Lesson Eleven: The Healing Powers of Quidditch
Remus sat up in the white bed and looked out the frosted glass in the window onto the grounds. He could hear Madam Pomfrey moving around in her office as she listened to the Witch Wireless that was broadcasting the Quidditch game. He sighed deeply as he looked out of the old window, swearing to himself that he could make out his friends flying back and forth on the miniscule field in the distance.
Madam Pomfrey came out of her office and smiled slightly at him, "Do you want me to turn it up?" she asked kindly as she stood in the doorway.
Remus merely shrugged his shoulders and continued to stare out the window at the "game." He heard the volume increase slightly as the broadcaster switched to a commercial, which was now advertising "Wanda's Wonderful Wax: for floors, furniture, and brooms." Remus didn't move his head when the medi-witch re-emerged from her office and came over to his bedside. The woman casually pulled up a chair and sat beside him, silently urging him to look away from the imaginary scene that was in the distance.
He ignored her presence for as long as he could. Patiently waiting for her to kindly order him to take another potion for the injuries that ran brutally down his young body. But no such order came, so they simply sat in silence watching the invisible game out the iced window.
After a while, Remus felt her move slightly in the seat beside him. Then she took hold of his left wrist suddenly and felt for his pulse. She made a few "hmm" noises as she timed the regular beats. When she finally let go of his hand, she walked over to the large medicine cabinet and pulled out a light green potion. She gradually poured it into a spoon and walked back over to Remus.
"Here take this," she stated with her typical firmness.
Remus groaned slightly before he pulled himself away from the window and glanced at her, and opened his mouth. She then administered the foul liquid. He groaned aloud once more, after he had swallowed, and coughed a bit from the bitterness.
"It's not that horrible, Mr. Lupin," the medi-witch stated with a small smile.
Remus just shook his head as the elder woman sat back down next to him.
"You don't have to take it every month," he muttered bitterly.
He then turned his attention back to the window, silently wishing that he was anyone else at that particular moment. He could sense the frown begin to form on Madam Pomfrey's face. Then, out of the temporary silence, he heard the soft voice that he often thought only he was privileged to.
"Remus, I know I have told you this before, but you are an incredible boy. Not many can live the way you have had to. It's mind-boggling how you manage to do so at such a young age, and still find something to be happy about," she looked down at her patient with a soft, almost motherly, smile.
Remus just turned to her with a solemn face as she continued, "You're very brave, and you make your friends and family proud. And I know that you wanted to go to the game, but in your state it is better that you listened to me and stayed here. You're friends will understand."
Remus was silent for a long while before a tear managed to escape from his eyes and slide down his cheek as he thought on the woman's words. Finally, he looked into the medi-witch's eyes, "I know that they understand. But I said that I would go to the game and I hate breaking my word – even if it can't be helped," he sighed deeply as he glanced out the window once more before he continued, "I just wish that I was someone else. I wish that I could be normal like the other kids here. But I can't," he gave a deep heave as he began to cry openly in his frustration, "I can't," he managed one last time before no more words would leave his mouth.
Madam Pomfrey merely looked at the young boy she had grown so fond of, as tears formed in her own eyes. She then, reached her hand over and took hold of Remus' small hands in her own. She squeezed it gently, letting him cry out all of the things she knew he held in, as most Lycanthropes were accustomed to do.
Even long after Remus had ceased crying she continued to hold his hand. They sat like that, listening to the game that was playing out on the other side of the school and, every so often, Remus would perk up from his reverie when the student announcer (Kevin Clowes) mentioned newcomers James Potter or Sirius Black.
By the time James had managed his seventh goal, making the score a whomping 120 to 50: Gryffindor in the lead, Remus was openly rooting his friends on. Madam Pomfrey grinned at him as he cheered for his friends. When Kevin announced: "Dillingham, has spotted the snitch!" Remus had completely recovered from his previously bitter thoughts.
Remus nearly jumped a foot off of his hospital bed at the announcement. The medi-witch merely scolded him half-heartedly for moving far too suddenly for the majority of his wounds. Remus said nothing, far too excited to take heed to any of his healer's words, as the announcer continued to describe the events that were taking place.
"Dillingham dives sharply towards the ground, swoops left barely avoiding the Bludger sent by Keigwin. Wickham pushes his way into the action. He pushes Dillingham, who veers off track. Slytherin leading the chase – hardly fair! Oh wait – Black sends a Bludger – That has got to hurt!
"Dillingham is back on the trail. Another Bludger is sent her way by Botolph. Misses -- Dillingham jumps…" The fifth year announcer breathed heavily over the speaker before: "YES! Gryffindor wins! A great game-"
Remus didn't even take the time to hear any of the other comments his fellow student had to offer, instead he just threw his fist in the air, startling his comforter, and yelled in joy. He continued to shout praises at the radio, joining the happy crowd that could be heard screaming in the background of the broadcast. He only stopped yelling once he began to cough uncontrollably under the added pressure such actions contributed to the wounds that were still healing around his throat.
Madam Pomfrey then gently pushed her patient back into a laying position and quickly administered an anti-cough potion for the fifth time that day. She then firmly instructed him to rest. She then went into the office, where she stayed, and turned off the radio. Remus just grinned at her and went back to his looking out the window, absently pretending that he was there witnessing the celebration with the rest of the Gryffindors.
After a while, he sighed deeply and shut his eyes to rest. A few minutes later, he heard loud voices echoing down the hallway in a joyous, but out of key, song. He felt a smile twitch on his lips as the voices dissipated and three very happy Gryffindors strolled into the room.
"I think he's asleep," Peter muttered once they had stopped at the side of his bed.
"He can't be asleep," Sirius mumbled back. Amidst the reply he could hear the distinct sound of glass bottles clanging together.
"Wake him up then," Peter retorted.
"You can't wake someone who's not sleeping," James stated bluntly.
At that Remus' "sleeping" face broke into a wide smile. He opened his eyes as James punched him lightly on the shoulder with a slight chuckle. Sirius, then, shoved a butter beer into his hand and smiled. Remus just looked at the slightly warm bottle in mild confusion, "Where'd you get this?" He asked as his brow furrowed. He continued to stare at the bottle before he looked up at his mates waiting for an answer.
"The kitchens last night. We asked some of the house elves to do us a favor. They weren't at all bothered by the request," Sirius smirked widely as he went on, "You have to love the fact that all they want to do is serve you. Can't really argue with that, eh?"
Remus shook his head as he opened the bottle and took a big slug of the warm liquid. He then wiped his mouth clean with his sleeve as Sirius and James gave him a quick rundown of the game, figuring that he didn't known what had gone down. Remus just smiled as the two tried to reenact some of the finer moments that involved them as Peter chimed in with the occasional "Yeah, it was so wicked." When they had finished with the Quidditch match they went on to fill Remus in with the schoolwork he had missed for that day.
When they reached the topic of Defense Against the Dark Arts they grew slightly sheepish under Remus' gaze, while James told him, as best he could, about the lecture on the deflecting charm they were to have down by their next class. As they were ready to switch over to the next bit of homework he had for Transfiguration, Remus halted them, and said the exact thing he knew they were trying to avoid, "So, I guess you still haven't talked to Pike yet."
The three looked at their friend with a solemn face. Remus just sighed, relatively shocked by the fact that he was actually disappointed that they had not gone straight out and asked him the day of the full moon. Like they had originally planned too do. Seeing this reaction James spoke up first, "If we hadn't had Quidditch practice all this week we would have, honestly. Next time, no matter what, we'll do it."
Remus' brow furrowed once more in thought, "It's okay. Really, it's no big deal."
Hearing the disappointment in his voice, Sirius spoke out loud without even thinking of the words before they had left his mouth, "You know what, why don't we do it as soon as you get out of this bloody ward. That way you can slap us around a bit if we try to chicken out," he smirked slightly at his words as he watched Remus' face turn into a slight smile.
"It really is okay. You guys don't have to do that," Remus stated once more as his pleased face defied any modest comment that tried to come out of his mouth.
James laughed at Remus' words, "It's not like Professor Pike is all that intimidating, right? Plus, he likes us. Like Peter said he'll probably give into us because it is such a far-fetched idea he'll just let us have a go."
"Yeah, probably, I just hope he doesn't say no."
Remus looked over at Sirius and frowned, "I doubt that he would."
"But doesn't he know of your condition?" Peter chimed in. He looked at Remus, earnestly hoping that this setback would talk them out of going through with the plan he wished he had never come up with. The last thing he wanted was to spend time with a werewolf in full form.
The chubby boy shivered a bit as Remus answered cautiously, "Yeah, he does. But I don't think he'll put two and two together. Granted he's not stupid, but he often overlooks things like that. Plus like James said: he likes us," he smirked slightly, "As long as we aren't causing trouble in his class," the four laughed, with Peter going about it more nervously than the others, which none of the others noticed.
They continued to laugh and joke as their little collection of full butter beer bottles quickly diminished. By the time the drinks had been completely depleted the four had recovered from their Anamgi conversation and were once again celebrating the Gryffindor's win... which was slightly dampened when they came to the conclusion that classes were not going to be very pleasant when Monday rolled around. The Slytherins were going to be unbearable. And worse still, Snape would most definitely be waiting to seek revenge on James for humiliating his House. Which most likely meant, all four of the boys would go down.
They joked slightly about all the ways they could prepare themselves for a number of possible sneak attacks from their foe, until the sun went down and they casually began to yawn in a demented sort of round. Eventually, Madam Pomfrey came back into the room from her office and ushered James, Sirius, and Peter out of the infirmary. With a few more jokes and quick laughs the boys said goodbye to Remus and reluctantly left the ward.
When the heavy doors shut behind them Madam Pomfrey turned to Remus and smiled at the lopsided thoughtful smiled on his face. She sighed deeply as she walked up to his bed and checked his pulse once more. She grinned as she walked back to her cabinet and grabbed a few potions that she gave him once a day to speed up his healing. She set them on the nightstand next to him and carefully poured each of the assorted liquids into a spoon and gave it to him. He grimaced at the assorted tastes, each varying in their degree of nastiness, slid down his throat.
When he had taken the final potion the older woman went on to check over his bandages, changing those that needed to be and adding salves to those that no longer needed bandages but still required some sort of caring for. He winced a bit at the stinging the ointments caused in his healing wounds but "recovered" quickly when he saw the half-hearted glares that his healer gave him.
Occasionally, he would joke with her that she was secretly trying to kill him with those "horrid potions," rather than help him, as she simply threatened to tighten the bandages so they were even more uncomfortable for him. He laughed slightly at the empty threat as Madam Pomfrey finished her work. Once she was done she proceeded to pull up the white sheets so that they covered his entire body. She tucked him in, much like his mother used to do when he was five, and hummed softly to him as she did so.
Remus smiled at the gesture as he looked around at the other beds that had been used for various Quidditch players that had been injured during the game. He hadn't noticed them when they had actually been in the room, but now the unmade beds were a small reminder that he had to, once again, spend the night alone. He sighed slightly as Madam Pomfrey continued to hum whatever lullaby was in her head as she put out the candles that lined the room. The room fell into darkness. She whispered goodnight to her favorite patient and drew the privacy curtains around him as he muttered the same to her back.
Remus stared at the dark curtains as he rolled over onto his side. He stared at the curtains as they faded in and out under his sleepy eyes. He smiled slightly to himself as he gave one final thought to James' and Sirius' victory. He then closed his eyes, one last time, letting the sleeping potion Madam Pomfrey gave him do its job as he fell swiftly into a dreamless sleep.