Chapter Text
Sometimes, Sirius Black could be a pain to work with.
Sixth period. Charms class. A rather unintresting revision on substantive charms combined with an extremely bored Sirius Black made for trouble for one Remus Lupin.
It was one the only class in which they were paired together. Sometimes Sirius sat with James, usually at the end of a term when teachers were too weary to care, others, Sirius was sat with some poor student that professors decided would be a good influence.
Remus Lupin was more grateful for his friends than he would ever be able to say. Time and time again, they were there for him, lifebuoys when Remus was drowning in a crashing, infinite black sea.
But that didn’t mean there was times when they infuriated him to no end.
‘Sirius, you’re doing the completely wrong wand movement.’
‘I know that, Remus.’
‘Should I even bother asking why?’
‘Not if you’re going to have that attitude.’
Remus rolled his eyes and turned back to his workbook. He felt compelled to remind Sirius that this work was supposed to be done with a partner but decided against it when he saw Sirius flicking through a different textbook altogether, caught up in some next prank or something.
When the four friends were hanging out together, Remus would sometimes find himself wishing that he and Sirius would hang out together alone, like James and Sirius did. Because at times, very rare times that passed so quickly he found himself wondering if they had ever happened, a part of Sirius that was very deeply hidden came to the surface.
Underneath the handsome young boy that came from a rich, pureblood family and was brash and loud and rude - who didn’t like teachers and played pranks and acted like nothing he ever did or said mattered - there was a young boy that was clever and kind in his own way.
Who loved and hated people so passionately he scared himself, who loved art and music, who was so terrified of his own family he had nightmares almost every night, who actually thought that everything mattered very, very much.
And this was the boy Remus Lupin was finding himself more and more captivated with.
And it just made him more frustrated that he was sitting right next to this boy, who was distracting himself by practicing charms years ahead of the rest of the year, knowing everything already being taught in this class while Remus studied day and night to catch up to his clever friends.
There’s always Pete, Remus reminded himself as he looked over to the small, sandy haired halfblood boy, seated next to James and wearing an expression of extreme confusion as he stared at his wand.
A muffled spark made Remus jump and twist in his seat, to face the boy with a slightly surprised expression on his face.
‘Sirius, just what the hell are you actually doing?’ He hissed.
‘Well - I’m not entirely sure. But it’s sure to be exciting.’ Sirius responded in a normal voice.
Remus glanced over at Professor Flitwick, who didn’t seem like he would notice if Sirius had stripped naked and done a dance on his desk.
He jumped again as Sirius grabbed his wrist and placed his own on top of it. ‘What are you doing?’ He asked again, keeping his voice low even though it didn’t seem to matter. ‘Should I be worried?’
Sirius’s eyes were lit up as he grabbed his wand with his other hand. ‘Just a bit, to keep things interesting.’ He said, and laughs at the expression on his friends face. ‘Don’t worry. I’m just trying something out, okay?’
There’s a pause and Remus realises Sirius is letting him say if he doesn’t want to. There’s a pang of gratefulness as he says, ‘Sure. As long as I don’t get turned into some horrible beast.’
Sirius’s mouth turns up at the sides. He taps his hand against the top of Remus’s wrist, which lies on top of Sirius’s own one, and mutters something Remus doesn’t quite catch.
After a few moments of nothing happening, Sirius leans forward and stares at their wrist. ‘Must have done something wrong, maybe the -’
His words cut off when a flash of light seems to come shooting up from their wrists. The last thing Remus sees is Sirius’s wide eyes and his free hand reaching for him before the blinding brightness turns to sudden, sobering darkness.
-
They wake up only a few moments later, curious classmates all turned around in their seats, staring. Professor Flitwick has run over as quickly as he can. Remus groans and sits up, trying to make sense of what’s happened.
‘Stay still, stay still!’ The short teacher snaps, and then pauses and turns to James and Peter, who’ve rushed over from their seats. Peters helping Remus sit up straight while James heads over to Sirius. ‘Peter, take Remus to Madame Pomfrey. James, help me with Sirius.’
‘Is he alright?’ Remus asks quickly, leaning forward, trying to see over James and Professor Flitwick. ‘Is he okay? Sirius?’
‘C’mon, Remus.’ Peter says quickly behind him. ‘We’ll meet him at the infirmary anyways.’
Remus pulls himself up, shakily. He’s recovering quickly and as he and Peter walk over to the door of the classroom, he wonders just what spell Sirius was trying to cast.
‘Mate, what were you trying to do?’ Peter says, his voice incredulous. ‘I just turned a page in my textbook and looked up and saw you two practically glowing. It was so bright it hurt my eyes! What spell was that?’
‘Dunno.’ Remus shrugs. There’s something different, something bothering him. His skin - something feels strange. Not itchy.. Just what did Sirius do to him?
Footsteps sound out behind them and there’s James and Professor Flitwick hurrying past, the latter directing a floating, still unconscious Sirius down the hall. They sped past and after sharing a look, Peter and Remus chase after them.
They arrive at the great blue doors of the infirmary. Madame Pomfrey rushes down at tuts at the sight. She gestures to a bed and while Professor Flitwick lowers the unconscious Sirius onto the bed, she gives a look to Peter and James that’s so often done, no words are required.
However, Remus, as a rare recipient of that look, ignores Peter and James as they shuffe out of the infirmary. He turns back to Madame Pomfrey.
‘He’ll be okay, right? He’s going to be okay?’ His voice is unusually high but he’s too worried for that to matter right now.
‘If it’s him who cast it, he’ll be a bit worse of than you. He’ll survive, but,’ She tuts. ‘For me to properly heal him, I need to know what spell he was trying to cast.’
‘I don’t know! He didn’t tell me what it was, only that he was trying something out - I think he might have made it himself.’
‘Made it himself… the clever, idiotic boy.’ Pomfrey crosses her arms. ‘And you, Remus? What are you feeling? Come, sit here.’ She ushers him towards the nearest chair, despite his weak protests.
‘I’m fine! I’m absolutely fine. There’s nothing wrong at all.’ Remus says, still trying to ignore the strange sensation of his skin. ‘ I swear.’
‘Do you?’
‘Yes!’
She narrows her eyes but doesn’t argue. Instead she passes him over some chocolate and gives him the usual instructions to rest well and drink lots of water. As Remus watches her walk back down to her office, sitting cross -legged in the chair next to Sirius, he wonders why she didn’t tell him to leave too.
He sits next to Sirius and waits for his friend to wake up, wondering what the long haired, reckless boy has done to him now.