A Matter of Time
Fanfiction: Harry Potter, Marauders era, pre-HPSS
Characters: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew
Rating: K
Disclaimer: Don't own them, aren't making any money, can't take any credit.
"Madame Pomfrey won't let us in to see him. Again!"
"Then we'll just have to sneak up there, won't we?"
"What time d'you think she-"
"Remus!" Peter Pettigrew cried, cutting Sirius and James' discussion in half.
"Lupin?" James marveled, turning around to stare.
Remus Lupin was striding across the flattened October grass of the grounds toward them, a broad smile on his gaunt face.
"Do you know anyone else with that name?" he asked mildly, still grinning.
"Do you look like hell!" Sirius accused with a laugh, "We were plotting to come rescue you!"
"Rescue me?" Lupin queried, lifting an eyebrow.
"Madame Pomfrey wouldn't let us come see you," James told him, lifting the edge of one of Lupin's tattered sleeves, "What's she been doing, torturing you?"
A trace of alarm crossed Lupin's face and he tugged his sleeve back from James' examination. "I was ill, of course. She was right to keep you away, I wasn't much of a sight."
Sirius snorted. "Like we care."
"Next time, we're definitely coming to see you, whether she likes it or not," James assured him.
"Next time?" Lupin looked wholly alarmed at this remark.
"Surely you've noticed that you've worse health than us three put together? It's only a matter of time."
Lupin smiled faintly. "I had noticed, actually."
"Are you alright?" Pettigrew asked, beaming up at him with watery eyes.
"Fine, fine. Bit tired. Miss anything good?"
Sirius rolled his eyes. "You tell him," he tossed at James, elbowing him in the ribs.
"Me?"
Lupin frowned. "What? What'd I miss?"
"I thought it was pretty cool," Peter enthused.
"You would, Peter," Sirius growled, tossing back his hair.
"James, Sirius, what happened?"
"Tell you later," Sirius muttered; Professor Binns was tottering across the grounds, a stack of parchment tucked under one arm.
"Masters Potter, Pettigrew, Black, Master Remus Lupin," he acknowledged as he passed in his bored, apathetic voice.
Lupin rolled his eyes when he was out of range. "'Master Remus Lupin'. Honestly, I bet he thinks I have a twin."
"A twin?" Pettigrew looked confused.
"Don't you know anything, Pettigrew?" Sirius drawled vaguely, watching several pretty girls strolling along the shore of the icy lake. "Remus and Romulus, muggle mythology. Orphan twins raised by a wolf, went on to found the city of Rome."
Lupin's smile became rather fixed. "People assume that, like my namesake, I have a twin."
Peter frowned. "Oh. Cool name though."
James sighed and turned away. It was a cool name, though, Pettigrew was right. More interesting than James Potter anyway. Why wasn't he named after constellations or wolves?
He glanced up at the gloomy October sky where a waning gibbous moon could faintly be seen, fighting a losing battle with the murky clouds. Raised by wolves...Only a matter of time. Time. A waning moon.
A sudden, horrible, absurd thought had just occurred to him. He pushed it away. No, it couldn't be...could it?
She was right to keep you away...I was ill, of course. Surely you've noticed that you've worse health than us three put together? It's only a matter of time. Time.
"James?"
He ignored Sirius, staring at Remus in his shabby robes, aware that his mouth was open slightly. How often had they joked to him about the rips and mends that crisscrossed the black fabric, jesting that he went through more robes in a month than they did in a year. A month. And he looked so tired; there were dark circles under his eyes and the smile on his lips was tight, as though he kept it there only by effort. His rumpled, stand-up hair and the weariness in his eyes lent appearance better to someone who had spent a sleepless night rampaging around than a boy just out of the sick wing. A sleepless night.
"James?" Pettigrew squeaked, "Are you alright?"
James held up a hand in irritation, thinking hard.
Madame Pomfrey never letting anyone in. Ill every month, coming back tired, a total mess. Every month. Remus...raised by wolves. A waning moon. A matter of time. She was right to keep you away...It all added up to...
"James?" Lupin sounded concerned now. "What's wrong? James, what is it?"
No...it couldn't be. Not Remus. And yet...what else fit? It made sense. How had he never seen it before? It was so obvious. But what did that mean, for him, for Sirius, for Peter?
"Remus," James murmured softly, turning to him, certain only he could hear him, "I know what you are. I don't know how I never saw it before. You're a werewolf, aren't you?"