The Losing One || Sirius Black

53. A River

She turned away from them again, but to Sirius' surprise, not to the Hospital exit. Madam Pomfrey started walking towards her office, bag filled with potions in hand. She stopped just in front of the door and turned back to look at three boys, "I don't know how tonight's transformation went.", she said in a sad voice, "Just be prepared for everything. If you can't handle that, it's always okay to leave and come back later. I'm sure Remus wouldn't mind."

Sirius knew that she was just looking out for them, but he found that quite unnecessary. Friends were there for each other in beautiful and ugly situations, so his answer to her didn't come as a surprise to anyone, "We can handle it.", he said clearly, fists clenched.

The silence overtook the big, white room. The Marauders were the only ones there that morning, so Sirius and Peter followed James' steps. They also got comfortable on the beds, Peter next to James and Sirius in front of the two.

"Did you see what potions she packed?", James asked them, but, when Sirius tried to recall what the potions were, his brain was empty. The only thing currently occupying his mind was Remus. He and Peter shook their heads so James continued, " ", his words, no matter how quiet, echoed in the empty room.

Just as James mentioned those two, a picture of a label on a potion bottle appeared in Sirius' mind, "I also saw .", he added.

Peter seemed even more nervous than before, "I hope she doesn't use all of them."

"Don't worry, Pete. I think maybe she brings them just in case.", James started, but before he could say anything else, Sirius cut in, "I don't think so. I read the books on transformations and it's not pretty.", he said seriously and Peter gulped.

The atmosphere seemed to change to a darker one, so James tried to reduce the tension, "Let's not make any assumptions.", and just like Sirius expected, James changed the topic, "Did you know that my dad made that Skele-Gro potion?", he said proudly and the atmosphere, in deed, changed to a brighter one as they talked about Fleamont's accomplishments.

* * *

They waited for about forty-five minutes before they heard a sound from Madam Pomfrey's office. The waiting was dreadful to Sirius, he just wanted to know if his friend was okay, but now... seconds seemed to pass like minutes as three Marauders waited for someone to emerge from the Healer's office.

From what Sirius could see, he wasn't the only one whose demeanor changed to a nervous one. Peter was again playing with his fingers and .

The wooden door finally creaked open and Madam Pomfrey emerged with a weak-looking and pale Remus. He was leaning on her left shoulder, barely able to walk. . If there were any new scars, Sirius wasn't able to see them since the tall boy wore grey sweatshirt and sweatpants.

Immediately, Sirius got up from the bed and was next to Remus in no time, taking Madam Pomfrey's place as he helped Remus get to his usual bed at the far-left corner of the Hospital. James joined him as well by taking Remus' right side and Peter scurried towards the mentioned bed to fluff the pillow and remove the white cover so that Remus could lay down.

Remus gave all of them a questioning look, but he didn't say anything, probably because a few extra hands came in handy in his current state. Sirius and James helped him lay down and, as soon as his head hit the pillow, Peter threw the cover over him. Remus gave all of them a slight nod of appreciation before Madam Pomfrey ordered them to move away from the bed so that she could work in peace.

The three Marauders obeyed without a word of protest. They all sat down on the nearest bed and waited. None of them spoke, they wanted to provide Madam Pomfrey with a silent environment and cause no distractions.