The Marauders: Year Five #Wattys2017

Lily's Letter

Lily's Letter

The second trip to Hogsmeade was a quiet affair - only James and Peter went. It happened to have fallen three days before the full moon and Remus was violently throwing up, gagging over the smells of feasts being prepared in the kitchens, which he could smell even all the way up in the boys dormitory. Remus had been sick so many times during the night that his knees hurt from leaning over the loo and Sirius was exhausted from having knelt right beside him in the prefect's toilet on the fourth floor, brushing his hair out of his face and patting him with a cool, damp cloth as fever broke out over him. James felt bad going without them and so he and Peter spent a whole galleon on buying all sorts of chocolate bars for Remus to cheer him up and licorice wands and clouds of cobweb candy for Sirius. They had their butterbeers, sure, and each bought a pretzel twisted into the shape of a Christmas wreath with red and green coloured salts clinging the hot dough, but they didn't stay long, either, before going back to the castle to their mates.

Sirius sat up staring at Remus that night, hugging his knees as he balled himself up by the footboard. James woke up at one point during the evening, startled awake by a dream that he couldn't recall clearly but had seemed very vitally important... He blinked into the dark as his eyes adjusted. "You alright, Prongs?" Sirius asked lowly.

James reached for his glasses and sat up slowly, jamming them onto his face. "I... I s'pose." He stared at his duvet cover and sighed. "Just a funny dream."

"What of?"

"Dunno. I forgot it already." He frowned.

Sirius said, "Sorry. Probably just as well. Means you won't psyche yourself into having it again, at least?"

"Yeah." He picked at the hem on the duvet.

Sirius sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Are you alright?" James asked, turning the question 'round.

Sirius said, "I'm so fucking tired, Prongs, but - what if he gets ill again, what if --"

"I can watch him a bit if you want to sleep."

Sirius chewed his lower lip. "I doubt very much that I could actually sleep. I'm too worried about him to sleep."

"I know what you mean," James said, thinking of how worried he felt about Lily Evans.

"Full moon tomorrow night," Sirius murmured.

James nodded.

"I didn't realize it was so close to the Yule Ball, the moon this month."

"I don't think any of us thought of it," James shrugged.

"I should have," Sirius replied. "How is Remus supposed to dance at the ball if he can barely stand up?"

James shrugged again.

"He's so stubborn, you know he'll do it either way, and I'm afraid he'll be hurting and not telling me."

James sighed. "Well, you lot are welcome to join me up here for the Great Homeworkpalooza I'll be having here in the dormitory... seeing as my Yule Ball's been destroyed, too."

Sirius hugged his knees.

The owl post delivered a letter to James on the morning of the day before the Yule Ball - two days before the students would be departing for holiday on the Hogwarts Express. James looked at the letter as the tawny owl that delivered it ate a strip of bacon Peter held up. He blinked in disbelief at the familiar handwriting, jaw dropped.