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Chapter 6
Werewolf
James had decided it was best not to tell Sirius about what he had seen, and he had made Peter promise not to as well, at least until they got to talk to Remus about his side of the story. It's not that he approved of lying to Sirius (and he was sure going to give Remus hell for doing it), but he thought that he would at least wait until Remus got a chance to tell his side of what the hell was going on before he went telling any more people. But what was really killing him was that he had no idea what was going on, and no matter how much it pained him to admit it, he was worried.
So that was why, on a Sunday morning, before the rest of the school was even awake, James was up and dressed and making his way down to the hospital wing. It seemed to take forever, but finally he was there, and there was Madam Pomfrey, giving him a slightly questionable look.
The hospital wing freaked him out a little bit. It was just too clean. And white. It gave him the creeps. There were rows of clean white beds, on a clean white floor, under a clean white ceiling, surrounded by clean white floors. It was practically blinding. But something was wrong. One of the beds was surrounded by a curtain kind of a thing. And James was willing to bet that's where Remus was.
He looked back at Madam Pomfrey, who was still giving him a questionable look, and asked, "Is Remus here?"
And just like that, Madam Pomfrey's look turned from slightly questionable, to extremely shocked. "I'm afraid I am not able to discuss my patients," she said, trying to retain a little bit of her calm composure. "And you'll have to leave. I'll have no one disturbing the patients."
She turned him around, and gave him a gentle shove out the door. But that wouldn't do. James wanted to speak to Remus. He got up early for this specific purpose, and he wasn't leaving until he completed his mission.
Staying right outside the hospital wing, he crouched on the floor and starting screaming, "AH! Ouch! My ANKLE! I think it's BROKEN!"
And, of course, Madam Pomfrey came rushing out to his side. But as soon as she saw him sitting on the floor, clutching his ankle, and grinning up at her, she went back inside, leaving James on the floor. So, he kept screaming. And she came out again.
"What are you trying to do? Wake up the whole castle?"
"Oh no, Miss. I'm simply trying to get into the hospital wing in order to have a civil conversation with my friend. Waking up the whole castle is just an added bonus."
And then he smiled. And she smiled. And she let him in.
*
Remus looked even worse than James had expected. He had cuts and scratches, and what looked like bite marks all over his skin. He was glancing up at James, and he looked… scared?
For lack of anything better to say, James asked, "How's your mother?" And maybe this wasn't the best time for jokes, but it all worked out ok, because Remus laughed.
"She's fine. I, on the other hand…"
"Yea, that much I can see. So… you going to tell me what happened?"
Remus smile faded. He looked nothing short of terrified.
"How did you know I was here?" Remus said quickly, changing the subject.
"This morning, I saw you come out from under that tree. Was it the tree that hurt you?"
"No," Remus began sadly. "It was me."
"You? I don't understand…"
"I'm a… a werewolf," Remus said slowly, looking resolutely at the wall. Then he looked up at James and added quickly, "I'll understand if you don't want to be friends with me anymore."
"Why? Just because you're a werewolf?" James laughed. "You're only like that once a month, and I know people who are evil and dangerous all the time. It's all right, really. I mean, you're still Remus."
Remus was considerably relieved, and laughed along with James, but soon became more serious again. "Did anyone else see?"
"Peter did, but Sirius was asleep on the couch. Just wait till they hear! Peter's theory was that you got beaten up by your sick mother, and had to come home early!"
Remus laughed happily with James. It was going to be ok.
*
Remus was coming out of the hospital the next day, after Madam Pomfrey had healed all of his cuts and scrapes and bites, but until then, James was determined to help him out in any way he could. He hadn't told Sirius and Peter yet at Remus' request. It was hard to lie to his friends, but Remus had wanted to tell them personally, and James wasn't going to argue.
James took the best notes he could in all of his classes so that Remus wouldn't fall behind (even History of Magic, which was a real struggle, since it was so incredibly boring).
By the time Remus was back in his classes, James was so exhausted he was sleeping through them, but it was worth it because Remus was so grateful to James for all of his help and support.
*
The night after Remus' return, the four boys gathered in their room to talk about Remus' illness. Remus was feeling very nervous, but significantly better now that James had accepted it.
They all gathered in a circle on the floor, and Remus prepared himself for what he had to say. Peter was looking very worried, as he still believed Remus had been in the hospital because his sick mother had beaten him up, and Sirius was looking puzzled, as he still had no idea that Remus had even been in the hospital wing. Remus was looking for a way to begin.
"Ok, so I needed to talk to you guys because, well, my mother's not really sick."
Peter and Sirius looked surprised.
"I've really been in the hospital wing for the past few days." He paused- for effect, and also because he really didn't know how to say the next part.
Peter nodded, but Sirius now looked surprised and worried. "Why? What happened? Are you sick? Or hurt?"
"Both."
Puzzled looks.
"I'm a werewolf."
Awkward silence.
Sirius had a strange empty look on his face. "So you're, like, a half-breed."
Remus fidgeted nervously. "Well, yea." Here it comes…
Silence.
Sirius got up and left the room. Peter looked puzzled, but just laid down and fell asleep on the floor.
James smiled sympathetically, but it really didn't help Remus. Sirius didn't understand. He wondered what would happen next-if James would go off with Sirius and Peter would follow, and Remus would be alone… again.
James stood up. "I'm going down to talk to Sirius."
But Remus could guess what he meant. If Sirius goes, I go too. Peter gave a loud snore. Remus went to bed.
*
When James got downstairs, Sirius was sitting on one of the couches, staring into the fire blankly. He looked up at James as he entered, but then looked back to the fire.
"I've never known one of them before."
"One of what?" James asked.
"You know, one of them."
"If you mean a werewolf, just say it. Don't treat him like he's changed. He's still Remus. He's still a person."
"But he's NOT!" Sirius shouted. "They're not like us! We're supposed to hate them! Not be friends with them!"
"He is still a person. And as to what we're supposed to do, I think you can decide for yourself. You can hate him because he's a werewolf, or you can accept him, but in the end it's still your decision. But think about it first. You knew him when he was still Remus Lupin, who likes Quidditch, and plays pranks on people, just like you do, and is kind, and thoughtful, and smart. And what has changed? Only the way you see him. But he's still the same old Remus. You didn't always see him as `one of them', but so what if he is? Do whatever you think is right. If you think you should just forget him and never speak to him again, then do it. But if that's what you decide, then I guess I was wrong about you, because I was under the deluded impression that your friends were important to you."
And with that, James turned around and walked right back up the stairs into their room, leaving Sirius on the couch.
*
The next morning, Remus was late waking up, and when he did, he saw that the other three boys had already left their beds. Oh great. They probably left for breakfast without me. Remus got dressed and walked down the boys' staircase, dreading having to sit alone at breakfast.
He was just walking towards the portrait hole to make his way to the Great Hall for breakfast, when he heard a voice behind him. It was Sirius.
"Oy! You're not going down to breakfast without us, are you?" He and James were walking toward Remus with huge grins on their faces.
"We've been waiting ages for you to wake up and then when you do, you ditch us to go to breakfast by yourself?" James joked, and then added, "Peter was waiting a while, but he was starving, and he couldn't wait, so he said he'd meet us there."
Remus was shocked. "But I thought…"
Sirius smiled and interrupted, "Yea, well, you were wrong, weren't you? But that's ok. We don't expect you to be right all the time… then you'd be just like me!"
Remus smiled.
The Sorting Hat was right! It really would be ok after all.
***
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