Mulciber.
The only thing that Sirius is supposed to do, is to wait and believe that James Potter is going to do a good job. And that is the worst thing, James Potter, could tell him to do.
Sirius knows that there are no wizards in Hogwarts that would care about Remus Lupin more than James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, but Sirius hates being idle, while others have to make sure everything goes smoothly. It makes him anxious, because he doesn't know if he can even trust someone else. If he can trust anyone beside himself and Regulus.
"Sirius," his brother speaks quietly. Sirius looks at him to give him his attention. They are now in the Dining Hall, sitting with other Slytherins, while eating lunch.
"Hm?" Sirius makes a sound, just to show he is listening. Regulus tilts his head slightly to the left. If Sirius didn't know his brother so well, he wouldn't have even noticed it. When he looks up in the direction indicated by Regulus, he sees just a lot of students, nothing unusual. Nothing unusual, until. Until, he sees Peter Pettigrew in a shadowed corner of the room, observing the surroundings. Sirius furrows his eyebrows, then they fly up, after he notices Mulciber passing by Pettigrew, just to be grabbed by him and pulled in his direction. Mulciber disappears with Peter in the shadow.
"Did Peter Pettigrew just abduct Mulciber?" Regulus asks in a quiet voice, seemingly amused. Well, as much amused as a twitch of his lips might suggest.
"I think it's not the abduction," Sirius comments equally softly. "Look now, I think Mulciber is coming back."
And that's not a lie. Mulciber is leaving Peter from the shadows, looking angry, or maybe even furious to the degree of making even Regulus curious. What Sirius knows by glancing at his face. The funny thing is that after releasing Mulciber, Peter looks around as if he did something of questionable legality, that he definitely did, and goes straight to the Gryffindor's table, whistling happily. Like nothing happened.
"Why is Pettigrew behaving so oddly?" Regulus questions the actions they've just witnessed. When Sirius is watching Peter, he just sits next to James and smiles, a little uncomfortable smile, and James pats him on the back. Sirius is guessing the whole action was planned, though isn't sure what James had in mind, while saying the plan is to make Remus look like he really didn't cast any Unforgivable Curse. Sirius refused taking part in their prank, but now, he is really interested in what their actions are supposed to mean. There is a small, little, tiny amount of doubt in Sirius, making him wonder if his decision was right. If refusing was the right choice. But then he remembers, who he is, the family he was born into, the House he belongs to, and everything falls into the right places, again.
Everything falls into right places, leaving no space for thoughts that belongs only to Sirius.
He looks at Remus, but sees only the back of his head. The head full of light brown curls, that makes Sirius' eyes follow them. Remus has his back a bit humped, but Sirius believes he takes the situation rather calmly. It's actually frustrating, how Remus can just walk around, smile and act like nothing happened, after Mulciber cast Imperio on him, and made him curse someone else. It was a risk, and such a wrongful one, that even Sirius can't stay still. The energy is tearing him from the inside, but what can he do, really? He is angry. He is so angry, but it is, as James said. If he goes to Mulciber, he will turn the situation against him. And Sirius can't risk it, too.
He looks at Regulus, composedly eating his food, like he hasn't observed something unusual a moment before. Or maybe he truly hasn't. If it's Pettigrew, Potter, or Remus, is this really uncommon?
There is little choice Sirius can make. He decided to stay with his brother a long time ago, and he is going to keep the promise he made to himself. He glances at Remus' back, again, and feels frustrated once more.
"Just don't look," Regulus comments, and Sirius looks back at him just in time to see his brother rolling his eyes. Sirius scowls at him. In an expression of defiance, he fixes his gaze on the Gryffindor boys again. His eyes meet James', and Potter beams at him openly. Then he sends a surprised Sirius an air kiss, that makes him blush. Why does James Potter have such an influence on him? It's like Sirius can't really do a thing against that opennes, and pure happiness that James's trying to surround everyone with. But how Sirius can react? He tries to fight it, but sometimes his body reacts before his mind tries to take another route. He tires to be harsh, but he is blushing, instead. James Potter is just one of the most unpredictable being that Sirius's met. He might only anticipate the unpredictable.
Sirius decides it's better to focus his gaze on Regulus, instead, but when he looks at his brother, he is his unbothered self, and doesn't even glance at Sirius.
"Why is Potter so obnoxious?" Sirius asks.
Regulus huffs a laugh.
"So obnoxious that you have to look at him? I guess Lupin is even more unpleasant for you, then?" his little brother says.
"You little wanker, you think I didn't catch you taking your secret glances at your dear companion?"
"I don't confess to anything, but I guess you just did," Regulus scoffs.
"Reggie," Sirius says warningly, but his brother only rolls his eyes.
"You should care less," Regulus lowers his voice to the point even Sirius scarcely hears him. "About what our parents think."
Sirius shivers.
"We're not going to talk about it here," he states and though Regulus looks at him with a headstrong, adamant expression, he says nothing more. Sirius can only take a deep breath and stare at his food. He can’t even look at some particular wizards for too long, since there are witches that are observing him closely. And he can't let anything get out. He did everything he could all his life, he isn't wasting it during his last year in Hogwarts, just because he had important conversation in public. He isn't. He isn't making any move. He does nothing. He just looks at his plate, and looks, and stares, and doesn't stop. He takes the fork, once more.
He feels how his emotions just leave his body and in the end, he feels nothing at all.
It's a tiring state, but it's something familiar to him. Like his shadow, which is always around, but not always visible, not always noticeable. That shows itself in specific conditions.
He doesn't dare to look up from his plate, just in case he catches a sight of the group of Gryffindor marauders. Just in case he feels something, again.
---
The next day is even weirder.
Sirius feels like he is losing something, while watching things taking place, but he doesn't know what else could he do. Take a stroll with Mulciber as James Potter is doing, right now? But once again, why is James Potter strolling with Mulciber?
Sirius decides to follow them just for a bit, and it takes only a few glances to understand that James isn't really welcome on the walk. But before Sirius can even have a thought about how stupid it is, James whispers something in Mulciber's ear. He replies with furrowed eyebrows.
"What!" James cries, making Sirius jump. When he looks around, he can see that, James draws attention to himself just by this one shout. James looks around after, in a poor quality performance of being afraid of others hearing him. Sirius snorts, but gets actually interested in what's about to happen. James and Mulciber stop walking, so Sirius walks to the wall to lean against it. "You ask if Remus cast an Imperius Curse?" he says more quietly, but loud enough for wizards near to hear him. Sirius finally realizes what this plan is about. Mulciber has to be seen with all Marauders, for Hogwarts' students to think that Remus wasn't involved with Mulciber in any way. It is probably their upcoming prank, that's what all students have to believe in. Sirius understands that James doesn't want to let Mulciber win and the only way, for him, is to be more dramatic than usual.
"What are y-"
"I was only asking you about, you-know-what, because you haven't told Remus, nor Peter," James lowers his voice to an angry whisper. He doesn't dare to glance at students around him, but Sirius guesses, James is hopeful enough to believe some of them are focused on their conversation. Some students actually start to whisper between themselves, making Sirius believe in what is so unbelievable. That the students must think Marauders try to get information from Mulciber and Remus really must have been just doing homework with Sirius. Thay make Mulciber's plan backfire on him. Even if not backfire, then makes Remus innocent, really. Just a part of Mauraders' plan, not the casted-Imperius-on-Sirius-Black plan.
This makes Mulciber unable to shift the responsibility for his wrongdoings to Remus. But it also makes Sirius incapable of taking revenge on Mulciber, since in this version of events, it was Remus who approached Mulciber, not the other way around.
Sirius sighs, deciding to give up on watching the spectacle. He turns the corner just to collide with someone else. It takes Sirius embarrassingly little time to recognize the person, just by the smell of books and soap. He smells him, before he registers it's him.
He looks up to see Remus and tries not to think of how close they are to each other. And how far away from each other they are, at the same time.
The distance of many worlds is standing between them, and Sirius can't bear to feel the loss, so he just doesn't try.
A ray of surprised joyfulness flashes in Remus' eyes, and Sirius has to take a small step back.
It’s not that he can't stay too close to Remus all the time, but during moments like this one, when they meet each other accidentally, Sirius has to calm down. Only a little. Just one step back. Just one step, that could mean light years, just the same. Light years of being a Slytherin, an heir of Black family, and just being the Sirius Black. So many things are too complicated in his life. Too many things that are destroying his life alone, just enough.
Regardless, Sirius takes a few glances around, but doesn't see anyone from his family, so he decides to give Remus a moment of his time.
"You're busy?" Remus asks with a smile.
Yes .
"No," Sirius doesn't even know, why can't he just say yes. Why is it harder pretending he doesn't care, when Remus is around, than when he is not. "Yes," Sirius corrects himself. Remus' smile gets bigger, until he chuckles and Sirius' eyes stay on Remus' face a little longer, because it's hard to look elsewhere at moments like this.
It's not like Sirius can't look away. He could if he wanted. But Sirius finds Remus' smile too interesting, to just focus his eyes on something else. Remus has this kind of smile, that makes him look like a different person. There is a lot going on. He appears to be younger, less burdened, less focused on maintaining his guardedness. Remus gives the impression of being relaxed. His lips don't seem big, but his mouth suddenly takes half his face, after just one toothy smile.
Sirius loves this smile.
But only because he finds it interesting.
It's rare to find someone's smile interesting, and it's the only reason, why Sirius gazes at Remus for a few moments too long, before averting his eyes.
"How about we take your free, but occupied time and do something unproductive, but cool?" Remus asks with a smile, the tall boy towering over Sirius, with locks of hair falling on his face. A bit angelish look, if someone asked Sirius, but it's not his fault to think so. Remus is just objectively appealing. It's not even something to be ashamed of thinking. It's objective. He knew this earlier, he knows this still, and he will know this, as probably most of the Hogwarts. There is no shame in thinking this way. Sirius tries to be impartial, becuase not much persons did the same to him. And Sirius isn't stupid. He knows all of them, wizards or witches, find beautiful things interesting. It's in their nature. You can't fight nature, so better not even start, right?
"Aren't you busy with James and Peter taking revenge on Mulciber?"
Remus laughs.
"Do I seem busy?" he asks, and Sirius admits to himself, that the question wasn't of the smartest sort. "Nah," Remus waves his hand. "We agreed it could get suspicious, if I was trying to show up with Mulciber too much."
"Don't you plan to do something more, though?" Sirius questions the reliability of their prank.
"We do."
Sirius waits for the continuation, but it doesn't come, so he shrugs.
"What cool thing do you want to do? Read books?" Sirius says, knowing Remus will understand, he said it in a sarcastic way.
"No, it'll be something you'll like, not me. I mean, I actually love it, but I've asked my mum for something, specifically for you."
"For me?" Telling Sirius is surprised is an understatement. It's a mix of being startled and taken aback, only after that, the rush of excitement and curiosity joining the combination. A little bit of an unidentified fear, too. "Why?"
Remus curls his lips in his little shy, but also affectionate smile, that makes Sirius want to run away. Because it's a smile intended for a friend, and the idea of friendship is something that slowly crawls its way into Sirius mind, no matter how hard he tries to be afraid of it. It's impossible, when suddenly friendly Gryffindors ambush him in a way no one ever had, and then act like it's normal, like there's nothing wrong with the way they behave.
Like it's fine to bond with people, who could hurt you with simple words. Like it's alright to suddenly touch someone and mean no harm. Sirius sometimes wonders if it's acceptable for him to reach Regulus and pat his arm, nudge him, ruffle his hair. To get in physical contact with him. He never wondered about it. They're close to each other, but distant in a corporal way. That's how they were taught. That's what they saw all of their lives.
Sirius often feels as if Gryffindors took the last chance to stir his life and did it gladly. With humour, excitement and attention.
"Because I think you'll like it," Remus answers simply, allowing Sirius to believe it's expected to settle on being kind with no reason. No one says a thing, but Remus takes a step forward, slowly lifts his hand, making sure Sirius notices it, and then he pulls Sirius' robe lightly. It isn't the first time he does so. James treated Sirius with carefulness, too. Like a wild animal. Or like he could break, Sirius isn't certain. It makes him unsettles either way. "Please?"
Sirius tries to think of pros and cons, and Remus seeing his hesitation, loses his grip on Sirius' robe and retreats a bit. If Sirius looks closer, Remus' arms are tense and stiff, and he looks a lot more stressed than he looked, when they started talking. It's Sirius fault, he knows it, because it's always his fault. It's always his blame to bear.
"How long will it take?" Sirius asks, strained. Remus studies him for only a few seconds, before he smiles easily, once more, making the stiffness in Sirius' own shoulders loosen.
"I'm going to just show you something," he answers, making Sirius nod. Remus looks around, and gestures with his head to follow him, so Sirius does so, without further questions. He doesn't have to observe the surroundings to know there are a lot of eventual onlookers, and that Remus knows it's important not to be seen too much in open places.
So Sirius isn't surprised, when Remus takes him to the library, to their private corner, where no one really passes by, apart from these few, who study, reasons not needed. And there aren't many teenagers like this.
They sit down, and Remus places something on the table, then uses the Enlargement Charm to increase it in size. Sirius watches how a tiny, black, weird… thing appears before his eyes. Then one more rectangular box, and after, two oval shapes linked by some black oblong material.
"That's what you wanted to show me?" Sirius questions. "These… boxes?"
Remus grins and, surprisingly excited, starts connecting one thing to the other.
"This is a cassette player," he points to the biggest box. "This is a cassette tape with music, and these are headphones," Remus explains. Sirius doesn't even pretend he knows what these are. "You'll have to put this on your ears, will you?"
Sirius takes headphones from Remus and puts them on his head, feeling a little silly. He guesses he's doing everything alright, since Remus is grinning like a madman. And Remus is rather humble with his smiles. Sirius waits for the boy next to him to do something. It scares Sirius, that he doesn't excpect hurt. And that he lets Remus do all these things. It's mostly to finish it quickly, though. The more compliant Sirius gets, the less interactions they need to have. He wouldn't let it happen, otherwise.
"Now," Remus places his hand on the cassette player. "Don't be scared," he says, and turns something on. Suddenly, there is too much going on at once. Loud instruments playing in the background, someone's voice breaking through the music and a teenage boy, trying to conceal his excitement in front of him. It's a bit abstract situation, because Sirius doesn't even know what exactly is happening. But he likes it. The music he listens to, is loud, rich and dazing. It doesn't remind Sirius of any wizard music he has ever heard. He likes it. He really, really likes it. And it must show on his face, because Remus looks even happier than earlier.
Sirius lifts the headphone from one ear. "How did you know, I'm going to like it?"
Remus' face breaks into a wide, thrilled smile, and it's the most eager Sirius has ever seen him.
"Because it's Queen for the king," he jokes, but Sirius doesn't understand. He shakes his head and puts the headphone in its place on his ear.
He just listens to the song, looking at Remus watching him, and it's crazy, how his heart flutters. Sirius knows it will have to end, and he waits for the song to end, so he can give the headphones back, but to his surprise, after the first song, comes the next one.
And Sirius genuinely wants to keep listening, but it's not his place, nor his choice, really. So he takes the headphones off his head, and places them on the table. Sirius is afraid, Remus will feel disappointed, but to his surprise, he just smiles gently at Sirius and takes the muggle thing away from him.
"Look," Remus points at the boxes again. "To listen to music, all you have to do is to plug it here, and turn this on," he shows how to do it. Next thing Sirius knows, is Remus shrinking the cassette player with its additions and moves it towards Sirius. "You can listen to it in your room, when you feel bored."
Sirius doesn't say he feels bored most of the time. He feels bored, while sitting in the classes, studying, reading, eating. Remus once told him, that he sees energy in Sirius, that he can't really use up, and he couldn't be closer to the truth. Sirius feels bored, but not with Regulus, nor with Remus.
Maybe he isn't bored, but just lonely, after all.
But the music box could make him, both entertained and less alone.
"Why would I take this?" Sirius asks, to keep the pretence. Remus smiles like he knows Sirius through and through. It's scary how Remus knows things. Like it's easy to get through all the walls without nothing but right words, and right emotions.
"Because you like it."
Sirius looks blankly at Remus. He has pale skin, but Hogwarts isn't the best place to get a tan. Scars on his face are visible, no matter how you look at him, and Sirius can see them off the corner of his eyes, but doesn't really care. It's the eyes that he looks into. The calmness in them, the peacefulness, that Sirius sometimes needs, and he subconsciously thinks of Remus then.
Sirius wants to convince himself, that Remus isn't the first boy, he looks at, when he finds himself in a place full of wizards. It sometimes works, because Sirius doesn't really have to look. It's like he knows where Remus is, without looking for him. And that's why Sirius sometimes regrets he can't call him Moony, as others do. He can't make the comparison of the night sky, where space is limitless. And you need only a second to locate the moon. He can't say Remus is the same, and that's why he is the Moony. Sirius has responsibilities and common sense. He doesn't need to create more trouble for himself, for Regulus, or for Remus. Or them all, at once.
He just watches as Remus leaves the items on the table and gets up. "I won't be stealing more of your time, then."
Sirius feels like he's losing his ground and wants to lie on the floor to stop it from happening. And maybe he does so, but the ground is too large, and Sirius is only one.
---
After these few events, it suddenly gets calm. Sirius is living his life, just existing, his only motivation is to see what James and Peter are going to do. He has Potions with Remus, he has Charms with James, and he has other subjects with other students. He has his suppers with Regulus and an unhealthy dose of being teased by him. He has Remus finding him in odd places and just sitting beside him to read or talk. He sometimes listens to the cassette player in secret. There is nothing really unusual. There is nothing going on. And it's making Sirius frustrated. Remus is in some ways cleared of eventual charges from casting Cruciatus Curse, and it does change a lot, but it's not enough. It's definitely not enough, because what Sirius needs, is for Mulciber to be punished accordingly for what he has done. For what he wanted to do. For trying to hurt Sirius and framing Remus. So one day, when Sirius' patience is over, after two long weeks of waiting for something to happen, he looks for James, only to find him with his brother.
"Aren't you two cosy?" Sirius asks with a frown. Regulus rolls his eyes, nods to James, and wants to walk away, but Sirius grabs his arm. He releases his brother after one second, but Regulus still looks at him surprised, and stays. "Wait a moment, Reggie."
"Hi, Sirius, you alright?" James asks with a grin.
"Can we talk?" Sirius asks instead of talking.
"I think you're doing exactly that, right now," Regulus mumbles, earning a glare from his older brother.
James sends him a somehow chastened smile. "I'm sorry, I'm actually late, already."
"Can you just tell me what about Mulciber?" Sirius tries to lower his voice enough for no one else but them to hear.
James shows him a thumbs up. "In two weeks, he'll taste the aftertaste of justice," he states and leaves without a goodbye. Sirius tries to understand why they need two weeks, and what the aftertaste of justice means, not hearing what his brother is telling him, until the name comes up.
"And James actually said, they-" Regulus keeps talking, despite the fact he rarely talks this much.
"James?" Sirius interrupts his brother and looks at him. Regulus evidently sees the growing smile on Sirius' face, because his face gets redder and redder, which is visible flawlessly, since Black brothers have a pale complexion.
"Shut it," Regulus says, turning his head elsewhere. Sirius is delighted to see his brother averting his gaze.
"Not a Potter, but James?"
"Oh, really?" Regulus huffs grumpily, never liking the teasing. "As if you're not calling Lupin by his name."
Sirius instantly goes into his serious mode. "I don't call Lupin at all."
Regulus scoffs. "Sure, you're not."
"I'm not!"
"Yes, yes, brother," Regulus glances at his brother with a smile, that Sirius describes as devilish, and maybe it's not far from true. "You're not, sure."
And seeing how Regulus tries to outpace Sirius and walk away, he calls. "Regulus Arcturus, the younger brother of Sirius, come back!"
---
It's relatively calm for these two weeks. Sirius takes his time to chat with Mulciber for a while to stress him out and to explore if Mulciber knows, that he is aware it was him. It only starts to get weird, when Mulciber goes straight, and Sirius walks in the opposite direction, but after a few turns, he meets Mulciber again. And that is extremely peculiar, because there is no chance Mulciber could walk such a distance and outpace Sirius. Not only this, but Mulciber surely doesn't have a tendency to cast spells like Rictusempra, that is the Tickling Charm, and run away with a sinister laugh. And that is something, what Sirius witnesses, right this moment.
Sirius tries to explain it in his head, and ends up convincing himself, there was no Mulciber casting Rictusempra in the first place. It's only Sirius' wild imagination, that suddenly exceeds its limits, probably because of too much time spent with friendly neighbour Gryffindors. The problems get real, when around four hours later, Sirius meets Mulciber again, and while they talk, he looks everywhere but at him. And Mulciber never belonged to the shy or intimidated kind. Sirius pretends he notices nothing, but after they part, Sirius follows him.
Mulciber takes out some parchment and touch it with his wand, all while walking, but suddenly stills. He straightens his back and puts the parchment back in his robe. Then he starts to dash. Sirius is confused at the beginning, but decides to follow him by speeding up his pace. Mulciber takes out this suspicious piece of parchment, again, and starts to take a lot of turns, with his eyes glued to the paper, with Sirius still shadowing him. Mulciber hasn't looked back at once, but he seems to know, someone is walking behind him. It makes Sirius suspicious even more.
Sirius knows the layout of corridors around this area of the castle, though, so he decides to corner Mulciber. He takes a turn to leave Mulciber's line of sight and takes a route to surprise him from the front. Sirius speeds up more, basically running at this point, and takes the last turn to surprise Mulciber.
But the corridor is empty.
Though Mulciber couldn't have known, could he?
Something clicks in Sirius' mind, because a month has passed since Mulciber's attack on Remus. And there is a potion, brewed for a month, that can turn one person into another. Sirius sighs, and heads towards Gryffindors common room.
He doesn't have to wait long for Peter Pettigrew to leave the Gryffindor Tower.
Peter jumps, seeing Sirius, and places his hand on his chest. "For Merlin's wand, what are you doing here?"
Sirius scoffs. "Are you alone? Going to James Potter, maybe?"
Peter visibly tenses. "No, why would I go to meet with James?" he asks in a higher voice than usual.
"Because you're friends?" Sirius lifts his eyebrows with a question.
"Yeah! Right, you're right," Peter rambles. "We're friends. What about you? Are you going to meet with your friends?"
The awkward silence appears between them.
"We're in front of Gryffindor Tower," Sirius notes blankly.
"Right…" Peter starts to fidget. Sirius doesn't have to know him to notice, that Peter is up to no good. "You're meeting with Remus, then? I think he's in the library, studying with Lily. They probably won't mind you, or they will, if you're too loud, or if you're named James Potter, but you're not, so it should be alright, then you can go, and I'll go a different way, so see you later!"
Sirius doesn't have time to ponder over Peter's ability to speak nonsense in one breath, or about the capacity of his lungs. Peter tries to run away, and Sirius quickly takes a step in his direction, but before he can call him, Sirius steps on something, that shouldn't be here. Peter doesn't notice and just goes forward, so the gasp that sounds next to Sirius in an empty corridor, surely isn't Peter's. And Sirius didn't gasp, either.
Sirius moves his gaze towards his feet, and it makes his mind go crazy, because he can see his foot isn't exactly on the floor, but there is nothing underneath it. He can't see it, but he can feel the material under his shoe. A crazy thought crosses Sirius' mind, and without moving his feet, he lifts his hand to reach forward. Even though he suspected it, he is surprised to actually feel smooth fabric under his fingers. He grabs the cloth and pulls it, until the figure of Mulciber is entirely clear.
James Potter, as Sirius supposes, in the form of Mulciber, takes his wrist, making Sirius flinch as a result of surprise. He takes him farther into the corridor, and then looks around.
"Really?" Sirius scoffs, after he also makes sure they're alone. Somewhere back in his mind, he wonders, when Peter will notice and join them. In other places of his head, he tries not to get too envious of the Invisibility Cloak. "Polyjuice and Tickling Charm? That's your revenge?" Sirius speaks first.
"We're pranksters, not criminals," Mulciber-James crosses his arms on his chest.
"Yes, and impersonating someone else is very not criminal-like."
"Here you are," Peter pants. Sirius is certain that Pettigrew came back after noticing the absence of James, not Sirius, since he tried to run away from him. He is curious, though, what is in Peter's mind, now, when he sees his friend with Sirius. "Mulciber! What are you doing here?" Peter exclaims in pseudo surprised voice. Sirius smirks and James winces.
"He knows, Wormy," James says.
Peter looks like he's relieved instead of stressed out, because someone knows. Probably he can take a breath, because his poor-quality acting skills are no longer needed.
"So that's all you plan to do? Run around parodying Mulciber and tickling wizards with a charm?" Sirius feels agitated. They have so much potential. They made a potion that is advanced enough to take a whole month to brew, they had to take something of Mulciber's, and they did it without anyone noticing, just to run around casting Rictusempra?
"We wanted to embarrass him a little," Peter explains timidly.
"Embarrass him?" Sirius scoffs. "You could do something better than that."
"Like what?" James' interest seems piqued.
"I don't know, you wanted Mulciber to feel the same as Remus, right?" Sirius asks, and the boys nods their heads. Sirius understands why they did what they did. Mulciber made Remus do things he could be imprisoned for, and boys wanted to make Mulciber do something he didn't want to. And, in some sense, made him cast some spells on other students, as he made Remus do. It's really similar. But who would punish Mulciber for it? Gossipers? "I wanted to make him regret that he wanted to hurt me. And you wanted to make him regret hurting Remus."
James slowly nods his head. "What are you thinking about?"
"Mulciber wanted to injure me with Cruciatus so badly. Why won't we let him?"
James and Peter seem to understand him perfectly.
---
"I can't actually believe you're our pranking accomplice," James grins.
"Pranking accomplice, James? Really?" Sirius scoffs. "What else? Coprankster?"
James laughs and then stops, looking at Sirius with interest. "How did you know?"
Sirius feels confused for a moment. "Know what?"
"That I'm James."
Sirius opens his mouth to say it's obvious, but then closes it, understanding it's not. It's the manner in which James speaks and moves that makes it obvious, but how Sirius can tell, that he knows this much about a stranger he sits with on Charms?
"Remus obviously wouldn't act this way," Sirius finds the reason, and James nods almost instantly, accepting Sirius' way of thinking. Then he laughs again.
"But copranksters sounds great, I think I'm going to use it a lot, now," James pats Sirius' arm, making him tense, but apart from it, he actually feels the sudden warmness in his chest.
Sirius likes copranksters, too.
He feels the urge to joke and make some names, like prankrauders, or other puns-like terms, but he remembers they're on their way to the Slytherin common room and conceals his unusual joking mood. They have a common goal, that's why they're talking with each other. Nothing more.
Sirius should be focused on his job, though he doesn't have much to do. He only has to receive the damage. James has to do the most, since he's the Mulciber.
Sirius glances at James, only to see his stressed-out face. Sirius would be stressed, too, if Mulciber was near, because if there were two Mulcibers, the plan would fail. Peter, though, said with a full conviction, that Mulciber is elsewhere and it's their last problem. Supposedly, they don't have to worry. Even about the alibi.
Sirius tried not to question their certainty. He is only afraid that James will back down at the last moment, because he doesn't seem convinced about Sirius' methods. When Sirius offered, that they should cast Crucio on him, James looked terrified. Sirius thought it's because James doesn't want to frame Mulciber into something he theoretically didn't do.
"What?" Sirius asked, then. "You don't want to act like your enemy? Too wrong for Goody Two-Shoes Gryffindors?"
James glared at him. "I've got no idea how it would feel to treat Mulciber the same as he treated us, but for certain I know, I wouldn't feel good, hurting you with Cruciatus Curse."
"We can miss, though?" Peter asks hesitantly.
"Like I said earlier," Sirius claims, a little irritated. "We can't. Because theoretically, I don't know he'll attack me. It would be too hard to miss attacking from the back."
And it ended up on a curse that James doesn't know, but if he won't do well, it doesn't matter. Because it's Sectumsempra, and no one but Snape and those near him know about it. So no one will be surprised, if Mulciber has a problem with a curse he barely knows. James is stressed out, though, because even though he doesn't need to cast Crucio, he has to cast a curse invented by Severus Snape. And though he doesn't know the effects could be even more gruesome than from Cruciatus, James seems to sense it. For Sirius, it's oddly calming to see James like this. Probably because he doesn't have to worry about his life, Potter doing it for him just fine.
Sirius tells a password to their common room, not caring about Gryffindor hearing it, and they both walk into the snakes' pit. There are not many students, but these few are still a good number for this place.
James copes better than Sirius thought, he would. He acts surprisingly normal, making Sirius wonder if the so-called Marauders are using Polyjuice often.
But the mission is about to start. They look into each other's eyes, exactly in the same moment, and Sirius is sure, and is sure that James understands, too, they're starting now. It requires just one look to understand. It's magic. It's more powerful magic than anything they're doing as wizards. Because it's not Legilimency nor Occlumency. They don't have to magically navigate through the other person's mind and interpret what they find. They just look at each other and know. It's natural, effortless. It's just them.
And it makes Sirius wonder… if he met James or Remus on his way to Hogwarts, how would he end up? What person would he have been? What would be between him and Remus or James, or even Peter? What would happen to Reggie? It's Regulus' name, that makes Sirius stop wondering about it. Besides, it's not worth anyone's time to long for the impossible.
The plan is to walk into Slytherin common room without talking, because rarely anyone opens their mouth here. Then Sirius will scoff mockingly, they'll start to argue with each other, and when Sirius walks away, James has to cast Sectumsempra, aiming to just lightly cut Sirius around the legs.
The truth is, though, that they manage to walk just out of sight of the students, when whispers arise, making Sirius and James stop.
One Slytherin boy, whose name Sirius never knew, approaches them with a confusion on his face.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but there is some Gryffindor, Peter Pettigrew, who wants to talk to you no matter how hard we try to tell him off."
Sirius doesn't risk a glance at James.
"I don't care," Sirius tells the boy, hoping he will insist on Sirius meeting Peter.
"But he won't go away, and is doing commotion in dungeons," the boy says, looking down.
As a matter of principle, Sirius sighs. "You can go, I'll talk to him."
The boy rushes away. Sirius can feel James steps behind him when they go to meet Peter.
After the door opens, the sight of Peter panting heavily welcomes their eyes. Peter, seeing James with Sirius, casts quick glances around.
"James!" he loud-whispers, when the door closes. "Mulciber," Peter speaks with pauses. "Mulciber in Slughorn's office!"
James exchanges glances with Sirius. They can't do anything, when everyone will know, where Mulciber was at the time. That he was in the Head of the House office. At the same time, Sirius wonders if students will think Mulciber got into Slughorn's office, because he did something to Peter, since it has similar timing.
"Do we know why?" James asks the most relevant question he could.
Peter winces. "I met Remus on my way," he huffs. "He told me he kind of provoked Mulciber, and Mulciber cursed him with Sectumsempra." Peter stops speaking dramatically. "Where everyone could see."
Sirius doesn't know what to say. He is astonished, amazed, and worried at the same time, so he needs to gather his thoughts and feelings, before he replies something stupid. Sirius is mostly distressed, because of Remus, but it’s alright. Remus passed by Peter. That means he wasn't hurt. He would be in a Hospital Wing otherwise. Sirius knows he won't get relaxed until he'll see Remus with his own eyes, but for now, it's enough. He can't barge into Gryffindor Tower, either.
The second comes amazement, because Remus just casually does things, that others try to do with whole plans. What did it look like? Remus approached Mulciber and annoyed him to the point he cast a curse on him? Just like that? Without any preparation? But what did Remus think? He could get severely hurt. It's irresponsibility, not bravery. He should have talked it out with James and Peter. There are limits to stubbornness, no one should cross.
And then comes comprehension. Remus managed to make Mulciber cast Sectumsempra, what they all planned to do. It's as if their minds are connected. It wasn't planned, but the result is exactly the same. And Mulciber probably failed in casting the curse, what only adds to the satisfaction of the four boys.
Sirius doesn't want to come back to Slytherin common room, now, but what other choice he has? James and Peter start talking, though Sirius is detached from them a bit. He looks at them a bit absent-mindedly, and that's probably why James smiles at Sirius comfortingly.
Sirius realizes he might make an impression of being disappointed, so to let James know, he is not, he thinks of what to say.
"Mischief is still managed, though," Sirius jokes, but James stills immediately.
"What did you say?" he asks, his voice genuinely committed.
"Calm down, I was just joking, I'm not as serious as my name states," Sirius raises his hands.
James gazes at him, looking flabbergasted, before he burst out laughing.
"What on earth, mate?" James asks, with a broad, authentically joyful grin on his face. "Are you mad?"
"Are you?" Sirius quirks his eyebrow.
"Where were you all my life?"
"In the 12 Grimmauld Place, I believe."
"Mate, you don't know it, but we have the same way of thinking," James claims in an excited tone, completely ignoring what Sirius said. Sirius' life has surely changed during his last year at Hogwarts.
But does he mind? He is, and he isn't, at the same time.
Though, after everything… After the boys leave, when Sirius is lying on his bed, he gets actually scared. He is afraid, because he met Remus, who makes him want to feel things. Who makes him want to stop looking back at his family, and just start making friends with someone, who isn't evaluating his every step. Sirius wants to spend time with someone, who makes his heart beat faster, not because of his fear. He wants to dedicate his free time to someone, who notices his too energetic, too nervous, too little respectable side, and he treats it as a part of him, instead of making him suffer or ridiculing him. He doesn't want to hear comments, when he reads one page of his book for half an hour, because his mind is elsewhere, and he can't focus. The same as he doesn't want to fear the next encounter, feeling as if he is never enough, and no matter what he does, we will never be. He wants to feel respected, he wants someone to smile at him, to joke with him, and to look at him as a person, not an object or a goal.
And Sirius is afraid to even more, since he met James, because as Remus is the calm moon, which makes him want peacefulness and acceptance in his life, James is the sun, which makes him forget he can't leave his place as a star.
Sirius met James, and sometimes he wants to leave the toxic house he found himself in, never looking back, again. He wants to walk away from Slytherin, the House itself and go somewhere, where the walls aren't slippery from moisture, where on colder nights, he can't see the clouds of his breath and where everyone talks. He wants to go somewhere warm, somewhere happy. To a place that is not lonely.
Sirius is afraid to know Peter, because what if he presents Sirius with another reason to be ashamed and fearful of his own family? Of his own self?
Sirius is afraid, because he gets to know a place of happiness, and the more he forgets about the surrounding darkness, the stronger the impact of the reality is.
So he falls asleep in a dark, lifeless room, with only bad memories in his head, scars that aren't decreasing, and tears that can't get out of his eyes. He falls asleep thinking he is back to his old, dark, lifeless self.
He doesn't know, that in a room, full of lightness and joy, the room he was destined to be placed in, there are three boys, and two of them are thinking about Sirius at the same time.
"I'm actually impressed, that Sirius just saw Mulciber, knew it was me, and just perfected our plan," James says with an amazement in his voice and turns in his bed to have a better look at Remus and Peter. Peter lies in his bed with a pillow on his head and seemingly tries to fall asleep, so James takes a glance at Remus. He is sitting, leaning his back against a wall and reading a book that James surely sees for the first time.
Remus, as if feeling James' gaze on him, looks back.
"Yhm," Remus mumbles, before returning his gaze to the book's pages.
James changes his position to lie on his back. "He is really courageous, I didn't expect it," he says, gazing at the ceiling. "And is clever, I like how he understands our way of thinking."
Peter mumbles something to the pillow, but James doesn't understand a word of it.
"Also, I felt like we were born to play pranks together. We match each other, our partnership is undeniably splendid," James adds, though no one is reacting. "And I actually feel really comfortable around him, I sense our energy matching." After still no one is responding to James, he sighs. "I think he would get along with Marlene. I mean, with everyone, but with Marlene the most. They would have this hate-love relationship. With me, it would be something utterly different, since our energy matches. He would be a perfect partner in crime. Perfect coprankster."
In an irritated manner, Peter takes the pillow off his face, but when he looks at James, there is also amusement sparkling in his eyes.
"Don't you want to confess your love to him?" Peter asks, watching James.
Remus scoffs, but James is looking at Peter, thinking.
"You think he would reciprocate?"
It's Remus, though, who thinks about how he wishes Sirius heard it. Who wonders if there is a chance of the four of them becoming something more, than students of different Houses in Hogwarts. He wonders, and wants to make it true, but it's James, who instead of thinking, simply believes.
And maybe it's a part of being a moon, who waits for the star to be ready. And it's a part of being the sun, who takes things for granted.
But maybe someone more impartial also has an important role in it all? Someone, who accepts, not because he likes or admire something more, but simply because that's how things should be.
Peter falls asleep first, James only after his excitement is gone, then Remus, hearing the sounds of his friends breathing. The last to sleep is Sirius, who thinks of them all.