(Mis)Understanding
Friday, September 10, 1971
“Oi, Sirius, get up, you’re going to miss breakfast! You too Lupin!” Potter shouts as he heads out the door and downstairs. Remus wipes his eyes and peels himself from his bed, scrounging around for clean robes. Before he leaves, he shakes Black awake.
“Urrghh five more minutes,” he groans.
“Only if you want an empty stomach for our flying lessons later.” Black sprung up at that and pulled on the nearest robes he could find.
“Hold on don’t run off on me!” he exclaimed, meeting Remus just outside the portrait hole. “Okay let’s go c’mon Remus,” he said, grabbing his hand and practically pulling Remus all the way down to the Great Hall.
“Christ mate we still had half an hour to eat when we woke up you didn’t have to throw me down the stairs to get here!” Remus said when Black released him, panting for air.
“Sorry, sorry, I’m just really excited for flying later, you okay?” He asked, and Remus threw him a thumbs-up before they sat down and helped themselves to breakfast.
“So, James, excited for flying lessons today?” asks Black.
“Not really. I mean, excited I’ll get to fly, but I can’t wait for next year when we can try out for Quidditch,” responded Potter, his eyes gleaming. “I’m gonna be captain eventually, just you wait!”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Remus Lupin liked herbology. He found the fact that plants found all over the world in the wild have magical properties absolutely astounding.
“Alright, class, I hope you all did and turned in your writing on aconite because today we will be tending to it! Now, who can tell me what aconite is used for? Yes, Mr. Potter?”
“Aconite, more commonly known as monkshood or wolfsbane, is highly toxic but can be used as pain relief and as a sedative. It is also an ingredient in the Wideye Potion,” he answered.
“Very good, Mr. Potter, ten points to Gryffindor, aconite is a very useful plant in potion making. Now, I will demonstrate the proper technique and you will spend the rest of class tending to your plants. Watch closely, and any poisoning will give you a failing grade for the class and a trip to the hospital wing!”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Remus Lupin did not like flying. While Potter and Black were racing each other through the sky, with Pettigrew trailing a little bit behind, he was still on the ground. It’s not that he couldn’t get off the ground, it’s that not feeling the earth beneath his feet was a bit too much for him. He could handle heights. He could not handle flying.
Luckily, Madam Hooch seemed to understand, and after he had gotten three feet off the ground and touched down safely, she let him sit on the grass and watch the other students fly around.
“You’ll get there eventually!” she encouraged, to which Remus shook his head.
“I can if I have to, I think, but I just don’t fancy it,” he explained, to which she nodded.
“It’s not for everyone. Many students tend to be much more academic than physical, no shame in it. I heard from McGonagall that you’re a star in transfiguration.” Remus blushed at this; he didn’t think he was that good. Madam Hooch suddenly sprung up to tell off a group of boys that were goofing off.
That's when Snape swooped in. He came up behind Remus on his broom and almost knocked him over, then touched down right in front of him.
“Scared of heights, Lupin? Must be bad if Hooch had to have a sit-down with you.”
“Piss off, Snape, what do you care?” Remus retorted.
“I just don’t like seeing people getting hand-outs, even if you are a lesser breed than others,” Snape nasitly sneered.
“It’s not hand-outs, idiot. I did what was required in the class. Sorry I’m not a suck-up like you are,” he replied, to which Snape spluttered. At this point, the other three boys had caught a glimpse of the situation and touched down.
“I don’t need to be a suck-up, I’m naturally talented!” He bragged.
“Naturally talented at what, Snivellus, procuring grease from your scalp?” teased Black. Snape, seeing he was outnumbered, scoffed and mounted his broom again. “Aw, did I hurt your feelings! Don’t cry!” Black shouted after him, and the four boys shared a good laugh. “What a dick, we should mess with him,” Black stated and the other three considered this for a moment.
“He’s mad proud about being in Slytherin, we could charm his tie so it would switch between all the house colours,” supplied Pettigrew, and the plan was set.
“Now all we need is a name for our little group of pranksters,” Potter laughed. “Anyway, not a fan of flying, I take it?” he asked, to which Remus shook his head in confirmation. “Well, at least Sirius and I will have someone to cheer for us in the stands when we make the team next year!”
Remus chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll be screaming your names, proper fangirl, me.” The other boys laughed, and Madam Hooch dismissed the class. “Right, library until lunch?” suggested Remus, to which the other boys agreed.
“Yes, I still need to get my homework done for Monday,” said Black.
“Which subject? I can help you out if you want,” Remus offered.
“Oh, all of ‘em. Should be fine, but I’ll pull your nose out of whatever book you pick up if I need you, yeah?” he chuckled, and the boys went to the library and took their usual table.
Remus wandered through the maze of shelves until he found an interesting book and went back to the boys’ table. He pulled out his wand and quickly transfigured the hard, wooden library chair into a plush armchair and settled into it sideways, cracking open his book and beginning to read.
“What’d you pick up this time, Remus?” asked Potter, and Remus flashed him the cover of Merpeople: A Comprehensive Guide to Their Language and Customs by Dylan Marwood. “Y’know there are Merpeople in the lake, and Grindylows, and a giant squid. Proper ecosystem, that.” Remus hummed in response, sinking further into his armchair and focusing intently on reading his book. Apparently, Merfolk kept Grindylows as pets. Strange, because Grindylows aren’t very friendly. Maybe it’s something about them both being aquatic. Or maybe the Grindylows like it when the Merpeople sing.
“Hey, Remus, quick question for magical theory,” said Black. “Why did Professor Owens say that pronunciation matters again?”
“Because when we’re still learning, the pronunciation is linked to our understanding of what a spell does. Most spells are of Latin origin, like ‘Lumos’, derived from ‘lumen’, meaning lamp or light. Even if somebody doesn’t know Latin, a connection is made, and they understand that ‘Lumos’ means light. If that makes sense. It’s really the same as wand movement, like the way you move your wand sends a message to your brain about what kind of spell it is, or something. It’s really mostly psychology. Later on, when we already know what we mean and how a spell feels, I assume that it matters much less,” Remus explains.
“I didn’t need you to recite the entire history of spells, but thanks mate, cheers,” replies Black, and the group falls silent again.
After their hour in the library, it was lunchtime. Potter and Pettigrew packed up quickly, but Black took quite a bit longer. He wasn’t kidding earlier, there was something for all of their subjects strewn across the table, including history, which was just after lunch.
“You guys go on ahead, I’ll catch up,” Black said, and the other boys headed out of the library. Remus stopped to check out the book he’d picked up, and Madam Pince gave it to him with a small smile. He supposed she feels a sort of kinship with his curiosity. By the time he was heading out, Black had reached the library doors.
“Hiya Remus, why’d you separate from the pack?” asked Black.
“Had to check out my book. Didn’t fancy getting murdered by Madam Pince for leaving with a book without checking it out,” he replied, and the two slowly walked towards the Great Hall for lunch.
“Hey, Remus, if you don’t mind me asking… how’d you get, um…?” Black motioned to his face.
“Oh. Uh. Well…” Remus didn’t think about someone asking that. Nobody had, yet.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to! Sorry, I’m just curious,” Black said quickly.
“No, it’s okay. Um. I just had a lot of accidents as a kid. Was a big climber, kept falling on my face and such. No big deal.” Remus hoped he sounded convincing.
Black considered this for a moment, and a look of understanding crossed his face. “Oh. That’s me as well, super clumsy kid,” he said cautiously, looking at him intently. It took Remus a moment to register what he meant, and his eyes widened.
“No, I’m being serious. I really was just clumsy. Sirius, are you.. do your parents..?” Remus trailed off, not knowing how to put his question into words.
The other boy froze. “Oh. Shit. Forget I said anything about it then,” Sirius said, and hurried to the Great Hall, leaving Remus behind. He did not meet Remus’ eyes during lunch, and Remus failed to get him alone for the rest of the day. Sirius sat with James in History of Magic, and expertly avoided Remus until everybody was taking their pre-astronomy lesson naps.
Remus decided to not bring it up and to let Sirius take it at his own pace, no matter how long that took. He drifted off too and debated not waking up to go to astronomy.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
He did, of course, wake up to go to the astronomy lesson, held twice a week in the Astronomy Tower by Professor Nova Sami. On the way up, James pulled him aside from the rest of the first years.
“What’s going on, are you and Sirius fighting?” he asked, accusatorily.
“I hope not. I think…” Remus struggled to phrase it correctly, to not give anything away. “I think he let something really quite personal slip and is embarrassed, or scared I’ll bring it up. I’m not going to, of course, not really my place. He’s just avoiding me, I think,” he explained.
“Oh, okay,” James replied and rejoined the group for the rest of the walk.
The entire first-year class was present, and the students that failed to take their pre-astronomy lesson nap were yawning and struggling to stay awake, even though it was only 10 o’clock. The four boys sat together, Sirius placing himself on the end next to James, and Remus politely sitting on the opposite end, next to Peter.
Remus didn’t pay much attention to the lesson, save for the fact that he’s named after a moon (how ironic), and Sirius is named after a binary star. He supposed that Professor Sami threw this information into the lesson to keep the students interested, though it clearly didn’t have her desired effect.
After the lesson, the Gryffindor students were led back to their tower by Elliot Selpie, a fifth-year prefect, and told to go straight to bed, lights out. Remus was unhappy with this order, as he wanted to get his astronomy work done before their next class on Tuesday. He’d probably need help, though, as he’s always tried to not look at the night sky too much, and the other boys were already in bed. He supposed he could finish it tomorrow, though, and got ready for bed before collapsing into his comfortable four-poster and closing his heavy eyes.
At some point, Remus was woken up by whispering, and he realised it was coming from James’ bed. He had gotten used to this already, as James and Sirius tended to hold midnight gossip sessions over there. Turning away from the murmuring, he tried not to listen in, but couldn’t help hearing James’ voice mutter ‘said you said something, wouldn’t tell me-’ and ‘-not gonna bring it up’ before drifting off.
The next day, Sirius was finally, finally , looking at him again.