Tired (QPR Drarry, mates, ace arospec Harry)

Chapter 6

The fire in Minerva's office burst into emerald flames as Remus practically fell out it, poorly put together, a slipper on one foot and a smart shoe on the other, he was wearing pyjama bottoms, an old t-shirt, and a smart blazer that looked expensive. His hair was messy, and reminiscent of James' hair.

"You said Harry needed help." Remus said, breathless, the letter she had written to him still in his hand, seeming like he hadn't finished reading it yet.

"Remus, slow down, he will need your help, but right now he's with Poppy. Did you finish reading?" Minerva asked, her hair now down for first time Remus had ever seen as it was quite late and she was about to head to bed after dealing with all the plans Dumbledore had made, most of which were ridiculous.

"No, I got ready to come straight here when I got to the part asking me to help Harry. Is he okay? Why is Mme Pomfrey with him? Did something happen? What does he need from me?" Remus asked, still extremely worried about what was happening.

"Remus, drink this calming draught and then read the rest of the letter, it will explain most of what's going on if not everything." Minerva said, tired and not able to deal with a stressed Remus at the moment, tossing an unbreakable bottle containing the calming draught at Remus, who fumbled with it, but still caught it.

Remus drank the potion quickly, hands shaking as he read the rest of the letter, although the shaking reduced greatly as the potion started to take effect. He still paled at what was written in the letter, while he wasn't officially Harry's godfather, as far as he was concerned Harry was as good as his child now Lily and James were dead and Sirius was in Azkaban.

"Of course I'll help Harry, I would never want him to go through what I did, if I can help then I will. Not to mention he's as good as my nephew for all I care." Remus said, he didn't even really care if he got paid or not.

"What about becoming a TA or Hospital Wing assistant? We can discuss pay and hours tomorrow after classes have finished." Minerva said, standing up a little heavily, tired from everything that had happened that day. "I assume you want to go see Harry now?"

"If that's at all possible." Remus said, the calming draught reducing his adrenaline and making him feel his fatigue, but he wanted to see Harry today even if it made him stay up so late he hated himself tomorrow. He did have another job interview booked tomorrow, but a job at Hogwarts where he can stay near Harry and help him and the teachers that helped him when he was younger was better than any other job he could get.

"Of course, I assume you still know the way, Poppy won't stop you from seeing him unless she has to." Minerva said, opening the door and waiting for Remus to leave before she closed and locked her office for the night.

"Yes, thank you so much for letting me know." Remus said a little quietly.

"Of course, I know as well as anyone how close you lot were, and how much you've been trying to free Sirius or see Harry without even having to know about your actions." Minerva said, reaching up to pet his hair down in a motherly way, him no longer being her student making her feel more comfortable being affectionate towards one of her unofficial children.

Remus ran off to the Hospital Wing, almost tripping over Mrs Norris as he passed her, making her hiss at him angrily, but he didn't really care. He burst into the Hospital Wing, making Mme Pomfrey tut at him for making too much noise in a Hospital Wing at night. She was levitating Harry to a bed in the back so he could be in a more private area for his treatment and so he wasn't going to be disorientated in a large, open space that contained things that could hurt him.

"Mr Lupin, please try to not wake up my patient." Mme Pomfrey said, continuing to levitate Harry to the private room and get him properly set up in the bed, his teeth now properly healed, but his body still pretty badly injured, the werewolf bite treated to prevent infection, with a large bandage wrapped around his leg.

"Can I stay here tonight?" Remus asked.

"Provided you come to get me if you notice anything is wrong. Don't feel the need to lose sleep over it, he should be waking up tomorrow, so even if you stay up all night it's unlikely you'll be able to talk to him for a while." Mme Pomfrey said, collecting everything sharp from the small back room and leaving Remus to it, conjuring an armchair with extremely soft padding for Remus as she left.

-----

"Malfoy!" Ron marched over to the blond boy who looked annoyed as the Gryffindors and Slytherins waited outside Transfiguration, the third lesson of the day. "What did you do to Harry?"

"Since when was what I do any of your business, Weasley?" Draco snapped back, he had hoped he would be able to talk to Harry today, but he had underestimated how many lessons there would be and how short break was.

"I don't care about you, I care about Harry. He disappeared after you and another Slytherin took him somewhere, tell me what you did to him." Ron said, smiling angrily, eyebrow twitching with his anger, the only reason he wasn't trying to punch Draco in the face was because Harry seemed to care about him.

"He's in the Hospital Wing, if you can't figure out why then you don't get to claim to care about him. Don't know when he'll be out." Draco said reluctantly, looking away from Ron and crossing his arms.

"Provided you didn't do anything to cause his suffering." Ron said, a little surprised that Draco told him, but he was still a little suspicious of the Slytherin boy who was close to Harry, especially given he had been practically ignoring Harry when they were waiting to enter the Great Hall.

"I don't want him to be suffering either, Weasley. I care about him more than you do." Draco said, neither he nor Ron seeming to notice they had drawn the attention of all the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins.

"Oh really? You can't say that you care more when you don't know how much I care, and if you've known him much longer than I have then you clearly don't care at all!" Ron spat back at Draco, angry Draco seemed to think that he cared more than Ron. Sure, Ron hadn't exactly known Harry for long, and Harry hadn't spoken much in that time, but Ron cared deeply about him already.

"How dare you!?" Draco shouted at Ron, his eyes blazing and his hair paling slightly, magic crackling in the air. "How dare you suggest I let that happen to him!?"

"Then don't claim I don't care about Harry. How am I supposed to trust a Malfoy, someone from the same family that joined You-Know-Who? How do I know you're not just trying to hurt Harry to avenge You-Know-Who?" Ron said back, his eyes cold and his voice raised to a point just below what would be called a shout.

"What is going on out here!?" Professor McGonagall asked loudly as she slammed her door open, just as Draco threw a punch at Ron's face, his magic crackling around him dangerously. "Mr Malfoy, 15 points from Slytherin for punching another student. You," Minerva pointed to one of the Gryffindors who had thrown himself away from the fight that was starting, "explain what happened."

"Th- they were fighting over who cared more about Harry and then Ron insulted Malfoy and he punched Ron and then you came." The boy said, being helped up by another Gryffindor boy who was mixed race, his Irish accent strong, and he seemed surprised he was even being asked.

"Mr Weasley, 10 points from Gryffindor for provoking another student." McGonagall said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. "How does your cheek feel?"

"Sore." Ron said, holding his hand up to his already reddening cheek. Draco hadn't hit him hard, but his magic had been becoming unstable so Ron was slightly more injured due to that.

"You look fine." McGonagall said, flicking her wand to check there was no serious damage done to Ron's cheek, she knew if she asked him he would say he needed to be taken to the Hospital Wing to see Harry, she had seen it too many times with the Marauders to be fooled again. "Alright, everyone in, Malfoy, Weasley, wait out here for a moment."

"What do you want, Professor?" Draco asked, trying to be polite and calm himself down.

"Look, both of you, I understand and appreciate your concern about Ha-Potter, but the two of you literally fighting about it helps nothing. He was still asleep the last time I saw him and should wake up around lunch, but he's not in the main part of the Hospital Wing for multiple reasons. You won't be able to see him until he wakes up regardless." McGonagall explained to the two of them, her voice firm but still kind. "Now, either the two of you need to get along, or you will both lose Potter's friendship. Now, get in the classroom, don't make me have this conversation again.