Gazing

~~~

It took Remus a week to feel comfortable with his new routine. More than once he sat in his usual spot, and Sirius had to come and drag him off across the room to where he and James always sat.

Remus also would wait in the common room each morning until Sirius, or Sirius and James, would join him. They would have breakfast, talk, take the classes they shared, go to lunch, talk, take the rest of the classes they shared together, have dinner, talk some more, then find something to entertain themselves the rest of the evening or actually try to do their homework. It was almost always the former.

Remus came to enjoy this new routine. It was different. It was nicer. It was so much better than eating alone.

Not that it was perfect in any way.

Remus talked almost exclusively to Sirius, not that he had anything against James. Quite the contrary. Remus knew James was Sirius's best friend; everybody knew that. James just didn't speak to Remus the same way Sirius did. And on the bright side, he wasn't glaring at him anymore and hadn't threatened him again.

But Remus didn't want to think about any of that. Today was the first Hogsmeade visit for the third years, and he was looking forward to it. Today was also the night of the full moon. He assumed he would have no problem with that. His current roommates didn't really check on him during mornings, even less so now that he left to wait for Sirius in the common room. Tonight he would wait until the common room cleared, then sneak out to meet Madam Pomfrey as he always did. A flawless plan.

~~~

Hours later, Remus came to the sound conclusion that he loved Hogsmeade. It was much more entertaining and charming than it had appeared from afar through a window in the Shrieking Shack.

First they stopped at Honeydukes, and each had their fill of chocolate and candy. Then they went to Zonko's, where Remus asked why they were buying so many dungbombs and stink pellets. Sirius simply smiled at him and said that they were 'supplies'. Remus didn't dare to ask again and even bought a couple of each at Sirius's insistence and to satisfy his own curiosity. At noon they found a table in the Three Broomsticks and had two mugs of butterbeer each.

"Want another one?" Sirius asked after gulping down the last of the sweet liquid.

"No way!" said James. "If I drink anymore, I'll blow up."

"Then what are we supposed to do now?" asked Sirius, probably sounding a little more desperate than he intended. "I'm bored."

"You're always bored," James answered him with a huff. Remus laughed, and Sirius threw him an innocent glare.

"We already visited the best places in Hogsmeade. All that's left is the post, which I don't really care if I see or not, and-" Sirius's mouth stopped in mid-sentence and hung half-open. Both Remus and James stared at him with confusion. Then a little bit of knowledge passed over Sirius's glassy, grey eyes, and he instantly grinned. "That new building," he said, as if he had made the biggest discovery, "the one that mysteriously appeared last year. I've heard rumors from the fourth years that that place is haunted, that they hear ghosts screaming at night, and I even heard that Dumbledore said it's true!"

"The Shrieking Shack, you mean," James said.

"Yes!" said Sirius, almost jumping out of his seat. "We could go check it out- Remus, are you all right? You look a bit pale."

"Fine." Remus nodded. "I think that butterbeer is having its revenge on me."

Sirius's wariness vanished, and he looked back toward James then to Remus once more. "So what do you say? Are we going to the shack?"

"Sounds good to me," said James.

"I actually wouldn't mind seeing the owls," Remus tried, but just one look at Sirius told him that it was pointless. "But if you really want to see that house-"

"Shrieking Shack it is!" Sirius beamed.

~~~

They made their way through the grassy plains and arrived at the Shrieking Shack in almost no time at all. Sirius and James started to investigate the house almost immediately, after a minute's pause to stare at it with their mouths open, seeking a way in. Remus silently thanked Dumbledore for sealing all of the Shrieking Shack's major entrances, which meant every door or opening where Remus could fit after he transformed.

James announced that he would investigate the back while Sirius and Remus tried the front. Remus knew very well that it was highly unlikely that they could gain entrance to the house, but it was still interesting and more than a little entertaining to watch Sirius trying to open the main door with every spell he could remember and failing marvelously.

When Sirius's mental list of spells ended, he resorted to brute strength, so Remus watched, wide-eyed, as Sirius put a good ten feet between himself and the door then ran the distance as fast as he could and slammed his body against the door. Sirius tumbled backwards onto the ground with a loud thud at the same time that he held his own head with his right hand and muttered a bunch of ouches softly under his breath.

Remus tried hard to suppress his giggles and went to check that Sirius wasn't actually hurt. The dark-haired boy was muttering something about stupid doors and bumps in the head when Remus knelt down beside him. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Don't think so," Sirius said a little too wittily for Remus's taste.

"Let me see," said Remus, trying to pull Sirius's hand away from his head so he could see the bump.

"No!" Sirius pouted, slapping Remus's hand away.

"Don't be a baby, Sirius, and let me look at it!" snapped Remus in return, leaning forward again, but Sirius was being very stubborn. "Let me see!"

"I said I'm fine!"

"But what if you need to see Madam Pomfrey?

"Oh, right," Sirius muttered sarcastically. "'How did you get that bump on your head?'" he imitated Madam Pomfrey's voice. "'Oh, well, I just thought it would be fun to smash my skull against a door.'"

Remus frowned and snatched Sirius's right wrist in another attempt to see the bump. "Not funny, Sirius, now let me look!"

Sirius shook his head and fell back into the ground, trying to shake Remus away from him and free his wrist. "Who are you to tell me what to do?"

"I thought I was your friend!"

Silence.

Both boys blinked at each other.

Someone cleared their throat nearby.

"When you two are done with the horseplay, I found an entrance," said James, keeping his voice as neutral as possible.

After James spoke, Remus noticed the position Sirius and he had gotten into and what it might look like to James. Sirius lay on the grass, one hand on Remus's chin in an effort to keep him from checking the bump, while Remus lay half-sprawled on top of Sirius's chest. Remus's left hand was holding Sirius's wrist while his right was on top of Sirius's head, looking for the bump.

Remus and Sirius released each other immediately, suddenly feeling very self-conscious, and moved two feet apart while trying to shake the scarlet from their cheeks. Remus was the first to get up, and after swiping the dirt off his clothes, he offered Sirius a hand and helped him up. And when Sirius was shaking the dust off his clothes, Remus saw his chance, and in a quick move of hands he grabbed both sides of Sirius's face, pulled him close, and checked the bump.

"Looks okay," Remus muttered softly, not noticing that Sirius's eyes were quite wide. "No brain damage," he joked as he released Sirius.

Sirius blinked a few times, then looked over at James. "You were saying something about an entrance?" he asked.

"In the back." James's voice was back to normal. "It's a bit small, but I think we can all fit through it if we go one at a time."

They headed around the house. Sirius kept touching the bump on his head lightly, a mad blush covering his cheeks as Remus walked ahead of him, completely clueless, while James, well, James noticed everything.

~~~

The entrance James was speaking of was a small opening, probably created by James himself by pulling one of the planks off the house or, Remus thought, maybe he had caused it during a full moon. At least a werewolf couldn't fit through there. A teenage boy, on the other hand...

James was the first to slip through the opening. "This is awesome! You guys should get in here!" he yelled once inside.

Sirius followed him without a second thought, and soon he too was exclaiming about the house. "Remus, get in here!"

Remus did not want to go in. What was the point, really? In a few hours he would be back here, and then he would just black out and wake, beaten and bruised, in a corner. He really didn't want to go in there.

"Remus," Sirius called again.

"I think I'll just stay out here."

Sirius peeked his head through the crack. "Remus! You need to see this! It's creepy, mate. C'mon, James is already up the stairs."

Sirius's head disappeared from the opening, and Remus frowned as he forced himself to go inside the house. The first thing he saw was Sirius checking one of the drawers in a desk that Remus didn't recall the purpose of. Maybe it was there so that the house could actually resemble a house.

"There sure are a lot cobwebs around," Sirius commented, and Remus nodded unenthusiastically.

"Get up here!" James yelled from the second floor. "There's something up here!"

Sirius gave Remus a quick glance then rushed excitedly up the stairs. Remus followed lazily. The room where James stood looked different than the rest of the house. The huge bed in it seemed to be actually kept, for one, and Sirius thought it was less dusty. James was starring at something on the wall.

"What is that?" Sirius, asked touching the markings on the wall.

"Looks like scratch marks," James said.

"Looks more like claws to me. What do you think made them?"

"Probably a dog," James rationalized.

"No dog's that strong." Sirius examined the marks carefully, grazing them with the tips of his fingers. He remembered something he saw in a book once and just couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Oh! Maybe it was a werewolf!" he said excitedly.

James straightened up and gave Sirius an incredulous look. He didn't believe that theory one bit.

Sirius forced a laugh. "You're right, if a werewolf was around here they would have killed it by now. They can't leave something like that running around."

James shrugged, then glanced outside through a window, watching as the sky grew a bit darker. "Let's head back; it's almost time to return to the castle."

Sirius nodded and straightened up, then turned and glanced around the room. "Where's Remus?"

Remus was gone.

~~~

It took Sirius and James two minutes to search the Shrieking Shack from top to bottom, and at some point Sirius actually considered that ghosts had taken Remus away. But they found their new mate outside sitting on the grass, his back to the Shrieking Shack.

As Sirius approached his new mate, Remus didn't even stir, remaining completely motionless on the ground. Sirius stopped by Remus's side, and finally Remus looked briefly at him just to turn is head away once more.

"Hey," said Sirius as he sat beside Remus while James stood behind. Remus seemed to be lost in thought, so Sirius put a hand on his shoulder and Remus looked at him again.

"Why'd you leave, Remus?"

Remus blinked once then said, "Allergies. The dust was making me feel bad."

"Oh," Sirius said. What Remus said made complete sense; the house was indeed quite dusty. "Sorry to drag you in there then." He felt like apologizing.

"It's okay, you didn't know," Remus said sadly as he shook Sirius's hand and stood up.

Sirius stayed on the ground for a few more seconds then rose when Remus started walking away back toward Hogsmeade. He didn't know. Sirius was left with the impression that Remus didn't mean his allergies.

~~~

On their way back to Hogwarts, they were lucky enough to get an almost empty carriage. The only other passenger was another Gryffindor boy, who had dozed off and was even snoring. James sat by the snoring boy's side while Remus and Sirius sat together. Something had made Remus very upset; this was obvious, but Sirius and James hadn't a clue as to what.

During the silence, Sirius came up with a thousand theories of why Remus was so quiet. One: maybe his throat hurt. Two: maybe he was sleepy. Three: maybe his allergies were really bad, and four: maybe Remus had seen a ghost in the Shrieking Shack and was to scared to admit that that was the real reason why he had ran outside instead of investigating the cool claw marks James had found.

But the truth was that the reason didn't matter much to Sirius. The point was that Remus wasn't talking and that Sirius wanted to hear his voice, and desperate times called for desperate measures. First, he tried poking Remus in the arm, but that only resulted in a glare. Then, he tried making small talk, but that only resulted in more silence. Third, he tried tickling Remus, but that resulted in a look of shock from not only Remus, but from James, too.

"What?" said Sirius with a clueless look on his face, not understanding either reaction; he saw no harm in tickling someone on their tummy.

When James gave him another odd look, Sirius backed down. They counted the dungbombs and stink pellets they had bought at Zonko's. Remus barely participated in the activity, and by the time they had arrived at Hogwarts Sirius had had enough. Now he had a goal: to get Remus out of his bad mood for at least ten seconds. Sirius knew exactly how to do this, but it would have to wait until after dinner.

~~~

Sirius saw his target exit the Great Hall ten minutes after dinner had ended, and to his amazing luck, he was alone. Sirius had told James about the plan, and James had agreed, so Sirius knowingly nudged him and pointed toward their target. James and Sirius nodded once at each other then stood up from the table at the same time, each grabbing one of Remus's arms and pulling him with them.

"What the-?" Remus managed to mutter before being half carried, half dragged out of the Great Hall.

They ran down two halls and one flight of stairs, Remus trying to ask all the way where they were going and only getting shushing noises from Sirius. Then suddenly Sirius turned into a corner, and all three of them hid behind the wall. Sirius leaned over the edge of the wall and looked down the corridor beyond.

"What's going on?" Remus said hastily.

"Quiet, or he'll hear us!"

"Who will hear us?" Remus turned to James since Sirius wasn't paying much attention, but James only smirked.

The hall was empty except for a few people very far ahead. Remus looked around some more and then it hit him. "We're in the Slytherin halls!" he exclaimed. "What are we doing in the Slytherin halls?"

"Remus, be quiet!" Sirius snapped. "He's coming."

Remus had had enough; he leaned against Sirius so he could look down the hall without being spotted. He saw a lanky sort of boy with Slytherin robes, most likely also a third year, with greasy hair and a slightly crooked nose walking down the hall towards them. Remus glanced up and saw that Sirius was grinning.

Remus felt a hand on his shoulder, and he was pulled back to a hide behind the wall once more.

The Slytherin boy passed by without seeing them, and Sirius took his wand from under his robes and pointed it toward the Slytherin as he muttered a spell. Red sparks sprouted from the end of Sirius's wand. Remus looked away for a second and when he looked back towards the hall he had to cover his mouth and stifle a laugh. He heard Sirius murmur, "Marauders, ten; Snivellus, zero."

The boy Sirius called Snivellus, which Remus doubted was his real name, continued to walk down the hall, unaware that his hair was now a bright shade of bubblegum pink.

Snivellus was reaching the end of the hall and the group of people Remus had seen earlier. Remus saw a shadow pass him; James had left their side and started his way back towards the Great Hall and out of Slytherin territory. Remus was still trying to shake the shock of what Sirius had just done at the same time that he tried not to burst out laughing. Remus saw that the group of people was starting to notice the boy with the pink hair, and just when Remus started hearing giggles and laughs, Sirius grabbed his hand and started dragging him down the hall, following James's steps. Sirius ran fast, holding tight to Remus's hand, and Remus kept his pace and spared a glance backwards to see that the Slytherin boy had just realized that his hair was pink and was turning his head towards him and Sirius.

Sirius turned the next corner and he and Remus disappeared out of sight.

~~~

James ran ahead, Sirius and Remus not too far behind, past the Great Hall and up the stairs. James yelled the password to the portrait of the Fat Lady, so Sirius and Remus never had to slow their run, past the common room, ignoring all the glances from their fellow Gryffindors, up the spiral staircase of the boys' dorm and through the oak doors of one of the many rooms.

James quickly collapsed on a bed and started laughing while Sirius leaned against the bedpost of another and did the same. Remus laughed, too, as he sat down on the bed Sirius was leaning against, very close to Sirius himself as the two teenagers seemed to have forgotten that they were still holding hands.

Neither remembered when they finally let go.

~~~

It was late. James and Sirius's roommates finally appeared close to nightfall, and Remus was actually grateful for their interruption because he had forgotten about time at all and was late to meet Madam Pomfrey in the infirmary. He saw his chance and took it.

"I'm going to bed," Remus said mildly, and Sirius reacted instantly to the announcement with a softly muttered 'but'.

Remus just smiled at Sirius's pouting face. "I'm really tired, and my throat hurts a bit from the allergies," he lied convincingly. "I'll see you tomorrow." He started to leave then suddenly turned around. "And Sirius-" Sirius blinked at him, and Remus looked at James to show that he was also included in the next word. "Thanks."

~~~

Remus was actually humming as he rushed to the infirmary. He hoped Madam Pomfrey wouldn't be too angry about him 'cutting it close'. He didn't think she would be too upset; it was, after all, his first offense. When he was nearing the infirmary, he saw two boys walking from it, and Remus slowed down his pace. He recognized one of the boys immediately as the one Sirius had hexed with pink hair. There was no way of avoiding them, so Remus pretended to stare at the floor, but as they passed by, they called after him.

"Hey, you!"

Remus looked briefly toward the two boys, and after a moment's thought recognized the other one, too. He also had a reputation much like Sirius and James, and Remus remembered a huge duel between James and him just last year. They both had received a week's detention for it, if Remus wasn't mistaken.

Oh, he definitely knew this boy. He was a fifth year, quite tall, blond hair tied in a small ponytail.

His name was Lucius Malfoy.