December 22---Christmas Is Going to the Dogs
"UGGG! Too bright." Sirius mumbled shielded his eyes with his hand.
"Who made the world brighter?!" A muffled voice came from the bed next to Sirius'. "Whoever the hell did it I want to kill, bring back to life, and kill them again. And then-"A hard thumping made it's way into the bathroom and a retching sound filled Sirius' ears.
"Fantastic. Just fantastic," Sirius pulled the pillow over his ears and yelled, "You know, Jamie, you can't be sick today! We're going to Paris!"
James replied loudly, "F-you!" Sirius threw his pillow to the end of his bed and made his way to the bathroom where he found James brushing his teeth harshly.
"I think you won't have any gums left if you brush that hard." Sirius commented.
James spit and said, "You like to irritate me don't you?"
Sirius smiled wide. "Of course. It makes my life more fun."
James snorted and walked out. "How is it that you aren't sick? You had more to drink than I did."
"I can handle more than you can." Sirius followed James until James glared at him and told him to go away. Sirius stalked away in a huff and quickly changed into jeans and a sweatshirt and ran from the room.
He sauntered down the hallway, cursing at the picture as he passed. He went all the way into the dining room and sat down roughly and soon realized how much his head hurt. Moaning, his head collided with the wood, worsening the throbbing behind his temples.
"Hung over?" Sirius turned his head and saw a blurry figure of a man that he guessed was Marc's.
"I suppose I am." Sirius let his eyes droop again and heard a scraping sound from a chair being pulled against the linoleum.
"Ever had a hangover before?"
"Yes."
"Nasty aren't they?"
"Yes."
"Hungry?"
"Yes."
"You're quite agreeable this morning." He laughed.
"Yes." Sirius heard a small clank and soon the smell of food filled his nostrils. "Yay. Food." Sirius grabbed his fork and started to eat, ignoring Marc's troubled face.
"You sure you should be eating?" Marc asked watching the younger boy shovel food into his mouth.
"I know I'll regret it, but right now it's too good to stop."
"Well, Alexandrie is the best cook around."
"Agreed."
"Hey, isn't Remus taking you out to the city today?" Marc asked.
"If he's not sick. But if things are the same here as they are at school he'll be bedridden all day."
Marc chuckled, "He's been drunk before?"
Sirius looked at him with an evil grin. "James and I are little devils and turned lil' Remus into a demon as well."
Marc howled with laughter. "No fucking way! Perfect little Remus? Drunk? Never! What else did the little devils do to my ideal cousin?"
Sirius thought for a moment, tapping his fork against his chin. "Well..."
"Well...?"
"James mentioned last night, if you remember, that me and him like to prank a lot..."
"I remember that...Are you telling me he's in on it too?"
"Well, I'm the person who comes up with the prank. James is the one who says it's either stupid or awesome and helps make it better. But Remus is the one who makes everything possible. Like all the charms for turning hair different colors, making things disappear or reappear, and other hexes and spells. Then his potions as well make it easier..."
Marc continued snorting with laughter. "So what you're saying he's sorta the brains behind it all."
"Pretty much. So if we get caught we usually get off if he's with us."
"Why?"
"'Cause all the teachers love him. He does his homework, aces all his tests, and actually listens to the lectures and takes notes. No teacher would suspect him getting into that much trouble. And he is quite a good liar."
"This is some news. Remus lies." Marc snickered as he thought of something else. He lowered his voice. "Has he ever...you know..."
Sirius coughed on his orange juice. "Whaa? I...huh? Uh, I have no idea..."
Marc studied Sirius for a while and came to a conclusion, "He has!"
Sirius' eyes widened, "NO! I mean...Uh, I don't know, so he could or could not have..."
"Remus isn't a boy anymooorre..." Marc said in a sing-song voice.
"I never said—"
"You're face said enough!" Marc smiled at Sirius' frightened expression. He whispered, "Who?"
Sirius turned beat red, "Don't ask me these things. I don't know. Remus doesn't tell me everything and he never told me if he /did/ or /didn't/ or with he did or didn't do it with! I mean, he's only fifteen!"
Marc looked crushed, "Darn." Marc got an evil glint in his eye. "Yes, fifteen....So Sirius, buddy, what have you been up to lately?"
Sirius eyed him skeptically, "What is that supposed to mean exactly?"
"It means, have you...you know..."
"I'm sixteen."
Marc raised his eyebrow. "Ah, yes. Sixteen. Sweet, sweet sixteen. In fact /I/ was sixteen..."
"Would you drop it?!"
"So have you ever done drugs?"
"Oh my god. You can't be for real." Sirius attempted to leave but Marc pushed him back into his chair.
"Answer all my questions, then you can leave Sirius." Marc smirked, his eyes burning with fire. "How 'bout it?" Sirius nodded. "Good. So back to the last question, have you done drugs... or even more important has Remus?"
"What kind?" Sirius' voice was small, he wasn't quite sure if Marc was going to keep everything quiet, because he certainly didn't seem to last night.
"Marijuana?"
"No."
"Ecstasy?"
"No."
"Psilocybin?"
"Silly what?"
"Cigarettes?"
"Uh...maybe..."
"You or him?"
"Possibly both..." Sirius found particular interested in the muggle contraptions around the room.
Marc chuckled, "And I don't have to ask about alcohol... But I do have one question about it," Sirius groaned and looked back at Marc, "How long?"
"When was the first time?" Sirius clarified. "It was....umm, last year, I think..." Marc seemed to find that really funny. Sirius arched his eyebrows at the older teen. "That's really that funny?"
"No...just that fact that his parents have no idea whatsoever of what Remus has been up to. I find that a little funny. Oh, if only his parents knew." Marc suddenly stopped laughing and stared to the door, Sirius' eyes followed and landed on a very ticked off mother.
"If we knew that Remus was...what, Marc?" Desiree asked innocently.
"That Remus was planning something very special and I shall not reveal anymore." Marc shot up and fled from the room.
Desiree turned to Sirius. "Remus and James are looking for you. They're ready to go to Paris."
"So what's this place?" James asked running up a flight of stairs.
"Notre Dame." Remus mumbled unenthusiastically. "James, don't run. And you Sirius, quit acting like a kid in a candy store."
"Yes, Daddy." Sirius picked up a book and set it down only to be replaced by another. This pattern continued for several more moments.
"Sirius interested in books, I wish I had a camera."
"Some are in French." Sirius commented, opening up a book and showing it to Remus.
"French people write books too Sirius. Just like the Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, German, Italian...do you need me to continue?"
"Nope. I got it." Sirius put the book back on the shelf.
"Do you want to go to the Bourdon?"
"And that would be?" James asked.
"The bell?"
"Oh!" James grinned sheepishly, "Sure."
Sirius, James, and a very bored Remus sat in a fancy restaurant in the Bois de Boulogne. James and Sirius occupied themselves by trying to guess what the menu items were while Remus had to keep correcting them. After a while Remus realized it was just better to let them be and think what they want to think. He let them order what they thought sounded good but Remus knew that they wouldn't like it at all.
While waiting for their food, Sirius asked, "Why are you so blah, today?"
"I'm 'blah' because I'm bored."
"BORED?! Feh! I don't know how you could be, Paris is awesome!"
"Paris is also my hometown. Meaning I've been hear since I was born. It's as amazing to me as London is to you."
"London is cool! Don't ditch London!"
"I wasn't...Just nevermind."
Sirius let out a sigh. "All I feel like we've been doing is fighting."
James snorted, "Just like a married couple." Sirius and Remus glared at James. "What?! You /do/ act like a married couple." Remus growled deep in his throat. James laughed nervously, "Ha, ha, ha... You know I was just joking! I'm gonna go to the bathroom." James stood up and looked around, "Where—"
"The thing that says 'Hommes'."
"Gotcha." James trotted into the direction Remus described.
"Sooooo...." Sirius looked at Remus trying to get something out of his friend other than a bicker.
"What the hell were saying to Marc?"
Sirius was taken aback by the question, "Marc? When...what?"
"This morning."
"Oh, uh, yeah. He was just asking me a bunch of nonsense. Nothing worth repeating."
"I was in the room next door. Want to change your story?"
Sirius face turned shocked, "Next door? Really... and you never made it known..."
"Someone, like my mother or father, could've heard your conversation. In fact, I don't know how much my mother did hear."
"Well, how much did /you/ hear."
"The drugs."
Sirius clicked his tongue, "You don't say..."
"Yes, I do. That is the real reason why I am so 'blah' to you, and according to James acting like your wife."
Sirius tried to keep his smile hidden, but failed miserably. "You would never be a wife, Moony. Quite the opposite. Yes, you tend to quarrel a lot, and you whip James and I quite well, you will never be—"
"Shut up." Remus' eyes warned Sirius of danger, so he stopped talking.
James returned awhile later after finally finding his way back to the table. Soon after the food came, and like Remus predicted, James and Sirius weren't too fond of their choices. Not one word was spoken between Sirius and Remus, and James worried that it was the thing he mentioned.
James abandoned his utensils and food and waited for the other two. It was an awkward silence and only Remus seemed to enjoy it.
Breaking the uncomfortable muteness James asked, "Where are we going after this?"
Remus started to name off places, counting them off with his fingers. "Arc- de-Triomphe, Sainte Chapelle, Conciergerie, Madeleine, Tour Montparnasse, Pantheon, Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Eiffel Tower—"
"WOO! Eiffel tower! I've always wanted to go there! Woo hoo! Then we can go to all those other places!"
"Oh goodie."
"UGGG! Too bright." Sirius mumbled shielded his eyes with his hand.
"Who made the world brighter?!" A muffled voice came from the bed next to Sirius'. "Whoever the hell did it I want to kill, bring back to life, and kill them again. And then-"A hard thumping made it's way into the bathroom and a retching sound filled Sirius' ears.
"Fantastic. Just fantastic," Sirius pulled the pillow over his ears and yelled, "You know, Jamie, you can't be sick today! We're going to Paris!"
James replied loudly, "F-you!" Sirius threw his pillow to the end of his bed and made his way to the bathroom where he found James brushing his teeth harshly.
"I think you won't have any gums left if you brush that hard." Sirius commented.
James spit and said, "You like to irritate me don't you?"
Sirius smiled wide. "Of course. It makes my life more fun."
James snorted and walked out. "How is it that you aren't sick? You had more to drink than I did."
"I can handle more than you can." Sirius followed James until James glared at him and told him to go away. Sirius stalked away in a huff and quickly changed into jeans and a sweatshirt and ran from the room.
He sauntered down the hallway, cursing at the picture as he passed. He went all the way into the dining room and sat down roughly and soon realized how much his head hurt. Moaning, his head collided with the wood, worsening the throbbing behind his temples.
"Hung over?" Sirius turned his head and saw a blurry figure of a man that he guessed was Marc's.
"I suppose I am." Sirius let his eyes droop again and heard a scraping sound from a chair being pulled against the linoleum.
"Ever had a hangover before?"
"Yes."
"Nasty aren't they?"
"Yes."
"Hungry?"
"Yes."
"You're quite agreeable this morning." He laughed.
"Yes." Sirius heard a small clank and soon the smell of food filled his nostrils. "Yay. Food." Sirius grabbed his fork and started to eat, ignoring Marc's troubled face.
"You sure you should be eating?" Marc asked watching the younger boy shovel food into his mouth.
"I know I'll regret it, but right now it's too good to stop."
"Well, Alexandrie is the best cook around."
"Agreed."
"Hey, isn't Remus taking you out to the city today?" Marc asked.
"If he's not sick. But if things are the same here as they are at school he'll be bedridden all day."
Marc chuckled, "He's been drunk before?"
Sirius looked at him with an evil grin. "James and I are little devils and turned lil' Remus into a demon as well."
Marc howled with laughter. "No fucking way! Perfect little Remus? Drunk? Never! What else did the little devils do to my ideal cousin?"
Sirius thought for a moment, tapping his fork against his chin. "Well..."
"Well...?"
"James mentioned last night, if you remember, that me and him like to prank a lot..."
"I remember that...Are you telling me he's in on it too?"
"Well, I'm the person who comes up with the prank. James is the one who says it's either stupid or awesome and helps make it better. But Remus is the one who makes everything possible. Like all the charms for turning hair different colors, making things disappear or reappear, and other hexes and spells. Then his potions as well make it easier..."
Marc continued snorting with laughter. "So what you're saying he's sorta the brains behind it all."
"Pretty much. So if we get caught we usually get off if he's with us."
"Why?"
"'Cause all the teachers love him. He does his homework, aces all his tests, and actually listens to the lectures and takes notes. No teacher would suspect him getting into that much trouble. And he is quite a good liar."
"This is some news. Remus lies." Marc snickered as he thought of something else. He lowered his voice. "Has he ever...you know..."
Sirius coughed on his orange juice. "Whaa? I...huh? Uh, I have no idea..."
Marc studied Sirius for a while and came to a conclusion, "He has!"
Sirius' eyes widened, "NO! I mean...Uh, I don't know, so he could or could not have..."
"Remus isn't a boy anymooorre..." Marc said in a sing-song voice.
"I never said—"
"You're face said enough!" Marc smiled at Sirius' frightened expression. He whispered, "Who?"
Sirius turned beat red, "Don't ask me these things. I don't know. Remus doesn't tell me everything and he never told me if he /did/ or /didn't/ or with he did or didn't do it with! I mean, he's only fifteen!"
Marc looked crushed, "Darn." Marc got an evil glint in his eye. "Yes, fifteen....So Sirius, buddy, what have you been up to lately?"
Sirius eyed him skeptically, "What is that supposed to mean exactly?"
"It means, have you...you know..."
"I'm sixteen."
Marc raised his eyebrow. "Ah, yes. Sixteen. Sweet, sweet sixteen. In fact /I/ was sixteen..."
"Would you drop it?!"
"So have you ever done drugs?"
"Oh my god. You can't be for real." Sirius attempted to leave but Marc pushed him back into his chair.
"Answer all my questions, then you can leave Sirius." Marc smirked, his eyes burning with fire. "How 'bout it?" Sirius nodded. "Good. So back to the last question, have you done drugs... or even more important has Remus?"
"What kind?" Sirius' voice was small, he wasn't quite sure if Marc was going to keep everything quiet, because he certainly didn't seem to last night.
"Marijuana?"
"No."
"Ecstasy?"
"No."
"Psilocybin?"
"Silly what?"
"Cigarettes?"
"Uh...maybe..."
"You or him?"
"Possibly both..." Sirius found particular interested in the muggle contraptions around the room.
Marc chuckled, "And I don't have to ask about alcohol... But I do have one question about it," Sirius groaned and looked back at Marc, "How long?"
"When was the first time?" Sirius clarified. "It was....umm, last year, I think..." Marc seemed to find that really funny. Sirius arched his eyebrows at the older teen. "That's really that funny?"
"No...just that fact that his parents have no idea whatsoever of what Remus has been up to. I find that a little funny. Oh, if only his parents knew." Marc suddenly stopped laughing and stared to the door, Sirius' eyes followed and landed on a very ticked off mother.
"If we knew that Remus was...what, Marc?" Desiree asked innocently.
"That Remus was planning something very special and I shall not reveal anymore." Marc shot up and fled from the room.
Desiree turned to Sirius. "Remus and James are looking for you. They're ready to go to Paris."
"So what's this place?" James asked running up a flight of stairs.
"Notre Dame." Remus mumbled unenthusiastically. "James, don't run. And you Sirius, quit acting like a kid in a candy store."
"Yes, Daddy." Sirius picked up a book and set it down only to be replaced by another. This pattern continued for several more moments.
"Sirius interested in books, I wish I had a camera."
"Some are in French." Sirius commented, opening up a book and showing it to Remus.
"French people write books too Sirius. Just like the Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, German, Italian...do you need me to continue?"
"Nope. I got it." Sirius put the book back on the shelf.
"Do you want to go to the Bourdon?"
"And that would be?" James asked.
"The bell?"
"Oh!" James grinned sheepishly, "Sure."
Sirius, James, and a very bored Remus sat in a fancy restaurant in the Bois de Boulogne. James and Sirius occupied themselves by trying to guess what the menu items were while Remus had to keep correcting them. After a while Remus realized it was just better to let them be and think what they want to think. He let them order what they thought sounded good but Remus knew that they wouldn't like it at all.
While waiting for their food, Sirius asked, "Why are you so blah, today?"
"I'm 'blah' because I'm bored."
"BORED?! Feh! I don't know how you could be, Paris is awesome!"
"Paris is also my hometown. Meaning I've been hear since I was born. It's as amazing to me as London is to you."
"London is cool! Don't ditch London!"
"I wasn't...Just nevermind."
Sirius let out a sigh. "All I feel like we've been doing is fighting."
James snorted, "Just like a married couple." Sirius and Remus glared at James. "What?! You /do/ act like a married couple." Remus growled deep in his throat. James laughed nervously, "Ha, ha, ha... You know I was just joking! I'm gonna go to the bathroom." James stood up and looked around, "Where—"
"The thing that says 'Hommes'."
"Gotcha." James trotted into the direction Remus described.
"Sooooo...." Sirius looked at Remus trying to get something out of his friend other than a bicker.
"What the hell were saying to Marc?"
Sirius was taken aback by the question, "Marc? When...what?"
"This morning."
"Oh, uh, yeah. He was just asking me a bunch of nonsense. Nothing worth repeating."
"I was in the room next door. Want to change your story?"
Sirius face turned shocked, "Next door? Really... and you never made it known..."
"Someone, like my mother or father, could've heard your conversation. In fact, I don't know how much my mother did hear."
"Well, how much did /you/ hear."
"The drugs."
Sirius clicked his tongue, "You don't say..."
"Yes, I do. That is the real reason why I am so 'blah' to you, and according to James acting like your wife."
Sirius tried to keep his smile hidden, but failed miserably. "You would never be a wife, Moony. Quite the opposite. Yes, you tend to quarrel a lot, and you whip James and I quite well, you will never be—"
"Shut up." Remus' eyes warned Sirius of danger, so he stopped talking.
James returned awhile later after finally finding his way back to the table. Soon after the food came, and like Remus predicted, James and Sirius weren't too fond of their choices. Not one word was spoken between Sirius and Remus, and James worried that it was the thing he mentioned.
James abandoned his utensils and food and waited for the other two. It was an awkward silence and only Remus seemed to enjoy it.
Breaking the uncomfortable muteness James asked, "Where are we going after this?"
Remus started to name off places, counting them off with his fingers. "Arc- de-Triomphe, Sainte Chapelle, Conciergerie, Madeleine, Tour Montparnasse, Pantheon, Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Eiffel Tower—"
"WOO! Eiffel tower! I've always wanted to go there! Woo hoo! Then we can go to all those other places!"
"Oh goodie."