momentum

by lilralien

dog moon

2. chapters 4-6

Chapter 4

Hogwarts Express, Platform 9 34 ...

Remus watched with growing apprehension as the last few passengers boarded the Hogwarts Express. His father had helped him up with his own trunk before leaving and even though it seemed like years, it was only a few minutes ago when he'd successfully managed to find a seat. He wished his mother could have been there too, but being a muggle, she couldn't get past the barrier between platforms nine and ten.

He had been sitting alone for quite sometime until an older boy had come in and asked if any of the seats were taken. Remus had said no of course, relieved that he had some company. However, if Remus had been expecting any sort of information or reassurance from this boy, he was sadly disappointed because the boy had fallen asleep as soon as he'd settled down.

Remus turned away from the window and stared at the sliding door to the compartment. He could see a badly distorted image of himself on the shiny metal and inwardly smiled to himself. Quite an improvement, Remus Lupin. To his distaste, he could even make out the reflection of the tiny sapphire hanging around his neck. He had tried to remove it before, but his mother had slapped his hand lightly and told him that it was considered good luck to hang your birthstone across your neck. It's not good luck, it's a bully magnet. His father had just laughed loudly at the sight and charmed the damn thing, just in case he tried to take it off again.

Sometimes, Remus thought, I think my parents do it on purpose, just to watch me suffer.

Of course, he knew better. If anything, Remus Lupin's parents smothered him like there was no tomorrow, especially John Lupin. For reasons Remus could not understand, his father always held himself responsible for his injuries during the full moon. He'd be bursting through the doors of the garage at the crack of dawn, trying to heal his son's mangled body and holding back dry sobs at the same time. Delilah Lupin had even once admitted at being astounded at how someone as rigid as John Lupin could be reduced to an emotional mess at the very mention of his son. It was a psychological anomaly, she'd declared. And of course, there would be times when his parents would just come up to his room all of a sudden and hold him in a tight embrace, or tell him how much they loved him, and if there was anything he wanted, anything at all, all he had to do was ask, and they'd give it to him.

To any normal child, these gestures would have seemed suffocating, overwhelming at the most. Remus suspected it was one of Delilah Lupin's experimental therapies, but he wasn't the one to complain. After all, he was anything but normal. There was no way of putting it subtly, the world hated people like him, and he knew for a fact that he was not going to receive any sort of affection from them. So, he craved their love and when his parents got their sudden attacks of overwhelming

affection, he clung on to them and returned their embraces and small declarations of love.

But here he was again, diverting away from the topic. I think too much, Remus concluded, before turning his head back to the window.

He got the shock of his life when his father's face suddenly loomed up in front of him. When he'd picked himself up from the floor, his father grinned back at him. His face was a bright red and his hair stuck out at odd angles, as if he'd been running all the way here. Remus grinned back and placed his hand, palm facing outwards, on the glass. His father returned the gesture, pressing his own hand against Remus's. And for the first time, Remus realised how small and insignificant he really was. He'd always thought of himself tall for his age, but his father's hand was massive against his; rough and callused from all these years of hard work. A few of them were battle scars, from his days as an auror, long before he was demoted. Remus stared at his own hand, smooth and pale in comparison. It barely came up to his father's central lifeline.

The whistle of the train rang noisily across the platform, and Remus's smile fell to a frown, as he rested his head on the smooth glass of the window. John Lupin stared into those soft amber eyes, and he let his hand slide, caressing his son's face through the thin glass.

'Love you,' he mouthed before moving away, and Remus nodded.

Remus's eyes followed his father even after the train had started moving. He'd watched and waved to a point until the figure of John Lupin had reduced to nothing but a black dot and finally, just air.

'Aunt Walburga!' squealed the blond figure of Narcissa from afar. 'It's so wonderful to see you.'

Sirius cringed at the shrill tone of his cousin's voice and watched distastefully as she kissed his mother's bony cheeks. Narcissa Black was the most annoying cousin to be born on the surface of the earth. She was beautiful, yes, but she was also nasally, high pitched, and incredibly stupid. The very definition of a dumb blonde. Sirius figured she had a good heart in there somewhere, deep, deep, deep inside. That's what Andromeda said anyway.

When Walburga Black smiled, it never reached her eyes. 'Cissa, you look positively lovely. How are you?'

Narcissa smiled charmingly, displaying a full set of shiny white teeth. 'Never better. As you know, I'll be completing Hogwarts this year and already, mother has started preparing for the marriage. She can hardly contain herself. '

Mrs. Black waved a dismissive hand. 'Ah, yes, of course. How is Lucius, then?' Narcissa's face lit up like the sun as she nodded vigorously. 'He's well, thank you.' 'And Bella?'

Narcissa frowned a bit, distorting her pretty face. 'I don't know. She seems to be quite fond of Lestrange, but I personally don't share the feeling. He's a little too...' She scrunched up her face even more, trying to think of a suitable word to describe her sister's husband. 'Loud,' she concluded inanely.

Takes one to know one, thought Sirius and chuckled a bit.

Narcissa's eyes immediately darted down to Sirius, and she emitted by far, the most earsplitting squeal imaginable. Even Walburga Black, who was known to be as rigid as stone, cringed. She would have to talk to Kiera Black about Narcissa's behaviour. Honestly, the child had no sense of dignity whatsoever.

Narcissa bent down and pinched Sirius's cheeks hard. 'My god, look how cute you've gotten!'

Sirius shoved her hand away roughly, and Walburga Black inwardly beamed at the gesture. Haughty, egoistic, and rude – Sirius was going to be the perfect Black heir, unlike Narcissa...

'I am not cute,' he huffed, standing straight to make himself seem taller.

'Now, now, Sirius. Cissa is only trying to be nice,' his mother reprimanded, but she was smiling. 'Well,' he shot back. 'Cissa has chosen the wrong person to be nice to.'

Narcissa watched her cousin fold his arms over his chest haughtily and stare at her with eyes that could make a grown man cringe. Brat,she thought, if it wasn't for your mother's will, I would have stabbed you the day you were born.

Walburga Black put a hand on Sirius's shoulder and looked at Narcissa with smouldering grey eyes. 'Sirius will be joining Hogwarts this year. Another Slytherin in the family, no doubt,' she said proudly. 'I trust you'll be taking good care of him?'

Sirius snorted, before Cissa could reply. 'Mother, she can hardly form coherent speech. Surely you do not intend to entrust the life of your eldest son in the hands of someone so incompetent.'

Walburga Black tried very hard not to smile at the look of incredulity on Narcissa's face. It wasn't that the Blacks were misbehaved. In fact, every Black in the family is tutored in proper etiquette and language at the age of four. No, the Blacks were quite courteous, thank you very much. They just happened to have a slight intolerance for people below their standards.

'I'll be leaving now,' said Mrs. Black, dusting imaginary dust from the shoulder of her robes. 'I have an urgent meeting to attend to. Do pass on my regards to your parents and tell them to spare me a visit once they're done with the wedding plans.'

Narcissa nodded, fighting the urge to strangle her young cousin right there on the platform. She watched her aunt leave through the barrier, black robes billowing gracefully behind her. She had always wondered how her Aunt Walburga managed this with such ease and without any kind of wind at that. The last time she tried something like that, she'd ended up sprawled on the ground.

She reached out a hand to her cousin and sighed heavily. 'Come, Sirius. Let me help you up the train.'

Sirius did not take her hand. 'I can make it on my own, thank you. Now, run along and sing around trees, or whatever it is you Neanderthals do in your spare time,' he said before walking away.

The Hogwarts Express, Sirius concluded at the end of the day, was boring. It posed very little opportunities for mischief and was just like sitting in a cardboard box on wheels. He had ended up sharing a compartment with a small blond boy, who had snot running down his front like a tap. Disgusting. If that had not been enough, the boy's entire family had put up a theatrical show by entering into the compartment and crying over each other, making sick little declarations of love and pride.

His mother had been right after all. The wizarding world was truly going downhill.

It had gotten so bad at a point, that Sirius had actually gotten up to find another empty compartment. To his dismay, he had found none. Well, that was not entirely the truth. There had been one with only a single occupant in it. The boy (or girl. One could never tell with such long hair) had been staring outside, so Sirius had never gotten the opportunity to see his face, but at that moment, when he had looked through the small glass window of the door, he had had a flash. A vision of white sheets and angry red scars. It sounded stupid now but back then, Sirius had been scared for reasons unknown to him. So scared, that he had run back to his initial compartment, and tolerated the ongoing family drama, until the whistle mercifully blew.

Chapter 5

Gryffindor boy's dormitory, Hogwarts...

Remus slowly walked out of the shower, taking his time to towel his hair dry. He was in dire need of a haircut, but refrained from it in an attempt to cover the long red scar that ran from his neck and all the way across his shoulder. It was the only one that his father had not been able to heal and served as a constant reminder of what he truly was.

He entered the room to see two of his new roommates already chatting away with each other – Potter and Pettigrew, if his memory served him correctly. The third, by the name of Sirius Black was too busy grumbling and unpacking his belongings to pay any heed to his new roommates. He'd been like that since the sorting and Remus really saw no reason for his dark mood.

Being in Gryffindor was a like a dream come true for Remus. Being a dark creature, he had been sure of his place in Slytherin. His father, John Lupin, had told him countless stories about how half the people he'd caught during his auror days had been former Slytherins. 'Rotten apples, those, Remus, steer right into Dark Arts,' he had said at that time, with all the seriousness in the world. Remus Lupin didn't want to be a bad person; didn't want to end up in Azkaban; didn't want his parents to be ashamed of him.

The sound of a throat clearing broke Remus out of his reverie, and he turned around to see Black glaring at all of them impatiently. Actually, the boy seemed to have his eyes fixed on Remus specifically. Remus casually slung his towel over his shoulder to make sure his scar was well hidden.

Black scowled. 'Classes start tomorrow and I'd actually like to get a good night's sleep,' he said in an English accent so refined that it took Remus a while to understand the words coming out of his mouth. 'So, if you don't mind, I'd appreciate it if you brats kept your mouths shut.' Black looked at Remus one last time before getting into his bed and drawing his curtains shut.

'What a prat!' exclaimed Potter getting up from his own bed and opening his trunk. 'Just because he's a Black, he thinks he's king of the world. Shut up, my arse. I'll make all the noise I want. It's my room too, you know,' he breathed heavily after his rant and stopped, only then realising that there was another occupant in the room besides Pettigrew. He looked at Remus curiously and then smiled. 'Hi, Remus, right?'

Remus smiled and nodded, but didn't say anything else. He quickly climbed into his own bed and closed the drapes tightly shut before he got questioned further. He heard Potter mutter something that sounded very much like 'stuck up pricks' and closed his eyes. Remus hated being so...abnormal.

That night, Remus was plagued with nightmares. Of his earlier transformations, of his first few weeks in the hospital, but mostly of the last conversation he'd had with his father before coming to Hogwarts.

John Lupin affectionately moved the hair covering his son's eyes. 'You nervous?' he asked, the hint of a smile playing on his face.

Remus shook his head, then decided against it and nodded.

John threw his head back and laughed. However, he quickly stopped when he saw his boy's face reddening and pulled him into a tight embrace.

'Hogwarts is a great place, Remus,' his father whispered into his hair. 'And this...this is your one chance to prove everyone wrong, to show them all how special you truly are...'

Remus nodded weakly, his tiny arms coming up to encircle his father's broad shoulders.

'That's why your lycanthropy has to be a secret, Remus. No one can ever know, do you understand that?' John looked into those large amber eyes for reassurance.

Remus nodded again. 'Yeah.'

'It'll get lonely, Remus. So lonely that sometimes you'll feel like curling up and dying, but you'll have to be strong and fight it. Because they can never get close enough to find out.' John swallowed hard. He felt like he was announcing his own son's death sentence. 'If they knew...I-' he cursed himself for choking on his words. Now that he'd finally gotten to the point of this conversation, he was too much of a coward to actually say it. How do you tell your son that his life was doomed from the very start? How do you subject him to a life alone, at the tender age of eleven? So instead, he hugged him even tighter. So tight, that you could almost hear a bone crack. 'I'm sorry,' he said slowly. 'I'm so sorry...If I -sorry...'

And that's how they'd both stayed until Delilah Lupin had entered the room and pulled her husband off their son. Even then, John Lupin had never stopped apologising.

Laying there on the bed, listening to Potter rant about what an arse he was, Sirius fought the mad urge to punch something really hard. He'd known from the instant, back in the train, when he'd felt snot leaking all over his expensive new robes, that Hogwarts was not going to be the most pleasant experience. But this...this was just too much.

Mother was going to kill him, reincarnate him, and kill him again. Father, well, let's not get to that. How the hell had he ended up in Gryffindor? What in hell's name possessed the damn Sorting Hat to send him, of all people, here - in a house of love, friendship, bravery and all that ridiculous shit. He must have done or said something wrong, but what? Sirius tried to recall the conversation he'd had on the stool with the sorting hat rammed down his head.

'Ah, another Black. No doubt, old Slughorn will be ecstatic. But wait, you're different, aren't you? The Black sheep of the family,' the hat had chuckled at it's own wit.

Sirius has rolled his eyes and snapped irritably, 'Shut up and get on with it. If I'm lucky, I won't have to sit beside Cissa, and her cronies.'

'Temper, Mr. Black, is your only drawback, isn't it?'

Sirius had gone bright red at that. 'Shut up.'

'Well, it's been a lovely chat, but there's a long line behind you, so I might as well announce you're house, eh?'

'Finally.' 'GRYFFINDOR!' 'WHAT?'

Sirius's voice had echoed in the hall so loudly, that the very few who had bothered to clap, stopped mid applause. Sirius could still remember the smug grin on Narcissa's face and Mc Gonagall's amused, but impatient one as she pushed him towards the Gryffindor table.

And if that hadn't been bad enough, Sirius had ended up being dorm mates with a Potter – the biggest blood traitors to grace the surface of the earth after the Weasleys, and the snot boy wonder from the train. The only decent occupant seemed to be a peaky looking boy called Lupin.

But he too, was undeniably creepy. His eyes were too large, Sirius had concluded, too large and amber, like molten gold or a blazing fire. Those eyes had never flinched under his gaze. Not once, and Sirius's gaze was known to make even grown men shiver. No, instead, the boy had stared right back. His expression had not been adamant, just mildly curious. Then, there was his hair. It was long, like a girl's, and even that changed from brown, to blonde, to red, depending on how the light hit it. There was definitely something strange about that boy and even though he hadn't spoken a word since he came, Sirius felt an odd connection with him. If he listened closely, it was almost as if he could hear the pieces of an incomplete puzzle clicking together in a perfect fit.

Sirius rolled over and banished all such thoughts clear from his mind. He had to face it whether he liked it or not; Gryffindor was now his new home.

A week had passed since Sirius first came to Hogwarts, and he'd come to one definite conclusion: Remus Lupin was a bastard. Remus Lupin was a good for nothing, goody two shoes, bona- fide bastard. At a first glance, Sirius had assumed that Lupin, judging by his tired boyish looks, would be a quiet, kind, sweet and gentle sort of person. He'd been right. However, he had also forgotten to add, sarcastic and manipulative to the list. The boy seemed to know exactly what ticked Sirius off, today's incident being a prime example.

He'd gotten another letter from his mother this morning, elaborating on what a disgrace he was and how he was expected to atleast keep up his grades to make up for the shame he'd brought upon to the family. She'd concluded the damn thing by saying that it would be preferable if he didn't turn up for the Black Christmas Dinner since they were in no mood of seeing his face at the moment.

Sirius didn't care. Christmas at Grimmauld place was boring anyway, and you always had to mind your manners, and act all nice, and listen to a load of old people talking politics. Dinner at Hogwarts would be just great, he told himself firmly. So what if he hadn't managed to make any friends? He would manage just fine. It wasn't his fault that half the people in Gryffindor avoided him just because he was a Black or an occasional prick...

As much as he'd try to reassure himself, by the end of the day, Sirius was still in an exceptionally bad mood, and he'd made sure he took it out on everyone who dared cross his path. One such unfortunate first year was bold or at least stupid enough to do so, and Sirius had unthinkingly

shoved her away on his way to Transfiguration. He hadn't meant to hurt her, not really, but apparently, she'd crashed head first into the person in front of her.

'Black,' a voice from behind. It was low and hardly intimidating, but at the same time, there was an invisible hand forcing him to look.

Sirius rolled his eyes agitatedly and turned around, only to come face to face with the last person he wanted to see. 'Lupin,' he bit back sharply.

Lupin smiled sweetly and helped the girl up. 'You forgot to apologise.'

Sirius crossed his arms over his chest and looked into Lupin's eyes, challenging him. 'Oh? What for?'

Sirius had expected Lupin to ignore him, lash out, call him names, or maybe even go to the extent of beating him up. He did not, however, expect him to continue smiling like...like he was a friend...like he actually cared for Sirius. It wasn't mockery. No, it was worse. It was sympathy.

'For wrongly directing your anger, grief, and misfortune,' he said simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Sirius felt his face burning up. Lupin had hit home and he, Sirius black, couldn't think of a single sharp retort or witty thing to say. And to his ultimate chagrin, Sirius noted that the girl was still clinging on to Lupin like a lifeline, despite being perfectly capable of standing up herself. This was turning out to be some kind of lame fairy tale, where Lupin was the knight in shining armour and Sirius was the Jack who turned evil, but forgot to take off his bonnet.

Sirius's lip quivered as he fought an internal battle. He could feel the eyes of a gathering crowd boring into him, waiting for his reply. 'Sorry,' he said finally through clenched teeth and turned to walk away. He could almost hear the imaginary applause of the hundreds of students that had been watching the show.

He'd hardly taken four steps forwards when Lupin called him again. 'Black, wait up!' He caught up with Sirius and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Sirius shrugged his hand off. 'I said I was sorry, Lupin. What do you want now?'

Lupin's looked right into his eyes and smiled that annoying smile again. 'I wanted to apologise.'

Sirius raised an eyebrow. 'Apologise?' What a nutter. 'For what, exactly?' Being such an annoying brat? I accept. You may now beg for mercy.

Lupin shrugged. 'Just...you know...it seemed like I had to.' He walked away then; leaving Sirius more confused that ever.

What the hell did he have to apologise for? What kind of nice idiot apologised after embarrassing a person in front of nearly the entire school and making them look like a total arse? Why the hell did that damn brat have to make things so complicated? He was either supposed to be downright nasty, or wimpishly nice. But nooo...Lupin had to be all sweet and smiley even when he was being mean.Stupid arse.

Sirius trudged his way up the stairs, running a frustrated hand through his hair. This sort of retarded behaviour shouldn't be bothering him. He was a Black after all, uncaring and unfeeling of others. Yet, it did. And it wasn't in a bad sort of way. Infact, a very irrational part of him found this mysterious side of Lupin quite endearing.

Remus ran his hand across the spines of all the books that lined the third shelf. This was his first trip to the school library and though he wasn't much of a reader, he'd figured now would be as good a time to start as any, especially since he intended to spend seven years of his life here alone.

Alone...He felt a sharp twinge in his chest at the thought. Like solitary confinement, only I'm here willingly, he told himself silently. It's what muggles use to keep nutters under control, isn't it? Remus smiled bitterly. Seems like God has a sense of humour after all.

'Hi!' A cheery voice broke him out of his reverie.

Remus jumped. His mind took some time to register back to the present, and he realised that he'd been staring at My Pet Flobberwormfor over five minutes. He blinked a few times and carded thin fingers through his hair, before turning around towards the source of the voice. Who in the world would want to talk to me? To his surprise, he came face to face with nothing at all. Remus frowned. What the hell?

'You're Remus Lupin, right?'

Once again, the voice caught Remus by surprise, but this time he recovered quickly and looked down. A small girl was staring up at him with the most brilliant green eyes he had ever seen. She curled a strand of her long red hair between her fingers and pursed her lips tightly as she awaited his reply.

Remus nodded and immediately, she split into a grin so wide, Remus thought it was going to fall off her face. He smiled back hesitantly, unsure of what was going on. At his look of hesitation, the girl's smile, if possible, grew, and Remus took a few cautious steps backwards until his back met the shelf. Was there something on his face? Why was she staring at him like that? He unconsciously tugged at the collar of his shirt, hoping and praying that his scar was well hidden.

'Er...I'm sorry, but do I know you?' he asked, cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment. He wished she'd stop looking at him.

The girl looked down, fiddled with her hair for a moment and then looked back up again. She was cute, Remus noted, when she wasn't grinning at him like a mad idiot. 'No, I don't think you do. We've never met, but I'm in Gryffindor, too.'

Remus smiled and looked pointedly at the red and gold emblem stitched to the chest of her black Hogwarts robes. 'Yeah, I figured that much.'

This time, it was the girl's turn to be embarrassed and she smiled sheepishly. 'I'm Lily Evans. It's a pleasure meeting you, Remus.' She stuck her hand out.

'Likewise.' Remus shook her hand and cringed inwardly when he noticed her gazing at him piercingly, as if scrutinizing his every detail.

'You're really tall, aren't you?' she concluded distractedly, letting go of his hand. 'I mean, for a boy your age. My friends at Hufflepuff – we haven't had a class with them yet – they thought you were a second year.'

Remus blinked. He wasn't sure of what to say. Was being thought of as a second year a compliment? There was no denying he was quite tall, perhaps the tallest in his year. It was just one of the few things that came with being a werewolf.

Lily Evans seemed to pay no heed to Remus's silence and continued conversing animatedly. 'Anyway, I was looking up a few reference books for Charms back there and saw you standing here by yourself. So I thought I should come up and talk to you.'

Why? thought Remus. But he opted to keep his thoughts to himself. She seemed really nice, and he didn't really want to put her down. So he smiled instead, in what he hoped was a reassuring sort of way.

It must have worked because Lily smiled and seated herself on a nearby chair. 'Actually, I wanted to thank you for standing up for my friend, Clarissa, earlier today.' She set down the books she'd been carrying on the table and blew off the dust from the cover.

Remus coughed. 'Clarissa?'

Lily huffed. 'Yeah, the girl Black had shoved away so rudely. Honestly, that boy is a menace! I can't believe they put him in Gryffindor. It's obvious he belongs in Slytherin.'

It took a moment for Remus to stop coughing and realise what she was talking about. He hadn't actually given the incident much thought since it happened. Really, it was no big deal. 'You shouldn't be so hasty in judging Black.' Remus found himself defending the ill tempered boy. Why he was doing so, he had no idea. 'He didn't mean it. He's just been having a tough time lately.'

Lily looked at him skeptically. 'You know him?'

Remus bit his lip. 'I-' He shook his head dejectedly. 'No.'

Lily smiled, and shook her head.'Listen, a couple of us have decided to study together in the library this weekend, and Clarissa never got the chance to thank you. So I was wondering if you wanted to join us, you know? It might sound sort of boring, but in truth, we hardly study much, and it's really quite fun.'

Remus had almost said yes. Almost, until his father's voice echoing through his mind stopped him. They can never get close enough to find out. 'I'm sorry, Lily, I'd love to come, but I've already got plans this weekend. I hope you don't mind.'

Lily's face fell with disappointment and she hastily replied to cover her distress. 'It's okay. It doesn't matter really. Some other time then?' she asked uncertainly.

Remus nodded and smiled softly. 'That would be nice,' he said, knowing there would never be another time.

Chapter 6

Hogwarts, first year...

Sirius quickly sat down on his chair and tried on his most innocent expression. This wasn't one of his most brilliant plans, but he figured he'd go easy on Lupin the first time. Sirius had come early to class just to make sure he could set up his little plan in peace; so he was alone in the classroom.

Lupin was going to pay. For what, asked a traitorous part of his mind. Sirius frowned. What sort of question was that? The answer was quite obvious, wasn't it? Just because...supplied another part of his mind, and that was as far as his answer went. Ha! You don't know, do you? Sirius growled low in his throat. Shut up and concentrate.

Sirius squinted his eyes, trying to look closely at the base of Lupin's regular seat from his own. There was a minor flaw in the plan but it was hardly noticeable. It was only when you looked really hard that you saw a rectangular piece of parchment on the seat, the words 'Fat Arse' written in big bold letters. A sub standard prank, if you didn't consider the fact that it would stick to anything it came in contact with for the next six hours. And removing your robes wasn't going to do any good. Sirius grinned. He could have improvised a bit of course, but he had very little patience for research and Charms had never truly been his strong point. This would just have to do for now.

Where is that brat? As soon as Sirius thought it, the door to the classroom flung open and a handful of students ambled in, Lupin being the first. He was reading what looked like his homework assignment, quill between his teeth and a look of deep concentration on his face.

Sirius grimaced. Nerd.

Lupin stopped mid step and turned his head slightly, sensing Sirius's unwavering gaze upon him. Sirius didn't bother looking away. If he did, it would only prove that he was guilty of something. So instead, he looked Lupin straight in the eye and cocked a sardonic eyebrow. To his utmost annoyance, Lupin smiled.

Look at him. Smiling like I'm some kind of circus clown here to entertain him. Stupid git.

Sirius scowled in reply and Lupin chuckled quietly before looking away and walking towards his seat.

I hate you. I hate you so much.

Sirius was distracted from his thoughts of hatred when a very pompous Horace Slughorn burst into

the room, probably in an attempt to make a grand entry. Sirius didn't like him either. He was a sensible enough teacher but an extremely annoying suck up. Slughorn knew all the prestigious wizarding families and students who would succeed in life and took no shame in exploiting them. Unsurprisingly, Sirius had been asked to join his Butterfly or something club on the very first week of school. Naturally, he had declined. He was in no mood for old woman tea parties and politics.

Sirius glanced at his watch. The class seemed be dragging on and on, and Sirius tapped his foot impatiently. He wanted this class to end fast, so that he could get a good look at Lupin's butt. Well, that didn't sound right.

After what seemed like ages, the bell rang, and Sirius practically jumped off his seat. No sooner had he got up, that a large crowd of students passed by right in front of him. Damn it, move! But by the time, he'd pushed his way out, Lupin had already gone.

Sirius punched the air. 'Shit!'

Suddenly, a hand rested on his shoulder and a soft voice whispering in his ear caused Sirius to shiver. 'You need to work harder than that, Black.'

Then the hand disappeared, leaving Sirius feeling confused and strangely empty. He watched in awe as Lupin passed by him, bottom free of parchment and a sly grin on his face. How-? What the- ? Where was-? But I-

And then, Sirius's eyes caught sight of Slughorn's behind and that was when he nearly fainted. There it was, mid centre, in big bold letter and a much better description of Slughorn's hindquarters than Lupin's.

'SIRIUS BLACK!'

Sirius's fork clattered to the floor as Professor Mc Gonagall grabbed him roughly by the ear. 'CARE TO EXPLAIN THIS?' she asked, shoving a tattered piece of parchment into his face.

Sirius's eyes darted from the crowd of students, (who had stopped their chattering to watch the commotion), to Mc Gonagall (whose lip had reduced to a thin line), and then finally on the big bold print in front of his face. Fat Arse, he read and chuckled mentally.

Sirius turned towards her, looked her directly in the eye, and gave her his most charming smile. 'Surely a person of your calibre would know the meaning of such crude language, Professor,' he said innocently.

Mc Gonagall's lip completely disappeared then. 'Don't be smart with me, Mr. Black. I've corrected enough of your homework assignments to know what your handwriting looks like. Two weeks, Mr. Black. Two weeks, and you, and Mr. Potter have managed to give me a hernia painful enough to last me a lifetime.'

Sirius opened his mouth to argue. That the damn parchment wasn't meant for Slughorn's fat rear, though now that he thought about it, the potions professor certainly deserved it. Bloody shoe licking hypocrite that he was.

'Ten points from Gryffindor, Black. And next time I catch you, it'll be cleaning toilets with toothbrushes for you,' she said sternly.

Excuse me, did you just say, toilets Sirius curled his lip in disgust. No way was he even touching a toilet seat, no matter how thin Mc Gonagall's lip got. This was a house elf's job, not a Black's.

He watched her strode out of the great hall with disdain. She reminded him too much of his mother for his liking. Merlin forbid the two should ever meet.

'You did that prank on Slughorn?' asked Potter incredulously from beside him.

Sirius glanced briefly at Lupin before fully turning towards Potter. 'I was a part of it, yes,' he replied offhandedly.

Potter swallowed a large piece of chicken in haste and grinned. 'That was bloody brilliant! Had me and Pete laughing for hours, right, mate?' He thumped Pettigrew on the back.

Sirius watched with disgust as Pettigrew choked on his food and coughed bits out.Cavemen, I'm surrounded by prehistoric cavemen. Merlin, what am I doing here?

'So, what spells did you use. I heard old Sluggy couldn't get it out of his robes till Mc Googly came along.'

Sirius smiled proudly, 'Well, I-'

But he never got to complete his sentence because his eyes had caught sight of a greasy, longhaired kid walking past the Gryffindor table. Since when did Hogwarts allow vampires? The boy was pitifully skinny and pale. Not like Lupin. No, this one looked like he'd just woken up from the grave and any normal person would have ignored him after a swirly or two. But the boy, for all of his pathetic-ness actually had the audacity to mutter 'filthy mudbloods' just as he passed a few of the first years, Lupin being one of them.

Later, when Sirius had asked himself why he'd been so quick to act, he'd simply told himself that Lupin was Sirius's prey alone, and like how a lion protected its prey until it was done with it, he was doing the same. But right then, Sirius was red with rage, and he instantly got up from his seat, shooting out the first incantation that came into his head, only to hear an echo of his own spell from behind him.

He looked over his shoulder, confused, only to see Potter grinning at him, wand raised and face flushed. 'I hate that kid, greasy bastard,' he muttered, lowering his wand.

They both looked at Snape who was now lying flat on the ground with boils the size of dragon eggs on his face. It was improvement; one would say...well, save for the pus.

Sirius and Potter's gaze met, and they stared at each other for a long time before dissolving into fits of laughter along with the rest of the Great Hall.

'It seems, Potter,' Sirius said, when they'd both stopped laughing to catch their breaths, 'that great minds think alike.'

Potter wiped a stray tear from his eyes. 'James,' he said reaching out a hand. 'Call me James.'

That week, Sirius had concluded, that cleaning toilets wasn't so bad when you had a friend to do it with.

Sirius's eyes darted around the Great Hall restlessly and he leaned up over his seat slightly to be able to look farther. Not there either. He craned his neck further until he could see well over the Slytherin tables. Nothing.

'Whatcha lookin' for?' asked James, looking at Sirius curiously through a mouthful of potatoes.

'Lupin,' replied Sirius shortly, doing a double check on the Hufflepuff table.

'Why?' asked Peter from beside James.

Sirius sat down on his seat, defeated, and shrugged indifferently. 'He's been absent for three days. I was wondering if he'd returned.'

James frowned. 'I hadn't noticed.' He opened his mouth as if to say something further but stopped and frowned deeper, as if caught up in his thoughts.

'Don't know what you're so anxious about. It isn't the first time he's missing classes since the start of school,' said Peter, helping himself to Shepherd's pie for the third time.

Sirius was surprised that Peter had actually noticed. 'Yes, I know, but he's never been gone for over a day or two.'

James swallowed his chicken and looked at Sirius suspiciously. 'What's with you and Lupin, anyway? Ever since the first day of school, you've been tailing him. You got a crush on him or something?'

'I see you harassing Snape all the time. Do you have a crush on him?' Sirius bit back sharply. James grinned. 'Touché.'

'Actually, I have a new prank in mind and it's begging to be tried out. And who's a better test subject than Lupin?' Sirius smiled to himself, as he fiddled with his food absent mindedly.

James frowned. 'I don't understand why you insist in picking on the bloke. I mean, Snape's a git, so my actions are justified. Lupin, on the other hand, seems like a fair enough guy. A little on the weird side, but decent just the same.'

Sirius put down his fork. 'Lupin's not weird,' he said, a little peeved.

Peter looked from Sirius to James. 'Actually, James is right.' He smiled at James's look of triumph and continued, 'Lupin avoids people like disease, spends half his time in the library, and has those weird haunted eyes that would give any sane man the heebijeebies.' Peter shivered involuntarily.

Sirius snorted. 'Pettigrew, even flobberworms gives you the heebijeebies. Your word hardly qualifies as proof.'

Peter squeaked indignantly. 'Well, you can't ignore the fact that he's sick half the time and keeps needing to go back home to recover.'

James frowned. 'I thought it was his mother or someone who's sick.'

Peter shook his head. 'No. I heard McGonagall talk to Lily Evans yesterday. Lupin's really sick, so he's taken leave for a couple of days.'

Sirius felt a sudden surge or concern. Lupin must have been really unwell for the Hogwarts matron not to able to cure him. He quickly suppressed the feeling though and adopted his most blasé

expression. 'Well, he'd better get better soon,' he growled. 'I need someone to prank on.'

James snorted so loud, pumpkin juice sprayed out of his nose. 'He'd kick your butt!' he said, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. 'The boy's a bloody genius. I especially love the way he managed to sneak back your own dung bombs under your seat last time.'

Peter laughed. 'Yeah, even Binns reacted to that. Priceless, that one.'

James imitated Professor Binns bored expression. 'Mr. Piddlewick, kindly refrain from gaseous exchange during class hours.' He banged the table as he dissolved into peals of laughter. 'Classic!'

Sirius felt the heat rise up to his face. 'Fluke,' he huffed, crossing his arms across his chest.

'Ha! You can't even admit that Lupin's outsmarted every single prank you tried to pull on him.'

'I can beat Lupin any time I want to.'

James rolled his eyes, and waved off Sirius's statement. 'Please. I bet I could hex Snape five times before you manage to even touch the hair on Lupin's head.'

Sirius got up from his seat vehemently. 'Is that a challenge, Potter?' James stood up as well, grinning. 'What if it is?'

'Then I accept. As soon as Lupin comes back to Hogwarts, I'll show you who the bloody genius is around here.'

For the last few months, Remus Lupin had actually been visiting the Shrieking Shack for his transformations under the excuse of visiting his sick mother. In fact, this was the first full moon he was going to spend at home since the start of school. Apparently, the ministry had sent a letter to John Lupin requesting that Remus be registered by the 15th of January, which was tomorrow.

It was good to be home, thought Remus, as he leaned against the doorframe connecting the kitchen and the living room. His father was seated on his 'special' couch, remote control to the TV in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Remus frowned. Something was definitely wrong. John Lupin was a 'special occasion cigar' sort of man. Maybe a fag or two a month, but that was as far as he went. However, there he was, ashtray piled with cigarette butts and the purifier in the corner of the room working at a mad pace to cleanse the air.

Talk to him, baby, his mother's voice said inside his head. There's nothing more therapeutic than baring your soul to someone. Remus shook his head. His mother and her psycho babble.

John Lupin suddenly noticed his son standing at the doorway and broke into a large smile. 'Come on,' he said, shifting to make space beside him, 'They're showing old James Bond reruns. Wouldn't want to miss them, would we?'

Remus grinned and quickly squeezed beside his father on the couch. Instinctively, John wound his arms around his son's small shoulders, ruffling the soft brown hair near his right ear. Remus rested his head on his father's shoulder.

He'd missed this. Missed his parents' constant pampering and fussing. Missed the small affectionate gestures, and tight embraces. Mostly, he missed the small cocoon of love and warmth that his

parents created for him alone.

'Dad?' said Remus, looking up the grey tendrils of smoke blowing out of his father's nose.

'Hm?'

Connect, baby, talk it out. 'What do you know about the Blacks?' Remus surprised himself by asking the question. It was really not what he'd been meaning to ask.

John exhaled another ring of smoke. 'The Blacks...hm...from what I know, they're one of the oldest wizarding families and according to me, the most decent of the lot. Don't get me wrong though. They're just as rotten, rude and ostentatious as the others, but they've never been caught at doing anything illegal. They have a reputation to keep, after all. But they support the dark arts, oh yes, their beliefs are as pronounced and rigid as stone. Tojours Pur...that's their motto, I think.' He inhaled, and exhaled again. 'They're mostly harmless, as long as you stay out of their way.' John turned to his son. 'Why do you ask?'

Remus bit his lip. 'There's a Black in our year...in Gryffindor.'

John Lupin let out a chuckle. 'Well, that's unheard of. Looks like the Blacks are going soft.'

So that's why Black had been so upset when he was sorted to Gryffindor. Truthfully, Remus sort of liked Sirius Black. He was a little arrogant, but his failed attempts at pranks were Remus's only source of entertainment in Hogwarts. For some reason, Remus took a sadistic pleasure in getting under Black's skin. He wasn't a friend, per se, but he was close. And of course, there was Lily Evans. She was the nicest girl in their year and seemed really focused on getting Remus to talk to her. He had finally given in to her attempts last month and allowed himself the luxury of a couple of conversations, but never more than that. He needed to be careful after all.

John and Remus had fallen into a comfortable silence after their little conversation, and Remus found himself slowly drifting off as his father continued rhythmically stroking his hair. A particularly strong waft of smoke blew into his nose, causing him to cough lightly.

John's eyes widened, and he quickly snubbed out the cigarette, rubbing circles on his son's back to soothe the cough. 'Sorry, got a little carried away. You okay?'

Remus nodded, eyes watering slightly. 'Why do you always do that?'

'Do what?' asked John, relaxing back into the sofa.

'Treat me like I'm going to break.'

John looked into his son's eyes, frowning slightly. 'Don't be ridiculous. You're one of the strongest people I know. Why would I do that?'

Remus pouted. 'You just did.'

John shook his head. 'I'm just worried about you, is all. The Werewolf registry keeps changing its rules and now, all of a sudden they come up with this new regulation where young werewolves need to register by the age of ten. And they do it just during the full moon too. It's frustrating...' he concluded.

Remus watched his father's shoulders relax slightly, and he could tell that John Lupin had been having a hard time keeping it all bottled up for so long. Maybe his mother was right after all. Talking did do some good, even if it was a bit girly.

'It's okay, dad,' he said, smiling faintly. 'You don't have to worry about me.'

John let out a bark like laugh, and he punched Remus's jaw affectionately. 'Sometimes, Remus, when I talk to you, I feel like you're years older than I am.'

Remus punched his father's arms, laughing. 'No one can be older than you, you prune-y old codger.'

'Watch your mouth, young man, or someone in this house might find their allowance missing next month.'

Remus gasped. 'You wouldn't.'

John got up from the couch and stretched. 'Don't challenge your old man, young lad.'

Remus sat up on his knees and clasped his hands in front of his chest. 'Forgive me, oh wonderful father of mine. I beg you. Spare this child of yours. He is but a foolish youth.'

John Lupin laughed and mussed Remus's hair. 'You've been reading Shakespeare, I see.' He glanced at the wall clock. 'Why don't you get some sleep, and I'll wake you up when it's time to take you to the garage, okay? You can keep the TV on if you want.'

Remus smiled, arranging himself in a comfortable position and snuggling back on the couch. 'You're letting me sleep in your 'special' couch?' he asked, eyes already half shut.

'Yes, but drool on it, and I'll hold my word about the allowance,' said John Lupin, as he slowly walked towards the stairs. The previous reserve in his eyes was now replaced with mirth, and he felt somewhat at ease now that he'd talked to his son.

'Dad?'

John stopped mid step. 'Hm?'

'I really can handle it, you know.'

John Lupin turned to face his son, who was peeking from behind the back of the couch. 'I know you can,' he replied sincerely. 'The question is, can I?'