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Kotonaru, Baby chaos, TrinityTheSheDevil, Gdhjhtht, Metamorphism, DariaD, the-only-innocent, Rugbytackle-me, Gold Silk, Remus, Youn-Hee, Royal Romance, esaure, Charis Brokehm, BlueIce, Hitchcock, Tongari, bobby, kit[kat], Yuki Bombay, Wyall Jared, Padfootslittlegirl, Nolwe The Lady Dragon, SilerFoxBlueFox, Demosthenes42, chibi-ken14, Alex.
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Cobalt
Note: Just to clear up a little bit of confusion: This is an AU (otherwise it wouldn't work, would it? ^_^)
"I still think it's a bad idea."
Peter was pacing the shared dormitory nervously, his body stiff and straight as he glared defensively at James, who was sitting in a comfortable nest of clothing on the floor. Sirius, who was lounging on his bed, watched the plump boy through slitted eyes, a lazy smile curling his lips.
"You worry too much, Pete," James announced, running a despairing hand through his messy hair, "It's not like the school can't get another teacher."
"That's not the point!" Peter snapped, "He looks like he needs the money, and quite apart from that, it's cruel." He scowled and folded his arms across his chest, halting his pacing. "Just…don't do it, ok?" He turned pleading eyes on Sirius, who simply yawned.
"Where's your backbone, Peter?"
The shorter boy stiffened, his expression angry. "It's not about backbone, Sirius, it's about doing the right thing, and I believe you're doing the wrong thing."
"Rubbish," James chose that moment to intervene, "It's perfectly ok, Pete. Besides, there's no harm really meant." He grinned and scrambled to his feet. "Besides, it'll earn me fifty galleons, and then I'll buy you an entire crate of chocolate frogs, ok?"
"Who says you'll win those fifty galleons?" Sirius hadn't moved, but his eyes were fully open now, and his face was alert.
"Like you'll actually get a teacher fired," James scoffed, "There's no way in hell you'd manage it Black."
"Oh yeah, says who?"
"Says me."
"Ladies and gentlemen; James Potter, the resident expert on the inability to allow teachers to continue at their current place of employment."
"Wow, I'm surprised you actually know words of more than one syllable!"
"Prat!"
"…I take that back."
Sirius flipped a rude gesture in James's direction, before rolling onto his stomach to stare at the wall. "Besides, this Lupin will be a pushover, you'll see. All I need to do is make him so nervous that he slips up on his own – then it's simply a case of reaping my just rewards."
Behind him, James raised an eyebrow as Peter snorted in disgust. "What makes you so confident, Sear?"
Sirius, still with his face to the wall, smiled. It was a small, wicked smile, that neither James nor Peter saw, and when he spoke, there was no hint of it in his voice. "Oh, nothing really, just call it a hunch…"
********
"The three tongued Lorat Lizard can only be found in swampy areas." Remus smiled at the class, who were studiously scribbling notes. "Normally I would leave this kind of thing to your Care Of Magical Creatures teacher, but the Lorat is exceptionally dangerous and is often used as a sort of familiar for many of the more…ah…eccentric dark wizards of Africa." He paused, picking up the textbook, and flipped to a neatly labelled diagram of the beast. "As you can see, it has a hypnotic stare, along with a swift, deadly poison that can kill a man in under three minutes."
The girl in front of him – who was chewing her lower lip and hurriedly copying down his every word – winced.
Hiding a smile, Remus shut the book with a snap and leant back against his desk, folding his arms. "Now, there are several ways to destroy a Lorat Lizard, but the most effective –" He was cut off by a sudden, abrupt knock on the door, followed by the shuffling of feet just outside.
"Yes?"
There was a creak and Sirius stuck his head around the door.
His dark hair was hanging messily around his face, small strands of it caught in the corner of his mouth. His eyes were wide and his robe was askew, looking as though it had been thrown on in a hurry.
"Uhh…Professor?"
Remus stiffened, his lips thinning into a line. "Yes, what is it?"
Sirius took a step into the room, a grin threatening to break out across his face. "Professor McGonagall wanted to know whether she could borrow 'Curses and Cures' for her advanced class."
"Yes, certainly." Turning, Remus scrabbled in his desk and produced the book. Holding it out, he started when Sirius crossed the room swiftly.
"Thanks professor." A smile really was curling his lips now, and Sirius let it, even as he reached out to take the book.
Remus jumped as their hands brushed, and pulled away so fast it was as though he had been burned. "Not a problem." He turned his back, expecting the student to leave, but a polite cough from behind him indicated that this as not to be the case.
"One more thing, Professor." Sirius's face was as innocent as an angel's as he stared at the agitated teacher from out of widened grey eyes. "I was wondering…would you mind helping me with the essay you set us yesterday? I didn't understand the section on the counter curses that we have to include."
"Er…" Remus blinked, completely thrown. "Well, I…" He coughed and realised that the class was staring at him. "Certainly, Sirius." He shot the boy a weak smile, fighting to regain control of his instincts, which were all screaming at him. "Just come along after dinner."
"Thanks." Sirius beamed at him and, gripping the book, all but pranced from the room.
********
"What a day." McGonagall sighed and sank down into one of the armchairs in the staff room. Summoning a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits from across the room, she settled down slightly, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. "Those bloody third years managed to transfigure a desk into half a horse."
"Half?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow from where he sat. "Where was the other half?"
"It was still a table."
"Ah, I see."
"Then to top it off, I had to deal with Potter and Black last lesson of the day." McGonagall scowled (her eyes still closed) and sank lower into her armchair. "They managed to cause a riot by hexing two of the Slytherins in the back. I had to send three students to the hospital wing to have feathers removed. I've threatened the both of them with a ban from Quidditch, but I want to see Gryffindor win the cup as much as the next teacher. I don't know what to do with them any more."
Flitwick tutted in sympathy and nibbled on a biscuit. "Those two," He piped, "Are hopeless. I'm surprised you haven't expelled them, Albus."
Dumbledore smiled over his own cup of tea. "I believe everyone has potential, even Mr Potter and Mr Black, and to expel them would serve no purpose save to ruin that potential."
Remus bit his lip, gulping down the rest of his tea. "Do either of them struggle with their subjects?"
"Hah!" McGonagall's eyes flew open. "There would be some sort of divine justice in that if they did, Lupin. No, those two give all their energy over to creating mayhem and they still achieve exceptionally high results. They're clever, there's no doubt about that."
"Why do you ask?" Dumbledore's faded blue eyes peered over his spectacles.
Remus shrugged, a little uncomfortably. "Sirius said he didn't understand some of the things I was teaching them yesterday. I was a little surprised, given the perfect answers he gave in class."
"Black not understanding something? That'll be the day." McGonagall pursed her lips, opening her eyes. "Sounds to me like he's up to something. I'd watch out if I were you."
Remus swallowed hard, unease prickling his skin. "Well, I didn't think there was any harm in…" He began.
"A mistake." Flitwick interrupted, "Seriously, Sirius Black is trouble. "Guaranteed he's up to something."
"Er…"
"Don't listen to them, Remus." Dumbledore smiled, catching his colleague's worry and embarrassment. "Sirius has a good heart really," (McGonagall gave a small snort of disbelief) "And you never know, you may even be the role model he needs to straighten himself out."
"Yes…well…" Remus coughed and stood up hurriedly, smoothing his robes, "I promised I'd meet him and explain the topics…" Turning, he all but fled the staff room.
As he approached his office, the sight of a tall, slim figure in faded jeans and a t-shirt standing outside his door made his heart sink slightly. Carefully putting a neutral expression on his face, Remus hurried up, pulling the key out of his pocket as he did so. "Sorry I'm late, Sirius."
The boy smiled, running a hand through his hair, which had been let loose. "Not a problem, professor." His lips twitched into a small grin and Remus noticed with somewhat distracted disbelief that they were blue.
"What happened to your…er…" Remus traced the air in front of his lips.
"Huh? Oh…" Sirius' fingers touched his lips lightly, "Sweets. 'Tempests' Tongue Painters'," Digging in his pocket, he produced a slightly crumpled packet as Remus opened the door. "Want one?"
"No thank you." Remus shot him a genuine smile and lit the candles with a wave of his wand. "Now, grab a chair and I'll try and explain the counter curses you were having problems with. Were there any ones in particular?"
Sirius shook his head, dragging a chair across the room to the desk. "No, just the general background to each of them and how we've got to include them in the essay."
"Well, the background's fairly simple." Reaching over, Remus dug around in a drawer for a scrap of parchment and pulled a quill out as well. "You simply need to do a bit of research. Which wizard developed the counter curse; how they went about it; why they formed it – often there's an interesting story behind that particular aspect." He paused, eyes alight with a true scholar's passion for his subject. "Take Edwards for example. He came up with a counter curse that effectively blocked the 'Cackling Curse'."
"'Cackling Curse?'" Sirius, despite himself, looked interested.
"Mmhm. A nasty piece of work, that. First known to be used in the middle ages. Most Muggles knew it as the Plague, or the 'Black Death'. However, for wizards, it had a much nastier side effect. Contraction of the disease, and, subsequently the curse, meant that the witch or wizard could, quite simply, lose control of their magic. This being the case, it was possible for them to reveal themselves to muggles quite accidentally."
"So why was it called the 'Cackling Curse?"
"Oh, because muggles believed witches used to cackle." Remus smiled and scribbled the name of the curse on a piece of paper. "Why not research that one and Edwards' counter curse to put in the essay. It's fairly simple to write about."
Sirius nodded, leaning closer. "So, how many should we include?"
"Only about three or four." Remus hadn't noticed the student's slight shift. "I'd personally go for the ones in the textbook, although I must confess, it would probably be a good idea to do a bit of independent study. You're almost certain to get higher marks that way."
"Oh." Sirius reached over and plucked the quill from the surprised teacher's hand. Scribbling a little note at the bottom of the parchment, he frowned. "Any others you could recommend?"
"There's always the 'Avada Kedavra'."
"I didn't think we were allowed to even know about that." Sirius looked thoughtful.
Remus shrugged. "We'll be doing a piece on it sometime next term, so technically you'd be preparing in advance as well." Amber eyes flickered across to Sirius's face, almost by accident, and became transfixed.
The student was staring at the parchment, an expression of concentration on his face. The tip of the quill's feather was running slowly over his slightly blue lips as his stormy grey eyes travelled over the parchment in front of him. His hair had slipped to one side (and Remus wondered momentarily if it had been deliberately placed thus) exposing the nape of his pale neck and tumbling over one shoulder.
Shaking his head, the young teacher attempted to gather his thoughts again. "Er…yes. So, the Avada Kedavra might be a good one."
Sirius looked up, and Remus found himself suddenly caught in the knowing gaze of his pupil. "What other curses would you recommend, professor?"
"…Well I think I should leave you to decide that," Remus mumbled around a suddenly dry throat. "Why not have a look in the library?"
A raised eyebrow. "But I wouldn't know where to begin. Maybe you could help me?"
'Sirius Black is trouble…' Hadn't that been what Flitwick had said to him? 'Guaranteed he's up to something…'
"I'm…I'm not sure that's a good idea. I'd probably be more of hindrance than a help." Remus smiled weakly, but his expression froze as Sirius leant nearer, warm breath tickling his cheek.
"Nonsense, I'd get in a horrible muddle on my own." Sirius's smile was beguiling. His expression would have been called sincere if it wasn't for the small, slightly odd glimmer in his eye that hinted at another motive.
"No, really." Remus swallowed, fighting the urge to lean back, to cringe away from human contact. "I've got a lot of work to do."
"Only for half an hour then?" Sirius leant still closer, clearly unwilling to give up. "And I promise I won't ask for any more help."
"All right." Remus shot to his feet. "But we'd best hurry. Madame Pince will be shutting the library soon and I'll need to talk to her to let us use it for a while longer."
Sirius smiled, his eyes half lidded. "Thank you, Professor."
********
A blaze of candles shimmered in the centre of the library, amongst the dark, brooding shelves. Outside it had grown dark, and so most of the room had been thrown into gloom as well, but Sirius had displayed a practicality Remus would not have credited him with, and simply fetched more candles.
Teacher and student were sitting at one of the tables nestled in the centre of the library, surrounded by huge bookcases. Work, quills and scraps of parchment were spread across the surface of the table and piles of books wobbled precariously at the corners.
Sirius, who had returned with yet another tome, paused as he rounded the corner of a bookcase and dumped the latest book on a new stack. "Here, I've found another one on Edwards," He announced, flopping down into the seat next to Remus. "I think that must be it."
Remus was surprised to find that he was enjoying himself. It was nicer to be near someone who was close to his own age and Sirius had demonstrated an amazing amount of patience as the young teacher had painstakingly explained curses and counter curses and how to formulate an essay. The intended half an hour had come and gone a good while back, and Remus had completely forgotten his intention to leave
"I don't think we'll need any more." He smiled at Sirius and pulled the book towards the both of them, "We must have about nine on Edwards alone."
Sirius nodded, his expression thoughtful. "I hadn't realised there were so many on curses." He commented.
Remus shrugged. "It's just a case of knowing what to look for," He said absently, flicking through the book and trying to find relevant pieces.
"Hmm." Sirius watched him.
The teacher's shaggy light hair was picked with blonde streaks in the candlelight, his young, tired face was made to look younger still and his lower lip was absently being nibbled as he flicked quickly through the pages, slender fingers running almost lovingly over the book's paper. His fringe was falling into his eyes and, as Sirius watched, it was pushed impatiently back.
"Ah hah!" Remus's triumphant exclamation drew Sirius' attention back to the present. "Just as I thought."
"What?"
Remus looked up as Sirius leant over his shoulder, a strand of his dark hair tickling the professor's cheek. "This book has a whole chapter on counter curses. You can use this."
"Really?" Sirius contrived to look interested, when he couldn't really have cared less. The warmth of the shorter man's skin through his robes was beginning to distract him slightly, and he shook his head, trying to clear it. 'Concentrate, Black.'
The movement distracted Remus from his explanation and he blinked, suddenly aware of how late it was growing. "Good grief, Sirius, why didn't you tell me the time?" He stood up, causing the student to take a quick step backwards to avoid being accidentally hit. "You should have been back in your dormitory at least an hour ago." Shaking his head, Remus gathered the books into a pile, neatly stacking them to one side. "Here, go and put these behind the desk whilst I tidy up."
Sirius nodded and trotted quickly off towards the front of the library, cursing under his breath. He had just got the perfect set up when the bloody teacher had realised the time of all things. Scowling, he shoved the books behind the desk, fighting back an irrational surge of anger. Well, he thought in a sudden philosophical burst, the teacher had only been around a couple of days, and James hadn't put a time limit on the bet…he'd simply have to work a little harder.
A small smile curled his lips as his good mood returned as abruptly as it had vanished, and he turned around in tim to catch sight of Remus standing by the library door.
"Ready?" The teacher smiled at him and gripped the door handle of the library. "If you run into any problems on your way back to your dormitory, just tell them you were with me."
Sirius nodded. "Thanks, Professor."
Swiftly crossing the room, he stood close to Remus as the teacher carefully extinguished the candles, giving an involuntary jump when the last one went out, plunging the room into pitch darkness. Staggering slightly, his fingers brushed material and he made an involuntary grab for it, trying to regain his balance. There was a muffled "Ouch!" and he felt Remus stagger as well.
"Sirius, are you all right?"
Cross with himself, Sirius groped for the door handle. "I'm fine – just didn't expect it to be so dark."
"No, me neither." There was a wry humour in Remus's voice and he jumped as fingers skittered across his cheek. "I think the door's the other way." He added, as Sirius muttered a curse under his breath.
"Sorry." The boy's fingers, however, paused, resting on the arch of his cheekbone. When Sirius's voice next came, it was thoughtful. "Professor?"
"Yes?"
How old are you?"
"That's a bit of a personal question, isn't it?" Remus was starting to feel uncomfortable again, and he realised Sirius must be standing quite close – he could feel his body heat. "If you must know, I'm not quite twenty."
"A bit young to be teaching, aren't you?" Sirius's fingers were slowly sliding down his cheek, as though he was trying to map Remus's face by touch alone.
"Yes, well." Remus began, then cursed at the slight tremor in his voice, "I didn't go to university."
"And you're teaching?" Sirius's voice was low, amused, warm and Remus silently began scrabbling for the door handle, suddenly aware of how close they were in the darkness; how entirely inappropriate the situation was and, most worrying of all, how he didn't seem to mind terribly.
The fingers had reached the corner of his lips and they rested there for a moment. "Why aren't you at university?"
"It…didn't suit me." Remus closed his eyes, praying that Sirius wouldn't suspect the lie and that he'd find the door. Every time he spoke, his lips brushed the smooth pads of fingers. "And it really isn't any of your business," he added.
"Ah." Sirius' fingers traced the outline of his lips in the dark. "Well," (And his voice had become slightly lower, a little huskier, Remus realised with a small, involuntary shiver,) "Thanks for helping me, professor."
There was a sudden burst of light as Sirius flung the door open and before Remus had even had time to collect his thoughts, the other man had gone, vanishing down the corridor so rapidly, that it was difficult to imagine that he'd ever been there in the first place.
To Be Continued…