MOONAGE DAYDREAM

10th September 1971

They put you down, they say
I'm wrong
You tacky thing, you put them on
Rebel rebel, you've torn your dress
Rebel rebel, your face is a mess
Rebel rebel, how could they know?

Sirius hadn’t told anyone about his and Remus’ tussle in the dormitory, which had made Remus that much more sceptical as to what the other boy had in store for him. Sirius didn’t seem like the sort of person to not hold onto a grudge.

And Remus would be right.

Flying lessons were mandatory for first years, especially with the few muggle born witches and wizards that had never been on a broom before. This year, the Gryffindors had their lessons alongside the Hufflepuffs, and Madam Hooch had kindly assigned them each a flying partner. Pandora Rosier had long fluffy straw coloured hair, and a faraway look in her grey eyes. She smiled warmly at Remus, who chose not to smile back.

“Practise hovering, monitor your partner,” Hooch informed, walking through the mix of pairs on the quidditch pitch. “Should they look as though they were about to fall, be prepared to help!” With a sharp blow on her whistle, Remus kicked off the ground, and hovered a couple of feet in the air. Pandora watched him intently, casually braiding the ends of her hair into intricate looking plaits.

“Hey! You’re really good!” Pandora beamed, and Remus bit his tongue as he wobbled in his place, and slowly tipped his broom forward for his descent. Either Pandora was liar, or she was fucking blind. Remus somehow managed to make it to the ground without falling over, and watched as Pandora took her turn. Behind her, Remus could see Sirius working with a girl he believed to be called Dorcas Meadowes- although he wasn’t paying much attention to her. Instead, Sirius was picking up tufts of dirt and launching them at his roommate, James Potter, who was taking to dodging them. Unfortunately for the red head that James had been partnered with, the lumps of squidey, brown clay found their new home all over her face, causing James and Sirius to roar with laughter. Madam Hooch doing her best to placate the both of them.

“Idiots,” Remus muttered to himself, but he couldn’t help but smirk along with the rest of the class, much to the fuming embarrassment of the red haired girl. Still- she seemed to get her own back, instead opting to give James a mouthful of the most entertaining insults even Remus couldn’t even fathom of creating.

“You disgusting, arrogant toe rag! You are living proof that God has a sense of humour! I pity those who have the unfortunate task of monitoring your two dysfunctional brain cells! Your entire existence is an insult to both intelligence and the human race!”

Girls truly had more creative imaginations.

The lesson drew to an abrupt end, and they were sent back to the changing rooms to shower before lunch. Remus didn’t much like dressing in front of others. He didn’t want them to see his scars, nor did he want them to see his bite mark. People would start to ask questions. Instead, he quite regularly changed in the bathroom- both in the boys dormitory and in past flying lessons. He even had his own favourite stall- the third one from the end.

Remus scooped up his clothes, and pushed open the door to the cubicle when---

SPLASH!

It was cold, and thick, and red, and smelt like a mixture of tomato juice and paint. And Remus was drenched in it from head to toe. He stumbled backwards, wiping at his eyes, doing his best to not slip over. There was raucous laughter from behind him, and he could feel the wolf in him flare up just as that snobbish, arrogant, undeserving voice piped up…

“Looking good Lupin,” Sirius shouted and slapped James on the back, who was doubled over, wiping at tears from behind his coke bottle glasses. The rest of the boys were all laughing too. They were all laughing- laughing at Remus. Remus could feel his throat close up, trembling as the chill of the bucket contents were soaking through to his skin. His quidditch robes, Remus didn’t even like quidditch, but they were ruined. His father would be furious with him. They just wouldn’t stop laughing!

Except- Peter came sneaking up to Remus, offering him a crumpled handkerchief which Remus took reluctantly. It wouldn’t do much to clean, but still, it was something. “Here,” Peter whispered, the tips of his ears going pink. “I’m sure it was just a joke.”

“Peter,” Remus half snarled, half whispered to his little friend, “I think it’s time we did a joke of our own.”

***
13th September 1971

Peter looked nervously over his shoulder as Remus dispensed the last of his itching powder into James Potter’s bed. “I think this is a bad idea!” Peter sang, hopping from foot to foot, chewing worriedly on his bottom lip. Remus rolled his eyes, and pulled the blankets back over the mattress, so that you couldn’t see the powder he had sprinkled over the top. James and Sirius were both in detention after causing their cauldron to explode in Potions earlier that day. Whether on accident or on purpose, Remus couldn’t be certain. But, it had given Remus a small window of opportunity to carry out the plan he had fashioned during his shower time following the incident after the flying lesson.

Peter hadn’t been quite so keen to join in, but after a little persuasion from Remus, he had agreed to help. It was thanks to him that Remus knew which bed belonged to Sirius’ brother in arms. It was equally thanks to Peter that they had enough supplies to carry out Remus’ plan. Remus had long learnt that Peter’s tendency for light-fingered-ness allowed him to always get a hold of exactly what Remus needed when he needed it. Including nearly two pounds of quality, invisible itching powder, lifted straight from Zonko’s. Remus liked to attribute the genius of the plans to his own brain, naturally.

“It’s a brilliant idea,” Remus retorted, placing the now empty packet into his back pocket. He had already done Sirius’ bed after breakfast. “Now c’mon or we’ll be late for dinner, yeah?” Remus clapped an arm around Peter and pulled his friend in for a half hug. “I’ll race you?” He shoved Peter behind him, giving himself a sneaky head start, and grinned to himself as he heard Peter thundering behind him.
***

14th September 1971

Peter and Remus sat bouncing in their seats, eager to watch the other two boys make an appearance at breakfast. Mary MacDonald eyed the two of them suspiciously, buttering herself another slice of toast and biting into it. “What are you lot smiling about?” She asked, and Peter turned a bright pink, choosing instead to stare into his tea. Remus rolled his eyes, but simply just shrugged at Mary, waving an uninterested hand at her. Peter had an unusual habit of turning very quiet whenever one of the Gryffindor girls spoke to him. Remus didn’t really understand why. They’re just girls.

And, as if by magic, James and Sirius came sidling into the Great Hall, eyes angry, casting irritated glares at anyone who crossed their paths. They had giant welts covering their face, their necks, their hands- red splotches all over their body. Marlene yelped as Sirius plonked himself into a seat next to her, leaning away from him.

“Merlin! Whatcha do to yerself?” She asked, drinking in the two dejected boys before her. James groaned, scratching absentmindedly at his chest as he speared at a sausage and began to chomp on it.

“A joke,” Sirius muttered, pouring pumpkin juice into his goblet. “Not very funny.”

“Aye, it is a little bit funny,” Marlene giggled, elbowing Lily besides her to point out the two boys. Lily looked up from the text that she had been pursuing, and snorted out a bark of laughter, doing her best to unsubtly turn it into a cough. In fact, the whole hall had started whispering to one another and Remus had to cover his face with his hair in order to stop anyone from catching him out.

“Something funny Lupin?” Sirius spat out, his cold gaze turning on Remus. Remus pressed his lips together, one hand clamping onto Peter next to him as his friend chewed on his hand to stop his own laughter from bursting out.

“Nah,” Lupin said measuredly. “Just your face!”