I felt inspired (maybe because of all your LOVELY reviews!), ergo the quick update. I wonder if I used ergo correctly. It's just such a funny word. Ergo. Hahaha. Also, as promised, eleven explosions, as that was how many reviews there was when I wrote this up.

The next time that Remus woke up was, if it was possible, even less pleasant. The moment that he opened his eyes, the light felt bright enough to blind him for eternity, and the slight sound of the ticking clock felt loud enough to make his eardrums bleed.

Madam Pomphrey found him with his eyes squeezed shut, his bandaged hands pushed awkwardly to his ears. She made an angry clicking noise like it was his fault that he was unbearable pain. The injustice of this made Remus's face fill with heat and color.

However, when the nurse gave him enough potions to dull the pain of existence, Remus forgave her. She then disappeared into her office, with instructions that he should remain in bed.

When the clicking of her footsteps disappeared, Remus leapt upwards. He was wearing a pressed smock of some sort that hung widely enough to be a dress. After discovering his clothes folded neatly under his bed, Remus tore it off and pulled his robes on. He found his wand in the pocket.

The hallways were drafty and cold and the normal sounds of everyday life seemed to be magnified, but other than that, Remus felt perfectly normal. He drifted along the empty corridor, past many full classrooms, and then wandered back into the Gryffindor common room.

It was devoid of life and movement. Remus sank down into one of the huge armchairs, closing his eyes and resting peacefully. His meditation lasted only until he felt something dry and flaky brushing against his calf. With a muted horror, he realized it was dried blood. It had stayed on his robes- which were apparently not cleaned. This didn't disturb Remus as much as it should- he assumed it was the excessive amount of painkillers that Pomphrey had given him.

He limped up the staircase to the Gryffindor dormitory, collapsing onto his bed. He felt too tired now to take a shower, as he had intended. Once again he slipped into his meditative state.

This time, he was interrupted by something much louder. The door popped open and fireworks exploded on the scene, singing everything within its reach.

Remus squinted against the sudden blast of color, and saw James and Peter creeping towards him with sickly happy smiles on their faces.

"We checked in the Infirmary, and you weren't there, so we assumed you'd be here! And you are! Are you all better?" James asked with concern. Remus managed to smile weakly and sit up, and then move his legs away quick enough to make sure that Peter and James didn't sit on them.

They continued to look at him with their strange smiles. Remus stopped smiling back and just stared at them curiously. Finally, James spoke.

"You look, almost, alright?" He said questioningly. Remus raised and lowered one shoulder. Peter's eyebrows furrowed.

"But, we thought you'd be either jumping off buildings or after Sirius's blood!" he exclaimed finally. Remus gave him a strange look.

"Why would I be after Sirius's blood? He saved me!" There was a cloud of unease drifting into Remus's mind. Sirius had been acting oddly in the Hospital Wing.

"Well, because he told Snape." Peter said quietly, as if he was in a library. Remus felt his face grow hot, too hot, and wondered in the back of his mind if he had a fever. But there wasn't much time for thought.

"WHAT?" Remus shouted. In his pocket, his wand gave off a huge explosion, tearing off the bottom part of the robe. James and Peter leapt out of the way, crashing together and then into another bed as they scrambled to get away.

By the time they realized that they should stop him, Remus had calmly gotten dressed in a new set of robes, collected his wand (which was still sputtering bits of flame), a few of James's fireworks, and walked out the door.

xo

Sirius was sitting out next to the pond. The squid was lying listlessly in the shallows. It was sunny and warm outside, a perfect day, but a strange day for the end of winter. A slug crept in front of his shoe, leaving behind a disgusting trail of slime.

Remus would find out someway, Sirius knew. It was inevitable. But hopefully by that point, Sirius would have been such a good and attentive boyfriend that he would be forgiven.

"BLACK!" Remus's voice howled across the grounds. Sirius knew in one heart-wrenching moment that he knew. He leapt to his feet, and accidentally stepped on the slug, which exploded with slimy relish.

Dripping with slug innards, Sirius turned to face Remus, who was already halfway to him. He had expected to have a bit of a verbal duel before anyone got physically hurt, but not a second had passed after he had come to that conclusion when the dirt before his feet colorfully exploded.

With ironic shock, Sirius realized that Remus had let off a firework at him- one of the fireworks that he and James had made together.

Now Remus was before him, his hands and face still partially bandaged. He was spitting and screaming like a mad cat, but Sirius didn't understand a word he was saying. He just looked on, wary.

His wariness was rewarded as he nimbly leapt aside as Remus threw a firework at the ground, and it exploded, turning the grass into ashes easily.

Sirius waited as Remus screeched at him, and then when the other paused for a breath, attempted to cut in.

"Remus, I just want you to know I'm really sorry and-" suddenly there was a wand at his throat. Remus's eyes were bright yellow, the color of a wolf's. Sirius trembled spastically.

"What can you possibly say that won't make me blow your head off." He growled.

"I love you!" Sirius tried helplessly, as the point of the wand dug deeper into his jugular.

"I don't care." Remus said simply. With a final shove, the werewolf left.

Sirius collapsed onto the grass. He didn't even move when a frail tree near him exploded when Remus threw another firework.

xo

Dinner was a subdued affair. Remus still hadn't been caught by Madam Pomphrey running around the castle, and Sirius hadn't shown up. No one knew where he was, even, and as far as the other Marauders were concerned, no one cared.

Remus had nearly finished his stew when the doors creaked open to let in another person. He turned to look automatically, and then nearly cracked his spoon in half when he saw who it was.

He was dimly aware of James trying to remove the wand from his grip, which was already crackling, and of Peter pleading with him to sit back down. But his main focus was the person who had just walked in. None other than Sirius, of course.

"Sirius, run away!" someone yelled. But Sirius continued walking. When they were a foot away from each other, they circled one another carefully. Remus waited until Sirius's back was to the table.

Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but Remus had already raised his want. With a quick flick, Sirius was thrown backwards. His head collapsed onto the glass bowl of pudding, sending shards of glass exploding outwards.

There was a dead silence in the hall. Even the teachers didn't know what to say. Finally, a strangled cry was issued from another Gryffindor, at the other end of the table.

"Remus, please, stop!" Remus turned his steely gaze to the girl who had issued the plea. Lily.

All of his anger and violence came flooding back, stronger now, and with a new, fresher target. He raised his wand.

There were two sudden explosions of light. One had been issued from Remus's wand, heading like a bullet to Lily, but the other was from James's. The latter was the stronger one, and Remus's attack easily bounced off of it.

Finally the teachers decided to step in. Remus was frog marched off to the Infirmary, and James was yelled at by McGonagall for an easy fifteen minutes, and then rewarded twenty points for defending an innocent student.

xo

Once again, Remus did not stay for long in the Hospital Wing. He had two months of solid detention, and fifty points for Gryffindor. Surely it couldn't get worse.

The stone floor was harsh and unforgiving under his bare feet. They had taken away his shoes, hoping it would discourage him from leaving again. It didn't work.

Remus was halfway to Gryffindor Tower when light suddenly exploded out of an unknown source, illuminating the hallway. Remus sighed and turned around.

"Mr. Lupin. I thought that you would have learned the error of your ways already." Dumbledore's cool voice pondered. Remus turned a pale pink and looked madly for an escape, but only ended up making his head hurt more. Dumbledore seemed not to notice any of this.

"Well, what are you going to do?" Remus finally asked when the silence had become too much. Dumbledore smiled.

"I am going to turn off the light, return to my room, and pretend this little incident never happened. However, if I hear later that there were any disturbances in Gryffindor Tower, then I may have to take other actions." Dumbledore said plainly. In an instant, the light was gone. Remus didn't even hear Dumbledore's footsteps, or his breathing. It was as if he vanished.

xo

In the end, Remus had returned to the Hospital Wing, after thinking very carefully about it. By the time that he had come to this conclusion, however, the sun was beginning to rise. When he entered the room, Madam Pomphrey exploded at him, yelling and disciplining, but in the end she did nothing except to spoon the multitude of potions slightly rougher than usual into his mouth.

It was another three days until he was released from her care. Though he had detention, Remus was already planning on getting into trouble…

xo

phew. That was long. Nearly 2000 words! And all thanks to your reviews, which made me keep writing because I had to include so many freaking explosions. It got a little messy at the end, I know, but I rather liked the slug one. Teehee.

anyways, review! because who doesn't want to be loved by me? heee