Scalding Hot

"Keep still," I ordered, trying to keep my voice from wobbling as I hovered over the semi-naked body of Lupin.

I pushed Remus's shampooed head further into the sink.

"Aguamenti. Is that too hot?" I asked, testing the temperature of the water jet against his bare shoulder.

"No, that's fine," he assured.

I looked down at the back of his head sceptically. It had felt absolutely scalding against my hand so I gave my wand a quick temperature tap against the side of the sink anyway, then took aim at the back of his lowered head.

"Argh!" he cried out. "It's freezing now! What are you doing?"

"Sorry!" I exclaimed, my mouth twitching.

"Are you laughing?" he demanded.

"Course not... Better?" I asked.

"Yes, yes," Remus replied a little testily.

Now I didn't really understand how it had all come about myself, but somehow there I was, in the boys dormitory, giving Remus Lupin a makeover.

.o.

It had all been Marlene's idea. Wasn't it always?

In her own boredom she had decided that Lily, Dorcas and I were all hopelessly dull room-mates and needed to 'inject some fun' into our lives. Just because we were all taking the time to study for once, and seriously, I really needed it.

Homework meant nothing to Marlene, it was as if she didn't even care how her life turned out past the precise moment she was living in.

Because Mary had not arrived back at the dormitory yet, she had managed to escape any nagging. Lucky cow.

I suspected she and Anthony were probably out somewhere have a good moanfest at my expense. Or at least Mary was moaning and Anthony was just going along with it. Not that insulting me would make him fancy her any more. She needed to recognise a lost cause when she saw one.

I myself had managed to avoid him since the pub incident; his being in Hufflepuff was a godsend.

"I cannot for the life of me understand why we are going along with this, Cheryl," Lily had complained from my side as Marlene linked our arms and virtually pulled us across the common room to the 'forbidden' boys staircase with Dorcas following behind.

Ignoring the many curious stares from the fellow Gryffindors dotted around the room, she had strutted us confidently up the steps.

Just as the last time I had been in the boys dormitory I was able to follow my nose toward the foul stench of used clothes mixed with overpowering cologne. It was an irresistible concoction, really.

"I mean what are we hoping to achieve?" Lily had continued, trying to wrest her limb back from her. "There is no way Potter- ungh- will allow -let go- you put make-up on him if that's what she has in mind."

Marlene had indeed grabbed her make-up bag, and Merlin only knew what she had planned.

"Oh, I dunno, " I said, remembering his outing as Madam Prince. "You might be surprised."

James Potter's dressing up had become common knowledge by that point, and he had done nothing to dispel the rumours.

Why should he? He clearly adored being the centre of everyone's attention.

Dumbledore had even cancelled Madame Pince's detention on the grounds that the Polyjuice Potion was obviously far too advanced for any high school student to achieve, and thus any dressing up James had undertaken in his recreation time was entirely his business alone.

'People should not be punished for self expression,' Dumbledore had insisted, obviously finding the whole debacle entertaining rather than the end of the world that Pince had painted.

James was such a jammy git. He was just lucky the headmaster seemed to have a fantastic, or strange, depending on how you looked at it, sense of humour.

"And why are you suddenly so fine with visiting the boys anyway?" Lily had looked at me with suspicion.

I frowned. "I'm not."

She gave me a knowing look. "This wouldn't have anything to do with your conversation with Black in the common room last night, would it?"

"How do you know about that?"

"Remus," Lily replied simply. "He thought it was a bit strange for you two to suddenly be so close. I didn't think you were talking anymore?"

"We're not," I tried to keep my voice nonchalant. "He was just being an arse, calling me Beaver...you know, the usual."

It was kind of true. He had used that horribly irritating nickname, it's just for once it just wasn't directed at me.

At the risk of offending any water dwelling mammals, I would have sucker-punched the word beaver from the face of the earth if I could have.

She nodded, unconvinced.

"So you won't want to hear what Remus said Sirius told him about you last night then?"

"What did he tell him?" I asked a little too quickly.

Lily raised her eyebrows.

"That was too eager, Cheryl. You like him," she said definitely. "You like Sirius."

"Mori likes Sirius?" Marlene asked. "For real this time?"

An expletive rang through my head.

Lily had looked suitably guilty. Which was good, because she should have.

"Fight yer for him," Marlene grinned continuing to pull us up the stairs.

"You can have him," I replied.

.o.

When Marlene had rapped loudly on the dormitory door, we'd all waited with baited breath for an answer. I suddenly very much regretted agreeing to tag along, but as I didn't fancy a 'told you so' from Lily I stayed firmly rooted to the spot.

It seemed like an eternity before we'd heard any signs of life coming from the other side.

"Peter, get the door." It was Mike Bartinski's voice, I would recognise his arrogant lilt anywhere.

There was a scuffling noise before Mike spoke again.

"Hurry up, lard arse," he catcalled from behind the door. "Look at him, he can't even lift himself from the bed." He laughed whole-heartedly at his own gag.

"Mike," a low voice had chided.

Finally the door had cracked open and Peter's pink face emerged. His eyes widened when he saw us.

"Well? Who is it?" Mike asked impatiently, pushing Pettigrew out of the way and staring at us.

"What do you want?" he demanded.

"Where's Potter?" Marlene asked, ignoring his tone.

"Not here." Mike replied simply. "Just me, Remus and Peter."

I'd felt a peculiar sensation in my stomach at that point, but put it down to sheer relief that Black wouldn't be there.

Not willing to put up with Mike anymore, Marlene pushed the door forcefully and barged past the glowering boy.

"Hey!" he complained. "You can't just come in. Sod this, I'm going to get McGonagall."

With that he had stormed past us and jogged off down the stairs.

"Whiner," Marlene muttered, not seeming to care.

"If he's going to get McGonagall I'm out of here," Lily interjected. "I'm a Prefect, I'm supposed to be setting an example."

"He won't get her," Marlene assured. "He's all words is Mike. Besides, I bet Peter here is glad he's gone, ain't ya Petey boy?" She ruffled the smaller boy's hair patronisingly.

Peter snatched his head away, but seemed pleased to have got rid of Mike nonetheless.

"He only acts like that when James and Sirius aren't here," Remus explained, gesturing to the doorway from which Bartinski disappeared. "Like he's the next in command."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Does democracy mean nothing in boy world?"

"An-yway," Marlene interjected, apparently not giving a hoot about the delicate social politics of the male dormitory, "We've come to entertain you," she beamed. She threw her hands up in the air, "Tada!"

Remus raised an eyebrow and slowly put a bookmark in the page he had been reading.

"So, how about it?" Marlene pressed, dropping her arms back to her sides.

"Just what did you have in mind?" Remus asked carefully.

Five minutes later and the two boys were both extremely sorry Remus had ever asked.

-"I'm not wearing that!" Remus protested.

-"No!" Peter squeaked.

-"What in Merlin's right shoe is that?

-"You are not wetting my hair. I've already had a shower this morning."

-"I'm not even sure that's legal..."

By the end of it they were, the two of them, mere broken shells of their former selves.

With just Peter and Remus present it was all too easy for Marlene to do what she did best and completely railroad over them.

.o.

Peter sat in a chair in the middle of the room now, a thick layering of clownish lipstick on and around his small mouth. Dorcas hummed nonchalantly as she drew two large circles of blush on his plump cheeks.

"Put some conditioner on," Lily told me from our set up in the adjoining bathroom. She seemed considerably more relaxed what with Potter and Mike's prolonged absence.

Remus was bent over the sink in front of me waiting not so patiently for us to continue working our magic on his locks. He had already point blank refused to have any form of 'rubbish' near his face.

He had seemed more compliant about having his hair washed and treated though... and it did make a nice change from studying; Remus had ridiculously soft hair.

I couldn't imagine Black being so quick to strip and let me pour water all over him, though I tried not to linger on the image of that for too long.

"Is this going to take much longer?" Remus asked, thankfully interrupting my thoughts. I think he was still a bit miffed about the jet of freezing water down his neck.

"Beauty takes time," I assuaged him, and Lily snickered silently at my side.

Once everything had been washed out, Lily and I escorted a very relieved Remus out from the en suite. We had just made our way into the bedroom when the sound of stamping feet echoed up the staircase outside. Someone was coming.

Dorcas must've jumped a foot into the air and dropped her blusher brush, with Remus hastily ripping the fluffy piled up towel from his head.

He had gone and done it. Mike had grassed us up to old McGonagall. Each of us gaped in horror toward the doorway as it was flung violently open.

Two tall figures stood staring back at us all, but it wasn't the two we had been expecting.

"What's going on here?" Potter demanded, clearly gobsmacked.

To my horror, Black stood at his side. His eyes moved from Lily and myself to the half naked, wet haired Remus between us. He shot his friend a strange look.

Remus looked sheepish to say the least.

James tapped a large piece of parchment he had been holding with his wand and muttered something inaudible, before stuffing it into his pocket.

"I couldn't believe it when I saw... What are you all doing in here?" he stammered.

He looked at Lily like all his wishes had been granted at once.

"If you wanted a tour of my bedroom, Lily, you really should have just asked. I would have been more than willing to... Pete?" James had finally spotted his heavily rouged friend.

As if on cue, one of Peter's fake eyelashes drooped down his cheek like an escaping caterpillar.

"What in Merlin's name...? You haven't got to copy everything I do you know, mate," James said.

Black followed Potter's gaze over to Pettigrew and barked out a laugh.

"Merlin, Wormtail. Never let it be said that you can't pass as woman." He considered the chubby boy, seeming highly amused by it all. "You might even make a more attractive girl than you do a boy."

Marlene laughed aloud. "That's what I said!" she cried, clearly relieved that it had been the boys and not a stony faced teacher at the door.

"So, who's next?" she held up the eyeshadow brush, her grin devilish.

"Lily can do with me whatever she pleases," James shot back with an easy smile.

"Done," Marlene agreed.

"Erm, I don't think so-" Lily clarified.

"Don't be such a sour-puss, Lils," Marlene complained.

"Yeah Lils, don't be such a sour-puss," Black mimicked with a smirk.

"Come on, Evans," James urged. "You've always wanted to have your wicked way with me. Well now's your chance. I'll agree to anything you wanna do."

Lily's face lit up mischievously. "Anything?"

James looked a little taken aback by this but nodded quickly nonetheless.

Taking him by the arm, she dragged him over to the bed, flinging him onto it.

"Woah, not in front of everyone!" he exclaimed as he bounced down.

Lacing her fingers together, she pushed them outward, sounding out a satisfying crack.

"Let's do this then, Potter," she smiled sweetly.

Remus pulled his t-shirt back on and rubbed his hair dry with the protective towel around his shoulders, looking on as Marlene and Dorcas went back to making Peter look like the most terrifying being ever to grace the earth.

Black stood at the doorway watching amused at Lily's, frankly frightening, enthusiasm to put make-up on Potter.

I suddenly felt acutely aware we were now the only two that seemed to be unoccupied.

Walking into the bathroom as a means of getting away, I dragged out the tidying of the masses of bottles we'd used to treat Remus's hair.

Glancing in the mirror, I almost had a heart attack when I noticed Black leaning against the frame of the door.

"Hi," he said, his expression unreadable.

"Hi," I muttered, going back to clearing the bottles.

Taking a step toward me through the open door, he stepped back again once he had closed it behind him.

I glanced longingly at my only means of escape.

"This is a first for me, so I'm only going to say it once," he started, immediately peaking my interest.

I put down the conditioner tub in my hand and slowly turned around to him, taking in the unusually serious expression on his face.

Running a hand through his hair, it was as if he was preparing himself for whatever it was, taking a breath in before saying,

"I'm sorry, alright?"

It was as if it had physically cost him to say it.

I stared at him in confusion, and he breathed out tiredly.

"Please don't make this any harder for me than it already is," he shook his head. "For bullying you," he said obviously.

"For starting off the whole Beaver thing, for making you a laughing stock...for...for giving you excessive facial hair in History of Magic that one time. For everything. Now do you get it? I'm sorry."

Wow.

I opened my mouth to say something and closed it again. I genuinely had no idea what to say or how to feel.

He held up his hand.

"There is a but-"

Ah, here came the kick.

"But," he continued, "you also need to accept that not everything I do is orchestrated to embarrass you. It may have been that way when we were younger," he admitted impatiently, seeing my dubious expression, "but now, it's just a bit of fun. Seeing the effect I can have on you is addictive. After your outburst the other day I realised you're obviously not as fond of innocent flirting."

That triggered my voicebox. "Or, given our history, I can't understand what would possess you to act that way with me?" I stated.

His eyes flashed momentarily. "Regardless, what I'm trying to say is, why don't we just start over?" He made it sound like the easiest thing in the world.

I thought on it.

"Fine," I said finally. At that moment I had nothing to lose.

"Really?" he said in surprise. "I mean, good. Yes."

He seemed to collect himself, visibly relieved that his ordeal was over.

"Now," he continued, "how about a hug to seal the deal?"

His expression was a much more familiar one now, the flicker of amusement back.

I glared at him, had it all been trick to see if I would play along?

He continued to wait for me to give him a hug.

"Come on, Morland," he said, dropping his arms back to his sides. "It's one friendly hug. Just one, surely you can manage that? I'm not contagious."

I released a quiet breath, unable to believe I was actually considering it.

Maybe if I just did it the once, it would take away the fun of constantly asking me in the future. And at least no-one else was around to see it.

Conjuring up all of my bravery and trying not to show how nervous it made me, I stepped forward to hug my old tormentor.

He seemed to freeze for a second as I approached him. As if he was just as shocked as I was that I had finally given in.

Once I was close enough, his arms opened reflexively to let me in, and I put mine around him, feeling the most awkward I had ever felt in my life.

When his hands came to a rest on my shoulder blades, they were more tentative than I had been expecting compared to the confidence of his usual movements.

With both our arms now wrapped around each other, we were left standing in what would've looked like an embrace.

I took a breath in, my lower face pressed against his shoulder. He smelt worringly good, and a strange feeling started to shift inside of me in response.

It was as if neither of us dared move through fear of what might happen next.

I felt his jaw graze against the side of my head, and I could've sworn he had tilted his head to look down at me.

I would never admit it out loud, but I felt my pulse start to hum, and I prayed he could not feel it.

"Still going to convince yourself I make you feel sick?" he murmured finally, his voice travelling into my body.

The sudden rattling of the door handle made us both jump a mile. Whatever, if anything, that had passed between us was broken in that instant.

"Hey, Padfoot, you in there? Come out and see what Evans is doing to me, I need your support, mate!"

"Aw, want him to hold your hand?" Marlene's muffled voice replied.

Sirius released me almost instantly, reaching to unlock the door as if nothing had happened.

My eyes wouldn't seem to focus on their surroundings. It was the first time I had been hugged by a boy since I was in primary school.

Potter shot his friend a questioning look as I stepped out first, with Black just behind me.

As I looked around, it seemed as though everyone had stopped what they were doing to look over.

But, unlike me, Black was the master of feigning indifference.

He walked over and sat on the nearest bed.

"Wow, Prongs, you look almost as good as Clubfoot Hannah," he joked easily, seeing the long dark hair extensions Lily had given him.

He made it seem normal to lock yourself in the bathroom with a member of the opposite sex who you supposedly hated.

Getting no reaction from his friend, Potter looked over at me, as if scrutinising my glazed expression.

I saw Marlene stare between the two of us. What was her expression? Hurt? Anger? Indifference..?

"I'm going to bed." I decided, fighting away the Black-shaped fog that had descended in my head.