Carvings and Countdowns

12 RL

Remus woke up to Peter fully dressed and preparing his books for the day. Remus always considered himself to wake early, but apparently Peter was even more cordial. After a stretch awake and a trip to the showers, he was now wearing his new uniform and was quite relieved that it didn't include a fur coat.

His tie hung loosely, for he was never really any good at tying them, and his hair was drying to the mangled mess it usually was.

"Do you want to go to the dining hall for breakfast?", Peter asked Remus as he opened the door, "I'm about to head there now."

"Yeah, sounds good", Remus nodded and grabbed his books for the day. He looked back at the two boys sprawled out comfortably in their beds, still sound asleep. "Should we wake them?", he asked Peter.

"Nah, they'll get up eventually", Peter shrugged, "It's still fairly early yet."

Remus was happy to have some alone time with Peter. He wanted to dig up whether Peter was friends with the other boys or not, and why they seemed to attach themselves to Remus in such an odd manner.

Even the breakfast food exceeded his expectations. The food at Durmstrang just couldn't compare, and it definitely made his diet at home look like crap.

Halfway through his plate he thought to bring up the topic of the boys. "So, have you been friends with Black and Potter for a while, or?"

Peter finished chewing his food and then shook his head slightly, "No, not really. I mean they know my name, I know theirs. We've been nothing short of acquaintances for these past years." He paused and took a bite of bacon, "It's a weird dynamic they have with others, kinda. Everyone knows Sirius and James. They're top of the class in our year."

Remus was taken aback by this. They seemed more air-headed than book-smart.

Peter caught onto his surprise and corrected himself, "Not academically", he shook his head, "Socially. They're known by almost everyone."

This also surprised Remus. They seemed the outgoing and charming type, but they hadn't really been pictured with anyone but each other. Well, and Remus, as of late.

"They don't seem to really branch out, though", Remus pried a little more, "Apart from each other."

"Yeah, that's the weird part of it. They could have dozens of friends, and lots of girls hanging off their shoulders...but they often refrain", he shrugged, "I think they just enjoy each other's company, but most infer them to have too high standards for anyone else to befriend them."

That last line agitated Remus. He'd dealt with boys like that at Durmstrang. Entitled, rich boys that thought themselves superior to everyone. Always in their own cliques, and constantly disregarding the feelings of anyone they felt were lower than them, which was often everyone.

"That's annoying", Remus spat. He didn't know why, but he'd become fairly trusting of Peter. Maybe, it was the correlation to Benny, or the fact that he didn't seem too pristine or too judgmental, but Remus was already opening up to him.

Peter chuckled and nodded, "You'd think so, right? But once you talk to them, they seem fairly nice."

"Like how James offered you to look into growing potions last night?", Remus scoffed, "That seemed like a back-handed comment."

"Yeah, I suppose I'm still trying to figure them out myself", Peter shrugged, "Good thing we're all roommates this year, I guess."