Sanctuary

Chapter 69

Remus didn't wake up before they had to leave for Charms, so Sirius reluctantly brushed his hand with his own, cancelling the alarm and the repetition of Remus' voice repeatedly saying how much he wanted to kiss him. That had been a pleasant surprise, but it would be too distracting during the lesson. It was hard enough to keep his mind from wandering to thoughts of Remus' mouth as it was.

'Are you listening, Sirius?'

'What?'

James rolled his eyes. 'I was saying, we need to do something so Tenebris can't kidnap us from our beds again.'

'Oh right. Yeah. Good idea.'

The door to the hidden room creaked open. 'Right, come on you three, time to go,' Madam Pomfrey said, poking her head inside.

They left the room as quietly as possible, and Remus didn't stir. It was good that he was sleeping so peacefully. He always recovered faster when he slept well. Which reminded him, he needed to order more chocolate for next month. Their supply was running low.

James started speaking again as soon as they were out of the Hospital Wing. 'So, I was thinking a locking charm, obviously, but that's only going to slow her down. Maybe we can use the same alarm as we're going to put on the secret passage.'

'What?'

James sighed. 'To protect the dorm? What is with you this morning?'

'I was just thinking, we need to order more chocolate.'

'Oh, that's true. Let me write it down.' James pulled out his notebook and a muggle pen, turning to a page near the back. Sirius peeked over his shoulder. The title of the page was Things to buy, and there was a long list of items underneath, all crossed out.

'How do you remember to actually check all the lists?' Sirius asked. He'd been wondering about that for a while. It wouldn't matter how many lists Sirius wrote because he wouldn't remember to look at them. He didn't need to, anyway. James alerted him to anything he needed to remember in plenty of time. It was nice having an organised friend to keep him on track.

James shrugged, slipping the book back into his bag. 'I've been doing this for years. My mum used to remind me, but it's just part of my routine now. Like writing in your journal is for you.'

Sirius nodded. That made sense. He never needed to remember to write in his journal. It was just something he did automatically in the evening, and sometimes in the morning if he was thinking too much. Thinking about thinking too much, Peter was awfully quiet this morning. Even more than usual.

'You alright, Bubbles? You're awfully quiet this morning.'

'Hmm? Oh, yeah. I was just thinking about the samples. Are we doing anything this evening?'

'Er,' James pulled his notebook back out and flipped to another page, this one near the middle. 'Nope. We're meeting with the volunteers tomorrow afternoon, though.'

'Great. I can run the tests tonight, then.'

'Think I'm just going to bed early. I'm exhausted,' James said.

He did look tired. Both of them did. 'Are you sure you want to do it tonight, Pete? Can't it wait until morning?'

'The longer I wait, the more the samples will degrade,' he said. 'I'll have a nap in History. It'll be fine.'

Sirius smiled. Sleep didn't interest him when he had an obsession, either. James led them to their usual seats at the back of the classroom, and they all but collapsed into them. Putting his feet on the desk, Sirius tipped his chair back on two legs, resting it against the wall. Flitwick was cool. He didn't care how they sat as long as they were doing their work, which was a review of the Scouring Charm and increasing its power to clean dirtier things.