Hello again! As you can see, chapter 2 is up! Little bit of story growth in this one, but shorter than the last chapter. And I got to write quite possibly my favourite friendship in this chapter, yay! Anyways, enjoy! (P.s. I actually got reviews on the last chapter, and they do make me incredibly happy so keep it up!)
James choked on the chocolate frog he had stolen from Peter. Peter himself was staring at Remus with his mouth open as wide as it could possibly go. And Sirius had magnificently spat out a mouthful of butterbeer (Remus thought it looked like a scene from one of those Muggle comedies that his mum sometimes showed him.). The boys sat in deathly silence for a minute or so before Peter broke it.
"A lad? As in…a boy?" He finally said, looking quite perplexed. Remus still hadn't moved a muscle and was continuing on with his book.
"Yes, Peter, a lad. Do catch up." Remus said curtly.
"A boy…with boy parts? And no girl parts?" Peter asked again, waving his hands in the general direction of his crotch.
"Nope. No girl parts." He replied. At this point, Sirius stirred from his reverie.
"How do you know, eh Moony? Have you two been…?" Sirius made a slightly overcomplicated hand gesture. "Have you? Moony, I don't even think you know how to do that with two sets of…man parts!" Remus was starting to blush from behind the book.
"Look…what we did over the holidays is none of your business. Any of your businesses." He again locked eyes with Sirius, making sure he understood not to pry any further. James had also apparently taken the hint, sinking baffled back into his chair. Peter, however, was slightly oblivious.
"So what's his name then? Does he live near you? Has he got nice hair? I bet he's got nice hair, you look like the type to go for gir-people based on their hair…" Peter gabbled on.
"Peter, leave it." James spoke for the first time since the revelation. "Look, Rem, whatever you want to do…we'll support you. Right, Siri, Pete?" He glared at the other two boys. Peter nodded furiously but Sirius stayed still.
"What is he then, a Muggle or a wizard?" He snapped. "Because if we're going to support you and your new boyfriend, I'd at least like to know who the fuck he is."
The compartment stayed silent and tense, all three boys staring at Remus until he finally snapped the book shut and put it on the table.
"Fine, Sirius. You want to know? He's a wizard. He lives in the town next to mine, and his name is William Holmes. Anything else?" Remus said coolly. The others looked baffled.
"Wait, I've never heard of anyone at Hogwarts called Holmes, I've never even heard of a Wizarding family called that before…" James said, hand in his hair. The other Marauders had come to realise that he did this not only as a means of flirting with girls, but when he was frustrated or confused. Some people had comfort blankets, others had necklaces they would play with and so on. James had his hair.
"Well…that's because his family are Muggles. And he went to Beauxbatons, which is why you haven't heard of him before. He has family in France, you see." Remus gulped nervously. James and Peter seemed satisfied with this answer, but Sirius pressed on.
"What does he look like then, this Wallace Horne? Does he treat you well? How long were you together for?" Sirius asked all at once. Remus sighed, sounding slightly distressed.
"It's William Holmes, not Wallace Horne. And anyway, can we change the subject now? Please?" He begged. James and Peter both shrugged nonchalantly, and Sirius slumped in his seat, finally defeated. A veryawkward silence ensued. At least, until the loud First Year knocked on the door of the compartment. Sirius growled at him, James stared and Peter…waved happily. Only Remus opened the door to him.
"Can we help you?" Remus asked politely, after all he was still a Prefect and it was his duty to help the students blah blah role model blah representative of the school, etcetera.
"Yeah, have you seen a cat anywhere? Only mine's gone missi-"
"No kitties in here, now piss off." Sirius said, shutting the door before the boy could complete his sentence, making the compartment even tenser.
"Umm…Where were we…" James mumbled. "Oh! Molly Weasley had her baby over the summer, my Mum told me. A boy named Percy. Apparently he looks just like Bill." Remus and Peter both smiled.
"Could you ask your mother to pass on our congratulations? Although I'm sure Molly will be receiving them by the bucket load." Remus said, picking up his book again. James picked something out of his pocket.
"Anyone for a game of cards?"
They arrived hours later at Hogwarts, after a quiet journey during which Sirius and Remus spoke very rarely. As they lined up to go inside the Great Hall with the rest of the Gryffindors, they heard a cackling above their heads.
"Ooh lookie here, it's the Black Sheep, Petticoat, James Pooper and Loony, Loopy Lupin!" Peeves cackled. Remus looked around them curiously, before yanking his wand out of his robes.
"Waddiwasi!" He muttered, pointing his wand at Peeves. A piece of gum flew out of a nearby third year girls mouth, and zoomed straight up Peeves nostril, seemingly causing him a great deal of pain. The other Gryffindors, and indeed some of the Hufflepuffs behind them, applauded Remus. Peter, James and Sirius all stared at Remus.
"Nice one, mate!" James said, clapping him on the back.
"Wow! That was amazing!" Peter gushed, eyes wide.
"Did your French boyfriend teach you that?" Sirius sneered. Suddenly a pair of pale, willowy arms had wound themselves around the tawny-haired boy's shoulders.
"Who has a boyfriend?" Lily asked, tucking her chin into Remus' collarbone in greeting. Sirius rolled his eyes at the new arrival, while Peter waved at her. James glared at Remus enviously.
"Hello, Lily." Remus smiled. "Have a nice summer?" Remus had always been the only Marauder that Lily had properly got on with. Well, him and occasionally Peter, who seemed harmless in Lilys eyes. Unlike James and Sirius.
"It was nice, thank you. Tuney was in London over the summer for a course, so I didn't see her much. I met up with some Muggle friends from my old school, things like that." Lily said, waving back at Peter and refusing to acknowledge the other two. "Anyway, who has a boyfriend now? A girl you like? Who is she? I'll get her to dump him for you!" Lily grinned, now messing up Remus' hair. Remus was about to reply when his eyes went very wide.
"Ah…yes…can I talk to you later, Lily? After the feast maybe?" Remus asked. He had a look on his face that people generally connected with him having a good idea.
"Of course, Rem. Anyway, I have to go now. See you later!" She gave Remus one last squeeze and then waved goodbye to him and Peter. James and Sirius blinked at them both.
"Well then…" James coughed. "Lovely how she left us out. It was like we weren't even there!" He carried on sulking all the way into the hall, but had cheered up by the time the sorting was over. The anticipation of the first feast had that kind of effect. Except, predictably, on Sirius.
"Oh my god…It's gorgeous!" Peter groaned when the food appeared on the table. The other students around them were chatting excitedly and digging into the food laid out for them. Sirius seemed to raise his spirits slightly.
"You reckon this hall is waterproof?" He mused, scanning the room for flaws. The boys knew that Sirius could only plot a prank when he was at least a little cheery. Just then, Professor McGonagall walked up to their section of the table with Lily in tow.
"Mr Lupin, would you please assist Miss Evans? A new first year disappeared to the toilet a while ago, and we appear to have…lost him." McGonagall cringed slightly. "Anyway, think of it as your first Prefect duty of the year. It shouldn't take too long, I can't imagine the food will have gone by the time you get back." She stood back so that Remus could get up from the bench.
"Rem, you can tell me that thing you wanted to talk to me about on the way! Is it to do with that lad you mentioned before?" Lily asked, linking arms with Remus and walking him out of sight. Sirius picked up a fork and began brutally stabbing a shepherds pie.
"Christ, Padfoot, cheer up! It might never happen!" James joked in high spirits, pouring a glass of pumpkin juice.
"What if it already has?" Huffed Sirius, now mutilating some mashed potato.
James and Peter looked at each other exasperated, not entirely sure what to do with their clearly frustrated friend. But for the time being, they would eat.