Part Nine: The Lullaby League
Sirius was too keyed up to sleep. After James had prodded him to the top of Gryffindor tower, the bespectacled boy had given his roommates a stern look.
"The sorting hat has placed us here together for the next seven years." The dark haired boy had said while pacing in their shared space. "While it took me a while to recognize it, we do need to get along."
"But he's," Peter had pointed his finger straight at Sirius. "Befriending us just 'cause his parents said so!"
James blinked at the smaller boy. "I thought you said I was a Mushroom."
"You are!" Peter had insisted to Sirius's amusement. "But he was told to give Remus's secrets to his mother."
Remus voiced up at that. "Actually, she asked for my father's secrets. Mine are apparently safe."
"It is still a betrayal of what this house stands for." Peter's voice had cracked with rage.
"Did you even give him a chance to refute your claims?" Remus brought reason to the table.
'He didn't believe Peter.' Sirius had thought then just as he did now. 'And Dumbledore will find a spell to fix the vial which means that life is just about perfect.'
Sirius sat bolt up in bed, all the pleasant thoughts of a few minutes ago were replaced with dread.
It was an unintentional lesson learned from his mother's hand.
'Nothing is perfect. There is always a catch.'
He lay back trying to calm his heart enough to sleep.
The movement of his bed curtains caused him to tense up even more.
"Sirius?"
Sirius fumbled slightly for his wand.
"Lumos."
Remus smiled slightly and clamored onto the darker boy's bed. "I didn't read those letters."
Sirius blinked. "Why not?"
Remus considered this. "I guess it is because I would rather think you like me for me." He said quietly. "It's not like I've had many friends over the years."
Sirius felt his jaw drop despite years of social training. "Your father is a politician." He whispered fiercely. "Didn't you have his friend's children around?"
"My parents kept me pretty much to myself." Remus admitted. "They didn't even want me coming to Hogwarts this year."
"Was there somewhere else they wanted to send you?" He asked. "My mother has been talking about a new school up north that might suite her educational ideals."
"They...." Remus trailed off as if he had no idea how to articulate his thoughts. "Had their reasons."
Sirius sighed. "You're lucky that you could spend time alone."
Remus shrugged. "I don't think so. I would rather have played with people who hated and despised me than be as isolated as I was."
"I can't imagine being alone," Sirius confessed. "At home I always had my brother or some cousins around. There were times I wished I could lose them but Regulus and I shared a Nurse and Nursery."
"There are times when I wish I was still alone some of the time now." Remus said thoughtfully. "It was nice to have space to myself."
Sirius grinned. "I got my own room a week before I came here. It was so odd to only have my own breathing making noise."
"I have to cast a silencing charm before I can get to sleep, what with all your snoring." Remus grinned back.
"Blacks do not snore." Sirius said regally.
A loud noise from Peter's bed made both boys giggle. "Apparently Pettigrew's do." Remus gasped.
The bed curtains moved again and James stuck his head in to look at them. "Is this a private club or can I join?" He climbed up next to Remus without waiting for an answer.
"By all means join us." Sirius laughed. "The more the merrier."
"Sirius didn't really want to sleep tonight." Remus joked.
Sirius sighed. "I wasn't all that tired anyway."
James smiled. "I have to cast a silencing spell to keep the noise out before I can sleep. Only my charm failed tonight so I heard you two talking."
"You an only child too?" Remus asked the other boy.
"Nope." James said wryly. "I have an older sister who is already out of Hogwarts."
"What does she do now?" Sirius inquired.
"She works in the Muggle Relations Department of the Ministry of Magic." James said proudly.
"Wow." Remus looked impressed. "Isn't that like working with another species entirely?"
James shrugged. "Muggles are just like squibs. Would you say that squibs are another species?"
'My parents would.' Sirius thought. He decided not to voice that opinion aloud though.
"The title 'other species,'" James continued. "Should be reserved for things like Vampires and Werewolves."
"How can you say that?" Remus argued. "Werewolves are human for most of the month. It is unfair to discriminate against them for something they really can't control."
"Most of them didn't ask to be bitten," James agreed. "But they should be required to register and stuff. That would make it safer for the rest of us and less likely that they will infect someone else."
"Register?" Remus looked very upset and his voice was rising.
"Shh!" James and Sirius said, attempting to calm the younger boy down.
"Hitler," Remus spat the name out. "Made the Romani register, and we all know how that ended."
Sirius exchanged glances with James. 'Who knew that Remus was pro-Werewolves?' He thought as he shrugged at James.
"Who was Hitler?" James asked.
"An evil Muggle who tried to ride the world of all the people he didn't approve of." Remus said, it was obvious he was still upset.
"Oh." James blinked.
Remus turned to Sirius. "What do you think about Werewolf registration?" He demanded of the black haired boy.
"I really don't know enough one way or the other." Sirius admitted. "On the one hand every child in the Wizarding world has been warned against them since infancy. On the other hand I've never met a Werewolf nor has anyone I know."
Remus gave him a half-betrayed look. The very look he had imagined the smaller boy wearing earlier when he was handed the Black's letters. "I think I am more tired then I thought." Remus said slipping off the bed. "Good night."
James opened Sirius's curtains enough so that he could watch Remus make his way to his own bed.
"What got into him?" James let the curtains fall back into place.
"Maybe he knows a werewolf?" Sirius hazarded a guess. 'Like maybe his father is one and that is the secret my parents want.'
"Maybe." James didn't look convinced. "It is still unlike him to get so upset about anything. You would think he would be quieter than normal right now since he was sick the other day."
Sirius shrugged again. James looked around at the books lying beside Sirius's pillow. "I am really sorry about ruining your books."
"I am guessing you finally got the bill." Sirius raised his eyebrow.
"Uh huh." James picked up 'The Mysterious Island'. "I never would have figured you for such an avid reader of Muggle books."
"Muggles have some truly bizarre ideas." Sirius said conversationally. "I guess it's because they don't have magic to rely on."
James nodded. "Plus I think their ideas are occasionally more original when it comes to fiction."
"I don't know." Sirius scratched his head. "Did you read 'the Auror and the Dragon'?"
James tilted his head to one side. "The name isn't ringing any bells."
Sirius smiled before leaning over to sort through some of the books on the floor around his bed. "It is really good. Its about how this Dragon started communicating with humans. So the ministry sent this Auror to make sure that it wasn't a hoax. There is time travel involved too." He tossed the book in question to James.
"Just a second, I'll be right back." James slid off of Sirius's bed.
Sirius heard him moving around their room and going through his trunk. A soft "Aha!" heralded the myopic boy's return.
"You have got to read this." James smiled as he tossed the book across Sirius's bed.
"The Phantom Tollbooth." Sirius read the title. "What is it about?"
James shook his head. "You have to read it."
"I was planning too." Sirius rolled his eyes. "I just wanted to know the premise."
"You have to read it." James insisted again. "Because it is a really hard book to explain."
Sirius took another look at the cover. "If you say so."
James grinned. "I do."
Sirius returned the grin happily. "So I noticed."
James turned his gaze back to the books on Sirius's bed. "I Robot?"
Sirius shrugged. "My collection comes primarily from the books my cousin no longer wants. She apparently likes Science Fiction."
James shook his head. "What about the 'Once and Future King'. I noticed that among the books I had to replace."
"T.H. White is actually acceptable to my parents." Sirius shrugged. "Him and Shakespeare."
"So you've never read an E. Nesbit book?" James asked. "What about Edward Eager?"
Sirius shook his head twice.
"As soon as your done with 'Tollbooth', I've got just the book for you."
End Notes:
- James reads what I read as a child. I still read them actually. I love Edward Eager and 'Phantom Tollbooth' is just wonderful. (Edward Eager did not write 'Tollbooth'.)
- Please Review.
