September 1, 1971
Remus Lupin
I bit my lip as I watched Liam move along the train platform slowly. A slight limp in his steps as he moved, I knew that Liam was hurt. I could smell both old and fresh blood on him. In fact, I knew that whatever was causing Liam to limp was much worse than it appeared. When Liam had literally fallen into the room last night he had been favoring his right side badly. This morning however it seemed as if Liam was forcing himself to move as normally as possible.
I once more looked over Liam trying to spot any sign of injury. I failed once more as Liam was wearing his usual jacket with the collar flipped up and his robes on over his clothes. He was even wearing a pair of aviators that hid his eyes and part of his cheek. Despite the warm weather Liam also wore a pair of fingerless leather gloves.
I gave my parents one last look and a wave goodbye before I lifted my trunk into the train, "Ummm…. I can… put your trunk up to…." I offered nervously at Liam
Liam shook his head wordlessly as he grasped his own trunk and lifted the trunk. As he did I caught the small sound of pain that escaped his lips, his face paling till he was as white as a sheet. I reached forward quickly and grabbed the trunk, lifting it and putting it on the train as I asked hesitantly, "Liam? Are you ok?" My tone concerned as I noted the way Liam's hands seemed to shake and the light sheen of sweat on his brow.
"Fine" Liam grunted out as he pulled himself into the train and went into the very first compartment he could see. The one that happened to be the last compartment on the train.
I frowned deeper but followed as I tugged the trunks behind me walking into the compartment I paused at seeing a black haired boy with grey eyes glanced up at us. I looked over at Liam who had ignored the boy's presence entirely and was sprawled out on the free bench with one of his legs dangling limply.
I glanced over at the other boy as he spoke, "hello. My name is Sirius, what's yours?"
"Umm… well… um…" again I glanced at Liam and chewed my lip before saying, "Remus.." then realizing I was still looking at liam, I glanced back at Sirius as I said, "I mean I'm Remus…" I stood there for a moment as the boy raised an eyebrow at me, causing me to shift and gesture to Liam, "and umm… that's Liam…"
Liam gave a slight grunt in reply along with lifting up his hand and holding up his middle finger but I didn't understand the gesture.
Sirius however seemed to know what it meant as he gave off a smirk and said, "no thank you" this causing Liam to grunt a strained laugh before the compartment fell silent.
I frowned as I shifted in the doorway uncertainly as I glanced over at Liam. I stood there for a few minutes not sure as to what I should do before Sirius looked at me as he asked, "you need help?"
"Ummm…" I said biting my lip before releasing he was gesturing to mine and liam's trunks, "yes! I mean ye-ah… thanks…" trying not to sound too excited about him offering to help me, i honestly didn't know if that was a normal thing to do as my parents would always offer to assist me but liam usually never did.
Sirius looked at me a bit oddly before he shrugged and got to his feet moving over and grabbing Liam's trunk. After a few minutes of the two struggling they finally got the trunks shoved up in the overhead compartment.
"Well that was fun." Sirius grinned as he glanced at me
"Umm.. yeah?..." I mumbled not at all knowing what to say to him as we moved over and sat down. The compartment remained silent after that with me alternating between glancing out the window at the platform to focusing my attention onto Liam who remained stretched out on the bench.
I glanced up along with Sirius as the compartment door opened up once more. A boy with a mop of messy brown hair and glasses walked in pulling a trunk behind him. He didn't say anything as he shoved his trunk up with the rest of ours before giving us a wide grin, "Hi! I'm James Potter!" and immediately flopped down in the seat right in between Sirius and me.
"Oh.. umm i'm… um Remus Lupin" i said a bit taken aback by his forwardness, "thats um… Liam…" I gestured to Liam and just now realized I didn't know his last name.
"Sirius black" Sirius smirked holding out his hand
James seemed taken aback for a second as the scent of confusion seeped off of him before he grinned and shook Sirius's hand saying, "Its nice to meet you" then nodding his head at Liam asked, "What's with him?"
"Oh! Um he's sick.." i said quickly knowing Liam didn't want to be bothered
"Blimey, that has to suck" James gasped, "sick on the first day of Hogwarts!" before adding, "Ohh! My mom is a healer. Maybe we can have her get you a potion before we leave. I think she's still outside!"
Liam instantly tensed and sat up slowly as he said, "No..M'fine."
Sirius barked a laugh, "I don't blame you mate. I'd rather be sick then drink one of those nasty potions"
"They're not that bad," James protested half heartedly, "some of them…"
"Don't need a healer. I'm fine." Liam muttered as he shifted so he was leaning against the window.
James frowned slightly before seeming to relent as he said, "Alright but don't get me sick. I don't want to be green when I get into Gryffindor" he grinned widely, "Where do you guys want to go?"
"Umm… I don't know… I'm just happy to be here…" I mumbled hoping that I would get into at least one of the houses
"My whole families in Slytherin" Sirius said with a slight scowl
"Blimey, and here I thought you were all right!" James said with a smirk
"Who knows? Maybe I'll change the tradition" Sirius said as he shrugged dismissively but it was obvious by his scent he desperately hoped that was true
James grinned before he looked at Liam as he asked, "So what about you? What house do you want?"
Liam grunted before he once more raised his middle finger in James direction not bothering to otherwise respond.
"What's that mean?" James asked frowning as he cocked his head and raised his eyebrow
"Trust me mate, you're going to want to say no thank you." Sirius informed him with a firm nod
James looked even more confused but none-the-less said, "No thank you!"
Liam's mouth twitched in a slight smirk but remained silent. We glanced up at the door once more and a small boy with sandy blonde hair poked his head in the door as he asked, "Umm can I sit...with you?" his eyes glancing around the compartment.
"Of course! The more the merrier!" James said with a grin as he shot up and immediately pulled the boy in along with putting the boy's trunk away, "I'm James" he then pointed at me, "that's Remus" he gestured to Sirius, "Sirius" and then guested to Liam, "and Liam, what's your name?"
"I'm Peter Pettigrew.." the boy said with a soft squick, seeming a bit overwhelmed by James.
"You can sit by Liam," James informed him, only for Liam to put his foot onto the bench.
"Remus." Liam said flatly glancing at me
"Huh… oh… umm…" I said a bit confused before realizing Liam wanted me to sit with him, causing me to jump up saying, "Right! Um… I'll sit with you…"
Liam nodded and slowly removed his leg as I moved over and sat down next to him. This close, the smell of Liam's injuries were stronger.
"Right you can sit with me and Sirius then!'' James said with a grin undeterred as he pulled Peter along and set him down at the window.
"Oh okay...great…" Peter said with slight smile
"We should play exploding snap" James said excitedly as he pulled out a deck of cards from his pocket
"Exploding what?" Liam asked his tone confused
"Exploding snap, it's a wizarding card game" james said with a grin, "i can teach you how to play
Liam was quiet for a minute before he muttered, "Maybe later…"
"Alright, what about you guys?" James said still grinning
"I'll play!" Sirius said with a grin
James grinned and started to play with Sirius as Peter watched the game with enthusiasm. I grabbed a book out of my bag and opened it up. I glanced around the compartment before focusing on Liam who was unusually still. From what I knew of him he never stayed still and normally was always doing something. And seeing him as such was unnerving, it made him wonder just how badly hurt Liam was. The only time Liam didn't move was when he was asleep, could he be asleep now? I looked at Liam's chest watching as it rose and fell slowly chewing on my lip. Across from us one of the cards exploded and I bit my lip at noting that Liam didn't even flinch. If Liam had been asleep he would have jerked or something as he was even a lighter sleeper than I was.
After about an hour or so of them playing the game Sirius grinned over at James as he asked, "Hey want to go explore the train?" James grinned and nodded, putting the card deck away as he said, "Yeah lets go, Remus? Liam? Are you coming?" he asked, looking over at us.
I shook my head as Liam just grunted, "No." as he shifted slightly. James shrugged before he walked out with Sirius and Peter following after him.
As they left I once more looked over at Liam biting my lip. After a few minutes of silence I asked, "Liam...why..didn't you...want a healer….?" my tone worried
"Pass" Liam grunted as he shifted and put his legs onto me and stretched out more on the bench.
I chewed on my lip not questioning him further as I went back to reading my book. I tried to ignore the very obvious weight of Liam's legs in my lap. What I couldn't ignore was the smell of blood that emanated from Liam's legs. My hands twitched slightly wanting to just push up Liam's pants leg and looking at his injuries, but knowing that it would infuriate Liam if I did.
I continued to chew on my lip for the next hour until I could feel something damp on my lap and based on the blood I was smelling I assumed the injury on his leg had started to seep through his clothes, "Umm… Liam… is… your leg… bleeding?..." I asked even though I knew that it was.
Liam jerked his leg away with a pained hiss as he muttered, "M'fine…."
"I… I have some bandages in my trunk.. I could wrap it.." I said as I stood up while chewing my lip
Liam was silent for several minutes before he muttered out, "ok…" his tone was wary.
I nodded before pulling my trunk down and opening it up, grabbing the roll of bandages I had along with tape. Closing the trunk back and putting it back on the rack I set the bandages on the seat as I said, "which leg?" I asked , unsure of which one exactly was bleeding but fairly sure it was the right as he had been favoring his left side.
"Right." Liam muttered not moving. I nodded before carefully grasping the hem of his right pant leg and carefully pushing it upward. Liam winced, biting his lip as one of his hands held onto the necklace he always wore.
"Sorry…" I said softly as I tried to carefully unstick the pant leg from his injury
"It's...ok…" Liam grit out still tense as I finally pushed the pant leg up past his knee and revealed the injury underneath, I bit my lip as I looked over what looked to be a large dog bite. The skin had been torn in some places whereas in others it was punctured deeply.
"Dogs don't like me" Liam said flatly as if that was enough of an explanation
I looked at him as I asked slowly, "You...sure it was a dog?" wondering what breed of dog he had run into exactly or if it had been a dog at all.
"Yeah...pitbull." Liam muttered
I nodded trying not to show the relief I felt at that before I began to slowly but firmly wrap it up. After I taped down the bandages I looked at him as I asked hesitantly, "Is that it?"
Liam just nodded and I pulled the pant leg back down, "Yeah….thanks." he muttered. I nodded and moved to get up just as the door opened and Sirius walked in laughing along with James and Peter. I quickly stuffed the bandages in my pocket as I sat back down ignoring the odd look Sirius shot at me as I asked quickly, "what's so funny?"
"Just some greasy haired git that wants to be in slytherin" james said with a laugh
"How is that funny?" I asked perplexed
"I told the git i wanted to be in gryffindor and he had the never to say 'that was all well and good if you'd rather be all brawn and no brain'" james said clearly mad before he grinned, "but then Sirius said.."
Sirius made a show of clearing his throat before saying, "So where do you want to be seeing as you're neither?" the three of them then started to laugh again
Liam chuckled a bit as he asked, "So making enemies already? Nice." his tone amused
"His names Snivellius" peter piped up causing the other two to laugh again
"I highly doubt that's his name." I said with a slight frown
"It was" peter insisted, "that's what he called himself"
James and Sirius laughed as they both slung their arms onto Peter's shoulders. James saying, "no mate you just misheard but your name for him is so much better"
Peter grinned slightly as the others sat back down and James asked Liam, "So you finally awake?"
"No." Liam muttered as he once more put his legs in my lap and stretched back out on the bench.
"Ahh come on mate, it's the first day of Hogwarts aren't you excited. I don't know how you can sit still" james said as he bounced a bit in his seat with obvious excitement
"Easier than you might think." Liam hummed as I once more thought of how odd it was that Liam wasn't moving much and wondered what other injuries he concealed.
James groaned before grinning widely as someone knocked on the door and a women said, "trolly"
"Yes!" James grinned immediately, opening up the door blocking my view of the trolley, not that it mattered since I couldn't afford to buy anything. "Ok! I'll take…." James glanced back into the compartment his grin growing wider before turning back and saying, "5 of everything"
I blinked in shock and opened my mouth to protest only for James to have already handed over the money and was currently gathering up the food and various candy which he divided into 5 separate piles and handed out. I just stared at the pile James dumped into my lap and on top of Liam's feet while he dropped another pile onto Sirius.
Liam looked at the pile that James had dropped in his lap as he asked, "What's all this for…?" his tone held a hint of suspicion like it did when I had lent him my book.
"Fuel!" James declared with a grin, "This will wake you up!" before he gave Peter one of the piles and sat down on the floor with his own pile, "Ohh… I thought it would just be candy." he muttered more to himself as he picked up a sandwich and held it up, "Anyone want to trade?"
"Why?" Liam asked as he picked up his own sandwich which was a BLT and unwrapped it slowly.
"Because I wanted candy" James said with a pout
"You have candy," Sirius pointed out, "but I'll trade you a cockroach cluster for your pumpkin pasties."
"Eww no way," James said making a face
"I'll do it!" Peter said excitedly handing over his pumpkin pasties to Sirius who quickly gave him the cockroach cluster
"Umm thank you…" I said softly as I shifted uncertainly as no one had yet to do so
"Oh yay thanks!" Peter grinned at james
"What they said" sirius mumbled with a mouth full of pumpkin pasties
"Thanks...i don't know why you did it...but thanks." Liam said as he slowly ate the sandwich having put the other food in a bag next to him.
"No problem," James said dismissively of his focus on the sandwich, "who wants to trade? Come on, someone has to want the sandwich?"
Liam looked at him before grabbing one of the pieces of candy from his bag as he said, "Here take this and ill take the sandwich," having tossed him a chocolate frog.
"Anyone but liam cause liam" james gave him a pointed look as he gave the candy back, "needs candy fuel"
Liam raised an eyebrow before saying, "You can take the pumpkin pasties since I'm allergic to pumpkin." as he looked at the candy once more.
"I don't think it's real pumpkin," James said as he gave Liam the sandwich, "is it real pumpkin?"
"Yes, it's real pumpkin." I said as I looked at Liam not having known he was allergic to anything, but then I hadn't known him very long.
"So...what happens when you have pumpkin?" James asked curiously
Liam hummed as he took another bite of the sandwich and said simply, "Can't' breathe."
"Damn that sucks" James said as he looked through the other things he had, "hi peter you want another cockroach cluster?"
Peter just nodded his head as he had a mouthful of candy causing James to grin and say, "great i'll trade mine for your Bertie Botts every flavor beans" Petter again nodded as He looked through his candy before handing over the beans and James giving him the cluster.
I turned back to my book as I nibbled on a piece of chocolate as I glanced over at Liam once more wondering what other injuries he was hiding.
-X-X-X-
Liam
I grunted slightly as Remus said softly, "Liam…. We're… uh.. Here…"
"Come on lazy bones, let's go!" James said excitedly as he almost seemed to be bouncing
"Right…" I muttered as I forced myself to my feet trying to ignore the pain in my leg and the bruised ribs I was fairly sure I had. I paid little to no attention to where we were walking as I stayed close to Remus too focused on not showing any pain. It wasn't until James pulled me to the left did I become aware of someone yelling, "Four to a boat!"
"I… uhh... guess... we'll have to split up…" Remus said as he shifted uncomfortable
"Nonsense," James said dismissively as he pulled Remus along with me to an empty boat, "Liam can stretch out on the floor. Since his sick and all"
"Yeah we can't have our sick friend sitting up all uncomfortable" Sirius agreed as he claimed into the boat with us, Peter following.
"If we sink, I'm blaming you all." I muttered not protesting as I laid down in the bottom of the boat, my head near Remus' legs.
"We won't sink, look, if a giant doesn't sink we won't sink" james said dismissively
"Giant?..." I muttered curious but not curious enough to actually move
"Your really missing out" james informed me as i felt the boat start to move
"Ehh…." I waved one hand dismissively as we were near the middle of the lake before I opened my eyes as I heard Peter say nervously, "Um...theres...water coming into the boat…"
"What how?" James asked as he looked around for a hole
"The boat does look….lower than the others…." Sirius said
"But that one has a giant in it" james protested gesturing ahead of us
"Yeah but he did say only four to a boat and he does kind of equal four people." Remus said slowly
"If we sink i'm punching james" i said flatly
"What? Why me?" James said in alarm
"It was your idea, it seems only far if we sink we all smack you upside your head" sirius nodded approvingly
"Ehh… well…" James made a face of disapproval before grumpily crossing his arms, "i guess that's fair"
I chuckled as I sat up, the water starting to soak my clothes and said, "Good."
"What do we do?" peter said bitting his lip
"Shovel?" James suggested as he started to try and scoop the water out the others quickly following suit as I just sat there in the water with a raised eyebrow wondering how the hell they thought that would work
"That's not going to work." I scoffed as the boat lagged behind from the added weight of the water.
"Then we have no choice" sirius said solemnly before smacking james upside the head
"aw!" james yelped
"It can't be helped" i smirked popping james upside the head as will
"Oww! That hurt!" James complained only for Sirius to push him out of the boat
"Abandon ship" Sirius laughed before jumping into the water
I sighed before diving in after them kicking my feet as I swam underwater for several feet before popping back up and turned to look at the others. I could see Remus and Peter were also in the water and it looked as though our boat had fully sunk.
I scoffed before swimming after the other boats and following as they moved into a small cove. I grunted slightly as I slowly pulled myself up onto the shore and shook the water out of my blood red hair.
"Yer alright there?" a voice asked and I looked up to see a giant of a man.
"Fine." I said shortly glancing back as the others crawled onto shore, "Just went for a swim." I walked past him towards the other first years completely ignoring their shocked looks at the fact I was currently dripping wet.
"That was fun" James grinned only for Sirius to pop him upside the head again as he walked by.
"Sure swimming in ice cold water is just great." Remus said sarcastically as he too walked up and glanced at me
"I-i'm f-f-ree-z-in-g" peter chattered as he hugged himself and joined the rest of us
"You'll live." I muttered rolling my eyes ignoring the fact that I too was cold. We moved up the stairs and stopped outside a wide set of doors that a rather stern looking witch was waiting wearing green tartan robes.
"What in the world happen to you five" the woman said moving over to our group quickly
"We went for a dip '' James said with a grin a little too proud for my taste causing me to yet again smack him upside the head.
"That is enough!" the witch said sharply as she flicked her wand immediately drying the five of us. I snickered as James hair became if possible an even more untamable mess seeming to stick up at odd ends
"And I'm afraid i;ll have to ask you to take off your glasses young man." the witch said as she looked at me.
"Pass" I said with a scowl
"It's not an option." the witch said, frowning deeply as she quickly summoned the glasses. My body tensed as her eyes widened and James immediately asked, "What happened to your eye?"
"Shit happens" I said flatly, still tense and knowing he was referring to my right eye that was black and purple. I could barely even open it and the lights did nothing to help my headache.
"We will discuss this after the feast" the witch said shortly before continuing, "my name is Professor Mcgongall the banquet will be starting shortly and i will not have any of you misbehaving. The ceremony is very important and will determine which house you will be sorted into '' the woman informed us as she looked at everyone, "those houses being. ..'' She walked back up to the large double doors as she spoke but I kind of zoned out after that as I yawned and shifted on my feet and leaned against Remus.
Remus stiffened slightly before shifting a bit supporting me more as he asked, "Liam? You okay?" his tone worried
"M'fine" I grunted at him but didn't bother moving.
"You sure?" Remus asked, biting his lip. I again grunted at him and ignored everyone, only paying attention as Remus gently whispered, "we're moving again…"
"K…'' I muttered as I straightened up and started to walk forward Remus sticking close to me as if afraid I'd fall. I honestly didn't know how I felt about that but was too tired to care.
I felt Remus grab my arm carefully, letting me lean more on him as he guided me up to the front of the hall where the professor from earlier was waiting with a scroll in one hand and a hat sitting on top of a stool. I paid little to no attention as we stopped, keeping my head down and even closing my eyes trying to block out some of the light.
I wasn't certain how long I had stood there until Remus nudged me slightly and I was forced to stand up straight as he walked up the podium. A moment later I heard James saying, "I hope he gets into Gryffindor" as he lightly wrapped his arms around me and put his head on my shoulder. The action had me tensing up as James appeared more interested in what was going on in front of us then anything else. It took me a second to realize he was trying to help me stay upright without actually drawing attention to it.
I didn't know how I felt about that but my leg hurt like a bitch and my head was pounding so ultimately I allowed it and even leaned I bit more onto him.
James shifted his weight a bit, supporting me more as Remus was sorted into Gryffindor. A few more students were called up and sorted my mind drifting a bit. I flinched as Mcgonagall called out, "O'Conner, Liam"
"I think that's you '' James whispered as he slowly let me go and eyed me critically as I moved away from him and over to the podium not really sure what I was supposed to do. Mcgonagall watched me as well and picked up a hat off the stool. I moved forward and slowly sat down on the stool ignoring the whispers that broke out as the other noticed my rather obvious black eye. For whatever reason she placed a hat over my head and I could hear an odd voice, 'Hmm… where…' only my head hurt and in no way did I want to deal with a talking hat and could care less if it decided to put me in a coma and immediately responded with, "fuck off" as my body tensed and quickly moved to take the hat off
"Gryffindor!" the hat shouted immediately as I was yanking it off my head.
"Language Mr. O'conner" Mcgonagall said sternly as she took the hat from me, "go join your fellow housemates"
I wasn't sure who my housemates were but decided to just go to the table that was cheering and laughing. My eyes scanned it as I recalled Remus had been sorted into Gryffindor. I spotted him sitting next to Sirius and moved over quickly so that I was sitting in front of them. I didn't even say hello as I placed my head down onto the table mumbling, "shouldn't have fucking went swimming…"
"Liam?" Remus asked
"Yea?" i muttered not looking up
"What's wrong?" Remus asked
"Head…" I mumbled and ignored them for a time. I couldn't tell how long i had been laying there but eventually i felt someone put their hand on my shoulder causing me to flinch and look up, startled.
"We're going to the bathroom" James declared and gently pulled me to my feet
"Wha?" i began in confusion noticing the others looked just as confused
"You heard me" james said his voice stern as he led me away
"Mr. Potter you're supposed to sit with your house not kidnap one of them" an older boy said sternly as he stood up as well and moved over to us
"I have to go to the bathroom" James stated
"Then you should ask an older kid not another first year as he won't know where the bathrooms are" the boy said flatly.
"He has to go to the bathroom too," James said firmly.
I blinked wondering what exactly James was up to but not having the energy to try and figure it out as the older boy huffed before he said, "Fine I'll show you where they are at."
James nodded as he gently pulled me along, following the boy. I really care at this point as I kept my head down. I know we walked through a pair of doors and had turned a corner at one point before stopping in front of a door the older boy gesturing to it, "this is the bathroom don't take too long. I'll wait out here for the two of you"
"Ok thank you" James said quickly as he pulled me into the bathroom and shot the door. He then rounded on me crossing his arms as he stated, "Alright let's see it"
"See what?" I asked frowning only for James to left up his arm showing his damp sleeve, causing me to tense asking, "and that's supposed to be?.."
"My mothers a healer, doesn't play dumb with me. We both know its blood from when I was holding you up. So you can either let me help you or we can have the Hogwarts healer help you, "James said in a stern voice.
I frowned before saying, "Ok….fine…" not really wanting to have the healer or school nurse look at me.
James nodded his head giving me a wide grin as if having expected as much before gesturing for me to show him.
I rolled my eyes before pulling off my robes and then my jacket and finally my shirt. I watched as the grin slid off of James's face as his eyes looked over the bruises that bloomed over my torso and the various cuts. Some of the cuts were scabbed over others however were still bleeding which was apparently how the blood had seeped through my shirt and robe.
James bit his lip before pulling out his wand and saying, "Relax and don't move, I'm going to clean the blood off"
I nodded silently leaning against the sink a bit as James pointed his wand at me and said, "Tergeo" the dried blood immediately vanishing and the wounds seeming to clean themselves.
I barely kept myself from jumping in shock and looked at the wounds I could see as i said slowly, "Well that's one to remember….."
"Ok now I can heal the Injuries" James said nodding to himself as he gave me a cocky grin will twirling his wand in his hand, "don't move"
"Right…" I said as I watched him carefully wondering vaguely what he would want in return for healing me.
"Episkey '' James said, his voice hard and clear as he pointed his wand at my torso. The following sensation felt weird and even tickled a bit as the wounds slowly but surely disappeared
As the last wound closed I sighed relieved and automatically stretched slowly pleased that it didn't hurt when I did so. "Thanks...what do I owe you?" I asked
"Ha! It worked!" James said proudly as he ignored me clearly pleased with himself
I raised an eyebrow as I asked, "You never healed someone before?"
"Of course not, I'm 11" James said flatly as if I should know that, "but I've seen my mom do it thousands of times so how hard could it be?"
"Well as far as i can tell it worked…..did it heal my eye too?" I asked
"No I was healing your torso, and if you come out without that then they'll know something is up." James resigned, "Is there anything else I can heal?" he asked pointedly looking at my right leg.
I hummed before pulling up my pant leg and removed the bandages that Remus had wrapped around the dog bite. "Think you can heal this?" I asked
James visibly winced and knelt down carefully examining it, "when did you put the bandages on?" glancing at them
"I didn't….Remus put them on, on the train." I said
James bit his lip, "that explains why you're out of it…."
"How so…?" i asked
"You've lost a lot of blood.. You need a… uhh.. What's it called… blood replenishing potion…" James said, "you night have to go to the school's healer…."
"I'll be fine…..can you heal it or not?" I asked not wanting to go to the healer if i could help it
"We'll just steal some tonight then" james hummed nodding his head before pointing his wand at the injuries and saying, "Tergeo" causing the wound to clean itself much like the others had
I tried to keep from fidgeting as the wound was cleaned which made it look worse than when it had still been caked with dried blood.
"Alright. This is going to require a stronger spell" james said more to himself then me as he sat cross legged and twirled his wand in his hand appearing to be thinking
"So you know one?" I asked
"Yeah…." James said slowly still twirling his wand as he stared at the injury
"Can you do it?" i asked raising an eyebrow
"Dont know…" James hummed, "your choice." he said glancing at me, "i was 75% sure i could do the other one but i'm about 5% sure i can do this one"
"Give it a go." I said, shrugging
"Ok but if i do it wrong we'll have to reopen it back up" james informed me
I hummed before saying, "Go ahead, it's worth a shot."
"Vulnera Sanentur '' James said his voice clear but seemed to lack confidence and the moment the spell hit my leg I was forced to bit down onto my lip as pain shot through my leg.
"Ehh that's not right.." James said as he watched it seal up before poking it causing me to yelp in pain and nearly fall over, "yep definitely did that wrong… sorry…"
"It's…..ok…..you did warn me…." I grit out. "Can you reopen it?"
"Yeah.. if we don't it will start to swell up. It looks like i just healed the top layer" james said with a sigh only to jerk and stash his wand into his sleeve as the door opened
"What's taking… what are you doing?!" the older boy snapped at us
"Nothing!" james said yanking my pant leg down as he jumped to his feet and stepped away from me
"It had better be nothing!" The boy snapped as i pulled my clothes back on
"If I was going to do anything I'd choose a better looking git than him." I said unconcerned as I jerked a thumb in James' direction.
"That's not what you said two minutes ago" james shot back with a grin
"That's detention! For both of you!" the boy snapped, "back to the great hall now!"
I smirked and put my leg down only to barely hold back a groan of pain limping badly to catch my balance. "Damn…" i muttered
"Thats what you get" james grinned at me only to yelp as the boy grabbed as both by the ear and dragged as out and back to the great hall looking infuriated
"Oi!" i snapped as I tried to get loose, "no need to manhandle us!"
He however ignored us and continued to drag us along only letting go as he pushed us into our seats before storming away appearing to go to the teachers table.
"What happened?" Remus asked
"We need to get to our dorms" James whispered quietly, "it cant stay like that," he told me glancing at my leg worriedly
"You think I don't know that?" I said looking at him and than up at the teachers table as i added, "I think we have bigger problems…." as i watched Mcgonagall seem to pale at what the boy was telling her before she got up abruptly
"What did you two do?" Sirius asked watching as she glided towards us
"Nothing," James insisted, "well something... but we don't want them to know what that something was so we'll just play along with what they think we did."
"Which is…" Sirius asked raising an eyebrow
I choked on a laugh as I said, "Well…." my voice trailing off as I glanced at James with a smirk.
"I have an idea but I'm not sure" James said quietly
"I have more than an idea." I scoffed amused
"Mr. O'Conner, Mr Potter, I wish to speak with you after the feast." Mcgonagall said looking down her nose at them
"We can talk now," James insisted, "we ate a lot on the train."
"Very well." Mcgonagall said, "If you will follow me then." as she moved back towards the entrance to the great hall, her back stiff.
I grimaced before once more getting up and moving slowly after her trying not to limp as James followed me closely
"As soon as we get this over with the sooner we can fix it" james whispered to me
I nodded, not wanting to say anything near Mcgonagall as she led us out of the hall and down to what I assumed her office was. As we walked in I was surprised to see Dumbledore waiting there as well sitting in a bright purple overstuffed armchair.
"Mr O'Conner. Good to see you again." Dumbeledore said as he looked at me rather than towards James and Mcgonagall, "Professor Mcgonagall, i'll take it from here"
"Very well Albus." Mcgonagall said as she shot us a stern look and walked back out of the room closing the door behind her.
" Headmaster." I said looking at the man warily
"Lemon drop?" Dumbledore asked as he held out a bag of the stuff gesturing to the chairs in front of us.
"Don't mind if i do" i couldn't help but grin as i grabbed a handful and sat down
"No thanks" james said warily as he to sat down next to me
Dumbledore looked at us as he asked, "Now should I be worried about what transpired in the bathroom?" his eyes seeming to twinkle in amusement as he spoke
"We're sorry and we won't do it again" James stated
"Indeed…." Dumbledore said as he looked between us carefully before saying, "a letter i'm afraid we'll have to be written to both of your guardians and i must ensure you understand the importance of using protection"
I coughed and glanced at James slowly as I said, "we understand Sir."
"I know how curious boys your age can be and if you are confused or have any questions don't hesitate to ask an adult you feel comfortable with. I myself am gay, and can promise you there is nothing wrong with having such attractions" Dumbledore continued
"I'm not gay" James said quickly then seeming to remember we were supposed to go along with what they thought happened and added, "I'm… curious…."
"Indeed" dumbledore said his eyes twinkling
I coughed and looked at my feet as I said, "Well...um...thanks for the advice…" doing my best not to burst out laughing
"Now then I'm sure you're both tired from such activities and so I shall escort you to your dorm but please refrain from continuing such activities as you both are still quite young." Dumbledore said as he stood up his eyes landing on me, "or i can take you to madam Pompfrey the schools healer if you would like as such activities can be strenuous"
"I'm fine." I said quickly
"Very well then. I do hope neither of you try any spells that are too advanced to cast" he said this time looking pointedly at James who shifted a bit and glanced away
"Of course not." I said as I stood up trying my best not to show any sign of pain as i added, "Dorms would be nice ... .I am tired."
"Indeed" Dumbledore hummed as he led us out
"I cant tell if he know the truth are not" James whispered at me
"I don't know…" I said quietly as we moved up a set of stairs, finally stopping at a picture of a fat lady in a dress.
"This is the entrance to the Gryffindor tower. The password is Courage and the boys' dorms are on the right." Dumbledore said
"Thank you" James said quickly before asking, "but if we do, decide to visit madam Pompfery where would we go?"
"The infirmary is just down from the great hall," Dumbledore said with a smile before adding, "I'll leave you to get your sleep, you have a busy day tomorrow." before he walked off back down the stairs.
As soon as he was gone James opened up the portrait and we both clambered through and towards the stairs on the right. I barely paid any attention to the surroundings as we made our way up to the first year dorms and walked in. As soon as we were inside the room i leaned against the wall as I groaned, "Damn it.."
James quickly helped me to a bed before pulling up my pants leg and without warning took out the switchblade in my pocket, how he knew it was there i didn't know or care as he abruptly cut my leg open.
"Fuck!" i cursed automatically trying to jerk away as blood gushed from the new wound
"Hold still" James said scoldingly, "and don't yell that"
"Then why don't you let me cut your leg open." I grit out as I forced myself to stay still
"Dont be such a baby its not that bad" james said flatly as he once again started to reopen the wounds
"Yeah...right…" I hissed out my fists clenching as I closed my eyes tightly. After a few minutes a slowly become aware of the fact i was laying down and that Remus was yelling causing me to question when he had gotten there
"Are you insane! Why would you even attempt that spell!" Remus screamed
"I had a 5% chance of it working" james argued
"Out of what percentage!?" Remus yelled infuriated
"100 duh" james scoffed, "he doesn't want to go to the healers and arguing is pointless, he needs a blood replenisher"
"And how the hell are you going to get that!?" Remus yelled
"We'll just go to the healing hall" i could hear sirius saying
"See! He gets it!" james said, "now peter, Remus you two stay here with him and keep pressure on the wound, we're going to go and get some potions"
""Remus?" I questioned looking up from where I was laying wondering why my head felt so damn heavy.
"No! he needs to go to the healing hall" Remus protested
"Liam do you want to go to the healing hall" james asked me flatly
"No." I said immediately
"There you go" james said and i heard him rummaging through his trunk before saying, "come on sirius"
"This whole thing is stupid!" Remus snapped only i could hear the door opening
"Remember keep pressure on it" james said before the door closed
"Not that bad,,," i yawned having not actually looked at my leg since James had reopened the wound
"It looked pretty bad…" Peter said softly, his voice coming from somewhere near my leg.
Remus made an odd noise before i could faintly hear him rummaging throw something before going over to me and saying, "drink this" as he lifted my head up
"What?" i asked looking at him
"Its… It's a blood replenishing potion… I just have the one and you probably will need another later… and James said he'd get some potion that will help heal it fast…" Remus sighed
"K…" i muttered as i drank the potion grimacing at the iron like taste before i said, "So how bad does it look?" as i glanced down at my leg to see it heavily bandaged and to see peter holding a towel and appearing to be keeping pressure on what may have been the worst spot
"Bad" Remus grimaced, "why the hell would you even let him try that spell on you! And then let him cut your leg open! He's 11! He's not a healer!"
"I've had worse…..can't remember any at the moment though…" I yawned
"Just… just go to sleep…" Remus grumbled aggravatedly
"Kay….wake me…" i muttered as i slowly drifted off into a light sleep
Authors note: Hey hope you enjoy the update please review i would love to hear thoughts or suggestions!