Refresher Course

Upon seeing he was seated behind Sirius Black, Remus Lupin gave up all hope of getting an 'O' in his Arithmancy OWL.

With this concession of marks, Remus Lupin also gave up all hope of reasserting his heterosexuality and trying to convince himself he was really staring wistfully at the blonde girl two rows ahead of Sirius. After all, it hadn't really worked last year in Charms, and this time there wasn't any blonde girl two rows ahead of Sirius. There was only Evans and her girlfriends, all of whom studiously avoided anyone ever seen speaking on friendly terms with James so as to show their solidarity with Evans and her continual dismissing of James's professions of love and devotion.

Remus couldn't really blame them.

Although, this year he and Evans were the prefects for the Fifth Year Gryffindors, so Remus supposed she'd have to talk to him a bit. He rather hoped they'd become friendly with each other - if he was going to spend a year pining after his best (and very male) friend, he'd need an escape route.

Back to the matter at hand. (If he spent anymore time thinking about Evans, James might develop an unexplainable feeling of jealousy, and a jealous James was completely unbearable.) Here he was, ten minutes into this rather difficult class and already his mind was wandering to strange and unexpected places. Like...down the crease in Sirius's right sleeve, still holding its form from being folded and packed. Yes, down the crease, from the shoulder, over his biceps...

The professor's voice intruded on Remus's thoughts: "And what do you think is a prudent use for Arithmancy in the job market, Mister Black?"

Oh dear. Remus subconsciously bit his lip as Sirius began to describe, in his newly deepened voice thinly covered with the aristocratic Londoner accent he'd been trying to rid himself of since his Sorting, exactly how Arithmancy would be beneficial in various careers after securing the required NEWTs. Idly, Remus considered Sirius's embarrassment of the previous spring, when puberty hit him hard in the larynx and he had been the favorite target of Regulus and Snape and other Slytherins who spent their free time trying to dethrone the Pranking Kings of Hogwarts. Sirius had put up a brave front, hexing and vexing with his normal arrogance and grace...but he'd confess (squeakily, Remus had to admit) late at night how odd he felt never knowing how his voice would sound when he next spoke.

Something tugged on his trouser leg, pulling him again from his frighteningly-girlish daydreaming. He glanced down to see a small parchment-critter trying to climb his leg, so he surreptitiously reached for it and unfolded it under the desk.

Oi, Lupin! Stop staring at my beloved! -Potter

Remus now felt the jealous rays of James's eyes boring into his left ear. In what he hoped was a smooth movement, he stretched his arms and casually flipped a decidedly inappropriate gesture back towards his friend. He didn't dare turn his head to look, though, not with the blush currently staining his cheeks (and becoming redder by the moment, if the heat on his skin was any indication, and Remus knew it was). At least, he told himself in reassurance, James hadn't cottoned on to the true object of Remus's gaze.

It had started last term, this unexpected infatuation with the most coveted of eligible upper school students. If offered a million Galleons, Remus wouldn't be able to explain the whys or hows of it. He'd never fancied a bloke before (though if he had to be completely honest with himself, he'd never fancied a girl, either). He wasn't, then, entirely sure if this was an honest-to-God feeling of attraction and crushing, or merely an internal acknowledgement of his best friend's good (no, bloody great!) looks and the caring, nurturing attitude he hid from all but his closest mates.

There was a small voice in the back of his head that said that such acknowledgements were exactly what a crush was, but Remus was adept at ignoring it now.

He watched as Sirius rocked back in his chair, balancing on the rear legs while he folded his arms backwards and linked his hands to support his head, the picture of utter relaxation. Somehow he'd escaped the annual summertime haircut his daft mum usually administered, and so his wavy locks teased at the nape of his neck and curled around his ears. Remus's fingers itched to pass through those waves, muss them then smooth them back.

The castle was still retaining heat from the summer, and the southern-facing Arithmancy classroom was particularly warm this afternoon. The windows were cracked open, but there was no breeze to move the air, and as such most of the students had loosened their ties and folded up their sleeves. Sirius was no exception, his freshly tanned arms contrasting with the white of his shirt. He'd gone to the beach for a week with the Potters and Peter over the summer. Remus had been invited, but the timing was right over the July moon, so there was no way he could join them.

He realized now that it was probably for the best. If he couldn't stop staring at the boy in a classroom full of his peers - including Snape and the brighter Slytherins in their year - then how could he be expected to divert his eyes from a shirtless Sirius on a lonely beach with only his dearest friends to witness it? And as dear as James and Peter are to him, this isn't something he's sure he's ready to let them in on. No, not quite yet...

The professor directed the class to read a passage from their text, and Remus was forced to drop his eyes from the back of Sirius's head. Right now they were reviewing big concepts learned last year, and Remus was pleased to realize how easily the laws and formulas were coming back to him.

Maybe first term wouldn't be a bust then, and he could use that time to balance his feelings for Sirius before things started getting difficult. Maybe that 'O' wasn't a complete loss after all...

A small noise drew his attention away from his reading. Glancing up, he felt his breath catch in his throat at the sight of Sirius turned in his seat, grinning brilliantly back at Remus.

Swallowing, Remus grinned back, then looked back down at his textbook and grimaced.

Nope. No 'O' this year.