Chapter Text
First day of Seventh Year, and Remus couldn’t believe his eyes. Lily Evans was snogging James Potter. Well - it was more of a quick kiss before she left to find Mary, but considering the way she used to act around him, it was practically the same thing.
“Isn’t she brilliant?” James sings dreamily as he watches her leave, then laughing while she spreads some jam over her toast.
Remus knew they’d been in contact over the summer - but he thought it was another of James’s elaborate pranks or something - but no, Lily had somehow actually agreed to go out with him.
“Just you two now.” Peter snorts, gesturing between Remus and Sirius. He’d been dating Sybill for at least two years now, and it sickened Remus how in love they were. Honestly, green in the face, he was.
“Then,” James grins, “there’ll be 8 of us.”
“Double trouble.” Peter nods.
“Lily would never agree to a prank.” Remus points out, stabbing a fork in the rough direction of his plate.
“Moony’s right.” Sirius agrees, “anyway, there’s no chance I’ll date a girl who would be friends with you wankers.”
Remus ignores the knot in his stomach, “you’re friends with us wankers.” He knits his brows.
Sirius laughs, “and would any of you date me?.”
“No.” Yes.
”Point proven.” Sirius smirks, winking at Peter before returning to his breakfast.
Before James can change the subject to (most likely) Quidditch, owls come pouring into the great hall, dropping scrolls for each student - some complaining as it falls into their coffee or in their beans.
Luckily, Remus’s doesn’t. He thanks the owl and unrolls the parchment, licking his lips as he begins to read. He can only pray his timetable is better this year than last - he’d considered begging McGonagall for a time-turner at some point last year, or even dropping Magical Creatures.
“Oh shit.” Peter frowns, “we’ve potions with Slytherin.”
“Aw, fuck off!” Sirius cries, running a hand through his hair, “Slughorn loves to favour his own students. I’m wrecked.”
Peter makes a whimpering noise - he’s almost as bad at Remus as potions. It’s no secret that the one subject Remus can’t quite grasp is Potions; maybe it’s because he’s physically unable to collect fluxweed, or maybe he’s unknowingly bitter because there’s nothing that can fix him.
“Lily’s in his little club.” James flicks the parchment, “she’ll bag us some points.” Then a smug grin flickers across his face, “you know? Because she’s my girlfriend now.”
“Merlin’s sake.” Remus grunts, dragging his hand down his face. He’d just recovered from a moon, and was in no mood to be dealing with James Potter’s incessant bragging. Especially not when Remus was going through a crisis of his own.
“Does that mean we’ve to lay off Snivellus now?” Sirius sulks. Merlin, Remus really hates himself.
“Better do.” James shrugs, “she doesn’t like him, but..” he takes a quick glance towards the Slytherin table, “I suppose his hair isn’t as greasy as it used to be.”
“You’re dreaming, mate.” Peter says, craning his own neck, “besides, we barely even bothered him all last year.”
Remus doesn’t think that’s entirely true, but he lets it slide; James was - in his own way - trying to be better, in the name of love or something.
“Maybe we could poison his potion.” Sirius mumbles, then scoffs at the timetable in his hands.
“What did we just say?!”
Well.. this was going to be a long year.
——
Remus had Arithmancy first - which none of the Marauders had taken, but luckily Lily did.
“Why’d you agree?”
Lily startles as she sits down next to Remus, fixing her hair. She rolls her eyes, “what?”
Remus furrows his brows, leaning forward into the desk, “Prongs. He annoys you.”
Lily chuckles lightly, pulling a quill from behind her ear, “there’s much more to love than if somebody’s annoying or not.”
Doesn’t he know it?
“Love?” Remus raises a brow, “you’re in love now?”
Lily cocks her head, smirking, “there’s a thin line between love and hate, Remus.”
Remus scoffs, “yeah, well, I wouldn’t know.” He doesn’t think he could hate Sirius even if he tried. Not when he outed Remus to Snape; not when he makes out with people at parties; not when he acts a twat to everyone around him.
He’d realised he wanted Sirius in the summer before 6th year, when someone from back home had tried to ask him out, and it felt.. wrong, somehow. A year later, and he was no better off.
Lily gives him a downward smile, “you’ll find someone, honey.”
Except that Remus has found someone - he just can’t quite catch up to them. “Yeah, maybe.”
“Right then,” the Professor announces, and class begins.
——
This year’s DADA teacher is round, with dark skin and a bushy moustache; Professor Buttercup.
Remus settles into his seat next to Peter as Buttercup waffles on about Nogtails. Remus’s attention span for the class plummeted when they started studying werewolves in third year.
He watches as Peter scribbles down notes, desperate to improve his grades. It’s not that he isn’t intelligent - he’s actually incredibly clever, but Remus reckons he might have dyslexia; though that should’ve been dealt with before he entered Hogwarts.
“You look a bit like a Nogtail, Pete.” James smiles, twisting his body in the chair in front.
“Oh, thanks, Prongs.” Peter deadpans, scribbling something out and rewriting it.
“Didn’t your mam grow up on a farm?” Remus asks James.
“Yeah, and they had a little white dog called Snowflake.” He confirms.
Sirius scrunches his nose, “Merlin, mum must have a thing for basic names.”
“Shame you’ve black hair, Pads.” James reaches out and tugs on Sirius’s hair. Remus would quite like to do that. A lot. Often. Until-
“Moons? Reckon you could fight a Nogtail?”
Remus blinks, scowers, “a demon? No, I don’t think I’ll chance it.”
“Don’t doubt yourself,” Sirius winks, “you’re stronger than you seem.” He sits up straight, “who said that? The muggle bear - you know, with the honey?”
“Winnie the Pooh?” “I don’t look strong?”
Peter and Remus share a look, before turning away again.
“You look like a twig, Moons.” James says.
“You’re mean today.” Remus accuses, running a hand through his hair.
“I’m just ready to get Potions over and done with, and then we finally have Magical Creatures.” Peter ponders, seemingly giving up on his notes. Remus makes a mental note to help him later.
“Don’t we have Creatures with Ravenclaw?” Sirius asks.
James nods, “yeah, so Moony can finally see his girlfriend.” His grin widens suggestively.
“She’s not-“ Remus growls, “she’s not my girlfriend. Haven’t you ever heard of having a best friend?”
“Harsh, Moons.” Sirius makes a show of stabbing his own heart.
“I mean a girl.” Remus clarifies.
“Well, Marls is a lesbian. With a girlfriend.” James shrugs nonchalantly.
“I did date Mary.” Sirius adds.
“And I’m still dating Syb.” Peter’s lips tug to the side, sorry to be ganging up against Remus. Traitor.
“Pan is hung up on that Ravenclaw who graduated last year.” Remus tells them, because now is probably not the best time to declare his undying love for a different best friend of his.
“Whatever.” James winks, fangs catching his lip.
“I loved Phil.” Sirius grunts, “odd donny, that one.”
“Got nothing on Moons though, has he?” James argues. “wouldn’t you say, Pads?”
“Oh, I would say, Prongs. How about you, Worms?”
“I’d have to agree, gentlemen.” He pats Remus’s arm, “you should go for it, Moony.”
“She’s not a Gryffindor. You guys know that, right?” Remus questions. Neither is Sybill - but Peter had gotten grief for that.
“She’s also off her rocker,” Sirius shrugs, “as long as she’s not a Slytherin.”
“No, not a Slytherin.” Remus sighs.
Just not a Ravenclaw, either.
——
Remus crowds around his usual table with his friends. Lily is working with Marlene and Mary, and will most likely be doing a much better job than himself.
The room had subconsciously divided itself into two halves; green uniforms took up one side, red uniforms the other.
“Hello, everyone.” Slughorn begins, and then, looking around the room, shakes his head, “no, this won’t do.”
He addresses the class, “boys and girls, we should learn to get along. Come on, then, come on-“ he waves his hands frantically, ushering students to move around. “Slytherins, pair yourselves with Gryffindors. Vice versa - chop, chop.”
Remus scowls. Marlene immediately pairs up with Dorcas, and Lily lets her gaze linger on Snape for a little while too long. James eventually finds a boy who Remus knows to be Evan Rosier, and Remus realises that he himself hasn’t moved an inch.
“Are you lost or sumet?”
Remus comes back to himself, finding a boy leaning against his table. Just shorter than Remus, with messy carob hair and metal through his eyebrow. “My best mate’s with that Potter prick, so you’re with me now.” He states, tapping his nails against the table.
His skin is olive, and eyes a poisonous mossy colour. “Alright.” Remus agrees, “but I’m useless at Potions.”
He frowns, “I thought you were clever.”
“I thought you were clever. Weren’t you a hat stall?”
Barty Crouch Jr. Pretty hard to forget the name - but Remus had never spoken to him in person.
Barty smirks, “could’ve been Ravenclaw if I fancied, yeah.” He shrugs, “didn’t.”
“So you’re good at Potions?” Remus inquires, cocking his head and resting his elbows on the surface in front of him.
Barty chuckles, “you’ll have to find out.”
It turns out that Barty is, in fact, awful at Potions. The first one they’ll be brewing this year is Veritaserum, according to Slughorn, and it doesn’t take long to find out that Barty has successfully brewed one potion in his time here at Hogwarts.
Slughorn is clearly distressed by their pairing, dropping by their table every few minutes, glancing at their books and annotations, encouraging them glumly.
“As you should all know,” Slughorn announces, “the main ingredient in Veritaserum is Hart’s-tongue Fern. Now, this wouldn’t usually be accessible here, but as you are all Seventh years, we have used some magic to plant the Fern in the forest. You’ll be expected to have collected the sufficient amount by the next class.”
Remus hears Sirius groan nearby, and lets his own head fall onto the table. For something with ‘forbidden’ in its title, Professors loved to send students there.
“Lupin.”
Remus ignores him.
“Hey, Lupin.”
Shut up, Barty.
“Lup-“
“Fuck’s sake, what?” Remus snaps, rolling his head onto its side.
Barty smirks again, “feisty. Listen, you do the weird American shit, right?”
“Wha- the Fern? No.”
“..no?” Barty tilts his head in pure confusion. Has this guy really never been told no before?
“No. We’re working together. We get it together.”
“You’re scared.” Barty jeers, “poor little Lupin, alone in the forest.”
“Dickhead. No. I’m not just letting you kick your feet back and make me do the work. Meet me in the forest tomorrow night.” With that, he pulls himself to his feet and hurries after Sirius, who’d he’d just seen leaving among some other students.
——
“Panda!” Remus grins, wrapping his arms around Pandora, who he finds leaning against a tree, fiddling with her shoelaces.
The Marauders had agreed they should all take one elective the same - and ended up settling on Care of Magical Creatures because the easy classes were boring and the interesting ones too hard. And of course Pandora was taking it; her second most treasured class, aside from Potions. Merlin, he wishes she could’ve been his partner instead of Barty Crouch.
James wolf-whistles behind him. Ironic. “Pan, are you close with Evan Rosier still?”
She giggles, shrugs, “yep!”
“And he’s mates with Barty Crouch Jr?”
“Yep!”
“And Barty Crouch Jr’s a cunt?”
“Yep!”
Remus grunts, pouts, “do you have any spare Hart’s-tongue?”
Pandora whacks his arm, “not fair! Do your own work!” Then she smiles, “I’m working with Emmeline! I love her, don’t you love her?”
“I don’t-“
“Oh! There she is now, later, Loony!” She squeaks before running away. Off her rocker. Well..
Remus’s eyes find Peter and Sirius chatting not far away as they wait for Kettleburn to arrive. Sirius has his hair tied into a bun - as he usually does for these lessons - with his wand holding it together. He laughs at something Pete says, then meets Remus’s eyes, raises his brows, and winks.
And because Remus is pathetic, he chokes. Starts spluttering and coughing, before he finally regains control of his breathing. The thing is; it’s not just Sirius’s looks - Remus is starting to think he might genuinely be in love with him. Head over heels, insufferably, in love with him.
But they’ve been friends for six years, and Sirius isn’t subtle about the fact that he doesn’t want a relationship. Much less with a boy. Even less with a friend. And absolutely not with Remus.
Still, sometimes, when Sirius winks at him (as he’s developed a habit, it seems, with everybody), Remus lets himself wonder if he could feel the same; if it’s a possibility that Sirius Black might want him back.
Shit. No, it’s not. Of course it’s not. Remus needs to get over him.
Luckily, Remus is snapped out of his daydreaming when Professor Kettleburn finally arrives. And with him is a large creature; low-slung, with five legs and maroon hair all over.
Well, at least Remus can’t get caught swooning if he’s dead.
——
“A quintaped!” Sirius scoffs, “a real live quintaped!”
“Trying to get us killed.” James huffs, pulling his pyjama top over his torso.
“I thought it was cool.” Peter shrugs, then shivers, “terrifying, though.”
Remus doesn’t add to the conversation. He’s already retired in his bed, flicking through a book he stole from his dad’s office (and was quickly caught, but Lyall had only chuckled and kissed his hair).
He had been petrified for the whole course of the lesson - though probably more of Kettleburn than the quintaped.
“Yeah,” Sirius grins, climbing into his own bed, “at least you didn’t shriek like Prongs.”
“Hey!” James scowls, earning yet another wink from Sirius. What was his problem?
“Serious, though.” Peter taunts, “I would’ve expected a lower pitch from Syb.”
“Don’t worry, Prongs, I think you’re very manly.” Remus assures him without tone.
“Right. Oh, hey, Pete, who are you partnered with in Potions?”
“Mulciber.” Peter frowns, “he barely spoke. Looks like he’s gonna do all the work though, so I’ll survive.”
“That’s rough.” Sirius grimaces, “I got Silver. Think he might try murder me in my sleep. Made him go fetch the weird plant thing.”
“Wait- you aren’t going to the forest with your partners?” Remus’s jaw drops a little.
“No.” James tilts his head, “are you? With Crouch?”
Remus purses his lips, “unfortunately.”
“Oh, now that’s rough.” James laughs, “Rosier only offered to get the Fern for us because he thought he’d go with him. Looks like you’ll be third wheeling.”
“Just tell him to do it.” Peter suggests.
Remus shakes his head, “he wanted me to do it. No chance he’ll let me ditch now. It’s fine, it’s..”
“Is it true then?” Sirius asks, “is he right clever? No more than me and Prongs though, right?”
Remus smirks, “he’s no good in Potions. So, no, I’d say you’re still the best. No need to start actually studying or anything like that.”
Sirius and James give each other a high five, before James flicks his wand and the room falls dark, all of them mumbling good nights and drawing their curtains.
——
The next time Remus sees Barty is in the great hall, during lunch the following day.
“I think Runes is quite nice.” Mary is saying, when she’s interrupted by shuffling and somebody clearing their throat.
Remus lifts his eyes from his plate to find none other than Barty, hip cocked as he comes to stand by the Gryffindor table. “Lupin.”
“Crouch.” Remus greets.
“Call me anything but that.” He frowns. Remus knows he doesn’t get on with Barty Crouch Sr - but to what extent, he has no idea. “You didn’t tell me the time.”
Remus lets out an exasperated sigh, “what?”
“Tonight, duh!” Barty grins, “what time?”
Oh. “Forget it, I’ll go. No worries.” Remus offers, waving his hand to dismiss the boy.
“No. Ev’s coming now, but I need to know when, don’t I, plonker?”
“What sort of insul-“ Sirius begins.
“You go then, I don’t mind.” Remus interrupts, but Barty only wiggles his brows.
“Nah. What happened to teamwork makes the dream work?”
“I never said that.”
“I’m not going alone.”
“You’re with Rosier.”
“I’m not going alone with Rosier.”
“Pillock.”
“Dick. What time?”
Remus bites his lip to stop himself from retorting, “I don’t know. Just after dinner. Seven?”
Barty licks his lips and nods, hurries away back to his own table.
“Freak.” Marlene mutters beside him.
“Just don’t show up, mate.” Peter advises, “teach him a lesson.”
Remus does consider it; not going, or going at a different time. Maybe even forcing Barty to go alone.
Despite that, and for some unknown reason, however, he finds himself making his way to the forbidden forest at 7pm on the dot, that very night.