Remus lay on the floor of the Shrieking Shack. Since his friends had become Animagi, he rarely suffered severe after-effects from his transformation. In fact, he often exaggerated his injuries so that Madam Pomfrey would not become suspicious. Usually, he was sitting up and fully clothed when she came in, but this dawn he’d only managed to drape his ripped robes over his recumbent form.
“I was bad over summer,” he muttered, trying to cover his nakedness.
“I thought your body was adjusting,” she said, sighing. “Last year you seemed so much better.” She heaved him up. “A few days in the hospital wing, I think.”
He nodded pathetically and staggered to the door, hating the fact that she had to support him.
“Shall I conjure you a stretcher, Remus?” she asked, and Remus was grateful for the question. She was asking permission, giving him the opportunity to retain some dignity.
“I’m okay,” he mumbled. “I just need to walk slowly.”
As they carefully made their way through the tunnel, she spoke very little, just the odd comment about watching his head, or being mindful when she saw a tree root in the way. When they reached the entrance of the Whomping Willow she pressed the knot on the inside of the trunk. Madam Pomfrey levered herself out of the ground and then reached her hand down to Remus. Straining to lift him through, she stopped when a hand tapped her on the shoulder.
“Here,” said a voice. “Let me help.”
Remus grasped the hand and found himself looking into the freckled face of Fabian Prewett. “Thank you, sir,” he mumbled.
“You look dreadful, Lupin. Is it always this bad?” Fabian asked, sounding horrified.
“Don’t interrogate him,” Madam Pomfrey ordered, frowning at the professor. “Fab- Professor Prewett, we’re perfectly capable of getting back to the hospital wing now “ thank you.”
Remus stumbled onto the grass and fell awkwardly.
“Yes, it looks like it,” retorted Professor Prewett. He crouched down and lifted Remus up; then placing an arm under his shoulder, Fabian started to walk back to the castle. “Don’t be stubborn, Poppy. You’re not helping the patient. You should at least get him a stretcher.”
“I don’t want one,” Remus muttered fiercely and wrenched himself free. “I told her that, Professor.”
He stared into Fabian Prewett’s pale blue eyes and saw something there. Was it pity or fear? he thought.
“I don’t need your help, sir,” he said at last, adding bitterly, “I’ve had far worse.” Turning on his heel, he began to walk back to the castle by himself. He could hear Madam Pomfrey’s soft tread just behind him and then the heavier footsteps of his Defence professor as he followed them both.
Once in the hospital wing, he entered a corner room, occupied only by the single bed Madam Pomfrey kept prepared for him. In a vase on the bedside table, she’d placed large sprigs of lavender. The scent soothed him, and as he slipped between the cool cotton sheets, he felt some of his pain leave his limbs.
“Drink-up,” Madam Pomfrey ordered him gently. She was holding a large steaming mug of what he knew to be cocoa. Madam Pomfrey believed strongly in the restorative powers of chocolate, and would have laced the drink with a powerful sedative. Remus gulped at it, feeling the liquid scald his throat. The sweet scent of the chocolate made him gag - he’d long grown sick of the taste “ yet he drained the cup, knowing oblivion would soon be his.
“Where’s Remus?” asked Mary as James sat down at the breakfast table.
“Not well,” replied James smoothly. “We were working into the night on our Arithmancy essay and eating to keep us going.” He grinned at her. “I think he had too many Cauldron cakes, because he woke up this morning complaining of belly ache.”
“So why are you all right?” she asked suspiciously.
“I have an extremely tough constitution, Mary,” he replied as he ladled out a bowlful of creamy porridge. “I’m never ill.”
“Except when you’ve swallowed half the black lake,” retorted Lily as she slid in next to Mary. “Got enough porridge with your cream and sugar, Potter?”
James smirked at her. “I need energy. It was a long night.”
Lily stared at him and looked as if she were about to say something, but instead she turned her attention to the porridge cauldron.
“Are Sirius and Peter ill, as well?” Mary asked. “Only they’re not with you either.”
“We’re not joined at the hip,” James said scornfully. He saw Lily raise her eyebrows sceptically. “Sometimes, Evans, I like to do things alone. Hogsmeade, for instance, I don’t always go there with them.” He took a breath and cleared his throat. “So, Lily-”
“Oy! Prongs,” bellowed Sirius from the door. “Why did you go without us? We said we wouldn’t be long.”
James closed his eyes and grimaced, as Sirius and Peter approached. “Padfoot, a short time for you in the bathroom can end up being an hour while you try to fix your hair. I was hungry.”
“Morning, girls,” Sirius greeted them. He ruffled James’ still wet hair. “Don’t listen to the boy. He spends far too long trying to flatten that mop these days.” He looked around. “Where’s Martha?”
Mary shrugged. “Been and gone, Sirius. I’d forgotten how hard O.W.L. year is. She grabbed some toast and went off to the library.” She turned back to James. “I hope Remus is all right for Hogsmeade this weekend.”
James glanced sideways at the other two. None of them had seen Remus yet, but they knew he’d be worse than normal. “Um, well, he was pretty ill this morning, and was spewing through the night ... so I’m not sure. What do you think, Peter?”
Peter drank a swig of his tea “ James knew he was giving himself time to think “ and then he assumed a bland expression. “He looked pretty pale when I took him in and was clutching his stomach. Madam Pomfrey wasn’t sure if it was over-eating or something else.”
Glancing at Mary, to see how she was taking this in, James’ attention was again caught by Lily who was staring at them, a dubious expression on her face. She caught his eye and, raising one eyebrow, she turned away.
Back in their dorm, James picked up the wand the stranger had dropped in the forest and examined it. Apart from a bit of mud, it was obviously well cared for. He frowned in concentration, missing the sound of Sirius and Peter as they came through the door.
“What are you thinking, Prongs?” asked Peter as he approached him.
James looked at him. “D’you remember when Remus had Snivelly’s wand? ”Both Peter and Sirius nodded. “I cast Priori Incantatum.” He shuddered involuntarily, remembering the menace of the other boy’s intent.
“You want to try that with this, yeah?” asked Sirius.
“Mmm. It might help us find out who he was and why he was in the forest,” James replied thoughtfully. He turned to Sirius. “It’s your prize, Padfoot. You do it.”
Sirius grinned and stepped forwards, removing the wand from James’ grasp and placing it on the table. “Priori Incantato!" he intoned softly.
A silvery shape emerged from the edge of the wand that they recognised as a stunning spell. James sighed but Sirius held his wand closer and again uttered, “Priori Incantato!”
This time a shape emerged “ not a curse, or a charm, but what looked like a large bunch of flowers. “Orchideous!” they heard a voice hiss from the wand. Sirius started laughing. “I think our mystery wizard is a ladies’ man,” he said, grinning. “That is one huge bunch of flowers. Either he needed to apologise or he was trying to make a good impression.”
James watched as the flowers disintegrated. “If you hadn’t got to him, Padfoot, you’d have been laying flowers on my grave,” he interjected solemnly. “I think we sailed a bit too close to the wind last night.”
There was a small cough behind him and James noticed Peter looking at him, nodding.
“I think that’s what you were trying to tell us yesterday, Wormy,” James said and sighed. “Sorry, we should have listened to you.”
After a good six hours of dreamless sleep, Remus was awakened by a small sound at the door. Opening the one eye that wasn’t cut, he saw the door open but no one appeared. “Come in, why don’t you,” he murmured.
In reply, James slipped off the cloak and grinned at him. “Hello, Moony. How you doing?”
“Not bad,” Remus replied. He tried to sit up too quickly and bit his lip to stop himself from crying out. “Scrap that. I feel dreadful.”
“Sorry about that,” James muttered. He sat on the chair by Remus’s bed and leant forwards.
“Why are you sorry?” asked Remus as he slowly levered himself into position. “It’s not your fault that Padfoot collapsed, and from what I remember, you held me back from attacking that man.” He paused. “I’m not imagining that bit, am I?”
“No,” James replied, and then added hesitantly, “There was a man there.” Remus suddenly looked very scared. “No, it’s okay. He got away. Padfoot scared him off.” James looked at the floor wondering how to continue.
“What’s the matter then?” Remus asked, relief apparent in his voice.
James looked around the room, at the walls devoid of any pictures and the narrow window that looked out over the Entrance Hall forecourt. “This room is really grim, Moony. You should put up some posters or something.”
“James, don’t change the subject.”
James looked away from the window and back to Remus. His frank brown eyes were staring into his. He swallowed. “I used magic on Padfoot when I took him to the hospital wing. I think that’s why he collapsed,” admitted James. “I’m ... erm ... sorry.”
Remus closed his eyes. James sat there not saying another word, waiting for Remus to say something ... anything.
“Forget it,” Remus said at last. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Moony, it’s my fault. I should have told you and the others, but I was only thinking about us having fun again,” protested James.
Remus opened his eyes and raised a hand to his brow, sweeping a lock of hair out of his eyes. “Why did you use magic on him?” he asked mildly.
James sighed. “Sirius had collapsed. I thought it was best to get him to the hospital wing quickly, so I used a Lightening Charm. I should have listened to Lily “ sorry.”
Remus laughed slightly. “Stop saying sorry. Prongs, it doesn’t matter. You don’t know if the magic did anything to him. It could equally have been an after-effect of that crack on the head. I shouldn’t have agreed to you lot coming out last night, but I was just as desperate to get back to the forest.”
James felt his shoulders relax and he sighed helplessly. “Merlin, you’re taking this well. We won’t make the same mistake again, I promise.”
Remus gave a twisted sort of smile and lay back down on the bed. “We’ll make other mistakes “ we always do.”
James chuckled ruefully. “Yeah, we will. Hey, has Pomfrey said when you can get out?” he asked, adding teasingly, “Mary was asking about Hogsmeade ...”
Remus groaned and closed his eyes. “She wants me to stay in till Sunday, I think.”
“Oh, shame,” said James inadequately. “I’ll... er ... tell Mary that you’re really quite ill then ... infectious even.”
There was a snort from the bed. “I have no intention of doing as she asks, Prongs. I’m relying on you three to get me out of here.”
That afternoon, after lunch, James made his way to Arithmancy. As he walked, he kept his eyes peeled for Lily, who was the only other Gryffindor taking the subject apart from Remus. He smiled to himself, wondering if she’d sit with him as she had done in Potions. Although, that wasn’t strictly true; it had been Remus she’d joined in Potions “ not him. As he approached the classroom door, James saw Snape hovering around at the entrance. He gripped his wand tightly, ready either to defend himself or curse the Slytherin whose last hex had sent Sirius straight to the hospital wing.
“Lupin hasn’t made it, then,” muttered Snape as James glared at him. “Did he even scrape an O.W.L. in this?”
“He got an E, actually, Snivelly, and is taking this class to N.E.W.T. like me,” James replied, feeling himself grow angry at Snape’s scorn of Remus’ abilities. “Surprised you’re here. Arithmancy isn’t exactly prized among your lot, is it?” He looked into the classroom. “Yeah, as I thought: four Ravenclaws, two Hufflepuffs and no Slytherins.”
“So, where is he then?” Snape asked and then smiled. “Oh, of course, the hospital wing. What’s wrong this time? Mysterious accident involving a flight of stairs? Non-fatal Dragon Pox? Attacked by the Bowtruckle Queen?”
James whipped his head around and stared hard into Snape’s glittering black eyes. “What did you say?” he asked softly. “What about Bowtruckles?”
“Nothing,” muttered Snape, and he looked away.
James stepped closer towards him and was about to raise his wand, when he heard running footsteps echoing through the corridor. He turned, saw Lily approach, and stepped away from Snape.
Lily faltered and pursed her lips. “Fighting already,” she said disapprovingly.
“Not at all,” replied James calmly. “Sniv “ Snape was just telling me something interesting about Bowtruckles.”
He didn’t mistake the look of alarm that flared in Lily’s eyes and peered at her curiously. Hastily, she tugged at his arm and pulled him into the classroom.
“Come on, Potter, let’s get a seat.” James didn’t move, switching his attention from her to Snape and then back to her again. “James, come on,” she implored. “Leave it alone, please.”
He allowed himself to be pulled away, but when she turned away, he stared at Snape. “It’s not over,” he mouthed.
He brooded throughout the lesson, barely taking in a word of Professor Mycroft’s lecture. Lily, he noticed, wouldn’t catch his eye, but kept giving him sidelong glances. She was doodling on her parchment, not taking notes as she usually did.
“Snape mentioned Bowtruckles,” he hissed in an aside to her. “How does he know about that?”
“Everyone knows that you were hurt attempting the Bowtruckle Challenge,” she muttered when the professor’s back was turned.
“He mentioned the queen,” James said. “No one knew I was attacked by the queen except my friends.”
“Potter, is there a problem?” called the professor.
“No, sir,” James replied. He chewed his fingernail, frowning as he thought.
“Well, get on with your work then, and leave Miss Evans alone,” barked Professor Mycroft. He picked up a book and threw it in James’ direction. For once, the professors’ aim was accurate, and the book hit James squarely on the shoulder. James yelped.
“What’s the matter?” asked Lily. She put down her quill and turned to face him.
James clutched at his shoulder, feeling the scar from last night’s clawing rip open. “Nothing, I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding!” Lily exclaimed. “Sir, James’ shoulder is bleeding.”
“What?” Professor Mycroft demanded in exasperation. He strode over to where James and Lily were sitting, peeled away James’ hand and then with one finger gently pulled at James’ shirt collar to reveal the wound. “What the blazes caused that? It looks like you’ve been clawed by something.”
“Quidditch injury, sir,” James replied smoothly. “Gryffindor team practise, my Seeker has very long fingernails. It’s fine. ”
Two Ravenclaw girls began to laugh, but Lily stared at him, her eyes narrowed. She waited until Professor Mycroft had walked off and picked up her quill again.
‘You haven’t had a practise yet,’ she scrawled on her parchment. ‘You haven’t even held the try-outs.’
‘What are you, the team coach, or something?’ James scrawled back.
‘I just know you’re lying about that injury and also about other things.’
James pulled a face. “What do you mean?” he whispered.
Lily glanced up at the professor who was now leaning over Jacob Bennett’s parchment and pointing out his errors. “Our Arithmancy essay isn’t due until next Friday, so why was Remus in such a hurry to finish it last night?” she murmured, leaning closer to him.
James shivered, unsure whether his discomfort was caused by her question or the fact that she was so near he could feel her warm breath on his neck. “Leave it, Lily,” he muttered as he pulled away.
“If Remus is seeing another girl, then I’ll hex you so badly you won’t sit straight on a broomstick again,” she said fiercely.
James burst out laughing. “You think...” He clutched his sides. “You think, Remus “” He couldn’t continue, but collapsed in a snorting heap on his desk.
“POTTER! I will not tell you again!” shouted Professor Mycroft.
“S-sorry, sir,” James said, wiping tears of relief from his eyes. He realised since breakfast that he’d been worrying about Lily who had been eyeing them all with suspicion that morning.
When the bell went, he was still snorting with laughter and Lily, although she was scowling, didn’t storm off but waited whilst he packed his bag up. “So, what were you doing last night then?” she asked.
“Nothing that involved another girl, Lily,” he said, chuckling. “We wouldn’t dare.”
As they walked out of the door, he saw Snape staring at them both. Lily stared back at him and then started. She looked from Snape’s face to James’ shoulder and her brow furrowed in concentration.
Shit, James thought. Has she worked this out? He looked over to where Snape was glowering at the both of them. “Bowtruckles!” he shouted. “What were you going to tell me about them, Snivelly?”
Lily jerked her head up and pulled on his arm again. “Leave it alone, Potter.” She repeated her words from before class.
James glared at Snape and then lowered his head. “I will,” he murmured in her ear, “if you don’t tell Mary that Remus wasn’t doing an essay with me last night.”
Her green eyes met his. He saw suspicion struggling with loyalty to her friend. “I promise you, Lily, that Remus was not with another girl last night,” he whispered sincerely.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “But you leave Sniv... er... Snape alone, now.”
James grinned down at her. “A pleasure,” he declared, directing his comments across to Snape.
“Snivelly definitely mentioned the Bowtruckle queen?” queried Sirius.
The three boys were walking up the moving staircases. James looked over his shoulder, checking to see where Lily was. “Yeah, and then he shut up. He obviously knew he’d said too much.”
“I didn’t see anyone else,” said Peter slowly. “I would have noticed when I was running for Madam Pomfrey.”
“You were on ground level though, and if Snivelly saw the queen attacking me, he must have been further up.” James narrowed his eyes and stopped to think. Pupils behind banged into him, but James didn’t move on. He touched his face and then closed his eyes again, trying to recapture that day. His head jerked back involuntarily as he tried desperately to remember.
“It’s no good,” he said at last. “I don’t remember seeing anyone else.”
“We’ll come back to it,” Sirius muttered. “If he was there, then we’ll find out, Prongs. Meanwhile ...” He grinned wickedly. “We have to work out how to get Moony out of hospital and into Hogsmeade.”
“Piece of cake,” replied James, smiling broadly. “Cloak, Polyjuice Potion, and some of Remus’ hair. Then all we need is a willing volunteer, eh, Wormy?”
“Why me?” Peter demanded indignantly. “Why do I have to miss Hogsmeade?”
“Because I’m going with Martha,” Sirius explained smoothly, “so it’s not going to be me stuck in the hospital wing.” He turned to James. “Dunno what your excuse is, Prongs.”
“It’s my Cloak,” replied James. “I’m not letting you lot loose with it when I’m not there.”
“You always pull that one,” complained Peter. He started walking up the stairs. “I don’t want to do it, all right. I’ve been looking forward to Hogsmeade and it’s your fault he ended up so badly injured.”
Sirius laughed. “He does have a point, Prongs. And it’s not as if you’re meeting anyone there,” he added slyly.
James kicked at the step and stomped up the stairs, his brain whirring furiously. He didn’t speak to the others until he reached the Portrait door. Then he smiled. “Forget the Polyjuice Potion. All Moony needs to do, is convince Madam Pomfrey that he’s fit enough to leave.”
“But you said he was looking awful,” Peter persisted.
“He was, but that was before he had a dose of my mum’s own brand of Pepper-Up Potion, laced with Firewhisky.” He paused and grinned again. “Sorted my dad out all the time when he got hit by Bludgers “ even the ones thrown at close range by her.”
On Saturday morning, before breakfast, James sneaked back up to the hospital wing with a flask of Pepper-Up Potion under his arm. Spying Madam Pomfrey at the far end of the ward, he quickly slid into Remus’ room and removed the Cloak.
“Morning, young Moony,” he said cheerfully.
Opening his eyes, Remus gazed blearily at James. “Is it morning?” he asked, yawning. “I don’t think I’ve had enough sleep. Come back later. It’s too early for me to leave, anyway.”
“Nope, I can’t do that,” James replied and grinned at him. “Listen, mate, our idea is that you leave here with permission, okay?”
“Huh?” Remus said and shook his head. “Did I just hear right? You want Madam Pomfrey to release me.” He cleared his throat scornfully. “Don’t know if you’ve noticed, Prongs, but I look like I’ve been left for dead by a ... a ... well, a werewolf, I suppose. She’s not going to let me out.”
James pulled out the flask and set it down before Remus. “Swig some of that, Moony and you’ll be walking out of here, no problem.” Remus looked at it dubiously. “Honest, this isn’t dodgy. It’s my mum’s Pepper-Up Potion recipe. It’s not going to cure you, but it should numb the pain for a while.”
James stopped talking and sat at the foot of the bed. “Look, if you’re in too much pain, then stay here. Mary will understand, and there are other Hogsmeade weekends.”
“No... no,” Remus muttered. He stared straight into James’ eyes. “I want to go today. I can deal with the pain, Prongs. It’s other people who don’t think I can, okay.”
“Okay,” James agreed slowly. He handed the flask over. “Take a capful about half an hour before Madam Pomfrey comes to check on you. It’s strong stuff, so don’t take too much. I had better go back to the Tower now. It’s nearly breakfast.”
“You’re not staying to make sure I don’t swig the whole lot then?” asked Remus as James draped the Cloak over his shoulders rendering his body invisible and leaving just a head floating near the door.
James snorted and then pulled the hood over his head. “You’re not Padfoot; I doubt you’d do anything quite so stupid.”
Sauntering along the corridors and back to Gryffindor Tower, James’ mind drifted away from Remus and Pepper-up Potion and towards Lily. She’d been friendly yesterday and despite his quizzing her endlessly about Snivelly, she’d seemed genuinely concerned about his shoulder injury. He frowned, wondering if she’d tell Mary that she knew they hadn’t been doing an essay, or whether she trusted “ if not him “ then at least Remus enough to know he wouldn’t lie without good cause. Uttering the password to the Fat Lady, who was annoyed at being woken up so early, he paused by the notice board. Someone, probably McLaggan, had defaced his try-outs notice. He wasn’t sure what to do about Preston. He was a good Beater, and before he’d been appointed captain, he’d been a team player, but last year had almost proved disastrous for Gryffindor. If James dropped him, it would look petty, but would he be able to captain McLaggan this year?
Bringing out his wand, he cleaned the ink off the notice, and reattached it to the board.
“You’re up early,” said a yawning voice coming down the stairs. James turned to see Mary plodding down the stairs.
“I went to see Remus,” James replied and grinned at the sudden interest that sparked across her face. “He looks better today, so should be free for whatever you have in mind for Hogsmeade.”
Mary raised an eyebrow. “I might not have anything in mind,” she said archly. “Not unless he can tell me what he’s really been up to.”
“Wh- what do you mean?” stuttered James.
Mary walked across to the hearth and poked at the dying fire with a poker. Briefly, an ember burst into flame, but then it died out. “I went up to see him last night after tea, but guess what, James?”
“What?” he asked nervously, his mind thinking quickly.
“He wasn’t there, was he,” she stated coldly. “So, I don’t know who you’ve been visiting, but it can’t have been Remus.”
“He’s in a side room,” James said quickly. “He’s not in the main ward, Mary. He was being too sick, so Madam Pomfrey kept him away from the others. Merlin, the smell was awful... but... er ... he’s better now. Not at all sick...” He trailed off as he caught Mary staring at him in disbelief.
“Lily has been very evasive too,” she spat back at him.
“What’s Lily got to do with this?” James asked in amazement.
“You tell me, James. All I know is that when I asked her about her Arithmancy essay, and if she got into trouble for not starting it, she looked very shifty. I don’t know what’s going on, but if Remus doesn’t want to see me anymore then tell him to bloody well tell me instead of hiding.” Her voice broke as she choked back something that sounded like a sob.
James stepped across the floor and sat in the armchair opposite her. Gently, he touched her on the knee. “We lied about the essay, Mary. It’s my fault. I had some idea for a prank and it went wrong. Remus didn’t even want to come along, but he did and then he got hurt.”
Mary sniffed. “How badly hurt?”
“It’s to do with the Whomping Willow,” James explained, thinking to himself that he wasn’t exactly lying. He pulled down his shirt collar. “Look, it got me too.”
Mary stared at his shoulder and then looked at his face. “You went back there?” she breathed. James nodded. “After Davey Gudgeon nearly lost an eye, and you almost died going into that tunnel last year. Merlin, James! Are you completely mad?”
He grinned at her and she whacked him with a cushion. “Risk your own life, not Remus’ next time,” she yelled as she continued to batter him. “You have absolutely no idea what I’ve been thinking. I thought that girl in Hufflepuff had got her claws into him “ Oh, I could kill you, Potter!”
“Okay, okay,” shouted James, still laughing. “I promise next time I’ll throw myself in front of the tree.”
“NEXT TIME!” screeched Mary. Then she stopped mid hit, her arm raised, and started giggling. “We have an audience, James.”
James looked around to see a small crowd of first year girls and boys who must have been woken by the noise.
“Hello, Rodney,” James called cheerily to the only one he recognised. “Let me introduce Mary Macdonald who is demonstrating how not to get back on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.”