Chapter 4
Sirius didn’t sleep very well, which was usual for him on the first few nights at Hogwarts. Sleeping at home was, well, horrible; he was always on edge, and nightmares generally plagued him. It took him a while to get his brain adjusted to the idea of being safe, but even then he couldn’t always rid himself of the nightmares. They didn’t happen often, though.
He woke up early, his eyes fluttering open to the sunlight streaming in through the parted curtains next to James’ bed. He stayed like that for an hour or so, watching the light float across the room. Eventually, the other boys got up and began to get ready for the day. Sirius took a shower first, insisting “his hair took longer to dry” (as if he couldn’t just charm it), before getting dressed in his robes and putting on his shoes. He tied his hair back with his wand, and headed down to the Great Hall with Peter and James. Remus was taking his time in the bathroom, and insisted that they go without him. Sirius tried not to be annoyed, but was failing miserably. Regardless, James was already on his ass about Lupin, so he pushed the feelings down and acted as if he didn’t care
“Thanks Minnie,” Sirius said with a wink and a grin as Professor Mcgonagall passed out the times tables to the students.
“It’s the first day, Black. Don’t make me give you detention already.” Mcgonagall said briskly as she passed, unamused. Sirius didn’t scare easily, though, especially since he knew it was an act. Mcgonagall cared for him, James and Peter dearly even if she pretended she didn’t.
“We’ve got double Potions and History of Magic this morning? Blimey, you’d think they’d let us take a breath for the first day,” James complained.
“I’ll take the free nap during History of Magic. I couldn’t sleep at all because of someone's snoring last night,” Sirius said, giving a meaningful look at Peter, who smiled sheepishly. This wasn’t actually the reason he couldn’t sleep, of course, but Peter was loud enough to wake the whole of Gryffindor commons. Someone ought to humble him, so Sirius had stepped up. He was just doing his part as a good citizen, really.
Remus walked over to the table, hands tying his tie and his curls still bed-messy.
‘Hey,” he nodded, his hands immediately picking up food from the table and placing it on his plate. He piled his plate high: a scone, two pieces of toast, some eggs, sausage, two rashes of bacon and a cup of tea. The three boys stared as he wolfed it down, seemingly not coming up for air. James broke the silence first.
“Hungry, Lupin? You eat like a starved man. Remind us to always grab our food first so you don’t eat it all,” James chuckled. Remus looked up and paused mid bite, his fork hovering in the air as he looked between the three of them. He lowered his hand, sitting up slowly as he responded.
“I’m 6’2 and I’m pretty sure I somehow have a negative body fat level. If I don’t want to be a skeleton dipped in skin, I need to eat like a caveman.” Remus resumed eating, and James and Peter laughed in response.
“Aye, aye, Captain,” Peter said, finishing off his chocolate croissant as he passed over Remus’ times table.
“Here’s your schedule. It’s the same as ours, so just follow us around to each class so you don’t get lost. This place is huge.” Remus nodded in reply, mouth full, reading the paper over.
“Except for Arithmancy, you’ll just go with Siri. You guys are so weird for choosing to take that; Pete and I are taking Divination and it’s gonna be a breeze,” James added on, and Sirius stopped midchew.
“Siri?” Remus asked. Sirius elbowed James in the ribs for letting his nickname slip.
“James misspoke, it’s just Sirius. Call me Sirius,” Sirius said quickly, getting up from the table and brushing off the nonexistent crumbs from his robe. “We’re about to be late. Put a pep in your step, would you?” Sirius asked, picking up his belongings .
“When have you ever cared about being late?” Peter muttered to himself, hastily picking up his things, dropping most of them. Remus followed suit, though he was far more graceful. Together, the four of them walked to the dungeons.
***
The class had been tasked with making the potion for the antidote to common poisons, an “easy potion for the first day”, as Professor Slughorn had put it. Unfortunately, James and Sirius had messed theirs up a total of five times in the first eight minutes, and were slowly losing hope for their potion.
“This is boring. How ‘bout we see if we can flick this beetle eye into Sniviluses hair?” Sirius asked, leaning back in his chair. Snape had partnered up with Lily, who hadn’t looked too excited. They used to be friends, but slowly Lily seemed to be trying to drift from him. Because James was a total idiot when it came to Lily, he agreed.
They took turns lining up the shot, arguing over the best angle and who should be the one to flick it. Eventually, James won out by playing his “I’m the better quidditch player” card, and took the shot. Unfortunately, Snape ducked below the desk at the last second and it landed in their potion. Lily turned swiftly in her chair, catching James in the compromising position; hand still positioned in a flick. Her face turned red as she mouthed “watch your back” and walked over to the ingredients table.
Five minutes later, Sirius and James’ potion exploded.
Lily turned and batted innocent eyes, pouting as she mimed wiping her tears away.
“Potter! Black!” Slughorn shouted. “Clean this up. You’re lucky I don’t give you detention.” Sirius tried to defend them, saying that Lily had somehow sabotaged their potion, but Slughorn cut him off.
“I should know better than to let you two sit together. Sirius and Peter, switch.” Sirius turned to look at Peter, who had been stirring his potion at Remus’ direction, and watched them both freeze.
You’ve got to be joking, Sirius thought, rolling his eyes as he turned to collect his things. James mouthed a quick “bummer” as he finished charming the mess away and ran his hands through his hair. Sirius walked to the newly empty desk beside Remus and dumped his stuff down.
He gave Remus a quick nod, and sat down in the seat, tipping back in his chair. Remus continued to make the potion, murmuring things to himself every so often. Sirius watched quietly as Remus drummed his fingers along the desk, fidgeting while reading the list of ingredients. His eyes were drawn to Remus’ hands; he had long, bony fingers with very prominent veins. Sirius watched as he stirred the potion, mesmerized.
“Are you going to help?” Remus asked, looking at him with an undecipherable expression on his face. Sirius jumped a bit, embarrassed to have been caught watching him.
“You look like you’ve got it handled,” Sirius replied, feigning boredom. In reality, however, his heart was thrumming under Remus’ gaze. Remus sighed and turned around, and Sirius willed his heart to slow down.
***
At dinner, James talked excitedly through a mouthful of food about quidditch tryouts, which were now only two days away. He had finally convinced Sirius to try out as a beater, which he had refused in past years. He said it was because he was uninterested, but really he was scared that he wouldn’t make the team. But James really wanted the three of them to be on the team, and sometimes you just couldn’t say no to James Potter.
The doors opened and they turned their heads to see Lily and Remus walking in, talking quietly. They were both smiling, and Lily laughed at something Remus said, lifting her head slightly and closing her eyes as her flaming red hair swished around her shoulders. Sirius felt weirdly sick all of a sudden, and put down his fork. The honest-to-god last thing he wanted to do was watch them sit and eat, but he couldn’t stop. The more he stared, the worse he felt.
“This is, quite possibly, the worst thing that could have happened,” James said, eyes still on Lily and Remus. He was staring daggers at them, clearly jealous out of his mind. Peter noticed the sudden discomfort and jumped to try and ease the situation.
“Who's up for a game of Exploding Snap?” He said quickly. “I can swing by the kitchens and pick up some cauldron cakes? It’ll be a fun end for the first full day of school,” Peter almost pleaded, hopping up and standing in the way of James’ view of them. Sirius watched as Lily touched Remus’ arm, and he immediately wanted to be anywhere but here.
“Good idea Pete, let’s head back to the dorm,” Sirius said with a fake cheeriness, pulling James to his feet and towards the door. James cast his eyes down, walking with them reluctantly as they left the Great Hall. Before the door closed, Sirius turned to see Remus staring at him, and he quickly turned away, feeling breathless.
“Do you guys think she likes him?” James asked miserably, arms hanging limp at his sides as he walked.
“They just met James, I’m sure she doesn’t even really know him yet,” Peter tried. Sirius felt as miserable as James looked, and a sudden, terrible idea flashed in his head. Did he like Lily?
Sirius thought for a moment, imagining himself snogging her, and quickly began to feel sicker than before. Ok, phew, I definitely don’t like her. This is probably some weird, protective jealousy for James. Yeah, that sounds right. Sirius resolved, letting out a breath.
“Yeah, Jamie, I’m sure it’s nothing. Let’s just forget about it, alright?” Sirius said, feeling relieved. James nodded his head solemnly and they continued up to the common room in silence.