✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
Halloween approached Hogwarts quicker than expected. Carved pumpkins dangled from the enchanted Great Hall ceiling, some looking brilliant and some looking rubbish. Much to Peter's delight, the kitchen elves had started making themed treats like bat shaped sugar cookies and homemade cauldron cakes for desert again.
The ghosts had become more gleeful around the school as their favourite time of year grew closer, meaning Peeves was slacking when it came to pranks. Unfortunately for the students, they couldn't get a break from relentless pranking as the Marauders had filled in for that position. Buckets of water had been placed above doors, wild animals had been released in class, the Ravenclaw robes were charmed to be stripy for a whole day and Rosier's hair had been dyed a vibrant colour of pink.
It was unfortunate for Remus that the full moon happened to fall on Halloween. The Great Feast, a much loved day for him, was to be spent in the Hospital Wing, and then in the shrieking shack. It couldn't be helped, yet he couldn't help but be in a bad mood about it.
Halloween morning, Remus was in the Infirmary. He had been in there for two days suffering an unbearable headache and barely being able to move his sore limbs. Usually he would be in the Great Hall, eating chocolate for breakfast and drinking an unhealthy amount of coffee, but this year was different.
In summary, he was anything but happy. He was annoyed that his curse got in the way of things he loved, he was sad he would never get rid of said curse and he was envious of the all the people living lycanthropy-free lives. Yet when Genevieve wobbled into the Infirmary with a tray full of food in her hands, trying to balance it while holding the heavy door open, he couldn't help but smile.
"Good morning, Lupin," she greeted gleefully. "Hope you're hungry."
"Wow," Remus said, his mood brightening instantly. "I feel like royalty."
Genevieve grinned and placed the tray on his bedside table. "Do you like the flower?" she asked, gesturing to the single orange carnation in a thin vase. "I thought it looked nice."
"Oh, yeah. It really brings the whole thing together," Remus said, propping himself up with some help from her. "It would be incomplete without it."
"I thought so too," she hummed. "I ran all the way to the greenhouses just to get this for you, by the way. Don't ever call me uncommitted."
"All for me? You shouldn't have," Remus said, still smiling. His eyes lit up as he looked around the tray. She had brought him a variety of different things for breakfast: toast, croissants, a box of cereal, a chocolate bar, strawberries, a cup of coffee, a glass of water and a load of other things. "You even brought me a chocolate bar," he pointed out.
"It's mandatory."
Upon hearing the word 'chocolate', Madam Pomfrey stopped folding sheets on the other side of the room. "I hope you're not planning on giving him chocolate for breakfast, Lewis," she scolded. "The last thing he needs is to be packed with sugar right now."
"I wouldn't dream of if, Poppy," Genevieve said innocently, batting her eyes. "You've got nothing to worry about here. All's good and well, solemnly swear it."
Pomfrey was in no way convinced, but she turned around and went back to begrudgingly folding the sheets anyway.
"Now I bet you're wondering - where on earth are our stupid friends? Well that's a good question, dear Remus. To answer your question, they're currently getting told off by McGonagall for putting Dungbombs in all the boys toilets."
"Didn't you do that?"
"Absolutely," Genevieve smiled proudly. "but they took the blame so I could bring you breakfast. We couldn't let you be spoon fed gruel by Poppy, we have too much love for you to put you through that. What d'ya fancy? Pancakes? Buttered croissants? I've got it all."
"I can see that," Remus laughed. It hurt his chest, but he didn't care. "How about... buttered toast and coffee?"
"Starting off slowly, good idea," Genevieve nodded, setting to work. "Just so you know, this goes both ways. When I'm unwell, you have to do this for me too."
"You're never unwell," said Remus, drinking his hot coffee. "I'm jealous of you for that."
"You're jealous of my immune system and not my beautiful face?"
"That too," he said fondly. "You do have a very nice face."
Genevieve kissed him on the forehead. "Behave yourself," she said, rolling her eyes at his lopsided smile.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
The shrieking shack was falling apart. While walking up the creaky stairs, Peter had stood on a rotten floorboard and if it wasn't for James quickly catching him then he would have gone straight through it. Every now and then small parts of the roof would crumble onto one of their heads and leave their skulls numb. Autumn wind that had managed to enter the house through the deteriorating walls made them shiver under moth-eaten blankets and cling onto each other.
In the corner sat a wardrobe that Sirius had been scowling at for the past five minutes. It's door was hanging on by its hinges and squeaked every time a draft moved it. "Can you please tell your wolf self to be a little more considerate about antique furniture?" he said to Remus, annoyed. "It's common curtesy."
Remus looked up from where he was clutching his head, annoyance in his brown eyes. "Can we not do this right now?" he said from his corner.
"Oh, right," Sirius nodded. He bit in his fingernail for a good moment, trying to stay quiet, but then a part of the roof dropped off and he exploded. "It would just be a bit nice if the other you could contain himself from tearing everything apart."
Remus looked at him blankly. This had been Sirius's only talking point since Peter went through the floorboards. "I'll let him know," he replied, unsmiling.
"Good. It's just a bit disrespectful of him to create such a wreckage of what could be a nice place." Ironically, Sirius was being serious.
"It's almost like he has a mind of his own," Remus said, dryly. Peter snorted.
"Exactly," Sirius nodded, looking around at the wreckage distastefully. "He needs to clean up his mess."
"I wish you had that same attitude about our dorm," James said. "Your side of the room is a breeding ground for disease."
Genevieve couldn't help but laugh loudly, but covered her mouth when she saw Remus try to disguise his wince. She had been trying to filter her loudness out all day for his sake. "Sorry," she said guiltily.
Remus tried his best to smile reassuringly, but his face ached whenever he moved it. "It's ok."
"Foul," Sirius muttered, staring sadly at a near demolished victorian style chair.
The gloomy room became a pale shade of white as the luminescent moon shone brightly down on them. Caught in the moonlight, Remus dug his nails into the floorboards as he tried to ease the agonising throb in his head. He kept his eyes tightly closed, both trying to shut the light out and making sure he couldn't see his friend's pained faces.
Genevieve turned around like always, fearful to watch the transformation take place. Remus's cries cut through the air, and with every one she felt James, who had his arm wrapped around her, become more tense. None of them liked this part. They changed into animagi, and in a matter of moments after Remus was a mindless, snarling werewolf.
That night was expected to go smoothly. Remus had been relatively happy for once, which meant he would be less violent and more on the playful side. They planned to play tag as usual, or try catch each other's tails - maybe even the wolf and dog would get into a brawl of some sort. None of that happened.
Instead, the werewolf went ballistic. He started throwing shelves over, scratching the walls, bared his sharp teeth at anyone who tried to interfere. At on point, the werewolf went to attack a dark oak bed table and the dog got flung across the room for trying to stop him. When damaging the furniture didn't help, the werewolf turned to damaging himself.
He clawed into his body, whining in pain when his nails sunk too deep into his flesh. Everyone tried to stop him, pulling at his arms and distracting him when they could, but this only ended up putting them on the bad side of the werewolf. The dog pounced onto the werewolf when it started biting its arm, which led to an aggressive brawl kicking out between them. The stag had to ward off the werewolf with his threatening antlers to stop it.
Nobody knew why the werewolf acted this way. If Remus was so happy, why was there so much pent up rage that needed to be let off? His rough growls were more ferocious than ever seen before, echoing throughout the whole crumbling house and shaking the floorboards. His claws were laced with his own blood, not theirs, which was somehow more gut-wrenching than if the roles were reversed.
Soon enough the sun began to rise and the werewolf began to slow down on his rampage, growing frail as his host began to take control once again. Eventually, all that was left of the werewolf were the wounds inflicted on the trembling, pale Remus under a blanket.
Sirius ran a now-human hand down his face and he looked at the torn bedside table. "I tried to save you," he said, sadly.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
Pain. That was Remus's thought when he first woke up. So, so much pain. It rocketed through his body, shrunk all of his muscles and crawled beneath his skin. The second thought Remus had was comfort, because he could smell the intoxicating scent of lavender and felt soft hands carefully wrapping a bandage around his lower arm.
"Gen?" Remus said, his voice raspy and weak.
"Hello, love," she replied. He could hear the smile in her voice. "Sleep well?"
Remus hummed in response, still drowsy. She couldn't help but grin as she watched him begin to wake. While Genevieve was wrapping Remus up in bandages and applying various ointments, James, Sirius and Peter had decided to accompany Madam Pomfrey on the walk to the shrieking shack.
"My face hurts," Remus muttered, sleepily prying his eyes open. "It never hurts this bad." He watched as Genevieve averted her focus from him to his bandages, avoiding telling him something. He sighed and closed his eyes again. "I have a cut on my face, don't I?"
"Yes, but it's cool!" she quickly protested before he could get upset. "Don't look at me like that, I promise it is."
"Really?" he said, doubtfully. He didn't believe her when she eagerly nodded her head. "Where does it start and end?"
Gently, Genevieve traced the outer edge of the long, inflamed wound with her index finger. She started at his forehead and slowly travelled the length of Remus's face, being careful not to touch the cut or hurt him. He watched her as she concentratedly went over the bridge of his freckled nose and finished her trail just beside his lips.
"Great," he said quietly as she withdrew her hand. "So it's noticeable?"
"Only if you squint."
"Funny."
"It's really not that bad," she said assuringly. Her eyes lit up with child-like happiness. "You look like someone out of an action comic! You know, the hero with all the ace scars on his face." She looked at him with awe. "I would kill to have a scar like that."
Remus rolled his eyes but smiled. "Please don't kill for a scar like this."
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*