Monster - [Marauder Era] {Remus Lupin}

Chapter Eight ~ The Mysterious Affliction of Remus Lupin

I did not see any of the Marauders until late at breakfast on Sunday morning. I had caught glimpses of them on Saturday, but they had not tried to interact with me. I was quite worried and afraid that they had forgotten about me, but I tried to ignore the thought. I had concluded that they were probably planning some prank.

I was finishing up my tea, ready to head back to Gryffindor Tower, when James, Sirius, and Peter stumbled into the Great Hall. All of them looked as if they had just woken up, which was probably true. James, with his messy black hair messier than ever, sat on my left, and Peter, his eyes barely open, sat to my right. Sirius took a seat across from us, his usually styled hair splayed across his head in every which way. As soon as they sat, each boy began wolfing down food. I also noticed small scratches on their skin, but not too deep.

"Hello to you too..." I greet my companions, who barely even acknowledged my presence.

I sat in silence for a few minutes, until the trio finished eating.

"Hello, Calico-Cat." Sirius speaks, smirking at me. I roll my eyes at him, before opening my mouth to speak.

"Where's Remus?" I ask, very confused. Where were they yesterday?

James fiddles with his fork. "Uh, Remus is, ah, very, very ill."

"Yes, so much so that he happens to be in the infirmary." Sirius continues, before taking a large sip of water.

A pang of worry hits me. I tilt my head. "Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear it."

"Yeah, and, our trip into the Forbidden Forest last night didn't really help it, now did it, Pete?" James explains, stressing Peter's name. I raise an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Oh, yeah. Right. Yeah, Remus got a bit scratched up." Peter picks up, looking around the room, avoiding my eyes.

"As did we, but he went head-first into danger-" Sirius begins, but I cut him off.

"What really happened?" I stare down each boy, who all smile sheepishly back at me. I groan.

James sighs. "Well, it's a bit... Classified." The bespectacled boy gives me a small smirk when he notices my annoyed expression.

I almost punch him in the nose.

"What do you mean, it's classified?" I question, my voice rising. I look from the hazel eyes of James, to the blue, watery eyes of Peter, and finally to the gray eyes of Sirius. I began to nervously pick at the buttons on my cardigan.

"Classified, as in, we can't tell you." Sirius responds, giving me a small, cheeky smile.

I groan, covering my face with the palms of my hands and banging my forehead against the table.

"You can come see him, if you want." Peter tells me, and I nod in response.

I have no idea why they won't just tell me. I wonder to myself.

"Of course I'll come." I say, my voice regaining its normal sound.

After the boys finish, I stand and follow them out of the Great Hall and we start ascending the moving staircase.

"What did you do while we were gone?" James picks up the conversation as we wait for a set of stairs to swing closer to us.

I sigh, frustrated. All I did yesterday was waiting and writing a rough draft of a group essay we had for History of Magic. I had also written a letter to my parents and I sent it off with a school owl. The letter had been about the last few weeks of my life, although they had already heard about it. I made the not-so-great parts, such as my hand and Remus' sickness, seem much less worrisome than they were in reality. I also left out Regulus and had told my parents that I had gone to Hogsmede with the Marauders and that we had a great time.