Written for The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition

[Season 9] - Round 11: Character Descriptions

Team: Chudley Cannons

Position: Beater 1 - Monk - Write about a character who knows/uses martial arts

Bonus Prompts:

8. [Location] Hogwarts Library

12. [Word] Lighten

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Thanks to my awesome teammate Ashleigh for betaing!

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Word count: 1117

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Remus pressed himself further into the corner and held his breath. But Sirius already knew all his favourite hiding-spots and crouched down by the table Remus was sitting under.

Sirius smiled wryly; the soft light in the library made his black hair glow, and made him almost look like an angel as he pushed the chairs aside, and elegantly crawled over to Remus, who hid his head between his knees.

Once Sirius was seated next to him, and their sides were pressed against each other, he took out his wand and cast lumos. A short silence, then: "Show me."

Remus shook his head best he could while still hiding his face, but knew it was pointless. Sirius always got his way. It didn't matter how long it could take, or how stubborn Remus tried to be; somehow, Sirius always won.

"Moony," he insisted.

Remus sighed loudly and lifted his face for Sirius to see but didn't meet his gaze.

They sat in silence for a few moments.

"It barely hurts," Remus whispered, although it was a lie. His left eye was black and swollen, his jaw was still pulsing, and his upper lip was bleeding.

Sirius shook his head at him, and with a few quick flicks of his wand, the wounds healed themselves. Because the Blacks were obsessed with perfection, Sirius was taught magic before starting Hogwarts and even during holidays, making his skill level much higher than the average second year.

Remus hid his face again.

"You need to learn to defend yourself," Sirius said, not for the first time.

"I can defend myself," Remus insisted, a little offended. "Just not very well against fifth years."

"You could if you tried using something other than magic."

Remus withdrew further into himself. "You already know I don't want to."

He hated everything about himself that could relate to his werewolf side, which included using the extra strength and speed that came with it. Sirius just thought it was cool, and kept pushing Remus into using it.

That was the only argument he hadn't won, and Remus knew it was the only argument he would never let Sirius win.

"But karate would be perfect for you!" Sirius whined. "It's both for fighting and self-defence, so you can just do the self-defence part." He stared at Remus with those insufferable puppy-eyes which always got him anything he wanted.

"I don't want to," Remus said, but he knew it was a losing battle.

"But you don't even need that much strength to do it, and I could teach you! Come on Moony, it would be so much fun. Please." Sirius got all up in Remus' personal space, making him feel trapped between the wall and the boy in front of him.

"I—"

"Pretty, pretty please?"

Remus groaned. "Fine." He would let Sirius teach him, but it didn't mean he would ever use it on anyone.

Sirius' expression quickly changed from pouting, to a bright smile.

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Sirius corrected Remus' pose, who immediately slouched, proving for the five hundredth time he wasn't going to make an effort.

But as always, Sirius took everything as a challenge, and relentlessly kept lecturing on the correct way to execute an uppercut while continuously correcting his posture.

They were in this room Remus had found a while back, when he had needed a place to hide, and discovered it changed depending on what you needed. Right now, it resembled a dojo, and included all the equipment one would need to learn karate.

It also had some very nice beanbag chairs, which Remus found more interesting than Sirius' class.

"Moony!" Sirius whined for the five hundredth time that day. "You're not even trying."

"You got me there."

But then Sirius was pouting again and staring at Remus with those damn perfect eyes.

Remus groaned inwardly, and finally took the pose Sirius had tried getting him to do, which earned him a smile and made the whole thing worth it.

Sirius got behind him and put his hands on Remus' shoulder. Then gently pushed them, so Remus was twisting his upper body.

"This is what you have to do, while bringing your arm forward for the punch." He moved next to Remus, took the same pose as him, and twisted his upper body slightly while bringing his right fist up. "Like this," he explained.

Remus copied him best he could, while Sirius corrected his pose, the timing and the speed. They continued like this, going faster and faster until Sirius decided Remus was ready for the boxing bag.

There were various sizes, and all resembled the upper part of a human. Sirius brought the bag over which was the same size as the average fifth year. Remus had to lean his head all the way back to look into its cold, dead eyes.

"Sirius," he said evenly, "I can't even reach the head."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Then hit what you can reach. It's all about improvising."

Remus audibly gulped and stared back at it. If he concentrated, it almost looked like Lucius Malfoy, and the urge to rip it apart, hit him with full force, and actually made him a little dizzy.

"I need a break," Remus announced loudly, cutting Sirius off, and setting himself in the bean bag chair.

An unbearable silence stretched in the room, and Remus almost wished he hadn't said anything, but he couldn't make himself hurt anyone - not even a boxing bag.

He got to be the most pathetic excuse for a werewolf in the world.

After a few moments, Sirius came to sit next to him, but didn't say anything at first. Remus almost considered just running from the room, but Sirius would find him in no time - he always did.

"You really don't want to learn karate." It wasn't a question, but Remus shook his head nonetheless. Sirius sighed dramatically. "I guess we could just do it the wizard-way, and look up defence-spells in the library instead."

There was a hint of playfulness to his voice, but Remus still had to look at him to make sure.

"I'd like that," he replied quietly.

Sirius smiled wryly. "I just really wanted to teach you karate."

"Why?"

Sirius scratched his arm. "I don't know. I just… I feel so centred and focused when training, and I thought it'd be good for you, especially close to the full moon."

Remus couldn't help the smile that crept onto his lips, and he felt himself lighten up. Not many people got to see this side of Sirius; so thoughtful and caring. It made him feel special, and he knew Sirius would get his way once again.

"I guess it can't hurt to try again."