Moonage Daydream [Stand-alone vers]

Grow Up

It was only a few days after new years that the Hogwarts express brought all the other students back from their vacations.
Sirius woke groggily around noon, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He stopped as he noticed a couple bags resting on the dormitory floor that hadn't been there last night.
James and Peter—
Sirius's head turned on instinct as he heard low voices coming from the common room. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but it didn't sound like a particularly friendly conversation..
Getting out of bed slowly, he took a quick glance at Remus's drawn curtains and bit his lip. Remus had been sleeping late these days— Really late. Sirius figured he wouldn't be up for another couple hours.
Probably for the better, he thought. James and Peter weren't exactly the most popular presences amongst the Gryffindor 5th years at this time.. Remus could deal with that later.

Sirius crept towards the boy's stairwell, listening and trying to pick up the voices down below. He had to travel down a step or two closer before he could make out the words
Then he froze, picking out Lily's voice— She was speaking with an icy quiet, sharper than he'd heard in a while.
"Five years. You're throwing away five years. Over what again—?" Sirius heard James sigh uncomfortably.
"Evans— It's not simple like you're making it.."
"Oh here we go—" There was a strain in Lily's voice as she spoke and Sirius could almost see the humorless smile on her face. "Don't talk down to me, Potter."
"What the hell are you on about?? I'm not talking up or down I'm just fucking talking!" James' voice got loud when he was exasperated. Sirius winced. "Look.." The boy said, with what seemed like a conscious effort to be quieter. "It's not like we told him to fuck off and hit the road— We told him we were fine with it! Isn't that right, Peter?" Peter must've given some nonverbal confirmation because James had just started to continue making his case when Lily cut him off.
"Did your mother drop you as a child or were you just born stupid?" Sirius would have laughed had he not been so tense— He heard James stammering.
"Excuse me??" Lily laughed and the sound felt rusty.
"Doesn't fucking matter what you did and didn't tell him— It's in your behavior. Both of you. If you got your head out of your own ass for five minutes maybe you'd see how miserable you're making him." There was a moment or two of stunned silence where James struggled to come up with a response before Peter stepped in.
"Well, it's a shame he's upset, but are we meant to just ignore it? He can do whatever the hell he wants with his life, but that doesn't mean I always have to approve." He paused a moment before saying, decidedly, "We were just taking— Precautions."
"Precautions?! What fucking precautions??" It sounded as though Lily was using a lot of effort not to yell flat out. "Oh yeah yeah right because you're both so bloody irresistable— How's your love life going, Potter?" Sirius's eyes widened.
There was a pause for breath.
When Lily spoke again, her voice was quiet again, but dangerously so. Sirius actually had to take a step farther down the stairs to hear her.
"I don't give a damn what you do with your time, but Remus needs you and you know that. Grow up and apologize— Before I march you up there myself."

James didn't say anything as Lily's footsteps retreated up the opposite staircase, but soon Sirius heard low mumbling and the awkward shuffle of feet.
Realizing James and Peter would be coming his way up the stairs, Sirius scrambled to get back to his four poster. He didn't want them to know he'd been listening—