Unimportant Notations from the Authoress:
-Listening to the uber-cheese that is the "Total Eclipse of the Heart" song.
-Geez. It's fun to write for Lucius (who I can't bring myself to call 'Malfoy'). It's like a "How much slime can I pack in one sentence?" game. I think I'm developing a fangirl crush on him.
-James bores the hell out of me. He's not going to be even remotely interesting for thousands and thousands of words. Damn.
-As I write this, I generally skip over parts that disinterest me until I absolutely have to write them, tagging the missing parts in red letters. Lately, I find myself labeling them, "More of Sirius Making an Ass out of Himself Here" and "Insert Fangirl Swooning" and the ever popular, "Remus Angsts. And Angsts and Angsts and Angsts. Flesh It Out Before Giving the Boy a Cookie and Some Goddamn Midol."
-This portion brought to you in a 3:8 slap-per-pagebreak ratio.
Still day three, folks.
James and Peter followed Sirius to their next class – Divination. While Remus had opted for the more studious Ancient Ruins, the rest of the Marauders were all for the 'slacker class' that required nothing more than an overactive imagination and a sense of drama.
Needless to say, Sirius was the top student.
Entering the room with a flourish, Sirius conjured a mystical-looking headband from seemingly nowhere, fastened it around his forehead, and billowed out his robes before he lounged in an overly decorated chair by the fire. He was the very picture of a Seer – and judging by the flock of girls that had swarmed him as soon as he sat down, he was in top form today. He quieted them off with a wave of his hand, claiming that his inner eye was overly sensitive this morning, and loud noises or bright lights mustn't be allowed, lest they disturb him.
The cooing trimmed itself to a dull roar. Barely.
"Really, my beauties, I appreciate your attention." He gave a dramatic sigh and put a finger up to the jawbone of the nearest witch. "Alas that my heart is already bound to another, for if it were not, I would willingly become a slave to beauty such as yours."
"Oh, Sirius..."
"Sirius, tell us more..."
He smiled, seemingly able to look every girl directly in the eye at once. "Who knows, my lovelies? Maybe my true love will agree to something that would accommodate for you as well. Something...unconventional."
This was as per his normal behavior, but James (and Peter, to a lesser extent), normally joined him. Today, however, James and Peter were too wrapped up in their own conversation to notice this display of talent. The initial glee of a well-done prank had infected both of them, and they'd been celebrating since breakfast.
The two settled together at a table, as James proclaimed in a hushed whisper, "They'll be together by sunset!"
Peter laughed and rolled his eyes. "Not if Sirius keeps this up. You know how much Remus hates public displays." Peter put a pensive finger to his chin. "Actually, when Padfoot went after him this morning, he looked like...like..."
"Like he was going to explode? Like something had actually managed to overwhelm that oversized brain of his?" James sighed. "Yeah. It was amazing, wasn't it?"
"Definitely a first," agreed Peter. He hesitated; afraid he'd been left out of a loop again. "Say, did you even know Padfoot was going to pull that off?"
James shrugged. "No, but I'm not really surprised. I think this spell's completely taken over his mind."
Peter bit his lip. "I'm kind of surprised the spell's not illegal. Isn't it like Imperio if it's controlling his thoughts like that?"
"I never thought of it that way." James shrugged and looked thoroughly unconcerned. "But really, are they going to put the recipe for a potion like that in normal books for students?"
Peter gave him a patronizing look. "They put all the Unforgiveables in our textbooks, Prongs."
"Yeah, but those are the Unforgiveables. The name alone is going to warn people off."
Peter was starting to look uneasy. "Maybe we should take it off anyway. I mean, it's proved the point, right? We know Sirius is in love with Remus –"
"Nah-ah," said James, waggling a finger. "It hasn't proved its point until we know whether or not that love is reciprocated. I say we leave it on until the very end."
"James, that could be really dangerous. What happens if the potion's effects become permanent?"
"Then we're stuck with a Sirius that's slightly more theatrical than we're used to." James dug his textbook out – not that they'd ever so much as cracked open the tome for Divination, but it was still a crucial part of their 'Studious Pupil' ruse. "Really, Pete – nothing's going to happen. Don't worry about it."
Peter sighed, tired of fighting James. "Fine. But I can't help feeling something's going to go wrong."
James made an overdramatic dispelling motion with his hands at Peter's last words. "Peter! What have we said about jinxing things before they even happen?!? You could have ruined the whole thing just like that!"
"James, you don't honestly believe, that do you? I mean –"
Crash!
The door nearest to them slammed wide open, causing everyone in the room (save Sirius and his fangirls) to jump in momentary fright. An irate female voice rang out over the entire classroom. "Sirius Black, you intolerable bastard! What did you do?!"
James rounded on Peter. "See! Do you see what you did?" Peter made a shushing noise, then gestured for James to shut up and watch.
The girls around Sirius parted in waves, leaving a smiling Sirius in view. "Lacy, darling, how can I help you?" he purred.
James and Peter winced, knowing that while Sirius was amazingly gifted for getting himself into the arms of a girl when she was amiable, he was positively horrid at getting himself out of situations such as these. His track record was less than admirable simply because a raging girl was impossible to placate when in this sort of wrathful mood, and Sirius had no talent at recognizing the trouble he was in. James had gleaned the recognition only from his numerous encounters with Lily, while Peter had always possessed it because of his extraordinary amount of tact.
Lacy was Sirius' last 'girlfriend' – or as close as any girl got to being permanently attached to Sirius Black. She was exactly the sort that he chased after – a small waist, pretty, blonde hair, not one ounce of pureblood in her, and just enough of a tramp to make it an easy thrillride, no effort required. Sirius had spent an illegal evening in Hogsmeade just last week engaging in activities that were probably only semi-legal by any standards of the law and fully irredeemable by anyone's moral compass.
She was, all-in-all, what Sirius deemed, "An easy fuck." Remus usually hit him over the head with the nearest reachable object whenever he said as much, telling him to stop classifying perfectly nice girls in such horrendous ways.
That didn't make it any less true.
However, she seemed slightly more vengeful than what the Marauders were used to dealing with. Sure, Sirius had gotten himself into plenty of scrapes regarding the women he dated – but then, they all had; even Remus and Peter had. Lacy, however, was the first to come after them in class – the revenge tactics used by Marauder abused women usually came to fruition in the dorm rooms, not the classroom.
"You bastard! How could you do this to me? How could you dump me for – for a guy? This is horrible, you monster!" Her voice was rising in pitch and volume as she screamed at him.
Sirius rose from his chair in the same graceful manner as he had landed in it, saying, "Now, really, Lacy. There's no need to overreact."
"I am not overreacting, you perverted man-whore!"
Sirius' eyebrows jumped up. "I beg your pardon?"
Her eyes flashed and she took three quick strides towards him. "You're dead to me, Black. I hope you rot in hell," she spat. "As a matter of fact, you will rot in hell – along with your damn lover!"
Sirius' face had gone from surprise and shock to pure anger in a matter of seconds. He stood up, fists clenched, but wasn't quick enough to dodge the ringing slap she deposited on his face. "And don't you come near me again!" she yelled, storming quickly from the room.
Sirius' harem swarmed around him, giving words of sympathy and revenge as he lifted his hand gingerly to his cheek. A small amount of blood came away from his hand, and he stared at it in morbid fascination. Gradually, a smile came to his face. "Well," he said slowly, "I guess that makes me completely free then, doesn't it?"
By nature, Lucius Malfoy was the epitome of a Slytherin. He was the crème-de-la-crème of the wizarding world – not the nouveau riche, but old money that came with power, authority, culture, and sophistication. It wasn't that he had pledged himself into the services of Voldemort – though a noble pursuit, that was just the icing on the cake, and certainly not a requirement of the Slytherin House. He was smart – centuries of what some imbeciles would call 'inbreeding' had not lessened the sharp blade of his mind. He was always calm and collected – to show any of the weaker emotions – rage, embarrassment, or undying loyalty – was to show weakness itself. He believed in patient, calculated revenge – anything rash in this area tended to not only brand one as a Gryffindor, but cause unforeseen errors that were fatal in the future. Most importantly, he always came out on top – and that was mostly thanks to his almost eerie sense of observation.
Though he was a seventh year, he had taken a habit of observing the Potions classes when he had a free period, both to ingratiate himself to Slughorn and watch what occurred. Working in teams to create a potion tended to bring up factions among the students that would otherwise be invisible – and the material he gleaned from his observations was often invaluable. Today in Potions, a class that held both Slytherins and Gryffindors, his observational skills were trying to tell him something; it was just a question of what.
He looked around the room – the pairings were easy enough to identify. Slughorn, currently absent from the class, had a habit of pairing the troublemakers with other troublemakers and romantic couples together simply because, in this fashion, they wouldn't hurt the ambitions of others. In this way, he remained popular with both the troublemakers and those of them that were actually in the room to further their knowledge.
He watched as Snape and Avery added the last of the ingredients to their potion – they were well ahead of the class, no doubt thanks to Snape's prowess in the subject. Lily Evans and her friend, Alice soon-to-be-Longbottom, glared at them – obviously jealous that they had finished first. Lucius felt a bit of pride in his house for besting the unworthy Mudblooded, and continued his surveillance.
James Potter, as per usual, was busy staring Evans behind her back. The man might've actually been decent at Potions, if he'd get his act together and stop staring at a girl who obviously didn't care whether he lived or died. The Potters, a family just as high on the social ranking as his own, were always considered to be the 'eccentric' group – their delving into the concept of equality between Mudbloods, half-bloods and Pure-bloods making them something of a laughingstock. They only managed to maintain their dignity through a series of complex dealings that Lucius was sure the newest generation of Potter wasn't even aware of yet.
No matter. When the time comes, they'll either right themselves or be destroyed with the rest of the filth.
Next to Potter was Sirius Black – obvious traitor of high society. He should have been Lucius' ultimate ally – their bloodlines were impeccable, their wit and resourcefulness unmatched, their families aligned through generations of alliances and business proposals. Nevertheless, something had clearly gone wrong – whether by fault of parent or child, he wasn't certain. Between his infamous cohorts and blatant disrespect for the Noble Slytherin House, Lucius wondered why Black's parents were still funding his expenditures.
Obviously, something had happened this morning – the whole school was buzzing about "The Kiss that Froze Hogwarts" – and many claimed to have seen it coming. Three hours past the actual event, and it was well-established, reasonably well-accepted fact that Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were dating. The gossipmongers had officially deemed it 'old news'.
Lucius wasn't so sure. He'd seen the look on Lupin's face that morning, directly after the kiss, and it was not a look of familiarity. It wasn't even the look of acceptance.
He could really only describe it as the look of a raped virgin.
It was that look that really bothered him – not in some sort of touchy-feely, concern-for-another-human-being sort of way, but for the fact that it simply didn't fit. If Black and Lupin were such a steadfast couple – a couple of any sort – Lupin's reaction should have been less alien no matter how much he abhorred public displays. Lucius had been desperately trying to add up the pieces, but nothing quite fit.
So he continued his study.
Three cauldrons away (Slughorn was not compliant enough to put all the troublemakers in one area of the room together) was the second half of that morning's equation – Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Peter Pettigrew – a man of seemingly no importance, yet there was something about him that struck Lucius as familiar. When he tried to put a finger on it, he consistently came up with a mental image of a houself. Powerful, but always in search of a master to guide that power.
Remus Lupin – he was the most interesting one of this group, next to Black. Yes, he was a half-breed, and thereby inconsequential, and Lucius kept that in full account. But behind Lupin's quiet eyes and a peaceful disposition, Lucius had occasionally had caught sight of something more base, more animalistic that showed itself at rare intervals. He believed Snape had uncovered a breakthrough in that area, but had unfortunately been bound to secrecy by the overly controlling Headmaster.
None of this was what normally concerned Lucius during this class period. What concerned him on a normal basis – and today as well – was that Lupin was less than twenty feet from his person, and adding ingredients that weren't even listed on the chart.
Here we go again.
Lucius had noticed that this was a habit of Lupin's – instead of working from instructions, Lupin was purely a theory person. It served well in other classes, as it was paired with an astonishing intelligence – in theory, if you threw a ball of fire at a wood-based nymph, you'd defeated it. That was simple and understandable. Potions, however, was not governed by theoretical means. In theory, adding green plants and what were essentially three types of salt together at a boil should not yield a bright blue substance.
But it did.
Since Lupin worked off theory, he tended to add what he thought would work in a theoretical basis rather than following directions. Blue pixie scales, a lower boiling temperature – things that the Potion warned against explicitly. Lupin thought too much, and more often than not this lead to an explosive event with disastrous effects.
He watched warily as Lupin's cauldron boiled up and over the sides in an electrifying red colour as both boys had their backs turned. Remembering an unfortunate explosion that had occurred just last week, Lucius cast a quick Protego spell to keep himself from being hit by the inevitable blast. 'Boiled alive' was simply not his look.
Sitting back and crossing his arms, he was confident enough in his Protego spell to feel comfortable watching the impending chaos. Leaning in Slughorn's desk almost made him feel...responsible for the matter at hand.
Dear me, he thought, his mind's voice taking on his infamous drawl, I seem to have made a joke at my own expense.
Eventually, Black looked up and came to the same conclusion he had. Black's actions, however, were a world away from his own.
His eyes widened, and he immediately dropped the knife he was holding – luckily not dropping it into his own foot – and let out a sharp cry of, "Remus!" in a tone that Lucius had not known he'd possessed.
If Lucius didn't know better, he'd have said it was panic.
He and Black had been trained, cultivated since childhood by the very same standards. Even though Black had obviously renounced his pureblood rights, eleven years of pureblood schooling had taken an effect, and Black was never visibly out of his element. Yes, he was excitable, hyperactive even, but he was never flustered – and certainly never publicly worried over another's well-being.
Black's cry turned the heads of many in the room – and most people ducked when they saw the state of Lupin's potion. Lupin himself turned around and looked honestly surprised that something had gone wrong. Lucius didn't see how he could have not seen it coming, but that was not the point at hand in this matter. What mattered was that Black was now charging for Lupin, arms outstretched and magical abilities apparently forgotten, as the cauldron exploded in slow motion.
He watched in disinterest as, still in slow motion, the potion hit, stuck to his own protective shield, and drenched the other students. It wasn't just the explosion, though – everything slowed down. Lucius thought at first that his mind was playing tricks on him, but some outside force had literally slowed time – the clock, the explosion, even his own heartbeat.
Something was not right.
Overall, it made for an extremely dramatic scene as Black dove towards Lupin, using his own body to shield his friend from the blast. Black landed directly on top of Lupin, his face not sporting the cheerful superiority that Lucius had expected, but rather full of grave concern. This was not the spontaneous Black that he was used to observing.
Clearly, Lupin was surprised as well – though Lucius allowed that it might have been because he'd just been tackled to the ground by a goo-covered human body. Pettigrew, who had been hit by a full dose of the blast, moved towards Potter to clean himself off as the rest of the students muttered angrily, grabbing rags and wands to repair the damage. It occurred to Lucius that he might be the only one to fully witness this, besides the members of the tight knit little group.
He expected Black to quickly disentangle himself from the other boy, embarrassed by the position, or for Lupin to push him off. Lucius found himself being proved wrong one again, however, as Black didn't remove himself from atop Lupin, and instead grabbed the collar of the other boy's shirt.
I must be losing my touch.
"Remus! Remus, speak to me! Are you alright?" The panicked tone in Black's voice sounded fake, even to Lucius. No, not fake, thought Lucius. That's real emotion. But it's wrong, somehow. Misplaced? Unintentional? Forced?
Lupin looked perturbed, but still blushed a deep crimson. Isn't that interesting? "Get off," he said coldly, trying without success to dislodge the larger boy from the odd position on his stomach.
"Don't scare me like that! You could have died! If you died, Remus, do you know what I'd do? I'd die along with you! I'd follow you to the depths of hell, to the ends of the Earth, Remus!" He placed a hand on his heart, still pinning Lupin to the floor. "I swear I'll never leave you!"
Lupin's face was regaining the same panicked look Lucius had observed at breakfast. "Sirius, get off of me. Right now."
Lucius saw Black look down at Lupin, completely ignoring his last request, and time slowed down further than the first time – he felt it. The heat of the room was oppressive, stifling, and he could hear the breathing of the two boys, but no one else's. Not even his own. Not even the conversations of the disgruntled students were audible at this point.
Eyes shining – they were actually shining, observed Lucius, with an odd glow coming from the irises if one looked closely enough (perhaps an odd side-effect of the botched potion?) – Black put a careful finger under the other boy's chin, tilting it upwards. Lupin squirmed, biting his lip, but didn't make much of an effort to get away as closed the distance between them and captured the brunette's lips in a soft and gentle-looking kiss.
Oh, for the bloody love of Merlin. Didn't they already do enough of this at breakfast?
But Lucius continued to watch.
Lupin looked as though he were actually enjoying the kiss, relaxing into it and ignoring the fact that they were in the Potions dungeon, of all places.
But then his fists clenched against the stone floor – a warning sign if Lucius had ever seen one. Lupin broke the contact between them, holding Black's gaze for a full two seconds before letting loose a backhanded strike that landed with a sharp crack against the other's cheekbone. The sound reverberated around the room – actually reverberated, and it wasn't Lucius' mind playing tricks on him, he was sure of it.
He slapped him?
That attracted the room's attention back – and each one of them saw the startled look on Black's face, the look of cold fury on Lupin's. Lupin, with an air of purpose – not fury, not embarrassment – removed himself from underneath Black, gathered his things and strode out of the room, nearly colliding with the returning Professor Slughorn on his way out.
Slughorn took one look about the room, taking in the mass of red potion spattering the walls and desks. "I see we've had another incident," he proclaimed loudly. "So I suppose we'll just have to end early." A flurry of activity greeted these words – students rushing to evacuate the room before he changed his mind, cleaning and gathering materials as they went.
Lucius stayed where he was, watching the people in the back of the room intently as Slughorn shuffled into his office. Black rose slowly from his position on the floor, as though thoroughly shocked. However, he quickly regained momentum and rushed out of the room as quickly as Lupin had before him.
Pettigrew and Potter remained, and in usual Gryffindor fashion paid no attention whatsoever to a looker-on. "James, really, I think we ought to give him the antidote now. At this rate –"
"Peter, honestly. They're just going through a bit of a rough patch. The rising action of the story and all that. It's nothing to be worried about!"
Lucius swore that Pettigrew's eyeballs nearly bugged out of his skull. "Sirius has been slapped twice in one day! That's not right – not when he didn't even cause it!"
They passed by Lucius, their things gathered and slung around their shoulders. "Relax, Peter. If he gets into too much trouble, I swear I'll take the fall for it. Besides, the potion can't take too much longer to run it's course, can it?"
Lucius saw Pettigrew shift uncomfortably – how he could manage that while still walking was quite beyond him, but the boy managed. "How long does it take you to read a novel, James?"
"Between classes? A month, maybe. Why?"
"I'm thinking it could be at least that long until we have our normal Sirius back. Remus isn't going to take this lying down, if he can help it. You know him. He's going to fight whatever Sirius throws at him, especially since he doesn't know what's going on."
Potter's voice sounded joking. "He doesn't have to. Sirius could be the one lying down – I don't think it's a real particular thing."
"James! Don't make jokes like that!"
Their bickering continued around the corner, but Lucius had gotten all the information he needed. He just wanted to check one more piece of information – and that information would only come from Slughorn himself.
"Sir?" he called, hoping the man would come out of his office.
He did, waddling amongst a ream of disorganized papers. "Ah, yes, Mister Malfoy. What can I help you with?"
"What do you make of this potion, sir? Would it affect someone greatly?"
Slughorn raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you think I would have let these students out of the room if I thought it would harm them in any way?"
Yes, thought Lucius, but kept it to himself. "So there would be no adverse affects, sir?"
"No," said Slughorn, "When this potion turns red, it means you officially have a dud."
"Thank you, sir," he replied. "Thank you very much."
Fact One: Sirius Black had sexually assaulted Remus Lupin twice in one day, claiming to identify him as his "True Love".
Fact Two: James Potter and Peter Pettigrew referred to a potion placed on Sirius Black.
Fact Three: Potion mentioned by James Potter and Peter Pettigrew seems to have control of time, space, and Sirius Black's actions.
Fact Four: According to James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, said potion had sexual implications.
Fact Five: Sirius Black was not influenced by any potion from the potions lab.
Fact Six: According to James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, said potion is unknown to Remus Lupin.
Fact Seven: James Potter and Peter Pettigrew mentioned 'novel' romance in regard to potion.
Opinion One: Remus Lupin has never agreed to be Sirius Black's "True Love".
Opinion Two: Remus Lupin is not particularly adverse to the idea of being Sirius Black's "True Love".
Opinion Three: Remus Lupin is hiding more than one unknown secret.
Conclusion: Lucius Malfoy had a lot of work to do – a lot of work that required a lot of lackeys.
He believed he'd start by recruiting one Severus Snape, who seemed to know a bit more than he should about one Remus Lupin.
Lily Evans had immediately gone out of the Potions room – Professor Slughorn had a habit of wanting to speak to her every time he had an extra minute, whether she was running on a schedule or not. Therefore, in order to escape, she'd simply ducked out the door and leaned against the wall, waiting for James and Peter, hoping she'd get a chance to talk to them.
What she heard as she was waiting made her heart ache for Remus. Why are boys so careless? What gives them the right to control others like this, against their own will, without their knowledge?
It's barbaric!
Not that she had really expected anything different out of Potter. He had been toning the pranks down, just like Remus said – but if this was the activity he'd traded them in for...?
Well, she'd rather have the old Potter back, thank-you-very-much. Pranks and all. But at least she knew that Remus had been right – James and Peter had a very heavy hand in this scenario.
The one and only score for Marauder intuition.
Peter and James finally appeared at the doorway, they both immediately noticed Lily – her head of flaming hair had always made it rather difficult to conceal herself in a crowd. Neither one seemed to have any idea that she'd been listening, but they stopped their line of conversation nonetheless.
Lily saw the signs – the infuriating smirk, the hand that immediately went up to muss his hair – as Potter opened his mouth to yet again ask her out in his uncouth and unrelenting manner. However, she was once again powerless to stop it. "Say, Evans," he drawled, "Whaddya say to a date with me this weekend?"
"No, Potter," she spat at him, and all thoughts of a peaceful conversation concerning Remus' well-being flew out the window. "Get away from me!"
He tilted his head to the side – Bet he learned that from Black – and ran his hand through his hair again, as if it would actually make her think he was desirable. "Aw, come on Evans. We could head to the Shrieking Shack and," he widened that damn smirk that she swore she'd smack off his face, "see who's afraid of the dark."
That does it, she thought. She whisked her wand from her pocket and dug the tip into the underside of his jaw. "What part of 'get away from me' do you not understand, Potter? I'm not interested."
"Oh, but I think you are, Evans. I can see it in your eyes."
She felt her teeth clench, and quickly took a leaf out of Remus' book, slapping Potter as hard across the face as she could. Feeling rather satisfied as she felt her nails rip across his cheekbone, she whirled around and paced away as quickly as she could muster, red curls bouncing merrily behind her.
Sorry, Remus, she said silently. I swear I'll talk to him when don't feel like eviscerating his manhood.
She almost snorted. Like that'll ever happen.
Remus didn't stop running until he reached the dorm room, adrenaline taking over his thought processes. He collapsed against the back of the door, breathing hard. Why did I push him away?
Isn't this what I wanted?
Not knowing the answer, he made his way to the dorm's bathroom, making sure to lock the door behind him. Filling a tub with steaming hot water as he divulged himself of clothing, he caught a glimpse of his scars in the mirror. Remus had a vain, love-hate relationship with the scars that criss-crossed his body. They reminded him of the wolf every time he looked at them, it was true. But they weren't all that horrible – they provided him with an excuse to have Sirius gently rub antibiotics into his spine and forearms during each moon. It had become an almost therapeutic session for the both of them – a time of quiet peacefulness that Remus had seen as deeply intimate since Sirius had forcibly taken the job from Madame Pomfrey. That had been after the accident in Fifth year, and it seemed to Remus that it had been Sirius' way of apologizing.
Well, it worked.
Remus slipped into the hot water, hissing as it hit his sore muscles. He had, by now, officially decided that this had been the day from hell – who knew what tomorrow would bring?
Two kisses...
But the fact of the matter was, neither kiss had felt right. Remus wasn't one to put too much stock in imagination's parallels to reality, but he'd imagined a kiss from Sirius to be...different. This had been wrong – too driven, too forced – and it made him wonder whether Sirius had simply been making fun of him.
I don't see how he could have been joking, though, he said to himself, seeing as he doesn't know I like him in the first place. Lily wouldn't have told him, and she's the only one who could've guessed.
Taking a deep breath, he submerged himself past his eyeballs. Something's wrong with Sirius – he should know better. He knows I hate being the center of attention, and he completely disregarded that today. Twice.
I've no wish to be publicly assaulted on a Potion's room floor. He knows that. Or he should.
Shouldn't he?
It wasn't as though Remus had ever explicitly told Sirius "Please don't attempt to have sexual intercourse with me in a Potion's dungeon," but he had rather thought it was an implied rule. Sirius, however, never played by any rules – implied or otherwise.
What am I going to do?
He couldn't let this continue until tomorrow. He could, of course, hope that the sharp slap across the face had gotten through Sirius' thick skull. He doubted it, however, and his panic increased at the thought of a repeat of today's antics.
I can't believe everyone else believed it, either.
Sirius' announcement of their 'undying love' had gone over well – a little too well. There had been no questions from the student populace, only a few catcalls as he passed down the hallways. What disturbed him most, however, was the lack of questions from the other two Marauders. Both Peter and James had merely accepted it without a confirmation from Remus – just Sirius' outlandish antics.
They must have been part of it, then.
If they weren't questioning it, they must have known beforehand. They must have found out, somehow, that he was attracted to Sirius. And then they'd shared it with Sirius – that was the part that got him.
Maybe it was Sirius who found out? And then shared it with James and Peter?
Either way, the scruples of the other Marauders were worse than he'd thought. Why had they taken such action against him – making Sirius go after Remus, embarrassing him in such a way? They just wouldn't do that.
Unless they hate me for it.
He'd seen them exploit students for less. Yes, they'd accepted him as a werewolf – but really, it seemed almost as though that was more of a source of adventure for them than anything serious. They'd become Animagus to help him out, yes, but he was sure that the thrill of breaking such high rules hadn't been much in the way of a deterrent, either. The sense of adventure had just served to egg them on, and there was no thrill in having a poofter in their midst.
Great. Just great.
The heat was getting to him, surely. He felt a tear slide, unbidden, from his left eye. Before he had time to ridicule himself for being such a girl, he heard the door bang open.
"Remus! Remus, are you here?"
He angrily wiped the tear away, shouting, "Go away, Sirius!"
Footfalls, stepping quickly to the door. He thanked the stars that he'd remember to push the lock over as Sirius rattled the door. "Remus! Remus, my love, let me in! Talk to me!"
There. That was it, right there. He'd heard Sirius say, 'my love' to half a hundred girls before, but the words had never been that hollow, that empty. That wasn't Sirius' emotions talking.
He really is just trying to hurt me.
He punched the nearby wall in anger, part of the scarlet paint chipping off. "I'm not speaking to you, Sirius Black, so you might as well just bugger off, d'you hear me? Get out!" Groaning slightly, he slid out of the tub and reached for his robes, knowing full well that Sirius was still on the other side. Taking the wand out of his pocket, he cast a quick charm before his 'friend' thought to Alohomora the lock.
Sure enough, as soon as he said the spell, Sirius' Alohomora echoed it. He heard Sirius swear, then footsteps on the wooden floor. Relaxing a little bit, Remus thought Sirius might be actually leaving.
Wisdom was not his strong suit today. The door was blasted off its hinges in no time at all, leaving wooden splinters all over the tiling.
It also left a very naked Remus standing in front of a very determined Sirius. Sirius seemed completely oblivious of this – which seemed odd to Remus on so many levels, he didn't bother counting.
Blushing madly, he grabbed a towel and quickly wrapped it around his waist as Sirius advanced towards him. "Remus, please, can we just talk?"
"No!" Remus felt a certain amount of rage welling in him – how dare Sirius just invade his privacy like this? It wasn't right, it wasn't fair – and he just wanted some peace and quiet.
The only way to achieve that particular goal was to get rid of Sirius.
"Remus, darling, don't be so..." Sirius stopped his sentence as he saw Remus advancing on him with a wand. "Remus, be reasonable, I –"
"IMPEDIMENTA!"
Remus watched almost impassively as his friend hit the ground with a dull 'thud'. Not in the mood to rennervate him and check for damage, Remus quickly dressed and strode out of the bathroom. Grabbing a quill, he quickly wrote a letter on a spare piece of parchment.
"I'll be sleeping with Lily tonight. Remus."
He threw it on Sirius' unconscious body, assuming James and Peter would find him later.
Additionally not caring how the letter sounded, he grabbed James' broom – if this was his fault, he deserved it, and if it wasn't, Remus would apologize – he flew down the stairs to the Common Room, abruptly turning his pathway to lead him up the girls' staircase. He'd noticed that it would only half-heartedly try to repel him, as opposed to other boys, and had used this as a way in to visit Lily on countless occasions. It threw picture frames at James when he'd tried it – same for Sirius and Peter – so it remained only Remus' method of entrance.
His thoughts were vicious as he kicked open the door of the Sixth Year Girls' dorm from atop the broom. Is that because I'm a bloody poofter, too?
Lily, of all unlucky things, wasn't even there. An irrational part of his mind maintained that she should be here; she needed to be here, because he willed it to be so. He felt his body heat up again, and the tears welled in his eyes as he collapsed onto her bed.
He lay there until sleep overtook him, broom clattering next to Lily's nightstand as a storm brewed outside.
May I register my shock that I'm on more Author Alert lists than I have reviews for?
Scary stuff, people.