𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗹𝘆, james potter

-ˋ 47

CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN
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-: seventh year :-

── IN WHICH REMUS ARRIVES

. . .

Remus Lupin arrived a couple days later, a fresh scar up his arm and bags under his eyes dark enough to look like bruises. He looked almost on the verge of tears when James opened the door and had disappeared into Sirius's room for at over an hour. 

Then, when it was approaching the second time the hour hand on the hallway grandfather clock was going to pass the gold 'XII', Sirius had traipsed downstairs, hair pulled back into a curly, messy bun and told them just what was wrong.

The night of Christmas, when they had been holed up in James' room with Firewhiskey and groaned about Tiger and the Potter boy moving in together, had been a full moon. And not wanting to scare his parents ( his mother was already going through enough and father had barely had any sleep in days ), Remus had trekked into a forest and transformed there.

For the most part, it was a fool-proof plan - just like most of them. 

Except it seemed that the werewolf part of him wasn't too used to these surroundings and went a little crazy, for lack of a better term.

Usually Remus transformed in the Forbidden Forest, or ran around the moors near the small run-down cottage that was the Lupin home. But because of Hope's condition and not wanting his howls to disrupt her already scattered and poor hours of sleep, he had gone further and into a new environment. 

It was similar to his first transformation in the Forbidden Forest of the Shrieking Shack, and the werewolf senses had gone into overload. New sighs to see, new smells, sounds and just everything was so new. 

When Remus finally turned back into human in the early hours of Boxing day, he had been exhausted. It was the worst transformation yet, and completely ruined his strength. 

It took him several hours to get back home, after he finally had the ability to get to his feet, clothes a little more ragged then usual and any sense left in him dwindling, all that was on his mind being getting home and eating something - anything. 

And when he got home, he slept for hours after doing just that, being woken by his mother for dinner and then breakfast the next morning. He could barely even lift a knife or fork. 

Remus knew that Lyall and Hope were too busy, caught up in her very life-threatening illness to be able to help him. It wasn't out of selfishness, just the pure inability to find the time. 

And so, on the morning of the 28th, Remus decided he would need to leave for the time being. He told his mum and dad where he was going, let them know that Euphemia and Fleamont extended his invitation to them as well, and then got on the Knight bus. 

He was still so awfully weak and tired, the dull pain from the scratch up his forearm continuing to be extremely prominent and could distract everything, that he had ended up falling asleep on the bus, having to be woken up by the conductor when they arrived by the Potter house.

"Oh Rem." James let out a sigh, sitting back in the sofa and running a hand through his hair. "How's he doing now? I'll go ask my dad to make one of those pain potions and-"

"James, I've got some from Madam Pomfrey in my trunk - your dad would ask too many questions." Tiger interrupted him, a hand on his knee. "We'll make soup for him, okay? And some hot chocolate."

"Yeah - tell us when he wakes up." Peter nodded, wanting to help out as much as the others and following James and Tiger through to the kitchen whilst Sirius returned upstairs, sitting down beside an exhausted and very much asleep Remus, beginning to write out the essay on Chimaeras that had been set for the end of the holidays. 

Considering they all took Care of Magical Creatures, they had come up with a order for who had to do the homework and the others would just copy that. Except Remus, who tended to be able to write essays in record time then disappear to begin the set up for a prank. 

He was lucky, really, for it to be his turn. And never in his life did Sirius ever think he would be saying that. But he knew he needed to be by his best friend and boyfriend when he was like that.

And when Remus did finally wake up, he was greeted by one of Peter's famed hot chocolates (it was a combination of recipes from his chocolatier uncle and the head house-elf chef in the Hogwarts' kitchens) and minutes later, a bowl of soup. 

Which he was considerably surprised to find out was made by James. Or at least he helped Tiger - honestly they really tried to keep him away from cooking and it was a miracle he got through Potions and Alchemy the way he went about setting fires by accident. 

Remus Lupin's Christmas had been shitty. But his friends would attempt to make up for that, they always would. 

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