Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling, I am not.
I just.. I.. I can't. This took forever. It had actually been done for a week but I had trouble communicating with my Beta because they're rather busy at the moment so unfortuantely this chapter isn't Beta'd. I'll let you know when my new Beta is available to edit my chapters, so please excuse any grammatical errors, I try and still I fail.
Also, if you check my profile you can find updates on how far along I am on my next chapter... my next one shouldn't take as long, but you know.. just in case.
Chapter Five: A Dangerous Miscalculation
It occurred to Sirius only after he'd swung the first punch and heard the surprisingly satisfying sound of a groan of pain escape from Justin, that he was going about this the wrong way; these thoughts were forcibly knocked from him as Justin seemed to get his bearings and launched at him, tackling him to the ground.
Sirius swung out at the boy on top of him and managed to turn them over so that he was straddling the older boy's hips. Concentrating on bringing his fist back to connect with the boy's head as often as possible, he tried fugitively to dodge the ones that Justin aimed at him in retaliation.
"Stop it! What are you idiots doing?"
Right when he'd gotten a hold of Justin's stupidly, symmetrical hair and managed to slam his head violently into the snowy grass he felt a weight assault his back, tugging at him. Sirius shook his shoulder roughly trying to dislodge the smaller boy without hurting him.
"James!" He yelled not needing to articulate much further as he felt the weight being lifted off him and heard the indignant cries of 'Get off me you idiot, they're killing each other!'
This, Sirius thought, was a fair assessment of what was happening. He really hadn't given much thought to Justin's weight or height when he'd attacked him and realized now that the boy was evenly weighed against him and seemingly just as angry.
"Bloodly bastard!" Justin kicked out at him and Sirius grunted in pain releasing the boy's tuff of hair as his body crumbled forward. Freed, Justin sprung up, reversing their position as he brought his fists down on Sirius repeatedly.
"Go get the sixth year Hufflepuffs, the ones that come by the library after the study group gets out. Go!"
Sirius vaguely noted Peter scurrying back down the path towards the more clustered shops in Hogsmeade before he lashed out at Justin, kicking him far away enough to give himself the room to stand.
When both boys had made it to their feet, visibly battered, they stared at each other with open loathing.
"Can't figure out why they haven't thrown your ass in Slytherin yet, you have scum snake written all over you," Justin spat out at him nastily wiping at the blood that had been freely flowing from a cut above his brow.
"Shut up, git. Just stay away - stay away from all of us" Sirius hissed angrily narrowing his eyes as he spat out the blood that had collected in his mouth.
"Us?" Justin raised one blonde, almost transparent eyebrow before glancing over to where James was restraining Remus; the smaller boy looking on at them anxiously, clearly hoping that the two would resolve their issues without the use of more violence.
"You've got to be kidding me." Justin glared at Sirius before laughing, "Speak for yourself, Black. I happen to know that some of you like when I get close, real close."
With another cry of rage Sirius launched himself at the boy tackling him to the snow again. He couldn't figure it out but something about Justin's smirking, irritating face commandeered Sirius' good senses and ignited a fire he rarely felt outside of Grimmauld Place.
Just when he thought that he'd be able to strangle the self-indulged smirk off the older boy's face he felt strong hands grip his shoulders and pull him back.
Breathing heavily and wiping at the flood of blood that gushed from the cut on his bottom lip he glared at the two boys who were holding both him back, sneering at Justin as two other boys, Hufflepuffs, held him up.
"What? Done already?"
"Dunno, can you still walk?" Justin made to move towards him but the boys flanked on either of him were apparently ready for this and started pulling him back with words of 'It's not worth it' and 'Mate, have you lost your mind?'
Shaking off the two boys, Smith and Otterburn, he turned to regard the figure of the angry Hufflepuff who was now being pulled back down the road to Hogsmeade, three boys tugging at his cloak while the fourth had his wand pointed at his face, muttering under his breath.
"You can't have everything you want, Black. Try not to let the thought drive you crazy," Justin sneered and Sirius was sorry to see the cut above his brow had stopped bleeding and was starting to smooth into untarnished skin.
"Fuck you McDonald, just stay outta my way," Sirius took a few steps towards Justin before Remus finally broke away from James' hold and ran up to him, clinging on to his arm to stop him from rushing at the group of retreating Hufflepuffs. Slipping his hand around Remus' shoulder he warned again, "Stay away."
"Are you insane? I told you Justin had nothing to do with this." Remus reached up and brushed his fingers softly against the original burn mark and Sirius tried to ignore the pool of heat spreading to his stomach at the boy's touch.
Scoffing, Sirius replied, "Really now? Cause he seemed so harmless."
"I'd be mad if you attacked me too, git." Remus' voice held no contempt but instead all the patience of a school teacher disciplining an unruly student. He had taken his wand out and was mumbling the spell that Sirius knew would heal the bruised skin of his face.
Finally approaching him, James avoided his eyes as he took his wand out as well, swiping it over the original burn mark and muttering the long, lyrical spell that would heal the wound.
It wasn't until Peter timidly pulled out his own wand to join the two in front of Sirius that the boy finally jerked his face away from Remus' hand. "Oh no, I'd rather walk around looking like an idiot than let you test your healing spells on me."
The boys burst out laughing, Peter's flushed face grinning happily at them while he shrugged and stuffed his wand back into his robes.
"You really are a tosser, you know?"
"A right twat," James happily agreed as he backed up, surveying his work with his tongue poking out from the right corner of his mouth. "You know, mate. I think you looked better before, maybe I should"
With a bark of laughter Sirius rushed James into the snow bank behind him while Peter laughed.
"You okay?" Sirius asked brushing his shoulder against Remus as the boys headed down the path to Hogsmeade, the smaller boy had paled significantly and Sirius worried that he'd become sick again, like the past few days that he'd rarely left their dorm.
"Fine," Remus answered huffing slightly as he drew breath, "But really Sirius. I don't think Justin had anything to do with that burn hex. I bet it was just some nutter who looked like him."
James quickened his pace looking almost guilty as he shoved his wand deeper into his robes.
Sirius hummed dismissively while he looked at the back of James' unruly jet-black hair. Although his friend was only a few inches shorter than himself, and had a lean built from the time spent on the Quidditch field, James certainly could not pass for the Hufflepuff boy. Maybe, Sirius mused, the next time he got James to attack him, he could persuade the boy to take some Polyjuice Potion to show Remus that McDonald really was a nut.
As if they'd developed a telepathic connection from all the late nights spent in each other's bed whispering quietly to each other, James swirled his head around sharply, shooting him a filthy look as if he could hear the thoughts that were swirling around Sirius' head.
Grinning sheepishly at him, Sirius inched still closer to Remus. This was something that he'd been doing since they'd left the fenced area of the Shrieking Shack and as they neared the Three Broomsticks the space between the two boys seemed minuscule when compared to the gap between Peter and James.
"Hey Remus!"
A Hogwarts couples had exited the warmth of the Three Broomsticks and had turned their attention to Remus. The girl, who had been tightened her blue and bronze woolen scarf around her neck, threw her arms around the small boy making him take a few uncoordinated steps backwards.
"Where's McDonald?" The Ravenclaw girl asked as she pulled away from him, she had given Sirius a quick, accessing look but politely averted her eyes when she realized that he was watching her. The boy standing beside her however, paid him no such courtesy.
He towered easily over both his female companion and Remus, surpassing even Sirius in height, as he stared blatantly at him.
Sirius trying determinedly to avoid his eyes found himself growing increasingly self-conscious and suddenly hoped that James and Remus had done a decent job cleaning him up.
Risking it, Sirius' eyes swept over the boy, taking in his deep blue eyes, which had not wavered from his face, and his golden blonde hair. Oh. The boy's hair color looked strikingly similar to the hue that Remus' attained when basked in the morning light. His features were well proportioned set in an oval shaped face, with big (though at the moment they remained quite narrowed) almond shaped eyes mirrored Remus' exactly only differenced in the sun-skinned complexion they were set in as well as the rugged facial hair that decorated his chin.
Shaking his head slightly, Remus turned to Sirius beckoning him closer to the trio.
He hesitated for a moment at the look of open hostility that crossed the taller boy's - Remus' brother - face.
"This is Sirius," Remus gestured to him, "Sirius, this is Amlise and my brother, Romulus."
"Nice to meet you," Amlise said smiling brightly at him as she took his hand in hers. Sirius returned her smile but quickly withdrew his hand when he noticed Romulus stiffen as they'd touched.
"Where are you guys coming from?" Amlise asked him while she reached out and brushed the hair from Remus' face pausing to touch his forehead gently.
Not sure if he should feel relieved that he apparently wasn't the only one who thought that Remus looked weak, he tore his eyes away from Remus' pale, now exposed forehead, "Just down by the Shrieking Shack."
Something about his response had an enormous affect on the small group and Sirius could've sworn that the air stilled around them as Amlise's smile slipped from her face. It was only gone for a second and as Sirius looked back at her in confusion she seemed to catch herself and the smile returned to her face.
"Oh? Most people don't go down there, do you pass by often?" Although the smile had been repositioned back on her face, almost as if it'd never left, Sirius could see a calculating look harden in her eyes.
"Naw, wouldn't bother. There's really not much around there," Sirius tried to catch Remus' eyes but the other boy seemed to be staring determinedly away, looking uncomfortable as he shifted around slightly.
"It gives me the creeps that place." Amlise had taken her attention away from him and had turned to envelop Remus in another tight hug.
"Well, if you're done with the inquisition, we'll be going inside now," Remus muttered as he shook her off fixing her with a meaningful look.
His brother had finally taken his eyes away from Sirius' form and moved to collapse upon Remus' back right as he'd managed to free himself from the older girl, "You know we worry, you're just so small."
Wiggling from his grasp and scoffing loudly, Remus shot the boy a dirty look before looking at Sirius, "C'mon. These two have nothing good to say."
Sirius could think to do nothing but smile weakly as he took a few steps towards the Three Broomsticks, "It was nice meeting you Amlise and Romulus," he said in what he hoped was a casually polite voice.
"Yeah, hopefully we'll see you again."
From the look on Romulus' face, Sirius was almost sure that the boy did not and would not hope for such a thing.
"Hopefully not," Remus muttered beside him - and Sirius wondered if Romulus and Remus didn't share their own psychic connection - "Those two really are nutters. Oh look there's James and Peter."
Remus walked over to where the boys had secured a table for them, warm Butterbears already clasped in their hands, and took a seat beside Peter, leaving Sirius to sit beside James.
It was when the boy elbowed him painful in the ribs while Remus had reached into his pocket to scrounge around for change, that Sirius remembered that James would probably still not be too happy with him.
"It's on me," Sirius said smiling at Remus as he stood up to escape James' intense glare.
"Get me another one too, this one's almost done," his spectacled friend called after him and Sirius didn't miss the sharpness of his tone.
"Are you gonna explain what all that was about then?" James didn't even bother to wait till Remus had reached the stairs leading to the boy's dormitory before he rounded on Sirius.
Sirius shifted in his chair, his eyes following Remus as the boy disappeared up the coil of the staircase. "What all what was about?" He mumbled trying to put off the conversation for as long as possible.
"Don't jerk me around, Black" James scowled, "What was all that in Hogsmeade?"
Sirius pressed his lips together in a defiant manner, watching the fire crackle as heat flooded into the relatively empty Common Room.
"I mean, not that I minded getting in a free shot at you with that burn hex," James grinned at him slightly, "And I'm all up for a bit of fooling around here and there, but - mate, you really looked like you were gonna hurt McDonald."
"Me? What about him? Cause I'm telling you, he seemed pretty homicidal from where I was standing."
James' lip thinned and he fixed him with a look that made him seem far older than a boy of fifteen.
"I'm serious." His brow rose as if daring Sirius to make the joke that he'd been effectively slipping into conversations since first year, "I just don't like seeing you like that - so out of control, and well a bit mad."
Sighing loudly, Sirius nodded as he ran his hands through his hair, "I know, I know. But there's something about him - I can't put my finger on it - but I can't stand it."
Leaning forward from his chair, James knocked his knee against Sirius' in an affectionate manner, "Hey, it's cool. I'm gonna assume it's something like Snivellus."
Sirius laughed at that his head shaking at James, "I don't think anyone is quite like Snivellus."
"No, probably not."
Grinning wildly James' looked around the Common Room before continuing in a significantly quieter tone, "Anyways, it's not all bad. At least you stopped McDonald from beating you to the punch, but I'm suppose he can always have him when you're done."
The residual grin that had decorated Sirius' face after the joke at Snivellus' expense fell quickly as he scowled.
"And..." James continued not seeming to notice the look that had darkened Sirius' face, "At least now you know that Remus is a pounce. Now all you gotta do is get him out those prefect boxers."
Sirius's scowled deepened into something that almost made him seem unattractive and he huffed slightly turning away from his friends.
Peter who had apparently deemed it safe to join the conversation now that the tension had disappeared from the group, leaned forward, his eyes landing on Sirius.
"That's if he can." The boy wrinkled his freckled nose in Sirius' direction before turning to James.
Humming, Sirius said nothing but drew his eyes back to staircase.
While he had convinced James to help pull the 'prank' on the older Hufflepuff, he had to admit that he hadn't been thinking about their bet at the time.
All he had wanted was to get Justin as far away from Remus as possible. Sirius wasn't stupid, he saw the way Justin looked at the smaller boy. He recognized the way his head titled towards Remus when they spoke, and how he brushed against Remus' shoulder to secure his attention, Sirius knew that Justin liked his prefect dormmate.
And although Sirius didn't know him well enough, he also knew that he, himself hated Justin.
Maybe, he reasoned, it was this hate that told him no matter what happened with him and Remus, Justin should never, ever get too close.
"There it is." Remus nodded towards a vial that Slughorn clutched tightly in his fat, stubby fingers, waving it about in enthusiasm.
"One of the most potent magnificus potions in existence and it'll combine with almost anything safely," the large professor was saying.
Remus finally lifted his predatory gaze away from the clear liquid sloshing around the transparent vial to shoot Sirius a sly grin.
"Can't we just make it ourselves?" Sirius asked. He highly doubted that prying the potion out of Slughorn's grip would be anything short of a miracle, the way the man's big, dark eyes settled on the liquid almost lovingly made that all too clear.
"If we had half a year," Remus titled his head slightly before glancing around them and leaning even closer whispering, "but I doubt those Slytherins are going to poison themselves."
Sighing with all the world-weariness of an old man Sirius shook his head slowly, "Don't suppose they will, will they? It's a shame though, it really would clear up my schedule."
Snorting, Remus brought his hand to his mouth coughing for a moment to regain his composure before continuing his note taking.
This, Sirius decided, was yet another thing he liked about the smaller boy. Remus hadn't missed a point that Slughorn made during the entire period, his hand flew gracefully across the page as he made neat, composed notes complete with small diagrams and underlined emphasizes.
While he appeared to be extremely focused on the lecture of Mandins, his eyes has been glued on the left side of Slughorn's cloak lighting up, almost dangerously, when the old professor had revealed the vial.
"But seriously, I don't think anything short of an explosion will tear Slughorn away from that potion," Sirius muttered practically into the boy's ear.
He stiffened for a minute and Sirius watched as his eyes darted around the room, landing on the unused cauldrons in the back row of the class before shaking his head slightly to himself. "We'll find a way."
Sirius highly doubted this but nodded absentmindedly a few times before turning sharply towards James, his brows raised his annoyance. 'What?' he mouthed.
He had felt James' eyes burning holes in the back of his head, and his neck prickled irately where he knew that the spectacled boy's eyes had laid.
James said nothing, allowing the frown on his face to deepen before he glared at the back of Remus' light brown hair, sighing almost audibly he shot a disgusted look at Peter who sat beside him, wiping fruitlessly at a spreading stain of chocolate on his notes.
Shrugging, Sirius tried to convey the message of 'suck it up, it's just one class' to the boy who only frowned more before rolling his eyes and turning his attention to Lily.
To be honest, Sirius wasn't sure what James was so annoyed about. They needed that vial. They'd started brewing the potion the day of the Hogsmeade trip, gathering ingredients slowly and beginning the long, brewing process required.
Remus had been the one to suggest using the rare Magnifus potion, insisting that Slughorn kept a vial on him at almost all times.
While it had seemed like a great idea at the time, now considering the way Slughorn's fat fingers secured around the small phial Sirius wasn't so sure it was possible.
"Slughorn's got a free period next" floated over towards Sirius as Remus' head turned quickly in his direction.
Sirius' brow arched comedically, "So? I don't care if he's in class or not, I'm not ambushing him."
"No?" Remus rested his head on his hand, smiling although he stared straight ahead, "What about all those stories I heard about the brilliance of Sirius Black?"
"Brilliance? Yes. Insanity? Well, that part hasn't kicked in just yet."
"Oh?" This time Remus' head titled slightly as he eyes finally fell on Sirius, "Too bad, I always wanted to see a bit of that Black insanity."
Sirius colored slightly at the boy's words, not gathering a response fast enough as Remus' eyes left him to return to the phial, his hand never wavering from his neat lines.
Sirius stared at him for a minute before remembering how creepy such a thing looked in public, and forced himself to look down at his own blank piece of parchment.
For some reason, some strange inexplicable reason, talking to Remus always came with the hazard of the boy saying something to render his mind temporarily useless.
It wasn't like Sirius to fumble and struggle with his words, he usually exuded confidence, saying just enough (but never too much) to get what he needed out of a situation.
Remus, it seemed, had a strange affect on him. At times, they could slip effortlessly into conversation, conversing as if they had years to perfect their friendship and at times, well, at times Remus could say something to make Sirius feel like an utter wanker.
This had never happened to him before, no boy or girl for that matter, ever managed to stump him like Remus did. Girls where usually so focused on his face that they often missed the complexities that slipped from his mouth and guys, well, most guys seemed just as dull of the girls or either lacked the sense of humor required to understand the subtleties of Sirius' witticism.
Remus, possessed neither of these flaws. His clever eyes were usually focused on Sirius', only ever really wavering in situations such as the one they were currently in, when the smaller boy was much more focused on a separate objective.
And while Sirius had always assumed that Remus possessed no sense of humor, much like the bland, prefect that James was still convinced that he was, Sirius found that wrong as well.
Remus' humor was drier than Sirius was used to, contrasting sharply with James' clear, almost harsh brand and even his own, smooth style. Remus' was that rare type that seemed to flow effortlessly into conversation, it usually ran the danger of being overlooked, despite how humorous it was when noticed.
Sirius often found Remus' sly remarks to be so unexpected that he almost always smiled uncontrollably, his face splitting open in a stupid grin that he was too slow to stop.
"Ouch!" Sirius cried as he was jerked out of his thoughts by a fierce, burning sensation on his skin. Cradling his left hand to his shoulder, he could see the spreading of odd, purplish looking blisters across his hand, lighting the skin that became infected on fire.
"Sir, we have a problem," Remus' large, amber eyes had turned to look up at Slughorn, who Sirius just noticed had dismissed the class and was waving students out his room with a flick of his wrists.
James and Peter had been standing by the door, waiting for him but shrugged and moved away as they allowed Slughorn to usher them out of the room.
"What seems to be the matter, Mr. Lupin?"
"Sirius was just showing me his potion for his next assignment," Remus nodded to a vial with orange liquid that laid deceptively innocently on their desk. Sirius stared at it wildly wondering where in the hell it had come from.
"I think he was trying to make an argument for the significance of incorporating the Mandrin into his potion," Remus nodded towards the professor, titling his head slightly as he smiled. Sirius, who was extremely confused and still in a significant amount of pain nudged the smaller boy slightly.
"Uhm, Remus?" he tried.
"And," Remus continued, his left hand finding its way on Sirius' thigh squeezing it slightly as he spoke, "I think it must've reacted badly in the time it's been sitting in the sun." Remus made another sad face at the offending vial, "He's split some on himself and I think he's really hurt."
Remus' nails, which looked deceptively blunt, dug into Sirius' thigh through the fabric of his trousers, causing the boy to emit a low, whining sound.
Seemingly satisfied, Remus' nails released the flesh of his thigh.
"Oh, dear boy," Slughorn turned his beady, black eyes towards Sirius, giving him a sympathetic look before eyeing the seemingly acidic contents of the phial on their desk, "But I'm sure that Madam Pomfrey can clear that right up."
"Actually..." Remus seemed to almost lean towards the man as if he was sharing a secret between old friends, "I was wondering if we could use a bezoar to clear up his potion, I remember you saying that they'd heal almost anything. And well... I just couldn't help but be fascinated."
"Well, Mr. Lupin, you should know that those are for the Sixth year students after they've gotten their O.W.L.S."
"Oh, but of course, professor."
Sirius watched as an eerily convincing look of innocence settled on Remus' face as his brows raised.
"It's just that well," the smaller boy shot the man a rather crooked smile as he shrugged helplessly, "it just sounded so fascinating when you mentioned it in your lecture last month."
Grinning widely, the man nodded his head in enthusiasm, "Oh, it is. Mr. Lupin, it is indeed." He made to move towards the cabinet in front of the class before he hesitated, glancing down at his watch.
"Unfortunately, I really must be going now. Have an appointment I absolutely can't miss," he rocked his weight towards the toes of his feet before nodding his head sharply and spinning towards the door. "Well, I trust you know what you're doing, right, Mr. Lupin? The bezoars are in the cabinet, please close the door on your way out."
"Of course, Professor!" Remus called as the door closed beside them, sitting unnervingly still for a whole minute before standing up.
"What the hell was that?" Sirius cried, finally shocked out of his temporary bout of paralysis. "What is this?" he gestured towards the acidic orange liquid. "And this?" he held up his blistering hand. "You did this? Why? Why would you do something like that to my hand? Why not Peter? That's probably the best question. WHY NOT PETER?!"
By now, Remus had already made his way towards the front of the desk and seemed to be inspecting it, "Quiet for a minute, will you?" he asked as he took out his wand and ran it along the length of the desk a few times.
Stumped, Sirius did nothing but gape at him for a few moments, his mouth opening and closing in disbelief.
Tutting softly as he walked away from Slughorn's desk Remus pulled open the cabinet and sorted through the contents before turning back to Sirius.
"That purple potion was what Peter intended to submit as his next Potion assignment. I'm not sure what he was going for but it was pretty acidic when I borrowed it. I thought it'd be useful in distracting Slughorn and well, the idea came to me so suddenly. Here," he reached out for Sirius' hand.
"Oh no." Sirius cradled his burning hand as he eyed Remus' movements with great suspicion.
"What? It's an antidote," Remus explained as a small smile tugged at his lips, his hands outstretched, waiting for Sirius' compliance.
Grumbling darkly about 'mad mates', Sirius extended his hand towards Remus. "And don't you dare laugh."
"Wouldn't dream of it," the boy replied as he squeezed the cool, purplish liquid from a bezoar on Sirius' hand, massaging it gently into the skin, he watched as the blisters receded.
Finally soothed, Sirius stood and followed Remus as he walked back towards the desk, pausing in front of it before shaking his head and allowing his eyes to sweep the circumference of the room.
"You'd better be able to find that potion. Especially after all the trauma you put me through... I still don't understand, it's not like you couldn't see Peter. Why not Peter?"
Remus, didn't even have the decency to look rightfully ashamed for choosing to include Sirius in any ploy of bodily harm, instead the boy didn't even appear to be listening.
"There." He said finally, nodding over Sirius' head.
Whipping his head around sharply, Sirius stared at what Remus was now making his way towards. "Who are you?" He followed the smaller boy down the staircase, "Who are you and what have you done with Remus. You remember him? Kind, clever Gryffindor. Prefect."
The boy apparently didn't seem to remember who this 'prefect' Sirius spoke of was, this became evident has he whipped out his wand and began muttering spells to break into Slughorn's personal quarters.
"It's like... Like, I don't even know who you are anymore. How comes you only get like this around me anyways?" Sirius walked up behind him and watched as he murmured rather complex sounding spells. "Let me."
Nudging him aside gently, Sirius took out a silver pin from beneath his ear. This pin had been one of his mother's and he remembered always wanting one like it as he watched her slip into closed doors at their 'friend's' dinner party prying until she left satisfied.
"Is that a Sesame?" Remus asked, staring at it in awe, "Where'd you get such a rare magical object?"
Raising a brow Sirius shot him a look before the boy colored slightly and looked away.
"Right," he muttered.
Laughing, Sirius shook his head as he pushed the door open and watched Remus hurry in without so much as the obligatory 'student trespassing into bounds that will surely result in a suspension if caught' pause.
"Seriously though, are you suffering from some sort of personality break?" Sirius asked as he watched the boy take out his wand and activate a locating spell, swiping his wand across the room.
"Cause, if so there must be something about me specifically that triggers it," Sirius had taken his own wand out and had the misfortunate of catching the eye of some rather terrified looking creatures trapped in small, steel cages on the floor.
"This is probably some psychological phenomenon that should be studied, at the very least you should talk to one of those Muggle doctors about it. See if they can't do something to stabilize you."
"Stabilize?" Remus finally spoke up as he flopped on the couch, his eyes scanning the corners of the room, "My behavior should be stabilized? When your lot has been running around the school doing more crazy stuff than every other delinquent combined? I'm sure you guys must have set a new record or something."
"I don't doubt we haven't," Sirius found his way beside the couch and started prodding the boy sharply between his ribs, "Up. We haven't time for a rest - But that doesn't change the fact that that's what's expected of us and we do the world a favor by behaving as expected of us, while you - what are you doing?"
Sirius was brought out of his rambling by the horrifying sight of Remus approaching a large, oak door that looked pointedly different from both the one they'd use to enter the classroom, and Slughorn's personal quarters. These doors looked like they led to his bedroom.
"It's here, I'm sure it is," Remus' eyes seemed to glow unnaturally bright as he turned towards Sirius. The light from the tip of his wand spilling on his triumphant grin. "Be right back."
Without so much as that hesitant pause Remus opened the door and slipped through.
"He's absolutely mad." Sirius whispered into the empty room as he stared unbelievably at the closed door.
Sirius circled the room before stopping at a cabinet that stood along the far wall of Slughorn's bedroom door. Swiping his eyes across the various vials, Sirius read off the names of numerous potions as he waited for Remus to reappear: 'Lair's Tangles', 'Snitches Warts', 'Bottled Lust.'
Brows raised at that last one, Sirius chanced a quick look at the door that Remus had disappeared behind before picking up a spare vial from a pile on Slughorn's coffee table and returning to the cabinet to pour a few drops into the vial.
"Professor Slughorn?"
Sirius' breath stopped completely as he heard the voice of a student above him, he paused, not moving a muscle and waited until he heard the sound of quiet footsteps and the door closing after a few asphyxiating minutes.
"Got it," Remus reemerged from Slughorn's bedroom taking care to close to the door behind him just as quietly as he'd entered.
"Finally! Let's get out of here before your personality break causes gets us expelled."
"Expelled?" Remus scrunched his nose in confusion before shaking his head, "They wouldn't throw me out. I'm one of the best in my year."
"What about me?" Sirius asked in an indignant manner. He was met with the blank stare of the smaller boy, his amber eyes looking on at him in something remarkably similar to pity before he walked towards the stairs.
"Let's go. Can't have them throwing you out of here. Who will entertain my personality breaks?"
Grumbling just as much as when he'd went in, Sirius exited the forbidden quarters taking care to lock the door behind them and closed the door of the Potions Master's class.
"Sirius?"
Shit.
Looking up the corridor, he saw his own shade of deep, grey eyes staring back at him in something akin to horror.
"What were you doing in Slughorn's room?" Regulus asked as he moved towards the duo, stopping when he faced them and glancing towards the door they'd just emerged from.
"We just had something we had to take care of after class," Remus replied without missing a beat. His book bag was slung over his shoulder and the way he looked over Regulus' head towards a painting of an apple tree made him appear almost bored.
"Were you now? Cause I was just in there and didn't see anyone. Where were you coming from?" Regulus' grey's eyes, Sirius' eyes, focused on Remus.
Sirius didn't need to ask to know what he was thinking, he was looking at the boy's tattered, second-hand robes, the worn fabric of his book-bag, possibly even the faded knees of his trousers. It was clear that Remus didn't come from a wealthy family, and the fact that neither Sirius nor Regulus recognized his last name, proved that his line wasn't pure.
This, Sirius knew, was all Regulus needed to judge him. To place him lower on the social hierarchy, and every other kind, because of his lineage.
"Sod off," Sirius growled darkly, taking a few hostile steps towards Regulus in an effort to ward off any abuse he could throw at Remus.
Growing just as angry, if not a bit slower, Regulus' lip curled in an unpleasant way before narrowing his cold, grey eyes at him, "Careful brother. I know mother wouldn't be pleased to find you sneaking around the castle in such company."
"Think I could get her to roll in her grave?" Sirius shot back acidly, his body growing tense, as he plunged his hand into his robes.
Regulus mirrored his movement and both brothers faced each other with tense expressions, eyes only slipping from each other as Remus moved between them.
"Well," he said facing Sirius, "I'm off for lunch. I'll need all my strength for the Potions assignment tonight," he said pointedly before nodding in Regulus' direction and disappearing down the corridor.
Eyeing him, Regulus waited until he was out of eyeshot before shaking his head slowly at Sirius. "Really, Sirius? Where'd you get that one from?"
"He's in Gryffindor and he's in my year," Sirius said defensively, leaning against the wall as he stared at his brother. The boy seemed much less hostile now that Remus had left and Sirius assumed that he had wanted to project something of the 'power' and 'nobility' of the Black house.
"So's Potter. What happened to him? I mean, blood traitor yes, but at least he's got the blood." "James is fine," Sirius grounded out irritably.
"And even that Pettigrew idiot, he's got some bad strands in his family but once you weed those out-"
"Weed them out? They're people, not dandelions, you prick." Sirius snapped, finally at the end of his leash with the conversation. He had noticed that increasingly, his patience with his younger brother was wearing thin. He usually just hated when Regulus tried to display the 'nobility' (or arrogance, as Sirius was sure most people called it), of the Black house in front of other's, but now the boy sounded like he actually believed in the crap that was being feed to him.
"And speaking of friends, I've noticed you around Rosier and that lot," Sirius began.
"What of it?" Regulus asked, crossing his hands against his chest, "Dad brought me round their house in the summer, while you were still locked in your room being feed through the cracks in the bar, I was actually allowed out."
"Yeah," Sirius said a fond smile gracing his lips at the memory of the three weeks without contact from his family; James and Peter had kept him entertained with a steady supply of Quidditch magazines, "One of the best summers of my life."
"You're mad," Regulus said shaking his head as he looked towards the direction Remus had left in, "I'm not sure what you're doing with him. I don't know if this is some kind of prank or something -"
Something within Sirius clenched at the proximity with which Regulus had nailed him.
"- but hurry it up. You don't need Mom and Dad finding out about a friendship like that. You're already on thin ice." Regulus said this a lot softer than he had everything else and looked up at Sirius with an open, almost worried expression, the kind they used to share before - before everything had happened.
"Don't worry," Sirius said throwing a rather weak smile down at him, "I know what I'm doing. It'll be fine." Pausing for a moment, he nodded once more at the younger boy before throwing his book-bag over his shoulder and walking towards the direction of the Great Hall.
"That was such a great game!" Sirius cried throwing his hands behind his head as he lead the way down the stands.
The first week of December had rolled in with light flurries of snow and a new Quidditch match for the month, Hufflepuff verses Ravenclaw.
"Yeah, the Ravenclaw chasers are really strong. But I think our Keeper can handle Lexis' right hook," James said almost to himself as he took large strides back to the castle.
"Yeah, I think we can definitely take them," Peter added, huffing slightly as his short legs moved quickly to keep up with James.
Sirius wasn't sure who exactly Peter was referring to when he said 'we,' after all the only person within their group of friends who was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team was James. While Peter attended every practice religiously, squealing compliments from the stands, Sirius was almost sure that the Captain had not decided to add an eighth member.
James made no comment on Peter's intrusion on his Quidditch team but instead sped up trying to get inside as quickly as possible.
"Amlise played well today," Sirius said, tugging his cloak closely around himself as he slowed even more to remain by Remus' side. The boy's cloak was no thicker than his but he didn't seem to be in a huge rush to get inside.
Instead, he clutched his scarf loosely in his hand, twirling one end while scanning the steadily rapidly growing crowd shuffling into the warmth of the castle.
"She was." Remus had turned his large, amber eyes on Sirius and smiled warmly as finally he picked up his pace and hastened towards the large doors framing the castle walls.
"Too bad for Hufflepuff." Sirius didn't bother trying to keep the glee from his voice, he didn't think he could if he'd tried in all honesty so why bother?
"They played well too," Remus said shrugging slightly as he stomped his feet a few times on the large, now soaking wet, mat outside the Great Hall.
Sirius copied his motions, although he thought it was absolutely futile, Filch insisted on harassing anyone who 'tracked in all the muck from outside', bloody menace that man was.
"Remus!"
Turning sharply Sirius was more than a little annoyed to see McDonald standing at the sides of the Great Hall, hair still damp from the flurries of snow that had collected during his game, and his uniform clinging almost indecently to his frame.
What was he doing guarding the Great Hall, didn't that constitute as stalking or something? Had this boy no shame?
Frowning, Sirius tried to think of one good reason to drag Remus away from the doors of the hall but before he get very far, Remus stepped away from him, turning to look at him with something akin to panic.
"I'll just be a minute."
Sirius didn't move and instead stared down at the smaller boy, "I'll wait."
Shaking his head, Remus' hands flew to his scarf again as he played with the frayed ends. "No, James and Peter are probably waiting for you now. They should be working on that potion assignment."
Remus' brow had arched slightly at the words 'potions assignment' and his eyes had slipped away from Sirius' to glance around them quickly. This was the smaller boy's code for 'dangerous potion that is being brewed with intentions of poisoning the Slytherin Quidditch team for crimes of social injustice.'
Sirius was trying to think of a way to point out to Remus how creepy it was for McDonald to be stalking one of the only sources of food in the school, when the blonde boy approached them.
Remus' head swirled sharply when he felt the Hufflepuff clasp his shoulder and took a few steps back hesitantly.
"See you later," he said shooting Sirius one last smile before tugging at McDonald's sleeve and steering him away from Sirius.
Sneering Sirius threw a parting venomous look in the blonde's direction hoping he could convey the message of 'Don't touch him.'
Judging by the way McDonald's hand reached down to hold Remus' in his own as he smiled back at Sirius, Sirius couldn't help but think that the boy had gotten his message and had sent back a rude gesture in return.
Grumbling angrily all the way up the staircase Sirius managed to bump into four Slytherins and pushed one Fifth year boy down the last few steps of stairs before he felt slightly better.
Making his way to the Boy's Sixth Floor washroom, Sirius ignored the 'Out of Order' sign before pushing it open and headed down the further cubicle.
Remus had been the one to suggest this as a suitable place to brew the potion, 'No one ever patrolled this washroom' he insisted. They had even found a passage that led from one of the front cubicles all the way up to the Seventh Floor which had come in extremely handy on the nights they'd sworn they heard the meow of Mrs. Norris outside the door.
"What happened to Lupin?" James asked looking up at Sirius as he stirred the potion thrice clockwise and once counterclockwise.
"Ran off with McDonald," Sirius muttered darkly collapsing onto the space beside James.
Peter sat on the farthest corner of the area, craning his neck to see the continents of the potion.
"Don't you dare," James warned, glowering as Peter made to move towards the newt spleen. "I won't have you messing up this potion. You're terrible at reading instructions and I won't run the risk of you contaminating the potion with chocolate." His hazel eyes dropped down to the brown stains on Peter's fingers before the boy glowed pink and plucked them into his mouth.
Turning away in disgust James handed Sirius the cutting board and newt spleen. "Maybe you should just give up?" The hopefulness in his voice did not go unnoticed by Sirius.
Shooting him a look of disbelief Sirius bared his teeth angrily before cutting the spleen with more force than strictly necessary, "McDonald's just so annoying, he's always there. Wish he'd just disappear."
James sighed softly before nodding and allowing Sirius to spend the next four minutes describing in colorful imagery the accident he'd hope would happen to Justin on the pitch.
"Wish I could just spike his pumpkin juice or something," Sirius grumbled eyeing the brewing potion hopefully before shaking his head.
"Didn't you take something from Slughorn's office?" James asked, pouring the spleen into the mixture and watching carefully for change.
"Yeah, something called 'Bottled Lust,' sounded useful at the time," Sirius crushed the bat wings on the wooden board in his lap, concentrating on grinding the bits properly. "But I definitely don't want McDonald lusting after me."
"Not you," James' hazel eyes had began to shine again. After checking the potion to ensure that nothing unexpectedly brilliant had happened, Sirius could only deduce that James' manic gleam was meant for him.
"Mix it with one of Remus' hair or something and give it to McDonald."
"Have you lost your mind?" Sirius frowned shaking his head, "I don't need to give McDonald any more reason to touch him. In fact I'm trying get that sleek git away from him."
Laughing, James took the board from him and began sprinkling it over the cauldron, letting the dust fall in the mixture in circular motions.
"No, no think about it. Remus - he - well, he doesn't quite seem normal does he?"
Sighing, Sirius hoped that they weren't going to have yet another conversation about how annoyingly wet Remus was, no matter how often Sirius regaled James with the tales of Remus' daring acts of larceny the boy simply refused to believe him.
"I mean, he's a boy. But he's all... I don't know... He's kinda feminine."
Staring at the way the potion seemed to swell before settling down within the cauldron with a small hiss, Sirius had to agree with his point. Although Remus was quite obviously a boy, there was a feminine quality about him.
This only really became obvious when Sirius had the misfortunate of seeing him and McDonald together. McDonald was usually always towering over him and seemed to never run out of reasons to touch him.
Sirius had never seen Remus initiate any of these touches but noticed how anxious the boy always got whenever McDonald brushed against him, it kind of reminded Sirius of the nervousness that girls usually had on first dates with him.
"Yeah, I think I know what you mean," he replied at length.
"He even kind of looks feminine," Peter interjected, smiling from his position as the length of something bright green stuck out from his mouth.
"He doesn't look feminine, just... I dunno... Maybe delicate?" The word Sirius wanted to use was 'soft.' Everything about Remus looked soft. From his light brown- golden blonde hair, to his ivory, scarred skin the boy just seemed like, well, like he'd be something nice to touch.
Sirius didn't touch him much, he could probably count the times when his skin had brushed against the smaller boy's on one hand, but he remembered having enjoyed it immensely each time.
"Well, just think of things that girls don't like guys doing," James said gathering up the bounded pile of parchment at his feet, the real copy of 'Most Potente Potions' had been returned to the library on a late night similar to the one that they'd taken it.
Staring blankly at him, Sirius blinked a few times before James stood and rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Girls don't like it when guys get too touchy too soon. Put the potion in the guy's pumpkin juice or whatever and when he starts pawing at Remus, he'll probably get angry at him."
This was a pretty good plan, Sirius thought. After all, Remus didn't seem like the type to be particularly fond of sudden contact, he had never seen the two share anything more than a few touches in the hall, it wasn't unreasonable to assume that Remus wasn't overly comfortable with that type of thing yet.
Nodding, Sirius smiled as he thumped James on the back, holding the cubicle door open for Peter before turning to lock it. "That's brilliant, I'll do that."
"You should try and do it tonight. At the Quidditch after party," Peter suggested washing his hands in one of the working sinks.
Peter was talking about the party that the Ravenclaws would be throwing in the South wing of the castle, this was usually the place where the winning team of the Quidditch match would gather and blast loud, vulgar music until the fear of being caught sent students back to their Common Room.
"You're going to the Quidditch after party?"
Remus had entered the washroom and as he walking up the sinks he smiled at Sirius through the mirror.
"Of course! Do you think I'd miss something like that?" Sirius said turning to face him, "You're going too, right?"
"Yeah, probably." Remus answered not meeting Sirius' eyes and suddenly, Sirius had a good idea who Remus was planning on going with.
Holding a bottle of Firewhiskey tightly in his grasp Sirius growled as once again, McDonald flicked his stupid hair out of his eyes and reached down to touch Remus' shoulder.
"Better find a way to give it to him," James muttered before catching sight of a twirl of red hair and turning away from him with a cry of 'Hey Evans!'
Sirius waited for another seven minutes brushing off the advances of three girls before he was able to make his move.
McDonald had laid down his bottle of Firewhiskey on the table closest where the two were leaning against the wall and walked away from Remus with a nod of his head.
Sirius reckoned that the boy was probably was going to the bathroom, and he that had five maybe eight minute before McDonald came back and re-glued himself to Remus' side.
"Hey," Sirius said sliding against the spot that McDonald just had vacated.
Remus' eyes sparkled over the top of his Butterbeer as he asked, "Having a good time?"
"How could I not? Look at the mischief, at the rebellion, I'm pretty sure this is my favorite part of the Quidditch season."
At that moment one of the Prewett twins, Sirius was almost sure it was Fabian by the short wand clutched in his hand, shot a spell at the ceiling of the room and it exploded into a flurry of colorful of light and smoke.
Laughing at the cheers that erupted from the sight Remus turned to nod in Fabian's direction. It was then that Sirius noticed that beside the twin, stood Amlise and Romulus, their wands out and twirling playfully in their hands.
Taking the opportunity of Remus' turned back, Sirius grabbed Justin's bottle from the table and turned towards the wall, pouring the contents of the vial into the bottle.
Returning the bottle to the table he recaptured Remus' attention, "Do you want some?" He asked holing up his own bottle of Firewhiskey.
"No, I don't really like the taste," Remus said before his eyes fell on something behind Sirius and shot him an almost sheepish look.
Somehow knowing the problem Sirius turned to see Justin entering through the heavy doors of the large space and begin navigating his way through the crowd towards them.
"Well I'll see you later," Sirius said learning forward to clasp Remus gently on the shoulder and enjoying the spread of color that dashed across his cheeks.
Settling down on a couch in a far corner of the room Sirius was quickly dragged into a conversation with the other twin, Gideon, he could confirm seeing the almost trademark way the boy's wand stuck out from behind his ear.
"Did you do it?" James asked as he'd flopped down beside him sporting a rather nasty bruise on the side of his face.
"Yup," Sirius swiped his own wand across the mark, watching in some fascination as the bruise seem to shimmer before growing slightly more purple. "Wow, that Lily sure can pack a punch."
Muttering, James shook his head as he allowed Sirius to attempt a more complex spell to heal his face, "Hope, he doesn't notice that his pumpkin juice tastes any different."
"Naw, I put it in his Firewhiskey. It taste so strong, I doubt he'll be able to tell the difference."
"What?!" James jerked away from Sirius' spell roughly and turned to stare at him with wide eyes, "You're not suppose to mix it with alcohol. It'll quantify it's magic."
Sirius paled severely before turning to look at where Remus and McDonald had been standing. His heart almost stopped when he realized that they were both gone.
I'm beaming happily at everyone who took the time to read my latest chapter... so you know.