The Marauders and the Hollow Hill

Sirius's Remorse

Peter was the first person in his dormitory to wake. It was rather early, he supposed, but he was morning person and he guessed that that was one of those habits that never really changed.

Yawning, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Daylight was streaming through an open window, but inside the dormitory, it was still quite dark, and the rest of his roommates were apparently all still sleeping. James was upside-down in his bed with his feet on his pillow, his broken glasses askew on his face; Sirius was snoring loudly, his head lolling. Remus, however, couldn't be seen, as the curtains around his bed had been yanked shut. Carefully, Peter listened. He couldn't hear anything, except Sirius's snoring. He wondered if Remus had even come to bed at all last night.

As if on cue, Remus appeared, stepping out of a small room adjoining to their dormitory; Peter guessed it was the bathroom (Remus's hair was wet). He had already changed into his robes.

"'Morning," Remus murmured, making his way towards his bed. "Sleep okay?"

Peter let out another huge yawn. "Yeah. You?"

"Fine... Dumbledore kept me a bit late - He had a message from my parents," he added quickly, noting Peter's curious expression.

Peter felt himself frown, then shrugged. He guessed that Remus was one of those people who always seemed mysterious... or perhaps, he wasn't telling Peter everything...

Sirius let loose another huge snore. Both Peter and Remus jumped. "Good Lord," Remus muttered, running a free hand through his own hair. "I'm surprised I slept at all last night."

"Me too." Peter smiled and hopped off his bed, scanning Sirius up and down like he was a room that needed furnishing. "Isn't there a Silencing Charm we could use...?"

"Good point," Remus said thoughtfully, now rummaging through his trunk for his wand. "Let me see... ah, here it is." He pointed his wand at Sirius. "Silencio."

Sirius immediately went quiet, but his mouth was still hugely open, looking very awkward and unattractive. Peter chuckled. "Does anyone have a camera handy?" he whispered. Remus snorted loudly through his nose.

A loud thumping noise interrupted them; James had fallen off his bed onto the floor. He sat up dizzily, looking annoyed and irritated, his broken glasses dangling off the tip of his nose. "Stupid... stupid bed..." he moaned, as Peter and Remus roared with laughter. "Oh, very funny," he said acidly. "While you two have been giggling like a pair of schoolgirls-" Then he caught glimpse of Sirius, open-mouthed, looking quite deranged. "What happened to Sirius?"

"This," Remus replied, raising his wand and removing the charm. The wall-shaking snores returned, and the whole dormitory seemed to tremble.

"TURN IT OFF!" James shouted, clapping his hands over his ears. Hastily, Peter rushed over and threw the covers over Sirius's head, while Remus yanked the curtain hanging around the bed closed. The noise was muffled slightly. James sighed. "Blimey," he said, tugging his robes out of his trunk. "That's like a foghorn, that is."

Peter watched as the lump in the blankets that was Sirius shifted a few inches. Then glanced down at his watch. "We have to go breakfast soon, if we want to get to our first class on time. Someone should wake him."

There was silence for a moment. Then-

"I'll do it," groaned Remus finally, approaching Sirius's bed. Pulling the curtains aside, he shook Sirius's shoulder. "Sirius. Wake up." No response. "Sirius, mate. It's time to get up." Nothing. Sirius stirred a little, but otherwise, nothing happened. "Sirius!" Remus said a bit louder, wrenching the sheets off of him. Sirius just turned over and snored louder.