Chapter 8
After what seemed like an eternity, Sirius finally began to stir.
"Sirius,” Remus said, “How are you feeling?" Remus asked.
Sirius groaned and rubbed his eyes, looking disoriented and confused. "What happened?" he asked, his voice hoarse and weak.
Remus explained what had happened, and Sirius listened intently, his expression growing more and more confused as he heard the details.
"Have you been here since last night?" Sirius asked.
"I wanted to be here for when you woke up, I had to make sure you’re all right,” Remus told Sirius.
Sirius smiled and said, “Don’t tell me you were worried about me."
Remus rolled his eyes at him. “Of course I was, especially when you turned up at James unconscious,” Remus told Sirius.
"I didn’t know she would do what she did; she’s never done it that badly before. A bit of pain, but she’s never knocked me out before,” Sirius told Remus.
Remus took a deep breath and looked at Sirius, sadness etched on his face.
"Sirius, I need to tell you something else,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"What is it?" Sirius asked, noticing the serious tone in Remus' voice.
"When your mother hit you with that spell, it left you with an injury in your left leg. It's now permanently paralyzed below the knee. I’m so sorry,” Remus told Sirius.
“Why are you sorry, Mooney? You’ve done nothing wrong; you didn’t do it to me, did you?" Sirius told Remus.
"I know, but I’m still sorry for many reasons to do with it. I knew your mother was bad, but I didn’t know she was this bad,” Remus told Sirius.
Sirius knew that his mother was cruel and abusive, but he never imagined that her actions would cause permanent damage.
“The spell knocked you out, and your father found you and brought you to The Potters, which I know surprises you and it surprises me too, but apparently he was worried about you, so he took you to The Potters, not knowing where else to take you, and he made them swear and promise that they wouldn’t tell anyone what really happened, what your mother had done, and to make up some sort of lie about how you got your injury, they agreed and brought you here, and the nurses ran some tests when you were asleep just to see if there was a reason why you were unconscious, to see if something was wrong. Mainly to see if your mother had hurt you in some way, and that’s when they found out,” Remus told Sirius.
Sirius sat there in silence, trying to process what he had just found out.
“I better tell the others you’re awake; they’ve been quite worried. You know what they’re like,” Remus told Sirius.
Remus stood up and picked up his cane, then started to make his way towards the door.
Sirius noticed Remus limping more than normal. He realized it must’ve been because Remus was sitting in the chair for so long Sirius couldn’t help but feel guilty.