Chapter One : A New Form Of Greeting
A/N: callmenoone, the best beta ever, thank you.
Disclamer: No copyright infringement intended. Characters belong to the lovely JK Rowling. I do not own them. Yep. Glad we got that clear.
Sirius Black was angry.
No, the adjective did not bear the vengeance fueled madness that was causing a storm to wreak havoc in his mind: Sirius Black was livid.
His hands were shaking from excitement, nerves and an unrelenting sense of justice that prevailed each and every one of his senses.
He hiked the sleeves of his leather jacket up his arm, to reveal the sinewy muscles that laid beneath his skin.
"SIRIUS!" The other half of his best friends squeaked behind him.
Peter Pettigrew was not a runner. He did not engage in the strenuous activity unless it involved pranks or an angry Professor McGonagall. Yet to be able to keep up with Sirius's rage fueled stalking he had no choice but to run to catch up to him.
"Sirius! Where are you going!?" Peter cried. He had been friends with Sirius for seven years yet he had never seen the boy in such a state as he was in.
"I know where the fucking bastard is!" Sirius growled, his pace never faltering.
Peter let out a frustrated cry, "Please don't do anything rash!"
Sirius ignored Peter's admonished pleas.
The two boys were rounding the corner of the street, and as the shorter of the two could tell, they were headed to the Three Broomsticks. The best the boy could hope for was that his enraged friend had a deadly craving for the Pub's renowned refreshment.
Sirius Black stormed into the pub, his eyes scanning for his target. Just as he was about to call out the name of the boy who would wish he had never been born, his eyes zeroed in on the poor soul's head.
Peter Pettigrew trailing hopelessly behind, Sirius ignored the greetings offered by people he was well acquainted with and made a direct bee line towards the other end of the pub.
He reached his hand out before him and laid it on the other boys shoulder, spinning him around. The unlucky boy, cut short of his sentence spun around and before he could comprehend what was happening, he felt a quadruple of knuckles descend upon his left cheek which knocked him off balance and he stumbled onto his knees, barely registering the force of the impact in his shock.
Remus Lupin was a boy who enjoyed his own company. Sure, he had friends. His character wasn't as bland as the protagonist of every dystopian novel for him to relish solitude to the extent that he didn't actually have friends. But these friends consisted of a select few he had learned he could trust over his seventeen years. He was reserved, as he thought. He minded his own business and never interfered where he was not wanted, as a result he had never had cause to punch anyone in the face or be punched in return. Therefore, when he finally experienced a fist on his face, he was too shocked to even respond much to the collective gasp that came from the pub's recipients.
As Remus grabbed a table as purchase to pull himself up, the stranger who had decided Remus should suffer wrapped his arm around Remus's waist and helped him stand.
"Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck" was all the Remus could hear from the stranger who was staring at him, his eyebrows knotted together in worry.
Remus shook off the strangers arms as his thought process resumed function and the pain radiated off of his face. "What the fuck!?"
The stranger ran his hand through his face, which had blanched to an unhealthy pallor as the implications of his actions caught up to him, "I am so sorry, oh god oh god..."
Nymphadora Tonks and Frank Longbottom made their way to Remus's side.
"Oi mate, what the hell was that for!?" Frank yelled at the boy who had punched his best friend in the face.
Before Frank could get his answer, the stranger was pulled by the scruff of his jacket by a shorter boy who had a terrified expression on his face as he stammered an apology to the three friends and the people he passed by the pub.
Peter was sweating as he dragged Sirius outside, "Sirius! What the hell, man!?"
"Fuck, Wormy!" Sirius gasped.
Pedestrians looked upon the spectacle of two teenaged boys who were sputtering cusses and seemed to have lost the ability to utter a sentence that wouldn't have been deemed explicit. They looked as though they were on the brink of a nervous break down which lead them to steer clear of their direct vicinity because who would want to be involved with that?
"You just punch a stranger! Ohmygodyoupunchedastranger." Peter said as he leaned against the wall of the pub. "You should be thankful it was mostly just kids from school or that could have had you-"
"WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST DO!?" Sirius Black shouted, his voice cracking.
Peter grabbed Sirius's arm, ready to drag him out of the place. "Sirius! Come on we have to go home! We have to go home!"
Sirius dragged his feet behind him as they walked away from the pub onto a quieter lane.
Before Peter was successful in his endeavour, three people came after them and a girl with lilac hair stalked to the two boys before landing a bone shattering blow to Sirius' face.
"What the fuck is wrong with you, you bloody lunatic!?" The girl screamed at Sirius.
Peter realised the boy that Sirius had just punched had surrounded them with his friends.
Sirius rubbed his jaw, "I dehsowd dah."
The girl pushed Sirius back a few paces, "Damn well you did."
Sirius released his jaw after he realised it was intact, "Fuck I am so sorry... I thought you were someone else and... fuck!" He said turning to the boy he had punched.
The boy looked at Sirius with his eyes wide open, his cheekbone blossoming a light purple shade. "Uh... um... it's okay."
The girl scoffed at this, her eyes blurring with the same rage that Sirius had earlier possessed, "A raging jerk punches you in the face, FOR NO REASON AT ALL AND YOU SAY IT'S OKAY?"
"Please forgive my friend, he wasn't in his right mind and your friend resembled another boy we thought we knew and this was honestly a huge mistake." Peter finally spoke up, surprised that coherent words even escaped his mouth.
Frank held his hands up to stop Tonks's coming verbal onslaught, "Okay, okay, Tonks! Wait." He said calmly but sternly, Tonks growled in frustration but held her tongue. Frank took Remus's face in his hand and assessed his friend. "He might have a slight concussion," Frank noted as he noticed the glazed look in his friends eyes. "We should get him to the hospital."
His fear was confirmed when Remus - the boy who always had a quick and sarcastic response at the ready - merely responded with a confused "huh?"
Sirius clambered forward, "I'll take him there!"
Tonks held her hand out, "You think we'd leave our friend with a madman?"
Sirius let out an anguished cry. "Please, let me come along at least."
Frank's eyebrows knitted together, "Alright fine." He said much to Tonks's protest.
Remus shook his head which was swimming with pain. "No! I am alright. Frank I swear." He said as he could see Frank start to open his mouth.
"Remus, you might have a concussion!"
Remus took a deep breath, "And what's the best way to handle it? Pain killers and rest. I can get those at home."
Frank held his hand out in front of him ready for a rebuttal before Remus spoke again, "If we went to Casualty, my parent's would know."
The panicked expression on Remus's face seemed to knock a sense of reality into Frank and he nodded, "Let's get you home then."
Remus gave Frank a grateful smile, relief flooding his features.
"Okay, then! Remus, Frank, let's leave." The two boys turned around at Tonk's behest.
Sirius opened his mouth to apologise when Tonk's held up her fore finger, "Not one word from you, freak." And her single finger salute changed to one that left Peter and Sirius gobsmacked in the middle of the pavement.
A/N: Well, that's just the first of many chapters. I do hope you liked it. Reviews are obviously always welcome (encouraged).
- Nym.