The Cute College Boy

Remus-1

Remus arrived at the college in style, as he did everyday: On his black motorbike, skateboard sticking out of his rucksack. He climbed off once he had parked and pulled his skateboard out, dropping it on the floor. He took off his helmet, padlocked it to his bike and skated through the college gates on the lookout for his friends.

"OI! Remus! Over here mate!"

Remus looked up when he saw the shout and saw James, Frank and Peter leaning against the wall outside college. They were waving at him, so he glided over to them, turning a full 360 just before he came to a halt before them. James rolled his eyes and punched Remus's shoulder lightly.

"Show off!" He exclaimed.

"Absolutely," Remus grinned at him and picked up his board again.

The four boys grabbed their bags and started to make their way into the collage. As they entered, James wasn't looking where he was going, and he ran straight into a small boy, with long black hair and a big fuzzy pale-yellow jumper.

Oh, in the name of God he was beautiful. His hair was tied up in a bun, with some loose bits at the front, framing his face. His jumper was slightly too big for him and he wore faded denim jeans that had a couple of rips in them. And his shoes, oh, his shoes! He had rainbow lace-up converse on, and Remus's heart fluttered at the sight of him. He was gorgeous.

"Ah shit!" James cried, as the boy tumbled to the floor, dropping his bag and art sketchbook, "Dude. Watch where you walk. Jesus." He scowled at the boy and marched past, kicking the boy's sketchbook across the hall.

The boy didn't say anything, he just sat against the wall, frozen and shaking. His eyes glazed over, and he clenched his fists. Remus saw his chest rise and fall rapidly as his breathing sped up. Frank and Peter laughed at him and walked on past him, kicking his sketchbook further away from him. Remus looked at the boy and hesitated, before he ran down the corridor, picked up the sketchbook and handed it back to the boy, who was still shaking and looked like he was having a panic attack.

"Here. Sorry about them," He said, smiling, "Are you okay? Are you with me?"

The boy seemed to snap out of his panic and his breathing regulated, but his eyes still darted around, and he hugged himself tightly. Once his shaking subsided, he took his sketchbook off Remus, picked up his bag and stood up, leaning against the wall.

"It's okay," He mumbled, not making eye contact, "M used to it. And I'm fine. Thanks."

"REMUS!" Frank yelled from down the hall, "Come on!"

"Dam. That's my call. See ya 'round," Remus said, and he turned and walked on to where his friends were at the door to the psychology classroom, where Peter had his first lesson. He looked over his shoulder just before he reached his friends and saw a red-haired girl - Lily Evans - run up to the boy, looking worried. They put their heads together and started chatting, and Lily soon gave the boy a hug. Remus sighed and continued walking towards the others.

"Did you lot watch the skate competition on Saturday?" Remus heard Peter ask when he caught up to them, "It was bloody amazing."
"You can say that again Pete," Frank said, "I watched it with me mam and dad. I loved whatsis face. Er. Fin? Was it? The lad who came third."

"Yeah Fin Gurnit. He was brill," Peter said.
"He was didn't you just love the part where he..." James trailed off as he caught sight of a head of long ginger hair come marching towards him. It was Lily, and she looked furious. He blushed and cleared his throat, pushing a hand nervously through his hair, "Hey Evans," He said as Lily stopped in front of him, her arms folded across her chest.

'Oh fuck,' Remus thought.

"Potter. What the fuck?" Lily snapped at him, her eyes blazing.

"Er... I don't... What?" James said, clearly confused.

"You ran into Sirius, knocked him and all his things flying, didn't apologise, kicked his sketchbook away and laughed at him. And the rest of you! You laughed at him!" Lily glared at Frank and Peter before she turned back to James.

The boy, Sirius, ran up behind Lily and tugged her sleeve. He looked nervous, like he would rather be anywhere but here, standing with the school's most famous friendship group, 'The Marauders.'

"Lily," He said, tugging her sleeve again, "It's fine. Please. Don't. Can we just go?"

"No Siri. They hurt you-"

"They really didn't-"

"I don't care. Potter apologise to Sirius now before I punch you," Lily said, and she looked so angry, that Remus knew she would follow her threat through if James didn't apologise. James, however, didn't seem bothered by Lily's threats, and he just laughed at her, which made her even more furious. Behind her, Sirius's eyes widened, and he made to step away, until he caught Remus's eye and started, blushing. Remus blushed as well and looked away when Sirius looked over, feeling embarrassed. He had been staring at Sirius because he thought the small, scared boy was adorable and all he wanted to do, was sweep Sirius into a hug and kiss his lips and forehead.

"Chill Evans. He wasn't looking where he was going. S'not my fault if he bumps into something."

Remus quickly put all his attention back on the argument between Lily and James, trying to forget about the gorgeous apparition stood behind Lily.

"Lily," Sirius said again, pulling her back, "Let's go. Please?"

Lily looked at Sirius and her face softened when she saw how nervous he looked. She sighed and nodded.

"Fine. Let's go," Lily scowled at the group and made to leave. James started laughing again and he called out at her retreating back.

"Oh Evans. Always knew you were too soft to throw a punch."

This, as it turned out, was a mistake to say. For, once the words left James's lips, Lily stopped and slowly turned back around to face him, looking livid. Sirius peered over his shoulder when he realised Lily wasn't following him, and his face went from shy to scared in an instant. He tried to catch her arm, but he missed at the last moment and Lily lunged at James. Her hand curled into a fist and she landed a hard punch right on James's nose. James howled in pain and clutched his face as blood started trickling out of his nose. Everyone around them stopped and stared at James and Lily, half shocked, half amused.

Lily would only ever lash out if she was truly mad, and that never happened often. She stood, fuming, staring at James, who's eyes were wide in shock. Everyone was silent, and Sirius was shaking.

"Lily," He said.

"Never," Lily spat at James, "Never mess with me, or my friends."

She gave him one final look of pure hatred and stormed off down the corridor, Sirius hurrying after her. No-one moved or said anything for a moment, until Frank looked closer at James's nose and grimaced.

"She sure got you Jamie, that looks bad. Let's go to the nurse and she can fix you up."

"Yeah mate. Go. That was stupid of you to rile up Lily. You may want to try a different flirting technique!" Peter shouted as Frank led James towards the nurse's room, while everyone else recovered from the shock of seeing Lily hit James and moved on to their own classes. Remus turned to face Peter; his eyebrow raised.

"Well. That's one way to start the week," He mused, "Anyway. I've got English now. See you later." He smiled at Peter and wandered towards the English block over the other side of the college, all the while, thinking about Sirius.