James and Wormtail had managed to calm Remus down; but he was still angered by Narcissa. Angered so much that he began to blank her out of his mind; refusing to correspond with her. This charade of his had only gone on for a couple of hours, but Narcissa had had enough. There was no need whatsoever for him to act like this; she had been defending him. Did he actually want to be inflicted with the Cruciatus curse? No, no. It was just so unlike him to be acting like this. Usually, he and her together were divine. Granted, there were a few wobbly moments, but otherwise it had been ultimate perfection. But now ...
After going to Charms to collect some work, he left quickly, scuttling out of the classroom. Narcissa followed him, determined to get to the bottom of all of this. She grabbed his arm and stopped him. "What is up with you?"
He studied her, his face falling into lines of misery, looking much older than his seventeen years. "You shouldn't of retaliated towards Severus," he said quietly, his eyes not meeting hers.
"Why not? Remus - he was going to hurt you. Do you honestly think I was going to stand there and let him do it?" Her eyes began to glitter with tears.
He did not reply.
"And what makes it worse is," she continued, her hand resting against the wall, "you were just going to let him torture you."
His eyes glistened.
"Don't you ... don't you care?"
"This isn't the time to talk about it," he whispered, his blue eyes now staring intently into her own.
"Remus, you can talk to me, you know." She stepped closer to him, in hoping to reassure him, but this only made things worse. He grabbed his hair with both hands and pulled it; looking slightly deranged.
"He could of let everyone know about my condition!"
"People know anyway-"
"And by people you mean the staff and our friends."
"Well, yeah-"

"Point prooven then!" He cried, his hands clapping together as if applauding himself. "Don't you understand, Narcissa? This is going to ruin any chance I have at getting a good job if word gets out; it wouldn't matter if I got O's in everything either - I am still afflicted and that is THAT." He ended his lecture on a harsh tone, but his face then relaxed, as if it was out of his system.
"I will always love you; whether you're afflicted or not, Remus."
"That's very kind of you to say so Narcissa, but ..." he trailed off as she dived at him, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him fiercely.
"Stop talking like that! You know I love you."
"And I love you, but-"
"Gosh," yawned Sirius, approaching, three buttons on his shirt undone, "it's bloody hot." Narcissa let go of Remus, but he took her hand and held it instead. Narcissa blushed, but it was not because of Remus.
"Your shirt ..." she indicated his shirt, trailing off. "Could it be any more loose?"
He smirked. "Is that a request?"
"I - no!" replied Narcissa indignantly, her cheeks tinting. He ignored her and unbuttoned the rest of his shirt completely. A few younger girls who were walking past looked suprised at his fine fisque. They weren't the only ones.
"You - work - out?" said Narcissa weakly. Remus frowned at her.
"No," he replied, yawning, and pulled her away from Remus. "Feel free to check, though."
She swallowed. "No thanks."
He caught her hand as she went to turn away, pulling her closer. He placed her hand on his stomach. His hands were suprisingly soft along with his skin; delicate, even.
"I see ..." she murmured, pulling away after a moment or so. Remus continued to frown at nobody in paticular; but his frown subsided when James and Wormtail re-appeared. "So, what do you all want to do today?"
"Be lazy," sighed Sirius, "let's got to the lake. I fancy sleeping there. I would of suggested a trip to Hogsmede, but I really can't be bothered. Catching up on Charm work," he rolled his eyes at this, "is SO not an option, either."

So, off they all went to sit by the lake. Narcissa had decided to take off her shoes and dip them into the crystal clear water. As she did this, she contemplated about Sirius. He was very striking, yes. Intelligent, yes. James Potter's, Wormtail's, and Remus's best friend, yes. Christ. What was she doing thinking about her cousin? As she was lost in thought, she did not notice James creep up behind her, about to shove her into the lake in a playful manner. "Oi!" shouted Sirius, bringing Narcissa back to her thoughts. She turned a fraction; but James pushed her into the cold lake. She spluttered and coughed and laughed all at the same time, dragging herself up out of the lake. She pointed her wand at James, but Sirius coughed slightly. He pointed his wand at her, and quicker than a blinking eye, her sopping wet clothes were now dry and warm. "Thanks, Sirius."
He winked at her. "No problem, dear cousin."
She smiled back at him, and went to join Remus, who had been apparently oblivious to her falling in the lake, thanks to James. He was intently reading one of the books she had given him, a frown creasing in between his eyebrows as he concentrated. She sighed. Sirius sat on the other side of her, which meant she now had Remus on her left, and Sirius on her right. His shirt was still undone. He wriggled to get comfortable and elbowed her in her side. His hair flopped over his face as he closed his eyes, intending clearly to fall asleep under the sun. She sighed heavily, also feeling pretty sleepy as the sun blared down. She attempted to rest her head on Remus but he pushed her away gently. "I'm reading," he said kindly, not removing his eyes from his book. "Sleep on Sirius, or something."
She could not help but to notice the sarcastic indifference in his tone, but let it slide. Fine. She would. She rested her head on Sirius's chest, and with that, fell asleep ...