showed a handful of leaves turning into yarn. This was a very happy distraction from the Arthur problem!
Remus eagerly opened it up, flipping through. A lot of the spells were ones he wasn't too interested in—spells to make needles knit on their own, that sort of thing—but then it led into more spells, spells that were super useful. Spells to keep yarn untangled which was pretty much the Holy Grail until he found a spell that turned things into actual yarn. Like leaves.
Leaves.
Into yarn.
He could go outside and gather up leaves and turn it into a skein of yarn!
"Ow!" he yelped when he tried jumping out of bed and got tangled in his blanket, landing face-first on the floor.
"You all right?" Peter asked, while James and Sirius helpfully laughed.
Remus pushed himself up. "Yeah." He brushed himself off and grabbed a piece of parchment, considering showing his friends the present he got but then decided not to; while he wasn't ashamed of knitting, getting a book like that did seem possibly a little awkward. It wasn't that interesting or cool.
Once in his bed again (the curtains shut) he began practicing the spell. He managed to get the parchment rather woolly but not into proper yarn at all before it grew way too late. It was on the verge of midnight when he decided to give up, putting everything away and curling up under his covers.
Right when he almost drifted into sleep he heard quick footsteps outside his bed, then his curtains opened, and someone dove on him. He gave a yelp of pain as knees smacked into him, and he wriggled a bit, trying to get free from the warm, heavy body on top of him; a split second later he froze as he realized who it was, by scent. Panic swept through him, and the box was practically thrown aside at the extremely uncomfortable sensations zapping through his body.
"Sirius, gerrof!"
"Happy birthday!" Sirius whispered, climbing off of Remus and kneeling in front of him, eyes sparkling.
Remus rubbed his side, shifting into a sitting position. "What?"
"It's midnight. Happy birthday!" Sirius grinned now. "I wanted to be the first to wish you happy birthday. I wanted to do it to Petey, but he wasn't here. I'll do it for James too, so don't say anything."
Remus blinked a few times, the words sinking into his head. Midnight. It was his birthday. He was thirteen. "Oh! It—oh."
Sirius laughed, settling into a cross-legged position. "Congratulations on the big one-three."
"Thank you." He leaned back against the headboard, drawing his knees up, wrapping his arms around them. "It's going to be a strange birthday though."
"Because of Arthur?" Sirius asked, and Remus nodded. "Understandable. I'm sure he'll be fine." He clamored over, sitting right next to Remus against the headboard. "He's tough, like you."
"Sirius, I—I cry over everything and literally run away from my problems," Remus replied flatly. "I am not tough."
"D'you want one of your presents early?"
"Wh—what?"
Sirius pulled a small lumpy gift out of his pocket, pushing it into Remus's hands. "Here."
"I—"
"Open it!"
Remus tore the paper off and found four galleons. His hand shook as he stared at them, the metal clinking softly together.
"For Arthur," Sirius said, pulling his knees up and imitating Remus's previous position. "The base fee, and for anything extra needed."
He slowly shook his head, thrusting his hand out to Sirius. "I can't accept this," he croaked out. "I can't, it's too much."
Sirius's eyes narrowed and he sounded slightly accusatory as he said, "You accepted it from James. Besides, one of those galleons is from Jamesy anyway. I won it, in a bet."
"I can't—"
Sirius grabbed his hand, curling his fingers around Remus's fingers, making him close his hand around the money. His hand was very warm, and felt so good around Remus's hand. Really, really good. Uncomfortably good.
"Please," Sirius said softly, still squeezing his hand. "I know you don't like getting stuff like this because you can't 'repay' us but that's not what it's like, all right? We don't give you presents because we expect to be repaid. We give you presents because we like you. And we like Arthur. Besides, I flew that broom for you the other day and you said you owed me. So, accept my gift as repayment."
"That doesn't make sense!" But he didn't push any further, knowing it was pointless to argue. "You can't give me anything else for my birthday."
Sirius looked elated. "Too late, I already got you other presents." Laughing softly, he climbed over Remus to slide out of bed, twisting a little. He leaned in close enough that his face was a mere two inches from Remus's. Remus felt his breath catch in his throat at the sudden closeness, and he squeezed the galleons tightly. "Goodnight, Remy, and happy birthday." He disappeared through the curtains, padding quietly back to his bed.
Remus stared at the curtains then slumped down, heart racing faster than he ever remembered it going. It was thudding hard, practically bursting from his chest. He couldn't breathe properly either, and was so hot he felt his armpits and palms go all sweaty. Gulping, he reached through his curtains to put the money in his desk drawer, then he curled up on top of his blankets. He was way too hot to go under the covers, and it took a very, very, very long time before he was able to fall asleep.
