Boys Will Be Bugs

Chapter 52: Half Term

"What's with the nail polish?" asked Lyall, immediately noticing the orange and blue varnish on Remus's hand, which wasn't surprising considering how vivid the colours looked. All five of them, Remus, his parents, James and Sirius were walking back towards Hope's car. They couldn't take a wizarding mode of transport, because it was too dangerous for Hope, but James and Sirius didn't mind. The prospect of a car journey seemed exciting, and Remus didn't have the heart to tell them that being squashed into the back of an Austin Mini for two hours was about as exciting as peeling an orange.

"The girls did it, and I forgot to take it off." He had no idea what his dad would think of him wearing nail polish, but he didn't think any train of thought would end well for him. Either he'd be at the receiving end of a "boys don't wear nail polish" lecture or his dad would think he wasn't a boy after all, since he apparently had an interest in something so girly. Remus shoved his hands into his pockets, attempting to distract attention away from his nails.

"We're all wearing it," said James. "The girls got carried away, and now we can't get it off."

"It looks pretty," remarked Hope. "Although I don't know who decided that orange and blue was a good combination."

"Lily and Marlene said it would go with my outfit," replied Remus.

"I can get the varnish off for you," interjected Lyall all of a sudden. "Simple vanishing spell, won't take a moment."

"Al-right..." Lyall took less than a minute to vanish away their nail polish, and Remus was surprised at how disappointed he felt now that it was gone. He looked over at Sirius, who hadn't dared protest at Lyall's quick intervention. He looked even more depressed than Remus at his now colourless nails.

They soon reached the car, piling inside it. Lyall and Hope were at the front, and the three boys were squeezed up beside each other in the back. There were technically only two seats in the back, so they were practically on top of each other.

"Nice car," remarked James, in a tone of genuine politeness.

"Thank you," returned Hope. "I'm afraid it's a bit small though."

"That's alright, it'll be fun." Remus gave a sideways glance at James. Poor fellow had no idea how long he'd be sitting here, and he could barely make it through a lesson without at least bouncing his leg like his life depended on it. He couldn't do that here, and after two hours he'd probably be on the cusp of insanity.

"Mind if we turn the radio on?" asked Remus, hoping the muggle music and chat shows would be a good enough distraction. James and Sirius enthusiastically agreed, so Hope switched on the ancient, crackly radio. Remus leaned forward as much as he could to change it to the right station, trying to find the most up to date one. He found one playing David Bowie's Rebel Rebel, a song he hadn't heard yet, but he was already partial to Bowie's music, so he listened intently to it. James and Sirius seemed to read his mind enough to keep fairly quiet, but he supposed they were listening too. Muggle music was still quite intriguing to them, especially to Sirius.

"Who sings this?" asked Sirius when the song ended. Remus nodded at the radio as the presenter announced who the singer was.

"David Bowie," Remus clarified.

"Haven't heard of him."

"I've got one of his records. I'll show you."

"How many records have you got?" continued Sirius, interested in finding out more about Remus's home life.

"A few. I've collected some over the years." He said it with a slight showing-off tone to his voice. "I'm planning on building up the biggest collection ever." Sirius opened his mouth slightly in awe at the prospect, which did nothing to assuage Remus's ego.