Writing eleven-year-old boys is a lot harder than I'd've thought it would be. Not to mention that sometimes they seem to be eleven going on forty going on five. X_x
Anyway, thanks to everyone who has reviewed. Bless you for still having the patience to read this, and my apologies that this chapter is so short.
*****
"So," Sirius started out as nonchalantly as possible, "how's your mum?" Considering the fact that Lupin jumped about a foot in the air at the sound of his voice, Sirius guessed that the bloke hadn't thought that the rest of his dormmates would be up and waiting for him when he returned.
"What?" Lupin turned to face him, and Sirius had to admit that, even in the dim light from the hallway outside of their room, it looked like Lupin had come out on the wrong end of a fight. He was scratched to all hell on his face and throat, he was limping slightly, and he pretty much looked like death warmed over.
"Your mum, Remus," Peter butted in, slipping out from behind his curtained bed and making his way over to Lupin's, "you told us that you had to leave because she wasn't feeling well."
"Oh," Lupin returned absently, "yeah, she's better."
"I'll bet," Sirius snorted. What the hell, if Peter was going to camp out on Lupin's bed to get answers, Sirius didn't see why he couldn't do the same. Flopping down on Lupin's duvet, Sirius grinned up at the kid as Lupin scowled down at him.
James was sulking over in his own bed, but he'd been doing that since he'd shown up out of the blue twenty minutes ago. And as far as Sirius was concerned, the little weasel could just stay there since he'd blown them off last night. Here he and Peter had risked life and limb, and James had seen it as a chance to play hooky. At the very least, the prick could have found them and invited them along for the day.
"Are you feeling okay?" Leave it to Peter to get all worried, Sirius rolled his eyes as the kid plopped down beside him and looked up expectantly at Lupin.
"What are you blokes playing at?"
"We know, Lupin," Sirius cut in, and watched as Lupin's eyes slid over to James's bed before turning back to face Sirius, a sneer firmly in place.
"Color me lucky." Lupin leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. Sirius could appreciate the ironic humor of the remark from someone who was colorblind. The kid might be a prick on occasion, but at least he was never boring.
"Isn't there another way?" Peter butted in before Sirius cold retort.
"Another way for what?" Remus arched an eyebrow.
"To get your blood sucked," Sirius threw out flippantly. He figured he'd save Peter the trouble of getting all sappy. Because if given half the opportunity, Sirius was sure Peter would cry, and in the interest of preserving their dignities as men, it was in his best interests to make sure Peter didn't turn this into a sob fest.
"Excuse me?"
"We know your mum's a vampire," Peter tried calmly, if a bit baldly. And sure, so Sirius had said it pretty much just as bluntly, but at least he'd done it without looking lie he'd just discovered that Santa Claus was going to jail for kicking kittens.
"My mum's a vampire," Lupin said slowly, before his expression crumpled slightly and he hid his face in his hands.
Damn it all to hell, Sirius had known this was going to degenerate into some stupid crybaby crap. "I can't believe you just cane out and said that," he rounded on Peter, panicking. Anything to not have to look at Lupin's shoulders as they shook. What kind of crazy idiot cried? In front of his dormmates, no less? Didn't Lupin have even a smidgen of self-respect? " 'We know your mum's a vampire'," Sirius mocked Peter in falsetto.
"Oh and you were so much more subtle about it with the blood sucking, you twat," Peter snapped back. Since Sirius was pretty sure Peter had no idea what a twat was, he figured Peter was just as thrown by Lupin's reaction as he was. But then again, it was hard to blame him. Lupin had tumbled down a flight of stairs, breaking an ankle, and had come out of the experience laughing.
"You're the one who wanted to talk about it tonight. I said it was his business and if he wanted to lose a pint every couple of weeks, well, who cares?" He had said no such thing, but it was a hell of a lot easier to argue with Peter than it was to attempt to comfort a hysterical Lupin. Or a hysterical anyone for that matter. When his mother went all teary-eyed, complete with tissues, Sirius hid under his bed and waited for the storm to pass.
If a person was going to lose it, they should just lose it in private. Or in the loo. Or anywhere that was not in front of other boys. Didn't loony Lupin know that?
"You're the one who thought it would be a good idea to break into his school records to make sure she really was a vampire." Peter was beginning to turn an interesting shade of red, but Sirius couldn't tell if it was out of embarrassment or anger.
"You were going to break into my school records?"
Stunned, Sirius watched as Lupin fell onto the bed beside him, holding his stomach, and laughing silently. "Yes!" So it wasn't the best of comebacks.
"It was all their idea," Peter squealed, jumping ship. Sirius scowled at him, but Peter just shot him a confused grin and shrugged a shoulder.
"What can I say?" Lupin managed between gasps for air. "You
found me out. I go home so my mum can get the elixir of life."
Something was a bit fishy here. "And," Sirius gestured grandly, "you're okay with that?"
"Of course," Lupin sat up slightly, leaning against the headboard of the bed, his pajama top sliding to the side enough to show a rather deep looking gouge that skated across his collar bone. "She gave me life. I give her life. It's all good."
"But," Peter sputtered, "but she sucks your blood." That sent Lupin into new peals of laughter.
"She's not a vampire, is she," Sirius hazarded a guess.
"Do I even want to know what made you blokes think she was?"
"Probably not," Peter sighed a bit sullenly. "Is she a banshee?"
"No," Lupin positively giggled, before reaching over and lightly smacking Peter on the arm with a fist. "I think I'm rubbing off on you, though."
"Harpy?" Sirius offered with the beginnings of a grin.
"Sure, why not," Lupin agreed easily, squeezing a chuckle out of Sirius.
"No, better yet, I'm sure she's a giant. In the USSR," Peter rolled his eyes.
"Probably not," Sirius argued with mock gravity. "Lupin's more of a fairy," he laughed as he ducked the punch Lupin threw at him.
"Kiss arse, Black. She's not a fairy." Lupin's laugh this time was accented with a rather hoarse cough, though, and Sirius backed towards the foot of the bed to give Lupin some room to lie down. So maybe his mum wasn't a vampire, and sure it was fun to joke around about it, but something had beaten the hell out of the kid. Even if he was a bit embarrassed about being wrong when it came to the electroshock theory and the vampire theory, there still had to be an explanation as to why Lupin looked like he'd just tumbled with a pair of scissors gone rogue.
And yeah, so the kid was an annoying snot for the vast majority of the time, but Sirius really didn't think Lupin deserved to be sent home all the time so this something could take a chunk out of his hide.
"Maybe she's a werewolf," James's voice cut in, as the kid stood by his bed on the opposite side of the room, tense. And as much as Sirius hated to admit it, the explanation did make an eerie kind of sense. Sliding his eyes back over to Lupin, he could see that all the humor had left Lupin's face.
"If you want to say something, Potter," Lupin's voice was soft, but it carried through the suddenly silent room, "why don't you just come out and say it."
*****
TBC…
