Mischief Managed Year One: Mayhem of the Moon

Chapter Forty-Eight- The Snitch

At first Sirius thought he might be being a bit paranoid, but it was Dorcas of all people who supported his idea the most, pointing out that if Remus snuck out while the majority of their house was here something bad could happen again. A mindset luckily shared by Remus' other friends as well. Of course, it proved no easy task. The always infuriating Lupin kept retreating to the bleachers to simply watch from afar, seemingly content. The problem was Remus was positioning himself in too perfect of a place to slip away if he decided to.

That's where he currently was again, wearing an expression of concern as his eyes looked far off, not seeming to realize there were two people staring at him.

"I'll go talk to him," Sirius sighed, then grinned, as Kingsley turned James around and gave him a shove in the opposite direction so the direct prefect could go back to talking to the Quidditch' seeker privately. James stumbled a little, grinning bashfully as three third-year girls giggled at him. Lily Evans, who was talking to Marlene, said something that made James blush and rush over to Peter who was failing at blowing up some balloons. Realizing everyone was having fun and hanging out with people besides Remus, Sirius reluctantly went over to his friend and sat down beside him.

"This was your doing," Remus replied curtly, sounding a bit cross to Sirius' surprise.

"The party? Yeah, but you know you think it's brilliant," Sirius laughed, his amusement faltering when Remus remained straight-faced.

"No, not the party. Having me tailed."

Sirius should have realized Remus would figure it out, but he forced a confused look on his face, feigning innocence until he no longer could. Remus didn't have any proof after all.

"Don't look at me like that, you know exactly what I'm talking about," Remus sighed, giving Sirius one of the weary-yet-begrudgingly-amused looks that he was so familiar with receiving.

"Isn't it possible that your friends just want to spend time with you?" Sirius suggested playfully, realizing he wasn't in actual trouble.

"Not when said friends look panicked every time I start heading towards the exit." Remus gave Sirius a rather wicked-looking grin that Sirius wished he gave more often. "I tested it out multiple times. I must say, Peter rushing after me and shouting not to take another step since my shoes were tied together really gave it away."

Sirius made a face, wishing he hadn't included Peter in the group to watch after Remus now. But at least his friend seemed amused.

"You could have just talked to me, you know," Remus suggested softly, and it was Sirius' turn to grin wickedly.

"I would, mate. But that sure doesn't seem to go over too well!"

Remus frowned, looking away from Sirius who realized with a pang of guilt, once more, he had gone too far.

"I was only joking," Sirius attempted to backtrack quickly but it was no use the hurt look remaining on Remus' face.

"But you weren't."

"But I was!"

"Then why didn't you just ask me not to leave?" Remus asked with a slight edge to his voice, scooching backward on the Quidditch bench slightly to put more distance between the two of them.

Now Sirius was starting to get a bit frustrated. It's not like he had done anything wrong in not trusting Remus not to leave. He shouldn't be made to feel bad because of it.

"Would you have?" Sirius asked sharply, his anger disappearing immediately as Remus flinched. Now the boy looked at him with honey-colored eyes filled with determination.

"Yes. For James, I would have. Especially if you explained it was because you were worried I'd get hurt again."

"You didn't figure all that out on your own, did you?" Sirius asked grumpily, sulking over how poorly his plan had gone.

"Peter explained it to me once I confronted him about his lousy excuse," Remus explained calmly, folding his arms over his chest and looking at Sirius with disappointment.

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted him!" Sirius shouted, more than a little upset Peter had snitched to Remus.

"It's not his fault. I'm glad he was honest with me." Remus scolded crossly. Sirius sighed heavily, realizing begrudgingly Remus was right. Sirius really should have just talked to him. But he still felt frustrated because it's not like he hadn't tried to in the past.

"It's not like you're honest with me." Sirius muttered instead of simply apologizing, because of his dumb pride instilled in him as a Black. No, instead of apologizing, he had to make it worse like he always seemed to, at least with Remus. His friend quickly looked away, clutching one of the novels Sirius had given to him tighter. A heavy silence stretched between them, getting worse and worse until Remus finally opened his mouth, most likely to apologize, when a shout came from down the field.

"Quick, someone catch it!" Sirius didn't see what "it" was but he had a pretty good idea based on the way everyone was running about and grabbing at something seemingly invisible.

"We should go help," Remus said quietly, walking away despite not knowing who exactly needed help or with what. Sirius watched him go and muttered curses under his breath, most aimed at himself.

The heir to the noble house of Black never considered himself the type to beat himself up, not counting getting in trouble with his family because that was his fault. But that was just another way Remus had changed him. He rather hated the taste of guilt that he kept getting doses of because of Remus, a small part of him kept wondering why he tried so hard.

But as he walked down towards the crowd of laughing Gryffindor's all trying to get the escaped snitch, a prize now being initiated, he knew exactly why. Because every time he tried not to care so much about Remus, he kept picturing his friend's wide amber eyes filled with delight, a sincere smile on his face that seemed to warm Sirius' heart in a way none of his other friends could. Only because it was much rarer than his other friends' smiles he assured himself quickly.