IPC #217 - [Dialogue] "Do I get bonus points if I act like I care?"

Quarantine gift fic for Elizabeth!

o . o . o

Secrets

Remus flopped down on the sofa next to Sirius with a heavy sigh. He slouched low, propping his feet up on the coffee table and dropping his head backward. It was a pose distinctly uncharacteristic of Remus.

"Something wrong?" James asked, briefly looking up from the parchment in front of him. He was sitting on the floor, bent over the coffee table, desperately trying to cobble together an essay for Slughorn before Quidditch practice started.

"I just don't know what Clara wants from me!" Remus burst out, dragging his palms over his face. "It's like I can't do anything right. I just offered to help her with Charms, since she's been having trouble with it this year, and she practically bit my head off."

"Maybe she's hormonal," James suggested, and Lily rolled her eyes. "What! It happens!"

"Maybe she just thinks all boys are stupid," she replied sarcastically.

"Maybe something happened at home that's put her in a bad mood," Peter offered, probably the most helpful of all the suggestions so far.

Everyone looked at Sirius expectantly, waiting for him to chime in with some suggestion or at least a comment that would make Remus feel better about the situation. But he just kept scratching away at the roll of parchment in front of him. James and Lily exchanged a significant look, but said nothing. After a long moment of silence, Sirius looked up, his eyebrows raised in something akin to surprise.

"What?" he asked sharply. "Do I get bonus points if I act like I care?"

Sirius snapped his textbook closed and grabbed the parchment with his essay, either not noticing or not caring that in his haste, a large drip of ink had spoiled the paper. He stalked off, ducking through the portrait hole to find some escape from the common room.

"I - What was that?" Remus asked, utterly bewildered by his friend's actions.

"He's just…" James trailed off, not sure how to finish his sentence. In truth, he knew exactly why Sirius had acted the way he did, but he wasn't sure it was really his place to say anything. James looked to Lily for guidance, an unspoken question in his eyes.

"You should talk to him about it," Lily continued softly, placing her hand on James' wrist and looking at Remus with sad eyes.

"I don't understand," Remus pressed, confused. "Did I do something?"

"Sirius is trying to deal with a lot of feelings right now," Lily answered cryptically. "He needs to talk about it, when he's ready."

"I don't -"

"Just talk to Sirius, mate," James interrupted, giving Remus a significant look.

With a heavy sigh, Remus pushed himself off the settee, and trudged out of the common room. He felt a distinct sense of dread, because whatever was going on with Sirius, it certainly couldn't be good, if it was causing him to act like that. Not to mention, he knew Sirius pretty well, and he knew it would be a fight to get him to open up and share whatever feelings were dragging him day. Still, it had to be done. Remus stalked through the castle and out onto the grounds, where he knew Sirius would be skipping rocks on the Black Lake, and braced himself for the confrontation.