James practically skipped down the hall to Sirius and Peter who were just standing there, starring at him.
"Hey guys!" he said merrily. "You won't believe it. Today, Lily yelled at me again, and this time she…" his voice trailed off. Both of their faces looked pale. Sirius' eyes were dull and glazed over.
"Is something wrong?"
"Remus." Peter said, as if Sirius could not speak, "No one has seen her all night, or this morning."
"Do you think something's wrong with her, maybe she's sick."
"No one." Peter repeated. "Some of the staff is out looking for her."
James couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Looking for her, where could she be? Remus would never leave the grounds, especially past curfew. "
Peter shrugged his shoulders. "I just hope she's not hurt."
Sirius would not meet James's eyes, but he could see the tears streaming down the other boys cheeks. Remus and Sirius had this…profound bond in a way. It seemed like they never should have been friends, but somehow, it worked. They all worked. All of them, the misfit toys. The rebels. The marauders.
"Let's go to class." James said. He truly wanted nothing more than to go out and look for Remus, but he knew that she would have wanted them to stay here since they had already skipped enough this semester. Peter nodded, and Sirius walked behind them. They made their way down empty corridors, until James heard Sirius gasp. He turned around, and they all started running at once. It was Remus. She was limping up towards the stairs, a long stick in her hand.
They stopped when they neared her. Something was wrong. Something had gotten ahold of Remus and…it…it hurt her. She glanced up slowly towards her friends, smiled, and collapsed. Sirius caught her in his arms and flinched.
"James, she's bleeding."
He could see that. Pools of blood were dripping at her feet, soaking the robe she wore. An arm dropped from her side, and they could all see the scratches upon scratches that worked their way up like patches on her skin.
James shook his head to get his train of thought working again.
"Madam Pomfrey. Now." It was all he could say, and thankfully, Sirius understood. He alone was able to carry her frail body all the way up the stairs to the infirmary.
"Boys, I'm sorry, but you are…" Her voice stopped when she saw Remus in their arms.
"Mr. Black, go lay her down on an empty bed, and then I need all of you to leave."
"We're not leaving her." James said.
"You have to go to class."
"No."
That no didn't come from James, and it sure didn't come from Sirius who was laying Remus down carefully onto a cot. It was from Peter Pettigrew. The shy, quiet, eyes always looking at the floor, Peter Pettigrew.
"Excuse me, sir?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"I said, no, ma'am." His voice was shaky, but he was doing it! Wormtail was speaking up! "We are her friends, we found her, and we want to be here for her."
Pomfrey starred at Peter for a moment, and then heard a small groan from Remus.
"Fine. But stay out of my way."
James couldn't help but smile and pat Peter on the back for a job well done, but then he heard a cry. It was a high pitched cry that sounded more like a wounded animal than human.
Sirius was sitting beside Remus's bed, holding her hand in his. She was screaming as Madam Pomfrey removed her robe and began saying spells none of them understood. James stood there, and he did not hold Peter close. Okay, maybe he did, but it was because he was scared for his best friend's life. Remus was the glue that held them all together, without her, none of them would be making it through classes, and they would all have been kicked out of school a long time ago.
It only took a few minutes before Remus was clean and sleeping in another bed. Madam Pomfrey had left to go tell the others that Remus had been found, and the three boys sat around her bed.
"You were right." Sirius said as he watched Remus sleep.
"What do you mean?" James was glad Remus had lived. She seemed so much better now, lying there peacefully with white blankets wrapped tightly around her thin body.
"I saw the bite. It's on her calf." Sirius explained. "Remus is a werewolf."
James couldn't take any of this nonsense, not today.
"Remus is not a werewolf!"
"How else do you explain it, Potter?" Sirius was ticked, again. "Do you want to think that Remus did this to herself as a human?"
"No! Something, someone did this to her!"
"Who? A monster in the Forbidden Forest?"
"Of course!" James exclaimed.
"Would Remus ever go into the Forbidden Forest? Would she?"
James sat there, not speaking. No. Remus would never do something like that. She had to go apologize to a teacher for stealing a pen for Merlin's sake. She'd never be able to go off into the forest on her own.
"What do we do now?" Peter asked.
"You're the expert." James said, "Tell us what you know on Werewolves."
"All I know is that they had to be infected with lycanthropy by a bite from another werewolf, and that they turn into a half-wolf half-humanoid creature at the full moon."
The three boys fell back into silence once more.
"We help her." James finally said. "We have to tell her that we know, and we help her. We make it easier on her. Even if its something as little as taking extra good notes in class for the day she misses or giving her some of our food, we help."