𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗔𝗭𝗞𝗔𝗕𝗔𝗡 [𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍]

Chapter Eight: Primus Lune

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ ･⋆✵⋆･ ‾‾‾‾‾‾‾

It has been almost a whole month now since Sirius and his friends stared school at Hogwarts and they'd fallen into a kind of routine.

Get woken up by Remus. Have a little fun with Snape. Go to class. Wade through their homework (mostly those given by McGonagall). Have a little more fun with Snape (because James and Sirius' day would feel incomplete with out that). Learn from James how not to woo a woman (at poor Lily Evans' expense). Then go back to bed and repeat.

And today, Sirius woke up from a nice dream about a motorcycle, one that flew and everything, and yawned with his eyes still closed, savoring the fact that he didn't need Remus to wake him up today.

He got up and leisurely stretched to get the blood pumping. Sirius was just about to look in his trunk for a clean set of robes and dress when he noticed something strange. The hallway, which would normally be buzzing with the sound of students trying to get down to breakfast, was eerily quiet. And the room was a bit too bright.

Sirius slowly glanced at the clock on James's bedside table and almost shrieked. They were extremely late.

"EVERYBODY, WAKE UP!! WAKE UP!!" Sirius yelled, starting to panic. "Remus, you stupid little git. Why didn't you wake us up?!"

James was still in shock from all the ruckus Sirius created and was trying to pull his socks over his shoes while Peter was gathering the contents of his bag that he'd spilled on the floor in all the confusion.

"This is all your fault, Remus." Sirius said, marching towards Remus's four poster and tying his shoe laces at the same time. "You should have- Remus? Where's Remus?"

Sirius stuttered to a stop after pulling the curtains of Remus' four poster open. The bed was empty and perfectly made.

James and Peter put the panic on hold to come and see what's wrong.

"He was in the dorm with us last night, wasn't he?" Sirius asked, letting the curtains fall back as he turned to look at James and Peter.

"Yeah. He was helping me with my Potions essay." said James, running his fingers through his hair. "Though he did seem a little distracted, now that I think about it."

"I can't believe he left without us." squeaked Peter, hugging his messy bag to his chest.

"Maybe he got tired of being our mum." offered James, rolling his eyes.

"Let's go look for him in the Great Hall." Sirius suggested. They quickly gathered their stuff and sprinted to the empty common room and out of the portrait hole, into the Hall.

Everyone had already finished breakfast by the time Sirius, James and Peter made it to the Great Hall and they were headed for their classes, the long house tables and the teachers' table emptying slowly.

"We'll never find him in this crowd." Sirius moaned, trying to see anything over the sea of heads and bodies.

"Let's go wait for him in class. He'll probably already be there." James suggested, still craning his neck to see.

But Remus wasn't in History of Magic class either.

"Settle down. Settle down, students." said Professor Binns and closed the door before the boys could slip past him and keep looking for Remus, so they sat down reluctantly, doomed to sit out the class.

Professor Binns floated to the front of the class, the board visible through his transparent chest, and started his signature boring lecture about Goblin Rebellions.

History of Magic class on an empty stomach is unbearable, to begin with. And worry about Remus didn't help either. Sirius kept tapping his foot nervously the whole time, his eyes fleeting to the clock mounted on the wall every two seconds.

But Professor Binns droned on and on and on and on about Goblin war generals and important places where very important things happened, although Sirius couldn't be bothered to remember them. Then finally (finally) the bell for lunch went off and the three boys tore out of the room at the speed of light.

"Should we check the library?" asked Peter, huffing and puffing while he tried to keep up with James and Sirius.

"He wouldn't miss class to go to the library. Let's check the Hospital Wing." Sirius said.

The door to the wing was shut firmly, which was unusual. James approached it gingerly and knocked. No answer. He then turned to Sirius and Peter and shrugged. They shrugged back. James turned back to the door and started knocking harder, the sound of it echoing off the stone walls of the empty corridor.

The door was suddenly wretched open rather harshly and a very affronted looking Madam Pomfrey poked her head out, threatening to inhale the boys through her dangerously dilated nostrils and narrowly missing James's knuckle. "What is it?" she asked though gritted teeth.

"Sorry, Madam Pomfrey. We were just wondering if our friend Remus Lupin was in there." braved James. "He's a First year. Tall with brown hair . . ."

"I know who you are talking about. But he's not here." she snapped.

"Let's go ask Professor McGonagall." Sirius whispered in James's ear and he didn't need telling twice.

They apologized to Madam Pomfrey again and hurried off before they earned themselves one way tickets to the Hospital Wing because of Madam Pomfrey herself.

They found Professor McGonagall back in the Great Hall. At the teachers table.

"How are we supposed to talk to her while she's up there?" Sirius groaned.

"We wait till lunch is over and ambush her?" piped up Peter.

"Ambush? But it's not like we have a choice." said James. "Might as well eat until then."

But they just pushed their food around their plates, looking up at the teachers' table every now and then, hoping for a sign that Professor McGonagall was about to leave the Hall.

Sirius can't remember ever being worried this much about anyone. And he never thought he'd be caught dead admitting this but lunch was finally over and McGonagall got up to leave.

The three boys abandoned their cutlery and stood up.

"Professor?" called James. "Professor? Where's Remus?"

Professor McGonagall looked a little taken aback by the bluntness of his question but regained her composure almost immediately. "Mr. Lupin has taken leave because of a family emergency."

"What kind of emergency?" demanded James.

"I believe that information is for Lupin himself to share with you if he chooses." McGonagall replied sternly.

"When will he be back?" Sirius asked.

McGonagall's eyes softened a little before she said, "You'll have your friend back in a few days' time. Now go back to class." she added, commanding as ever.

The rest of the day was exceedingly uneventful. The boys didn't realize just how much they depended on Remus for a lot of things until now. Life turned out to be much less fun without him.

They stayed up late into the night later in their dormitory, speculating what could have possibly happened for Remus to be rushed home in the middle of the night. And how heavy they must sleep to not notice someone leaving their dorm.

Sirius was beyond exhausted when he finally got into bed and pulled shut the curtains of his four poster to keep out the bright rays of the full moon that streamed in from the open window.

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ ･⋆✵⋆･ ‾‾‾‾‾‾‾