"Mister Lupin, is everything all right?"

Remus was standing in front of Professor McGonagall's desk after class. She was eyeing him with suspicion and concern. He had fallen asleep in class because he had spent the last three nights in the library with Lily and Regulus, going to bed far too late at night. When the professor stopped the class and woke him up, he had started coughing and ran out of the room. He had coughed up eight petals and a little rosebud, along with at least a cup and a half of blood. When he came back, his throat was so raw he didn't dare try and excuse his behavior for fear his voice wouldn't work. Now, he had no choice.

"Sorry, Professor," his voice was weak and scratchy. "Stayed up too late studying."

Her mouth tightened into a thin line, like how it always did when she was upset. "And the coughing? What is wrong with your voice?"

"Er... someone's put a Hacking Hex on me. It'll wear off soon." He croaked.

Minerva sighed. "If it worsens, go see Madam Pomfrey."

"Yes, Professor."

"Alright, Lupin, to class with you,"

He nodded and left. Not surprisingly, Sirius, James, and Peter were waiting for him outside the door.

"Moony, what's wrong with you?" Pete asked. Remus was saved from answering by James, who elbowed the smaller boy.

"Wormtail!"

"What? He's being bloody weird as hell,"

Sirius laughed. "It's Moony, when is he not? If he wasn't weird, he'd be boring as fuck." He grinned at Remus, who gave him a soft smile in return.

"True as that may be, we do want to know if there's something wrong," James admitted. "Wouldn't want anything happening to our Moony."

"I'm fine," Remus rasped.

All three of the other boy's eyes widened at the sound of his voice. "Mate, no you're not," James said.

"It's fine, it'll go away in a bit, we have to get to class-"

Sirius cut him off. "Remus, we're worried about you,"

"I'm fine." he snarled, but it felt like there were thorns inside of him... which there were. That certainly explained the increasing amounts of blood and his raw throat. "Goddamn roses." He thought.

A door opened up ahead, and Lily walked out of the bathroom with Mary MacDonald and Marlene McKinnon. Remus pointed, and his friends turned to see them. Although James was concerned for his friend, he couldn't resist an opportunity to talk to Lily.

"Oi, Evans!"

Lily turned, despite herself, despite knowing who it was. She rolled her eyes until they locked with Remus's. He mouthed "Help!" and she understood instantly. The three girls walked over. James, Sirius, and Peter looked beyond surprised.

"Why did that work?" Peter whispered.

James shrugged. Lily, Mary, and Marlene stopped in front of the Marauders.

"We need Remus," Lily said, ignoring James. "He promised to help us with something."

Marlene grabbed Remus's arm and pulled him away. The girls started walking off with him, while the three boys watched, hopelessly confused.

Lily patted him on the shoulder. "Let's get you to class,"

"Thank you," he said, his voice still scratchy, but getting better by the minute. He looked at Mary and Marlene. "Did you tell them?"

Lili shook her head. "They just wanted to annoy the boys."

"Yeah, but now I'm curious," Marlene ventured. "Tell us what?"

"Nothing." Remus mumbled.

"But-"

"Marls, if we're late for potions we're going to get stuck next to someone gross. Let's pick up the pace, maybe?" Lily urged, changing the subject.

Remus looked at her and mouthed "Thank you".

***

That night, Remus was dying in the dorm bathroom. It was past midnight. He had woken up from the dream confused because something about the mystery boy seemed so familiar, but he couldn't place it. Then, his throat had started to itch and he rushed to the bathroom before he woke everyone up. He was leaning over the toilet, choking on blood and a big clump of petals that blocked his airways. He could feel thorns digging into the inside of his throat. He couldn't breathe. All he could think was "Fuck, this is how I die."

He could barely hear a voice cry "Moony!" over the sound of him choking on his own blood. He heard that voice shout a spell and he felt the lump dislodge. A hand whacked him on the back, and petals spewed from his mouth, along with a small red waterfall of blood that dripped into the toilet bowl. With one huge hacking cough, Remus finally coughed up the thing that had been clogging his throat. A large, black rose blossom fell into the red-stained water and floated amongst the petals.

Remus leaned back and slumped to the floor, exhausted and breathing heavily. Just as he was about to close his eyes, a face appeared above his.

"Moony?!" Sirius looked panicked. He never looked like that. "What the fuck just happened? Are you okay?"

Remus couldn't speak. It hurt too much. He just opened and closed his mouth a few times, like a fish. A fish whose face is probably covered in blood. He was so tired. He made eye contact with Sirius and mouthed the words "Padfoot... don't tell... please..."

His eyes fluttered closed, and he faded into sleep.