Misc.

marauders 1

"damn moony, really banged yourself up this time, huh?" james said, leaning on the doorframe of the shrieking shack.  

remus sat in a corner of the room, still orienting himself. everything was spinning, his stomach churned and his hands trembled. he'd only woken up a few minutes ago. 

"jesus, it's a miracle he didn't kill himself." peter chimed in, glancing into the room from behind james' shoulder. 

"it's a miracle he hasn't killed anyone at all." james replied.

"we've got your homework for you, i remembered to pick it up from professor mcgonagal, and james already finished it, so you can just copy off him."

"yeah it's pretty easy. i have quidditch practice later today, but i'll leave it on my bed for you." 

remus lifted a hand to his forehead, and it came back slightly red. a nasty cut sat right above his eyebrow, no doubt the result of a maniacal outburst from what was essentially a caged animal. from the doorway, pettigrew grimaced.

"nasty, that is. i'd go get it checked out if I were you. we brought you new robes. they're not torn." he said. james elbowed him in the side.

"no duh he has to go get it checked out, i'll be amazed if he doesn't need stitches." 

"i know he has to go get it checked out, i'm just saying-"

"oh for god's sake would you two shut up for just half a minute?" a third voice said, joining the two boys in the doorway. sirius sighed at the sight of his friend shaking in the corner. there was an old leather crossbody bag slung over his shoulder. 

"alright, everybody out." sirius declared.

"but-" peter started.

"no buts, my sweet little lamb," sirius said with mock sympathy, lightly pushing peter out of the doorway. "get out. go pick weeds or something, gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old time is still a-flying, and this same flower that smiles today, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. just- give the lad some room to breathe." 

grumbling, the two boys descended the old, creaky steps and only after sirius heard the door of the shack close determinately did he focus his attention on remus. 

sirius pulled a blanket out of the bag over his shoulder and held it out in front of remus. 

"you look freezing, moon." he said gently, kneeling down and setting the blanket next to remus. sirius shifted so that he was sitting criss-cross in front of his friend. he took a handful of cotton balls out of the bag, as well as a bottle of iodine. 

"come here, look at me?" sirius asked, but remus was still confused. his eyes darted across the room and his breathing continued to be irregular and quick. he flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder, peeking through layers of tattered fabric. 

"you're alright, it's just me," sirius assured, running his thumb up and down remus' shoulder. "look at me, you're okay, yeah?" 

once remus focused on sirius, the world around him became normal again. he recognized the dull gray of the wood shack around him. the claw marks etched deep into the wood became familiar once more, though perhaps a little hauntingly. the creeks and groans of the house were ones he'd heard before, sometimes lulling him to sleep after particularly difficult nights. now, in broad daylight, it just made him uneasy. he reached up to touch the injury on his head again, only to be stopped by sirius, carefully pulling his hand away from the wound and holding it in his own instead.

"here, don't touch. let me." 

somewhere in remus' chest, an inkling of disappointment flickered when sirius temporarily let go so he could soak the cotton with disinfectant, but it vanished when he took it back. sirius dabbed the wet cotton ball across remus' forehead, wiping away any remnant of blood, and cleaning the wound to the best of his ability. there was another scratch going down remus' nose, and one under the right side of his chin.