Rated PG-13 for: More bad words and homosexual references and all that.
-
Chapter Two: I'm Sorry, I Didn't Realize You Were Beating a Dead Horse
-
Sirius dejectedly entered the common room, and took off the invisibility cloak. Lupin, the only other occupant, was reading a book by the fire. He glanced up, and set the book on a table. "No food, Padfoot? You were gone for long enough..."
Sirius made no reply, and sank into an armchair next to the werewolf. "Moony, I'm really sorry...Flitwick was in the hallway, and I couldn't get anything." Sirius combed his hair back with his fingers, wondering how much he should tell Remus. The werewolf had a right to know what his git of a brother might be planning, but too much information would be...too much to handle.
Lupin looked over sympathetically, but it was a moment or two before he said anything. "Padfoot, are you sure that there's not something else? You seem a bit more upset about unfortunately appearing professors than usual."
"Yeah, I'm sure Moony. I'm going to bed, see you tomorrow." Sirius made a move to stand up, but Lupin grabbed his arm. "Let go of me," he said without much conviction.
"Sirius, what's wrong with you?" Lupin demanded, staring at him. Sirius did his best to avoid Remus's eyes, but eventually gave up. "You've been getting so worked up over everything lately, and I've been friends with you long enough to know when you're lying to me. So stop insulting me and tell me the truth, or have the decency to tell James and don't talk to me about Flitwick showing up in the halls."
He slumped. "Moony, I just didn't want you to know...I mean...I'm not trying to insult you, I just...I just wanted to protect you. Stupid of me, I suppose." He sank back into the armchair. "I know I shouldn't let Snivellus get on my nerves as much as he does, it's just, he's such a bastard, you know?" Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly.
Lupin let go of Sirius, but his gaze remained steady. "You don't need to protect me, Sirius. You and I both know that. I want to know what's going on, and I'd rather find out from you instead of a mutilated version from Wormtail."
Sirius looked away, unable to meet the werewolf's eyes any longer. Remus was obviously serious—he rarely addressed Sirius by his true name. He wanted to tell Lupin everything, but human rationality prevented him from doing so. The time just wasn't right. "Moony, I just need time to work this out...give me a day or two to sort this out, please Moony. If I don't tell you by Saturday night, you can nick some Veritaserum and force me to drink it."
Lupin narrowed his eyes, but nodded. "All right. I want to go into the Forest on Saturday, so you'd better tell me then, or I'll get some Slytherin to curse it out of you." Sirius nodded in acknowledgement, and turned to go upstairs.
"Oh, and Sirius?" He stopped halfway up the stairs and turned to face Lupin. "Thanks for defending me in the hallway earlier. Although I didn't think the idea of a romantic tryst with me would be so offensive." Remus grinned at the stunned look that crossed Sirius's face and turned back to the book in his lap. "Good night then."
"...Night," Sirius echoed, and climbed the rest of the stairs. He entered the dormitory and trudged towards his own four poster. "That's funny...I don't remember drawing the curtains," he mumbled to himself, and tugged them open. "BLOODY HELL!" Sirius fell backwards.
James Potter laughed hysterically, and struggled into a sitting position. "Nice night, isn't it?" he commented with a smile. "I was wondering when you'd finally get back to the room, you great dog. I have wonderful news!"
Sirius was still reeling from the shock—of both Lupin's last comment, and James. "Bloody hell, Prongs, you're going to give me a heart attack! What's the bloody news?"
James was still laughing—actually, he was on the verge of turning a lovely shade of purple, he was laughing so hard. Obviously the news really was wonderful...either that, or James had found a barrel or two of some mulled mead somewhere. James continued to grin. "Guess!" Sirius made no reply; he simply stared in stunned silence. "Oh, I'll tell you anyway. I ASKED HER!!! She said YES!!!"
"So she does stuff her robes with toilet paper to look more womanly?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow.
James growled and swiped at him. "Don't insult my girlfriend Padfoot, or I'll have your head." He sighed, resting his chin in his hands. "My girlfriend. Lily Evans is my girlfriend."
"Yes, I think we've established that, Prongs. Now would you mind getting off my bed lest Wormtail and Moony think that your girlfriend is a clever disguise?" James shook his head, but climbed off the bed anyway.
"Sirius, I sympathize with you, I really do. We'll have to find you a girl, now won't we?" He slapped Sirius on the back, his face still lit up. "Tomorrow, I'll start on a crusade, maybe Lily could set you up with one of her friends, a girl from Ravenclaw perhaps, you've already snogged all there's to be offered from Gryffindor..." James continued to ramble, as he climbed into his own bed. "Why are you laughing at me, Padfoot? I won't be the only Marauder with a girlfriend, I can't be."
Sirius forced a smile, and climbed into bed. "Oh, it's not so much that I don't have a girlfriend...my numerous mistresses must count for something...but I don't really need a girl. I've got someone in mind, though—but no one from Ravenclaw, mind you."
James snickered. "So your excuse about being up in the Astronomy Tower was actually true? Tsk, tsk, Padfoot—you are a ladies man!" Sirius took the opportunity to throw a pillow at James, who was writing "LE+JP" in shimmering gold letters with his wand as he talked. "Hey!" sputtered James, whose writing quickly became "LE+JP" followed by a rather distorted circle.
The pillow came flying back, but Sirius blocked it, and it dropped to the floor. "By the way, Prongs, your girlfriend gave me a detention earlier today for trying to hex Snivelly. Surely you could do something about that?"
"She did what?" James asked, erasing his ruined lettering with the wave of a wand. "She gave you a detention?" He glanced over, and Sirius gave the affirmative nod of a head. Maybe having Prongs date Lily wasn't such a bad idea after all. "Oh, well, I'm sure she know what she's doing, you probably deserved it, Padfoot. Lily's not Head Girl for nothing." Or maybe it was.
James fell back into the clouds, and started constructing a heart in the air. "Some friend you are, Prongs. Saying that your best friend through thick and thin deserved a detention. You know that if some Head Girl forced us to spend the night with Filch and Snape every time we broke the rules, the two of us would have run off and become pirates or something by now."
The heart shimmered, half made, as James promptly dropped his wand. "You have to spend the night with Filch? And Snivellus?" A look of utmost repulsion crossed his face. "Nobody deserves that kind of torture, Sirius. I'll talk to Lily tomorrow."
Sirius laughed. "Thanks, mate. I owe you one." He rolled over and shut his eyes, thankful to finally be able to get some sleep—or at least, turn his thoughts back to Lupin. Had the werewolf actually said that a romantic tryst wouldn't be offensive? He was so unsure of where he and Lupin stood...there were too many shades of gray in an issue that needed to be black and white. He tried to sort his thoughts out, but he was too tired—a wave of sleep rolled over him, and he was out as quickly as if he'd been hit by a Bludger.
A few minutes later, Remus Lupin climbed the stairs. He paused by Sirius's bed, wondering if his friend was awake. Lupin still wanted answers, but now was not the time. He was about to climb into his own bed, when he noticed a faint shimmering light from James's bed. He strained to make out the letters, and laughed softly to himself—obviously Hector had delivered James's poem earlier. People were such prats about love.
-
The next morning at breakfast, James was positively glowing. Peter looked at Sirius and Lupin for answers as James sat next to Lily, and presented her with a flower. The three groaned, and Sirius resisted the urge to taunt his ticket to getting out of detention. Before he even had the chance to make a comment about the two of them, though, the owl post came. A large white owl Sirius had never seen before landed in front of him, and nearly knocked over a bowl of fruit. Sirius took the letter, and his eyes widened as he read.
He got through the letter and crumpled in his fist furiously. "Stupid git...there's no way he can...I'll have his head, I will..." Sirius muttered to himself.
"Something the matter, Padfoot?" James asked, as he ate his scrambled eggs. "Who's the mail from? Another post from your mother spouting off about Pureblood pride?"
"I wish," Sirius growled. He set the letter on fire, and watched as it crumbled away to ashes. "It's from my stupid brother. Can't be seen talking face to face with me otherwise his reputation might be tarnished." He huffed angrily, and swept the ashes off the table.
"So…what did it say?" asked Lupin, the cinnamon roll on his plate temporarily forgotten. A letter from Regulus usually didn't get such a rise out of Sirius—it was usually Pureblood propaganda from their mother, and often good for a laugh or two (especially the slogans such as "Pureblood Power!" and "Pure is Pretty!").
Sirius chewed his bottom lip, and glanced at the ashes on the floor. "It's too…complicated…to explain. I need to talk to the stupid prat, or at least Snivellus. The little bastard's making up lovely little rumors now." He took a drink of pumpkin juice, and glanced over at James. "Forget about canceling my detention, mate—I'm going to talk to the greasy git tonight."
James nodded, but it was obvious he hadn't really heard. He was too focused on Lily, who was laughing in a way Sirius had never seen her laugh before. They were so cute together, it was almost nauseating. He turned back to Lupin, and tried to think of something to say—but all he could think of was the letter.
"Moony…could I borrow a quill?" asked Sirius rather loudly, as if to distract from the nauseating scene to the right. Lupin gave it to him, and Sirius tore off a scrap of parchment. Lupin saw only the words "Shove off," before the parchment was inserted to the envelope from earlier. Sirius summoned the ashes off of the floor, and poured them into the envelope as well. "Can I borrow Hector? I want to send this as soon as possible."
"Of course you can," Lupin replied, seeming rather ignorant of the lovey dovey scene taking place in from of him, or doing a tasteful job of choosing not to acknowledge it. "Just as long as you're sure he'll be all right." Sirius put a hand over his heart. "And," he added more softly, "if you'll tell me what this is really about."
"Later," Sirius murmured back. "After my detention with Snivellus tonight. I should have enough answers by then. If not, I have until our trip to the Forbidden Forest." He turned to make sure nobody was listening. James and Lily were still quite absorbed in each other, but Peter was eyeing them with what might have been curiosity. "On Saturday," he promised, and excused himself from the table.
Lupin turned to Peter, feigning a smile. "So Peter, have you finally caught up on all your essays?" He didn't particularly (and not without guilt) listen to his friend's response, too busy on pondering exactly what was going on with Sirius. Regulus had done something to get under his skin, there was no doubt about that, but exactly what that was, Remus couldn't imagine. Sighing, he zoned back in just as Peter was saying, "...you know, an 'Acceptable' really wouldn't be so bad, but he keeps insisting that I get at least an 'Exceeds Expectations'..."
"Don't worry too much, I'm sure your essays are fine," replied the werewolf. "You might not get an E, but your essays are getting better." Peter's face fell slightly at the suggestion that he might have to live with an A, but Lupin didn't notice, thanks to the fact that he was picking at his food again.
"Well, I know I probably won't get an E, but...I don't know..." he trailed off. "What's with you lately? I know helping me with homework isn't the most exciting thing, but you could at least show some interest. You helped Padfoot all night yesterday..." Peter made a variety of noises in an attempt to regain his friend's attention, and finally resorted to flicking a grape at the werewolf.
Lupin looked up, mildly surprised, and turned slightly red before answering. "I'm sorry...I know I haven't been as helpful lately, but Sirius has a lot of problems right now, and I need to help him sort them out." Lupin wanted an excuse to leave, and Peter wasn't giving any clarity on the Sirius issue. He excused himself from the table, claiming that he needed to ask Flitwick about an assignment, and left the hall.
"Well, what was that?" James asked, turning away from Lily. "Where have Sirius and Remus gone?" He looked at the half-finished breakfasts with curiosity.
Peter shrugged. "Sirius ran off to threaten his brother, and Remus ran off because he has Charms homework, I guess. Although I dunno why he would have to ask Flitwick about an assignment, he gets O's on all of the essays." Peter reached over and grabbed a biscuit from Lupin's plate.
Lily scowled, her eyebrows furrowing. "You know, there's no shame in wanting to earn 'Outstandings' on your O.W.L.s," she said. "Asking a teacher about something is the way you learn, and the more you learn, the more you'll know, and the more you know, the better you'll do on the tests. So don't be insulting poor Remus for wanting to earn high marks, just because the rest of you slack off in classes." Peter opened his mouth indignantly, but wasn't able to squeeze a protest out. "James, don't look at me like that. I know you never study for Charms." She stood up, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "I'll see you in Defense Against the Dark Arts," she snapped, and strode from the hall.
Peter and James gawked at each other for a few moments, in an attempt to process what had happened. James blinked, took a slow drink of pumpkin juice, and blinked again. "Our first fight!" he exclaimed gleefully. "I need to make it up to her now...d'you think candy would be good? Or flowers? Let's go now!"
Peter stared back in shock--James was excited about the fight? Love was strange...The best reply he could come up with was a nod, but it seemed to satisfy the lovesick boy, and he looked at his breakfast longingly as James dragged him out of the Great Hall.
-
Sirius entered the owlery, still shaking with anger. Regulus wouldn't...he couldn't! Sirius found one of the school owls, and tied the message (in all of its two worded glory) to the barn owl's leg. He had decided not to use Hector, since it might...encourage...Regulus's current beliefs. A slightly moist owl pellet fell from the rafters, and nearly fell on Sirius's head. He stomped on it, imagining it to be Snape. Bloody Slytherins.
Did they all have to be dirty slimeballs? Didn't anybody ever make it into Slytherin who wanted to help poor children in other countries? Probably not, only Purebloods ever secured a spot in that house, all the halfway decent people were sent off to Hufflepuff. He knew that they were supposed to be cunning and sly, but how was that a GOOD thing when they used to it blackmail members of their own family?
"Regulus, you bloody prat," he muttered, and shuffled out of the Owlery. As he wandered down the halls towards Defense Against the Dark Arts, he did his best to ignore any and all stares he was receiving from various girls. Normally he would stop and flirt, winking and grinning, but he really wasn't at the top of his game. This plan was ruined, however, when he was intercepted by Angelique Burrows, a beautiful Gryffindor in his grade. Once upon a time, Sirius had snogged her at the top of the Astronomy Tower and she had yet to leave him alone. "Hello Angelique," he said despairingly. "I have to get to class."
Her blue eyes widened. Sirius wished the makeup to crack and leave her huge rashes. "You? Get to class? Sirius, darling --" he cringed "-- why don't you ever want to talk to me anymore?" Her lower lip jutted out, and her eyelashes fluttered. A few years ago, Sirius would have gone crazy from such attention. Now he was just irritated about being late to class. "Don't look at me like that! You're such a good boy now. Just skip class this once, and tell them you got sick on the way."
"I think I will get sick if I stay near you," he muttered to himself, before attempting a weak (though still devastatingly charming) smile. "Sorry, darling, but Potter's gotten himself a girlfriend now, and I don't want to miss him making a fool out of himself over her." Without saying anymore, he pushed past Angelique. He had actually insulted her--in a passive-aggressive sense. Angelique's second choice had always been James--who was now, unfortunately, off limits.
Sirius entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts room, and glanced around. James and Lily were seated next to each other, with a rather large box of chocolate frogs James had gotten from who-knew-where in front of Lily. A few tables to the right was Lupin, with an empty spot next to him. Sirius sucked in a deep breath, walked over, and set down his books. "Hullo, Moony."
"Hi, Padfoot," returned the werewolf, as he laid his wand on the table. "Did Hector get the letter off all right?"
Oh hell. What was he supposed to say? "Well you see Remus, the thing is that I am madly in love with you, Snivellus thinks he found me out, and if I use your owl then I'll never hear the end of it." Yeah, he was sure that would go over well. "Actually, uh, he wasn't up in the Owlery so I just decided to use one of the school owls," Sirius said, sitting down. "That's all right, though. If Regulus recognized your bird he would probably mangle it or something."
Lupin accepted the missing owl situation without question, and Sirius let out an inward sigh of relief. "I don't understand it, Sirius. Are you sure you're not adopted?"
Sirius grimaced. "Too sure, unfortunately. My parents were only too eager to constantly remind me my first ten years of life that I had to carry on a Black tradition, that I was the eldest son, the end of the line, I had to make the family proud." He made fake gagging motions. "And now look at me. The perfect picture of everything they hate. A rule breaker, a Gryffindor, the friend of a...er...Peter." He glanced around to make sure that nobody had been listening in on their conversation. "Anyway, they've never forgiven me for being different. I'll change my last name to Potter one of these days, that'll get them worked up."
Remus Lupin chuckled. "I don't think changing your name to Potter would bother them enough, though. Evans would probably get you killed and Pettigrew just wouldn't work..." Sirius sucked in his breath, bracing himself for what was an almost inevitable response. "You'd really get them mad if you changed it to Lupin, you know." The werewolf grinned, and glanced back as the professor walked in.
Sirius was noticeably a few shades paler--had his friend meant for his last comment to hit home so well? It was almost as if Lupin was...different...over the past week or so. Was he implying...? No. Sirius stopped himself, afraid of letting himself get too deep into his thoughts Nonetheless, he was thankful he was spared from having to respond to Lupin as Professor Claddins moved to the front of the room.
"Class, today we are going to be reviewing a few counter-curses that will probably show up on your N.E.W.T.s. If anyone requires additional help, I will be..." Sirius stole a glance at Lupin, who was calmly preparing to take notes, looking as if he hadn't said anything strange.
Well he really hadn't...after all it was simply the next logical step, wasn't it? And if there was something the Remus was, it was logical. But still...he could have just agreed with Sirius, changing his last name to Potter would get it parents worked up, although admittedly not as much as Lupin. Especially if his last name was changed under certain circumstances...
Sirius promptly slammed his hand in his textbook to stop such a line of thought and hissed curse words at his desk. "Padfoot, what are you doing?" Lupin murmured out of the corner of his mouth. "If you're not careful the professor is going to pull you in front of the class as an example for not listening."
"Mr. Black, would you care to demonstrate?" Sirius felt his heart stop tap dancing. He looked nervously over at Lupin who mouthed 'disarming'. Immediately, he didn't feel quite so shaky. Expelliarmus. That was an easy one, they had learned it ages ago. He grinned, but Lupin shook his head. Oh hell...advanced disarming? He had never pulled that off once in his entire career at Hogwarts. "Mr. Black, we are waiting."
Bloody, bloody, bloody, bloody HELL! He hated advanced disarming almost as much as he hated Snape. In theory, it was simple enough, but in real life it was exceedingly difficult. It could be done in two ways: either you had to construct a fairly powerful shield charm to protect yourself from other curses (and maintain it while disarming), or in the case that an opponent also constructed a shield, you had to create a stronger one of your own to keep from disarming yourself, and hope that your shield lasted longer than theirs did. Both ways were far easier said than done.
At a lack for any bright excuses, Sirius approached the front of the room, wondering whom he would be disarming. Before he could utter the question, though, James was already standing up. "...be glad to help, Professor," he finished, stopping a few yards opposite Sirius, and raised his wand.
Sirius took a deep breath, and stole a glance at Remus, who smiled encouragingly. His reflexes snapped his attention back, though, when James uttered a spell under his breath. "Protego!" exclaimed Sirius, focusing on strengthening the shield. When he felt as if it was solid enough, he looked across at James. Apparently whatever jinx had been sent at Sirius had rebounded, forcing James to hastily construct a shield of his own. Without any more hesitation, Sirius raised his wand and yelled, "Expelliarmus!"
James's shield shattered, and he fell backwards, as his wand soared through the air. Sirius caught it, grinning boldly at his classmates applause, and then at a surprised Professor Claddins. He helped James to his feet, and returned his wand. So he could do advanced disarming after all. He mentally chalked up another 'Outstanding' N.E.W.T. James clapped him on the back, and he turned to face Lupin as they sat down. "Brilliant idea, Remus!" he whispered, as the professor called up Lily to demonstrate a Patronus.
"What idea?" Sirius murmured out of the corner of his mouth, as the professor got ready to attempt a Shadow Hex, the closest thing to a Dementor. "What idea did you have?"
"A Shadow Hex?" Lupin muttered under his breath. "I would have used a boggart." Sirius prodded him sharply with his quill. "Ouch, Padfoot! That hurt." He rubbed his arm angrily, and watched as Lily performed a nearly perfect Patronus (in the form of a cat) until Sirius got ready to jab him with the quill again. "I had James just pretend like he was preventing your attack--weak shields and all--, so that the professor couldn't try and humiliate you like he's been trying to do all year." Sirius's previous feelings of jubilation began to disappear. He couldn't even perform advanced disarming without a friend to help? How was he ever going to pass the N.E.W.T.s? "Buck up Padfoot, I'm fairly certain that even if James had really tried he would have been disarmed anyway. If it makes you feel better, I'll let you throw it at me a few times after class."
"No thanks..." muttered Sirius, still mulling over the disarming. His only bit of hope was the werewolf's comment that he probably would have been able to disarm James--Lupin never lied about things like that--and that his last attempt was definitely one of his better tries. Nonetheless, it was aggravating to some extent that Lupin seemed to feel the need to protect him. But why?
Sirius's thoughts were disrupted, though, when Lupin got out of his seat to demonstrate a particularly difficult Mirror Curse--one that would duplicate an opponent's spell and sent it back at them. It worked fairly well, though the mirrored jinx hit the desk and not the professor. Sirius felt a twinge of happiness at the fact that even Moony wasn't perfect, and he knew he couldn't stay mad at the werewolf for long, and even managed a "Nice one, Moony!" as he returned to his seat.
The rest of the class continued without much excitement, except for Peter's setting a bookshelf on fire. There was thankfully no homework, and Sirius left the class in a somewhat better mood. He walked down the hall with James and Lupin (Peter was in the hospital wing for a burn on his hand), not sure whether he should ask about how much "help" he had been given for his disarming attempt.
He didn't have to give a prompt, however, as James was talking a hundred miles a minute. "Damn, Padfoot, have you ever heard of going easy?" he asked. "I've had a headache for the past hour. Remus, were you pulling my leg when you said that Sirius needed help with advanced disarming?" Before Lupin could respond however, he was already off on another topic. Sirius smiled. Problem solved.