The Great Hall was filled with bustling, clamoring students, all eating their breakfast and talking excitedly about a multitude of different things. The owls came in with the mail, and Remus looked up as an owl swooped down, landing with a soft whoosh' in front of his oatmeal bowl, his Daily Prophet tied to its foot.
Remus took the paper, put a bit of gold in the pouch, and the great bird swooped away.
Say Moony, think I could take a look at your Charms paper, mate? Sirius asked, giving Remus his puppy dog face. Remus rolled his eyes, and handed the parchment to his friend over the mounds of food spread across the table.
You know, Padfoot, perhaps instead of spending all your free time hexing Snivellus and find new hexes with which to hex Snivellus, you should try for some studying. Remus said, smirking at the grinning fellow in front of him.
What, and take your job, Moony? I think not. You do the studying, I do the hexing, and we both pass. He said with a silly grin and a cheerful laugh.
Ugh, Padfoot, kindly stop your cheery demeanor until at least noon. James said, his head resting on his arms. He had barely touched his breakfast.
Well Prongs, maybe if you hadn't stayed out in the Common Room with that girlfriend of yours all night, you'd be a bit more cheerful yourself. Sirius said, sticking his tongue out at James, and then turning to wink at Remus.
At the sight of the wink, Remus' stomach dropped, and he gulped and looked down at his oatmeal, giving it a slow stir with his spoon.
Peter tapped Remus on the shoulder, and motioned to his bowl of half-eaten oatmeal.
Oy mate, are you going to eat that?
Remus frowned, and shoved the bowl toward Peter, before standing and walking out of the great hall.
I'm off to class. Meet me there when you're all done eating. He said, and set off for Charms.
***
Charms had went well enough, as did the rest of the classes. Soon the students were free from their lessons for the rest of the day. The weather was nice for the middle of December. Many students had flooded outside to romp about, and jump in the huge piles of snow that the Groundskeeper had shoveled up not even an hour ago, off of the paths. Strangely though, the kindly old man didn't seem to mind. It seemed almost as though he had shoveled it up for that particular purpose.
The Yule Ball would be in two weeks, and most students already had dates. Remus didn't even think he would go. He walked around outside, drowning out the shouts and laughter from his peers. He walked toward the Forbidden Forest, and his path curved to walk along the edge of the spooky woods.
::Surely Sirius would have a date for the Yule Ball. In fact, knowing Sirius, he may have more than one.:: Remus thought to himself, giving a light snort. ::Why should I go and torture myself even more by seeing him enjoying the company of someone besides me?:: Something inside Remus was shouting to him, silent screams telling him to go to the Yule Ball. ::I refuse to walk into more pain. I have enough to last me a lifetime, maybe two.::
Remus sighed heavily, and looked at the sky, to see dark, oppressive clouds moving in.
A storm. Remus breathed, a ghost of a smile on his lips. Rain storm, in December? Oh well, weather around here has been stranger.
And then, the rain came.
Remus followed slowly behind the dashing students, into the castle. He went into the Gryffindor Common Room, both pleased and disappointed when none of his friends were sitting there. He gave a moments thought to looking about for them, but then decided that this time with himself was doing him good. He was seeing his place, seeing what he could realistically have, and what would always be a dream, one step ahead of his grasping fingertips, reaching for that one last inch to get what they so desired.
He watched the listless raindrops pelt the ground, and cause a beautiful ripple effect on the expanse of lake, which had thawed a nice bit, along with a lot of the snow, in the warmth of the day. He looked up and scanned the skies, hoping for thunder and lightning to make itself known.
He was not disappointed.
A loud clap of thunder sounded, followed by a most-impressive flash of lightning, which spider webbed across the sky, illuminating the now-dark grounds in a quick blink.
As suddenly as the storm began, it stopped, and Remus turned to see Sirius standing nearby, also watching the storm. And watching Remus watch the storm.
He began.
Sirius walked closer to Remus, and smiled gently.
Lets go outside.
But it's all cold and wet-
It's okay.
***
Remus and Sirius walked out of the front doors, to be hit by a wave of sweet smelling earth, uncovered by the melting snow and hard-hitting rain, and clean air. The seductive after-rain smell wove its way around the two boys, heavy and warm.
Remus stepped onto the path, and inhaled deeply, before turning to Sirius, his eyes shining.
This smell, Padfoot. I love this smell, so fresh and new. I'd bottle it if I could. He said.
Sirius was looking at him in such a way that is felt as if his soul were being examined. He suddenly felt very self-conscious, and looked away, quickly walking into the ankle-deep snow.
Sirius chuckled. That was Moony, so seemingly-innocent, until you knew him.
Remus turned, and looked at Sirius, curiosity on his face.
Why did you want me to come out here, Sirius? He asked, shivering a little, and wrapping his arms more firmly around himself for added warmth.
Well, I just knew that we haven't been spending much time together lately. And I wanted to see what's been bothering you. Moony, you've been pulling away. Not just from me, Peter and James noticed it too. Your withdrawing into your little Moony self, He smirked, And that's just no fun. What's wrong with you? Remember yesterday? Before Professor McGonagall yelled at us, under the tree?
Did Remus ever remember. He had nearly kissed Sirius. That was too close. He couldn't let something like that happen again.
Remus nodded.
You were so close to telling me, Moony. Now come on, there are no classes to be late for. Tell me, what's been bugging you?
Remus took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
::I can't tell him. Time to use your cunning nature, Remus!::
Well, you see Padfoot... I guess I'm just a bit worried about this Yule Ball.
Really? What about? Afraid you aren't going to get a date?
Something like that. Remus said softly, not meeting Sirius' eyes, for fear that the whole truth would show, and his best friend would retreat, back into the school, and leave Remus alone forever.
Don't worry mate, I'll help you find the perfect girl.
***
That's it. I gave you guys a rather long one in comparison to the others, cause I felt inspired! Please, click that button *points* and review! Thanks for reading, see you next chappie!
