Under strange circumstances

Chapter 18

Remus

Usually when I wake up in the day after my cycle, I find myself in a warm bed with Sirius beside me.

This time, however, I wake up to find myself lying on the back of Prongs, with my head in Sirius' lap. I groan and try to sit up. 'What's going on?'

'Remus!' I feel Sirius press his lips to mine and relief spreads through me. Though I don't know where we are, as long as Sirius is with me I'm fine. 'Sirius, what's going on?' He grimaces, and I notice that someone else is on Prongs' back with us. 'Sirius, why is Lily here?!' Sirius bites his lip again and looks away. 'It's a long story, Moony-'

'Pads, you have to tell me now. Is she hurt?!' Lily herself seems to be unconscious, and she's leaning on Prongs' antlers, blankets (and.....is that rope?) keeping her from falling off of James. I notice that there's also a blanket holding me down. 'Why are Lily and I being held captive?' Sirius rolls his eyes (this seems to be a common trait in our little group). 'You aren't being held captive, baby. It was the only way James and I could keep both of you up. I couldn't support both of you. Plus, it means you're warmer too..' He trails off and I notice that he's shivering slightly; he's only wearing one jacket. 'Sirius, put something else on!' He looks at me, lips quivering from the cold, but manages to crack a smile. 'There's nothing else to put on, Moony.' I try and protest, but my eyes seem to have become heavy again, and before I know it I've passed out once again.

James

When we're in the woods, the snow and wind swirling around us, it's impossible to tell the time, but when the weather finally dies down, and we break out of the woods, it's easy to see that it's around lunchtime. A brilliant blue sky spreads out above us, and the sun, bright and yellow, sits directly above us. I hurry towards the house and Sirius hops off, gently lifting the blankets off Remus and then taking him inside quickly. Then he quickly comes back outside and does the same for Lily. I morph back into myself quickly, stretching my limbs gratefully and yawning. Sirius comes back outside to grab the blankets and other warm items off of the ground, and it's lucky he does, because as I go to help him I nearly collapse from exhaustion. Sirius catches me; 'What's this? James Potter fainting in my arms?' I raise an eyebrow at him. 'Yeah, yeah, sure. Just help me inside, will you?'

Sirius

James passes out on the couch next to Lily and Remus almost as soon as I help him down onto it. As the three of them lie there I get the fire going, and sit down in the chair next to them, rubbing my eyes tiredly. I would like to sleep as well, believe me, but someone has to make sure these guys are okay. I pop upstairs and use my wand to move two mattresses and some blankets down to the living room. Then, I undress Moony (to his boxers, I'm not perving on him while he's asleep, calm down) and re-dress him in his comfier and warmer clothes. I lay him down in the one of the mattresses I've brought down before moving over to James and doing the same thing. I pause before I start on Lily. She knows I'm gay, but I doubt that would make her comfortable enough to let me undress her while she sleeps (see? Even thinking about it is weird, right?) Instead, I just take off the big jacket she's been wearing (she's still got another shirt on - James' jumper) and replace it with one of Euphemia's warmer shoulder wrap things (I'd like to use better terminology there, but calling it a shawl seems wrong, and I don't have Moony awake to tell me what it's actually called.)

I put Lily in the second mattress and look at James, who is dozing on the couch where I left him. It feels weird to just leave him there, so I make the split second decision to put him in the mattress next to Lily; they'll both be warmer there anyway, and I cannot be fucked to get another mattress right now. When I've made sure both of them are comfortable, I change into my own pajamas and get into bed with Moony. 'Padfoot?' Fuck, I woke him up. 'Shh, Moony, it's all okay now. Go to sleep again. I'm here now.' He smiles sleepily and falls asleep almost instantly, but not before he kisses my forehead softly and wraps his arms around my waist.

Then sleep finally overcomes me, and I pass out cold.

~

Lily

When I first wake up, I think that everything was just a dream. Then I realise that my shoulder is still aching with pain, and I'm in bed next to James.

Wait, wait, wait; what?!

I blink hard and slap myself, but James is still there, next to me, his arms wrapped around my waist holding me close to him. Holy shit.

I place a hand to my chest and find that my heart is racing, and I can feel that my cheeks are flushed. Crap, I need to calm down. I gently untangle myself from James, being careful not to wake him up and softly put my lips to his forehead. I walk away with a grin plastered to my face and make my way to the kitchen, where I find that someone else is already there. Remus is leaning against the kitchen countertop, staring at a steaming mug of tea in his hands. His face is tense, and pulled into an angry frown. 'Remus?' He blinks at his tea and looks up at me, his eyes clouded with distress. 'Remus, what's wrong-'

'Your arm.'