Running With Wolves

Chapter 13: Detention

Chapter 13: Detention

It was nearly eight. Remus shuffled down the corridor, dragging out the seconds until he arrived at professor McGonagall's classroom. If he didn't pick up the pace he was going to be late for McGonagall's detention, but to say that the thought of being alone in a room with Sirius was unappealing, would be an understatement. Remus watched his shadow flicker on the walls, cast from the fluttering chandeliers on the ceiling. He checked his watch once; the light flickered on the back of his hands—along the scars in three parallel lines across it. His footsteps echoed in the silence. It was a minute passed eight. The classroom was just at the end of the corridor. He stood at the door, struggling to decide if prolonging the time until his interaction with Sirius was worth McGonagall's wrath.

Not unexpectedly, McGonagall said, "You're late, Mr. Lupin," the minute he entered the classroom. Sirius was already sitting in a desk, head down, and hair falling like a curtain over his eyes. He was wearing his scarlet quidditch robes. Remus recalled vaguely that there had been a quidditch practice for the Gryffindor team earlier that day, but it didn't seen as important compared to the slightly rumpled image of Sirius Black. Remus averted his gaze, turning instead to face McGonagall.

"Sorry, Professor." McGonagall did not reply. Instead she set aside her paper and stood from her desk.

"Follow me." Then she walked out of the classroom. Bewildered, Remus followed slowly. Sirius leapt up from his chair and went after the professor, not looking at Remus as he went by. Remus ran to catch up.

"I'm disappointed in the pair of you." Professor McGonagall said briskly. "I'd hardly expect this sort of behavior form either of you, and yet here we are. I should warn you if I catch either one of you fighting a third time this year I will have to take more drastic measures. I thought you two were friends." Remus didn't say anything. Nor did Sirius. They marched through the castle back to the Entrance hall. Professor McGonagall's shoes rang against the floor and Remus dug his finger nails into his palm. He could feel Sirius just a couple feet to his left. Merlin, he could smell him. A delicious mixture of chocolate and fresh grass. Remus cursed himself, then Sirius, then himself again. Professor Sprout was waiting for them. She was short and stout, and dirty as ever, hair flying her patched cap, and her hands sheathed in gardening gloves stiff with dirt.

"You'll be coming with me tonight boys. I have a little job for you," Professor Sprout told them, pulling the gloves tighter on her hands. "Thank you, Minerva, I'll be taking them from here?" McGonagall nodded curtly, then left.

"Right, you boys will be working for me in the greenhouses." Professor Sprout opened to door and led them out and down the lawn. It was black except for the spots of light coming from the windows of the castle. "I have several young devil snare plants I will need you to prepare for the first years tomorrow. They have been growing out of control, and they need trimming."

In the greenhouses, the light was even worse. Professor Sprout set about lighting candles to illuminate the room. Devil's Snare plants stood in lined down the tables.

"Take the shears on the table over there, you'll need to subdue them and trim them to fit back into their pots. We can't have these plants attacking any of the first years. Not too much anyway. Get to work, boys. I'll be back at the end of your detention to take you back up to the castle." She shuffled away into her office, tying an apron around her bulk as she went.

The two boys stood for a moment, neither looked at the other, preferring instead to study the immensely interest ground beneath their feet. Remus picked up a pair of shears from the table, the scraping sound along the wood was unbearably loud in the silence around them. Remus fought the ever growing urge to glance up at Sirius. He moved around to the other side of the table and began to work. It was not so difficult to trim, once he cast lumos on the plant, it shuddered and fell still, and he was free to hack through the thick vines with the shears.

Several times, Remus caught himself trying to strike up a conversation with Sirius, before remembering that he was supposed to be mad, and stopping himself. Sirius too seemed to be struggling. Every once in a while Sirius would make a kind of strangled choking noise. Remus would look up, and Sirius would be looking at him. He looked away the second their eyes met. The third of fourth time this happened, Sirius swore, then swore again and dropped his shears to the floor with a clattering sound. The third time he swore, Remus looked up again, to see that the devil's snare plant he was trimming had wrapped itself around his arm. Rather than relaxing has he should have, Sirius struggled with the plant, anger turned to slight panic as he tried to rip his arm from the plant's unyielding hold.

Remus scrambled around the table, drawing his want out of his pocket and saying, "Lumos." He thrust the wand tip at the plant and it recoiled, releasing Sirius so that he stumbled back, crashing into the wall, clasping his arm to his chest.

"You're an idiot," Remus murmured, the corners of his mouth twisting up in a reluctant smile.

"Thanks, Moony." Sirius said, leaning on the wall and rubbing the welts on his forearm form the devil's snare, laughing lightly. There was a moment, when Remus was reminded of their first year, after the first midnight outing they had ever embarked on. The ending had been something similar to this, a fiasco followed by raucous laughter as they scurried back to the common room. The Fat Lady had been particularly irritated by their early morning return. If only they could go back to first year. For a moment, Remus saw the shining gateway leading to their reconciliation. All he had to do was cross the threshold. He could look Sirius in the eye and accept his friendship again. He could let them slip silently back into their former relationship. If only he could bring himself to talk to Sirius. But he could never give Sirius that kind of satisfaction. He clenched his teeth together, eyes snapping back to the ground, and moved back to the plant he was trimming, and checked his watch, though he didn't really read the numbers. The sound of Sirius sliding down the wall to the ground came from across the table. Remus clipped more vigorously.

What could have been hours later, Sprout came bustling back in through the door, looking somehow dirtier and more disheveled than before, though Remus couldn't quite figure how that was possible.

"You're done now, boys, thank you for your help. I'm sure you've done an excellent job." And she led them back up the path and all the way to the Fat Lady. Remus spoke the password quickly and was at the base of the stair before Sirius had even managed to climb through. He rushed up the stairs, and planted himself on his bed.

"How was detention?" James asked.

"Fine. I'm tired." He cringed as he drew the curtains around himself. One would thing he might be a better actor, keeping the secret that he did, but then, his friends had found out about it in second year, and really it was no wonder.

Sirius' footsteps sounded up the stairs shortly afterward.

"How was is, mate?"

"We had to trim the devil's snare. It wasn't too hard, but you did have to watch out for them to grab you from behind. The exhaustion in Sirius' voice was anything but fake.

Remus listened to the sounds of James and Sirius slowly getting ready for bed, the click of a trunk being opened, curtains sliding along their rails, fabric rustling over skin. Only when those sounds faded, replaced only by gentle snoring, did Remus slid of his bed, quietly change into his pajamas and go to sleep.