A/N: Thank you as always for supporting this story everyone! Eventful chapter up ahead. :)

Chapter Twenty-Six: Something as silly as romance

I was on my way to dinner the next evening after stopping by Prewett's classroom to tell him I'd reluctantly decided to give the speech at Essay Week when I came to a large group of people leaning over the stairwell on the Third Floor. There was a lot of commotion, shouting and pushing and shoving and also, oddly, the sound of running water. I arrived at the back of the crowd and got on my tiptoes to see if I could figure out what was going on but the throng of people was too thick. With a huff, I stood behind a tall girl with dark hair who was flipping through a book and calmly waiting to move forward. I didn't have her patience, however – I was starving.

"Come on! Move it along!" I shouted above the din, but it only got louder as a few people glanced back, yelled and laughed before turning back to hang over the landing.

"I doubt anyone's going to move for ages. You don't know a shortcut around it do you?" The girl with black hair commented, shutting her book and turning back to me. Behind the dark framed glasses she had friendly, but piercing blue eyes. She took a sudden step back upon seeing me and blinked rapidly. She also looked mildly familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on where I knew her from exactly – other than the fact that she went to Hogwarts, of course.

"Unfortunately, no – I think this is the only staircase that gets you down to the Second Floor," I groaned. It was too bad Remus wasn't with me – he and the rest of the lads always knew shortcuts the rest of the school didn't.

"Ah, of course. They would have planned it that way," The girl said, flipping her hair off her eyes and using both hands to tuck it behind her ears. It came to me suddenly that this was Gemma Blotwottery or…Blotwitherby or whatever, it was Girl Number Three – if I were so inclined to start Project Remus back up again.

"They?" I asked, scratching my head and trying to get a proper look at her face. She kept looking over her shoulder like she was nervous or uncomfortable or something. It could have been the crowd – people were starting to push.

She turned back around and smiled. "Yeah, James Potter and his mates apparently flooded the Second Floor corridor and then turned the staircase into a slide. And then, Myrtle hasn't been having the best day so she flooded her toilet and now the First and Second Floor are basically a very smelly waterpark," she said, making a face.

I laughed and she joined in and I got a chance to properly take in her features for the first time. Merlin, she was much better looking than I had realized. She had the librarian thing down to a T – and not in the Madam Pince way, which was more scary than sexy.

"You're Gemma, aren't you?" I asked, purposely avoiding saying her last name so as not to embarrass myself.

She looked surprised and swallowed before she nodded. "Yeah, Gemma Blotworthy."

Blotworthy! That's what it was! Excellent – I had it committed to memory now.

"I'm Kate Hopkirk," I said, grimacing as someone pushed me into her a little. I managed to avoid bumping into her properly and although she jumped, she didn't look annoyed.

"I know who you are," she smiled. "I'm just surprised that you know who I am."

I frowned. Ick. What a horrible reputation to have. Why did people always say that like I was supposed to assume that they knew who I was? If you've never talked to someone, how are you meant to know who they are, anyway?

"Course I do!" I said loudly, overcompensating. "We have Herbology together!"

She smiled. "And Magical Creatures. And History."

I felt a stab of embarrassment, but grinned. "Oh yeah, we're old friends."

She laughed easily and I felt the embarrassment slide away slightly.

"Yeah, for all the lessons we have together, I don't think we've actually ever spoken. Odd how that happens in such a small school, isn't it?" she said. And she didn't even sound judgmental. Or defensive, or rude or anything. Who was this angel girl?

"In all fairness, I do like to listen to the sound of my own voice – so occasionally I forget other people's existence," I said, still watching her as she shook more of her dark hair off her eyes. No fringe – there was a plus. Although it did incite the hair jealousy in me again.

She nodded and bit back another chuckle. "Oh yeah – it's quite a common affliction I hear."

"So, how'd you figure out it was James and them who flooded the corridors?" I asked, getting back on my toes to see if they were around anywhere.

"I think they accidentally caught your mate Lily in the crossfire. She started yelling and used all of their full names. I didn't know Sirius' middle name was Orion," Gemma giggled.

"Yeah it's much more embarrassing then the rest of them," I smiled. "Was Remus, middle name John with them? I think this is their idea of fun for the weekend. They've extended loser lad's night into loser lad's weekend."

"Oh no – I doubt he was. He got pretty ill at the end of Potions and went to the Hospital Wing," she replied.

"That's odd. He told me he and the lads had plans," I said with a frown.

Gemma was looking at the floor as I spoke. After a second, she leaned down to rub something on her shoe. While the gesture was odd, I was thinking about Remus – I knew he'd looked ill, but he had said he'd be spending the weekend with Sirius. He usually knew when he was getting sick, so why would he lie to me about it? Unless it was a spur of the moment illness, which it couldn't be, considering how pale he'd looked the last few days.

"It's not that odd is it?" she said, shrugging me from my thoughts. "He does get ill quite a bit."

I laughed. "Yeah, I call it bunny flu."

Her eyebrows shot up and she adjusted her glasses on her face. "What?"

"Well, he had this rabid bunny and he used to go home to take care of it a lot during Fifth Year and I reckon he must have contracted something – that's why he's ill all the time this year," I explained with a knowing nod.

She shook her head and grinned. "You know that's ridiculous, don't you?"

"Yeah, but it's so funny," I grinned back as she started to laugh.

And then some big bloke bumped into me so hard, I had to grab her arm so I didn't fall over.

"Hold that thought," I said, putting a finger up and then whirling around to glare at the Shover.

"Pushing isn't going to make the queue move any faster, mate. So unless you are trying to cop a feel and want me to hex your fingers together, please stop shoving into me! I am trying to have a conversation with my friend Gemma here."

I heard her mumble a little, either from the weight of me stepping on her foot or at the look of anger on the beefy boy's red face.

"Well you and Gemma might notice that there's about a foot of space in front of you!" The Shover said, glaring at me and pointing behind us. A few others in the crowd behind him harrumphed their agreement.

I turned around and saw Gemma embarrassedly edging forward into the empty space in the crowd that we hadn't noticed previously.

"How dare you assume I couldn't see that?" I replied indignantly. "Gemma is claustrophobic – she needed the space."

"Kate, it's fine," Gemma said. "We're sorry – we'll pay attention now, Carl."

Angry Carl studied her for a moment and then me, before scowling and nodding to her. "Just tell your bloody friend to keep her mouth shut."

"Carl, that is very rude. You did push her, didn't you?" Gemma replied sternly with a Minerva-esque look over her glasses.

And then – the lad suddenly looked abashed. He grumbled and nodded.

"Yeah, all right. Go on – have your conversation. Just please keep an eye on the queue."

Gemma smiled. "Thank you. We will." She then hauled me forward so we were right behind the people starting to walk down the stairs that now seemed dry.

"Nicely done."

She rolled her eyes. "Sometimes diplomacy works better than aggression."

"Excuse me! Coming through. Hello! I'm Head Girl!"

I groaned. "Oh no."

"Kate! What are you doing here?" Mafalda asked before nodding to Gemma. "Oh, hello Gemma!"

"All right Mafalda?" Gemma smiled. Oh dear, just when we were getting along as well – it came to light that she was friendly with my sister.

"Did you have something to do with all this, Kate?" Mafalda demanded, waving down the stairs to the foot-high water on the Second Floor.

"Mafalda, are you so suspicious of me that you think I flooded the school and then ran off to join the crowd as a cover up?" I snapped in disbelief.

"It was the Marauders people are saying," Gemma said. "Jack went to get a teacher, so I think it's being handled – don't worry!"

Mafalda patted her back and then sighed at me. "It would be your mates, wouldn't it?"

"In case you forgot Mafalda, my queen, I am no longer associated with that gang," I sighed.

"Yeah, all right. Well if you see them, tell them to stop being such idiots," she huffed before pushing past us and hurrying through the crowd shouting that she was Head Girl some more. Like no one knew.

"Sorry, I do try to pretend I'm not related to her," I sighed, turning back to Gemma who was chuckling.

"You two remind me of me and my sister – although admittedly, I might be the Mafalda in our situation."

"You're secretly a headcase on an ego trip?" I gasped making her laugh again.

"No, I'm just the one who gives my sister a hard time. But then again, she is miles more annoying than you are," she said. "Oh, shit. Sorry, not that you're annoying."

"Don't worry – I've learned to embrace it. So what year is she in?" I asked as we watched Filch prop more boxes in the corridor so people could walk over the water like a bridge to get to the next set of staircases.

"Oh she's not in school anymore. She's much older."

"What does she do then?" I asked, helping her to get onto a box before I got up behind her.

"She's a singer."

"Oh cool. Is she any good?"

"Yeah," Gemma said, not meeting my eyes and focusing on crossing the box bridge to get to the next dry space of floor. There was another hold up when Jack Barnes tripped and landed in a puddle.

"You sound really enthusiastic."

She chuckled and turned back to me. "Well, about as enthusiastic as you are about Mafalda being Head Girl."

"Don't you like music?"

She frowned. "What kind of question is that? Of course I like music – I just prefer classical stuff. My sister sings the popular mainstream sort of stuff. And she's got a bit of a big head about it."

"Would I have heard of her?" I wondered if I knew of any famous Blotwothies, but couldn't think of one.

She sighed and pulled off her glasses to wipe them on her shirt. "Jane Wolff? Obviously she thought our real last name was too plain for her diva persona."

"Your sister is Jane Wolff?" I replied with a conflicting mixture of shock and disgust and also admiration.

She raised both eyebrows and twisted her mouth a bit and I thought fleetingly that Sirius would have probably found her wildly attractive if he'd ever talked to her. Remus too – bugger it. Why did I have to agree not to set him up? The universe was so unjust.

"You're a fan?" she asked dully.

I made a face. "Godric, no. I mean, no offense. I prefer music with a bit more substance. But she is quite popular! That's brilliant for her."

Gemma nodded. "Yeah, it started out that way – but now she thinks she's the next Wendelin Hammersmith."

"Excuse you?"

She laughed. "Old composer – you should listen to her. Much of the popular music these days is derived from her early compositions – although they have sort of mutilated its original elegance."

How had I missed this Gemma person? Sure, her name was weird, but she was actually cool and smart and oh, bloody hell – perfect for Remus. Remus: who was either ill or spending time with Sirius this weekend. Which was it?

When we got to where the next staircase should have been, we had to slide down a magically engineered slide that thankfully the teachers had dried up. Water still flooded to our left and right though and I couldn't help but be reluctantly impressed at the magic the Marauders had pulled off. Stupid sods were too smart for their own good.

"Anyway Jane thinks she's starting some brilliant movement because she's been lauded by critics, but all she's really done is make a lot of galleons and ignore our family for the majority of the year," Gemma said once we'd both reached the First Floor and were finally able to walk unobstructed towards the Great Hall.

"Sorry – I'm oversharing a bit," she muttered.

"No!" I said. "I think it's fascinating! I can't believe I didn't know this about you."

"Well, I don't really advertise what my sister does for a living," she shrugged.

"No, I mean – I didn't know you were…" I stuttered for words, because I wasn't sure that 'cool' was enough of a compliment.

She smiled slyly as if she knew what I'd been thinking. "Yeah, I didn't know you were…either."

The Great Hall was surprisingly empty by the time we got there. Apparently the flood had affected more students than I'd seen. The Gryffindor table was deserted and The Ravenclaws only had a few filled places, so I turned to Gemma with a shrug.

"Want to eat dinner with me?"

She looked hesitant for a moment, but then nodded. "Yeah, sure. At least until our friends get here."

We sat down at my usual place at the Gryffindor table and helped ourselves to chicken, mashed potatoes and bread.

"Congratulations by the way, I heard you're reading at Essay Week," she said, taking a sip of her juice and holding her goblet up to me.

I made a face but nodded. "Yeah, thanks I guess. Who told you? I don't get the feeling it's really the content of the rumour mill."

"Yeah, I have a Charms project with Remus and Dorcas and they mentioned it. I'd be terrified if it were me, but it's a brilliant opportunity."

"So, you get along with Dorcas and Remus?" I asked conversationally. What I really wanted to ask was what she thought of Remus, but I didn't want to be too pushy.

"Yeah, quite well. Remus and I share lesson notes sometimes. It hasn't been until recently that Dorcas and I started to talk. I guess once you open one gate, there's a flood," she said, nodding pointedly at me and making me laugh.

"Merlin, someone needs to sit down and explain Hogwarts to me, because clearly I've been missing everything. I had no idea you were already mates with Remus." I shook my head. When I'd pointed her out at the start of the year, it hadn't seemed like he'd knoen her. It seemed that there might be a lot about Remus I didn't know. Like what he was doing right now.

She blushed a little. "Well, not um, mates exactly. But we chat sometimes in between classes."

I nodded but didn't reply because I was still staring at her in awe. She was brilliant – quiet, but cool and confident. Smart but not a show off, and extremely pretty. Maybe she was taken already.

"So, do you have a boyfriend?"

She laughed in disbelief and shook her head as she played with the food on her plate. "What is it with you and your friends? That's the second time one of you has asked if I had a boyfriend."

I lifted an eyebrow.

"Dorcas asked me in the last week of term as well. After Remus and Emmeline ended things."

Dorcas was trying to steal my Remus plan! That was odd, but not really the point at this precise moment.

"Sorry, I didn't think it was an unusual question."

She shrugged. "Maybe not for you and your friends. But most of us aren't dating anyone – most of us have never dated anyone."

Again, she somehow managed not to sound judgmental – it was like she was just presenting me with plain fact.

"Dorcas said that you've been trying to fix Remus up on dates and I was probably your next victim. I didn't think it was true until two minutes ago," she said, looking at her plate.

"Oh? Why not?"

She looked incredulous again. "Because it's Remus."

And she said his name with the kind of reverence that I hadn't heard someone use before. She said it the way most girls said Sirius' name.

"Remus is friends with girls like you and Dorcas and Lily Evans. He dates girls like Emmeline Vance. I'm…well, I'm that girl who sits behind him in History and makes good notes," she said quietly, her face red, but her voice nonchalant.

"He hasn't had the chance to get to know you, that's all!" I replied.

She smiled embarrassedly and looked across the Hall. More people were starting to arrive and I noticed a few Ravenclaws shooting her confused looks as they waved her over. "We also sit at the same table in Potions. Sometimes he chats to me because James Potter is too busy trying to distract Lily. I thought about asking him if he wanted to write our essays together this weekend, but then I found out he was ill and lost my nerve."

That stalled my probing for a moment because I was still confused over his conflicting excuses. Now I thought about it, this seemed to happen quite often – Sirius used to say it was lad's night and then Remus would say he was ill. I'd always accepted it as general fact that the boys were telling the truth, but now I didn't have Sirius appeasing my curiosity, I was starting to realize something was off about the whole thing. Why did they plan lad's nights whenever he got ill and why did they pretend nothing was wrong and then huddle around his sickbed like it was really worrying.

I noticed that Gemma was staring at me with curiosity and I let out an odd laugh.

"You're basically the female version of Remus – I'm sure he'd love to study with you!" I said, patting her hand.

She covered her face and shook her head. "No way. No way am I as brilliant as him. He doesn't even realize it! The morning he and Emmeline broke up, I heard him talking to James in Potions saying that he'd never be as appealing as Sirius Black and that girls would never like him as much as they liked your boyfriend. And all I wanted to do was tell him how he is a thousand times more attractive and…" She reddened again and gulped. "Anyway, yeah."

"You should tell him!" I said enthusiastically, patting her hand. "He never believes it when I say it."

Her eyebrows shot up in alarm. "You think he's more attractive than your ex?"

I frowned. "What? No. I…" I shook my head and blew a raspberry. "I think he's brilliant. I think he's the best bloke I know."

"Better than Sirius?"

I scowled and she chuckled.

"Sorry."

She sighed and I fanned my face. I really needed to start thinking before I spoke. Thank Merlin no one else had heard that comment.

"I just don't think I could compare to you, though," she muttered.

"Why would you need to compare to me?"

She shrugged. "I can see that he uses you as the benchmark for the perfect girl."

I laughed. "A perfect nutter you mean."

Gemma gave me a sad smile. "You won't tell him, will you? I know we're not friends, but…"

"My lips are sealed," I nodded. "But you should tell him. He needs to hear that kind of thing. He's a lot more insecure than he comes off."

"Kate," she said hesitantly. "Don't take this the wrong way…but why were you with Sirius and not Remus?"

I felt the air in my lungs fade a bit and I took a deep muddled breath. "Eh?"

"I mean…I know it looks like it makes sense from the outside. James and Lily are eventually going to pair off and you and Sirius are their best friends and the two of you used to banter like no one I've ever seen…but, you just seem more thoughtful than him."

"Sirius is thoughtful. Sometimes. And anyway that's irrelevant. I'm not getting back with him."

"Because you and Remus…"

"Remus and I connect on a different level. I could never ruin that with something as silly as romance!"

She laughed and shook her head. "And you think that I should embark on a silly romance with him instead?"

"No…no…I just – you two make more sense. You're so alike. Like scarily alike," I said, wondering why on earth my face was so flushed.

"And you don't have feelings for him?"

"I would be a pretty bad person if I fell for Sirius' mate, wouldn't I?" I said dismissively. "Forget about me. I am nothing. This is about you and Remus! I'm going to suggest he bail on lad's night and study with you!"

She paled and spluttered when she replied. "No, no – don't tell him please!"

"He won't know it came from you! I'll just mention it casually…" I said with a hopeful grin.

She squinted at me and glanced to the side and broke into an uncomfortable smile. Lily and Dorcas had arrived and behind them, I could see James, Sirius and Peter taking their seats a few feet down the table.

"Hey Gemma! Are you sitting with us today?" Dorcas asked as she and Lily sat down. Lily just waved, huffed and helped herself to some food – she looked to be in a bad mood and I noticed that her hair was pretty damp. She was shooting the Marauders angry looks, but they didn't seem to notice, bent over their plates with their heads close together whispering urgently to one another. Odd that they didn't seem excited that it was lad's night. And Remus wasn't there – so Gemma had been right, he must have been at the Hospital Wing again. Something smelled fishy.

"I'm actually almost done and my friend Claire looks like she's wondering what I'm doing here," Gemma said pushing away her plate and getting to her feet.

"What we talked about…" I put in, raising my eyebrows questioningly.

She looked terrified and shot the Marauders a look. "Just please, don't do anything embarrassing."

"Me?" I said innocently, and she smiled.

"All right then. See you girls later."

While Dorcas and Lily waved goodbye, I turned my focus back to the lads. Sirius and James seemed to be arguing, but their voices were too low to make out their words.

"Seen Remus anywhere?" I asked.

"He left Potions early," Lily said. "I think he's ill."

"He's always ill," Dorcas replied rolling her eyes. "And the lads look panicked about it as usual."

"Panicked, you think?" I said, frowning at the boys. She was right – the argument didn't seem to be angry – just anxious. They were already back to laughing, but their eyes were darting around the Hall nervously. Did they always look this way when Remus wasn't around?

"It's nothing," Lily said tightly. "It's probably because they haven't been caught for the flooding prank yet – must be paranoid about getting in trouble."

"Damn," I said, pounding my fist lightly on the table. "It's so annoying not being able to ask."

"What's there to ask anyway?" Lily cut in.

"Well, I want to know if Remus is contagious – I want to talk to him about something," I said, biting my lip.

"Is it about setting he and Gemma up?" Dorcas replied tiredly. "Neither of them will go for it – they're both too shy."

"Just let him recover Kate," Lily said firmly and I frowned at her. Was she in on this? Whatever was going on? Maybe she'd found out whatever illness Remus had and that's why the boys had caught her in the flood.

One thing was for sure; if Lily knew then they were going to tell me.

I found them later that evening, lounging on the sofas in the Common Room with their usual, practiced air of impertinence. Now that I was convinced they were hiding something, it seemed more obvious that this flippant attitude they were exuding was an act. In order to figure out what was going on with Remus, I'd prepared myself for this conversation.

"Hey," I said, walking over to them and standing behind the sofa that Sirius was draped across. His eyes were closed and they flew open in surprise at the sound of my voice. James and Peter exchanged a look and James smiled at me nonchalantly. Too nonchalantly.

"All right Kate?"

"Yeah, what's up lads?" I asked with a big smile, watching their expressions carefully to see if they suspected my interest in Remus' whereabouts.

Sirius propped himself up against the armrest with his brow furrowed and shrugged. "Enjoying the weekend."

"Ah right – so Remus told me he was getting ill," I lied, keeping my eyes fixed on Sirius' face. His brow furrowed more and though he didn't move his head, his eyes flickered to James who looked equally confused. They must have been expecting me to ask about lad's night.

"He did?" Peter asked, fidgeting his hands. "I thought he…"

"Wormtail," Sirius said sharply and Peter fell silently.

"Thought he was what?" I asked with deliberate wide eyes.

"Nothing."

"Did he tell you he was getting ill?" James asked, running a hand through his hair.

"Yup."

"Well yeah, he's ill. Nothing serious," Sirius said with a shrug, slumping back on the sofa and closing his eyes again.

"So, I can see him then?"

Sirius sat up again and James half got out of his chair.

"No! Um, he's…"

I laughed lightly. "Or is it because it's lad's night? Another night spent huddled around Remus' knees?"

The boys blinked at me and then turned to each other talking with their eyes. They were wondering what lie to tell me next.

"It isn't lad's night," Sirius finally said. "That's next weekend."

"But Remus said he was going to be hanging out with you this weekend. We're supposed to hang out next weekend."

"So that's what this third degree is about," Sirius huffed, stretching and rolling his eyes at the others. "She wants to know when she's getting Remus time."

Peter laughed but James still looked anxious.

"Hang on, did he say he was ill or hanging out with us?" James asked, putting his hand up and cutting the other two's laughter off abruptly. Their expressions instantly became uncomfortable too.

"You tell me," I replied matter-of-factedly.

James narrowed his eyes. "Very clever Kate. What's your problem?"

His voice had become hushed and Sirius and Peter both sat up straighter, turning to face me completely. The big stand off – the fools actually thought they were going to intimidate me.

"Which is it? Is he ill or is it lad's night?" I pressed.

"What did Remus tell you?" James countered evenly.

"Either way it seems like a lie," I replied coolly.

"Sirius, convince her she's making a big deal of this," Peter whispered frantically.

I smiled wryly. "No dice, Pettigrew. We're not together anymore – he can't distract me from finding out what you're hiding."

"Godric Kate, we're not hiding anything," James said with an experienced laugh. I didn't buy it.

"Leave it alone, Kate," Sirius yawned. "Did you ever consider that Remus might not want to spend time with you? Maybe he mixed up excuses."

I flushed and ground my teeth. "I can't believe I didn't notice this sooner. What are you lot up to? If you don't tell me, I'm going to march right up to the Hospital Wing and demand the truth from him myself!"

Sirius stood up and James and Peter were right behind him.

"Stay out of it," Sirius threatened in a low, husky whisper. I used to find it attractive, but now it just served to frustrate me further.

"It's bunny flu," Peter said. "Like you always thought."

The other boys laughed abruptly and I glared.

"I'm going to figure this out."

"You do that," James laughed. "Come on lads, let's leave Katie to her mad theories."

And they left, leaving me seething and running through options for what to do. I had to find out what was going on and why Remus wanted to hide it from me.

Stomach pains – the only foolproof way to get yourself admitted to the Hospital Wing without detecting any suspicion. Everyone assumed that no one would invent having diarrhea because it was such an embarrassing ailment to have. Even so, Madame Pomfrey seemed edgy as she examined me at one in the morning. After Lily and Dorcas had fallen asleep, I'd snuck out of the dormitory and headed to the boys' room to confirm my suspicions. Luckily none of the straggling students in the Common Room seemed to think it was odd that I was going up to the boys' dormitory. I overheard a couple Fifth Years whispering about how I was probably trying to get back with Sirius and I didn't bother correcting them. It was a better excuse than admitting that I was trying to uncover some big conspiracy theory. I knocked on the boys' door twice and waited for about five minutes before I tried opening it. It was locked, but Sirius had used the complicated locking spell in front of me once before and after a few tries, I was able to get the door open. A lot of security for a dormitory – what were they hiding? As it turned out – they seemed to be hiding their absence from the room. It was completely empty and all of the beds were made and unslept in. I didn't bother snooping; I knew where they probably were.

Marlene McKinnon raised her eyebrows at me as I headed to the Portrait hole and let out a heavy sigh.

"Where are you going? It's almost one," she said tiredly. "And you know I'm a prefect."

I clutched my stomach and moaned convincingly. "I've got the runs."

Her face morphed with disgust and she nodded. "Okay. Yeah, go on then."

I laughed at her discomfort when I got out of the Common Room. Merlin, think of the possibilities. I bet I could get away with not handing in Transfiguration homework if I just pretended that I was going to explosively relieve myself in the middle of McGonagall's classroom.

"Your belly doesn't seem tender," Pomfrey said as she prodded my stomach and glanced continually up at the clock. I seemed to be the only patient – none of the hangings were drawn and Remus and the lads were nowhere in sight. I could scratch the illness theory for now, but something told me they weren't off in Hogsmeade on a bender either. I'd stay the night and see if they showed and if they didn't, I would confront Remus as soon as I saw him.

"It hurts though," I whimpered.

Pomfrey grimaced and took my temperature. "Katherine, I really don't think you have anything to worry about. It's best if you go back to your dormitory and come back tomorrow if it persists."

"I can't stay in the dormitory – I might mess my pajamas and ruin the bed."

She looked appalled and wrung her hands together, muttering quietly. "I really needed the Hospital Wing clear tonight."

"Why?" I groaned. "Throwing a party?"

"No! Never mind. All right, get into bed. Let's get you something," she said, pulling the hangings around my bed as I climbed under the sheets, still dramatically clutching at my stomach. Here's where the plan would hit a slight hiccup – I was suspicious of Healing Potions in general and really didn't want to mess with what was usually a pretty good immune system.

"Can't I just lie here? I'm sure I'll be all right with you here to take care of any extenuating circumstances," I said, batting my eyelashes.

"Not at all – we should get it all out of your system," Pomfrey said eyeing me. She was on to me! I watched with dread as she prepared a Potion and held it out to me.

"What is it?" I said, making a face as I sniffed from the opaque bottle.

"It essentially cleanses your system. Everything in there will come out," she said, staring at me challengingly.

Oh dear Merlin. She meant that if I didn't actually have explosive diarrhea, I would if I drank that Potion.

"Er…"

"Do you want to stay the night?" she said, raising an eyebrow. I looked between her and the Potion and nodded slowly. The things I bloody did…

Lifting the Potion to my lips, I carefully pressed my lips together and pretended to drink. Unfortunately, I still had a bit of a mouthful but hopefully not enough to set off the very disgusting cleansing process.

And then I was asleep.

I awoke to frantic whispering and heavy panting.

"Every time! Merlin, Potter how did you get that scratch? You didn't…"

"We're not idiots Madam Pomfrey," James' voice said in a hard voice. "Let us see him."

"He needs rest! It was a hard one last night – he's recovering from several injuries. Let me fix that scratch – and that bruise, Pettigrew and you can come back later in the day."

"Miss, no offense – but you're not that clueless are you?" I heard Sirius spit out. "You try this every month and we never agree, so save yourself the hassle and let us in!"

"I don't like that tone Black! Why are you wheezing? Fine – come in. I'm having a word with Professor Dumbledore about this – what are you boys up to?"

"We were just in the Forest. Wanted to keep an eye on him," Peter said.

"That is horrifically dangerous! There's nothing you can do for him – you'd be safer in your dormitory."

"We want to be close – it comforts him," James said and their voices got louder. They were right outside the curtain now.

"He wouldn't know any different! Surely you know that!" Pomfrey hissed.

"Hang on – do you have someone here?" Sirius demanded angrily. "I thought you cleared it out usually."

"Yes, but the patient was insistent. I've given her a Sleeping Draught so she won't know the difference."

"Good, because you know no one else can know," James said and then winced. "Ouch!"

"Of course no one else should know. You three shouldn't know! I've been very forgiving over the years and haven't drawn attention to this behaviour, but if you are attempting to see him during his…his…state – then I will be forced to report it."

"Yeah, yeah – are you done with us? Can we see him?"

"Yes – but be quiet. He has lots of mending to do."

"Thanks Madam Pomfrey – honestly, we're just worried about him."

"I know. For all your foolishness, you are good friends and Remus needs them."

There was quiet for another few minutes and I heard Pomfrey scurry off to her office before I leapt out of bed and tiptoed to the curtain separating me from the boys. Their whispers were low and urgent, but also resigned.

"It wasn't as bad."

"Are you having a laugh? This was in the top three."

"I could tell as soon as he started – something's up with him. Making him more aggressive."

Silently, I looked through the gap in the curtains and saw Peter and James' backs. Between their shoulders, I could just make out Sirius sitting on the other side of the bed and there in bed looking pale, was Remus. And then James moved and I saw a deep, new red gash on Remus' forearm. I pressed my fingers to my mouth to stifle a gasp as the boys sat down. What the hell was wrong? That was not a 'fall over' wound – it was ten times worse than the last gash I'd seen on my friend's arm when he was in the Hospital Wing. The boys, however, didn't even look phased. I, on the other hand, was starting to feel faint.

"Do we know if that's actually a reason?" James muttered.

"What?" Sirius replied dully.

"Like if something is wrong when he's human – does it affect what he's like when he's a werewolf?"

And then in my horror, I squeaked through my fingers and everyone froze. In less than two seconds, James had pulled back the curtain and I was staring as all three boys faced me, wands raised.

A/N: I used to put a lot of cliffhangers in Bottle-Specs - hopefully this one doesn't infuriate you just as much! ;) Thanks for reading! More soon.