A/N: Sorry guys for the long hiatus...School and part time work had been overloading my schedule, had to wait for the semester to end before I could continue this...Here's a longer chapter to compensate!
Thanks to GDNIGHT, cutegixie, discoslam, BeastieoftheShadows12, Freya-Rhianna, and brenna963 for the reviews! I really feel bad 'cause I wasn't able to reply your reviews until recently. I really appreciate them though =) Keep on giving the constructive feedback! =)
Now, on to the fic!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, any of its characters, plot, etc...
Of Apple Trees and Honey Bees
Chapter 6
"Wotcher, Remus?" A random faceless Gryffindor student greeted.
Remus wanted to reply, Shut the freaking hell up, you bugger. But being the ever good-natured Prefect that he was, he merely whispered, "Nothing," before strolling briskly away from his confused peer.
Suffice to say, our resident werewolf was in a very sulky mood today. However, most of the Hogwarts population who usually took advantage of nice, friendly Remus, obviously didn't notice the change in his mood.
It was Tuesday, three days away from the freaking full moon, and Remus was reaching the peak of his Pre-Moon Syndrome (aka PMS). His sexual pent-up tension and confusion didn't really help, either.
Since his explicit dream of Sirius and his professor, Remus had been having recurring dreams in the following subsequent nights. Different scenarios, foreplays – but always the same two people.
It was frustrating enough to secretly make the lavatory journey in the dead of the night to finish off. To have one of the objects of his affections sleeping a few metres away made it so much worse.
Lily's opinions, and recently added clandestine winks in the Great Hall, were enough to make the werewolf go totally insane.
Insinuations often carried a worse effect than the actual action, or so people say.
Remus Lupin was no longer a boy, but not yet a man. His lycanthropy had attributed to much of his precocious maturity, especially when compared to his superficial peers. He was never one to consider romance as a priority in his life; since his afflicted childhood he aimed to excel and gain social mobility that would have otherwise been stunted by his furry condition.
One dashing Sirius Black, however, was proving to be a great complication to Remus' plans. While most would consider Sirius' outgoing character and more than occasional douchebaggery to be either - one, too excessive for normalcy, or two, overly attractive as a badboy stereotype (the latter usually applies to the ladies and fanboys), Remus found it simply as a nice complement to his own calm personality.
With James having discovered his body's reservoir of hormones, and Peter being more questionable in his daily activities (what the heck is with that toast? Magic or not, bread and butter does not grow on trees), Remus could only rely on Messr Padfoot for a good laugh and companionship.
The sandy haired marauder found himself in the unfortunate predicament of being smitten with his best friend and roommate. It was not a feeling as shallow and lovey-dovey that one would usually associate with puppy love (although it is ironic that both of them have canine alter egos). Nope, this thing, whatever it was between them, was more deep, entropic - befuddling yet satisfying.
If Cupid were an actual sentient being, rather than a mere personification of the mythical Eros he represented, he would be laughing his metaphoric ass and wings off at him right now.
"So, take for instance Plato's concept of the Cave Analogy," Professor Simpson drawled as he transfigured a small visual replica of a cave in thin air. He then incanted for a sun, that looked suspiciously like a glowing snitch, to appear outside the artificial cave. "The question lies not in the source of the sunlight, or 'enlightenment', but simply how to procure..."
It was amazing how he could find ways to use magic relevantly in a non-magic class like Muggle Studies.
Half of the class were at wits end trying to fathom the muggle philosophy concept, while the other half merely oogled at Simpson's superior charm and transfiguration skills.
Lily, vaguely familiar with the muggle thinker Plato and his teachings, was busy taking down notes and sketching diagrams. The sound of her furious note-taking was how some students kept awake during class. Remus, sitting beside her, was merely enthralled by the swishing and whittling of the professor's wand. Usually, the sandy haired boy would more conscientious when it came to schoolwork. However, given his recent sleepless nights, with one of the objects of aforementioned sleeplessness just a few metres in front of him, coupled with the fact that it was the full moon in a few days, his lack of attention was justifiable. He could always copy Lily's notes later.
"Does he know that we're a fifth year class, not seventh year?" the werewolf whispered to the redhead. "I'll be kicked out of school at this rate, if O.W.L.S. were this difficult."
"If you of all people fail O.W.L.S., my dear Remus, the Hogwarts sixth and seventh year population would be absolutely non-existent, and you know that."
"I'd reckon you'd be the single one left in our cohort, Lily, and top N.E.W.T.S. by default. Slughorn would be oh so proud."
"Haha, I'm sure you'd top this class, Remus, in more than one way," Lily retorted, whilst wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
Remus coloured, and attempted to retaliate by choking out some remark about James.
Their spat went unnoticed by Simpson, who was busily flipping his thick muggle textbook in search of the proper quotes and points, while charming tiny stickmen to go in and out of the magically-concocted cave.
Suddenly, two mops of messy raven hair barged into the classroom.
"Sorry Professor! We need to get Remus to the Hospital Wing now!" James half-yelled, practically dragging the latter by the collar before he could even think of gathering his belongings.
"What the heck?" Remus yelped as he stumbled across the classroom. He tried to hide his blush on suddenly seeing Sirius inside the classroom, channeling his surprise at James' brusque actions.
Despite the apparent seriousness of the situation, the Potter boy still shot a charming glance at Lily, who in turn rolled her eyes. Various giggles erupted at the sight. The entire Hogwarts population was privy of their vacillating love-hate relationship.
"We'll explain later, bye grandma!" Sirius shouted towards the stunned professor whilst shoving Remus' parchment and quill into his bookbag. He took a double take at Simpson, "Eh? You're not that grandma muggle profess-"
James used his other hand to grab Sirius by the ear, dragging the two Marauders out of the bewildered classroom. "Let's go Padfoot, no time to bugger around!"
The classroom door shut dramatically, leaving the rest in a loss of words.
"Are they always this rowdy?" Simpson asked, breaking the silence - his figures now fumbled whilst levitating in mid-air.
"You really have no idea, Professor."
Sirius was taken aback by the dreary sight that beheld him in the Hospital Wing.
His mousy friend Peter was in slings. Although his body was wrapped up, it was obvious that the smaller boy had cuts and bruises littered throughout his whole body. Potions of assorted colours (all of which looked absolutely icky), were beside him on the bedside table.
The dog Animagus gripped the werewolf's shoulder. The atmosphere was tense.
"You know Peter," Remus started, "usually I'm the one who's worse for wear." The sandy-blonde haired boy sat beside the bed-ridden one, patting his head in a motherly fashion.
"What happened, mate?"
"Heh heh," Peter whimpered, "you know, clumsy old me..."
Sirius stared at one of the multifarious bottles that littered the bedside table.
"Snake venom ointment?"
"What exactly happened, Wormtail?"
Somewhere in the Slytherin dorm rooms, one Severus Snape cackled maniacally.
The greasy haired teen had the dorm room to himself, his supposed roommates having either set up camp in the common room, or moved into their friends' dorms ages ago. It had been something about greasiness, and snarkiness that could've been lived without. The constant stale whiff of bubbling cauldrons and abundant photographs of Lily Evans littering the walls didn't help either.
Slughorn, the Slytherin head of house, had turned a blind eye to these complaints by his Slytherin kids. He had his potions protege to apprentice, after all. Severus had shown keen aptitude in his studies, despite his questionable hygiene and sleeping habits.
This was probably when Snape had gotten used to the massive privacy that would soon be much part of his adult life.
Little did the professors know that Snape took the opportunity of privacy to the next level - in planning pranks against the notorious Marauders.
A now-flaccid black cloak and alabaster white mask lay across his bed. That Pettigrew boy did his own harm, the prank had only been meant to scare the boy out of his wits and wet himself.
Who knew that instead of running straight back into the Hogwarts grounds, Peter had instead run deeper into the Forbidden Forest, straight into an expecting mother snake's nest. Not only was he poisoned by the indignant reptile, but his fall into the aforementioned nest had caused a few broken bones.
Severus sighed. Nothing Pomfrey couldn't handle, he mused.
Still, having the Marauder boys in such a state of alarm had been very amusing for him, and even fulfilling.
Learning the wandless puppeteering charm was the best idea he had yet. That sneak visit into the Restricted Section was definitely worth the effort.
Good job, Severus, he whispered to himself, good job.
To Be Continued...
A/N: Alright! :) I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! :) Not much puppy love in this chapter though, I suppose I'm aiming to achieve a more gradual development in their blossoming relationship than an abrupt one. Hope it works. Please leave a review, let me know your thoughts ;)
Here's a sneak peek in Of Apple Trees and Honey Bees, Chapter 7!
Professor Simpson stopped a tense Sirius from sneaking out of the Hogwarts grounds. It wasn't difficult to notice the hooded shadow or the rushing footsteps across the stony corridor. It was just Sirius' luck that the Professor's office was situated near the Gryffindor quarters.
"Don't you know its after hours right now, young man?" He held a gentle yet firm grasp on the young Black's shoulders, while raising his auburn eyebrows elegantly. He felt Sirius' shoulders tense up more.
"Listen, fake-grandma, Remus needs me. I don't care if you give me more detention than my pathetic life is worth, but just let me get to him now."