Remus trudged miserably into Occlumency, exhausted, vaguely hungry. He hadn't eaten much that day, spending most his meal time with books. He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before either: James and Sirius hadn't come back in till nearly three in the morning. Remus halfway wanted to ask to cancel these lessons until after exams however he also needed them, needed to learn Occlumency as soon as possible. Unfortunately Fawley noticed how tired he looked and wanted to talk for a bit before the got started. He skirted around the truth, saying he looked this way due to staying up for mischief making. She believed him until she went into his memories full of cramming.
"You resisted a little again," she said when she broke contact after a few minutes. The words should have been encouraging however she sounded worried. "You seem to be quite intent on studying."
"Yes... w-well, the exams are c-coming up in a few weeks," he replied, rubbing his temples since his head was still hurting a bit. His stomach hurt a bit too from lack of food.
Fawley drummed her fingers against the arm of the couch. "You're a very intelligent boy. I'm sure you'll pass everything with flying colors."
He wasn't sure if she'd definitely see the letter from his mother but there was a chance, or else see his thoughts about the whole thing, so there wasn't really a way to keep this from her. He might as well say. So he shared his fears about being kept home if his grades weren't good enough then told her about the bit in the letter. Fawley replied that what Hope wrote didn't necessarily mean she intended to try to keep him home just because of his grades.
"I imagine it's very difficult for her, you're her child whom she obviously loves very much. It can't be easy to be separated from you like this, with your safety in someone else's hands instead of her own."
"I know," he grumbled, probably lot huffier than he meant, but he did know this, he know how hard it was for her, she said so in almost every single letter. "But th--that's why I want good grades. That way they can know, they can see that it's good I go here."
"I understand." Fawley rubbed her chin in thought. "May I say something?"
"Er, of--course?"
She scooted closer, tilting her head with a rather conspiratorial look on her face. "I have a possible idea that you could use if your mother gets very insistent on you remaining at home. I... don't wish to encourage this sort of... falsehood..."
"I don't mind falsehood," he said brightly. "Not if it keeps me here."
Fawley laughed. "It is not necessarily a lie. However, you could... mention..." She hesitated, as if she didn't really want to say. Remus began to grow both excited and nervous wondering what on earth she could possibly say! "You never know when something to aid werewolves will be discovered."
"Er..." He deflated a little. That definitely wasn't what he had been expecting.
Fawley took hold of his hand. "I suspect that it would most likely be a werewolf who would discover such a possibility."
"I d-don't under..." He trailed off, eyes going wide. "Are you s-s-suggesting that--I t-tell my m-m-mother--"
"No, no, no, not tell. Merely..." She stroked her own cheek in thought, tilting her head upwards towards the ceiling as she figured out which word to use. "...imply. Who knows? You're extremely intelligent, you may very well one day find something one day. With a proper education of course."
Remus just sat very still, letting her words settle in him. That could work. Implying... suggesting... hinting... If his mother was so intent on keeping him at home (which he kinda figured would be happening this summer) then, well, he could... imply... that... a cure could come from almost anyone, why not a werewolf? Why not him? Course that still meant having the best grades possible. If he went home with almost all Os except for Defense and Potions then--well, he'd have to get the best grade possible in Potions too, because that'd be a probable agency for a cure. Could he pull an O? What if he did extra credit? Would Slughorn accept extra credit? If he--if he could plug up his nose then--then he'd do better!
"...mus?"
He jumped a little having completely forgotten where he was. "Sorry, Miss Fawley. Thank you s-so much for this idea, I think it will work. I'll only use it if I absolutely have to but--thank you."
He just hoped she didn't notice that this just pushed him more towards studying every second he possibly could.
*
Please report to the hospital wing at 6pm exactly tonight (Wednesday the Third) for your detention.
Remus glowered at the note he got during breakfast. He'd have to miss study group! He had sorta already forgotten he had a couple detentions he needed to serve. Couldn't they wait till after the exams? Sighing, he tucked the scrap of paper into his pocket. James asked what was wrong so Remus told him.
"Hospital?" James crinkled his nose up. "I haven't ever had detention there!"
"Me either, and we've had loads of detention between the two of us," Sirius mused.
"Has there even been one week of school where neither of you had detention?" Peter asked.
Sirius and James looked at each other. "Ummm... yeah! The first week!" James said. "I don't think either of us got detention the first week. Which is a total travesty."
"Next year we'll try to get detention on the first day," Sirius suggested. James nodded in cheerful agreement.
"Any particular reason you're aiming to get detention?" Remus asked as he got his book back out.
"Badge of honor," James said solemnly, placing a hand over his heart.
Sirius leaned close to Remus. "You're a nerd, can you tell us what's the quickest anyone's got detention here?"
Remus glared up at him. "No, that's not exactly mentioned in Hogwarts, a History."
Peter began laughing. "Maybe you'll get an award. Most Detentions."
James and Sirius's faces both lit up and Remus gave Peter a gentle kick. "Don't encourage them!" Remus hissed. Peter responded by sticking out his tongue.
"This calls for some intense research," James said, dropping his voice. "We'll need a time when Filch is out of his office for ages. Then we can go through, looking at all the detention slips. Think you can get your ghostie friend to distract him again?"
"There's... bound to be... more than you could look through," Remus said.
"Maybe so," Sirius said, rubbing his chin. "But you're a genius and can do that sort of thing super quickly, yeah? You're good at research."
"The best," James said.
"If anyone could do something like that, it'd be you," Peter added.
Remus just buried his nose back in his book, not even deigning an answer to them. He knew they'd continue to bug him about it until he gave him but he had too much to deal with today so he wasn't going to worry about it. Studying plus detention. With Pomfrey. What would that entail? Cleaning out the bathrooms? Bedpans? Something to do with shelving medicines? An inventory check would be interesting, he hoped that's what it was.
Of course it wasn't. He had been right with his first thoughts: cleaning out the bathrooms. The Muggle way. Pomfrey gave him rubber gloves, cleaning supplies, and began to give him instructions. After a moment he cleared his throat, informing her that his mother was Muggle and she cleaned their house the Muggle way, which Remus often helped out with so it seemed like the same as cleaning the bathroom at home. Pomfrey nodded approvingly then left him at it. While he worked he talked to himself, going over various spells, historical facts, plant information, etc, etc, reciting bits from his homework, repeating several things to drill it into his head. He scrubbed every inch--having to get a stool to reach the top of the shower--then took everything out so he could mop. Then he moved on to the second bathroom, then the third. His arms were aching a bit by this point though the aching would fade in and out as he worked. He also felt dizzy from smells of the cleaning potions he was using. At first it hadn't been too bad but now it was making him sick (actually he had to upchuck into the third toilet because of the smells).
Once finishing the third bathroom he hauled all the supplies to Pomfrey's office, hoping that that would be it. However despite being incredibly meticulous with the cleaning he hadn't fulfilled the slotted time for detention so she had him go around changing all the beds with fresh linen. While he was working the doors burst open and in came his friends. Remus was worried at first they were going to try to rescue him but then he saw blood pouring off of James's face. Sirius and Peter had his arms around them since he seemed quite dazed, unable to walk on his own. James's broken glasses were clutched in Peter's other hand.
"James!" Remus dropped the bed sheets, running over. "What happened?"
"Slytherins," Peter replied as they got James onto one of the (newly changed) beds while Sirius took off to get Pomfrey.
"Heya Reeeemyyyy," James moaned, blinking with unfocused eyes. "Hurts."
Remus clenched his teeth, seeing the gaping wound across James's temple. "You didn't bother staunching the wound?!"
"Doing what with the wound?!" Peter demanded, confused.
"Staunch--stopping, putting something on it!" Remus looked around but Pomfrey was there before he could find anything. She quickly got rid of some of the blood, inspecting carefully. Remus stood back with Sirius and Peter, very worried.
Sirius told the story while Pomfrey worked. They were (INNOCENTLY, mind you) walking through the corridors minding their own business when they ran into Snape who began yelling at them for NO reason WHATSOEVER, then Avery and Bulstrode came out of no where, starting a fight. The Gryffindors absolutely did NOT fight back because dueling is WRONG! Anyway, Snape had used the knockback jinx on James. It hadn't done much but he couldn't keep himself upright and slammed into a statue, going unconscious. That's when the Slytherins scattered.
"Got a jolly good jelly-legs curse off on Avery though!" James said in a slurred, very out of it sort of way, then frowned at Sirius making cutting signs across his neck. "Oooh, right Siri, you got Bulstrode right in the neck with the knockback, he threw up." Sirius buried his face in his hands while Remus tried desperately not to laugh.
"Didn't duel at all, hmmm?" Pomfrey asked as she gently slathered some thick healing salve on the wound.
"Jolly brilliant," James murmured. "Remy wasn't there though. Shame. Probably in the library."
"That's because I'm here. Detention, remember?" Remus asked, worried about how completely out of it James was. How hard did he hit his head? Was this normal?
James's eyes got huge. "Detention? For the fight? But you weren't even there! That's not fair! Lemme talk to McGonsie." He tried getting up but Pomfrey kept him firmly down. "My head hurts."
"You have a concussion," she said after doing a quick diagnostic spell.
James put his hands in the air. "Yay me!"
"No, it's a bad thing, Mr. Potter."
"Oh." He sounded very disappointed as his arms went back down.
Remus stepped forward. "Madame Pomfrey, is this sort of reaction n--normal? For concussions?"
"He does seem rather out of it," she agreed, peering into his eyes. "Were any other spells used on him?"
"Um. Snape used another one but I didn't recognize it, and nothing seemed to happen..." Sirius admitted. "I don't really remember what he said."
"It was like... con something," Peter said, squinting as he concentrated hard. "Con... do?"
Remus tilted his head, pieces sliding together in his head. "Confundo?" he asked.
"Yes!" Sirius said, snapping his fingers. "That's what it was."
Pomfrey clicked her tongue. "The confundus spell. It won't have done much coming from a first year, just enough to confuse him a little bit. It'll wear off soon enough." She summoned a vial of potion. "Drink this up, it will get rid of the concussion."
James drank the liquid then spit it all out. "Tastes gross!" He then turned the vial over, dumping the rest out onto the floor.
"Mr. Potter!" Pomfrey summoned another vial. James clamped his mouth tightly shut, shaking his head. It took a lot of convincing, wheedling, begging, but finally he drank it (when Remus threatened to never help him with his homework again). "You'll be staying here tonight." She summoned some pajamas. "I'll help you get dressed--"
"NO!" James screeched in horror, pushing away. "You're a--a woman! You can't see my penis!"
Sirius and Peter burst out laughing hard while Remus covered his mouth, trying not to laugh and failing.
"I can just change your clothes with a spell if you hold still--"
"NOOOOOOOOO!" He began kicking his legs frantically.
"I'll help him," Sirius offered, carefully getting James off the bed to take him into the other room.
"Thank you, Mr. Black."
After only a few minutes Sirius poked his head out of the bathroom, complaining that James was 'being a butt' and he needed help. Remus and Peter exchanged looks then Peter stepped back, shaking his head, so it was Remus who went in to help James get first undressed then into the pajamas. James swayed, wriggled, laughed, whined, then collapsed down on the toilet moaning in pain while Sirius wrangled the bottoms on him and Remus worked the shirt over James's head as carefully as he could. He gently guided James's arms through the sleeves then tugged it whole thing down, covering him. He had a flash of fear as he tried not to look at all of James's smooth skin that one day someone would do this to him, and he'd need help getting dressed--and whoever helped him would see his scar. He'd definitely need to be careful never to be in a situation where someone else had to dress him!
"Confundus is very advanced," Remus said, holding James upright as Sirius yanked the trousers over his hips. "We probably won't be learning it until our fifth year."
Sirius knelt down, blowing his hair out of his face, eyes narrowed as he tied the strings. "Well, Snape did it so it can't be too difficult."
"Snivellus," James said, swatting at Sirius's hands. "Ugly, stupid, slimy, gitty, dumb Snivellus." Then he slumped forward against Sirius, mumbling that he didn't feel good.
"It's probably a mix of the spell with his concussion," Remus theorized, both of them ignoring James completely who was now singing very loudly and very off key about boats for some reason. "I mean, I very much so doubt a twelve year could cause this much damage."
"Like we couldn't do some of the stuff we've done?" Sirius inquired, grinning over James's shoulder. Remus just rolled his eyes, unable to really argue since the spell he had done on the door for the bat-bogey prank had been... something he probably shouldn't have been able to do...
They got James back out into a bed, Sirius tucking him in. James fell asleep almost right away after Pomfrey made sure the potion had gotten rid of the concussion. Remus shared his idea about why James seemed so bewildered, glowing a little when Pomfrey agreed that's probably what happened since a first year couldn't do the spell to this degree. Soon McGonagall appeared as Pomfrey had sent her a message, listening as Sirius repeated the story (Remus wasn't surprised that it wasn't exactly the same though still of course the Gryffindors were still Absolutely Innocent). McGonagall didn't seem to believe everything Sirius said (especially the innocence proclamation).
Then McGonagall and Pomfrey spoke quietly, Pomfrey informing her about the confundus spell. "It's probably the spell mixed with the concussion, although he certainly acted as if a more powerful version of the spell had hit him than what someone Mr. Snape's age could do. Either way, the fact this happened at all..."
"Yes, I shall speak with Horace. Thank you, Poppy."
By this point it was past curfew so McGonagall wrote a note for them to take with them back to the tower, so they wouldn't get in trouble (also arguing with Sirius who wanted to stay with James overnight). They all gave their sleeping friend one last worried look before leaving. On the way Sirius and Peter told the true story which was they had seen Snape walking by himself so James used the locomotor spell to pull Snape's trousers down. As it turned out, the other two Slytherins were just around the corner so a duel started. Snape using the knockback jinx against James had been true, so had him hitting the statue. The Slytherins left when they saw the blood everywhere. Sirius and Peter tried waking James up but when he had laid still for too long that's when they hauled him to the hospital wing.
People stared at them as they went, no one bothering them--not even a prefect questioning their right to be out at this time. It wasn't until just outside the common room that Remus realized all three of them had blood all over their clothes. Whoops. Peter also had some on his hands since he hadn't gone to help James in the bathroom (Sirius and Remus had cleaned their hands off so they didn't get blood on the pajamas).
"Course, we need to get extreme revenge for this," Sirius said as he clambored through. Once inside he began scanning the room. "Hey--Evans!"
"Wh--what? No, d-don't drag her into this!" Remus hissed.
Sirius ignored him, walking over to where Lily sat. She recoiled as he brandished his bloody tie in her face. "See this? Your dumb Slytherin boyfriend nearly killed James. Hope you're happy! He's in the hospital wing right now, would've bled to death probably if we hadn't gotten him there so quickly!"
"Pomfrey herself said he had a very bad concussion," Peter added darkly.
Lily looked at the two of them then at Remus. "Is he--all right?"
"He will be," Remus promised.
"So next time you complain about us being bullies, keep in mind there's quite a trail of blood in the school because of what Snivellus did to James!" Sirius whirled on his heels, marching up the boys' staircase with Peter right behind him.
"It w-wasn't... as bad... as they say," Remus mumbled. "I think. I--I wasn't there. He was bleeding pretty bad but not as--as bad as Sirius made it out. He's okay, Pomfrey healed the wound and--and got rid of the concussion."
Lily got to her feet, pulling Remus away from Colgate and Inkwood. "Is he really all right or are you just trying to make me feel better?" Some of James's blood got on her hands from where she had gripped his sleeve. She looked at it with slight distaste.
"He'll be all right," Remus said again. "I'm s--sorry--"
"Did Severus start the fight? Or did they?"
Remus averted his gaze. "I wasn't there." He tried not to sound too awkward or suspicious, figuring she'd pick up on it anyway. "I--I need a shower so I'll see you later." He hurried up the steps, feeling her eyes on him the whole time. He got a quick shower to get off all the grime and sweat from his detention then put on a clean uniform since they still had Astronomy later. When he returned to his dorm he found Sirius and Peter discussing ways to get back at Snape.
Sirius wanted to learn the confundus spell which Remus really didn't want to deal with. We've only a few weeks before exams, can't this wait? He got books out, intending to study, but Sirius kept bugging him about the spell. "I don't know," he grumbled, dropping his books on his desk. "It's advanced. It messes with the mind, confuses them. That's about all I know about it. It's Latin." He sat down, organizing his books then opening one of them. "I could tell you about the etymology however I doubt that's what you're after."
Sirius leaned against the back of his chair, practically breathing down Remus's neck. He hadn't changed his clothes so all Remus could smell was the blood still splattered on him. "But you could research."
"So could you."
"Can't. I'm stupid. I can barely read."
Remus snorted at that, shaking his head. It took some effort not to laugh, really, then he finally looked at Sirius. "Maybe. Just--not right now, perhaps the weekend."
"But--"
"Please?"
Silvery eyes met gold, and Sirius let out a sigh. "All right. We can do something else in the mean time." With that he flung himself onto Peter's bed, going back to revenge ideas.
Remus bent over his desk, trying to study but being unable to as he just mostly worried about James.