Lower your guards, abandon all hope

[Remus Lupin]

Word count: 843
Tag: open, all (order members) welcome! (:

Remus sighed briefly as he entered Grimmauld Place, leaning against the door as the lock quietly clicked shut and listening for a sign of life from anyone. Nothing. Good. Quietly he passed through the hallway, careful especially not to make any sounds near the painting of Sirius' mother, and slipped into the kitchen. There he searched through the cupboards for a glass that was still in once piece, found one, held it against the light and judged it would be clean enough. 'Clean enough for a beast like me, surely,' he thought, bitter. He couldn't help his thoughts, especially not today. It had been the day of the annual check up.
The Ministry of Magic had been busy regulating werewolves since the Werewolf Code of Conduct in 1637 and somehow Remus had the feeling it had only gotten worse from there. Well, at least they belonged to one Devision now (even if it was the Beast Division). When Remus was younger, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures had always sent him from one Division to the other, neither of them willing to help, of course. The Werewolf Registry and Werewolf Capture Unit had both been in the Beast Division, while at the same time the office for Werewolf Support Services was in the Being Division. Things hadn't gotten better either since Umbridge had passed the anti-werewolf legislation in '93..
At least they were all Beasts now, Remus thought grimly as he passed to the living room, glad to find it empty. He knew where Sirius kept his Firewhiskey.

He poured himself a royal amount of the burning, alcoholic liquid and sat down on the couch a bit rougher than he probably should have. Another sigh escaped him. Tomorrow would be better. He just hated dealing with the people of the Beast Division. Needless to say, none of them were nice, all of them were prejudiced, the physical examinations had been made as unpleasant as possible, and of course no one had answered his questions. Luckily, by now, Remus hardly had any questions left – he'd been a lycanthrope for nearly thirty years now. But there had been a younger one that had been thoroughly lost, and that was what had made Remus Lupin's day thoroughly miserable.
The kid had probably only been fifteen or sixteen ('Harry's age' he'd thought, and it had made him feel almost physically sick) and though his parents were with him, they had been told to stay behind in a waiting room as it was 'unsafe for wizards to be among such vile beasts'. Remus hadn't been able to help himself and, wanting to help the teen, had approached him, but before he had been able to say a word, the boy had stepped back, a look in his eyes Remus knew too well and one the boy would certainly get to know soon enough: disgust, hatred and fear all mixed together into a bitter mix. Remus had just smiled sadly and walked away, he could hardly force the boy to accept his help, could he? Still, he wondered if the kid would be alright. Annual checkups were not fun at all.

Taking a large swig of his whiskey, he looked at the dark ceiling. Oh well. At least he'd had it for another year. Thank Merlin for that. And he had made arrangements for the paper work, luckily. Sure, it usually wasn't smart to lie to the Ministry, but if he had given them his real address, things would probably go wrong rather soon. They knew about his links to Dumbledore, after all. Remus had two addresses. Not two homes, really, he couldn't afford that at all, but he had set up a rather decent illusion which was supposed to be his address while he lived on the other end of the street (Remus supposed that they'd never guess he was closer than they thought). He could still always hide out here, at Grimmauld Place, but he'd rather not. It was a dreary place and Remus preferred light and fresh air. Besides, there were always Ordermembers around. Not that that was necessarily bad, but Remus was usually rather fond of his privacy. Always had been.
Slowly, he got up and walked to a window which overlooked the garden. It hadn't been kept for years and Sirius didn't have green thumbs at all, which meant it was, by now, a vast jungle of plants no one would want to venture in. He really should urge Sirius to do something about it. Summer was nearly over and Remus could do with an evening or two spend in the sun before the nights lengthened.

Though lost in thoughts, Remus turned slowly as he could swear he heard one of the floorboards creak. He didn't speak, but as he was always on his guard these days, his left hand searched for his wand in his robes while his eyes never ceased to penetrate the shadows in hopes of finding out who was about to walk in on him.

[Ron Weasley]

Today was a mixture of love and hate for Ronald Weasley. He rolled out of bed at a very decent hour. For some reason, his mother did not awaken him early. He lounged in his bed until his stomach could no longer tolerate the hunger. He contemplated scrounging up some leftover breakfast in his pyjamas, but with a scowl, he realized he could not do that for he was in Grimmauld Place and who knew what professor or Order member or cute girl would see him in his too short bedclothes?

Thus the hate part of today. Ron hated sleeping in Grimmauld Place. He hated wondering if Kreacher would sneak into his bedroom as he slept. He hated that Hermione wanted him to be nice to the little creep. Ron hated being in Grimmauld Place. He hated seeing Snape outside of class. He hated seeing Snape in class, so seeing him out of class was a hundred times worse. He hated the dark, somber mood the house presented. He hated tiptoeing by Mrs. Black’s portrait so she didn’t go psycho crazy on them. There was absolutely nothing positive about being here.

Ron showered and dressed. He inspected the mirror in the bathroom above the sink, but no, there was still no trace of a peach fuzz. Ron also hated having the twins mock him for having no facial hair, but they would do whether they were at the Burrow or at the Grimmauld Place. He inspected his outfit to make sure he looked okay, no rips or anything. He made a sound that was a mix between a laugh and a growl at his idiotic behavior, and then proceeded to go downstairs to see what he could eat.

“Crikey!” Ron shouted as he saw Professor Lupin. “How can you sit there so quietly?” He hated when people sat there like that. What if he overreacted and hexed Professor Lupin? Okay, so, that was pretty much impossible since Ron was not like Harry, or even Hermione. His first instinct was not to reach for his wand. He knew he needed to work on that if he wanted to be an auror after he finished school. He had only woken up an hour ago though! He really had no idea what was even happening. He could not be expected to be on his guard that early.

Without waiting for an answer, Ron invited himself over to where Professor Lupin was. He eyed the alcohol eagerly. Sure, alcohol would probably be completely foul and disgusting, but still. He was 16. In less than a year, he would legally be allowed to drink. Ron was never patient. As his birthday approached, he found his desire to have the illegal substance grew. The Gryffindor did not notice the melancholy look upon Professor Lupin’s face for the reason why he was drinking. One track mind and all of that.

[Remus Lupin]

Oh, goodness, I'm sorry it's short! xP I'll be better next time?

Remus chuckled hoarsely as Ron appeared to be startled by him – doing nothing. Putting away his wand, he sipped the whiskey again, grimaced slightly at the taste and smiled at the boy. “Sorry I startled you, I just came back from last night and needed to get my head in order for a moment.” He streched, feeling fatigue settling in his bones, but he fought it succesfully. The checkup had gone all through the night. It wasn't unusual for the ministry to keep werewolves waiting for hours and Remus had often wondered if they did it on purpose, hoping one would snap so they could put him down, or that it was purely accidental. His personal opinion was fixed upon the former, to be honest. His appointment had been at eight o'clock last night, but it had been his turn around one in the morning. Maybe they wanted the werewolves to be tired, maybe the people at the ministry were that afraid of them.
Whatever it was, Remus forced his attention back to the boy in front of him, just in time to notice the boy eying his drink. “Ah, yes, please do not inform Padfoot that I.. borrowed his firewhiskey. He'll ask me to polish his bike by hand again,” he said, grinning lopsidedly. Putting the drink on a nearby table, he added: “It's a vile drink, anyway.”

Rising from the couch, he smiled at Ron. “Either way, I suppose you're down for breakfast? I could use some decent coffee myself and I think Padfoot has some eggs and bacon somewhere, sounds fine to you?” He was glad the boy had turned up. The lycanthrope felt a little selfish for feeling that way, but sometimes, he tended to brood when he was alone, and that never did him any good. As much as he liked his privacy, being around people made him remember to put up a happy face and keep the normal, daily things going – such as breakfast.

[Ron Weasley]

Ron did not know where Professor Lupin was, nor did he particularly care to be honest. He just assumed it was something for the Order that he was oh too young to know about it. The only reason Ron was ever in Grimmauld Place was to be a house elf --- not that he would tell Hermione that. She would probably start doing that thing where her words ran together in one giant long word. She did that whenever she was upset. Ron thought it was cute. It also made her a bit easier to ignore. Not that he would ever tell her that. What? Oh, right, Professor Lupin.

He shrugged off his professor’s apology. His surprise had already been forgotten. Next time, he promised himself. Next time he would be on his guard. No need to worry about pulling his wand out in time. He would just have it on him at all times. Not that he really thought it was necessary to have his wand on him for defense while in the scary home where Sirius was reared. Unless they were trying to clean a room, of course.

Professor Lupin was stealing alcohol? Well, if it was not his alcohol and he acquired it through shady means, perhaps he would see no problem in sharing it. The words felt heavy on his tongue. His greatest desire was to tell his professor that he would keep his secret --- for a price. Yet the words stayed on his tongue. Maybe Lupin was right. Maybe the drink was vile. That was a good excuse. Too bad the real truth was that Ron was afraid he would tell his mother. His mother was not a person to cross. She would punish Ron greatly if she found he wanted to try alcohol.

The thought of alcohol banished itself to the recesses of Ron’s mind when Professor Lupin mentioned food. Before Ron had the chance to respond, his stomach replied with a loud growl. Ron grinned sheepishly. “Sure,” he replied, rubbing his hands together. “Do you want some help? Ron was actually a pretty good cook. He just preferred others to cook for him, like his mother or the house elves. Ron was not sure how he wanted his professor to respond. On the one hand, he wanted to be nice and help. Plus, it would get awfully boring to wait around with no one to talk to. But on the other hand, Professor Lupin was just that: a professor. How weird would it be to talk to his professor? What would they talk about? His Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.? No thank you. Still, Ron knew his mother would be very ashamed of him if he did not offer to help make breakfast. It was okay to not offer when his mom made breakfast. She did not want help. Other people, however, might actually want help fully satisfying the ever-growing Ronald Weasley.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus wasn't about to trouble Ron with where he had been, either. Why would he? In the past, he would have, perhaps, talked to his friends about it, but all he had left now was Sirius and Sirius had other things to worry about, really. Besides, he'd been to those checkups for over twenty five years now – nothing new. He was used to it by now, wasn't he?
He had meant his little comment about the whiskey as a joke, trying to lighten the atmosphere in the dark house, but something in Ron's reaction told him it hadn't hit home. It was a rather dark house.. Taking the glass along to the kitchen, he threw the remains of the contents in the sink, rinsed the glass with water, dried it briefly and put it back in the cupboard where he'd found it. There. Gone.

He laughed softly at the sound Ron's stomach made. No matter how quiet, his ears had picked it up, anyway. The lycanthrope smiled a little as the boy offered to help him. “If you want,” he said, “but don't feel obliged – I can handle it, really.” Turning on the stove, Remus just started making breakfast without really wondering how many people would be eating – there always were more than you expected. Padfoot would smell the bacon soon, he knew, and then he'd be down within seconds. “Anything you'd like in particular?” he asked after putting the kettle on as well as the cafetière. Remus liked muggle cooking. He never really attempted cooking with magic. For one, he knew he couldn't outdo Molly, secondly, it kept him pleasantly busy. For someone like Remus, who usually seemed to be stuck in his own head and thoughts, it was pleasant to do something practical, something hands-on to distract him from thinking for a while. Remus was convinced that, if he would think all day, he would go insane at one point. Hence why he pretended that he hated helping Sirius with his motorcycle, while they both knew he loved doing it. Not so much because of the machine, but rather because he liked doing things with his best friend, for one, and the practicality of it.

“Have you had a pleasant summer?” Remus asked Ron casually. Like Ron, he wasn't quite sure what to talk about either. He could imagine Ron didn't want to talk about school, he didn't like it so much, after all. Hermoine was more the type for the bookish sort of chat. Summer holidays seemed a better subject to break upon.
Remus flinched for a moment as he was startled by the toast jumping from the toaster. Hadn't seen that coming, damned, he was beginning to become jumpy.. Putting the toast on a plate, he added some of the eggs and bacon and handed it to Ron. “Prefer tea or coffee?” As though on cue, the kettle began to whistle.

[Ron Weasley]

Did he ---? No, Professor Lupin wouldn’t ---. Would he? Ron’s blue eyes widened considerably as he watched Professor Lupin empty the alcohol into the drain. Obviously Professor Lupin had not grown up in a big household. Ron knew how to share. Sure, he did not particularly like sharing. In a family as large as his, it was necessary to fight for food, but everyone still received food. Nothing was ever wasted ever. Perhaps someone should have taught Professor Lupin that lesson. A lot of people resided, or at least, visited Grimmauld Place. Some of those people might have desired some alcohol, but now, their hopes would be forever dashed.

Of course Professor Lupin would let Ron decide. With a shrug, Ron decided he would help, “Sure, why not?” he voice aloud. He did not wash his hands since he had yet to touch anything, but just stood beside Professor Lupin. Now he was just standing however. He did not want to just jump in and start doing something unless Professor Lupin wanted him to. Basically, Ron decided to hover awkwardly until he was assigned a task. This was probably a bad idea since most people hated hoverers, but Ron was not sure what else to do since he already said he would help.

“Oh, eggs and bacon is fine,” Ron replied. Breakfast was breakfast. Besides, he did not know what Professor Lupin could actually cook. Perhaps he could only make eggs and bacon. Perhaps that was why he had offered it. Perhaps he could not even make that. Maybe being a werewolf desensitized Professor Lupin and his taste buds. Not that it really mattered to Ron. He could eat almost anything. He had yet to find anything inedible to him.

Summer? Oh, right. “Er, Ron replied hesitantly. “It was, you know, good. I, er, you know, got to sleep in.” Ron knew without a doubt his ears would be bright red. They always did that whenever he was embarrassed. It just struck the Gryffindor that he had never actually had a one-on-one conversation with his ex-professor. Harry had private training with Professor Lupin, but Ron had only seen him in class.

Ron felt the need to respond with something witty so Professor Lupin did not think him an idiot, but luckily, the jumping toast had broken the tension because Ron had jumped, too. He was not used to a toaster. In fact, he had never seen one used before. Once again, his blue eyes widened considerably as he stared in wonder at the machine. “Is it supposed to do that?” He was still staring at it and he barely registered when Professor Lupin questioned his choice in beverage. “Oh, er, tea, please.”

[Remus Lupin]

Remus didn't see the problem of getting rid of the alcohol. It had hardly been a dram to begin with (it wasn't like he was flushing away a whole bottle) and he could either have finished it (bad, bad idea on an empty stomach) or he could've thrown it away – the latter really was the better choice in his eyes. He shouldn't have gotten himself a drink to begin with, it had been thoroughly careless of him to do so; they were in a war, after all.
But Ron was right, Lupin hadn't grown up in a big household like he had. He had, however, grown up in a household where money was scarce, so generally he wasn't one to waste something (not at all, actually). Then again.. he hadn't slept tonight and he had a feeling it wouldn't be bad for Sirius to have a little less to drink. His best friend wasn't sixteen anymore, was he now?

Remus had let Ron decide because he hadn't wanted the boy to feel obliged to help him. He didn't like it when people felt obliged to help, least of all when he was capable of doing it himself. Ron hovered around a bit, he noticed, so he suggested: “Maybe you could set the table? Pretty soon there might be more people down.” Well, at least one, anyway. Remus knew Sirius was still asleep upstairs. It was silly, but he had this thing with Sirius – had had it with all of his friends. In school, especially once they'd started to accompany him as animagi, they had been his pack. Or, well, Remus hadn't had much choice in it – the wolf had decided his three friends were his pack and since then Remus had always had a sense that seemed to be able to locate them effordlessly.
Thus, he knew Sirius was still asleep, but he also knew Sirius was doggish enough to smell bacon a mile away. He'd be there soon enough.
Although potions had never been Remus' forte, he could cook just fine. Not like the Weasley's matriarch could, of course, but he had cooked for himself for years and years and he hadn't died yet, had he? He'd always had to work with a limited budget and, to be honest, he'd never really tried to make anything special simply because he didn't see the point in making something fancy for himself, but Remus could cook just fine.

“Er.. It was, you know, good. I, er, you know, got to sleep in.” He laughed at Ron's answer. “That is always a good thing. I love sleeping in.” Breaking some eggs in a bowl and stirring them, he fell silent for a moment until Ron asked him about the toaster. “Hm? Oh, yes – it is. It just catches me by surprise, is all.” Remus impatiently looked inside the cafetière, but there was no coffee coming yet. The water inside the kettle wasn't close to boiling either. It wasn't like him to be impatient, but he was immensely hungry. 'Faim du loup', actually.

[Ron Weasley]

Ron shrugged, then went about his gently assigned task. This was actually not too bad. He did not have too much experience around adults. He spent an awful lot of time with his parents, especially before he went to Hogwarts. It was never weird around his parents though. Then there were his other family members. Not his brothers. Sure, they were adults, but he did not really see them that way. No, his various uncles and aunts. It was always awkward around them. They didn’t know his name and he didn’t know their names. It was hard to tell all of the Weasleys apart. You could tell them apart from a crowd, but not apart from each other. Usually his aunts and uncles just made him feel inferior to his brothers and cousins, so he hated being around them. But with Professor Lupin, well, they were mostly silent, but it was not awkwardly so. In his opinion, at least.

With that thought, he put a plate, a fork, a spoon, a knife, and a cup at each place at the table. They probably would not have that many people accompanying them for breakfast, but Ron would rather have too many places than too little. He could just hear his mother yelling at him for making someone feel excluded because there were not enough places. It seemed that whenever he did something, it was either his mother or Hermione yelling at him or praising him. Usually they were yelling. The women in his life really liked to yell. They were good at it, too.

“Really?” Ron’s frowned with confusion. “But I thought all professors like waking up early. I figured that’s why classes are so early.” That or the professors just loved upsetting students by making them wake up early. He doubted anyone was that evil, except for Snape, of course. He would make people wake up early just to upset them. Even though Ron liked Professor Lupin, he wouldn’t dare tell him his suspicions about Snape. Whenever anyone said anything bad about Snape, professors always tumbled over themselves to say how good he was and how Dumbledore trusted him. Dumbledore trusted a lot of people. It did not make them good.

[Remus Lupin]

I just possessed Padfoot for a moment, thought it'd be logical, as he, well.. lives there. xD



Remus quietly charmed two plates to remain warm and put the first slices on bacon and eggs on it while he started working on the second batch. He could hear some stumbling upstairs and grinned to himself as he could hear a toilet flush not much later. Pads was so predictable sometimes. Not too soon after, he heard him stumbling down the stairs.

“Really? But I thought all professors like waking up early. I figured that’s why classes are so early.” Remus laughed softly. “No, not really. I love sleeping in, I never go to bed very early, so..”
He'd never considered Ron's thoughts about teachers being evil. He had loved school, after all. As for Snape, Remus wasn't so sure. He usually just kept out of the man's way as much as he could. Severus hadn't poisoned him yet, that counted for something, didn't it? Then again, maybe he was just waiting for the right time.
“Oh, well, unfortunately there's usually things to do that require getting up early,” Remus eventually concluded.

“Like making sure I'm well-fed,” said a voice from the door. Remus rolled his eyes. Surprisingly, Sirius must've realised his friend was working with fire and hot oil and things like that, as he didn't pounce him like he normally did (or maybe he remembered what had happened last time he'd jumped Remus while he'd been cooking - they'd been forced to order in Chinese). Sirius did, however, steal one of the slices of bacon, happily munching on one half while holding the other between his thumb and his index finger, grease dripping to the floor.
“Pads, you're making a mess,” Remus complained. “Kreacher will clean it up,” Sirius said with a shrug, happily devouring the rest of the bacon before winking at Ron. “Looking forward to go back to school?” the dark-haired man asked. The twinkle in his eyes illustrated he thought of very different things than Remus when it concerned school.

[Ron Weasley]

If I were a rich man,
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.

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Ron grinned as Professor Lupin told him that he slept in. His mother was always going on about how when he left school, he would have to wake up early, just like everyone else. Here was an adult who liked to sleep in. Maybe there was hope for him. Truth be told, he had absolutely no idea if he was allowed to sleep in late as an auror. He really knew nothing about becoming an auror, just that he needed a lot of stupid classes, like Potions. Who came up with that ridiculous idea?

Then Professor Lupin had to continue. His grin quickly slipped off his face and he frowned. He was about to respond saying they should start their days later when Sirius walked in. Now Sirius was here? Crikey, he was outnumbered by adults. Where were Harry and Hermione and his siblings? Well, he did not want Fred or George to show up. They were adults, too, and annoying ones at that. Ginny he could handle though. She was younger than him.

Sirius turned on him after his little banter with Professor Lupin. What was with adults and school? Did they honestly think that students looked forward to school? They did not. Oh, sure, it was okay that Professor Lupin asked. He was an adult and Ron had a feeling he was sort of nerd like Hermione, not that there was anything wrong with being a nerd. He just wanted the nerds to realize not everyone liked school. But Sirius? Sirius was supposed to be the cool one. He should not be asking about school as well!

Ron decided just to shrug and start rambling, “Well, you know, not really. Sixth year and all that. I mean, I’m really glad the O.W.L.’s are over, I never want to study that much ever again, but I still don’t want to go back. Except I’m excited to play Quidditch again. And get those feasts.” Ron’s eyes went wide and he looked around quickly for his mother. Not seeing her, he let out a sigh of relief. Ron knew better than to ever compliment the cooking of house elves in front of his mother. She would probably start crying and say how she was underappreciated. Better to avoid that situation. Ron hated when women cried. He never knew what to do, so he usually just stood there awkwardly.
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Word count: 397
Notes: I have to use this form for another site I’m on, so I figured I might as well get used to it.

[Remus Lupin]

While Remus dutifully made more eggs and bacon and put more bread in the toaster, Sirius huffed at Ron's answer, crossing his arms and leaning against the draining board, watching as Ron set the table. It was obvious Sirius was not really used to doing many household things.
“Ah, no, I didn't mean the whole stupid study and dusty library bit, who d'you think I am?” Remus snorted and grinned, but didn't comment. “I meant fun-wise, prank-wise, marauding-wise.” Sirius seemed to consider his tricolon again and nodded as though he approved of it. “You've got to keep those teachers on their guards when they have their rounds at night. I expect you boys to make sure that map is well-used.” Again, almost solemnly, Sirius nodded. “Besides, aren't there any interesting birds in your year? Or maybe one or two below?” Sirius' grin seemed to threaten to split his face in two as he winked at the ginger boy.
“Sirius, I thing the word 'bird' has gone into disuse ever since we left school,” Remus commented dryly, though he looked surprisingly cheerful. Probably had something to do with the fact the cafétière was finally spluttering and spewing coffee.

Sirius happily ignored his friend and continued questioning Ron about a subject he knew they both liked. “Ah, yes, Quidditch. What position are you in again? I used to play, y'know – loved playing. I should consider flying through the library here; it's certainly big enough.. There's nothing interesting in there anyway.”
Remus was, in the mean time, very much about to finish making breakfast and as no one else appeared to be coming down, he put the plates with the food on the table and got himself a cup of coffee. By the time he turned back around to the table, Sirius was already sitting and urging Ron to do the same.


[Sorry it's short! :S]

[Ron Weasley]

you are the paparazzi,
you are the tragedian

Now that sounded something like Sirius would actually say. Ron wondered if he should lie. In truth, Ron, Harry and Hermione really just did not do pranks. Would that upset Sirius? Certes, Ron did not want to do that. Besides, if he did, Sirius would probably just try to convince the trio that they should spend less time worrying about You-Know-Who and spend more time pranking Malfoy and his cronies. He knew exactly how his best friends would respond. Harry’s eyes would glaze over and he would nod exuberantly. Ron was not stupid. Harry would do almost anything Sirius told him to. He knew Harry looked to Sirius like a father, to replace his lack thereof. Hermione, however, would respond very differently. She would glare at Sirius, not caring if he saw, then say how all Gryffindors and Slytherins should be friends or that You-Know-Who was first priority.

It was probably better to lie.

“No, actually we don’t really prank a lot.” Ron’s eyes opened wide in surprise. Stupid mouth! He wanted to lie! Ron always had such problems with lying to adults. Why, oh why, did his mother have to teach him respect? That was why he usually let Harry or Hermione lie to the professors. His mouth just took over and he never knew what would come out of his mouth. “But… we do use the map a lot to sneak out.” Oh wait! Professor Lupin is a professor! No, was a professor. But could he still report them to Professor McGonagall? No way. Professor Lupin wouldn’t do that, right? This was why he hated talking to adults!

Girls. That was a safe topic. Sort of. Ron could feel his ears grow red like they always did when he was embarrassed. Maybe they would just brush it off because they thought he was embarrassed for sneaking out or for not pranking or something. Instantly, Hermione’s face came forward in his mind. There was no way he was going to tell Professor Lupin and Sirius that he might sort of maybe possibly probably like Hermione. They might tell her! Then he would just look stupid because she obviously liked Harry who was smarter and braver and richer than Ron.

“Yeah, there are some alright looking girls in our year.” Ron had used the time Sirius and Professor Lupin argued to think about what he would say and that was all he had come up with. He did not want them to think he liked anyone in particular. He definitely did not want them to ask questions. Just in case they did, he tried to think of the girls in his year that he could say were attractive. Obviously not any Slytherins. They would be very offended by that probably and they would know he was lying. Ron? Like a Slytherin? Not bloody likely. He really did not know any of the Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw girls. He went to the Yule Ball with Padma in fourth year, but that was disastrous. Parvati hated him, too. That really only left Lavender. She was pretty. Sure, she was annoying with all of that giggling, but at least he had an answer if they asked.

Quidditch! That was something Ron could talk about forever. Maybe talking to adults was not as bad as he thought. “Oh yeah! I’m a Keeper.” He did not dare mention how awful he was, “Harry never told me you played. What position were you?”
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Word count: 578
Notes: No problem.

[Remus Lupin]

Sirius upset? Probably not. Also, he knew as well as Remus that times weren't so bright and that the teenagers had other things on their mind, but he insisted on trying to keep the mood pleasant, especially in this dreadful house – it was a setting that didn't really help. Sirius was, naturally, a prankster at heart, but he knew his priorities and Voldemort was definitely a priority.
“No, actually we don’t really prank a lot.” Sirius made some sort of theatrical shrug whilst wolfing down some bacon and toast. (Remus, ironically, was eating rather civilised, despite being unbelievably hungry.) “Oh, well, I can imagine our image is difficult to live up to – takes years of practise, you know,” he said sagely and grinned as he chewed. “You should absolutely use the map, we didn't charm that thing for nothing.” Remus smiled lopsidedly at the memory. “It would be a pity if something we put so much work in would go to waste.” Remus glanced at Ron for a moment and sipped his coffee, adding: “Still, considering the circumstances.. maybe you should not go out at night.” Sirius elbowed Remus in the ribs and the latter winced. “Don't be such a coward, Moony, they know what they're doing. My godson and his mates have been kicking evil's arse for years now. 'sides: Dumbles is watching them.” Remus did what he usually did when there was no arguing with the disowned Black: he rolled his eyes and shrugged, though slightly smiled – he knew Sirius secretly agreed with him. He was too fond of his godson to send him off into danger so recklessly.

Sirius easily forgot about the previous subject as Ron stated there were some decent-looking girls in their year. “Well, you know that if you need any advice to ensnare one..” He winked and helped himself to some more eggs. “I think I still hold the record for wooing the most birds in the history of Hogwarts.” Remus grinned, gesticulating with his fork and countering. “And also for breaking the most hearts, I'd say.” Sirius mumbled something about that not being the point.
Remus fell silent as the conversation shifted to Quidditch. He'd never been very good on a broom, his inner wolf hated it with a passion. Wolves weren't built to fly and on top of that, Remus got hurt often enough without being kicked around on a broom over 30 feet up in the air. Sirius had always complained it was a waste of his 'awesome and excellent wolfy reflexes'.
Sirius' face, however, split into a grin once more. A more gloating one, this time. “I was one of the beaters. Never had so much fun in my life.” After downing his cup of coffee in one go, he added: “Broke Lucius' nose once, can you still see it's not quite right?” He sniggered to himself at the memory.


[No idea if I'm going any good as a Sirius, btw, I haven't really done any research etc. I just thought he'd liven things up xP Feel free to steal him (for this topic or entirely) if you feel I'm doing a terrible job. ]