written in the stars | sirius black | remus lupin

26

Charlotte fell into the open spot beside Marlene, who looked nearly as tired as Charlotte felt herself. She had outlasted even Lily's studying in the common room the night before, trying to wait up to say goodnight to Sirius before bed, though eventually giving in after jolting awake for the third time in the arm chair beside the fire.

Whatever the boys had been up to, it had kept them out quite late, and she wasn't surprised to find them still half asleep as they fell into three of the four vacant seats in the back row just as McGonagall rose from her desk to begin the days lesson.

"You idiots were out all night again, weren't you?" Marlene laughed, shaking her head as she pulled out her notes.

"What's life without a bit of fun, McKinnon?" James answered through a yawn, though none of the boys were moving very quickly to at least appear as though they were taking notes.

"Where's Remus then?" Mary asked the question Charlotte had been fighting since they had entered the room without their tallest roommate.

"Oh, you know Lupin..." Sirius started slowly.

"You boys keep him out too late! He's not always hyped up on adrenaline like you three." Lily said loudly, pulling the attention to herself before changing the subject. "Now I'll have to bring him his notes again, he doesn't like to fall behind, you're all going to fall ill if you don't get enough sleep-"

"Yes, mum! We hear you loud and clear!" Sirius hissed through a grin, James sleepy eyes stuck to the back of Lily's head through her ramble, a soft smile pulling at his lips.

While it certainly would have been no ones pick, aside from Lily's perhaps, double transfiguration first thing in the morning, the hours passed quickly and before long the group was headed towards their last lesson before lunch. A thought that seemed permanently etched into Peter's mind.

"Well, we did miss breakfast!" He whined as they started towards their usual seats beside a very tall, yet very slouched figure.

"Remus!" Mary grinned as he turned back to offer his friends a tired looking smile. "God, you look awful. Why didn't you take the whole day off? Someone ought to give you one of those Merlin Order medals for putting up with this lot." She rambled, though Remus's smile didn't waver as he shrugged off her words.

"Well, there's still time." He agreed, the rest of the class filing into the room at last.

"Good morning class, hopefully everyone is enjoying the warmer weather we're getting lately?" Their professor muttered from the front of the room, shuffling through a few piles of parchment on his desk before looking up. "I've got a special lesson planned for us today. Mr. Filch has found himself a Boggart in a storage closet on the fifth floor and the Headmaster has agreed that we can study it this week before they cart it off."

There was a low murmur around the room, some worried glances exchanged with neighbors while some people seemed excited, James's eyes finally widening from their previous sleepy stance.

"Now, for those of you who haven't read up on the creatures, you should know they can be quite fearsome. They've learned to read their opponents quickly, and transform themselves into whatever you fear the most. Some of you might not even know this yourself, and it can be a frightening experience. This being said, I will not force anyone to participate, but I do hope that some of you are willing to face your fears so that we can all learn something today. And I'll expect a two page paper on Boggarts on my desk by next week. You may work in pairs."

There was a low cheer which their professor allowed for a few moments before waving his hands through the air and nodding towards a large oak cabinet near the corner of the room.