fatal love

chapter 77

February began with a Quidditch match against Ravenclaw, which Gryffindor won. Their team was strong this year, and even though Fenwick was the best Seeker in the school, he couldn't carry his whole team to victory. He smiled at Sirius once the game was over, though, showing there were no hard feelings.

Gryffindor had their traditional post-win afterparty, filled with even more excitement than normal because they had one against Hufflepuff last term as well, which meant the Quidditch Cup was within sight for the first time in years.

Obviously, it was rare for Gryffindor to ever win the House Cup, and that had become an impossibility since the Marauders had joined Hogwarts. It didn't seem like that many people minded, however, and any who might have wanted to win the House Cup had had to accept that this simply would not happen, and place their hopes on the Quidditch team instead.

All of the players wore their robes to the party, and Sirius, with James right beside him, lapped up all of the attention and praise. The only people not in awe of them, ironically, were Remus and Lily, who had never been ones to care about Quidditch. They each gave Sirius and James polite congratulations but then started a conversation about their prefect rounds and walked away, leaving the two boys staring after them hopelessly.

He got a Howler the next day, from Walburga. Someone, maybe Regulus, maybe just another Slytherin, had told her that after the match, he and James had set off some Filibusters on the Quidditch pitch that spelled out 'SUCK ON THAT SLYTHERIN', as Slytherin had been trounced by Ravenclaw earlier in the year, and she was not pleased, to say the least. Her Howlers had lost a lot of their effect over the years though, and when he saw it, he just sighed, opened it and carried on eating breakfast. The rest of the school did too. Evidently, they were just as bored of Walburga's shrieking at this point as he was.

Valentines Day fell on a Saturday that year, the day before the full moon. All of the Gryffindors were in the Great Hall when the morning post arrived, with a much larger flurry of owls than normal, as the cards were delivered to hopeful and excited students.

A larger than average pile was dropped in front of Sirius.

"Oooh gimme!" Marlene said eagerly, reaching across the table, "I love sorting through your cards, it's so funny."

Sirius noticed Remus watching him.

"Don't bother," he said casually, "I don't care about any of them. Incendio." He tapped the pile with his wand delicately, and they burst into flame, until there was just a heap of ash left behind.

"What are you doing?" Pete exclaimed.

Sirius shrugged. "Not interested in any of those girls."

The whole table was staring at him in surprise. Sirius looked to Remus for his reaction, but his face was carefully schooled blank.

"Hey, Remus, wanna go to the library, get some revision in?" Lily asked suddenly.

"Yep," Remus answered immediately, "let's go."

He and Lily got up, but just as they were leaving, Sirius saw Remus' blank face drop, and he was smiling shyly, as Evans whispered furiously in his ear.

Sirius grinned. He had no idea what game he and Remus were playing at the moment, and he didn't know any of the rules, but he was sure that had been the right move.

The next day was Sunday, and the day of the full moon. Sirius rushed back up to the dorm after breakfast, perversely eager to spend hours alone with Remus, and no idea what might happen. When he got to the dorm, however, Remus wasn't in bed like he usually was, but sat at the lone desk in their room, his Potions textbook out.