Mischief Managed Y2 Part 2: The Truth of the Tournament

Chapter Fifty-Six: May Moon Misery

.................................................

By some miracle Peter had pulled off convincing Sirius and James that Remus sleeping peacefully meant he was okay and just resting like the Matron must have made him. Remus had felt Sirius standing over him, eyes searching his face. Once more he had found himself extremely grateful for Peter's help and how thorough the boy had been with the application of the makeup. Because after standing there for a few tense minutes Sirius had concluded with relief that, "well Remus seems fine so I guess we can bring gobstones after all. Geez, Madam Pomfrey is such a nag. He shouldn't have to always be kept prisoner here so long." Remus had held his breath while Peter laughed and immediately agreed. Then James had taken Sirius' place to examine the 'sleeping' werewolf as well before muttering he had "told Sirius so."

Then they had left and Remus did get sleep, his nightmares filled with how James and Sirius would hate him and react in disgust once they realised how badly he hurt himself each month. Upon waking Remus knew it had been a ridiculous dream, though the reality of James and Sirius being all depressed wasn't much better. Luckily, he could feel that the swelling of his jaw had gone down some and he was able to talk with moderate difficulty and pain. 

Unfortunately when Remus fell asleep after successfully tricking two of his friends he forgot to remove the magic makeup. That meant Madam Pomfrey had been flabbergasted as to how he had healed so quickly. Sadly, the matron had chalked it up, with great excitement, to it being the first good symptom of 'wolf puberty,' as she had taken to calling it, much to Remus' humiliation. Explaining to her what had really happened had been a difficult conversation which left Remus talking more than he liked and resulted in the matron being disappointed that he wasn't somehow healing faster than a normal wizard.

Remus was very worn from the energy it took to convince Madam Pomfrey to let him keep the makeup on instead of just banning his roommates from entering. But the young werewolf knew that the likelihood of his friends waiting to come to see him until after breakfast was slim to none. So he spent the next fifteen minutes fussing with his blankets and hair, doing his best to look as normal and uninjured as possible. Not long after he could hear a commotion outside his room and his heart thumped wildly with anticipation.

"I told you, Peter, it's fine. Ol' Gonny just threatened detention if James and I left early during a meal. She never said anything about skipping a meal entirely, for all she knows we're having a lie in." Sirius' voice could be heard from the hallway. Remus grinned slightly, relieved to hear him sounding in such high spirits. The young werewolf knew he had to pull this off for all their sakes.

"Pretty sure she knows exactly where we are," Peter concluded, probably having been trying to give Remus more time by corralling James and Sirius to breakfast.

"And never call McGonagall ol' Gonny again or I'll be forced to hex you, mate," James cautioned solemnly as Sirius banged open the door.

"What say you, Moony? Do you think Gonny is a good nickname?" Sirius asked, practically beaming at Remus sitting up and looking completely fine.

"I say you're getting worse with nicknames by the second and I'm beginning to become worried that you've been cursed to spend your days failing to come up with even halfway decent ones," Remus replied with a smirk, glimpsing the tension leave Peter's shoulder though the boy looked downright shocked that the werewolf was sounding so normal. James started laughing at that and Sirius grinned sheepishly and shrugged.

"You secretly love your nickname and you know it. But...I do concede that Gonny is pushing the envelope," Sirius mused in a dramatic posh voice which they all laughed at. Remus pretended to laugh, hoping it was convincing enough, knowing his abdomen was far from healed, meaning if he shook he'd probably double over in pain despite himself. But no one noticed that no sound was emanating from him. They were all so happy to see him well and continued to take the mickey out of Sirius who spent the next few minutes defending his position as the best 'professional nicknamer in all of bloody Britain' by spouting the most ridiculous and more than mildly offensive nicknames about all their classmates. It was only when his target turned to James who actually seemed a little offended with his 'nickname' of 'Big Headed Broom Rider Doomed to Die Alone Er' that Remus knew he needed to intervene.