A/N: God, it's the fourth chapter! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you're the best! This chapter is dedicated to my good friend Me_160286, who hates slash, and is going to hate me too when he finds out about this. ;)
Small warning: One of them is bi. Deal with it. No slash-scenes.
Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Harry Potter. The chapter title is from a song which I don't own.
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Chapter 4: Let's Hear it For The Boy
When Sirius came down to the Great Hall the next day, only James and some thirdyears were still eating.
"Morning," gruffed Sirius.
"And a lovely morning to you, too. Why so sour?"
He scowled back. "It's too early to talk. Now- be quiet, and eat breakfast like a good boy."
James glanced at his watch, and smirked.
"Sirius- you do know that this is lunch?"
"Shut up."
They finished lunch (or, in Sirius' case, breakfast) in silence.
"So, where's Peter and Moony?" said Sirius as the two of them left the Great Hall.
"Peter went to the hospital wing. Apparantly, Sarea-"
"Sarea?"
"Sarea King, that Hufflepuff. You know, his divination partner. Anyway, she fell down the ladder when she left Trelawney's tower on thursday. Apparantly, she's supposed to get out today, so Peter went up to the hospital wing, claiming that he was going to walk her down to Hufflepuff, so that she won't fall again." James rolled his eyes. Peter fell in and out of love more often than others changed socks, and Sarea was his last object of affection.
"And Moony?"
"He told me he was going to help Lulu find a muggle-book on arithmancy in the library."
"Ah, lil' Lulu needs help? Away, thou foe, here comes Super-Sirius! Ready to turn that frown up-side-down!"
"If she ever heard you say that, she'd give you a black eye. Remember last time?"
Sirius rubbed his jaw, which, at the memory only, went numb.
"How could I forget? Funny how two siblings can be THAT different. I mean, on one hand, you have Remus; a nice, intellectual guy. And then, there's Lulu; a violent maniac, who somehow ended up not only with a position on the quidditch team, but also the only one that requires a club."
"1: There are two beater positions, and 2; It's a bat, not a club."
"The way she uses it, she could have fooled me. Speaking of quidditch, don't you have practice today?"
"Later. So- got any plans for this lovely, rainy day?"
Sirius laughed.
"Do you really want to-"
"Gentlemen, don't we have anything better to do with our time, than hanging around the Entrance Hall?"
The two of them turned, and was met by the sight of a grumpy-looking Lucius Malfoy.
"Actually, yes."
"Then get going," the Slytherin said, and turned.
"We will. Just answer me on this first; Do you have anything better to do with your time than seducing innocent Gryffindors?" mocked Sirius.
Malfoy's ears went an interesting shade of red as he turned slowly, once more facing them."
"Get out."
"Wh-" started Sirius.
"Get out!"
~~*~~
"Anyone looking?"
"Nope."
The two of them had stopped about halfway around the lake, and James was keeping watch while Sirius was lighting his cigarette, ready for his daily dose of nicotin.
"Those things are bad for your health, you know," said James.
Sirius rolled his eyes.
"No, really? And here I was, thinking that they would prolong my life." He took a deep breath, allowing the smoke to reach the very dephts of his lounges. "Besides, I think of it like this; the long walks I have to take to get here, makes up for the 'damaging effect on my health'."
Smugly, he blew a ring of smoke, which James quickly punctured with his finger.
"Don't let it die a virgin," he said.
"Like Myrtle, you mean?"
James shuddered.
"Don't even remind me of her. I mean, of all the guys at this school, why does she have to torture me?"
"Torture?" Sirius smirked. "You don't like having her wooing you?"
"Sirius, she stalks me! I mean, I bloody caught her playing 'peeping-tom' while I was taking a bath!"
"Tell Dumbledore, he'll get her back to her bathroom."
"Of course- 'hey, Dumblster, I caught one of the female ghosts stalking while taking a midnight bath in the prefect's bathroom, can you please put her back in the girls' toilet'. That will be the day I -AH! Get off, get off!"
Sirius snickered as James hopped around, trying to get the orange ball of fur that had clawed itself into the back of his neck off.
"Are you just going to stand there?" yelled James.
Sirius took a last breath of his cigarette, before throwing it into the bushes.
"Just stand still, Jamesie," he said. James did as he was told, making faces.
"Oh, come on, it doesn't hurt that much," Sirius said as he gently removed the furball, also known as his cat, Chaos, from James neck. "There, he's off."
James turned, rubbing his sore neck.
"Damn monstercat. I can't see why you keep that freaky thing, anyway," James sulked, sending Chaos a dirty look. Chaos scowled back, and went off chasing a gnome.
'Monstercat', was a very fitting description of Chaos. Even though it was just a mere year old, it was already monstreously big, and with furiously bowed legs. Its previous owner had been a kneazle-breeder, who one day had the excellent idea of making a Kneazle-Tabbycat-crossover. The results had been good; seven of the eight kittens had turned out as small, tabby cats with tails like lions. The last one became a fluffy-furred thing with a bottlebrush tail, and a terrible temper. And of course, when Sirius' mother had brought her son to pick out a cat when his old one died, Sirius had chose that one.
"You're not very fond of cats, are you, James?" said Sirius as they walked back.
James shrugged.
"What can I say, I just don't like them. As they say, some people are kneazle-persons, others are crup-people."
Sirius looked at his friend.
"Crup-people?"
"You know, crups." Seeing the confused look on his friends face, he continued. "They're like small terriers. All the high-society ladies in the wizarding world have one."
"Ah, I can see why know about them, then. Your mother made you walk hers, right?"
James mumbled something.
"I'm sorry, Jamesie, I didn't quite catch that. Come again?"
"...Yes."
"I knew it!" Sirius said triumphantly. "Admit it, I was right!"
"Yeah- yeah, you were right- as usual, oh mighty oracle of Sirius. After all, who needs Trelawney, when they have you?" mocked James.
"Who needs Trelawney at all?" said Sirius as they stopped in front of the entrance gate to the courtyard. "Well, this is my stop."
"Not coming over to watch practise? I am so disappointed...NOT."
"As much as I would like to watch you oh so manly men performing the most honourable art of Quidditch, I have to go find Remus. Ol' boy promised to help me with my Arithmancy."
"Ah, I see. The two of you are going to do some male bonding over the books, eh?" James said, winking in a way that Sirius did not like at all.
"Were you always this bizarre, or is that a newly aqcuired skill of yours? Because there is one thing I can tell about you; you are definetly not queer as them folks."
"Which folks? You and Aidan Lynch?"
Sirius stuck his tongue out.
James responded by rolling his eyes.
"Well, that's mature." He glanced at his watch. "Anyway, I have to go now. See you at dinner?"
"Make that supper, I have some letters to write, too."
"See you, then!"
~~*~~
Remembering what James had sad earlier, Sirius went directly to the library. Upon arrival, he couldn't see Remus at once, thereby having to move further in between shelves, desks and books. It wasn't that he didn't like the library- it was just that the library didn't like him. Or, in plain english; he had a tendency to trip, fall, or open books that liked to scream. And of course, being the stiffnecked, 'rod-up-her-butt'ish librarian she was, madame Pince didn't like this, and ergo, she didn't like Sirius either. Fortunately enough, Sirius soon caught sight of Remus' brown-haired head on the other side of a bookshelf. From what Sirius could see, he was walking next to someone, towards the entrance.
"-oh, it was nothing, just glad to help," he heard his friend say.
Sirius rolled his eyes. Ever polite, that was Remus. Even towards his own sister, who had manners like a viking, he acted like a gentleman.
"You too humble, Rem. I don't think I would have gotten it if you hadn't eplained!" answered a girl's voice.
Sirius blinked. That wasn't Lulu's voice! In fact, it wasn't the voice of any girl Sirius knew (and trust me, he knew most of the girls at Hogwarts better than their own mothers did).
As the pair walked out in the open landscape that was the rows of desks in front of the entrance, Sirius ducked behind a chair. Even though he only could see her back, he estimated that the girl was about fourteen, but he couldn't for his bare life think of any fourthyears he knew about who had long, black hair like that.
The two of them stopped in front of Madam Pince's desk. As the librarian checked in the girl's books, 'black beasty' as Sirius had nicknamed her in his mind, repeated how lost she had been without Remus' help.
"Oh come on!" chuckled Remus. "It's not that hard. If I didn't knew better, I would think you are flattering me, miss Thickey."
The girl turned, and smiled warmly. Sirius still didn't recognise her, but she did look familiar.
"No, really- thanks. I'm practically a squib when it comes to Transfiguration, and unfortunately enough, 'aunt Minna' doesn't favour neither relatives nor Gryffindors."
"Aunt Minna? I have to remember that one. But listen, I have to go now, I told my friend Monica I would meet her in the Entrance Hall- but I guess I'll see you around?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah...so, see you, then."
She smiled, and kissed him on the cheek.
"Already looking forward to it."
And with that, she left the library, leaving Remus with a faraway look. For a moment, he just stood there, before he ran after her. Sirius could just only make out the words as his friend asked the girl if he could walk her down to the entrance.
~~*~~
Dear Mum
I'm sorry I haven't written to you in ages, but I've been busy settling for the new term.
I hope you are alright, and that your treatment is working.
Everything's as usual here at Hogwarts- professor Dumbledore is enigmatic as always, the Slytherins keeps on making trouble, and Trelawney keeps on bitc- sorry, babbling, about Remus' impending death and doom.
My classes are going great, and guess what? I got a 99 % on my first Transfiguration test this term.
Okay, so it was just a 79%, but it's not my fault- Remus kept whining about that vampire book, interview or something, while I was trying to study. And well- having a neurotic werewolf hanging over your neck, whining about how he wished he had fangs instead of fur, is not good for your concentration. But I'll do better next time, I swear!
James isn't really helping- he's too busy wooind Lily Evans nowadays. If it was someone else, I'd probably just tell them to give it up, seeing as she's dating that pri-, I mean, annoying Lucius Malfoy. But if Prongs sees something in her, she has to be special. Or as Remus keeps on saying: 'There has to be some reason for this obsession, right?'. And then, he usually adds 'Please say there is', with a desperate look in his eyes. And yes, he is still single, and no, I don't think he'd be interested in marrying an old hag like you. ;)
But Mum, I really don't have time to write any more, seeing as supper's in five minutes, and I'm starving.
Love,
Sirius
He had just finished with a flourish when the dormitory door opened, and a ruffled Remus entered. Sirius laid down his quill, and watched the other boy going through the chest at the end of his four-poster.
"Looking for something, Moony ol' pal?"
Remus didn't turn or make any response, but from the way his back muscles tensed up, Sirius could see that he was startled.
"Nothing, nothing, just a shirt."
He turned, and Sirius couldn't help but snort as he saw a large heart-shaped stain on Remus' muggle t-shirt.
"In love, Moony?"
"Yeah, as if. Actually, I wasn't happy with the colour, so I tried to transfigure it red. Obviously, it didn't work." He sighed. "In my book, transfiguration and clothing doesn't mix."
"Obviously," said Sirius, turning back to the letter, quickly adding a PS about a certain werewolf whose transfiguring skills were...wait a minute- Remus' knew perfectly well how to transfigure clothes. As a matter of fact, he had transfigured Snape's entire robe into a corset, as a payback for him getting James' landed in the hospital wing.
Sirius turned, ready to point this out to Remus, but was stopped by the sight that met him.
Remus was standing next to the open trunk, his robes in his hands as he tried to straighten out some of the wrinkles. He was barechested, his T-shirt lying in heap on the floor. The white halfmoon-mark on his neck looked particulary nasty at this time of month. However, what really caught Sirius attention, was a large cut running across his left under-arm. It looked very recent, and was almost just a gash that wasn't healed yet.
"When did you get that one?"
Remus looked up.
"Get what?"
Sirius ran his index finger across his chest, indicating the wound. Remus looked down.
"Oh, that wound. It's nothing, really, cut myself on the Womping Willow yesterday."
Sirius furrowed his eyebrows.
"The Willow? What were you doing over there?"
Remus shrugged. "I was going to the Shack."
"Why?"
"Because I forgot my ..erm.." he searched for the word, making gestures in the air "..eh..what's it called again?"
"Coat? Robe? Spankypants?"
"Scarf!" Remus said triumphantly.
Sirius nodded, "Ah, I see," and added a PS about forgetfull friends.
Remus, who now was sitting down on his bed, craned his neck at the sound of the scribbling quill.
"Letter, Padfoot?"
Sirius nodded. "To my mother."
His friend smiled sadly. "How is she?"
"By and by, I guess. The treatment's going well," he lied.
"Send her my love, then."
"I will." Sirius glanced up. "So- James told me you've spend the day helping Lulu with her homework."
"Nah...she didn't come, as usual, so I just got some studying done."
Sirius looked at him.
Liar.
"So, nothing else, then?"
Remus thought about it for a second, then shook his head.
"Nah, just some transfiguration. You didn't come looking for me, did you? Because I was rather hidden among all those books."
Sirius shook his head, and before he knew it, he was lying again. "No, no, not at all."
Remus smiled. "So, you coming down for supper?"
Sirius nodded, but as he followed Remus downstairs, he couldn't help but wonder exactly what it was that had made him lie.
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