Chapter 21
The morning after the full moon was quite an eventful one. When James and Pete woke up the next morning, passed out on the floor in their dorm, having no idea how they got there in the first place, Lily, Mary and Marlene were also there, sleeping soundly on James's bed.
"Hey James," Pete whispered. "Where is Sirius?"
"Probably still somewhere with Moony. Go back to sleep Pete." Mumbeled James half asleep. It didn't take much convincing for Peter to do so, he laid his back onto his robe, which he used as a pillow.
"NO JAMES!" He jumped out. "Yesterday was the full moon!"
"Shit! You're right!" James jumped out. That startled the girls.
"What's going on guys?" said Lily rubbing her eyes.
"It's nothing, Lily. Me and Pete realized we forgot we have to be somewhere." James was quickly putting on his shoes half way out the of the door.
"We'll be back as soon as we can!" confirmed Pete pushing James out of the door.
Marlene also woke, climbing up on her elbows. "Just don't make so much noise!"
"Marls, please lay back down, you are the best pillow." Mary mummbeled into the pillow as she slapped Marlene in the face by accident.
"Fine, geez, Mary."
By the time the girls finished their talk James and Pete were already running through the halls of the castle.
"Hey James? Where are we even going?"
James stopped in his tracks. "Yeah. Damn, where are we going?"
"M-maybe the-" Pete stuttered but before he could finish his thoughts they hear familiar footsteps rushing down the corridor.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Pettigrew! What has gotten into Mr. Blacks head! I just the news from Poppy! Why didn't you stop, do you have no sense of responsibility! Don't tell me you didn't know about Mr. Black's plan! He could have-" she stopped he scolding just swooshing her hand signaling them to follow her.
James followed her swiftly and Pete followed close behind. "What's going on Miss Gonagall?"
"Don't act like you don't know, Mr. Potter." The teacher brushed him off.
"B-but we really don't." Defended them Pete.
"Just keep up." She rolled her eyes and continued her walk towards the inframary. Once the boys realized the direction of her walk they became worried and started to bombard her with all kinds of questions.
"What happened to Sirius or Remus? Are they okay?" James asked, panting slightly.
"They are fine, Mr. Potter. But they are in the infirmary," she replied, not slowing down her pace. "Sirius decided to go through with his plan of staying with Mr. Lupin during the full moon. I assume you knew about that."
"What- so are they okay?" asked Peter.
"Well," she stopped walking and looked at James and Peter. "They aren't dead. And besides their usual amount of stupidity, there is nothing keeping them from continuing their lives. So," she stopped. "to answer your question. They are okay." She turned her head back into the direction she wanted to go and set on her way.
James and Pete exchanged a worried look. They knew how dangerous it was for Remus to be around people during his transformation, but they trusted Sirius's judgement. And it's not like they could have talked him out of it anyway. They followed her in silence, still feeling guilty for not stopping Sirius from going through with his plan. When they arrived at the infirmary, they saw Sirius and Remus lying in two separate beds, both looking pale and weak. Sirius, however had still enough strenght to argue with the healer.
"I swear to Merlin, Poppy! It's just a scratch, it's not even worth mentioning, I've been through so much worse! Don't say anything to Remus I'm begging. And just let me go! I'm fine." Sirius started to get off the bed, when the Healer pushed him back in.
"NO! Mr. Black! You stay in the bed. And you won't get out until I let you." The Witch threatened him.
"Don't fucking call me that." Sirius spat back. "And LET ME THE FUCK OUT!" He shouted at her. Luckily, before he could do anything else James rushed out to him. Putting his hand on his shoulders, trying to calm him down.
"Hey, SIrius..." he said in his kindest tone "it's okay, we're here."
"Yeah, it's ok, what happened?" Pete also tried to calm his friend.
Pete and James looked at each other in horror. Sirius look as if he was about to explode, his eyes red and wild, his body covered in sweat and his hair sticking to his forehead. They had never seen him like this before. He was also shirtless, which wasn't unusual for him, what was unusual is the amount of healed scars that were on his body. It's not like James was usually looking, but it was impossible to NOT notice such a change, even through the bandages there was enough scars for anyone to notice.
"What do you mean 'what happened'? You guys didn't know?" asked Sirius sarcastically.
"You look like you are about to murder the entire school, dude!" Answered James. "And with these scars, it looks like you've already tried. And they fought back."
"NOWNOW, CALM DOWN BOYS." McGonagall tried to calm them. "Now, since Mr. Lupin is still sleeping. I advice you to tell us what happened, silently, so you do not wake him. Now, Poppy. Is there any chance that-that- Mr. Black is now..." she paused making strange hand gestures. "also- sharing you know..." her eyes teared up. " Mr. Lupin's condition."
"Oh, oh- don't worry, Minerva." She stood by her side giving her a hug. "It's just a scratch, it doesn't get transfered by scratches, bites only. It's okay." She smiled at her, calming all of them by a warm smile and reassuring tone.
"Well, that's good." Sirius snorted. "I wouldn't have guessed that." He remarked sarcastically rolling his eyes.
Minerva gasped."Mr. Black, please hold your tounge. This is no time for being sarcastic, Sirius."
"Just call it lycanthrophy, it's not a bad word." said Sirius.
The boys tried to calm Sirius down, but he was still agitated. "You guys have no idea what happened," he said through gritted teeth.
"Then tell us," James urged.
"I'll tell you later. Right now, I need to get out of here. I can't be cooped up in here like some kind of animal," Sirius spat.
"Sirius, please calm down," Peter pleaded.
But Sirius wouldn't listen. He got out of bed, ignoring Poppy's protests, and started getting dressed. James and Peter exchanged worried looks but didn't say anything. They knew that Sirius was stubborn and wouldn't listen to reason when he was like this.
"Come on, let's go," Sirius said, grabbing his wand from the nightstand.
"Where are we going?" James asked.
"Anywhere but here," Sirius replied, his eyes blazing with anger, purposefully avoiding looking at Remus.
James and Peter followed Sirius out of the infirmary, with McGonagall trailing behind them. Sirius looped around the castle at least three times before he finally set down got ready to talk.
"Sirius, what happened last night?" James asked, breaking the tense silence.
"Sirius, please tell us what happened," Peter begged, adding pressure on his friend.
Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Last night, during the full moon, Remus transformed. But something was wrong. He- I mean- I wasn't transformed into a dog yet, so he attacked me, that's how I got the scratch, but-but I..." He burried his head into his knees.
"Sirius," McGonagall started talking. "Are you implying you mastered the magic of-" she shook her head. "but that's impossible. It takes years of practice"
"I guess I'm just special." He grinned at her. "And after the rest of the night is all blurry. I have no idea what happened." Sirius sighed, brushing his hair again. "The only thing I remember is me waking up to Remus screaming, changing back. There was blood, a lot of blood. I thought is was his." He chuckled signaling to his chest. "I was wrong."
"Are you telling the truth?" asked Pete caringly.
"Of course I'm telling the truth!" Sirius shouted back at him, which made Peter flinch a little.
"Sirius, stop acting like a dick!" James snapped back at him. "What is wrong with you! I don't know what's going on with you! But it's not our fault. So calm down! And apologize! You drag us through the castle like five times without saying a single word, THE LEAST YOU OWN IS A HIT OF KINDNESS!"
Sirius locked eyes with him as he stood up. "You are right I'm sorry." He sighed, looking up at Minerva. "Is this all the explanation you needed?"
"Mr. B-" she stopped herself "Sirius, It's enough for now, but since we can't really inform your- because of condition- I mean lycanthropy situation." She stopped collecting herself, taking a deep breath "The uniqueness of Mr. Lupin's condition doesn't allow me to share it with- the public- I will settle for putting you into detention, for the next three months, and I will- talk about the rest of the punishment with the Principal." She turned around, and started to walk away. "Oh- and Mr. Sirius. I am impressed, I will expect nothing less than excelence in my class from now on." She smiled at him and walked away.