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The lights in the Hospital Wing were too bright. They always were when Remus finally came to after his Sleeping and Pain Potions wore off. It wasn’t Madame Pomfrey’s fault, though. She tried to keep his corner of the Hospital Wing as dim as possible, but all of his senses were over-sensitive after a full moon. Sight, smell, taste, hearing, touch. Even his emotions were out of control, but they were like that before a moon, too. His over-heightened senses came in handy sometimes, though. It was how he could hear Sirius’ whispering to Madame Pomfrey by the door, despite that being over twenty feet away.
“I just want to bring him his homework. I won’t be long, I promise,” Sirius whispered. “Please?”
Remus wasn’t used to the softness in his voice. Usually, when Sirius tried to visit him in the Hospital Wing, he was loud, bordering on a little rude, in his demands to see if his friend was alright. He was also usually accompanied by James and Peter. But that day, not only was he quiet and respectful, but he hadn’t said “we.” He was alone.
The door shut with a soft thud, and Remus heard Sirius’s telltale sound as he headed over to his curtained-off bed. Madame Pomfrey must have wordlessly given her permission for Sirius to visit because he hadn’t heard her say anything.
Remus did his best to sit up, a task made more difficult by the sling on his right arm because of his dislocated shoulder. He’d just managed it when Sirius poked his head through the curtains.
“Remus? Oh, good. You’re awake,” Sirius said, a gentle smile forming on his face. He slipped through the curtains and dropped a small stack of books on his bedside table. “I brought your homework.”
“Thanks,” Remus said. His voice came out hoarse, just like it always did after a transformation. All the howling made his vocal cords swell.
“How are you feel—Merlin, Rem—” Sirius sat down on the edge of the bed with a worried look as he finally glimpsed Remus’ face in the dim candlelight. “Are you ok?”
Remus flinched and brought his hand to try to cover the new silver scar across the bridge of his nose. “It’s not as bad as it looks,” he said in a rush. “I—I fell down the stairs and—”
“You’ve used that one already,” Sirius said.
Dragon’s dung. Remus’ heart raced as he tried to come up with another plausible explanation for his injuries. “I meant—I—”
Sirius looked at him calmly. “It’s ok, Remus. I know.”
Remus’ heart went from feeling like it was beating out of his chest to feeling like it wasn’t beating at all. It was his worst fear come to life. Someone knew his secret. He pulled the covers up over his head in an attempt to hide. He’d be gone by the next day. He knew it.
“Hey, hey, no.” Sirius tried to pull the covers back down away from his face. “We don’t care.”
Remus let out a soft whimper and pulled the covers tighter around him.
“Alright, that’s a lie. We care. But we care about you. You being a werewolf doesn’t affect that.”
“You can’t tell anyone. I know you’re probably terrified of me now—”
“We’re not scared of you.” He made another grab at the covers. “Rem, please look at me.”
Reluctantly, Remus lowered the blankets just enough to peak at Sirius over them.
“We aren’t scared of you,” Sirius repeated. “You’re still the same Remus who keeps emergency chocolate in his pockets at all times. Who falls asleep literally everywhere and lets me steal his jumpers because they’re softer than the ones my horrible mother buys me. I don’t see you any differently just because you turn into a furry creature once a month. And neither does James nor Peter.”
Remus froze. James and Peter. Sirius had been saying “we,” not “I.” But if they all knew, then why did Sirius come alone to tell him. “Why aren’t they here with you? Usually, after a moon, all three of you are trying to break your way in here.”
“We thought it might be best if only one of us came so that you weren’t overwhelmed. That, and James and Peter are holed up in the library doing research to see how we can help.” Sirius smiled softly. “Can you pull the covers down now? It’s weird only seeing eyes and curls.”
“You aren’t going to tell anyone, are you?”
“Of course not. I should have probably led with that. That’s my bad.” He gave an apologetic smile. “But we’re your friends, Rem. We’d do anything to protect you. You’re part of our pack.”
Remus lowered the covers the rest of the way. “Are you really making wolf references right now?”
Sirius beamed at him. “Yup! I’ve got loads of them, so get ready, Moony.”
“Moony?”
“Yeah, I thought it would be a clever nickname.” He paused and looked at Remus, who was staring at him with a blank expression. “Unless you hate it. Is it too soon to make jokes?”
Remus continued to stare at him. Sirius truly wasn’t afraid of him. Sure, he looked a little nervous, but that seemed to be because he didn’t want to offend Remus. It wasn’t because he was afraid that Remus would maul him at any given moment. Overcome with a surge of affection, Remus launched himself at Sirius, bringing him in for an awkward one-armed hug.
Sirius laughed and wrapped both arms around Remus’ waist in a tight embrace.
Remus relaxed into it and allowed himself to let his guard down entirely for the first time since getting to Hogwarts a year ago. He realized that he could now. He could be a person who trusted. Because someone knew his secret and didn’t hate him for it. And not just one person, but three. His three friends. And not only did they not hate him, but they wanted to help him. A few tears fell from his eyes as he buried his face in the crook of Sirius’ shoulder. He should have felt stupid for crying, but he was too relieved. “Thank you,” he mumbled. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Sirius whispered.