Sanctuary

Chapter 76

Monday, 19th February 1973

The next afternoon, Remus stared down at the bright purple sludge coating the bottom of his cauldron with disappointment. If there was one brew he'd ever wanted to get right, it was this one. A nice healthy swig of the Forgetfulness potion while focusing on the memory of him asking Sirius to follow their friends into the Forest would make the next month so much easier to bear. Maybe he could pinch some of Peter's when he wasn't looking. That would be safer anyway. Peter's brew was guaranteed to be perfect, unlike Remus', which was guaranteed to be anything but.

Taking the potion would be cheating, though. He deserved to suffer with his guilt for the next four weeks. Forgetting was the coward's way out, and he wasn't a coward. Reluctantly, he tore his eyes away from Peter's simmering cauldron and began clearing his things away to start the obligatory essay on where he'd gone wrong with his recipe. If he wasn't learning anything else in Potions class, he was at least getting rather good at writing.

Remus sighed as he pulled out his parchment and quill, chucking them onto the bench carelessly before sinking onto his stool. He didn't know how he'd made it through the day so far. It was all a blur, though learning a charm to shatter glass in Professor Flitwick's class first period had been a little therapeutic, and he recalled a conversation with Professor Tenebris at the end of Defence where she'd cancelled their private lesson for that week. He really hoped that didn't mean there was going to be another surprise attack; he wasn't in the mood for that, and might actually kill her if she tried it.

When class ended, he silently packed his things away and trailed after James and Peter as they climbed the stairs to the Hospital Wing. They had two hours before dinner and they wanted to spend at least some of it with Sirius. Madam Pomfrey met them at the door and ushered them into her office, but didn't open the bookcase that hid the secret room from view. Instead, she conjured an additional two chairs and waved her hand towards them.

'Please, have a seat. We need to talk.' She waited until they'd all sat down before continuing. 'You spent two hours here this morning, and another half an hour at lunchtime. And now you're back again. I understand you care about your friend, but I can't let this continue. All research into magical comas indicates that the patient is unaware of their surroundings. It makes no difference to Mister Black whether you're here or not, but spending all your free time with him will be bad for you.'

'You can't stop us from visiting him,' James said. 'That's cruel.'

Madam Pomfrey shook her head. 'Not completely. But I can't allow you to spend all your free time here. Professor McGonagall and I have discussed it, and we've agreed that once a day, for an hour, is sufficient. You have studying to do—.'

'We can do our homework here,' James interrupted. 'This isn't fair.'

'Our decision is final, Mister Potter. And I had better not find you in there without permission. I will remove the window if I have to.'

Remus was glad he wouldn't be forced to break his promise to visit Sirius every day, but he didn't see why they couldn't just use the hospital room as their dormitory for a month. What harm would it do?

'Fine,' James said. 'Can we go in now?'

'For ten minutes only. Then I want you all to go and do something fun, understand?'

How could anything be fun when Sirius was unconscious and alone? Madam Pomfrey was obviously crazy.

'I saw that face, Remus,' Madam Pomfrey said, pointing her finger at him. 'You will do something fun, and that's an order. It's not healthy for you to keep wallowing in this sadness, and I'm certain Mister Black wouldn't want you to.'