When I see you.. (James Potter)

Chapter 13: Fullmoon

„What was that?", said James, Sirius and Peter out of one mouth.
The three girls, Nila, Lu and Prim, turn around abruptly to the arousing of the guys' voice, panic written on their faces. Lu and Prim exchange a glance and with a quick nod, Lu moves to Joy, sitting down next to her, putting an arm around her for comfort.

"Joy?", James asks with a shaking voice, taking a step towards her, confusion and worry written on his face. Prim rushes to them, turning James around while putting an arm around his shoulder, just shaking her head.
"Is she okay?", Sirius asks curiously, raising an eyebrow and looking over Prim's shoulders.
"That's none of your business, don't you have somewhere to be?"
Peter nudges Sirius' side and indicates up to the sky with his finger. James and Sirius head shifts to the sky. James nods quickly.
"Ja actually we do", Sirius presses, "see you!", he gives Prim a quick kiss on the cheek and he and Peter get going, but not without looking back to the sea, where they saw an unusual wave just a few minutes ago.
Prim takes a look at James, who was still standing there, looking over his shoulder, mustering Joy. Prim puts her hand on his shoulder: "She'll be alright... but she doesn't need you to see her like this..."
He nods slowly, takes a last glance, pushes his glasses up his nose and turns around to follow his friends.

Joy's shoulders shake with every sob that she lets out. The pressure she must have felt the past months or even years fell down on her, in forms of tears. She feels Lu's hand rubbing over her back for comfort, whereas she feels Nilas stare on it as well. Nila was just standing there, in trance. The noises of footsteps in wet grass indicate that Prim is coming closer, she sits down to Joy's other side and puts an arm around her. She whispers in worry: „You're cold Joy, we should get back to the castle...".  „She's literally shivering", Lu now adds in worry while she and Prim are getting up, further helping Joy to her feet. 

„We should get her to hospital wing", Nila now says with a low voice.

Nila raises her fist, knocking on the door to the hospital wing. "Are you already done?", the girls hear Madame Pomfrey whisper towards them from behind the door. Nila looks at the others in confusion and Prim und Lu look just as confused but eventually Prim speaks up: "Hello Madame Pomfrey, it's Prim Lacraft". "Oh girls! Its night rest already, what are you doing here?", Pomfrey asks. The girls hear the clicking of a lock. Prim waits a second, "uhm, our friend Joy is not doing well, we thought you could help her!".  "Ow of course yea", she opens the door now and puts her head through it, looking at Prim. With a head nod, Prim indicates to Joy, who was hanging in there in the hold between Prim and Lu. 

„Oh, Darling! You're shivering!", Madam Pomfrey's peeking voice raised as soon as she sees Joy. „Bring her over here", Madam Pomfrey orders the girls while she indicates to a bed which covers are now magically opening up.
"I have tried a warming spell", Lu explains while helping Prim to direct Joy into the bed, "but I think it didn't work". "Well obviously...", Nila pouts referring to Joy who's still shivering. "No worries", Madam Pomfrey presses herself to the side of the bed next to Prim and Lu, who now leave her some space, "thank you girls, we'll fix her, no worries". "She seems to be in some kind of trance, did she have a lot of physical or emotional distress lately?", Madam Pomfrey's face shifts from Joy to her three friends. 

"Yes".

"Oh yes"

"Yea you could say it like that", said the three girls at the same time.

Pomfrey raises her eyebrows and takes a step towards the girls and shoos them with her arms, "then you can go now! I'll keep her overnight, there's nothing you can do here", her peeking voice orders, " out, out!". The girls make their way out and Madam Pomfrey shambles after them to the door muttering to herself: "I need an empty hospital wing tonight" and closes the door behind the three girls that say goodbye with "thank you", "good night poppy", " see you tomorrow Joy!"

Still in trance, Joy did not really grasp her surrounding. Slowly, she manages to hear her surrounding. She hears footsteps and the sound of a curtain that is being closed. Where was she? With a slight prickle in her fingers, she starts to feel a soft flannel cover under her and the footsteps seem to disappear. Joy listens carefully for any other movement when her memories of the evening come back to her:

"you have to stay here over the Christmas holidays!", "the dark lord knows about your powers" and of course the big wave. 

Joy feels a warm tear making its way down her cheek, she blinks and slowly opens her eyes. Her glance immediately falls on the ceiling that is so typical for Hogwarts, arches that flow into a peek in the middle of each segment. Joy notices that she lies in a bed out of a white metal frame and that she is separated from the rest of the room by a curtain that surrounds her. From the warmth she is feeling in her body, she concludes that her friends must've taken her to the hospital wing, she feels cozy but her mind wanders around Professor Dumbledore's words.

Joy must have fallen asleep as she woke from a noise that reminded her of a squeaking door and a whisper, from which Joy is quite sure it said: "Shh Mr. Potter, come in quickly, come". Potter?, Joy asks herself, what is James doing here?

She silently puts her feet on the stonecold floor, goosebumps run over her skin. She reaches out for the curtain, only putting it aside for an inch, just enough for her to see James, Sirius, and Peter shouldering a man over their shoulders, who it was, Joy couldn't recognize as it was still quite dark. Her conclusion, however, appeared quite quick. Remus.

"Alright boys now, you can go to your dorms, I have everything under control!", Madam Pomfrey ensures the boys. Joy now lost sight as the play shifts to another part of the room and the curtain doesn't allow her to look further. "Well actually, Poppy, my arm hurts pretty bad, I fell off my broom today! I think I need to stay here!", Joy hears Sirius saying with a painful tone, but even she could hear without having to see him, that Sirius was not seriously injured. „And my foot is hurting pretty bad as well", James added. „And my face is bruised!", Peter continues. Madam Pomfrey takes a deep breath, „alright", she sighs and continues with a strict undertone, „there are three empty beds over there! But the curtains stay closed! I'll first have a look at Remus and my other patient again, I'll help you later."

As Madam Pomfrey turns around to get her supplies, the boys grin at each other and make their way into the beds, but not before having another look at Remus.

Madam Pomfrey's statement confirmed Joy's thought of the fourth guy being Remus. As silent as possible, she gets back into bed but she didn't come around the bed making squeaking noises. She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes, hoping no one has noticed. 

After a few minutes, what felt like hours, her curtain opens slowly and Joy pretends to be asleep. She feels the back of a cold but soft hand touching her forehead, with what she realizes that it is Madam Pomfrey, feeling her temperature. Joy slowly opens her eyes to look at her, Pomfrey gives her a little smile and leaves again. Joy rolls to the side, her back towards the side of the curtain through which Madam Pomfrey just left, when on the opposite side. A head, that is covered with brown curls, peaks in. „Joy?". 

Joy's eyes open wide and she quickly presses her finger against her mouth, shifting her upper body up to look after her for Pomfrey. "She's asleep now", James whisper and enters completely. Joy musters him, his clothes are dirty and lumped but he seems composed. With his hands in his pockets he looks at Joy, "you mind if I sit?". Joy shruggs her shoulders and James takes a seat at the end of Joy's feet. 

"What-"

"How-"

The both start to whisper at the same time and also stop aprubtly again when noticing. A smile forms on Joy's lips, James lets out a soundless giggle: "you go ahead", he smiles. 

"What are you guys doing here? Is Remus okay?"