Hogwarts, first year…

Sirius quickly sat down on his chair and tried on his most innocent expression. This wasn't one of his most brilliant plans, but he figured he'd go easy on Lupin the first time. Sirius had come early to class just to make sure he could set up his little plan in peace; so he was alone in the classroom.

Lupin was going to pay. For what, asked a traitorous part of his mind. Sirius frowned. What sort of question was that? The answer was quite obvious, wasn't it? Just because…supplied another part of his mind, and that was as far as his answer went. Ha! You don't know, do you? Sirius growled low in his throat. Shut up and concentrate.

Sirius squinted his eyes, trying to look closely at the base of Lupin's regular seat from his own. There was a minor flaw in the plan but it was hardly noticeable. It was only when you looked really hard that you saw a rectangular piece of parchment on the seat, the words 'Fat Arse' written in big bold letters. A sub standard prank, if you didn't consider the fact that it would stick to anything it came in contact with for the next six hours. And removing your robes wasn't going to do any good. Sirius grinned. He could have improvised a bit of course, but he had very little patience for research and Charms had never truly been his strong point. This would just have to do for now.

Where is that brat? As soon as Sirius thought it, the door to the classroom flung open and a handful of students ambled in, Lupin being the first. He was reading what looked like his homework assignment, quill between his teeth and a look of deep concentration on his face.

Sirius grimaced. Nerd.

Lupin stopped mid step and turned his head slightly, sensing Sirius's unwavering gaze upon him. Sirius didn't bother looking away. If he did, it would only prove that he was guilty of something. So instead, he looked Lupin straight in the eye and cocked a sardonic eyebrow. To his utmost annoyance, Lupin smiled.

Look at him. Smiling like I'm some kind of circus clown here to entertain him. Stupid git.

Sirius scowled in reply and Lupin chuckled quietly before looking away and walking towards his seat.

I hate you. I hate you so much.

Sirius was distracted from his thoughts of hatred when a very pompous Horace Slughorn burst into the room, probably in an attempt to make a grand entry. Sirius didn't like him either. He was a sensible enough teacher but an extremely annoying suck up. Slughorn knew all the prestigious wizarding families and students who would succeed in life and took no shame in exploiting them. Unsurprisingly, Sirius had been asked to join his Butterfly or something club on the very first week of school. Naturally, he had declined. He was in no mood for old woman tea parties and politics.

Sirius glanced at his watch. The class seemed be dragging on and on, and Sirius tapped his foot impatiently. He wanted this class to end fast, so that he could get a good look at Lupin's butt. Well, that didn't sound right.

After what seemed like ages, the bell rang, and Sirius practically jumped off his seat. No sooner had he got up, that a large crowd of students passed by right in front of him. Damn it, move! But by the time, he'd pushed his way out, Lupin had already gone.

Sirius punched the air. 'Shit!'

Suddenly, a hand rested on his shoulder and a soft voice whispering in his ear caused Sirius to shiver. 'You need to work harder than that, Black.'

Then the hand disappeared, leaving Sirius feeling confused and strangely empty. He watched in awe as Lupin passed by him, bottom free of parchment and a sly grin on his face. How-? What the-? Where was-? But I-

And then, Sirius's eyes caught sight of Slughorn's behind and that was when he nearly fainted. There it was, mid centre, in big bold letter and a much better description of Slughorn's hindquarters than Lupin's.

XxxxX

'SIRIUS BLACK!'

Sirius's fork clattered to the floor as Professor Mc Gonagall grabbed him roughly by the ear.

'CARE TO EXPLAIN THIS?' she asked, shoving a tattered piece of parchment into his face.

Sirius's eyes darted from the crowd of students, (who had stopped their chattering to watch the commotion), to Mc Gonagall (whose lip had reduced to a thin line), and then finally on the big bold print in front of his face. Fat Arse, he read and chuckled mentally.

Sirius turned towards her, looked her directly in the eye, and gave her his most charming smile. 'Surely a person of your calibre would know the meaning of such crude language, Professor,' he said innocently.

Mc Gonagall's lip completely disappeared then. 'Don't be smart with me, Mr. Black. I've corrected enough of your homework assignments to know what your handwriting looks like. Two weeks, Mr. Black. Two weeks, and you, and Mr. Potter have managed to give me a hernia painful enough to last me a lifetime.'

Sirius opened his mouth to argue. That the damn parchment wasn't meant for Slughorn's fat rear, though now that he thought about it, the potions professor certainly deserved it. Bloody shoe licking hypocrite that he was.

'Ten points from Gryffindor, Black. And next time I catch you, it'll be cleaning toilets with toothbrushes for you,' she said sternly.

Excuse me, did you just say, toilets Sirius curled his lip in disgust. No way was he even touching a toilet seat, no matter how thin Mc Gonagall's lip got. This was a house elf's job, not a Black's.

He watched her strode out of the great hall with disdain. She reminded him too much of his mother for his liking. Merlin forbid the two should ever meet.

'You did that prank on Slughorn?' asked Potter incredulously from beside him.

Sirius glanced briefly at Lupin before fully turning towards Potter. 'I was a part of it, yes,' he replied offhandedly.

Potter swallowed a large piece of chicken in haste and grinned. 'That was bloody brilliant! Had me and Pete laughing for hours, right, mate?' He thumped Pettigrew on the back.

Sirius watched with disgust as Pettigrew choked on his food and coughed bits out. Cavemen, I'm surrounded by prehistoric cavemen. Merlin, what am I doing here?

'So, what spells did you use. I heard old Sluggy couldn't get it out of his robes till Mc Googly came along.'

Sirius smiled proudly, 'Well, I-'

But he never got to complete his sentence because his eyes had caught sight of a greasy, longhaired kid walking past the Gryffindor table. Since when did Hogwarts allow vampires? The boy was pitifully skinny and pale. Not like Lupin. No, this one looked like he'd just woken up from the grave and any normal person would have ignored him after a swirly or two. But the boy, for all of his pathetic-ness actually had the audacity to mutter 'filthy mudbloods' just as he passed a few of the first years, Lupin being one of them.

Later, when Sirius had asked himself why he'd been so quick to act, he'd simply told himself that Lupin was Sirius's prey alone, and like how a lion protected its prey until it was done with it, he was doing the same. But right then, Sirius was red with rage, and he instantly got up from his seat, shooting out the first incantation that came into his head, only to hear an echo of his own spell from behind him.

He looked over his shoulder, confused, only to see Potter grinning at him, wand raised and face flushed. 'I hate that kid, greasy bastard,' he muttered, lowering his wand.

They both looked at Snape who was now lying flat on the ground with boils the size of dragon eggs on his face. It was improvement; one would say…well, save for the pus.

Sirius and Potter's gaze met, and they stared at each other for a long time before dissolving into fits of laughter along with the rest of the Great Hall.

'It seems, Potter,' Sirius said, when they'd both stopped laughing to catch their breaths, 'that great minds think alike.'

Potter wiped a stray tear from his eyes. 'James,' he said reaching out a hand. 'Call me James.'

That week, Sirius had concluded, that cleaning toilets wasn't so bad when you had a friend to do it with.

XxxxX

Sirius's eyes darted around the Great Hall restlessly and he leaned up over his seat slightly to be able to look farther. Not there either. He craned his neck further until he could see well over the Slytherin tables. Nothing.

'Whatcha lookin' for?' asked James, looking at Sirius curiously through a mouthful of potatoes.

'Lupin,' replied Sirius shortly, doing a double check on the Hufflepuff table.

'Why?' asked Peter from beside James.

Sirius sat down on his seat, defeated, and shrugged indifferently. 'He's been absent for three days. I was wondering if he'd returned.'

James frowned. 'I hadn't noticed.' He opened his mouth as if to say something further but stopped and frowned deeper, as if caught up in his thoughts.

'Don't know what you're so anxious about. It isn't the first time he's missing classes since the start of school,' said Peter, helping himself to Shepherd's pie for the third time.

Sirius was surprised that Peter had actually noticed. 'Yes, I know, but he's never been gone for over a day or two.'

James swallowed his chicken and looked at Sirius suspiciously. 'What's with you and Lupin, anyway? Ever since the first day of school, you've been tailing him. You got a crush on him or something?'

'I see you harassing Snape all the time. Do you have a crush on him?' Sirius bit back sharply.

James grinned. 'Touché.'

'Actually, I have a new prank in mind and it's begging to be tried out. And who's a better test subject than Lupin?' Sirius smiled to himself, as he fiddled with his food absent mindedly.

James frowned. 'I don't understand why you insist in picking on the bloke. I mean, Snape's a git, so my actions are justified. Lupin, on the other hand, seems like a fair enough guy. A little on the weird side, but decent just the same.'

Sirius put down his fork. 'Lupin's not weird,' he said, a little peeved.

Peter looked from Sirius to James. 'Actually, James is right.' He smiled at James's look of triumph and continued, 'Lupin avoids people like disease, spends half his time in the library, and has those weird haunted eyes that would give any sane man the heebijeebies.' Peter shivered involuntarily.

Sirius snorted. 'Pettigrew, even flobberworms gives you the heebijeebies. Your word hardly qualifies as proof.'

Peter squeaked indignantly. 'Well, you can't ignore the fact that he's sick half the time and keeps needing to go back home to recover.'

James frowned. 'I thought it was his mother or someone who's sick.'

Peter shook his head. 'No. I heard McGonagall talk to Lily Evans yesterday. Lupin's really sick, so he's taken leave for a couple of days.'

Sirius felt a sudden surge or concern. Lupin must have been really unwell for the Hogwarts matron not to able to cure him. He quickly suppressed the feeling though and adopted his most blasé expression. 'Well, he'd better get better soon,' he growled. 'I need someone to prank on.'

James snorted so loud, pumpkin juice sprayed out of his nose. 'He'd kick your butt!' he said, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. 'The boy's a bloody genius. I especially love the way he managed to sneak back your own dung bombs under your seat last time.'

Peter laughed. 'Yeah, even Binns reacted to that. Priceless, that one.'

James imitated Professor Binns bored expression. 'Mr. Piddlewick, kindly refrain from gaseous exchange during class hours.' He banged the table as he dissolved into peals of laughter. 'Classic!'

Sirius felt the heat rise up to his face. 'Fluke,' he huffed, crossing his arms across his chest.

'Ha! You can't even admit that Lupin's outsmarted every single prank you tried to pull on him.'

'I can beat Lupin any time I want to.'

James rolled his eyes, and waved off Sirius's statement. 'Please. I bet I could hex Snape five times before you manage to even touch the hair on Lupin's head.'

Sirius got up from his seat vehemently. 'Is that a challenge, Potter?'

James stood up as well, grinning. 'What if it is?'

'Then I accept. As soon as Lupin comes back to Hogwarts, I'll show you who the bloody genius is around here.'

XxxxX

For the last few months, Remus Lupin had actually been visiting the Shrieking Shack for his transformations under the excuse of visiting his sick mother. In fact, this was the first full moon he was going to spend at home since the start of school. Apparently, the ministry had sent a letter to John Lupin requesting that Remus be registered by the 15th of January, which was tomorrow.

It was good to be home, thought Remus, as he leaned against the doorframe connecting the kitchen and the living room. His father was seated on his 'special' couch, remote control to the TV in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Remus frowned. Something was definitely wrong. John Lupin was a 'special occasion cigar' sort of man. Maybe a fag or two a month, but that was as far as he went. However, there he was, ashtray piled with cigarette butts and the purifier in the corner of the room working at a mad pace to cleanse the air.

Talk to him, baby, his mother's voice said inside his head. There's nothing more therapeutic than baring your soul to someone. Remus shook his head. His mother and her psycho babble.

John Lupin suddenly noticed his son standing at the doorway and broke into a large smile. 'Come on,' he said, shifting to make space beside him, 'They're showing old James Bond reruns. Wouldn't want to miss them, would we?'

Remus grinned and quickly squeezed beside his father on the couch. Instinctively, John wound his arms around his son's small shoulders, ruffling the soft brown hair near his right ear. Remus rested his head on his father's shoulder.

He'd missed this. Missed his parents' constant pampering and fussing. Missed the small affectionate gestures, and tight embraces. Mostly, he missed the small cocoon of love and warmth that his parents created for him alone.

'Dad?' said Remus, looking up the grey tendrils of smoke blowing out of his father's nose.

'Hm?'

Connect, baby, talk it out. 'What do you know about the Blacks?' Remus surprised himself by asking the question. It was really not what he'd been meaning to ask.

John exhaled another ring of smoke. 'The Blacks…hm…from what I know, they're one of the oldest wizarding families and according to me, the most decent of the lot. Don't get me wrong though. They're just as rotten, rude and ostentatious as the others, but they've never been caught at doing anything illegal. They have a reputation to keep, after all. But they support the dark arts, oh yes, their beliefs are as pronounced and rigid as stone. Tojours Pur…that's their motto, I think.' He inhaled, and exhaled again. 'They're mostly harmless, as long as you stay out of their way.' John turned to his son. 'Why do you ask?'

Remus bit his lip. 'There's a Black in our year…in Gryffindor.'

John Lupin let out a chuckle. 'Well, that's unheard of. Looks like the Blacks are going soft.'

So that's why Black had been so upset when he was sorted to Gryffindor. Truthfully, Remus sort of liked Sirius Black. He was a little arrogant, but his failed attempts at pranks were Remus's only source of entertainment in Hogwarts. For some reason, Remus took a sadistic pleasure in getting under Black's skin. He wasn't a friend, per se, but he was close. And of course, there was Lily Evans. She was the nicest girl in their year and seemed really focused on getting Remus to talk to her. He had finally given in to her attempts last month and allowed himself the luxury of a couple of conversations, but never more than that. He needed to be careful after all.

John and Remus had fallen into a comfortable silence after their little conversation, and Remus found himself slowly drifting off as his father continued rhythmically stroking his hair. A particularly strong waft of smoke blew into his nose, causing him to cough lightly.

John's eyes widened, and he quickly snubbed out the cigarette, rubbing circles on his son's back to soothe the cough. 'Sorry, got a little carried away. You okay?'

Remus nodded, eyes watering slightly. 'Why do you always do that?'

'Do what?' asked John, relaxing back into the sofa.

'Treat me like I'm going to break.'

John looked into his son's eyes, frowning slightly. 'Don't be ridiculous. You're one of the strongest people I know. Why would I do that?'

Remus pouted. 'You just did.'

John shook his head. 'I'm just worried about you, is all. The Werewolf registry keeps changing its rules and now, all of a sudden they come up with this new regulation where young werewolves need to register by the age of ten. And they do it just during the full moon too. It's frustrating…' he concluded.

Remus watched his father's shoulders relax slightly, and he could tell that John Lupin had been having a hard time keeping it all bottled up for so long. Maybe his mother was right after all. Talking did do some good, even if it was a bit girly.

'It's okay, dad,' he said, smiling faintly. 'You don't have to worry about me.'

John let out a bark like laugh, and he punched Remus's jaw affectionately. 'Sometimes, Remus, when I talk to you, I feel like you're years older than I am.'

Remus punched his father's arms, laughing. 'No one can be older than you, you prune-y old codger.'

'Watch your mouth, young man, or someone in this house might find their allowance missing next month.'

Remus gasped. 'You wouldn't.'

John got up from the couch and stretched. 'Don't challenge your old man, young lad.'

Remus sat up on his knees and clasped his hands in front of his chest. 'Forgive me, oh wonderful father of mine. I beg you. Spare this child of yours. He is but a foolish youth.'

John Lupin laughed and mussed Remus's hair. 'You've been reading Shakespeare, I see.' He glanced at the wall clock. 'Why don't you get some sleep, and I'll wake you up when it's time to take you to the garage, okay? You can keep the TV on if you want.'

Remus smiled, arranging himself in a comfortable position and snuggling back on the couch. 'You're letting me sleep in your 'special' couch?' he asked, eyes already half shut.

'Yes, but drool on it, and I'll hold my word about the allowance,' said John Lupin, as he slowly walked towards the stairs. The previous reserve in his eyes was now replaced with mirth, and he felt somewhat at ease now that he'd talked to his son.

'Dad?'

John stopped mid step. 'Hm?'

'I really can handle it, you know.'

John Lupin turned to face his son, who was peeking from behind the back of the couch. 'I know you can,' he replied sincerely. 'The question is, can I?'

XxxxX

Serpent91: More chapters it is then. Thank you for reviewing. Hope you have great time reading this one. I especially adore Remus's father in this. iHEARTxDRAC0: It's not that Sirius doesn't want to be in Gryffindor. It's just that he's so used to the idea of Slytherin, and to a certain extent, he's bound by the Black rules as well, so he's just a little shocked. BlackMercifulFaerie: Aw…Sirius is not being an ass. He's just…a little um…okay, you're right. He is being an ass, but you love him anyway. And Remus is so cute, especially in this chapter, atleast I think so. Tyleet27: Hm…yeah, I kinda wanted them to have a pull towards each other from the very first. You know the whole thing about predestined love and shit. Nina: Remus is very cute, especially in this chapter, according to me atleast. As for Lily, she's hardly the type to give up…Anyway, thanks for reviewing. Leafyaki: Thanks. The chapters are getting easier to write too, now that the introductions are done. Anyway, hope you enjoy this one. I especially like Remus in this.