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The first thing that Remus noticed when he came to was how cold he was. It wasn’t a mere chill either, but a full body coldness that tuned his muscles rigid and lips blue. One look at his fingers confirmed his suspicions as they were purplish, nail beds taking up a bluish hue as well. It took all of Remus’s strength to stretch them out, raise his hand, and rub his palm against his nose. It was only then that he realized it was runny dreadfully down his upper lip.
Suddenly, Remus’s head snapped down towards his chest. “Tsh’Shoo! TShs’Shoo!” Remus blinked watery eyes in frustration as now his nose was practically flooded. He was forced to rub his itchy nose against the back of his wrist, tongue curled and pressed against the roof of his mouth to stave off anymore unwanted sneezes to no avail. “TShs’Shoo! TShsh’Shoo!”
A sharp, stabbing pain spread through his shoulder as he twisted his neck around in an effort to not sneeze on himself. He couldn’t stop from screaming from the pain, tears rolling down his face when the pain only intensified as he tried to move to a less painful position. He didn’t trust himself to look at whatever was wrong and deal with it, but the pain was becoming so unbearable that he felt like he was going to die right then and there.
“Remus? Remus?”
Remus barely had time to process who was saying his name, only turned his head feebly to where the sound was coming from. It didn’t take long for warmth to wrap around him as he felt a blanket be thrown across the length of his body. The moment he touched his neck and shoulder, he screamed again. The object was immediately pulled back, leaving Remus cold once more. However, the pain overrode his feel of how cold he was. It felt as though his shoulder had been cracked open and the flesh pulled through in long strings like shredded cloth.
“Okay, okay, let’s see what we’re working with.” The familiar voice was comforting, breath warm on the side of Remus’s neck. Remus instinctively became self-conscious and dropped his hands to cover himself. He held the chuckle of the man beside him, which only made him even more embarrassed. “I’ve seen you naked before, Rem. Hell, we fucked before the moon, don’t you remember?”
Honestly, everything was a little fuzzy in his mind. However, if that’s what he said. “Siri,” he managed to choke out before crying out again. “It hurts!”
“I know, I know. Let me see.” Sirius looked over Remus’s back and shoulder and struggled not to gasp. His shoulder was absolutely dislocated, hooked at an awkward angle so that it almost twisted in a full circle around Remus’s back. However, that was only part of his problem as his collarbone had not only broken, but had pierced through his flesh and skin. Sirius had never known that a collarbone could do that, but judging by the stricken look on Remus’s face, he knew it had to hurt like nothing else. The sight even had Sirius’s stomach twisting and it was only his love for Remus that kept him from running right out the door and waiting for Madam Pomfrey to arrive to take care of it.
“Siri,” Remus croaked.
Sirius forced himself to smile, big and wide to disguise the fear in his eyes. “It’s nothing a little magic can’t fix,” he explained softly. “Madam Pomfrey will have just the potion for it.”
Remus looked as though he wanted to say something else when his face screwed up and his breath began to catch. Sirius was left looking in surprise at his boyfriend until he ducked to the side rather forcefully. “Tsh’Shoo! TSh’Shoo! Tsh’Shoo!” Remus cried out in pain and Sirius watched as the bone poking out rubbed in and out of Remus’s flesh, blood dripping from the tip. What used to be muscle was jagged and torn, the harsh pulsation of blood making the entire injury coated in red, which didn’t give Sirius much access to see how serious the wound really was. One problem at a time.
“Bless you, Moony,” Sirius began as he threaded his fingers through Remus’s hair to smooth it back away from his forehead. “Caught the sniffles last night, huh?”
Remus groaned as he tried to stretch his body out. Sirius kept a firm hand on Remus’s hip to keep him from moving as Remus pushed against him and cried out.
“Don’t move!” Sirius’s voice rose in alarm as he came to press his knee between Remus’s shoulder blades to keep him steady. Any small movement could further wear the bone out of place, and the last thing that Remus needed was more unnecessary pain. “Stay right like that. I don’t want it to hurt you anymore.”
Remus stuck his fist into his mouth and whimpered, biting down hard enough that blood spurted from behind his teeth. He felt nothing besides the pain in his shoulder and neck. He went to bite again, to possibly gnaw a finger right off, when warm hands enclosed around his and pulled his wet hand from his quivering lip. Part of him wanted to lash back out whoever had taken away his avenue of venting his frustration, but he was too tired to do so.
“W-What happened,” Remus gasped, pausing briefly to take in another deep breath. “To me?”
Sirius held Remus’s hands tightly, thumbs brushing roughly over the punctures Remus made to himself. Blood brushed over his fingers, but Sirius didn’t mind. He continued to hold Remus’s hands, worried what would happen if he let go. “Moony was a little more agitated than normal. But, nothing happened to cause that, at least not that I saw.”
Remus closed his eyes tightly and sniffed hard. A light cough shook his shoulders, with Sirius still holding on so he didn’t shake himself too much.
It was then that Sirius noticed that Remus’s nose was running and he didn’t appear to have any strength left to deal with it. Instead, he reached out and cleaned up Remus’s nose himself, using only the gentlest of touches to do so. Remus hardly reacted, the desire to be clean taking over being embarrassed that Sirius was helping deal with his runny nose. They had been through worst, after all.
“Madam Pomfrey will be here soon and she’ll know what to do.” Sirus couldn’t help the hitch of his own voice seeing Remus in such pain. He swore that he had done his best as Padfoot to keep the Wolf happy, staying at his side as they bounded through the Forbidden Forest while wind whipped past their ears. Sure, the Wolf may have fallen a couple times as he wrestled with Padfoot, but nothing that should’ve caused this. Part of him wondered if this was just the toll of this curse on Remus’s body was slowly breaking him apart. Would things like this become more common? What about once they graduated Hogwarts at the end of the year? Would Madam Pomfrey do house calls?
Remus made a show to shake his head only to realize what a bad idea that was. He instantly froze as the pain returned with a vengeance, a burning feeling accompany the stabbing one that he was already facing. Each breath was painful, especially when he kept feeling the need to cough. How unlucky did he have to be to have an injury on top of being ill?
“Remus, did you hear me?”
“Sirius?” Remus pushed back against Sirius’s knee. “M’gotta sit up.” His abdominal muscles clenched as he tried to do it on his own, only for Sirius to forcefully rest a hand on his chest to stop him.
“Don’t you move,” Sirius commanded in a firm tone. “Rem, you’re in really bad shape. You have to stay like this until help comes, okay?”
Remus shivered and pulled his knees closer to his chest as he shivered. His teeth chattered as a tear rolled down his cheek. “Please, Sirius, please.”
Sirius could never say no to Remus, even when he thought that he knew best. He cared so deeply for the other boy that he never wanted to do anything to cause him pain. That’s why he was there after all, for the good and the bad. If Remus looked at him with that pitiful expression, he could’ve asked for the moon and Sirius would’ve been right there to try and pluck it from the sky just for him. This seemed like such an innocent request that Sirus couldn’t fathom saying no.
He leaned down and kissed Remus’s forehead. “Okay, alright, we-we’ll try.” A lump rose in his throat as he eyed Remus’s wound, each breath seeming to force the bone even farther from his skin. Remus may not have been actively reacting to his injury, but that could change in a moment. Eventually shock would wear off and things would get even worse. Sirius wished that he could run and find Madam Pomfrey to force her to hurry, but no one was supposed to know about Remus, least of all be near him this time of the month. They would do what they could besides that; anything to keep Remus comfortable and safe.
“Tell me how you want me,” Sirius continued.
Remus licked his dry lips, left hand spasming. “I want to lay on my back with my head in your lap.”
Sirius nodded in understanding and was quick to pull his knee from Remus’s shoulder blades and stretched out his legs in front of him. He reached out with shaky hands to take Remus’s middle and started to pull him forward. Remus’s body suddenly seized up and he screamed in pain, fists clenched as he struck them against the ground. Sirius immediately stopped what he was doing, an apology already fresh on his lips.
“No, no, keep going,” Remus begged between heavy sobs. “P-Please.”
“I don’t want to hurt you. I’m hurting you.”
“No, you’re not. My body is hurting and there is a difference.” Remus’s lungs spasmed as he coughed heavily, the pain radiating. He swallowed hard against the pain, meeting Sirius’s gaze and hoping that he conveyed exactly what he needed.
Sirius muttered under his breath as he hugged Remus close and lifted while he pulled in one single yank. Remus hissed in pain, but he didn’t scream, to which Sirius was thankful. He set Remus down lightly, propped up on his lap. “Comfortable?”
“M-Much,” Remus stuttered, teeth chattering.
“You’re cold.” Sirius reached behind him for the blanket from earlier and draped it over Remus, stopping at his chest. “Sorry, mate, I don’t want to touch your shoulder right now so that’s as far as it can go.”
Remus’s eyelashes fluttered as he looked up at Sirius. His amber eyes glowed with fever, whether it was from possible infection or his oncoming illness, Sirius wasn’t sure. Either way he didn’t like it. He would have to make sure to check on that as soon as Remus was released from the medical wing.
Remus swallowed hard, lips beginning to move. No sound came out, only brief puffs of air as he mouthed the words that he felt he couldn’t say.
Sirius smiled back and leaned over to graze his lips over Remus’s, tasting the sweetness of honey and the open moor. It didn’t last long as Remus wretched his head away and whimpered as his nose started to twitch. “Tsh’Shoo! Tsh’Shoo! TsSH’Shoo!” Remus cried out as his body shifted with each sneeze, no matter how Sirius tried to hold him down to prevent it. The coughing fit that followed was just as intense and painful, Remus wishing that he could be unconscious for this part.
“Is there anything I can do,” Sirius practically begged once Remus had regained his breath. “Maybe I can try a spell?”
Remus’s amber eyes rounded to the size of saucers at that suggestion. “Siri, I love you, but please don’t try it.”
Sirius was left laughing more out of uncomfortableness than anything else. Even injured, Remus was aware of Sirius’s track record with paying attention in class. Sure, he was a talented wizard, but there were some spells that even Remus wouldn’t attempt, and would never ask Sirius to.
“I won’t,” Sirius finally decided as he tore his attention from the broken bone still sticking out of Remus to Remus’s face. His gaze was still the same, so was his expression. He would do whatever it took to see that face everyday, and never wanted to do anything to harm him. Seeing him in such pain made Sirius’s insides squirm uneasily, wanting to comfort Remus and often feeling inept to do so. “I’m so sorry, Rem. I should’ve been able to protect you better so this didn’t happen. This is my fault.”
“You?”
“I don’t even know what could’ve caused this. Your bloody bone is sticking out!”
Remus closed his eyes, breathed through the rising nausea. He had been somewhat aware that something was exceedingly wrong, though having attention called directly to it had done him no favors. “This…..happens. My body isn’t taking it like it used to.”
“And there’s nothing I can do?”
“Stay with me.”
Sirius bowed his head and took in a deep breath, shoulders lifted up to his ears. He breathed out deeply and leaned forward over Remus and kissed him once more, not even caring about the slight moisture on Remus’s upper lip. All he wanted was to be connected to Remus in anyway, cold be dammed. He then grasped Remus’s hand and held it hard. He would’ve let go if Remus asked him to in a moment, but the werewolf didn’t. If anything he tried to grip back even harder.
“I’ll always stay with you. You’ll never be alone as long as I’m here on this earth. Do you understand me.”
Remus blinked tears free from his eyes, not even having to ask before Sirius was dabbing it away. Sirius was always right there for him before he ever had to ask. It was unlike anything else he had ever experienced before, and didn’t want to go a moment without it.
“We’ll do this together as we’ve done everything else. It’s going to take more than a little blood and mucus to scare me away.”
A wiry smile spread over Remus’s face, and for the first time since he woke up from his transformation, he felt at ease.