She was a misfit, he was a git.
Matilda Diggory enters her fifth year of school, ready to remain as under the radar as possible, only there's a catch. She's somehow managed to catch the eye of a particularly annoying redhead, who seems hell-bent on...
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Cold water was the most magical remedy to exist.
Well, at least that's what Matilda thought as she lay on the couch, a cold face washer against her forehead. She was shivering from a fever that hadn't budged for the last few days, accompanied by a persistent headache that made her feel like the world was both too loud and too quiet simultaneously. Lyall was doing his best to take care of her, and even Remus had offered to stay up when her fever peaked dangerously high throughout the nights, despite his own symptoms from the upcoming full moon.
Her bedrest allowed her lots of reading time, though, for which she did not take for granted. No, Matilda scavenged the Lupin household for any history books she could find. Her search resulted in minimal findings – two books, plus her copy of A History of Magic.
But it was enough to keep her occupied during the quiet hours of the night, when Remus and Lupin were asleep or out working. Matilda read each book back to front, scanning for any information printed about the Wizarding War. Information was scarce, but she found it. The most she could bring herself to do was flag the sections with valuable information, leaving the rest to figure out after the moon, or after she got over this...illness. Whichever came first.
They didn't know what it was — perhaps a bug she caught at the Quidditch Cup, or maybe this was the "worse" Remus talked about that would happen as she got older. Whatever it was, it made Matilda grateful for when she would feel the moonlight touch her skin, for the wolf to exist in her sick body so she didn't have to.
That night, Lyall charmed the shed to keep a constant wind, ensuring Matilda's temperature didn't continue to rise overnight without aid. She struggled to fall asleep — the relaxation she felt from the last moon feeling so distant, even as Remus lay next to her, his wagging tail creating a cold breeze itself. She felt the room temperature drop as the other witches and wizards arrived to keep watch — likely Kinglsey Shacklebolt, Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall — their magic accompanying Lyall's to counteract Matilda's rising fever.
But Matilda didn't get any sleep that night. She felt her DNA rewrite itself, returning her to human form. Next to her, Remus shifted on the pile of hay. She nudged him gently, "Professor, the sun's up."
His eyes flickered open, adjusting to the dim shed. "Are you alright?"
She shrugged, wiping the sweat that still shone on her forehead, "Still feeling faint, but my ears aren't ringing anymore."
"Well...that's something," he said, sitting up. "Let's get you inside, anyway. Dumbledore might know what to do."
Dumbledore did, in fact, know what to do. As soon as they entered the Lupin home, the old wizard had summoned a potion ("from Poppy's finest collection") and told Matilda to drink up. She did so, lifting the neck of the bottle to her lips and downing the sickly sweet potion in one go. She winced as it slid down her throat, but then she felt it. The potion was cold, cooling every nerve in her body until she finally felt normal, the only thing remaining being small tremors from her lack of appetite.
