House: Slytherin

Class: DADA stand in

Fic type: Drabble

Prompt: Pairing Negative: Sirius Black / Remus Lupin

Word count: 679 words

Trigger: Permanent disfiguration. Foul language for 'idiot'.

A/N: Thank you to Sapphire402 and Niyati for their help to beta read this.

It was late in their fifth year when Remus Lupin and Sirius Black had to serve detention with Professor Sprout, the Head of Hufflepuff House, for a malicious and potentially-deadly prank that Sirius had pulled off. One of their peers, a Hufflepuff student named Theo, had been urgently admitted to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for grievous facial injuries resulting from that prank. It was tragic, but Remus had had nothing to do with it. For him, it had simply been an unfortunate case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person.

Remus was sweating in the Herbology Greenhouse. His brows were knitted in consternation, his lips pursed fiercely, and his green eyes glowered darkly at the plants in front of him. His movements were stiff as he clipped away the wilted flowers from the plants. He was serving his detention with a little too much viciousness.

Sirius cast furtive glances at his close friend and rolled his eyes. He was exasperated with Remus's unnatural silence. "Surely, Moony, you're not still seething?" he huffed tiredly.

"What do you think?" Remus hissed. He had stopped clipping the flowers and stood rigidly,his hands clenched tightly around the shears. He was restraining himself from wringing his idiot friend's neck for his unnecessarily cruel buffoonery. There was a limit to acts of 'mischief' before they became vitriolic attacks; and this time, Padfoot had crossed the line.

"I don't know, Moony. It was just an experiment," Sirius answered flippantly as he shrugged carelessly. "That twerp should've known better than to follow me around."

"Just an experiment? Just an experiment?" Remus echoed incredulously as he spun on his heel to glare furiously at Sirius. His hands waved the shears threateningly at Sirius as his voice took a more dangerous tone.

"I know—"

"You know? You know?!" Remus snarled ferociously as he threw the shears down. "You could've killed Theo!"

"I already said that I'm sorry," Sirius huffed as he moved past Remus to snip away the flowers that Remus had overlooked.

"You caused me to be inculpated too! You tarnished my reputation! I will not be implicated in a murder, Padfoot! Do you hear me?" Remus screamed as he glared murderously at his friend's back. "If they revoke my prefect position because of your idiocy and disdain for Theo, I swear… I swear, I will kill you!"

Sirius glanced at Remus over his shoulder. "Well, what do you want me to say? What will be enough?" he sighed sufferingly.

"This friendship with you and Prongs has caused me more—"

"Don't say things in anger, Moony," Sirius interrupted firmly. Remus clamped his mouth shut as he swallowed the fiery string of words.

How the tables had turned. It was usually Moony who was composed and patient, always armed with the best and most logical advice. Not this time though. This time, Sirius had to restrain his anger and calm himself down. It would not do for both of them to lose their cool. It would be too easy to enter a shouting match and spew the most hurtful things in a fit of frustration and anger.

"Look." Sirius sighed heavily as he turned and approached Moony warily. "I can only apologise so many times… what's done is done. If Theo lives with a mutilated face for the rest of his life, it just means I will live with the guilt and shame of my actions. What more do you want me to do? Donate my inheritance to Theo's family? Is money going to solve his permanent disfigurement?"

Remus looked at Sirius' genuinely remorseful face. "Some compensation may alleviate his family's grief a little, I think," Remus agreed, nodding slowly.

"I can do that." Sirius nodded back. "So, are we good?"

"Not until we finish this."

Sirius laughed as he handed his shears to Remus. He picked up another set for himself and began snipping off the wilted flowers. He wanted to get the detention over with so that he could have the calm, level-headed Moony back.

Thank you for reading.