Chapter Two: Of Reminiscing and Revenge

Remus lay awake for five minutes before his alarm went off. He knew he should have been out of bed and down to the library as early as possible to make sure he could gather the books that were lost to yesterday's frosty intervention. He just didn't want to leave his small haven of warmth and comfort. Tonight was the first of the three he would have to face this month. Though his friends were with him now, it only subdued his fear, they did not eliminate it.

Not wishing to dwell on the subject, Remus decided that he needed to think of something that could completely take his mind off the horror brought on by the rising moon. Smiling to himself, Remus' thoughts wandered to the one thing that had always been able to distract him. Sirius Black. Sirius never failed to distract Remus from anything. There was something overpowering about his presence, something that was fundamentally built into him. An amazing energy and lust for life that could not be broken.

The buzzing alarm grew louder, but Remus continued to ignore it and snuggled deeper into his comforter. He cast his thoughts back to the first time he'd ever seen Sirius in his animagus form. Neither Sirius, nor James, had told him what they were planning; just in case they hadn't succeeded they did not want to get his hopes up only to dash them to the ground. Remus had taken to solitude by the lake, as per usual on the evening before his transformations. He was habitually sitting under the large, shady oak that lay on the south bank of the extensive lake. The soothing sound of the water lapping gently against the sand calmed his soul, bringing his fear to a standstill. It was a beautiful day. The sun had just fallen below the horizon, turning the water from an orange basin to a dark blue abyss. The only other sound to be heard was the wind moving softly through the trees and long grass surrounding him.

The wind rushed forward and blew a stray lock of chestnut hair into his eyes, making him loose sight of the two butterflies he had been watching flitting across the lake playful. When he looked up again, Remus was distracted from their flight by a small rustle of grass, indicating the movement of a creature within. Remus looked closer to the shifting grass, when, not suddenly, but surprisingly, a large black dog came forward to reveal himself. The animal had walked towards him cautiously, not for his own safety, but almost as if he was trying not to spook Remus. Never before had he seen an animal act like this. The dog circled him slowly, but not in the same manner where a predator stalks prey. There was a genteel nature behind this fearsome beast. Remus was sure that if the animal were human, he would have come towards him with his hands raised to prove he meant no harm.

Instead of coming up close to him, the dog stopped five feet from Remus and his tree, waiting for the boy to approach him. Here, the dog stared at Remus, and Remus stared back. The dog cocked his head to the right, Remus followed accordingly with the mirror image. It wasn't until the dog drew back its lips to expose his gleaming white teeth that Remus saw the mischief in his smile. A Sirius smile.

"Sirius," he whispered, astounded. For there was no doubting the animal's true identity. The dog stood up and wagged his tale at the call of his name. Remus couldn't speak. He finally stood and walked towards the dog, awed at his friend's accomplishment. It was no small feat for a fifth year to successfully achieve a full transformation. Though, to be fair, Remus had involuntarily been doing exactly that for the past 12 years of his life.

Crouching down, Remus looked into the beast's eyes. The steely silver gaze was nothing new to him, nor was the wild glint they held. "Sirius," he whispered again, reaching a trembling hand towards his friend. Despite the dog's menacing appearance, his fur was warm and soft against Remus' hand. "Sirius," Remus repeated, his habitually serious face breaking into a wide smile. Sirius barked happily in reply, lunging forward and hitting Remus' chest, knocking him back.

Remus was brought back to reality by touch of his own hands running over the soft cotton of Sirius's shirt that still covered his chest. The worn blue shirt hung loosely on his slight frame, though he was sure that it would have fitted Sirius' form perfectly. He could clearly visualise the faded fabric hugging tightly across his friend's torso, yet falling away from his stomach, waiting to be pulled tight to reveal the defined abdominal muscles that lay beneath. In fact, the image of Sirius' body came to mind faster than Remus had expected. He knew the body so well, each curve a muscle made, each glossy black hair, every perfectly shaped freckle that differed so slightly from the true skin colour that one could have to be a less than an inch away to know they were there. But Remus knew.

It was dangerous knowledge. He didn't know these things about James, or Peter. It was becoming harder and harder for Remus to convince himself that these small details he took to note about Sirius meant nothing. Sighing, he rose from the bed and reluctantly took off the blue shirt. He dressed quickly in his own clothing, knowing that he should have been out of bed fifteen minutes ago. Looking at his watch, Remus saw that it was almost eight. He needed to get down to the library, find his book, borrow them, have breakfast and be in class by nine.

Taking up his bag, Remus walked across the room to Sirius's bed. He didn't want to, but he knew he should return the shirt. He drew back to curtain only to find that one Sirius Black had already vacated the bed, and had the audacity to leave him a note.

Moony, the note read.

Sorry I didn't wake you. I thought you could use the extra sleep. The CoMC assignment is finished and on my nightstand. See you at breakfast,

SB

P.S: keep the shirt, it suits you.

Remus felt his cheeks burn red. Sirius had known that he would come to his bed. Not only that, but he thought that Remus looked good. Well, not in so many words, but it was an underlying message all the same.

Snapping himself out of his Sirius-daze, Remus looked to the nightstand. It was all there, just as Sirius had said it would be. He must have been up half the night finishing this. Remus thought to himself, flicking through the detailed work. Sirius had done everything. Even the questions Remus had skipped because he found them too difficult, and it was all for Remus' sake. Letting a smile creep onto his face again, Remus grabbed the assignment and made for the Great Hall.

Remus entered the Great Hall, and instantly spotted Sirius sitting in the middle of the Gryffindor table laughing about something with James. He looked up and upon seeing Remus flashed him a winning smile. If he had been up all last night, it didn't show. His eyes were bright and had no shadowed lines to indicate that he had lost even a minutes' rest, let alone many hours. Remus couldn't keep the goofy grin from his face. Sirius had noticed him as soon as he walked into a room. Remus Lupin never turned head. He was always the quite boy nobody paid any attention too. But Sirius noticed.

James waved to him, signalling a need to talk. Remus put his head down and walked towards them, having no doubt what the topic would be. Every morning before his transformation they would all sit and discuss what the night's adventure would be. At first they just ran through the forest, wind at their back, earth flying beneath their feet. Unfortunately, one night they went too deep into the forest and it had taken them all three hours to get back to school. Now they planned each night carefully to ensure they would not meet any one along the way, lest Remus' inner demons get the better of him, nor would they go so far that they could not return by daybreak.

"Moony," Sirius acknowledged Remus as he sat down. "You finally decided to join us."

"Just seeing what it's like to be you in the morning," Remus replied, yawning and reaching for a bowl of porridge.

"I understand, Rem," Sirius said mockingly, passing Remus the sugar before he could ask for it. "You just wanted to know what it felt like to be in the shoes of a genius, or should I say, shirt?"

Remus felt his cheeks turn red for the second time that morning. "You're so arrogant," he muttered, shovelling the sweetened oats into his mouth.

"I'm not arrogant! I just happen to know what my strengths are and have no problem admitting them. If I'm a genius why shouldn't I proclaim it?"

"Padfoot," said James, rolling his eyes, "even if you are a genius, and we're not saying you are, no one here is going to stroke your ego for you. It's inflated enough. If we all just accept that you think you're a genius can we move on?"

"Aww, come on Jim. Not even a little bit?" Sirius begged comically with puppy dog eyes.

"No, we have more important things to discuss." James said crankily.

"Hey, if there's anything more important than my ego I want it taken out and shot." Sirius grinned. "What about you, Moony? Feel like some Sirius-Ego-Stroking."

Remus choked on his breakfast and went a deeper shade of crimson. He wasn't sure if Sirius had intentionally brought unsavoury images to his mind, or if he was completely oblivious to the implications his previous statement had made. Either way, it did not help the thoughts he was trying to suppress.

"Sirius, would you live up to your name for once and start being serious?" James all but yelled.

"Wow, what crawled up your arse and died?" Sirius countered. "Last night you couldn't keep the goofy, lovesick grin from you face. Now I can't even get a rise out of you! We have a dire problem if Black can't make Potter laugh!" Remus immediately straightened his face and stared directly at his breakfast, lest Sirius see his own goofy smile.

"Yeah, well, that was before I saw Lily having a cosy chat with Snape," James replied miserably.

"Snivellus!" Sirius exclaimed gleefully. "Don't worry about it Prongs. I have it on good authority that Evans is tutoring him in potions."

"Give it a rest, Padfoot. Everyone knows that Snape's the best potions student in the school."

"Ah, but you see that's the plan," Sirius whispered in his frequently used conspiratorial tone. "He'll make everyone think that he's into the Dark Arts when really… he's a splendiferous, magnificoes, slimy potions lover. See, Sirius knows all. Bow down to my awesome power!" He finished, stepping up onto the seat then the table.

"Mister Black, would you please resume your seat?" A calm voice came from the professor's table. Sirius grinned at Remus and turned to face an amused Professor Dumbledore.

"So sorry sir," he replied, dipping his head to his superior.

"That's quite alright, Mister Black. Now if you'd be so kind as to remove your foot from Mister Pettigrew's breakfast," Dumbledore said, gesturing to Sirius' left foot which was currently residing in Peter's cereal, "and see to it that you are not late for your next class. Thank you."

"Right you are, Sir." Sirius said jumping down from the table and pointing to the door. "Come along lads," he continued, putting on his best bravado voice. "Class and learning awaits. Onwards, I say!" With that, Sirius marched out of the hall.

Dumbledore looked down at Remus and smiled. "You'd best be off too, Mister Lupin. You'll need to keep him in line, Prefect." Blue eyes twinkling behind his glasses, Dumbledore turned and swept out of the Great Hall, cloak billowing behind him.

"I've got to learn how to do that!" Remus heard Snape exclaim, awestruck, from the Slytherin table.

Remus shook his head and grabbed his books. He had a terrible day ahead of him, and a terrifying transformation waiting for him at the end of it. Double potions with Slughorn, followed by a gruelling hour's torture in Dark Arts. Well, at least Sirius had finished their Care of Magical Creatures assignment. That was one less thing to stress out about.

"Come on, Moony," James called from the doors of the Great Hall. "We don't want to be late and let Evans show us up again."

"Coming," Remus replied, standing up and crossing the expansive hall.

James had run off ahead to see if he could get a few words in with Lily before class started, so Remus was left to wander down to the dungeons alone. He walked to the end of the corridor and took the left passage that led to the potions lab, only to be affronted by Sirius enthralled in a conversation with some red-headed harlot. Not only that, but the wench had dared to place her hand oh so innocently on his friend's shoulder.

Sirius caught Remus' eye and winked. If there was one thing that could turn Remus Lupin's knees to jelly it was a well executed wink. He managed a brief smile before lowering his eyes hurrying past. That must have been the girl Sirius was to meet later for lunch. A dark thought crept into his mind. Sirius had only finished the assignment so that he was at liberty to see the strumpet at lunch, not out of kindness to him. Remus felt his temperature kick up a notch. The anger boiled deep within him. He would see that Sirius Black paid for his deception. Taking a seat next to Ciara Donagan, a bright Ravenclaw girl, the clever werewolf began formulating a plan of revenge.

Author's Note: Hey all, thanks for reading and reviewing, all imput is welcome. Well, since you all took the time to review think that it's only fair that I should respond to each of you. Firstly,lostinsidesaveme, you were my first reviewer! Thank you. I always appreciate positive encouragement. It gives me insentive to write. Cyraxis thank you too. Thought I have no idea what 'bless' means I thank you anyway. TamTikitigo I'm glad you liked my first chapter. This one isn't as humorous as the previous one but I'm attempting a storyline and not just nonsense. Burns! yay! thanks for the review my newly found rabid fangirl. I've fixed the jot-jolt spelling mistake, are you happy? Blame Son, she's supposed to be proof reading my abominable spelling. Oh yeah, thanks to Son for being my beta reader... even if you do miss crucial spelling errors :P. Durisiema, thanks for commenting on my so far non-existant plot line :). I'm glad you like my characterisations. Though, as Burns pointed out I do draw from other experiences. I can claim that the table leg fiasco is completely original, that was just pure insanity on my behalf. Lastly, Icksley. Yay! Thanks for reviewing dude. See my pathetic attempts to add colour and description into my fic! I have no issues with saying that dialogue is definately my strongest point. Ok, that's about it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's hopefully leading to some kind of a plot line.

Cheers,

EC