Disclaimer: Anything you recognise is property of JK Rowling. No infringement intended.
How To Break An Awkward Silence
Remus sat with his head cradled in his hands, his feet tapping anxiously against the linoleum. Every now and then, almost without seeming to, he'd give himself a shake and stop moving. Eventually, inevitably, his feet would start again, beating out the same pattern, ticking like a clock, drumming like a heart, and the half-minute pauses that came after every tattoo seemed to stretch on and on.
'Stop that, would you?' Sirius finally whispered.
His voice made it through the mayhem of Remus' mind and he looked up.
'Sorry.'
Sirius looked up. 'Not because it was annoying. You were just twitching like you were about to take off.' A grin tried to sneak onto Sirius' face but he caught it just in time and sighed.
Silence reigned again. James lifted his hand and flicked his fringe around a bit. A strand wound its way round his finger. And round. And round. And round. And round. And round. And – stopped.
Outside, a bird sang as it swooped and swung itself around in the air before landing gracefully on the window ledge. The tension seemed to seep through the window-pane and the bird ceased its tune and the silence was back.
Sirius opened his mouth to speak. So did James. Sirius closed his mouth to let James go first. James shut his mouth waiting for Sirius. They gaped at each other from across the bed. Remus sat in the middle, his legs swinging heavily from the bed, his toes every now and then scraping the floor with a squeak. On and and on it went.
A harsh, low, primitive sound came from the corner. Three heads snapped up to stare aghast at the reddening face of Peter.
'It. It. It wasn't – wasn't.'
Peter stumbled over his words. James was shaking his head in some kind of amazed shock.
'It was the chair, alright?'
Sirius broke first. His guffaws jolted Remus out of his astonishment and James' equally booming laugh dragged a smile from his lips. The three of them sat opposite Peter, laughing as only third years can over something as simple as the sound of a chair scraping unfortunately against the floor.
Peter huffed.
'It was the chair. Honest. I didn't, you know – prump.'
Perhaps 'prump' wasn't the best choice of words. Perhaps it was. Either way, Peter squirmed in embarrassment as his friends neared a state of hysteria. James was now doubled over, clutching his stomach and Sirius was actually dabbing his eyes.
Remus was leaning towards James, his eyes crunched closed with laughter when it happened. James slapped Remus' knee and snorted, 'Prump. As if you prump!'
The laughter died in Remus' throat and he stared at James' hand as though it was something repulsive. His sudden quietness did not go unnoticed.
'Remus?' The grin was still all over Sirius' face.
'You touched me. How – how can you touch me?'
James stopped smiling. Peter's reluctant chuckles turned to an intake of breath.
'What do you mean, Remus? How can I touch you? What does that even mean?'
Remus stared at him incredulously. His mouth opened and shut, reminiscent of his friends' actions mere moments ago.
'How can you... How can you touch me? Don't give me that crap. I'm a werewolf, James. You just bloody told me! How can you stand to touch me after that?' His eyes were wide.
'Don't give me that crap!' James retorted fiercely. 'I'm a pureblood, remember? Bloody hell, Remus. You're acting like I'm some naive Muggle-born who doesn't have a clue about our world. So have you got werewolf germs now? What, you sneeze on me and I come down with it, too?'
Remus started forwards furiously but James ignored him and turned to Sirius.
'Sirius, your parents are bonkers. They have that massive library filled with Dark books. Anything in any of them about how touching a werewolf makes you a werewolf?'
Sirius scratched his chin thoughtfully, then rubbed his temples as if trying hard to remember.
'Hmmm, mmm...' He crossed his legs. First one way. Then the other. Scratched his chin again. 'Hmmm...'
James smirked. Remus scowled at the pair of them.
'No...' Sirius said at last. 'No, definitely not. As far as the extensive collection of Dark books in my library know, it's just not possible to become a werewolf by touching one.'
Peter sighed heavily. 'Damn. I bet you were convinced that reason would get shut of these two, Remus. Still,' he sighed again, and sent a grimace in Remus' direction, 'I can't say I'm too upset that your flimsy excuse died a tragic death. Now you'll have to stick around and I'll have a bit of company trying to cope with the maniacs.'
He smiled. Such a genuine, friendly smile. Remus blinked. The smile was still there on Peter's face.
He closed his eyes.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
He opened his eyes.
Two more smiles had appeared in his midst.
'Honestly, Remus,' Sirius chided. 'I'd have thought you'd grant us a bit more credit.'
The silence entered their circle again, but it was friendly now, draping itself on each of their shoulders in a sort of comfortable hug.
James' tummy rumbled.
'Look, mate,' he met Remus with a frank gaze. 'I get that you're horribly beat up right now and probably exhausted to boot. But are you ever going to open those Chocolate Frogs?'
Remus reached over to his bedside table and grabbed a handful of Frogs. He chucked them all at James.
'Pillock,' he said with a smile.