A/N: This goes to everyone having their final exams at the moment. School is important guys, but there will always be something that is even more. (I love you, sis)
School Grades or What Really Matters In Life
"Has he been down here all night?" a familiar voice sluggishly seeped through the remnants of a dream that still hung in his head like heavy fog.
"By the look of him, I'd say yes, Wormtail," another voice answered, sounding slightly amused.
"This is getting ridiculous," a third voice sounded. It had the air of someone stuck in the middle of puberty and even in his half-conscious state Remus knew without a doubt to whom the voice belonged to. "Some people need to learn how to let go," James Potter huffed.
"Yeah, right. Cough-Evans-cough."
"Shut up, Padfoot."
Remus blinked, trying to figure out where he was. Judging by the embers that dimly outlined a few squashy armchairs in front of the fireplace, he must be in the common room. What time was it? He tried to remember what he'd been doing here before he'd obviously fallen asleep.
"Oh, look! I think he's waking up," Peter's voice sounded again. Remus lifted his head sleepily to see where his three best friends were. A page of a book stuck to his cheek and ripped loose with the motion. Oh, yes, now he remembered what he'd been doing. He'd been studying. He should have guessed seeing as this was practically the only thing he'd been doing for the last couple of months.
"Peter? Are you there?" he sleepily asked the almost complete darkness.
"Silentio!" the darkness answered casually in the voice of Sirius Black and he immediately felt a burning in his throat as the spell hit him, paralysing his vocal cords.
"Sorry Moony, but we can't let you wake the whole castle, can we now?" James whispered in his ear as two pairs of hands grabbed him under his arms from behind and pulled him from the chair he'd been peacefully sleeping in a moment ago. Something brushed over his head and his vision got slightly blurred as it always did when he was under James's Invisibility Cloak.
"Alright, let's go," Sirius's voice came from where two hands still had his right arm in a tight grasp. Moving under the cloak together had never been an easy task but now that they were all considerably taller than in their first year (well, all except for James, maybe) it was nearly impossible. Peter kept stepping on Remus's heels, James's elbow kept bumping in his ribs and all of their feet and possibly their ankles and maybe even their knees where painfully visible. Remus held his breath as they struggled out of the portrait whole, forgetting completely that he couldn't even have made a sound if he'd wanted to.
"There's not enough room for all of us," James noted in a whisper, stating the obvious. "Peter, why don't you change into Wormtail and lead the way? Tell us if you see someone heading this direction."
Peter gave a small noise that sounded like an agreement and Remus felt him vanish behind his back. Something tiny brushed his right ankle and he could hear the scurrying of very small feet on the stone floor.
It was very hard – what with the darkness and the fact that he'd been practically kidnapped by his best friends in the dead of night – to keep track of where they were going. James and Sirius obviously knew though because they both kept up a quick pace – Sirius stopping occasionally to jinx the statue of Gregory the Smarmy so that it read "I'm your daddy, Snivellus" or to vanish the beard of the portrait of the Bearded Lady on the sixth floor. Peter on the other hand was nowhere to be seen or heard and Remus strongly suspected that he'd gotten lost.
At least a quarter of an hour later and a dozen staircases higher up, James pushed a door open and slipped from under the Invisibility Cloak. Sirius gave Remus a hearty shove in the back so that he stumbled after him, almost tripping himself up. He steadied himself and took a look around. They were on the top of the Astronomy Tower, that much was certain. The sky overhead was the impressive colour of slowly fading ink, the horizon starting to brighten far beyond the Great Lake. Although there were lots of clouds – there had been a thunderstorm last night – he was sure that he'd never seen so many stars in his whole life. The sky seemed to glow, really.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" James sighed, flopping down by the banister. "New moon, even. You never get more stars than on a new moon's night."
Remus scanned the dark sky briefly. Funny thing, how the moon still cast a shadow on him even though it was nowhere to be seen.
"Are you coming, Padfoot?" James asked grinning. Remus turned his head to see that Sirius hadn't followed him outside. In fact, he couldn't see him at all, which had to mean that he was still wearing the cloak. No answer came from him.
"Oh, come on mate. The thunderstorm is over! It isn't even raining anymore. Not that I can see the point of being afraid of a little bit of lightning."
"Easy for you to say. You've never seen a man get hit by lightning," Sirius's voice sounded indignantly.
"And neither have you," James commented dryly.
"Maybe. But I've heard that lightning can fry one's brain."
"What are you afraid of, then? It's not that you have any of those, right?" James sniggered. Remus wanted to tell Sirius not to give James any more of those easy shots, but of course he couldn't. He gestured towards James, somewhat pleadingly, to take the charm off.
"Sorry Moony," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "You'll have to wait for that a little longer. We brought you here for a reason, you know, and the charm stays on until you've listened to what we've got to say," he smiled at Remus impishly before turning back to Sirius. "You can't be serious, mate!"
"But I am. I'm always Sirius."
James groaned at this, as did Remus – without a sound though. "I mean it, Sirius. Get your ass out here right now or I'll make you. This whole thing was your idea to begin with!"
A hand appeared out of nowhere, followed by a piece of an arm. It tentatively felt the air for any signs of downpour before it ripped the Invisibility Cloak off and Sirius appeared in all his glory, lazily checking his wristwatch.
"What's taking Wormtail so long," he said as he sat down next to Remus, dragging him down with him. "You think Filch's cat finally got him?"
"Now that's not a very nice thing to say," Peter's voice suddenly sounded from the doorway, a little offended. All three boys' heads whipped around in perfect unison. "Do you doubt my abilities, Sirius?" and with that he dropped an enormous bag onto Sirius's lap.
"Not in the slightest, Wormtail," Sirius answered, his voice as sincere as he could make it. He curiously opened the bag and reached inside.
"I thought I'd make a little detour into the kitchens to provide appropriate catering for our meeting," Peter said businesslike as Sirius pulled his hand back out of the bag, clutching a huge packet of honey scones.
"Trust you to take care of the food," he said, stuffing a scone into his mouth. Remus gestured to him to pass one of them over which Sirius happily ignored.
"Settle down, fellows," James called importantly, puffing himself up. "Now, the reason for our meeting today is this young man here," he indicated Remus who looked at him somewhat dumbfounded. Peter and Sirius both vigorously nodded their agreement between mouthfuls of sweets. "Remus Lupin has been charged with excessive studying, moping and neglecting his marauding duties as well as with taking live far too seriously. Does the accused have anything to say to that?"
Remus opened his mouth defiantly and when no sound came, he gave James the finger.
"Now, now. That doesn't exactly qualify as a statement. You ought to behave yourself, young Remus," James chuckled. Remus thought that he enjoyed himself a little too much. With a soundless grunt of frustration, he pointed at his throat. "Oh, right, I almost forgot about that," and he flicked his wand lazily, lifting the silencing-charm. The burning sensation vanished instantly and Remus gratefully cleared his throat.
"What in Merlin's name are you three up to?" he said, realising that his voice sounded raspier than usual – obviously a side effect of James's effing hex.
"We're taking that annoying nerd glasses off your nose so that you finally see what's really important in life, "Sirius said sombrely.
"You're doing what?"
"You heard him. You know, studying isn't all that matters," James said.
"Easy for you to say. Unfortunately I'm not you, James. Or Sirius. No offence, Peter," Remus said heatedly.
"Oh, non taken," Peter said cheerfully. He'd never been a good student, no matter how much effort he put into it. Fortunately, good grades meant nothing to him, as long as he passed the year. He'd had a few close shaves if the truth was to be told but thanks to his friends and the pitiable effect he seemed to have on teachers he'd always made it through somehow.
"Look, we know you flunked your Potion's O.W.L. yesterday-"
"What does 'flunked' even mean?" Peter cut in, munching a cauldron cake.
"It means 'to fail', Wormtail. That's the reason we're here, remember?" James explained exasperatedly.
"How do you know about that?" Remus asked baffled. How could they know about that? None of his friends had taken the exam with him. They had all been in different groups. And the test results weren't due until summer.
"I don't mean to upset you, Moony, but there was simply no way you could pass Potions," Sirius said carefully, looking at Remus apologetically. Remus was and had always been abysmal at Potions.
"But I've studied for months…"
"We know," James said sadly, probably remembering all the pranks they had to pull off without Remus.
"After all the effort I put into this…I mean…what does that say about me?" Remus said desperately, burying his face in his hands.
"Absolutely nothing," Peter said forcefully.
"Yeah. Forget about it. Who needs Potions when they want to become an Auror, anyway?" Sirius barked.
"Everyone does, Pads," James reminded him soberly.
"And who says I want to become an Auror in the first place?"
"Don't you? Why not? It'd be the coolest thing! Jamesy and Pete and me, we're all becoming Aurors. I doubt that any of them Deatheater wimps could stand a chance against us."
"I just don't think the Ministry of Magic would be hiring a werewolf, Sirius," Remus said pointedly, his voice as cold as ice.
Everyone fell silent for a moment, lost for words. They knew it was the truth, Remus thought. It stung a bit.
"So why do you bother with grades so much then?" Peter asked timidly.
Remus considered this for a moment. "Because it's the only thing I have. The only thing I will ever achieve. The only difference I will ever be able to make for myself." He was proud of how firm his voice sounded. Not a trace of self-pity.
"That's not true!" Sirius said, anger seeping through his voice. He gripped Remus hard by the shoulders and gave him a shake. "That's not true and you know it," he repeated, shaking him again. Remus was too shocked by his sudden outburst to say anything. He found his gaze fixed by Sirius's grey eyes and quailed from the look in them. Sirius's furious expression was mirrored by the look on Peter's and James's faces. Sirius gave him a last disgusted look before he shoved him away.
"Thanks a lot," Peter said acidly, a tone of voice Remus had never heard him adopt before.
"What-" he started confusedly but James cut him off.
"Grades are the only thing you have? The only thing that matters to you, Remus?" he asked him calmly, sounding deeply hurt.
It clicked.
Remus looked at his three best friends. His friends, who had kidnapped him in the dead of night to cheer him up on top of the highest tower of Hogwarts Castle. His friends, who were still there even after they'd found out that he was a werewolf. His friends, who had achieved the impossible and had become Animagi for him. For him.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, feeling ashamed and selfish but he knew without a doubt that he would be forgiven.
"Well, that's that," Sirius said cheerfully, clapping his hands together and looking at his wristwatch again. Remus marvelled – not for the first time – at his sudden mood swings that had the ability to overturn empires. "Now back to the reason we're all here tonight," he nodded at the horizon.
And precisely at that moment the sun rose from behind the mountaintops, painting the most exquisite sunrise in the heavy clouds Remus had ever seen.
With a small smile he had to admit that there really were certain things in life that mattered more than school grades.