Chapter Eight

Remus was feeling steadily more and more nauseous as the sun began to set in the crystalline sky. He lay in his usual chair by the fire, letting the noise and the warmth of the flames wash over him. He closed his eyes, lips trembling. His head felt like it was going to split, and he was regretting the sandwich he had eaten for lunch as it churned inside him, the only thing he had eaten all day. He opened his blue eyes a little and the common room swam before them. Sirius came to sit by him, placing a hand on Remus's forehead, worry clouding his grey eyes. Remus winced as Sirius withdrew his palm quickly, wiping the cold sweat off his hand.

"Let's get you to bed, Moony..." he mumbled, looking around for help. James was in the library with Peter and Frank, but Lily was sitting by the fire, doing homework.

"Oi, Lily!" he called. "Help me here!"

Lily looked around at him, and then leapt to her feet as she saw how pale Remus was. She scrambled over and snaked her arm under Remus's armpit and around his back as Sirius took the other side. She grunted with effort as they hoisted him up. Remus was only dimly aware of the situation, but struggled to gain his footing. His head slumped forward onto his chest, Lily gave a small, worried cry and they began their ascent to the boys dormitory. When they reached the room designated to the fifth-year boys, Sirius kicked the door open and they stumbled through it, lowering Remus carefully onto his four-poster bed. "Should we fetch Madam Pomfrey?" Lily said, soaking a towel from James's bedside table into his washbasin. Sirius shook his head, dark hair falling across his face. He didn't bother fixing it. "Not much she can do," he said darkly, "old Remus is a—"

"—Werewolf." Lily finished for him, placing the damp towel on Remus's forehead and brushing his damp hair back from his pale face. She shot Sirius a small, sad smile. "I know... I figured it out ages ago."

She spoke so matter-of-factly that Sirius felt the knot of anxiety in his stomach loosen slightly. He pulled the blankets back on Remus's bed and took off his shoes. Lily tucked the sheets around Moony's shivering form, pulled the blanket over him and covered the whole lot with his patchwork quilt. She sat tensely on the edge of the bed, smoothing her skirt and looking on worriedly as Remus began to shiver.

"Is he always this bad?" she inquired, "Full moon's not until tomorrow."

"He's not always this bad until the day of. He's always a bit peaky though."

"But where—where does he go? They can't keep him in the castle!"

"No... they don't..." Sirius said, eyeing Lily critically, as if summing her up. He took a deep breath. "He... he goes to the Shrieking Shack. It's not really haunted, it's him. There's a secret passage under that tree... the Whomping Willow."

"Oh..." she looked a little shocked and started smoothing the creases out of Remus's quilt furiously. Sirius saw a glint of tears in her eyes, but she turned away. He walked closer and sat next to her. On impulse, he reached forward and tilted her chin up. She looked at him, and he saw a couple tears streaking down her fair cheeks. Sirius brushed them away. "What's wrong?" he voiced.

"Oh," she blubbered quietly, trying to control herself, "Sirius, I just don't understand why it had to be him! It's so unfair, and cruel, and... oh... why did it have to be him?" The constrained tears were falling again. Sirius bit his lip, feeling a bit awkward, but put his arms around her, patting her back gingerly, mumbling what he hoped were comforting words.

Before he really knew what was going on, he had Lily Evans crying all over his shoulder. "I'm assuming you don't hate me any more," he said softly into her hair. Lily looked up into his eyes. Suddenly there was more to him, something warm and friendly. And at that pivotal moment, a friendship was born. Lily straightened, wiping her face and laughing a little, meeting his eyes apologetically. "I'm sorry," she whispered. He waved off her apology like a wisp of smoke. "Don't mention it, Evans."

Remus heard this phrase come slowly to him, sluggishly penetrating the haze that seemed to cloud his mind. Oh God. Lily was there with Padfoot, Lily knew. She knew! And it was with this overwhelming feeling of shame that Remus drifted out of consciousness.

Sirius noticed Remus's tense muscles slacken, and Lily lifted up an eyelid. "He's unconscious," she said, looking pointedly at the door. "I'll stay with him, shall I? Would you fetch him a potion or... something?"

Sirius nodded and pulled open a trapdoor that had been hidden behind a loose wall panel and slipped through it, making a beeline for the hospital wing.

Lily watched him disappear and then leaned tiredly back against one of the bedposts, running her hands over the heavy red hangings. She was thinking. It had been such an odd day, really. First came James Potter being decent, then this unexpected friendship with none other than Sirius Black springs up. Sirius. Something was tickling the corner of her mind about something Sirius had said; when he had been explaining that thing about the secret passage...

Remus gave a little shudder and his eyes shot open. Lily sat up immediately and leaned over him concernedly. "Remmie? Remus, can you hear me?" His blue eyes slid into focus on her face and a blush swept over him. He opened his mouth to speak, but she placed a finger on his lips. "Shh... there, there, it's alright... I knew before, Remus it's okay..."

"No," he croaked, "It's not. I should have—"

But he was interrupted by the arrival of Sirius, who was carrying a smoking goblet.

"Oh, good, Moony. You're awake." Sirius held the goblet to his lips carefully, "Drink up, this'll fix your fever..." Remus managed to roll his eyes at him, but downed the steaming contents nonetheless.

Sirius sat gingerly on the bed as well and the three of them stayed there talking and watching as Remus regained his color. Moony was delighted to find that the two of them had finally settled their differences, and joined in their friendly conversation with renewed vigor once the potion had begun to take effect. Later, they were joined by James, Frank, and Peter. "This occasion," Potter exclaimed, "calls for a pillow fight. On guard, Evans..." he said, laughter glinting in his eyes.

The half hour that followed left the dormitory covered in feathers and resounding with laughter. At ten o' clock, Lily seemed to come back to her senses, realizing she was in the boy's dormitory at ten o' clock on a school night. The boys laughed as she said her hasty goodnights and ran from the room, trailing downy feathers down the staircase.