High and Dry
A fic I've been wanting to write for a while now. Marauders-centric, and containing lots of blackmail, deceit and angst- just the way I like it! And it'll probably evolve into a slash fic soon enough (all the better ^_^) Well, here's chapter one- enjoy! And remember, I don't own any of these characters. If you haven't figured that out by now, well, you should be ashamed of yourself!
Chapter One
Remus flopped down into his bed with a contented sigh. His first week of fifth year had just ended, and he had plans to do some serious sleeping. Being friends with Sirius and James meant homework was left until about 1am, and that was on a good night.
He'd been lying there reading peacefully for a good half hour, when the door burst open with all the force of a small hurricane. Sirius charged through it, with James in hot pursuit. He managed to trip on the edge of the rug and sent them both sprawling to the ground. After a few moments of frantic wrestling James jumped up with a plastic spoon in his hand and a triumphant grin on his face. Sirius got himself up as well; looking dejected, and collapsed on the bed next to Remus. At the amber-eyed boy's questioning look he decided to clarify-
"He's been chewing the bloody thing ever since we got here! I just couldn't take any more crunching noises!"
"Well, I've never been to a McWhatyamacallit's... McDonalds before. It's a souvenir." Declared James, looking at the spoon in the same way a mother might look at a newly born child.
"It's a fecking nuisance, that's what it is!"
The spoon was flung across the room in retaliation. Then James, realising his mistake, dived after it. Unfortunately, they both ended up on the bed with Remus and in the ensuing scuffle he fell to the floor with a yell and a thump. When, after about a minute, Sirius noted that his friend hadn't got back up he scrambled across the bed, peered worriedly over the edge and started chuckling. James followed, and couldn't stop sniggering either. Remus seemed to be still sitting where he fell, but he'd retrieved his book and was reading, seemingly unfazed by the fact that he was now lying on a cold stone floor as opposed to a bed.
The tawny-haired boy didn't see the two snickering at him for a while, but suddenly noticed the lack of argument and looked up into the grinning faces of his friends.
"What?!" He asked, as if lying on the floor in the middle of what was, essentially, outright war was the most normal thing in the world to be doing.
"You alright mate?" Asked Sirius in amusement. "You really don't let yourself get distracted from your work, do you?"
"Well, for one, it's safer down here where I can't fall any further. And, secondly, this isn't work."
He held up a slim book entitled 'Evil Within: Werewolves and Vampires amongst us'. James looked at him worriedly.
"Why do you read that stuff? It can't be particularly. cheerful."
He jumped off the bed and landed right on top of Lupin, who let out a noise that sounded like a punctured beach ball.
"And who said it was safer down here?"
He looked at the figure he was sitting on top of, and grinned.
"Well at least now I can do this!"
Remus grabbed the well-chewed spoon off James and threw it at Sirius- who promptly jumped on it and broke it into about a million little pieces.
"Damn" Muttered James, poking at the bits with his wand. "How come we never learn any useful spells in class?"
"Useful for what? Sticking your spoon back together?"
"Something like that. Or possibly for some sort of painful revenge." He glared daggers in Sirius' direction
"Oh cheer up. We've got to go down to dinner now."
"And there'll be lots of spoons there."
"Silver ones!"
James brightened up considerably at this prospect. The two dark haired students headed for the door.
"Hey! Wait for me!"
Remus jumped up off the floor and dragged on a pair of shoes. They all charged down the stairs to the dining-hall, slamming the door so hard that Lupin's book toppled from its precarious perch on the edge of the bed and fell to the floor.
The three fifth years ambled down the stairs with Peter Pettigrew - whom they'd picked up in the common room - trailing behind. The conversation topic had moved from spoons to homework. Sirius was extremely indignant about the amount they were getting.
"If this is what we have after a week, imagine how much we'll have at the end of the year! It'll be unbelievable!"
To emphasise his point Sirius made a wide, sweeping gesture with his arms. In doing this he managed to hit a Slytherin walking behind him square in the nose.
"Sorry! Didn't mean... Oh, it's only Snivellus. Never mind then, ignore my last sentence."
"You'll be sorry alright," muttered Snape to himself.
"What's that Snivvy? Don't like being hit, eh. Would you rather be tripped instead?"
At these words he stuck his leg out and Snape fell forward into the dining hall, where he was met with the sound of echoing laughter. Lupin made as if to help the Slytherin but hesitated. He didn't want to get on the others' wrong side. They were the first real friends... actually, the first ever friends he'd had, and he didn't want to lose them. In fact, he thought it a miracle that he wasn't the one in Snape's position. That was the way it had always been before coming to Hogwarts. Then he met Sirius, James and Peter, and had never been happier. Though he felt bad, Remus wasn't about to give up happiness for the sake of someone who, more than likely, hated his guts.
Still feeling guilty, Lupin made his way over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Sirius. Snape picked himself up off the floor, made his way to the end of his table and sat down. He cast a look of pure loathing at the four Gryffindors before picking up a knife and fork and starting on the plate of mashed potato in front of him.
Remus turned to his own dinner, but dropped the fork with a yelp. Sirius turned to him and hissed
"Remus, you idiot! That's silver!"
"Bit late now Siri," garbled Peter around a mouthful of chicken. Sirius pulled a face at him. James cackled.
"You look exactly like a duck's ass when you do that!"
Peter clapped a hand over his mouth to prevent bits of chewed meat from spraying everywhere as he began laughing even harder than James. Remus would have liked to add something to the conversation, but was too busy trying to soothe his burnt fingers. Plus, he didn't need to spend the next week listening to Sirius doing imitations of him trying to talk with his left hand stuck in his mouth.
"Forget you own stuff Rem?"
Lupin nodded. He usually brought his own steel cutlery to meals with him, but had forgotten it during the chaos in the dorm earlier. The rest of the meal was spent with his sleeve wrapped around his hand in an attempt to avoid touching the metal. He gingerly ate his dinner, making sure the silver didn't come into contact with his lips. He hoped no one else noticed his efforts.
"Remus, whatever you're doing- Stop it. You look like a horse!"
The boy sighed. So much for being inconspicuous.
"Have you nothing better to do with yourself than compare your friends to animals James? And wouldn't you rather see me looking like a horse than with lips the size of bananas - which is what would happen if this thing," He waved the fork threateningly under James' nose, "touched them!"
A big grin spread across the messy haired boy's face as he opened his mouth to speak.
"On second thought, don't answer that!" Remus added hastily, knowing full well what the reply would be. "Are you lot finished yet? I want to go get something from the dorm."
"Hold your horses, I'm not done" Said Sirius. James started cackling again. Black looked confused for a minute, then realised his terrible choice of words. Damn James and his animal comparisons. He rolled his eyes and gave his friend a whack on the head.
"Idiot." He muttered, as the boy continued giggling. "Ok Moony, I'm coming. Meet up with you in a while Peter. Come up to the common room when he -" Sirius pointed at the shaking form, "stops that."
The two boys started walking leisurely towards the door. As they passed the Slytherin table, however, they were stopped by a greasy haired figure who knocked a spoon into Lupin's path.
"Could you get that for me?" Snape asked in a malicious tone of voice. Remus stared at the piece of silver by his feet. His heart was in his mouth. What was Snape playing at? Did he know something?!
"What's the matter? It wouldn't kill you to be nice for a change."
Still that same spiteful tone. Lupin turned and fled from the hall. He could hear Sirius calling after him, but didn't stop until he got to the dormitory where he collapsed, shaking, onto his bed.
End chapter one.
And that's the end of that chapter. What did you think? Not a lot of character development going on- I think I made James too hyperactive, and Lupin a bit melodramatic. Ah well, despite its faults I had fun writing this. I'm trying to conquer my biggest fear- Dialogue. I don't know how well I succeeded, but at least the conversation doesn't seem too stiff between them. And I promise the plot will pick up a bit in the next chapter. This was mainly intended as an introduction.
Oh, and just FYI - the title of this story came from the Radiohead song 'High and Dry', which is so unbelievably related to a Remus/Sirius relationship;
"Flying on your motorcycle, watching all the ground beneath you drop . You broke another mirror, You're turning into something you are not . Drying up in conversation,
You will be the one who cannot talk
All your insides fall to pieces,
You just sit there wishing you could still make love . It's the best thing that you ever had, The best thing that you ever, ever had. . The best that you have had Is gone away"
God I bawled my eyes out listening to this and reading OotP. Anyhoo, I highly recommend the song - it's fantastic!
Thanks for reading!
~Chowburger~
A fic I've been wanting to write for a while now. Marauders-centric, and containing lots of blackmail, deceit and angst- just the way I like it! And it'll probably evolve into a slash fic soon enough (all the better ^_^) Well, here's chapter one- enjoy! And remember, I don't own any of these characters. If you haven't figured that out by now, well, you should be ashamed of yourself!
Chapter One
Remus flopped down into his bed with a contented sigh. His first week of fifth year had just ended, and he had plans to do some serious sleeping. Being friends with Sirius and James meant homework was left until about 1am, and that was on a good night.
He'd been lying there reading peacefully for a good half hour, when the door burst open with all the force of a small hurricane. Sirius charged through it, with James in hot pursuit. He managed to trip on the edge of the rug and sent them both sprawling to the ground. After a few moments of frantic wrestling James jumped up with a plastic spoon in his hand and a triumphant grin on his face. Sirius got himself up as well; looking dejected, and collapsed on the bed next to Remus. At the amber-eyed boy's questioning look he decided to clarify-
"He's been chewing the bloody thing ever since we got here! I just couldn't take any more crunching noises!"
"Well, I've never been to a McWhatyamacallit's... McDonalds before. It's a souvenir." Declared James, looking at the spoon in the same way a mother might look at a newly born child.
"It's a fecking nuisance, that's what it is!"
The spoon was flung across the room in retaliation. Then James, realising his mistake, dived after it. Unfortunately, they both ended up on the bed with Remus and in the ensuing scuffle he fell to the floor with a yell and a thump. When, after about a minute, Sirius noted that his friend hadn't got back up he scrambled across the bed, peered worriedly over the edge and started chuckling. James followed, and couldn't stop sniggering either. Remus seemed to be still sitting where he fell, but he'd retrieved his book and was reading, seemingly unfazed by the fact that he was now lying on a cold stone floor as opposed to a bed.
The tawny-haired boy didn't see the two snickering at him for a while, but suddenly noticed the lack of argument and looked up into the grinning faces of his friends.
"What?!" He asked, as if lying on the floor in the middle of what was, essentially, outright war was the most normal thing in the world to be doing.
"You alright mate?" Asked Sirius in amusement. "You really don't let yourself get distracted from your work, do you?"
"Well, for one, it's safer down here where I can't fall any further. And, secondly, this isn't work."
He held up a slim book entitled 'Evil Within: Werewolves and Vampires amongst us'. James looked at him worriedly.
"Why do you read that stuff? It can't be particularly. cheerful."
He jumped off the bed and landed right on top of Lupin, who let out a noise that sounded like a punctured beach ball.
"And who said it was safer down here?"
He looked at the figure he was sitting on top of, and grinned.
"Well at least now I can do this!"
Remus grabbed the well-chewed spoon off James and threw it at Sirius- who promptly jumped on it and broke it into about a million little pieces.
"Damn" Muttered James, poking at the bits with his wand. "How come we never learn any useful spells in class?"
"Useful for what? Sticking your spoon back together?"
"Something like that. Or possibly for some sort of painful revenge." He glared daggers in Sirius' direction
"Oh cheer up. We've got to go down to dinner now."
"And there'll be lots of spoons there."
"Silver ones!"
James brightened up considerably at this prospect. The two dark haired students headed for the door.
"Hey! Wait for me!"
Remus jumped up off the floor and dragged on a pair of shoes. They all charged down the stairs to the dining-hall, slamming the door so hard that Lupin's book toppled from its precarious perch on the edge of the bed and fell to the floor.
The three fifth years ambled down the stairs with Peter Pettigrew - whom they'd picked up in the common room - trailing behind. The conversation topic had moved from spoons to homework. Sirius was extremely indignant about the amount they were getting.
"If this is what we have after a week, imagine how much we'll have at the end of the year! It'll be unbelievable!"
To emphasise his point Sirius made a wide, sweeping gesture with his arms. In doing this he managed to hit a Slytherin walking behind him square in the nose.
"Sorry! Didn't mean... Oh, it's only Snivellus. Never mind then, ignore my last sentence."
"You'll be sorry alright," muttered Snape to himself.
"What's that Snivvy? Don't like being hit, eh. Would you rather be tripped instead?"
At these words he stuck his leg out and Snape fell forward into the dining hall, where he was met with the sound of echoing laughter. Lupin made as if to help the Slytherin but hesitated. He didn't want to get on the others' wrong side. They were the first real friends... actually, the first ever friends he'd had, and he didn't want to lose them. In fact, he thought it a miracle that he wasn't the one in Snape's position. That was the way it had always been before coming to Hogwarts. Then he met Sirius, James and Peter, and had never been happier. Though he felt bad, Remus wasn't about to give up happiness for the sake of someone who, more than likely, hated his guts.
Still feeling guilty, Lupin made his way over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Sirius. Snape picked himself up off the floor, made his way to the end of his table and sat down. He cast a look of pure loathing at the four Gryffindors before picking up a knife and fork and starting on the plate of mashed potato in front of him.
Remus turned to his own dinner, but dropped the fork with a yelp. Sirius turned to him and hissed
"Remus, you idiot! That's silver!"
"Bit late now Siri," garbled Peter around a mouthful of chicken. Sirius pulled a face at him. James cackled.
"You look exactly like a duck's ass when you do that!"
Peter clapped a hand over his mouth to prevent bits of chewed meat from spraying everywhere as he began laughing even harder than James. Remus would have liked to add something to the conversation, but was too busy trying to soothe his burnt fingers. Plus, he didn't need to spend the next week listening to Sirius doing imitations of him trying to talk with his left hand stuck in his mouth.
"Forget you own stuff Rem?"
Lupin nodded. He usually brought his own steel cutlery to meals with him, but had forgotten it during the chaos in the dorm earlier. The rest of the meal was spent with his sleeve wrapped around his hand in an attempt to avoid touching the metal. He gingerly ate his dinner, making sure the silver didn't come into contact with his lips. He hoped no one else noticed his efforts.
"Remus, whatever you're doing- Stop it. You look like a horse!"
The boy sighed. So much for being inconspicuous.
"Have you nothing better to do with yourself than compare your friends to animals James? And wouldn't you rather see me looking like a horse than with lips the size of bananas - which is what would happen if this thing," He waved the fork threateningly under James' nose, "touched them!"
A big grin spread across the messy haired boy's face as he opened his mouth to speak.
"On second thought, don't answer that!" Remus added hastily, knowing full well what the reply would be. "Are you lot finished yet? I want to go get something from the dorm."
"Hold your horses, I'm not done" Said Sirius. James started cackling again. Black looked confused for a minute, then realised his terrible choice of words. Damn James and his animal comparisons. He rolled his eyes and gave his friend a whack on the head.
"Idiot." He muttered, as the boy continued giggling. "Ok Moony, I'm coming. Meet up with you in a while Peter. Come up to the common room when he -" Sirius pointed at the shaking form, "stops that."
The two boys started walking leisurely towards the door. As they passed the Slytherin table, however, they were stopped by a greasy haired figure who knocked a spoon into Lupin's path.
"Could you get that for me?" Snape asked in a malicious tone of voice. Remus stared at the piece of silver by his feet. His heart was in his mouth. What was Snape playing at? Did he know something?!
"What's the matter? It wouldn't kill you to be nice for a change."
Still that same spiteful tone. Lupin turned and fled from the hall. He could hear Sirius calling after him, but didn't stop until he got to the dormitory where he collapsed, shaking, onto his bed.
End chapter one.
And that's the end of that chapter. What did you think? Not a lot of character development going on- I think I made James too hyperactive, and Lupin a bit melodramatic. Ah well, despite its faults I had fun writing this. I'm trying to conquer my biggest fear- Dialogue. I don't know how well I succeeded, but at least the conversation doesn't seem too stiff between them. And I promise the plot will pick up a bit in the next chapter. This was mainly intended as an introduction.
Oh, and just FYI - the title of this story came from the Radiohead song 'High and Dry', which is so unbelievably related to a Remus/Sirius relationship;
"Flying on your motorcycle, watching all the ground beneath you drop . You broke another mirror, You're turning into something you are not . Drying up in conversation,
You will be the one who cannot talk
All your insides fall to pieces,
You just sit there wishing you could still make love . It's the best thing that you ever had, The best thing that you ever, ever had. . The best that you have had Is gone away"
God I bawled my eyes out listening to this and reading OotP. Anyhoo, I highly recommend the song - it's fantastic!
Thanks for reading!
~Chowburger~