THC- Practice Round

Story Type: Drabble (Up to 1,000 words)

House: Slytherin

Class: Herbology

Prompt: [Action] Trip up

Word Count: 896

Disclaimers/TWs:

Beta's: StoryPlease, DeepShadows2, S L Blake


"Sirius Black!"

The sixth year in question had just been laughing at a joke his best friend James had made, while sitting by the warm comfort of the fire on one of the Gryffindor common room sofas. Key word being had, because he froze the moment he heard his name being called.

He knew exactly who the voice belonged to.

He couldn't help but grin mischievously, if just for a few moments, as he turned round to see Remus Lupin, his other best friend and his long time crush, covered in green slime with his hair a lovely bright shade of pink.

Sirius would have laughed, (and he really wanted to join in, laughing with the rest of his friends and most of the people in the common room), if it wasn't for the look on Remus's face. If looks could kill, he'd have been dead the moment Remus stepped into the common room.

He should have started apologising when Remus walked, no, marched over to him, but he couldn't help himself. His mouth moved before his brain caught up with him.

"Alright there, Remus? Loving the pink; it really brings out the amber in your eyes!"

Remus glared, leaning on the back of the sofa. His nails dug into the fabric, loud enough for his friends on the sofa to hear. He was still solely focused on Sirius, as he replied, "Run."

Sirius gulped, standing up and stepping back carefully.

"Now, now, Remus. It's all in the name of fun," he said, heading in the direction of the nearest exit while keeping his eyes on Remus. This meant he was walking backwards, quite skillfully, surprisingly enough.

"I am not going to tell you again."

He didn't need to be told twice, oh no. Sirius was almost by the Gryffindor entrance. He was so focused on escaping from Remus that he turned around, spinning fast enough his neck nearly cracked. Just as he moved one foot to step down the stairs, his other foot didn't quite make it in time. Losing balance, he tripped over the three small steps to make it out of the common room.

He landed with a heavy bang.

There was a moment of painful silence.

Suddenly, Sirius put his thumbs up whilst still on the ground and called out, "I'm alright!"

Only then did everyone burst out into laughter as Sirius stood up, stumbling back through the door as he tried to regain his balance. He leaned on the wall, elbow resting on it as he recovered, forgetting why he had been there like that in the first place.

It was nagging him. He couldn't quite figure out–

"Mate, I wouldn't stay there if I were you. Remus is so, so mad! Run!" James shouted from across the common room.

"Ohhh," Sirius said, mainly to himself, hitting his forehead with the palm of his hand, as he remembered. "Thanks mate!" He replied, grinning.

He glanced at Remus – it seemed like he was walking in slow motion, but he was catching up to Sirius, whose eyes widened with fear.

Sirius swiftly opened the door to the common room, and sprinted like his life depended on it. Because it really, really did.

He decided, because it was late in the evening, the corridors were quiet, and his life was in imminent danger (he felt entitled to be dramatic, this was Remus for Merlin's sake) he changed into Padfoot.

Padfoot grinned, tongue sticking out as he raced down the corridor, picking up speed as he made his grand escape.

Well, he thought it was a grand escape, until he yipped in surprise, once again tripping over something as his muzzle scraped the corridor floor, his black furry legs flying out from beneath him, only to fall heavily on the stone floor. That was twice in one day! Luckily, the fall was not as hard as last time, and Padfoot got a glance of what, or rather, who he had tripped over.

Remus had stuck his leg out, his shoe still extended to block Sirius' path.

Padfoot whined as Remus crouched down, rubbing the top of his head with laughter, and gave him a soft smile.

"That's what you get for cheating, Sirius. Don't think I won't get revenge on you, even if it's when you least expect it. Come on, don't be a numpty and change back," Remus said, sitting down cross-legged.

"I'm not a numpty," Sirius grumbled, running a hand through his messy hair as he grimaced. "Ow…" he complained, "There was really no reason to trip me up, Remus."

"Oh, there was every need," Remus replied, wrapping an arm around Sirius, bringing him close to his chest.

Sirius sighed contently, smiling as he rested his head on Remus's shoulder. He liked their moments like this, away from prying eyes. It made him think that just maybe, (and that was a very small maybe), that Remus liked him back.

He didn't want to get his hopes up, though. Nothing good ever came from that.

He frowned, slowly pulling away from Remus as he remembered something very important.

Slime.

Green slime, to be exact. Only it was on him too, now that he had hugged Remus. He really shouldn't have fallen for that. (Or for him.)

"Oh come on, Moony!"

"Hey, don't look at me like that! I told you you wouldn't expect it!"