𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖛𝖊𝖓𝖘 𝖔𝖓 𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖊

22

Remus impatiently taps his finger on the Gryffindor table and his legs bounce up and down rapidly, causing the whole bench to shake. A frown is plastered onto his face as he stares over at the entryway of the great hall. He's confused as to why Circe isn't here yet as the brunette always joins him for breakfast. As first lesson draws closer and closer he finds himself worrying over her.

The sandy haired boy already finds himself missing her teasing, even though he had literally seen her last night. Her face always looks so groggy when she sits down at the table, her usual moody appearance doesn't appear until she has properly woken up and instead she always looks a lot more innocent and die eyed. However today she is nowhere to be seen. "Padfoot, give me the map." Remus demands, holding out his hand.

"Why?" He asks, raising one of his perfectly groomed eyebrows knowingly.

"I want to make sure Circe is okay." The werewolf says, the worry now creeping into his voice.

James chuckles at the taller boy's nervous expression as he continues to hold out his hand for the map. "She has probably just overslept mate. There's nothing to worry about." The messy haired boy says.

"Then I'll leave her be if I see that she's still in her dorm room because I'll know she is okay. Now give me the map." Remus orders once more, however this time his tone is a lot more stern. Sirius raises his hands up in surrender as he hands over the blank piece of parchment. His caramel eyes scan over the map, immediately searching for her name in the Hufflepuff dorms- but it's nowhere to be found. "Nothing to worry about, huh? Then why is she in the infirmary?" He scoffs, spinning the map around so that his friends can see it.

Their eyes widen upon realising that Remus wasn't worrying over nothing. The four of them run down the corridors like their lives depend on it, bumping into a confused Lily on the way. "Why are you running?" The ginger asks, growing concerned when she sees their panicked faces.

"Circe's in the hospital wing." James pants, trying to catch his breath during their momentary break from running.

Remus however hadn't even stopped running for a second. He isn't in the best of shape, preferring to read and to study rather than exercise, but his long legs make up for this. His large strides allow him to race down the corridors at an almost impossible speed. A million different reasons for her to be in the infirmary flash through his mind, each one worse than the last.

James and Sirius are hot on heels after catching Lily up on the situation. The two of them are on the quidditch team so they are used to doing sprinting exercises like this, but the ginger is still not too far behind them. Peter on the other hand is trying his best to keep up with his friends, his face has grown red and beads of sweat are running down his face as he tries to keep up with them- despite not having much luck.

The four of them make it to the infirmary around the same time, storming into the silent room with determined looks of their faces. Madame Pomfrey can't be found so they take it upon themselves to look for the brunette, beginning by quietly peering around the dividers placed between a few of the beds. "Hey, over here." James beckons them all over.

Remus rips the screen away, his mouth opening in shock when he sees her. Circe's skin is pale and dry, with sunken cheekbones and heavy eye bags to match. Small cuts are etched across her face, the number of them increasing as you travel down towards her chin. Her neck is wrapped in thick, white bandages. The brunette is a short girl, no one would deny that, but Remus has never her seen her looking so small and fragile as she does now. Despite what she has obviously gone through, a peaceful expression is on her face as she slowly breaths in and out in her sleep.

Her hospital bed is pushed right up to another, creating a makeshift double bed. A blonde girl, even smaller than Circe lies on it, holding one of the brunette's hands tightly. None of them can see her face but she seems to be crying, if the quiet sniffles are of any indication.