the cadence of part time poets

Chapter 18: The B-side

Blue eyes, blue eyes,
How come you tell so many lies?
Come up and see me, make me smile,
Or do what you want, running wild...

- "Make Me Smile" Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, 1975

Monday 5th January 1976

Remus had been at his father's for less than two days before Giles had loaded his trunk back into the Roll's boot and drove him to Kings Cross. He dragged his feet across the platform, eerily aware of how close he was feeling to that very first day he'd left for school. He'd been less sure of things back then, and was fully prepared to hate all of it, but somehow that had proved harder than expected. Going back to friends and the easy flow of a schoolboy's day-to-day stung, because he knew what he was leaving behind. And there was no guarantee that any of it would be waiting for him next time either. He was on the outside again, playing double-life and unwilling to let so much as a single hair of them cross.

He'd already prepared himself to feel worse upon seeing the other boys so cheery and excited to be going back to school—despite the ungodly hour of the morning—and it might've proved more than he could handle, were they not such fucking nobs.

The moment they spotted him, James and Peter pressed their noses to the window and began waving frantically to flag him down. Remus paused to wave back, and just then Sirius' face appeared through the glass, grinning pompously. He raised a hand to wave back before ever-so delicately twisting his wrist to flip him the bird.

Remus shook his head with a pinched smile, before mouthing 'fuck you' back at him.

'Fuck you!' Sirius returned through the glass, smiling.

"No, fuck you!"

'FUCK YOU!'

"FUCK YOU!"

"Oi! Stop that foul shouting!"

Remus clapped a hand over his mouth as a train attendant approached through the crowd, whistle already tucked between his teeth. Others waiting on the platform stared back at him, clearly disgruntled by the foul yelling, and before the attendant could catch up with him, Remus quickly scuttled aboard and made his way down the aisle to his friends' carriage compartment, sliding open the door.

"Good morning, you stupid nobs," he announced, just as Sirius launched a football straight at him, giving Remus barely enough time to duck and avoid getting smacked in the gob.

"Good morning to you too, pet!"

James jumped up from his spot on the bench and clapped him on the shoulder. "Nice reflexes, Lupin!" He congratulated, before shoving past to retrieve the ball from the aisle.

"You never give anything a rest," Remus said, stepping into the train compartment and lifting his trunk up on the rack above their heads. "You're such an arse."

Sirius grinned and slumped down in his seat slightly, dark hair sticking to the vinyl behind him. "And how'd you arrive at that conclusion?"

"Resentful observation," Remus said, taking a seat on the padded bench next to Peter and smacking his open palm in greeting. "Hey, Pete."

"Hi ya, Lupin. Did you have a good holiday?"

"Oh yeah. You?"

"Mhm. James and I—"

"We went to Devon," James interjected, appearing back in the compartment with his football tucked under one arm, sliding the door shut behind him. "Mum decided we should get out of the city so we went to the house there."

"We went too," Peter said, excitedly; "James and I got holiday houses next door to one another on the beach."

"You two should come next year," James offered. "It's still cold but real nice."