Remus Lupin cast a backwards look to the closing Infirmary door and the present source of his discomfort. Sirius Black tugged on the sleeve of his robe, Remus's robe, and together they made their way to the Great Hall. It was nearing 7 AM; they would have to make an appearance soon.
"What do you reckon?" Sirius asked, nodding as a couple of half-clothed Ravenclaws walked past them. "About the girl?"
"What is there to know?" Remus answered. He was afraid of where this conversation was heading.
"Don't be thick, Moony. I know about the girl."
"Does everyone know?" Remus sighed, exasperated. "Is there no such thing as privacy?"
"Not for us." Sirius said, his voice nearly a growl. "You should know that by now."
Remus glared sullenly into space. "I should." He muttered. "I'm a selfish person." He said suddenly, flashing puppy-dog eyes at Sirius.
"Ha!" Sirius' sharp laugh resounded loudly through the early morning quiet that perforated the halls. "You have every right to be, more so than most, actually." He draped an arm over Remus' shoulder, pulling him close. "And you have every right to remain being a blithering idiot, but if you want to continue wooing your lady love you're going to need some professional assistance."
Remus glanced up at Sirius, considering his words. "Would you..?"
"I would love to." Sirius beamed. "But, you're going to have to trust me."
"I do trust you," Remus answered, his voice wavering. "But this isn't going to be another one of your crazy schemes, is it?"
Sirius grinned as he opened the doors to the great hall then, deftly, punched Remus square in the jaw.
There was a moment of hesitance. Remus was acutely aware of the focused concentration of at least a hundred students, not to mention the Headmaster and associated staff of Hogwarts. He took a deep breath, smiled a vicious smile, and tackled Sirius to the floor.
There was a small scuffle – Sirius, being both bigger and stronger than Remus, had him easily pinned down within moments. The staff, realizing what was going on, gathered around and attempted to pry them apart, but it wasn't until McGonagall broke through the struggling mess of arms and legs, her wand held aloft, that they managed to separate them.
"What is the meaning of this?" She demanded. Remus glared at Sirius who, despite his heaving chest, seemed to be having the time of his life.
"Just settling a minor dispute Professor," he grinned. He nudged Remus who, despite his better judgment, nodded.
"Well it's detention for the both of you." She stated simply. "Tonight, in my office."
"Not lines again!" Sirius groaned.
"Lines." She sniffed haughtily and returned to the Staff Table, failing to see Sirius' grin.
"What was that for?" Remus frowned as they made their way over to James and Peter.
"The punch or the lines bit?"
"Both." Remus rubbed at his shoulder; he tackling Sirius was the human equivalent of a puppy tackling a friendly – but still quite large – bear. Not to mention the fact that he was still sore from his transformation a few days ago. "You know I hate lines."
Sirius grinned. "But I don't."
They sat down opposite James and Peter, the latter of whom almost instantly jumped up and ran out of the room. It hadn't occurred to Remus before, but it was obvious that James had sent Sirius, and now Peter, to make sure he stayed out of the infirmary.
He scowled into his plate. Never before had breakfast looked so unappetizing to him.
Across the way, James was watching Remus carefully. He had sent Peter to the infirmary to watch over the girl but if his not-so-secret plan to separate Remus from the girl was going to work, Remus needed to play along. Unfortunately, he didn't seem in the mood.
"Whatssa matter, Prongs?" Sirius asked through a mouthful of porridge. "Aren't you gonna go visit your girlfriend today?"
Remus choked on his toast – James continued chewing his bacon, thoughtfully.
"She's not – " Remus sputtered, reaching for a goblet of orange juice. "She isn't your-"
Sirius clapped him soundly on the back, knocking the goblet out of his hands and through the air directly towards James.
"Evanesco." James muttered, flicking his wand casually. "I suppose it would be proper to make an appearance."
"But…but – " Remus coughed. He reached for the nearest goblet to him, which just so happened to belong to Sirius, and quickly brought it to his mouth.
"You can't –" He started choking again as the liquid burned its way down his throat. "You have Firewhiskey for breakfast?" He gasped, glaring at Sirius.
"I have Firewhiskey at every meal." Sirius shrugged.
Remus growled at him.
"Well, if no one has any objections then it's decided. I'll visit her during Potions." James said smartly.
"You don't take Potions." Remus pointed out.
"No. But you do." He smiled angelically and Remus felt he had no choice but to drop the subject. He fished around for another goblet, Sirius smiling brightly next to him.
"Hoping for a little privacy, eh Prongs?"
James pretended to look affronted. "A gentleman never tells." He scoffed.
Sirius' sharp laugh cut through the tension and soon a warm atmosphere settled throughout the hall. Sirius and James started cracking jokes, delighting everyone within earshot. Remus' mood lifted, despite himself, and he sat meekly, listening to their playful banter as he took small sips of his orange juice.
James knew Remus hated to skip class unless it was for health reasons; every month Remus was conspicuously absent for three to five days and he felt that that set him back enough. He was not about to skip class just to supervise his best mate and his secret girlfriend making idle conversation.
What did he have to worry about anyway?
Remus cast a sideways glance at James who was busy retelling the story of how he had single-handedly managed to get broomsticks banned for all first-years. The crowd around him (and it was definitely a large enough group of people to be classified as a crowd) was so in awe of his story that they didn't even notice as Sirius started making snow lightly dust their section of the Gryffindor table.
There was just something about James that drew people to him and it was this same quality that made Remus forgive him again and again for ruining his relationships. All of them secret, all of them failures. In the end, Remus knew that was best but he couldn't stop himself from wishing he could have just one normal relationship before he was out of Hogwarts. Before the Ministry demanded he make public his condition.
But with the war going on, it seemed like things would only get worse from –
Remus was struck, suddenly, by a large snowball.
"What was that for?" He demanded, wiping the sludge off his face.
"You had your worry face on," Sirius grinned. The crowd had finally noticed the snow and many were seen making miniature snowmen on the tabletop. "I thought it would help take your mind off of…whatever."
Remus grabbed a handful of snow and stuck it down the front of Sirius' robes. "That was cold." He chuckled.
Sirius shook his head, holding up a hard-boiled egg. "No, it was fowl."
"You are both awful." James frowned. He nodded at Sirius. "Aren't you going to get that stuff out of your robes?"
"I radiate heat." Sirius said, matter-of-factly. "It's already evaporated. Watch this." He held his hand out to the snow still on the table and it melted away almost instantly.
"Clever. A specialized dissipating frost charm?" Remus asked.
"No, it's a dedicated frost vanishing charm." James answered.
"You're both wrong." Sirius said, standing up. "I just made it so that when I touch it, the snow melts."
Remus rolled his eyes and James laughed. Other than Peter's absence, this was a perfect moment – a clear reminder of why Remus put up with the marauders.
So here is the latest chapter - a bit different from the standard. I'd like to apologize for posting so late; I had been hoping to post a chapter every week but things are busy for me right now, hence the short (and sub-par) chapter. Things will be back to normal (hopefully) after the holidays, so it will definitely be at least a month before the next chapter but I'm hoping to get a filler going so I can post once a week after that.
Many thanks to every single one of you who has reviewed. I wish I could personally respond to you but I am dreadfully lost on this website and have no idea how to do that. :/ I do have a tumblr; it's empty right now, but I'm thinking of filling it with all the stuff in my headcanon so if you would like to ask questions about the fic, or me, or just be friends you can look me up there. I'm at sidlicide[dot]tumblr[dot]com.
Thanks for sticking with me through these last five chapters, here's looking at (at least) five more!