Author's Note: A big thank you to those who supported my decision to re-start this story with much better writing and a slightly altered plot line. Thank you so much for your reviews! See you again in another few days... I have thirteen chapters written and they'll come to you about twice a week.
"Rise and shine, boys!"
Sirius opened his eyes groggily to the sound of someone knocking loudly from the other side of the door. He almost turned onto his side and went right back to sleep before he realized where he was. He lay quietly with his eyes closed for a moment or two as James hollered angrily at his mother to ask for ten more minutes. Sirius reached out to stretch but as he did, he hit someone lying next to him. He looked over and saw a sandy-coloured mop of hair resting on the pillow next to him. He had totally forgotten that Remus had fallen asleep there.
"Hey. Remus." Sirius said, giving the boy a tentative shove.
Sirius received only a grumble in reply.
"Remus!" Sirius said, shoving him harder.
Remus grumbled louder.
"Remus!" Sirius said again, grabbing a pillow and whacking his friend over the head.
"Get off of me, you mangy animal!" Remus growled, grabbing the pillow out of the air and throwing it across the room where it fell unceremoniously onto James' chest.
"Hey!" James yelled from his own bed. "Just because you two are having a pillow fight at your little slumber party doesn't mean that I need to join in."
"Sorry." Remus and Sirius said in unison.
Sirius looked over at the clock hanging on the wall over James' bed. It was half past eight and, despite the early hour and the looming hangover, he felt like getting up out of bed. He had spent the last months secluding himself from his family, staying in his room all day and night and taking whatever small meals he had to eat by himself. He was finally free and it was time to get up and actually make something of his last few weeks before school started.
"Bloody hell." Remus groaned, looking up at the clock. "Are you out of your mind, Sirius? I usually sleep in until at least 11:00."
"Yes, but the Potters want help with the garden; Mr. Potter told me last night." Sirius said, sitting up in bed.
Remus remained silent for a moment before finally acceding defeat. Sirius knew that Remus couldn't sit idly by while his hostess needed help.
"I call not waking up James, though." Remus sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Just give me a couple more minutes, okay?"
"Fine and fine." Sirius replied, leaning against the wall and putting his legs over Remus.
"Sorry for sleeping here last night." Remus said after a huge yawn.
Sirius shrugged. "I didn't mind the company. My bed is pretty cold at Grimmauld."
"Yeah, well I don't think your feet have exactly realized that they're back from the Arctic." Remus grumbled, struggling to keep his eyes open. "You can take them off me."
"I could." Sirius shrugged.
Remus mumbled something groggily and turned his back on Sirius. He started snoring softly and Sirius smiled. For the fearsome beast he became every month, Remus really was just harmless. Sirius clambered gently over his sleeping friend and started to get dressed. He noted that his belongings had already been sorted away into the wardrobe at the foot of his bed and, to his great surprise, organized by colour and by type of garment.
"Incredible." Sirius muttered to himself as he grabbed a neatly folded white Sex Pistols shirt and a pair of torn blue jeans. He ran a brush quickly through his hair and jumped about a mile in the air when the wardrobe suddenly and loudly ordered him to shave, get a haircut and trim his sideburns in a very deep, brusque voice.
Both Remus and James gave an extremely loud groan and threw pillows almost in perfect unison in his direction.
"Sorry!" Sirius said, quickly slamming the doors to the wardrobe shut and sitting down on the edge of the bed next to Remus.
"Well, between you and the wardrobe I don't think I'll be getting any more sleep." Remus muttered from under the covers.
"I'm sorry, how was I supposed to know that the wardrobe had taken a page out of my parents' book?" Sirius asked, watching in terror as James sat up slowly in bed, a look of pure hatred on his face.
"Welcome to a normal wizarding home." Remus mumbled, his head still almost totally covered by the duvet. "When I was growing up my bathroom mirror would yell at me if I didn't brush my teeth for exactly two minutes."
"Oh, yeah?" Sirius said. "I can one up you – every morning this summer before I left the portraits outside my bedroom had teamed up to harass me all the way through the house. You try saying 'Black Sheep of the Black Family' ten times fast."
At this, Remus peeled the duvet down and away from his face and eyed Sirius sleepily. "You're a mess, Padfoot."
Sirius balked slightly at the echo of Remus' words from the night before."I know. This side of my face feels awful."
"Yeah, I don't know. Maybe you should go to a healer or something..." Remus sighed, sitting up slowly to look at Sirius' face.
"Naw. I'll be fine." Sirius said.
"Don't be so tough, this looks bad." Remus said, reaching out to take Sirius' chin in his hand. He tilted Sirius' face this way and that, trying to assess the damage. "Oh, I totally forgot you fell face-first last night, too. You've got a lovely looking bump on your forehead."
"Oh. Great." Sirius said sarcastically, rolling his syes.
"Yeah, Sirius. I don't think you should do any work today." Remus said, touching the area under Sirius' eye lightly.
"I'll be fine. I have to make it up to Mrs. Potter for letting me stay here." Sirius replied, closing his eyes as Remus moved his hand up around his eye to his forehead.
"No, you don't. Sirius, I know you don't really like bringing it up, but you have been seriously hurt by your own father. There's no sense in aggravating your condition by going and doing yard work." Remus said softly, his eyes sad.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Look, I'm used to it, okay? I want to help the Potters out, so I will. Besides, I'm hurt on my face. My hands still work perfectly."
Remus raised his eyebrows. "I keep telling you that you don't have to be so – "
"Tough?" Sirius finished Remus' sentence.
"Yes." Remus said with a small smile.
"I do, actually. It's a coping mechanism, alright?" Sirius admitted. "I just don't want to think about it."
"You can talk to me about it, if you want." Remus said, touching Sirius' arm.
Sirius could feel irritation roiling in his stomach, but he fought it down.
"It's fine, Remus. Seriously. I'm not going to go mourn my lost childhood because it wasn't lost. I was at Hogwarts ten months out of the year and for the two months I was home, things like this didn't happen too often. I've been dealing with this for years and it's over now. I just want to celebrate the fact that it's over. Is that okay?" Sirius asked.
He knew that Remus was just trying to be helpful, but the last thing he wanted to do was to think about the summer he had just had. It was the hardest of his entire life but he had had hope to get him through. He had started planning with James for him to come stay with him for several weeks before they had put their plan in motion. James had forged a letter in Dumbledore's handwriting making up a story about something serious he, Remus, Sirius and Peter had done, mailed it to Orion and Walburga Black and had waited for the fireworks to happen. It was both a very clever plan and a very stupid plan, but it had worked, and that's what mattered.
"It's okay." Remus said, smiling kindly. He moved slightly closer to Sirius and pulled him into a hug. Sirius melted instantly, wrapping his arms around his friend and leaning his head on his shoulder. Sirius burried his face into the crook of Remus' neck and rested there, taking in the smell of fresh wool and the clean smell of shampoo Remus radiated.
"You two quite finished over there?" James called from his bed. "Seriously, it's disgusting."
Sirius held on a moment longer before pulling away. He had to admit that Remus gave the best hugs of anyone he had ever met.
"Don't make me come over there." Sirius said, pointing a finger menacingly at James.
"Oh, I'm so scared." James said sarcastically, waving his hands in mock-fear.
In a flash, Sirius had become a glossy, black-haired dog and was bounding across the room towards James.
"No!" James yelled, covering his face as Sirius leaped around on James' bed.
Remus laughed and egged Sirius on.
"Do you have a dog up there, James Potter?"
Sirius became human just in time for Mrs. Potter to open the door to their room.
"No, mother. Honestly, I think you need to get your hearing checked." James grinned.
Sirius sat innocently, smiling as if nothing at all had happened.
Mrs. Potter raised her eyebrows. "No funny business."
"No, Ma'am!" Sirius smiled.
"It's breakfast time, boys, but then I expect you outside, okay?" She said sternly.
"Yes!" James leapt out of bed.
"And Sirius, dear, don't call me Ma'am." Mrs. Potter said, her eyes sparklingly kindly.
"Okay." Sirius replied with a small smile.
As the door shut behind her, the boys all busied themselves by getting dressed before heading down to the kitchen. The smell of fried bacon, eggs and toast hit them even before they had reached the dining room. Large pitchers of pumpkin juice sat on the table as well as a pot of tea. When Mr. And Mrs. Potter sat down, everyone tucked in with Sirius and James shovelling food into their mouths as if their lives depended on it.
The conversation at breakfast was cheery and Sirius found himself forgetting all about his family and his horrible summer break. Mrs. Potter had shown him more kindness and love in the past hour than his mother had all summer and it was a welcome change. He even noticed that Remus had perked up. It was always nice to see the normally quiet and contemplative Remus laughing and smiling along with the rest of them.
"Alright, boys, you head off outside until the work is done and then you're free to do whatever you would like for the rest of the day." Mrs. Potter said, dabbing at the corners of her mouth with her serviette.
"No problem. I thought we could whip Remus' arse at a game of Quidditch after we de-gnome the garden." James said, a wicked smile spreading across his face.
Remus simply raised his eyebrow as he stood up with his plate.
"James, watch your tongue. And leave it on the table, Remus. The house elves will take care of it." Mr. Potter said, tapping Remus' arm.
Remus nodded and then looked at James and Sirius.
"Well, let's get outside and do the job, shall we?" Remus asked.
James and Sirius followed and within minutes the boys were outside hunting around the Potters' massive garden. The Potter family came from quite a bit of money and it showed. The gardens were lovely, lush and green, and the many large, verdant trees cast welcomed shade during the sweltering August heat. In the middle of the garden was a large, beautiful stone fountain with featuring a beautiful sculpture of a mermaid splashing in its waters. Sirius felt quite at home here.
"Got one!" James cried, gripping a small brown creature by the arms and swinging it wildly over his head and over the high grey fence.
"Keeping count?" Sirius asked, hunting around in the garden for one of his own.
"Could be." James replied.
"Ah, found one!" Sirius said, leaping towards a gnome who was running straight towards the fountain.
Before Sirius could get there, however, Remus had jumped forwards and caught it.
"Hey! That was my catch!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Tough." Remus said with a smile before lobbing the poor thing over the fence.
The morning progressed quickly, though Sirius was lagging far behind James and Remus in gnome count. Remus had managed to jump in Sirius' path every time he had spotted a gnome save a couple times. Sirius' competitive side was starting to get the better of him, and Remus was getting on his nerves.
"Why don't you go steal some of James' gnomes?" Sirius snarled as Remus caught another gnome right out from under him.
"It's more fun this way." Remus said simply.
Sirius clenched his jaw and trotted off in the opposite direction of the two other boys. He headed straight for a rose bush in the far south end of the garden and began digging around the foliage to see if he could find enough gnomes to set him in the lead.
"Sirius!" Remus yelled, coming up from behind.
"Go away!" Sirius yelled over his shoulder as he grabbed three gnomes at once and dragged them up into the air.
"Sirius!" Remus yelled again.
"I said, sod off!" Sirius said, throwing the gnomes over the fence and turning to look at Remus.
"Will you stop it?" Remus asked, crossing his arms.
"Stop what? You're the one ruining my fun!" Sirius said angrily.
"I'm not trying to ruin your fun." Remus sighed, glancing down nervously to his feet. "It's just that I don't think you should be working."
"I. am. Fine." Sirius said, his fists clenched.
"Yeah, but..." Remus sighed.
"But what, Remus? I'm fine! Stop treating me like a baby!" Sirius exclaimed.
By this time, James had stopped what he was doing and had looked over to see what was going on.
"Sirius, your face looks so, so bad. It's swollen up even worse than it was this morning." Remus said finally.
Sirius could feel frustration welling up inside him. "You really don't have to watch over me all the time."
"If not me, then who will?" Remus asked, crossing his arms. "You clearly aren't."
Sirius opened his mouth to argue but fell quiet. He didn't trust himself to say anything and so he simply clenched his jaw and looked away, flexing his fingers.
"Fine." Sirius muttered, acceding defeat.
"James, you stay out here, I'm going to take Sirius inside and clean him up." Remus said, grabbing Sirius by the elbow and leading him back towards the house.
"He's right, Remus, he's not a baby!" James called after them. "Besides, I've got 42 gnomes so I've beaten you both by a landslide!"
Sirius and Remus ignored him as they stepped back into the refreshing coolness of the Potters' house.
"I just need some kind of disinfectant. Maybe a bandage?" Remus said more to himself than to Sirius. "You go sit in the bathroom. I'll be along soon."
Sirius wandered off obediently in the direction of the bathroom. He wasn't sure whether he was touched that Remus had been looking out for him or whether he was upset by it. Sirius wasn't used to being treated with much care at all. For the better part of the year he was in the company of his peers who weren't about to pander to his every whim and need, and for the summer he was at home where he was used to taking care of himself.
"Right." Remus said, startling Sirius from his thoughts as he came in the bathroom door. He dumped several potion bottles on the counter along with a pile of white cloths. "This was all I could find. Just hop up here on the counter like you did yesterday."
Sirius obliged, edging up onto the counter. Remus looked up into Sirius' face, taking in the extent of what needed to be done.
"Doesn't this gross you out?" Sirius asked, chuckling slightly to break the intensity of Remus' look.
"Not really." Remus said, picking up a blue bottle and unscrewing the lid. "Anything for you, Sirius."
Sirius smiled and was suddenly conscious of the tightness in his cheek where the gash was. He leaned over to look at the mirror and yelled out in shock. His face looked absolutely horrific and quite possibly infected.
"I look terrible!" Sirius exclaimed, raising his hand to touch his face. Remus caught it half-way and pushed it down.
"You don't." Remus said, holding Sirius' by the wrist with one hand while he used the other to place a ointment-soaked cloth on his face. "This is going to sti–"
Sirius yelled out as the wet cloth came into contact with the cut. Excruciating pain spread instantly outwards from the cloth across his face.
"I'm sorry! Just try to sit still." Remus said, holding the cloth firmly to Sirius' face as he tried to squirm away.
Remus slid his hand down from Sirius' wrist to his hand.
"It's alright, just sit still, okay?" Remus said softly, looking into Sirius' eyes and nodding encouragingly.
Sirius was acutely aware of both the searing pain in his face and the gentle warmth of Remus' hand on his. Despite the stinging, Sirius found the strength to calm down.
"It's just regular Muggle rubbing alcohol." Remus said. "Stings worse than any potion I've ever used."
"You're telling me." Sirius said, his face screwed up in pain.
Remus gave Sirius' hand a squeeze before removing the cloth.
"You've got an infection." Remus said, tossing the cloth into the bin nearby and picking up another. "This is going to hurt again, okay?"
Sirius nodded and watched as, without letting go of his hand, Remus poured more alcohol onto his new cloth and pressed it again to the side of his face. Sirius' face twisted up in pain again and Remus rubbed his thumb over the top of Sirius' hand. Sirius tore his hand away from Remus' as he clenched his jaw in pain. Taking a few deep breaths, Sirius slid back and took Remus' hand again. Sirius caught a small smile flicker across Remus' face and he swallowed hard. As Remus pulled the cloth away, he became oddly aware of his breathing and the sound of his heart beating. Sirius did not deal with pain very well.
"All done with the hard part." Remus said after about a minute. He let go of Sirius' hand and moved over to the stack of bandages he had brought with him. He pulled the back off a large one and stuck it on Sirius' face. "There."
Sirius leaned back over and looked in the mirror. "Thanks, Remus."
"Not a problem. We're going to have to do this again later tonight, though. Sorry, Padfoot." Remus said, tapping his hand on Sirius' knee.
"That's alright." Sirius said as Remus rested his hand on his knee.
"You're a good nurse, Moony." Sirius grinned, prodding Remus' leg with his foot.
"Thanks, Sirius. You lot have given me a lot of practice – getting beaten up all the time." Remus laughed, looking up at Sirius. "Not to mention the fact that I patch myself up a lot of the time."
They laughed for a second and fell quiet. Remus looked back up at Sirius and held his gaze for a second. Sirius felt odd – as if the air between them was growing thicker. He found it hard to breathe and again, he could feel his heart beating steadily against his ribcage. And, as soon as the feeling had come, it left. Remus broke the gaze, removed his hand from his knee and went back to putting away his supplies.
"I think I'm getting a fever." Sirius said quickly. "I'm feeling a bit off."
"Hmm. That wouldn't be surprising." Remus said his voice slightly forced, looking intently at what he had in his hands. "Why don't you just see how you feel? It might just have been the shock of the pain from the disinfectant."
"Maybe." Sirius said, running a hand shakily through his hair.
"Why don't you just go sit down upstairs? I can come check on you in a bit, if you want." Remus suggested, not looking up.
"Alright." Sirius said, getting to his feet and leaving Remus in the bathroom, his head swimming.
Sirius lay on his bed several hours later, staring up at the attic ceiling. His face was throbbing ever so slightly under the bandage and all he could think of was the horrible way he had spoken to Remus in the garden. The last thing Remus deserved was to be spoken to like that after having been so kind and caring to him. Sirius could feel guilt seething up inside him and he shut his eyes. He would have to apologise later – nobody deserved that, especially not Remus.
As if on cue, Sirius heard a knock on the door and he looked up in time to see Remus come in with his arms full.
"Hey, Padfoot." Remus said, sinking down on the end of Sirius' bed and settling his various bottles and bandages next to him.
"Hey." Sirius said sleepily, rubbing at his eyes.
"How are you feeling?" Remus asked, picking up one of the bottles and attempting to unscrew the lid.
"Alright." Sirius said, yawning. "Actually, I feel pretty decent all things considering."
"You do?" Remus asked, a dusty-coloured eyebrow raised.
"Yeah. It's so quiet up here." Sirius said, not wanting to sit up.
"I know. It's kind of unnerving." Remus said with a small chuckle. "Can you open this?"
Sirius nodded, sitting up. He grabbed the bottle from Remus and set to unscrewing it. It was a small, glass bottle intricately carved. It had a lovely seashell-shaped stopper. Finally managing to unscrew it, Sirius leaned over and smelled it.
"What is this?" Sirius asked, flinching at the overwhelming smell flooded out from within.
Remus reached over and took the bottle. He smiled.
"It's perfume." Remus laughed. "Chanel No. 5. It's a rather famous muggle scent. I must have grabbed it by accident."
Sirius smiled. "The more you know."
"Yeah, good thing I didn't make you drink it." Remus laughed, stoppering the bottle and placing it on the bedside table.
"Good thing. I'd smell like roses for days." Sirius smiled.
"What a welcomed change." Remus laughed.
"Exceptionally rude!" Sirius exclaimed, throwing a pillow at his friend.
"Hey!" Remus exclaimed, a huge grin plastered across his face as he dodged the fluffy projectile.
Within minutes, the two were engaged in a fierce wrestling match. Pillows were flying, sheets were everywhere and by the time all was said and done, Sirius was on his back with Remus holding his arms over his head.
"Enough!" Remus laughed, "You're hurt!"
Sirius raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. "Then you get off."
Remus obediently slid off, landing on the other side of him. Sirius smiled. It had been quite a while since they had played around like that. It felt like the good old days. He suddenly felt a welcomed sort of warmth spreading through him, like everything was going to be okay.
"I'm happy you're here." Remus said quietly, as if he had read Sirius' mind.
"Me too, Moony." Sirius said, turning to look at Remus. "Listen... About how I behaved earlier..."
"Don't mention it, Padfoot." Remus shrugged. "I don't mean to push these things. I guess I'm so used to just so used to you saying exactly what's on your mind that I forget that you don't always want to."
"I guess." Sirius shrugged. "I just think it was pretty rude of me to treat you like that when you were just trying to look out for me."
"You're not a baby, Sirius." Remus sighed. "You're a grown man and you have your own agency."
"Yeah, but..." Sirius trailed off. He had never been good with words. "Sorry."
"It's okay." Remus said softly, reaching over and grabbing Sirius' hand.
A silence fell between them for a few moments as their eyes locked. They sat together in silence for a heartbeat or two before Sirius cleared his throat.
"I think we'd better head downstairs. I'm sure James is wondering where we are." Sirius said, inching off the bed and getting to his feet.
"Alright." Remus said, a little too loudly.
"I'll meet you downstairs." Sirius said.
Remus sprang quickly to his feet and left the room, his arms stiff at his sides as he walked away.
"What the hell was that?" Sirius whispered to himself, listening to Remus' footsteps trail off down the hallway.
The day flew by as quickly as it had started. It had been dreadfully hot all day and they had played Quidditch for the better part of the afternoon. Sirius, Remus and James were absolutely exhausted by the time they trudged home at twilight. Mr. and Mrs. Potter had been kind enough to send a plate of sandwiches and an ice-cold pitcher of butter beer to their room so they could eat altogether.
James had already taken the liberty of spiking the butter beer with a generous helping of vodka he had stolen from his parents' liquor cabinet. The combination of the heat, his happiness and the drink had put Sirius in absolutely the best mood and he couldn't help but think that he had had the best day of his life.
"Are we really going to drink tonight? Again?" Remus asked, sniffing his drink suspiciously.
"Oh, don't be so lame, Remus. I know you like a little glass of wine in the evening." James said, adopting a perfect imitation of Remus' high, posh accent, "All curled up with your book of poetry, a glass of the finest claret in-hand, the summer's breeze caressing your – Ouch!"
James ducked as Remus reached out and swatted him. "I'm not a snob."
"Oh, you are." James grinned. "I know it to be true."
Remus rolled his eyes. Sirius chuckled and leaned back against the bedframe, his legs stretched out before him.
"It's much better than drinking beer and hollering about Quidditch all day like you, James." Remus shot back, punching James playfully in the shoulder.
"And no one can beat Sirius." James said, rolling his shoulders a couple times and dropping into Sirius' deep London accent. "A strong glass of whiskey, some heavy metal and a cigarette."
"Don't think you're good at impressions because you're not, mate." Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "And I don't smoke."
"Oh, don't you even give me that." Remus laughed. "I could smell it on you a mile away when you got here."
"You couldn't possibly." Sirius said, his eyes narrowing.
"Werewolf." Remus said, tapping his nose.
"That doesn't mean anything when you're human." Sirius snorted.
"Oh, it does!" Remus exclaimed. "I can smell exactly what you had for breakfast.
"Yeah, because you were there, you bloody idiot." Sirius laughed.
"Alright, alright! Order, please, order in the court!" James exclaimed. "I'm going to get more alcohol. You two stay here."
James got to his feet and crept out the door.
"Saw the cigarettes in my bag, did you?" Sirius asked, an eyebrow raised.
"I saw the cigarettes in your bag." Remus admitted, twisting his hands inside the sleeves of his jumper. "When did you start, Sirius? You know they're not healthy."
"Actually," Sirius said, getting to his feet and going to lean out the window, "Muggle doctors used to tell people it was good for them."
"You're not that stupid." Remus said, crossing the room.
"That's what they tell me." Sirius said, squinting up at the crescent moon as it crept higher and higher into the rapidly darkening night sky.
"When were you going to tell me?" Remus asked, slumping against the window frame in front of Sirius.
"Why does it matter?" Sirius laughed. "It's just cigarettes. I'm seventeen. I'm indestructible."
"That's what they tell me." Remus echoed.
"You know I hate it when you do that." Sirius snorted with laughter. "James is right; you are a snob. Using other people's words against them like you're all clever."
Remus shrugged and took a quick glance out the window, his soft brown curls falling into his face and obscuring his eyes.
"I'm just kidding." Sirius said, suddenly regretting his choice of joke.
Remus turned to look at Sirius an eyebrow raised.
"Hey." Sirius said, knocking Remus playfully in the arm. "Don't give me that look, you big sap."
For a brief moment, Remus' facade broke and Sirius saw a small smile break through.
"Come on now." Sirius smiled, leaning up and pointing a finger at Remus. "I saw that smile. And stop being so tall. When did you get so tall?"
"When did you get so short?" Remus asked with a small smile, slapping Sirius' finger away. He grabbed Sirius' shoulders and pushed him downwards.
"There you go again!" Sirius exclaimed, breaking into a huge grin. "Echoing!"
Remus rolled his eyes. "I do not echo. It's... repetition. It's a literary device. It shows I'm listening."
"Is that so?" Sirius asked, still grinning like an idiot. "You are such a dork."
"Hello, boys." said a loud stage whisper right in their ears.
Sirius and Remus both let out a shriek in unison. In a moment of panic, Sirius and Remus both grabbed hold of each other.
"I keep finding you two in... compromising situations." James' head said as it appeared floating directly outside the window.
"What is wrong with you?" Sirius asked, his eyes as wide as dinner plates.
James pulled the invisibility cloak off all the way so that it draped loosely along his broom stick. "I've brought two other sticks if you care to remove yourselves from each other on this fine summer's night."
"You absolute arsehole." Remus said, letting go of Sirius and straightening the front of his jumper rather brusquely.
Sirius' heart was beating about a mile a minute and eyed James dangerously as he clambered up onto the window ledge.
"I long for a life of theatre, gentlemen." James said, sending the brooms out to hover just below the window. "Drama is my middle name."
"Well, your life isn't going to last long enough to make it to the theatre if you don't start flying." Sirius said, leaping out of the window and landing squarely on his broom stick.
"Why did I sign up to stay with you two?" Remus asked, stepping gingerly out of the window and onto his broomstick.
"You keep saying that, Moony!" Sirius called back as he sped off. "But you keep coming back!"