Author's note: I wanted to say I'll be getting an extra chapter out this week on Sunday, because I am super excited to see reactions to chapter 97 and I don't want to wait clear till next Friday haha!
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Sometime during Saturday evening it began snowing, which turned into a rather heavy blizzard. James watched out the window for a while then gave a miserable sigh, saying they'd have to wait till another to go listen in to the haunted house. Remus thanked his lucky stars it'd be put off for at least two weeks, since he was certain he could convince them not to go without him—or, hoped he could convince them. Otherwise, if they tried the next weekend he'd be there and they'd hear his real howls! Still, it was a relief and he felt a thousand times better.
Which was a good thing, since that meant when he woke up Sunday morning he wasn't completely freaked out or overly anxious, meaning it would be easier to help Regulus. Remus felt a little awkward keeping the fact he was going to help Regulus from Sirius. He wasn't sure why Regulus didn't want Sirius to know, but he'd keep quiet. As best he could.
After James's practice and a long lunch on Sunday, Remus said goodbye to the other Marauders to go to the library, arriving there five minutes before one. He stayed near the front since he wasn't sure where Regulus wanted to sit, but when one o'clock hit he wondered if Reg was actually somewhere in the library.
Two seconds later Regulus strode through the doors, books clutched to his chest as he glanced nervously around. When he spotted Remus, he seemed a little relieved. "I wasn't sure if you'd be here."
"Wh—why w-wouldn't I?" Remus asked as they walked farther into the library, going to a back table. "I s-said I w-would help."
Regulus gave a shrug. "I'm not really used to Gryffindors being trustworthy when it comes to Slytherins."
"I... I c-can underst—stand that," Remus muttered as they took over a small table. "What c-classes are you h-having t-trouble in?"
"Transfiguration, mostly," he said, setting his books down. "Charms. Some... Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Are you h-having trouble w—with the homework or—or in-class work?" Remus found it was actually not so difficult to talk to Regulus. Normally he'd be stuttering worse, chatting with someone he barely knew, but Regulus looked so similar to Sirius (especially in their casual clothes) it didn't seem so troubling, or quite as anxiety-inducing as it was talking to other strangers.
Regulus traced the design on the front of his Charms book, not answering.
"Well, why—why don't we st-start with the one you're having m-most trouble in," Remus suggested.
When Regulus glanced up Remus realized how strange it was, seeing brown eyes instead of silver ones; plus Regulus's eyes were shaped a bit differently. They were lower… sleepier. "You didn't tell Sirius, did you?"
"Ah? N—no, I didn't," Remus promised. Regulus kept frowning, staring intently at Remus as if trying to decide whether he was telling the truth or not. "I w-won't," he added. "I told him th-that I was g-going to st—study in the l-library. I didn't say I w-would be with anyone."
"Does he ever come in here to get you?"
Remus considered answering, and instead asked, "Why are we t-talking about S-Sirius instead of—of schoolwork?"
"Does he?" Regulus pressed.
Remus sighed. "Somet-times."
"So he may come in to get you?"
"If you d-d-don't want my help—"
"I do." Regulus sat upright, forehead wrinkled. "I don't want him to know. If he might show up we should go elsewhere."
This was getting a little tiring, and Remus said, probably a little harsher than he should, "I d-don't really care that you d-don't want him to know but—but if all you're going to do is m-make sure I haven't t-told him it's a waste of both our time."
They stared at one another for several seconds, then Regulus's shoulders relaxed a little. "I didn't mean to waste time. I only want to make sure he doesn't show up." Remus got up, grabbing his books and Regulus stood as well. "I said I didn't mean—"
Remus gave him a look. "I assumed you'd w-want to go elsewh—where?"
"Oh. Right. Yes."
Regulus got his stuff, following Remus out of the library. They went down a few corridors until Remus found an unused classroom. He unlocked the door and went in.
"It looks as though that's something you've done a lot, going into places you shouldn't," Regulus remarked as he strode into the dark room.
Remus locked the door behind him before opening the shutters, letting light in. He lit the few candles sitting around to help, then set his satchel on the ground next to one of the desks lined against the wall. "It's a c-common occurrence with my frie—friends, yes."
"Judging by the amount of detention Sirius gets into, that doesn't surprise me."
Suddenly Remus felt incredibly weird standing in a room with someone he hardly knew, but who knew one of his best friends more than he probably ever would. Remus and Sirius had about fifteen months since they became friends; Sirius and Regulus had known each other around eleven, twelve years.
"R—right. Now. What's g-giving you difficulty?" Remus asked.
"I said Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts," replied Regulus in an irritated tone. "Didn't you listen?"
Remus took in a deep breath. Was being a brat a Black trait or did the brothers just happen to get an extra helping when they were born? "What p-p-part of them?" he asked as calmly as he could. "Mammalian transfiguration or amphibious? Maths? In Charms are you having difficulties making objects move, or creating illusions? Spell pronunciation, etymology, and memorization? Theoretical work? Proper gesticulation of the wand? Which aspect?"
Regulus stared in bewilderment as Remus spoke, and he sorta regretted letting his temper get the better of him. Regulus wasn't Sirius; smart-mouthing back wasn't the best of courses. He'd really need to watch that.
"It w-w-will help if I h-have a foundation on wh—which to begin to h—help you," he added, gently.
"W... wand work," Regulus muttered. "It never goes well."
"I see. It's Febu—February so you sh-should be beginning to work on—on... oh! I know." Remus got a piece of parchment out of his bag and ripped them into strips to transfigure into worms. "You sh-should know how to t-turn them into st—sticks by this point, you l-learned last month, right?"
Regulus gave the worms a frown. "Yes... ah, er, right." He pulled his wand out and approached the worms. He held his wand a little strangely while doing the movement. "Sticcafors!"
"You—the movement is—is a little off," Remus said, showing off the proper flourish. "Like th-that."
"Right. Sticcafors!" While the movement was still a little off, one of the worms turned dark brown. No matter how hard Regulus tried, the worm would not become a stick. The best he could manage was the color and making the worm slightly stiff.
"Your—your movements are r-really loose and a-a little w-wobbly," Remus said, chewing his lip as he tried to figure out a way to tighten up Regulus's form.
"I'm aware," Regulus snapped.
Remus just smiled. "Do this," he said and held his right wrist with his left hand. "D-don't move your arm, k-keep your elbow in c-close to your s-s-side. Like this."
Regulus watched him then turned back to the worms. He had to remove his watch then he held his wrist; the movement was a lot tighter and pretty much close to exact, however the worm still was quite... wormy. After a few more attempts Remus turned them all into sticks for Regulus to try to levitate them. Again, his movements were wide and wobbly. Remus had him do the wrist-holding thing which helped some, but despite the movements being right and the pronunciation correct, the sticks barely lifted. They went through a variety of spells, and several long discussions about the spells to see if Regulus just needed a more thorough knowledge of the spell, history, and etymology. But that didn't seem to help either.
Remus stood back with his arms folded, very perplexed. "Is it... all your spells th-that don't w-work correctly?" he asked and Regulus scowled. "No, I m-mean... how's your th-theoretical work? Your tests and—and essays? Wh—what about other classes? Herbology and—and those ones?"
"My homework comes back highly graded," Regulus said, rubbing his right wrist uncomfortably. "My written tests do too. It's the... practical side of spellwork that doesn't seem to work right. I do well in the other classes, especially Potions. Not History, though, I have some trouble there. The... creature side of Defense Against the Dark Arts I do very well in too." He looked down at his wand a little sadly. "Holding my wrist seems to help some."
"Is... is y-your wand a hand-me-down?" Remus inquired.
He had almost gotten one of those. His father had considered giving him his old school wand, but when he had put it in Remus's hand everything went disastrous. The singe in the carpet was still noticeable, and Remus had suffered heavy burns that took a little while to heal. When they had gone to Ollivander's for some input, Mr. Ollivander had practically winced. He explained used wands could be all right however some combinations did not go well with the user. Lyall's wand was from France so Ollivander wasn't sure what was in it, since he hadn't made it. When he questioned Lyall about it, Lyall got all shifty and said he couldn't remember. They wound up buying Remus a brand new wand. Later, at home, Lyall admitted to Remus the core of his old wand was hair of a werewolf. At first Remus was surprised. After all, shouldn't that mean the wand would suit him well? Then he realized perhaps it was like trying to push together the same side of magnets, and the wand was simply repelling against Remus.
However, Regulus shook his head. "No, we bought it in July," he said, shifting his wand to his left hand. "Brand new."
"Hmm. Well, per—perhaps you d-don't have a natural knack for... sp-spells," Remus said, voice trailing thinner as he spoke since it wasn't a very nice thing to say.
Regulus's face went a little dark, but he nodded. "Perhaps. I... appreciate the attempt at helping."
"I'll keep thinking about it, m—maybe I'll figure it out. You s-said you have trouble with History? Do you—you need help with that?"
"What, you can help me memorize dusty old dates and boring facts?" snorted Regulus, obviously not believing such a thing was possible.
"I might be able t-to," Remus answered, knowing perfectly well History could be interesting... just not the way Binns taught it. "Can't hurt to—to try."
"I suppose... perhaps... next Sunday? It is getting late."
"Is it?" Remus asked, startled. Regulus held up his watch, letting it dangle for Remus to see it was almost three. They had been working together for almost two hours! "Oh! When—when did that happen?"
"No idea," Regulus said, putting his watch back on. "I'm exhausted though."
"You've been w-working for t-two hours, it's underst—standable," Remus said, rubbing his temples. "I sh-should have ended this an a hour ago, I'm s-sorry. You w-want to get together next Sunday and—and try to w-work on History?"
"If you don't mind... I know you only agreed to one session..."
Remus shrugged. "I don't m-mind helping." One of the reasons he liked Study Group was him being able to be useful; helping Macdonald fell in that category, and helping Regulus would too.
"Hmm." Regulus gathered his stuff. "In this classroom at one, next Sunday?"
"Yes." Remus felt bad for lying again, wishing he didn't have to keep making plans for the full moon without being able to follow through.
"Right. Until then." Regulus left the room.
Remus blew out the candles, closed the shutters, and left the room as well, working on a lie to tell Sirius in case Sirius had gone to the library. He still wasn't quite sure why Regulus was so adamant against Sirius knowing, but he'd do his best to make sure Sirius wouldn't find out.
/\/\/\/\/\
Sirius hadn't gone to the library when Remus was with Regulus, nor did he seem too interested in where Remus had been, so for the moment it seemed as though the secret could be kept. However, if Remus and Regulus started meeting up for tutoring they may run into the issue down the line of Sirius discovering them.
Sunday evening was spent practicing the heart bubble spell again, and on Monday morning they woke up early to do a practice run. They wanted to be there early, but not too early. Once they reached the Great Hall they immediately ran into the problem of getting the yarn or string or whatever Fawley would give them around the entire door. Actually, reaching the top of the door would prove to be difficult.
"I could carry Remus on my shoulders," Sirius suggested.
"Sirius, you're tall but not that tall," said Remus, studying the huge entrance.
"Well, how are we gonna get it up there?" James demanded.
Remus shrugged. "Your broom."
James slapped his forehead. "Of course."
"Can't really do a run of it today then," Peter said.
"No, but we can get an idea of when students start showing up," said James.
They waited down the hall, growing tired and bored as they waited. Students started showing up at around seven, seven-fifteen; the food didn't start appearing on the tables till seven-thirty. The four of them headed back to their dorms though they couldn't really get much of a nap. Remus did lay down for another half hour before heading down to breakfast with his friends.
/\/\/\/\/\
The following morning they woke up early again, this time taking James's broom. Once at the entrance there was a lot of debate about who could remain under the cloak. Finally Sirius, Peter, and Remus hid out nearby while James, under the cloak, put yarn around the door. He had to do a sticking spell to get it to stay, then removed it. Once on the ground, he fetched his friends and they stuck their hands out of the cloak to pretend to do spells. It took a couple of minutes, but shouldn't be too difficult. Providing the string-yarn-ribbon-whatever Fawley gave them worked... it was going to be absolutely brilliant!
All four of them were quite tired after waking up early for the second day in a row—and they'd be waking up early the next day, too. Remus realized since Valentine's day was on Wednesday... that was a morning the Marauders usually weren't at breakfast. Would it be too suspicious if they were, to see the results? Should they wait till their normal time? Would people still have the heart bubbles by lunch or would someone have figured out how to get rid of them by that point?
Remus brought this up and they agreed it was something they'd have to think over.
"Jimmy and I could hide under the cloak for a bit," Sirius said. "It might not be so weird if you two show up for breakfast a bit early, perhaps?"
It wouldn't be as suspicious than if all four were there, and Remus and Pete were the more 'innocent' ones. Sometimes Remus wondered when the teachers would wise up on who was giving James and Sirius all the spells. Did they think the two of them did all the research on their own? One day they'd realize, and then Remus would be in a lot of trouble. Honestly, he was surprised (and glad) it hadn't happened yet.
The school was definitely preparing for Valentine's day. The special dessert had been announced the other day and it was as annoying as the previous year: lots of giggling girls and strutting guys. James and Remus were pretty annoyed by Tuesday, but Peter bemoaned the fact he wanted to take someone, and Sirius was quiet about the entire affair until lunch on Tuesday when, after James made a comment about perhaps they should prank the dessert too, that he was going.
"What? Since when?" James demanded, shocked.
Sirius tore bits of crust off his sandwich. "I asked Cassie last night," he mumbled, not looking at his friends.
"Traitor!" James moaned out, but gave Sirius a whack on the back. "Good luck, mate. Going to... you know...?" He wriggled his eyebrows.
Sirius grinned. "I might. If she wants to."
"Might what?" Pete asked miserably.
"Kiss her," Sirius replied in a very casual manner.
Peter dropped his fork. "You what? You will?"
James and Sirius exchanged looks. "Er... well... honestly..." Sirius rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "We did before. Already. Once."
'WHAT?!" Peter shrieked so loudly that several people looked their way. "When?! Where? How?"
"Probably with their lips," James said, and began giggling.
"New Years," Sirius said, puffing his chest out. "At midnight."
Peter stared wide-eyed at Sirius. "Wow! What was it like?"
"Pretty amazing."
"How come you didn't tell us?"
"I dunno. I told James." Sirius went back to his torn up sandwich. "I told you now." He shredded the sandwich into smaller bits. "You're being awfully quiet, Remy."
Remus was focused very intently on his food, trying his best to ignore the conversation going on around him and failing. "What?" he asked, pretending as though he hadn't heard every single word. "Sorry, I was thinking about our test on Thursday."
"What test?" James asked.
Remus gave him an exasperated stare. "Our test? In Herbology? That Sprout talked about this morning, and last Thursday?"
James messed up his hair. "Ooh right, that test."
"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"
"In all honesty, I was a bit busy putting worms in Evans's bag when Sprout was yammering on," James admitted. "What test?"
"Sirius kissed Cassie," Peter said helpfully.
Remus stiffened a little, not sure whether to reveal he had heard the conversation on New Years or not. He really needed to tell them he could hear through the curtains. Would Sirius get mad if he said he already knew? He glanced at Sirius who looked rather awkward and slightly embarrassed. "Oh?" Remus finally squeaked out, trying to sound like he didn't already know.
"On New Years," Sirius muttered, trying to shred his sandwich some more but failing since it was pretty much crumbs at that point.
"Congratulations," Remus said, hoping he sounded somewhat sincere. "The test is mostly revision work, so as long as you've been paying attention in class you should be fine."
James snapped his fingers. "Blast it all. Remus, could you—"
"We can go over things tonight or tomorrow night if you like," Remus promised, trying now to ignore the fact Sirius was staring at him.
"You should take Evans," Sirius said.
Remus frowned. "To the test?"
"Bloody hell, Brains, yes to the test," Sirius grumbled. "No! To the dessert thing."
"I don't—"
"And one of you can take Colgate," Sirius continued, ignoring Remus. "And we can find a fourth for the remaining Marauder."
Peter began to talk but James cut him off with, "Pete can take Colgate, I'm not interested in going."
"Neither am I," Remus said.
"It'll be so fun though," Sirius argued. "All of us going."
Remus clenched his teeth. "I don't want to."
"I'm sure Evans—"
"For the millionth time, Lily and I are not interested in one another!" Remus snapped, his temper flaring. The wolf stirred a bit, and he curled his fingers into fists. "We're friends. Nothing more." The memory of their two kisses was strong, and he could practically feel her lips on his. He could feel heat flooding his face, which didn't make the situation any better.
"Who are you interested in, then?" Sirius asked, his gaze piercing Remus's soul.
Remus swallowed, gripping his fork to try not to let his hands shake so much. "Nobody, at the moment," he said, struggling to keep his voice neutral. It was true. He wasn't interested in anyone. Not yet. "But when I do, it won't be one of my best friends." For some reason that made his chest hurt, and he wanted this conversation to be over with.
James flung an arm around Remus. "Remy and I can nick desserts from the kitchen and have our own celebration."
"Th-that sounds g-good to me," Remus said, knowing he sounded relieved.
Sirius didn't seem very impressed by all this. "Right, well... I guess we should work on getting a girl for Pete then."
"Good luck with that," Peter grumbled. Sirius studied him for a second then got up, going over to where Lily sat with Inkwood and Colgate. Peter went pale. "Wh—what is he doing?!"
"Looks like he's getting you someone to have dessert with," replied James, snickering.
Peter's face was etched with horror, and when the girls looked his way he sank completely under the table. "Merlin's bloody toe, kill me now!" he whimpered out from Remus's feet.
A moment later Sirius returned, tilting his head to peer under the table. "Colgate says she'll go, as long as it's only as friends."
Peter's eyes were big and round as he peered over the edge of the table. "R-really?"
"Yup! Congrats!" Sirius elbowed him before noticing his destroyed food. "Oops. So, Jimsy, Remy, you're certain?"
"Yes," they chorused.
"Hmm. Well. If you're sure." Sirius gave Remus a rather odd look, but thank Merlin the stupid dessert thing was finally dropped, and Remus was able to finish his lunch in peace, albeit with a stomachache.
/\/\/\/\/\
"Do you want to go to the dessert thing tomorrow?" Lily asked as she and Remus walked to Defense together.
Remus dropped his bag, books spilling out. "What? W—with you?"
"Or someone," she said, watching him gather his books up. "I could say... I know someone who wants to go with you."
"Me?"
"She's been hoping you'd ask her, but she's too shy to ask you herself," Lily continued as they started walking again. Remus groaned, clutching his stomach. "What's wrong?"
"It's all Sirius could talk about at lunch," he grumbled. "It was annoying."
"Ali's going with Pete..."
"I know," he sighed. "Sirius tried to get me to ask you, and said we could find a fourth for James."
Lily thought about this for a few seconds. "If Potter takes Ali, I could go with Pete, and I could get a fourth for you. The girl I mentioned. Stop shaking your head! D'you have any idea who I'm talking about?"
"No," he said, "but it doesn't matter. I don't want to go."
Now it was Lily's turn to sigh. "Fine. Hmph. Well, in any case I want to go."
Remus hesitated. "You d-don't want me to take you, do you?"
"Oh, goodness no! That would be awful for—er, the girl I mentioned!" Lily sounded horrified at the very thought. "I couldn't do that to her. That'd be terrible."
Remus didn't say anything about that, confused about the whole thing but he was the last person in the school to understand human thing. It wasn't really his territory: feelings, and stuff like that.
"Remus, do you have any idea about who I'm talking about?" she asked, breaking the silence.
He thought about all the girls he knew, and shook his head. "No. I haven't the faintest," he replied honestly, and she gave a sigh. "Who is it?"
"Oh, I can't tell you! That'd be a terrible thing to do too!"
Then why did you bring it up? he wondered. Instead he asked, "Who are you going to go with, then?"
Lily tucked some hair behind her ear. "Ooh, I'm not sure. I'll figure it out. Is the girl you've got a crush on going with someone else?"
"Huh?" Lily raised her eyebrows, and Remus flushed slightly. "I t-t-told you I didn't—I don't. I'm not interested in anyone."
"Hmm. All right, then. Well... if you change your mind please let me know, all right?"
"Um... o—okay," he mumbled. "I won't. But if for some reason I'm possessed by some creature who wants to go I'll let you know."
He wasn't sure if that was going too far, if it was too close to something he shouldn't be saying but Lily let out a light laugh. "Honestly. I thought you liked chocolate."
"Not at that price," he replied without thinking, and then gave a nervous laugh to try to make it seem like a joke, praying it would sound like one. Lily rolled her eyes at him, but smiled and gave him a gentle arm bump.
"All right, you win. I won't bug you about it again." But during the rest of the walk to Defense she had a really strange expression on her face that made him a little panicky.
