Author's note: First of all, there was no beta for this chapter so I apologize for the mess.
Second of all… well, I debated whether or not to make this note or wait and see how the next few days went. However, I thought I should say it as soon as possible. I may need to go on a short hiatus soon. There were some things said recently involving some story aspects and unfortunately they got into my head. It completely halted my ability to write. I've been trying to shake it off but it's been difficult. Before anyone says to ignore the haters, it wasn't any hate comments directed at me, just about these story aspects and it just really hit me hard. Anyway, if I'm unable to get past this in the next week or so I will have to go on a short hiatus until I can write again. I'm really hoping this note has been for nothing, and I get to writing again soon!
Also sorry if this chapter seems kinda weird, it's the first one I've written using libreoffice. I used to write in wordpress but since that's changed a lot I needed a new way of writing. Hopefully it doesn't seem too off!
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
After lunch on Monday Sirius, Inkwood, and Remus went to the library to finally work on their project which was due in 17 days.
"Half our time is already gone," Inkwood complained as the three sat down.
Remus couldn't believe it. All right, so part of it was his fault—nearly an entire week was his fault. But after the full moon and hospital stay, Inkwood had been the one putting off them getting together!
"We've got Brains so, we only realistically need maybe two days at the most," Sirius said, poking Remus with his quill. "Right Brains?"
"Probably a l-little more than th—that," he muttered, setting several books down.
Inkwood propped her chin on her hands. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Wh—what do you m-mean?" Remus asked.
"If you're doing all the research and writing, and I assume Sirius is doing the art stuff, what am I doing?"
"I—I'm not—what? No, I—I'm not doing all the—the writing and r-research!" Remus said, pushing one of the books towards her. "All th-three of us are working on it. Together."
Inkwood looked down at the book with disdain. "Oh." She sounded very disappointed, and Remus tried not to get too annoyed. "I don't know much about dragons."
Remus wondered if being with James and Lily would have been a better choice. "Hence the—hence the research part of it," he said slowly.
"Right, yes," she agreed absentmindedly, then began giggling as Sirius tried to balance one of the books on his head. "You going to walk like a proper girl?"
"Maybe you could show me," Sirius said with an irresistible grin.
Inkwood giggled more and got up, balancing the book on her head. She took two steps, and it slid off. "Oops!"
"Here. It's about your spine..." Sirius got up and gently put his hands on her back and shoulders. "Like this."
"You know how to walk like a lady?"
"I know how to walk with good posture. Watch." He put the book on his head and began walking around the table, grinning. "Ta-da!" He flourished, and the book fell. "You try."
"Um, we—we're supposed to—to be—um—" Remus tried, but Inkwood was putting the book on her head again.
"Now, how am I supposed to have my shoulders?" she asked. "Could you show me?"
Sirius went to her side, adjusting her position which, in Remus's opinion, was exactly how she had been standing in the first place. She very slowly took a few steps then turned, and the book fell. "Ahhh!" She began laughing. "I almost got it."
Sirius laughed too, quietly clapping his hands. "You did good."
"Well," Remus muttered, angrily flipping his book open.
"What was that, Remy?"
Remus forced a smile on his face. "Nothing."
"Mmm, maybe we should help with the research," Sirius whispered to Inkwood.
"I was! I was... absorbing the book's contents through my head," she whispered back, smacking his chest.
Sirius poked her back, and the two returned to their seats. "You know what would be great?" Sirius asked and then answered without waiting. "We should listen to Pearled Scales. That'll get us in the right mood for studying... uhh... what dragon are we studying?"
"The Swedish Short—Short-Snout," Remus said through gritted teeth. "Anyway, Pearled Scales is—is about Opaleyes, not—not Short-Snouts."
"Close enough," Inkwood said.
"Th—they're not even remotely al—"
"I love Ash and Fire! They're one of my favorite groups," Inkwood continued, ignoring Remus.
They began discussing the band at great length so Remus hunched over his book, writing down information they might need. It was hard to focus with them giggling, and his irritation grew stronger until he couldn't take it another minute. He shut the book, gathered his stuff, and got up.
"Where are you going?" Sirius asked immediately.
"To go st—study," he answered, trying to keep the sharpness out of his voice.
Inkwood rolled her eyes. "That's what we're doing, though."
"Can I s-see your notes, then, if you've been d-d-doing the research?" he asked before he could stop himself.
Inkwood looked taken aback. "Er—well, uh—"
"I guess we have been goofing off a bit," Sirius said, giving Remus a sheepish smile. "You know that's how I study."
He wasn't lying. Anytime Sirius 'studied' it was usually him goofing off with James, Remus wasn't really sure if he ever saw Sirius actually study. But it was different for a group project. It wasn't only Sirius's grades on the line. Sirius did pretty well in classes but was definitely lower than Remus, and Inkwood—he wasn't sure how well she did but knew it wasn't amazing. He had expected them to pull him down a little but had also expected them to at least try.
"I could d-divide up the various sections of resear—search, that w-way we have a clearer division of work," he suggested, twisting his quill round in his fingers. "Sirius, you c-could focus on—on its history, discovery, those s-sorts of things. Inkwood you—you could focus on stories. Famous Sh-Short-Snouts, myths, and that. I'll work on—on biology, habitat, diet—"
"Habitat: Sweden," Sirius said, and Inkwood dissolved into giggles again.
"It sounds like you've got the easy part though," Inkwood told Remus once she finished. "All you need to do is write down the facts while I need to go through loads of stories and tons of books to find this stuff out."
"Do you w-w-want to sw—switch?" Remus asked, trying to keep his temper down.
Inkwood frowned at that. "Er, not really. Oh! I know, Sirius and I can work on the myths and stories, and you can do the rest!" She gave Sirius's sleeve a little tug, beaming up at him.
"I don't know," Sirius said before Remus could talk, "that puts a lot on Remy."
"No," Remus cut in quickly. "It's—it's fine. I—I can—I can do that."
Sirius's eyes bore into Remus. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Remus promised, stacking the books again. "You two can do the stor—the stories parts. I'll do the—the rest. Oh, and the—the art. Sirius, you—if you don't mind..."
"No, but—"
"Great." Remus stood up, sweeping his paper, ink, and quills into his bag. "L—let's meet up Sunday and we can—can figure out what we've got then."
"All right!" Inkwood said cheerfully.
Sirius didn't look very happy. "Is it—"
"See you in c-c-class!" Remus quickly left the table, unable to stand being there another second longer. The books nearly slipped out of his arms, and he struggled to keep them against his body until he got to the front desk. They slithered out all over Farrow's desk, and Farrow opened his mouth to complain until he saw it was Remus.
"All right, then?" he grunted as he gathered the books to sign them out.
No. "Y—yes, sir." Remus's nose burned as he felt the desire to cry. What had happened back there? He couldn't really be mad at Inkwood for how she was acting, since that was what he was used to with James and Sirius. Though they never had a proper group project together, so... maybe that's why it felt different. Since it was his grade on the line too.
He heard footsteps behind him and knew they belonged to Sirius. Farrow handed the papers to Remus and he quickly began scrawling his name on the slips.
"Remus," Sirius said gently.
"Hmmm?" He bent forward, writing his name more slowly to avoid having to look at Sirius.
"I'll help with your stuff, you know."
"No, it's p-p-probably easier if we—if it's—no, it's fine." He pushed the four slips back to Farrow and put the books in his bag. Finally he turned, glancing up through his fringe. Sirius looked very concerned. "Besides. If I—if—if I do it, it'll be do-done faster anyway."
"What's that in your pocket, boy?" Farrow suddenly said, slamming his hands on his desk and leaning forward to glare at a slight bulge in Sirius's pocket. "Is that a firecracker?"
"What? No, it's my wand!"
"Let me see."
"What?" Sirius said again, anger tinging his voice. "I don't have to show you—"
"It's a firecracker, innit? You're one of the ones what does that and I won't have you setting 'em off in here again!"
"No! Fine! Look!" Sirius pulled out his wand, brandishing it. "Wow, what a weird looking firecracker, eh?"
"Don't give me that attitude!"
Remus slipped away as they argued, finding somewhere quiet to hide until History began. He was purposely almost late to the class, to avoid Sirius, and slid into his seat right when the lesson began. Two seconds later a note flittered onto his desk.
are u mad? - SB
No? Mad about what?
ill help with your stuff ok? - SB
No, it's perfectly fine. We missed half our time anyway because of me, and if I do most of it that will help ensure we get it done on time. Don't worry about it.
its not really your fault you know not like you did it on purpose - SB
On purpose or not it is still my fault we were not able to get together for a while. Focus on the myths, famous short-snouts, tales, etc, etc. Plus the art. I think if we include not only a drawing of the dragon itself but also some of the anatomy it might bump our grades up a bit if you don't mind doing that as well. Either organs, the skeletal system, muscular system, etc.
anatamy. penis? - SB
If you want to give Professor Prewett a drawing of a Swedish Short-Snout's penis then by all means, go for it, but I will make sure he knows it is from you and only you. Also, you had the word anatomy right in front of you and you still managed to misspell it? Very impressive.
hah hah dragon dick - SB
/\/\/\/\/\
Occlumency began with a horrible, twisty, squirmy stomachache as Remus prayed she wouldn't see Valentine's day. McGonagall knowing was bad enough, he doubted he'd be able to stand it if Fawley knew too—even though most likely she would find out. The first few memories they went through were, thankfully, not the dessert thing. Mostly various memories over the past week about other stuff.
"It seems overall you've been doing very well since you got out of the hospital wing," she remarked after another few memories. "They've been quite happy memories."
"Yes, it's actually been a few really nice days," Remus admitted, not wanting to think of the library disaster. "For now."
"For now?"
"It's bound to go wrong soon."
Fawley shook her head. "I'm sorry you feel that way, dear. I wish I could convince you that isn't how it works, however I know it's not something easily accepted with anxiety. I know it's easier to be pessimistic, but you shouldn't be waiting for the next problem."
Remus shifted a bit, deciding not to respond to that. He wasn't waiting for problems to happen. It was just he expected them to happen. That… wasn't the same thing, right? He wasn't sure and didn't really want to argue semantics. Not with his on and off headache forming from the lesson. When he remained silent, Fawley resumed going into his memories. At one point it was Valentine's day, but at breakfast when they watched their prank succeed. Fawley grinned, congratulating them on their success.
Memories flipped through, none of them with him in a skirt. Near the end of the lesson, they were in the room with James and Lily, and then suddenly they were out of his head. He had managed to push her out. Before she saw what was going on—before she saw him in the dress.
"That was a good defense," Fawley said, clapping her hands.
"Th—thank you," he mumbled, rubbing his head. "It really hurt..."
"I imagine so. Do you want to end the lesson here?" She pressed her watch and it announced it was fifteen till seven. "There are only fifteen minutes left, and if your head is hurting that much it might not go so well."
"Yeah—um, yeah. I don't feel good." He bent forward, clutching his head. "It hurts a lot. It's never hurt this much."
Fawley rested a hand on his shoulder. "You pushed me out, quite forcibly. It was a strong effort and something you haven't done before. Not like that. It's natural for your head to hurt."
Remus sucked in some air, seeing the room go blurry as his head pulsed on and off in pain. "I'm g-glad I managed."
She squeezed his shoulder. "You did wonderfully. I'm very proud of your progression. Go get some rest. I'll see you next week."
He grabbed his satchel and staggered out of the room. Is it really supposed to be like this? He pressed one hand against his head, the other outstretched towards the wall. The pain faded and spiked until he couldn't stand it another minute and began running (which made the pain even worse) to the nearest bathroom, not able to make it to the toilet. He got sick into the sink instead.
"Something wrong?" He jumped, nearly falling over as Myrtle drifted through one of the stall doors. "You don't look so well."
"Hi Myrtle," he moaned, then coughed out the last of the bile before rinsing out his mouth.
"I haven't seen you in weeks," she accused.
"No, I—I was sick for about a week, last week," he explained, knowing it wasn't the best of excuses since the last time he had talked to her was the first week of February, and it was now the end of the month. "And then I was recovering. I'm sorry, I should have visited." He tried to visit Myrtle every week or two, same with his other ghost friends. He used to talk to them a lot more in his first year. This year had been a lot more... Marauder-y.
Myrtle floated next to him, hands behind her back as she watched him. "You're still sick."
"No, it's... it's something else." He rinsed his mouth out one more time then grabbed a paper towel, wiping his mouth off. "How have you been?"
"Oh, pretty good." She gave a giggle. "I saw your good-looking friend earlier."
Remus frowned, not liking it whenever she referred to Sirius like that. It felt like a reminder of his own (unwanted, unfounded) thoughts. "He should be at the pitch, watching James's practice."
"No. He was in a fight."
Remus straightened up. "What? Where? When? How?"
Myrtle gave a long sigh. "I don't know. Earlier! Time isn't as important to a ghost, you know. I am dead. It isn't like I need a watch!"
Remus was used to her outbursts like that, and it didn't bother him. "Was it after supper?"
Myrtle glared at him another few seconds then lowered herself till she was sitting on the sink next to him, legs swinging. "Yes. There were some Hufflepuffs, and a Slytherin who looked a lot like him, only not as good-looking. Maybe in time, when he's a bit older."
He was fighting with Regulus? "What exactly happened?"
Myrtle shrugged. "I don't know. I was in some pipes and heard shouting, and went to investigate. The good-looking one was punching a Hufflepuff."
"Are you—?" Remus felt his headache get worse. "Merlin's bloody BEARD! He punched a Hufflepuff?"
"Uh-huh. You know, he looks so brave and strong like that... Does he have strong arms? He looks like he has big, strong arms." She wrapped her arms around herself, probably imagining they were Sirius's.
"I have to go. Thank you, Myrtle. I'll visit soon, I promise!"
He bolted out of the bathroom, not sure whether to go to McGonagall or not. If they were caught fighting, McGonagall would know. If they hadn't been caught then he'd essentially be snitching on his friend. Did he go to the pitch, if practice was still going? Gryffindor had a game in a couple of weeks so their practices were going over. Sirius would probably have gone there after. Or to the dorm?
Ultimately, he went to the dorm, which was empty. He paced around for a while before getting a long, hot shower, changed into pajamas, and then returned to the dorm where he paced until the other Marauders showed up.
"What happened?" he asked as soon as they came into the dorm.
"Practice went great!" James replied, pumping a fist in the air. "We worked on some new formations—"
"Not you, with Sirius!"
Sirius looked guilty, and he began tugging at his collar. "What do you mean?"
Remus folded his arms, giving him a look. "You punched a Hufflepuff?"
"WHAT?" James shrieked.
"When was this?!" Peter demanded.
Sirius groaned and flung himself on his bed, kicking his shoes off. "Bloody hell, Brains, how'd you find out?"
"If you tell me what happened, I'll tell you how I know."
They had a bit of a stare-off, then Sirius caved in and explained he had gone to meet Regulus to chat a bit. He arrived at their usual meeting spot in time to see some Hufflepuffs drag him into a bathroom. Apparently one of Regulus's friends had harassed one of the Hufflepuff's little sister the day before, so they were getting revenge on Regulus. Sirius jumped in, wanting to break up the fight but the Hufflepuffs ("Who were third years, by the way, third years abusing a first year!") decided to fight with Sirius too. He had been disarmed and wound up punching one of the guys right in the eye before grabbing Regulus and hauling him away.
"I wanted to keep fighting, but I didn't want Reg getting hurt too," he said, pushing his hair back. "How did you find out?"
"Myrtle was in the bathroom when the fight happened," Remus said, sitting on his bed. "She told me."
Sirius shuddered. "Am I the only one who finds it creepy a girl ghost likes to haunt boys' bathrooms?! She's probably seen us pee. She's probably seen our cocks and we're none the wiser."
"Thanks, Sirius, for giving me something else to be paranoid about," Peter grouched.
"You're welcome."
James frowned at Remus. "She doesn't do that, does she?"
"I haven't the faintest." Remus suspected she might, but wanted to think the best of her. "Were you caught? Sirius?"
"Dunno, they might have told Sprout but I dunno," Sirius yawned. "We'll find out tomorrow, I guess."
"You're not worried?" Pete asked.
Sirius raised his eyebrows. "I'm willing to go to detention for protecting Reg. Might not have the—the best of relationship anymore but he's still my little brother."
Soon the four of them were discussing prank ideas (including getting back at those Hufflepuffs) but Remus could tell Sirius wasn't doing great. There was a slight stiffness, a fakeness to his voice when he spoke, and Remus wanted to make sure he was okay except he wasn't sure how to do it without making it a thing. Finally he did get the courage to ask, and Sirius was very confused, insisting he was fine. Remus had his doubts but didn't press.
/\/\/\/\/\
On Wednesday when the four of them went to their usual late breakfast, Sirius asked if they should get together with Inkwood for more research for the project but Remus reassured him no, they didn't need to get together until Sunday. He then clarified he meant the three of them, and suggested Sirius did get with Inkwood to work on their part of the project since they were doing one section while Remus was doing another.
"Honestly, though, we should help you with all of it," Sirius said with a long sigh.
Remus shook his head. "No. It's better this way, I promise. I can work faster on my own—"
"But it's a group project, isn't it?" Peter cut in.
"Red's divided the work up between the four of us," James said, stuffing bacon in his mouth. "'e achs oike 'e's gween."
"What?"
He swallowed. "She acts like she's queen. Though I'd rather her in charge than Twycross. At least Red attempts to be… um… you know… er… fair and… tries to make sure we get along…"
"Diplomatic?" Remus suggested.
James stared. "Did you just call her a dip-a-matic?"
"No! Diplomatic, it means—oh, never mind."
"Right, well, yeah, 'least Red is slightly less annoying than Twycross." James poked at his food, scrunching his face up. "Merlin, though, nobody tell her that, okay?"
Remus hoped the topic of his own group had fallen to the wayside but unfortunately Sirius picked it up as they headed to Charms class, again offering to help. Remus swore up and down he preferred it this way, and Sirius pointed out it was a group effort, shouldn't they work in a group?
"We are," he sniffled, trying not to get annoyed again. "We've divided the work up. Like Lily and James's group did."
"Yeah but I doubt one person is doing most the work there," Sirius whispered.
"Please. Let me do this, all right?"
"Are you mad at Cassie?"
Remus hesitated, that question puncturing his chest like a giant needle. "No," he finally said, honestly. "I'm not mad. Part of it is guilt over being gone so long."
Sirius prodded him. "It isn't your fault though."
Remus smacked his hand away. "Just because I can't control it doesn't make it my fault. Now shh, class." He swept into the classroom and dropped his stuff on his desk, glad for an out. Sirius pushed a note his way while Flitwick lectured and Remus wrote back that unless Sirius dropped it, he wouldn't help with anything at all.
ok ok you win – SB
Thank you.
/\/\/\/\/\
Sirius got into trouble for punching the Hufflepuff. When McGonagall confronted him when they went to Transfiguration that afternoon, he admitted it and explained exactly what happened. She didn't seem very impressed by his 'rescue' and removed fifteen points as well as giving him a night of detention.
In Study Group a couple hours later, Remus could tell something seemed a little off with Simon Bones. Bones kept glancing at Remus with a frown on his face, not even bothering to hide the fact he was staring. It made Remus feel more and more awkward. He still stuttered in Study Group and it was made worse with the staring until he could hardly even speak; he eventually stopped trying and only wrote, hardly interacting with the others. What was wrong with Bones? Had Remus done something to upset him? Did Bones have anything to do with the Hufflepuffs that Sirius punched?
After they dispersed Remus started to leave with Lily, however Bones ran after them outside the library. "Hey, uh, Lupin, wait!" Bones easily caught up with them since they weren't too far. "Can I ask you something?"
Remus clutched his satchel to his chest, feeling rather nauseated. He couldn't tell if Bones was angry or what. "Er... I—uh, um, I g-g-g-guess..."
"Privately?"
That made him feel worse however Lily was shrugging and walking away, not realizing how panicked Remus felt. "Um, is—did—did I—"
Bones cut him off. "Black punched Catterick, right?"
Remus stepped back, eyes huge. "Ah—what? I—I don't kn—know—I th-thought I heard he—he punched a—a Hufflepuff but—"
"Cause Catterick's a jerk," Bones said, again interrupting. "Had another question. Were your friends planning on revenge? Or breaking into the Hufflepuff dorm?"
"If—um, well, if—if Sirius punched him that's r-revenge—"
"Right, yeah, are you gonna break in?"
"Ah—what? N-no, that—ahh, that's sil-si-silly!"
"Aw, come on, I'm not dumb. I figure you guys have done stuff to the Slytherins, and you tried getting into the Ravenclaw dorm."
"No—no, we were only—c-curious about—curious—"
Bones grinned. "Okay, yeah, sure."
Remus swallowed, worried Bones would start yelling at him or something. "We're not... p-p-planning anything, I p-promise." That was true. They intended to do it one day, however they definitely didn't have anything concrete yet. "And I—I've not heard anything—anything about revenge..."
"Ahh, all right then. Gotcha. I'll see you later."
Remus watched him run off, feeling rather dizzy with confusion and fear. Did Bones... Was he going to go to Sprout or something? Or—or try to get the Marauders back before they even did anything? And what was that bit about Catterick and revenge?
