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Remus' sudden escape from the classroom luckily went unnoticed. As soon as Remus was in the hall he crashed to the ground, the world spinning badly. Fortunately, everyone was finishing up classes and he was able to spend the few necessary minutes letting the effects of the aconite wear off.
It took a lot of determination, but he managed to get to his feet just as the rest of the class came pouring out. He could do nothing but lean against the far wall and hope he went unnoticed as everyone spread out their different ways based on how they planned to spend the next half hour before dinner. But his attempt to go unnoticed was quickly unsuccessful due to his three roommates.
"Why didn't you stay for the rest of the class Remus?" Peter was the first to spot and reach him, looking concerned.
"Well isn't it obvious, Peter? Our dear old Remus is allergic to laughing." Sirius seemed highly amused by this. Considering Remus had no other excuse he didn't refute it.
"Are you alright? You aren't looking well," James pointed out, a bit concerned now too. Even Sirius looked concerned, his slightly mocking tone replaced with a sincere one.
"You look like you're going to pass out, mate."
"'Mm fine," Remus mumbled, feeling anything but.
"He gets like this in every potions class... just about," Peter pointed out unhelpfully.
"Well blimey mate, maybe you really are allergic to something in Professor Slughorn's stock."
"No!" he exclaimed abruptly, knowing he had to come up with something fast before his clever roommates explored that possibility further.
"No? Then what?" Sirius pushed, his eyes narrowed in that familiar way again which meant he'd be watching Remus' every move.
"I...I just always get faint since I keep missing lunch, and by potions, I'm really hungry."
It was believable, sincere, and it worked!
All three boys relaxed and had multiple levels of disapproval on their features. Sirius had the most disapproval. The boy shook his head, taking in Remus as a disapproving mother might have.
"You need to stop doing that. You skip far too many meals, young man," he scolded with an old woman accent that could have badly passed as someone's grandma.
"I know," he responded seriously. Sirius' face crumpled with slight disappointment.
"Yes you do, but you were supposed to come up with something witty, like yesterday. I tell you guys he was bloody brilliant. Mr. What!" Sirius chuckled, and James looked between the two of them with disbelief, clearly finding it impossible that Remus would make a joke. Peter seemed just as dubious over this which left Sirius looking a bit crazy. The Black heir sighed dramatically, but waved them off like a good sport.
"Well, I think we ought to make sure this one doesn't weasel out of dinner as well."
That was the last thing Remus wanted. Remus really had planned to eat a big dinner, he'd need it. But if his roommates were planning to hound him until then, well, that was an awful lot of time to spend with them. Peter and James seemed to come to the same conclusion and neither of them seemed particularly thrilled.
"Well, what would you like to do until then, Remus?" James asked with the air of trying to appease someone but knowing he wouldn't have fun. He felt a little hurt, but considering he was just going to study until dinner he didn't have much room to complain. He knew he was boring, which is why he couldn't believe his roommates were even willing to hang out with him.
"I will meet you at dinner, but I have to study, so..."
Peter and James seemed fine with this, probably relieved they didn't have to hang out with him. But true to his word, Sirius wasn't letting him get away with anything. He smiled wider, but his eyes were focusing intently on Remus making him want to run away and hide.
"Come now, mates. We need to show stuck-up Remus here how to have proper fun."
"But if he doesn't want to, Sirius, we shouldn't force him to." James pointed out, usually the voice of reason between the three, at least when it came to Remus. Peter nodded, quick to follow suit with James, and Sirius rolled his eyes.
"He just doesn't know he wants to...yet. Come on, we owe it to him."
"Technically only you owe it to him, Sirius. But since you will most likely lead Remus to an early death, I suppose we better all go along."
Peter nodded again, though he seemed less eager about agreeing with James this time.
"I'd really rather study," Remus protested weakly, though he knew he wasn't getting out of this. Sirius gestured dramatically at Remus, as if the boy had just somehow proved his point perfectly. James laughed and grinned.
"Well, where shall we start?" James asked in a tone that suggested he was humoring Sirius.
"I don't even think he's seen the ground yet, have you, Remus?" Peter asked kindly.
"You really could use some sun mate. Alright, let's go to the Quidditch pitch!" Sirius decided happily.
Remus was forced to go with them, Sirius' firm grip on his shoulders preventing escape. Remus was sure the boy's plan to force him along would have worked, and Remus would no doubt pass out from keeping their fast pace on top of the exhaustion of the soon-to-be full moon. But luckily, Lily and Dorcas ran into them and interceded on his behalf with more confidence and firmness than Remus figured he ever could.
"Potter! Black! What are you doing?" she shouted at them like a cross teacher, changing direction and rushing over to them with a scowl. Dorcas quickly joined her, and the boys of floor seven dorm one were forced to stop just before the entranceway leading outside.
"Well Evans, we are just taking our Lupin for a walk," Sirius teased. Even though Remus knew Sirius would likely say the same thing about the others if the occasion occurred, he felt his face go red with shame. He was acting more like a subservient beast than a boy, which was both fitting and terrible.
"He's not your pet, Black!" she snapped outraged.
"You three have bullied him enough," Dorcas added threateningly.
"We aren't bullying him. We are showing him what fun is. For his own good," James retorted, shooting his competitor Lily a glare, which she shot back. Those two would be shooting spells at each other faster than Remus could say 'cogswallow' if he didn't stop this.
"They were just going to show me around the grounds, as I haven't seen them yet. But I now remembered I promised to study with you, Lily. I'm sorry."
He hoped she wasn't mad at him and that she would take the hint and the out. She glanced away from James, her expression softening and she smiled.
"Oh yes that's right, you did. Looks like you'll have to go see the grounds some other time."
"Not so fast. You guys can just study another time," Sirius pouted, very disappointed at the turn of events.
"Yeah, I don't think so. Come on, Remus." Dorcas beckoned him over. He didn't look at Sirius, not wanting to see the hurt that was sure to be on his face. Instead, he pulled away from the tight grasp and walked over to the girls.
"Sorry...maybe...we can go another time," he mumbled to his roommate's feet. He didn't really mean it, he just didn't want to appear too rude.
"Come on, Remus. You don't need the bad influence of those boys," Lily sniffed, tossing her hair disdainfully at James who looks irritated at losing. It irritated Remus more than it normally would have that both sides were acting a bit like he was some sort of prize. Lily even stuck her tongue out at James, clearly seeing this as some sort of win.
He waited until his roommates were out of view and earshot before he stopped walking. Remus forced himself to feel grateful for Lily's rescue, even though it had made him feel more pathetic.
"Thank you for that, Lily. They really aren't bullying me anymore not...not really," he assured her.
He started to walk away, preferring to spend what was now probably twenty minutes alone before dinner. But Lily stopped him, her hand where Sirius' had been, though considerably gentler.
"Are you not going to study with us?"
"Oh...I..." He couldn't meet her eyes, though he wasn't entirely sure why.
"Remus, are you mad at me?" she blurted out sounding very stressed. He looked up, surprised to find Lily on the verge of tears and Dorcas looking rather ashamed.
"M...mad? Why would I be mad?" he asked bewildered.
"Because of the letters of course! Oh, Remus, I should have believed you. Sev had only hung out with you a few times. He doesn't know you as Dorcas and I do..." Lily trailed off, glancing at her friend nervously.
"And I was being a wanker thinking you wrote them." Dorcas finished, giving Remus an apologetic grimace.
"We should have believed you," Lily concluded.
Remus wanted to point out that not even he had believed in himself, but figured that would result in too many questions.
"It's alright. There...I mean there was evidence. And it seemed unlikely... I mean, that's why my roommates were bullying me. Because they thought I wrote those," he finished lamely.
"That gave them no right to treating you so terribly! They should have gone to a professor or the headmaster?"
"Like you did?"
He meant it as a question but the realization hit him quite suddenly, he really should have known. Lily went as red as her hair.
"I only wanted to help you. I'm not a snitch but...well, it was affecting your schoolwork, Remus," she exclaimed aghast. He found himself smiling at her sincerely.
"Thank you, Lily."
He wasn't sure why this made her blush even more, but his gratitude towards her was sincere. Remus was pretty sure Dumbledore would have reached the same conclusion if she hadn't talked to him. Still, to have someone care enough about him to do so was a good feeling.
"O...of course, Remus. Now, if you aren't mad how about we study?"
"There's only half an hour left," Dorcas pointed out, sounding amused.
"That's enough time to go over applications of the mending charm," Remus said cheerfully, feeling much less irritated. Lily beamed at him and Dorcas rolled her eyes, grinning.
"You two are nuts," Dorcas decided.
"Well, you don't have to join us," Lily pointed out teasingly. Dorcas simply shrugged and they all headed to the courtyard. It was a nice enough day and they didn't have time to go to the library. There they began quizzing one another in the dwindling minutes before dinner.
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Remus spent dinner eating as much as he could.. In between mouthfuls of pumpkin whatever and wizard foodstuff, he and Dorcas listened to Lily's excited ramblings while ignoring Sirius' disapproving looks. He knew the boy was upset he couldn't sit with them, and Remus figured to tread carefully if he didn't want to face Sirius' anger again. So after dinner, he forced himself to turn down Lily's invitation to go to the library and rushed to catch up to his roommates who were already making their way out of the Great Hall.
"How was the walk?" Remus asked, catching up to them just as they reached the grand staircase.
They stopped walking and turned to him, all three surprised. Sirius was the first to recover and he grinned and flung his arm over Remus' shoulder. He hoped the boy wasn't planning to drag him off and trap him in an abandoned room again, but Sirius didn't seem to have such plans this time.
"Well well well, look who decided to join us," he teased, easily pulling Remus, who was quite a bit shorter, into a playful headlock. Remus knew this was how they were, how most boys seemed to be, but he still found himself distinctly uncomfortable as Sirius ruffled his hair.
"We were just about to head back to the dorm. Want to join us?" Peter asked politely.
There was still a measure of cautious hesitation between James and Peter towards him. Which Remus much preferred to Sirius' lack of boundaries and determination to get to know him. He offered Peter a small smile and tried to untangle himself from the loose headlock he was in.
"Alright."
It was a start, and he hoped it might make Sirius lay off him a bit. They spent the night playing gobstones, which Remus was terrible at, then chess, which Remus won twice then had to purposely lose as he was afraid the others would get mad at him. If they realized he was purposely losing they didn't say anything, but he highly doubted they did. All three seemed ecstatic every time they won.
Remus just smiled and played along the best he could. But as the sunset and the moon rose his bones began to ache and his head and heart felt heavy. He found it much harder to keep his eyes open and he knew he ought to get as much sleep as possible since tomorrow was bound to be a long night.
"Oi, Remus!" James lightly shook him and he jolted awake looking at all three of them fearfully.
"Sorry!"
"Now how is it that you're winning now when you can barely keep your eyes open when you've lost all other games but the first two!" Sirius huffed, torn between amusement and general frustration. Remus realized with a jolt as he was dozing off he was playing with his full skill set and had not been letting Sirius win. He surveyed his board and relaxed realizing he could still lose if he was careful.
He managed to do so, then admitted he needed to sleep and stumbled over to his bed. Remus collapsed onto his sheets it with a content sigh. His exhaustion claimed him quickly, giving him no time to change, but not before he heard Sirius whisper in awe to James.
"That blimey bludger let me win! Reckon he did that throughout?"
He didn't get to hear James' response as he fell unconscious right afterward.
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Tuesday brought pain. Remus struggled to control his emotions even more than yesterday. He had almost snapped at James, Peter, Lily, and Sirius by the time breakfast was over. Then he spent the day avoiding everyone, not trusting himself to go off at them. He was just unbelievably stressed about tonight, and he was unbelievably bitter about the letter he received at breakfast from his father that only read: 'make sure you are careful and on time.'
There was no "I'm doing well," no "How are classes?" Just a dreary reminder of what would come tonight. He both wanted to cry and lash out at something. He busied himself with the latter, taking a large stick and smashing it into a tree with surprising force during the break from classes.
He felt weak and sick, but Remus' physical strength seemed to be slightly heightened right before a full moon, as well as his senses. This, along with an intense desire to eat raw meat, kept him from breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The hunger did nothing to improve his mood, and Remus even found himself miserable during Charms, which was one of his favorite subjects.
Next came Transfiguration, and with it their stern Head of House. By this time it was 2:30 in the afternoon and every muscle in Remus' body ached. He sat down in Professor McGonagol's class as carefully as possible, but it still sent sharp pains running through him.
Normally, Remus would skip muggle school back at home, or at least skipping his later classes. But he was determined not to do that here. Both because of his desire to learn and because he didn't want to bring any more attention to what would eventually be a great many absences.
"Today, I expect everyone to turn their quills into needles and back again by the end of the class period," Professor McGonagall announced to the class. "You will be marked today. Please begin."
Yesterday, when Transfiguration had been their first class, Remus would have had no problem with the task. It may have taken him a good portion of the class period, unlike James and Lily who completed their task within fifteen minutes and were already turning them back. But at least he could have done it then! He felt anger surge within him. As he was looking over his notes in case he got something wrong the intense build-up of frustration in him caused the quill he was holding to snap.
Ink splattered all over him. Lily, who no doubt figured it was another prank from James and Sirius, shot the two boys dirty looks. This threw James off and Lily completed turning her quill back before him. Professor McGonagall had come over to where Remus sat and with a wave of her wand, cleaned him off before handing him a new quill without a word. However, after that, he could feel her eyes on him throughout the class.
After this, he decided he'd never sit in the front row again. By the end of class, he had managed to get his quill into a needle but was unable to transform it back, like Peter. Sirius, who spent the first half of class slacking off, had barely managed to have his quill back, but he did complete the task. Only Peter and Remus were unable to. As such, they were held after class.
"Both of you have disappointed me. I'm assigning you 500 words on the technique..."
Remus didn't hear the rest, his ears were ringing with anger.
It wasn't fair!
Any other day and he could have done it. He'd like to see James do any magic when his whole body was fighting against him and his head felt like someone had hit it repeatedly with a hammer!
"Mr. Lupin!" He blinked back the rage and saw Professor McGonagall peering at him intently. Peter too.
"I said you look unwell and you should go to the hospital wing."
"But..."
"I insist," she responded coolly. "Mr. Pettigrew will take you there, won't you?"
"Sure. Come on, Remus!" Peter said, dragging him out of the class. The young boy seemed happy to get away from Professor McGonagall and, it seemed, to be skipping potions.
Remus was considerably less thrilled. Of course, if he was honest he couldn't find it in himself to be upset about missing Potions. Plus he had been vaguely worried the class might kill him today. But the shame of having to go to the hospital wing earlier than planned was bothering him. And Peter, who talked the whole time he led him there, was agonizing.
Remus tried to brush him off once the doors to the Hospital Wing were insight. "Well, I'm here so..."
"Don't worry, I'll go in with you. Besides, I haven't finished telling you how James gave Filch's cat Mr. Hoalluce a mustache."
"Peter, I don't care!" he snapped finally, after lasting this long, losing it at the last second.
Peter's face went quite pink and he looked really put out.
"Oh."
"Peter, I'm sorry. I just...my head is hurting really bad. I really don't feel well," he admitted even though he hated doing so. This did seem to make up for shouting at his roommate, for Peter nodded and gave him an encouraging pat on the back.
"Don't worry, Madame Pomfrey will fix you up in time for supper."
Remus almost said he doubted that, but thought better of it, because it would seem awfully strange if he even hinted he might be in the hospital wing longer.
So instead he gave Peter the best tense smile he could manage, hoping Peter figured he looked nervous at the prospect of meeting the Matron rather than anything else.
"Well, see you at dinner, mate," Peter called, seemingly unfazed. The boy's eyes were trained on Remus in such a way that it almost seemed as if he was watching for his approval
"See you, Peter...and um...maybe you could finish your story when I feel better?"
"Sure thing!" Peter beamed at him as his beady eyes lit up with excitement.
Glad he at least managed not to hurt Peter's feelings, Remus entered the hospital wing feeling heavy.