Chapter 5 - Sirius Black
First year - September
Remus Lupin was the coolest person he had ever met. The kid swore at eleven. It was an astonishing discovery that Sirius couldn’t help but feel excited about. His new friends' growing list of attributes, added to the aforementioned excitement. Of course James was cool by default, being the Prince of England. Peter by association, as his cousin, was pretty cool in itself as well. But James was clumsy and got distracted easily, woke up way too early for any sane person, and had uncontrollable hair. I mean does that boy not own a hairbrush? Peter was known for nodding off wherever he pleased, and paired the worst food combinations. Remus though. Remus was a mystery. A surprise, more like. He reads books, but he swears. He lives in Knightsbridge, but he’s fluent in Welsh. He’s small and gets in fights - or maybe it was just the one - but that doesn’t change the fact Remus Lupin is so incredibly cool.
“How long until the end of class?”
Sirius was in Citizenship with Mary and Eliana waiting for the bell to ring so he could quickly get to detention. Mary pulled the top of her phone out of her skirt pocket, checking the time displayed on her screen.
“Two minutes.”
“Thank you.”
He smiled at Mary and started packing away his things. The plan was to arrive at his forms classroom as soon as possible, therefore leaving as soon as possible. Sliding the pencil he had been fidgeting with all lesson, behind his ear, Sirius closed his laptop screen. Carefully dropping it into the black Saint Laurent bag, purchased by his mother. Waiting for the bell to dismiss him, Sirius conversed in light conversation with Mary and Eliana.
“Peter was telling me, in English, that Marlene totally spooked him this morning, before forms. Do you know anything about this?”
Sirius laughed loudly, remembering the distraught nature of his friend, his voice carrying across the classroom.
“James had to bring him in and sit him down! It was so funny!”
“Mr Black?”
“Sorry Professor!”
Sirius lowered his voice and his head back towards the two girls.
“This is the exact reason I now have detention. It is entirely Remus’ fault.”
“Should I be blocking this part out? So I don’t accidentally relay anything back to my brother?”
“Nah, he already knows.” He waved a hand in front of his face, while making a ‘pfft’ noise, to solidify his argument. “I have no idea what Marlene said though. So it is now up to you two to find out. Once you do come find me- actually, I’ll find you. I have detention.”
“So you’ve said.”
Mary’s eyebrow raised but the accompanying smile, showing off her white teeth, failed the ‘look of judgement’ she seemed to be going for.
“It’s an important piece of information, Mary. If someone say, forgets, and asks about me, you can tell them.”
“Deal.”
They shake hands with matching grins as Eliana rolls her eyes and starts to pack away her own belongings. Their teacher spoke up louder then - right as the bell was scheduled to ring - and Sirius let out an exasperated sigh.
“I don’t have you again until next week and so it is my expectation that anything you have failed to complete today will be finished by then. You may leave when the bell goes. Thank you.”
And as if on cue, the bell did go, letting out a shrill sound, and Sirius raced towards the door. It took some effort, travelling in between the hordes of people making their way out of the Central Building, but after a few minutes he had made it to the South Building. Waiting dutifully outside S12, for Mr. Scamander to show up.
_ _ _
The detention didn’t last very long. He was dismissed after thirty minutes or so, but Sirius couldn’t stay quiet after that, and started a conversation with his forms Professor. They talked for well over an hour, and Sirius had learnt that his teacher had a younger brother, who also taught at Hogwarts. His name was Newt.
There was one piece of information he was dying to tell the others about. Sirius thought it was the biggest gossip he had ever heard during his first week at school. Excitement coursed through his veins, as he sped up his pace towards Gryffindor Building.
Pushing himself into the first floor common room, Sirius couldn’t see any of his friends. Quickly scanning the room a second time, to make certain, he turned up the stairs and headed straight for the second floor common room. Sure enough the seven of them were gathered around the fireplace, with loud laughs and wild gesturing hands, signalling their location.
He was walking a bit faster than what would be deemed appropriate in Black Manor, and stumbled a little to a slower pace, after remembering the consequences. But with no one around to reprimand him, Sirius drew in a deep breath and smiled a little wider, raising his voice to capture the attention of his friends.
“Hey! Guys! I have something to tell you!”
Their heads snapped up in unison as Sirius walked towards them. He threw himself onto the ground, in an open space between Remus and James.
“What’s that?”
Seated in an armchair opposite him, Mary’s curious eyes locked onto him.
“Well as some of you may know, I just had my first detention.”
James clapped, as if he had just won an award. Remus rolled his eyes, taking his head with him. Sirius didn’t even realise he had been leaning in, but now that he had moved away, Sirius wanted to build up that excitement again.
“Theseus-”
“Theseus?”
“Our forms teacher.”
Quite a simple explanation, but Lily didn’t look impressed. Mary poked Lily’s cheek from beside her and smiled encouragingly at Sirius.
“Go on…”
“Right. So, Theseus and I were talking about a lot of things -boring stuff -to pass the time. Like, he’s married to a woman named Leta, and they have a cat named Cornelia. A weird name for a cat, but who am I to judge? He also has a brother who works here, Newt. Younger by nine years, a Science teacher - we won’t have him until next year, mind you-”
“That’s great Sirius, truly. But the way you came running and hollering at us before- Sorry, this isn’t exactly… riveting.”
Captivant? Ce gars est incroyable. Un peu impatient mais étonnamment intelligent aussi.
Getting cut off by Remus was the last thing Sirius had hoped for, but something that should have been expected from the small boy with little patience. It was obvious that most of the group hadn’t heard Remus speak so much. They hadn’t become as familiar with the Welsh lilt that stretches around vowels, almost annoyingly, with how incredibly endearing it is.
“Right you are, Lupin. Apologies everyone. So what I really wanted to tell you was… Remember how I said Newt was Theseus’ younger brother by nine years? Guess how much younger Leta, his wife, is? Go on.”
“Nine?”
Lily and Remus guessed at the same time, sharing a nod of respect and similar smiles. Everyone else shouted their answers a beat later, and Remus looked down at his hands with a pink blush coating his cheeks. Broken from whatever trance he was in.
“Two?”
“Four?”
“Wait, is she older?”
“They’re twins!”
Everyone looked at Peter.
“They’re twins? Where does your mind go? No. No to all of you. Lily and Remus were close though. She’s eight years younger than Theseus and a year older than Newt. Which brings me to my largest and most anticipated piece of information…”
Remus lifted his head slightly to watch Sirius, as the others looked on expectantly. With the noise of James slapping the ground for a ‘drum roll’ effect, he announced the secret.
“Newt and Leta used to date!”
The four girls shrieked in delight at the scandal. James and Peter laughed off their shock, but the wideness of their eyes didn’t falter. And Remus rolled his eyes with a hidden smile playing from the corner of his lips, and eyebrows raised in surprise.
“He just told you that?”
Mary inquired, with a grin pulled across her face. Her brown eyes wide in awe, carrying a mischievous glamour.
“Well, yes and no. It just sort of came out -and I had to hold back my shock, so he would keep talking. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to provide you all with such a classified piece of information.”
“Thanks mate!” James clapped him on the shoulder with a firm grip. “I’m honoured.”
He felt the warmth of security and care wash over him, before the corners of his lips pulled high across his cheeks. The group of eight shared laughs and fond smiles amongst each other. But what would a wholesome moment like this be, without the wit of one, Remus Lupin.
“Yes. Thank you, Black. I am, wholeheartedly indebted to you, for bestowing this rich - and flavoursome - piece of gossip.”
It seemed as though not everyone had the opportunity however, to talk to the freckle-faced boy. They weren’t used to his mannerisms or sense of humour. The atmosphere shifted quickly into something tense. Lily, Mary and Marlene shared puzzled expressions that Eliana couldn’t quite share in. While James and Peter just outright stared at the Lupin boy. So Sirius laughed. It was a breathless thing at first, which soon developed into a chuckle, before he downright let out an almost sardonic cackle. And Remus couldn’t help it, before he too was throwing his head back against the wall behind him. It was a wonderful sound. Carefree and calming.
As the sun set and the fire got started behind them, the group indulged one another with their own secrets. Remus’ fighting escapade came to light - by a certain Peter Pettigrew, who was eager to communicate his admiration. It caused Lupin’s face to turn bright red, in embarrassment. A few too many glances in Lily’s direction, whenever he was questioned about who the girl was, quelled Sirius’ pondering. Oh c’était Lily. Il tient tellement à elle et elle ne le sait même pas.
By the time they had to go down for dinner he had learnt that Eliana was the eldest Lupin, they were in fact “not twins”, as stated by Remus. She is older than Sirius though, by a whole year and seven days. A startling revelation, as he was sure to be the eldest of the group. Eliana is also the shortest, it made sense in his mind for her to be the youngest. An over simplified version of how she had to repeat her first year of primary, put Remus in the same year level, and explained their situation now. There was something else missing from their story, but Sirius couldn’t figure out what it was. The way the Lupins held a quiet, yet steady, and firm gaze, while sharing what could only be ‘suitable’ information was unnerving. It hasn't even been a week yet, but Sirius has decided to learn everything he can about his friends- if only to understand and connect with them better.
Before long the sun was gone, and the common room was emptying out, as students made their way to the Great Hall for dinner. James stood up first, lending his hand out for Sirius to take, before pulling him to his feet. Everyone stood up with them and started for the staircase. From beside him, Remus was also standing with his arm draped around Eliana. She was poking his side, and squeezing his reddening face with a teasing laugh.
“James?”
“Sirius?”
“What’s wrong with Remus?”
They both turned to look at the brother/sister duo. Sirius turned back to watch as the Prince’s eyes scrutinised the pair's actions. His eyebrows drawn close, brown eyes narrowed slightly, his tongue just barely poking out from the left corner of his lips. But his indifferent shrug crushed any hope Sirius might have had to help Remus.
“I’m not sure. Looks a bit embarrassed maybe, but that could just be Eliana winding him up. You think we should save him?”
“Do I think we should save him?”
James grinned from ear to ear, a look in his eyes that screamed trouble. Sirius felt his starting to mirror that of his new best friend. Gently nudging his stomach with the bend of an elbow, Sirius and James lept towards Remus and Eliana, flanking their sides.
“Here’s trouble.”
Eliana whispered into Remus’ side, pretending to express disinterest, but the fond smile for the two boys gave her away. Remus let out a soft chuckle but pressed his hand to his mouth in an attempt to hide it.
“Is that so? Mister Black and I were under the impression that you, Miss Lupin, were causing our dear friend - your younger brother-” In case she ‘forgot’. Sirius rolled his eyes in amusement at Jame’s mockery. “Mister Lupin, quite a bit of trouble yourself.”
“Is that so?”
Eliana asked pointedly looking towards James, before shifting her focus to Sirius when he answered.
“Indeed it is. Be sure that it did not escape our notice.”
“What exactly did you notice?”
Remus, who was trapped in between them, had been rolling his eyes - both in genuine disdain and subdued fondness - with quiet, yet audible, sighs of annoyance travelling with them. James took over again at Eliana’s questioning, inserting himself back into the conversation.
“Remus’ blush.”
Sirius followed his lead.
“Your teasing smile.”
“The gleam in your eyes. Truly evil, I’m telling you.”
“Remus literally curled in on himself, trying to escape your berating.”
Eliana looked at him in a combination of humour and offence, before lightly slapping his bicep.
“Hey! I was not berating him, I was-”
Remus made a noise of objection and was met by that same humour filled offence, but the slap he received was slightly harder.
“See? They were right!”
With a huff of indignation, Eliana ducked out from under her brother’s arm and set off after the others. Not before turning around to throw up a lazy ‘goodbye’ wave to the three boys. Sirius and James waved back lovingly, while Remus settled for a raised middle finger. Causing a rumble in Sirius’ chest to explode around them.
“It wasn’t our intention for her to leave. I promise.”
James held up his hands, palms facing Remus, in a show of apology. Remus reached out to pull them back down to James’ sides with a fond eye roll.
“Yeah, well, it was mine.”
As the boys doubled over in laughter, Remus guided them all down towards the Great Hall for dinner. They eventually found Peter, or better put, Peter found them. He had retracted from the girls - who were currently expressing their annoyance over two certain boys, most likely started by Eliana - to insert himself back with his dorm mates. Soon finding himself also swept up in the absurdness, that is Remus Lupin, who was also not excused from finding the hilarity in it. Often, when Sirius looked over, he could see the humour dancing in the swirls of orange and green irises. Or the ghost of a smile, that tried so hard to escape from pink lips, pursed in defiance. Truly a mystery.