Chapter Six: A Harebrained Scheme
Looking back on it, Remus knew this was his own fault. Knew that he had agreed to the harebrained scheme, knew that he had stolen out of the common room at midnight with the other three, knew that he'd spent hours in the library searching for the right spell and later that night enacted it of his own accord. Still, he couldn't help sending a sharp jab into Sirius' ribs as the taller boy stood beside him, earning Remus a sharp scowl. Remus scowled back.
The four boys were crowded awkwardly together in front of a large wooden desk. Everything in the office was rigid. Books sat stacked neatly ontop of one another, their spines perfectly aligned, page markers all protruding out exactly half an inch from any given text. A faint, misplaced scent of pine needles hung in the air and in the strained silence, Peter suddenly sneezed.
As if prompted by the sound, Professor McGonagall leveled her steely gaze from a paper she had been scribbling on to make eye contact with each boy. Her lips creased into a line and she abruptly set down her quill and stood up, suddenly looking much more imposing than she had during their transfiguration lesson earlier that day. Beside him, Remus felt James draw imperceptibly backwards.
"I assume you all know why you're here." Her tone was even but downright cold and Remus' heartbeat quickened a pace. Peter begun nodding vigorously. James simply looked down at his shoes, while Sirius remained impassive, staring with an eyebrow cocked at a nondescript point on the wall.
"Nothing, I repeat, nothing gives a student the right to walk about the school at night. What did you think you were doing?" Silence lapsed for a few moments before James opened his mouth, and then closed it again, a plausible excuse apparently evading him.
"I suppose you thought you were being funny? Well I'm sure your classmates will all find it charming how you've managed to lose your house 100 points." James suddenly found his voice.
"100?! Professor you couldn't do that, not to your own house!"
"I can and I will, Potter! And just to ensure you've all learnt your lesson, detention will be awarded to each of you." James let out an outraged noise, but remained silent otherwise. Professor McGonagall seemed satisfied. She sat back down and tucked a single black hair that had escaped from her bun behind her ear.
" Mr. Filch will escort you back to your common room. I encourage you all to think more thoroughly about the consequences of your actions the next time you're hit with the desire for a midnight stroll."
The four of them shuffled miserably out of the room. A tense ball of shame, guilt and embarrassment had bloomed in Remus' stomach. As he and the others moved down the hall, their way lit by Filch's torch and his infernal cat dodging around their ankles, Remus questioned for the first time the friends he had fallen in with.