Four To The End (prev Shifting Lines) - Book One (Marauder Era)

Chapter Sixty-One - Far Too Advanced

Remus woke up in an unfamiliar location with no knowledge of how he got there. Something cold and wet was on his forehead, dripping water down into his eyes. He moaned, feeling as though he had just woken up from a transformation. His whole body ached like his bones had morphed... had he been somehow knocked out until the full moon?

"Remy!"

He sat up, reaching up to catch the wet washcloth falling off his head. "Wh... what... happened...?"

Sirius was kneeling next to him with James and Peter hovering behind him. They were in some sort of passageway that Remus didn't think he'd ever been in before. "You passed out." Sirius looked very worried, his fingers digging into his thighs. "I carried you."

"Where are we?"

"Passageway that hardly anyone knows about," James answered. "Least, we doubt many people know about. We, er, weren't sure whether or not to take you to Pomfrey..."

Remus rubbed his aching head. "You carried me?"

Sirius shrugged. "Yeah. You passed out like, right after Sluggy came out of the classroom. I couldn't leave you there. What kind of person do you think I am?"

"D--didn't mean it like that." He pushed himself against the wall so he could lean back and not put as much effort into keeping upright. "So, we did it, right? It all worked out? Or am I imagining that?" That garnered him three huge grins, and all of them began talking at once. Every single student in the second year Gryffindor and Slytherin classes had been gotten, as well as Slughorn. Remus remembered now, and began laughing so hard he fell over and broke into coughing. He flapped his hand when Sirius expressed concern, promising he was fine. He didn't want to admit how much he hurt, how much agony laughing put his body in.

If I wasn't a werewolf, I'd be in worse shape, he thought, taking the cold cloth to wipe at his face. Probably still be unconscious. Possibly for a long time... He had read stories about witches and wizards overreaching their ability however he had assumed they were mostly tales written to scare people into 'staying in line'. Perhaps there was more of a grain of truth to them than he thought.

"Thank you for rescuing me," he finally said to Sirius once the three of them calmed down.

"Don't mention it," Sirius replied, and Remus thought he detected a bit of a blush though the corridor was dimly lit and his eyes hadn't really focused that well so it was hard to tell.

"I think we should do the Great Hall next," James said. "Bogey hex the Great Hall doors!"

"No." Everyone was surprised at the intensity in Sirius's voice.

"Wh--what?" James frowned at his best friend who normally would be all over this idea. "Why not?"

"Yeah, why not?" Peter echoed.

Sirius frowned, jerking his chin towards Remus. "Look what this did to him! We're not doing anything like that again, not anytime soon."

"Oh, he's fine," James grumbled. "You're fine, aren't you?"

Remus looked down at his lap. Part of him wanted to lie, to pretend that he was all right. He could pretend that he was better, more talented than he really was. "Not really," he finally admitted. "I--it hurts."

"Where?" Sirius asked.

"All over. Ch--chest, especially. Head." And I shouldn't be hurting, not still hurting, I should have stopped hurting by now. He suddenly felt worried. His healing ability hadn't been able to get rid of whatever happened which meant it was really bad.