Made for Mischief
Theme #17: Mischief

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It was only his first year and already Sirius knew he was destined to be a troublemaker. Not only was he in the Gryffindor house, a fact that sent his psychotic mother into fits, but he was teamed up in the same dorm with his distant cousin, James Potter.

It was a match made in heaven, the eleven-year-old boy determined as he tried to wave his wand just right and practice his Transfiguration homework. He was starting to get the hang of it, and already he and James were the best in the class.

Sirius felt a thrill with causing trouble. He'd had a lot of practice with magic, growing up in the Black household. During their first day of class, James spotted Sirius trying to cast a sticking spell to all the seats in the classroom, and he'd been quick to offer his assistance. Thus, the troublemakers were born. During Charms and Herbology the boys were more likely concocting some kind of new prank rather than actually doing their assigned task. It wasn't even a month into school and already the teachers were unsure what to do with the troublemakers.

Yes, life was perfect for Sirius Black. He had a best friend who shared in his adoration for troublemaking, he was top in his class, he'd defied his mother's expectations quite exquisitely, and he was popular.

The one thing that bothered Sirius the most was that his roommate was always watching him. Remus Lupin was his name. Or at least that's what Sirius thought the name was. He didn't really know much about the boy and he didn't care to find out, really. He was too busy plotting with James to do anything with a quiet, strange looking boy. Peter, their other roommate, was only tolerated because he liked to help James and Sirius, too.

But the problem was Remus Lupin. There was just something a bit strange about him. Something that Sirius did not like one bit. He was quiet. He was polite. And he was always glancing at him.

At first Sirius suspected that Remus knew his family. But when asked by some Gryffindor girls, Remus admitted that he was a half-blood, which would nix the idea of their families knowing one another—Sirius knew his mother would never tolerate any relations with anyone other than a pureblood.

Then Sirius thought that maybe Remus wanted to be part of the group. But when asked by some Gryffindor upperclassmen, Remus admitted that he had no interest in breaking rules and found Sirius, James, and Peter rude and intolerable during school hours when he was trying to study hard and kept getting his butt stuck to chairs or purple skin.

So the only thing Sirius' mind could get to, logically, was that Remus Lupin hated Sirius' guts, and that was unforgivable in the young troublemaker's mind.

"Hey," Sirius said one day on the way from double potions with the Ravenclaws. Spending so much time with Slughorn trying to gussy up to him because of his family, Sirius was in more than a sour mood, and, upon seeing the back of Remus' head, felt something shift within him. "Hey, stop."

The small, lithe boy did as he was told and paused in his step. He glanced over his shoulder before recognizing Sirius and turning around to face him fully. "Hullo, good morning."

"Cut that out," Sirius said as he finally caught up to Remus and came to a stop before the other eleven-year-old boy. "You're really annoying when you're too polite."

Remus looked surprised for half a moment before he smiled bitterly. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"There you go again," Sirius said. "Why would you apologize when I insulted you?"

Remus shrugged one shoulder and continued to smile benignly. "I'm sorry."

"Cut that out!" Sirius said, his nerves snapping and he found himself growing even more frustrated. He wanted Remus to fight back. "What the hell? Why'd they put you in Gryffindor if you're such a coward?"

Remus tilted his head to the side, still smiling. It didn't quite reach his eyes, and even at the age of eleven, Sirius felt a strange kind of power rippling off of Remus, though he couldn't even be sure what that feeling was.

"I suppose that's none of your concern," Remus said finally, gripping his book bag tighter. "If you'll excuse me."

Remus turned around then, to walk away, and Sirius felt anger surge through him. He didn't know if it was because of the nasty letters he'd been getting from his mother, double lesson of potions, Remus' stupid attitude, the fact he hadn't played a prank today, or, perhaps, a combination of any and all of those factors, but Sirius snapped. He whipped out his wand and pointed it at Remus.

With a flick of his wrist and a chanting of a spell he'd once used on Regulus, a yellow beam of light shot from the tip of his wand and hit Remus square in the back. The boy gasped in surprise before his book bag fell from his grip and sent books, quills, and parchment all over the floor. Remus fell over, face-first, doubling over and grasping his stomach in agony.

Sirius stood with his wand outstretched and his eyes widened. Slowly, he lowered it in time for the Muggle Studies professor to race out from the classroom beside where Remus had fallen and was currently moaning in agony. She saw Sirius and her eyes narrowed.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor," she snapped over the murmurs and whispers of the crowd in the hallway. The professor leaned over the writhing boy before telling a nearby student to go get some help for the poor little boy.

And that was how Sirius began teasing Remus.

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"I can't believe I missed it," James said at dinner that night. "What did he do to you, anyway?"

Sirius chewed long on his kidney pie before answering, "He was just being really obnoxious."

"Obnoxious? Really?" Peter asked, looking up from where he'd been shoveling some mashed potatoes into his mouth. "Remus doesn't seem like the type to act obnoxious. He's really nice and really polite."

Sirius narrowed his eyes at Peter, and the boy shrank away. "He was. That's why. I hate his attitude. It's like he thinks he's better than everybody else."

"Are you sure that's how he acts?" James asked before taking a sip from his goblet. "I've never gotten that impression from him before, Sirius. I think you may be looking into something that's not really there."

"You're being stupid," Sirius snapped. "I know what I know, and I know that Lupin kid thinks he's better than us because he's polite and follows the rules. I don't even know why he's in Gryffindor, anyway. He's really cowardly and quiet."

"Perhaps he's just shy?" Peter offered.

"Bah! Gryffindors aren't shy! They're courageous and strong!" Sirius proclaimed, flexing an arm to show off his nonexistent biceps. James chuckled beside him, but Sirius magnanimously decided to ignore the boy.

He glanced down the table towards Remus, who still looked sickly and pale. He ate by himself, spooning some soup into his mouth and cringing whenever it entered his mouth. Sirius smirked into his drink as he took a long gulp. He knew his spell would wear off eventually, but, until then, Remus would entertain a very terrible stomach ache.

And so for weeks Sirius would prank Remus. Eventually the eleven-year-old boy would forget why he started teasing and just delve into the ways he could get Remus this time. It ranged from innocent to rather rude, including, but not limited to, shoelaces tied together, jinxes, stealing books, and anything in-between.

James sometimes would help him, but, for the most part, left the Remus-torture to Sirius' devices. And, through it all, even though it was obvious who was teasing him, Remus never said anything and just continued smiling benignly and going about his every day business.

It was pissing Sirius off. He wanted to see Remus angry.

One day after dinner, after searching the library for Remus in order to aggravate him some more, Sirius took a wrong turn and found himself in a darkened corridor on the way back to Gryffindor Tower. It took him a while to realize he'd taken the wrong turn. He'd been distracted all day, his mind wandering back and forth between homework and how to tease Remus some more. He just wanted a reaction from the boy. That was all. His constant politeness and lack of reaction was really, really aggravating for the boy. He was beside himself with exasperation.

"Why does he never react?" Sirius growled to himself.

It didn't matter what Sirius did. He'd do something to Remus and instead of the boy getting angry, sad, or frustrated, he simply continued on his way, ignoring him and with that same, stupid smile on his face. Just today Sirius had tripped him and he'd fallen face-first to the ground.

People giggled around them, but instead of lashing out at Sirius, Remus had simply collected his fallen books and brought himself up to a standing position. He'd dusted his cloak off, readjusted his tie, turned to Sirius with an indescribable look in his eyes, and simply walked away.

He didn't speak to Sirius. He didn't smile at Sirius. He didn't frown at Sirius. He just did nothing. And those eyes haunted him, and Sirius couldn't figure out why the boy was constantly on his mind and why he really just wanted Remus to show that he actually did have emotions and not just some robotic manners and slightly creepy smiles.

Sirius continued walking, muttering to himself and trying to locate the way back to Gryffindor Tower. Damn him and his forgetfulness. He had no idea where he was.

Frowning to himself, he almost heard the footsteps too late. They resounded off the cold, dark walls of stone. Sirius froze. He whirled around in time to see a group of older Slytherins marching towards him. They were laughing and sneering at one another until they looked ahead and saw Sirius standing there.

"Hey, it's Black," one of them said and Sirius swallowed. "We heard your Howler at breakfast this morning, Black. Sucks that your mommy hates you so much, huh?"

"Shut up," the first-year said angrily and tried to walk around them and find his way back to the common room.

"Well now, what's with the attitude?" one of them said, his voice smooth like deadly poison. He walked a circle around Sirius, looking down at the shorter boy. "You don't need to be mean to us, Black. That's unsportsmanlike. Save your anger for somebody else. Like, say, your own house. You certainly enjoy teasing that little wimp."

The boy paused and mulled over his words. Sirius glared silently at him, his silver eyes smoldering.

"Maybe it would have been better for you to be in Slytherin after all."

"Leave me alone," Sirius commanded, but was starting to feel uneasy when the group of larger, more experienced wizards surrounded him in an empty hallway. He swallowed and wondered if the noise was as loud as it sounded. His heart pounded and he gripped his wand tightly.

"Look, he's grabbed his wand," one taunted. . "Are you going to fight us, Black?"

"Leave me alone," Sirius repeated and tried to keep the stammer from his voice.

"Why would we leave a blood traitor like you alone?"

"I'm not a blood traitor," Sirius muttered.

"You're not? Then what are you doing wearing red and gold?" one of them sneered as they fingered Sirius' uniform tie. Sirius took a large step backwards, but crashed into another Slytherin student's chest. The boy shoved Sirius forward and he stumbled, his wand falling from his fingertips. His eyes widened.

"Uh oh, you're unprotected now," one of them sang out, punctuated by a dark chuckling. He kicked his wand away down the hallway and laughed louder. His two companions laughed along with him.

They descended upon Sirius then, their wands drawn. Sirius' eyes widened and he squirmed under their intense gazes. He tried valiantly to punch them away, but it was all for naught. They flicked their wands and Sirius tried to get away feebly before his legs collapsed below him and he knew one of them had cast a jelly-leg jinx.

He fell to the ground and bashed his head against the stone floor. He hissed in pain and laid there, trying to find a way to move away without having to resort to wiggling and crawling—he knew that was exactly what the boys above him wanted. He clenched his eyes shut and tried to see where his wand had been kicked away so that he could protect himself.

He felt a jab of pain as a streak of green ran past his shoulder. He wasn't sure what the hex was, but it was painful just from the merest touch. He tried to stifle the cry of pain bubbling in his throat. Above him, the Slytherins laughed merrily, their wands flickering in the darkness as they cast their spells.

And then, from the darkness, someone whispered, "Petrificus Totalus."

From the darkness beyond the circle of boys, flashes of light emerged and hit the three Slytherins in the chests. They fell to the ground in their full-body bind. Sirius hastily sat up, looking to find his savior. A boy in a cloak grabbed his hand and raced along, dragging the wobbling boy behind him. Sirius tried to keep up, but his jelly legs gave him some trouble.

"W-wait, my legs," Sirius protested as the boy tugged. He was short and he moved quickly, darting in the darkness. He tugged on Sirius' hand and kept going. "H-hey!"

His savior wouldn't let up and kept pulling him along. They raced through endless hallways and up endless flights of stairs.

"Watch out for the step at the top," Sirius warned when he began to recognize his surroundings. He looked around in wonderment. "If you step on it your leg gets caught."

He saw the boy in front of him nod and hop over the step when they reached it. Sirius realized, with some distaste, that they actually weren't that far away from the tower, and he silently berated himself for being so clueless. His savior didn't stop until they were in front of the Fat Lady. She eyed them, but, when they didn't give a password, went back to her bottle of wine happily.

Panting, his savior released the jinx on his legs and Sirius stood up hesitantly. "Thank you!"

Now that he wasn't focused on running away from stronger upperclassmen, preoccupied with the jelly-leg jinx and trying to run, and where in the hell he was, Sirius could now focus on who'd been the one to save him. Quite obviously it was a Gryffindor, because he knew where the tower was. He looked towards him, a smile and another thank you on his lips. Then he recognized the boy and he blinked in surprise. Remus Lupin looked back at him apathetically and pocketed his wand feebly.

"You?" Sirius asked in surprise.

Remus looked at him and Sirius couldn't tell what kind of expression he had. He watched him for a long moment before shrugging one shoulder.

"Why'd you help me?" Sirius asked after a flustered few moments when his mouth flopped open and closed in his disbelief. Remus shrugged and held Sirius' wand out to him. Hesitantly, Sirius reclaimed his wand and put it in the pocket of his trousers. He continued to stare at Remus. "How the hell did you find me?"

Remus mulled over his words for a long moment before stating, calmly, "I was coming back from the infirmary and noticed you were in trouble."

"…Why were you in the infirmary?" Sirius asked.

Remus shrugged again, not giving anything away in his answers. "Because."

"Why'd you help me? You could have just left me alone," Sirius protested. "I mean, let's be honest. I've never been nice to you."

Remus was quiet for a moment and Sirius knew he was thinking. He'd grown accustomed to seeing Remus' face and somehow knew what each of his expressions, no matter how small and insignificant they may appear, meant.

"I didn't mind," Remus finally said after a long, awkward silence.

"What?" Sirius jolted.

"You're not too mean to me," Remus said at last, tapping his fingers against his lips. "I'm used to it."

"Used to it?" Sirius mimicked, his eyes widening.

"…Not many people… like me," Remus said at last, smiling benignly, the smile not even beginning to reach his eyes, which, to Sirius, seemed incredibly sad. He hated it when he smiled and there was nothing in his eyes—and that expression happened very often. "I'm used to being disliked."

"It's not like I disliked you or anything," Sirius said, flustered.

Remus tilted his head to the side. "Well, you certainly don't like me."

"Well… no… but… I mean… surely there's somebody who likes you," Sirius said, feeling worse and worse by the moment for the way he'd treated Remus.

"Nightshade," Remus said to the Fat Lady.

"It's about time," the portrait said disdainfully before swinging open to admit the two first years. "You better hurry. Curfew will be soon."

Remus stepped through the portrait hole easily, with Sirius hot on his heels. He grabbed the sleeve of Remus' cloak and tugged to prevent the enigmatic boy from disappearing. Remus turned to look at him politely, but it was obvious that he wished for the conversation to be over. They were alone in the common room—people were either preparing for bed or weren't ready to stay up late working on essays. Suddenly it seemed intimate how close the two were standing, even if they were only first years.

"Surely there's somebody who likes you. You've got friends, right?"

Remus laughed bitterly, his eyes closing. "I don't want friends."

"You don't want friends?" Sirius seemed genuinely surprised by such an answer. Then he got angry and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Remus. "Why? Because you think you're better than everybody else?" Sirius snapped, "Think you're so superior?"

Remus blinked his eyes before lowering his head, his cheeks turning pink. "N-no. That's not the reason. I just…"

He trailed off, worrying his lower lip. Sirius continued to stare at him, silver eyes watching him carefully as Remus stared at his hands. They clasped and unclasped one another, and the knuckles were turning white whenever his fists clenched. Sirius watched him curiously.

"Just what?" Sirius pressed when it appeared that Remus wasn't going to speak.

"I don't want people getting close to me." Remus ducked his head but he wasn't quick enough for Sirius to not catch the way his face was turning red and his eyes were wide and emotional.

"Close to you? Are you afraid they'll see how crappy your personality is?" Sirius asked, crossing his arms.

Remus' blush deepened and he gripped his hands tightly. "No… I don't want… them to get hurt anymore. Everybody I get close to gets hurt."

"Eh?" Sirius was surprised, out of all the things for Remus to say, that hadn't been what he'd thought. He hadn't expected Remus to say something like that, either. It seemed unlike him. But, then again, Sirius knew nothing about Remus. "Who'd get hurt because of you, Lupin?"

"I can't tell you," Remus admitted, and seemed sorry that he couldn't tell Sirius the truth. "I'm sorry. Just forget I said anything."

With that, Remus began a hasty retreat, but Sirius was hot on his trail. He reached out a hand and grabbed Remus' wand hand. The boy tensed and tried to continue running, but he was too weak to pull away from the taller, wider boy.

"You mean to tell me you don't have any friends here?"

The boy watched him, searching silver eyes for something. Sirius didn't know what he was looking for, but he seemed to find it inside his eyes. Slowly, Remus shook his head slowly.

"Well, you're in luck, then, Lupin," Sirius declared triumphantly. "You can be our friend."

"I don't think…"

"Shut up," Sirius demanded and then smiled hesitantly. "I mean, unless you don't want to be my friend. I was kind of mean to you, after all."

"Well… that is… I mean," Remus began and fiddled with his cloak for a moment before shaking his head. "I just…"

"You can be friends with us. We can take care of ourselves. Be friends with us. James and Peter already think favorably of you."

Remus seemed surprised to hear this and he blushed scarlet. "If… if you're sure."

"Sure, come on, Lupin," Sirius agreed, pulling Remus along.

"C-call me Remus," the little boy offered hesitantly, still unsure about the situation he'd gotten himself into.

Sirius glanced at him and grinned. "Okay. Come on, Remus."