CURSES AND CANDIES - REMUS LUPIN

𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑤𝑜.

As far as Remus Lupin was concerned, the week only had its purpose until he and the other five Gryffindors got to go to St. Mungo's and visit Hollis on Sunday. After what felt like hours of waiting outside Dumbledore's office while he, Slughorn, Pomfrey, and McGonagall discussed with their many educated point of views on what would be the best for Hollis for the sixth years to visit her, the once a week deal was made.

Even though he knew it was better than nothing, Remus couldn't help but be disappointed how infrequent the visit seemed to be. Before, he had seen Hollis every single day, whether she was cursed or not. But now, that time had been cut into a dozen pieces and the smallest one selected.

As Sunday finally rolled around, however, Remus had barely been able to sleep the previous night. 

The sun leaking from the large windows on the Gryffindor tower made a pattern of orange and lemon on the carpeted mahogany floors, a sign that the sun was rising. This light then hit Remus right in the face, alerting him that he could finally go to St. Mungo's.

In the bed next to him, James Potter had just reached the exact same state and was already pulling on a shirt before hitting Sirius over the head with a pillow to wake him up as well. With the commotion, Peter jolted awake, knocking his head on his bedframe in the process.

"Is it too early?" the blonde boy asked, rubbing the back of his head with one hand while attempting to cover his yawn with the other. "I mean, do you think McGonagall will be awake to take us?"

Grabbing a shirt out of his bedside table drawer, Remus pulled on the soft brown cotton over his scared chest with a smooth motion while Sirius stood in front of the mirror combing out his thick, black hair.

"Never too early for Minnie," James said with a grin. "I'm like ninety percent sure that she never sleeps based on how much that woman gets done every day."

"Or maybe she just doesn't procrastinate like you do," Sirius replied, and then dodged the second pillow thrown at him by James within the first five minutes of him waking up. "Okay then, someone's grumpy."

As Peter was the last of them to finish getting ready, the four boys headed down to the common room to meet the girls. Not much to their surprise, Lily and Marlene were already leaning against the back of the couch, fully composed and ready.

"Looking beautiful as always, Evans," James said, giving Lily a kiss on her cheek. "Shall we go?"

The Hogwarts corridors were deserted except for a few stray fifth years stumbling out of the library from studying all night in prep for their upcoming O.W.L's, of which whom received chocolate bars from Remus. He knew how stressful the fifth year was, and wanted to help in any way he could to make the process easier.

After climbing up to the fifth floor to reach McGonagall's tower office, Sirius was the one to form a fist and knock on the wood with about a dozen obnoxious pounds before the Transfiguration professor swung open the door right as he was about to knock again.

"Good morning, Minnie!" Marlene said brightly with an extra amount of peppiness in her voice just to make the professor more irritated. "How did you rest?"

McGonagall just looked at the sixth Gryffindors and shook her head in exasperation.

"Come in, then," she said, further opening the door to her students.

Instead of promptly sitting down on the couch and propping their feet up like they would have normally, they just stood in the center of the room, waiting for McGonagall get out the Portkey that had been set up as opposed to the tedious task of lifting the apparition boundaries on just one area of the castle.