Sirius

2.3

Mid-April

It was early, probably much too early for Eleanor to be out of bed, but she had yet to be stopped so she figured it was okay. She liked to be the first down to the great hall for breakfast, liked to get her fill of tea first thing in the morning, and definitely appreciated how hot the food was that early.

And because of those three reasons, she was making her way down at a quarter until four in the morning. And because of those three reasons, she was quick to perk up when she heard footsteps. And it was because of those three reasons, Eleanor Reynolds saw a bruised and bloody Remus Lupin limping as he struggled up the staircase.

"What the fuck!"

Remus looked up, eyes wide and filled with horror. "Eleanor! What are you doing out of bed? It's late."

She hurried down the staircase to meet him near the bottom, it looked like he hadn't made it very far up by himself. "More like what are you doing out of bed? You look like you've been mauled by a fucking bear."

He grimaced and shied away from her touch when she tried to wrap an arm around his waist to support him. She frowned when she saw that he had moved away because she placed her hand on a blood soaked portion of his sweater.

"Shit, sorry," she was quick to pull away, her hand coming back tinted red. "Uh, where should I support you from?"

His hand found hers and he placed it a little higher than where it had just been and as to make it a little more comfortable he threw his arm over her shoulder. When she had a sufficient hold of him, his weight shifted and he groaned softly as he allowed Eleanor to support his weak body, his head fell to rest on top of Eleanor's.

Eleanor almost crumpled under the weight Remus was placing on her. He may have looked like a twig, but Remus Lupin was not as light as a feather. She twisted under him, though quickly froze when he released another pain-filled groan.

When he had settled, she tried once more to shift as slowly and carefully as she possible could in order to grab a better hold on him. With one arm on his lower rib cage, just above the blood soaked patch of his sweater, and the other clasped around the wrist Remus had slung over her shoulder, she held onto him for dear life.

"Alright Remus, let's do this. One step at a time, yeah?"

Remus managed a hoarse reply and together they lifted one foot and placed it on the next step of the grand staircase.

"Perfect, you're doing great. Another," at her word, they took another step up. Again and again she told him "another" and again and again they managed a step.

They were making progress, just not fast enough, it looked. It was taking much too long and Remus was losing too much energy (and blood, she was sure) and Eleanor was simply not strong enough to hold all of his weight. "Remus, you have to help me, I can't do this by myself, mate," she pleaded, adjusting her grip on him for what had to have been the twentieth time.

His voice was too tired, she couldn't make out what he had mumbled, surely encouraging words of wisdom. But when she took a glance at him, all she saw was a deep frown; so defeated and exhausted, almost begging to just give in to the darkness.

She narrowed her eyes and let out a huff of breath. "Okay, Eleanor," she glared up at the endless amount of stairs in front of her, "you're going to suck it up and actually do something for once in your life." They took another step. "You may be a ravenclaw," another step. "But right now, Remus needs you to act like a gryffindor." Another step, and then another. "So that's exactly what you're going to do."

Remus made some sort of noise from the back of his throat. Eleanor hoped it was an agreement and not his way of calling out in pain.

They continued on their way, Eleanor mumbling to herself and Remus struggling to help with all the strength he could offer. By the time Eleanor had managed to make it just shy of one more level until she reached the hospital wing with a very weak and frail Remus Lupin, she was afraid that if they did not pick up the pace a little, students would be making their way down for breakfast and catching sight of them.