In the Rain
Chapter one: The Beginning & The Trip
Remus's POV
It was the start of our 6th year, and I was waiting for my friends in the Hogwarts express. I always get here early, to save us our compartment. That is, the Marauder's compartment. Not that I need to save it, everyone knows it's ours, and won't dare take it. Last year there were a couple of first-years in there, but they cleared out. Cough.
I stared out the window, scanning the crowd for the familiar messy raven hair, charming black hair, short blonde hair.
Suddenly, the door burst open, surprising me a lot, but, it was only Sirius.
"Sirius!" I cried, jumping up. I had been missing him a lot over the holidays; I had been missing them all. The full moons were almost unbearable without them with me. They seemed a lot worse than I remembered. I had grown used to the others being with me over that year, and being without them...I shudder just thinking about it.
Anyway, I'm getting off track. I jumped up and gave him a friendly, brotherly hug. For a second there I felt weird, it's hard to describe. Really, really happy. I know it's normal to feel happy to see my friends again after all that time, but I mean, euphorically happy. It was so weird; I had no idea why. I just...did.
When we let go he looked at me, kinda jumped, and stared at me. "Whoa.
Moony! You look...different!" Well, he was right about that. For some reason, I looked a lot different to how I used to look before the holidays. My shoulders were broader, my skin tanner, and my hair had finally settled on a nice golden brown colour. Also, before I usually had my hair back in a short pony-tail, but now I've decided to have it down. It looks better that way.
"Anyway, Moony! Didja miss me?" he said, all bouncy and excited again, as always. He always makes me laugh when he does that, like a hyper little puppy. In fact, he nearly always manages to make me laugh. Even when I'm sad, Sirius usually finds a way to make me laugh. He taught me that when I'm feeling sad, to smile, and maybe laugh a bit, and it won't seem so bad.
"Heeellooooo, Moony? Are you there?" he said, waving a hand in front of my face, and I realised that I had been staring at him, but into space. You know?
"I'm here, Siri!" I'd never used that nickname before. It had always been 'Padfoot' or 'Paddy' etc, etc. I just felt like calling him that.
"Well?! Didja miss me?!" I laughed, and thought for a second. I had missed him a lot, to say the least. More than usual. "Like hell." I replied, and he laughed. I love it when Sirius laughs, his eyes light up and sparkle. He has really amazing eyes, Sirius. They show his emotion if you look hard enough, and they are this really amazing bright blue colour. I always admired Sirius's eyes.
When Sirius laughs he sort of throws his head back, and his hair catches the light, making it even more beautiful than normal. I had never really noticed this before, though. I didn't know why I was being so, well, observant now.
"Hey, guys!" James cried, barging into the compartment and throwing himself onto the seat next to Sirius, and I felt like I wish he hadn't come, and just left Sirius and I by ourselves. Weird. That feeling was gone in a second, though, and I was just glad to see him again. We hugged, and I noticed that I didn't feel the same euphoria.
James and Sirius didn't hug; they pretended to air-kiss each other, and started talking in this fake, hollywood superstar drawl.
When they air-kissed, I felt a twinge in my stomach. Just a slight twinge. I didn't have long to ponder about it, though. James and Sirius were too funny.
"Oh, hello, darl! Long time, no see, Prongsie, baby!" "Oh, we have so much catching up to do, Paddy! Did you know that Frank and Alice have hooked up?" In one second, every one of us had cracked up laughing again. We were laughing so hard, we were practically falling off our seats.We always laugh this hard when we get together, and since we'd been apart for so long, it just seemed that much funnier.
We were laughing so hard we didn't even hear Peter come in. I have a feeling he tried to get us to notice this, but ended up laughing his head off anyway at us.
When we finally calmed down, which took considerable time, the Hogwarts Express was almost ready to head off, and we finally saw Peter.
"Hey, Peter!" I said happily but breathlessly, before giving him a quick hug, followed by Sirius and James.
"Whoa, Moony! You look really different!" James cried when he saw me. "You're gonna have the ladies all over you this year! You look hot! Right, Padfoot?" Sirius jumped, as though he hadn't been paying attention, and replied kind of uncertainly, "Uh, yeah! that's right!"
"It's great to see you guys again!" Peter cried, plopping down next to me. I nodded, adding, "Same with me. Ugh, it was horrible to be all by myself, without you three. Especially the transformations. They seemed ten times worse this summer without you three there." The others smiled sympathetically, apparently meaning to cheer me up. I hate it when people are all feeling sorry for me. It's already happened, and they can't change that.
Sirius, seeing that I wasn't exactly looking a lot happier, joked, "Well, at least it'll be a lot better now we're here! Aren't you glad?" That worked better. It always makes me feel a bit better about it when the others joke about my being a werewolf, and like I said before, Sirius can always make me laugh.
"Ok, now onto the topic we've all been waiting for," Sirius continued as the train started, rubbing his hands together and smiling mischievously, "The ladies." He turned to James. "So, Prongsie, you over Lilsie yet?" I rolled my eyes, chuckling slightly. It was really obvious to everyone tht James liked Lily, he had since second year. That is, obvious to everyone except Lily.
"Nope, Paddsie," James answered. "Still love her. She's so beautiful..." He started staring into space, when- SLAP! "Hey!" James cried, massaging his cheek and glaring at Sirius. "That hurt! What was that for?!" Sirius looked at him innocently.
"Well, you told me that whenever you go into a trance to slap you!" he said, as though surprised he didn't remember. "No I didn't!" James replied indignantly. "Well," Sirius said thoughtfully, "I guess I just felt like slapping you, then."
When we stopped laughing, Sirius turned to me. "So, Moonsie, who've you got your eyes on this year? Ally? Sophia?" I thought about that one. What was weird was, none of them seemed to attract me at the moment. Sure, I knew they were beautiful and smart and everything, but I didn't, you know, like them romantically, or anything. This was especially weird because that morning I had just been thinking about asking Ally out. Now I didn't really feel like it.
"No-one," I said truthfully, and the others snorted.
"Yeah right," Peter said disbeleivingly. "You've had a crush on Sophia since half-way through last year, and Ally since the beginning." I couldn't disagree with that. It was all true. But, I just didn't really like them anymore. When I tried to explain that to the guys, however, they just snorted again. I rolled my eyes. "It's true. I just don't really like them like that anymore. I just like them as friends now." Sirius stopped snorting and tried a different tactic.
"Ok, how about Dawn? Jade? It better not be Lily." "No, no, and No!" I said. Dawn already had a boyfriend, Jade just wasn't my type, and James liked Lily.
"Oh, Ok, then," Sirius said, in what would have seemed to be a defeated manner, had it been anyone else. "Rae?" he asked, hopefully.
"No!" It would have been starting to get annoying, had it not been so thought-provoking. Oh, and the fact that it was Sirius.
Sirius scowled, but then brightened up again. "Well, now that we're done discussing moony's love life. Or," he added, mischievously, "his lack of one," I rolled my eyes, "Let's get onto mine!" he started bouncing up and down in his seat and clapping his hands excitedly.
"Ok. So, you and Summer hooking up?" James asked, reffering to Sirius's last girlfriend, and I felt the twinge again, a little more pronounced this time.
"Nah, I broke up with her. She was getting annoying, owling me every day." James shook his head. This was pretty much how Sirius's relationships all went.
Becoming bored with the conversation about Sirius's love-life, I turned to look out the window, and to ponder about...well, about life. To day-dream. I love doing this, I have been since Ally and me went out in our second year. We broke up in our forth year, though, we just weren't in love as much anymore. We're still good friends, though. She's a great listener.
Suddenly, Sirius cried, "No way! Never!" I hastily glanced over at Sirius, who was staring at James as though he were crazy. "What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. James immediately started laughing; he always does that when I raise one eyebrow. Neither him, Sirius or Peter can do it, either.
Sirius looked at me as though he'd just realised I was there, then gave me a disbeleiving look. "Oh, it's just James here. He said he'd give me a galleon to kiss Nicola Halloway. You know, that ugly Slytherin chick. I wouldn't do that for anything less than a hundred." James, who had stopped laughing, looked breifly as though he were considering whether it would be worth it, and I burst out laughing once again.
Sirius's POV
When I saw Remus for that first time after the Summer, I was so shocked. He looked so different, so cool, so hot. I knew he would be a definate heart-throb that year, and that thought wasn't exactly the happiest. I had liked him since last year, and still did, for him. Not for his hair or body, for him. How he was so smart and nice all the time, and his sense of humor. And now, he was going to be surrounded by bitchy sluts that only wanted him because he was hot. And that, as I said, wasn't exactly the happiest thought in the world.
Not even that could squash my happiness for sseeing him again, though. It was so good just to see him face again. Of course, we'd been sending owls to each other, but it's just not the same as seeing him for real. And it was that encouraging thought, of seeing him again on the Hogwarts express, that kept me from going crazy over the holidays.
As Remus would say, Not that I wasn't already crazy.
But, I'm getting off track.
When I saw Remus, I thought he'd never looked so beautiful. I thought I'd never, ever loved him as much as when I saw him then. He looked so...mysterious, so....well, it's hard to describe. Just so....perfect.
Anyway, we hugged, and I felt the butterflies in my stomach that I always feel when Remus hugs me. He hugs everyone, though, in a friendly way, but I still feel really good.
When we let go I looked at him up and down, drinking in every part of him. I was glad for an excuse to look at him like that without him thnking I'm some crazy psycho-stalker or something. Ok, maybe that was an exaggeration, but you know what I mean.
When I realised I'd been staring for a long time, I said, all amazed (because I was), "Whoa...Moony! You look...different!" Wow. I truly am a master of vocabulary. I truly am. I'm not always like this, just with Remus.
"Anyway, Moony! Didja miss me?" I asked, happily. Remus always makes me so happy when I see him, I just get so bouncy and hyper and...well, you get the idea. He started thinking, you know? Like, day dreaming, kind of fazing out, so I did what I do, and waved my hand in front of his face, saying, "Heeellooooo, Moony? Are you there?" "I'm here, Siri!" he replied, and I immediately warmed to the nickname. Remus had never called me that before, in fact, no-one had ever called me that before. I loved it, though. It sounded almost as though...but no. That's not the case.
"Well?! Didja miss me?!" I cried, all bouncy again. Well, I had to know. Ok, I knew he missed me, but it just feels good when he says it. Kind of like when you think of a really good idea for a prank and you know your friends are going to say how it's really good and everything, but it still feels good when they do.
He laughed, this wonderful, tinkling laugh. Like an angel's. I know this is all so cliched so much, but it's all true. No matter how many times you say it, it's still true. "Like hell," he said, and I laughed.
Suddenly, James barged into the compartment, scaring the hell out of me. "Hey, guys!" he shouted, and practically threw himself on the seat next to me, before standing up again to hug Remus. I don't mind when James hugs Remus, like James wouldn't mind if I hugged Lily. In a friendly way. Although, I guess it's different, but you know what I mean. I guess it helps that James liking Lily proves he's straight, and vice versa.
James sat back down and turned to me, grinning. We air-kissed, you know, kissed the air in front of each of our cheeks and I said in this really hilarious superstar I'm-better-than-you Hollywood voice, "Oh, hello, darl! Long time, no see, Prongsie, baby!" I was practically cracking up already.
"Oh, we have so much catching up to do, Paddy! Did you know that Frank and Alice have hooked up?"
In one second, every one of us had cracked up laughing again. We were laughing so hard, we were practically falling off our seats. That's one of the reasons I love being around all th others, we always go silly like this and crack up laughing. Everyone always looks at us weirdly, but some people start laughing with us, like when you yawn and someone else yawns. It's catching.
I think Peter came in sometime when we were laughing, I don't know, but when we stopped laughing, Peter was there, and he looked like he had been laughing, too. "Hey, Peter!" Remus said happily, but breathlessly from laughing, and gave him a hug, then I did then James.
"Whoa, Moony! You look really different!" James cried, but that was all I heard. Again, I was glad for an excuse to look at him that long, and I was getting lost in his eyes. They're so- "...Right, Padfoot?" I jumped, and stared at James. "Uh, yeah! that's right!" I bluffed, and no-one seemed to notice.
"It's great to see you guys again!" Peter cried, and sat down next to Remus. "Same with me. Ugh, it was horrible to be all by myself, without you three. Especially the transformations. They seemed ten times worse this summer without you three there." I felt a little guilty, leaving him by himself for the transformations like that. We all knew how bad the transformations were when he was by himself, and were instantly feeling sorry for him.
I saw he was looking a little uncomfortable, and remembered that Remus doesn't like it when people feel sorry for him, so I said jokingly, "Well, at least it'll be a lot better now we're here! Aren't you glad?" He seemed a bit happier after that.
"Ok, now onto the topic we've all been waiting for," I announced, getting excited. I had to find out who Remus liked. "The ladies." I turned to James. Well, it was just one question. "So, Prongsie, you over Lilsie yet?" Remus rolled his eyes and chuckled slightly.
"Npoe, Paddsie," James answered. "Still love her. She's so beautiful..." Wrong answer. SLAP "Hey!" James cried, massaging his cheek and glaring at me "That hurt! What was that for?!" I looked at him innocently. Or as innocent as Sirius Black can get.
"Well, you told me that whenever you go into a trance to slap you!" I said. "No I didn't!" James replied indignantly. "Well," I said thoughtfully, "I guess I just felt like slapping you, then."
We all laughed, and I turned to Remus. It was time for the big question. "So, Moonsie, who've you got your eyes on this year? Ally? Sophia?" Remus thought for a bit, while I waited as patiently as I was just before I got on the train to go to Hogwarts for my first year.
"No-one," Remus said earnestly, and everyone snorted, including me. It was a well-known fact among the Marauders that Remus rarely didn't have a crush on someone.
"Yeah right," Peter said disbeleivingly. "You've had a crush on Sophia since the midle of last year, and Ally since the beginning of it." Remus said that he didn't like them anymore, but we just snorted again, causing Remus to roll his eyes. "It's true. I just don't really like them like that anymore. I just like them as friends now." I stopped snorting, and decided to try something different. I had to find out who he liked.
"Ok, how about Dawn? Jade? It better not be Lily." "No, no, and No!" Remus cried, and I beleived him. I just felt like he was telling the truth.
"Oh, Ok, then," I said, trying to sound like I couldn't come up with anyone else. "Rae?" I asked, hopefully.
"No!" Well, this was weird.
I scowled, but then brightened up again. "Well, now that we're done discussing moony's love life. Or," I added, mischievously, "his lack of one," Remus rolled his eyes "Let's get onto mine!" I started bouncing up and down in my seat and clapping my hands excitedly.
"Ok. So, you and Summer hooking up?" James asked, reffering to my last girlfriend. Remember when I told you I....wasn't straight? Well, that was the truth. I've just been going out with some girls to test it. Remus could just be another crush or something. Just to be sure.
"Nah, I broke up with her. She was getting annoying, owling me every day." James shook his head. I knew he was both disappointed I hadn't said anything to Remus over the holidays and realising the same thing I had just done recently.
Remus turned look out the window, to think. I love it when he does that, because he can't see when I'm looking at him. James turned to me, flicked his eyes to Remus, and raised his eyebrows. I immediately knew what he ment.
"No way! Never!" I shouted, cursing the day I had told James I liked Remus. Well, I didn't really tell him, it just slipped out.
"What?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow, and James immediately started laughing. Not only from the fact that I would have to explain this, but also from the fact that, for some reason, it looks really funny when he raises an eyebrow like that. I was in no mood to laugh, though.
I tried to think of an excuse."Oh, it's just James here. He said he'd give me a galleon to kiss Nicola Halloway. You know, that ugly Slytherin chick. I wouldn't do that for anything less than a hundred." James, who had stopped laughing, looked breifly as though he were considering whether it would be worth it, and Remus burst out laughing again. Thank the Lord. I made a mentel note to thank James for making Remus forget about that later.
Chapter one: The Beginning & The Trip
Remus's POV
It was the start of our 6th year, and I was waiting for my friends in the Hogwarts express. I always get here early, to save us our compartment. That is, the Marauder's compartment. Not that I need to save it, everyone knows it's ours, and won't dare take it. Last year there were a couple of first-years in there, but they cleared out. Cough.
I stared out the window, scanning the crowd for the familiar messy raven hair, charming black hair, short blonde hair.
Suddenly, the door burst open, surprising me a lot, but, it was only Sirius.
"Sirius!" I cried, jumping up. I had been missing him a lot over the holidays; I had been missing them all. The full moons were almost unbearable without them with me. They seemed a lot worse than I remembered. I had grown used to the others being with me over that year, and being without them...I shudder just thinking about it.
Anyway, I'm getting off track. I jumped up and gave him a friendly, brotherly hug. For a second there I felt weird, it's hard to describe. Really, really happy. I know it's normal to feel happy to see my friends again after all that time, but I mean, euphorically happy. It was so weird; I had no idea why. I just...did.
When we let go he looked at me, kinda jumped, and stared at me. "Whoa.
Moony! You look...different!" Well, he was right about that. For some reason, I looked a lot different to how I used to look before the holidays. My shoulders were broader, my skin tanner, and my hair had finally settled on a nice golden brown colour. Also, before I usually had my hair back in a short pony-tail, but now I've decided to have it down. It looks better that way.
"Anyway, Moony! Didja miss me?" he said, all bouncy and excited again, as always. He always makes me laugh when he does that, like a hyper little puppy. In fact, he nearly always manages to make me laugh. Even when I'm sad, Sirius usually finds a way to make me laugh. He taught me that when I'm feeling sad, to smile, and maybe laugh a bit, and it won't seem so bad.
"Heeellooooo, Moony? Are you there?" he said, waving a hand in front of my face, and I realised that I had been staring at him, but into space. You know?
"I'm here, Siri!" I'd never used that nickname before. It had always been 'Padfoot' or 'Paddy' etc, etc. I just felt like calling him that.
"Well?! Didja miss me?!" I laughed, and thought for a second. I had missed him a lot, to say the least. More than usual. "Like hell." I replied, and he laughed. I love it when Sirius laughs, his eyes light up and sparkle. He has really amazing eyes, Sirius. They show his emotion if you look hard enough, and they are this really amazing bright blue colour. I always admired Sirius's eyes.
When Sirius laughs he sort of throws his head back, and his hair catches the light, making it even more beautiful than normal. I had never really noticed this before, though. I didn't know why I was being so, well, observant now.
"Hey, guys!" James cried, barging into the compartment and throwing himself onto the seat next to Sirius, and I felt like I wish he hadn't come, and just left Sirius and I by ourselves. Weird. That feeling was gone in a second, though, and I was just glad to see him again. We hugged, and I noticed that I didn't feel the same euphoria.
James and Sirius didn't hug; they pretended to air-kiss each other, and started talking in this fake, hollywood superstar drawl.
When they air-kissed, I felt a twinge in my stomach. Just a slight twinge. I didn't have long to ponder about it, though. James and Sirius were too funny.
"Oh, hello, darl! Long time, no see, Prongsie, baby!" "Oh, we have so much catching up to do, Paddy! Did you know that Frank and Alice have hooked up?" In one second, every one of us had cracked up laughing again. We were laughing so hard, we were practically falling off our seats.We always laugh this hard when we get together, and since we'd been apart for so long, it just seemed that much funnier.
We were laughing so hard we didn't even hear Peter come in. I have a feeling he tried to get us to notice this, but ended up laughing his head off anyway at us.
When we finally calmed down, which took considerable time, the Hogwarts Express was almost ready to head off, and we finally saw Peter.
"Hey, Peter!" I said happily but breathlessly, before giving him a quick hug, followed by Sirius and James.
"Whoa, Moony! You look really different!" James cried when he saw me. "You're gonna have the ladies all over you this year! You look hot! Right, Padfoot?" Sirius jumped, as though he hadn't been paying attention, and replied kind of uncertainly, "Uh, yeah! that's right!"
"It's great to see you guys again!" Peter cried, plopping down next to me. I nodded, adding, "Same with me. Ugh, it was horrible to be all by myself, without you three. Especially the transformations. They seemed ten times worse this summer without you three there." The others smiled sympathetically, apparently meaning to cheer me up. I hate it when people are all feeling sorry for me. It's already happened, and they can't change that.
Sirius, seeing that I wasn't exactly looking a lot happier, joked, "Well, at least it'll be a lot better now we're here! Aren't you glad?" That worked better. It always makes me feel a bit better about it when the others joke about my being a werewolf, and like I said before, Sirius can always make me laugh.
"Ok, now onto the topic we've all been waiting for," Sirius continued as the train started, rubbing his hands together and smiling mischievously, "The ladies." He turned to James. "So, Prongsie, you over Lilsie yet?" I rolled my eyes, chuckling slightly. It was really obvious to everyone tht James liked Lily, he had since second year. That is, obvious to everyone except Lily.
"Nope, Paddsie," James answered. "Still love her. She's so beautiful..." He started staring into space, when- SLAP! "Hey!" James cried, massaging his cheek and glaring at Sirius. "That hurt! What was that for?!" Sirius looked at him innocently.
"Well, you told me that whenever you go into a trance to slap you!" he said, as though surprised he didn't remember. "No I didn't!" James replied indignantly. "Well," Sirius said thoughtfully, "I guess I just felt like slapping you, then."
When we stopped laughing, Sirius turned to me. "So, Moonsie, who've you got your eyes on this year? Ally? Sophia?" I thought about that one. What was weird was, none of them seemed to attract me at the moment. Sure, I knew they were beautiful and smart and everything, but I didn't, you know, like them romantically, or anything. This was especially weird because that morning I had just been thinking about asking Ally out. Now I didn't really feel like it.
"No-one," I said truthfully, and the others snorted.
"Yeah right," Peter said disbeleivingly. "You've had a crush on Sophia since half-way through last year, and Ally since the beginning." I couldn't disagree with that. It was all true. But, I just didn't really like them anymore. When I tried to explain that to the guys, however, they just snorted again. I rolled my eyes. "It's true. I just don't really like them like that anymore. I just like them as friends now." Sirius stopped snorting and tried a different tactic.
"Ok, how about Dawn? Jade? It better not be Lily." "No, no, and No!" I said. Dawn already had a boyfriend, Jade just wasn't my type, and James liked Lily.
"Oh, Ok, then," Sirius said, in what would have seemed to be a defeated manner, had it been anyone else. "Rae?" he asked, hopefully.
"No!" It would have been starting to get annoying, had it not been so thought-provoking. Oh, and the fact that it was Sirius.
Sirius scowled, but then brightened up again. "Well, now that we're done discussing moony's love life. Or," he added, mischievously, "his lack of one," I rolled my eyes, "Let's get onto mine!" he started bouncing up and down in his seat and clapping his hands excitedly.
"Ok. So, you and Summer hooking up?" James asked, reffering to Sirius's last girlfriend, and I felt the twinge again, a little more pronounced this time.
"Nah, I broke up with her. She was getting annoying, owling me every day." James shook his head. This was pretty much how Sirius's relationships all went.
Becoming bored with the conversation about Sirius's love-life, I turned to look out the window, and to ponder about...well, about life. To day-dream. I love doing this, I have been since Ally and me went out in our second year. We broke up in our forth year, though, we just weren't in love as much anymore. We're still good friends, though. She's a great listener.
Suddenly, Sirius cried, "No way! Never!" I hastily glanced over at Sirius, who was staring at James as though he were crazy. "What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. James immediately started laughing; he always does that when I raise one eyebrow. Neither him, Sirius or Peter can do it, either.
Sirius looked at me as though he'd just realised I was there, then gave me a disbeleiving look. "Oh, it's just James here. He said he'd give me a galleon to kiss Nicola Halloway. You know, that ugly Slytherin chick. I wouldn't do that for anything less than a hundred." James, who had stopped laughing, looked breifly as though he were considering whether it would be worth it, and I burst out laughing once again.
Sirius's POV
When I saw Remus for that first time after the Summer, I was so shocked. He looked so different, so cool, so hot. I knew he would be a definate heart-throb that year, and that thought wasn't exactly the happiest. I had liked him since last year, and still did, for him. Not for his hair or body, for him. How he was so smart and nice all the time, and his sense of humor. And now, he was going to be surrounded by bitchy sluts that only wanted him because he was hot. And that, as I said, wasn't exactly the happiest thought in the world.
Not even that could squash my happiness for sseeing him again, though. It was so good just to see him face again. Of course, we'd been sending owls to each other, but it's just not the same as seeing him for real. And it was that encouraging thought, of seeing him again on the Hogwarts express, that kept me from going crazy over the holidays.
As Remus would say, Not that I wasn't already crazy.
But, I'm getting off track.
When I saw Remus, I thought he'd never looked so beautiful. I thought I'd never, ever loved him as much as when I saw him then. He looked so...mysterious, so....well, it's hard to describe. Just so....perfect.
Anyway, we hugged, and I felt the butterflies in my stomach that I always feel when Remus hugs me. He hugs everyone, though, in a friendly way, but I still feel really good.
When we let go I looked at him up and down, drinking in every part of him. I was glad for an excuse to look at him like that without him thnking I'm some crazy psycho-stalker or something. Ok, maybe that was an exaggeration, but you know what I mean.
When I realised I'd been staring for a long time, I said, all amazed (because I was), "Whoa...Moony! You look...different!" Wow. I truly am a master of vocabulary. I truly am. I'm not always like this, just with Remus.
"Anyway, Moony! Didja miss me?" I asked, happily. Remus always makes me so happy when I see him, I just get so bouncy and hyper and...well, you get the idea. He started thinking, you know? Like, day dreaming, kind of fazing out, so I did what I do, and waved my hand in front of his face, saying, "Heeellooooo, Moony? Are you there?" "I'm here, Siri!" he replied, and I immediately warmed to the nickname. Remus had never called me that before, in fact, no-one had ever called me that before. I loved it, though. It sounded almost as though...but no. That's not the case.
"Well?! Didja miss me?!" I cried, all bouncy again. Well, I had to know. Ok, I knew he missed me, but it just feels good when he says it. Kind of like when you think of a really good idea for a prank and you know your friends are going to say how it's really good and everything, but it still feels good when they do.
He laughed, this wonderful, tinkling laugh. Like an angel's. I know this is all so cliched so much, but it's all true. No matter how many times you say it, it's still true. "Like hell," he said, and I laughed.
Suddenly, James barged into the compartment, scaring the hell out of me. "Hey, guys!" he shouted, and practically threw himself on the seat next to me, before standing up again to hug Remus. I don't mind when James hugs Remus, like James wouldn't mind if I hugged Lily. In a friendly way. Although, I guess it's different, but you know what I mean. I guess it helps that James liking Lily proves he's straight, and vice versa.
James sat back down and turned to me, grinning. We air-kissed, you know, kissed the air in front of each of our cheeks and I said in this really hilarious superstar I'm-better-than-you Hollywood voice, "Oh, hello, darl! Long time, no see, Prongsie, baby!" I was practically cracking up already.
"Oh, we have so much catching up to do, Paddy! Did you know that Frank and Alice have hooked up?"
In one second, every one of us had cracked up laughing again. We were laughing so hard, we were practically falling off our seats. That's one of the reasons I love being around all th others, we always go silly like this and crack up laughing. Everyone always looks at us weirdly, but some people start laughing with us, like when you yawn and someone else yawns. It's catching.
I think Peter came in sometime when we were laughing, I don't know, but when we stopped laughing, Peter was there, and he looked like he had been laughing, too. "Hey, Peter!" Remus said happily, but breathlessly from laughing, and gave him a hug, then I did then James.
"Whoa, Moony! You look really different!" James cried, but that was all I heard. Again, I was glad for an excuse to look at him that long, and I was getting lost in his eyes. They're so- "...Right, Padfoot?" I jumped, and stared at James. "Uh, yeah! that's right!" I bluffed, and no-one seemed to notice.
"It's great to see you guys again!" Peter cried, and sat down next to Remus. "Same with me. Ugh, it was horrible to be all by myself, without you three. Especially the transformations. They seemed ten times worse this summer without you three there." I felt a little guilty, leaving him by himself for the transformations like that. We all knew how bad the transformations were when he was by himself, and were instantly feeling sorry for him.
I saw he was looking a little uncomfortable, and remembered that Remus doesn't like it when people feel sorry for him, so I said jokingly, "Well, at least it'll be a lot better now we're here! Aren't you glad?" He seemed a bit happier after that.
"Ok, now onto the topic we've all been waiting for," I announced, getting excited. I had to find out who Remus liked. "The ladies." I turned to James. Well, it was just one question. "So, Prongsie, you over Lilsie yet?" Remus rolled his eyes and chuckled slightly.
"Npoe, Paddsie," James answered. "Still love her. She's so beautiful..." Wrong answer. SLAP "Hey!" James cried, massaging his cheek and glaring at me "That hurt! What was that for?!" I looked at him innocently. Or as innocent as Sirius Black can get.
"Well, you told me that whenever you go into a trance to slap you!" I said. "No I didn't!" James replied indignantly. "Well," I said thoughtfully, "I guess I just felt like slapping you, then."
We all laughed, and I turned to Remus. It was time for the big question. "So, Moonsie, who've you got your eyes on this year? Ally? Sophia?" Remus thought for a bit, while I waited as patiently as I was just before I got on the train to go to Hogwarts for my first year.
"No-one," Remus said earnestly, and everyone snorted, including me. It was a well-known fact among the Marauders that Remus rarely didn't have a crush on someone.
"Yeah right," Peter said disbeleivingly. "You've had a crush on Sophia since the midle of last year, and Ally since the beginning of it." Remus said that he didn't like them anymore, but we just snorted again, causing Remus to roll his eyes. "It's true. I just don't really like them like that anymore. I just like them as friends now." I stopped snorting, and decided to try something different. I had to find out who he liked.
"Ok, how about Dawn? Jade? It better not be Lily." "No, no, and No!" Remus cried, and I beleived him. I just felt like he was telling the truth.
"Oh, Ok, then," I said, trying to sound like I couldn't come up with anyone else. "Rae?" I asked, hopefully.
"No!" Well, this was weird.
I scowled, but then brightened up again. "Well, now that we're done discussing moony's love life. Or," I added, mischievously, "his lack of one," Remus rolled his eyes "Let's get onto mine!" I started bouncing up and down in my seat and clapping my hands excitedly.
"Ok. So, you and Summer hooking up?" James asked, reffering to my last girlfriend. Remember when I told you I....wasn't straight? Well, that was the truth. I've just been going out with some girls to test it. Remus could just be another crush or something. Just to be sure.
"Nah, I broke up with her. She was getting annoying, owling me every day." James shook his head. I knew he was both disappointed I hadn't said anything to Remus over the holidays and realising the same thing I had just done recently.
Remus turned look out the window, to think. I love it when he does that, because he can't see when I'm looking at him. James turned to me, flicked his eyes to Remus, and raised his eyebrows. I immediately knew what he ment.
"No way! Never!" I shouted, cursing the day I had told James I liked Remus. Well, I didn't really tell him, it just slipped out.
"What?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow, and James immediately started laughing. Not only from the fact that I would have to explain this, but also from the fact that, for some reason, it looks really funny when he raises an eyebrow like that. I was in no mood to laugh, though.
I tried to think of an excuse."Oh, it's just James here. He said he'd give me a galleon to kiss Nicola Halloway. You know, that ugly Slytherin chick. I wouldn't do that for anything less than a hundred." James, who had stopped laughing, looked breifly as though he were considering whether it would be worth it, and Remus burst out laughing again. Thank the Lord. I made a mentel note to thank James for making Remus forget about that later.