Chapter 6
I woke up in a bed in the hospital wing with Madame Pomfrey standing over me.
“Good morning dear, I hope you slept well.” she handed me a breakfast tray. Toast, eggs, and potatoes.
“Thank you, ma’am,” I expected her to go back to her office like she usually does, but she sat down on my bed and looked at me “Can I help you?” She sighed and put her hand on mine
“Something… happened, last night. Something that we’ve been trying to prevent since the beginning.” I could feel the blood drain from my face. A pit opened in my stomach, I tried to pull away but her grip was tight on my hand.
“What? What happened?” I felt my hands start to shake.
“Are you familiar with the name Severus Snape?” She asked, brows furrowing.
“Yes?” This time I managed to pull my hand away as the pit turned into a chasm.
“He was out of bed after hours and happened to wander by the Whomping Willow. He said a black dog led him to the tree and he saw a werewolf,” she paused “He… somehow he knows it was you. He said he was going to Dumbledore” She watched me carefully trying to gauge what I was feeling. To be completely honest I had no idea what the fuck I was feeling either until something caught my attention
“Did you say… a black dog led him to the Willow?”
“Yes? Mr. Lupin I don-”
“He was sure it was black? Could it have been dark brown? Or maybe it had mud on its fur?” I was spiraling. A black dog could only mean one thing. ‘No, it can’t be him, he would never do that to me’
“He was adamant that it was black. He kept emphasizing that ‘it was Black’” ‘no, no no no’ that could only mean one thing. Sirius Black, the boy I fell in love with in the second year, the one person I thought would never hurt me, has dealt a blow so deep I don’t remember how to breathe right.
I tried to form a competent response, but all I could do was offer a pathetic “oh.” she kept watching me waiting for a better answer, but when it was clear that that was all she would get she took my hand and said,
“All right dear I suppose that you can go now.”
“Actually I’m feeling a little tired still, may I stay to rest” My eyes were filling with tears. I couldn’t stand this conversation much longer
“All right dear, you can lay back down. Call me if you need anything.” She squeezed my hand one last time before standing up and drawing the curtains closed around my cot.
I lay down casting my eyes up at the ceiling. Sirius had betrayed me. If I had told myself that yesterday I never would have believed it. Yesterday I was busy thinking about how his hand touched my waist as he passed me. I covered my leaking eyes with my hands. ‘How could I be so stupid? I can't trust anyone with this. You knew that. Why did you think you could trust them?’
I cried for a while and eventually fell asleep. I wasn't lying when I told Madam Pomfrey I was tired. I was woken a while later by rambunctious laughter coming from a cot near mine.
“Just tell me how the fuck you managed to get nailed in the head by a book and I’ll piss off!”
“You really want to know?” another voice responded, probably the one who was injured
“YES!” the first voice responds int enthusiastically
“Beg me.” the second voice sounded smug
“If you insist” the first voice got quieter. Not wanting to hear any of what was surely to follow I got out of bed and opened the curtains. The voices turned out to be two Slytherin boys that I vaguely recognized as Siruis’ brother’s friends
“Look, whatever you’re gonna do, do it quietly. Some of us are trying to sleep.” they turned to me startled. One of them had sandy blond hair and was on a hospital cot, the other had dark brown hair and had his hands on the blond one's torso. After staring at me for a second the one with dark brown hair straightened up and removed his hands from the other boy's torso. He looked up at me; I’m rather tall so he had to.
“Hello there,” he smiled “Lupin right?”
“Yes, and you are” I folded my arms over my chest, trying to look menacing. His eyes flicked over my body and grinned a little.
“Barty,” He gestured to the bed with the other boy in the cot “and that is my boyfriend Evan.” he studied my face presumidly looking for a reaction to the word ‘boyfriend’ ‘If you’re looking for a reaction then you’re gonna be waiting a long time. I am bi as fuck.’ Evan spoke up
“What are you here for? Did you hurt your neck staring down at people all day?”
I paused, I wasn’t sure what to say, no one had ever asked me what I was there for, Wormtail and prongs had usually kept people away from my bed. No one was here to keep everyone away now. ‘I’d better get used to it, seeing as I never want to see them again’
“Wouldn't you like to know.” Avoiding the question is probably the best choice. Evan looked like he was going to respond but the door to Madame Pomfrey’s office opened and she entered holding a pain medication potion
“Oh, good Remus, you’re awake. Are you feeling better?” she walked over to Evan and handed him the potion, “Drink this and wait for a few minutes then you’ll be right as rain,” she turned to Barty “He’ll be quite alright by himself.” Barty looked from her to Evan to me to Evan again then made a swift exit. Madam Pomfrey let out a small sigh, turned around, and gave me a once-over.
“You look well rested, are you ready to go now?”
“Yes, I am.” I said my mind already trying to figure out where I could go without Sirus and the others finding me. She went back into her office and closed the door. Just then the door to the Hospital Wing opened again and the girl that Sirius had run into the other day came in with a parcel of something that smelled really good.
“Evan! I thought I’d swing by with some cinnamon rolls, they're fresh! Oh hello, Remus!” she turned smiling at me, and I couldn’t help but return it. She started unwrapping the rolls and placing them on some napkins she produced from her pockets
“Hi, Pandora. Shouldn’t you be in class?” Evan was smiling too and eyeing the rolls hungrily.
“No, it’s Sunday, remember? No classes on Sunday.” She passed a cinnamon roll to him and looked at the two left “Huh, I have one extra, I was expecting Barty to be here,” she turned to me “Would you like one Remus”
“Well, I suppose it would be rude of me to refuse.” her face lit up again as she passed the cinnamon roll to me. I smiled at her and took a bite. I was hungry at the time so I was just happy to have something to eat, but when I tell you that was the best cinnamon roll that I ever had, it really was. I thought the ones my mom made were good, this was so, so much better.
“Do you like them? They're a new recipe!”
“They’re fantastic Dora.” Evan responded, who seemed to be savoring his and eating it slowly. I made a noise of agreement as I took my last bite, I had basically inhaled it. Pandora looked at me then at Evan and gazed out the window eyes wizzing.
“Evan, you and Barty are gonna go to the library later right?” he looked confused but responded;
“Yeah…why?”
“You should take Remus.” we both whipped our heads around to look at each other
“Dora, I don-”
“I think it’ll be good for the both of you.” she said
“I’m down if you're ok with it.” I said looking at Evan
“Sure, whatever.” he sounded exasperated
“Well, I guess I should get changed.” I went back to my cot and closed the curtain around it to put on my clothes. ‘They won't talk to me when I’m with those two, I’ll be safe.’
Looks like I have a study date to get ready for.