The full moon coming up was a four nighter. He hadn't had one of those since June and was dreading it. Three nights were bad enough, four was awful. The worst part was the one after that was a four nighter too. I'm gonna be missing almost an entire week of classes, he thought on Thursday, barely paying attention in History of Magic. Binns droned on about some very violent war that happened a couple of centuries ago, making it sound as interesting as cleaning spells. Actually cleaning spells were more interesting. Remus sighed and folded his arms on his desk, head dropping down. He had a few more days until the moon but he had too much anxiety to focus properly.
A note floated over his shoulder, dropping onto his desk. Remus Lupin sleeping during a class? SHOCKING! - SB
Then another note came. It had all three of their handwriting on it.
man todays lesson is so boring even remy is sleeping - SB
Then in James's writing: lets just leave doubt ol binnsy would notice anyway
Then in Peter's: Remus would never
Then: hey remy lets skip class its extra boring today. were all in just need you! - SB
Remus read the note then glanced over his shoulder. Sirius raised his eyebrows, face lit up with excitement. Remus looked back down at the note, knowing he shouldn't. Skipping class? It was wrong. Then he looked at his parchment, at the 'notes' he had taken from today's lecture. There were maybe two sentences then a bunch of doodles. Everything Binns talked about was in the book...
Okay. He sent the note back to Sirius who gave a slight gasp then a soft, "Yes!" Then he raised his hand in the air. "Professor, I need to go to the bathroom."
Binns trailed off then gave a nod before returning to talking. Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus all gathered their stuff and left the room together. Remus felt Lily's eyes on him but didn't look back. He wasn't mentally present enough for the stifling, boring lecture right now anyway. Actually, it was a pretty nice day so the four of them ran outside. The grounds were muddy but the sky was clear and the air somewhat warm for late February. It felt good.
"I can't believe you're skipping class!" James exclaimed as the four of them gathered under a tree near the lake. James immediately began climbing up into the tree while Sirius leaned against the trunk clearly trying to look 'cool'. Peter picked up a few rocks to skip across the lake's surface while Remus spread his cloak on the muddy, chilled ground and plopped down on top.
"Not in the mood today to deal with Binns," mumbled Remus as he pulled a book out of his bag.
"Gonna get in trouble," Sirius said, shooting Remus a smirk. Remus just shrugged. He knew perfectly well how much trouble he was going to be in but he really didn't care at the moment.
"We're rubbing off on you." James hung upside down off a branch, his hair everywhere, glasses slipping, shirt riding up showing off his bare stomach. "Next thing you know you'll be sneaking around after hours."
Remus settled cross-legged, smiling at his friend. "No."
James blinked with indignation while Sirius laughed. "Love it," Sirius said, "just a flat out 'no'."
"You don't sneak around at night, do you?" Peter asked, looking at the two black-haired boys.
"Of course they do," Remus said, garnering curious looks.
"How do you know?" James demanded.
"You wake me up whenever you come and go--er, at least you used to, before my curtains were spelled," he said, scrambling to make sure they didn't catch on at how good his hearing really was, that he could still hear the door opening and shutting even through the sound absorption spells. "I just assume you still do."
James's glasses finally fell off but his hand darted out, catching them before they got to the ground. "Yup. Sometimes."
"You never invite me," Peter mumbled quietly, not intending to be heard. Don't worry, they never invite me either, he thought, not wanting to say it out loud, not wanting to draw attention to Peter's pouting. However the other two had heard him.
"Fine, next time you can come with us--if you can keep up, and avoid teachers," said James, smirking broadly.
"If you get us caught, though, that's it," added Sirius, tilting his head, eyes intense.
Peter gulped a little, obviously thinking only of the adventure and not the keep-hidden aspects. "M... maybe..."
For the next ten minutes James and Sirius chattered to each other, Peter skipped rocks, and Remus read. A little part of him felt a bit sick (for skipping) however he managed to keep that tamped down well enough. If Binns wasn't so boring, then I wouldn't have, he reasoned, knowing perfectly well it was a feeble excuse.
Then Sirius was on the ground next to Remus, snatching the book from his hands to study it. "This isn't even on the curriculum." He flipped through the text-heavy pages of one of Remus's favorite wizarding fictional books. "Why d'you even read so much? It's boring."
"Is not," Remus said, taking his book back. Or trying to. Sirius held it up out of his reach. "I read for the same reason you two get into trouble." Remus didn't bother reaching for it, knowing Sirius would keep it too high. "For the delight."
"'For the delight'," James snorted from above them. "OH! For the DELIGHT!"
Sirius rolled his eyes upwards. "Probably more of a delight than you, James Potter."
"You're not exactly roses yourself, Sirius Black." They stuck their tongues out at each other, then laughed. While Sirius was distracted, Remus got his book. Sirius made a face at Remus who gave a shrug back. He flipped through the book to find the page he had been on, and buried his nose back into the text. Except he was very aware of Sirius sitting next to him. It made him uncomfortable, for some reason, and he had to resist the urge to scoot away.
Peter, done with throwing rocks, rummaged in his bag till he pulled out his camera. James, Sirius, and Remus had gotten used to seeing their friend with the camera in front of his face. He liked taking pictures and did so almost every day. He snapped a couple of Sirius and Remus (Sirius posing, Remus trying to hide behind the book, then one of Sirius pulling the book away and Remus looking quite annoyed) then turned the camera up to James.
"Hold on!" James wriggled his way farther out onto the branch until it began dipping. Then James threw his arms out in a ta-da manner. Peter took a picture and then James laughed, turning to make his way back. He lost his balance, arms beginning to flail as he tried to take hold of something--anything--but he didn't manage. He landed on the ground with a sickening crunch.
All three ran over as James rolled over, clutching his leg, tears pouring down his face. "Merlin--Merlin--!" James wailed.
"That's what you get for showing off," Sirius said, hands on hips.
James glared through the tears. "Lot of help you are, mate! Glad I have a friend as caring as you!"
Remus crouched down, feeling the wolf stirring. Weak, injured, can't run away. Except it didn't really feel predatory. More... protective? Which made absolutely zero sense. Why would he suddenly feel the need to protect James?! "Your--I think your leg is--broken," Remus mumbled, not wanting to say that yes, James's leg was 100% broken. He knew it. "Let's get you to Pomfrey."
"No way!" James tried to pull away. "We'll get in trouble for being out of class!"
Remus stared incredulously. "You--wh--what?! You'd r-r-rather just lay here with a--a broken leg?"
"Yes."
"They already know we skipped class you absolute dungbrain! Sirius, you're the fastest, go get Pomfrey." Sirius took off running. Remus grabbed his cloak and bunched it up, putting it gently under James's leg. He thought he remembered something about needing to keep a broken leg elevated. He hoped that was right.
James whimpered as he lay back. "It hurts..."
"I know."
"I'm so sorry, James, it's all my fault!" Peter said, kneeling down in the mud after fetching James's glasses from where they had fallen.
James shook his head. "Nah, s'my fault, I was, uhhh--I was---well, I was--"
"Showing off?" Remus suggested. James just scowled. He looked like he wanted to say something but his skin was going rather pale and sweat began dripping down, so he just swore softly. After what felt like an eternity, Sirius came dashing back across with the grounds with Pomfrey following. She quickly did some diagnostics magic, confirming Remus's 'suspicion' about a broken leg. She carefully set it, putting a splint along the leg, then summoned a stretcher. James swore again--loudly, this time--as she got him on.
"It won't take but a few minutes to heal up," she said as the floater levitated next to her. "Though you'll probably need to stay in the wing for a bit. You'll be fine by the time lunch is over." She eyed the three boys following them. "One of you can stay." They all knew it'd be Sirius so Remus and Peter stopped walking, watching the three go back to the castle.
Peter began wringing his hands. "It's--"
"Not your fault," Remus interrupted him then returned to the tree to pick up all the stuff they had left. Peter helped him, still distressed. "He'll be fine."
Since class was almost over anyway, the two boys went to hang out in the Great Hall. Shortly after Lily appeared, hurrying over to where Remus sat, pushing Peter out of the way even though there was space on Remus's other side. He expected to be chided so it took him by complete surprise when she asked, "How come you didn't invite me?"
Peter climbed back onto the bench, giving Remus an 'O' mouthed look behind her. "Errr..." Remus didn't know how to respond to that. "Well, er, I g-guess we didn't--I didn't think you'd... want to..."
"I'd never thought you'd want to skip class either," she said rather loftily.
"Binns is boring."
"Ugh, he is." Lily began putting food on her plate. "His is the only class I'd ever consider skipping. Have you gotten into trouble yet? Say, where are the two idiots?"
"One of them's right here." Sirius showed up, folding his arms, glaring fiercely at Lily who just smiled up at him.
"And the other idiot?"
"Hospital wing. Could you move it, Evans? I wanna sit by Remy."
"No."
Sirius narrowed his eyes. "I said move."
"And I said no! Why's Thing One in the hospital wing?"
"Move!"
"No!"
Peter edged down the bench. "You c-can sit here, Sirius."
But Sirius just kept glaring at Lily who tossed her hair back, turning to face Remus once more. "Why's Thing One in the hospital wing?"
"B--broke his leg." The curiosity got the better of him. "How come you're not still with him?" Remus asked, focusing on Sirius.
"Pomfrey kicked me out cause I convinced him to chug the Skele-Gro--which he did, and now he's really sick. I think he's gonna miss Potions now." Sirius finally sat down where Peter had been, still glowering at Lily. "So, you want to skip class with us next time, do you?"
"Not with you," Lily sneered. "With Remus."
"We're a group soooo you'd be stuck with us too."
"I'd rather be stuck to a troll."
"Sooooo your little Slytherin friend?"
Remus shifted uncomfortably. He knew his friends didn't get along with one another but this felt worse than normal--their angry pheromones were agitating the wolf. His skin prickled, trying to raise hackles (at least, he assumed that's what was going on).
"How about we--we w--w-wait until we f-find out how much t--trouble we're in before de--deciding to skip again," he suggested, trying his best to break through the tension.
Sirius frowned at Remus's stutter, but it was Peter who spoke. "We won't have to wait much longer..."
McGonagall came through the doors, eyes scanning the Gryffindor table. Once she spotted the culprits she began walking over, face tense. Sirius sat up straighter, a smile already spreading on his face. "Good afternoon, Professor McGonagall! Lovely day, isn't it?"
"Not so lovely after being informed four of my students walked out of class!" she snapped, eyes blazing. "Frankly, I am not surprised at you or Mr. Potter, however I am quite surprised at you, Mr. Lupin." Remus had hoped he'd manage to not feel so guilty however he ducked his head as the shame filled him. Beside him, Peter wriggled a bit, obviously wondering where he fell since McGonagall hadn't even mentioned him.
"I--I w-w-wasn't f--feeling well," Remus mumbled.
"Then you should have gone to the hospital wing!" There wasn't a trace of sympathy in her voice. "A night of detention for each of you. Mr. Potter included." Remus shrank down. His third detention! "Which is stacking onto the detention you already had, Mr. Black, for attacking Mr. Aubrey the other day." She swept off towards the High Table, muttering to herself about incorrigible youths.
As soon as she was out of hearing range Sirius leaned past Remus. "Still wanna skip, Red?"
She sniffled loudly. "Again, not with you, with Remus."
Sirius opened his mouth, obviously to argue, and Remus jerked his arm, sending his glass of water spilling over into Sirius's lap. "Oops, I'm sorry!" Sirius promised it was fine as he mopped it up, making jokes about Remus's clumsiness. At least the crisis seemed averted as Peter began talking about something else, further distracting Sirius from his disagreement with Lily.
*
After Potions the three boys went to the hospital wing to see if James was still there and hoo boy was he. They gaped openly as they approached his bed, Peter being the first to ask what happened.
"Skele-Gro," replied James. "Apparently chugging it was a bad idea. Whouda thunk?"
"Nah, s'brilliant!" Sirius said, grinning broadly at his friend. James had appeared to grow around two or three feet in height but not normally. Instead he was stretched out, kinda like taffy or something. His arms and fingers were especially long.
"Pomfrey says I gotta stay overnight." James made a face which looked really weird since his face was all stretchy. His glasses were only barely hanging off his face so he kept having to push them back up with one of his long fingers.
"Pete, get a picture," Sirius said.
"NO!" James grabbed the covers, yanking them up over his head. "Wait--do I look dumb or creepy?"
"Both," Sirius said.
James lowered the blanket. "Creepy, though?"
"Yes, in a dumb way."
He pulled the blanket down completely. "All right then, one picture."
One picture turned into ten, the last of which James put his noodley fingers all over Sirius's face while he pretended to be horrified. Unfortunately his fake scream attracted Pomfrey's attention, who shooed the boys out of the hospital wing, telling them that James needed to rest.
"That's all she ever says!" Sirius complained, kicking at the floor as they walked off. "It's what she says whenever we try to visit you," he added to Remus.
"Yes, well, in my case I do need to rest," he replied.
"What do you have?" Peter asked. "You've never told us."
Remus hunched his shoulders, regretting ever saying anything. "B--blood disease. Genetic. Fr--from my mother. I really d-don't want to-to-to talk about it."
"You don't have to," Sirius promised, elbowing Remu. Peter tried apologizing but Remus promised it was all right. The subject dropped after that, to his relief, and he hoped they never asked again.
*
James returned to classes the next day. He still had a little bit of a stretchy sort of look to his fingers but otherwise was fine. He didn't have very good control of them, though, and kept dropping things in Herbology. He 'accidentally' dropped a small pot full of dampened fertilizer so it splashed against some girls at the desk next to theirs. "Oops," James said, flashing a grin as the girls glowered.
At lunch they all recieved notices from McGonagall about their detention. Remus just stared at his in confusion. Please report to the kitchens at 6pm exactly this Monday evening (28th) for your detention. It was exactly the same for James, Sirius, and Peter. However... It's going to be a full moon, he thought, trying to keep his face impassive. Surely McGonagall knows this?? He wanted to go ask her what the meaning of this was however he did NOT want to draw any attention to himself or the fact he wouldn't be there to his friends.
After a very long (and agonizing) Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Remus excused himself from his friends and hurried to the Transfiguration classroom where McGonagall was wiping off her blackboard. He knocked at the door frame then stepped in when she announced the door was open.
"P--Professor?"
McGonagall turned around, raising one eyebrow. "Yes, Mr. Lupin?"
He shut the door behind him then crept forward, hands trembling. "Um. It's--it's about the--the detention slip? I got?" He held the paper up. "On Monday? In the evening? Um. After s--sun--sun--"
"Yes, I am aware you won't be able to make it," she said, reaching out to lower his hand gently. "I wished Misters Potter and Black to have their detention as soon as possible since I assume if I give them more time they'll merely wrack up more detention. Due to scheduling and other affairs the easiest would be the kitchens on Monday. I figured I'd put Mister Pettigrew in as well. I did not wish to give you a different night, as I was worried it might cast some suspicion." He breathed out a huge sigh of relief. "Did you think I forgot?"
"Y--yes, actually," he admitted, apologetically. McGonagall gave him a wry smile. "Thank you. That--probably helps the deception, really."
"I imagine so. They haven't... said anything, have they?"
Remus shook his head. "No, nothing. They just asked yesterday what I have and I just t-told them a genetic blood disease, from my mother. I said I don't like talking about it."
"The older you get, the more curious they'll be," McGonagall said rather softly.
"I know." He looked back down at the detention slip, wondering just how long he could remain friends with them, when they'd start probing more into his secrets, when he'd have to cut them out of his life. His hands began shaking again.
McGonagall took a step closer to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Remus, I wasn't meaning to upset you."
"I know," he said again, then a tear rolled down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away, embarrassed that she had seen. "I just... l-like... having friends... and--and it won't last... but... I'll just d-do my best to enjoy it while I can." It had only been a few months but he already couldn't picture being at school without the three of them. It hurt him, an ache deep in his chest. It almost felt like it hurt the animal inside of him too which made no sense whatsoever. "Th--thank you," he said, moving away from her, towards the door; he could hear students outside gathering for their class. "Have a g-g-good day, P--Professor!"
He dashed out, knocking into some second year Gryffindors, crashing headlong into a pretty blonde girl who just laughed as he tried apologizing, helping him regain his balance. He turned brilliantly red when he realized the softness his hand hit had been her--her--chest. He mumbled another apology and took off running.
"What was that about?" he heard a girl ask.
"No idea, but... he was adorable!" giggled a voice he thought belonged to the blonde.
"That's one of the dumb first years that keeps losing us points," said a boy. "You know, Barmy, Pratty, Loopy, and Pokey? That was Loopy."
"Quin! That's mean to say!" the blonde complained, and whatever Quin's response was Remus didn't hear as he finally got out of range.
He did want to relay some of that to his friends though. He knew James and Sirius would be proud of being known to other students, even if it was with their stupid nicknames that Snape had given them. He'd have to figure out a way to edit out why he was running outside Transfiguration but he knew he'd be able to. The other thing he'd edit out was definitely that girl calling him adorable. No way would he ever tell them. They'd never let him live it down.