Resolutions, Pt.3
The next morning, James Potter sprung out of bed like a jack-in-the-box, and yanked back his friend's curtains to familiar groans.
"Up and at 'em, Marauders! Rise and shine, Sirius! Pepper up, Peter! Morning, Moony! Oh." James sobered, seeing the empty bed and remembering the events of last night.
"Why so… cheerful, Jamie?" said Sirius blearily
"Pleasant dreams, Siri! Now, help me get this great lump up. It's almost 8, and we're meeting Lily at 9." said James cheerfully, poking Peter in the back of the head.
Sirius said with a mischievous smile "Leave it to me. Levicorpus!" That woke Peter up quick enough, and in no time he was back on the ground, and pulling on his robes, barely even fazed (It happened often enough).
They were all ready in fifteen minutes, and Sirius bellowed "Food!" and charged down the stairs. Laughing, his friends followed, and walked through the common room and out the portrait hole, walking rather fast to the great hall. Because of last night, they hadn't nicked their usual midnight snack from the kitchens, and were very hungry. Breakfast was already about halfway through, and the Great Hall was being exited and entered all the time, but the food was still plentiful.
The friends sat in their normal spots, and ate and talked, but James was rather quiet, and picked at his food, shooting glances and Remus' empty seat. At about five minutes to 9, James looked at his friends and they all got up, Sirius cramming one piece of bacon in his mouth and another in his pocket.
They arrived outside the hospital wing just in time to see Lily round the corner as well. She looked rather nervous, as did James.
They walked toward one another, and Sirius said in a low voice "You've never seen him without Concealment Charms; this will be a bit of a shock. If he seems angry, or off, don't think it's anything to do with you. It's like he's sick, which he is. He's not going to be himself."
James nodded "We'll go in first, and you know, tell him you know. Then we'll probably call you in." His face was white, and they all stepped up to the door, and he knocked.
Madam Pomfrey stuck her head out, and relaxed when she recognized the three boys, and said "Ah, yes, come on in."
Sirius asked anxiously "How is he?"
Madam Pomfrey shook her head "No worse than usual I suppose, though there's a rather nasty-" she stopped short, seeing Lily
James looked at her and nodded "It's alright."
She sighed, and shook her head "I haven't put the concealment charms on yet. He's awake. No more than three at a time…"
"That's okay" said Lily quickly "They can go first. I'll wait out here." Lily sat down, with her back against the wall, as Madam Pomfrey led the boys to a curtained off section.
"Mr. Lupin?" she called "Your friends are here." Lily couldn't hear his response, and the boys went in.
"Hey, Rem, you okay?" said Sirius calmly, or as calmly as he could after seeing the open, jagged cut that ran from the brown-haired boy's left temple to his right shoulder, slashing across his face, just missing his deep brown eye, as well as the swath of fresh red claw marks covering his skinny, bare chest and arms
Remus regarded him dubiously, and Sirius sputtered "Well-I-You know what I mean!"
Remus relented, saying "Yeah, as okay as I can be. Damn the moon cycles. How was your New Year's Eve? Wish I could've been there" His friends told him about their night, and the whole resolutions thing. When that story was done, they looked uncertainly at one another. Remus saw and raised an eyebrow "Okay, obviously there's something up. Spill."
Peter jumped up, squeaked "I've got to use the loo!" and ran out of the room, James and Sirius glaring at him as he ran.
Remus' eyebrows shot up even further into his hairline "If Pete's running, confrontation's coming. Guys, what's wrong?" he said more seriously.
Sirius began "Well, you see-"
James looked at him and shook his head, and took a deep breath "Remus, Lily knows."
There was a moment of silence, and then an angry "WHAT?!" The look in his eyes was desperately angry, and he seemed to be about to shout something else, but he saw the miserable look on his friend's faces, and he deflated, hanging his head. "How?" he asked quietly.
James said remorsefully "She noticed you weren't there, and we couldn't say you'd gone home for the holidays, she saw you this morning. So we tried telling her you didn't feel like celebrating and were upstairs. She seemed satisfied, and let it go. Then at like five minutes to midnight, she got the idea into her head that you couldn't miss New Year, and marched up the stairs to wake you. When she saw you weren't there, we told her your aunt had died."
"I told her both my parents were only children" said Remus sadly "And I've used that excuse- just last month, too."
James looked guilty. "Well, she pointed that out to us. When we wouldn't tell her where you were, and we were looking really guilty, she thought you were in danger, and threatened to take a search party through all the secret passages-and Remus, she knew about the Whomping Willow."
Remus hung his head "Knowing her, she would have done it, too. And I would've- I didn't, right?! Tell me I didn't!" he said, panicked.
"No, mate. She never even got close." said Sirius, laying a steadying hand on his shoulder, and jerking it back when Remus winced.
Remus relaxed. "Good. So I'm assuming that's when you told her?"
"Rem, you have no idea how incredibly sorry we are- I am." said James, pleading.
Remus looked up, his eyes filled with shame "I'm just thankful nothing happened, only… Does she hate me now? She should. You lot should too, really."
James laughed "But we don't. Why should we? And no, she doesn't. She's actually here right now, if you want to see her." Their friend's eyes filled, and he wiped them on the sheet, and mutely nodded. James exited to go get Lily, and Sirius smiled at Remus, who smiled back, albeit painfully.
James and Lily entered the tent, Lily smiling sheepishly "Hi, Remus." she said, though her eyes widened with shock at the sight of his injuries.
He gave a small smile "Hi."
She said in a rush "I'm so sorry-I would never of made them tell me if I'd-"
Remus cut her off kindly "Hey. It's okay. I'm glad you know. I'm just sorry you have to know, if you know what I mean." He chuckled, wincing and holding his chest
She laughed "Yeah, I think I do."
"I'm sorry you have to see me like this-" he said shamefully, but Lily stopped him.
"Enough of that. I'm sorry I can't do anything to help." she said. "Oh, wait!" she said, brightening, and reached into her pocket. She pulled out a chocolate frog, and handed it to Remus.
He laughed, unwrapped it and bit its head off "I could hug you right now. Madam Pomfrey doesn't allow chocolate, and if I'm right in my thinking, my stash in the dorm has been severely depleted" he said, eyeing James and Sirius accusingly
Sirius shrugged "Emptied, actually" he said, smirking, earning himself a balled up wrapper to the face.
"Prat." Remus sighed, his eyes beginning to close
At that moment, Madam Pomfrey burst in "Remus, the sleep potion should be starting to kick in, and your fifteen minutes are up, time for another dose of Skele-gro." Remus grimaced, and she turned towards the visitors, her hands on her hips "Shoo! This patient needs his rest! You'll see him by the end of today! Now go on! Shoo!"
Laughing, they waved goodbye to Remus, and walked towards their next lesson, Charms. Before they walked in, James stopped Lily "Thanks." he said simply
"For what?" she asked, puzzled
"For handling that so well, lots of people would've started bawling or screaming, or run out of the room. He doesn't need that, and you did great. Thanks for not turning him away." And with that, James Potter turned on his heel and walked into charms.
"I could never. I'll always be there for him." muttered Lily to herself.
"Consider that a Resolution."
A/N Finished! I know, the ending was kinda lame. :/ But hey. Please tell me what you think, I might take Resolutions (the whole thing) and publish it separately, and I was reading over chapter two, and I was kind of like okay, that's not even writing. It's not even all that funny any more. So I'll probably take that chapter down unless people object. Once again, thanks so much for reading!
Love, Leviosa