"FREEDOM!"
Sirius immediately stripped his robes and vest off, James following suit, then Peter, and Remus took off his robes. The four of them ran outside to claim a section near the lake. A lot of students were hanging out by the lake so it was a bit noisy.
Remus sat on a rock, pulling a book out.
"NO!" Sirius grabbed the book from him. "No. More. Studying." He put it back into Remus's bag then took the bag away.
"I was just--"
"I know what you were just," Sirius said, dropping the bag with the other bags. "You were just going to go over History and Charms and agonize yourself over whether you got the answers right or not. And the scowl proves I'm right."
"Why is Remus scowling?" Lily appeared, with Colgate and Inkwood. Without even asking they joined the boys, the girls having taken off their robes and vests as well, dumping their stuff in a pile.
"Because I won't let him stress himself out into a frenzy," replied Sirius.
Lily looked at him and he ducked his head, scowling more. "I w-was just going to look at the--the stuff we did today. I was not g-going to put myself into a--a frenzy.
She sat next to him kicking her shoes and socks off. Inkwood stretched out in the grass, making a flower crown (did all girls learn to make flower crowns, Remus wondered, or were they just born with the knowledge?), while Colgate joined James and Peter in skipping rocks. Lily began poking Remus's foot with hers till he obediently took his shoes and socks off as well. He set them aside, tucking the (mismatched) socks into the shoes, aware that Sirius was giving him a strange look though not entirely sure what it meant.
"So, how do you think you all did?" Lily asked.
"ARGGGH!" Sirius shouted causing her to jump. "No! No school talk! Exams are OVER! We are absolutely free for two weeks now!"
"We still have classes," Inkwood said as she deftly wove flowers together.
Sirius glared at her. "Not the same thing. Just some general stuff. Not important. And no exams," he added, pointing to Lily.
She stuck her tongue out at him then turned to Remus. "How do you think you did?"
"Pretty sure I failed Potions," he said, wriggling his bare toes, ignoring Sirius's furious ranting. "Probably Defense, too. You?"
"Pretty sure I failed Herbology. Possibly History. I did really good with Charms though. Professor Flitwick seemed really pleased."
Remus wondered what he had done best in. Transfiguration, maybe? McGonagall had given him a rare smile when he finished up so that was something. Before they could keep talking about their grades there was a scream followed by a loud splash. Colgate was in the lake. Remus and Lily jumped to their feet but she was just in the shallow part, standing up angrily as she yanked seaweed (lakeweed?) off of her body.
"James Potter I am going to KILL YOU!" Colgate screamed.
"It was an accident!" James protested.
"Did you push her in the lake?!" Lily demanded.
James spun around. "It was an accident!" he said again. "I didn't realize she was on mud and would sli--AAAAAAH!"
Lily charged forward, put her hands on his chest, and shoved him back into the lake. He landed with a big splash then came up, sputtering and coughing, some seaweed tangled around his glasses somehow. Lily dusted her hands off triumphantly. Then screamed as Sirius picked her up. Completely picked her up, her limbs flailing.
"NO! BLACK! NO!"
He waded forward, dropping her in then mimicked her with dusting his hands off just as Colgate--still in the water--tackled him, knocking him down. The four of them were all yelling, shouting, and fighting, water splashing everywhere. Remus, Peter, and Inkwood stood at the edge, watching them. The fighting turned into laughter as they splashed each other and tried to pull each other under the water. Inkwood took her shoes off before running in, laughing loudly as she was sucked into the water battle. Then Peter shrugged and did the same thing. Remus hovered on the bank, jumping back slightly Sirius slipped in some mud, falling right by the edge.
"Remy--some h--help," he coughed out, hand waving in the air.
Remus took a step forward, taking Sirius's hand but then as soon as Sirius's fingers closed around his wrist he knew what a monumental mistake he made. "No, n--no, no-no-no-no, Si--S--please--Sirius, pl--"
Sirius grinned at him as he yanked Remus into the water. He flailed, panicking a bit as he tried to get back to the surface, coughing up the foul tasting lake water. He shot a vicious glare at Sirius who just laughed, sending a splash of water at him. Remus splashed back then fell again, arms and legs everywhere as he tried to right himself. It seemed that he was just as clumsy in the water as he was out. But after he peeled his wet vest off--tossing it onto the shore--he joined in, splashing the others, trying to dunk his friends, laughing. He cheered Sirius, Lily and Inkwood on as Sirius grabbed James's arms and the girls grabbed his legs and they swung him out, ignoring his threats, sending him flying off into deeper water.
Then Lily wanted to play some Muggle thing she called chicken fight which involved the deeper water and her getting on Sirius's shoulders while Colgate got on James's shoulders and the girls tried to knock each other off. Inkwood and Peter cheered on Colgate and James, so Remus cheered on Lily and Sirius. The three of them hooted in victory when Colgate finally fell off of James's shoulder.
"New challenger!" Lily said. "Come on, then."
Inkwood grabbed Remus. "I'm way t-t-too short!" he protested. "Plus I don't think I c-can carry you." He could, but he didn't want her to know that.
She rolled her eyes. "No, you get on my shoulders, silly. I can definitely carry you, you're smaller than my cousin."
Remus didn't like that idea either but he climbed on, arms flailing. "We're--we're going to lose."
"Well, with that attitude!" Inkwood laughed. "Come on, she's weak. You can do it."
"Who is weak?!" Lily demanded, hands on hips.
"Not us," Sirius said, giving Remus and Inkwood a grin. "You're going down, Lupin!"
"In you dr--dreams, Black!" Remus retorted, trying to sound better about this than he felt.
Lily and Remus grappled with each other. Remus had no balance but Inkwood had a really good grip on Remus (which he didn't particularly like). However Remus soon fell off, splashing down into the water while Sirius and Lily both put their hands up in victory.
"We make a good team, Black," Lily said, patting his head like a dog.
"Maybe I just like holding your legs."
"WHAT?! LET GO OF ME!" she screeched, her pats turning into smacks. Sirius dropped her, laughing so hard he couldn't breathe. Lily splashed him. "Jerk!"
"Come on then, Marauder fight," James said, clapping his hands.
After much debate the teams were: James carrying Peter, and Sirius carrying Remus. It wasn't until he was actually up on Sirius's shoulder--like, properly on his shoulders not a piggyback ride--that he realized how bloody tall Sirius was. Yikes. At least sitting on his shoulders wasn't as uncomfortable as sitting on Inkwood's shoulders.
"Go Remus!" Lily cheered.
"Go Lupin and Black!" Inkwood cheered.
"Yeah, go Lupin!" Colgate agreed.
James scowled. "Excuse me, what's this?! Come on, Pete, Remy's got crap balance this will be easy."
Remus let out a noise of mock indignation then they began battling. He was very tempted to use his wolf strength to push Pete off of James's shoulders. The girls cheered him on while the four Marauders laughed, except for Sirius who was shouting insults at James to distract him. Then Remus caught a glimpse of a figure behind the girls on the shoreline and was so startled Peter was able to pull him off of Sirius.
"WINNERS!" James shouted as Remus floundered until Sirius pulled him to the surface.
"Good try," Sirius said cheerfully.
"Having fun?" McGonagall asked, folding her arms.
The other six Gryffindors who hadn't seen her yet froze then slowly faced the shore. "P--Professor!" Lily squeaked. Suddenly everyone realized they had been splashing around in the lake in their uniforms. Colgate adjusted her skirt awkwardly.
"And whose idea was this?" she asked. All three girls pointed at James.
"Wh-what?! I didn't do anything!" he protested. "All I did was accidentally--ACCIDENTALLY--knock Colgate into the water, then Evans goes and pushes me in!"
"With Mr. Pettigrew on top of your shoulders?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow. James quickly pushed Peter off of him, ignoring his shriek.
"That was Evans's idea!" Sirius accused quickly.
Lily's face went beet red. "Er--I--ahh--"
McGonagall just shook her head, a very faint smile at the corner of her lips. "Just be careful." With that she walked off, heading towards Hagrid's hut.
The seven of them watched her go in surprise then looked at each other. Then it was all out war. Water went everywhere and everyone was tackling everyone else until after ages everyone just crawled onto the bank, completely worn out. Remus began pulling plants out of his shirt and pants, yelping as one of them wrapped around his wrist tightly. He clawed at it with his stubby nails then Lily rescued him with her wand.
"I better go get a shower," Inkwood yawned, getting up. Lily and Colgate followed suit, grabbing their things and hurrying off.
The boys lay in the sun a bit longer before getting their things to head back in. Remus put his socks and shoes on, feeling absolutely exhausted but also very good. It had been a great ending to an otherwise stressful week, a way to relieve the stress. He hadn't even noticed how tense he had felt until it all slid away during the water battles.
"Pete and I won," James reminded them as they climbed the steps.
Sirius knocked lightly into him. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Next time it'll be me'n Remy, you just wait. So. Colgate, huh?"
"I KNOW!" Peter gasped out.
"I couldn't believe it," James said.
Remus remained silent until they all looked at him expectantly. "Sorry, what?"
Now they looked at him as if he had sprouted tentacles. "Um. She wears a bra!" Sirius said, waving his hand in front of his chest.
He frowned, feeling very confused. "Sh--she does? How do you know?"
"Merlin's beard," Peter managed to say.
James began snickering. "Maybe he was too busy looking at Evans."
"Looking? What? Lily?"
"What's there to look at?" Sirius asked with a grin. "She's as flat as me."
"What are you g--guys talking about?!" Remus demanded, feeling utterly out of the loop.
James put his arm around Remus's shoulder. "You're really telling me you just saw three girls wearing wet white shirts and didn't look?"
"What would I look at?" he asked, confused, not getting it at all.
"Oh Merlin!" Peter groaned. Sirius just laughed.
"Wh--" Remus stopped, going brilliantly pink. Bras. Right. "Oh. Oh. Merlin."
"Yeaaahhhh."
"You were--that's--what--that isn't--no...!" Remus spluttered, covering his face, feeling rather annoyed at his friends, wanting to ask them how they could do something like that.
"Colgate wears a bra," Peter said in an awed tone.
"Not a yellow lacy one though," said James, which sent Sirius and Peter into giggles too.
"So is that why you pushed her in the lake?" Sirius asked.
James shook his head. "Nah. That was just an accident, I swear! C'mon, Remy, you're seriously telling me you didn't look at all? Not even at Evans?"
"No!" he snapped. "Th--that's rude." He didn't want to admit that doing something like that hadn't even occurred to him, which embarrassed him. It shouldn't, because looking was rude. Still, the other three had been looking. Should he have been looking? Was it... normal to want to look? Cause it really hadn't even crossed his mind to do something like that. Was he abnormal? Was it because he was a werewolf? Or because he just hadn't... gotten to that point yet? James was (very slightly) younger but clearly at that point. So, was there something wrong with him?
Ugh, how screwed up was it that he thought there might be something wrong for him for not wanting to ogle a girl's body? Because he was right, it was very rude.
"Poor Remus." Sirius ruffled his hair. Remus jerked his head away, scowling. He wanted to chastise them again for looking but before he could they began talking about Colgate and Inkwood, also quite amused over the fact Evans didn't have anything yet which ticked Remus off for them just talking about the personal parts of his friend like that.
"How w-would you like it if th--they talked about you like that?" he demanded.
Sirius whirled around. "Oh they better be talking about all this," he said, flourishing his arms. James gave him a shove as he laughed. "I'm not called Beauty for nothing."
"You're not called Beauty at all," James teased. "Only in your head are you called Beauty."
"Like they notice you?" Sirius replied, elbowing him.
"Puh-lease, they notice me more than you."
"I dunno guys," Peter said with a wicked smile, "they were all cheering Remus on."
"Ooooooh!" Sirius and James both drew out, shooting Remus amused looks.
Remus began going red again. "Sh--shut up! Th-they were only cheering me on b--because I'm Lily's friend. And--and because I was the only one not ogling them."
"Ogling?!" Sirius shrieked. "Yes."
That of course set them back on track about boobs. Remus trudged behind them, giving up. He knew he should tell them to stop but he also knew they wouldn't listen to him at all. Plus he still felt stupid for not wanting to join in the conversation. He still just didn't get what the big deal about those were.
*
The Marauders were talking about girls. Remus kept saying he didn't understand. He felt so lost and confused. Lily and her friends showed up, asking him why he didn't look at them. He kept saying it was rude but they started calling him weird, all six of them telling him it wasn't normal. He tried saying he just wasn't there yet but then James pointed at him and said there was something really wrong with him if he didn't, then they all realized it was because he was a werewolf. Sirius grabbed him and threw him into a lake full of liquid silver and--
He woke up with a cry of fear, hand going to his mouth to try and quiet himself before Sirius could hear. What a stupid nightmare. What a horrible, stupid, dumb, pointless nightmare.
Then he heard voices. At first he thought he had woken Sirius up, then realized no--Sirius was already awake, and talking to James. They were talking about the summer.
"...you to visit," James was saying, sadness tinging every syllable.
"I know," Sirius replied so softly that Remus almost didn't hear it. "I want to visit."
"Isn't there any way?"
"I--I'll try. I don't know." Sirius let out a frustrated sound then there was a sound that was probably him hitting his pillow. "A Marauder sleepover would be amazing. My summer is going to suck so much."
Remus felt so guilty for overhearing this probably private conversation so he began rolling around (not sure if they could hear him) then noisily pushed back his curtains. James's response to Sirius died, both of them falling silent. Remus put his slippers on then shuffled past James's bed to go to the bathroom. He didn't really need to go but he didn't want them talking about private stuff where he could listen in. He peed, washed his hands, then returned to the dorm, glancing at James's bed; the curtains were shut. He could hear them breathing, not asleep. He went back to bed, kicking his slippers off then climbing back into bed, hoping they wouldn't keep up their conversation. They did start talking again however this time it was about Operation BounceIt.
Remus rolled over, burrowing his head under his pillow to put more barriers between him and them, and soon fell back asleep.
*
Please report to Detention Hall at 6pm exactly tomorrow (Sunday the Eleventh) for your detention.
Remus stared at the scrap of paper delivered to him at breakfast. What?
"What?" he asked out loud.
"What?" Peter asked.
"What?" James asked, then, "Why are we all saying what?"
Remus held up the paper. "I have detention? Wh--why do I have detention? Is it because of the lake? D--did you get detention?"
"We have detention tonight," James said, "but that's for the firecrackers we set off on Tuesday out the dorm windows, when you were at the hospital wing."
Remus was about to reply he hadn't gone to the hospital wing then remembered that was his excuse for disappearing every Tuesday. "Oh. Well, why do I have detention? Pete, do you?"
"No," he said, shaking his head. "Maybe ask McGonagall?"
Remus glanced up at the teachers' table, debating whether or not to approach her now. Ultimately he decided he'd rather wait outside the Great Hall after he finished eating. The thought of going up in front of everyone was too much. So once he finished eating he left, sitting down on a bench nearby.
After an eternity McGonagall came out. Remus ran over, feeling a little nervous. "P-Professor? Um, I had a q--question." He held up the slip of paper, hand trembling. "I d--don't understand why--why I have det--de-detention? What did I do?"
McGonagall raised her eyebrows. "You attacked Mulciber, Mr. Lupin."
He frowned, trying to recall when that happened. There hadn't been any incidents between the Marauders and Slytherins lately. "Erm, wh--when? I don't..."
"You were given two nights of detention however you have currently only served one of those nights."
A Lumos spell went off in his brain. "You mean... at the end of April? I--I'm getting d--detention for something I did nearly two months ago??"
"I apologize for the lateness, Mr. Lupin, however it does seem your second night got mixed up," she replied. "We realized this before the exams started but I felt it best to wait till they were finished." Remus toed the ground. It wasn't fair. "Don't look so sullen. You did attack another student."
"Y-yes, ma'am," he mumbled. "Thank you."
He caught up to his friends, complaining bitterly. They agreed it seemed vastly unfair especially since Mulciber had deserved it, and Remus had been defending Peter and himself. He sighed, giving up on complaining because there were better things to do with his time such as going off to Fort Dragon to work on the walls. James brought his radio this time so they had music to listen to while they worked. It was so warm that James, Sirius, and Peter all wore t-shirts; Remus kept a long-sleeved shirt on because t-shirt sleeves came far too close to his scar. Sometimes when he moved his arms the sleeves would ride up to show the mark; he could not risk that. Even when Sirius asked why he didn't change to a t-shirt Remus just shrugged, lying, insisting he was fine despite the fact he was drenched in sweat. He rolled his sleeves up to the elbow then rolled up his jeans to his knees which helped a lot.
They took a break for lunch, plowing through the sandwiches and bags of crisps Peter had gotten from the kitchens. Remus studied the fort so far. The four walls were getting pretty high.
"I think we're just about done, we just need a roof," James said proudly.
"It is so amazing," Sirius said.
"It's definitely a pretty neat-looking fort," Remus agreed.
"Um." Peter tilted his head. "Where's the door?"
The other three stared at the fort then bust up laughing at their idiot mistake. Of course none of them really knew how to properly make a door so that would have to wait until Remus did some research on the best way to do that. That would have to be done over the summer because all their free time over the next two weeks would probably be perfecting the spells needed for BounceIt since they hadn't really done anything for that yet. Remus needed to do research for that, then of course all of them had to practice.
It wasn't until they were headed back for supper that Remus realized they'd have to figure out how to do a door on their own since when they came back was when he had to cut them out of his life.
Maybe... I don't have to do that right away, he thought, ignoring the voice in the back of his head telling him putting it off would be a huge mistake. He knew he had to cut them out. Knew how close it seemed Sirius was to guessing the truth. Knew perfectly well that the absolutely best thing to do was just do it over the summer, ending things when they came back.
Remus glanced at them then bit his lip. Maybe it can wait. A little while. Just... a little while longer wouldn't be... the end of the world. He knew he wasn't ready to give this up.