Once In a Lifetime
Remus Lupin didn’t have an alarm clock. He had a loud boyfriend called Sirius Black.
“Come on, Moony, it’s Monday, it’s almost seven thirty, and you haven’t had breakfast yet, what are you waiting for?” Remus opened his eyes to see Sirius staring right back at him, dangerously close. Then he blinked and rubbed his eyes, pushing the handsome Sirius out of his line of sight. Sirius immediately resumed brushing his hair.
Remus slowly unpeeled himself from his nest of bedsheets and shuffled to the bathroom to get ready for another Monday at Hogwarts.
Herbology, which the Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws had together first thing on Monday morning, wasn’t too bad if you ignored Peter. He always spent the whole lesson staring sadly at Xenophilius from across the room.
He had a free period before lunch, which he spent playing exploding snap with Sirius. When it became apparent that he was going to lose, Remus switched to flirting with Sirius instead.
“You’re such a bad loser,” Sirius laughed, leaning in for a kiss.
After lunch, Remus had Ancient Runes, which he usually found somewhat peaceful, but not today. Today his deskmate, a smart, freckly Hufflepuff girl called Olivia Gleaves, accidentally knocked over her inkwell, ruining her own parchment and Remus’s trousers. He marched to the bathroom, dripping blue ink across the hall.
“Oh Remus, I’m ever so sorry!” Olivia cried, following him into the hall. He didn’t answer, instead angrily turning on the tap. Olivia hovered behind him as he tried to scrub the ink off his hands to no avail.
“Here, like this,” Olivia said, taking his hand under the running water. Remus instantly recoiled, smacking his head into the wall.
“Stupid architecture, stupid long legs,” he grumbled under his breath.
“Handsome long legs,” Olivia corrected. With one swift movement, she pulled his tie, forcing his face lower, and then she kissed him.
“What the fuck? Tempus Ora Sagi!”
He didn’t know what the spell did. He had read it scrawled in the margins of a book about time manipulation, and for some reason, it had stuck in his brain. Why his subconscious pulled it out of his mouth now, he had no idea, but all of a sudden he was back in his bed.
“Come on, Moony, it’s Monday, it’s almost seven thirty, and you haven’t had breakfast yet, what are you waiting for?” Remus opened his eyes for the second time that morning, only to find Sirius standing over him again.
And you may ask yourself, "Well, how did I get here?"
“It’s… Monday?”
“I should hope so, seeing as it was Sunday yesterday! C’mon, get up, sweetheart.”
A very puzzled Remus clambered out of his bed, again, and dragged himself to herbology, again. Except this time, instead of watching Peter suffering, Remus whispered;
“Just tell him how you feel.”
Peter jumped- clearly, he hadn’t even noticed Remus.
“I will, someday!” He squeaked.
Remus spent his free period the exact same way as the first time- losing exploding snap. Lunch flew by just as before, and then came Ancient Runes, which Remus had been dreading all day.
At first, he considered simply not sitting with Olivia, but there were no other vacant seats. When her inkwell tipped over, same time as yesterday, Remus went to the bathrooms again, same as yesterday. Olivia followed after him and helped him wash his hands again.
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, look where my hand was
“Oh, fuck off,” Remus said, pushing her away. He hoped it was enough.