the night after the full moon
Remus wanted to scream. Stupid essays. And they were always due just after the full moon. His head was pounding and he couldn't focus at all. Pomfrey had told him not to work, he didn't have to. But he also couldn't fall behind. Especially this close to their O.W.L.S. He was curled up on the common room couch, blanket dropped over him at 2am, trying to write out a stupid potions manual. Lily had let him copy hers with him looking so bad, James had even offered to do it. But he just took Lily's and tried to turn it into his own words.
Yet he couldn't. The words were blurry and everything felt hazy. So he threw the paper to the ground and threw his head back. At least the new scars on his face blended in. And at least no-one questioned the monthly new scars. Or why he hated everything. Constantly.
And he had his friends. Peter, James and Sirius all became animagi to help him each month. Lily let him copy all her homework, or James did it. Peter and Dorcas always had some chocolate for him. And Sirius, Mary and Marlene glared at anyone who even looked at him wrong. Sure most of them didn't know he was a werewolf, but they knew something was up.
None of that mattered, currently because Remus was on the verge of setting his parchment on fire. He was supposed to be using a quill and ink, since that was what all wizards used, but this year, he'd brought a pack of biros. It made it so much easier. And the quills were so useless because they would just snap in his hand, especially when he got angry.
But now was not the time to get angry. McGonagall had already told him homework was mandatory around this time, but not doing it seemed worse than the torture of doing it. He leaned over the edge of the couch, snatching up the paper and pen. His work had creases and marks all over it now, but luckily he'd managed to keep Lily's clean.
"As a prefect, you should be in bed, setting an example," Sirius called from the stairs. Remus rolled his eyes and turned to them.
"You should be in bed. Prefects orders."
"I woke up for the bathroom and noticed you weren't in bed."
"Should've gone back to sleep. I was coming up now anyway, just had to do this," he groaned, waving the messy work around.
"Minnie told you not to do that. So did Pomfrey."
"Felt bad not doing it. Never do it properly so I thought I might as well try."
"You're an idiot," Sirius laughed.
"And you love me."
"Do not."
"Do," Remus retorted, kicking the blanket off himself and holding his arms out for them. Sirius didn't hesitate for the hug, pulling the blanket over the both of them.
"Why do you insist of being stupid?" They asked.
"Why do you insist on not understanding why I do work?"
"C'mon, moony. It was the full moon last night, you don't have to do work."
"Yes I do." Sirius didn't respond, instead wrapping their arms around Remus' waist, pressing their face into his chest, preventing him from working. "Really?" Sirius grunted I'm response, tightening their grip. Remus sighed and wrapped his one arm around Sirius' neck, using the other to neatly pile all the work up. But now he was stuck because Sirius wasn't going to budge. He could suggest actually going to bed and cuddling there, but it seemed too tiring to walk up the stairs.
He would be surprised if their arms weren't numb by morning, or if James didn't tease the shit out of the pair for the rest of entirety if he saw. But it didn't really matter to Remus as he stared into the fire. He should really put that out before he fell asleep. But his eyelids were growing heavy, and it was a magical castle, it wasn't like the fire would spread or anything. Also he couldn't reach his wand with a half unconscious Sirius on his chest. So he decided to keep staring at the fire. Maybe if he did it long enough, it would just go out. Maybe he would learn some wandless, silent magic. That would be useful, he told himself, fighting to stay awake.
Maybe he should just sleep. Sirius wasn't going to budge now.
