Remus woke up the next morning extremely satisfied with his life. He was the first one up, so he sat in bed listening to the gentle breathing of Sirius and James for a while before waking them up. He went over to James first, and received a bleary, one-eyed squint.
"Good Morning to you, Mr. Moony. I trust you slept well"? Asked James
"Why yes I did, Mr. Prongs. Did you"? Remus replied, smiling.
"But of course. Shall we roust Mr. Padfoot"?
"Quite."
James sat up, grinning broadly, and they got up to throw back Sirius's bed hangings. They received a shock, however, when Sirius- fully dressed- pulled the drapes and addressed Remus.
"So Moony, old friend, where were you last night"?
Remus was forced to do a bit of quick thinking, and for lack of a better excuse, just said
"I don't know exactly, Sirius- guess I just didn't fancy sleep until later in the night."
Sirius smirked, and then with a flick of his long-ish hair, turned to James, who was looking rather confused, and with the air of talking about a naughty child began his inquiries:
"When did he come up, James"?
James still looked mildly baffled for a moment, when a look of understanding cleared his expression,
"I'd say midnight. Wonder what on Earth he was doing…"
Sirius nodded, then turned to Remus-
"… Or who he was doing."
On a different occasion, Remus would have blushed and stammered his way through this conversation, but not today. He was still so filled with happiness from the previous night that he didn't mind.
"Hmm… quite unlike you to miss a step, Sirius. I didn't get that far. Cassandra
O' Brian isn't one to jump without looking first."
The bluntness of his statement had the desired effect on his friends. They stared for a moment; gaping. Then James through an arm around him, sniffing
"You're growing up so fast!"
The three friends maintained mock severity, and then burst into laughter.
When Cassandra woke the next morning, she was greeted with a big smile from Lily Evans- one of her best friends.
"So, what were you doing downstairs last night"? She questioned playfully.
Cassandra hadn't realized Lily had still been awake. This was an unforeseen development.
"For you information, Lily-Flower, I was having a lovely chat with Remus Lupin."
Lily laughed. "Don't call me Lily-Flower, Sassy-Cassy. Remus, eh? He's such a gentleman-good for you! Obviously the best choice out of The Fabulous Four."
The Fabulous Four- Lily's nickname for James and his friends. Quite fitting.
"Oh, stop it Lily Evans- you know you absolutely love James Potter."
"Yes, I suppose I do."
Both girls laughed and began to dress, chatting about boys, classes, and anything else that came to mind. Cassandra smiled. What a wonderful life she had. 'Oh, Remus', Cassandra thought, 'your kiss is like sweet fire, and it's still running through my veins!'
Remus went down to breakfast with more bounce in his step than usual, hardly noticing Sirius's quiet, reserved mood that was so uncharacteristic of him. He might have noticed had it not been for Lucius Malfoy- Their arch nemesis.
"Well if it isn't Potty, Loony and Blackheart."
James laughed.
"You might want to work on that last one, you blonde dungeon-rat."
Lucius reddened slightly and hotly retorted
"Was that the best you could come up with, Mudblood-Lover?"
James and Remus whipped out their wands, but Sirius was the quickest.
"Mobiliarbus!"
A stray book someone had left in the hall suddenly flung itself at Lucius's head. The book didn't hit him, but rather sailed close by his ear, striking the wall. He looked at Sirius with an intense fury and hurled a spell towards James, hoping to catch at least one of them off guard.
"Rictusempra!"
Remus had jumped to block James and was hit with the full force of the spell. As he lay on the floor trying to get his breath back, James threw another spell at Lucius.
"Tarantallegra!"
Lucius's legs started jerking around in a sort of quick dance, much to the hilarity of James and Remus, who had regained his breath. But Sirius wasn't laughing. He walked over to Lucius, his eyes filled with pure, doubtless hatred.
"Finite Incantatem." He murmured softly.
Malfoy's legs stopped twitching around, and he leaned against the wall, beaten and breathless. Sirius leaned toward him and said in a voice barely above a whisper:
"It's no longer fun to fight you, Malfoy. I suggest you leave before I get truly angry."
Maybe it was something in Sirius's eyes that made Lucius leave. Maybe it was his voice. But before anyone could decide, Lucius Malfoy turned and run down the hall. Sirius then walked away in the opposite direction. James and Remus merely stared. After Sirius's lean back was around the corner and well out of earshot, Remus turned to James with a determined look.
"I think we should have a talk with Mr. Padfoot this evening, for something is most definitely wrong."