I'm sure James was beaten stupid

By the time the three of us staggered and crawled back to the Gryffindor Common Room after our brawl, it was nearly dawn. Just as we pushed open the door, we spotted Remus sneaking back in. At the sound of us, he raised a hand, trying to cover the wounds on his body.

Then the three of us, bruised and battered from head to toe, left him stunned.

"What happened to you...?"

James was dragging the two of us along, one on each side. There was no "Senior Potter, why are you just watching?" moment: after punching Sirius in the face, I dragged James into it too and fought both of them with everything I had.

James kept dodging without fighting back. Sirius was stronger than me, but I was better at street fighting-meaning I had years of experience fighting punks—so things got extremely chaotic. If you still can't picture it, I suggest watching the scenes at the beginning and end of the Tom and Jerry episode "The Truce Hurts," where the cat, mouse, and dog beat each other up.

"Nothing much. We just had a little spar."

I strongly suspected James's brain had been damaged in the fight. He threw an arm around each of our necks, so affectionate it was as if my relationship with him had gone back half a month. "This is how classmates should get along and communicate!"

Sirius tried to sneer, but the moment the corner of his mouth lifted, it pulled at a bruise. His expression stiffened, and he glared fiercely at me again.

[Sirius affection -1]

Meanwhile, Sirius's relationship with me was as if he'd caught me joining the Death Eaters.

Remus sighed helplessly. He clearly hadn't believed James's explanation. It felt like nobody but James himself would believe such a lousy excuse.

"There are less than three hours until the first class. Do you want to get some sleep?" Remus didn't ask any more questions, and he no longer tried to hide the wounds faintly visible on his neck, mainly because they were nothing compared to ours.

"If we sleep now, we definitely won't be able to get up later." I yawned. "Good thing I brewed a wakefulness potion today. This should be enough for all of us." I pulled out the stopper, took a swig, and handed the bottle to James. "Find a cup and pour yourself some. Remus, do you want some too...?"

Before I could finish, James had already taken two swigs straight from the bottle. Then he handed it to Sirius as naturally as could be. "This stuff really works, mate. I feel like my head's clearer already."

The way you're acting clearly says otherwise...

The three of us stared at one another. When Sirius still hadn't taken the bottle after a while, James shook it in puzzlement. Then, noticing that the disgust on Sirius's face was practically unmistakable, he glanced at me and finally "realized" what was wrong.

"You don't want to take Merlin's wakefulness potion? Then I'll find a way to get you a bottle later!"

Sirius had finally had enough. He took a step back, looking just as disgusted with James, as if I were some contagious virus.

"She just drank from it."

James finally caught on. Then he casually picked up a cup and, as he poured, said to me, "I forgot. But it's fine. I'm so handsome, after all."

I really couldn't figure out where the logic in that came from. The only thing I knew for sure was that I'd been far too naive to think James would be embarrassed.

"Years from now, when I've made a name for myself, even a potion bottle I've used like this will fetch an astronomical price at auction and end up in a display case." He shook the bottle in his hand. "You could save all this stuff and sell it later. You'd be able to live in comfort. I guarantee it!"

"Why don't you go get some sleep?" I looked at him sympathetically. "Look at this poor kid, he's so tired he's talking nonsense."

Sirius probably wanted to laugh, but he also didn't want to laugh at anything I said, so his face twisted into a bizarre expression. Remus couldn't hold it in anymore either. He covered his face, tossed out an "I'm going to change clothes," and hurried toward the dormitory.

"Laugh if you want to, Black. Holding it in like that has made your face swell up." I pinched my own cheeks. "Look, you even made Remus laugh."

With that, I hurried away from the scene to the tune of [Sirius affection -1].

Every time Remus turned into a Werewolf, he ended up with many more wounds.

The pain of both mind and body made him lose his reason and want to destroy everything. The first time his transformation ended, he was deeply shocked to see the floor in front of him covered in splintered wood. He had only been a child then, but once he became a Werewolf, destruction came so easily. Every cell in his body screamed for release, and the beast within him lay dormant until the night of the full moon, when it burst out of his body and consumed his reason entirely.

More terrifying still, as a Werewolf, he had felt an indescribable sense of relief the moment he smashed the wooden table in front of him. The fire burning in his heart could only be diminished through destruction, so he had destroyed everything in sight, unable to stop himself.

It shouldn't have been like that.

He shouldn't have taken any joy in violence.

After that, he locked himself in an empty room every time. His intense desire to destroy went unsatisfied, and the restless fire in his heart burned him to ashes. Unable to restrain himself from howling, he finally turned his sharp claws on himself.

The agony cleared his head even as he satisfied his urge to destroy, and the easing of his agitation was always accompanied by pain that refused to fade. It was the only way he could keep his emotions in balance until dawn broke.

Last night had been his first full moon at Hogwarts. Headmaster Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey had both covered for him, and he had spent another night of nightmares in the Shrieking Shack. After daybreak, he returned to Hogwarts with several wounds, his mind filled with thoughts of how to explain where they had come from.

"I knew they'd end up fighting sooner or later."

"Who won?"

"Judging by the marks on them, Potter probably won."

"Did Black get beaten up that badly?"

There were still several wounds on his neck, but not a single person paid him any attention as he walked along. Everyone was looking at Merlin, Sirius, and James up ahead. The three of them had given up entirely after failing to use Episkey, so Evans had nearly started another fight when she first saw Merlin.

"It's fine, I had the upper hand this time!" Merlin stopped Evans just in time. Smiling, he put an arm around Evans and made a face at Sirius. "Lily, I'm happy you're willing to stand up for me, but this is a duel between us. I can handle it myself."

Evans took a deep breath, apparently holding back her anger. "I can't believe those two actually ganged up on you!"

"Actually, I started it. You could say I was the one beating up both of them." Merlin scratched his head. "Besides..."

"Besides, I didn't even fight back!"

James suddenly poked his head out from beside Merlin, startling even Remus. Before, James would start mocking Merlin whenever he saw him on the road, but now he had actually draped an arm around Merlin's shoulders in a friendly manner. Remus didn't know if something was wrong with his ears, but he could even hear a hint of... grievance in James's voice?

"I didn't hit back at all, and I even punched Sirius by accident. Ask Merlin if you don't believe me!"

Remus: "..."

Why was he talking about hitting his mate in such a proud tone?

Sirius's expression darkened further. He rushed up behind James, grabbed his messy hair, and forcibly dragged him off Merlin's shoulder.

"Ow, ow, ow! I told you it was an accident!"

"And you're bringing it up again!"

"Sirius, mate, darling! Stop pulling! My hair's going to come out!!"

Sirius dragged James two meters along, stumbling all the way. James finally managed to straighten his clothes and continue walking. Just before leaving the entrance to the Great Hall, he turned and waved at Merlin behind him.

"See you in class!"

Had they really just had a fight last night?

Remus was deeply doubtful.

─────

[Author's note]

★Tip★

Although James was arrogant and short-tempered, his temper always flared up quickly and faded just as fast. As long as the conflict didn't cross a line, he would quickly resume the friendship once things were cleared up, and might even take it a step further out of guilt.

Once James had developed enough affection, he wouldn't mind certain intimate gestures. But before he developed romantic feelings, he was completely unaware of them.

★Side quest reminder★

*Congratulations on achieving James's romance achievement: [Indirect kiss]