Moonage Daydream [Stand-alone vers]

Partner Work

"Wake up Snuffles, breakfast time." Sirius groaned as he felt the sheets tug, slipping off his head and exposing him to the cool air of early morning. He gripped desperately at his pillow, trying to hang onto the remnants of sleep.
"C'mon, mate—" Peter murmured as he pulled his vest on. "You don't want to miss breakfast on your first day back, do you?" Sirius rolled sluggishly onto his back, shivering, his chest exposed. As he sat up he heard a snort.
"Your hair looks a bit—"
"A bit what—"
"A bit wild—" He yawned, running his fingers through the ends. As he swung his legs over the edge of his bed, Remus smiled down at him. He felt his skin prickle slightly as he smiled back.
Then he shifted his attention to the end of his bed, grabbing his uniform shirt and slipping it over his head.
"I thought we were done with Snuffles.." Sirius murmured, head popping out of the shirt collar. James caught his eye and winked as he draped his tie rather haphazardly around his neck.
"I liked it too much." He said with a laugh. Sirius shook his head, chucking a sock in James' direction. The boy narrowly dodged and the sock sailed past, managing to hit Peter right in the chest.
"Oi— Cut it out—" He muttered, struggling to do up his tie.

The boys' first class of the day was potions with the Slytherins. Peter and James nabbed a table second from the back as Professor Slughorn bid them all good morning. As Sirius set his bag down at the table just behind theirs, he noticed the way James was side-eyeing Snape and Lily. They'd paired up near the front on the left side and they were sharing a quiet conversation. He saw James' grip on his textbook tighten as the redheaded girl laughed.
Letting out a breath, Sirius smiled down at his own textbook. He actually liked Professor Slughorn. He was one of those teachers that always gave Sirius the benefit of the doubt and he had this sort of odd sense of humor that Sirius appreciated.
Sirius wasn't top of the class by any means, but he wasn't a bad student. Ironically he was pretty good at following instructions when he felt like it— And besides, he had Remus who had always been a bit more gifted academically speaking. Neither of them was too great at potions honestly, but they always worked well together.
Slughorn clapped his hands together, smiling widely.
"Good to see some familiar faces! Suppose it's not too uncommon with a job like mine—" There was a spattering of polite laughter throughout the room as the man grabbed a roll of parchment, adjusting his glasses to read it. "I'd like to take some time to run through this year's curriculum before we begin with something small and hands-on. I always prefer to start off class with a bit of a bang." He paused, "Only metaphorically speaking really.. I'd prefer not to deal with a mess on the first day.

The first potion they would be working with was the draught of peace. Slughorn had been sure to warn them about the importance of precision.
"Can you measure the Hellebore?" Remus asked, not looking up from powdering their moonstone. Sirius nodded, checking the labels on the sides of the vials before grabbing one. He watched closely as he poured out the syrup.
"Do you think we'll be testing it on each other?" He joked, tilting a glance upward. Remus laughed, gathering up the white powder and checking for lumps.
"What could go wrong?" Sirius shook his head, sliding the measured syrup towards him and checking for the next step.
"Sleeping forever sounds like a bit of a bore.."
"I dunno— I could probably use the extra hours.." Sirius snorted, nudging him.
"There aren't enough hours in the whole world to cure your eye bags, darling—" Remus elbowed him in the shoulder hard and his chest heaved with silent laughter.
"You are such a pest—" He muttered.
"Yeah— But you like me anyways." There was a pause as Remus stifled a smile, head shaking in fond exasperation.
"I do."

"Times up— Can I get a brave set of volunteers to go first?" Remus and Sirius shared a quick glance. Remus gave a little head shake and Sirius met it with silent understanding, hands remaining by his side. A number of other hands shot in the air instead. Slughorn surveyed them, beaming as he saw Lily's. "Oh wonderful! Let's see then!"
Lily and Snape stood up, carefully setting their cauldron at the end of their work table. Slughorn made his way over, pushing up his glasses and inspecting the liquid. He produced a small mouse that crawled frantically over his palms. Dipping a pinky into the solution, he held it to the mouse's small mouth. When the potion hit the animal's tongue, the crawling slowed. It rested itself contentedly in the man's palm, allowing him to stroke its head. He smiled widely, looking between the two students. "Well done, you two! Wouldn't have expected any less, eh? Five points each for Slytherin and Gryffindor." Lily beamed as Snape fidgeted with his robes. Sirius watched as James drummed his fingers irritably against his table.
Slughorn then made his rounds, grading as he went. He jotted down messy notes at each table and took the time to murmur words of advice. When he reached Sirius and Remus's it was nearly time to go. He gave the two of them a bright smile, inspecting their cauldron.
"Beautiful, really—" He said, scribbling something under their names before looking back up. "I'd like you two to volunteer one of these days for a demonstration if you wouldn't mind." Sirius raised his eyebrows, looking up at Remus in surprise before nodding.
"Oh— Sure— Thank you, professor—" The man gave a wink, straightening up.
"Alright, my dears!" He called out to the rest of the class, "Off you get."
Sirius and Remus scrambled to clean up their station, shoving their books into their bags and packing up their equipment. James and Peter stood by, waiting until they shouldered their bags before making for the door.
"I can't believe that stupid prick got five points—" James muttered, glaring daggers at Snape's retreating back as he walked towards the dungeon steps. Remus sighed wearily, rubbing the back of his neck.
"At least Lily kept us tied—" James didn't seem to process the words, still bristling so Sirius slapped his back.
"Me and Moons'll show em up next time, yeah? We'll mop the floor with him." Remus smiled at the floor, shifting his bag on his shoulder.
"That'd be counterproductive—" He murmured and Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"Huh—?"
"All that grease could prove hazardous.." Sirius snorted, James doubling over with laughter.