Tale As Old As Time (A Remus Lupin Fanfiction)-completed

.5

My mind was very foggy when I woke up in the late afternoon. I gingerly sat up aware of my injuries. I grimaced at the patch of pain underneath the bandage on my side. Thankfully, whatever the healer had given me had seemed to work extremely well, as the pain was nowhere near as painful as before. I looked around for a clock to see what time it was 4:00. Much later than I thought.

I gingerly attempted to climb out of the bed, still wrapped up in the blanket. I noticed someone had drawn the curtains around the cot and left me a clean set of clothes. With only a few swears and painful tugs, I managed to set my feet on the ground and get dressed. I took a glance around the room to see if anyone was around because I wasn't sure if I was allowed to leave. I tiptoed over to the giant set of doors and open and shut them behind me quickly. I quietly walked through the hallways, wincing every so often at the pain radiation from my side. Maybe I should've stayed in the hospital wing, but nonetheless I made my way to Gryffindor tower and said the password. I padded across the common room and headed straight to the bathroom. I discarded my fresh clothes and stepped into the hot shower. I tried avoiding water from hitting my right side but there were a few times where it hit and I had to refrain from crying out in pain. After about 15 minutes of misery, I carefully stepped out and put on the first clothes I found.

Thankfully it was almost dinner time so I made my way into the common room which was unusually empty. I set out for the Great Hall and searched for someone that I knew to sit with. None of my friends seemed to be there so I sat down alone. I was still exhausted so I folded my arms and set my head down on them. I had quite a few minutes of rest until I decided to look up. At that moment I made eye contact with my fellow lycanthrope. He looked utterly distraught and all in all horrible. He turned to his friends and said something before quickly making his way over to me. Their eyes followed him with confusion until he came up to me.

When he arrived at the table he stood there for a few seconds not knowing what to say. We awkwardly glanced around for a few moments before he finally managed to sputter out a few words.

"I'm so so sorry..." He said in a whisper still not meeting my eyes.

I sighed before replying. "It really wasn't you're fault. I know first hand that you're not yourself in that state."

His nerves seemed to dissipate a bit but were still present on his face. "That doesn't make it alright." He said with a deep frown.

"Well I forgive you if that helps." I said giving him a small smile. I leaned closer to him and whispered. "But between you and I, it hurt like a bitch."

That finally got a smile onto his grim features. "I still feel bad." He said awkwardly.

"You shouldn't." I stated. "Now sit your ass down. You're making me nervous standing over me. You're really tall."

He laughed and sat down next to me, motioning at his friend's to follow. "Sorry I don't ask before. It's alright if they sit with us right?" He asked nervously

"Of course. I quite like your friends. They're pretty funny." I said smiling. "Albeit a little crazy but I think I can handle them for one dinner"

The three joined us soon enough and sat down across from us. "Hey mate." Sirius said as they sat down.
"You alright Anna? Remus told us what happened. The way he described it, you'd think you were dead." He said with a laugh.

Remus's cheeked flushed a bit as he looked down at his plate. "I was just worried." He mumbles to no one in particular.

Remus and James laughed at his embarrassment and I cracked a grin. "Well I can assure you I'll be fine. Probably." I said with a shrug. "And its Belle. Call me Belle." I said with a bright smile.

"Sure. You betcha Anna." James said with a mischievous grin.

I just rolled my eyes in response. This boy was always up to something.

The gleeful mood continued until James spoke up about what he had noticed yesterday. "So since we all...know about both of your situation, I think it would be reasonable to tell you about what we've been planning since it would obviously effect you."

I looked at them in confusion as a look of understanding passed between them.

"What are you talking about?" I asked curiously.

It was Sirius who answered my question. "So for the past few years, ever since we found out about Remus's condition, we've been trying to erm.." he lowered him voice tremendously "become anamagi." They all looked at me incredulously awaiting my reaction.

I laughed for a while until I saw their confused expressions. "Oh." I said. "You're being serious." "Why would you want to be anamagi?" I asked confused.

"Because as animals we wouldn't be at as much of a risk of being harmed by werewolves, and we could take some of the blows so he wouldn't beat himself up so much. And now that we known you're one too, it could help you as well." James said with a bright smile.

"Wow." Was all I said in response.

"Well I can certainly say that's not the reaction I was expecting." Sirius said with a laugh. "I expected maybe more shouting and hugs." He said with a wink.

We laughed in response before I took a confused expression. "Wait, isn't that highly illegal?" I asked curiously.

They were all silent for a few seconds and looked at each other nervously. "Well...sorta." James said awkwardly before going into a state of panic. "You..you won't tell anyone will you?!" He said with side eyes.

I laughed at his worried expression. "Don't worry, my lips are sealed." I said with a encouraging smile.

They let out a sigh of relief before digging into their food. I didn't really have much of an appetite so I just drank some pumpkin juice. Time flew by as I continued to converse with the group. I hadn't even noticed Lily come in and the confused looks she sent my way. Near the end of dinner, we decided to head back to the common room. James and Sirius took up a fast pace and Peter huffed behind them, trying to keep up. Remus stayed with me as I was going down the hall at an extremely slow pace. My side was beginning to hurt again and I just wanted something to ease the pain. After quite a few exclamations of pain Remus steered me away from the common room.

"I'm taking you back to the hospital wing." He said sternly when I protested.

Instead of fighting, I decided that this was probably the best option anyways. It took us a while to get there, but when we did, somebody let out a cry of relief.

"There you are! Oh I wasn't sure where you had wandered off to!" The healer said in a worried tone.

"I just went to dinner." I said with a shrug. "But my side is really hurting again." I grimaced.

"No doubt!" She said shaking her head."It was quite the injury. I'll get you something for it. And I want you going to bed very early tonight, you hear me?" She mumbled as she walked away to get something to heal my side.

Remus lowered his eyes to the floor in guilt. I'm surprised he was still here.
"You don't have to stay with me you know." I said turning to him.

"It's alright. It's the least I can do." He said with a lopsided smile.

I shook my head and turned away, hiding a smile of my own that had made its way onto my face.