Mischief Managed Year One: Mayhem of the Moon

Chapter Twenty-One- Bubbling Burning Boils

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TW: Small Mentions of Abuse

Sirius thought he had won with Remus, he truly did. Throughout the majority of his birthday month, the four of them hung out making quite the team. James and Sirius were also sure to give Remus his space by going to watch Quidditch practice, sometimes with Peter in tow.

They all knew, though no one else but Sirius knew why, that they had to be careful not to push Remus too hard. James, who had been the most hesitant about Remus joining their group, was now in full support of their witty roommate.

"Do you think he considers us friends?" Sirius asked James out of the blue.

Well, it wasn't really out of the blue, considering during this last week of November Remus had started pulling away and Sirius didn't know why. But it was out of the blue considering they were supposed to be concentrating on potions. James looked over at the poor boy, who always looked like he was going to pass out in this class. Potions was only class he didn't keep up with Sirius, James, and...yes, even Lily.

Sirius knew Severus was on that list for Potions, easily the top student, but he refused to acknowledge that. Sirius looked at Remus too, having realized pretty quickly that for whatever reason, Remus was out of it too much to catch him staring in potions.

Not that he stared at him!

"I don't know, Sirius. I mean he seems happy enough when he's with us...but..."

"But then he looks like that. What do you think is his problem?"

"An allergy? Some sort of bad reaction to something in the classroom. He also gets sick a lot..." James mused, now both of their attention on their newest friend rather than the potion bubbling in front of them.

"I was actually thinking, Siriu,...well I think you ought to sit with him and I should sit with Peter in this class."

"What's this? My best friend is betraying me!" Sirius gasped, enjoying the smirk he received from James who knew he understood what he meant.

"I think you're right...Peter isn't a bad student, but he's not good enough in potions to catch his and Remus' mistakes. At this rate, Remus won't survive the year," Sirius laughed nervously, feeling a stab of dread that his comment may be more accurate than he wanted to admit.

He couldn't help but think one day Remus would just ...vanish.

He got that impression a lot. He wasn't sure why. It's not like Remus' father could just yank him out of Hogwarts. Well, "technically" he could, but if Sirius' mother wouldn't even do that then he was betting neither would Remus' father. He shook himself and dumped in four-horned slugs into his cure for boils just in time. James took their cauldron off the fire just as Peter and Remus' pot bubbled over, covering them in a hot potion that made boils erupt all over their hands.

They had successfully made a potion that did the opposite of what it was supposed to do, yet again. Peter howled in pain and jumped up and down, a proper reaction to someone who just got burned. Remus...he just sat there, his eyes glazed over in a scary sort of way that happened too often for Sirius' liking.

He glanced at Lily, who besides James and Sirius, was the only one who sometimes paid close attention to Remus. She looked horrified, her eyes filled with concern for the boy. But like usual Sirius couldn't tell if she knew any more than he did. He figured she must, with all the hours Remus spent alone with her "studying."