Chapter two – Interesting potions and weird feelings
Remus awoke suddenly the next morning when he heard familiar voices talking. "Well Wormtail, I don't reckon these two will be up for a while. We might as well go to breakfast" said a voice which was unmistakably James'. "Ok then, you're probably right" Peter replied. Remus almost said something but decided not to. He heard Peter and James leave and pulled off his covers and got out of bed.
He looked over at the bed next to him and pulled the curtains open to reveal a peacefully sleeping Sirius whose black hair was spread across the pillow. Remus decided not to wake him yet because he wanted to get ready himself first and suddenly found himself rather embarrassed about changing in front of Sirius.
Remus walked into the bathroom and removing his boxers and white t-shirt, he stepped into the shower. After a good wash, he wrapped himself in a towel and walked back into the other room to see a topless Sirius. "Uh… Hi" Remus said somewhat nervously.
"Hi Rem, I decided it was about time to wake up" Sirius replied cheerfully. "I didn't wake you or anything did I? You know, when I had a shower" Remus asked. "Nah you didn't. I just heard some owls hooting outside. I think one of them is yours" Sirius replied.
Remus walked over to the window and opened it allowing his speckled, hazel owl to soar through the window. "Hello Amada" Remus said to the beautiful, small bird. She hooted back at him and held out her leg which had a letter attached to it. "Thanks" Remus said, petting her head. Amada flew out of the window back to the owlery.
"Who's it from?" Sirius asked as he began to pull on his shirt. Remus looked at his bare chest and suddenly became distracted. "Remus?" Sirius asked, waving a hand in front of his eyes. "What? Oh sorry" Remus replied, blushing. "Who's it from?" Sirius repeated. "My parents, I sent them an owl yesterday to say I'd arrived" Remus replied, still slightly red.
"Oh ok" Sirius said, buttoning his shirt. 'Damn' Remus thought to himself. 'Why did it bother me that he put his shirt back on?' Remus asked himself. 'I couldn't be…' He shook these thoughts out of his head and when he looked up, Sirius looked at him strangely. "Something on your mind?" Sirius asked. "No, nothing really" Remus lied.
"Ok then, you better get dressed before we're late for breakfast" Sirius said. Remus could have sworn Sirius looked at him the same way he had done moments before. 'Don't think like that' Remus thought to himself. He smiled at Sirius and replied: "Ok, I'll be done in a minute".
Sirius and Remus walked to the Great Hall together and found their usual seats near to James and Peter. "Hi, you two took your time" James said to Remus as he took a seat next to Peter. "Yeah, sorry about that. Had to have a shower" Remus replied. "I suppose you joined him then?" James said to Sirius. The four of them laughed for a while but Remus became uncomfortable.
"What lesson have we got first?" Remus asked, changing the subject. "Potions" Peter replied with a worried tone. "Then Herbology and Transfiguration" James added, checking his timetable. "Oh yeah, I got these for you when they were handing them out" James said, handing a timetable each to Remus and Sirius.
"Thanks Prongs. Damn, Potions this early in the morning?" Sirius groaned. "Well, you never know. We could be doing something interesting" Remus said. Sirius looked at him and raised his eyebrows. "Potions and interesting shouldn't be allowed in the same sentence".
"Too true Padfoot. Although, we could make it quite interesting if you get my meaning" James said, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. "I think I do Prongs…" Sirius replied with a smirk. Remus started eating his toast, not wanting to be involved in the prank they were thinking of doing.
After eating breakfast, the marauders made their way down into the dungeons for potions, expecting it to be a little more exciting for once. Professor Caleb entered the room and told everyone to be quiet. "Today we are going to be making manifestation potions which means being able to see someone very clearly as they are a bright colour. Can anyone tell me what it is used for?" Caleb asked.
A few hands went up but Caleb decided to choose his favourite student, Snape. "A lot of wizards use it to track people down by slipping the potion into their drinks or pouring it over them without them knowing" Snape answered. "Well done Mr Snape, 10 points to Slytherin" replied Caleb.
Sirius, Remus, James and Peter looked with disgust at Caleb and Snape. It was obvious Caleb favoured Slytherins; he was one himself when he went to school. "Ok, I want everyone to do what it says on the board and when you're done, bring up your potion in a little flask" Caleb said as he sat down at his desk. "You have one hour, begin!"
During the lesson, Remus and Sirius' potion was almost finished and so were Peter and James'. "Are you ready Sirius?" James asked. "Yup" Sirius replied. "I'm not even going to ask" Remus said to them. "Don't worry Rem, I'll be the only one who will get into trouble" Sirius replied, putting his arm around Remus.
Remus felt warm and tingly in the pit of stomach. He remembered this feeling from when Sirius had hugged him. 'I wonder why I keep feeling this way…' Remus thought. "Right, time to begin" Sirius murmured. He collected a flask full of his and Remus' potion and handed Remus the bottle.
"Wingardium Leviosa" Sirius muttered, pointed at their cauldron. The cauldron rose into the air and hovered towards Snape. Remus knew what was about to happen but Snape obviously didn't. The cauldron tipped and the contents of the potion spilled out onto Snapes head. The cauldron hit the floor with a 'clunk' which made Caleb look up.
"What on earth is going on?!" he yelled. The marauders started shaking with silent laughter as Snape turned a violent shade of orange. "Who did this!?" Caleb asked, still extremely angry. The rest of the class was laughing under their tables except for Sirius who quickly hid his wand.
"BLACK!? Caleb screeched. "Yes sir?" Sirius asked innocently, smiling cheerfully. Remus couldn't help but think how sweet he looked while he did that. "YOU DID THIS! DETENTION!! SEE ME AFTER CLASS!" Caleb hollered. Sirius grinned when Caleb turned around. "It was worth it though".
Sirius received detention for Friday at 8 o'clock but he didn't seem to care. "Argh, I'm starving. Can we go and get some dinner?" Sirius asked when all the marauders where in the common room. "Yeah sure" they all replied.
Meanwhile in the Slytherin common room….
Snape sat in his common room by the fire which seemed to have no effect on the freezing room. He was still slightly orange but Professor Caleb assured him it would go away after a few hours when the recovery potion had kicked in. 'Those bastards are going to be so sorry they messed with me' thought Snape bitterly. 'How dare Black make a fool of me and not to mention those pricks Potter and Pettigrew. And Lupin…'
Snape couldn't think of anything bad to say about Remus. He'd never really done anything wrong to him and he always seemed so quiet, so innocent and so beautiful. 'Beautiful? Where on earth did that come from?'
Back in the Gryffindor common room…
"I'll meet you guys in the Great Hall, I'm just going to put these in my room" Remus said, showing them his books. "Ok, sure you don't want us to wait?" Sirius asked. "Nah, that's ok" Remus replied, smiling. The three of them left and Remus hurried up the stairs and dropped his books on his bed.
He left through the portrait hole and made his way to the Great hall. While he walked, he began to think about his day. 'Why do I feel weird inside every time I'm close to Sirius? I've felt strange around him before but not like this…' Remus walked into the Great Hall and saw a big group of girls crowded around someone. He walked closer and saw that it was Sirius surrounded by giggling girls and he also had two girls on his arms.
"Hey Rem, it seems I have a bit of fan club" Sirius said playfully. Remus felt a different emotion than what he had before and it wasn't nice. All he could look at was Sirius' arms entwined with these girls' arms. "Bit of a flirt isn't he?" James said. Remus turned to face James and Peter but he knew he had tears trying to escape his eyes.
"What's wrong?" James asked with concern. "I…" Remus began but he couldn't stand being there any longer. He ran out of the Great Hall trying to fight back the tears.
Sirius looked over at James and Peter, expecting to see Remus but he couldn't. He fought his way out of the crowd of girls to talk to them. "Where's Remus?" he asked worriedly. "He got upset for some reason and left" Peter answered. "I'm going to go find him" Sirius said. "No, I will" James said, walking out of the hall.
He walked back to the common room and saw Remus sitting in a chair with his hands supporting his head. "What's the matter?" James asked. Remus looked up with a tear stained face. James sat next to him and put an arm around him. "Want to talk about it?" he asked. "Not really" Remus replied. The next moment, Sirius and Peter entered. "What's wrong Moony?" Sirius asked with concern. "Nothing really" Remus said, staring at the floor. "Why did you leave so quickly?" Sirius said, kneeling in front of Remus and lifting up his chin so he was looking at him. "I just didn't feel well" Remus replied, staring into Sirius' deep blue eyes. "Oh, ok" Sirius said and Remus could have sworn there was disappointment in his voice.
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A/N: Another chapter finished! Please review.