swim || remus lupin

dew drops

I awoke Sunday morning with a shiver, a sharp breeze sneaking through the window beside my bed.

Alice. I shook my head and burrowed deeper into my covers. The brunette had this crazy superstition that by leaving the window open the night before a big event, you'd have good luck. "It's worked so far, hasn't it?" She would say with a smile, holding up her near-perfect scoring Transfiguration essay. Today she had a meeting with Dumbledore about some career options. Evidently, she was nervous.

I wrapped myself in my comforter and slipped from my bed to close the window. My bare feet stuck lightly to the cold wood floor as I moved swiftly to the windowsill, careful not to wake the other girls. As I reached my hands up, I peered down across the grounds to find Sirius and James asleep by the Great Lake, wands in hand. Definitely up to some new prank. I decided it was best not to ask and slid the window shut.

Too awake to fall back to sleep, I grabbed a piece of Honeyduke's chocolate from the bag we bought yesterday (it's never too early for candy) and checked the clock. 6:42. I'll bet Peter's up, I thought, shrugging off my blanket, pulling on a pair of socks and exchanging my shorts for sweats.

I rubbed my hands together furiously before shoving them deep into my sweatshirt pocket, doing my best to escape the cold. I made my way through the empty common room, down the moving staircases (I nearly fell down an entire flight), and past the groggy paintings. A few of them smiled and wished me a good morning, but for the most part the inhabitants were too tired to note my presence. I finally turned the corner into the vacant dining hall, with no more than three students to a table; some asleep, some reading newspapers, and some early risers fully dressed and chatting lightly. My eyes fell to the end of the Gryffindor table, where Peter was sitting, quill in hand and a neglected bowl of cereal to the side of him. I giggled as he dipped his quill in the milk by accident and cursed under his breath.

"Hey, Pete," I smiled, dropping down across from him. He looked up briefly as he wiped off his quill.

"Oh, morning, Syd."

"You're up early," I noted. He waved his hands over his spread of books.

"Not much time for sleep, is there?" He groaned. "Plus, James and Sirius had me up all night with this new-" he cut himself off. "Nevermind..."

"New prank?" I laughed. "I figured as much. Saw them passed out by the lake this morning."

"We're trying to dye the Giant Squid maroon and gold, and charm it to perform the 'Do the Hippogriff' song whenever someone is within radius," Peter said with a small smile at the concept. "But that's only the distraction for our real prank," he started excitedly. "Oh, but, I probably shouldn't say..."

"I won't push you, Pete," I said with a smile. "Wouldn't want to end up in detention with the four of you," he laughed. "Is that the Defense Against the Dark Arts essay?" I asked, picking up his textbook.