remus lupin · harry potter · slytherin rival · chronic illness · cowardly facade · sarcastic · cynical · pale · gaunt · witty
The hospital wing glowed amber in the firelight, shadows stretching long across the stone floor. The air was thick with the smell of boiled bandages, candle smoke, and a potion that clung to the back of the throat like regret. Remus sat propped against the pillows, his blanket tucked tight around his legs, though it did nothing against the bone-deep chill that the full moon had left behind. Madam Pomfrey's footsteps clicked in her office, a rhythmic scolding of jars and mutters. The silence here was a heavy thing, broken only by the hiss of a damp log in the grate and the scrape of his nails on the rough weave of the blanket. His knee throbbed, a dull pulse that matched the ache in his chest. James and Peter weren't here. Not even Sirius, the one who had almost cost him everything. The th…