Ever the loyal daughter, Anastasia Black is focused on pleasing her parents and holding the together the crumbling relationship between her brothers. At first, she does not think the scarred and quiet Remus Lupin will put a rut into these plans. Tha...
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Remus groaned as he returned to consciousness. A strong ache ran through his whole body. The room was still an opaque black, the gleam from the rising sun not yet hitting the small window on the roof. He ran a dry, bleeding hand across his face to wake himself up.
Voices flew around the largest room of the Shrieking Shack, muffled by the blood pooling in his ears.
That was a new thing, the blood in the ears. Madam Pomfrey said it had something to do with his eardrums and the increased pressure during his transformations. Remus had long ago stopped caring about how his transformations changed as he aged- all it ever seemed to do was get more painful.
He blinked a few times to get out the dirt and whatever else had managed to get into his eyes. James' face appeared a few feet from his, lips pursed together and face pulled into one of concern. Remus could hear noises further down the passageway back to the castle,
"Good morning, Moony," James said, feeling Remus' forehead for a fever. He hissed at the temperature before sighing and rocking back onto his heels. "Let's get you up to the wing, yeah?"
Remus nodded, letting James heave him up to a standing position as if he were a sack of potatoes. "The others?" he slurred out, swallowing the nasty mix of blood and bile that had accumulated in the back of his throat.
"They're making sure the coast is clear. We're running a little late this morning. It's nothing to worry over, I promise."
James threw one of Remus' long arms over his shoulder, taking on over half of his weight with nothing but an assuring smile. They slowly staggered through the passageway to the Whomping Willow. It was suspicious (maybe) that Sirius and Peter were nowhere to be seen, but something genuine and nonchalant in James' voice reassured him. James was usually the most nervous of them all in the mornings, but today he seemed calm and just tired.
They went slower than they usually did, but Remus attributed it to the fact that only James was here to help him walk. Sirius was typically on his other side, with Peter taking up the front in his Animagus form as a guard of sorts.
James was right- they were running late. The sun was beginning to peak over the snowy mountains east of campus, painting the rolling waves of the Black Lake in glorious shades of orange and pink. Suddenly Remus wanted cotton candy.
Luckily for them, it was a Saturday morning, and no students were strolling the hallways at 8:15. They took the most deserted routes just to be sure regardless.
It was a long walk, and by the time they reached the hidden entrance to the Hospital Wing, Remus was close to collapsing. James had one arm hooked around his torso, heaving him closer to the door step by step. Muffled voices could be heard from the room, but they were so quiet that they were indistinguishable.
James knocked twice sharply with his free hand, tucking his wand into the back pocket of his muggle jeans. They fit him much too tight. He must have stolen them from Sirius, who was less built than James.
