Sports day
Remus Lupin was a normal teen, just like any other. That’s what he tells himself, at least, but anyone who knows him would say very differently.
Remus is in his eleventh year at his local school. He has amazing friends and an even more amazing boyfriend. He enjoys chocolate and books and everything else a normal teen boy would like, but Remus wasn’t like other teen boys.
When he was eleven, he was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus. Which basically meant his immune system hated his body and decided to reject it. Since his initial diagnosis, he has had multiple other diagnoses layered on top, making him one big medical mess.
Remus tried to not let this stop him. He did all of his treatment as he was supposed to, and tried to do everything else his friends did, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t sick, and sometimes he just couldn’t do it. On top of that even when he felt fine the treatments and general knowledge of his health was just sometimes too much.
Sports day…. A day that is very loved and also very hated. The kids in his school were split into teams and given sports events to compete in. The team with the most wins at the end of the day got pizza and bragging rights, and everyone else went home sweaty and tired.
James and Sirius showed up at Remus’s house an entire hour earlier, fully decked out in their team colors. Unlike Remus, they were absolutely thrilled about the day ahead, having talked about it for months, so Remus was only slightly surprised when he woke to them jumping on his bed.
"It’s sports day!!!!!!"
They screamed in unison, causing Remus to roll his eyes and roll back over. covering his head with his blanket.
"I don’t want to go."
"Well, you're going," Sirius said, reaching down to grab his hand, "and you're going to win because you’re on my team."
Reluctantly, Remus allowed Sirius to pull him up. Leaving the comfort of his warm bed, he walked over to the bathroom, where he was greeted with a surprise.
The telltale sign that Remus was going into a flare-up usually started with his fingers turning purple, but today the symptoms decided to start with an inflamed butterfly-shaped rash on his face. He knew that this meant that within hours he would be in so much pain he wouldn’t be able to walk, but he also knew how upset Sirius would be if he missed sports day. Leaning down to the bottom drawer of the sink vanity, Remus rustled through his sister's makeup stash, finding a few shades of concealer. He quickly found the best match and applied it to the area where his rash was. He knew makeup and rashes didn’t mix well, but he also knew his mother would send him straight back to bed if she caught a glimpse of his puffy red face.
Remus got ready quickly, only vaguely aware that his friends were watching as he shoved down the first of two rounds of morning meds. They usually weren’t around to watch Remus treat his illness, and now that they were, he felt a little bit vulnerable. There was no way that any of them had to worry about medications and timing them perfectly around his morning meal. They most definitely didn’t understand that a little mess up in whether he took medication on an empty stomach or not could leave him curled up in bed for days on end. The adults in his life didn’t even understand; there was no way his teenage friends and boyfriend would.
Remus packed up his second round of morning meds for the road before turning to his friends.
"How about we go out for pre-sports-day breakfast? I’m really craving bacon."
"Ohh yes, I know a great place that serves pancakes," James said, pulling out his phone to text the rest of their friends.
"I’m about ready. Why don’t you guys go downstairs? I’ll be there in a second."
The two boys happily obliged, leaving Remus alone in his room to shove his pill case in his book bag along with a few extra necessities for a flare day. With that, he followed the other boys down the stairs with the odd feeling in his gut that this was a very bad idea.
The walk to the restaurant was like hell. Remus could feel his rash spreading and knew that the sun on his skin would only make it worse, but lucky for him, he was quite good at hiding his pain. He walked hand in hand with Sirius, keeping up a light conversation while James skipped ten feet ahead. Actually, now that Remus is looking at it, James wasn’t skipping; he was prancing like a little deer in the meadow.
“Sirius, look at James, he is prancing… like a deer."
"Oh my god, he is; should we tell him?"
“Nah, just let him keep doing it. I want to see if Lily and Reg notice."
They both continue watching their friend prance up the street. Remus took it as a pleasant distraction from the feeling of his skin tightening on him and the ugly itch of the rash that was growing under his shirt.
Before long, the boys made it to the diner. It was a cute, old fashioned place that was run by an older couple. Remus fell in love with it instantly.
“James, how did you find this place?"
"My parents used to bring me here when I was younger. Now I come occasionally for their out of this world pancakes"
James scans for a booth that is big enough to hold their bigger group only to find that his almost-girlfriend, Lily, beat him to it. Finding the redhead, James once again pranced over, obviously bursting with excitement.
"Good morning, Lily!" James just about shouted, interrupting the quiet peace of the restaurant. "Are you excited for sports day?"
Nope, worst day of the year."
Remus and Sirius sat down on the other side of the booth
“Yes, it is."
Remus agreed, looking down at the time on his watch. He had to get food in him, and soon he only had so long before he missed his med window. Knowing that he likely wouldn’t have time to wait for the rest of their friends to show up and order, Remus quietly got up and headed to the counter, explaining to the kind waitress his situation and putting in his order.
When he returned to the table, the rest of their friends had already arrived, along with a few of Regulus’s friends. They talked about the day ahead and what events they hoped to get in sports day before Remus’s food arrived.
When Remus got his food, he was greeted with odd looks from Regulus’s friends, who Remus learned were a year below him and named Evan and Barty. He only slightly realized that they didn’t know about his illness; he felt a bit self-conscious but knew that he had no choice but to eat his food, even though the others had yet to even order theirs.
Looking at his watch, Remus scarfed down his food as quickly as possible before pulling out his meds case and trying to get it all down as quickly and quietly as possible. He knew his friends were all watching, but they had the decency to pretend not to be paying him any mind. Well, except for Barty, who was obviously staring. Remus finished his meds and sunk down in his seat. He knew the others were watching and judging. He spent the rest of the breakfast silent, hoping the longer he sat there, he and his illness may eventually turn invisible.
Walking to sports day was even worse than walking to the diner. Remus could feel his legs beginning to drag and his head beginning to spin. He started to lag behind the rest of the group. Going home now was hardly an option, but as he got more and more tired, the better the prospect sounded.
Still, he didn’t want to disappoint his friends, so he continued to walk slowly behind them as his legs got heavier and heavier. He walked until he couldn’t anymore, then he sat on the curb and watched as his friends went on ahead, not even realizing he wasn’t with them.
Maybe his friends would never notice his absence at all. Maybe all he was to them was the sick kid. Not wanting to be any more of a bother than he already was, Remus sat there, and when his head finally stopped spinning, he got up and went home.