Astrophile [J.P]

Chapter 8

~ I'm alive - and the dawn breaks across the sky

I'm alive - and the sun rises up so high. ~

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Soon as James stepped foot in the common room he was met by an uproar. "Fellow Gryffindors and comrades! We are overjoyed to announce that James Fleamont Potter is miraculously alive after two hours of torturous tutoring," Sirius's voice blasted through an enchanted hairbrush that worked like a microphone.

The common room was empty except his three best friends and yet Sirius was pretending as if the whole Gryffindor house was waiting for James's arrival and present there for welcoming him.

"Shut the hell up, Black! We are all trying to sleep," Marlene's voice reached them. She was probably standing at the foot of the stairs and when Sirius attempted to speak in his microphone again just to annoy her, she threw a shoe at him which hit him straight on the head.

"Bloody perfect aim, as always," Sirius mumbled, rubbing his head where the shoe had struck.

Peter gave him a knowing nudge in the ribs which was not missed by James as he too knew there was something much more to what met the eye. And that feeling had been confirmed soon as he saw Rem trying to hide the smile that was threatening to break on his face.

James spoke, "so you three were waiting for me to come back and see whether I was alive or not?"

"Apparently yes," Remus agreed.

He nodded, "then you must have noticed I'm quite alive and well. But a little tired from all the planets whirring in my brain."

The four of them trudged to their dorm and even though Sirius wanted to make use of his enchanted microphone again, Remus took it away from him so that Marlene would be spared the trouble of storming down at them again, "I know you would love to see her again Padfoot but it won't be worth it if somehow Evans woke up as well."

"It would be definitely worth it if Evans woke up, all my exhaustion would go away in the blink of an eye. But I feel like there is something evidently wrong with you three. What's up with these knowing glances, playful shoving and Padfoot's adorably crimson face? Am I missing something?" James asked looking at Sirius intently.

"No, absolutely not. Not at all, not in a million years."

"Padfoot..."

"Yes, I'm not running a fever, I haven't caught a cold yet and I am absolutely genuinely and perfectly fine, thank you."

Peter mumbled, "except for the fact that he's probably got a crush on McKinnon and that is getting rid of his sleep for days."

"What? You aren't pulling my leg, are you?" James placed an arm around him pulling him close teasingly whereas Sirius was probably getting all sorts of uncomfortable, "Sirius Orion Black having the hots for Marlene McKinnon!"

He looked flustered a great deal as he shrugged his friend's hand off him, "screw you, Pettigrew! And you don't have to shout at the top of your lungs, Prongs. If anyone else other than you people finds out I swear on Godric Gryffindor that I'll pick your eyeballs out and roast them on a steak."

"So, how was your first lesson?" Remus asked conveniently changing the subject and saving Sirius from being thoroughly interrogated at midnight.

"Yeah, just okay I guess," he replied, "Professor Sinistra wants me to score at least an E in Astronomy and obviously that isn't possible unless I have grasped the basic concepts first. So we did the Solar System today."

Peter raised a brow playfully, "and how much do you remember about the solar system?"

James laughed, "I remember the order of the planets and why they are placed in such a manner."

"Oh please do enlighten us," Sirius spoke, "why are the planets placed in such an order?"

"Those planets that can stay close to the sun remain there and those that can't bear its heat are far away," he replied triumphantly.

Sirius looked at him closely, eyeing him for a whole minute, "who are you and what have you done to James Fleamont Potter?"

"Stop being so dramatic, Siri, if you had asked Latvia of that she would easily reply that I wasted two hours learning something that even three years old know by heart," he climbed into his bed arranging his pillows so that he could be as comfortable as possible.

Sirius nodded, "yeah, if you were a Black then you would have known it all as a three year old. But I don't think it's applicable to all toddlers."

"I agree," Peter joined in, "it bugs me why Professor Sinistra didn't place me with a tutor. I am probably even worse than James."

"That's because your Mum doesn't happen to be her friend since school days and also she didn't write to her requesting to appoint a tutor for you," James replied.

"And also because you do get some stuff knocked into your head after constant repetition," Remus remarked, "unlike James who will stay adamant on not learning a thing if it's related to Astronomy."

"That's not fair, Moony. I am not that adamant on not learning Astronomy. I think I just... I just haven't been interested in it."

The three of them nodded, "yeah we know. When James Potter isn't interested, he usually doesn't give a flying crap."

"Until or unless the tutor is someone like that Latvia girl," Sirius remarked.

James shrugged, "I don't know. Perhaps? The lesson was fun though. She's way easily annoyed than Professor Sinistra yet it is unbelievably hilarious to annoy her."

"Oh really? And what does she do when she's annoyed? Knot your tie, for instance?" Peter added which caused them to burst into laughter.

When they were all in their beds, Sirius couldn't help but place forward a question that was prying on his mind ever since James returned from the tutoring lesson. "Are you sure you'll get a good night's sleep, mate?"

"And why are you asking that?"

"He possibly doubts that studying Astronomy seriously for two hours will somehow create an antibody revolution in your brain cells," Remus spoke up instead.

"Absolutely fascinating, Moons, but pray tell us about antibody thingys in the morning. None of us is too functional to understand at the moment," Peter spoke then shut off the lights as a cue for them all to go to sleep.

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