The Bonds of Spirit are stronger than the Bonds of Blood

Chapter Nineteen

The morning after the full moon, Remus found himself disoriented in the early morning light. The events of the full moon always left him feeling confused. As the werewolf part of him took over, the human part of him could only watch the events unfold as if in a dense fog. He tried to remember what all had happened that day. The full moon always left him feeling particularly ill, so his memory was a bit hazy. He remembered Sirius waking him up early that morning, and their trek to the Shrieking Shack. He remembered Peter showing up a few times, each time bringing different foods and more water. He remembered feeling restless and the mind numbing pain. He remembered seeing three creatures with him in the darkness. There was a shaggy black dog, a brownish rat, and a rather majestic looking stag. He remembered the fear as his werewolf instincts took over. He remembered a sudden shock. The last thing he remembered was falling into a surprisingly peaceful sleep at the end of it all. Yet now here he was, back in his bed in Gryffindor Tower. Looking over at his sleeping friends he realized they must have helped him get back into the tower after the moon finally set below the horizon. He smiled; still worried that something would go wrong, but eternally grateful for such amazing friends. After this first success he had hope that they would be able to spend the full moons together with no problem, but he was still wary. His werewolf side often took over entirely during that time, leaving him trapped in his own mind as either a silent observer or asleep. If his friends were to make even the slightest mistake while with him those nights... He shuddered at the thought. But he couldn't think about that right now. He still felt off, but the worst of it was over thankfully. He walked over to the neighbouring bed, Sirius' bed, and nudged his friend awake. "Padfoot.... Padfoot! We're gonna be late for breakfast if you don't wake up!" He said, nudging Sirius until he saw movement and heard a grumbled complaint. Sirius turned over, glaring slightly at Remus, and said "Moony, It is too early in the morning for this.... Wait, what are you even doing up Moony? Shouldn't you be resting after yesterday?" His glare quickly turned into a look of concern, glancing over the still sickly looking Remus. Remus shook his head and said "I don't want to miss anymore class than absolutely necessary. Don't worry, if I feel worse I'll leave and rest. I promise." After making sure he was satisfied with Remus' answer, Sirius got out of bed and woke James and Peter. After the quartet had finished getting ready, they finally made their way to the Great Hall.

The four managed to grab a bit of breakfast before they had to head off towards their first class of the day. Sirius, James, and Peter kept a watchful eye on Remus. They were still uncertain that he was doing as well as he claimed, but they were not going to try to stop him from attending classes. Remus was still rather pale, but he seemed to be handling himself alright. He would smile and politely respond to everyone who questioned him. The students noticed his monthly absences, but no one had thought to connect the disappearances with the occurrence of the full moon. Luckily everyone seemed satisfied with the various excuses he would give. Most of the time he'd claim it was a simple case of fatigue. He'd say that he had been so focused on the course work, practicing everything that was taught in each class in addition to the actual assignments. Everyone believed this because Remus was such a diligent student. Classes went by rather uneventfully, though they seemed to last an eternity. At least, that was how it seemed to Sirius, who spent each class continuously glancing over a Remus to make sure he was alright. Now that he knew the truth, it was a lot easier to recognise the patterns of the symptoms. The day before the full moon, Remus would begin to pale, get winded very easily, and would eat less than usual. The day of the full moon he would suffer through pain while showing what appeared to be severe flu-like symptoms, complete with hallucinations and the general behaviour of the mind not entirely connecting to its surroundings. The day after the full moon, he would be considerably pale, weaker than the day before the full moon, and he would move quite a bit slower than usual. But at least his appetite would return, allowing him to recover at least some of his strength. The Marauders spent every spare second together, as Sirius, James, and Peter played mother hen to Remus. Remus laughed it off, as he knew what their intentions were. And honestly, he didn't mind the attention that much. He preferred not to worry anyone, but it made his friends happy to help him through all this so he figured he could indulge them at this time. That night, the four actually remained in their dorm. They stayed up rather late into the evening chatting about what had happened the night before, and assuring Remus that no damage had been done. Then they started to plan their next big idea. James brought up his idea for a magical map that could tell them where everyone was at any given moment in Hogwarts. Sirius spoke up about his idea to include all the secret passageways they could find and how to enter them. "Like the One-eyed Witch Statue! No one would be able to figure out how to get past her without a lot of time and effort, so a map that can explain how would be brilliant!" He said as his friends nodded along. Their idea decided upon, they settled down to sleep. They all knew they were likely to get very little sleep once they actually began work on this project.

Lily watched on as James, Sirius, and Peter fussed over Remus all day. It was rather cute how they would jump in the second he needed anything. The worry was clear in their eyes every time they looked at him. Lily hoped she would find out why. She had promised Sirius she wouldn't ask, and she was going to keep that promise, but she hoped that one day they would willingly tell her what was going on. She thought about what had happened the day before. First, Sirius was late to class. That in and of itself was not an odd occurrence, as he and James were nearly constantly late for at least one class a day. But he wasn't acting like himself. He sat in his desk, fidgeting and constantly looking towards the door or out the window. He had been an utter wreck! It worried Lily, but she figured it had something to do with the secret he was keeping so she didn't ask him. Instead, she did everything she could to keep everyone distracted from how odd his behaviour was, as well as keep them from trying to see Remus. She started impromptu practice sessions, challenging other students to practice the spells they had just learned and see who had mastered the spells most after just one class session. This became very popular, as just about everyone was determined to show off and prove they were the best of their year. Sirius had given her a small smile when he noticed her efforts, but he was quick to vanish. Then, during their meals, Peter would vanish. He seemed to have eaten less than usual, cramming some snacks into his pockets, but neither James nor Sirius seemed worried about his behaviour. This only left Lily concerned. Then, after dinner, the three of them went straight up to their dorm room and never came back down. Usually in the evenings they could be found in the Common Room making a ruckus with their laughter, James' stories, and various little pranks they would all pull together. But that night, it was oddly quiet. Lily waited in the Common Room, hoping they would return with Remus at least to say hello when the majority of people were gone. But instead she was left alone until rather late in the evening. The moon was rising higher, so she had decided to go to bed and hoped to meet up with the boys in the morning. In the morning, when the boys had made their way to breakfast, Lily finally got to see just how pale Remus was. The other three hovered around him like mother hens, which was both amusing and concerning. Remus seemed in high spirits, so Lily felt some sense of relief. If he was able to smile genuinely, despite looking ill, then it was likely he was alright and just in need of some additional rest. She kept watch over the group the rest of the day, watching as they interacted. She had hoped to talk to Sirius that evening, but he, James, Remus, and Peter actually went to bed at a reasonable time. Giving up on the matter, Lily went to bed and hoped that she would get the chance to properly speak to her friend again.

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