Author's Note: My plan for December is to post a chapter every Tuesday with a bonus chapter on Christmas; I'm hoping in January I can return to the one-two-one-two style I was doing but I don't want to overdo it right now. Thank y'all for your patience, love, and support!

CW: reference to unintentional self-harm (scratching self).

-x-

Remus woke up with a loud cry of 'no!'. He sat upright, panting hard as he stared at the darkness, trying to remember where he was. Bed, Hogwarts. Not—

It had been similar to the one from the summer, with Remus being thrown to the wolf. He thought maybe there had been more to the nightmare but it was beginning to go fuzzy.

Ugh. He curled forward, rubbing his head. A week. A week with only vague nightmares and nothing too intrusive and now he was back to having awful ones. He had hoped that with the start of school they'd stop, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

"Remus?"

Suppressing a sigh, Remus pushed his curtains aside to let Sirius climb into his bed. "I didn't think I was that loud," he whispered as Sirius climbed over his legs to sit cross-legged at his feet.

"You were whimpering a lot," Sirius replied. "Tossing and turning."

"Oh."

Sirius pushed his hair back, silvery eyes glinting in what little light reached Remus's bed. "This is the first one you've had since coming back to school, isn't it?"

Remus shrugged, pushing himself back to sit against the headboard. "The first to wake me up like this. What time is it?"

"About two."

He rubbed his eyes. He'd have to get up in a little over four hours, and had only gone to sleep about two hours before. Astronomy tomorrow night too, he reminded himself, feeling very exhausted. If he dropped Arithmancy he could at least sleep in an extra hour on Tuesday morning…

"What are you shaking your head about?" Sirius asked.

Remus realized he had been very quiet. "Oh. Nothing. I'm just really tired, and already done with this week." He did give a sigh now, drawing his knees to his chest. "At least I'll get plenty of sleep in the hospital wing."

Sirius's brow furrowed. "You're doing too much, aren't you? Didn't you sign up for that magic lecture thing too?"

"Magical Theory," Remus corrected. "Yes. The first one is this Saturday."

"You're going to miss the Quidditch tryouts then," Sirius said.

Remus felt his heart sinking slightly. He had already forgotten that the Gryffindor tryouts were Saturday evening. "They'll do Chasers last, won't they?" he asked hesitantly. "I might be able to make it. I'll try to. Besides, there's no way James won't make it. It's more or less only to find a replacement for… er, Litten."

"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "I'm sure James will understand." That made the guilt worse. "Slytherin tryouts are in the afternoon," Sirius continued when Remus remained silent. "Want to sneak in with me?"

"Er." Remus hesitated, not really sure why Sirius was asking. "I can, yes."

"Oh, didn't you hear?" Sirius smiled, looking rather amused. "Silverlocke is trying out. I thought you'd like to see."

Remus straightened up. Aegis was trying out for the team? He had mentioned it the previous year when talking about trying to fit in with the Slytherins more but Remus hadn't been sure how serious Aegis was. It looked like he was very serious. "I didn't know. Yeah, I'd really like to be there for him. Are we taking the cloak?"

Sirius gave a yawn. "We'll probably have to, if James doesn't mind. I wish I could simply go."

"It isn't fair they won't let you watch your brother try out," Remus agreed, thinking the rivalry was very dumb. "Do you know what he's trying out for? Regulus, I mean, not Aegis."

"No…" Sirius unfolded his legs and stretched them out next to Remus, his socked toes wriggling. "The only positions open are Chaser and Seeker. I think he's going to try for the Seeker position, he's got the build and the reflexes. You know, I might try out for Chaser."

"What?" Remus was shocked at the big news dropped so suddenly. "You—really?"

"Maybe," he said, holding up a finger. "I haven't decided yet. Cassie's trying out and I'd feel bad if I got the position over her."

"If you really want to try out you should," Remus urged.

Sirius flopped backwards so he was laying down. "Eh. I wouldn't mind being on the team, I think it'd be fun—but I don't know if I wanna be a Chaser. No offense to James," he added with a laugh.

"Let me know if you do decide to try out," Remus said.

"Will you skip Magical Theory for me?"

Remus bit his lip, thinking about the question. "Yes," he finally said.

Sirius sat back up, looking far too excited. "You would? For me and not James?"

"James is already on the team," Remus pointed out. "It's only a formality he has to try out, unless somehow there are two Chasers so outstanding that Bell decides to bump James off which would be one of the stupidest decisions she could ever make."

"If James wasn't on the team and trying out would you skip Magical Theory for him?" Sirius asked.

"Er, yes," Remus said, noticing Sirius looked a little disappointed. "Why? You're my friends. If you were going for something new of course I'd like to be there to cheer you on. If Peter was trying out I'd be there too."

"You're a good friend."

"So are you."

Sirius cracked a grin. "Do you want me to go to Magical Theory to cheer you on?" Then he began making pumping motions with his fists, waving his arms in the air. "Go-Go-Go Remus, Theorize that Magic, yeah!"

Remus doubled over, covering his face to try to smother the laughter. He twisted around, burying his face into his pillows. The sound absorption spells on the curtains were strong but he didn't want to risk it, and he was wanting to laugh hard. Sirius moved around and flopped back down so his head was on one of Remus's other pillows when Remus sat back up.

"If it didn't conflict with the tryouts, you'd do that too," he giggled.

"Maybe I'll skip tryouts to cheer you on," he teased.

Remus poked him. "You'll get in trouble for causing a ruckus during the lesson."

Sirius did a dramatic pose, still lying down. "My specialty. What's life without some trouble? Boring." He smiled up at Remus, looking so lovely that it made Remus start aching all over.

"You should get back to bed," he said, pushing at Sirius now. "It's late, we need to sleep. We have class in a few hours."

Sirius reluctantly sat up. "Did… you want me to stay?"

Remus sucked in some air, hoping Sirius wouldn't ask that question tonight. Yes, yes, yes! he wanted to say, and it had nothing to do with his nightmares. He also didn't think it had much to do with his wrong feelings. He simply wanted someone there, warmth, a heartbeat, comfort. He'd say yes to James or Peter. But he had to say no to Sirius, because of his wrong feelings.

"No, thank you, I'm doing a lot better and the nightmare wasn't that bad."

"All right. Er. If you don't want me to ask again—"

"I—I don't mind," Remus said. "We shared before. But I'm okay tonight, really. You cheered me up."

Sirius smiled again. "I'm glad I can. Goodnight then, Remy."

"G'nite Sirius. Ouch!"

Sirius was climbing over him again and kneed Remus in the hip. "Oops! Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!" Remus closed his curtains after Sirius tumbled out of his bed and lay down, staring up at the canopy of his bed, knowing he was going to have a lot of trouble getting back to sleep. Sirius's scent lingered a little on his bed and he rolled over, pulling the pillow Sirius had been using closer.

-x-

Lily and Remus walked to Potions together, discussing both what Magical Theory would be like as well as the first meeting of Potions Club for her, which was Saturday afternoon. The other Marauders and girls were ahead of them, racing. Sirius was giving Cassie a piggyback ride and James was giving Alice a piggyback ride and they were running down the corridor, all four of them shrieking with laughter. Peter had raced ahead to be there in case it was a close ending.

"Who is in charge of Magical Theory?" Lily inquired.

Remus shrugged, having no idea. "Flitwick? Is Slughorn in charge of Potions Club?"

Lily shook her head. "No, it's run by students but it's a club, not an extra lesson thingy, like Magical Theory is." She folded her arms and sighed. "I sort've wanted to join Magical Theory too, but…"

"But?"

"Nothing." She smiled which did nothing to dispel the curiosity pounding away at Remus's brain. "Besides, I don't want to miss watching Cassie try out tonight! Who won?"

They reached the Potions classroom, meeting up with their sweaty friends. James and Alice both punched a fist victoriously in the air.

"Your long legs have nothing on my strength!" James teased Sirius, pumping his arms to flex his arms even though his biceps were hidden under all his clothes

Sirius responded by kicking at him. "I have more reach than you," he laughed, easily dancing out of the way of James kicking back. "Shorty!"

"If he's short, what does that make me?" demanded Peter who was a few inches shorter than James.

"Small." Sirius then turned a wicked grin at Remus. "And you—"

"Don't," Remus moaned.

"—are tiny!"

"I think he's lying about his age," sneered a voice. It was Avery. He, Mulciber, and Bulstrode were standing nearby, trying to get into the Potions classroom. "He's even shorter than all the girls in our year. He's probably only eleven!"

"If that's the case, how do you feel being bested by someone so much younger than you?" James asked with a sly smile. Avery's nostrils flared and he pushed past the seven of them, storming into the classroom. "What, no brilliant comeback?" James shouted after him.

Sirius flung an arm across James's shoulders. "That isn't fair, Jimsy. You can't expect a Slytherin to think of a good response without at least a week's warning to get their brain started!"

He, James, Peter, and Cassie all laughed while Alice tried not to look amused. Lily's temper flared up. "It's not right to lump all Slytherins together, Sirius Black!"

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "It is when that's what most Slytherins are: lumps."

More laughter and Lily swished into the classroom, disgusted. Remus gave Sirius a look as he went into class too; sometimes it was a hard choice whether to laugh at his friends' Slytherin jokes or stand up for the Slytherins who didn't deserve those jokes. The problem was so many of them did deserve it. Like Avery. And Snape, who spent half the class glaring at the back of Remus's head. At one point Remus turned to give him a look back, and Snape sneered, turning his attention back to his work.

"Eyes at your own potion, Lupin," Slughorn said pleasantly.

Remus turned back to the potion he and Sirius were working on, soon feeling Snape glaring at him again. What did I do this time? I didn't do anything! Why did Snape seem so adamant on hating Remus this year?

"Has Snape said anything about me?" Remus asked Aegis as they left the classroom together, mostly because Remus wanted to ask about Quidditch. Except the question about Snape came out instead.

"Besides the usual?" Aegis asked.

"The usual?"

Aegis gave a slight shrug. "The same things he always says about you and your friends."

"Let me guess, James is a rich prat, Sirius is an annoying jerk, Peter's too pathetic, and I'm a diseased lunatic?" Remus wagered. Aegis gave a minuscule nod. "I'm not surprised. I don't know, it just seems he is angrier than usual at me lately."

"I have noticed that," Aegis agreed. "He has been ranting about you in particular more than usual, however I do not know why. I will try to find out."

Remus sighed. "Only if you overhear anything. I don't want you putting yourself on the line for me—oh! I meant to ask, is it true you're trying out for the team?"

Aegis's cheeks went slightly pink. "Ah, yes. I know I most likely will not make it on the team unless everyone else who has signed up is phenomenally awful… but I am still eager to at least try."

Remus smiled at him. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course."

"I'll be there to watch you. Quietly cheer you on."

Aegis narrowed his eyes. "There is no possible way the Slytherins would allow a Gryffindor to watch their tryouts, much less a friend of Mr. Potter's."

Remus shrugged. "I know. That's why I'll have to be quiet in cheering you on, so they don't know I'm there. But I want to be there anyway." He thought about adding that Sirius wanted to watch Regulus then changed his mind; that was Sirius's 'secret', not his.

Aegis stopped since they were at where they'd have to go their separate ways. Remus to History, Aegis to whichever class he had next. "Thank you. That means a lot to me."

"Of course. I'll see you in Runes."

Remus took off to catch up with his friends and make it to History in time. He considered asking Lily if she knew why Snape was being particularly bad, but that would probably cause an argument between the two of them. Lily cared for Snape for some reason, and Remus didn't want to rock the boat, so to speak. So he decided to let it go, and figured if it mattered he'd find out eventually.

-x-

Tuesday morning was very hard for Remus to wake up. When his alarm began ringing he turned it off and rolled over, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep. It was the day of the full moon and he could feel it in his bones. He hurt all over and felt like he could sleep for another three years straight.

"Remus?"

"Mmmmph."

Someone was shaking him. "Remy, are you going to class?"

He sat up, nearly banging into Peter. "Huh? What? What time is it?"

"Only seven," Peter said, frowning. "Are you going to class or are you, um… er, because of—not feeling well?"

Remus blinked at him. "Do I look not well?"

Pete squinted at him. "A little, not as bad as you have before though."

Remus wriggled out of bed and trudged to one of the mirrors, peering at his reflection. He looked a little unwell however he looked a lot better than most full moons. He needed to take advantage of that. "I feel good enough to go to class," he said, grabbing his wash bag.

Peter followed him into the bathroom. "Does that mean your mum is going to be sick?"

"Yes…"

"Oh."

Remus dumped some tooth cleansing potion in his mouth and began brushing to avoid talking further about it. He knew his friends hated it when he used his mother as an excuse, since that meant they couldn't visit him in the hospital wing. He hated it for the same reason—he liked it when his friends could brighten up the days of the full moon—but he also needed to be as cautious as possible.

"What are you doing up so early?" he asked after rinsing his mouth out.

Pete leaned against another sink. "I, um, didn't sleep well. I woke up kinda early and decided to get pictures of the sunrise instead of going back to sleep. When I came back up I was surprised you were still in bed."

"Have you not been sleeping well?" Remus asked.

Peter frowned, shifting his gaze away. "Not really."

"I'm sorry. How bad is it? Maybe you could talk to Pomfrey?"

"No." Pete shook his head hard. "It's not—it's—it's nightmares."

Remus turned to face him. He started to say he had nightmares too and understood then changed his mind, not wanting to make it about him like he always did. "I'm sorry," he said again. "I guess Pomfrey can't really help, then." Dreamless sleep potion would help but Pete wouldn't be allowed to take it too much, since it was a potion one could easily get addicted to. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Okay."

Remus started brushing his hair while Peter gave a sighing sort of huff. Then, "Maybe. Yeah. With you. Don't—don't tell the others, okay?"

"I'd never," Remus promised.

Peter chewed at his bottom lip. "I've been having nightmares about… there."

Remus knew exactly where 'there' was. The cavern under the school, the maze they were lost in. He stared at Peter for several seconds before setting his brush down and closing the gap between them so he could hug Pete. "I'm sorry," he said yet again.

Peter hugged back. "S'not your fault." Technically speaking it is, Remus thought miserably. "Sometimes it's not bad. Usually it's not. Last night it was." Remus released Peter to go back to brushing. "I kept falling down the pipe and trying to climb up. You and the others were at the top laughing at me 'cause I couldn't climb up. Then a skeleton fell on me and knocked me down into the water an' I drowned."

Remus dropped his hairbrush this time and flung himself at Peter, hugging him tightly once more, tighter than before. Peter sniffled, and Remus felt some dampness against his ear.

"You know we'd never," Remus whispered, still holding on.

"I know. I know it wasn't—it wasn't really you guys," Pete whimpered. "It felt so real though. When I woke up I had a hard time remembering if I actually climbed up the pipe or if you pulled me up with the rope. How stupid is that? I couldn't remember."

"It's not stupid," Remus said, still not letting go, not wanting to ever let go. "Remember when I asked the other day about… things? It can be hard to tell… to remember what was real and what's not. Especially when dreams add to that. Sometimes our dreams can feel so real it's even harder to remember correctly."

"Do… you have that problem? That dreams feel so real?"

Finally they parted, mostly because Remus realized he probably shouldn't spend the entire morning hugging his friend, as much as he wanted to. "Yes," he admitted, scooping his hairbrush up off the floor. "A lot of times. Do you remember last year when I had blood all over my sleeves? It was because of a nightmare. I kept feeling it really happened and kept scratching at my arms even after I woke up."

Pete scrunched his face up. "Oh, shit, yeah, I remember."

"It's happened before too," Remus confessed. "If you ever need help, wake me up. Okay? I mean it. I don't care how asleep I am. If you ever need any confirmation of what's real and what's a dream, wake me up."

Peter met his eyes and nodded. "You can wake me up too, if you need it. Um. Do you want me to come to breakfast with you?"

"Not unless you want to," Remus said, putting everything back in his wash bag. "If you need more sleep you can probably get another hour's worth."

"I might try, if—if that's okay—"

Remus smiled at him. "Please get some more sleep."

"Yeah. Okay. Um. Thank you for listening and—and talking to me…"

Remus gave Pete's arm a little squeeze as he walked by, hoping he was able to get a little more sleep.

-x-

Remus struggled through Arithmancy. His mind was very foggy and it was difficult doing the number charts for what he was given to work on. He kept making mistakes and had to cross many numbers out and redo them. Finally he got a new sheet of parchment out to copy everything over in a neater way, not wanting to give Professor Talkalot any suspicion that he wasn't well, since he was using his mother as an excuse this month.

"You were awfully quiet during discussion," Lily said as they left the classroom. "You look tired."

Remus rubbed his eyes. "I—I didn't sleep well, that's all. Astronomy last night, then not sleeping well…" He trailed off, giving her a smile.

"You're not having another relapse are you?" she asked, rather bluntly.

Remus hoped his gulp wasn't too noticeable. "No. I feel fine. Er, I'll see you later."

He and Aegis kept walking together to Muggle Studies, Aegis thankfully not remarking on Remus's apparent exhaustion or odd silence in class. At least Muggle Studies didn't require as much concentration as Arithmancy. Professor Lewis talked about the history of electricity for a while then put on the telly, showing off some historical programs. They watched Queen Elizabeth's coronation which was very neat since Lewis had spoken about how big this event was the previous week, and they also watched bits of something called the Olympics which James was very intrigued by.

"So Muggles from all over the world get together to compete in different sports?" James asked, not bothering to raise his hand.

Lewis shot him a look. Then raised her hand, staring blankly at James until he understood. Meekly he raised his hand and when she called on him he repeated his question. "Yes. They're called the Olympics. They have a summer Olympics—like what you just saw—and winter Olympics. They are like the Quidditch world cup and happen every four years." She went on to give a brief explanation of the Olympics, explaining about several of the sports because most of the class had no idea what a lot of them were. Since a lot of the class seemed fascinated she promised to find more footage to share with them.

Of course after class ended it was all James could talk about. He spoke nonstop about how exciting the Olympics sounded, and that maybe he could convince his parents to take him to see some of the 1976 Olympics since that would be the next one. His eyes then lit up and he began jumping around as he told them about how Hogwarts should have Olympic events.

"Not just Quidditch, I mean, like a big competition with loads of different things!" James was practically vibrating with excitement. "We should all go see McGonagall later or Dumbledore to talk to them about it. I think it'd be so much fun! Maybe have points for awards!"

"Would we do Muggle sports?" Peter asked.

James spread his hands out. "Maybe. We could, or come up with magical variations. I dunno. I think some big event would be so much fun."

"Like the Triw-wi-wi-wiiizard Tournament," Remus yawned.

"The whaty-what?" James asked.

"Triwizard Tournament," he repeated, rubbing his eyes. "Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrangs used to get together every few years. There'd be a champion from each school and they'd compete."

"Bloody BRILLIANT!" James screeched, his voice garnering the attention of several students nearby. "Why don't they still do that? Why can't we do that still? I wanna compete! I wanna be a champion! That sounds incredible!" He made a pose. "I'd make a brilliant champion!"

Remus suppressed another yawn. "Death. Too many deaths, so they canceled doing it. There hasn't been a Tournament since the eighteenth century."

James stuck his lower lip out in a pout. "Oh. That's no fun."

"What, the deaths or the fact they canceled it?" Sirius asked with a snicker, knowing his friend.

"Both," James admitted with a grin.

Then suddenly Sirius grabbed Remus by the collar of his robes, yanking him back before he walked off a flight of stairs. "Whoa there. Pay attention, mate."

"Er. Yeah…" Remus peered down the stairs, grateful his friends were paying more attention than he was. "I'm really tired. I might take a nap. Would you wake me up for lun—no, for Transfiguration? I'll skip lunch, and eat a big supper."

"Should you be skipping meals?" Peter asked. "Doesn't… um… um… you know… didn't you say before that it burns off a lot of energy? Isn't that why you lost a lotta weight the one time?"

Remus glared at him. "Yes… however it'll be fine, I'll eat plenty tonight, I promise. I need sleep more than I need food right now. Besides, I have some sweets I can eat."

Except he didn't have any sweets at all. As soon as he got into bed he fell into a deep sleep, not waking up until fifteen till one when the Marauders woke him up for class. He checked his reflection before heading down, making sure he still looked okay enough, which he did. Even if it was next to impossible to pay attention in class. McGonagall's words made very little sense to him and his notes even less so. In Charms, he was supposed to be freezing water. It was a spell he had done before multiple times. He was good at turning things to ice. However he ended up turning his bowl of water somehow into mud instead of ice, and the mud began filling up in the bowl until it glopped over the sides, oozing out across his desk. Flitwick took a point off Gryffindor even though he gave Remus a sympathetic look.

"I'm surprised you couldn't manage such an easy spell," sneered Snape as they left. "I could freeze water a year ago! Some brilliant student you are."

Before Remus could think of something to say, Sirius said, rather loudly, "—rude of you to be like that, Snape!" without any apparent reason until Remus saw Lily coming out of the classroom.

She paused when she heard that, looking over at them. "What's going on?" she asked. "Why are you accusing Severus of being rude?"

"He—" Snape began but Sirius cut him off with, "Snape was making fun of Remus for having so much trouble focusing when his mother is extremely ill."

Lily looked at Snape. "What? Why would you do that?"

"I—I never said that!" Snape protested. "I didn't even know his mother was ill! How was I supposed to know?!"

"Very heartless," James chimed in.

"All I said was how ridiculous it is that the so-called genius couldn't manage a simple freezing spell!" Snape growled out, then he pressed his lips thin when he realized he just confessed to making fun of Remus to Lily. "I mean—"

"It is hard to do spells when you're worried about someone," Lily said, looking a little taken aback.

Snape licked his lips nervously, black eyes darting back and forth between Lily and Remus. "I know! I mean, I didn't know his mother was ill. I said I didn't know."

"Well, you shouldn't be teasing him anyway," she said softly.

If looks could kill, Remus would be dead with the one Snape gave him. Then he whirled around, storming down the hallway.

"Also." Lily turned to Sirius. "It's apparent he didn't know Remus's mother is ill. That's no excuse but—" She paused, flushing slightly. "It was still rude of him to say regardless."

"It was," James said with a nod.

"Is she bad?" Lily turned to Remus now.

"Er, y—yeah," he said, jumping slightly. "I got a note earlier. I—I'm probably going to go home after Divination though I'm hoping to be back by lunch tomorrow, if it's not as bad as—if she's not—if—if you know, it isn't too bad."

Lily gave Remus a big hug. "I hope she's feeling better."

"Th-thank you."

During the free period between Charms and Divination, Remus hung out with the other Marauders in a secret passage. Or that was the intention. Instead he curled up with his head on his satchel and fell asleep. When his friends woke him up he found Sirius's robes covering him like a blanket.

"I'm surprised you fell asleep on the stone floor so easily," Peter said as Remus got up, stretching out.

I'm used to it. "I'm exhausted," he pointed out. "Er, I'll probably be going right after Divination so… guess I'll see you guys on Friday."

They each gave him a hug, wishing him a safe moon, and Remus headed off to Divination. They were still focusing on tarot cards and Remus sleepily shuffled his cards. He felt guilty for not touching his cards since that stupid moment in the library, and reminded himself when he came back to start doing something at least once a day.

How is my moon going to go? he asked, flipping a card over. The eight of cups. He thumbed through the books, writing down the interpretation without writing down the question. Disappointment, abandonment… something is missing… dissatisfaction.

Remus bit his lip, suspecting what it might mean. The fact he wouldn't have the Marauders with him. The card could also mean exhaustion and a time of transformation which was just plain cruel. It could also mean saying goodbye to a bad situation or leaving a bad situation, as well as joy, timidity, modesty… there were just so many options connected to each card. Timidity, Remus thought as tucked the card back into the deck, wondering if maybe that meant it wouldn't be too bad though of course the negative meanings were more common than that so…

As usual, Remus left class with David, Magpie, and Nettle, though he stopped when they reached the second floor. "I—I'll see you, um, t-romorrow." He stood on a landing, running his finger along his satchel strap. "My—my mother is d-doing… er, she's very ill s-so I'm going home t-t-tonight. She—she feels better when I'm w-with her."

"Oh, damn, I'm so sorry," David said.

"I hope she feels better soon," Magpie said, and Nettle chimed in her agreement. Then suddenly Magpie reached out, grabbing Remus's hand and giving it a squeeze. "I'm sending all my well wishes."

Remus thanked them then acted like he was walking to Dumbledore's office. Once they disappeared he backtracked and took a secret corridor to get to the other side of the castle. From there he took other back routes to the hospital wing. It was still just under three hours until sunset so he had plenty of time though as soon as he went into the empty hospital wing, Pomfrey got the cloak out that she used to disguise him, and took him out of the school.

"I'll be coming to get you in the morning," she said firmly when they were in the secret passage under the Whomping Willow.

Remus nodded, expecting nothing less. The previous year they experimented with him staying at the house during the day but that was ended when Pomfrey discovered he was lying about his injuries, pretending they weren't as bad as they really were. He wondered if he'd ever be able to stay during the day alone. He preferred it. It was easier! But it wasn't his decision—though he supposed once he turned seventeen he could insist on it, as an adult.

"Oh!" Remus exclaimed when they climbed up into the house. A lot of the furniture had been replaced or repaired, and some of the bloodstains had been scrubbed away. All the blankets were new except for Peter's blanket. The best part was up in the bedroom. The wardrobe where he kept his things had been on the verge of falling apart at the end of his second year, and now there was a brand new one.

"That has some spells on it to hopefully keep it sturdier," Pomfrey said. "There is food in the Cooler." Cooler was what most magical folks called what Muggles called refrigerators. Remus was used to calling them fridges, because of his mother. "Do you need anything before I go?"

"I don't think so, thank you Madame Pomfrey," Remus said, pulling his satchel off his shoulder.

Pomfrey left the house and Remus went downstairs, collapsing down on the new sofa. He ran his fingers across the plump red cushions, hoping he wouldn't destroy it on the first night. It was really nice. So nice he was tempted to go to sleep but he did need food. With a grunt he forced himself into the kitchen, pulling the few food items from the fridge. It was connected to a fridge back at Hogwarts that the house-elves kept decently supplied. There wasn't a lot of choice, but it was usually things he liked.

Tonight he filled himself up on cold beef, cheese, and bread, feeling like an old adventurer from medieval times as he tore hunks of the bread with his mouth. Once his stomach was almost aching he went upstairs to put all his things in the wardrobe. He stripped completely naked since he knew he'd probably fall asleep; he was struggling to stay awake as it was. After he put the last of his clothes in the wardrobe and locked it, he wrapped Peter's blanket around himself and went back downstairs to go to sleep on the couch until the sun set and the moon tore the wolf from his bones.