During study group on Thursday night, Raven Craft bluntly asked if anyone had been invited to Slughorn's party. Apparently the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were talked to earlier in the day; Craft was one of them which he boasted out, Buckling had also been invited which she didn't seem to care about, and Bones who flat out said he was pretty sure it was because of his bloodline.
"Remus and I are going," Lily said. Remus considered bringing up the fact he wasn't going, but figured he'd keep quiet for now and tell her later. He didn't want to get into a big discussion about his reasons in front of everyone, especially since Craft was so proud of being invited.
"Are you not going?" Craft looked at Silverlocke who shook his head. "I would have assumed he asked all the Slytherins to go."
"He only asked for four of them," Silverlocke mumbled. "Avery, Nott, and Urswick because of their blood. Snape, I am assuming, because he's absolutely remarkable with potions."
"The Silverlocke name is even more ancient than the Urswick name though," Craft said, tilting his head.
Silverlocke's cheeks went very faintly pink. "I'd rather we do what we came here to do. I wasn't invited, neither were some others here. It's rude to be flaunting."
Now Craft blushed as well. "I wasn't flaunting! I was only asking!" But Silverlocke's words did shut him up, and the group began working on their assignments like usual.
Twycross was very quiet during all of this but when they left the library she began complaining about the whole Slug Club thing, stating that it wasn't fair or right that Slughorn was picking out only a few 'special' students while leaving the others to feel average, and how could someone like Bones be invited while she hadn't been?
"I'm a pureblood too! And my grades are more than exceptional!" With that she looked at Lily, with a rather nasty glint in her eyes. Lily decidedly ignored her which seemed to irritate the other girl. "Apparently it isn't just blood or grades. Or potions. Lupin's the worst in potions yet he was invited."
"Remus's grades are better than both of ours combined when it comes to other classes," Lily said. She wouldn't speak up for herself however she wasn't about to let Twycross insult Remus.
Twycross frowned then bit her lip. "No, you're right about that. Just... it seems very mean. For Slughorn to just... single some kids out. You're special, and you're special, and the rest of us aren't."
Remus wondered if she'd feel that way if she had been chosen. He suspected not. He figured she'd be flaunting it, like Craft had been.
*
On Saturday afternoon, Remus had planned on spending his time watching the rain patter against the windows while he disappeared into a book, however almost as soon as he got settled on one of the common room window seats after lunch with his book, the entrance opened and in tumbled James and Sirius, looking for trouble. Or rather, looking for a lookout to help them with their trouble.
Remus closed his book, tracing his finger along the inlaid pattern on the cover. "Thanks b--but I'm not--not--I mean, you really shouldn't be purposely c-causing trouble."
"But it's fun!" James complained as he climbed onto the window seat, kneeling next to Remus.
Sirius opted to lean casually against the wall, arms folded, looking very cool indeed. "I know you agree. If you didn't, you never would have helped us with the dungbombs in Filch's office."
Remus pressed his lips thin, feeling like he was never going to live that down. "M--maybe..."
"You wouldn't be helping us with the bat-bogey hex," James added in a quiet whisper.
Remus slumped a little, drawing his knees up. "Th-that's really more of me trying to see if I can do it. For the sake of... the... the sake of... errr..."
"The sake of causing trouble?" Sirius asked with a grin.
"No!" Remus replied sharply. "The sake of, er, transforming a spell! Seeing if I--if I can. It's a little advanced and... I'd like to see... to prove to myself... that I'm able to do something like that."
"For the sake of causing trouble," Sirius laughed causing Remus to scowl.
"Come on, mate, a brilliant mind like yours deserves to be doing something bigger than just school," James said, inching closer.
Remus narrowed his eyes. "Flattery will get you no where."
"Flattery gets you everywhere," said James in an instant.
Sirius lightly rapped his knuckles against Remus's head. "Your brilliant brain with our mischievous minds... imagine it."
Remus opened up his book again. "Being a lookout doesn't exactly challenge the mind, now, does it?"
"Peter's awful at being lookout," James said in an even quieter tone even though Peter wasn't anywhere in the common room and couldn't possibly hear. "Last time he completely panicked and then tried to run and tripped and fell and we were caught."
"The girls' bathroom?" Remus asked. Both boys nodded. "What are you planning this time?"
Their faces both went impossibly smooth yet somehow innocent. "Just something in the dungeons, nothing... too important," Sirius said with a yawn as if to prove how boring it all was.
That aroused Remus's suspicions even more. "I won't help unless I know exactly what you're planning."
James slithered off the seat and grabbed Remus's arm, pulling him off the seat as well, towards the entrance. Remus protested as he stumbled, trying not to fall, but James had a firm grip on him. Sirius followed, his hands in his pockets, long legs keeping up easily. James pulled Remus through the entrance then off to a side corridor. He gently pushed Remus against the wall, looking around to make sure they were completely alone.
"Breaking into Slughorn's stuff," James said.
Remus dropped his book. "WHAT?!"
"Shhhhh!" James flapped his hand. "Look, ol' Sluggy's got to have some cool stuff already made up! I just want to see what he has."
"No, absolutely not!" Remus hissed back. "Are you crazy?! D'you know how much trouble you could get into for doing that? You could get--get more than detention! You could get expelled!"
James held up his finger. "If we're caught."
"Which we won't be, with you as lookout," Sirius said, eyes twinkling.
"No. No!" Remus bent down, scooping up his book. "Breaking into...?! And you say I'm the one who should be in Saint Mungo's! Blimey!"
He turned to leave but Sirius stepped in his way while James's hand darted out, grabbing hold of his sleeve. "Wawawawait! I promise we're not stealing anything, just looking! Just! Nothing else!"
"Why are you 'just looking'?" Remus asked.
"To make future plans," Sirius replied and James elbowed him. "What? Might as well tell him the truth."
James smacked his hand against his face while Remus hugged his book, shaking his head. "No, that's--no. I appreciate the honesty however no, I won't be part of that."
"Just looking...!" James called out as Remus walked off, back to the common room. "Dang it, Sirius! You should have told him it was for researching something for homework or something, he'd've helped us then."
"Come off it, he wouldn't have no matter what. I suppose this means I'll keep lookout while you break in..."
Remus stopped when he heard that. They're going to get caught. He glanced back over his shoulder at them. They weren't looking at him, had no idea he had overheard them. With my hearing I'd be a better lookout... less chance of them getting caught... He wasn't sure if they'd be expelled for sure however he couldn't imagine it would end well. Plus they were already behind all the other houses with points...
Before Remus knew what he was doing, he had turned back 'round and walked to the two boys who stared at him curiously. "Fine. I'll do it. But no stealing! Promise?"
"Promise," James said then spit in his hand before offering it happily.
Spit swap promise, just like Lily told me about. Remus crinkled his nose as he stepped back. "That's disgusting." James just glanced down at his hand in confusion while Sirius snickered.
*
Remus situated himself near Slughorn's office, sitting on a stone bench, his book open on his lap. He had come down first, then once the hallways were devoid of other students, James and Sirius walked past him, James using the unlocking spell on Slughorn's office. Remus had knocked earlier to make sure it was empty. The two boys slipped inside while Remus clutched at his book, heart pounding. He could hear distant footsteps however nobody came close. He could also hear James and Sirius inside Slughorn's office, the gentle rattle of bottles. They're probably stealing stuff, he thought bitterly.
After about five minutes Remus froze as he heard familiar heavy footsteps. Slughorn. He quickly ran over to Slughorn's office door to give the few short raps that Sirius had told him to do, then hurried off towards the footsteps. He practically bumped into Slughorn at the corner, taking a few more off-kilter steps before turning back towards his teacher.
"I'm sorry, P--Professor," he said as Slughorn turned as well to face Remus, his back to the hallway where his office was like Remus had hoped would happen.
"No running in the halls," Slughorn said.
Remus nodded. "Sorry," he said again. "I w--was actually just looking for you. I had a question about our assignment."
Slughorn smoothed down his mustache, rocking on his feet a bit. "Hmm, yes?"
Past him, the door to his office cracked open, a glint flashing off of James's glasses as he peeked out. "It's about the arnica, s--sir, for the bruise balm. It s--says to boil for five minutes..." He trailed off and Slughorn frowned, waiting for the question. Remus began coughing loudly as the office door swung open. "S--sorry. Anyway, it says to mash th--them up into a pulp and..."
"And?"
Remus began coughing again as Sirius quietly closed the door. "S-sorry. Er, anyway, do you have to, uh, you know, squish the water out or--or leave them a bit wet?"
Slughorn smiled broadly. "Ah! Excellent question. Now, while you do need to drain them you don't need to press any more of the liquid out, although some potions we will be studying in the future you will need to press the liquid out and use that in the potion instead of the mash. Now..." He began giving a small lecture on the difference between the juice and the mash, while Remus smiled and nodded, occasionally going 'oh really?' and 'I see' until James and Sirius disappeared down the other end of the hall completely.
"Th--thank you, sir, I understand better now," Remus promised and Slughorn beamed. "I sh-should go work on my essay right now. Have a good day!"
He turned, hurrying off, hoping that they hadn't stolen anything. He really wasn't sure if he could completely trust them or not.
As it turned out, they had been honest about not stealing, as well as using this opportunity to make plans for future pranks. They told Remus about all sorts of fun, interesting potions they had seen, and could Remus possibly help them research a few that looked cool? Sirius had written down the names of several different potions which he handed to Remus.
"Why me? You t-two are perfectly capable of doing research," Remus said, though he was curious and took the list. A couple names looked familiar, most didn't.
"You're better than us," James said simply.
Remus scanned the list, wondering how someone like Sirius could have such beautiful handwriting. It looked like an adult's handwriting, even neater than Lily's. One word popped out at him. "You want to make a death potion?"
"Death potion? Which one's a death potion?" Sirius asked, bending in to look at the names. "None of them say that."
Remus ran his finger under one of the words. "A-mort-entia. Morte means death."
Sirius and James looked at each other. "Cool," they both breathed out.
"Orrr... actually, it could possibly be a love potion. Amor is another name for Cupid. Hmm, and amor also means love."
"Not as cool," James said, looking disgusted while Sirius made gagging noises.
Remus shrugged. "Or it c--could be something else entirely."
"So, you'll research them?" Sirius asked, eyes locked on him.
He closed his eyes. "Yes," he reluctantly agreed. James and Sirius high fived each other. "However, if this is a death potion I won't--"
"Death potion?" The door swung open and Peter came in, mouth hanging open.
"Where have you been all day?" James asked. "Close the door! Don't want everyone listening in, do we?"
Peter obeyed, coming in the room, eyes darting between the three boys then at the list in Remus's lap. "Death potion?" he asked again. "And I was in detention, remember? For helping you last month with that frog spawn thing? So, death potion?" he asked for the third time.
"Yeah, we broke into Sluggy's office and saw a bunch of neat looking potions, and one of them's a death potion," James said excitedly, his words running together.
"Or a love potion," Remus said.
"No, that's stupid, who'd want that?" James asked, waving his hand dismissively.
Peter stared at the list in awe. "Wh--what's the death potion do?"
"Kill you," Sirius said and Peter shuddered. Sirius then leaned in close. "One drop on your skin and BOOM!" He clapped his hands right in Peter's face. He screamed, falling to the floor. "You're dead." Peter now writhed about, whimpering, while Sirius laughed.
Remus sighed loudly. "Just ignore him, he has n-no idea what it really does."
Sirius had to grab the bed post to keep himself from falling over from laughing so hard. Peter stopped moving then slowly sat up, frowning. "Really?"
"Really," Remus promised.
Peter breathed a sigh of relief and stood back up. "So how come you know what the potion is but don't know what it does?" Remus explained the word thing while Peter listened intently, mouth forming an 'o'. "Wow. You're so smart. You know, like, everything, don't you?"
"No..."
"Well, you know lots. Is it cause you never had friends?"
"Peter!" James snapped and Peter recoiled back.
"S-s-s-sorry!"
Remus just smiled, picking a bit at the corner of the parchment. "Probably." All three of them looked surprised that he had answered. "It's true," he said, focusing on the parchment even more now, a little uncomfortable saying all this but they already knew anyway. "I never had friends so--so I read."
Peter studied Remus carefully. "How come you never had friends?"
"PETER!!" Sirius yelled, thumping him right on the top of the head. "Merlin, have you got nothing in that skull of yours?"
Peter clutched his head, pouting while he apologized again. "S'fine," Remus said.
"No it's not, don't encourage him," James said while Sirius balled up his fist like he was going to hit Peter again.
Peter scrambled behind Remus, though he was both taller (a little bit) and wider (a lot). Remus stared up at Sirius with big eyes, hoping he wouldn't punch Peter; it had been a rather insensitive question, sure, but didn't deserve violence for it. Sirius sneered as he lowered his hand. "Dung-brain," he grumbled, then went to his own bed, sulking. "You know, if lack of friends is what made Remus smart then you should have had hundreds of friends, Peter."
Peter didn't get it and Remus flinched when he blundered into practically proving Sirius's insult right with, "I didn't really have friends." Sirius broke up into laughter again, smacking his thigh, a few tears rolling down his cheeks. James doubled over, clutching his sides, laughing too. "What?"
"They're being rude, that's what," Remus said, glowering at Sirius. Peter gave a sad little huff. Remus folded up the list of potions, tucking it into his pocket. "C--come on, let's go play some cards or something. You and me." He got up, looking directly at Peter. "Just you and me."
Sirius sat upright. "Wait a minute, he was rude to you! Why him?"
Remus raised his eyebrows. "It was an accidental rudeness, unlike you being purposely rude."
"I wasn't rude," James said.
"You laughed," Remus answered.
James eyed Peter then grinned back at Remus. "It was funny."
Remus rolled his eyes, opting for not replying as he left the room with Peter trailing behind him. "Um, look, I--what was he being rude about?" Peter asked, tugging at Remus's sleeve. "He just said I probably had a lot of friends, that's not rude..."
Remus sucked in some air then slowly exhaled. "Never mind," he said, not wanting to explain. Feeling guilty for thinking it had been a witty joke... but still, very rude, he shouldn't have said it. "Just forget about them."
"They should come play cards with us though. It's all right. I really don't mind whatever they said! I'll go get them." Peter ran back up the steps.
I guess he is the nice one, Remus thought, recalling what Sirius had said in detention. He kept going down into the common room and waited for the other three to show up. When they came down, Sirius and James both looked immensely pleased with themselves which irritated Remus. James brought his fancy deck of self-shuffling cards, and let them do their thing as he, Sirius, and Peter sat around the small table Remus had claimed.
"Sorry, Peter, by the way," Sirius said, clearly more for Remus's sake than Peter's, not sounding at all like he meant it.
"It's fine," Peter promised and Sirius got even more superior. It was so much that Remus only managed to get through a couple rounds of sphinxes before excusing himself to go to the library just to get away from their stupid smugness.