The Marauders: Moony

Remus And The Cold

Half way through January, Remus began to feel ill. Coughs and colds would always spread throughout the castle during Winter time, and Remus had been quite lucky this year. Up until now. 

He had thought that with Christmas out of the way and the new year already settled in that he had managed to avoid the lurgy for this Winter, but unfortunately he had been wrong.

It had started with Peter. It was always Peter. Even in the Summer, Peter would always have a sniffle, or be prone to fits of sneezes due to hay fever. He had returned after Christmas with a blocked nose and violent cough, but for the first couple of weeks of the year, the other boys had managed to avoid catching it. 

"Scourgify!" Remus would yell, seconds after a cough or sneeze erupted from Peter's mouth.

It quickly became a game to see who could clean up the germs the fastest, with James, Sirius and Remus all battling to be the first to whip out their wands and eradicate the germs.

Peter had started to get better, when all of a sudden, it seemed that James and Sirius were both infected. One morning, they both awoke with sore throats and blocked noses. They wondered miserably how they had managed to catch it as they had been so careful about cleaning up any coughs or sneezes. 

"Accio water." Sirius croaked as James pulled his blanket up over his head to block out the low morning sunlight.

Peter was grinning gleefully as he was on the mend while the other two boys felt at their worst.

Several days later, Peter seemed completely recovered, and James and Sirius were beginning to get their voices back again. They still looked pale and unwell, but at least they were both able to speak again, and hence were back to performing their usual mischievous tricks.

Remus was in the library alone one evening when his eyes started to feel heavy. He checked his watch, but it was only 7pm, and he had been known to stay in the library until past midnight previously. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, but everything looked blurry, and trying to make sense of it all made his head ache. 

Remus decided that he was just tired, after all he had been completing the work of four boys over the last couple of days while his friends had been unwell. He left the library and trudged up to his dorm. His legs felt like lead and the short walk seemed to take an eternity. Remus was extremely grateful to flop down into his bed and pull the covers up around him.

The next morning, Remus knew that it wasn't just tiredness. 

"Time to get up boys!" Peter shouted, drawing open the curtains.

Remus winced as light flooded the room. He quickly shut his eyes again to block out the suns rays, but this did nothing for his pounding head. 

"Wormtail." Remus croaked. His voice did not sound like his own. He tried to sit up, but instantly felt as though someone had tied a weight around his head, and he gave in to the urge to drop his head back onto his pillow.

"Ouch." He managed to whimper.

Remus did not leave his bed that day. Or the next day. He felt guilty for missing his lessons, but every time he tried to sit up, his vision would blur from the pain.

Remus thought of Freya and her love for healing magic. He wished that she was here right now, even if not to perform any healing spells, but just to brush his damp hair off his forehead or hold his hand. 

He knew that he shouldn't think of her. He was just preventing himself from moving on by allowing thought of her to occupy his mind.

He wondered if she had noticed his absence the last couple of days. He hoped that she had noticed. 

Remus drifted off to sleep, his dreams a swirling cloud of broken memories. The astronomy tower. The snow. Her smile in the library as she peaked at him over the top of a book. 

When James, Sirius and Peter returned to their dorm that evening, Remus awoke.

He felt slightly better. Not great, but well enough to stomach the bowl of soup that they had hidden under their robes and brought up for him from the great hall. 

Remus was grateful. The warm liquid tasted delicious. It was the first thing he had managed to eat in days and it made him feel warm inside.

"Thank you." Remus managed to croak out. His friends smiled in response.

The following day, Remus was well enough to attend his lessons. He didn't feel entirely recovered, but he knew that the full moon was fast approaching, and he couldn't really afford to miss any more lessons, so he dragged himself to class.

As soon as he entered the classroom, he caught her eye. It was the first time in a while that he had felt her gaze on him, and he felt embarrassed. His skin was pale, eyes sunken, and he had lost weight since they last spoke. He didn't look himself, and he knew it. Remus looked away shyly and made his way to his seat. He thought that he could feel her eyes remain on him, but he didn't want to check.

Remus had thought that he was on the road to recovery, but the next day, the affects of the approaching full moon began to take over his body. Remus ached all over, and snapped easily at his friends.

"Watch where you're going!" He exclaimed sharply when Sirius accidentally bumped into him as the four boys made their way down to the great hall for breakfast.

"Come on now moody Moony!" Sirius smiled, giving Remus a playful shove.

Remus rolled his eyes and continued into the great hall.

That day was one of the most miserable that Remus could recall. Not only did he have to deal with the affects of the approaching full moon, but also the lingering affects of the cold that he had not yet recovered from. He felt bitter towards his friends for passing on their illness to him. He felt even more bitter that they were all recovered, and he was the one who was suffering alone.

Remus tried to remember that he wasn't suffering alone. His best friends were by his side, and they would also be with him for the full moon too. Becoming unregistered animagi was a huge risk that his friends were taking, just so that Remus didn't have to feel alone during his transformations. He was so grateful to have friends as selfless as them. He knew that they would do anything for him. 

Remus was relieved when the January full moon finally made its ascent up into the dark navy sky as he knew that it would all be over soon. 

He had been in the shrieking shack for a couple of hours when he finally felt the transformation begin. He cried out as he felt his bones begin to stretch, snap and twist. He felt his pores enlarge, and sharp hairs pierce through his skin and erupt into a thick carpet all over his body. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell to the ground in agony. 

It felt like Remus was in this torturous world between human and werewolf for hours, but in reality, it was all over in minutes. Once the transformation was complete, the stag, the dog and the rat approached the werewolf. 

This time, Remus was more aware than usual. He knew where he was. He knew who he was. And he was also aware that he couldn't sense the other werewolf for the first time this year.

Where had she gone?