A/N: Hey all. I'm so sorry this update has taken so long, but I'm really, really busy. I have my finals coming up in February, and this is a big year for me, so it's been hard to find time to work on this chapter. I did have this chapter done, but I wasn't happy with it, which is why I split it up into two…giving you readers the bit I was satisfied with. I have rewritten this chapter so many times that it is unbelievable. LOL. Finally, though, I seem to have landed with something I am pretty muchsatisfied with (though it's a wee bit too angsty). Hopefully, you people will be satisfied with it too. Anyway, I hope I can put up the next chapter soon, seeing as it hardly needs any editing, but I really can't promise anything, I'm sorry. I'm horribly busy, and I really need to study, so I'll try, but that's all I can promise you. Anyway, enjoy…I shall shut up now.
P.S. Steph says hi! LOL.
Somewhere I Belong
Chapter 12: Cutting The Ties
Sirius shifted uncomfortably, feeling awkward in the silence that followed after Madam Pomfrey left the room. Dumbledore wasn't saying anything. He was just staring out of the Infirmary windows with a thoughtful, yet somewhat stern look on his face. Suddenly, he turned around, beckoning to Sirius with his right hand to follow him. Sirius walked after him quietly, heart pounding in fearful anticipation of what the Headmaster was going to say. He had never seen Dumbledore look so serious before. There was no twinkle in the light blue eyes, and no hint of a smile on his face.
Sirius had been to the Headmaster's office many times, but usually, even if it was for playing a prank or such, James had been there with him most of the time, and nothing had seemed very serious then, because all they had done then was a few pranks. Now though, Sirius thought, as he climbed onto the revolving staircase that looked none too inviting, he could almost feel the impending doom. Why hadn't he felt anything of the sort when he had been brashly blurting out Remus' most closely guarded secret to Snape?
They had reached the top of the staircase, and Dumbledore opened the door and made his way to his desk, sitting down behind it and surveying Sirius with his cool blue gaze as he walked in. Sirius wished a hole in the floor would open and swallow him up.
"You do understand, Mr. Black, that what you have done is completely unacceptable? You have not only put the lives of three students in great danger, but also betrayed the implicit trust Mr. Lupin has placed in you. I am afraid that under such circumstances, I will have to deal with you very harshly."
Sirius swallowed very hard, feebly nodding, all the while forcing himself to meet Dumbledore's gaze. He was going to be expelled, and the very thought of it made him want to hurl. He'd have nowhere to go if he was. His family, seeing as he had run away from home, would never accept him back, and he doubted he'd be able to stay at James' place anymore, and…
"You will serve detention for the rest of the year, and you will be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, subsequently losing your position as co-captain of the team…"
"I'm not expelled?" Sirius breathed, hardly believing his ears, his heart lightening just a tiny bit.
"No, Mr. Black. I would expel you, but that would alert the Ministry to these happenings, and they would be all for putting an end to Mr. Lupin's life if that is the case," Dumbledore replied, looking sterner than ever, and Sirius' heart sunk. He hadn't thought of the Ministry, of what they would do to Remus if they found out. He knew, of course, but it hadn't struck him, and suddenly everything he'd done seemed so much more horrible. He sunk into the seat in front of the Headmaster's table; dazed and angry at himself, then realised that Dumbledore had never asked him to sit. He shot up at once, stumbling backwards, and stopping just before he fell backwards.
"Mr. Black…Sirius," Dumbledore said, his tone softening slightly as he looked at Sirius. Sirius looked back at Dumbledore, thankful to see that the Headmaster didn't look very stern anymore.
"As I was saying, you will serve detention for the rest of the school year, and will lose your joint position as Quidditch Captain that you share with Mr. Potter, and you will not be allowed to play Quidditch anymore. No, not even next year," Dumbledore added, seeing Sirius' questioning look. "I believe it is a small price to pay for what you have done, Mr. Black," he said firmly, and Sirius nodded forlornly in agreement.
"Also, 200 points will be taken from Gryffindor. I cannot do much more to punish you other than give you more detentions, or take more points. I deem further punishment by my hands unnecessary though. I am quite sure your friends will take care of that."
Sirius winced. He was quite sure of that himself. He couldn't imagine Remus greeting him very enthusiastically now, or even wanting to be his friend anymore. Dumbledore cleared his throat loudly to draw Sirius' attention. Sirius jumped. He had been so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't heard what the Headmaster had said.
"Sorry, sir, you were saying?"
Dumbledore gave him a sad smile, and answered, "I was saying that you should go to the Hospital Wing now, Mr.Black."
Sirius swallowed and briefly nodded, not knowing what to say, but still feeling like he had to say something, anything to make up for what he had done. "I…I'm sorry, sir. I never meant for this to happen, I just…I guess I didn't realise what I was doing…" he finished lamely, uneasily watching Dumbledore for his reaction and hoping he wouldn't be too mad.
Dumbledore surveyed Sirius, and nodded slightly, replying with, "Yes Sirius, I am aware of that, and yet, however sorry you might be, it still does not cancel out the fact that you have done something terrible - almost unforgivable."
Sirius nodded again, trying to dislodge the lump in his throat as he thought of James and Remus. He turned slowly, opening the door and stepping onto the spiral staircase, hoping against hope that James would listen to him, that James would understand why he had done what he had done. Hopefully, James would still stick by him, not totally, but at least to some extent. But somehow, judging by how everything had turned out so far, Sirius wasn't so sure anything of that sort was going to happen. James had seemed cold and withdrawn when he'd told him what he'd done, and somehow, best friend or not, Sirius wasn't sure that James' reaction was going to change.
He had never felt more alone as he did in that moment, striding along the silent corridors of Hogwarts towards the Hospital Wing.
James couldn't remember the last time he had woken up so knackered. No wait. He could. He and Sirius had sneaked off to The Three Broomsticks at midnight, where Madam Rosmerta had chided them no end, but finally given in to serving them, all thanks to Sirius' skills of charming and sweet talking her. James shook his head lightly, a slight smile on his face. The lady liked his best friend entirely too much. Sirius, of course, did nothing but take complete advantage of that fact.
The morning after, however, they had gravely regretted drinking so much, and poor Peter had borne the brunt of their bad moods and pounding heads - by being blasted into the third floor broom cupboard, because his voice had seemed squeakier and more irritating than ever to James' and Sirius' ears.
Anyway, on to why he was feeling so…in pain. Was it Quidditch? No. He couldn't remember any recent matches. Snivellus trouble? He snorted. No way. Like Snape could ever do anything to him. Hah.
Suddenly, it was all coming back to him. The Whomping Willow…running after Snape…Moony running after them…escaping from the tunnel…being hurled in the air by the tree's branch…everything going black.
Sirius.
Sirius had been the cause of it all. Why and how it had happened, James didn't want to know. All he was worried about was how Remus was going to take all of this. He would be devastated. First over how Sirius had betrayed his trust, and then over how he got so close to hurting James and Snape. Devastated was an understatement though. James knew Remus, and he was positive the boy would put himself through hell for something that wasn't even his fault.
What he didn't understand was how Sirius could have done this. How he could've blurted out Remus' most fiercely guarded secret as if it was nothing - to Severus Snape, of all people. As much as Sirius had been his best friend for what seemed like forever, and as much as James was used to his stupid, silly ways, and could tolerate and understand them better than just about anyone else, this was going too far. For once, he couldn't tolerate it, nor did he understand it. It disgusted him. He couldn't forgive Sirius for this.
He opened his eyes despairingly, letting out a long, drawn out sigh. Blurred shapes came into his line of vision, and he scrabbled around for his glasses. He put them on, and then groaned as his eyes fell upon the person slumped on the chair in front of his bed. Sirius was asleep, and his face looked haggard and worn-out, and James felt a slight twinge of worry...but only a slight one. He raised his head on hearing Madam Pomfrey approach, and gave her a tired smile in greeting.
"How do you feel now, Mr. Potter?" she asked, levitating a few potions towards him.
"Sore."
"After these potions you should feel a little better."
James winced, raising an eyebrow at the potions that were drawing closer to him, which, as always, looked and smelled rather unappealing. She chuckled.
"You know I'm going to force you to have them anyway, so don't bother with the faces."
She handed him a small phial of a green liquid, and he downed it, almost choking at the taste. Spluttering, he handed her back the empty phial, grabbing the jar of water and pouring himself a glass. Madam Pomfrey set down the rest of the potions on the bedside table, motioning to him to have them, and bustled off. Wincing, he proceeded to pick up another potion, resigning himself to the fate of having to drink it.
It seemed he had broken his arm, and got a whole lot of bruises and cuts as well. Well, what could he expect after being tossed in the air by the Whomping Willow? Actually, he surmised, he should be thankful that nothing had been seriously damaged.
A slight noise from Sirius' direction distracted him, and he turned his gaze towards the tall, black-haired boy, watching him yawn and stretch out his arms. Sirius' opened tired grey eyes, blinking a few times till the world around him came into focus; and emitted a startled noise on seeing James awake. Sirius hesitantly looked up at James, not seeming entirely sure of how he should act or what he should say. James' expression hardened. He had never felt so angry towards anyone his entire life.
"Bloody hell, Sirius, just what were you thinking?"
James watched as Sirius flinched at his hard tone, and waited impatiently till Sirius looked up again.
"I…I don't know. I was so angry at Snape. I wanted to…to hurt him."
"So you thought you'd use Remus for your little revenge plan, did you?" James said harshly, and then regretted his words (but only a little) when Sirius' face crumpled, and he stared at James with a confused and hurt look on his face.
"No! Of course not! I'd never use Remus for…for anything. You know that!"
"No, I don't. I don't know that anymore. I don't want to even look at you anymore. You disgust me." James snarled, struggling to bring his anger under control and stay under the covers instead of flinging himself at Sirius and throwing a punch at him. Sirius stared back at him uncertainly, a myriad of emotions flitting across his handsome face, ranging from hurt to anger to bewilderment.
"Look," Sirius started, his voice shaky but determined. "I didn't mean to…to put Remus in any danger when I said that stuff to Snape, okay? At that time, I didn't even know what I was saying. Snape had disarmed me, and I…I don't know…I was…I was… scared, I suppose," Sirius said, whispering out the last few words, looking away from James as though ashamed of himself.
He put up his hand when James looked ready to say something again. "No, wait, let me finish. Snape – he started taunting me, you know…about the stuff that happened this…this summer. He was saying a lot of stuff about you and Remus as well, and I got really angry, okay? It didn't help that I was…scared. And…and then I just blurted out the stuff about the Whomping Willow and how to get into the tunnel. I didn't even know what I was saying. I only realised after Snape left…and that's when I told you about it," Sirius finished, meeting James' gaze with a pleading look.
James looked away. He didn't know what to say. This wasn't what he had expected Sirius to say. He had imagined that Sirius, in his usual idiotic fashion, had gone and blurted out everything to Snape, or that Sirius had disregarded just how safely Remus guarded his secret from the world, and as a prank or joke, had told Snape how to get to the Willow. It had just been easier to accept that, and hate Sirius for it.
Now though, he couldn't do that. He was the only person who knew how deeply the summer's events had affected Sirius, and he knew how hard it must have been for Sirius to admit to James that he had been scared because he had been defenceless, especially when it was Snape who he had been scared of. James bit his lip, his thoughts warring with each other. He felt sorry for his best friend, and even so, he knew what Sirius had done was unforgivable; knew just how destroyed Remus would be over this. Remus wouldn't forgive Sirius even if he heard Sirius' side of the tale, he was sure.
James supposed he could always remain sort of neutral, staying a friend to both Sirius and Remus, but he could already see that causing trouble. When he was with Sirius, he got carried away, and tended to forget about Remus and Peter once in a while, and he knew it irritated Remus sometimes. Remus would probably be angry at him for giving Sirius a second chance (even if he didn't show it), which just meant that he wouldn't talk to James properly, and keep everything to himself. James had seen Remus do that before, and knew it would probably destroy the werewolf. Remus needed someone to help him deal with this; someone to confide in, and James was the only one who could take that place, seeing as Peter was rather impossible at such stuff.
He had come to his decision. He would just have to tell Sirius that he couldn't be friends with him anymore, and he would have to make it seem that he was angry with him; he knew that if he gave Sirius this reasoning…Sirius would only keep on trying to persuade him to give him another chance. And it wasn't like he wasn't angry with Sirius anyway – he was. He was still rather angry…just not as much as he had been. He drew in his breath, preparing himself for the stuff he was going to say, wincing inwardly as he turned back to Sirius, who was staring forlornly at the floor, as if he was sure James was going to tell him their friendship was over. Well, James thought, pushing down his guilt - at least he was sort of prepared for it then.
"Sirius," he said hoarsely, and Sirius glanced up warily, a slightly hopeful look on his face. Oh Merlin, that had not been a good move. He should not have called him Sirius, he should have used his surname, and he should have sounded angrier. AGH!
Sirius only looked at him expectantly, his grey eyes wide.
"Black," James said, drawing out the name as if it were something filthy, trying his hardest to ignore Sirius' involuntary flinch, and the look of hurt that had suddenly ingrained itself into Sirius' eyes. "Did you honestly think that would make me forgive you? I don't care whether the stuff you just said was true, all I care about is that you betrayed Remus' trust. No matter why or how it happened, it isn't going to change what you've done, and you better get used to it. You can't always rely on me to be there every time you mess up."
"What are you trying to say exactly?" Sirius asked quietly.
"That we can't be…we're not friends anymore." James replied, lessening the harshness slightly, wincing inwardly again as Sirius looked crushed. The next second, however, James wasn't sure he'd even seen the expression, because Sirius had, as always, covered it up with his usual mask, except this time the mask was one of anger, instead of the usual playfulness. Sirius stood up, his fists clenched.
"Fine…if that's how you want it," he snapped, before turning around swiftly and trudging out of the room, robes swishing in his wake.
James watched him leave dejectedly, sinking into the sheets of the hospital room bed, wishing it was legal to use Time Turners, so that he could turn back time and change everything that had taken place in the last few hours.
The next morning, James woke up, dazedly staring at the ceiling as he tried to gather his bearings. Madam Pomfrey had let him come back to the Gryffindor dorms last night, after one last check up to confirm that he was completely okay.
He propped himself up and pushed aside his bed hangings, then reached for his glasses and put them on. Patter and Sirius were already up. Peter was still sleeping soundly; blissfully unaware of everything that had happened. He had probably been trying to chat up some disinterested girl last night and completely forgotten about Remus.
Patter was dumping books out of his bag, and placing others inside it. He had already showered and changed into his uniform. James interestedly studied him. As much as he didn't like the guy, he still found him kind of interesting. He looked exactly like James, which was totally weird. His hair stuck up in all directions in the same way, and he seemed to hate it as much as James did, considering the way he kept trying to flatten it. He was slightly shorter than James though, and much thinner, which James put down to his not eating much. His eyes were green, and he had that weird scar on his forehead. So well, they weren't really that similar, were they? Hah.
There were other things about Patter as well that made him so mysterious. For one, he was supposed to be an exchange student from America, but he had a British accent. Of course, that might not mean anything. He could be originally from Britain anyway.
Patter's Patronus was another thing that made James very curious. He still found it pretty uncomfortable to think about it...he couldn't imagine being a guardian for anyone, much less Patter. Maybe it was just a coincidence. But there was this distinctive air of secretiveness around Harry Patter, and James just couldn't figure out the exchange student.
Sirius walked out of the shower then, with nothing but his pants on. He put on his shirt and tie, all the while managing to avoid James' gaze. He picked up his wand and muttered the usual spell he used for drying his hair, and then, with one flick of his head, his hair had settled into place perfectly. Patter was watching Sirius as well, and James noticed his eyes widen as Sirius' hair fell into place.
"How do you do that?" Patter asked, giving Sirius an incredulous look.
"Do what, Patter?" Sirius questioned grumpily.
"Your hair..." Patter said.
"Oh...that. I-unlike you, have perfect hair, thank you very much," Sirius replied sarcastically, turning away to put on his robes. Next, he pushed his feet into his boots, without bothering to undo the laces to put them on properly.
"I was only asking a simple question. There was no need to be so rude," Patter said, his eyes narrowed in anger.
"Whatever. I'm not really in a mood to talk, Patter"
Patter raised his eyebrows and gave James a quick glance, as if he had suddenly noticed Sirius and James weren't talking. Understanding suddenly dawned on his face, and he fell silent, going back to packing his bag, occasionally turning his face upwards to look at Sirius and James.
So far, Sirius had successfully avoided meeting James' eyes. Suddenly he clambered up from the front of his trunk, something clenched in his fist as he walked towards James. He roughly pushed whatever it was into James' hand, and then stiffly walked away. James opened his hand, and saw what Sirius had given him-the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain badge. James raised his eyebrows quizzically, looking curiously at the badge. He and Sirius were Co-Captains for the Quidditch Team, McGonagall having decided they were better off with joint leadership of the team. She would've never paired them up otherwise though, because the two of them caused too much havoc when together, so they had guessed it was because the only thing they'd ever been serious about was Quidditch.
"Why've you given me this, Sirius?" he asked.
"It's not mine anymore. Dumbledore told me yesterday that I've been removed from the team. I won't be playing next year either," Sirius said in a tight voice.
"What? He can't do that!"
"Oh, I almost forgot," Sirius said, acting as if he hadn't heard what James had said. "I had scheduled Quidditch tryouts this Tuesday at 4 pm. The team needs a new Seeker. And I guess you'll need a new Beater as well, considering I've been kicked out of the team," Sirius replied, eyes downcast. He slung his bag over his shoulder, and then started heading for the door.
"Where're you going?"
"To see Remus," Sirius said dully.
"Wait then. I'm coming as well"
"Why?" Sirius asked, not sounding angry, but not very happy either.
"Because I want to be there - to give Remus some support," James replied, a cold edge to his voice. As much as he had felt sorry for Sirius yesterday, he hadn't yet forgiven him for telling Snape about Remus. He picked up his clothes, heading into the shower for a wash.
"Right," Sirius replied quietly, plopping back onto his bed.
Harry watched as Sirius plopped down on his bed, a guilty expression on his face. He had finally figured out what must have happened. Sirius must have told Snape about how to get into the Willow last night. James must have gone to save Snape. That had to be what had happened. And now James wasn't talking to Sirius. Dumbledore must have kicked Sirius off the Gryffindor Team. That must have been horrible, Harry pondered to himself. He knew how it felt not to be allowed to play Quidditch, and if Sirius felt the same way about Quidditch as he did, he must be feeling terrible right then.
"So you're no longer Quidditch Captain for Gryffindor?"
"Gryffindor Co-Captain, actually. But yeah, in answer to that, I'm not one anymore," Sirius answered, looking utterly downcast.
"You and James were Co-Captains? So now he'll be the sole captain?"
"Yes, I suppose so," Sirius replied shortly.
"OK. When did you say the tryouts were again?"
"This Tuesday; four o'clock. Why would you be so interested anyway?"
"Used to play the Seeker position at my last school"
"Oh"
They both fell silent after that. Peter had woken up, and was looking curiously at Sirius. James stepped out of the shower, changed quickly, and then beckoned to Peter. He gave Harry a very pointed look, as if telling him to leave. Harry decided he had better, and picking up his bag, he left the room, though he was feeling very much inclined to stay.
Remus Lupin woke up, feeling extremely confused. His whole body was aching, and he couldn't move without something or the other hurting. He groaned lightly, causing Madame Pomfrey to come rushing in.
"Remus dear, are you alright?"
"Not really. I'm hurting all over...ouch," Remus said, wincing at the pain that shot up his side as he tried to sit up.
She gently helped him prop himself up.
"Here. Drink this. It won't make you feel much better, but your wounds will heal a bit faster. Make sure you don't move about too much today. You might end up making your wounds worse."
Remus nodded as she tipped the potion into his mouth. After swallowing, he finally opened his eyes, scared to even see how bad his injuries were. He gasped softly. He was covered almost from head to toe in bandages. Last night must have been really bad. From what he could remember, he hadn't been joined by Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail. No wonder he had hurt himself worse than he usually did these days. But even so, he couldn't possibly have hurt himself so much. Unless…unless something had happened that he wasn't aware of. Something - that he couldn't remember. A suffocating, almost suppressing feeling filled him. He hadn't hurt anyone, had he?
Madame Pomfrey came back, and before she could speak, he interrupted her.
"Have I...I hurt anyone?"
"No dear. Though if James hadn't come in the nick of time, you just might have," she replied hesitantly, as if she wasn't sure she wanted to tell Remus about what had happened.
She was interrupted by a knock at the door. Opening it, she peered out at whoever was standing there. She looked a little hesitant for a second, but then beckoned to whomsoever it was to enter. James, Sirius and Peter walked in, and Remus quirked his eyebrows curiously on seeing Madam Pomfrey give Sirius a stern look, which the black haired boy looked away from, focussing his gaze on the floor like it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Remus grinned inwardly to himself. Maybe Sirius had blown up her potions cupboard or likewise.
"I'm giving you only half an hour. This boy needs a lot of rest," Madam Pomfrey said sharply, leaving the room as the three Gryffindors nodded. James walked towards the bed, Sirius and Peter following him. There was a collective gasp as they came in front of Remus' bed, the loudest coming from Sirius.
"Moony, are you alright?" James asked concernedly. Remus decided he'd just go straight for the truth; there was no point in lying anyway.
"No," he replied quietly. "It hurts. It hurts…a lot."
"Oh...er...I assume you want to know why you hurt yourself so bad, and why we didn't come last night." The last bit was said in a whisper, and James looked around warily after speaking.
Remus gave him a slight nod, wincing when pain shot through his neck.
"Uh...Snape had entered the Willow last night, and I followed him to get him out before…you know…" James trailed off.
Remus swallowed hard, looking away from him and not answering for a while. Oh God, Snape had come, and James had followed him? Madam Pomfrey had said he had not hurt them, but…he had to know…needed to hear it once more from James. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he had done anything.
"Did I hurt any of you?"
"No, you didn't. I managed to come just in time to get Snape out. Another minute…and something might've happened."
"Good," he sighed, feeling as if a great weight had been taken off his shoulders.
"But...but how did he know how to enter the Willow?"
James looked at Sirius then, who was still nervously hanging back, with an incredibly guilty expression on his face, looking as if he'd rather be anywhere else but there. Sirius fidgeted, and then moved forward, his gaze nervously flitting between Remus and the floor as he started to speak.
"I told him how to."
That was the one thing Remus hadn't expected Sirius to say. His throat tightened, and he cleared it, still not completely believing what the black haired boy was saying.
"Run that by me once more, won't you?" Remus said softly, staring hard at Sirius.
"I told him how to get in," Sirius said quietly, biting his lip and finally meeting Remus' eyes steadily.
"Why?" Remus felt incredibly hurt and betrayed.
"I don't know…why. He was…he was insulting you and James...and taunting me about my family...so I just-" Sirius faltered, probably realising how lame his reasons sounded, Remus thought uncaringly.
"So you just thought you'd make your best friend a murderer, did you?" Remus said accusatorily, glaring at Sirius.
"N…no...I-"
"What the bloody hell were you thinking? This isn't one of your everyday jokes or pranks, you know. I could've killed them, Sirius…KILLED them. Do you realise that? Did you want to be responsible for Snape's death, even if you hate him? Did you want ME to be responsible for his death? I should have never trusted you with this. I should have known…that you'd let me down. That you'd act like this is all some big joke to you."
Remus' voice faded into the tense silence that was filling the room. Sirius was shaking now.
"No! I…I didn't mean it as a prank. I would never…and it isn't a big joke to me…I don't know why I did it…I'm…I'm sorry, Moony," Sirius finished lamely, dropping his head in shame.
"Don't call me that. Don't call me Moony. I trusted you, Sirius. I trusted you with this, and you betrayed me,"
"Can't you at least try to...to forgive me?" Sirius pleaded.
"I don't know if I ever will be able to. I don't want to even look at you right now. Get out of my sight, Sirius," Remus hissed and turned away, gaze firmly rested on the wall on the other side of the room.
"Please, M...Remus," Sirius reached out, tentatively touching Remus' shoulder. Remus flinched. He couldn't believe that Sirius had told Snape. He couldn't believe he had ever trusted Sirius with this. He should've known that Sirius - with his don't-care-ish attitude about everything, would give away his secret.
He should have known.
"Don't touch me. Just LEAVE, Sirius"
Sirius dropped his arms so that they rested by his sides. He slowly stepped backwards, a lost expression on his face. He gave one last glance towards Remus, who still wasn't looking at him, and then turned around, defeated, and left the room.
"James, Peter...if you don't mind, I'd like to be alone right now," Remus said softly, turning to gaze at them.
"No problem, Moons. We'll leave."
"Take care, Moony"
"Call us if you need to talk or anything, alright?"
Madame Pomfrey was back, and she started ushering James and Peter out.
"Out! Out! I said only half an hour! The poor boy needs rest. Don't you dare come in till tomorrow, unless he calls for you."
Then she helped Remus lie down again. Pain laced through his body as he moved slowly, but he hardly felt it, still trying to push the hurt away.
A/N: PLEASE REVIEW! Make the life of the poor ickle authors who are slogging over their books! LOL.