Author's Note: in regards to the tarot pulls, I want to make it clear that unless otherwise said, all tarot cards pulled in the story are ones either my partner or I pulled for the situation. In this case, the only card I purposely chose was Remus's past card. All other tarot cards mentioned in this chapter were actually pulled in real life by one of us.

CW emetophobia; also a reminder there will be a chapter out this Friday :)

-x-

Remus was glad when it was finally time for Transfiguration, Tuesday afternoon. Professor McGonagall was his favorite teacher.

"A point each from Gryffindor," she said, her lips a flat line across her face. Despite the sternness in her voice, Remus could sense she was a little excited about something which made him very curious. "Mr. Potter, your hair is a disaster; why are there leaves in it? Mr. Pettigrew, Mr. Lupin, you've both got mud all over your trousers, Mr. Black—" She paused, eyes raking over Sirius's unkempt appearance; his shirt was untucked and partially unbuttoned, his tie was gone, and he hadn't worn his sleeveless jumper that day at all. He flashed a broad grin at her and she gave a faint sigh. "No. Go have a seat."

At least she didn't take extra points off for my tie, he thought as he tried to brush the dried mud off the seat of his trousers before taking his usual seat.

Transfiguration was now shared with Ravenclaw and it was so strange to see all the blue and bronze accents around the room. He wasn't sure why it was odder in this class than any other, then realized it was probably since he was used to Transfiguration being such a Gryffindor class since McGonagall was Head of Gryffindor.

McGonagall went right into her lesson and immediately Remus knew why she had the aura of excitement.

"Can anyone tell me what an Animagus is?"

A couple of hands shot up, Remus's included. Instead McGonagall called on Sirius, whose hands were busy doodling rather than being up. Sirius jerked his chin up. "M-me?"

"Unless your brother has snuck into this lesson, I don't believe there's another Mr. Black in the room," McGonagall said and there were a few giggles.

"Ani… magus…" Sirius said slowly and McGonagall nodded. "Er."

YOU FOUND OUT ABOUT THEM LESS THAN A YEAR AGO! Remus was screaming in his head. How could Sirius forget?! There was no way he could have forgotten about that event which was without a doubt why McGonagall called on him. Sirius—who loved cats—had been petting a tabby cat the previous year only for the cat to turn into McGonagall herself.

Sirius glanced at Remus who mouthed the words McGonagall. Cat.

"Hats?" he asked.

Remus dropped his head on his desk. "No, Mr. Black," McGonagall said, sounding a little more amused than disappointed at least. "Mr. Lupin, since you tried telling him, why don't you tell the class?"

Remus straightened up. "Er—y-yes. Animagus are p-people who can—can—can become anim-mals…" He launched into a brief, stammering explanation about them, and saw Sirius slapping his forehead as it dawned on him where he had heard the term before.

When he finished, McGonagall gave three points to Gryffindor. Then, without warning, she turned into her cat form. A tabby cat with markings around its eyes that looked like spectacles. There were loads of gasps and a smattering of applause; Remus clapped too, even though he had seen her do it before. It really was remarkable and marvelous magic.

"That was terrific!" one of the Ravenclaws squealed after McGonagall transformed back.

"Thank you," she said, as if someone had merely opened a door for her. She then went on to expand on what Remus had said about Animagi, explaining that it was an arduous, difficult, and, at times, painful process. That most witches and wizards who tried to become Animagus gave up, and that those who did it incorrectly were permanently part-human part-animal. And that on very rare occasions, a witch or wizard messed up so badly that they permanently became an animal.

Then, after lecturing about Animagus for a while, she went into why she was bringing it up in their third year; they were going to slowly begin to work on the foundation for human transfiguration. There was a lot of eager whispering that died down when she said, "You will not be performing human transfiguration during your third year, you will not begin practice in human transfiguration until your sixth year. We will only be learning the theory, the history, and how to calculate what is needed for learning the spells. Human transfiguration can go very bad very easily. You need a very solid knowledge going in before, and we will be learning it through the next three years."

Remus took loads of notes, his hand cramping up from how furiously he was writing as McGonagall lectured.

After class was dismissed the Marauders left the room, taking a back route to get to Charms, getting them there rather quickly. As they went the others went on and on about how cool it would be to turn into an animal and Remus couldn't help but snort. They flashed him anxious faces—realizing—and then he just laughed.

"I'm sure it would be," he said.

The conversation changed to the promised education about human transfiguration as they approached the Charms classroom. Remus made a joke about Sirius turning his hand into a mirror so he'd never be without, and Sirius chased after him. They hopped around the corridor, Sirius trying to hook his foot around Remus's ankle, Remus dancing out of the way, giggling. They kept knocking into each other and then Sirius managed to trip Remus up but grabbed him, swinging him back around so he didn't fall, both laughing.

"You really have to take up the entire corridor?" drawled out an annoyed voice.

Sirius spun around—dragging Remus with him—and they were face-to-face with Snape.

"Honestly, you have no respect for anyone other than yourselves!" Snape spat out.

"Whoops!" Sirius yanked Remus back against the wall. "My most SINCERE and DEEPEST apologies! PLEASE! Allow me to HELP!" Sirius cupped his hands around his mouth. "EVERYONE PLEASE GET OUT OF THE WAY FOR HIS ROYAL SNAKENESS, SEVERUS SNAPE! NO, NO, JAMES! MORE ROOM!" Sirius screeched after James took a step back. "HIS ROYAL SNAKENESS NEEDS AS MUCH ROOM AS POSSIBLE! WE CANNOT ALLOW HIM TO ALLOW EVEN THE HEM OF HIS ILLUSTRIOUS CLOAK TO BRUSH AGAINST OUR PEASANT SELVES!" Then Sirius was on the ground, yanking at a hank of hair. "FORGIVE ME, YOUR ROYAL SNAKENESS, FOR DARING BE IN YOUR PRESENCE!"

The group of fifth years who were leaving the Charms classroom all burst into laughter, along with all the third year Gryffindors that showed up, and most of the Slytherins. Snape's face paled then flushed red as Sirius prostrated himself on the ground, moaning for forgiveness.

Snape stumbled back then fled into the classroom, pushing past the laughing fifth years. Peter helped Sirius up off the floor, Sirius finally breaking into laughter as well before giving bows to the amused crowd.

The only one not laughing was Lily. Her jaw was clenched and her eyes narrowed as she stomped up to Sirius. "That was rude!" she hissed out, poking him in the chest.

"He wanted room," Sirius said, brushing himself off. "I wanted to help."

"You are awful!" She left out a huff as she stormed into the classroom.

Sirius pressed a hand to his chest. "Oh no!" he gasped out, then flung his arm against his forehead. "However shall I live with myself now?" Then he giggled, bumping into James.

Remus tried to hide his smile as they went into the classroom, however judging by the angry glare Lily gave him he knew he failed. He bit his bottom lip, sliding into his seat, trying not to laugh anymore.

Once all the Gryffindors and Slytherins were seated, Professor Flitwick began going over some of the things they had learned the previous year as well as talked some about what they would be learning that year in class. He also explained they'd be practicing spells they had learned the previous two years only on a stronger level.

"You'll be moving heavier objects, levitating heavier objects, enchanting more complicated targets," Flitwick squeaked out. He stood on his tiptoes on top of his pile of books at the lectern. Remus liked Flitwick for multiple reasons and one of them, he hated to admit, was the fact Flitwick was so small. Even shorter than Remus. It wasn't so much he liked the fact there was an adult shorter than him but the fact Flitwick was a powerful and talented wizard in his own right, and his height didn't really mean anything in that regard.

Plus he was fairly sure Flitwick wasn't fully human, but he had never asked.

At the end of class, Flitwick told them to work on spells they already knew, to practice the ones they'd be working on, and then dismissed class. Remus stretched his arms out, giving a yawn before shoving everything back in his bag. He was nearly done with his second day of classes. Only Divination was left, and after that he felt like it would be a sort of… finish line. He survived the first lessons of all the classes he'd have this year and he could try to figure out a good routine. Of course, that was going to be easier at the end of the week, but at least he'd have an idea.

As his free period wore on he found his stomach twisting up more and more. He'd know people in Divination. He knew David Struthers was taking the class, as well as Bones and Rivers. It wasn't like he wouldn't know anyone. But there was a difference between the Marauders and Lily, and acquaintances like David, Bones, and Rivers.

It was a good thing Remus gave himself plenty of time to find the Divination classroom, since it took a long time to find it. He knew it was somewhere in the north tower, but didn't realize that after a load of twisty, dizzying stairs he also had to go up a ladder and through a trapdoor until he finally noticed some other third years ascending the ladder.

Are you bleeding KIDDING me right now? He stared at the ladder in annoyance then, taking in a deep breath, started to reach for a rung before he froze. The ladder looked like silver. He stared at it with huge eyes, not sure what to do. Surely it wasn't actual silver, was it? He—someone would have told him if it was. McGonagall would have said something. Done something about it. Or did nobody think?

A couple of Hufflepuff girls went past him, Kyra Pierce giving him curious looks as he stood there not moving. "You all right?" she asked, hooking one hand on the ladder.

"Um. Y-yeah," he breathed out. "Go ah-h-head."

She disappeared through the trapdoor and Remus reached out again, waiting for any prickling sensation against his hand. It didn't feel like it. Slowly, cautiously, nervously he brushed a fingertip against the rung.

Nothing happened.

He managed not to breathe a sigh of relief, gripping the rung. Of course it wasn't actual silver, that would be silly. Though the ladder being silver wasn't the only issue. It only took a few rungs before his hands grew sweaty from climbing up off the ground. Heights didn't agree with him. No. He gulped, squeezing his eyes shut. It's not that bad, you're fine, you've been in worse situations. This is NOTHING compared to that pipe!

But when he climbed the pipe it was hard to see anything below him and he was doing it to save his friends. This… urgh.

"Hurry it up, Loopy!" someone snarled; Remus was pretty sure the voice belonged to Victor Fox of Slytherin. "Don't want to stand here staring at your stupid arse all day!"

Remus forced himself to keep climbing, doing all he could not to look down. Why couldn't there be stairs?! Stairs were a lot nicer. More… solid. There was a ladder and a trapdoor leading to his house in Hogsmeade but that wasn't much of a climb. Only a couple of feet. This was… definitely more than a couple of feet.

He finally reached the top where he stopped again because he did feel a burning, prickling sensation. His eyes landed on the hinges of the trapdoor and the handle. Both were silver and he knew these were pure silver, unlike the ladder. Hopefully I never have to open the door, he thought as he pulled himself into the classroom. He took a few steps away from the hole in the ground, rubbing his forehead as he peered around the classroom.

It was a very open, clean sort of room. All the windows were open though there was a filmy sort of look to them that Remus later learned kept the breeze to minimum. There were round tables everywhere with comfortable looking high-backed chairs. There were lights where the natural light didn't hit, and the shelves around the circular room were extremely organized with various objects like teacups and crystal balls. Everything just felt so clean. Remus doubted a speck of dust would last longer than a few seconds in here.

The man standing by the blackboard was just as neat and tidy as the classroom around him. He was a tallish black man with thinning grey hair, a neat little beard, and perfectly pressed robes. Not a wrinkle in sight. His gold-rimmed glasses sat on the end of his nose and his dark eyes watched the students coming in. His eyes landed on Remus and there was a faint crease of irritation that appeared in his forehead. Remus ducked his head, feeling extremely out of place with his very ill-fitted, too-big, too-baggy, too-worn-down clothes, his falling-apart plimsolls, his disaster of a tie. He tried to smooth out the wrinkles in his own clothes but it didn't help.

Remus quickly joined David at a table. They were the only two Gryffindor boys in the room, though most of the girls were taking the class. Twycross sat with Veronica McNab on the other side of the room, while Eloise Nettle and Athena Magpie decided to sit with David and Remus.

Finally the man flicked his wand, shutting the trapdoor. "Good afternoon," he said in a stiff, prim sort of voice. "I am Professor Hawkwood and I will be educating you about the world of Divination. Divination is a very… personal sort of magic. There will be those of you who have a natural gift, those of you who can achieve what you wish through hard work, and those of you that will never have a true grasp on what we will learn here. Which is fine." He cleared his throat, shifting his weight to the balls of his feet. "One of the most important aspects of Divination is your instinct. Your gut feelings. However." His eyes darted around the room as if expecting everyone to suddenly have visions or something. "However if all you rely on is your instinct then you won't do well. Do not allow yourself to be overcome with the otherworldly or you will lose the thread of reality. Now. We will be focusing mainly on tangible things. Tea leaves. Tarot readings. Runes." He took a few steps, lifting his chin as he stared at the shelf full of crystal balls. "We will, of course, learn about crystal balls, palmistry, dream interpretations—all of that. Even visions, though that is not something you can force. All of that will come later, once you have a grasp on the other abilities. For if we begin on what cannot be seen, it is easier to let yourself get carried away."

He lectured for a while about different angles you could take to see the future. Or present, or past, he added. After a while he talked specifically about tarot cards and the different types of pulls or spreads one could do. He had everyone take their decks out as well as choose a partner. David looked at Remus who nodded, scooting a little closer to him, relieved he wouldn't need to wait for someone to pick him. Without David there, he probably would have been the odd man out.

"Has anyone attempted to use their decks yet?" Hawkwood asked and a few hands raised. Remus didn't raise his hand since he hadn't gotten the cards out at all since buying them. "Good. That is good. Decks tend to form a bond with their owners. For those of you who have not used them yet, don't worry, you'll do fine. I want you to take the cards out and shuffle them."

Remus did so, finding the size to be a little awkward. They were bigger than playing cards and felt strange in his hands. He dropped half his deck on the table and swept them back up, feeling embarrassed until he noticed he wasn't the only one having trouble shuffling.

"What you will be doing is a simple and general past, present, and future pull for your partner," Hawkwood explained. "You will choose three cards and put them face down on the table before flipping them over when you're ready. The first represents your partner's past, the middle their present, and the third their future. Often you will be asking your deck a question or an idea of what you want from your cards, or something similar. For instance, other versions of a three card pull could include your situation, what you should do, and what might be the result. Or you could do one to represent yourself, one to represent someone you care about, and a card to represent your relationship. There are loads of different things you could do. Right now, as I said, we will be doing a simple past, present, future. Nothing specific. Have your books at the ready to interpret the cards. If you need help, let me know."

Remus stared at the backs of his cards, shuffling through and carefully choosing three of them. He set them down in front of him. David did the same for his deck. Then they began turning the cards over. Remus was struck with how pretty his own deck was for a split-second until he glanced over to see the cards David had pulled for him.

It felt like someone had slammed a giant sledgehammer into his entire body. He could not breathe. Couldn't breathe at all. Could barely even see. A stone grew in his chest, growing heavier and more painful with each second that passed.

David's deck was a fantastic beasts deck. Remus was dimly aware that the present card had a centaur on it and the future card had a lethifold, but it was the past card that held all his attention.

It showed a hill under a cloudy sky, and the figure of a man on top of the hill. As Remus watched, the clouds parted to reveal a bright and shining full moon. The figure on the hill began twisting and turning as their body changed into that of a wolf. Its head was thrown back in a silent howl, a silhouette against the bright moon. Then the clouds came back and the wolf turned back into a man before the whole thing started again.

Shit. Shit. Shit. SHIT!

Remus stared down at the three cards in front of him, trying not to freak out, trying not to scream, trying not to push his chair from the table and flee from the classroom. In fact, if the handle of the trapdoor wasn't silver he might have. But that would not only be suspicious if he tried to leave because of David's pull for him, he also couldn't leave at all.

Shit.

He glanced over, watching the full moon come back out and the figure turn into a wolf again.

He wanted to cry.

"—want to go first? Remus?" David touched his arm and Remus jerked in surprise. "You all right?"

"Y-yes," he got out. "I—I'll g-go first." He didn't want David to go at all, didn't want him to look at the past-werewolf card (which wasn't really representing a werewolf but a moon, one of the major arcana) and see Remus's past. "Right. Right." He took in a gulp of air, trying to focus on his own cards for David. Everything seemed a little blurry. The past card was a Gryffindor card, splashed with red. There were lines on it and—

Stop panicking!

He took in another gulp of air, rubbing his eyes. The cards came into better focus. There were six wands in an arch over a seventh wand. The six wands were glowing dimly while the main wand was bright, light and sparks shooting out forming both offensive and defensive spells. The single wand was a victor over the six opposing ones.

"Okay th-th-this is the—the s-s-seven of wands. Um. In—inverted," he added quickly as he flipped through his book. "It m-means, um, per—perplexity." He needed to get a grip on himself. Gulping in air, he slowed down his speech. "Embarrassment. Anxiety. Your past had—um, I guess it had a lot of—of emotions like that?" He glanced up into David's face. David was frowning, though looked more intent than annoyed. "You could have felt… judged in your—your life…"

He trailed off, realizing that was probably accurate for David. A Muggleborn who could do strange things. Judging by the expression in Dave's eyes, he was right.

"Um, yeah. Um—okay, the—the—hold on—" He quickly wrote all of this down then moved on. "Present."

It was another inverted card, and another wands card. Remus was briefly worried he hadn't shuffled well, though at least the third card wasn't a wand one. The present one was the three of wands, showing the wands planted in a sort of triangle over a running stream. The wands glowed slightly and the water moved gently along its course.

"Present. Um." Remus flipped back a few pages. "The end of, um, troubles. Suspension of… adversity. End of disapp—p-p-p—disappointment and toil." He kept seeing the movement on David's cards out of the corner of his eyes, the full moon appearing repeatedly. "Um, that something—something you've w-wanted has h-happened—a wish c-come true." No, no, calm down, calm, slow. "So I guess that… things you've wanted to happen has happened, that you're… maybe happier and more… settled?"

David bit his bottom lip, not saying anything.

Remus cleared his throat and moved on to the future card after writing the present information down. The third card was a Slytherin card, a splash of green across the black and silver. It was the five of cups. There were three cups knocked over, liquid pouring out, with two other cups sitting upright. There was a single eye floating above the cups, blinking. It was the only one not inverted.

"Five of cups. Um. Okay. Erm. It represents loss though not—there—there is something that remains even in the loss. Inheritance—"

David jerked a little at that, face going a bit ashy.

Remus clutched his book, shaking a little. "—um, grief, mourning." He didn't want to do this anymore. David was clearly upset. "Transmission. I th-think this means you'll… get something in the future. S-something through probably…" He trailed off. "It—it also r-represents marriage b-but there w-will be frustration and b-b-bitterness."

David was silent as Remus wrote all this down.

"It d-d-doesn't necessary m-mean anything," Remus whispered, repeating what Professor Hawkwood had told them a few moments before. "It—it's not a—it's not set in st-stone. It's open to interpret—"

"Yeah," David cut in. "Yeah, I know."

Remus closed his book, wanting to disappear as David got his own book out to read his cards for Remus.

"Right, your past is the moon," he said.

Don't I know it, Remus thought bitterly.

"This represents hidden enemies, danger, deception, erm, terror, darkness, error," he read from his book. "So… you were deceived by something? There was a lot of danger and darkness and fear in your past?" Slowly he looked up at Remus, a little startled.

Remus gave a slight shrug, trying his hardest to keep calm. This felt as dangerous and frightening as seeing Twycross's boggart turn into a werewolf. "I'm s-s-sick," he mumbled. "There's been d-d-danger and fear in my life since." He wasn't sure what the deception could mean though the error part was clear: his error in going outside under that stupid, damned moon, to the hidden enemy of the werewolf.

"Right." David averted his gaze as he wrote all of this down. "Okay."

Remus fully regretted taking Divination now. Arithmancy had said those things about him but this was… this was so much worse. Someone had pulled the full moon to represent his past. What if somehow through Divination people discovered the truth? Would that happen? Should he risk it?

Why the moon? he silently moaned, clutching his stomach. The werewolf kept transforming and Remus could almost feel his own bones shifting, pushing, growing. He wanted to throw up.

"Your present card—" David gave a slight laugh. "I can see this is accurate." Remus was dimly aware of David grinning at him and suddenly he was terrified his present card somehow revealed he was a werewolf. "It's the two of swords." He searched his brain for any memory of what that card meant. Transformation? Pain? Curses? "It means friendship." Remus looked up in surprise. Friendship? David continued with, "Affection. Courage. Intimacy." Remus jumped a little at that one, mind immediately going to Sirius and his offer of sharing a bed. NOT! LIKE! THAT! he yelled at his brain. "Uh, concord in a state of arms, whatever that means."

"Conc-cord means harmony between a group of people," Remus explained, wondering how both cards could be so… accurate to his life. The past hit the nail on the head, and the present clearly represented the Marauders.

David wrote this down then moved on. "Okay, your future. The nine of swords. Oh." His voice fell silent and he didn't speak.

"Wh-what is it?"

David stared down at his book then back up. "Nothing. It—it means—it means um—delay. It means delay. I guess something in your life is going to be delayed."

Remus narrowed his eyes. "What else?" he asked and David remained silent. "I can look it up my-myself, you know."

David let out a breath. "Fine. It means death. Death, despair, deception, failure, isolation, and nightmares." He snapped the book shut. "As you said, this doesn't mean anything. It's not set in stone."

Remus barely heard him. The words swirled in his head. Failure, despair, isolation. He began taking short, quick breaths as the words pulsed brighter and brighter until it was all he could see. Oh Merlin. Oh Merlin.

Suddenly, Professor Hawkwood was at his side. "Are you going to be sick, Mr. Lupin?"

Remus couldn't answer. His ability to breathe was gone again though he thought he was making funny little wheezing sounds. The next thing he knew he was being pulled by Hawkwood through a door and into an office just as tidy as the classroom. He was sat in a chair and his head was gently pushed down to somewhere around his knees, with an empty rubbish bin between his feet.

"Which card did you get?" Hawkwood inquired.

Remus felt bile rising. He knew if he tried to reply he'd simply throw up.

"The cards are not fixed. It is not 'this is what will happen for sure'. The cards merely suggest possibilities and there are many different ways to interpret what is given." Remus remained silent. "I will return momentarily."

Remus got sick into the bin almost as soon as the door shut. He nearly fell to the ground and had to clutch the arms of the chair to stay upright. It wasn't the death part of the card that bothered him or worried him. He… wasn't afraid of death. How many years had been spent knowing he would die if anyone found out about him? How many years spent knowing one wrong step would lead to his execution? It was something he had come to terms with at probably a much too young age. No. It was the rest of it. Specifically isolation.

Being alone.

Nobody around.

Losing his friends.

He groaned and threw up again. This time he did end up on the floor, curling into a little ball as he pictured something that had haunted his nightmares before: him, withering away, completely alone.

Of course he knew it would happen, right? He'd lose his friends after graduation. No matter what they promised, they—it was ridiculous to think three wizards would willingly chain themselves to a werewolf. Here in the school it was one thing. They were restricted to the school. They could have fun, play, pull pranks, all sorts of things. But once real life started…

Isolation.

He climbed back into the chair as Hawkwood returned to the room. "Th-thank you," he managed to get out. "F-for b-b-bringing me in h-here."

"You wouldn't be the first to react poorly," Hawkwood said, folding his arms as he looked down his nose at Remus. "And I do not like people getting sick all over my classroom. Are you feeling better?"

"A—a bit."

"Mr. Struthers said you were given the nine of swords as your future."

Remus closed his eyes, not wanting to talk about it.

"It does not necessarily mean death," Hawkwood continued. "That is only one interpretation. And it is not only the others that Mr. Struthers told you. It also means anxiety, worries, and fears. You are ill? Not sick in the moment from the card but you have a lifelong illness?"

Remus looked up, having momentarily forgotten that Hawkwood was one of the teachers that didn't know the truth. "Yes," he croaked out.

"Your card could simply mean in the future you are worried and afraid. Considering your illness, that is a very natural and understandable card to receive."

Remus ducked his head again, wondering if that's all the card meant. He was worried, anxious, and afraid all the time. That was who he was. Maybe that's what the card meant, that he would continue to feel this way his whole life. Plus nightmares. That—that was part of him too.

"So the—" He hesitated, not wanting to admit it was the isolation part that worried him. "It d-d-doesn't mean… one of the—the words… is a g-guarante-te-teed interpret-tation."

Hawkwood nodded curtly. "Correct. Never take the card to mean simply what the words state. It is not so cut and dry. Are you able to return to class? It is almost over."

Remus got up, pulling the hem of his robe up to wipe his mouth off on the inside of his robe, since Hawkwood hadn't offered anything and he didn't have any handkerchiefs with him. Hawkwood made his rubbish bin disappear before taking Remus back out. He held his head high, ignoring the stares everyone was giving him. There were several snickers and he knew this was going to make everything worse.

Dave whispered an apology as soon as Remus sat back down, and Magpie reached out, touching his sleeve, asking if he was all right.

"Yeah, I—I'm not—not f-feeling well," he said, knowing nobody would believe it.

Hawkwood finished up the lesson, reiterating the same thing he had told Remus about interpreting cards. Then he asked that everyone spend as much time with their deck as possible. Even if they didn't do any spreads, simply shuffling the cards and touching them would help the bond.

"But do not be afraid to do pulls," Hawkwood added as everyone gathered their things. "Even asking your deck one question and turning over a card for an answer. Get yourself as familiar as you can. Have a good evening."

Remus was one of the last ones to leave the classroom on purpose but there were enough students around that he could hear what they were saying. Loopy Lupin. Weird Lupin. Oddball Lupin. The Slytherins were all laughing hysterically at what happened with Chloe Urswick pretending like she was emptying her cauldron, and that's when Dave admitted they could hear the retching through the door. Everyone knew Remus had gotten sick. In fact, the only ones not snickering about it were Dave, Magpie, Pierce, Bones, and Rivers. The five of them remained on the landing after he climbed down the ladder, making sure he was all right. Once his feet hit the floor he felt dizzy. He promised multiple times that he was, feeling overwhelmed by all of them being there. He was growing hot from being crowded in and itchy from their attention. It took a lot of effort not to shove past them all and flee to his dorm.

"I'm s-s-sorry, I'm r-really h-hungry," he managed to say, keeping his twitching hands close to his legs. "We sh-should get to s-supper."

That worked, and the crowd of them began making their way to the Great Hall. Remus hung behind to give himself some air and was grateful when he was able to rush to the other Marauders, feeling better once he was in their company. The hot fear from Divination began melting away though when they asked about the class, he made a joke about how the cards told him he made an error as a child that involved an enemy. He rolled his eyes to show his amusement and then changed the conversation to find out what they had done in his absence, glad they didn't bring Divination up again.

This, he thought as he poked his food, is going to be a rough year…