after dark || James Potter

A.D. 1:4

Remus Lupin was lying on his usual bed in the dormitories of the hospital wing. He pretended to be asleep when his best friends visited, not really in the mood to be talking to people at the moment.

    Luckily, they left about 15 minutes ago, so it was finally safe to open his eyes. Taking in his surroundings, he sees that it's almost dinnertime already. He's also the only one in the dormitories aside from Madam Pomfrey who was sitting by the desk on the far end of the room. He sighs in relief at the thought – at least there won't be anyone to make up more rumors about him being sick again.

    He was sure that his peers thought that he had a chronic condition that rendered him sick every few weeks; some even say that he's on his deathbed. Honestly, he'd prefer that over the actual condition that has plagued his life since he was a little boy. There were days – like today – that he often thought about how easier it would have been for him and everyone around him if Fenrir Greyback had finished him off that night.

    Remus Lupin was many things, but the thing that mattered most to him was that he was a monster. And nobody could ever tell him otherwise.

    His trail of thought got cut off as he heard a knock on the huge double doors that served as the entrance to the room. He quickly closes his eyes again.

    "Good afternoon, Madam Pomfrey," Lucinda Sparrow's head peeks through one of the doors she had just opened.

    "Good afternoon, dear, are you here to visit your friend?" Madam Pomfrey greets the brunette.

    "Well, yes. And I also brought you tea and biscuits from the kitchens."

    The matron shakes her head, "oh, you shouldn't have. At least sit down to enjoy these with me."

    Lucy shakes her head, smiling, "it's for you, promise. Anyway, did you need any help with anything before I get on with visiting Remus?"

    "Oh!" Madam Pomfrey exclaims, "I do need help with sorting through the potions that just arrived earlier this morning."

    "Alright, leave them to me," Lucy smiles.

    Lucinda grew close to Madam Pomfrey through the years due to her ambition to be a healer. Whenever she had time, she always tried to visit the matron and talk to her about her profession and to ask for advice on the subjects she'd need to do well on. She also helped out at the hospital wing whenever she could. And, as time passed, it stopped being strictly business as Lucy would make time to have tea with the older woman as she listened to the latter's stories from her time at Hogwarts and at healer training.

Madam Pomfrey adored the Ravenclaw, as she saw how much drive the girl had to heal. She couldn't wait to see the brilliant healer Lucinda would turn out to be, and she always appreciated how willing she was to help out when she could.

"I have to get back to my office to do some paperwork, Lucinda, would you be alright if I left you here alone?"

Lucinda nods at the woman, smiling as she does so.

"Mr. Lupin should be alright, but if he's in pain you know where the pain relieving potions are," Madam Pomfrey says, "I'll be back later on. Feel free to leave whenever you want, and don't forget to eat dinner, dear."

Lucy waves goodbye at her, and continues on sorting through the rest of the potions. She hums as she does so, finishing the job quite quickly.

After setting the now-empty boxes by the trash, she makes her way to where Remus was. She notices his stiff posture, and concludes that he's probably been awake the whole time. Sitting on the empty seat to the right of his bed, she speaks quietly, "I know you're awake, Rem. But it's alright, you don't have to talk if you don't want to."