Chapter 6
JAMES
The full moon was close. James knew this because when Remus' time of the month comes around, Sirius gets protective. Like, extremely, protective.
It normally begins a few days before the moon, but Sirius was early this time around. It was a week before the full, and they were walking down the hallway to their next class.
Remus wasn't struggling with getting around just yet, but nonetheless, Sirius was yelling at anyone that came anywhere close to Remus. Except for himself, of course.
Earlier that day, James took a shower in the morning and Remus was, for some reason, standing in front of the door when James got out. When James opened the door he may have hit Remus on the back. His friend didn't flinch or yelp, all he did was step away and laugh.
Sirius, however, had other plans. He leaped up from his bed and skidded to a halt in front of James, furious.
"Why would you do that? Could you be any less careless? Especially now, James! Remus needs us even more now because the moon is close by!" Sirius yelled.
James stood there, shocked. Remus had to step in to stop Sirius from tackling James.
It seemed as though a similar situation was occurring at the moment, especially since another student had just lightly brushed past Remus in the hallway.
"Stop it Pads! God, this is so embarrassing" Remus groaned, sinking into himself.
"It is not embarrassing for someone to stand up for their fr- OI!" Sirius yelled "YOU'RE NOT EVEN GOING TO APOLOGISE FOR BUMPING INTO HIM?"
A young Hufflepuff squeaked a quiet "sorry" before running off to his friends, all of whom were quite taken aback from Sirius' reaction.
"Fucking children" Sirius spat, "They need to learn some more manners, I'm telling you"
"Was that really necessary?" Remus asked Sirius.
"Of course it was!" Sirius put an arm over Remus' shoulder.
"As much as I like you standing up for me, I don't like it when you scare those students. They're part of my study group, you know?"
"Pfft, you and your study group" Sirius giggled.
"Do you have a problem with my study group?" Remus raised an eyebrow at Sirius.
"Er-" Sirius said, "You should be spending more time with me, more time with us. But you spend your after school hours with a group of nerds"
"I think I spend enough time with you guys" Remus sighed, "Plus, I'm a nerd, so I would say we work well together."
"You're a hot nerd" Sirius blurts out.
The three boys all stopped to look at him. Sirius continued walking until, he too, realised what he just said and stopped along with the others.
"What did you just say?" Peter squeaked.
"Er..." Sirius drifted off. He spun around and looked at James quickly, panic in his eyes.
"He just meant that Remus is a cool nerd, you know? I was about to say the same thing" James told them.
"Ah" Peter nodded. The four boys continued walking. James noticed Remus was awfully silent.
"You alright?" James whispered to Sirius.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Sirius huffed.
"Do you want to talk about what the fuck just happened?" James asked.
"Later" Sirius hissed, keeping his head facing forward.
"Alright" James nodded. He could see Remus take a quick glance at Sirius out of the corner of his eye.
***
MARY
"Hey, Lils" Mary took a seat next to Lily, who was studying in the library.
"Hey, Mare" Lily looked up and smiled at Mary.
"Whatcha doing?" Mary leaned her head against her propped up hand.
"Homework" Lily mumbled.
Mary sighed and sank lower in her chair.
"What's on your mind?" Lily asked.
You.
You.
All day.
Everyday.
You.
"Nothing much" Mary sighed.
"Are you sure? Seems like somethings up" Lily put down her pen and looked over at Mary.
Mary looked around the room, and noticed a group of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs huddled in a tight group. After a few seconds one of the students turned to look at Mary and quickly turned back when they realised she was looking at them.
"Who are those people over there?" Mary asked Lily. Lily looked over at the group of Ravenclaws and squinted her eyes in thought.
"That one there" Lily pointed to a brunette boy with tan skin, "Is Benjy Fenwick. He's in our Charms class."
"What about that girl?" Mary pointed to a girl with straight, black hair and pale skin. She was very pretty.
"That is Emmeline Vance. I'm surprised you don't know these people. They're pretty popular"
"I've seen them around, I just never asked for their names" Mary shrugged.
"We've been here for five years, Mare. I'd have thought you would've learnt their names by now."
"Anyways, keep going." Mary snapped.
"Okay, okay. That guy with the long blond hair, his name is Xenophilius Lovegood. The curly haired girl with glasses is Sybill Trelawney. They're both in the grade above ours. The blonde girl is Amelia Bones, the blond boy who looks like her is her brother, Edgar." Lily breathed.
"Fuck" Mary laughed, "You know a lot of people, huh?"
"I'm not done" Lily stuck her hand up, "Caradoc Dearborn is that tall gorgeous brunette, Hestia Jones is the Ravenclaw standing next to him. I'm pretty sure that's all."
"Hm" Mary mumbled.
"What? You fancy one of them?" Lily nudged her, giggling.
"What, I-" Mary started.
"Hey!" Someone called out, "Macdonald!"
The two girls turned to see one of the Ravenclaws, Emmeline Vance, walking over to them.
"Er... Hello?" Mary squeaked when Emmeline stopped in front of her.
"You're a chaser for Gryffindor, yes?" She asked.
"Yeah I am" Mary answered.
"That's cool. Well, I look forward to versing you in October"
"I suppose I do too." Mary said. Emmeline smiled quickly before returning back to her friends, who were all giggling to each other.
"What the fuck was that about?" Lily whispered.
"I dunno" Mary shrugged, "It was weird though."
"I agree" Lily nodded.
"Anyways, what were we talking about before all that?" Mary asked Lily.
"I was asking you if you fancied one of them" Lily smirked.
"Oh. Well, no. They just look weird, that's all" Mary told her.
"That's a bit rude" Lily chuckled.
"No, no" Mary groaned, "I didn't mean that. They were just really tightly huddled and kept giving me looks"
"Well..." Lily smirked, "Maybe one of them fancy you."
"What?" Mary tilted her head, "You think so?"
"I mean, that Emmeline Vance keeps looking back at you" Lily shrugged.
"Is she?"
"Yes."
"Hm" Mary smiled to herself.
She felt something weird in her stomach, a small tug towards her.
"Why don't you talk to her in Charms tomorrow?" Lily asked.
"I-I mean" Mary said, "It's not like I like her, so why start anything?"
"It seems like she wants to get to know you. It doesn't hurt to let her." Lily sighed.
"I guess so" Mary said.
***
LILY
Lily hated this. She was trying to study, but all she could see was Mary. Mary, who kept glancing over at Emmeline Vance.
Fucking Emmeline Vance. She fancied Mary. Her Mary. Mary, the girl who deserved the world and Lily was the only one who knew how to give that to her.
Lily wasn't surprised, really. It was easy to fall for Mary. Lily just wished Mary didn't fancy Emmeline back. But it did seem like she did.
"Your mood has changed" Lily told Mary as they walked back to the common room.
"What?" Mary asked.
"You know, ever since she came over" Lily said.
"Oh" Mary said.
Neither of them talked for the rest of the walk.
***
SIRIUS
Sirius, James, and Peter were seated on the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. They were all silent, slumped over their plates as they chewed slowly.
Sirius couldn't think of anything else. Anything but Remus, and what he had said. It kept replaying in his head, as if he was still there.
You're a hot nerd.
It wasn't even that big of a deal, but everyone took it way out of context. That was a normal thing to say, giving your mates compliments.
Except, yes, Sirius did mean it in a: "I am so very much attracted to you and I don't know how to show it." But no one else should've taken it that way.
Sirius looked up as soon as he walked through the doors. He watched Remus walk over, breaths shaky.
"Okay, Moony?" James asked.
"Yeah, thanks Prongs" Remus mumbled. He took a seat next to Peter and quickly glanced up at Sirius. They both turned away when they caught eyes.
James looked between his two friends before returning to his pie.
"Have you all finished the Charms essay?" Peter asked. Sirius couldn't tell if he was trying to break the silence or if he actually wanted to know, both would've made sense.
"I finished it" Remus said without looking up. He was picking at his food with his fork, moving the peas and chicken back and forth across his plate.
"I did it as well" James told Peter, "Finished it last night."
Peter nodded to himself.
"I still haven't completed and I'm worried Flitwick will give me a detention. I keep handing in his tasks late."
"Do you really care about one little detention, Pete?" Sirius snorted, "Not like you have a clean record"
"I guess. But still, my mum will murder me and have me for dinner if she finds out I handed in an essay past its due date" Peter squeaked.
"Well then why don't you put on your big boy pants and finish the essay before it's due. That's a thought." Sirius snapped.
James nudged him in the ribs. Sirius looked up at his friend, who was giving him a weird look.
"You okay?" James mouthed.
Peter had sunk so far in his seat that he was almost level with the table.
"Oh, come on Peter. I will help you with the essay if that makes you feel any better." Remus patted Peter on the back.
"Thank you, Remus" Peter returned back to his normal height.
"No worries" Remus replied. He looked up at Sirius quickly before returned to his food once more.
Mary, Marlene, and Lily entered the Great Hall and walked over to the four boys.
"Hello lads" Marlene smirked, taking a seat next to Remus. Lily and Mary sat next to each other on Sirius' side.
A few muffled hello's were returned.
"Wow. Tough crowd" Marlene scoffed.
"Sorry Marls, we just aren't having the best day" James sighed.
"What's wrong?" Lily asked, looking mainly at Remus. Sirius wondered if Lily knew Remus liked men. She probably did, they were very close.
"Sirius-" Peter started.
"Nothing" Remus spat. He discreetly shook his head at Peter, who looked down and began playing with his hands.
"Seriously, you four are one difficult bunch." Mary scoffed.
Sirius hadn't spoken a word for the rest of the dinner. The conversation mainly consisted of the girls and James, Peter piping in every once in a while.
After they finished eating and decided to head back to the Common Room, James held Sirius back.
"You guys keep going, we just need to talk" James told the group.
Once they were alone, James took Sirius down a deserted corridor.
"Okay. What's up?" James asked.
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.
"Come on Sirius" James groaned, "I mean what the fuck is going on between you and Remus?"
"Nothing" Sirius growled. He wished there was something going on. But nothing happened between Remus and Sirius unless it was in his dreams.
"Okay, sure. Well, what was up with that comment you made earlier?" James asked.
"Merlin" Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose, "Look, I didn't mean for that to happen. I just said it, it just came out. I seriously didn't think before I spoke. You know me"
"Well. I guess I want to ask" James brought his voice down to a whisper.
Sirius knew what was coming, but he was still shocked when he heard him say it out loud.
"Pads, do you maybe like Remus?"
Sirius' heart stopped. In that very moment, the whole world went still and quiet and all that was left was Sirius. Sirius and Remus. Together.
Sirius wondered what the term "like" really meant. It was a very widely distributed word. What exactly did it mean? Did it mean Sirius wanted to date Remus? Did it mean he wanted to kiss him? Did it mean he found him good looking?
Whatever one it meant, Sirius had an idea that maybe he did like Remus.
But he wasn't sure if he could admit it out loud.
"Um" Sirius sighed, "No of course not. It’s nothing"
"Okay." James nodded, "Well, if nothing turns into something, just know I'm always here to listen."
"Of course" Sirius said.
"I love you, Sirius" James pulled him in for a hug.
"I love you too, Jamie" Sirius chuckled.
James pulled back and ruffled Sirius' hair quickly before putting his arm over his shoulder and leading them back to the Common Room.
***
REMUS
"How are you feeling about tomorrow night?" James asked Remus while he was brushing his teeth. James was leaning on the sink next to him.
"Okay, I suppose. First moon of the school year" Remus said, looking at himself in the mirror.
The last full moon was more difficult than usual. Remus was in a cell underneath his home. His father made him stay there for over 24 hours, despite his mothers pleas.
“We can't have him transforming in here, Hope. On our rugs. The beast- he will wreck our home.” He had said.
"Remus?" James questioned. Remus shook his head and looked over at James, who was looking at him cautiously.
"Is everything... alright?" James asked.
"Fine, yeah. I should get some sleep before tomorrow." Remus grumbled, exiting the bathroom and heading straight for his bed.
"Goodnight, I guess?" James called out.
Remus closed the curtains around his bed and laid flat on his back, looking at the ceiling of his four-poster bed. He had studied the pattern on the roof for as long as he could remember, he already had it memorised by the first year.
The plaster was covered in small, white, delicate carnations that wove around long, sinuous vines. It was worn and old, as if it had been there for centuries. Now that Remus thought about it, it probably had been.
Remus couldn't sleep, so that was how he used to spend his time. Now, he spends most of his time thinking about Sirius. He tried desperately to take his mind off of him, but it was too difficult. Sirius had always been like that, fascinating and thrilling.
Remus needed Sirius in different ways that he shouldn't have needed him in.
The only good thing about Sirius taking up his mind and thoughts constantly was that he was calming. He helped Remus take his mind off the constant worries he experienced on a daily basis. It also helped him sleep.
Remus had fallen asleep to fantasies about Sirius countless times, and he always woke up feeling well slept.
Remus could faintly hear the other three boys eventually scrambling into their beds and he, once again, fell asleep to the thought of Sirius Black.
***
REGULUS
Regulus was taking his nightly stroll around the castle, making sure he didn't run into Filch or any other teachers.
Usually Regulus would head straight for the Astronomy Tower, but for some reason there was a tug in his stomach telling him to explore the castle more.
He was now on the seventh floor, and he found himself on a dimly lit corridor. There were no doors, only one tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.
Regulus decided this would be a safe place to explore, he had never been down this corridor.
"Lumos"
The corridor suddenly was flooded with light, thanks to Regulus' charm. He moved steadily through the hallway, ensuring he stopped at every small dent in the wall or creak in the floor panels.
He was examining the hallway for the third time in the last 5 minutes when he heard something shift. He jumped back, and turned to see a large wooden door forming in the middle of the wall behind him.
It had a brass handle that was cold and quite light. Regulus pulled the door open and stumbled inside.
Regulus found himself to be in a large room. He wasn’t sure what type of room it was as it had many random ammenities scattered about.
There was a king-sized bed in the middle of the room, with a large fireplace opposite it. Plush armchairs were placed around the room, and there were cupboards (empty, Regulus checked), lining the walls.
Regulus wasn’t sure what to do with this room. It was certainly nicer than his own dormitory, which was too loud for Regulus’ liking, but it had an odd feeling about it. He felt as if there was something else required, someone else, in order for it to be complete.
Regulus didn’t know who. Maybe he did, but he wished it wasn’t him.