Running in the dark

Chapter 40

Remus awoke on the morning after the full moon and was first aware of the taste in his mouth, it was metallic and unnerving, it was blood.

He focused more and realised Sirius was hovering over him, his eyes looked wild with fear, and he was pale and that was one of the first things that told Remus something was wrong.

Then there was the pain, it came at once, it shot from his face and chest. Each place had fresh deep wounds torn there which were bleeding at an alarming rate.

He turned his head to the side and the blood from his face trickled down it. Upon seeing the horror beside him he felt like the pain was the least of his problems.

James knelt down, he was nervously running his hands through his hair again and again and then looking down and then towards the trap door.

In front of James was Snape. A large rip was in his robes and Remus could smell the blood from where he lay. He didn't even need to ask, he knew he had done that.

Snape looked pale and unconscious but James kept checking his pulse which told Remus that he was alive. He could hear Sirius was talking to him but he could not hear the words his mind was racing.

Then he heard what Sirius had been saying and turned to look up at him.

"I'm so sorry Remus, I shouldn't have told him, it's all my fault it's all my fault," he cried out. It wasn't meant to happen like this, not at all.

This couldn't be happening, Remus was going to be sick he was sure of it. He turned to look back at James and then noticed something red peaking from his shirt, he knew then that he had hurt James.

He closed his eyes and began to wish it wasn't happening, that he was dreaming, that when he opened them Sirius would be beside him in bed, his arms wrapped around him.

But when he opened them again he was still in the shack, still with James hurt but hiding it, still with an unconscious Snape a metre away and still with Sirius the one who was blaming himself beside him.

The trapdoor then opened and Madam Pomfrey came through followed by Peter, she would yell at them and call them reckless and completely foolish, but now was not the time, all she needed to do now was to help Remus and Severus.

She went to Snape first and knelt down, she healed his wound but could see a nasty scar left in its place. Remus was in an even worse condition, she could do nothing about the pain he was in until they got to the hospital wing but she healed the wounds up well with her wand.

"You two help him, we need to get them both to the hospital wing," She said pointing to James and Sirius. Sirius grabbed the nearby blanket and wrapped it around Remus and tried to help Remus stand but Remus pushed him away, it was with no real force, but Sirius knew what it meant.

James tried to help Remus walk but Remus could barely more than a step before nearly falling, so James hoisted him into his arms and began to carry him.

Remus was much taller than James but because he was very lanky and James had more of a build from years of quidditch, it felt like nothing to him carrying Remus.

It made Remus feel guilty though. James was definitely somewhat hurt from what he had seen and now he was carrying Remus, but he couldn't speak, it was a mix of the pain but also the whole event, his throat was dry and speaking seemed impossible to do.

James placed Remus in a hospital bed and Madam Pomfrey after placing Snape in a bed with the help of Peter, came and gave him a potion for the pain, she offered a sleeping draught and he nodded, anything to get out of this horror that was unfolding, he took it and closed his eyes and in a matter of minutes drifted off.

Madam Pomfrey room James, Sirius and Peter outside and made them explain. Sirius was the only one who talked.

It was a prank, it was meant to be a prank, after everything Snape had done Sirius believed he needed to be knocked to his senses and that's when he blurted out that Remus was a werewolf, he had begun to explain a spell he could use to get past the tree and that he should go see for himself, it was meant to scare him, but as soon as he walked through the trapdoor, even before he had seen the Stag, rat or dog. The wolf had come over and hit him hard, knocking him out against a wall before swiping down upon him.

The three tried to stop him and in doing so he lightly scratched James but ended up hurting himself more than anyone else. But Madam Pomfrey didn't hear that part like that, she heard that they had gone to check on Remus' in the morning and told her that they did this each moon and then found them like this.

It had been all Sirius, he had done this to Snape. He had done this to Remus.

"Do you realise how this will affect Remus, he's been your friend for years, and the fact that he has hurt the other boy is going to crush him, Remus is always trying to make sure that he does not end up hurting anyone else and now he's going to be left with knowing that he couldn't stop it," she told them, she was almost yelling, Remus was like a son to her and she knew that Remus always wanted to make sure not to end up hurting anyone because of him being a werewolf.

"You're going to have to explain yourselves to McGonagall," she told them and began to lead them towards her office.

I wrote the chapter early