Written for the Twin Exchange May Challenge. My Prompt was Nametag, my pairing was Sirius/Remus, my quote was "Revenge", and my theme was the Anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. This takes place about a year after the war.
"You are drunk." Remus commented dryly, looking at his best friend with raised eyebrows.
"Nope, trust me, I am nut drunk." Sirius insisted, straightening up and frowning at the werewolf with a slight frown before taking a swig from his bottle. "I am no where near being drunk." He shook his head, causing his dark hair to fly about his face. Remus noted with slight jealously that it still managed to fall perfectly against his pale face.
"Oh really?" He asked, lowering himself down beside Sirius. "Then what are you wearing?" He questioned, indicating the flashing red badge pinned to the animagus's chest.
"It's a nametag." Sirius said with a frown, looking at Remus's shirt and noting the lack of the nametag with a sinking feeling.
"Where did you get it?"
"Fred gave it to me at the door.." Sirius said, realizing it had been a joke. Remus raised his eyebrow and shook his head. "I have had a few drinks." Sirius continued, trying to save face. Remus shook his head.
"Nope, face it, you've been pranked, Sirius."
"I have not." He insisted with a frown.
"Whatever you say, Sirius." Remus said placating, leaning against the wall with a sigh. They were at a victory party, but neither felt much like celebrating. It was hard to celebrate something that had taken so many of their friends lives. To celebrate a war that had nearly ended with their best friends deaths. A war that had ended with the son of those friends.
"What's say we go check and see if our mark is still there?" Sirius asked, his speech slightly slurred as he looked at the door. Remus studied his friend for a moment, and then nodded his head.
"Alright." He stood up and offered a hand, which Sirius took. Remus pulled him up, and the two slipped out of the great hall and onto the castle grounds quietly.
"You're walking drunk." Remus said, continuing down the familiar path. It had been years since he'd been down it, but he could still remember every shrub, every blade of grass that marked the path.
"I'm staggering because of a war injury, there's a difference." Sirius retorted, frowning momentarily before catching up with Remus. "I only had two shots of firewhiskey-you know that's nowhere near enough to even get me tipsy." Remus offered Sirius a slight smile, feeling depressed.
"True. So you really did just fall for the nametag." Sirius didn't deign to answer that and just shot him a glare. They walked on in silence for a few minutes, neither quite willing to break the silence that had risen up between them. It seemed like yesterday that they had last been here, but at the same time they were both painfully aware of how long it had been.
"Funny how little it's changed." Sirius commented, looking at the grounds. They had almost arrived at their destination.
"I was thinking the same thing." Remus said quietly, his eyes on the house Tree at the end of the path. He'd only seen it once since that night, he'd not been able to bring himself to come back since then. It was too painful. He was pretty sure Sirius had only been there once as well.
They reached the edge of the tree and Sirius raised his wand, silencing the Whomping Willow before it could do any damage. The silence still hung between the two of them like an un welcome visitor, heavy and painful.
The grounds were quiet, not a sound to be heard other than the gentle breathing of the two friends. The sun had long since set, leaving the castle covered in eerie shadows that seemed to grow longer with each passing second. The wand light emitting from the tip of Remus's wand seemed to make the shadows dance in its blue light, making the night all the more unnatural.
"Do you see it? The Willow's grown since I last looked for it." Sirius commented, looking at the bark on the tree with a small frown.
"No, it should be about our height though, we were smaller when we wrote it." Sirius smirked at his friends logic, before a painful grimace filled his face.
"Found it."
"I did too." Remus quietly echoed, looking at what would have merely looked like scratch marks instead of penmanship if you hadn't know the abhorable writing.
"Merlin's beard, I forgot how horrible James penmanship was." Sirius chuckled, reading the familiar words.
"Messers. Padfoot, Prongs, Moony, and Wormtail, were here and claim this spot for mischief." Remus read aloud, smiling as he read.
"I tried to remove Wormtails name last time I was here, but I couldn't break the enchantments." Sirius said darkly, glaring at the offending name. Remus nodded his head in agreement. He shouldn't be on there, not in the same place as James. They studied the spot for a moment, and then Sirius's eyes lit up with an obvious idea. Remus was about to question him, but he moved before he could speak. He unfastened the now lime green nametag from his shirt and placed it over the offensive name. He pressed his wand to it and muttered a permanent sticking charm.
"Much better." Remus said, trying to look solemn and failing as the badge flashed to a sickening pink. "But I think a slight change is in order, don't you?" He pointed his own wand at the tree and mumbled another spell. The words changed from 'Sirius Black' to 'We Solemnly Swear We are Up to No Good.'
"Perfect." Sirius breathed. The tree gave a tremor, and the two friends ran out from underneath it before it could fully unfreeze and unleash it's wrath on them. They stare up at the shaking tree for a moment, grins lifting both their lips.
"We should get back to the party, find Harry." Remus said, turning towards Sirius. He nodded his head, an evil grin lifting his lips.
"I think I'll stop by Mr. Weasley first." He said, pulling a small purple vial out of his pocket.
"What's that?" Remus asked, a wary look on his face as he eyed the vial.
"Revenge."
I hope you all enjoy this, if you did, don't forget to vote for it on the Twin Exchange come May 20th to June 10th. Thanks!
Wizards Pupil