The Marauders: Year Six #Wattys2017

Bygones

Bygones

"I'M FUCKING HOMEEEEEE!" Sirius threw himself over the footboard of Remus Lupin's bed in the boy's dormitory, after having slapped his palm against the etching on the door and flinging his bookbag onto the top of his trunk at the foot of his own bed. He rolled about over Remus's sheets and kicked his legs about in excitement as James and Peter came in the room behind him.

"Moony's going to kill yooouuu for that!" sang Peter, shaking his head as Sirius popped into his fluffy black dog form and rolled about on the bed like a wild creature, snuffling and rooting his nose about under the duvet, his tail wagging wildly.

James snickered, "Five seconds alone and Padfoot's got his bed torn up and covered with dog hair."

James slung his bookbag onto the desk and dug out a handful of chocolate bars and knelt down by the bookshelf to fill the empty Incredibly Sexy Beasts Who Never Read, Or, Why Sirius Black Will Never Find My Chocolate book with the first round of provisions for Remus's chocolate bar addiction. He slid the filled volume back into place as Sirius started digging at the mattress and spinning, his tail disappearing under the duvet, too, so all he was was a great maroon lump.

When Remus arrived, several minutes later, it was to let out a cry of dismay. "Sirius Orion Black! Bloody hell, what have you done to our bed!"

Snuffles was still leaping about on it and he shook himself free of the duvet to run across the room and knock Remus over with a loud thump and lap his face. "Stop it! Stop it with the tongue, you barking fool! STOP LICKING ME!"

James threw a pillow at the dog, "C'mon guys, seriously, if anyone can hear you right now, they must think we're quite a kinky bunch up here."

Sirius transformed and raised himself so he was sitting on Remus's stomach as Remus heaved, trying to catch his breath, laying on the carpet, his hair all a flutter - Sirius's own hair a rather mess as well. He grinned, "What? Because I'm licking Remus? Are you jealous? You know the agreement, my ickle harem. Tuesdays and Bank Holidays."

James rolled his eyes.

Remus struggled out from under Sirius, knocking him aside, and got up and waved his wand at the bed, straightening the sheets and ridding them of the dog hair. "What're you doing?!" Sirius complained, "I worked super hard making that comfortable little nest you've just undone."

"You're an absolute idiot," Remus replied, shaking his head, but smiling.

Sirius grinned.

Downstairs, several floors below, in her office, Minerva McGonagall was putting the new first year student records where they belonged by the houses that they'd been sorting into, and reading over the records of her house's new students, getting to know them and memorizing their names, when there came a knock upon her door.

"Come in," she called, glancing at the clock on the mantel, wondering who would be up and about at this hour.

The door opened and Elphinstone Urquart poked his head through the frame. "Minerva. I... hoped I might steal but a moment of your time."

McGonagall stared at Elphinstone for sometime, then carefully stowed the records she had out away in a drawer so privacy sake, and sat up a bit straighter in her seat, her jaw stiffening slightly. "Is it a matter of the school?" she asked.

He slid his hands into his trouser pockets, "Well, no. Not exactly, I suppose. It's just that I wanted to thank you for recommending me to Albus for this position. It... means a great deal to me that you displayed such confidence in me, despite... bygones," he paused then changed tack, "It just means a good deal, Minerva."