What if they all lived?

Chapter 21

Sunday, 31st December 1971

Sirius Black

Remus was acting weird. He'd been a bit off all weekend—touchier than usual, more easily frustrated, restless. Sirius hadn't paid it any mind; he was used to Remus's moods, by now. But on Saturday, he kept trying to ditch Sirius.

It wasn't as if there was anywhere to go—they were both confined to the school grounds, and he was even ignoring Athena, which was weird. At first Sirius thought his friend might just want some quiet time—that was no problem, they had grown quite comfortable sitting in companionable silence. But Remus looked annoyed when Sirius brought his library book down to the common room, which was a bit rude, as Sirius had been lugging heavy books out of the library all week just so that Remus wouldn't have to be alone.

Eventually, he said he was feeling sick. They were lying in their room, listening to T-Rex again, and Sirius gamely offered to relocate to the hospital wing. There were so few students that they'd probably be the only ones there, and he couldn't imagine that the friendly old nurse would mind a bit of music. Sirius was just about to levitate the record player when Remus yelped,

"No! I—I should go alone." His brow was knotted in consternation. Sirius startered, perplexed.

"Why?"

"Well, er—the spell. You should keep practicing. We need to be ready once classes start back.''''We've basically got it now, though," Sirius pointed out, frowning. They'd both managed to procure miniature rainstorms at this point—in fact, they'd very nearly flooded the bathroom. It wasn't as if one night off would set them back. He couldn't help but smile at the reminder of what they were going to do to Snape as soon as the others came back.

"Find something else to do, then, go find Athena" Remus snapped, halfway out the door, "I'll see you tomorrow." Athena Remus never called her by her full name unless he was mad. Was he like that because she made him mad? Did she insult him in some way?

"How'd you know she'll keep you overni—?!" But before he could even finish his question, Remus slammed the door behind him.

Sirius hovered in the middle of the room, stung by his friend's abrupt dismissal. Did Remus just—not want to spend time with him? The horrible thought occurred to Sirius that maybe he was acting just like Pete, tagging along desperately even when he wasn't wanted.

It was getting dark, and Remus still wasn't back. Sirius wondered if the nurse really would keep him overnight—but he hadn't looked sick. In fact, all day Remus had had more energy than usual; he'd been unable to sit still for more than two seconds. Surely he would be coming back, right? Sirius waited, but Remus didn't return. He rolled over in bed, remembering the other times his friend had disappeared for the night. Was he in the hospital wing, all those times? Did he have some sort of illness that he was keeping secret? Outside, the sky was pitch black, the only remaining light from the moon, and—

And—

The moon.

Sirius sat up, staring out the window.

A full moon.

But...that couldn't—it couldn't be—

Sirius felt as if his stomach had dropped through the floor. For a moment, he could only stare. Then, with a sudden burst of adrenaline, he scrambled out of bed, searching for his astronomy notes and counting the days in his head...

Could it be or was it delirious with an excuse? Did Thena know? Did he tell her?