Sirius, James, Remus and Peter decided to go to the same University together. They decided to dorm together, take as many classes together as they could and spend all their time together. It would be like they'd never left Hogwarts at all. Sirius secretly felt there was no way Peter would get into a school with the rest of them, but he had been wrong. They had all made it into a small college on the Scottish border. It even looked like being back at Hogwarts. Their classes for their first semester were decided for them by the school. Still, by some miracle, they ended up in a few together. James, Sirius and Peter all ended up in the same history class, while Sirius and Remus ended up in the same chemistry lab. Remus thanked God for that. Science – especially chemistry – was his biggest academic weakness. He would need all the help from Sirius he could get.
The semester had started out slow as all the students – mostly freshmen in the classes they had been put into – adjusted to college life. James joined the football team and started hounding after one of the cheerleaders by the name of Lily Evans. She didn't seem to reciprocate his feelings, but that didn't stop him. Peter found something called "the Learning Center" and nearly had a heart attack when he realized what it was. A place with tutors who would help him with his schoolwork. He had no idea such places existed! And it wasn't considered cheating, either!
That left Remus and Sirius on their own quite often. A chemistry that had sparked between them while they were still at Hogwarts suddenly burst into flame in the long hours they spend in their dormitory alone. By mid-semester, the two were happily enjoying each other's company in a whole new way.
Their chemistry class, however, was going in a completely different direction. They had begun the semester with some of the basics of chemistry – mostly theories and studies in past research – but now, they were playing around with things in actual experiments. No matter how hard he tried, Remus almost always managed to muck it all up, even when he left ninety percent of the work to Sirius. He was beginning to worry that his grade – and Sirius' too – would suffer from his complete ineptitude in the subject.
In tonight's lab, they were studying chemical reactions of different substances. As always, they had been given a step-by-step procedure outline designed by the professor. Even with clear, written out directions, Remus was still largely incapable of helping.
"Whoa, Remus," Sirius said, grabbing Remus' wrist before he poured a spoonful of the wrong 'white powdery stuff' into their boiling beaker. "Not that one." He took the spoon from Remus' fingers and put it back on the table they were working at.
Remus slumped down, resting his chin on his folded arms, staring darkly at the swirling water. "Hopeless," he muttered.
Sirius heard him and laughed. "Yeah, you are a bit hopeless when it comes to experiments," he said. "But you've got all the theories down. You'll be fine for exams, as long as there's not a practical aspect." Remus nodded.
Remus ignored much of what Sirius was doing for several minutes, opting to stare aimlessly around the room until class ended or he and Sirius finished their experiment. Now that Sirius didn't have to watch what Remus was doing, Remus figured he would finish much quicker. After fifteen minutes, Sirius had filled out about half of the results chart they were required to hand in at the end of the lab.
Remus looked over at him. "Are there any really simple ones I could do?" he asked.
Sirius raised an eyebrow at him before turning to the procedure booklet and flipping through it. "This one's not so bad," he said pointing to one about three quarters of the way through the packet. "It's only six steps. I'm sure you'll manage it fine." He handed the booklet over to Remus. Remus glanced down the steps quickly. It did look rather simple. Heat up some water, mix some stuff up in it, see if anything happens. Cool down the water and see if anything happens then. Record your results and wash out the beaker. If Remus couldn't do this, he decided, university was just not the place for him.
He set out his supplies in front of him. He placed the water filled beaker on the Bunsen burner and waited for the water to start bubbling. He then added a spoonful of two different powdered substances. They were labeled by their content's compounds, not by any proper names, so Remus had no clue what they were. He mixed it together and waited for something to happen. Nothing. He removed the beaker from the heat and waited again. Still nothing.
Something, he decided must have gone wrong. So, he placed the beaker back on the heat and added more spoonfuls of the two substances. Nothing! He was getting frustrated. It was six easy steps! How had he screwed it up!? He wouldn't stand for it. He could handle this! He started shoveling spoonfuls of the substances into the beaker. Nothing. He lost his concentration and accidentally grabbed a jar full of something that was not supposed to be used in this part of the experiment. He proceeded to dump it into the beaker, thinking if this didn't create some kind of reaction, he had clearly failed in life.
Half a second later, the beaker imploded, spraying fizzing water all over him and everyone and everything else in a five-foot radius. Strangely, the water was very cold, though it had been boiling on a burner not a minute before. He wiped the cold water from his face, thanking God he had goggles on. He took off his lab coat, put it on the table that was now covered in cold water and shards of glass, and walked out of the classroom.
He didn't stop walking until he was in his dorm. He really was a complete failure.
Half an hour later, Sirius arrived back at the dorm. "What was that, Rem?" he asked as he stepped into the room they shared, dropping his book bag on the floor. He had carried Remus' back as well.
Remus looked at him from where he lay prostrate on his bed. "That was me," he said slowly, never dropping his gaze from the ceiling, "dropping out of college."
Sirius laughed his barking laugh. "Why? Because you suck at Chemistry? Don't be stupid."
"Can't help it," Remus replied, "Born that way, I suppose."
Sirius laughed again, louder than before. He sat on the bed next to Remus, threading a hand into his hair. "You're ace at everything else."
Remus shrugged, closing his eyes.
"You're ace at math, and history, and especially lit classes. How would I ever survive one of those classes without you doing the readings for me?" Remus shrugged again. "That's right," Sirius said. "I wouldn't. So I'll get you through this chemistry class and then you'll never have to take another one again."
Remus nodded. That was true enough.
"You really are pants at it, though," Sirius continued, maneuvering so he and Remus were lying side-by-side. "I've never seen anyone screw up a six-step lab where two of the steps are 'gather materials' and 'put materials away'." He barked another laugh as Remus turned his head and glared at him.
"Shut up, you."
"Make me!"
Remus grabbed him by the shoulders and flipped him onto his back with Remus sitting on his abdomen. "Don't ask for it if you don't want it."
"Oh," Sirius responded, grinning wide, "I want it."
Remus leaned down to kiss him lightly. "Thought so. When's James' practice over?"
Sirius shrugged. "We've got time." Remus came down for another kiss, this one much longer and harder than the last.
"Good."