Chapter Eight- Sirius Has A Strop
"Prongs, you need to do the posters."
It was Remus saying it, curled up on his bed with a book under his nose. He looked up, concerned, at James, who was sitting on his own bed cross-legged, reading a magazine. Sirius was on his own bed, pouring over a Charms essay, while Peter was munching on a chocolate bar whilst looking at the Map.
The Map was a creation the boys had been working on since their second year, when Remus had been given red ink that disappeared and appeared at the touch of a wand for Christmas from Sirius. They had the idea that they needed to pass on their…mischievousness, so they had created a map with all the secret passageways. In their fifth year, James had discovered a way of putting people onto the map, so you could see where they were. The Map was an incredibly helpful piece of…equipment for the Marauders pranks: they could see if a teacher was coming, or if the person they wanted to prank was anywhere near the prank itself.
"I need to do the posters?"
"Yes, Prongs!" Remus sighed. It had been a week since he'd talked to the Quidditch team. "The first game is coming up at Christmas and you haven't even got a whole team!"
James' face went white in realisation, and he leapt up from his bed and landed on the floor in a messy heap. A small groan of pain escaped his lips, and he pulled himself up from the floor.
"Argh!" he moaned. "I…oh Merlin's pants!" He cursed under his breath. "Argh…Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail, can you help?"
Sirius looked up from his essay and shook his head.
"Got an essay to do, mate."
That left Remus and Peter.
"Oh course, Prongs." Remus said, climbing off his bed and walking over to James' bed. James sat down on the edge, while Remus pulled a cushion off his friends bed and sat on the floor.
He accioed paper and pens towards him, stretching his fingers, and he picked up a bright red.
"So, what do you want it to say?"
James scrunched up his face a little in thought.
"Um…"
"What about GRYFFINDOR BEATER AND CHASER WANTED?" suggested Peter lamely, not looking up from the map.
"I'll put that." Remus said before the other two boys could protest, and wrote on the paper neatly, looking smug. He drew a broomstick onto it, and held it up for James to see. He looked as though someone had just ripped his stomach out through his eyes.
"Um…Moony, why don't you let me do it with my wand…."
Remus laughed a little and screwed up the piece of paper and chucked it at Sirius, who was still doing his essay. The boy grumbled and threw it back at Remus, who didn't manage to duck: it hit him square in the nose.
"Owch."
"Don't do bad art work then."
"Padfoot." snapped Remus, sensing Sirius' touchy tone. What was wrong with him?
"Shut it, Moony." Sirius spat, his face stormy. Remus felt his cheeks flush and his palms went sweaty. Why was Sirius suddenly angry with him?!
"Sirius, what's wrong?" Remus asked, rolling his shoulders. "You don't have to snap at me."
Sirius got up and headed for the door, his face red. His body seemed stiff with fury: Remus stood up to follow him.
"F**k off, Remus." He snapped, the anger in Sirius' voice almost cutting Remus in half, and the dormitory door was shut in his face.