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Appendicitis


Remus’s Birthday dawned with rain and sleet clicking against the windows. It was five days before the full moon - but Remus woke up so stiff and sore that he told James, Sirius, and Peter to go on to class without him, he wasn’t leaving his bed. He even told Peter not to bother bringing him breakfast as the smell of the chocolate bar Peter was nibbling on in bed before everyone else got up had been enough to make Remus vomit violently. Sirius took some convincing to leave Remus’s side, but eventually he did when Remus pointed out that he needed the notes for the classes so that he wouldn’t fall behind. So Sirius took it upon himself to take the most immaculate notes ever known to student-kind.

“Minnie,” Sirius shouted during Transfiguration, “Could you slow down talking a bit? I’m trying to write everything down for Remus Lupin’s notes and your accent isn’t easy to spell.”

Professor McGonagall gave Sirius a Look, but she did slow down a bit and even took extra time to spell out some of the more important words on the chalkboard so that Sirius was spelling the incantations correctly. She also did not say a single word when Remus’s homework was turned in written in a hand that looked conspicuously similar to James Potter’s.

“What are we doing for Remus’s birthday?” Lily asked at lunch, “Are we having a party in the common room?”

Sirius shook his head, “I don’t think Remus likes all the attention from all that very much.”

“We were going to steal another film from the Muggle Artefacts Museum and go out to the Shrieking Shack,” Peter whispered to her.

James added, “You wanna come along, Evans?”

Lily said, “Can I?”

“Of course!” James answered.

At his remedial potions session with Lily, Sirius asked her to teach him a pain relieving potion. “It’s extra important we get this one right,” he told her as she collected the ingredients for him, “I’m going to give it to Remus so he can enjoy his birthday party.” So they took their time and made sure they made the potion just right. Lily did a bit more of the work than she really ought to have done, considering Sirius was supposed to be learning, but she didn’t want them to go poisoning Remus by accident because Sirius was a little heavy handed with his pouring.

Remus was laying on top of his blankets when they got back to the dormitories that evening, fanning himself with a bit of parchment he’d folded, wearing nothing but his boxer shorts as he lay there looking quite miserable. “Is it just me or is it about twelve hundred degrees in here?” he asked, looking pathetically about the room.

James, who had on a long sleeve oxford under his jumper, glanced at Sirius and Peter, “Not… really, no…”

“Well I’m hotter than hell,” Remus complained.

“Yes you are,” Sirius agreed, grinning.

Remus groaned and covered his eyes, “Sirius…”

“Yes, I’m serious, Moonpie,” he answered, and he climbed up onto the bed beside Remus, and found the bed was literally soaked with sweat. He made a face. “Oh bloody hell, you’re melting everywhere.”

James cleared his throat, “I really don’t wanna be the one who says it, but… is it possible that you ought to go and see Madam Pomfrey, Rey?”

“I’m fine, really,” Remus argued. “I am. I wanna go watch the film. Please.” He sat up and instantly winced, clutching his side and falling back into the pillows, his face screwed up quite tightly. “Ow, ow, ow, ow!” he cried.

Peter and James shared an expression of concern. Remus Lupin - the boy who turned into a werewolf every month, who had shattered his knee and barely complained of the pain, who didn’t even react when he stubbed his toe or his fingers got slammed into drawers or doors - was saying ow over a pain? Peter couldn’t imagine what sort of extreme condition would cause Remus to even notice pain. He acted like major incidents were no worse than a paper cut...

Sirius had leaped upon the bed again - nasty sweat be damned, and started examining Remus carefully. “Your stomach’s all swelled,” he said, running his palm over Remus’s skin, to the right of his belly button. He looked up at him, “Did you eat something funny?”

Remus shook his head, “I haven’t eaten all day. I’ve been throwing up since the smell of Peter’s chocolate this morning.”

“That’s it, you’re going to Pomfrey,” James said.

Remus brought his palm over his abdomen, squeezing down. “But - but it’s my birthday,” Remus pleaded.

“Yes and unless you want it to be your death day as well, you’ll go to see Pomfrey!” Peter squeaked forcefully.

Remus looked up at Sirius with pleading eyes.

“I’m sorry, Moony, but they’re right,” Sirius said.

Remus didn’t want to, but there was no arguing that something was the matter. Especially when they tried to move him and he cried out in pain once again. James ended up levitating Remus’s body and Sirius clutched his hands and they brought him off to Pomfrey’s very carefully. When they arrived, she directed him right to a bed and started tending to him with concern -- even Madam Pomfrey knew that when Remus Lupin complained of pain, there was something very wrong.

And very wrong indeed. It turned out that Remus Lupin’s appendix was inflamed and needed removing before it burst, and Madam Pomfrey nervously shooed the boys out of the hospital ward, telling them to go and fetch Albus Dumbledore and have him bring Newt Scamander as quickly as possible.

Sirius had never run the halls of Hogwarts faster than he did then. He shouted every sort of candy he could think of at the stone gargoyles and luckily got through with the promise of Sugar Mice and he took the moving staircase three steps at a time, panting by the time he arrived to Dumbledore’s office. “Headmaster -- Remus -- needs -- bring Newt -- Pomfrey said --- appendix --- bursting,” Sirius gasped.

Dumbledore moved quickly, taking up the suitcase from the chair where it rested and hurrying along with Sirius as quickly as his old legs could carry him.

“I wasn’t sure if the procedure could be done the same way for a… a boy with Mr. Lupin’s… special circumstances,” Pomfrey whispered to Newt Scamander the moment he had been called out of the case. Tina stood by, holding Bradley on her hip, Bradley’s eyes wide as he watched Newt expertly poke and prod at Remus’s side and run his hand across Remus’s cheek and forehead.

“How long has he been, uh, ill, like this?” Newt asked, gently prodding Remus in the side. The pressure actually eased the pain Remus felt so that he cried out more when Newt released than when he pressed.

Sirius hadn’t left, despite Pomfrey’s command. He answered Newt, “We thought it was a bad moon coming. He’s been sick for a few days. He’s always sore and saying he’s cold, I just thought it was a bad moon.”

“How long?” Newt asked.

“It’s been close to a week,” Sirius admitted, his face full of regret. If only he’d made Remus come to be checked when it first started!

Newt turned to Pomfrey and listed off a good deal of ointments, potions, and supplies that they would need to perform the operation that Remus would need and then he turned to Sirius, “You’ll - you’ll need to wait outside, I - I must insist.” He looked at Tina, “And - uh - if - if you could watch Bradley…? I need you, Tina.”

Sirius took the little boy into his arms as Tina passed him off and she joined Newt by Remus’s bedside. Dumbledore waved for Sirius to follow him out into the hall, where James and Peter were waiting as well with expectant looks on their faces. “He’s going to have an operation,” Sirius said, his voice trembling as he put Bradley down. “He was so ill he needs an operation and I barely noticed.” Sirius was near tears.

“He didn’t say it was that terrible,” James said, “You didn’t know. We got him here as soon as we knew.”

Sirius said, “But - I should’ve known. I should’ve.”