Two young boys are playing noisily in the silence of an abandoned kitchen. Through the wall, deep, adult voices rumble, reminding the boys that they are not alone, although this does not deter them in their play. The older of the two, a six year old with a mischievous grin, stands suddenly, a wooden train in one hand, a plastic wand in the other. His brother looks up at him instantly, sensing that something is about to happen.
"I'm hungry, Reggie," announces the six year old, dark eyes travelling around the large, hollow room. His brother squirms uncertainly.
"Mother said lunchtime after her meeting, Siri."
"But I'm hungry now," replies Siri, as though this settles the matter. "What can we eat?"
Reggie bends his head, pushing around his train in a half hearted manner as though refusing to be a part of the conversation. He watches Siri out of the corner of his eye, and suddenly he gasps and jerks his head up. "Siri! Mother said NO BISCUITS!"
Siri hesitates for a moment, his arm frozen in the action of opening the food cupboard, Reggie's words ringing in his ears. "We can eat if we're hungry," he says softly. Reggie shakes his head so vigorously strands of dark hair whip his chubby cheeks.
"Mother said 'no'," he repeats, and even though he is four years old and the younger of the two, his voice becomes harder, stricter.
Siri hesitates a second longer. "But I say yes," he says suddenly, and pulls open the cupboard door.
0o0
Beep, beep. Beep, beep.
The piercing, mechanical little beeps felt like tiny hammers, striking rhythmically at the inside of Sirius Black's skull. He groaned loudly, then stopped abruptly when he realised how much that hurt. Half paralysed by sleep, he rolled over, hauling the duvet with him, and fell out of bed with a crash that probably woke half the castle.
Beep, beep. Beep, beep.
For a moment he lay in shock, tangled in duvet and drapery, then decided to make the best of a bad job, and went back to sleep.
Beep, beep. Beep, beep.
At least, he would have gone back to sleep…if it wasn't for that stupid alarm…
"Prongs," he croaked into his pillow. He waited for a moment, wondering why James didn't spring instantly to his aid, then tried again. "PRONGS."
There was a groan of bedsprings, then finally, his best friend of five years was speaking to him. Hallelujah, praise the Lord. "What?" James creaked at him through the curtain.
Ah. He needed to speak a sentence here. Sirius lay in silence as he mustered up the energy. "Alarm clock. Kill. Now."
There was a pause, then a few scrabbling sounds as James apparently felt blindly around for something. Then there was a loud bang on the opposite wall.
The beeping continued.
"What you do?" croaked Sirius blearily.
"Threw my shoe."
"Missed?"
"Yeah."
"Tosser."
There was silence for a moment, in which Sirius's headache increased painfully with every shrieking 'beep.' He sighed. This was getting ridiculous.
"Throwyerovvarshoe."
"Huh?" grunted James.
"Other shoe. Throw."
There was a second bang. It seemed the second shoe was no luckier than the first. James moaned and let out an unintelligible mix of curses and swearwords and babble. It did nothing for the alarm clock, which continued to beep away merrily, unperturbed.
"Padfoot?"
"Uh?"
"I think you might have to get up."
Sirius frowned. "You gerrup."
"You're closer."
There was simply no arguing with this statement, but it still took another five minutes of persuading from the torturous alarm clock to actually force Sirius onto his hands and knees. Head pounding with every movement, he crawled across the floor with his eyes firmly closed, feeling his way to Remus's bedside table. When he eventually, found it, he knelt up, and opened his eyes slightly to squint for the 'Off' button.
Remus was sitting cross legged on his bed, fully dressed and reading a book. "Hello," he said mildly, without looking up.
Sirius stared at him with his mouth gaping. Exactly six inches from Remus's left hand sat the alarm clock, beeping in all its piercing glory.
Words failed him. Vehemently, he slammed his hand on top of the alarm clock, shot Remus one last poisonous glare, then sank to the floor to return to sleep.
0o0
"Padfoot…Padfoot…"
Sirius squirmed, vaguely aware that he was being coaxed into a sitting position and that his head was lolling on someone's chest. "Wazzgoinon?" he muttered hazily. Something was hovering in front of his face, pressing gently against his lower lip. Frowning and squinting slightly, he made out the fuzzy outline of a goblet.
"Wazzat?"
He heard Remus's voice sigh. "Hangover Potion. I don't think I really need to explain what it does."
Sirius brightened. "Ohhh…that's goooood shit."
"Yes Sirius. It is good shit. Now drink up."
Obligingly, Sirius opened his mouth and gulped down the potion, barely acknowledging the foul taste, and the fact that half of it was slopping down his front.
"Well, you're taking it better than James did," Remus said, though his voice seemed to be coming from a great distance. "He thought I was poisoning him and hid under the bed."
Sirius giggled weakly. "Stupid…" He yawned widely, and felt his eyes flutter closed. "Hey...it was a good night last night, eh, Moon-Boy?"
Darkness claimed his world once more.
0o0o0
Well, what did you think?
Warning: Although I have a vague idea as to where this story is heading, I cannot guarantee regualar updates and whatnot. Reviews encourage and inspire me, a lack of them depress me. Depression does not do wonders for my writing skills, so, simply: if you want an update, review with your opinion!
Love and peace to all of you out there, people all over the world...
Mooncheese xxx