The Light

Chapter 15- The Courtyard

Chapter Fifteen- The Courtyard

As soon as Remus stepped into the Great Hall, collar stuck up, hair messy, nimble fingers finishing his tie, his panic melted.

Ten minutes previously had seen him jolting into consciousness, aware only of the heavy weight on his legs when he tried to stand up, and Sirius had toppled to the floor.

His tiredness had been ripped from him once he'd seen the time. He'd overslept.

After that, it was all a blur of preparing themselves for the day ahead in mere minutes. He'd all but ran to breakfast.

Now, Remus hastily made his way over to the group at the end of the Gryffindor table, hesitating when he saw who the other two of his friends were sat with.

Lily Evans was, by no means, an ordinary girl. In fact, Remus believed she was one of the loveliest people he had ever had the pleasure to meet. She was constantly pleasant and polite and held a certain degree of intellect to everything she said and did. Although she wasn't the smartest in the year, she was undeniably bright, and Remus had developed a civil friendship with her other the years. Her honesty was a refreshing source of relief to his life.

She was laughing at something James had said, and Remus noticed his friend's dark blush. Next to her was Mary MacDonald, grinning away, and Peter besides her. Her other side saw Marlene Mckinnon, playing with her fork and casually flipping cereal at some random third years. Her thick blonde hair hadn't been brushed, and yet she had somehow managed to perfect her eyeliner and dark lips. On the other side of the table, sat Hermione.

Remus swallowed.

He walked over, sliding into the bench so that James was positioned between them. He didn't want to talk to her just yet.

Sirius bounded over a few seconds after him, tussling Remus' hair up. He seemed to hesitate, glancing at Hermione, before squeezing his way into the gap between him and James, plopping down and immediately helping himself to food.

James beamed at him. "Hey, Padfoot!"

Remus leaned backwards to punch him in the arm.

"What was that for?" He asked indignantly, voice high, rubbing his injury.

"For not waking us up."

James paused, the excuse dying on his lips. He glanced at Lily, who was stifling her laughter at Marlene. Mary was watching him suspiciously. Eventually, he just shrugged. It wasn't like he had to tell them that he knew they didn't sleep, that he knew they never slept, and he felt like they deserved the extra few hours, so in the end, he shrugged, because it wasn't a big deal. With James, it never was. He bled compassion like other people bled red blood, and he never thought anything of it.

They didn't really join in with the conversation that Marlene, Lily, Mary and Peter dictated, steering the topic from the Astronomy homework, to Professor Meryl to the Christmas Ball.

Hermione's interest piqued at this.

"Christmas Ball?" She asked, frowning.

Marlene grinned at her, leaning over so her face was close to hers. Her breath smelt like the type of drinks that made your throat burn. "It's a festive party with lots of alcohol disguised as Pumpkin Juice and lot of nerds disguised as hotties."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "I reject that, Mckinnon."

She blinked at him and he elaborated, "I'm always hot."

Hermione bit her lip to keep herself from laughing and said, "You do know, Sirius, that the meaning of life does not, in anyway, revolve around your hotness."