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The mornings following the full moon were always extremely exhausting for Remus.
From the moment he stirred to consciousness, all he could feel was white flashes of pain, piercing his brain, twisting his stomach, cracking his bones.
Although Madam Pomfrey had likely already informed him, Remus had no idea what his exact injuries were. From what he could tell, he had a deep gash on the top of his head, slashing chest pains which likely meant a few cracked ribs, and, based on the bandaging, some sort of blow to his right hand.
Not the worst possible outcome. He thought, though he still felt entirely drained.
Remus squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself back to sleep, not ready to force his way to classes.
He mentally groaned at the thought of school. He hated missing lessons, especially considering today would be the first day, but the idea of listening to lectures and introductions for hours on end was not appealing at all. And his first class, Herbology, seemed completely out of the question, considering he'd have to stand for most of it and he wasn't even sure his legs worked.
Remus's dread only grew as the scraping of metal told him he had visitors.
"Hi, Moony," Peter yawned.
Peter was standing at the side of Remus's bed, still in the sweats he wore to sleep. He looked bland with tiredness, which was an upgrade from Sirius, who stood beside him and appeared to be sleepwalking.
Remus covered his face with his hands to drown out the fresh stream of light, though he was admittedly grateful to not be alone in the stale hospital wing any longer.
"Prongs said we had to bring you for breakfast," mumbled Sirius groggily. "He had some Head Boy thing."
"Okay," Remus replied, knowing there was no way of getting around James's orders.
He removed his covers slowly and slipped his feet over the side. Each movement shot strikes of pain through his nervous system, but he knew Pomfrey would never let him go to classes if he couldn't walk, and the newfound growling in his stomach was angrily urging him upwards.
Peter tossed him a long sleeved shirt, which Remus gingerly pulled over his head as he stood to leave.
The walk to the Great Hall was quiet, the only sounds being an occasional sniffle or scraping of shoes along the ground. Remus knew he was walking slower than usual, but neither Peter nor Sirius mentioned it, and they each subconsciously shortened their paces to match with Remus's.
They approached the tables and slouched into seats on the far end, Remus and Peter on one side and Sirius across from them. Remus scooped up an egg and a few pieces of toast, his hunger now tearing through his stomach like it was parchment. Sirius took a piece of toast as well, but it merely sat on his plate like a decoration as Sirius's head dropped onto his arms sleepily. Peter quietly nudged his oatmeal around his bowl.
