And as we wind on down the road,
Our shadows taller than our souls...
“You could nick it, bet it wouldn’t be hard.” Sirius said, standing beside Remus in front of the trophy case. “Just vanish the glass for a second.”
“Professor Flitwick would notice.” Remus raised an eyebrow, distracted now by Sirius’s ghostly reflection in the glass. “Or one of the Ravenclaws.”
“Nah,” the other boy caught his eye and grinned at him, teeth pearly white, “No one’ll miss it.”
“I think,” Remus replied, licking his lips and returning his gaze to the little gold figure on top of the trophy, “Lyall would have preferred it to stay put. This way there’s always a piece of him at Hogwarts.”
“Ahh, have you gone all soppy because it’s the last week?” Sirius teased him. Remus smiled, unperturbed,
“Yeah, a bit.”
Sirius chuckled, and leaned towards him confidentially,
“Me too.”
Remus pulled a face at him. “Come on then, I’m hungry. Lunch.”
They both set off down the corridor towards the Great Hall. Aside from Remus’s streak of detentions following the quidditch final, they’d all had a very relaxing week, with nothing to do but plan for the future. Which of course meant that they had done absolutely no planning for the future.
“We’re not leaving anything behind.” Remus said, thoughtfully, as they walked.
“Eh?” Sirius asked, distracted by a group of girls who’d walked past, giggling. Remus flicked his ear. “Ow!” Sirius ducked, “They were looking at you , Remus ‘fuck-me-we-won’ Lupin. What were you saying?”
“We won’t be leaving anything behind, like Lyall’s trophy.”
“James and I are on the quidditch cup. And Prongs is Head Boy, doesn’t that get recorded somewhere? And Peter won that chess tournament.”
“Oh yeah. Must just be me, then.” Remus sighed, forlorn.
“Er… there’s the whomping willow?” Sirius tried.
Remus just scowled at him. Well , he supposed. That’s what you get for trying not to be noticed. He remained contemplative throughout lunch - which was fish and chips, with a choice of mushy or whole peas (Remus experimented with a combination of both).
“All right there, Moony?” James asked, between mouthfuls. “You’re very quiet.”
“He’s worrying about his legacy,” Sirius announced. “He wants a trophy.”
“Shut up, no I don’t.” Remus blushed.
“If you ask me, that match commentary deserved a medal. Special services to the school,” Mary laughed. “You can’t go anywhere in the castle without hearing someone shout ‘ buggering christ, that was close! ’ It’s brilliant.”
Remus grinned, feeling a bit better. He’d been quietly enjoying his fifteen minutes of fame, and had received enough gifts of cigarettes and chocolate to see him through the summer. Which was just as well, he supposed, because in a few short months he’d have to start supporting himself.
“Don’t worry, Remu, if you know what goes off without a hitch on Friday,” James whispered, leaning in, “Then no one’ll forget us in a hurry.”
“I thought the point was that no one knew who did it?” Remus quirked an eyebrow.
“Oh, come on .” Lily scoffed. And she had a point.
