After having eaten more than either of them had in their lives, James and
Sirius bade the elves good bye and quickly (they were running way behind
schedule) made their way through the winding hallways of Hogwarts castle to
their first class, which was, to both the boys' bitter disappointment,
Muggle Studies.
"What's the point of coming to this school if we're just going to learn Muggle things anyway?" Sirius demanded as they ran, "I mean, god, how boring could they make our first day? MUGGLE STUDIES!"
"At least I already know all about Muggles," James panted, "My parents made my go to a muggle primary school, I know all about them, I'm guaranteed a good mark."
Sirius grinned evilly as they rounded the corridor's corner, "You wanna fail with me, just for the heck of it?"
WHUMPH! James, who had turned to look at Sirius while he was talking ran straight into a woman.
The woman, was a shrewd faced witch, who had previously been wearing a pointed hat (it had fallen off on impact with James body), she adjusted her glasses. James was horrified, Oh no! he thought It's the first day, and I've already succeeded in ploughing into my head of house.
"Mr. Potter, perhaps our first lesson in Transfiguration should be to turn your seemingly useless eyes into a working pair?" Professor McGonagall glared at him, "And," she included Sirius in her gaze as she continued, "I have been looking for the pair of you all morning. I had hoped to introduce you to your house and year mate over breakfast, but, I was unable to find either of you at the breakfast table."
Sirius grinned, James squirmed guiltily.
"I'm not going to ask you where you've been," the professor continued, "I'm just going to take you to my office right now so you can meet, Remus. I've already been to see Professor Rubberduck to excuse you from glass - surprisingly you weren't at class either. Tell me, Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, can I expect to find you at any of the appropriate places for the rest of the year? Tell me now, so that if I ever need to find you, I'll know where not to look."
Sirius gazed innocently at McGonagall, "We were running late, Professor."
"Yes," added James quickly, "Over slept and all."
"That you are running behind time is obvious, Mr. Black. Mr. Potter, as to your over sleeping habits.I am less than convinced."
Sirius and James exchanged worried looks. McGonagall grabbed them each by the arm, "Come, you two. I'm holding on to you, so that I run no risk of having to find you again."
The Professor marched her prisoners down the corridors at a brisk pace, far too brisk, for two boys who had been running enough to qualify for a marathon that morning. She led them back into Gryffindor tower, to the very top, into a small office.
In one of the office chairs, sat a small boy. His eyes were dark purple and sunken. He looked as if he had very recently been ill. Seeing them, he produced a small smile.
"Remus," Professor McGonagall, "I have found your roommates, who claim that they overslept this morning, and therefore missed breakfast. Did, you not, Mr. Lupin go into their room this morning and find them gone?"
"Well, I did not find them there." said the boy
Professor McGonagall turned to the two 'over sleepers', "I don't know were the two of you have been, but obviously not were you should have been. We do not first year students wandering around the campus in the middle of the night. If you had bothered to read the Hogwarts Student Handbook which, judging by the fact that you were running in the halls you obviously have not, you would have found that being out of bed at night is strictly forbidden. You will both receive detention."
Sirius gave Remus a piercing stare. For a moment, James felt very sorry for Remus.
The small boy appeared to be doing some extremely quick thinking,
"Professor." he said a moment later, "When I said that I didn't find them there, I didn't strictly mean they weren't in there bedroom."
"Oh really, Mr. Lupin?" McGonagall asked mildly.
"Yes," Lupin replied quickly, "I didn't find them sitting around, they're bed curtains were drawn, so I didn't look in them. But I couldn't hear and snoring so I simply assumed they weren't in the room. I don't think its fair for you to punish them for my bad assumptions." he turned to Sirius, who now had a look of astonishment on his face, "Forgive me, but I've just never roomed with anyone who didn't snore in the past."
The Professor looked at Lupin for a long hard moment and finally said, "Fine. Your detentions are retracted. I cannot prove you weren't in your rooms, even though I seriously doubt Mr. Lupin assumed any thing. You are free to go."
As soon as they were out the door, Sirius exclaimed, "That was bloody brilliant! You getting us out of trouble and all!"
"Yeah, thanks!" James said gratefully. Remus grinned slyly, "I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about. I was simply reiterating my statement so Professor McGonagall could fully understand it."
"You know," said Sirius as they walked down the tower steps, "I was about to pound you for getting me detention! And then you saved our arses, now I want to kiss you!"
"Refrain, if you please?" Remus asked, looking horrified, he took a step away from Sirius.
"He was joking." James supplied.
"Oh." said Remus sounding shocked, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize."
"God," laughed Sirius, "You're friends at home, must be really serious!"
"I don't have any friends."
James and Sirius both turned to stare at Remus, "But.but.your so cool!" Sirius managed to get out, "I mean, you seem nice, and you know how to cover up a trail!"
"Oh, well.there's something you should know about me. I'm a bit of a freak."
"It doesn't matter." said Sirius cheerfully, "Just look at James and I, we go on quests with paintings, if that isn't freakish, I don't know what is."
"And, we're in the process of planning to swindle every single Ravenclaw out of their money by playing at chess." James put in.
"No, you don't understand." pursued Remus solemnly, "I'm not a freak in the normal sense, I mean, I'm really weird, like there is something wrong with me."
"Oh, we don't care. So long as you up to a bit of fun, whatever's wrong with you can be easily overlooked. James sleeps in his boxers - disgusting habit, its foul - but I overlook that because our half naked friend, is my partner in crime."
"Really?" Remus asked, "You don't care if I'm.different?"
"Of course not!" Sirius beamed at Remus, "If you were normal, we'd be severely disappointed."
"Can't have anyone normal in Dorm 14." laughed James, "The normal person would stick out like a sore thumb."
Remus allowed himself a small smile.
The reached the end of the corridor leading to the Muggle Studies classroom, they rounded the corner and .
WHUMPH! James knocked into something for the second time that day, it appeared this corner was out to get him.
Sirius burst out laughing, "James you clumsy oaf! Can't you ever watch where your going!" Then his gaze diverted to the floor, where a greasy haired, scowling boy was seated, "James, while you are clumsy, I must congratulate you on selecting an excellent target, truly well done."
Severus stood up a dusted himself off, "Sirius, why aren't you in class? I'm going to go tell, and get you into trouble! Your mom is going to kill you, first day of school, and skipping! Oh your going to die!" Snape laughed in a giddy way, that made James wonder what Severus had been inhaling.
Sirius it seemed was wondering the same thing, "Severus, I'm going to have to tell your mom to keep the PVA glue well out of your reach. James and I have been pulled out of class by Professor McGonagall so that we might meet our new roommate."
"You expect me to buy that, Sirius! You're mad! No, don't try to convince me into not telling, I want to see you in detention yet!"
"But its true!" protested James
Snape glared at him, "Why should I believe you?" he sneered, "You're in league with the enemy."
Snape, turned a flew down the hallway as fast as he could, a definite look of purpose in his step.
"Oh well," said Remus calmly, "Its his own fault if he looks like an idiot. Should be funny though, to watch him tattaling to Professor McGonagall, wish we could watch."
"Yes," said Sirius wistfully, "Although, I'm sure Severus will do many more idiotic things when we can witness them, I should start a book.The mistakes, idiotic notions and irritating greasiness of Severus Snape."
"Come on," said James grabbing Sirius' arm, "We should get to class before Snape's complaint to McGonagall becomes reality."
"What's the point of coming to this school if we're just going to learn Muggle things anyway?" Sirius demanded as they ran, "I mean, god, how boring could they make our first day? MUGGLE STUDIES!"
"At least I already know all about Muggles," James panted, "My parents made my go to a muggle primary school, I know all about them, I'm guaranteed a good mark."
Sirius grinned evilly as they rounded the corridor's corner, "You wanna fail with me, just for the heck of it?"
WHUMPH! James, who had turned to look at Sirius while he was talking ran straight into a woman.
The woman, was a shrewd faced witch, who had previously been wearing a pointed hat (it had fallen off on impact with James body), she adjusted her glasses. James was horrified, Oh no! he thought It's the first day, and I've already succeeded in ploughing into my head of house.
"Mr. Potter, perhaps our first lesson in Transfiguration should be to turn your seemingly useless eyes into a working pair?" Professor McGonagall glared at him, "And," she included Sirius in her gaze as she continued, "I have been looking for the pair of you all morning. I had hoped to introduce you to your house and year mate over breakfast, but, I was unable to find either of you at the breakfast table."
Sirius grinned, James squirmed guiltily.
"I'm not going to ask you where you've been," the professor continued, "I'm just going to take you to my office right now so you can meet, Remus. I've already been to see Professor Rubberduck to excuse you from glass - surprisingly you weren't at class either. Tell me, Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, can I expect to find you at any of the appropriate places for the rest of the year? Tell me now, so that if I ever need to find you, I'll know where not to look."
Sirius gazed innocently at McGonagall, "We were running late, Professor."
"Yes," added James quickly, "Over slept and all."
"That you are running behind time is obvious, Mr. Black. Mr. Potter, as to your over sleeping habits.I am less than convinced."
Sirius and James exchanged worried looks. McGonagall grabbed them each by the arm, "Come, you two. I'm holding on to you, so that I run no risk of having to find you again."
The Professor marched her prisoners down the corridors at a brisk pace, far too brisk, for two boys who had been running enough to qualify for a marathon that morning. She led them back into Gryffindor tower, to the very top, into a small office.
In one of the office chairs, sat a small boy. His eyes were dark purple and sunken. He looked as if he had very recently been ill. Seeing them, he produced a small smile.
"Remus," Professor McGonagall, "I have found your roommates, who claim that they overslept this morning, and therefore missed breakfast. Did, you not, Mr. Lupin go into their room this morning and find them gone?"
"Well, I did not find them there." said the boy
Professor McGonagall turned to the two 'over sleepers', "I don't know were the two of you have been, but obviously not were you should have been. We do not first year students wandering around the campus in the middle of the night. If you had bothered to read the Hogwarts Student Handbook which, judging by the fact that you were running in the halls you obviously have not, you would have found that being out of bed at night is strictly forbidden. You will both receive detention."
Sirius gave Remus a piercing stare. For a moment, James felt very sorry for Remus.
The small boy appeared to be doing some extremely quick thinking,
"Professor." he said a moment later, "When I said that I didn't find them there, I didn't strictly mean they weren't in there bedroom."
"Oh really, Mr. Lupin?" McGonagall asked mildly.
"Yes," Lupin replied quickly, "I didn't find them sitting around, they're bed curtains were drawn, so I didn't look in them. But I couldn't hear and snoring so I simply assumed they weren't in the room. I don't think its fair for you to punish them for my bad assumptions." he turned to Sirius, who now had a look of astonishment on his face, "Forgive me, but I've just never roomed with anyone who didn't snore in the past."
The Professor looked at Lupin for a long hard moment and finally said, "Fine. Your detentions are retracted. I cannot prove you weren't in your rooms, even though I seriously doubt Mr. Lupin assumed any thing. You are free to go."
As soon as they were out the door, Sirius exclaimed, "That was bloody brilliant! You getting us out of trouble and all!"
"Yeah, thanks!" James said gratefully. Remus grinned slyly, "I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about. I was simply reiterating my statement so Professor McGonagall could fully understand it."
"You know," said Sirius as they walked down the tower steps, "I was about to pound you for getting me detention! And then you saved our arses, now I want to kiss you!"
"Refrain, if you please?" Remus asked, looking horrified, he took a step away from Sirius.
"He was joking." James supplied.
"Oh." said Remus sounding shocked, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize."
"God," laughed Sirius, "You're friends at home, must be really serious!"
"I don't have any friends."
James and Sirius both turned to stare at Remus, "But.but.your so cool!" Sirius managed to get out, "I mean, you seem nice, and you know how to cover up a trail!"
"Oh, well.there's something you should know about me. I'm a bit of a freak."
"It doesn't matter." said Sirius cheerfully, "Just look at James and I, we go on quests with paintings, if that isn't freakish, I don't know what is."
"And, we're in the process of planning to swindle every single Ravenclaw out of their money by playing at chess." James put in.
"No, you don't understand." pursued Remus solemnly, "I'm not a freak in the normal sense, I mean, I'm really weird, like there is something wrong with me."
"Oh, we don't care. So long as you up to a bit of fun, whatever's wrong with you can be easily overlooked. James sleeps in his boxers - disgusting habit, its foul - but I overlook that because our half naked friend, is my partner in crime."
"Really?" Remus asked, "You don't care if I'm.different?"
"Of course not!" Sirius beamed at Remus, "If you were normal, we'd be severely disappointed."
"Can't have anyone normal in Dorm 14." laughed James, "The normal person would stick out like a sore thumb."
Remus allowed himself a small smile.
The reached the end of the corridor leading to the Muggle Studies classroom, they rounded the corner and .
WHUMPH! James knocked into something for the second time that day, it appeared this corner was out to get him.
Sirius burst out laughing, "James you clumsy oaf! Can't you ever watch where your going!" Then his gaze diverted to the floor, where a greasy haired, scowling boy was seated, "James, while you are clumsy, I must congratulate you on selecting an excellent target, truly well done."
Severus stood up a dusted himself off, "Sirius, why aren't you in class? I'm going to go tell, and get you into trouble! Your mom is going to kill you, first day of school, and skipping! Oh your going to die!" Snape laughed in a giddy way, that made James wonder what Severus had been inhaling.
Sirius it seemed was wondering the same thing, "Severus, I'm going to have to tell your mom to keep the PVA glue well out of your reach. James and I have been pulled out of class by Professor McGonagall so that we might meet our new roommate."
"You expect me to buy that, Sirius! You're mad! No, don't try to convince me into not telling, I want to see you in detention yet!"
"But its true!" protested James
Snape glared at him, "Why should I believe you?" he sneered, "You're in league with the enemy."
Snape, turned a flew down the hallway as fast as he could, a definite look of purpose in his step.
"Oh well," said Remus calmly, "Its his own fault if he looks like an idiot. Should be funny though, to watch him tattaling to Professor McGonagall, wish we could watch."
"Yes," said Sirius wistfully, "Although, I'm sure Severus will do many more idiotic things when we can witness them, I should start a book.The mistakes, idiotic notions and irritating greasiness of Severus Snape."
"Come on," said James grabbing Sirius' arm, "We should get to class before Snape's complaint to McGonagall becomes reality."