A/N: I heart my reviewers. black's crystal – Drama is the food of love. Isn't there a saying like that? But, I'm sure our boys will figure it all out soon enough. the silent scene – Thanks, sugar. I'm afraid things don't get too much better for Remus this chapter, though. Apus-Equuleus – Oh, don't worry. I can never let my characters suffer for too long. :) Jenny (Miss JaD) – Yes, I agree, Sirius is not making things easier for anyone. And Remus, well, Remus has no idea what he wants. As for your last comment… I've always been a firm believer that the best part of breaking up is the make up sex. :) So just hold on to your socks for the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I'm just a nerdy eighteen year old girl from Nebraska who sits in her room writing stories because her life is not that interesting. (i.e. I don't own Harry Potter.)
Warning: The pairing is, as always, boy/boy. Not so much in this chapter, but still implied slash all over the place.
Rating: T – For some swearing, sexual innuendo, smoking, and knowing me probably other offensive material that I'm too desensitized to notice anymore.
Okay, I know a lot of authors (and HP-Lexicon) place 'The Prank' in the 6th year. But I'm going to put it here in 7th year. So sue me.
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Chapter Five: Revelations
Two weeks had passed and Remus was slowly falling apart. He spent most of his time these days lying in bed pretending to be asleep. Sometimes he didn't even get up in the morning to go to class. Remus had hardly ever missed class before. In fact, except for a few times after particularly bad transformations, Remus had never missed a class in seven years. Now suddenly, he was missing days at a time. Even James had to take notice. Something was going on – he just had no idea what.
"I think something is wrong with Remus." James informed Sirius, as they made their way back to the common room from Potions. "That's the third class he's missed in the past two days."
He lowered his voice slightly before adding, "I know the full moon's tonight, but this has been going on for days now. He's not usually this bad beforehand – only after."
Sirius shrugged, seemingly unconcerned.
"Can we talk about it later?" He asked. "I'm supposed to be meeting Louise."
Sure enough, Louise had just come down from the girls' dorms, a couple of books cradled in her arms. She spotted the boys and made her way over. With a glance at Sirius, James took the hint and continued on to the dorms alone.
"Hey, Louise." Sirius greeted her, giving his trademark grin. "You ready to go?"
"Actually, I can't, sorry." Louise said, fidgeting with her books nervously.
"Why not?" Sirius asked, eyebrow raised.
"Look, I know what James said," she told him, "but I talked to Lily, and…"
"Lily." Sirius repeated, understanding suddenly dawning on him.
"I just don't think it would be a good idea." Louise continued. She clutched her books a bit tighter and took off out the door, as if she couldn't get away from Sirius fast enough.
Sirius stood, dumfounded, for a few moments before noticing Lily seated in one of the comfortable arm chairs near the fire.
"You told her about Remus, didn't you?" Sirius accused in a harsh whisper, plopping down in the armchair across from her and jarring her out of her studies. "You told her I'm gay!"
"Things didn't work out with Louise?" Lily asked with fake sympathy, not able to hide a slight smirk.
"Damnit, Lily! This isn't your business!" Sirius told her fiercely. "Remus and I broke up, okay? That tends to happen occasionally. He'll get over it."
"He'll get over it?" Lily repeated with disgust. "Like you've gotten over it? God, Sirius, you're such a coward! Just admit it – you've never felt this way about anyone before and it scares you. That's why you really broke up with him, isn't it?"
"Is that what he told you?" Sirius asked.
"No, that's what I can see." Lily answered. "You broke Remus' heart because you were afraid he was going to break yours. Well, fine. As far as I'm concerned he's better off without you. But if you think I'm about to let you screw – figuratively or otherwise – any more of my friends, you're out of your mind."
With that, she closed her book and stood up, making her way towards the portrait hole. She stopped for a moment when she was directly behind Sirius' chair and then leaned down so her lips were almost pressed to his ear.
"Oh, and by the way, I didn't tell her you were gay. I told her you had a nasty case of genital herpes." She whispered viciously. "It should be all over the school by now, actually. So, good luck finding a new playmate to help you get over Remus."
And before Sirius could even react, she was gone.
Upstairs, James wasn't having much better luck with Remus.
"You missed Potions." He informed his friend unnecessarily, taking a seat on the edge of his bed.
The only reply was a muffled muttering which sounded vaguely like, "Go away."
James pulled the covers away from Remus, earning him a string of inventive curses.
"What?" Remus demanded, sitting up to try to recover his blankets.
"I'm just worried about you, mate." James told him sincerely, holding the covers just out of reach. "We all are."
Remus snorted, giving up on the blankets and laying back down without them.
"Yeah right." He muttered.
"We are!" James insisted. "I know tonight's the full moon, but… I mean, that's not what this is about, is it?"
"You guys aren't coming tonight." Remus said suddenly, sitting up once more as if propelled by the impact of his statement.
"What do you mean we aren't coming?" James asked incredulously. "Of course we're coming."
"No." Remus repeated firmly. "I don't want you to. Not tonight."
"Why?" James returned, suspiciously.
"I just don't, okay." Remus answered shortly. Seeing that James wasn't going to leave him alone, he dragged himself out of bed and pulled on some robes.
"I'm going to go to the library until it's time." He announced. He grabbed some books and left the room before James could protest.
He came down the stairs and went out through the common room without even glancing at Sirius, who was still sitting in the corner, rather shell-shocked. James followed soon after, but instead of chasing after Remus, he took a seat next to Sirius.
It seemed to him lately that no one was the way they were supposed to be. He wanted desperately for things to go back to normal – but he wasn't sure if he even knew what that meant anymore.
"He's not going to let us transform with him tonight." He told Sirius in a voice that suggested he still didn't quite believe it himself.
This, finally, seemed to get Sirius' attention.
"He doesn't have a choice." He told James, matter-of-factly.
"I don't know." James replied, shaking his head. "He seemed pretty firm about it. Almost like he was pissed off at us about something. But I can't think of anything I've done. What about you?"
Sirius, of course, knew full well who Remus was angry at, and it wasn't James.
"He's just PMS-ing." Sirius replied with a shrug, using the old joke of Remus' condition being similar to women's monthly cycles.
"I think it's more than that." James insisted. "You should try to talk to him."
"Why me?" Sirius asked.
"Because I already tried." James replied. "Besides, you guys lived together all summer. You probably know him better than I do. He'll listen to you."
Sirius mumbled something that sounded like, "I doubt it."
But to James he merely said, "Fine. I'll try."
Leaving the common room, however, he had no intention of doing as he promised. The last thing he wanted to do was talk to Remus. He could hardly stand to be in the same room with Remus, before it hurt to breathe. He thought if he could just get far enough away, he could go back to the way things were before this summer. Back to screwing a different girl every week and pretending that he wasn't thinking about Remus every second of every day. He'd managed it for two years, after all. But it was different now. Now it wasn't just a fantasy, he actually knew what it was like to be with Remus.
He sighed, deciding to head out to the grounds for a walk to clear his head. He patted his robes, and smiled in relief to feel the outline of a pack of cigarettes. As soon as he was out of the castle, he found his favorite tree out by the lake, and leaned against the back of it, lighting a cigarette with a muttered word and point of his wand.
After a moment, he heard the sounds of footsteps approaching. He quickly threw the cigarette to the ground and stamped it out, turning to see who had found him.
"Those things will kill you, you know." The person informed him, stepping out from behind the tree, in the growing dusk.
It was Sirius' least favorite person in the world, with the possible exception of his mother: Severus Snape. Or Snivellus, as he affectionately referred to him.
"What the hell are you doing out here?" Sirius demanded, pissed that he'd just ruined a perfectly good cigarette for nothing.
"If you must know, I'm checking on a theory of mine." Severus told him cryptically, but in a tone that suggested he was dying for Sirius to ask him what his theory was.
"A theory about what?" Sirius asked, deciding to play along for the moment. He pulled out another cigarette and lit it, taking a deep drag and blowing the smoke in Severus' face.
"Your friend Remus." Severus answered, coughing a bit as he tried to wave the smoke past him. "You see, my theory is that any minute now, he'll be coming out here to disappear again, like he does every month. Only this time, I'm going to see where he's going."
Sirius gave a dry laugh.
"You're a complete git, Snivellus." He offered as reply.
Severus sneered at Sirius' apparent disbelief.
"You know I'm right." He said, his voice rising a few notches. "You're just trying to protect him! Well, I'm going to find out your big secret tonight, Black. And then we'll see who's laughing."
As if on cue, two figures emerged from the castle and disappeared around the edge of the forest. From their distance, it was hard to make out who the figures were or where exactly they had gone. Severus, distracted by Sirius, didn't look up until it was too late. He couldn't see in which direction they had disappeared.
"That was them!" He hissed, outraged at his blown chance.
Sirius smirked.
"Better luck next time." He consoled Severus with fake sympathy.
"I… you…" Severus spat in rage. "You four think you're so much better than everyone! But I know you're hiding something. You just wait, because I'll find out what it is eventually. And then I'll expose you all for the frauds you are."
"And then we'll be shunned?" Sirius guessed with a smirk, taking another drag on the cigarette. "Hate to break it to you Snivellus, but everyone loves us. No one is going to pay any attention to whatever lame story you come up with."
"I'll get proof." Severus shot back, scowling at Sirius' indifference. "Whatever Remus is up to, it must be something big or you all wouldn't be going to such lengths to cover it up. Why don't you just tell me now and save me the trouble? Come on Black, where is your boyfriend going?"
Something inside Sirius snapped. He knew Severus had only spoke of Remus as his boyfriend to taunt him, but he had no idea that he was hitting a very sensitive nerve. That's what he should be! Sirius thought bitterly. Here he was, miserable, standing outside in the cold with his least favorite person, and Severus got to refer to Remus as his boyfriend when he himself hadn't be able to call him that? It was too much.
"You know what? Sure, I'll tell you." He replied, without really thinking about what he was doing. "It's the Whomping Willow. There's a passage underneath it. You just have to press the knot with a stick to make it go calm."
Severus eyed Sirius suspiciously.
"You're lying." He accused.
"Whatever." Sirius said with a shrug. He threw his second cigarette on the ground and stamped it out with the heel of his shoe. Then he simply strolled off back up the castle, leaving Severus behind to think over what he'd said. He smirked vengefully as he made his way back to the Gryffindor common. Severus would check it out – there was no doubt in his mind. Meeting a fully grown werewolf ought to teach him to stick his nose where it doesn't belong, he thought with a slight laugh.
James and Peter, however, didn't seem to find the situation quite as funny.
"You did what?" James practically screamed as Sirius flopped down on the couch in the common room after relaying the conversation between he and Severus.
"Relax, James." Sirius said. "The stupid git was begging for it. I had to teach him a lesson. It's called 'be careful what you wish for'."
"What about Remus?" Peter asked quietly, giving Sirius a look that he had never given him before – it seemed to be a mixture of disbelief and disgust.
Sirius blinked up at him in surprise, partly because of the look he was getting and partly because of the question itself.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
James was hurriedly throwing on his cloak and boots.
"He means, what if Remus kills him?" He informed Sirius, shooting him another look of disgust.
Sirius blanched, not having even considered the possibility.
"Snape wouldn't be that stupid." He said, not quite able to keep the panic out of his voice. "He'll just be scared! Nothing will actually happen…"
"You better hope it doesn't." James cut him off. He had finished tying his bootlaces and was now swiftly headed towards the door.
"I swear, Sirius," he called over his shoulder before he disappeared out through the portrait hole, "it isn't 'till times like these that I remember you're a Black."
Sirius was taken aback by the harshness of James' words. He glanced up at Peter, but the other boy wouldn't meet his gaze. The utter stupidity of his actions was finally starting to sink in. He thought of Remus waking up tomorrow to be told that he'd murdered another student the night before. It would kill him.
What have I done? Sirius thought, running a hand through his hair. He lifted his head towards the ceiling in silent prayer. Oh please, God, don't let anything happen to Remus. Please let James get there in time.
He slumped back on the couch, his eyes welling up with frustrated tears. All he could do now was wait.
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And there's chapter five! The more reviews I get the sooner I'll post the next chapter, which may or may not include steamy hawt make up sex. (And by 'may or may not' I mean 'prepare for slashy smut'.)
Also next chapter… Sirius attempts to make things right. And Clueless!James finally gets let in on what's really going on between his best friends…
