Chapter 6
6.
"Right that concludes today's recap of ingredients in potions, if you could have a crack at the questions I've written on the board that would be much appreciated." Lily clapped her hands before resting one on Remus' shoulder, smiling at their gathering of potions students.
"And if you have any questions please let us know and Lily and I will do our best to help." Remus added with a smile as he spread out some paper on the desk. He, Lily and Regulus had claimed it as theirs in the library last year.
It was known as the "teachers desk" not only by the attendees of their revision and book clubs but also pretty much the school, including the teachers.
The muttering of students and the rustling of pens on paper created a calming atmosphere, the smell of old books only added to it.
"Hey Lils how'd you think I should start this one?" Remus tapped Lily's arm and pushed his essay plan towards her.
She took hold of it and pursed her lips as her eyes scanned the page.
"Hmm I'm not sure, you should ask Reg."
"Thanks, by the way that student over there is struggling." He nodded his head in the direction of a hufflepuff boy, who looked like he was about to pull his hair out, before standing up and walking through the shelves to where Regulus was reading.
"Reg." Regulus looked up from his book as his friend approached.
"Rem?" He neatly placed a bookmark in the book before closing it and wordlessly taking the paper Remus was holding out.
A few seconds later his eyes lit up, "I think it'd be best if you gave a brief overview of what you're arguing and the history of the topic." He met Remus' eyes and handed the paper back.
"Thanks so much Reg, you're a lifesaver." Smiling, Remus waved goodbye and headed back towards the revision club. He didn't miss the small smile he got in return.
Lily was still over helping the student when Remus came back so she didn't see him sit down and immediately begin scribbling.
A few minutes and lines later she approached their desk again and peaked over his shoulder, "Reg give you a good start?"
"Very. Is anyone really struggling?" Remus absent-mindedly answered.
"A few are struggling on the third question I wrote, what do you think?"
"Maybe go through it with the whole group?" Raising his head he looked up to see his friend nodding to herself as she scanned their study group.
"Yeah I'll do that, thanks Rem." Patting him on the shoulder she walked over to the board.
"Okay guys, I thought I'd go through question three with you all as it seems a few of you are struggling, which is okay of course. If you feel you don't need the help please just stay quiet so others can." She launched into the explanation, pausing and making sure people were understanding her before moving on.
"She'd be a good teacher." Was all Regulus said as he sat down next to Remus and scanned the page of scrawled letters before nodding.
"Definitely, you would too you know." Remus put his quill down and stretched his hands in front of himself.
Regulus just hummed and listened as Lily finished explaining the question before letting the group get back to working.
She walked over and spotted Regulus, sitting down in the seat next to him and resting her head on his shoulder.
"Hey Reg, finish your book?"
"Yes, it was very good actually, thanks for the recommendation."
"Told you the Tempest was good." Remus hummed in agreement as he finished writing his first paragraph and let his quill fall onto the table, he scanned the room and noticed one student looking slightly uncomfortable, the boy next to her was leaning near her ear and whispering something even Remus' hearing couldn't make out, he narrowed his eyes slightly at the cruel expression on the boys face before deciding to ignore it for now and starting to organise the mess on their desk.
"What's the time?" Lily asked as she began helping Remus gather up the paper and books littering the table, separating them into piles for each person.
Regulus glanced at his wrist, "It's just about seven thirty, time to pack up?"
Lily nodded and walked over to the board, "Okay that's enough for today everyone, we'll see some of you tomorrow." She waved goodbye to the students who were already leaving and turned around to wipe off the board as the rest started packing up their things.
Once the board was clear Lily pushed it to it's usual place in the library.
Walking back to where they were waiting, she accepted her bag from Regulus when he held it out to her before they started walking towards the Gryffindor common room.
"That went well I think." Lily noted as she looped her arms through the other two's.
"Everyone does seem to appreciate your sessions." Regulus directed a small smile at her.
"Yeah we were saying you'd make a good teacher Lils." Remus smiled too, bumbing their shoulders together.
Well, bumping her shoulder with his arm.
"Aw thanks guys, but I'll only become a teacher if you guys do too."
Remus and Regulus shared a quick glance before answering at the same time.
"Deal."
James was the first to notice them when they walked in, he waved at them to join him and Sirius by the fire.
"Hey guys how was your club?"
"Good, what have you guys been doing?"
Lily peered over Sirius' shoulder to see the cards in his hand.
"Ohh nice, who's winning?" She laughed, knowing the chaos it'd cause.
Immediately both boys answered "Me, obviously." Then stared at each other with betrayed looks.
"Oi I'm winning don't be a liar Prongs!" Sirius waved his hands in the air, almost throwing his cards into the fire.
"Me? A liar? You're not serious." James retorted.
Sirius snorted, "Oh I think you'll find I'm very Sirius."
"You-" James stared at him for a few seconds before realising and bursting into laughter.
Sighing, Lily pulled Regulus onto the sofa to cuddle while Remus sat in his favourite armchair, sideways with his legs handing off the arm of course.
"What's the subject you're teaching tonight?" James asked as he twirled his wand in his hand, his head in Regulus' lap.
"It's Rem's turn today, so he's recapping defensive spells, like shields." Regulus replied as he ran his fingers through James's hair, Lily doing the same to his from her spot on the sofa behind him.
"Do you mind if I tag along? I could do with some practice." Sirius said as he walked over and plopped down on the sofa opposite them.
"Sure, don't sit near our table though." Lily smiled, glancing up at the older Black brother briefly before finishing the plait in Regulus' hair and leaning back to admire her work.
"Aw why not? I'm good as gold."
At once, both Lily and Regulus raised their eyebrows at him, daring him to disagree again.
"Okay maybe I'm not, but still why can't I?" Sirius admitted, standing up to have a look at the plait in his brothers hair.
"Can you do mine please?"
"What, want to look good for your crush tonight?" Lily teased, smiling even wider when Sirius spun around to see if Remus was within earshot, hissing at her to be quiet as he did so.
When he realised Remus wasn't even in the common room he turned back around to face them, "And if I did?"
"Then I'd tell you to get on with it mate, there's only so much love sick pining I can cope with." James reentered the conversation, if only to tease his best friend.
Sirius just stopped and stared at him, "Really?"
"What?"
Shaking his head, Sirius ignored his best friend and sat down by his brother.
"What sort of plait do you want then?" Lily asked as she pulled Sirius' wand from his hair, handing it to him and running her hands through his hair to comb out any knots.
"Uh whatever you want."
A few minutes later Lily tied the end of the second plait and patted Sirius' shoulders to show she'd finished.
"What time is it Reg?" She asked, already picking up her bag and standing up.
"Time to go, you coming or not Siri?" Regulus took the offered hand from Lily, also shouldering his bag.
"Yep, lead the way guys." Sirius jumped up and followed them to the library.
They entered the room to see Remus already writing something on the board, papers spread across their desk.
"Hey Rem." Regulus called across the room, his voice being the only other noise except the scratching of Remus' writing.
"You set up already without us?" Lily waved when Remus whipped around at the sound of their voices.
Upon seeing them a huge smile broke across his face as he jogged over to them, Regulus and Lily also jogging to meet him in the middle.
Sirius watched in slight confusion (and definitely no jealousy whatsoever) as they all wrapped their arms around each other, Remus somehow managing to lift the other two in the air and swing them around in a circle before he let them drop to the ground.
"Hey guys, just in time." His face was still split into a big smile, matched by his two friends.
"Yeah well it's not just us." Lily shrugged as Regulus gestured behind them to point at Sirius.
Sirius felt his cheeks redden slightly when Remus looked in his direction, he shifted slightly.
"Pads, what're you doing here?" Remus
"What's that supposed to mean? Am I not allowed?" Sirius tried to hide his growing hurt.
"No of course you're allowed, it's just you never come." Remus shrugged before looking at his two friends, who were struggling to contain their laughter.
"Shut it you two." His voice changed quickly to a harsher tone, as he glared at them.
"What? We didn't do anything!" Lily choked out around her giggles, Regulus not doing much better.
Sirius frowned slightly, confused at what they were laughing about.
Remus glanced away from him to the door of the library as the first lot of the club walked in, greeting their impromptu teachers as they sat down.
Looking around Sirius realised that he was quickly running out of options of where to sit.
A quiet voice by his shoulder startled him out of his thoughts, "Just sit at our table Siri, we were joking about you having to sit somewhere else." Regulus took hold of his brother's wrist and gently pulled him towards the table Lily had already situated herself at.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Sirius let himself be guided to the table and sat down in the chair his brother pushed him towards.
He scanned the room and noticed that most of the seats were full, only one or two still left to be filled.
He turned to Lily, who was sat beside him, and whispered his question, "When does this actually start?"
"As soon as we think we have everyone who said they'd be coming." She replied, scribbling down names, Regulus murmuring them to her from her other side as the students walked through the door.
Once everyone had sat down and pulled out something to make notes with, and started talking amongst themselves, Remus cleared his throat quietly and moved to stand in front of the board.
He passed their table on the way, smiling at Regulus as he handed him the sheet of paper Lily had been writing on.
"Hello, as many of you know we're recapping defensive spells today. But before we do that, please shout if your name is not called out." He began reading out the names of the list Lily had written.
Only one hadn't had his name called, but that was quickly sorted and the revision session began.
"Okay, have a go at these questions and we'll be around to help if you need any." Remus walked over to the desk his friends were sat at, sliding into the seat next to Sirius.
Regulus glanced up at him from the other side of the table and slid the essay Remus had been working on over the table.
Remus tilted his head, waiting for Regulus to tell him what to improve on.
"Not much, just try using more specific vocabulary, it'll get your point across better."
"Thanks Reg." Remus reached into his pocket, and immediately without looking up the three other people sat at the table held their hands out expectantly.
Sighing, he broke a few pieces off of his chocolate and placed a piece into each palm before taking a bite.
Sirius nudged his elbow, "Someone over there has their hand up."
"Thanks Sirius," Remus stood up, stuffing the chocolate back into his pocket and leant down to Sirius' ear, "your hair looks nice by the way." He whispered, walking away before Sirius could respond.
Not that he would be able to, even if he tried.
He watched as Remus approached the boy with his hand up, pulling a chair up and talking quietly to him.
A few minutes later it looked like Remus asked a question, to which the boy responded with a nod and a thumbs up.
Smiling at the boy, Remus stood up and tucked the chair back to where it was originally before walking further away from the "teacher's desk" towards the back of the rows of desks.
He stopped just beside a desk with a girl sat next to a boy, and leant down to say something quietly to her.
Sirius continued watching as Remus straightened up, shot the boy a look and walked back to their table.
As soon as he sat down Sirius nudged his elbow, and murmured "What did you say to her?"
"I asked her to stay behind for a bit after the session ended, wanted to check something with her."
"Fair enough."
"Okay everyone, that's all for today, remember no club tomorrow." Remus smiled to himself as everyone filed out of the library while saying goodbye to the club leaders and Sirius.
Everyone had left, leaving only the girl sat at her desk, fiddling nervously.
Remus walked over and sat on the table in front of hers.
"Hiya, Penelope right?" He asked, a reassuring smile on his face as he reached into his pocket again, pulling out some chocolate.
Penelope nodded, unsure of what Remus' aim was.
"I'm Remus, as you hopefully know. I just wanted to ask you a few small questions if that's okay?"
Penelope nodded again, now more confused than nervous.
"Cool. Okay so what year are you?"
"I'm a 4th year, why?"
"Just curious. Do you know the boy who sat next to you today and yesterday?"
She immediately went pale and nodded her head.
"That didn't look like a very positive reaction, no offense. Mind telling me why? Of course it's okay if you don't want to tell me- you can talk to someone else, like Lily for example, if that makes you less uncomfortable?" His eyebrows furrowed slightly in worry.
"No it's okay telling you." She started staring at her shoes in an attempt to avoid his eyes.
"So you know him?"
There was a small pause before she answered, "Yes."
"Okay. I've noticed you seem uncomfortable around him, is that fair to say?" Remus asked gently.
"Yeah." Penelope's eyes seemed glued to her shoes now.
"Can I ask why? I have a vague idea but I don't want to assume."
Instead of answering she stayed silent, her eyes not leaving her yellow laces.
"Penelope?" Remus pressed, hoping he hadn't gone too far.
"He did things that I didn't like.." her sentence trailed off, her eyes flicking up briefly to meet his before quickly glueing back to her shoes.
"Are you comfortable giving an example?" He asked quietly, not liking the direction this conversation had turned to, even if he had suspected it.
She mumbled something only he could hear, but that was enough for his eyes to narrow and his lips to curl in both anger and disgust.
Remus quickly schooled his features into a more reassuring manner, "Hey it's okay, it's not your fault, you understand me? Do you want to report him?"
Penelope nodded, finally lifting her eyes to meet his properly, her hands fiddling with her robes.
"Yeah? How about we do that now, that okay?" Remus asked with a small smile as he stood up and pushed the chair in.
"I can do that." She gave him shy smile back, feeling like a weight was lifted off her shoulders.
"Brilliant, come on then, let's get it over with." He handed her a small piece of chocolate, popping a piece into his mouth and leading her towards where his friends were still waiting by their table.
"You ready to go then guys?" Sirius smiled up at Remus, holding a hand out for more chocolate.
Begrudgingly, Remus obliged, he handed over a square then sighed dramatically when the other two extended their hands too.
"Alright, but only if one of you comes with us to McGonagall's office."
"I'll come," Sirius leaned around Remus and smiled at Penelope, "I'm Sirius by the way."
"Hi, I'm Penelope." She returned his smile with her own smaller one.
"Can we leave our bags with you?" Remus asked, already handing his bag to Lily, Sirius doing the same to Regulus.
"Sure, see you later." Lily poked her tongue out at Remus as she took his bag, causing him to also stick his tongue out.
"Don't forget you have rounds tonight Rem." Regulus reminded, taking his brothers bag and putting the strap on his shoulder.
"Oh thanks Reg, you're a lifesaver. Come on then guys, let's get this over with." Remus guided Sirius and Penelope out of the library and started heading in the direction of professor McGonagall's office.
"Come in." Came the answer when they Sirius knocked on the door.
Opening the door to the office, Sirius walked in with a big smile, "Minnie! So good to see you, how've you been?"
Rolling his eyes, Remus shut the door behind himself and gestured for Penelope to take a seat.
McGonagall looked up from her paperwork when they entered, and raised an eyebrow, "Hello boys, and girl, how can I help?"
She motioned for Remus to also take a seat but he shook his head, knowing he'd need a way to get his energy out during the conversation they were about to have.
"Who's starting?" McGonagall set her pen down and leaned back in her chair, watching her guests carefully.
Penelope glanced up at Remus, he nodded and gave her an encouraging smile.
She cleared her throat and started explaining what happened in a small voice.
McGonagall's eyes tracked Remus pacing around the room, she sighed and gestured for Penelope to stop her story, "I think I've heard enough, would you mind staying behind with me to discuss what we can do about it?"
Penelope shook her head, her lips turning up at the corner slightly as she slowly began to realise her problem was now being taken care of.
"Brilliant, Remus I believe you have rounds to do?" McGonagall smiled to herself when Remus' eyes darted to the clock on her wall before he excused himself and rushed out.
"I'll walk with you to your common room." Remus said to his rounds partner, a hufflepuff girl, at the end of their patrol.
"Thank you but I'll be fine." She thanked him, expecting him to turn and walk in the direction of the Gryffindor tower, he didn't.
"I'd feel better if I did." He shrugged and nodded for her to lead the way.
"If you insist." She smiled at him and continued their previous conversation about their favourite school subjects.
"This is my stop. You really didn't have to do this, but thank you anyway."
Remus nodded and waited for her to disappear into her common room before turning and walking towards his.
He was halfway to the tower when he heard quick footsteps approaching.
Remus whirled around, his excuse ready to deflect any questions.
Only instead of anyone worth avoiding, the boy who'd hurt Penelope rounded the corner.
Upon seeing Remus, his face lit up as I'd he'd been searching for him.
"There you are." The boy cracked his knuckles, trying to look threatening but not doing a very good job.
Remus had to stifle a smile, instead he raised an eyebrow, "Here I am, what do you need me for?"
"You ratted me out!" The boy near enough shouted, shaking his fist at him.
"Okay? What you did was wrong so you deserved it." Remus shrugged, subtly sliding his hand into his pocket to feel for his wand, then remembered he'd left it in his bag, which he'd given to Lily.
"I'd do it again." The boy smirked, looking far too proud for what he admitted.
"You'd what?" Remus clenched his hands into fists, the nails digging into his palms.
"I. Would. Do. It. Again." This time the boy raised his chin and puffed out his chest.
Remus' body moved before he could control the urge, punching the boy square in the jaw.
"OW! What was that for?" He clutched his face with both hands and shot Remus a betrayed look.
Remus stared at the boy, wondering if he hit him too hard and now he'd lost all sense.
"What?"
"I only said I don't regret it and I'd do it again, I don't see why you'd hit me for that!" The boy whined before pausing to consider something.
"I think you deserve a taste of your own medicine actually." He grinned, yet again thinking he was being intimidating, before running at Remus and flailing his arms in an attempt to hit him.
Remus kicked a leg out, tripping him up and causing him to fall flat on his face.
Before the boy could get up he grabbed a fistful of his hair and slammed his face down on the hard stone floor, a sickening crunch sounded through the empty halls.
The boy yelped in pain, tears springing to his eyes as he fought to stand up.
Thinking that he was just going to stand up and run, Remus let go of his hair and stood back.
He wasn't even that surprised when instead the boy threw himself at Remus, flailing his arms again.
A hit landed to his ribs and, acting out of habit, Remus pushed the boy in the chest, though with more force than strictly necessary.
The boy stumbled backwards and smacked into a wall, he turned to run but tripped over his own feet in his haste.
For good measure, Remus stepped over him and stomped his foot down on his outstretched hand, drawing out another yelp of pain.
Remus squatted by his head, and threatened him with a quiet voice, "You do that again and I'll do worse than just now. Oh and don't tell anyone it was me who did this, cheers mate." He straightened up and hid his bloodied hands in his pockets before making his way towards the Gryffindor tower again to finally go to sleep.
When Remus woke up it was to Sirius shaking him awake, "Get up Moony, it's breakfast."
He groaned and sat up, rubbing his bleary eyes, "Alright I'll be down in a minute, thanks Pads."
Sirius smiled at him before running out the door to join the rest of their friends in the great hall.
Remus sighed contentedly as he took his first sip of tea for the day, he looked around and noticed lots of people huddled in groups muttering to each other.
"Hey what's everyone whispering about?" He nudged James's arm as he asked.
"Oh apparently a kid was found beaten up this morning, no one knows who did it and he said he doesn't know. So I'm thinking everyone's guessing who did it." James replied, leaning in to whisper it.
"Oh that's a shame, how bad was it?" Remus asked, trying to squash his not so kind thoughts down.
"No one knows actually how bad it was, the teachers won't say, they say it wasn't wandwork though. So everyone knows that it was definitely messy if fists were used." James theorised before taking a bite of his toast.
Remus hummed and went back to his food, the conversation petering off as they joined others.
The next time Remus saw the boy, he was leaning against the wall, waiting for Lily and Regulus to come out of their potions class.
Students filed out of the classrooms all down the hall and filled the hallway as his friend's class started leaving.
He spotted the boy walking along the wall towards him, with his eyes on the ground.
Just as Lily and Regulus walked out of their classroom, the boy glanced up and froze when he met Remus' eyes.
He froze and stared at Remus for a few seconds, his face getting paler every second he stood there.
Eventually, he turned and walked, very fast, in the opposite direction.
"What was that about?" Regulus asked as they fell into step with each other.
"Dunno." Remus shrugged.
"Probably scared of how much of a giant he is, isn't that right Rem?" Lily laughed and bumped into his side, causing him to wrap an arm around her shoulders as they walked.
"Probably." He agreed, laughing along with his friends.