lovesick || r. lupin

²⁶there's a bogey

The seven of them were given detention on the 3rd of November, the day after they were caught out on the Quidditch pitch.

"Ruddy ridiculous is what it is!" Sirius wailed, stomping down the halls of the castle. He held a mop and smacked it against the floor. "Detention on my birthday! My seventeenth, to say the least! Can you believe it?! And cleaning again?! They need to make more interesting punishments!"

"That's enough, Padfoot. It's our own faul-" Remus began but Sirius interrupted.

"Oi! You and Evans are the prefects here! You should have told us not to-"

"We tried to, but-" Lily interjected, waddling beside James as she held a water bucket.

James reached his hand out for the buckets handle, a dozen rags thrown over his shoulder. "Evans, I can hold that for? It's mighty heavy and I don't fancy you hurting yourself."

Lily shook her head no, but gave a thankful smile and continued with what she was saying. "Sirius, we tried but... Okay well, I tried to stop you, Remus didn't do much but whatever. I'd think it was just common sense!"

Sirius huffed and lobbed the mop on his shoulder, which hit Grace square on the head. "OW! WHAT THE HELL, BLACK?!" Grace exclaimed, rubbing her hand where she was hit.

Sirius spun around and looked surprised, "My bad, Vale."

Grace rolled her eyes and continued to rub her head.

Minutes passed and the group finally had made it to their destination. Peter meekly walked forward and pushed open the door, a loud squeak ringing as dust rained off the wood. The empty classroom was disastrously dirty. The floors were covered in grime and the walls were damp because it was one of the rooms deepest in the dungeons, a strong smell of mildew waft around them. There were desks scattered about the dark room, even a few flipped upside down, an obvious sign that Peeves had been prior. The chalkboard was smeared and a fancy, mahogany desk sat against the wall beside it. Ayla couldn't help but feel a chill roll up her spine as she studied the desk. Something didn't feel right about it.

"Well..." James muttered, "We probably should get started..."

They all stood there for another moment, a weird cold from the room biting at their skin and finally James pushed through Peter and Remus and walked in. Sirius followed after and it was like a chain, one by one they cautiously trudged through the doorway.

"Rather spooky, isn't it?" Ayla said, still looking around the room as if expecting a monster to pop out. She wouldn't be surprised if one were to.

Remus nodded along, also looking a bit on edge, "I wonder why it's so dark..." he murmured back. Ayla got a closer look at the boy and saw that there were dark circles under his eyes and his face was green with sickness. He walked stiffly as if he was sore and aching. Huh...

After a bit of nervous snooping around the room, the seven teens set to work, eager to get their detention over with so they could go get a bit of cake for Sirius' birthday. Remus and Ayla went to mop the floors and wipe down the walls while James and Lily reorganized the seats. Grace and Sirius were wiping the mahogany desk down with rags and Peter washed the chalkboard.

Then, there was a rattle and a loud slamming noise from where Sirius and Grace were. Ayla spun around to see what had happened. Sirius was holding a drawer shut, out of breath and Grace's eyes were wide with surprise.

"What was that?" Remus asked, peering over at the two.

Sirius shook his head wildly, "You wont believe."

"Pads, what is it?" James came rushing over as if ready to pry the drawer open.

"Mate... I think there's a bogey in there."