Eleanor Potter ~ My Brother's Best Friend

Birthday Blues

The Gryffindors were now almost two months into their first year at Hogwarts and everything was going quite well. So far there hadn't been any major disasters, Peter had burned his eyebrows off a few times but still no major disasters. The boys had established a friendship between the four of them that would surely last forever. James and Sirius never shut up and would be constantly laughing and telling jokes to anyone who would listen, they had experienced one or two tellings off from McGonagall who had caught them chasing each other through the corridors but no detentions, yet. Remus joined in when he felt like it which was most of the time. Except those few days near the end of September, Remus disappeared after lunch and reappeared the next day at lunch claiming he'd had some weird kind of 24 hour sickness and had spent his time in the hospital wing with Madame Pomfrey. Peter didn't give it a second thought, but both James and Sirius wondered just why Remus had neglected to tell any of them that he wasn't feeling well and that he was in the hospital wing all night on his own. They decided that it was probably just that they hadn't known each other for that long yet so maybe Remus just didn't think to tell them. It was either that or he was keeping a secret from them. Though Remus was only in the hospital wing for a day he spent the next few days looking pale before he perked up again and became his usual nerdy self who could either be found convincing James and Sirius not to do something as it would probably end up in one of them expelled or he could be found reading. Peter could always be found wherever James and Sirius were, he didn't leave their sides. He would laugh at every joke and sometimes just look at the pair in admiration as if all he really wanted in life was to be like them.

It was around about a week before Halloween when Remus had mysteriously taken ill again and had once again claimed he'd had some random stomach bug that only lasted a day. The three other boys decided to think nothing of it, until Ellie asked if Remus was feeling alright.

"Is Remus okay?" Ellie asked the boys the night after Remus's stay in the hospital wing.

"Yes, think so why?" James replied to his sister wondering why she was so interested in Remus, she hadn't taken any real interest in the boys really so why she was suddenly so interested in Remus he had no idea.

"He just seems a bit pale don't you think, plus he wasn't at dinner last night or breakfast this morning"

"Well that's because he was in the Hospital Wing last night," Peter told Ellie, happy that he could input into the conversation.

"Oh goodness, what's wrong is he ill? Did you not even notice James!"

"No of course I noticed which is why I've already asked him if he's feeling alright and he said he's fine," James replied to his sister feeling a bit offended that she thought that he could be such a bad friend.

"Well good, make sure you do keep an eye on Remus won't you. It would be a shame if he was ill over Halloween,"

"And it would be an even worse shame if he was ill for my birthday!" Sirius added looking up from his potions homework he'd spent the last hour falling asleep over.

"Wait your birthday! When is this?" James turned to Sirius and began interrogating him.

"November third, didn't you know?"

"No of course I didn't know you haven't mentioned it! Thanks a lot mate now I've got hardly any time to get you a present!"

"Don't worry I don't get presents," Sirius told the three of them very nonchalantly before turning back to his homework.

James, Ellie and Peter stayed quiet for a second looking amongst each other. It was James who spoke first, this was the first time James really began to understand just what his best friends life was like before Hogwarts.