A/N: This is a mashup of three romances, actually. But you can find out what the third wheel will be later on ;)
Through the sweet, spring air came a mirthful yell of, "Slow down, Padfoot! Bloody hell!" A teen boy of medium height with dusty blond hair and startling blue eyes ran through the green expanse of his schoolyard. He laughed, trying to catch the boy before him. This one had more distinct, handsome features than the first. His gray eyes and perfectly messy shoulder-length black hair gave him an endearing, mysterious quality. One that was undoubtedly unforgettable.
"Come on, Moony! I know you can do better than that!" the one called Padfoot teased back to his friend. His lips were spread in a soft catch-me-if-you-can smirk. One that only made his pursuer go faster. "You're not getting your wand back until you catch me! Work those leg muscles, bookworm!"
The slight drizzle coming from the clouds didn't faze the two sixth years one bit as they trampled through the grass. Every step brought them that much closer to the expansive lake on the grounds and further from the castle they called their home for most of the year. The blond was catching up to his friend, losing his smile to concentration.
Soon, just feet from the mass of water, Remus Lupin lunged at Sirius Black. In one mess of standard issue Hogwarts' uniforms, the two tumbled to the soggy ground. Remus attempted to wrestle his captive wand away from the rowdier boy. But to no avail. The other was stronger. "You must. . . know that yo. . . you won't get. . . this back that. . .easily!" Sirius grunted, narrowly avoiding a knee to the groin.
Drawing closer were two more boys. One consciously messing with his rich black hair, the other wheezing at all the weight he had to lug around. "Come on, Padfoot," James Potter finally injected after watching the pair scrap around for a few seconds. "You don't want the dear prefect turning you in now, do you?"
Sirius seemed to find the struggle amusing (and was most definitely winning), but gave up at the suggestion his best mate. He went limp, tossing the stick of magical wood onto the grass beside them.
Remus, too, stopped battling. He picked up his wand, but didn't get off of his fellow Marauder. It's not like he was uncomfortable. On the contrary, it was quite opposite. Sirius' body was chiseled with muscles formed from hours upon hours a week of Quidditch practice. It took all of Remus' strength not to run his fingers over the young wizard's arms and chest.
Also, Remus came to notice that Peter Pettigrew and James were staring. Peter was shifting his weight from foot to foot, obviously not knowing what to do with himself in this situation. While James just stood there wondering what these two were doing.
Eventually, as much as he didn't care to, Remus was forced to get off of Sirius. Other people were headed his way. He dusted off the slick forage from his black robes. Then, he offered his friend a hand up. Which Sirius graciously took, slapping the offerer hard on the back. Remus flinched under the force of it. Sometimes those beautiful muscles that attracted so many adoring looks from girls were a pain. Literally.
The four, joking around, walked back up to the castle where they had been attempting to entertain themselves on their free period. Which had started out with Transfiguration studying, but ended in a frustrated Sirius furiously stealing calm tutor Remus' wand. And now it was almost over. Then they had to head to Potions class. Probably the most dreaded, yet highly anticipated of all their classes. Dreaded – They had it with the bloody Slytherins. Anticipated – Professor Slughorn was laid back and, more to James' delight than anyone else's, it was easy to watch Lily Evans at her best. Plus, during almost every lesson, he gave Gryffindor points for their excelling of Lily and Sirius.
Much to Remus' liking and surprise, no one said a word about the drawn out time he had sat on Sirius' lap. A lot of times he acted without thinking. This had been one of those times. The times that he regretted being around for he turned so bright of a shade of red. Why do I have to be so different than the others? he thought, self consciously running a hand through his now wet hair.
All of a sudden James burst, yanking Remus from his own train of thoughts, "Only one more day until we face Slytherin! Yes!"
He seemed a little too happy for it. Considering they were going to get their arses whooped in this Quidditch match. But Sirius, too, caught on with the cheering. The two boys began to chant for Gryffindor, drawing adoring and admiring looks from their fellow students.
As much as Remus tried, he couldn't bring himself to be like his mates. Well, it wouldn't take much to emulate the lazy, brunt-of-jokes Peter. But James and Sirius were another thing altogether. They were highly popular, especially with the ladies. And Remus felt that he could never match up to how outgoing they were. It was hard to understand why they kept company such as his and Peter's.
"You're coming to the match, right Moony?" Sirius excitedly asked, throwing an arm around his second best mate's shoulders. Butterflies erupted in Remus' stomach as he smiled down at the slightly shorter boy. "Or do you have more important people to do, things to see?"
Remus couldn't help but grin as the others cracked up. They were now in the dungeons, entering the Potions classroom. Across the room sat Severus Snape who looked up at the four of them, one blonde-haired werewolf in particular. Said boy caught his gaze and nodded curtly before taking his seat. He and Severus were on better terms as of recent. As an understatement. . . . Shaking the thought out mentally, Remus turned back to Sirius, tousling his mate's hair roughly. "Right, because I usually pass my Saturdays shagging. Oh, wait! That's you, isn't it?"
"Quiet down, boys," Professor Slughorn reprimanded jovially as they once again burst into laughter. Class was starting, meaning that 1) Peter was attentively listening to Slughorn explain about their potion for the afternoon, 2) James was running his hand through his hair, trying to throw winks in Lily Evans' direction, 3) Sirius could already feel himself grow drowsy as all lessons tended to do to him, and 4) Remus was attempting to avoid looking behind him at the beetle-black eyes that were boring deep holes in his back.
The latter of the floor shifted uncomfortably in his seat when Slughorn pronounced that they would be working in pairs. Not because he was too shy to have interaction with a fellow student. But for the sole reason of the professor choosing the partners for them. Remus just knew in his gut that the person chosen for him would not be one of his mates. Rather it may very well of been one person he so desperately tried to avoid in public.
As it turned out to be.
Of course James was, in his immense good fortune, paired up with his darling Lily. And Sirius and Peter were put together. So by the time Slughorn got down to the last Marauder there was actually only one person it could've been. "And Lupin with our Potions maven – Severus!" the teacher wildly pronounced, excited at the slightly nervous look on Remus' face. "Don't worry, my boy. I'm sure he'll let you do at least some of the work. Now gather your things and head back to his desk, please." Without another word, they both walked off in their respective directions. On his way over Remus threw a glance back at Sirius who winced in apology. Then glared hard at Snape's curtain on black hair that hid his face from view.
This is going to be a difficult lesson, Remus thought to himself after plopping down next to his partner. To put it mildly…
A/N: Reviews fuel my muse! If you want me to keep up, please let me know what you think. Thanks!