Worse Things

Worse Things

James Potter and Sirius Black were having a little chat about their friend Remus Lupin. Remus had always been a little odd, but he disappeared every month. James and Sirius had a theory as to what he was doing, and they decided to test it.

"James, it could be worse, he could be a vampire..."

"Sirius, drop the wisecracks. This is serious."

"But I thought I was-"

"Don't even say it. If our theory is right, and Remus is a werewolf, he should be coming back any minute. The full moon is going down as we speak."

"Yea, right. Any minute now..."

Ten minutes passed. Fifteen minutes. Twenty minutes and Remus still wasn't back...

"I guess we were wrong, Sir."

"I guess he's human after all. Let's go to bed..."

At that moment the portrait hole opened, revealing a paler-than-usual, tired-looking Remus. Sirius and James exchanged glances and nods. Remus looked at them, horrified.

"How's your aunt, Remus?" James asked blandly. "Does she have the same bug as your mother?"

"Or did she catch it from Uncle Leonard?"

"Was she hysterical because of Great-aunt Bettie's death?"

"Or did she get lumbago like Uncle Tim, Aunt Joan, Grandma Morris, and Grandpa Jack?"

"Or maybe she realized her best friend was lying to her?"

"And that that same friend also happens to be a werewolf in denial?" Sirius finished.

Remus's lip trembled. "I'll go," he whispered. Before James or Sirius could reply, Remus sprinted up the stairs to the boys' dorm.

"I think we laid it on him a little too hard, James."

"A little?"

"Okay, a lot."

"Come on, let's talk to him."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes, you have to, Sirius, come on..."

When Sirius and James reached the boys' dorm, they found Remus holding a suitcase, sitting on his bed, staring at the wall. James was certain he heard a sniffle.

"Look at him, Sirius," James whispered. "He wants to transfer to Durmstrang or something..."

"I don't really want to, James," Remus said quietly. "It's for the best. It's where I belong. I'm a liar and a Dark creature. I should have gone there in the first place."

"Oh no," Sirius said, taking the suitcase from Remus. "Sorry, Remus, but you're stuck with us."

"Nothing's keeping me here. I'm unwanted."

"That's a downright lie, Remus," James said. "You are wanted, and Sirius & I are going to keep you here."

"You can't... look, I can't put you through this. You don't want to be my friend."

"Yes, we do," James said.

"Sorry, Remus, but like I said, you're stuck with us," Sirius said.

"You don't know what you're putting yourself into..."

"Remus, we know," James said. "We know you're a werewolf. We wouldn't care if you were a hippogriff. We didn't mean to lay it down on you so hard before, it's just that- we don't like being lied to. We forgive you, Remus. We're not going to let you leave. Sorry, but you're going to be stuck with us for a good long time."

Remus looked up into James's eyes happily. "I can think of worse things."

"Really?" Sirius said. "I'm stuck. Spending an eternity with James? Think of the side effects it might have on your mental health..."

"Sirius, there is no one out there who could damage your head more," James laughed.

"Agreed," Remus laughed. "And I really am sorry. About all the- you know, lying."

"Yea, well I thought about it..." Sirius said. Remus snorted.

"You thought about something?"

"Oh shut it, Remus... anyway, I thought about it, and I mean, what were you supposed to say? 'Sorry guys, but I've got to go howl at the moon,' or 'Hey, if you hear howl, that's just me...' I mean, even I'm not that dumb."

"Really?" James and Remus said at the same time. Sirius threw pillows at both of them.

"And your excuses... oh, the hours of amusement they gave us," James laughed. "First you kept getting sick all the time. Sirius thought that an evil monkey from another dimension possessed you. "

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Anyway, that's what he was doing with the sticks that time, trying to get it out."

Sirius grinned sheepishly. Remus rolled his eyes.

"And then all your family members started getting sick," Sirius said. "Peter thought that your family was cursed."

"And Sirius thought your family was cursed by evil monkeys from another dimension."

"And then they started dying. Peter was so afraid he'd catch the family curse that he wouldn't stand next to you."

"And Sirius, he stayed awake every night, trying to hear the evil monkey from another dimension howling."

Remus snorted. "He's gotten worse."

"Yea, I know, we really ought to bring him to Saint Mungo's someday..."

"Hey!"

The three friends started a pillow fight, and Remus forgot all his worries, knowing that he had real friends at last.

THE END