Chapter 17
“sirius” remus said, prodding his unmoving boyfriend. “wake up - you have an exam in twenty minutes and you can’t be late.”
“i’d be fashionably late” sirius said, his voice scratchy as he sat up to face a fully dressed remus.
“get. up.”
sirius groaned as he stretched and reached out for the shirt remus was holding. he pulled his hair into a messy bun, taking the spare hairband from remus’ wrist to hold it in place. he smiled softly, extending his hand to remus who merely raised an eyebrow.
“what?” sirius huffed, looking down at his hand.
“you going to bring your wand to this practical charms exam?” remus asked.
“oh shit.”
sirius ran around the bed to the bedside table and grabbed his wand, knocking a half full glass of water onto the floor at the same time.
“evanesco” he muttered as he heard remus sigh, placing the glass back down with more force than was necessary.
remus opened the dorm door, pulling it closed behind them once sirius had made his way down the stairs to the common room.
“breakfast?” sirius asked as he started to lead the way to the great hall.
“we don’t have time” remus said, grabbing sirius’ wrist to change their direction.
they arrived in the designated classroom that had been filled with chairs for the students to wait before their names were called. the desks had been cleared to the edges of the room, and remus leant back against one of them, his fingers tapping on the wood by his side. he stopped when sirius’ body tensed up next to him.
a short wizard had appeared at the door, a long piece of parchment in his hand. his eyes scanned the room as he shouted out for “sirius black.”
he planted a gentle kiss on remus’ cheek before following the older man into the exam room. the room wasn’t one sirius recognised and there was an overwhelming smell of antiseptic that immediately filled his nostrils, forcing him to hold a hand to his head as it made him dizzy.
he fumbled with his wand as he pulled it out of his pocket, twisting it between his fingers as he waited for instructions. a small trinket box was placed on the single desk in the centre of the room and sirius moved towards it, not fully hearing the man in front of him.
“i would like you to-”
sirius blinked, black spots filling his vision as the examiner’s words merged into one monotonous hum.
“sorry, could you say that again?”
“i can’t repeat the question, i’m afraid.”
sirius swore under his breath.
the following fifteen minutes were painful as sirius’ mind refused to settle, his thoughts still running at 100mph.
“sir?” the examiner approached him as sirius’ wand began spitting orange sparks when he gripped the handle tighter. “mr black, you are excused - i’ve seen enough to grade you.”
sirius looked up gratefully, not quite making eye contact. he reentered the room where remus was still waiting, briefly looking around to see who was left. remus started to make after him but barely took a step before his own name was called.
as soon as he was back out in the corridor, sirius exhaled shakily, tears threatening to spill over. he ran through the corridors back up to the common room. he was forced to come to a stop when a small crowd of younger students were blocking the narrow corridor.
sirius continued regardless, pushing his way through until a somewhat muffled “hey” made him turn back. alice fortescue was at the centre of the group, explaining something to one of the nearby students. sirius paused, waiting for her to finish her conversation before she joined him on his way back to the tower.
“have you finished your exam?” sirius asked, as they turned a corner.
“yeah. how did you find it?”
sirius looked straight ahead, refusing to answer her question. she grabbed his forearm, forcing him to stop and look at her.
“i think i failed” he said flatly. “i fucking failed.”
“no you haven’t. the practical is only 15% of your overall grade; you can still get an O” she said with a reassuring smile. “you’ll be fine, sirius.”
“remus’ll be pissed” sirius mumbled, his hair falling across his face as he shook his head. “he told me to start revising earlier and i didn’t listen.”
“you’re a talented wizard and remus knows that. you’ve always been good at school work and one exam doesn’t change that.” she looked up at him as he sighed disbelievingly. “frank and remus will be done soon but i promise you he won’t be mad; be honest with him.”
sirius nodded as she left him just outside the portrait hole. sirius flopped down on the sofa, ignoring the stares of younger students as he buried his head in a cushion. he pulled a blanket over his entire body and stared blankly into the empty fireplace until tears formed and burned his eyes. he eventually succumbed and blinked out a tears until he fell asleep.
less than five minutes later, alice pulled frank through the portrait hole after her, remus following half a step behind. she stopped suddenly when she saw sirius’ chest gently rising and falling.
she turned to face remus who had stumbled into the back of frank after the sudden stop.
“sirius said the exam didn’t go to well this morning so he’s not feeling too good.”
remus moved closer to the sofa, leaning over the back to rearrange the blanket. alice smiled softly at him before continuing through the common room and up to the dorms with frank. sirius rolled over into the contact, blinking up at the werewolf slowly. he instantly rolled away again, hiding his face from his boyfriend.
remus tentatively perched on the edge of the sofa, reaching out to cup sirius’ cheek.
“hey you.”
sirius sat up, drawing his knees up under his chin as he leant away from remus against the arm of the sofa.
“what happened, love?” remus asked.
“i failed” sirius whispered, not meeting remus’ eyes.
“do you want to talk about it?”
sirius shook his head.
“can i have a hug though?”
remus smiled, immediately opening his arms: “always.”
sirius leapt across the length of the sofa, his thighs either side of remus’, his nose burrowed in remus’ neck. remus’ hand slipped under sirius’ jumper, the skin to skin contact comforting to the older boy.
“i’m sorry for letting you down” sirius said with a sniff, sitting up straighter in remus’ lap. “i should’ve listened to you.”
“hey” remus said sharply. “no you didn’t. you never let me down.”
sirius rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless. remus smiled back, and reached out to the small wooden table by his side. sirius followed the scarred hand’s movements, smirking when he saw remus pick up a bar of chocolate.
“you want some?” remus asked, holding out a strip.
“you’re sharing?” sirius questioned with an eyebrow raised.
“only because you’re sad” remus said, edging the strip into sirius’ mouth.
sirius grinned, his mouth opening wider.
“i should be sad more often; you’re nicer to me.”
remus set the bar down after carefully wrapping it back up. he ran a thumb along the length of sirius’ jawline, slowly pulling their lips closer together. sirius ran a hand through remus’ curls, wrapping one around his finger. he leant down against remus’ lips, his eyes closing in pleasure. a quiet moan escaped from the back of sirius’ throat as remus sat up straighter, pushing harder into the kiss.
“i love you” sirius said, pulling away briefly. “so much.”
“i love you too” remus told him. “please believe me.”
“okay” sirius mumbled, leaning back down. “okay.”