New Friends
Sunday, September 5, 1971
Remus was fidgety today. His dormmates kept pestering him about it, but Remus kept insisting it was nerves, being away from home, and all the homework he had to do. Not to say those reasons were false, but they weren’t as prevalent. He got on with the day, though, and completed all the introductory work for each of his classes. Remus found history quite appealing, as he knew nothing of the wizarding world and the class really did help him find out quite a lot quite quickly.
He thought back to the classes he had had. Purely introductory, of course, but still something for him to think about, and the Professors had still assigned homework. Completing the work was no tough task, as Remus had read every book for every class cover to cover at least twice over the summer, so he hardly had to think to finish them. God, he was getting bored . He had nothing else to do and didn’t really feel like conversation, not for Potter’s lack of effort.
“Oi, Lupin, what are you brooding about over there?” asked Potter, teasingly.
“I’m bored is all. I completed all the introductory work, and I’ve read through all the necessary books over the summer.”
“Jeez, Lupin, big bookworm, eh? If you wanna read then you should head to the library,” said Pettigrew
Remus perked up at that. “There’s a library here?”
“Yeah, it’s huge. C’mon, I’ll show you,” said Potter.
“Don’t leave me up here alone, Potter!” pleaded Black, to which Potter chuckled.
“Oi!” squeaked Pettigrew, and Black threw him an apologetic look.
“All of us, then? If that’s okay Lupin?” asked Potter, and Remus nodded. At least he wouldn’t have to find the way himself, or hold any conversation, as Black and Potter seemed to chat about everything and nothing at once.
As the boys entered the library, Remus’ mouth fell agape. An impossibly tall room, with shelves all the way to the ceiling. Books were drifting around midair, seemingly sorting themselves. There were giant windows at the back, making the huge room glow through the maze of bookshelves, and the whole thing looked absolutely ethereal. Remus’ trance was broken, however, when a mean-looking witch looked down her nose at the group of boys, and warned them that any noise would get them kicked out immediately.
Potter and Black made their way to a back corner of the library, with Pettigrew following behind them, and Remus wandered through the library looking for something interesting. He happened upon the Magical Creatures section and found Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander. Funny sort of name. He meandered back through the aisles until he found the group again, and Pettigrew scrunched up his face when he saw it.
“Lupin, do you really wanna read that now? If you take Care of Magical Creatures in third year you’ll just have to read it again,” said Potter, kindly.
Remus shrugged. “I’ll probably have forgotten half of it by then. Besides, it looks interesting.”
Potter nodded at that, and Remus read his book intently while the other three boys did their homework. At about 6:30, they began gathering their things and made the journey down to dinner.
Even so, as the minutes ticked by, Remus got even more restless. Black was the first to speak up.
“Are you sure you’re okay, mate? You don’t need the hospital wing or anything?” Remus glanced at the time.
“Actually, yeah, I think I do. I’ll be off.”
“Know the way?”
“Er… not really, no,” Remus replied
“Fair ‘nuff. I’ll show you down. Hey, maybe I should draw you up a map! You kept being late to lessons, too.”
“Do what you want, Black, can we get a move on?”
“Fine, fine, no need to be so prickly, Lupin. Let’s go.”
The walk to the infirmary was awkward. Neither boy spoke much, and Remus had started to wish that ever-chatty Potter had taken him instead. However, Black spoke up again when they reached the hospital wing doors ten minutes later.
“Shame you missed some of dinner. Want me to stay until you’re sorted out?”
“Nah, I’ll be fine, you head on back,” Remus excused, hoping he sounded convincing. “Anyway, you gotta get started on that map you promised me,” he joked, and the other boy chuckled and turned to leave, throwing back a wave.
Remus steeled his nerves and entered the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey greeted him warmly. “Ready then, dear? Did anyone talk to you about what to expect?” Remus shook his head no, to both the questions, and the nurse tutted. “You’d think they’d be more organised. Right. There’s a house that we’ll keep you in. Hopefully it’s better than a cage, but… well. Professor McGonagall will be coming with us to the entrance of the tunnel there. Best get going.”
Remus followed Madam Pomfrey out of the castle and met with Professor McGonagall just outside. They walked towards a giant willow tree that began thrashing about as they got closer. To his surprise, his Professor somehow shrunk down, became a cat, weaved through the flailing branches, prodded a knot in the trunk, and the tree ceased all movement. He decided then that he really was happy he came here.
From there, he and Madam Pomfrey continued into a dark, damp tunnel that came up in a dingy, abandoned shack. He was led to a room with a cot and blanket, but not much else. “Sorry it’s not very nice, dear, but it’s what we could do. Don’t worry, you won’t be able to get out, and I’ll be here at dawn to help heal you and get you back to the castle. Any questions?”
Remus shook his head, and then he began to feel the first twinges. “You best go, it’s starting. See you in the morning,” he managed to get out before the pain took over completely. From there, everything was a blur.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
He came to, groggy, aching, and bleeding. He could barely move to the cot to cover himself with the blanket and suspected a broken bone or two. His throat was sore and dry, and his entire body was at war against him. Madam Pomfrey entered the room about twenty minutes later, and upon seeing him, bloody and bruised, let out a soft ‘oh, dear,’ and took out her wand to begin healing his cuts and resetting his bones.
“I brought a stretcher, if you need one, dear. I can’t imagine you’ll be able to walk very well right now.” Remus nodded, and she moved the stretcher towards him and helped him on, before levitating him back to the hospital wing. There, she gave him a few potions.
“This is just a painkiller,” she said, handing him a blue potion. “Don’t know how much it’ll help, but I hope it does. This one,” a red one, “is a healing draught. And here,” a deep purple, “is a sleeping draught. Drink up, can’t say they all taste great though.”
She was, of course, right, they did not taste good at all. Even so, Remus drank all three and drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Remus slowly awakened to whispered conversation near his bed. After a good few minutes, he sat up and the murmuring ceased. He sleepily wiped his eyes and, upon opening them, found that the conversation was that of his three new dormmates and a stern-looking Madam Pomfrey.
“Now look what you’ve done, you’ve woken the poor boy. I told you, he’s alright, just needs a bit of rest,” the witch said, scolding the boys. “Remus, dear,” her tone softened, “are you feeling any better?”
“Yeah,” he croaked out. “Hungry.” Not a second after the words left his mouth, a large plate of sandwiches appeared on the table at the foot of his bed, and Potter handed him one. “Fanks,” Remus said, mouth already filled. The other boys took no time helping themselves to a sandwich each, but allowing Remus to devour the rest. They didn’t really have a choice in that, though, as he tore through the sandwiches at an alarming rate.
“Never saw anyone eat so fast, real hungry, eh Lupin?” asked Peter, who was unceremoniously elbowed in the ribs by Potter.
“Shut up, Pete.”
“Nah, it’s alright. Stomach bug, puked my guts out last night.” The boys cringed at that and decided not to ask any more questions. Remus wondered how many more lies he’d have to tell so that they wouldn’t find out. “Why’re you here, anyway? Don’t we have classes?”
“Nah, lunch right now,” said Black. Remus nodded at that.
“As for why we’re here,” said Potter, “we were worried. You didn’t come back last night. Tried to get in this morning but Pomfrey wouldn’t let us.”
“Oh. No need to worry about me, I’m alright. Any chance I could borrow your guys’ notes from today’s lessons, though? I don’t think Pomfrey will let me out for classes.”
“Yeah, no problem mate. You can borrow Black’s, if that’s okay, I promised Pete mine,” said Potter, to which Remus nodded. Still feeling sluggish, he relaxed against the pillows and shut his eyes. Madam Pomfrey shooed the boys away, which Remus didn’t really deem necessary, but he was thankful for the quiet nonetheless.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When he woke for the second time that day, he felt much better. Madam Pomfrey hurried over to him and checked him over.
“Right,” she said, “I think you’ll be able to make dinner, but nothing until then!” She walked to her desk, grabbed a stack of papers, and returned. “The Black boy came in after lessons and asked me to give you his notes,” she said, almost fondly. “You’ve got good friends, dear.”
Friends. Are we friends? Remus thought and decided that yes, they must be, at least a little. They missed lunch to check on him and offered him their notes. That’s the sort of thing friends do, right? He hadn’t had friends in an awfully long time.
Remus shuffled through the notes for the classes, and while the Potions and Defence notes weren’t great, the ones from the lessons after they visited were much more comprehensive. At the bottom of the pile was a neatly folded piece of parchment, titled Remus’ Map . He unfolded it, and indeed, it was a map of the entire school grounds, including labelled classrooms. He chuckled at this and gingerly set it aside, focusing instead on Sirius’ notes for the day: Potions, Defence, Charms, and Transfiguration. Apparently, they had homework due in their next class on Wednesday for Transfiguration.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pomfrey did, in fact, let Remus down for dinner, albeit a bit late. Potter saw him enter and waved him over to join him, Black, and Pettigrew where they sat. He perched next to Black and promptly began piling his plate with all the good food around him, barely paying attention to what he was putting in his mouth.
“Oh, by the way, if you need any help with the homework I can totally do that, or you can copy if you want,” offered Potter, kindly.
“Nah, no need, done it all already,” Remus replied and continued filling his face with food. After a few seconds of silence, he glanced up, seeing the other boys completely stunned. “What?”
“You did it… all?” Remus nodded. “Bloody hell, mate, I didn’t even start!” exclaimed Black.
“I dunno. Was bored in the hospital wing so I just did it. Might need a bit more coverage for what we did in Potions and Defense but I can catch up tomorrow.” The other boys gaped. “What? I like having it out of the way…”
“I dunno how you do it. You looked really bad in there, man, and I didn’t wanna ask, but there was a fresh cut on your face? Looks like it’s healed now but..” Black inquired. Remus blushed.
“Er.. yeah… I was in the bathroom when the first round of vomiting hit. Gripped the toilet bowl so hard it broke and flew up into my face…” Remus lied, hoping he sounded convincing. Black gave him a strange look.
“Must’ve been terrible, sorry about it mate,” said Potter, and that was the end of it.