Cursed Child Years 5-7 | Marauders Era

07 | Potions and secrets beneath the Moon

Potions and secrets beneath the Moon

Sunday 16nth December, 1975

Pain, pain, pain.

That's all it is. Pain. He doesn't even think he's fully awake yet before it settles in, wriggles down and swallows him whole, breaking each bone, snapping each limb and he can't even scream. The sound won't leave him. His jaw won't even move. He can't even think of the sound, the pain is too much.

Pain, pain, pain.

Remus breathes in, but his body doesn't allow him the oxygen. A sharp pain shoots down him, starting from his ribs and blending all the way down the middle. His eyes roll back, vision blurring around the edges.

"Remus."

His head pounds. He thinks for a moment that his brain is actually pounding against his skull, breaking him inside and out.

"Remus?"

His stomach clenches, eyes rolling, bones breaking, body so tense it's rock solid. Liquid dribbles down his chin, but he hardly feels it.

"Remus!"

His vision blurs, he thinks he's hearing his bones break now. A loud, echoing crack in his ears and he's gone. Darkness envelops him and all he hears is echoes, cracks and the faint sound of his name in the background.

Remus is screaming and Sirius is panicking. He's reaching for Remus as he groans and lays eyes wide eyed in his bed, in pain, gulping down air he's not breathing in. Sirius calls for Remus over and over, James pulling him back so Elizabeth can pour the pain relief potion down Remus' throat while he's awake. She can't, he starts throwing up, choking on his own vomit.

Sirius loses all ability to control himself. Then before anyone can even comprehend what's happening, Remus is screaming again. Peter throws another silencing spell around the dorm, Elizabeth is trying to pour the potion into Remus' mouth, she can see him drifting in and out of consciousness.

Sirius lunges for Remus and James lunges for Sirius. He falls onto Elizabeth, knocking her arm and the potion spills. Sirius freezes and then the screaming stops and Remus's eyes are closed again. As if nothing happened at all.

James swallowed thickly, staring at Remus in horror as he lay there covered in his own vomit, sweat dripping from him.

"You spilt the fucking potion, James!" Sirius snaps, wiping the sweat away from Remus' forehead with a damp cloth.

James glares at him. "If you'd have just calmed the fuck down and let El give him the potion there would still be one!"

"Shut up both of you!" Elizabeth snaps, standing from Remus's bed. "Do not wake him. He needs all the rest he can manage. It's a good moon tonight-"

"Is it?" Sirius snaps sarcastically.

Elizabeth ignores him. "He'll feel the usual pain now, it will fade throughout the day and the transition will be easier tonight."

"But it will still rip him apart," Sirius croaks, staring down at Remus with clear worry in his eyes.

"I need to make another potion for him. I'll do that after I see Jon," she says, collecting her bookbag and robe from the floor.

"Are you coming back after breakfast?" Peter frowns.

Elizabeth nods gently. "I'll be back with strong pain relief potions. Hopefully he'll still be resting when I return."

"Thanks, Ellie," James whispers as she hovers near the door, staring over his shoulder at Remus.

"Oh!" She says suddenly. "Can I check the map? I don't know if Jon's in his dorm or in the Hospital Wing."