dark and stormy nights were no time to spend outside, but being a full moon, things were different. despite the weather, james and the boys had to make sure that remus was safe and well looked after. the night had been going like any other full moon evening; each of the men in their animagus form, staying close to remus, keeping him away from the city, until a small tragedy occurred.
james had lost his focus sometime around 2 am, transforming from the stag form that he took back to human form, and before he was able to transform back, remus had lost control, swiping him good, leaving torn skin and blood in its wake. his entire body trembled from the intense pain as his legs gave out from under him, his hand moving to his arm and then his side in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.
he knew that he wasn’t safe staying here with the rest of the group. he knew that he couldn’t retake his stag form when he was injured, barely able to focus. going to saint mungo’s was out of the question, as was any other care facility. after a moment of quick thinking, james knew exactly where he had to go. he knew that he was taking a risk, but there was no other way to get out of there quickly. he closed his eyes, focusing all of his attention on lily and dorcas’s flat before his body apparated from his place in the woods to their front door. he stumbled as he reappeared, his body slumping against the door, smearing blood on it as he lifted his good hand to knock on the door, his fingers unable to even curl into a complete fist.
“lils, doe, open up,” he yelled out, using all of his strength just to keep himself steady on his feet as he slammed the palm of his hand against the door once again and again, hoping that they would hear him and answer before he lost consciousness.
—- Lily enjoyed storms. She always had. Petunia always hid from them while Lily sat by the window sill from the comforts of the home that her parents provided and watched as the clouds battled around outside. Even now, Lily had drifted off as her forehead pressed against the pane of glass while she was perched on the cushioned window seat that she and Dorcas had fashioned for their flat. She had an open book in her lap and her television was still left on casting long shadows in the dark living room.
—- At the sound of the knock, Lily jolted up in groggy awareness unsure of what time it was or which day. She rubbed her eyes and let out a soft yawn as her brain struggled to comprehend what was going on. Then, James’ voice through her front door pulled her out of her exhaustion and she sat up straight. What was bloody going on?
—- Scrambling to her feet, the book in her lap dropped to the floor and was forgotten as Lily made her way to the door. She unlocked it and pulled it open only for her eyes to grow wide. “Bloody hell,” she breathed out as she reached out to help him inside and made sure that she didn’t do more harm as she shut the door behind them. “What happened?” // @dorcasdorkass @mssrprvngs
it wasn’t uncommon to find dorcas in her room with several texts surrounding her that varied from modern charms to ancient runes. her wand was never far from her grasp as she prepared to practice the more complicated magics. of course, she just asked lily anything regarding potions. her roommate was far superior in that regard. training had been particularly brutal that morning, so dorcas hadn’t intended to stay up very late working. however, she’d never been good at pausing. more often than not, dorcas couldn’t remember going to bed.
a thunk from down the hall pulled her out of the middle of a paragraph about the origin of dementors. lily must have finally fallen asleep and lost hold of her book. dorcas returned to the sentence when she heard the door open. well, that was certainly unusual- especially if lily was asleep. she hurriedly set the text down on her bed and pushed herself up. she grabbed her wand and sprung into action. if training had taught her anything, hesitation could get you killed.
it wasn’t a huge flat, but dorcas still near sprinted towards their door. she hated that her mind immediately flashed to all the attacks that had been made on muggleborns. if anyone hurt lily, dorcas didn’t know what she would do. she was be devastate. she would never let that happen. however, it wasn’t lily that needed her concern. all the air felt like it was sucked out of the room as she saw the blood that was pooling on their floor and coming from james. “shit.”
a bowl broke in two on the floor as the clutter was pushed off of the flat surface. “get him up on the counter.” don’t hesitate. don’t think. just move. dorcas turned on the faucet to that the water would begin to heat up. she grabbed a towel and tossed it to lily as she began grabbing bit, baubles, bottles from their cabinets. “put pressure on the blood so it slows and get him to wake up. we need to ask him questions.” her voice wavered even as she said it. the wound didn’t look like a spell. it looked like...an animal ripped through him. “where the hell is our dittany?!”
@themxgglebrn @mssrprvngs