Chapter Text
Remus couldn’t handle it anymore. It was too loud in the great hall.
Sirius and Peter were having a food war with their sticky pancakes, James and Marlene were loudly groaning and whining about how stressed they are for exams, as if they didn’t choose not to study. Lily was reading peacefully- she was never really a problem to Remus- while taking notes. The full moon was days away, and all of Remus’ senses were doubled, along with a terrible headache.
He swung his legs from under the table and stood up.
“Moony? What’s wrong?” James asked, stopping him. Everyone at the section of the table was looking at him now. Pete and Sirius even stopped flinging food at each other.
He was already in great pain, and tears were starting to prick at his eyes. Their stares only made his face heat up and annoyance grow.
“Gonna go see Pomfrey. Headache,” he mumbled.
“‘Course Rem,” Lily smiled apathetically. “See you later.”
“Yea, see you later,” he said. He walked out the doors as fast as he could in his state.
He walked down the halls as his headache grew. It was worse than normal, and he could barely stop tears.
He walked as far to the hospital wing as he could, before he slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor. He held his head in his hands, and breathing took effort. The tears he tries so hard to hold in constantly finally started to fall. For the first time in years, he was crying. In public no less. At least he was somewhat secluded, in a little corner.
He leaned against the wall sobbing for who knows long, until he was interrupted.
“Lupin?” A voice called out warily. Remus looked up and was met with the sight of Regulus black. The brother Sirius refused to talk about after he left Grimmauld place.
Regulus stood a few feet away from him, concerned but cautious. He looked a bit awkward, but he was grateful for the space anyways.
“You okay?” He sounded like he wanted to help, but was too scared.
If anything, Remus only cried harder at the question. He wasn’t okay. His head was pounding, and he felt too overwhelmed by everything. Sounds, smells, textures even.
Regulus took a tentative step closer, before walking over to sit down next to Remus.
“Headache,” Remus mumbled after he had stopped crying as hard.
Regulus studied him for a moment, before reaching into his book bag and pulling out one of Madam Pomfrey’s wonderful headache cures. He didn’t ask any further questions, he just held out the bottle while looking across the hall. Remus took it gratefully and downed it immediately.
“Thanks,” Remus spoke up after a few moments of silence.
Regulus nodded. He seemed sad. He kind of always looked like that though. Remus couldn’t really blame him, being alone in that awful house.
“Do you just carry those around?” Remus asked curiously. Maybe he oughta start doing that. Regulus nodded.
“Get headaches sometimes.”
Remus nodded. Regulus grabbed his bag and stood up.
“You okay?” He asked quietly. Remus nodded again, and Regulus took that as his sign to leave.
Weird, Remus thought to himself. He got up and made his way to class after a quick check in the bathrooms.
He thought about the interaction for the rest of the day, until the four of them were sitting in the common room. Everyone else was either in their dorms or passed out at nearby tables.
“So, I was thinking,” Sirius started, “we really need to get back into our pranks. We’ve lost our game!”
“Oh yea? What were you thinking?” James asked, eyes brightening at the idea of pranking more innocent second years.
“I was thinking something to lighten up the mood. Everyone is all gloomy because of the war. We need some fun,” Sirius exclaimed.
“Yea!” Peter agreed. Peter would agree to anything any of them said, but Remus wasn’t willing to call him out right now.
“I think that's a good idea, Pads,” James smiled. They were all happy to see that Sirius was better now that he was out of Grimmauld. His brother though…
Remus was thinking about Regulus again. Sirius refused to speak about his family. Mostly out of shame and disgust, but Remus has a feeling that he is quiet about Regulus for an entire different reason.