Author Note: I'd like to apologies for a bloody stupid spelling mistake and inform all readers that I can, in fact, use both throw and through in the correct places. Major brain fart on my part there. Sorry, I know no one cared, but I thought it might be a useful fact…
The Morning After The Night BeforeSirius slunk down further into his seat, and James grinned, patting him on the shoulder, as yet another group of girls went giggling past him. It seemed that the entire school knew about his little visit to the girls' dormitories, and it was only 8 o'clock.
He'd woken that morning, stepped out of his dorm room and had been met with the entire female population of the Griffindor tower staring, giggling and pointing. Seeing his mystified (yet not too unhappy) face, Kara and Lily had taken pity upon his unawareness, and had come over to put him out of his misery.
"Sirius," Kara began delicately, hiding a grin behind her fingers.
"Uh huh?" He was watching a pretty blue-eyed Griffindor from where she sat giggling with her friends on a windowsill, glancing at him curiously.
"You really have no idea what's going on do you?" Kara continued while Lily chuckled helplessly.
"Nope," Sirius watched as a beautiful fifth year walked by, her tiny braids dancing.
"Sirius, we know." Lily choked out.
"Know what?"
"We know what you did last night."
"Isn't that a muggle movie?"
"No Sirius it isn't. Please try to focus and listen carefully. We know you flew round to the Ravenclaw dorm last night."
"Oh right…" He slowly absorbed what they had just said; grinning in a way only Sirius can grin, as their words slowly penetrated the happy clouds around his brain.
Sirius stopped looking at the girls around him.
"What!?"
"We know about the whole shoe thing. Niamh owled Kara and Kara told me." Lily finished.
Sirius silently goldfished at Kara.
"What? I didn't tell anyone else Sirius I swear on… on…" She looked about desperately. "On… on… Remus' life!" She blushed slightly fuchsia as she realized what she had just said. But Sirius didn't seem to notice.
Instead, he spun around and saw Remus stumbling sleepily down the stairs. He looked grey and wan, and was being watched nervously by James and Peter, shrugging off their attempts to help him.
"I don't think that's a good example Kara, Remus looks like he isn't going to last much longer," joked Lily, an undercurrent of concern in her words.
"Oh shh."
The mood changed as Lily glanced at James and rolled her eyes. "Listen, I'm just going to go… away. See you." She scarpered leaving Sirius and Kara in the middle of the common room.
"I promise you Sirius I didn't! Niamh just has a lot of friends… and a very big mouth…"
After being shoved out of the Ravenclaw girls' dorms he had flown back to the Griffindor tower feeling crestfallen, this was the last thing Sirius needed. He hadn't expected that response from Dinkerella at all, although upon explaining the evening's events to a half-asleep Remus and a snoring Peter, a very grumpy James had asked him what he had expected her to do. Fall into his open arms? It wasn't exactly a normal occurrence, having gormless gits turn up in your dorm room with glass footwear and an invisibility cloak.
After having sat up half the night contemplating James' point, Sirius had decided that he probably had been a little… over the top? He hadn't even simply asked her out, just gone to the grand gesture. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to ask her out. It was very confusing and Sirius was not used to it in the slightest. He could not remember when he had last put this much effort into asking a girl out… in fact he couldn't remember the last time he had wanted to put that much effort into asking a girl out… if he was in fact asking her out… He shook his head. It just didn't sound right.
He popped his head above the edge of the table and looked into the sleepy, drawn face of Remus. Remus grinned at him and pushed his hair back off his face, a clear sign that he had something on his mind. It was mere days until his transformation and Sirius could see the effects showing on his friends face already. Sirius suddenly felt awful. He was worrying about a few girls giggling and waving flirtily at him, giving him the eye, but Remus was faced with the most painful thing in this world, have his bones and muscles contort and snap inside him as the glistening light of the full moon gently caressed his mutating skin.
Sirius was broken out of his guilt-ridden reverie by a warm rectangular something that hit him in the head. It bounced off and landed in his baked beans. He looked up in the direction of the thrower and saw Remus waving his hand across Sirius eyes.
"Hello Sirius? Anyone there?" He grinned lethargically and leant on his hand.
"What?" Sirius was surprised, and stared at Remus in surprise. There he was worrying about his good mate Moony, and his good mate Moony was assaulting him with warm square things.
"Are you alright? Still brooding about last night?"
"What…? Oh… Yeah I guess." Sirius lied badly and hunched over at the sound of yet more giggles form the Hufflepuff table. Remus shared a look with James before turning back to Peter's astronomy essay he was going over, and Peter himself slurped on some orange juice, blissfully unaware of anything. "So, what is this thing anyway?" Sirius suspiciously picked the toasted thing out of his beans and examined it.
"It's a Pop Tart." James told him, biting into a generously buttered slice of white toast. "Eat it, it's good."
"A what?!" The irony of this name was not lost on Sirius, nor it seemed the sixth year boys sitting a little way up from him. He scowled at them and hunched down again.
Lily and a group of her friends walked past and smiled at the stooped Sirius, staring at a soggy Pop Tart.
James eyes lit up and he turned away from his scowling friend.
"Oi! Evans! Decided to give in and admit your mad passionate love for me yet?" He mussed his hair cockily and tipped his glasses to a jauntier angle.
"Have you decided to give up and admit that you're a pretentious git?" She called back nonchalantly over her shoulder, continuing down the hall and out of the double doors. Most of the remaining heads in the hall stopped their previous discussions about Sirius and turned to stare at James, who was left looking like rather a pillock, having eagerly leapt half way out of his chair. He glanced about himself and sat back down again, fiddling with his glasses.
"It's just a matter of time, she's wavering you can tell."
"Yeah, of course she is mate, of course she is." Peter nodded absently out of habit. "You going to eat that Sirius?" He gestured to the Pop Tart.
"Nah, you have it Pete," Sirius tossed it across the table, where upon landing Peter began nibbling at it hungrily. At least Peter was having a good day.
* * *
Dinkerella sat with a large, heavy book propped against the milk jug in her usual spot in the middle of the Ravenclaw table, facing the Slytherin table. She turned the page and absently took a bite of her buttered wholemeal toast. She was totally oblivious to the apparent controversy going on around her and barely even looked up to respond to Niamh's comment regarding the night before, vaguely grunting and nodding in her general direction. It was only at a sharp elbow in the ribs from Annie that she looked up at all, pushing her glasses up her nose and tucking her hair behind her ears.
"Did you hear a word that Niamh said?" Annie asked worriedly as she watched the blonde scurry cross to the Hufflepuff table, sliding in next to Amelia Lichen and starting to talk animatedly.
"Yes, of course." Dink shrugged and turned back to her book.
"What then?" Annie challenged, staring challengingly at the top of Dinkerella's head.
"Uh…" Dink appeared to think for a moment, and then went for the obvious answer. "Something about last night."
"Yes, but what?"
"Uh… if I thought I was going to get a matching shoe?"
Annie rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"What are you reading anyway?"
Dinkerella finally looked interested in the topic of conversation.
"It's a book on Arithmancy, it's absolutely fascinating, all the really ancient theory behind it, and how it can be used in the modern da-"
"Okay, I'm sorry I asked now. I can feel the will to live seeping out of me."
"But you've never even done one lesson in it! Then you'd see, it's a fascinating subject!"
"Hey Dink!" Kara came and slid herself in next to Dinkerella. "What you guys talking about?"
"Whether or not Arithmancy is 'fascinating'," Annie rolled her eyes and stretched her arms above her head.
"It is!" Dink insisted.
"Sure it is Dink, I believe you," Kara said and she meant it sincerely.
"Yeah okay. Whatever." Annie glanced over at the Griffindor table, from where Kara had appeared. "What's it like over there?"
"Where? The table?" Kara glanced over her shoulder at the Griffindor table, and more specifically the little group of boys in the center of that table, laughing and pointing at James Potter who had just made a particularly large fool out of himself. Remus was smiling sedately and reading over an essay… probably not his own, but he was reading it nonetheless. "The usual, just the jibes have a new topic and Sirius is receiving them rather than dishing out." Kara grinned and turned back to Dink and Annie. Annie glanced over at the table herself. She watched as the four boys stood up and started to shuffle out of the hall, Sirius trying to hide behind James, Remus smiling in tired amusement, and Peter still trying to fit as much food into his face as humanly possible.
"Remus doesn't look so hot today does he?" she said, thinking out loud and causing both Dinkerella and Kara to turn towards his retreating back.
"No, I don't know what's wrong. We've never really spoken." Kara said glumly, turning back to Dinkerella as he disappeared out of the hall.
"Oh…" Anastasia looked thoughtful. "Dink he's in your Arithmancy class isn't he?"
"Yup." Dink nodded, but was already reading again.
"Well, I think with the help of your dear friend Remus I'm going to discover the wonders of Divination." Annie stood up, a wicked grin on her face.
"What?" Dink looked up curiously, but Kara said nothing.
"Well, he had 'thing' for me in fifth year apparently," Annie waved her hand as the other two collected their bags and started to follow her out of the hall.
"Yeah, but that was fifth year…" Kara muttered. Anastasia didn't hear her. Or ignored her.
"Well I didn't know at the time, but now I'm thinking the Arithmancy tuition might be a laugh…" Anastasia trailed off raising an eyebrow suggestively before collapsing into helpless giggles.
Kara scowled.
"What's up with you? You know what I'm like," Annie said, picking up on the bum vibes Kara was giving out. "All mouth, no trousers… that's his job!" She poked Kara to show she was joking. "What?"
Dinkerella had snapped her book shut now and looked pensive. She was doing a damned good job of ignoring all the funny stares she was getting… but then again she was Dinkerella.
"But you just said he didn't look so hot," She finally said, looking confused.
"Yeah, well, he doesn't. He looks like he's coming down with something." Annie answered quite defensively.
"I wonder what's wrong…" Kara worried aloud.
Annie looked at her in surprise.
"I'm sure he's fine."
"Yeah… yeah… I bet it's nothing…"
* * *
Remus leant on his hand in his charms class. He wanted to die. He felt like the famous 'death warmed up', but only if that particular death had involved being stampeded by a herd of wild hippogriffs, surviving, then, just when you thought the coast was clear, when the coast was clear, having a blastended screwt blow your fingers off and being chucked off a cliff into a pack of ravenous hinkypunks, which slowly sucked you death through straws.
Remus tried to focus on the board again without much success, his eyes lids heavy. He felt his head loll forward onto his chest and he snapped it up abruptly, immediately regretting this response as his neck creaked angrily. He rubbed it with his right hand, while hastily scrawling across his parchment, peering over the shoulder of the nearest student and squinted at the writing. He needed his glasses.
He felt a soft thud against the back of his head, and stiffly turned around to look into the worried and bespectacled face of James Potter, whose nose was scrunched up in concern. He gestured the paper on the floor by Remus chair, and Remus bent down awkwardly to pick it up and then deposited it in his lap, unscrewing it from the loving crumple that James had created. He squinted at James' narrow handwriting:
Moony, what's up? Is it the moon? Are you okay? Prongs Where are your glasses young man!? J
Remus carefully read, and then re-read the note. He picked up his quill and hastily scrawled his answer along the bottom of James' note.
Prongs, I'm just great. Never better. The moon will be up tonight and I'm dreading it, but… well, nevermind. Thanks for asking. Sirius borrowed my glasses this morning… said they make him look intelligent? Isn't he wearing them? Moony
He tossed it back to James and sat staring at the board. It wasn't long before he felt the gentle thud on the back of his neck again. He leant down and clasped at the note with his fingers, but succeeded only in making it skitter across the floor to the feet of the student across the aisle. Remus swore quietly under his breath and sat up again, shrugging at James and rubbing his neck some more.
"Remus!" he heard a urgent whisper and turned to it's source. He saw a very pretty Ravenclaw with her arm outstretched, James' note clutched between her fingers and her dark hair falling in her eyes. His eyes widened slightly as he looked at her, she looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place her. Snapping back to reality he grinned nervously and licked his lips, reaching out and taking the note out of her tapered fingers. He turned back to his work and bowed his head. He could hear James trying to swallow laughter behind him.
I couldn't say, he's sitting in front of you two places! Trying to be studious or something, keeping his head down. You can copy my notes later if you like… not that you can read them without your glasses… Prongs
Remus craned his aching neck slightly and peered at the dark head a couple of places in front of him. They appeared to be staring intently at the board, but on further inspection, Remus could see they were staring at the clock. Figures. Glasses or none, Sirius could never be serious for long.
* * *
Sirius stared at the clock, at the second hand slowly and laboriously working its way around the face. He didn't really know why he was staring at the clock, he couldn't actually see it. Borrowing Remus' glasses had seemed like such a good idea, to make him look intellectual. He hadn't taken into consideration that he didn't actually need glasses, so he couldn't see anything through them.
He lowered the glasses slightly and peered over them briefly, at the clock and then at the board. There was considerable more scrawl on the board than had been there before. He'd have to copy Moony's notes later.
He chanced a sideways glance at the petite girl sitting in the corner; her own glasses halfway down her nose. She was reading a book. She was reading a book and the Professor didn't care. Where was the justice in the world? He'd chuck the odd note at James and end up in detention! Oh the inhumanity of it all! It was odd, he thought, that he had never noticed that he shared his charms class with Dinkerella. Perplexing, odd and rather slapdash of himself. He turned back to the board and picked up his quill, deciding he should make a feeble effort at taking some of the notes down.
The charmed board rubber leapt off the desk where it lay and enthusiastically and rather energetically started to rub the board clean. Sirius sighed and started to copy down the new words the charmed chalk was already scrawling in the place of the previous notes. He glanced down the aisle furtively, trying to steal another glance at Dinkerella, but instead found his eyes drawn to the girl sitting just behind her. Kara Kanapka sat staring, not at the board like everyone else, but over her shoulder at something or someone. She looked pensive and preoccupied; chewing her lip in the worried way you would expect her to. Sirius his curiosity sparked, and also being desperate for something to take his mind of the note, Dinkerella and the stupid glasses perched on his nose, turned to follow her line of vision.
"Mr. Black!" he heard the teacher snap, and Sirius spun his head back around to face the front. He couldn't do anything right. After a few moment, he returned his attention to what was so captivating Kara. He searched about and focused foggily over the top of the glasses on… noting. All she was looking at was a squinting Remus and pouting Anastasia Reuben. Most odd. Why would she want to stare at Remus?
Sirius curious wonderings were then interrupted, by his name being mentioned. His head swiveled towards the door to stare at the voices source. A small, quivering Hufflepuff first year stood there, her mousy brown curls hiding her round face.
"Professor Dumbledore would like to talk to… to talk to…" Sirius watched as she struggled to remember the message. "To talk to Sirius Black in his office."
"Very well, go on Black." Professor Enchantment nodded his assent for Sirius to leave the room, who, furrowing his brow slightly, shoved back his chair and made his way to the back of the class room. He glanced at Dinkerella, but she was still reading her book, casually turning the page. What the heck did he have to do to get that girls attention, tightrope walk naked across the Quidditch pitch mid game? He brushed passed Remus desk and got an inquisitive raised eyebrow. He shrugged back. James just grinned as he went passed.
"I think your night time antics have caused a bit of a stir Sirius," he whispered.
Realisation crossed Sirius face. He should have known, it wasn't exactly allowed, flying around to the girls dorms, especially of other houses and giving them footwear. In the middle of the night. Even with a headmaster as laid back as Dumbledore, he was going to get a right lecture for this He got to the door, and the small quaking Hufflepuff scurried out ahead of him. It was time to face the music.
Author Note: A big thank you and hug to all of my wonderful reviewers, I would not still be writing this story if it wasn't for your kind words and encouragement. Without you guys I also would not know that I am in fact stealing from Sponge Bob and the Da Vinci Code… I must read and watch TV more…
I'd also like to offer further apologies to Obsessed Freak, as I don't think Remus and Sirius are going to turn gay any time soon… sorry.