Disclaimer: Do I really have to say it again? I am not JK Rowling.
Rated PG for: Some naughty words and (gasps) homosexuals.
Author's Note: Wow. This thing is actually near to ancient, but is still ridiculous amounts of fun. Started my sophomore year of high school, a friend and I traded the story back in forth writing in three to four paragraph increments. The result was, quite…interesting. Hope you enjoy.
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Chapter One: Love is...a...um...thing
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"GIVE IT BACK TO ME SIRIUS OR I SWEAR I-"
"Or you'll what, Jamesy?" Sirius smirked. "You'll shower me with sweet kisses like the rain softly falling on a rose?"
James Potter, age seventeen, went very red in the face and looked as if he might explode at any moment. His best friend, Sirius Black, was dancing, holding a piece of paper out of James's reach. "Sirius, that's PRIVATE. Give it back."
"Give me one good reason why I should," snickered Sirius, not attempting to stifle his laughter. "Lily's probably back in the common room, you know. Maybe she'd like to read it right now...or perhaps it needs to be sprayed with perfume first," he added, mischievously batting his eyelashes. He dug in his robes for his wand--but before it was fully out, James had his wand pointed at Sirius.
There was an odd look in James's eyes, and a smile played on his lips as he gazed coolly at Sirius--most of the anger suddenly gone. "You act as if you've never been in love, mate. Surely there's a good reason as to why you snuck out at 3am a few nights ago--without me." Sirius's smile had vanished, and James's lopsided grin broadened. He knew he was right.
Sirius racked his thoughts for an excuse, any excuse as to what he had really been doing outside the dorms at three in the morning. If James caught wind of what he was really up to, then Sirius Black, ladies man extraordinaire, would be ruined. His git of a best friend was likely to tell Peter, and then, well...Peter was horrid at keeping secrets.
Trying to make up for his face fault, Sirius threw a hand dramatically across his eyes. "You're right James! I had a secret rendezvous with a certain mistress of mine up in the Astronomy Tower. Now I shall surely be ruined when you tell my other five girlfriends!" He burst into theatrical tears.
James snorted, and put his wand back into the pocket of his robes. "I should have known...So, who is it this time? Not anyone from Slytherin, I hope...you've snogged practically every girl in Gryffindor--if the rumors are to be believed--and Ravenclaw doesn't quite seem to be your type..."
Sirius felt the color rush back to his face, and managed to force a smile as he and James began to walk down the hall. His friend was wrapped up in his own musings, so Sirius was free to let his mind wander. James had believed his Astronomy Tower lie easily enough, but what would he think when he finally learned the truth? Nonetheless, his secret was safe--for now.
They entered the Great Hall, and scanned the Gryffindor table for a moment before they saw Remus Lupin hailing them while explaining a piece of homework to Peter and eating lunch at the same time. "Is it just me or does Moony take the term 'multi-tasking' to an all new and frightening level?" James asked.
James and Sirius reached their seats before Sirius was forced to elicit a response and took their seats. Lupin looked up from the Potions homework he was helping Peter with a managed a tired smile. "Hello you two. Been off fighting about Lily again?"
"Actually..." Sirius suddenly began to smile, and an expression of dawning horror crossed James's face. Sirius managed to avoid James's frantic grasps, and thrust the formerly forgotten piece of parchment into Lupin's hand. He raised his eyebrows as he read, and glanced up.
Lupin let out a huff of air that might have been a laugh, and impishly eyed Sirius. "Well, I must say I'm surprised...Never quite knew you felt that way about me, Padfoot." Sirius paled a bit, but it went unnoticed as James hastily snatched the paper away. "Very funny, you two. Now if you don't mind, I need to find an owl to send this to Lily."
"You can use Hector if you want," Lupin offered, turning back to the bewildered Peter and his essay. Although his family didn't have much, Lupin's parents had managed to buy him a speckled owl his fifth year. The bird was big and beautiful, and Sirius often made snide remarks about how well he took care of the bird, but neglected himself.
"Thanks!" James stuffed the letter protectively into his pocket and dashed from the Great Hall without so much as a bite of his mashed potatoes. Sirius took the incentive to shovel the food onto his own plate. Lupin's eyebrows went up slightly, but he said nothing and suppressed a smirk as he finished explaining the last of Peter's errors.
He then turned to Sirius. "Have you finished your essay yet? The Professor will hex you if you miss one more assignment you know, what with the N.E.W.T.s coming up and all."
Sirius bit into a roll. "Don't remind me..." he sighed. N.E.W.T. level Potions was probably one of the most difficult classes Sirius had ever taken--only made better by the fact that he was in it with his best friends. "There's not a chance I could concentrate on it now. I'm having too much fun tormenting James about his little poem!"
Peter looked as if he might have tried to defend James, but Lupin spoke before he could get a word in. "So, Padfoot, do you need help with your essay? I could work with you on it later tonight, if you want."
Sirius choked on his roll, and Peter took the initiative to reach over and pat him heartily on the back. When he had dislodged the food from his throat and taken an impressive swig of pumpkin juice he turned to Lupin who was smiling at him. Well, he wasn't fooled by that innocent farce, not one bit. "Since when have I needed help on my homework?" he asked lightly.
"Ever since I helped you score an 'Outstanding' on your O.W.L.s," Remus said, ever patiently. "You wouldn't be in Potions right now without the help that I gave you, and I'm always willing to help Sirius, you know that." A slight grin crept up his face. "Besides, spending quality time with me can't be that bad, can it?"
Sirius was trapped--he wanted to accept Lupin's offer, but Peter was right there...Oh, screw it, he thought. Wormtail wouldn't pick up on anything. He managed to look calm, and grinned slightly as he replied. "Sure, Moony. I promised James I'd go to Quidditch practice with him, but I could meet you in the library after that."
Lupin smiled back, and nonchalantly began to collect his books. "See you then, I suppose."
-
When Sirius accompanied James to Quidditch practice that night, it took all the willpower he contained not to be anything but supportive when concerning Lily. He gave supportive comments including, "sure," "right," and "good for you mate", but in truth he wasn't really listening. All he knew was that if he started teasing James about Lily again, he wouldn't be able to keep a straight face if grilled himself.
"Did you pour itching powder down your robes?" James asked, looking over at Sirius curiously. "You've been dancing around all night."
Sirius tried to suppress his surprise. He needed to say something. Anything. "Hmm?" Perfect...brilliant...NOW he sounded like a COMPLETE idiot.
"Honestly..." muttered James. "I asked what's with you? Why are you acting so...odd?"
Sirius tried to feign innocence. Nonetheless, a slight blush crept onto his cheeks. "Me? Oh, sorry mate. I've just got to get started with that Potions essay due tomorrow...you don't mind if I leave, do you?"
"A potions essay?" James asked, his black eyebrows raising above the frame of his glasses in surprise. "You're going to skive off on Quidditch to do POTIONS?" Sirius nodded earnestly, but James shook his head and laughed. "Not buying it, mate. Tell me, which girl is it this time?"
"I'm not going off to meet a girl," Sirius replied indignantly. "I am going off to do homework." The smile on James's face merely widened. "I am! I made plans with Moony today at lunch."
James chuckled, and pushed a stray piece of hair out of his face. "Still, since when do you do HOMEWORK? The pressure of the N.E.W.T.s must really be getting to you."
"It is," Sirius sighed, "I really want to do well on them...show my stupid mother that I can actually be better than my prat of a brother."
James nodded sympathetically. "I know, Padfoot, I'm sorry. Go ahead, I don't mind if you leave. Tell Moony he better not let you sneak off to the Astronomy Tower, though!" Sirius simply nodded in response, and took off for the castle.
He pounded down the hall and skidded into the library, his bookbag nearly causing to topple over with weight. Madame Pince sent him a look that could have soured new milk, and he grinned confidently at her. When he noticed that a couple of second years were looking his way, Sirius was so bold as to wave. She turned back to her book in a huff.
Creeping his way around studying pupils, Sirius spotted Lupin sitting off in the corner, immersed in a giant and ancient text. "What's that?" he asked, leaning over Moony's shoulder and squinting at the words in the book.
"It's Latin," Lupin said calmly, turning to look up at Sirius. Their faces were mere inches apart. Sirius stared at Lupin's eyes, flecked with gold, and his hair, home to a grey hair or two, and... "Padfoot?" Sirius realized that he was gaping, his lips slightly parted. Bollocks.
Sirius quickly sat back, and tried to hide his embarrassment. Nonetheless, he was thankful nothing had happened—an audience for that sort of thing wasn't exactly what Sirius had had in mind. He chewed on his bottom lip, and glanced at Lupin. "Well…I suppose we should get started?"
Lupin nodded in agreement, and put the Latin book back on the shelf. "How far have you gotten on the essay? Dragon's blood is actually pretty interesting, once you get past all of the repetitive conflicts over regulating its usage."
The other boy continued chewing on his lip—it was a nervous habit he'd picked up a few years ago, and he was having trouble breaking it. "I've got some basic notes, and I've started it, but I need more information."
"Okay," replied Lupin, as he pointed to a book in front of him. "This one's got loads of information. You'll probably finish the essay within the hour if you use it--there's a great chapter on the current usage of blood."
Sirius looked at the cover of the book, and pretended that he was thrilled about his essay and there was nothing more in the world he would love than to learn about dragon's blood. He decided after staring at the cover for a good minute that there was no way he'd be able to get excited about the title Dragon's Blood: Myth versus Fact, the Newly Discovered and Correct Usage of Dragon's Blood from the Last Century and Middle Ages, and How Not to Confuse These Usages with Folklore.
"Moony," he groaned. "Don't tell me you actually read these kinds of books for fun. Just reading the title nearly puts me to sleep." In reply he simply got a stern look, telling him 'You were the one who begged me to help you get into N.E.W.T.s level potions'. "Fine. I'll read the chapter, and enjoy it too." He flipped open the book and scanned the index for the chapter on the modern usage of dragon's blood.
Across the table, Remus Lupin grinned into his own homework, before struggling up a straight face and lifting his head to face Sirius. He wondered just how long Padfoot would be willing to put up with just about the dullest text he had ever had the pleasure of reading. Long enough for Remus to chuckle at least, before sliding over the actually informative and interesting copy.
Valiantly attempting to stay focused, Sirius continued to stare at the book for a grand total of four minutes before he noticed the other text that Lupin had pushed over. "Moony...if you weren't a Marauder, I'd curse you for that! Especially if you were Snivelly..." Lupin had smiled at first, but it flickered at the mention of Snape. Sirius didn't notice, though, and flipped open the other book.
Lupin watched in amusement as he saw the look on his friend's face go from sheer boredom to noticeable interest. It made him happy whenever Sirius was able to do his homework without threatening the parchment with a variety of jinxes--but, then again, Sirius just simply made him happy.
It was a fact he had come to terms with years before. Why in the world would an immature, arrogant boy, who liked to hex other unfortunate boys make a civil mannered, intelligent young man like Remus Lupin happy? There was no answer to that, and Lupin knew it. So he simply chose to ignore the logical side of things.
"What did you say about using it in medicine?" Sirius asked, looking up from the book. Lupin shrugged. "You know, generally when you help somebody it's customary to actually, well, help them. Just a thought." He was again greeted with silence. "Fine then. Be that way. I can read." He reached across the table and snatched up Lupin's essay.
"Hey, give that back!" the werewolf protested in a soft hiss. Sirius shook his head adamantly, and started scanning the paper. "Sirius, when I said I would help you, I didn't mean that I was going to let you copy from me!" He struggled to keep his voice to barely above a whisper.
"Well a bloody lot of help you've been!" responded Sirius somewhat loudly, his eyes flashing dangerously. A sharp "Shhh," was heard from across the room. Remus Lupin slowly reached for his wand, and muttered something under his breath. An instant later, the parchment Sirius had been scanning was wiped black. "Hey!" Lupin grinned pleasantly, and reached over for his essay. Sirius didn't give up easily, though. He quickly scooted back, and his werewolf friend toppled forward--onto Sirius.
A few students looked over curiously, but Lupin quickly straightened up, and Sirius handed back the parchment--trying to make it seem as if nothing had happened. They cast nervous grins at each other, and tried to keep from laughing. Nonetheless, Madame Pince only tolerated so much disruption. "That's it, out you two!" she exclaimed. "And ten points from Gryffindor!"
They walked out of the library, books in arms, with as much dignity as they could muster. Once they were out of the earshot from all the curious students, Lupin turned on Sirius, looking as if he couldn't decide between laughter and anger. "Well that was productive. What do you say to finishing this in the common room?"
"How about finishing it right here?" Sirius grinned and tapped the parchment with his wand, Lupin's carefully constructed paper reappearing. Once again, the werewolf lunged for his Potions assignment, and ended up pinning Sirius against the wall in attempt to grab it back.
"Well, what have we here? A romantic tryst in the hallway? How perfectly...Gryffindor."
Severus Snape lounged casually against the wall, smirking to himself. Sirius narrowed his eyes, and pushed Lupin off of him. Lupin tried to hold Sirius back, but his wand was already raised. "Shut up, Snivelly. We were just coming out of the library, and you know it."
Snape laughed softly to himself, and had already taken out his wand. The two boys circled each other. "Black, you're too easy. At least your brother is smart enough to recognize sarcasm...unless I'm mistaken?"
Lupin was trying in vain to stop the two boys from dueling in the middle of the hallway. "Just shove off Snape, all right? Is it so hard to stop tormenting Sirius for one day?"
"Me tormenting Black?" Snape asked, raising an eyebrow delicately. A sneer crept across his face. "And really, what's so terrible about a bit of sarcasm? You're a little sensitive over such a small joke." He caught the look of dawning horror on Sirius's face and the staunch disapproval on Lupin's. His wand was still lazily pointing in Sirius's direction.
"Dueling in the hallways!? Sirius Black, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but Remus!?" Lily Evans strode furiously towards them, her Head Girl badge gleaming formidably. "You do realize that two upstanding and influential Gryffindors such as yourselves should follow the rules on a regular basis, don't you? And you, Snape! After all those glowing reviews Lucius Malfoy gave you in our fifth year, I would expect better!" She stood there, hands firmly planted on her hips. "Well, what have you got to say in your defense?"
"Oh, come off it, Evans," complained Sirius, who lowered his wand. "Lupin wasn't involved--just Snivelly and I." Snape shot an angry look at Sirius, but only the fact that the Head Girl was less than ten feet away kept him from cursing anyone.
Lily frowned before speaking. "I won't give you detentions--this time--but only because I don't think I can trust anyone's account of how this started. If I ever see any of you dueling again, though, you're getting detentions with Filch, no questions asked."
Sirius let out a small sigh of relief, but Snape moved forward angrily. "Lucius would give glowing reviews, wouldn't he?" sneered Snape, who also lowered his wand. "Perhaps it's because he knows the difference between the potential of purebloods and Mudbloods--though perhaps Black is an exception to that...standard."
"YOU GREASY GIT, I'LL-"
"SIRIUS!" Lupin grabbed the raging Sirius, who was trying his best to insult Snape and tear his head off his shoulders at the same time. "Stop! He's not worth it! For the love of - Sirius!"
"That's it!" Lily sent a shower of red sparks into the air, and Sirius stopped struggling. Lupin, not convinced, still held him firmly by the arms. "Snape, you'll be getting a detention, and fifteen points once I have a talk with Dumbledore!" Sirius snickered, and Lily whirled on him. "As for you I'll be assigning you a detention for trying to duel on school grounds." Sirius started to protest but Lily didn't give him a chance. "A detention Sirius. Be grateful it's only a detention."
Lupin and Sirius trudged down the corridor together, after being ordered back to the common room by an infuriated Lily. The werewolf said nothing, knowing his friend needed a bit to cool down. A detention with Filch was enough to put anyone in a bad mood—especially since he had to serve it with Snape. Nevertheless, the look on Snape's face after being assigned a detention was priceless—even as far as Lupin was concerned.
They reached the portrait hole together, and only paused while Sirius muttered "goblin dung" before climbing in. Remus Lupin chose a pair of chairs by the fire, and the two boys collapsed into them. Sirius glanced up tiredly. "I'm sorry about all that, Moony…I just can't stand that greasy prat."
Lupin gave a slight smile—one that was more evident in his eyes than on his lips. "Don't worry about it, Padfoot. I'd have liked to hex him, too, after what he called Lily…but…" He trailed off, unsure of what to say. That he wasn't brave enough? Not exactly. That he felt sorry for Snape? Not that either. Lupin was at a loss of what to say, so instead of coming up with a reason, he simply changed the subject. "So…do you think we should finish the essays?"
"The question should be if I want to finish the essays." He pulled out his roll of parchment tiredly and then opened the informative book. "Bloody potions."
Sirius sat there forlornly for a few minutes, not really reading the information in the book, as he was still too steamed over the encounter with Snape in the hallway. Slytherins always ruined everything. Especially ones with hooked noses that resembled bats. Still, the truth of what Snape had said, stung Sirius more deeply than he wanted to admit.
He and Lupin hadn't been having a romantic tryst in the hallway, but that wasn't to say that Sirius would be opposed to one. He glanced over at Lupin, who was deeply absorbed in a Transfigurations assignment of his own, and sighed. His life was a cursed one.
It had been sometime right before O.W.L.s fifth year that he had begun to see Lupin in a different light. It had taken him another year for him to admit it to the werewolf—as well as to himself. Since then, things had been…different…but not quite so much as Sirius would have liked. It didn't always seem as if Remus wanted what Sirius did—or was it vice versa?
Nonetheless, Lupin was full of surprises. His reaction to the poem was certainly unexpected, but working on the essays had only been…homework. It wasn't that he'd wanted to dash of to the Astronomy Tower with Lupin, but the disappointment at the evening thus far was frustrating.
Sirius tried to focus his attention on the book, and managed to read a paragraph before shutting it. "Moony…I can't focus on this. Will you please just let me see your essay? I'll make it up to you somehow, I promise."
Lupin thought about protesting again, and telling him that he really needed to start doing these things on his own that when his friends weren't around to him with the answers he would know what he was doing. But the previous encounter with Snape and all the things he had said made Lupin feel too tired to protest, and too sympathetic with Sirius to hold back.
"Of course you can, Padfoot." He took his essay and held it out.
Sirius reached to grab it, but stopped short. "Wait...what's my collateral? I mean, what do I have to do to get this information out of you?" He stared at the glint forming deviously in Lupin's eye, and immediately regretted mentioning a payback. It was just like him to spout something out before realizing that he shouldn't have spouted it in the first place.
Remus Lupin grinned to himself, enjoying the apprehension that crossed Sirius's face. Sirius hated not being in control, a trait that the werewolf found quite entertaining at times. "How about if you help me on my N.E.W.T. Herbology essay this weekend? It's supposed to be three feet of parchment."
Sirius stared back in disbelief. "You want me to help you on an essay? I'll do it, but you're probably asking the wrong person." He took the parchment from Lupin, and scanned it as if it would explain why his friend would demand homework help, of all things.
The werewolf calmly put his quill in his bag, and looked up. "It's not so much that I want you to help me write the essay. I need to get a sample of a few plants, though, and I think a trip to the Forbidden Forest is in order."
"That's against school rules though," Sirius pointed out. "Can't you just collect the plants the way that the professor suggested?"
Lupin gave Sirius a look the resembled he and James when they were begging for the werewolf to go along on a prank. "Come on Padfoot, I've been on plenty of not entirely legal trips with you and James, and ever since he became Head Boy we haven't had much fun. Live a little, and stop acting like me so much." He smiled brightly.
Sirius found that he really wasn't thinking straight and managed to utter out an intelligent, "Uh...sure. Okay then." It was true that James had been focused much more on obtaining Lily lately than playing pranks (although truth be told he wasn't sure what Lily would do to Prongs for the occurrence in the hallway earlier). It was just strange hearing Lupin try and persuade him to break school rules. Well, sod school rules. The Marauders would be at large again. And that made detention with Snape almost worth it.
Sirius happily paraphrased his friend's essay for about twenty minutes, trying to keep his mind from wandering too much. The idea of the Marauders finally being back to their old pranks was almost as good as the idea of cursing his brother into oblivion--though Sirius would be perfectly content with the former. He triumphantly slammed his essay on the table, and stood up.
"Come on, Moony--we've got to celebrate the end of this bloody essay. I think I'll borrow Prongs's invisibility cloak and sneak down to the kitchens and see how much the house elves want to give away--want anything?" The werewolf glanced up from his homework, and gave a shrug that Sirius interpreted to mean "whatever."
-
Sirius walked unnoticed through the halls, and towards the kitchens. Cake sounded extremely good...he'd have to see if there was any. Or pie. Or anything with fudge. His thoughts were stopped short, though, when he turned a corner. There were two hushed voices, and Sirius swore under his breath as he realized who it was.
His brother, Regulus Black was whispering excitedly to somebody who could only be Severus Snape. Fantastic, not only would they hex him, but his snotty nosed brother would run to the Slytherin head of house in five seconds flat, eager to prove to their mother that he was indeed the better son.
Under normal circumstances, Sirius would merely have done something like throw a vase at them and laugh while they tried to figure out where it had come from. As it was he was already toeing the line with a detention and ten points from Gryffindor, not to mention a future trip to the Forbidden Forest.
He crouched by the wall and held his breath to listen to the ensuing conversation. It was better to wait it out than going back to the Common Room without food. "Severus, you've got to be kidding me. My brother...and a half breed?"
Snape grinned. "He seemed positively terrified when I suggested the sheer idea earlier—it would obviously ruin his...shall we say, reputation among the female population here. I would have pushed him farther, but that stupid Mudblood showed up." There was a slight noise a few feet away, like footsteps, and Snape peered cautiously around the corner before he whispered something to Regulus that Sirius could not hear.
Regulus snorted, and glanced behind him before continuing. "I don't want to start a rumor like that quite yet...but no one says we couldn't torment him about it."
Sirius fought with every ounce of strength he possessed not to curse the two of them right there. How much did Snape actually know? Before he could figure it out for himself, though, Snape and Regulus had turned around, and were quickly walking away from the spot where Sirius sat hidden.
He stood there after Snape and Regulus and slunk off, shaking with silent fury. Exactly what were they planning on doing to him? Sirius could handle taunts thrown his own way, his reputation throughout the school was strong enough that most charges would be dismissed as long as Sirius merely smiled and laughed at them.
Remus though...granted, the werewolf wasn't completely helpless, and he knew how to keep a calm demeanor. No, Sirius wasn't worried about Moony handling himself. Sirius was worried that if he had to witness the overgrown bat and his prat of a brother insulting his friend then he would eventually cause a hundred points from Gryffindor and a bruised pride.
Not to mention that Lupin would then know...Sirius punched the wall angrily, for once his life, completely spent of ideas. "I beg your pardon!" the apple in the portrait nearby exclaimed indignantly. Sirius muttered an apology and tickled the pear. Suddenly food was not his primary concern.