A/N: I just want to clarify that this is not going to be a slash fic. I didn't mean for Sirius' question to be read into that much- it was more about him just sometimes lacking boundaries/a filter and Harry keeping an open mind and learning something new about his godfather and all of them just getting to know each other better and being comfortable with one another. Just because there is a queer character does not mean that it will turn into a whole story about that. I just like the idea of Sirius being 'a dog' not even being limited to just females in his vicinity. We will be keeping things platonic in this fic as my Harry would be beyond weirded out by the idea of dating someone quite literally old enough to be his parent and he is not here for tempting Fate and messing up the timeline. Love comes in all shapes, sizes, and forms- this story just so happens to not be about the romantic flavor of love. I hope that clears things up- and thank you for reading and reviewing!

Warning(s): violence and descriptions of injuries/blood

Chapter 9 - Bad Moon Rising

November brought with it a cold, dry wind that swept over the grounds, stirring the remaining leaves that still clung desperately to the trees in the Forbidden Forest.

It also brought the first quidditch match of the season. Gryffindor was facing off against Hufflepuff and the whole school was amped up with a kind of feral excitement that could only be brought on by violent sports. The same way it was a bit dangerous to be caught in the area around the stadium on a game day in muggle world, the whole castle became a hot zone of raucous house pride, jeering insults, and generally misplaced youthful energy.

James and Sirius seemed to bask in it, soaking up the noise like greedy sponges. For Harry on the other hand, it was his least favorite part of the sport he loved. He got enough stares, catcalls, vicious slurs, and threats thrown at him during his daily life that the added catalyst of mounting anticipation for the rabid student body was never something he looked forward to. Harry found himself spending more time keeping close to Milli and Beth. They both seemed to have a more reserved approach to handling all of the excitement and mostly just turned a deaf ear to anything being said.

They also didn't seem to mind his presence and this time none of the girls had to ask him why he was favoring them over the guys that week leading up to the match. One glance over at where Sirius and James were preening themselves and basking in the attention of an excited crowd showed exactly why Harry had sought refuge. Reggie had even fallen victim to hype- having been spending way too much time in close proximity to Sirius as the newest beater- and could now often be seen strutting around the castle.

The quidditch mania hit its peak the Saturday morning of the match. Harry could barely hear himself think over the echoing buzz of chatter in the Great Hall. Thankfully, his years on the team and forced participation in the Triwizard Tournament had thoroughly squashed most of Harry's performance anxiety. After the entire school had publicly watched him almost die for the fourth or fifth time, the nerves seemed a little pointless. Harry just wanted to match to be over with so that James and Sirius might return to more tolerable levels of prat-like behavior. He was beginning to see where some of Snape's insults were coming from- not that Harry himself had ever acted that way, but at least he now understood the source material a little better.

"Well, you don't look very excited. Are you nervous, Harry?" Lily asked as she leaned towards him reaching for the platter of eggs.

"Nah, just ready to get on with it already, you know? I like playing quidditch, not trading insults about playing quidditch or whatever it is they're doing," he said with a nod down the table towards where James and Sirius were standing atop the bench apparently regaling a rapt crowd with some harrowing tale. As they both looked on, Sirius appeared to swoon and James dramatically caught him before he toppled to the floor. Lily made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat, causing Harry to laugh.

"They are insufferable. I don't know how you share a dorm with them and survive to see dawn each day," Lily scoffed.

"What can I say? It takes a lot to kill me," he said with an internal smirk. "And besides, they're not that bad," Harry defended. But after another moment watching the unfolding tomfoolery down the table he amended, "Usually, at least. You'd think we had already won the game the way they're acting. Though- I'm not sure if us winning will make it better or worse…"

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," Lily said with a glint in her eye.

"I'll let you know if I wake up tomorrow," Harry told her earnestly.

Out on the pitch, Harry felt the familiar excitement grip him as the cold wind hit his face and tugged at his robes and the distant roar of the crowd washed over him. This was going to be fun.

In the changing rooms, Sirius and James finally pulled themselves together and quit acting like idiots. Beth gave a rousing speech worthy of any American football movie and did her best to settle Leila's nerves. The poor girl had been getting increasingly jittery all week leading up to her first ever public quidditch match. Reggie just seemed amped up and ready to go, joking around with Sirius and itching to get out on the pitch. And Harry, well, Harry was just an outlier, as usual. While typically not the type to brag, he was very proud of his winning record when it came to quidditch. He had only lost one game so far in his entire career and the one he had lost hadn't exactly been due to his own lack of ability but rather due to a lack of consciousness brought on by a damn rouge dementor inviting itself to join in the game. It was the one place in Harry's life where his confidence bordered on cockiness and he had to consciously keep his ego in check. But 'youngest seeker in a century' was just about the only moniker that Harry had actually earned, so, sue him- he was proud of it.

The teams lined up on the pitch and shook hands. Harry recognized the Hufflepuff seeker as one of the girls that Lily often sat with in Herbology, but he didn't know her name. Looking down the line, the two teams looked pretty similar- a mix of students, but skewed slightly towards the upper years. One of their beaters was literally twice Harry's size and Harry found himself wondering if the boy needed a special broom just to keep in the air. Harry knew he didn't make a very intimidating sight, but that was okay- seekers didn't need to be intimidating, they needed to be fast. He let the rest of the team worry about the scare-tactics.

They all mounted their brooms and kicked off, getting into starting positions. Professor Barlow, whose main job was actually Flying Coach, was refereeing the match. Once she got a nod from each team captain that everyone was ready, she gave a shrill blast of her whistle, tossing the quaffle high, and the game began.

Fast as lightning, Beth had possession of the quaffle and the Gryffindor chasers were pelting down the pitch towards the Hufflepuff goalposts, the other chasers lagging behind in pursuit. Harry barely had time to process this as he was forced to quickly dodge a bludger that came flying up from underneath him. As usual, his job was to stay as far out of the frey as possible and look for the snitch. Beth was insistent that he wait until they were either up by a minimum of 50 points or she gave him 'the signal' (which meant that she didn't think that they would be able to get up by that much and he was to just end the match as soon as possible). That meant that Harry was playing defense for the foreseeable future, so his sole purpose for now was to make sure that Hufflepuff did not catch the snitch.

He flew in almost lazy circles high above the match, tracking the Hufflepuff seeker, keeping an eye out for the snitch, and listening intently for the current score. As far as he could tell it was 30-50 Gryffindor, so he was still in defense mode. He was watching as Milli made a particularly impressive save with her foot when he caught sight of the snitch hanging just behind the Gryffindor goalposts. Slowly, so as not to draw attention to himself, Harry flew around towards their end of the pitch under the pretense of complimenting Milli on her stellar save.

Coming to hover just above her and little to the left, Harry leaned forward and said, "That was an amazing save."

"Thanks- but shouldn't you be focused on something else right now?" She asked dryly.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I can multitask," he told her. After throwing a cursory look around to make sure no one else was within earshot, he added, "You have a golden shadow," with a little jerk of his head and a wink.

The announcer's voice boomed out across the pitch- "And it looks like the Gryffindor seeker is now chatting up their keeper. An odd time for it, but you have to give him credit for making such a bold move." Milli made a rather rude gesture towards the commentator's box and Harry laughed.

Just as Gryffindor scored another goal, Milli yelled, "Duck!" And Harry did as he was told, feeling the bludger ruffle his hair as it careened past him and through the far left goalhoop. Just on the other side, it collided with the snitch, sending the bludger deflecting up and the snitch down in slow circles as if it were stunned, like a bird that had flown into a window.

"Shit," Harry cursed. If the other seeker hadn't seen that, then she really had no business being on a quidditch team. He swooped down upon the snitch before turning one hundred and eighty degrees, so he was hovering behind the dazed little ball, eyes raking the sky for the Hufflepuff seeker he knew must be on the way over. A black and yellow streak caught his eye, coming in fast and high and little to his right. Harry considered his options. He could always just catch the snitch- it would still be a Gryffindor victory and who could really be mad at that? But he really didn't want to get on Beth's bad side. And disobeying literally the only thing she had told him to do seemed like a great way to stamp his one-way ticket there. Disregarding that as an option, he was left with two others: block the seeker or move the snitch. Given how fast the girl was flying and the fact that grabbing her while she was attempting a catch would technically be a foul, Harry decided that he wanted to live and had never really been a fan of playing intentionally dirty, so that was out too. Which just left him with the option of moving the snitch instead.

As the black and yellow blur got close enough that she was taking her arm off of her broom to go in for the catch, Harry did the only thing he could think of and backhanded the snitch, sending it careening off somewhere to his right. Luckily the Hufflepuff seeker had been going too fast to stop, so she zoomed past Harry, keeping on her previous trajectory and couldn't see where the snitch had bounced off to. Thankfully, Harry seemed to have knocked some sense into the little ball too, so it righted itself and took off, back to its old, flittering self.

"A bit of unorthodox play from the Gryffindor seeker. Not often you see someone shooing off the snitch rather than catching it," the announcer said thoughtfully.

Harry was quite satisfied when the other seeker pulled out of her dive and rounded on him with a glare. However stupid as he may have looked doing that, he had accomplished his goal.

"See ya around!" Harry called to Milli as he flew past, returning to his previous circling pattern. Over the next twenty minutes or so, both teams managed to score a handful of goals, but now Gryffindor was only ten points away from Beth's magical 50 point threshold, so Harry was officially switching to offensive mode. The instant they made their next goal, he wanted to be ready.

He saw the Hufflepuff seeker take off again, darting towards the Hufflepuff end of the pitch this time. Not sure what she had seen, but not wanting to risk it, Harry followed in hot pursuit. He was gaining on her, but it almost seemed like she was slowing down? At the last second, Harry realized that it was a fake and she was just trying to run him into the stands. Pulling up sharply, the toes of his shoes grazed the canvas covering the outside of the stands and some random Hufflepuff boy had to jerk back pretty quickly in order to avoid being kicked in the face as he had leaned forward with the rest to watch as the seekers raced towards them seemingly on a collision-course.

Just as Harry pulled back level again, he heard the announcer call, "Ten points to Gryffindor! Sixty points Hufflepuff, 110 points Gryffindor!"

It was now officially game on. Harry circled just a little faster now, head on a swivel, keeping one eye on the other seeker and one eye searching avidly for the snitch. Finally, he caught sight of it. Unfortunately, it was darting right through the center of the game. The snitch swooped under Sirius' arm as he whacked a bludger towards one of the Hufflepuff chasers. Seeing nothing else for it and not wanting to lose this chance, Harry dove into the melee.

It was quite the challenge to keep sight of the snitch in the mess of flying limbs and whipping robes and cursing players. The other seeker must have caught on and was now in the mix too, only adding to the chaos. Somehow in the mayhem, the quaffle was dropped and only caught just before it hit the ground by one of the Hufflepuff beaters of all people. A bludger tore through the group, scattering half the players like buckshot. Harry caught an elbow to the face, but he was also pretty sure he kicked someone else in the back as he flew in a tight 'S' around a couple of the confused chasers.

"James- hold on tight!" He shouted at the boy who was hovering just on the edge of the frenzy with a slightly bewildered look on his face. Harry hurtled toward him, not slowing down in the slightest, and firmly grabbed ahold of the other boy's hanging quidditch robes, dragging him away. Thank Merlin he had listened because Harry was pretty sure they both would have fallen if James had been pulled off his broom.

Once they were a respectable distance away fray, Harry finally put the brakes on and they came to a stop.

"Uh- I think you can let go now mate. We're safe," James said cautiously, giving his robes a little shake in an attempt to get Harry to release him.

"Stop that," Harry snapped. "Just- give me a second," he huffed. Rummaging around in the loose fabric still clutched in one hand, he soon pulled the other out, tightly clutching the golden snitch.

Barlow's shrill whistle pierced the air once again.

"He's done it! Doe caught the snitch! A hundred and fifty points to Gryffindor! Gryffindor wins!" Boomed across the pitch and the stands erupted into pandemonium.

"Thanks for your help," Harry smirked at James who had regained his slightly bewildered expression.

"And here I just thought you cared- trying to rescue me from the brawl you caused," James said with mock offense, placing a hand over his heart.

"It was not a brawl."

"Tell that to your face."

"Harry!" Beth came darting over to join them. "You did it! I maybe could have done without half the team getting injured in the process- but you did it!"

Looking around at the now gathered team, Harry noted that the most of them did seem to be sorting a bruise here or a cut lip there. Ducking his head a little, he said, "It's not my fault you lot don't know when to get out of the way."

"Harry- you can punch me in the face and keep James for all I care, as long as you keep making catches like that and we keep winning," Sirius told him cheerily.

They all landed back on the ground before heading to the locker rooms to get cleaned up and changed. Beth declared what she called 'mandatory team bonding in the infirmary' as their first stop on their way up to the awaiting celebrations in the Gryffindor common room.

Madam Pomfrey greeted them with a sigh as the entire team tromped into the hospital wing.

"This time, it really was Harry's fault," Sirius told her helpfully.

"Hey- no it wasn't!" Harry protested. "I didn't make the snitch fly into the scrum, I just, went after it when it did…"

Madam Pomfrey looked unimpressed, but went down the line treating them anyway. When she got to Harry, she asked just a little menacingly, "Is there anything besides this bruise on your face I should be aware of?" After a breath's hesitation, he held out his right hand where another bruise had formed from when he had batted away the snitch. She checked to make sure it was really only a bruise before applying some more balm to it. As her fingers rubbed the salve in, Harry felt them suddenly still in their motion. Looking down, he saw they were lingering on faded, but ever-present scar that read 'I must not tell lies' scrawled across the back of his hand.

Jerking his arm out of her slackened grip, Harry muttered, "Thank you. That- that's all." And he quickly tucked his hands into his pockets and out of sight. Pomfrey's gaze lingered on him for just a second longer, concern bleeding through her expression, before her professional mask resettled into position and she moved on to the next student in line.

Once they were all officially healed up, Beth led the way back to the tower. They passed the majority of the Hufflepuff team on their way to the infirmary as the Gryffindors were leaving and they had the good sportsmanship to congratulate them on their win which the Gryffindors accepted gracefully. Back in the tower, the victory party was already in full swing. The crowd erupted in loud cheers as the team climbed through the portrait hole and soon they were all swept away into the celebrations.

There were snacks and Butterbeer and loud music and raucous laughter filling every last centimeter of space in the common room. Harry made the obligatory rounds, accepting the congratulatory thumps on the back and nodding along as others recounded the game and his 'slammin' catch'.

At one point, a 7th year that Harry didn't know threw an arm around him and told a gathered crowd, "Some people play to win, others play for keeps, but Doe here just plays for chaos! And here I thought quidditch couldn't get more entertaining!" His voice boomed and made Harry's ears ring. As quickly as he could without coming off too rude, Harry ducked out from under his grip and retreated to the back corner of the room.

"Ah, the perils of being a quidditch star." Harry jumped as Remus' voice sounded right next to him. He hadn't even seen the other boy sitting calmly in the armchair against the wall.

"Something like that," Harry said, sliding down the wall to sit, hiding behind Remus' chair. "You seem to be enjoying the party," he said with heavy sarcasm.

"I'm just here on babysitter-duty," he said with a nod over at Sirius who had somehow managed to once again find himself standing atop a table.

"You get paid hourly for that?" Harry quirked an eyebrow.

"If I did, I'd be a very rich man," Remus sighed. "It's just, not really my scene. Yours either, I take it, considering you are literally hiding in a dark corner at a party thrown in your honor," he commented, peering down at where Harry was crouched.

"You could say that. Though, according to James, it was technically his robes that caught the snitch, so really, he ought to be the guest of honor." Across the room, James was currently telling a group of first years that very story if his pantomime was any indication. "He's welcome to the title," Harry said, dropping his head into the hand propped up on his leg. "It's just- loud." He wasn't sure why he felt the need to justify himself to Remus, who clearly agreed with his sentiment, but Harry felt extremely- ungrateful- being such a party-pooper at his own team's party. "And there are so many people. I don't even know most of their names. And I- I don't like it when people just, invite themselves to grab me." He struggled to put it all into words.

"That's very understandable. And reasonable," Remus added with a look over at Harry. "Everybody has a right to their personal space." After a moment's silence, he threw out, "You're welcome to stay here and hide with me. Most people have learned over the years to just leave me out of this sort of stuff. Almost no one ever bugs me over here."

"Thanks," Harry said gratefully.

"I can also cover for you if you want to head up to the dorms for the night," offered Remus.

"That's okay- I don't really feel like getting up right now. But thanks though." And Harry settled in, leaning against the side of Remus' chair with his legs crossed underneath him. Together, the two sat in companionable silence and watched the shenanigans play out before them. About an hour later, Remus looked down and realized that Harry had fallen asleep.

The following week in Defense Against the Dark Arts, they were up to Stunning spells in their unit on nonverbal spellwork. In an effort to 'keep things interesting' and underscore how 'it is important never to get comfortable and complacent', Professor Fortin assigned their partners for the day, forcing everyone to work with someone from the opposite house. Unfortunately for Harry, he ended up paired with Snape.

It was really the first time the two had confronted each other since the disastrous day of the 'Parselmouth incident'. Harry was still rather wary of the boy, but it seemed so was Snape of him. They were all spread throughout the classroom, facing off against their partners. Fortin instructed them to take turns attempting to cast a nonverbal stunner while the other attempted to dodge the spell.

It was a simple enough exercise that involved blessedly little communication between partners.

"Which role do you want fir-" Harry's question was interrupted by a jet red light flying towards him. Well- I guess that answers my question, he thought, dropping to the ground to avoid the spell. The onslaught continued unwaveringly as Snape was apparently vastly proficient in casting this particular spell nonverbally already. Since he didn't even need to pause for breath- just to muster up the motivation for the spell- the jets came fast and thick and it was all Harry could do to keep from being hit. Snape's jaw was clenched tight, his lips pursed into a thin, bloodless line, and his eyes burned threateningly and for a moment, Harry saw a flash of the Death Eater he was about to become. There was no mercy in his movements and he did not hesitate.

Harry's task was made that much harder by the fact that Avery and Milli were working next to him and Snape and Avery kept 'accidentally' aiming wide and shooting his spells a lot closer to Harry than their alleged intended target. So, at random times, Harry found himself having to dodge two silent stunners instead of just the one.

"Avery! Improve your aim or I will relocate you," Fortin snapped from the other side of the room, much to Harry's relief.

He wasn't sure how long they practiced like that before Fortin called out, "Switch!" and it was finally his turn for a little retribution. Thankfully, Harry had managed to avoid all of the stunners, but he was definitely bruised and exhausted from the effort.

Pulling out his wand, he eyed Snape as the other boy visibly tensed across from him. 'Stupefy' Harry thought and a streak of red shot out at Snape who easily leaned out of the way. A condescending smirk formed on the other boy's lips making Harry's blood boil. Merlin- I just want to knock that evil git on his arse, Harry thought maliciously and was surprised when another jet of red erupted from his wand. Having not really been trying to perform the spell, it was not aimed very well and Snape didn't even need to move to avoid being hit and he actually laughed at Harry. Little did he know, that only served to fuel the fire burning inside of his opponent. Having now, for the first time, successfully cast nonverbally the 'proper' way, Harry thought he just might be able to get the hang of it pretty quick.

Harry's spells got progressively faster and stronger and closer together as he got a grasp on the new technique. He went from having to think 'knock him on his arse' to 'stun him' to 'fall' to just using the deep seated desire churning in his chest to power the spell. And fortunately for Harry, Snape was not quite as nimble as him on his feet. After a long while, he finally managed to clip the dour boy with one of his stunners and he went down with a satisfying thud.

Harry took his time as he ambled over to revive his partner, savoring his moment of victory.

"Rennervate," he muttered when he finally reached Snape's crumpled form.

Faster than Harry had thought possible, Snape was on his feet with his wand out and pointed directly at Harry's chest- so close it was almost touching him. And then everything went black.

The first thing Harry was aware of was Professor Fortin's loud voice echoing around him. "-childish! Really, Mr. Snape, I expect better of my NEWT students. There will be civility in my classroom and my rules will be obeyed!"

Harry blinked his eyes open to find Milli's face hovering a little too close for comfort.

"Are you okay?" She asked, her brows knit together with worry.

"Yeah-" Harry said, "it was just a stunner." Thankfully she leaned back so that he could sit up. The entire class had stopped what they were doing and were looking on at the scene they had created.

Harry got to his feet and glared at Snape. That really had been a dirty move. Impressive- but dirty. A small part of Harry was just mad that he hadn't seen it coming and been able to dodge.

"Detention tonight- 6:30, my office," Fortin told Snape who just stood there defiantly. There was not a speck of remorse on his face. Turning to Harry, she asked more calmly, "Are you alright, Mr. Doe?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. That will be all for today, seeing as this class apparently cannot be trusted with such an activity." With her final, biting words, she turned and strode back to her desk.

"That slimeball!" Sirius was seething as they walked down the corridor. "That absolute toerag, ugly, Death-Eater-wannabe!"

"Sirius- calm down. It was just a little stunner," Harry placaded, but it seemed to have little effect.

"Snivellus is going to pay," he promised darkly. James and Peter were nodding along. Remus seemed to be holding his face carefully blank.

"No!" Harry shouted, actually stopping and whirling around to face Sirius. "Do you even hear yourself? I'm not saying that he wasn't out of line, but I think Fortin is taking care of it. What will cursing him in the hallway actually achieve?"

"It will make me feel better," Sirius said, crossing his arms petulantly.

"Did it ever occur to you that this isn't about you?! Merlin! There is an entire world of other people out here if you would ever like to gain a titch of perspective."

"Harry- you just, don't understand. You don't know the git like we do. He's been sticking that big, greasy nose of his into our business for years. He owes James his life- he should be grateful! Not cursing people who don't even have a chance to defend themselves!"

"And what exactly was your holier-than-thou plan? Did it involve giving dear 'Snivellus' a proper fighting chance?" Harry bit back. When no response came, he pushed on. "Avery was trying to get me all class too, but I don't see you storming off after him. Snape is not the only Death Eater in this school- why do you insist on acting like he is? Like he bears the fault for all of the hate and bigotry and everything that goes wrong in your life?"

"Harry- mate- you need to calm down," James said, putting up a hand in between them.

"No, I don't. He needs to pull his head out of his arse and understand that there is more going on in the world than his toes getting stepped on in some schoolyard spat." Harry was breathing hard at this point, his eyes daring James to try to tell him to 'calm down' again.

"And what the hell do you know about any of this?! About anything?! You don't even know your own last name!" Sirius yelled into Harry's face.

Taking a step back, Harry gave him a proper glare. "Throwing your own fucked up feelings around isn't helping anyone. You're just creating unnecessary casualties in an inevitable war. Sort your shit out and stop letting innocent people get hurt because you can't see past the end of your own greasy nose." Harry turned sharply and stormed away down the corridor leaving behind four gaping boys and a stunned silence.

Even as he walked away, Harry could acknowledge that he did need to calm down. But he definitely did not want to see anyone for the foreseeable future. As he stomped down the hallway, he thought desperately about where he could go to be alone. Damn that stupid map! If one of them stopped gaping like a fish out of water long enough to regain some sense and wanted to find Harry, all they would need to do was pull out the Marauder's Map and search for his damn dot! Where could he hide…

Well, he could leave the grounds, but that seemed like a lot of effort and it would take him a long time just to make it to the edge of the map. Didn't seem worth it. Was there anywhere that wasn't on the map? Hmm… The Chamber of Secrets wasn't, he knew, but that seemed like a bit of a dramatic place to hide. Not to mention there would still be a giant murderous Basilisk down there and Harry did not want bank on Fawkes' willingness to save him twice. But then it hit him- the Room of Requirement! It was definitely not on the map and would provide him with exactly what he was looking for- that was what it did, after all.

With his destination now in mind, Harry quickly made his way there. Thankfully, the corridor was empty, so he paced back and forth in front of the wall thinking, 'I need a place to be alone and relax', 'I need a place to be alone and relax', 'I need a place to be alone and relax' until on his third turn, a curved wooden door materialized in the center of the wall. Harry promptly grabbed the handle and slipped inside.

The room was perfect- not that Harry was worried it wouldn't be suitable to his purposes. It kind of reminded him of a forest, with the way the evening light filtered through large stained glass windows that were spread across the far wall, casting shadows and warm green hues across the floor. There was a large, worn armchair on one side of the room, big enough for two people to comfortably sit on if they wanted, set on a soft-looking shag carpet. The other side of the room was devoid of any furniture, but it looked like there was something on the wall. Walking over, Harry inspected it and was surprised to find that what he had thought at first to ornate designs were actually what looked like muggle targets from a shooting range.

Harry smiled. Perfect. The room had given him a way to safely offlet the rest of his pent up emotions. And he was angry. Not necessarily at Sirius- or at least, not only at Sirius- though he had taken a lot of it out on him. Harry still did not regret anything he said, per say. Sirius needed to hear it. But he was pissed at this whole situation. At this whole world.

And there goes his compartmentalization going to shit again. Well, it had gone to shit when he started shouting at Sirius in the middle of the corridor about things he should've known nothing about, but now he was more aware that that was the problem. Holy-repressed-emotions Batman. Did he really harbor that much resentment that Snape was a git to him because his father (and godfather) was a git to Snape? Well, clearly the answer is yes. But it was more than that too. It was like they didn't even realize that there was a full-blown war about to break out all around them! For all Sirius talks about 'Death Tasters' and the 'evil Slytherins', he sure does not seem to be grasping the concept of what those words really mean.

Perhaps Harry was not being fair. Most sixteen-year-olds have never faced true evil or seen death or played racquetball with a sycophant with a pension for torture. His life was probably an outlier in that respect, admittedly. But Harry could not let that completely excuse their actions for their ignorance. Life is constantly moving forward and you need to either get with it or it will run you down. The world is not a fair place and this world in particular is about to be dreadfully so. Ignorance is only bliss if you want to die a young, happy man. You can only get old and wise if you go through the painful process of shattering your innocence. Maybe it was already too late for them- he knew that none of them ever made it 'old and wise'. Well- there was still hope for Remus yet, but he was also already further along that journey than the rest, even now. I guess being bitten by a werewolf at a young age has its tragic upsides, Harry thought bitterly. He just might live to see 'old and wise' yet, unlike his friends.

Shaking himself out of his deeply morbid thoughts, Harry drew his wand and turned towards the targets. Taking a firm stance, Harry proceeded to throw every nasty hex and curse he knew at the far wall, decimating the targets until they were all nothing more than smoking craters in the wall.

Exhausted, but mind blessedly blank, Harry collapsed on the plush rug. He laid flat on his front, glasses discarded, face buried deep in the soft fibers of the carpet. As he laid there, Harry yearned for that same comforting warmth that had joined him after the last time he so thoroughly lost his composure. The one that had chased away that cold emptiness inside of his chest. But he may have just gone and burned that bridge for good, he thought morosely.

But then, he felt it. The comforting heat was back. Harry could sense it nearby and coming closer. It settled against his side, leaning into his body and resting heavily, but soothingly atop his back. Turning his head just enough so that he was able to take a look at what had sat down with him, Harry saw a very blurry, large, blue shape. It was Prongs, his patronus. Distantly, he realized that he must have conjured it nonverbally with his newfound technique. But in that moment, he didn't really care how it had happened, Harry was just beyond thankful not to be alone.

"What the fuck was that about?" Sirius asked in bewilderment, still staring at the spot Harry had been occupying moments before.

"I think your 'Bambi' grew some horns," James said.

"I think he snapped," Sirius countered.

"I think he had a point," Remus said quietly. All heads whipped towards him.

"What?" Sirius spat.

"I just mean- it wouldn't kill us to think a little more about the bigger picture…"

"What fucking 'bigger picture'? There is no 'bigger picture' when it comes to Snivellus! That manky clodpole deserves everything that he has coming to him."

"The very fact that you just said 'when it comes to Snivellus' suggests that there is!" Remus said, getting uncharacteristically heated. "Harry pointed it out in the hospital wing before- retaliation will only make things worse."

"So what? You just want him to get away with it? To be able to walk all over us?!" Sirius' anger was quickly overriding his disbelief at his friend. "I will not have that ninny twit thinking that he won!"

"He won't! The fact that Harry walked away and he got a tongue lashing and detention in front of the entire class was him losing. Not everything needs to draw blood to hurt!" Remus insisted vehemently, leaning forward so that he was now glaring down at Sirius.

"Remus- I think you need to walk away," James warned.

"Me?! Both of you need to get your heads out of your arses!"

"What did I do?" James asked, offended.

"Don't you dare act all innocent. You may have been a bit distracted so far this year, but you are just as bad- if not worse- than Sirius when it comes to Snape!" Remus rounded on James. "He offended your precious sensibilities and you just couldn't handle it."

"He's a Death Eater!"

"Not when he was eleven! And I don't see you dangling the Carrows by their ankles or calling them names. You torture him because it's easy. And you get a kick or some sick sort of amusement out of it." Turning his hard eyes back on Sirius, he said, "You are not seeking justice- you are spawning hate. And it will rot your soul." And with that, Remus stormed away too.

"Come on Pads," James tugged Sirius in the opposite direction.

A pale, petrified looking Peter was left standing alone, abandoned in the hallway.

When Harry had not shown up in the dorms that night by curfew, James was beginning to panic. Should he go tell McGonagall again that Harry was missing?

"He'll turn up," Sirius tried to reassure him.

All four of the other boys were back in the dormitory now. The air was a little heavier than normal, but this was not the first- or worst- fight that they had ever had. The dorm rules still stood- this was their home while they were at Hogwarts and each of them had just as much of a right to exist and be comfortable in this space as the rest, regardless of what shit had been said or done. But Harry hadn't come back.

They had all stayed away from one another until dinner, and even in the Great Hall they had eaten at opposite ends of the table with Peter lost somewhere in the middle. A couple of the girls had tried to ask what had happened- Lily had begged Remus to tell her when it became apparent that Harry was not coming- but they all refused to speak about it. For one, the fight had been personal and for another, they were definitely not going to talk about it with an outside party before they had a chance to talk to Harry. So everyone was a little tense in Gryffindor tower that evening.

And then Harry hadn't come back.

"What if something happened to him? The last time he went missing he was bleeding out in a corridor somewhere! What if fucking Snape attacked him again?!" James was starting to lose it.

"Mate- calm down," Sirius said, grabbing his shoulder to steady his friend. "I'm sure he is just taking a little time for himself. And I don't blame him for not wanting to see me right now. At worst, he probably just got a little lost trying to find his way back to the tower or just lost track of time and missed curfew. I'm sure he's fine."

James looked neither comforted nor settled by Siruis' words.

"Pads- where's the map?" Remus' calm voice called out from across the room.

James' face filled with relief. The map! How could he have forgotten about the map?!

Eyes lighting up, Sirius scrambled over to his trunk and started haphazardly tossing stuff around searching for it. Despite what he had told James, he too was a little worried about Harry. After a minute of digging, he threw his hands up in exasperation, pulled out his wand, and yelled, "Accio map!" The folded up bit of parchment came zooming out of the depths of the trunk. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he muttered and the map bled to life in his hands. After a few more tense minutes, Sirius' voice cracked, "He's not on here."

"What?" James' head snapped toward him. "That's not possible." Marching over, he ripped the map out of Sirius' hands and began scouring it himself. After another few minutes, James collapsed to the floor, map spread out at his feet and said again, in a broken voice, "That's not possible."

At this point, all four boys gathered around the parchment, systematically searching every inch until they were forced to conclude that Harry was indeed just not on the map.

"You don't think he- left the castle, right?" James asked in a small voice.

"No," Remus said firmly. "He was angry, not irrational. Besides, where would he go?"

"But where is he then?" James pleaded.

"I don't know," Remus admitted softly.

"Should we go look for him?" Peter asked hesitantly.

"What are the odds we will randomly run into him? And not Filch? Or some other teacher out on patrol? They are just as likely to find him as we are," Remus pointed out.

"So what, we just wait?" James asked incredulously.

"Yes," Remus sighed. "If he doesn't turn up by breakfast, we'll go to McGonagall before Potions, okay?" He got some very reluctant nods in return.

Despite having this plan, the boys sat up long into the night in a sort of vigil, staring at the dormitory door, willing Harry to walk through it.

Harry awoke with early morning light spilling onto his face. He was warm and comfy- even if his back was a little stiff. That was odd- he usually didn't sleep on his front. Rolling over, he felt something slide off his back. Opening his eyes in confusion, he saw the blurry blue mass that was his patronus and it all came rushing back to him. The fight, hiding away, summoning Prongs to keep him company. Harry was honestly surprised that he had stuck around all night. He had never held a corporeal patronus for longer than a few minutes before. Throwing out his hand, he searched for his glasses before giving up and just summoning them. Once he could properly see again, he looked over at Prongs. He stood tall and regal, glowing faintly in the weak morning light.

"Thank you," he whispered. The stag bowed low before slowly fading away.

Casting a quick tempus, Harry was shocked that it was already 7:30. He had slept for, what? Twelve hours? Probably something close to that. It was definitely the longest uninterrupted sleep he had had in years- at least, when he wasn't unconscious. Scrubbing at his face and trying to rub the last of the sleep out of his eyes, Harry pulled himself up and hurried out of the room. If he wanted to get changed and still make it to breakfast before classes started, he needed to hustle.

Figuring that the others were probably already up- or at the very least, they should be- Harry didn't bother making an effort to be quiet as he entered the dormitory. But when he opened the door, he was met with the unexpected sight of all of his dormmates still fast asleep- in the middle of the floor?

Walking over, he stuck his foot out to nudge Sirius, who was propped up on the end of the pile. "Psst! Hey. Sirius. You should probably get up if you don't wanna miss breakfast."

Sirius' head rolled from where it had been slumped on his shoulder. "Wha-?" He mumbled, blinking awake. "Harry!" He shouted, effectively startling everyone else awake.

"What?" Harry asked, slightly taken aback.

"You didn't come home last night," James answered in a rough, weighty voice.

"Erh- What?" He asked again.

Sirius batted at Harry's leg to emphasize his words. "You scared- the shit out of us- when you didn't- come home last night."

"Oh." They had been worried when he didn't return to the dorm last night. "Sorry."

"'Sorry'?! You need to find a new catchphrase mate because that one is getting old fast. Where the bloody hell were you?!" Sirius was fuming.

"I just- wanted to be alone- to blow off some steam yesterday and I guess I just, fell asleep," he shrugged. He couldn't help himself from adding, "Sorry." Harry wasn't quite sure why Sirius was so angry. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said yesterday too. I was going through some stuff and I took it out on you and I shouldn't have. Please don't stay mad at me."

Harry's damn big, green eyes just about split Sirius' heart in two with their earnest, pleading expression. "This isn't about yesterday- although we will need to talk about that- all of us- but that is a separate discussion. This is about you not coming home last night and almost giving James a coronary and wandering about Merlin-knows where and not seeming to find any problem with that!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Don't be bloody 'sorry'! Tell me you understand! That you get what I'm saying. That you will be back in this dorm every night unless you are in the hospital wing or with one of us!" Sirius had never sounded so earnest.

"Okay! Okay. I promise. I'm s-" That time, at least, Harry caught himself. "I didn't realize that it was such a big deal. And I really didn't mean to scare you."

It was just a bit of a foreign concept to Harry. This was by no means the first time he had stayed out all night and not once had anyone ever cared. The Dursleys would throw a fucking parade if he disappeared in the night and didn't come back. His dormmates back in his time, honestly, likely had just never noticed when he snuck out or didn't come back for the night. It wasn't a bad thing and Harry kind of preferred it that way. Fewer questions to deal with. The other bit that he was trying to wrap his head around was how they were insisting that he hadn't come home last night. To Harry, Hogwarts had always been home, so by being in the castle, tucked away in one of her many secret corners, he had been home last night. At least, by his own definition. He loved being a Gryffindor and always appreciated his cushy bed in the tower, but Harry had never felt any particular attachment to the dormroom itself. It was just another place he slept. That did not make it home to him. But then again, that may be another instance of 'Harry is an outlier'. Most kids probably do consider the place where they sleep every night to be their home. Huh. File that one away in the ever-growing folder labeled 'messed up things for further reflection if life ever allows time for such a thing'.

"We really are going to miss breakfast if we don't get ready quick," Harry told them as they all sat there staring up at him with mixed expressions.

The 6th year girls were just happy that morning to see the guys all sitting together- particularly because that meant that Harry was back. They didn't pry- just knowing that they were no longer on the outs with each other was good enough for them.

That night, after dinner, the boys found themselves all sitting around on the floor again, getting ready for that 'separate discussion' about the fight(s). They started by explaining to Harry what had happened after he left. Harry felt a little guilty for causing the friends to row.

"The first thing that needs to be said is something I think we failed to formally tell you when you moved in, Harry. But we have a rule in this dorm that we all agreed on back in first year- that no matter what is said or done, we all have an equal right to this space. It is our home away-from-home and we all deserve to feel safe and comfortable here, okay? No objections?" Remus said.

"Of course not."

"Good. Now, do you wanna tell us what bee crawled into your bonnet yesterday? I know Sirius was being a bit of a prat, but your reaction seemed a tad- out of proportion," Remus gently probed.

Harry bit his lip. "I'm just- There's a lot of stuff I was trying to sort through in my head and, I guess, it felt kind of like the signals got crossed? It was like, we were talking about Snape, right? But then you started throwing out threats and I guess it just kind of stuck a nerve that I hadn't even realized I had. I'm not even sure where some of what I said came from… But I'm also not sorry I said it," Harry added with just a hint of fear in his voice.

When Remus leveled his stern look at him, Sirius spoke up. "Well, I stand by my claim that you don't know our history with Sniv- Snape." He paused, as if gathering strength for what he was about to say, "But perhaps you may have made some valid points. And I am sorry about the low blow about your memory. I know that has to be hard for you and it was wildly uncalled for for me to throw it at you like that. My temper got the better of me."

"That's okay…" That comment hadn't even really upset him- probably because he wasn't actually an amnesiac. It was really more his comment before that that had pissed him off. Had made Harry realize that he had lost his grip on things again- because what the hell was he supposed to know about any of what they had been arguing about?

"Now, I may have lacked tact when I spoke, but I too stand by what I said. You and James' specific attitude towards Snape has often crossed certain lines of self-defense and decency," Remus said carefully.

"And I can admit you may have had a point about thinking more creatively about what 'winning' looks like," Sirius grudgingly admitted.

All eyes turned to James, the final stakeholder in this discussion. "I just- don't want people to see me that way," he said quietly, wrapping an arm protectively around his knees.

"Then don't act that way," Harry said simply.

Sirius scoffed. "You say that like it's so simple. Easy-peasy. Just like flipping a switch labeled 'don't be a prick to Snape'."

"I didn't say it was easy," Harry bit back before taking a deep breath. "Impulse control is a learned behavior," he said much more calmly.

"Right," Sirius rolled his eyes dismissively.

"If I put a shock collar on you and zapped you every time you said something nasty about Snape, you would learn pretty damn fast to bite your tongue," Harry pointed out tersely.

"Pads-" Remus interjected. "I know this is not something you like talking about, or even thinking about, but it is probably worth considering how your family might have influenced your knee jerk reaction to certain things." Was it a bit manipulative to say that? Yes. The last thing on earth Sirius wanted to be was like his family. But was it also a valid point? Definitely.

Sirius' face turned instantly dark. "How dare you-" he began, but Harry cut him off.

"Hey- none of us get to choose our relatives. It's a fucking crapshoot. Some people win the lottery and some people get stiffed. That doesn't mean that you don't have to make the best hand you can with the cards you are dealt. Even if those cards are absolute shite."

"Well, I gave my cards back- I don't want them anymore," Sirius said vehemently.

"Just because you cut the ties doesn't mean that they didn't leave a mark while they were there," Harry said sadly, absentmindedly rubbing at his side. None of the others missed the subtle gesture though.

"Fine. Okay. Food for thought. Let's move on."

"Does anyone else have anything more they wish to say or discuss about yesterday?" Remus waited for a beat before clapping. "Okay! I declare the air officially cleared!" Then he collapsed back and sprawled on the floor. "Does anyone have notes from Potions this morning? I did not follow what Slughorn was saying about the ingredients in Veritaserum…"

Over the next few weeks, James and Sirius held true to their word about reevaluating their reactions to Snape. Sirius didn't retaliate for what he had done to Harry and James made a marked effort to turn more of a blind eye and deaf ear to barbs the Slytherin threw his way. Of course, it was not an overnight miracle where they suddenly turned into sweet little Hufflepuff firsties, but Harry could see and appreciate that they were genuinely trying- at least a little.

As another full moon approached, Harry grew a little anxious this time. After the 'stairs incident' last month, he was now a little weary of whatever ruse the minds of four, shall we say 'less than cautious' and 'trouble seeking', teenage boys might concoct this time around to excuse their night-long absence.

It was much to Harry's relief that they had chosen to go a different route than the 'whoops, everyone has to go to the hospital wing' one that had previously been favoring. The boys realized that they were running out of excuses and that at three months in a row, their group trips to the hospital wing might start drawing more unwanted attention to their monthly disappearance than they wanted. At a certain point, it just became too conspicuous. So instead, they just told Harry that they had a detention with Filch. Since Harry had, in theory, never served one, they told him that the grouchy old caretaker had a habit of holding students well past curfew and long into the night, so he really shouldn't wait up. They would see him in the morning. Harry readily accepted their excuse with open arms.

However, in order to make a detention with Filch plausible, they naturally needed to cause a little trouble first. And, naturally, this 'trouble' happened to come at the expense of some unsuspecting Slytherins.

Thursday night- the day before the full moon- just as dinner was starting, an irate Slytherin quidditch team was seen storming through the entrance hall, soaking wet and wreaking to high heaven. It turned out that someone had rigged the plumbing to explode, flooding their locker rooms just as the team was cleaning up after practice. The door had somehow gotten stuck, trapping the students with the rising water- which had not only come from the shower pipes. Sirius and James had just about pissed themselves laughing.

The boys then just had to pretend to get caught for their prank- though in actuality, they were much too good for that these days- and grumble all day Friday about their upcoming 'detention' and then slip away just before curfew after wishing Harry a good night.

All-in-all, Harry counted this month's excuse as a win. No one got hurt, no one gave him a heart attack, and honestly, some of those Slytherins had needed a bath… So Harry was feeling rather content as he curled up in the windowsill in his monthly ritual to watch the moon rise and listen for Moony in the quiet night.

Harry was staring with unfocused eyes out of the window, already half asleep when something bright caught his attention. Blinking a few times to bring the world back into focus, Harry peered down at the edge of the forest where there was undeniably a large, glowing figure. The longer he stared at it, squinting, the more it seemed to take shape. Was that- Prongs? His patronus, Prongs, specifically. And even though he knew it was impossible to tell from so far away, Harry was certain that it was looking right at him. Waiting for him.

Once this realization hit him, without a second thought, Harry grabbed his cloak and cast a hurried heating charm on it before slipping out of the dormitory, heading downstairs and out of the castle. What was his patronus doing out in grounds like that? Was this, like, a thing that they do? Harry didn't even know that they could manifest themselves. At least, he was pretty sure he hadn't conjured him this time. And what was he trying to show Harry?

But as Harry drew closer to the stag that stood perched on the edge of the woods, Harry was startled to realize that it wasn't Prongs. It wasn't even a deer. It was a reindeer. But whatever it was, Harry could not deny that it was definitely waiting for him. As he got within a couple of meters of the shimmering creature, it suddenly turned and started walking into the forest. Burning with curiosity and feeling compelled to follow somewhere deep within, Harry tailed the ghostly reindeer as it led him down the path and into a small clearing. On the far side of the space, in the even darker shadows beneath an oak, the creature finally came to a stop, lowering itself until it was curled up at the base of the tree. This time, it let Harry approach.

In the faint glow emanating from the reindeer, Harry could just make out a large, flat rock laying on the ground in front of it. An eerily familary large, flat rock. One that looked as though it was made of granite, with broken edges and a strange pattern splashed across its surface. With lightly shaking hands, Harry pulled out his wand and whispered, "Lumos." His wand tip flared to life and Harry had to snap his eyes shut against the sudden brilliance. Slowly opening his eyes again, he let them properly adjust before leaning down to more closely inspect the stone. And it was the stone. The one that had brought him here.

Taking in the carved designs much more thoughtfully this time, Harry realized that they were not in fact waves at all. They were antlers. Reindeer antlers. When he looked closely, he could see the beginnings of the animal's head and neck right at the edge of the broken slab. At least, that is what Harry assumed was depicted given the giant context clue of the freaking glowing reindeer sitting before him.

"Is this you?" He asked it, not really expecting an answer. But hey- it was worth a shot, right? It gave no indication that it had heard Harry at all and just continued to stare at him with slowly blinking opaque eyes. Then, it laid its head down right next to the stone.

Fuck. Did it want him to touch it? Harry wasn't sure he really wanted to go home. Immediately, he felt wildly guilty for having that thought. His friends were probably worried sick about him- he had been gone for months! And his Voldemort was up to Merlin-knows what! And Draco was definitely up to something too… How had let himself forget? Was he really just going to run away into the past- play pretend with his parents and, what? Live out his days as the normal little amnesiac? At a certain point his presence here was going to become paradoxical (assuming that his thoughts on the timeline were semi-accurate and he hadn't already screwed stuff up so bad that he wouldn't come exist anymore…) and- yikes. He had really not thought any of this through. Not that he had ever really claimed to have more of a plan than thinking one single set at a time. And whatever had happened to step 3 of his master plan? The subsections had gone to the wayside as he got caught up in homework and quidditch and…

And this wasn't his life, he reminded himself firmly. It was a lovely little fantasy that he got to play around in, but back in the real world there were monsters that needed slaying and a castle to protect. I mean, what clearer sign from the universe did he need that it was time to pack up go than a giant glowing reindeer leading him straight to the door? It might as well have grabbed him by the collar and tossed him through. In his heart, Harry knew he wasn't ready to leave, but who was he to argue with the universe? Or the gods? Or Magic herself? Or whoever made the bloody decisions around here! They certainly had never listened to his opinion before- why would this time be any different?

With a pained but resigned sigh, Harry made sure to grip his wand extra tight. The last thing he needed was to lose it somewhere between now and then. Though, he probably would be able to find it lying on the ground right where it fell- assuming some rando had not picked it up in the meantime. Harry braced himself as much as he possibly could for that awful feeling to overtake him once again. At least this time, he will be expecting it. Harry officially hated time travel.

As ready as he was going to be at any point tonight, Harry screwed his eyes shut and slowly reached out his left hand and laid it on the stone.

And nothing happened. Cautiously cracking open one eye just to make sure he hadn't missed or something, he saw that hand was for sure resting right on top of the stupid rock. Great. That whole emotional journey for what? Just to still be stuck here? Not that he wasn't flooded with relief at the same time. He didn't have to leave yet!

"Well, thanks Universe for the super clear message," he complained to the sky, flashing it a double thumbs up. Now what was he supposed to do with the dumb rock? Was it broken? Did it need to be charged up? Was it a one-way ride only? And what the hell was this reindeer all about? It still sat placidly underneath the oak tree.

Harry glared at it, but the creature only raised its head, cocking it to the side slightly as if listening intently to something. And then Harry heard it. The sounds of heavy, huffing breaths and massive paws pounding the earth. And just as the magical reindeer vanished into thin air, Harry realized that he was an idiot. Had he really wandered into the Forbidden Forest, alone, in the dead of night, during a full moon, when he knew there was a werewolf running around on the loose with nothing but a couple of teenage forest creatures to keep him in line?

Maybe Snape had been right after all and his own stupidity really was going to get him killed. And there's no time like the present. Harry had just enough time to think fleetingly to himself that he kind of deserved it this time, having made about six too many bad decisions, mistakes, and careless risks that night, before Moony had arrived. From where Harry was crouched over, the werewolf loomed over him like a specter of death. Like the dreaded Grimm that he had been taunted with all of his 3rd year. Funny how that had just been Sirius, but Moony was going to be the one to finally get the job done. Kudos- Harry thought bitterly, Many have tried, but you get to take home the title. Snake-face is going to be sooo jealous.

His eyes glinted acidic yellow and feral in the night, teeth bared and dripping with frothy saliva. He took his time stalking towards Harry, knowing his prey had nowhere to run. Just as the werewolf was finally upon him, Harry made a last ditch effort to leap behind a nearby tree, trying to buy himself just a little more time. But just as he flung himself back, Moony sprang forward. Harry felt one of his claws catch his leg, sinking in, and dragging him backward towards his snapping maw. Scrabbling for any kind of purchase on the ground- anything to halt his movement towards his imminent death- or maybe even for his wand that had clattered out of his hand at some point in his panic.

And then all of a sudden, someone was there. Something else, drawing Moony's attention momentarily away from Harry. He heard the rustling of dead leaves against the ground as something large moved around nearby. There was a sharp yelp from Moony and Harry felt another tug on his leg. Rolling over desperately to try and see what was going on, Harry caught sight of Prongs- the real, flesh and blood Prongs- towering over him, head bowed low, fending off Moony with his antlers. And then Harry felt something grab onto the collar of his robes, dragging him backwards. His leg twisted painfully beneath him as Moony refused to let go. He felt the claw ripping down his calf as his body was pulled back and away. Prongs reared up, kicking Moony with his forelegs and finally the werewolf's claws retracted, releasing Harry who was promptly yanked further away.

Whatever had a hold of him dragged Harry a considerable distance, only slowing down when the trees started to thin as they reached the edge of the forest. When he was finally released, Harry scrambled around and came face to face with Padfoot. Well, face to muzzle. And then it was Sirius, crouched down in front of him looking disheveled and distraught.

"Shit! Fuck! Harry! What are you doing out here?! He didn't bite you- did he?!" His voice took on a new layer of panic with his last question.

"N-no," Harry stuttered. "It's just a- a scratch." He was still fighting to regain control of his breath.

"What on earth are you doing out here?!" Sirius screeched again.

That was not something Harry had a good answer for. What could he tell him? 'A reindeer made me do it'? But he didn't have a better answer than that. And he was pretty sure 'I don't remember' was just not going to cut it this time. "I was up in the dorm, looking out the window when I saw this glowing thing down on the treeline. So I came down to see what it was and then this reindeer-thing led me into the forest."

Sirius just looked at him like he wasn't sure if Harry was crazy or lying or if he needed to check for head trauma. And the truth was probably somewhere in between all three.

"I swear!" Harry pleaded. They didn't need to know how much of an idiot he actually was. Let them think he didn't know about the loose werewolf and that he had just blindly followed some forest spirit into the woods at night. How messed up was it that that was Harry's preferred impression they take away?

There was another rustling of leaves and then Peter materialized just behind Sirius, breathing hard. "Prongs has him distracted on the other side of the forest for now, but we have to move," he said as he pulled level with Sirius who was still stooped in front of Harry who was still sprawled out on the ground.

"Okay," he breathed out. "Lumos." And he gasped, "Just a scratch?!"

The harsh wandlight spilled over their small group, illuminating Harry's injured leg. It looked pretty nasty. A long slash ran basically from his knee to his ankle, bleeding sluggishly, and the knee itself was resting at an odd angle.

"Fuck. We have to take him to Madam Pomfrey," Sirius said gravely, exchanging a solemn look with Peter.

"No!" Harry barked. Both boys looked at him strangely.

"Harry- this is not the kind of thing that even you can 'walk off'. Hell, you can't even walk!" Sirius snapped at him.

"That's not- I'm not that stupid. I didn't mean 'no hospital wing', I meant 'no Madam Pomfrey until we get our story straight'," he clarified.

Sirius and Peter just blinked owlishly down at him, struggling to process what Harry was saying.

Harry let out an exasperated sigh. "I meant, let's go up to the castle, wash this dirt off, and come up with a story for what happened that does not involve the words 'werewolf', 'Forbidden Forest', and 'animagi'. Okay? It's not like I'm going to bleed out before morning," he added with a roll of his eyes.

Harry could see that Sirius had still not quite come to grips with what he had said, he could see the gears turning behind the other boy's eyes. But then a howl ripped through the stillness of the night.

"We'll debate on the way- now move!" Peter yelled, already scampering his way out of the forest. He shrank back into a rat as he made his way towards the castle.

"Sorry Bambi, but this is probably going to hurt," Sirius told Harry and before he had a chance to ask what Sirius meant, he was scooping Harry up in his arms and jogging off with him after the rat.

Harry's teeth were clenched so tight that he would have sworn that he could hear his jaw creaking inside his head. He was just thankful that Sirius was forced to slow his pace as they reached the castle, pausing to fish out the Marauder's Map and passing it off to Peter so that he could make sure they had a clear path back up to their dormitory. Their progress was slow as they crept through the castle, carefully avoiding Filch and Mrs. Norris and the other night time patrols. It was a Friday night, so the teachers were on high alert for any out-of-bounds activities. Thankfully, it was approaching the kind of late that was starting to just be early once again and even the most naughty and adventurous of students were settled down in bed, so they were able to make their way safely back to Gryffindor tower without interruption.

When they finally arrived, Sirius deposited Harry on his bed. Harry clenched his eyes shut as his leg was jostled painfully by the move.

"Shit- Harry- you're kind of bleeding all over your sheets," Sirius told him concernedly.

"That's okay," Harry said with a tired sigh, "It's probably for the best." Sirius looked at him like he was crazy. "I just mean, for our cover story to hold up, it will be good for there to literally be a trail of evidence. I was thinking that maybe I got up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and cut my leg on a bit of metal sticking out of my trunk. Since it was dark and didn't hurt too much, I didn't think it was that bad and went back to bed to deal with it in the morning. That will explain why the cut is not fresh, at least. And then when I woke up- there was way more blood that I thought there would be and I decided to head to the hospital wing, but tripped or got dizzy and fell down the stairs, explaining the knee. I think that should cover everything, right? We make a few bloody footprints on the way to and from the bathroom, and make a spectacle of me falling down the stairs in the morning and I doubt anyone would dare call our bluff. Believe me- when you are small and injured, people are willing to overlook a lot." Harry finished his rant emphatically.

"Harry," Sirius said with a pressing note in his voice, "Why are you doing this?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, confused.

"Why are you trying so hard to cover for us? I mean- Moony almost killed you tonight- or bit you. We've been lying to you for months, keeping secrets. I just- Why aren't you mad? Or scared? Or yelling at me? Why are you helping us?" Sirius sounded just as confused as Harry had.

"Everyone is entitled to their secrets, Sirius. We haven't known each other all that long, so I'm not surprised that you didn't tell me something this big. I'm guessing Remus didn't tell you within the first term of your first year either. Besides, I don't have a problem with werewolves," he said matter-of-factly. "And it's pretty cool that you are animagi." Harry grinned before adding in a less sure voice, "And I really thought I had gone and gotten myself killed tonight. But you saved me. And I am thankful for that. Happy to still be here. So the least I could do is try and return the favor. I'm not gonna rat you guys out."

Sirius finally accepted it, "Okay."

"Good. So, what do you think of the plan?" Harry pressed.

"Honestly? Pretty good. We just need to be sure that we have covered all of our bases. I liked the bloody footprints touch, but Peter, can you transform and make sure we didn't leave any kind of trail between here and the forest? All of the acting in the world will not do us any good if your blood is splattered all over the castle." With a nod, Peter shrank away and a small scratching noise could be heard leaving the room. "I'll make the footprints. You just- uh- sit there and bleed?"

Harry chuckled, "I think I can handle that."

Sirius set to work on his task and soon there was a streaky, bloody trail from Harry's bed to the toilet and back.

"Hey Sirius?" Harry called and waited for the boy to look over at him before continuing, "How exactly did you lot pull off that fake 'falling down the stairs' thing last month?"

"With a lot of practice," Sirius smirked. "Technically, we really did fall down the stairs, but the key is to more roll and slide your way down, rather than 'falling'. It's all about control and breaking up the fall into shorter drops that don't actually hurt. Make sure that you keep your chin tucked and your arms up around your head. But with that leg, it is still going to hurt- like, a lot. I would recommend really just tumbling down the last few steps at most and making it look good. I'm guessing the pain will be real, so just, lean into it. When you are putting on a show, it pays to over exaggerate. For instance, that night, Jame's boney-ass elbows really were digging into my ribs. Of course, he was not actually applying enough force to leave a bruise, let alone crack a rib, but I took that twinge and ran with it."

"Uh-huh." Harry thought, Okay, so just act like Dudley. That shouldn't be too hard.

Peter returned a little while later with the assurance that any and all blood trails outside of the dormitory had been completely removed.

Just after dawn, a frenzied James burst into the dormitory, but stopped dead at the sight that greeted him. "Merlin! What happened?!" He gasped in a horrified voice, taking in the blood all across the floor, eyes sweeping over the casually reclining Peter and Sirius only to settle on Harry who was still slowly bleeding in his bed.

"James- calm down. It's okay." Sirius said placatingly. "Well, it's not 'okay', but it's not nearly as bad as it could have been. Harry didn't get bit. We talked it over. We have a plan."

James turned furious eyes on Sirius. "You dragged him up here and, what? Threatened him into keeping quiet?! Shit- Sirius- it looks like someone was murdered in here!"

"James, really, it's okay," Harry tried. "It was my plan that I came up with and agreed to willingly. I'm not going to turn you guys in and I don't blame Remus for what happened tonight. Sirius was actually the one who wanted to take me straight to the infirmary, but I convinced him to let us wait until morning so that we could get our stories straight, okay? Everything's going to be fine," Harry soothed.

"Then why exactly is there blood all over the place?" James squeaked.

"That's just all part of the cover story." Sirius said simply. "A rather brilliant one from the mind of Mr. Doe."

And they explained it all to James who slowly but surely managed to calm down and get onboard.

"You know, Remus is going to freak when finds out what happened," he warned them.

"I know," Sirius sighed. "But what can we do? It's not like we can just not tell him- that'd be worse."

"I really don't blame him," Harry insisted. "And I don't mind having a werewolf for a roommate."

"It's not you," Sirius assured him, "Remi's just got a bit of an 'I'm a monster, don't come near me' complex."

Harry just nodded in understanding.

As the clock ticked closer to 7am, the beginnings of movement could be heard stirring in Gryffindor tower. They had decided to 'wake up' just a little past 7. This should put at least some people down in the common room to bear witness to the 'accident' while also not having them run into too much traffic or have to contend with too many outside variables. It was Saturday morning, so they were banking on most people having a lie in. They decided that the best way to go about the event was to go full method and play out the whole scene from start to finish. They all had their assigned rolls and had practiced their lines during the night. As the clock struck 7, the boys all laid down in their beds after helping Harry get tucked into his bloody sheets.

Sirius was the first one to 'wake up'. He dragged himself out of bed and trudged across the room only to slip in the trail of blood on the floor.

"What the-" He muttered, eyes quickly jerking up to take in the entire scene and then landing on Harry's bloody bed. "Harry!" He shouted, waking the others up. Sirius rushed over to Harry's bed and shook him awake.

Amazingly, Harry had actually managed to fall asleep in the few minutes he had been tucked into bed- it's shocking how draining the combination of an all-nighter and touch of blood loss can be. So for his part, there was minimal acting required as Sirius woke him up and he blinked groggily up at him.

"What happened?! Are you alright?!" Sirius shrieked. On the other side of the room, James could be heard telling Peter to 'go get McGonagall' and the other boy fled the room, taking care to trek specifically through the blood.

"Nothing," he murmured sleepily. "'M fine. Lemme go back to sleep." And Harry rolled over.

"No- Harry- you're bleeding! There is blood all over the place! Come on, up you get, we are going to the hospital wing," Sirius gently pulled Harry upright as James fretted around behind him. Harry slid to the edge of the bed and Sirius helped him to stand, taking basically all of his weight. Harry let out a low hiss and a groan as he was forced to move. "Hey, James- go make sure the way is clear, will yah?" James gave a nod and then headed out in front of them. It was his job to give the signal that there were indeed witnesses down in the common room ready to play their part in all of this.

Sirius maneuvered Harry to the top of the stairs where he left him to lean against the railing and the wall. He needed to go down alone so that he could fall, but watching the other boy teader, Sirius began to reconsider how wise of a plan this was- they wanted Harry to look like he got hurt, not actually injure himself further. But it was too late to go back now.

James called up, "All clear!" And Harry started his slow progress down the stairs. Just a little over halfway down, his leg finally gave out- but whether that was acting or real, only Harry ever knew. He came crashing down the rest of the steps.

"Harry!" Sirius shouted from the top while James gasped, "Watch out!" at the bottom. All of the heads in the common room whipped around just in time to see Harry's battered form topple down the last few stairs and come to rest in a heap at the base of the staircase. Everyone immediately rushed to his side in a jumbled mess of overlapping good intentions.

"Merlin!"

"Harry!"

"Are you okay?!"

Just as James had crouched next to Harry where he lay sprawled out on the floor, the portrait swung open to admit a very concerned looking Professor McGonagall. "What happened?" She asked curtly as she made her way over. "Mr. Pettigrew just kept babbling on about blood in the dormitory."

"There is a lot of blood in the dormitory," James told her seriously. "I just woke up and heard Sirius yelling and there was blood all over the floor and then Sirius said something about the hospital wing and he sent me ahead to make sure the path was clear," Jame rambled.

This bought Sirius enough time to come bounding down the stairs after his fallen friend. "Oh, Merlin! Harry!" He turned distressed and panicky eyes towards his Head of House. "Professor- I just woke up and there was blood all over the floor and all over his sheets, so we sent Peter to get you, but I figured it was better to get him to the hospital wing as soon as possible since I didn't know how long it would take him to find you, but then Harry tripped and fell down the stairs!" He cried, the words coming out so fast they were nearly indistinguishable from one another.

As if on cue, Harry let out a pitiful moan, drawing everyone's attention back to him.

"Mr. Doe, can you hear me?" McGonagall asked him. Harry just let out a small grunt in the affirmative. "Can you tell me what hurts?"

"Leg," was all he managed to get out through his clenched jaw.

"Okay. I'm just going to roll you over slowly so that we can have a look. Potter, come hold his head as still as possible. We don't want him to move his neck until Madam Pomfrey has had a proper look at him." James promptly complied and moved into position, gently taking hold of Harry's head in its current awkward position. "We are going to gently roll on three, okay? One, two, three." Harry let out another moan as they pulled him over so that he was now laying on his back on the floor. McGonagall let out a small gasp now that she could see his blood soaked pant leg and the slightly odd angle of the limb. "I'm going to put you in a body bind just so that we can move you to the infirmary without making anything worse, okay Mr. Doe?" Harry gave another grunt. "Very good."

Wordlessly, McGonagall cast the body bind, conjured a stretcher, and levitated Harry onto it. As she rose, she sent a quick patronus on ahead of her to warn Madam Pomfrey that they were coming. It was a Saturday morning after all, not a typical high volume, critical time for the infirmary- particularly on a weekend without a quidditch match. "No one is to enter the 6th year boys dormitory until either myself or another teacher has cleared it- am I understood?" She addressed the small gathered crowd, confident that this incident, along with her message, would spread like wildfire as soon as she left. They all gave adamant nods.

McGonagall pushed open the portrait hole with a stoic expression and floated Harry out. Sirius, James, and Peter followed close behind, all looking worried. Their Head of House set a brisk pace on their way to the infirmary. The boys kept stealing looks at Harry who was frozen with his fists clenched, jaw set, and eyes tightly shut. He looked like he was in a considerable amount of pain and Sirius was just distantly grateful that Peter had found McGonagall as quickly as he had. If she had not arrived in time, their backup plan was for Sirius to just carry Harry to the hospital wing. But recalling how painful the trek back up to the dormitory had been for him last night, Sirius was glad for the small mercy that was the smooth levitation charm moving him now.

As they entered the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey was indeed waiting for them, face set in her stoney, professional mask.

"Set him here," she said quickly, motioning toward a bed.

McGonagall gently lowered Harry onto the mattress and vanished the stretcher beneath him.

"What happened?" Pomfrey asked, already waving her wand in complicated motions above Harry. McGonagall inclined her head towards Sirius, who recounted his story, slightly slower and more articulately, for the matron.

With a satisfied nod, Pomfrey turned her attention down to address Harry directly. "Okay, Harry- you don't have any spinal injuries so I am going to release the upper half of your body from the binding spell so that you can talk to me, but I need you to do your best not to move, okay?" It was a rhetorical question, seeing as how Harry had no means of answering her while in the full body bind. With a wave of her wand, Harry was finally able to unclench his fists and release his jaw. It was sore from being held so tightly without relief for so long. He stretched it out and rolled his neck a little, flexing his fingers.

"Thank you," he breathed.

"Now, Harry- can you please tell me the full story of what happened?" She fixed him with a stern look.

"Uh- last night I got up to go to the restroom in the middle of the night and I caught my leg, I think, on a piece of metal sticking out of my trunk. It was dark and I didn't have my glasses on and it didn't hurt that bad, so I just, shrugged it off I guess. Decided to deal with it in the morning. But in the morning I woke up with Sirius shaking me and shouting about blood. I guess the cut had been a lot deeper than I thought because my sheets were kind of soaked with blood. I kind of started to panic, so Sirius helped me out of bed so that we could come see you. But then I insisted that I could walk on my own- it still didn't really hurt that bad, it was just bleeding a lot. When I was going down the stairs- I don't know. I guess I got kind of dizzy? And the next thing I knew I was on the floor and my leg was killing me."

Madam Pomfrey bent down to inspect his bloody leg. "Well, at least it doesn't seem to be actively bleeding too much. Although, I need to get the dried blood off so that I can take off the pants and get a proper look at it, okay?" Harry nodded and braced himself, but was pleasantly surprised when she just sent a small jet of warm water at his leg. It wasn't an overly pleasant feeling, but it was nowhere near as painful as he had expected whatever she was about to do to be. After about a minute of irrigation, she gave his pant leg a small, experimental tug and it came up a little. "This may hurt," she warned before carefully prying the tacky mess that was his pajama pant away from his skin. Harry couldn't help but let out a small hiss as she did so.

Before continuing, she asked, "Would you like me to put up a privacy curtain Harry?"

He shook his head, "That's okay. We share a dorm room- it's not like they haven't seen me in my boxers before," he said with a small smile before turning to face his dormmates. "Though, by no means should you guys feel obligated to stick around and watch. I'm guessing it's going to be gross and I promise I won't be hurt or offended if you'd rather leave. I get it." But all three boys had a hard set to their jaws and did not budge.

"Okay then," Pomfrey said before waving her wand and vanishing the bottom half of Harry's pajamas. And Harry was proven right- it was indeed gross. The long cut still ran from his knee to his ankle, but it was now a little puffy and crusted in dried blood and leaking something puss-like. Peter blanched and had to turn away. James put a steadying hand on his shoulder. But what made the sight all the worse was the knee just above nasty cut. It was bruised and swollen and clearly dislocated to say the least. Even Harry took in a sharp breath when he got his first proper look at the leg.

As she set to work running some diagnostic spells on his leg, Pomfrey asked Harry, "Is there anything else that hurts?" Harry had to take a moment to really take stock in order to answer that question. It was kind of hard to think, let alone feel anything past the throbbing pain in his leg. He gave each part of his body a little experimental wiggle to see if anything else did hurt.

"Um- I'm pretty sure I have bruises pretty much everywhere and my right wrist hurts a little and I think I bent one of my fingernails back grabbing at the banister when I fell," he admitted.

"Okay," she said, straightening up again and summoning a series of potion vials. "Take these. This one is a Blood Replenisher. If your dizziness and pallor and everyone's description of just how much blood is awaiting us back in your dormitory is any indication- you most definitely need it. That one is an antibiotic of sorts since an infection has already set in. We'll need to clear that out before I can heal the wound. And this last one is for the pain. I will need to clean out the cut and then reset your knee, both of which will be rather unpleasant processes, I am sorry to say."

Harry just nodded, resigned to his fate, accepting and downing each vial in turn as quickly as possible. As he drank the last one, the pain blessedly calmed from a burning throb that consumed his body to more of a dull roar of background noise. Harry visibly relaxed a little after taking it, much to everyone's relief. Madam Pomfrey set about her task of dabbing the long cut with copious amounts of bright purple Wound-Cleaning potion that hissed and frothed and steamed on contact. Once she was satisfied, she wrapped the wound in crisp, clean bandages before focusing in on his knee.

"Now, this is going to hurt, but it will then feel a lot better once it is back in the correct position, okay?" Harry nodded, bracing himself once again. With a sickening pop that made everyone shudder, the joint slid back into place, leaving Harry panting and glad that part was finally over. After running a couple more spells, Pomfrey declared, "That knee will probably take one to two weeks to fully heal since there was a decent amount of tendon and ligament damage. That, paired with the torn muscle in your calf and the infection will make the healing process just take a little more time than normal. Once we are able to fully heal the wound, we will see about how much mobility you'll have for that time, but don't worry- we'll have you right as rain soon enough," she said, giving him a light pat on the arm.

Pomfrey then splinted his wrist and fixed his fingernail before finally tackling Harry's multitude of bruises with an excessive amount of bruise balm. She ended up having to vanish his shirt too in order to access most of his bruises and Harry did not miss McGonagall's barely stifled gasp when she caught sight of his numerous scars. Pomfrey's only reaction to seeing his full collection was a slight tightening of her already pursed lips. As she finally finished up and spelled Harry into a new pair of hospital issue pajamas, McGonagall asked if she could have a quick word with Poppy before she headed back to the dormitory to finish cleaning up this mess and then to go speak with the Headmaster about the whole incident.

Pulling the matron to the far side of the room, Minerva leaned in and said in a low voice, "I just needed to verify with you that there is nothing- untoward- about Mr. Doe's injuries. That there is no reason to expect foul play or anything amiss beyond a simple accident. I just feel with his brief but unfortunate history here, we cannot be too careful with that boy." McGonagall sighed.

Poppy let out a matching breath. "I see no obvious signs of foul play or the like, but I would just make sure everything in their story matches up. The boys seem genuinely concerned and Harry seems quite comfortable with them and I'm not sure who else would have had access to their dormitory. This is also basically the first time he has been honest about his injuries, which I think is a big step for him. I don't see what he would be hiding with this. While highly unfortunate, as you said, it does seem to be mostly an accident."

"Mostly?"

"Well, if Harry had just come to me last night when he first cut his leg, then this whole mess could have been avoided. Which reminds me- I owe him another little talk about not ignoring medical concerns and taking proper care of himself." She looked as though she was already planning the lecture in her head.

"Unfortunately, by the looks of him, it does not seem like he has had a lot of practice being properly taken care of," she said with a dismal shake of her head.

"We can only do our best to help him from here, Minerva."

Much to her horror, the boys had not been exaggerating about the amount of blood in their dormitory. It was crusted in a long, rusty trail from the boy's bed and into the bathroom and his sheets were so saturated that you would have thought they were originally crimson rather than white. No wonder the boys had been so freaked out and panicky. Minerva could honestly say that she was quite shocked by the three usual troublemaker's behavior that morning as their sincerity and distress had been such an aberration from their normal easy confidence. It was kind of comforting in a way to know that the boys had the capacity for such things, even if they did not always display it.

Luckily, the boys had been thorough enough that they had even made sure to bend out one of the brackets on Harry's trunk and bloody up the protruding bit of jagged metal before carefully positioning the trunk where to would line up just right with Harry's leg. Minerva bent down and inspected the offending object before spelling it clean and then repairing the bracket. She banished the boy's sheets as a lost cause and spelled clean the mattress, bed, and floor both in the dormitory and the adjoining bathroom. She would have the house elves follow up and ensure that there was not any trail between the boy's dorm and the infirmary.

Her heart had just about stopped when she had entered the common room that morning to see Harry's crumpled form, unmoving on the ground, and James' terrified face hovering above him with Sirius' muffled curses echoing down the stairs in the background. For the briefest instant, she had thought he wasn't breathing, so when she heard his slight moan, relief had flooded her body, snapping her into action. In all her years as Head of Gryffindor House, she had never lost a student and that was a record she was determined not to break. Especially not that day.

With one last long, hard look at the room, Minerva turned off the lights and went to inform the Headmaster of the latest unfortunate developments with their newest student. She was just thankful that this time it had truly just been a freak accident.

"Madam Pomfrey," Harry called quietly as McGonagall left the wing. "How is Remus doing? I know he wasn't feeling very well last night…" Harry looked at her with innocent concern written all over his face.

Pomfrey gave him a small, kind smile in return. "He's doing fine, Harry. Resting up now, but he should be okay to head back to the dorms later today."

"That's good." And she bustled off to check on her other patients.

James, Peter, and Sirius were still gathered around Harry's bed. Their worried eyes were already grating on him.

"You lot do know that I'm not dying, right?" He asked with a critically raised eyebrow. When his comment failed to shake them out of their state, he tried again with more sincerity. "Really guys- I'm fine. And they didn't seem to take issue with our story. Everything turned out okay."

"Harry, I'm officially adding 'I'm fine' to the list of blackballed catchphrases for you right up there next to 'I'm sorry'," Sirius said tersely. "You seem to have misplaced the definition of 'fine' and until you find it I suggest you use a more accurate term."

"I haven't misplaced anything," Harry grumbled before amending, "I will be fine. No long-term harm, no foul, okay? Although, I am seriously starting to reconsider my habit of wandering around in the Forbidden Forest. It really hasn't seemed to end well for me yet. Keeps landing me right back here. Though, the last few times I think I was a little further that way," he made a casual motion to his right, indicating the beds a little ways down the row.

The worry morphed into incredulity on the other's faces before Sirius barked out a laugh. "You've got a fucked up sense of humor, Bambi."

"And a fucked up knee," Harry added with a wicked little smile that just pushed Sirius further over the edge.

Madam Pomfrey shot a warning look over at them causing James to stomp on Sirius' foot and hiss, "Get it together or she'll kick us out," under his breath.

Pulling himself together slightly, Sirius straightened up and said in an overly apologetic voice, "Oh, I am so sorry- how could I forget the strict 'no laughter before 10am' policy. Otherwise the hospital wing would just become too full of joy. The ill and injured are already far too happy." He shook his head woefully.

"The patients need rest! Not your incessant chatter and inane guffaws. If you are going to act like a boisterous, babbling baboon then I suggest you do so elsewhere, Mr. Black!" Harry chided in an uncanny imitation of Madam Pomfrey. Luckily, Pomfrey didn't appear to have heard him, but Harry almost thought he saw a tiny smile on her lips as she turned away to make up a bed.

Sirius looked very taken aback, but it was James' turn to burst out laughing. Not one to let an opportunity for revenge slip away when it presented itself so invitingly, Sirius stamped on James' toes and growled, "Shut up."

"Look, why don't you guys go get changed and head down and get some breakfast? Remus doesn't usually turn up until the afternoon, so I'm guessing he's going to be asleep for a while longer," Harry tried to convince the others, "Maybe you could bring me my bag later? I'm assuming that I'm gonna be stuck here all weekend so I might as well get ahead on some reading."

After they exchanged a few looks that contained some silent conversation, James agreed, "Okay, but we'll be back soon. Do you want us to bring you anything else besides your bag?"

"Uh, my Transfiguration book should be on my desk if you could toss that in and my-" Harry's face suddenly went alarmingly pale. "My wand!" Harry gasped. "I dropped my wand last night!"

Sirius put his hand on Harry's shoulder, trying to calm him down. "It's okay. Don't worry Bambi- we'll get it back," he soothed. "Do you remember where you lost it?"

"In the forest. Somewhere in that clearing where…" Harry trailed off not really having the right words to describe the incident from the previous night. 'Where Remus attacked me' and 'where Moony tried to kill me' seemed a bit too harsh, but 'where we ran into each other' seemed far too casual and 'where you saved my life' felt rather dramatic. Fortunately, last night was not something any of them were likely to forget any time soon and they understood even without him naming it.

"Well, luckily it's Saturday, so there isn't even the risk of a Care of Magical Creatures class going into the forest and accidentally finding it, so it should be safe until we can sneak off later and go get it," James said, already plotting the retrieval mission.

"Thanks."

With one last goodbye, the three boys left the wing.

"I must be honest- I am surprised you convinced them to leave so soon. Those boys are usually like barnacles," Madam Ponfrey said and she came over to check on Harry again.

"Oh, don't worry ma'am. They are just grabbing some breakfast- they'll be right back," he said cheerily. "It'll be right boring in the dorms with both Remus and I here. Plus, they know how much you cherish the company."

"Oh yes- you know how much I love a good bunch of babbling baboons," she said with a wink. Harry flushed. So she had overheard him.

True to their word, Peter, James, and Sirius returned soon, but they appeared to have picked up a few stragglers. Behind them trailed the rest of the Gryffindor 6th year followed by Beth and most of the quidditch team. Apparently, the commotion that morning had woken most of the tower and as the news that Harry had been hurt spread, the rumors were quick to follow.

"Thank god you're okay!" The relief was evident in Beth's face and eyes. "You should hear the rumors that are going around. People are saying you died!"

That gave Harry a little shock. How did 'hurt my leg' become 'dead' in the matter of an hour? With a small chuckle he reassured her, "Don't worry- reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. It really wasn't that bad."

"I heard that you'd broken your neck falling down the stairs."

"I heard that someone had pushed you down the stairs."

"I heard they had to call a hazmat team in to clean up all the blood!"

"What's a hazmat?"

"Don't worry about it."

"I heard Sirius tried to kill you," Haleigh said quietly.

"What?!" Both Harry and Sirius looked shocked by that one. "Who told you that?!" Harry choked.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I just heard it. Someone said he'd 'just snapped', that they saw him running around cursing and 'covered in your blood'," Haleigh told them, using ample air quotes.

"Well, please assure everyone that I am not dead. That it was a stupid accident. That Sirius had nothing to do with. And that I am fine." At Sirius's pointed look, he amended, "That I will be fine."

"What did happen?" Lily asked curiously.

Harry looked a little embarrassed as he answered, "Uh- I just cut my leg last night, but didn't realize it was actually bleeding. Gave the guys a heart attack when they woke up and found me sleeping in a pool of blood. Anyways- they woke me up, but as I was heading to the hospital wing, I kinda fell down the stairs…"

"Well, it's a good thing our next match isn't until next term. Plenty of time to rest up and get back on your feet!" Beth smiled sweetly at him, but her eyes showed a glint of that madness that all quidditch captains seemed to catch. While she hid it much better than Wood, that look still reminded Harry of the time Oliver had been reprimanded by McGonagal for having his 'priorities wrong' when he had said he didn't care if Harry's broom threw him off, as long as he caught the snitch first. If they'd had a match coming up, he wondered if Beth's concern and understanding would hold up. Or if, perhaps Pomfrey would have to be the one to get 'shirty' with her.

Madam Pomrey came over with an indignant look on her face. "Now, you all have been here long enough to know my rules- no more than four visitors at a time. And certainly no shouting. Honestly, you'd think this was a tavern, not an infirmary. Healing does not require an audience. Now, shoo!"

"Sorry, Madam Pomfrey," Harry said tritely as most of the group wished him well and then took their leave until only his dormmates remained.

James, Sirius, and Peter took over the beds on either side of Harry's and were soon sprawled out with half open textbooks laying discarded to the sides. Sirius was on his back, head dangling over the side of the bed, staring at nothing. James was sitting up against the headboard of the opposite bed, his 'essay' having now fully devolved into doodling and Peter was flopped on his stomach across the foot of the bed drumming his fingers on the metal frame.

And it was driving Harry crazy. His fingernails made a scratchy sort of clang every time they scraped the metal and it was making Harry's skin crawl. "Peter- will you stop!" He finally snapped when he couldn't stand it anymore. They all jumped, startled by his outburst. Letting out a sharp breath, Harry tried to reign himself in before saying, "Sorry. It's just- that tapping is driving me insane and making my headache worse." Harry set his book down so that he could rub his eyes with both hands.

"Sorry," Peter said sheepishly as he retracted his hand and tucked it up under himself just to make sure it wouldn't try and resume the mindless activity of its own accord.

"It's not your fault Pete- this is so boring!" Sirius whined.

"You could have brought something to do too," Harry pointed out, "Besides, I told you guys that you didn't need to stay." He knew that they were just waiting around for Remus to wake up, but Harry was also not interested in babysitting. He really did have a headache and was just a little too tired at the moment to be coddling and entertaining hyperactive teens.

"There might be a deck of cards in my bag- pass it here Pads. How about we play a game?" Harry gave James a grateful look as he took up the distraction effort. Soon, Sirius had joined the other two on their bed and they were playing some weird card game called 'Find the Niffler' that seemed kind of like a mix between Go Fish and Crazy 8s. They had invited Harry to join, but he quickly declined citing his headache.

Just as it was approaching lunchtime, Remus finally awoke. Madam Pomfrey with her sixth sense (or perhaps some kind of spell) knew the moment he was up and went to go check on him in the secluded back corner he always stayed in behind a privacy curtain.

"You had a fair amount of bruising this time, but it should mostly be cleared up by now. How are you feeling dear?" She asked as she tutted over him.

"I feel fine, ma'am. Just a little tired, as usual," Remus told her.

"Well, I want you to eat something. Then, if you're feeling up to it, I'll let your friends come visit, okay?" She asked as a tray of food zoomed into her outstretched hand from who-knows-where.

"My friends are here?" Remus was a little surprised by that. After all these years, the guys usually just left him to rest the day after the full moon. He was not a lot of fun to be around usually and their mother-henning always made it worse. After those first couple months of having them anxiously waiting for him to wake up the next day, Remus finally told them that he would honestly prefer it if they left him be. They were already going so far beyond his wildest dreams of friendship and support that he had been really afraid to offend them with such a request, but thankfully they took it in stride and never made a big deal out of his 'illness' and his time in the hospital wing.

"Yes. Unfortunately, Harry had a bit of an accident this morning, so they have been sitting with him as well as waiting for you to wake up.

Concern now creasing his features, Remus asked, "Oh no- What happened?"

Pomfrey let out a sigh before saying, "I think it might be best to just wait and ask them that. The story is a bit- convoluted. But don't you worry, Harry will be just fine. Now, eat up!" She commanded as the tray was placed across Remus' lap.

Once he was finished, Pomfrey checked him over one last time before agreeing that he could be released. Of all of her patients, Poppy trusted Remus the most when it came to listening to his body and taking proper care of it. He had always been a smart boy and having been living with Lycanthropy for so long, he knew what he could and couldn't (as well as should and shouldn't) do. So if he felt ready to head back to the dorms, she was okay with that. If letting him rest in his own bed when possible was one small way she could help improve his situation, she was happy to oblige.

After changing into his robes, Remus slipped out from behind the privacy curtain and his eyes quickly found his friends. Sure enough, Harry was laid out on one of the beds near the doors reading a book while the other three were sitting on the neighboring bed playing cards. He had to laugh. Some real quality companionship they were providing. But the behavior was very- them.

Remus made his way over.

Harry was the first one to see him. "Oh hey Remus! You feeling better?" He asked with a casual smile. The card game stopped very suddenly.

Remus returned Harry's smile in kind, "Yeah. Luckily it was just some 24-hour bug. But what about you? What happened?"

Harry's face fell a little at that question. For all of their plotting and scheming and planning over the last twelve hours, somehow they had completely neglected to discuss exactly what and how they were going to tell Remus. All Harry knew right then was that out in the open in the middle of the hospital wing was absolutely not the place to tell him the whole truth.

"Erh- I just did something stupid and messed up my leg a little," he said evasively. It was a true enough statement that could apply to either their cover story or the actual events of last night.

Remus looked a little confused at the half answer. Turning to look at their other friends, he immediately caught James' 'not here- we'll tell you later' look. So he just gave an accepting nod to Harry.

"Well, any idea when you'll be getting out?"

"Not really, but I doubt it will be today unfortunately," Harry sighed.

"It most certainly will not be today," Madam Pomfrey's voice cut through their conversation, soon followed by the witch herself. "I told you young man that the infection has to be cleared before I can heal that wound and that that wound needs to be completely healed before I might consider letting you move- let alone leave." Her look was harsh, but not entirely unkind. "Now, I need to clean it again and check to see if you need another antibiotic potion or not." She set about unwrapping the bandage around Harry's calf. She eyed James, Sirius, and Peter, who had made themselves quite at home on one of her beds, with a critical eye before adding, "And you boys might want to head on down to lunch. Mr. Lupin, you should go rest."

There was a shuffling as the boys on the next bed over began gathering up the cards and various items that had ended up strewn about over the course of the morning. Remus paled as the bandage was finally removed from Harry's leg and he caught sight of the deep slash that was running down the length of it. The other boys had all been watching him intently, so none of them missed his reaction. James shoved the cards in his hand towards Peter as he hopped up and ran over to grab a hold of Remus's arm.

Looking Remus right in the eye Harry said, "Really- it's okay. It was my fault and it will heal up just fine." He spoke clearly and emphatically.

And then James was dragging the pale boy away and out of the infirmary. Sirius and Peter hastily shoved the last of the items into whichever bag was closest before flashing one last strained smile at Harry and rushing out after the other two.

James and the now panicking Remus had not made it very far. James was frantically looking around for a place where they could hide when Sirius came up on Remus' other side to help guide him to a better location than the middle of the hallway. Somehow they managed to make it to an empty classroom before any of them truly lost their composure.

Sirius and James were both throwing up a handful of silencing and privacy spells when Remus realized that he had been released and whirled around.

"Tell me- Tell me that wasn't a claw mark?!" Remus cried. His face held nothing but anguish.

He didn't need an answer- the truth was written, clear as day, across all of his friends' faces. Remus collapsed to the floor, coming to rest with his back against a nearby table leg.

"I didn't bite him, did I?" Remus asked in a hollow voice.

"No!" James said with as much conviction as he could muster. "It really was just a scratch."

Remus' eyes looked dead and he raised his head to ask, "What- How-" but his brian just could not process everything enough to even form a proper sentence, let alone know what to ask.

"Harry was in the forest last night. Moony must have caught his scent because all of a sudden you just- took off. By the time we caught up with you, Harry was on the ground and Moony was reaching for him. I held you off while Padfoot dragged him back and Wormtail went and made a distraction to lure Moony away."

In an instant, Remus' vacant look was filled with rage. "I trusted you! You promised me- swore that you would not be stupid enough to let him follow you out there!" He was shaking now.

"We weren't! We were so careful Rem- you have to believe us!" James pleaded. "We even waited and sent Pete back up to check and make sure he had stayed in the dorm. We would never risk everything like that." With a dark look he added, "Never again."

Sirius looked beyond guilty, but didn't try to defend himself. That was still an extremely sore spot in his and Remus' relationship that had taken a lot to get over even to the point of Remus being able to look at him again, let alone speak to him.

"Then how did this happen?" Remus snapped.

"I- Actually, I don't really know," James admitted, now looking confused. Had he really not asked why Harry was out in the Forbidden Forest in the dead of night during a full moon?

Sirius cleared his throat before saying, "We didn't really have a ton of time to chat about it, but when I asked him he said something about a fucking reindeer."

Now everyone was confused. "A what?" James asked incredulously.

"I'm pretty sure he said reindeer," Sirius repeated.

Remus blinked a few times, not sure what to do with that. "I am guessing by the fact that Pomfrey let me go and that I haven't been arrested that he didn't tell anyone what happened?"

"No. He was actually remarkably calm about the whole thing. Wanted to brush it off in that kind of unsettling way of his. If he had been able to walk, I'm not sure he would have gone to the hospital wing at all. The whole cover up was actually his idea. Once we saw his leg, Peter and I had already signed our death warrants. But he insisted on waiting until morning and coming up with a cover story that did not involve the words 'werewolf', 'Forbidden Forest', or 'animagi'. We told everyone that he cut his leg and then fell down the stairs."

"Maybe he just didn't want to get in trouble for being out of bounds in the forest?" Remus mused, unable to believe someone would do such a thing out of the goodness of their heart.

"I really don't think so. He was very adamant that he didn't have a problem with werewolves and that he didn't blame you for what happened. Kinda sounded like he blamed himself. Plus, you heard him in the hospital wing. The Harry that said that knew you were Moony and went out of his way to make you feel better anyway."

Remus gave a small, reluctant nod in acknowledgement of that. But it still all felt wrong to him. He felt bloody awful. He had hurt Harry- and it so easily could have been so much worse than a scratch and a bum leg. And that terrified him. He hated what he was- the lack of control. Even if Harry could somehow forgive him, he was not sure he would be able to forgive himself.

"It's going to be okay Rem," James told him, taking a seat next to him on the floor.

Turning his head towards James, Remus asked, "He really doesn't hate me?" He sounded much younger than his sixteen years.

"No Moony- he really doesn't hate you." And he put his arm around Remus' back in some amalgamation of a comforting gesture and a hug.