(Messers Moony and Stars AU) How Moon and Stars cross

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It was the first full moon of November 1972. Remus awoke groaning in pain, his still more-animal-than-human nose smelled a dying creature. His ears, still sensitive from stretching into a wide wolf shape, picking up the searing cough of his neighbor. His nose always sensitive, easily picked up the smell of sweat and the fluid coughed up from the the coughing human's lungs. The wolf could easily taste the extreme sickness on the air and nature's inclination to pull away from illness made Remus' skin crawl.
It was a too much for the boy on first day after a full moon. Remus rolled around and threw up over the side of the bed. Madame Promfey rushed to his side and anxiously dabbed at his sweat-stained forehead. Remus' muscles ached from the horrific stretching they had endured only a few hours before but the boy still managed to croak painfully and with some concern, "Who is so sick?" The corners of the nurse's mouth tugged down slightly and a furrow appeared between her eyebrows. "It is nothing you should concern about, you're sick enough for yourself!" The young boy's serious eyes flashed with the remains of amber and his expression was so sincere that it was almost impossible not to tell him. The nurse raised her eyebrow, and said, though not unkindly, "Had it been one of your friends, Mr Lupin, you would have been informed. You shouldn't snoop."
"They're dying and they should be at St Mungo's and I want to know why they're not." The twelve year spoke with so much frankness and authority that it was hard to believe she wasn't talking to a man of at least three times his age. Plus she could not really bare denying him anything that was feasibly in her power to grant after the ordeal he just went through.
Remus saw how genuinely upset Mme Promfrey was at the discussion of this patient and felt a wave of fear for the strangely familiar scent.
The nurse sat down heavily in a seat beside Remus' bed, "It is the younger Mr Black. I'm sure you have been introduced?"
He had not. He had not even known Regulus was ill and surely the school had made Sirius aware of his condition. But the young boy knew that if he told a member of staff this they would judge Sirius for 'not showing his brother enough care'. That was Sirius' business and no one else's, especially not adults. Remus resolved to keep any information about Sirius to himself, even indirect mentions.
The werewolf frowns up at the older woman, "Why haven't Walburga and Orion gotten him yet?" The nurse pursed her lips, as if disapproving of them but not wanting her opinion to influence Remus. "They said that Mr Black is often ill and that he always gets better. Their opinion is that it would not be worth sending him to St Mungo's."

***

The next day when Remus was leaving the hospital wing he managed to glimpse Regulus through the curtains. His appearance anchored the assertions by scent far too much in reality for Remus. His face glistened with a sheen of sweat, the skin underneath so leeched of color you could see the veins. You could see them well enough, in fact, it looked like the skin barely covered them and it would break from the slightest touch. Remus could see his eyes rolling under twitching eyelids and his lips moving fervently as if in the middle of a frantic prayer.
The Gryffindor was not used to seeing Regulus this way. He was used to seeing him flouncing around the halls with his nose in the air and a haughty expression on his face. The boy lying in this bed didn't look like he could stand, let alone flounce. He looked like Remus, a kid not even halfway to legal age. He didn't at all seem like 'the physical embodiment of everything wrong with the wizarding world' like Sirius said. But then again, it was easy to believe him when you heard the passionate way he spoke about the evils of his entire family.
Sirius had barely even looked at Regulus ever since he had been sorted into Slytherin, convinced that it proved he was just like the rest of their family.
Unfortunately, 'Marauders', as they were calling themselves, were not allowed in the hospital wing early in the morning. The 12 year-olds still haven't figured out how to get past the formidable Mme Pomfrey. Remus was glad for that, though he loved them dearly he hadn't yet found the courage to tell them his secret. He didn't know if he ever would. And it was not an inconsiderable amount relief to the Gryffindor that his post-transformation addled brain wouldn't have to come up with fake scenarios for why he was so sick. At least not until he was ready. But he hoped that had Sirius been allowed into the hospital wing and seen the state of his brother while visiting Remus, he would comfort him.
Remus was leaving the hospital wing but couldn't leave Regulus, and do...nothing.
But what could he do?
He reached into his satchel and drew out his emergency Mars bar and his friendly old copy of Narnia. He knew, because they were both muggle things, Regulus was likely to reject them but he wanted to see for sure. He knew it wasn't right to conduct experiments on people but he was hardly going to walk up to the boy and ask, 'Do you really think muggle are inferior, or are you saying those things to impress your friends?' But was he? No, this was definitely a much easier way to gauge his character and to see if it was worth trying to get Sirius to talk to him. Merlin knows that Sirius Black was stubborn and he didn't want to go through all the trouble of convincing him, just to be disappointed. He hated the idea of disappointing Sirius, more than anything.

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