Four To The End (prev Shifting Lines) Book Three (Marauders Era)

Chapter Seventy-Four - Hello Nurse

By the time Wednesday morning dawned, the temperature was completely back to normal and some of the ice was beginning to melt. Dumbledore announced that outdoor classes could once again commence, and James took that to mean they were allowed to be outside whenever they wanted. So during their first free period, the four of them went outside where they slid down a very icy hill on a shield which resulted in Peter getting quite injured when he crashed into a snowbank that turned out to be an ice-bank instead.

James and Remus helped Peter back to the castle with Sirius in the lead, carrying the shield under his arm until he found a place to dispose of it so nobody could see. Madame Pomfrey shook her head at Peter's very bloody face and very swollen knee before nudging him behind a curtain; he needed to remove his trousers so she could properly heal his leg.

"I was wearing embarrassing pants," he moaned afterwards, practically clinging to Sirius. "She saw them."

"What pants?" James asked, grabbing Peter's trousers and trying to peer down.

"Oi!" Peter slapped his hand away. "They're old and—kinda stained and—have holes in them. She saw."

"She's a nurse, I'm sure she's seen worse," Sirius promised. "Hey that rhymes."

"I wonder how many bums she's seen," James pondered and Sirius and Remus giggled at the thought, even though she had seen Remus completely naked many times.

Peter narrowed his eyes. "I wasn't—that isn't what—it's not that I—oh! I'm not meaning like that! Not—not like that! It's embarrassing, is what I mean. That she saw them. STOOOP!" he howled as James tugged at his trousers again, grinning in a teasing manner. "You're being rude."

Peter was mopey about the Pomfrey incident all day, and got quite ferocious whenever James or Sirius teased him about it. Tensions grew so much that Remus was very glad when Ancient Runes started and he was able to get away from them, even if it meant having to deal with Lily. They had been avoiding each other all day and as Remus took his seat, he wondered if she was still mad.

The answer was clear enough when she came into the room and took a different seat than normal, away from Remus. His heart sank a little then he straightened up, clenching his teeth as indignation swept through him. He was a victim in all of this, just as much as Magpie was.

Then Magpie herself came in, clutching her books to her chest, shoulders slumped, hair covering her face as she shuffled in. Remus tried not to look her way, feeling awkward when she took her usual seat which was right behind him. He realized that there was every possibility she had chosen that seat at the beginning of the year because it was behind his, so she could look at him. At least Sirius usually sat behind him in all the other classes, so this wasn't something that would happen at every lesson.

After supper he was left alone, which was a relief since the meal had been awful. James and Sirius wheedled at Peter who snapped back, growing grouchier with each passing minute. Afterwards, James had practice, Sirius had detention, Peter went to his Photography Club, and Remus holed up in a secret passage to work on bubble charms. He felt like it was at the tip of his fingers, doing what they wanted to be done. It was making him go a little nutters.

In a rush of frustration, he shot a blast of ice at the wall and sank down, glaring at the spot. Slowly his brain ticked away until he realized how stupid he was being. Utterly, impossibly stupid.

He got back up, going over to touch the ice on the wall. It didn't need to be a frozen bubble, it could simply be an illusion. It didn't have to be anything solid at all! Of course!!