Just The Three Of Us - SiriusxOCxRemus

twenty

     Celeste awoke with a groan. Her left thigh felt as if it had been set ablaze. Her blue eyes snapped open at the sound of Madam Pomfrey's voice.

     "Celestia, I see you're awake. How are you feeling?" The matron asked as she placed a few potions on the table next to Celeste's bed.

     "Li-" She coughed. "Like my leg is being set on fire."

     "Hm. Well that is expected with a wer-"  Madam Pomfrey uttered muffliato as she drew the curtains surrounding the bed completely shut. "What exactly do you remember of last night? Take your time."

     It took Celeste a few moments but she pieced together her memories of the prior night. She recalled waking up from her nightmare, but she wasn't going to tell Madam Pomfrey about that. She remembered going for a walk and following Snape. She also remembered him dragging her into a tunnel, but things got fuzzy from then on.

     "I remember being dragged into a tunnel by Severus Snape. But I don't know why we were there. Oh, and I can't seem to recall how I got here, or what happened to my leg."

     "Well dear, I can answer two of those questions. As for why you were there in the first place, I do not know. But before we get into what happened, I'm going to need you to take these." She gestured towards the potions she had set down only moments ago.

     "What are they for?"

     "The purple one, which is the one you will take first, is a wound-cleaning potion. I've already given you two doses of it in your sleep. This is the last one of these you'll be needing to take. I apologize for the sour taste." The matron handed the potion to Celeste and she downed it.

     "And those?" Celeste gestured to the other two potions on the table.

     Madam Pomfrey picked up a red potion and said "This is a blood-replenishing potion. I've also already given you two doses of this in your sleep. You'll be needing to take one more before dinner tonight, then you'll be discharged." Once again Celeste downed the potion like it was nothing. I guess taking shots with Sienna in the dorm does have its perks.

     "And that?" She questioned.

     "That, is for after I answer your questions." Celeste raised a dark eyebrow at the matron's words but let her continue speaking. "Well to answer your first question, you were carried here by Mr. Pettigrew." The memories started coming back to her slowly.  "And before I answer the second question I'm going to need you to take this calming draught."

     "O-Okay." Celeste drank the entirety of the light blue potion and waited for the older witch to speak.

     "Now as for what happened to your leg. You were scratched by Mr. Lupin."

     "Remus? I think you must be mistaken. I'm remembering now, I was scratched by a werewo-" Her blue eyes widened in shock. "Madam Pomfrey, are you saying the werewolf who attacked me, was, or is, Remus Lupin?"

     "That is exactly what I am saying, Celestia. Now I do hope you know that you must keep this a secret. You can't run off telling anyone. That could ruin Mr. Lupin's life."

     "Madam Pomfrey with all due respect, I am disgusted to think that you would believe me to be the type of person who would do such a thing. Remus is one of the kindest people I know. Despite what happened last night, I understand that it wasn't his fault. He couldn't control his actions even if he wanted to. So no, you don't have to worry about me telling anyone. The only person I will be speaking to about this is Remus." 

     Pomfrey gave Celeste a small smile. "Good. Now I must go fill out some charts. I'll be in my office. Just yell if you need me." The older witch left Celeste's curtains open and now she could see who else was in the room.

     Lying in the bed on her left was James Potter, he had large white bandages covering his torso. Sitting on the end of his bed talking to him was Peter Pettigrew. To her right was Remus Lupin. She frowned upon seeing all of the scratches adorning his face and arms. Like James his torso was covered by bandages. The sight that truly shocked her was Sirius Black.

     Sirius had chosen a spot so that he was equally close to Remus as he was Celeste. He sat in between their beds in one of the grey visitors chairs. His normally pristine black hair was messily thrown into a knot on the top of his head. It was being held up by his wand. Her observations were stalled when suddenly his grey eyes were no longer on Remus' sleeping form. They were on her.

     "Merlin!" He shot out of his chair and practically tackled Celeste into a hug. "You're awake. You're okay?" She winced from the contact and he pulled back immediately. "Shit. I'm sor-"

     "I'm fine, Sirius. Just a little sore." Her gaze drifted to the sleeping boy on her right. "How is he?" He inhaled sharply as she turned back to him. "Please don't tell me he's been beating himself up. Really it's not his fault."

     "You don't care that he attacked you? You don't care that he's a werewolf?"

     "Like I said, it wasn't his fault. And I bet his affliction wasn't his fault either. So, no, I could care less that he's a werewolf. Now tell me, is he okay?"

     "Yeah, Poppy said he'll be fine. But he's gonna be devastated when he realizes he hurt you. He was already upset enough about hurting Prongs."

     "What do you mean when he realizes he hurt me? Does he not know?"

     "Things are usually foggy when he transforms back, he only knows he hurt Prongs because he saw him before Poppy arrived. She gave him a sleeping draught and levitated him here. So he doesn't know yet. But after hearing what you said about it not being his fault, I can tell your words will help lessen the blow." 

     He grasped her hand as he sat back down. "You should get some rest though, I know how much of a mother hen you are. If you want to be that way when Moony wakes up, you should get some sleep now."

     "But I wa-"

     "Mr. Black is absolutely right." Madam Pomfrey said, peering out of her office door. The matron knows from experience how protective she is over her friends. When Natalia was in the hospital wing for a common cold last year, she fussed after her like she was her child. The older witch could only imagine how the girl was going to react to Remus being hurt every month. "Get some sleep Celestia, Merlin knows you'll need it."

AN: Someone asked me in the last chapter if Celeste will be turning into a werewolf or having any wolfish tendencies from the scratches. I wanted to make it clear that in this book, the only way someone can be turned is by being bitten. But the scratches will scar. I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)