And I Love You
Chapter 03
Authors Note: Well here I am for chapter 3. Thanks so much to ElvishJedi for telling me about my mistakes with the nicknames. Which is funny, since I was thinking, "hmm, Remus is a werewolf" yet somehow I still got a deer image in my head every time I wrote the others talking about him.
"Sirius! Sirius!"
The raven-haired seventh year paused at the sound of his name. Turning, he saw Lily running towards him, a slightly anxious look on her face, clutching her Transfiguration book.
"Did you speak to Remus?"
Sirius stared. "What?"
"Well…" Lily stared down at her feet. "You were both acting kind of funny at breakfast, so I asked him…"
"Oh yeah?" he could feel his face turning red.
Lily sighed. "This is kind of awkward. Look, you're both my friends now, so please don't get upset that he said anything to me."
Sirius tensed. "About what?"
"Last night."
Sirius turned away, swearing under his breath. He didn't want to be embarrassed about what had happened, but he knew exactly what just about everyone would say if they found out.
"Look, it's fine," Lily said quietly. "I'm not going to tell anyone, I know you wouldn't want me to. I also know that you've all been close forever, and he told me he was just nervous … unsure. So…did he come to talk to you?"
Sirius didn't say anything. Dammit, was all he could think. Of course, I had to go screw it up.
"Shouldn't we get to class?" he said, abruptly changing the subject. "Come on…"
"Sirius!" she said impatiently, but before she could continue reprimanding him, James and Peter were walking towards them.
"Hey, Padfoot," James said. "Finish your essay?"
"Umm… yeah…" Sirius replied avoiding Lily's stare. "Come on…transfiguration…"
Peter looked around. "Where's Moony?"
"Yeah," James frowned. "He just muttered something about having something else to do and walked off… did you see him?"
Sirius shrugged. "He'll come, let's just get to class already."
James snorted. "I've never seen you so eager for McGonagall before."
Sirius ignored him, moving through the thick crowd of students.
"Maybe you're right, Lily," he heard James say behind him. "Maybe he is growing up! Well, don't turn into a prat, Padfoot."
In transfiguration, they chose their usual seats near the back. Sirius chose the seat closest to the corner, with Peter and James next to him. Lily sat in the row ahead with a few of her girlfriends, occasionally throwing him dirty looks. Thankfully, Peter and James didn't notice.
Remus still had not come to class by the time Professor McGonagall had shut the door to the classroom. Peter and James exchanged confused looks, and Sirius tried to look equally miffed. When the pair turned to face the board, he rested his forehead against his desktop, more preoccupied with the events of that morning.
"Remus?" Professor McGonagall stared around the classroom. "Is he not well today, Mr. Potter?"
"I -"
But before James could respond, there was a knock at the door. McGonagall pursed her lips before swiftly going to the doorway. Opening it, she looked slightly surprised before stepping back to let the knocker in. Remus stepped in, not looking up at his classmates as he walked to the back of the classroom. After he sat down, McGonagall raised her eyebrows.
"Why are you late, Mr. Lupin?"
Remus looked down at his feet. "I had to go to see the Potions Master, Professor."
James shot a look at Sirius, eyes full of disbelief. He wasn't supposed to get his potion – to help the werewolf symptoms from getting out of hand – for another week and a half. McGonagall raised her eyebrows again, and it was easy to see she didn't quite believe him, but did not draw any more attention to the matter.
"Very well, Mr. Lupin, but we'll need to have 5 points for that."
Sirius could not remember the last time when Remus had lost a single point for Gryffindor. Feeling guilty, he stared down at the cover of his textbook, wishing very much that he could take back last night, or, at least, this morning. Not a word of McGonagall's lecture reached his ears that class, and spent most of the class staring at page 398.
While around him, quills were scratching on parchment, he continued to stare down at the page he was supposed to be copying some sort of transfiguration rule out of. Why in the world, out of all the people he could think of, would he want to kiss Severus? Everybody knew, including himself, that they were nothing short of archenemies, and to even see Sirius ignore him was strange. A million thoughts flew through his mind. Was this one of those things, when the person you hate was the person you love? Groaning inwardly, he ran his hand through his hair, wishing very much that he knew what was wrong with him.
Or maybe, he thought, it was a sort of… alpha male thing. Perhaps it was just some sort of inner instinct that made him want to prove his dominance.
But that wasn't at all the feeling he had experienced before he kissed him. Rather, it was a longing – for Remus, certainly - but something else had been there, another layer of emotion.
"Sirius Black!"
He jumped in his seat, and found Professor McGonagall staring fiercely down her nose at him.
"Why are you not copying this down? I assure you I am not teaching this for my own benefit! Ten points from Gryffindor – and start copying these notes!"