written in the stars | sirius black | remus lupin

15

Sirius twirled his finger above his milky coffee without thinking, the liquid swirling in a small whirlpool as Remus bit into yet another slice of toast. His own breakfast sat before him, practically untouched, while he tried not to let his gaze wander towards the girls a few seats down. James had been glancing towards Lily all morning, desperate to be included in at least one of their conversations, though Sirius was grateful that James had let him pick a spot a bit further down the table than usual. A bit further down from Charlotte and her pretty hair pulled up in a red bow.

"Sirius, did you finish that defense assignment? Because I just finished mine last night if you want to have a look-" Peter trailed off as Sirius pulled his attention towards the blonde boy.

"It's fine. I finished it." He answered, shortly, reaching for a sip of his coffee, which was now cold, his eyes flicking back to Remus across from him. "Well, Moons, are you going to tell us about the Christmas party, or is it some big, romantic secret?"

Remus's eyes went wide as he looked to the dark haired boy facing him, a cruel snarl painted on his face.

"Sirius..." James mumbled, reaching for his friend's shoulder as he jerked out of reach.

"Yeah, Sirius, it's some big, romantic secret. You know me." Remus bit back, dropping the crust of his toast back onto his plate.

"Well, I thought I did anyway." Sirius muttered, quite aware of Peter and James's shared panicked looks. "Well, what are you going to wear, lover boy?"

"Piss off, Black. You're acting like I wanted this-"

"Oh, I'm sure it must be a terrible inconvenience to have girls fawning over you every waking hour. Tell me, how do you keep your grades up and still remain Gryffindor's most eligible-"

"Maybe if you would have just asked her yourself, you could have spared me-"

"Don't." Sirius growled, his eyes darkening, even in the bright morning light. "Don't act like this is some horrible thing, you insufferable asshole."

"Sirius, calm down." James ordered, leaning forward to catch Sirius's gaze. James was used to breaking up fights, often between Remus and Sirius, though it was normally over one of them being too noisy or pushing the other's buttons. None of them ever fought like this.

The bench scraped against the tile as Sirius pushed out of his seat, slinging his bag over his shoulder and starting down the aisle, eyes set on the exit to ignore the girls on the right who had all spun towards him when he stood up.

"Sirius!" James called, catching the boy just as the door swung shut behind them, grabbing onto his bicep and pulling him around. "Mate, I know it sucks. I know it hurts. But you can't take it out on Moony. You can't be mad if she doesn't like you like that."

Sirius scoffed, pulling his arm out from James's grasp. "That's rich, coming from you."

He took a few steps away, slowing to a stop with a loud huff of a sigh, turning back to James who was waiting patiently outside of the hall.

"I'm sorry. That..." He trailed off, searching his mind for the right words. Sirius and James rarely fought, and he had no reason to be upset at him now.

"I know." James offered him a lopsided smile. "S'fine."

"It's just... Christmas. Going home. I've been feeling like shit all week, even before..." He reached up, rubbing two fingers over the bridge of his nose, willing the headache he'd been suffering through all morning to give him just a minute of relief. "I've never felt like this before. About anyone."

James eyebrows furrowed for only a second before he spoke. "Charlotte?"

Sirius nodded, gaze stuck to the ground in the silent hallway.