𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗔𝗭𝗞𝗔𝗕𝗔𝗡 [𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍]

Chapter Seventeen: Chocolate Mousse

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ ･⋆✵⋆･ ‾‾‾‾‾‾‾

The scar. It was unsettling.

It wasn't big but looked like it must have been very deep at some point, curving along the bottom of his jaw. It had obviously been treated with essence of ditanny and was in the process of healing. But it was still red and raw and looked very painful.

Sirius saw it last night when they were getting ready for bed. Remus was trying very much to hide it and has almost succeeded at it since James and Peter didn't seem to notice it. But Sirius had.

He didn't want to bring it up in front of Peter and James last night and end up making a lot of people uncomfortable. But now him and Remus were in Potions class where everyone was using every ounce of concentration they had to brew this new complicated potion for restoring hair (Slughorn certainly needed a bit of that). Sirius had him cornered.

"Remus?" Sirius said, once he was sure no one was paying them any attention.

"Hmm?" Remus said without looking up from the mortar and pestle he was using to crush tigerfish spine.

"What happened?"

"What happened with what?" he said, still not looking up.

"I don't know if you've noticed but there's a very big scar on the left side of your face." Sirius said, touching his own face to show him the spot although Remus wasn't looking at him.

Maybe Sirius was imagining it but Remus seemed to pale a little, which made the scar redder and that much more obvious.

"Oh. That. It's nothing." he stammered.

"Remus?"

"What?"

"I'm not blind, you know."

"I never said you were."

"What happened?" Sirius said.

Remus sighed. "It was just an accident in the kitchen. You know I'm dead clumsy."

"You? Clumsy?" Sirius said, raising an eyebrow and pocking Remus on the arm when Remus continued to half-ignore him. "And what would that make me and James? What really happened?"

"I told you. Accident in the kitchen. Knives do this to people with normal skin. I don't know about yours. Can you do this for me?" he said and pushed the mortar into Sirius's hands after a brief pause. "I'll start chopping the olive leaves."

Remus has made it very plain he doesn't want to pursue this subject any further and maybe, just maybe, this whole thing is none of Sirius's business. But Sirius wasn't about to admit out loud that he was being exactly what he'd accused Bellatrix of being. A nosy git.

With that in mind, he took the mortar obediently and set to work, sneaking occasional glances at Remus. But Remus didn't look up or say a word for the rest of the class.

Remus went to a lot of trouble not to sit next to Sirius during lunch nor anywhere near him in Transfigurations after that.

Sirius didn't want to push his company on Remus so he sat with Blake instead and Lily sat with Remus, which wasn't doing James' concentration any good.

McGonagall had them doing vanishing spells today and it was probably the hardest one they've done so far.

Lily and Remus were as flawless as ever. Sirius scraped through with a bit of help from Blake. But Marlene got told off.

"Miss McKinnon." said McGonagall once she got to Marlene's table during her bloodcurdling inspection rounds. "You didn't seem to find it difficult in showing us how a color changing spell could be used to vanish objects. Why can't you use an actual vanishing spell to do the exact same thing?" At least she had the decency to keep her voice down.

"I'm trying, Professor. I swear." grumbled Marlene as she pocked her snail in the eye with her wand. The snail shrunk back in on itself but remained vividly visible. "Transfiguration just hates me."

Professor McGonagall excuted the most complicated eye roll imaginable, in that it was subtle and hard to not notice, at the same time.

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ ･⋆✵⋆･ ‾‾‾‾‾‾‾

Remus barely ate dinner and didn't stick around long enough for dessert either later that evening. He hurried away from the table on the pretense of having to do homework. That excuse wasn't very believable seeing as it was the first day back from break and they didn't have any homework.

"What's wrong with Remus? He looks really fidgety today." said James, eyeing Remus' retreating figure worriedly.

"It might be my fault." Sirius offered timidly.

"Why did you say to him?" Peter asked accusingly.

"Nothing." Sirius said a little louder than he meant to. He lowered his voice when some heads turned in his direction. "I mean, am I the only one who noticed that scar?"

"No." countered James. "He said it was a knife cut."

"And you believe that?"

"Well, yeah." said James like he couldn't understand how dumb Sirius would have to be not to get that. "Why wouldn't I? Who am I to tell him how he got a scar on his face?"

"What kind of knife cuts your face?" Sirius whisper-screamed at him. "Unless he was chopping onions on his chin. I might not know much about cooking but I know chopping is done on a chopping board."

"And even if it wasn't what he says it is, it's none of our business." sighed James. He didn't look like he's heard half of what Sirius said but was talking based on what he thought was the gist of Sirius's monologue. "So I don't know what it is you said to him and I'm not sure I want to know but just don't do it again."

"But something is definitely wrong." Sirius insisted. "He wouldn't freak out this much about it if it was just a normal accident."

"Either way, Sirius, just leave him be." said James, visibly getting impatient with Sirius now. "You're being an annoyance." he added and pulled the whole bowl of chocolate mousse towards him.

Sirius excelled through his nose and refrained from pointing out that 'annoyance' was a pretty big word for James. But maybe that's true. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe Sirius was being annoying.

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ ･⋆✵⋆･ ‾‾‾‾‾‾‾