Sirius Always Gets His Way
“Come to Hogsmeade with us on Saturday.”
Remus ignores the request, not for the first time today. He merely flips the page of the transfiguration textbook he’s reading. Now that Remus and Sirius have been studying together, often eating meals at the same table now too, Sirius has been trying to get them to hang out without the books even more than before.
“Come on Remus. Take a day off.”
“We have a transfiguration exam tomorrow you’re supposed to be studying for.”
Sirius rolls his eyes. “It’ll be fine and you’re avoiding answering.”
“Did you ask a question for me to answer?”
“You’re in a mood today, aren’t you?” He’s not wrong. The full moon is a week away. Remus can feel his blood heating, the wolf inside scratching to be released. This time of month Remus is the most on edge. “Will you go to Hogsmeade with us tomorrow?”
Remus meets Sirius’s eyes. “I’ll think about it. Now, when transfiguring a goblet, what-”
“What can I do to get you to say yes?”
Remus’s temper flares. “If you make an Excellent or higher on this bloody exam, I’ll go to Hogsmeade with you. Now, will you study, or do you not want a tutor anymore?”
-
An Outstanding. Sirius-fucking-Black got an Outstanding on McGonagall’s exam.
“Unbelievable,” Remus mutters, shoving on a coat over his muggle sweater.
“Maybe you should give me incentives more often,” Sirius says with a huge smile.
Proud fucker.
“I don’t even have a permission slip to go, Sirius. They’re not going to let me go into town just because you got good marks.”
Sirius gestures over to James, who’s also dressing for the winter weather. “Leave that to my mate. James? Show him.”
James Potter looks up, too innocently for Remus’s liking. “You finally coming, Lupin?” He digs in his trunk and pulls out a silvery piece of fabric. “This is a family heirloom my dad gave to me before my first year. You just put it on and…”
Potter tosses the fabric - a cloak, Remus realizes - on top of himself and instantly vanishes.
Remus steps back quickly, tripping over a book on the ground and landing on his arse. “What the fuck?!”
Sirius and Pettigrew laugh at his reaction as James comes back into view, the cloak in his hand. “Invisibility cloak,” James explains, ignoring Sirius who’s doubled over and clutching his stomach. “You put it on and walk with us to the village. Once we’re there, you can take it off and enjoy yourself. Easy.”
Remus takes the cloak, the fabric soft in his scarred hands. His pulse quickens in his chest. He’s never blatantly broken rules at Hogwarts, preferring to stay silent and to himself. Remus has never even had detention before. But with his roommates’ energy and the magical cloak, he’s starting to get excited.
He looks up and locks eyes with each of his roommates in turn. He has to dredge up the goody-goody attitude he usually has in order to say: “You all better not make me regret this.”
-
To call Hogsmeade amazing would be a grave understatement in Remus’s opinion.
Remus, despite living in the wizarding world, had never been to a muggle-free village. He could feel the magic in the streets, everyone walking around dressed in robes, the signs moving and advertising: Gillyweed 20% off, Today Only!; Buy One, Get One Half-Off Quill Sets!
The other boys swagger through the entrance of the town and through the streets, but Remus meanders from shop window to shop window, taking in all the sights to see. With the invisibility cloak safely inside James’ pack until they’ll need it to get back to the castle, Remus maneuvers through crowds of school children and adults
“Remus, come on, the joke shop is right this way!” Sirius calls back, not for the first time.
The joke shop is huge. All kinds of prank items, candy, and prank candy. Remus didn’t quite know where to look. James and Sirius, on the other hand, ran inside and started grabbing items off the shelves.
“You get used to them,” Peter says from beside him.
Remus looks over at the shorter boy. Remus doesn’t think they’ve ever directly spoken to each other before. Peter usually lets James and Sirius be the loud ones while he stands loyally at their side.“Yeah?”
Peter nods. “Yeah, James is loud and Sirius is big-headed, but they’re good friends.” Peter meets his eyes, and Remus has a weird feeling that the quiet boy can see through his eyes and into his mind. “They don’t judge.”
Gooseflesh creeps under Remus’s thick sweater, not from the cold. “Ah, thanks.” He looks around and sees Sirius over by the dung bombs. “I’m going to help Sirius carry, uh, things.”
As quickly as he could, Remus hurries from Peter. He doesn’t want to be rude, but Remus has an impression that Peter knows more about him than he lets on.
“Cheers, Remus! Hold this.”
Remus grunts as Sirius dumps an armful of dung bombs into his arms. “What could you want with all of these?”
Sirius shares with him a conspirator's smile. “If I told you, you’d be an accomplice.”
“Sweet Jesus,” he sighs, rolling his eyes. “We’re currently breaking school rules and you’re planning your next rule-breaking activity?”
“By ‘rule breaking activity’ you mean a prank, then yes.” Sirius grabs a weird-looking soap box off the shelf and reads the box. “Blimey, this is fantastic! Must be new. Oi, James!”
By the time the four of them left Zonko’s Joke shop, Remus swears that Sirius and James spent a small fortune on the multiple bags of prank paraphernalia. Certainly, their pockets were clanging less than before. Peter only bought himself a few items, while Remus actually bought himself a few sugar quills. He likes the idea of his sweet tooth being satisfied during class, especially after the full moon when his sugar craving goes up.
After another half hour of sightseeing around town and buying a few miscellaneous things, Peter complains about being cold to his bones.
“Seriously, if you three want to go shopping for rubbish, fine, but I’m going to The Three Broomsticks to warm up.”
“First of all, it’s just Sirius.” Remus snorts at the joke, but the other two just roll their eyes at Sirius. “Second, butterbeer actually sounds nice. James, Remus, dears, you in for some relaxing at the ol’ The Broomsticks?”
“Lead the way, Sirius, old pal,” James laughs.
The Three Broomsticks seems to be a hangout place for all the students of Hogwarts. The smell of tea leaves, vanilla, and human bodies bombarded Remus with his first step inside.
“Peter, James, grab the drinks. Remus and I will find us a spot,” Sirius shouts over the noise, already leading Remus away to the back of the tavern.
“This is quieter, yes?” Sirius sits at a booth and gestures for Remus to sit beside him. “How’s Hogsmeade?”
Remus relaxes in the booth, stretching his legs out. It feels nice to get his weight off his hip. “It’s nice. More things to see than I thought there would be. You think that house is truly haunted?”
Sirius nods vehemently. “It was built just before we came to Hogwarts, but since it was built, people can hear all sorts of noises from it on special nights.”
“So it’s not all the time?”
“No, that’s the mysterious part! It’s only a couple of times a month. Sometimes, it’ll be silent for months, but the sounds always start again. Screaming, they say. People have started naming it ‘The Shrieking Shack.’”
“Cheers, boys!” James sets down a pint of butterbeer in front of Remus, Peter handing one to Sirius.
Remus pulls his legs in as the other two sit across from him. “Cheers, James,” Remus says, grabbing the glass.
Sirius clears his throat dramatically. “Boys, housemates, dormmates, I think a toast is in order!” Sirius raises his butterbeer. “To new friends, Remus Lupin, and to finally besting James Potter in a Transfiguration exam!”
“Hey! You know-”
“Cheers!”
“Cheers!” Remus and Peter repeat after Sirius, James still defending his honor.
They all sit around the table, James and Sirius telling stories, discussing past pranks, and people in classes.
“Speaking of, oi Evans!” James shouts at a redhead girl who had walked by the group a few seconds prior.
“What, Potter?” she asks, arms folded in front of her.
“You want to go to The Shrieking Shack with me?”
“I’ve already been.”
“Well, tomorrow we can study for that Defense exam together.”
Evans rolls her eyes. “As if, Potter.” She turns around and walks to a table with a Slytherin boy already sitting at it.
Sirius shakes his head and finished his pint of butterbeer. “Give it up, James. She’s too interested in that greasy Snape than a proper Gryffindor.”
“It’s fine. She’ll fall for me one day. I’ll just have to be patient and when-”
“Remus Lupin!”
Remus’s heart drops as he turns from looking at the redhead to Professor McGonagall standing behind Peter, arms on her hips.
“I didn’t realize you got your permission slip signed, Mr. Lupin.” She holds her hand out. “I need those slips as you know.”
Remus’s cheeks went red. “I haven’t got it signed, Professor.”
McGonagall raises her eyebrows. “You’re telling me that you snuck out of the castle, out of bounds, and into the village without parental consent?”
Remus hangs his head, shame turning the butterbeer in his stomach to concrete.
“It’s not his fault, Professor!” Sirius blurts out.
McGonagall turns her steely attention to Sirius. “The implication being that he just appeared out of bounds?”
“Well, I-”
“What he means,” James speaks up, “is that we all encouraged and helped Remus sneak out. The fault is as much ours as his.”
Loyal James. This has to be the most stupidly Gryffindor thing Remus has ever witnessed.
Remus swears McGonagall fights a smile, but she covers her mouth with a considering finger before he could tell.
“Ten points from Gryffindor and detention, for being out of bounds without permission Mr. Lupin. And detention for you three,” she directs to Sirius, James, and Peter, “for helping Mr. Lupin out of bounds.” Despite her words, Remus could see a pleased glint in her bespeckled eyes. “I trust your classmates can escort you back to the castle, without any detours.”
Trodding back to the castle, Remus feels his heart hammering in his chest. Ten points from Gryffindor house, the first points Remus ever lost before. The other three, however, don’t seem to share his embarrassment and shame.
“So next time, we should keep away from The Three Broomsticks. Maybe try Hog’s Head instead? Doubt any teachers will be there.”
“Next time?” Remus asks James incredulously. “We lost house points and got detention.”
“Exactly,” Sirius says, throwing an arm around Remus. Thankfully, Sirius doesn’t have werewolf hearing to hear his heartbeat quicken. “Next time, we won’t get caught. Besides, she barely even punished us.”
Peter speaks up, “Isn’t that sorta weird? ‘Gonagall usually doesn’t let us off that gently. I thought we’d get ten points each and a week of detention.”
James frowns, considering. “You’re right, Pete. She was probably in a good mood, I guess. She’s just as stuck in that castle as we are. Probably just happy to be in town. Or maybe because Remus is her star student and doesn’t want to keep him from studying.”
Sirius just shrugs in his care-free Sirius way. “Who bloody cares? Let’s get to the dorm and try out some of Zonko’s stuff.”
Sirus let go of Remus’s shoulder and walked beside James, eagerly whispering about whatever prank they were planning with their Zonko products. Peter walks close to the duo, squeaking in comments and compliments every now and then.
Remus hangs back a bit, limping a bit after so much walking, watching the three of them with a newfound fondness. They all got in trouble because of Remus (okay, yes it was Sirius’s and James’s plan, but the subject of the punishment was because of Remus) and no one seems to care. If anything, it seems to encourage them all to plan pranks and break more rules.
McGonagall was lenient with their punishment. The others might think it’s because of her good mood or because he’s a star pupil, but Remus thinks he knows the true reason. McGonagall, one of the few people at school who knows Remus’s furry secret, always seems concerned with his lack of friends. She wouldn’t discourage Remus’s hanging out with his dormmates with a harsh punishment. Maybe it’s self-centered, but Remus wants to think she was a bit pleased with seeming him out of bounds with the pranksters.
Remus focuses back on James, Sirius, and Peter, now arguing about whether to use the dung bombs first or to change out all the prefect bathroom soap to Zonko’s frog-spawn soap first. Sirius wanted to be loud and terrorize the whole school with chemical warfare, while James wanted to target the Slytherin prefect who called the girl from The Three Broomsticks - was her name Evans? That doesn’t seem right - a bad name in the hallways yesterday.
Remus shakes his head at the lot of them. They’re going to get me in real trouble one day.
“Hey, wait up guys!” he quickens his pace to catch up with them and help figure out what their next move would be.