a beautiful world | wolfstar

odd serenity

"In this chapter, as you can see, Austen is..."

"Sirius, pay attention to her," Remus whispered. Sirius rubbed his eyes, feeling exhausted.

"Rem, I know all of this. I revised it last night."

"You should sleep more." Remus nudged the other's shoulder with his own.

Sirius rolled his eyes fondly. "Says you."

"Touché."

They looked back towards McGonagall, who was pointing at the big screen behind her. "And when in doubt during your exams, what should you write?"

"Austen does this to mock social etiquette in Regency England," the class droned back.

"Excellent, the last three years haven't been entirely useless then."

"I should hope not," Sirius heard James mutter behind them, "she's basically brainwashed us into believing that."

"Tell me about it," Peter whispered back. "I have fucking nightmares now. I see it everywhere."

McGonagall cleared her throat. "Now, please get on with your revision. Your exams are in two weeks, so please, don't mess around."

Her eyes drifted towards James and Sirius. The two boys grinned back at her.

"So, Rem, how's the song going?"

Remus shrugged. "As good as it can get with mediocre guitar-playing and even more mediocre singing."

Sirius flicked his forehead. "Dumbass. You're a brilliant singer."

"Liar." Remus smiled. "But thank you."

"I state only the truth," Sirius replied, resting his head on the taller boy's shoulder. He felt Remus tense for a second, but then he relaxed.

"When's the performance?"

"This Saturday."

Sirius quickly counted in his head. "That's.... only three days away? The fuck?"

A weak chuckle. "Yep."

"How are you feeling?" Sirius moved a little closer, half his face pressed into Remus' neck. His skin was soft. And warm.

"Fine."

"Who's the liar now?"

"Okay, okay, I'm bloody terrified." Remus huffed. "Happy?"

Sirius grinned. "At any rate you're telling the truth."

"Dickhead."

Someone flicked the back of Sirius' head. He turned around and faced James' wide-eyed stare.

"Did I hear right?"

Remus seemed to freeze. "Hear what?"

"You're going to perform in the competition?" Peter asked, blinking.

A second. Two, perhaps.

Sirius saw Remus wince. "Maybe...?"

"OH MY GOD THIS IS AMAZING!"

"Boys! This is an English lesson!" McGonagall yelled.

"But Minnie!" James yelled back, "Remus is gonna perform in the competition!"

The entire class looked at Remus, who looked... dead, really. There wasn't a better way to put it.

"Oh my god," Lily whispered from beside James. "Oh my god."