Fawn | James Potter x Reader

March 9, 1974

The full moon. Hopefully the last one Remus would have to encounter alone. Over the years, I've gotten pretty good at noticing the signs. I kept trying to tell him. "Rem, it looks pretty full to me. Why don't you just go ask Dumbledore? There's no harm in that" I tried to say.

"Y/n it doesn't matter. I know a full moon when I see one and that's not it" he said, trying to calm my nerves. "Lets just go to bed and I'll see you in the morning. Okay?" he asked. Reluctantly, I okayed it.

About an hour later, by the time I was in bed, I heard a scream. I knew that scream; Rem. I ran as fast as I could down the girls stairs and up the boys. I opened the door to find chaos. Sirius was kneeling next to Remus, with tears in his eyes. Peter looked like he had seen somebody die, and James, he was crying.

"What the hell happened?" I asked. They all turned their heads towards me.

"Y/n.... What do we do? I don't even know what happened. We were all on the bed and then bam, boop, bop and then capowe, Rem's on the floor screaming in pain" Sirius said, his hands shaking. I walked over to Rem and stroked his hair. His scars looked worse than ever and his face and legs were covered in blood. His pants and shirt looked red rather than their original color due to the blood. I tried to stay calm, as not to worry anyone else.

"Y/n? Is that you?" Remus asked. I smiled.

"Yes, yes it's me. It's going to be over soon and then we can see-"

"James and Peter?" he asked.

"And Sirius" I added. This once again brought a smile to his face. "Come on, I'm going to take you to Madam Pomfrey," I said, lifting him off the ground and carrying him bridal style. I turned around to see James and Sirius crying in each other's arms and Peter, looking like he had been petrified.

"Is there anything we can do?" Sirius asked.

"No, no you've done plenty. Get some sleep and we'll see you in the morning. Goodnight boys" I said. None of them responded as I left and headed to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey was the only other adult that knew about Rem's condition. When I brought him in, we worked together to get him situated.

We had to shower him to get all of the blood off. He couldn't even stand up on his own and he was fluttering in and out of consciousness. I told Madam Pomfrey to go get some sleep herself; I could take care of Rem.

"Y/n?" he asked, while I was scrubbing his stomach.

"Yes?" I replied.

"Am I going to be okay?" he asked, his eyes were closed.

"Yes Rem. You're going to be just fine. We're going to get you all cleaned up and then you can sleep"

"But I don't want to sleep"

"Why not?"

"Because...because then who is going to be James' best friend?"

"Pardon?"

"Who is going to comfort Sirius?"

"Rem what are you talking about?"

"Who is going to take care of you?"

"You're scaring me. What do you mean?" I asked once again.

"Y/n...what if I go to bed and never wake up?" he asked, as I slipped his pants back on.

"That's not going to happen. You're going to wake up tomorrow just like every other day and we're going to watch the quidditch game on Saturday and you're still going to have to deal with Professor Seawater's (lol that's all I could come up with) homework assignments, and we're going to continue to get older together. Tomorrow is our birthday you know" I said, trying to calm him down. I couldn't say that I wasn't worried as well. Some people truly just don't wake up.

Once I got him in bed, I didn't want to leave him. There were no other kids in the Hospital Wing so I figured there was no harm in keeping him company.

"Rem?" I asked.

"Yes?" he replied, barley lifting his eyelids.

"I know we'll always be together.....but....if there's ever a tomorrow when we're not together, there's something you must remember. You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing to remember is, I'll always be with you"

The Next Day

The boys came in late the next morning, one by one. I saw all three of them standing outside the door, talking before they pushed Peter into the room. He still looked petrified. I guess he was able to talk now though.

"Hey Peter" I said, pretending like I hadn't been watching them for the past 10 minutes.

"Hey. How...how is he?" he asked.

"Fine, for now. He's been sleeping ever since about 2 am last night"

"That's good. I guess he needs his rest. Anyway, I should probably go, class starts soon" he said. I waved by and saw him walk past James and Sirius without one look.

Next in came Sirius. His eyes were bloodshot and he slowly walked in, trying not to look at Remus. He sat down next to me and right when his eyes met Remus, his expression turned concerned. I could tell he didn't want to talk so I didn't say anything.

"How is he doing?" Sirius finally asked.

"Fine, as far as I know. He's been sleeping all morning and Madam Pomfrey has checked on him a few times, everything looks good" I told him. He still sat there, his eyes stayed locked with Remus.

"He's going to be okay Sirius. He always is. It's been happening for 8 years, he's strong" I saw his lip quiver at my words. It looked like he could have stayed all day, but soon enough he said that he should probably go, that James needed to see him.

I saw him talk to James for a few seconds before they wrapped each other into a tight hug. Why didn't I have someone to comfort me like that? James walked in, looking a little more confident then Sirius had, but he immediately humbled himself when he saw me, and a dead-looking Rem.

"Hello James, how are you?" I asked.

"Compared to last night? Terrific. But in a normal sense? Worried as hell that my best friend isn't going to be okay. That we're going to live the rest of our lives without him" this reminded me of the conversation Remus and I had the night before.

"You know he thought the same thing last night?" I told him. He looked confused.

"Before I got him in bed, he told me that he didn't want to go to sleep. He was worried if he went to bed, he wouldn't ever wake up. The part that seemed to concern him the most was that James would have to live without his best friend. He really loves you James" I said. James just kept staring at Remus. We sat there for a minute or two, silence filling the air with our thoughts and concerns.

Suddenly, James shook his head and looked at me, as if he was coming out of a trance. "How are you? I can't imagine what you're feeling". No one ever asked how I was. I was always second in people's worries. I couldn't tell if it was a compliment, saying I could handle myself, or an insult, because I was just a second thought. In this case, the best I could do was a second thought. But still, when he made eye contact with me, I felt safe. I felt like I had wanted to feel when James hugged Sirius. Possibly just the effect he had on people.

"I'm... better. I've always been able to keep my cool with Rem, and we've had close calls before. I think I'll be better once he wakes up. I'll do anything to keep him awake for as long as possible"

"You're just as brave as him"

"I wish"

"It's true. Trust me, I know bravery"

"You look pretty brave yourself. Besides the crying last night, you seemed pretty strong this morning"

"It's just an act, I'm a wreck on the inside. Just don't let other people know"

"Fine, all three of us are brave"

"Deal"