𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 ─ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀʀᴀᴜᴅᴇʀs ☆

iii - the fool on the hill.

A few days had passed since the day the quad went to Spencer's, and Remus found himself staring at a paragraph over and over again, his eyes skimming the words but not really reading them. His mind kept drifting back to the conversation with Sirius at the back of the store, replaying the exchange over and over. It wasn't anything particularly unusual, at least not at first. Just the two of them, casually talking, or so Remus had thought.

But then, somewhere in the middle of their conversation, something had shifted. The way Sirius had leaned in a little closer, voice dropping just a touch as he'd said, "I can show you a few interesting things around here," it hadn't been the kind of comment Remus was used to. It had been playful, sure, but there was something else to it—something that made Remus feel suddenly aware of every inch of space between them.

Sirius had said it with that grin of his, like he was daring Remus to respond, to react in some way. But Remus hadn't been sure what to make of it, his mind racing with a thousand thoughts, none of them making sense. Had Sirius meant it the way it had sounded? Was it just a joke, or was there something more behind it? Remus couldn't stop thinking about how close Sirius had gotten, how his voice had dropped, how the words felt like they were lingering in the air long after they'd been said.

The words were still echoing in his head as he sat in his room, staring at his homework like it was the most confusing thing in the world. The tension between them was still there, heavy and thick, even though they hadn't said anything about it. Remus kept thinking about that moment—how his heart had raced, how his skin had felt hot and flush, like his body was betraying him, giving away what he didn't want to admit.

He glanced at his notebook again, but the words just swam in front of his eyes, nothing making sense. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He needed to focus, to get back to his work, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something had changed between him and Sirius. That something had shifted in the air between them that he didn't know how to deal with.

Remus bit his lip and looked out the window. He couldn't stop thinking about it. That smile, that tone of voice, the way Sirius had said those words like they meant more than he was letting on. He wasn't sure what it meant, but the fluttering in his stomach wasn't going away. He had to figure it out. The next time he saw Sirius, he was going to have to confront it, whatever *it* was. And he wasn't sure if he was ready for that. All he knew was that he couldn't stop thinking about it.

 And that terrified him.

***

All the overthinking led to next week, first period—science. Remus sat beside James, but his mind was far from the lesson in front of him. The conversation with Sirius at Spencer's kept replaying over and over in his head. His brain refused to let go of the words: *"I can show you a few interesting things around here."* It didn't sound like a joke. Not really. But that was stupid, right? It was just Sirius being Sirius. 

But then why did it feel like it wasn't?

James was scribbling in his notebook, completely oblivious to the storm raging inside Remus' head. Remus was doing his best to focus, trying to make sense of the chaos in his brain, but it wasn't working. So, without thinking, he opened his mouth.

"James," Remus muttered, his voice low but edged with frustration, "I... I don't know what's going on with Sirius."

James looked up, his hand still flying across the page. "Yeah? That's not a surprise. He's a bloody mystery, mate." He tossed a grin in Remus' direction before glancing back down at his notebook still paying attention, but didn't stop writing. "What'd he do now?"