TW: Mentions of Abuse
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The buzz at dinner was quite intense as word spread that four first-year Gryffindors had turned the dungeons into a swamp. The disaster not only blocked the Slytherins from their common room and dorms, but also prevented Potions Class which was a subject truly liked by few while Professor Slughorn taught it.
Sirius and James were soaking in the attention. Even Peter seemed quite pleased with himself. But Remus' intense feeling of elation upon pulling the prank had soured just as intently as it had plummeted on being caught. He knew Sirius and James feigned remorse as first Professor Blavatnik scolded them, then Professor Slughorn, then Professor McGonagall.
Their head of house docked points and was going to be in charge of their detention. However, seeing as Professor Blavatnik caught them, he wanted that "privilege." Remus was already feeling terrible when Lily approached him at dinner. She was scandalized and so disappointed that Lily, of all people, was at a loss for words.
"I say it's an improvement for her," Sirius pointed out cheerfully, accepting another discrete high five from either a Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. The Slytherins were livid with them and Gryffindors were irritated to mildly miffed due to all the house points they had lost.
"Don't say that," Remus pleaded, doing his best not to sound close to tears. If even Peter, who was usually as anxious about detention as Remus, was relaxed, then Remus truly had no reason to be.
"Lay off him, Sirius. Can't you see he's bent up his wittle girlfriend is upset at him?" James teased. Remus' face went scarlet.
It wasn't like that at all!
Sure his roommates had hinted at such a thing but they had never outright teased him about it before.
"That's not true!"
James laughed and Remus realized they were all in on it. Once again his friends were just being jerks as they tended to be. Remus spent the rest of dinner picking at his food and truly questioning his sanity due to his choice of "friends."
.................................................
That night, detention with Professor Blavatnik was not nearly as "exciting" as Sirius and James had hoped. Remus found out they had gotten detention from every other professor before. However, their D.A.D.A professor had usually just let McGonagall give them detention when they irked him too much.
So they spent the walk to the classroom coming up with dangerous but "cool" things the professor would have them do as punishment.
"You reckon he'd make us fight a banshee? ...Or...or a werewolf!" declared James excitedly trying to one-up Sirius' guess of dueling the professor. Peter let out a strangled noise of fear, his happiness at the attention gone with their first detention looming over them.
Remus' legs, who had been doing their best despite all the stress, gave out at last. He hit the floor hard and bit back his cry, not because he was scared but ashamed. Once more he was cruelly reminded just what Sirius, James, and Peter thought of werewolves, and therefore, would think of him if they ever found out.
"You four are testing my patience. It's not wise to arrive late to detention," Professor Blavatnik called them menacingly from further down the hall. Sirius ignored him and went to Remus' side.
"You alright?" he asked, neither making fun of Remus nor irritated with him. He offered Remus his hand but Remus didn't take it, ignoring Sirius' questioning look. Professor Blavatnik watched them with narrow eyes.
"Hurry. Up."
They all did and Remus who felt dizzy was last. He attempted to walk inside the classroom but Professor Blavatnik stopped him by holding out a slender black cane so that it lightly prodded his chest. Remus glanced at the stern man whose wrinkles crinkled around his eyes which narrowed, full of disapproval that was very good at making students feel small. Remus' eyes, as they always did when so close to the intimidating man, found their way to the large scars on his arms, scars similar to those Remus had across his body.
"I'd advise you to hang out with different classmates before you get yourself in real trouble."
Remus knew that the professor meant more detentions because of his friend's antics. But with that comment about werewolves still ringing in his ear, it sounded like his professor knew what he was. Like an unspoken warning, Blatvatnik was reminding Remus just how much trouble he'd be in if his friends found out.
It was a ludicrous thought because, if Professor Blatvatnik knew he would surely kill Remus right here right now without any hesitation. But somehow, that did nothing to improve his mood.
When he entered the classroom Remus found four desks spaced out as far away from each other as possible. Peter looked ready to wet himself as their professor walked in close behind Remus.
"Each of you sit at a desk!"
Peter dashed madly for one and Remus took the one closest to the door. It meant the least amount of walking for his poor shaky legs.
Sirius and James took their time, always ones to push it further than should be possible. They acted like each desk held some sort of significance like one would make plants sprout from their ears and the other would make horns grow atop their heads. Professor Blavatnik had more patience than Remus had given him credit for. The professor merely glared at the two boys, until at last, they sat in their respective seats.
"In front of you...yes, Mr. Potter?"
"Professor, are we going to fight a monster?" James asked, sounding much too eager. Remus swallowed hard as their professor's thin mouth curled into a rather unpleasant smile.
"While I would like very much to show you arrogant first years just how naive and weak you are, such practices are not allowed at Hogwarts. I, therefore, will be boring you instead," he explained dryly and seemed pleased when both James and Sirius' excited expressions shifted into deep disappointment. Their professor swept his gaze across all the boys as he waved his wand horizontally in a crescent shape, the papers on the desk rustling slightly as a spell took hold of them.
"Now, as I was saying you: will find a line on the top of the paper. Each paper is tailored to your crimes. You will copy this line as many times as the document requires. You will all finish at different times. After a week of your detention if you are too dumb to figure it out I will tell you, but not until then. Now, as I have better things to do with my time than babysit first years, I will be leaving you unattended."
James and Sirius brightened at this. Professor Blavatnik gave an unpleasant smile once more.
"You will find that I have enchanted your quills. Once you pick them up, you will neither be able to talk nor stop writing until you are finished. You may begin."
He waited until they all picked up their quills. True to his word, once the quill hit the paper Remus found his hand moving on his own.
He also felt a tingling sensation down his back and recognized the feeling. He had been silencio-ed somehow and could not speak. It was quite impressive, but Remus had never doubted that their D.A.D.A. professor was powerful.
Professor Blavatnik left the room and Remus relaxed slightly, finally finding himself able to focus on the words. When he realized what they said a stab went through his heart. In bright black ink at the top of the page were the words I will learn to say no to my friends. He wrote the line twice then blinked surprised. His hand had stopped moving and he realized if he wanted to he could talk. He was baffled, thinking perhaps the spell had not worked on him.
He glanced furtively around. James and Sirius both seemed to be fighting their quill, gripping their magically moving hand with their other one and losing the battle. Peter, on the other hand, seemed relieved and resigned to the boring detention. His hand moved on its own and he had his eyes closed. Remus realized from the patterns that Peter would have to open his eyes to write the actual words seeing, as the magic merely moved the quill which would scribble nonsense without direction nor progress.
But none of the other three seemed to have stopped, Professor Blavatnik had said they would all be done at different times, but surely this was a mistake! His confusion turned to fear. Was it somehow not working right because he was a werewolf? Would the professor know if he left early? Was it some kind of test for him and him alone?
It seemed unlikely, but Remus had come to expect just about everything and anything from Hogwarts. So he kept writing and writing and writing. It became increasingly harder to do so with each stroke. After a few more lines he had to use all his strength just to move the quill and by the time he reached the second page, he found the quill wouldn't move any longer no matter how hard he tried to make it budge due to whatever spell their professor had placed upon the parchment.
Finally realizing fighting was useless Remus pulled out the quill he always kept in his pocket. They had been instructed to bring nothing, but Remus never left anywhere without the quill and his wand, both precious proof of his independence and wizarding status.
He dipped the quill in the inkwell their defense professor had provided for each of them and began to write. But nothing appeared on the paper!
He tried several times before giving up altogether and leaving his desk with a heavy heart. He could feel James and Sirius' envious eyes on him as he left. He was sure Peter would feel the same but he had fallen asleep. Realizing he couldn't leave yet, Remus walked over to Peter's desk.
"Peter...Peter?"
The boy jolted awake and opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He looked shocked then seemed to remember where he was and frowned, looking at Remus quizzically.
"I finished. But Peter, look at your paper."
The boy did and his face fell even more. Remus explained how the quill worked and once he was sure Peter understood, left.
It was dark outside. Professor Blavatnik had assigned the time for them to arrive in order to make sure they would be up late for detention. So Remus was alone as he journeyed back to the common room, his gut leaden with guilt. He turned the corner and halted, stunned to see Professor Blavatnik and an older student glaring at each other.
"I'm in my seventh year and will graduate soon. You can't stop me!"
Remus ducked himself back around the corner before he could be noticed. He knew he shouldn't eavesdrop, but his feet couldn't seem to move and he was concerned the professor might hurt the student. Blavatnik seemed very upset.
"That's what you think," Blavatnik threatened smoothly.
"What are you going to do about it?" asked the seventh-year Ravenclaw angrily.
Remus knew Ravenclaws were supposedly the smartest house. But this one seemed to be as dumb as a Gryffindor first year. The student was egging on the professor in a similar fashion to how James and Sirius did. There was a slap and Remus jumped horrified.
A professor couldn't assault a student like that!
"Don't you see what a fool you are," came Professor Blavatnik's surprisingly soft reply. It's like all the anger left him with the slap.
At least that meant he wouldn't do it again, right? If his defense professor made a habit of slapping students, Remus' worry had just increased drastically for his friends.
"Sod off!" came the student's harsh reply.
"Did you forget I have the power to make it so you don't graduate?"
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Watch me."
"That won't stop me!...I'll tell Professor Dumbledore how it was you! Everyone knows he doesn't trust you! He'll listen to me. Only killing me will silence me"
"Get out of my sight. GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Professor Blavatnik bellowed and Remus flattened himself to the wall as the seventh year Ravenclaw came flying past. He didn't notice him and Remus hadn't gotten a good enough glimpse of the student to be able to tell much more than his house, year, and that his hair was brown.
Then Remus took off running behind him as he heard his professor approaching slowly from the opposite way. He didn't know if Professor Blavatnik had seen him or not, nor he didn't stop to find out.
Remus just kept running and running until he reached the Portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Password?" she asked in her shrill voice. Remus stood there, his heart and mind racing.
What had that been about?
He straightened, catching his breath, at last. Remus was about to enter when something stopped him. How could he go back to his dorm at a time like this? Did he really trust Professor Blavatnik not to hurt his friends? He imagined the intimidating professor slapping James or Sirius, or doing worse. He imagined him pinning a crying Peter to the wall, of his friends returning to the dorm with bruises and hooded expressions unable to meet his eyes.
Before he knew it he was running back the way he came, ignoring the Fat Lady's shouts behind him. He reached the D.A.D.A room quicker than he had fled from it. If his legs were shaky before, they were near full-on revolt now. He forced himself to breathe his chest tight and listened terrified he'd hear thumps and whacks but instead there was silence. He slid down the wall and hugged his knees to his chest, trembling.
It hadn't occurred to him until now that even if Professor Blavatnik had decided to beat his friends there wasn't much he could do about it. But he still felt better being so close. He sat there for hours, convinced the professor wasn't in the room, sure he would have said something by now if he was.
"Are you three done now? No? Well, you can pick up where you left off tomorrow," came Professor Blavatnik's smug tone. He must have released the spell because Sirius' annoyed voice suddenly filled the room.
"Come back tomorrow night? How long are you going to do this? Can you even keep us this late? It's midnight!"
"Mr. Black, you need to work on your listening skills. I said you'd come back tomorrow night. I will do this as long as it takes and will keep it up long past a week if necessary, though I'm hoping it's not. As a professor, I can keep you in detention as long as I wish, but I don't want to get in the way of your studies more than you already do yourselves. So get out or I may keep you later." His last sentence was a definite threat. Remus stiffened remembering the loud slap that had echoed down the hallway.
Three pairs of feet walked into the hall and walked right past him without noticing. Remus didn't want Professor Blavatnik knowing he had been waiting outside the whole time any more than he wanted his roommates knowing. So he silently followed them, ducking behind statues when they turned around. He hung back and waited until they entered the common room, counting down before following suit, apologizing to the Fat Lady for his rude behavior.
By the time Sirius came back down looking for him, Remus was curled up on the couch with a book he kept hidden underneath, looking like he had been there for hours.
"Oi, you blockhead! It's way past bedtime."
Remus looked up and feigned surprise.
"What time is it?"
"Almost twelve-thirty in the morning now. Come on. Honestly, one of these days you are going to read through a whole day and not realize you've done it."
"Who said I haven't already," he teased, hoping to distract Sirius from the fact he was shaking. It seemed to work because Sirius scoffed and whacked him playfully on the back of his head. He nearly toppled over and caught himself on the railing, making it out to be a dramatic gesture like Sirius and James always pulled. To keep his friend distracted he quickly asked if Sirius was the last one in detention.
"No, we all got done at the same time not too long ago." Then he looked at Remus oddly."How'd you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Get out so early of course! Sometimes I think it ought to be the other way around and you should be teaching us three your ways."
"Oh, that's easy," he responded immediately, forcing a grin on his face. Sirius gave him a hopeful look.
"It's called being a swat."
Sirius looked irritated, then amused.
"Yeah, yeah. Race you to bed, you swat."
Sirius won that race by a landslide, leaping up the stairs two at a time while Remus was forced to slowly trail behind, his thoughts weighing him down considerably.
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The next morning Remus realized what the brave Ravenclaw had been talking about. It was all everyone was talking about. A fifth-year Muggleborn Hufflepuff had been poisoned and sent to St. Mungos to recover. But worse than that, as accidental poisonings happened from time to time at the castle, was the fact that the word 'mudblood' had been scrawled across the victim's forehead in blood that wouldn't come off. She had to be transported to St. Mungos on a stretcher due to being unresponsive and all classes were filled with whispered discussion on whether she'd die or not and speculation on who did it.
Remus felt ill all day even though the full moon was over a week away. He spent the day alone, unable to take Sirius' utter certainty it had been a Slytherin, or Lily walking away from him when he tried to approach her at the library. That night detention was postponed which his three roommates were delighted about. None of them questioned it, because why would they?
Most of the student population suspected a Slytherin. More specifically, a pureblood from a pureblood family with strong purist beliefs which was less than half the house. No one suspected a professor.
Why would they?
Several times Remus tried to tell his friends what he saw, but the words seemed unable to form.
"What's up with you, Remus? You've been gaping as a guppy does," Sirius laughed, tossing a pillow at him. Remus' head was whirling too fast about everything besides pillows, and it hit him in the face.
"I...Sirius what if...the Hufflepuff girl...what if..."
"Well go on, spit it out," an intrigued James called from across the room.
"What if it was a professor, not a student?"
There was a long silence.
"You're joking right?" James asked uneasily. Sirius was staring at Remus intently, looking at him with suspicion again, so that he immediately regretted saying anything.
"Never mind," he murmured and quickly retreated to bed.
He didn't sleep at all that night.
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They found out the next morning the Hufflepuff had survived but her Muggle parents wouldn't let her come back to school until the culprit was caught. However, the air was still tense as more and more Muggle disappearances outside of Hogwarts were being reported in The Daily Prophet. They no longer seemed to be random. One article hinted there may be some mastermind behind it all.
Sirius told Remus he'd buy him his own subscription after Remus spent the whole breakfast scanning Sirius' lent copy closely.
"But I'm warning you, having a subscription is at the next level of being a swat."
"A mega swat," James added with a cheeky grin. Other than a few comments Sirius made about how his family better not be involved by this, none of his three friends seemed particularly bothered by the Muggle disappearances.
In fact, Remus got the impression that his friends didn't care precisely because the mysterious deaths were "just Muggles," though they didn't say this out loud. Remus didn't feel like joking much. Still, he knew he had to in order to keep an already suspicious Sirius from finding out what he meant from his comment last night.
He had to avoid Sirius confronting Professor Blavatnik and getting himself hurt with his impulsivity. Remus figured it couldn't be that hard to keep one more secret, though it weighed on his shoulders heavily.
"Says the one with a subscription. Guess we should be calling you a mega swat," he retorted in his witty humor. Sure enough, it had James and Peter cracking up.
Maybe it was because Sirius could sense there was some underlying frustration from Remus towards him, or maybe because his family had bought him the subscription and this bothered him more than he let on, but Sirius did not laugh. He in fact looked hurt, then angry. It was a completely baffling response from someone who loved a good jibe almost as much as a good prank.
"Sod off, Remus," he snapped. Remus' first instinct was to apologize but with the stress of the past few days, he stopped himself, shot Sirius a frustrated look, and left.
"Mate, what the bloody hell was that about?" he heard James ask as he walked out of the Great Hall. Remus told himself it didn't matter, that he'd rather be alone, and he wasn't even going to be able to eat anyways. But his mood darkened more because of it, and for the first time in a long time, Remus sitting in the front row of the class felt less like a choice and more like he really had none.
He could feel three pairs of eyes on the back of his head throughout Charms and Double Transfiguration. Luckily Remus was an expert by now at dodging his roommates when he wanted to. This was why, with little difficulty, he was able to succeed at avoiding the three boys both times. In their third class of the day, Professor McGonagall had advised caution, the first adult to see fit to warn them of the danger rather than just say it would be fine.
Remus' respect for her grew even more after that. All the Muggle-born students were on edge and Remus wished he could talk to Lily, but he knew he had no right. Instead, he cast a few worried glances her way, but stayed away from her as she wanted.
Then came their fourth class of Wednesday, the class where he would have to face the problem. He waited until the last possible minute, long after James, Peter, and Sirius had raced past no doubt trying to catch up to him before he entered the DADA class.
Professor Blavatnik was the second adult to address the danger but it felt like a false concern to Remus. He noticed the professor seemed rather spacey throughout their class, hardly watching them as they practiced the disarming spell on one another.
"Oh Mr. Lupin, see me after class please," he added, seemingly as an afterthought after handing back their quiz they took on Monday.
Remus had gotten full marks on the written and the practical part. However, he hardly noticed after hearing Professor Blavatnik's request. He supposed he was a Gryffindor after all, because after class he didn't run away. It took every ounce of courage he had to walk up to the professor's desk.
"I wanted to ...yes, Mr. Acton?" Professor Blavatnik addressed an older Slytherin student who had rushed through the door in a hurry, the first to make it to the next D.A.D.A class.
"I'd like a word with you professor." The older student cast a glance at Remus, "It's about that," the student added, emphasizing the last word. Remus was pretty sure he knew what that was, though he wished he didn't.
"Very well. Remus, come see me tonight. Tell your friends detention is postponed again. I wouldn't want to take them from their Astronomy class and it would no doubt take them to midnight again. But I'd like a word with you before Astronomy at some time, alright?"
He nodded, unable to meet his professor's eyes or talk. He left quickly before his professor could change his mind. It occurred to him once he was nearing the Great Hall for dinner that he should have stayed and perhaps gained more information about whatever was happening both inside Hogwarts and out. He turned back to do that, his courage demanding it of him but was stopped by Dorcas.
"Hi, Remus. You alright?"
He nodded and she gave him a doubtful look.
"Guess not, huh. Many aren't ok today, what with what happened. But anyway my birthday is the 13th and I'm throwing a party. Figured it's the pick-me-up we all need. Lily is still peeved at you but I thought the prank was brilliant, and seeing it's my birthday and not hers I'm formally inviting you. I mean, it has to be in the Gryffindor common room so you could show up even if you weren't invited. But I knew you wouldn't unless you were invited, so I'm inviting you, alright?"
He nodded, only vaguely following what she was saying.
"Great! So I'll see you tonight? I figure we can party until Astronomy and then afterward if anyone's feeling it. I reckon with what's happened the prefects will let us be if you know what I mean?"
He nodded again, not knowing at all what she meant.
She sighed, her smile fading into a look of disappointment. She told him he didn't need to bring a present or anything but she hoped to see him there. It wasn't until she left that he realized that not only today was a Wednesday, meaning the stressful subject of Astronomy was today, but that today was the 13th and therefore Dorcas' birthday.
He stood there stunned feeling like a complete and utter moron. He didn't like big parties, but he would be sure to go and wish her a proper happy birthday. He felt so guilty for not doing so that he decided to skip dinner and knit her a quill holder like he had Severus.
It's not like he felt particularly hungry anyways.
It turned out knitting calmed him down, and he was finally able to push some stuff to the back of his mind. He and Dorcas were friendly enough and he didn't want to disappoint her a second time by weighing the party down with his many problems. It was also really a relief that she was throwing a party tonight because his roommates were too preoccupied with the party starting in a mere few hours. Plus Patricia would be there who had been impressed with their prank, so they wouldn't bother Remus.
He nearly didn't finish the present by the time he heard the party start in the common room below. When none of his roommates returned for him he understood it must be quite the party, and therefore another thing to dread about tonight.
He put it off for as long as he could then walked downstairs, present clutched in his hand. It was easy to find Dorcas who was the center of attention. She seemed to have made it her mission to cheer up all the Muggle-borns, at least the Gryffindor ones. He found her getting an awkward second-year Muggle-born to dance.
"Um, Dorcas?"
"Oh Remus, so glad you came!" she said sincerely. She was dressed in a flowing beige dress that her parents had sent her for her birthday and was also wearing black leather boots her aunt had sent her, which had earned Sirius' passionate and loud declaration of jealousy a few minutes prior.
Everyone seemed to be having a good time which was nice. He realized he nearly failed at wishing Dorcas a happy birthday a second time and grabbed her arm lightly before she could leave. However, she seemed to take this as an invitation, because the next second Remus was spinning around and being pulled closer to the music which blared loudly in his ears.
Surprised and disoriented he dropped the gift and tried to tell Dorcas happy birthday and to please let him go, neither of which she heard.
Finally, the song was over and he detached himself from the smiling radiant girl and dropped on his hands and knees onto the "designated dance floor."
He got stepped on and kicked and was shouted at by older students multiple times, but finally, he found the present and scooped it up, popping to his feet once more.
When he stood up he found himself uncomfortably close to Lily. She was smiling brightly and dancing with Marlene, and quickly stopped, her smile falling when she saw him.
"I don't want to talk to you, Remus. Go away."
"I..." He was going to say he was looking for Dorcas and probably would have added he was a moron who couldn't wish his acquaintance happy birthday and kept upsetting his friends. But she didn't give him a chance to say any of this, her flush of enjoyment turning into one of anger as she crossed her arms firmly around her chess.
"I can't believe you. I expect such things from James and Sirius, but you? Remus, how could you?"
He opened his mouth to explain or at the very least to apologize, but Dorcas had shouted loudly "Wizard Wango" which apparently meant something to a lot of people, for the already crowded dance floor suddenly got even more so.
Unfortunately, this meant that Remus lost sight of Lily in the surge of bodies pressing against him.
This was going all wrong!
He never should have tried! He was very uncomfortable as he fought his way to the outskirts. He nearly made it when the music started and he was about to be pulled back into the scary crowd, when a hand firmly gripped him and pulled him out of the danger zone.
"Thank you," he responded breathlessly.
"No need to thank me, that's what Gryffindor's do," James responded with a broad smile. His dramatic pride at being a Gryffindor had become even more exaggerated as he had adapted it to be the joke it had become. But Remus knew James was a bit hurt by this becoming a joke, because being a Gryffindor truly meant the world to him in the same way his family did.
"You are indeed a true Gryffindor." Remus meant it more as a light joke, to play along with James' self-taunting tone. But he was stressed and tired and it came out sounding very sincere. James looked surprised then flushed proudly.
"Thanks, Remus," he said, stunned.
"You trapped him!" Sirius hooted in delight rushing over with Peter close on his heels.
"Where have you been, mate?"
Even with how terrible things had been going Remus found himself smiling dryly, almost an automatic response by now.
"I was on my bed upstairs. You were too busy swooning over Patricia to notice."
This time he managed to sound as mocking as he had meant to sound with James, not that he regretted his statement sounding sincere. Remus truly felt all his friends were true Gryffindors, even despite how annoying they all were.
He smiled at them, glad Sirius didn't seem upset at him anymore. His bad mood seemed over and they all laughed at his comment accepting revenge like good sports.
"At least my girlfriend likes me," James teased back and Remus sighed heavily. Had he just accidentally encouraged them to tease him about Lily more? He hoped not. He had a feeling it might break his now shaky friendship with her and he really didn't want that. Luckily, before he could respond Sirius slapped James hard across the back and cut in.
"In your dreams Potter, she's soooooo out of your lead."
"I thought we were still at the age where girls had cooties," Peter pipped in sounding alarmed, like he had missed some sort of orientation. Sirius stuck out his tongue.
"Maybe for you babies, but I'm twelve now."
Remus laughed, knowing for a fact that Sirius was quite adamant about girls having "cooties."
"Hah! Ten minutes ago you swore you'd never dance with a girl after Marlene asked you to dance," James roared with laughter at his own wit. Sirius turned red then grinned.
"Yes, but in a few years Potter, I won't be able to keep the girls away while you won't be able to get any," he taunted, throwing back his invisible locks. Apparently, he saw himself with much longer hair in the future?
"Will not!" James shouted in mock outrage, unable not to grin at the idea of Sirius having hair down to his waist no doubt, for that was quite the amusing image.
"Will too!"
Seeing where this was going and still needing to give Dorcas her present, Remus walked away. Shaking his head at his roommates' antics he couldn't help the smile stretching across his face. He was simply too happy at the moment to be anything other than amused by the three boys. He was surprised though when Peter followed him clutching his sleeve tightly.
"Remus, we aren't going to have to start liking girls, are we?" Peter asked fearfully, his eyes bugging at the terrifying idea. Remus bit back a laugh knowing Peter's fear was genuine. He wasn't about to accidentally upset anyone else anytime soon.
"I told you, Peter, you don't have to like everything James does," he shouted as someone used the amplifying charm on the already charmed instruments. They were going to get in trouble real soon, for the sound was now earsplitting.
Luckily someone near the instruments had enough sense to nullify the charm and soon the sound was loud but doable, and by that he meant still far too loud for his liking.
He knew Peter hadn't heard him as his shout had been nothing over the instruments so he repeated himself.
Peter gave him a blank look, he opened his mouth to repeat it a third time before realizing his roommate heard him just didn't get it. He sighed and gave Peter a kind smile.
"Don't worry. I guarantee if Patricia attempted to kiss James' cheek he'd run away screaming."
Peter laughed and seemed cheered up by the prospect.
"Reckon we can get her to do it?" he asked with a wicked grin James would be proud of. Remus smiled back finding the prospect amusing.
"Definitely," he replied because he knew it would completely rid Peter of his momentary fears. He couldn't imagine doing something so cruel to James who would be mortified for sure, but he couldn't deny the small mischievous part of him his roommates had fostered acknowledging it would be quite fun.
He walked away from Peter and tried to find Dorcas to no avail. Disappointed in himself, he set the present on the first step leading to the girls' dormitory. He scrawled a note saying 'Happy Birthday. Sorry I couldn't deliver it in person. I tried'.
He frowned and scratched out the last part so it just read 'Happy Birthday.' Satisfied this was the best he would get he walked away heading for the exit. Once outside in the blissfully quiet hall he found he could think clearly again. It was there he realized he still had to go meet Professor Blavatnik.
His fear returned with all the worries of the past few days. He thought about bringing it back up, just in case, but didn't want to bother his friends. So with a heavy heart, he walked away from the careless fun inside the common room and to the professor who may or may not know Remus knew more than he should.
"Perhaps I'll be the one at St. Mungo's next," he thought dryly, before reminding himself that was ridiculous.
Professor Blavatnik probably didn't even know he'd overheard and that certainly a professor wouldn't blatantly attack a student at Hogwarts, not when he wasn't even Muggle-born which seemed to be the targets.
But he knew this was of little use for he was something much worse than Muggle-born. He passed a large portrait of a knight getting geared for battle. He wondered vaguely if the knight was on his way to fight a werewolf and if Professor Blavatnik did indeed know about him somehow and would soon be doing the same thing as that knight.
Only one way to find out, I suppose, he found himself thinking in a voice that didn't quite sound like his. It took him a moment to place the voice in his head then he smiled and sighed heavily. Yeah, Sirius really was a bad influence on him after all.