Remus ignored another piece of parchment, which had been neatly folded and enchanted to flutter down beside him. He knew that if he turned round he would see Sirius scowling at him, flicking his head in the direction of the note in an attempt to make Remus look. Oh no, he thought to himself as he once again read the same sentence over in his textbook; he wasn’t going to fall for that trick today.
Beside him Peter sat, anxiously looking down at the three squares of parchment that Sirius and James had sent and, after waiting for McGonagall to slink off to the front of the classroom, he whispered nervously, “Aren’t you going to open them?”
Remus didn’t look up from his page as he replied simply, “I already know what they say.”
Behind him Remus could hear Sirius and James whispering, their voices well-practiced enough in speaking in low tones to avoid McGonagall’s attention. Yet Remus, who was used to their way of speaking by now, barely had to strain his ears to hear James say, “He hasn’t even looked at them. I can see them now…they’re on the desk in front of him.”
“Bah,” Sirius said, his chair creaking, and Remus imagined him leaning back and folding his arms across his chest. “He’ll look at them eventually if we annoy him enough.”
Remus smiled at this and turned the page. Peter, who was becoming increasingly agitated beside him, craned his neck to read over Remus’ shoulder, as if his textbook might say something that his own did not. Predictably, another piece of parchment floated gently across the classroom before settling down next to Remus’ elbow. Remus tried to ignore it, but Peter began pulling on the arm of his robe as he pointed down at the desk. On the outside of this piece of parchment, Sirius had written in his characteristically spidery handwriting: just read the bloody note Moony.
Grinning to himself, Remus lifted the note as if he was going to open it; feeling Peter watching him intently; knowing that behind him that James’ and Sirius’ eyes were also upon him. Then, making sure that he had raised his hand high enough for Sirius to see, he crunched the notes, balling them together before throwing them across the room and into the bin. As they ricocheted downwards McGonagall started; her eyes were immediately drawn to the four boys at the back of the classroom, who were now all studying their textbooks serenely.
“Nice shot,” Sirius mumbled under his breath, loud enough for both Remus and Peter to hear. James laughed, however, his face remained completely immobile as he felt himself still being scrutinized by McGonagall.
“Better watch out Padfoot…he’ll be trying out for Chaser next.”
“Oh, come on Moony…it’s not like it hasn’t been done before…” Sirius said as they left the classroom, his voice close to a whine, as he carefully watched Remus’ face for any sign of him relenting. Peter scurried along next to them, finding it hard to keep up as Remus attempted to set the pace, unable to avoid James and Sirius as they walked backwards down the corridor in front of them.
“It was different then,” Remus stressed, avoiding Sirius’ eyes as he walked a little faster. “I wasn’t a Prefect.”
“Look,” James continued after throwing a glance at Sirius, “We’re not saying that you have to have any part in it whatsoever…we’re merely suggesting that you just stand by and let it happen…you know…and if anyone happens to come along, you can perhaps warn us.”
“I’ll do it,” Peter said hopefully. Sirius rolled his grey eyes before articulating slowly, “Yes - only last time we left you in charge of lookout, you got so frightened by the Bloody Baron that you transformed…we couldn’t find you for hours…”
James laughed, and even Remus couldn’t fight the smile. Peter stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked down at the floor before he said sulkily, “It wasn’t my fault! None of you were out there in the corridor with him were you?”
“Besides,” Sirius continued, his eyes trying to meet Remus’, who was very successfully avoiding them, “You’re almost above suspicion now aren’t you? Being a Prefect and all…I mean…I don’t think anyone would suspect anything if they saw you wandering around the corridors at night.” Remus shot Sirius an angry look; Sirius smiled sweetly, pleased with the victory he had won over Remus’ eyes. Something inside Remus flipped as Sirius’ lips curled into the self-assured smirk that seemed to send most girls hysterical. It annoyed Remus that he seemed to be able to manipulate people without trying; he knew he was charming; he knew he was attractive; he knew that he could convince anyone of anything. He was arrogant, but he knew it, and that somehow made it okay. James was the same; he knew he was arrogant and yet this seemed to excuse his behaviour, which was sometimes, even by Sirius’ standards, a little extreme.
Of course, James was not nearly as handsome as Sirius, not that Sirius himself seemed to care. Remus had never known someone to take so little care over their appearance; most days he would just roll out of bed and into his robes, and still manage to look infuriatingly beautiful. That face…that was so capable of the darkest of looks and lightest of smiles; those lips…that could both condemn and favour with the smallest of movements; those eyes…that seemed to constantly mock all that they turned to, and yet managed to appear like they were constantly close to tears. Oh yes, Sirius Black was easily considered the best looking boy at Hogwarts.
Remus, on the other hand, was certainly not what anyone would call ‘handsome’. His lycanthropy did leave him looking wild sometimes; his amber eyes were occasionally ferocious compared to the softness of his face. Often he was exhausted from his monthly transformations, his face dark with fatigue. Remus hardly ever lifted his head from a book; his complexion was usually pasty and washed out. He wasn’t particularly dark or mysterious; he was just fair and cold, frequently silent and distant, consumed in the books he read. He wasn’t on the Quidditch team and so did not attract the amount of female attention Sirius and James did with their athletic physiques and their incredible powers of persuasion.
Though, of course, there was only one girl James was interested in, and she had just appeared at the end of the corridor that he and Sirius were doing their best to block.
“Oh look James - there’s Evans,” Sirius said, digging him in the ribs with his elbow. Immediately, James’ hands were in his hair, ruffling it to make it stick up before he shouted to the pretty red-haired Gryffindor with the green eyes, “Alright Evans?”
Lily said nothing to James, her brow furrowing in disgust slightly before she turned to Remus and said, “I’ve been looking for you. I need to talk to you about something…” She paused, noticing the way that James in particular was watching her intently. She flashed Remus a quick smile before continuing, “Come and find me later when you’ve got rid of your present company…”
“Can I come later too?” James pressed, turning his body to block her path as well as Remus’ as he stared hopefully into her eyes.
“I don’t think so somehow,” Lily said, failing to be amused. James face crumbled as if he was hurt, and, after pouting stupidly for a moment, he said sulkily, “Oh come on, Evans…when are you going to go out with me? I know you like me…”
“For god’s sake Evans,” Sirius interjected impatiently, leaning against the wall, “Can you put him out of his misery already?”
Lily smiled sweetly but her voice was poisonous as she said to James, “Don’t make me hex you, Potter. Just get out of my way…” Remus smiled to himself as he watched James hesitate, obviously trying to work out whether or not Lily was serious. Experience, however, had taught him not to underestimate her and, after bowing low, he moved and allowed her to pass. For a moment, he watched her walk away, his eyes scanning her body before he sighed, “You know…I think I’m wearing her down.”
“Oh yes,” Sirius began, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he straightened up, “Make sure you let me know when you set the date…I’ve been looking for an excuse to buy a new hat.”
Peter looked at Sirius, confused. “Why would you need an excuse to buy a hat?”
Remus sighed and buried his face in his hands. Sirius laughed and James reacted by clipping Peter round the back of his head with the words, “Honestly Wormtail, sometimes I wonder if you were dropped on your head as a child.”
Without you, I'm nothing by Clare Mansfield
Chapter Notes: Hopefully this story will be recieved here how it has been elsewhere. I hope so anyway. Let me know what you think xxx