Disclaimer : These fabulous characters are not mine. If they were mine, I wouldn't make Sirius and Remus died. Instead, they'll live happily ever after and together! Ha! Geez… what a lucky woman JK Rowling is…
Warning : Slash abound! Well, not that much, anyway, but there is a slash couple in this chapter, it's Riddle/Remus. Sirius could wait to be with Remus. Hehe.
Remus and James were sitting around a table made of glass in their studio. Music sheets scattered on the table, with various writing and marking on it. The chaos in the studio described the panic of their upcoming deadline. Well, not Remus. Remus looked calm and collective toward himself, though James looked frantic and nervous. He kept glancing to the clock, which hung not far from them. The bespectacled man huffed in annoyance and ruffled his already messy black hair in frustration as he get back to his work. Remus, being with James for this past three years, made him understood how James would react when he got nervous. Usually, the source of James's frustration is notes or chords he couldn't find to match the melody that made by Remus.
"Is there something wrong, James?" asked Remus casually.
James looked intently to his working sheet - a piece of music sheet with various notations and symbols of chords – and sighed. "I'm so dead. The deadline is in two months and I'm not sure what chord should I put here…" He muttered. James brows furrowed as he scratched the bridge of his nose with his pencil. He looked up to meet Remus golden orbs. The golden haired boy was staring back at James with his eyebrows raised. "Can you help me, please?" James asked sheepishly.
"Sure." Remus putted away his music book. He took the sheet from James and looked it for a second. "Hmm… we can put a Neapolitan chord (1) over here, to replace this B-flat7 chord you have. The Neapolitan will make this score sounds richer and a bit gloomy. Wait a second… I change my mind. This will look good if we put an augmented sixth chord (2). Like German, French, or Italian. Hey! French sixth will do it! It'll give us a sad sound, yet bright! Let's try it on the piano." Remus stood from his seat and headed toward the grand piano while James followed behind him.
"Please, Remus… don't talk about that rubbish anymore... You're making my headache worsen." groaned James as he rubbed his forehead tiredly, while Remus played the piano, trying to find the right notation for the composition. "Besides, you know that I hate theory of music a lot."
"That's because you never paid any attention in the class, James." laughed Remus as he hit few keys on the keyboard. "How 'bout this?"
"Can you repeat that?" Remus hit the keys once again just as James told him to and eyed the messy haired man who frowned and hummed the melody. "It fits, actually… but I'm afraid that the next chord wouldn't match with that." said James as he pointed the rest of the part with his finger. "Because the next chord is not dominant chord, and I don't want you to change that! It took me two damn hours to find this freaking chord! If you dare to change it, I won't be your friend anymore!"
"Oh. Then we can put something between them," Remus took his pencil and circled a few notes. "We can insert a transposition. Since we play it in F major and you change it into a D minor over here," Remus mumbled, busy with his own thought, while James tried his best to keep up with Remus. "Then, we can make this as the development part and this part is the recapitulation! (3)" Remus turned his body and gave James a huge smile.
"Umm… Rem, we are not making a sonata, but we're making 'a song'." said James. He gave accent in his voice when he said 'a song'. "Why the hell do we need recapitulation? We simply call it theme after interlude."
"Oh." Seemed Remus had snapped back to reality. "Sorry. Sorry, sorry… Umm," The golden-eyed man read carefully what he wrote on the sheet. "How about this. We change the chord into a broken chord as the accompaniment for the melody. We can play it like this," Remus played on the piano. "So those different chords sound like connecting!"
"Now, that sounds like an invention. More like a fugue (4), actually."
"ARRGHH!" Remus groaned in frustration. He dropped his hands on the keyboard. "I can't do this, James! Why don't we stick to the rule where I write the melody and you arrange the instrument?"
"That's sounds great." muttered James. He snatched his music sheet and got back to where he was, yawning. "Sometimes I wonder why we can befriend like this, even a best friend." He looked up at Remus and smiled. Remus then returned James smile and got back to his music book. "I barely understand what you just said back there." James nodded his head toward the piano.
"If you paid attention in theory class, you wouldn't be that dumb, anyway." Remus replied casually as he sipped his coffee.
"Hey, I did pay attention to Professor Slughorn's class!" said James, defending himself. "It just… his subject was so boring. Hell, every subject at Hogwarts is boring. Now I wonder, why I agreed to my parents when they said that I'm going to 'Hogwarts University of art and music' and pick classical music. Composition even… Those theory and history are awful! I should have chose art above music."
"If you picked that, then you'll be more confused when you speak with me." Remus said, cheerfully.
James smiled. "You're right." He was about to begin his work, when he caught a glimpse of flaring red hair from his corner eye. He hurriedly stood up and ran toward the red haired girl, hugging her tightly. Rather than affectionately, it was more as James wanted to break the girl's backbone…
"Lily!! I miss you soooooo much!!"
"James… I can't breathe…" Lily gasped for air since James held her too tightly, almost crushing her lungs.
"Oh, sorry." James stepped back, releasing Lily from his bone-crushing hug, grinning. "But I do miss you."
Lily huffed as she smoothen her long traveling winter cloak. "I brought you guys some food." She said, lifting up a plastic bag with abundance of foods.
Lily was taking the foods out of the plastic bag when Remus's cell phone rang. The golden haired man took his cell phone and read the caller id. It was Riddle. Remus muttered 'sorry' to both James and Lily, indicating to his cell phone. Both of them shrugged and let him go. They knew if it from Riddle, then Remus must answer it.
"Yes?"
"Where are you now, Remus?" asked the older man.
"I'm in the studio with James. Why?"
"Just the two of you?" Riddle asked. There was a hint of jealousy in Riddle's voice.
"No. Lily Just got here."
"Great. So, James wouldn't mind if I take you out for dinner, right? He has Lily, after all." Riddle said with a soft and seductive voice. "Imagine you and me, having the most romantic candlelight dinner in the most romantic and expensive restaurant in New York. What say you?"
Remus gave Riddle a small laugh before he replied, "Thanks, but no. Lily had brought us some food, actually, so you don't have to worry about me. Besides, they won't let me starve to death, Riddle."
"I never worry that you'll starve, Remus." Remus could imagine Riddle pouting when he said that sentence. "I just want to have dinner with you. Is that wrong?"
"Our relationship is not warrant for a dinner."
Riddle groaned. "Not that again… Hey, listen. I'll come to the studio to pick you up for dinner. If people's stare bothered you, then we'll have dinner in my mansion."
"Umm… I can't go now, Riddle."
"Why?"
"I have to help James arranging music for our album. Sorry." Remus quickly added 'sorry'. He didn't want to give an impression that he doesn't want to go out with Riddle.
Riddle groaned in frustration. He never succeeded in asking Remus out. He took a deep breath and calmed himself, and spoke, "I guess I'll let you get back to your work, then. Perhaps, we can meet in the morning?" He asked, hopefully.
"Perhaps. Night, Riddle."
"Night, Remus. Take a good rest, okay?"
"I will." With that last sentence, Remus hung up and walked back to where Lily and James were. They had started to eat when Remus came and sat back, facing them. He took a piece of tuna filling pizza when James started to speak.
"Riddle?"
Remus merely nodded, for his mouth was full at that moment. He opened up a can of coke and gulped the liquid in it.
"Why don't you tell the truth, Remus?" Lily asked, watching Remus with worried. "You don't love him, aren't you?"
Remus finished his pizza. Remus remained silent before he nodded.
"Then tell it already!" James said. "He'll ask you about it over and over again before you gave him a straight answer. If you gave him an answer, he'll stop bugging you. And 'no' is the answer, Remus!"
"You don't know him, James. He wouldn't stop asking and bugging me until I say 'yes'!" Remus said. "Besides, he is protective and possessive when it comes to me…"
"And that bothers you?"
"… A lot."
"See!? Then why don't you just dump him?"
"James, we aren't even lover. How can I 'dump' him?"
"Well, just walk away, runaway to another country. France, perhaps? You always love that place and find a new lover for you."
Remus sighed. He took a bowl of spaghetti, his most favorite food. "It's not that easy." Remus pointed his fork on James, startling the other boy. "And he's not my lover!"
Remus was sleeping on a couch, curled up. A piece of thin blanket wrapped on his body and a small pillow under his head. James and Lily were sleeping on the carpeted floor, cuddling. They were too tired to get up in the morning, oblivious to their surrounding. They even not realized that someone entered the studio. These certain someone unlocked the key and walked casually toward the couch where Remus was sleeping. The stranger, clad in long black winter cloak sat beside Remus and watched the young man as he was sleeping. The stranger reached and brushed out strands of golden hair from Remus's face, making the said boy stirred a bit.
"Ngg…" Remus moaned, snapping his head away from the stranger's caress.
The stranger was smiling and tapping Remus's shoulder. "Remus, wake up." He said.
"Ngg…" Remus stirred, turning his body and resumed his slumber. "Not now…" He mumbled incoherently.
"Remus, wake up." The stranger shook Remus's shoulder.
"Mm…" Remus slowly opened his eyes. He looked up to see the stranger who woke him up. He was frowning when he saw the stranger. "Riddle? What are you doing in here?" He asked, yawning.
Riddle sighed as he stood up, removing his traveling winter cloak. "I told you I'll pick you up in the morning." Riddle walked toward the window and opened it, letting the sunlight invading the studio. "Actually, this isn't morning anymore. It is five in the afternoon."
Remus yawned and ruffled his golden-brown head. "Five o'clock?" He muttered and looked around, groaning as his head gave a shot of pain. "Ugh… We were overslept last night. James was so persistent to finish the arrangement yesterday, so he made us - Lily and me - stay up until four a.m." Remus yawned once more.
"He did that?" Riddle said, eyeing James and Lily who were sleeping contently to each other.
"Not to worry, though. I don't mind staying up all night and arranging music with James and Lily. It was fun, actually." Remus told Riddle and stood up from the couch. He folded the blanket, putting it on the couch when he done. "Want some coffee?" Remus asked Riddle as he walked toward the coffee machine and grabbed two mugs.
"Yeah." Riddle replied. He walked, drawing nearer to Remus's side. The golden-brown haired boy was pouring the hot coffee to the mugs, offering one of them to Riddle with a small smile playing on his face. Both of them were drinking their own coffee silently, until Riddle remembered something he wants to say to Remus.
"These arrived at my office this morning." The black haired man said and took out four black cards. He handed it to Remus who received it with a small crest on his forehead. "It came with a letter, saying that Lucius sent it for us."
"Hmm… these are invitations to gala dinner." Remus said, examining the black card. There was his name written on the card as a VIP guest. "Lucius sent this to you? Why?"
"He said that he wants to introduce his latest singer." Riddle answered. "Actually, they have a press conference today, but we wouldn't make it there. The conference is in 3.30."
"Oh. Do you want to come this dinner?"
"Of course I will. You, James, and Lily are coming with me." Riddle said. He checked on his watch and sighed. "Wake them and get prepare. You don't want to be there and look mess up like this, right?" said the producer. He drew Remus closer to himself and gave the smaller man a kiss on the lips. "I'll be waiting for you downstairs. Don't be late."
Riddle, 'The Marauders', and Lily arrived at Three Broomsticks Hotel where the gala dinner was held. By showing the security their invitation card, four of them were being ushered to a white linen table by Lucius own secretary, Severus Snape.
"Snivellus!" called James, cheerfully as he saw Severus Snape approaching them. "Long time no see! How are you doing, old git?!"
"Potter." hissed Severus in pure disgust. He looked at Remus who looked at him, apologetically for what James had called him. The greasy haired man turned his head sideways and smiled to Riddle. "My boss would like to have a word with you, Mr. Riddle. Wouldn't you mind?"
"Sure, why not? Just tell him to come here."
Severus bowed politely and walked back to his own table where Lucius and a handsome man sat. They both got up from their seat and came closer to Riddle's table.
"Tom," said Lucius Malfoy. "It has been a long time since our last reunion."
"Lucius," Riddle stood up, followed by the rest of the residences of that table. "Thank you for inviting us. Such a lovely dinner you held here. This place is full of critics, reporters, producers, and singers from all around New York. What a lucky singer of yours, for having such grand dinner only for his debut."
"This is worth it, 'coz he is the best singer I ever met." Lucius smirked. "Please meet my new singer from London, Sirius Black."
Sirius smiled broadly, as he introduced himself to the black haired producer. "The name's Sirius Black, the future rival for you band."
Riddle's eyes were twinkling in amusement as he heard Sirius's statement. "Ah. Such a confidence you have there, Mr. Black. I hope your singing skill is as good as your confidence-self tells me. You don't want to make Lucius lose again, don't you?" Riddle laughed to his own sarcasm.
"I have enough talent to beat your 'Marauders', I believe." Sirius replied with a fake smile plastered on his face. "What's your name, anyway?" He suddenly asked to James.
"I'm James Potter, the drummer for 'The Marauders'." James spoke, smiling. "And this is Lily Evans, our manager." said James, introducing his own fiancée who nodded politely toward Sirius.
"And who is this cute guy?" asked Sirius as he looked over to Remus, smiling his most charming smile.
"I'm Remus Lupin. I'm the singer and guitarist for the band." replied Remus, blushing slightly.
Riddle had dislike Sirius immediately when the Black said about Remus being cute. He was the only one who had rights to make Remus blushing like that and called him cute. "Don't you have something to do, Mr. Black?" The owner of 'Voldermort' said, with his eyes glimmered in hatred for the black haired young man.
"Speaking of which, you need to get prepare. You'll up to the stage in five minutes to sing your first single, aren't you?" Lucius said, giving Severus a sign to bring Sirius away to the backstage and prepare the young man. When Severus and Sirius were gone, Lucius looked up, seeing those blue orbs of Riddle's eyes with a pleasing smile formed by his lips. "I hope you are enjoying the night, Tom." said the Malfoy, smirking before he left Riddle and his companions alone.
James nudged Remus with his elbow; his lips formed a mischievous smirk. "I see you fancying that new singer of Lucius."
"Wha…? No!" Remus's blush was getting redder than before. "I'm not fancying him. I just…"
Before Remus finished his sentence, a hand grabbed his chin and forced Remus to look up to his left side. Within millisecond, Riddle pressed his lips on Remus's pink one, possessively. When the kiss was broke, Riddle glared dangerously at James and said with a hoarse voice, "You're mine, Remus. Mine!"
Now James and Lily knew why Remus couldn't say no to Riddle.
(1) In music theory, a Neapolitan chord (or simply a "Neapolitan") is a major chord built on the lowered second (supertonic) scale degree. In tonal harmony, the function of the Neapolitan chord is to prepare the dominant, substituting for the IV or ii chord. For example, in C major, the supertonic is D. Then we changed this D flat, followed by F, A flat, and B, so it is D flat – F – A flat – B. This chord then runs usually to dominant chord (fifth scale degree in C major), G – B – D.
(2) An augmented sixth chord has its origins in the Renaissance, further developed in the Baroque, and became a distinctive part of the musical style of the Classical and Romantic periods. There are several variants of the augmented sixth chord, which are Italian, French, and German. Though each is name after a European nationality, theorists disagree on their precise origins and have struggled for centuries to define their roots, and fit them into conventional harmonic theory. First, is Italian sixth. In C major, the Italian sixth consists of A flat – C – F sharp. The German sixth is also like Italian, but with an added E flat between C and F sharp (in C major). From the sound and the notation, the German sixth chord is a major chord. In harmony, the German sixth will have to go back to the tonic chord of the scale (C major) before it goes to the dominant chord. The French sixth in C major is consisting of A flat – C – D – F sharp.
(3) Those are structures of sonata forms. A sonata forms consists an exposition where we can find the theme of the sonata and the transition/bridge. Exposition then followed by development part where the theme from the exposition is improved. The last part after the development is recapitulation, where the theme from exposition is back to its real form. There's also a transition with a faked melody (sounds like it change the scale, but it doesn't), and end up with a coda. Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven improved this sonata form.
(4) A fugue is a polyphonic composition based on one main theme, called a subject. Throughout a fugue, different melodic lines, called voices, imitate the subject. The top melodic line - whether sung or played - is the soprano voices, and the bottom is the bass. The texture of a fugue usually includes three, four, or five voices. Through the subject remains constant throughout, it takes on new meanings when shifted to different keys or combined with different melodic and rhythmic ideas. Bach and Handel wrote hundreds of fugues; their fugues represent the peak among works in the form. Bach even made fugue for each scales.
Yeah… I think I'm blabbering up there. I just finished my exams in my music school and was stress up by that… Honestly, my head is going to explode anytime in this month… And to think about that, I still have one exam to go, the piano exam…
Well, anyway, I want to say thank you once again to you my faithful reviewers! And for Aloha… jangan bunuh sayaaaa!! Don't worry, though. You see (pointing up to the warning, grinning) up there? Don't worry. There's still more of Riddle/Remus in next chapters! Muahahahahaha!! Like I said before, Sirius could wait. And thanks a lot to those who putted this story in their story alert! Thank you. However, I'll be more delighted if you send a review too. I need review! I'm dying without review! I never said that in previous chapter, but that doesn't mean that I don't need review. So, review, please? Or the update for this story will go slowly like a running snail. I mean it! Cheers!