Four To The End (prev Shifting Lines) - Book One (Marauder Era)

Chapter Fifty-Three - It Ain't Easy Being Green

Friday night was spent in the hospital wing. When Remus showed up and explained to Pomfrey that it would help disguise the truth if he disappeared on nights other than the full moon she agreed, so he spent the night in the little room he stayed in during the days of the moon. He missed going to Study Group but that was okay. He spent plenty of time on his own studying and reading, and the next morning when he showed up for lunch he said his mother was doing loads better already. James, Sirius, Peter, and Lily were all quite pleased by the news. Remus was pleased with his trick, planning to do it again at some point. See? Nothing connected to the full moon, nope, not at all!

James was absent for most of Saturday. Gryffindor had a big practice that he went to watch, and in the evening he had detention. Sirius, Peter, and Remus decided to practice hexes. They ended up having a three way battle in their dorm, dodging, diving, and running from each other's spells. It was rather thrilling, especially since Remus won. Peter definitely lost first, winding up rolling around on the ground with the jelly-arm curse, the leg-locker curse, and the rose-petal-sneezing one all togther. It was a close call between Sirius and Remus but Remus fought through the jelly-arm curse as well as a spell that was supposed to make him cough but all it really did was tickle his throat, and finished Sirius off with the full body bind. It was the first time he tried it, and it succeeded.

"YES!" Remus pumped one wavy, noodle-y arm in the air before tripping over Peter. "I did it!" He grinned at Sirius's frozen body then slowly his grin faded as he smelled Sirius panicking pretty bad. "Finite incantatum!" He was worried it wouldn't work, but Sirius's limbs unlocked and he sat up, rubbing his head.

"Good job!" he said, doing decently at sounding approving but the smells coming off of him were telling another story. It had really triggered a terrified response... Remus wanted to apologize, but he couldn't say he smelled the fear on him.

Remus plastered a fake grin on his face. "Thanks!" He wanted to tell him how sorry he was, to promise he'd never do it again. Sirius still smelled pretty panicky, but he was getting up and striding over to Peter, removing some of the spells off him. "You did a pretty good job too, Pete," Remus said.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Not good enough... couldn't even make you cough..."

Sirius punched Peter's arm. "Still you fought well. Let's sneak down to the kitchens and get a victory meal!"

*

James, apparently, had spent the entire afternoon sorting through dead spiders. "Some sixth year knocked jars over and they all broke so all the spiders got mixed up," he groaned during dinner. "So Sluggy had me an' Snivellus sort through them. I swear some of them were still alive." He glared across the hall at Snape. "It's all his fault anyway. S'not fair I'm being punished for trying to help him."

He complained all evening in the dorm after curfew. Remus went to bed early with his pillow over his ears to shut him out. The next day James had detention with Slughorn again and Remus expected more Snape-related complaints however when he finished detention James ran to the dorm, eyes sparkling. He ran in so fast he crashed into Peter's bed when he failed to stop himself.

"GUESS WHAT!" He bounded to Sirius's bed and pounced on his friend. "Oh--lads--this is perfect--this is perfect!" Then he began laughing, legs kicking.

Remus, Peter, and Sirius all just stared at their friend. "Um, maybe he got into amphyr petals?" Peter suggested.

James just kept laughing so much that Remus thought perhaps Peter might be right. But finally James sat upright, panting. "Okay so Saturday--Saturday--there's gonna be some stupid thing--and we can--we have to!"