Just Another Tuesday

.

Remus Lupin stared at his worn out reflection as he slid his Prefect badge into place. He ran his shaking fingers over the top of it, making sure that the shiny emblem was perfectly lined up. A small smile pulled onto the boy's lips as he turned away from the mirror and headed out of the dormitory to do his rounds. Being a Prefect was hard on the boy when the full moon was so close. His body would begin to shut down and tire out, his vibrant blue eyes would grow pale and lifeless, even his hair would lay limp and dry. But Remus wasn't the type to shirk his duties over such things.

Remus liked being a Prefect. He enjoyed the sense of pride that built in his chest every time he put on his badge. He loved the small sense of accomplishment he got when he assisted a first year to their common room or stopped a second year from being bullied. He also loved the perks: the Prefects' bathroom, the roomy train car, the special treats in the Prefects' lounge. What Remus did not like was the fifth floor rounds he was assigned to every Tuesday.

The boy had no qualms with the fifth floor in and of itself and he certainly had nothing against Tuesdays. His problem was a simple one and it went by the name of Harrison Reid.

Harrison Reid. Remus sighed just thinking the name as he slowly made his way down the corridor towards the fifth floor boys' bathroom. His steps fell heavy upon the stone floor, weighted with hesitation. His eyes stayed locked on the bathroom door, ignoring the slight stirring and complaining of the portrait occupants as he passed them with his lit wand. He stopped at the door and laid his hand over the smooth wooden surface. He put out the light on his wand and slipped it into his pocket. A deep breath was all that he took to prepare himself for what he knew awaited him inside.

The all-too-familiar smell hit the boy the moment he opened the door; it was one of cigarette smoke, expensive cologne and arrogance. Remus frowned and reached into his robes for a detention slip. He steadied himself, trying to push away the signs of being worn down by the moon, before he headed down the row of cubicles, peeking into each one for the boy he knew was near. Remus always assumed it was part of Harrison's little game to never use the same cubicle to smoke in. It forced the Prefect to seek him out in order to serve his punishment.

"You caught me." Harrison held out his hands as Remus stepped into view in the second to last cubicle on the right side of the bathroom. He gave the Prefect a cheeky grin and dropped the end of his cigarette into the toilet beside him.

Remus narrowed his eyes and pulled the Muggle pen from the top of his detention pad. He didn't bother to tell the boy what he was doing. They had gone through the exact same routine over twenty times by now. And in truth, he was just sick and tired of the whole situation. Remus couldn't stand the seventh year Ravenclaw. He hated the way Harrison leaned oh-so-casually against the cubicle wall and watched as his detention was being written out. He hated the smug smile that always crossed the boy's lips when was discovered with his cigarette. He hated the way the air was tainted with smoke and his robes always reeked for the remainder of the night.

Most of all, he hated the game Harrison liked to play. It was the I'm-not-signing-my-detention-slip-until-you've-been-subjected-to-my-arrogance-for-half-an-hour game. And Harrison always won.

"Can you just sign this and let me be on my way?" Remus asked in the most calm tone he could muster considering his nerves were on edge.

Harrison's lips pulled into a wide grin as Remus tore the slip from the pad and handed it to him. "Sure," the boy said as he snatched the paper from the Prefect. He patted over his chest and robe pockets for a moment before giving a shrug. "No pen, I'm afraid." He tilted his head and passed his fingers through his short black hair.

"I have a pen," Remus sighed, holding it out to the boy. His eyes showed no sign of hope that the boy would take it. He was defeated before he even began. "Look, I'm kind of tired an-"

"I can see that," Harrison blurted out, nodding at the other boy. "You look two steps from death." He plucked the pen out of Remus' hand and walked past him into the main of the bathroom. "You sick or something?" he asked as he leaned over the nearest sink and lowered the pen towards the paper.

Remus closed his eyes and took a long breath through his nose. "No. I'm not sick. Just tired..."

"Your pen doesn't work."

"It helps if you actually touch it to the paper."

Harrison groaned and dropped the pen, letting it clatter loudly into the sink. "I said it doesn't work," he insisted, rolling his eyes at the Prefect.

"Look, Reid, just si-"

"Harrison. My name is Harrison! You don't see me calling you Lupin, now do you?" the boy asked in a grumble. He folded his arms over his chest and took long strides over to the bathroom window. "I love when the moon's full," he mused as he stared up at the blazing white orb amongst the stars.

"It isn't," Remus snapped quickly, more from his instinct to be right than actually wanting to bestow knowledge onto the other boy.

Harrison placed his hands on the window sill and leaned against it. "Looks pretty full to me."

"If I say that it's full will you sign your slip?"

"No." The dark haired boy slowly turned around to face the other and reached into his inner robe pocket. "You want a smoke? It might take the edge off you. You do look pretty run down."

"Reid, if you pull out cigarettes, I'm going to confiscate them." Remus dragged his hands through his shaggy brown hair and dropped his gaze to the ground as he ignored the other boy's plea to use his first name. "Why? Why do you always have to be here? You know I'm going to catch you, you know it. Why can't you just smoke somewhere else?" he complained as he let his arms fall heavily to his sides.

"This bathroom is closest to my commons," Harrison answered in a matter of fact way. "So you don't want a smoke. You want some chocolate?"

Remus slowly lifted his eyes to the other boy and curled his hands into shaking fists. "No. I do not want anything from you. I just want you to sign the slip." Chocolate. It was nights likes these that Remus had to resist the urge to throttle one of his best mates, James Potter. True, Remus enjoyed chocolate. Very much, in fact. And when he was coming down from his jittery state after full moons, there was nothing he craved more than a the delicate flavour of chocolate. But he was not incorrigible.

The fact that Remus was obsessed with chocolate was a misstep of a rumor. It was brought on by James' need to explain away three bags full of ill-gotten candies from an unsanctioned Hogsmeade visit in late of fifth year. After James had insisted to Professor McGonagall, and a dozen watching students, that the candy was to supply Remus' insane addiction, the theory spread through the school like wildfire. It didn't take long for Remus to become known as a Chocoholic.

"Are you sure?" Harrison asked as he pulled several individually wrapped candies from his pocket. "They're from a little shop in the South of France. I got them when my parents and I spent Christmas Holiday there. We go every year; we have a house there just for Christmas and summer."

"Is that your subtle way of bragging about being rich?" Remus asked as he turned his back on the other boy and collected his pen from the sink.

Harrison gave a small laugh and shoved the candy back into his pocket. "You thought it was subtle? I was going for glaringly obvious with that one." He leaned back against the window sill and watched as Remus tested out the pen. "Look, you fixed it," he called out in a rather patronizing tone. "Bring it on over and I'll sign."

"Do I look like a house-elf?" Remus asked. He caught his breaching temper and swallowed it down with a deep breath. "Just come over here and sign this," he forced out through gritted teeth.

"Whoa, you're a little snappy tonight, aren't you?" the other boy teased as he took his sweet time walking over to the sinks. His hands lay stuffed down in his pockets and his stride held a sense of undue pride. "You ever been to France?"

"No. I haven't," Remus answered in a feigned calm. "Can you just s-"

"You should go." Harrison snapped the pen from Remus' fingers and beamed a huge smile at the boy. "I think you'd really like it. During the summer, the beach is amazing. Our house, it's just outside of Cannes, right on the beach. You can see the water from any window you choose. On the proper side of the house, of course. And there's lots of historical things too, you could just get lost for hours tak-"

"Reid!"

"Harrison!"

"Fine, Harrison shut up and sign the detention slip." Remus slapped his hand down on the already abused slip of paper and glared at the other boy. His jaw set firm and his pale blue eyes narrowed in annoyance. "I am not in the mood to play your silly games tonight," the boy hissed.

Remus hated when he lost his temper. He fought so hard to keep himself a calm and steady person; to not let the wolf inside of him corrupt his gentle nature. There were times, however, that he was overtaken and this was one of them. Despite all the deep breathing and calming techniques he employed, Remus could not take any more of Harrison's prattle.

The other boy flinched at Remus' anger. His honey-coloured eyes passed fully over the Prefect, taking in his worn down form. "You sure you're not sick?" he asked hesitantly as he picked up the detention slip from the sink. He frowned when the other boy ignored his question and heaved a sigh. "Here," he muttered as he pressed the paper against the mirror and scrawled his messy signature across it.

Remus tore the back off the slip and handed Harrison his copy. "Now get to your common room," he ordered, pointing at the door. He followed the boy out into the hallway and lit the tip of his wand to guide them along as they started for the Ravenclaw common room.

"So about France," Harrison started, frowning at the shushing he received from a near-by portrait of a man riding a Hippogriff. "I was saying that you'd like it. There's lots of educational sites and Italy is so close you could go straight over and you're really smart, so I'm sure that you'd like it."

The Prefect rolled his eyes at the very thought and stopped outside of the tower entrance. "Inside," he said, nodding his head towards the door.

"Hogsmeade is this weekend," Harrison went on, clearly ignoring the other boy's instruction. "I'm going, of course. I'm gonna take Mary, the one in your House; I can't remember her last name. She's not really my type but she seemed kinda desperate and I figured that I'd give her a shot, you know. Maybe it'll work out, what do you think?" he asked as he pulled one of the chocolates from his pocket.

"I think that I don't care one bit about who you do or don't take to Hogsmeade." Remus flicked his hand towards the eagle guarded door and gave the older boy a clear look. He turned sharply on his heel and started off down the corridor to finish his rounds for the night.

"I was gonna say that I bet Honeydukes doesn't have anything as good as these!" Harrison called out as he chased down the Prefect. He held up the shiny foil wrapped chocolate and put a smug grin on his face. "No way they can. These were really expensive." He slowly reached out and dropped the chocolate into Remus robe pocket then backed his way back down the hall to his common room.

Remus waited in place until Harrison disappeared into the tower before finishing his rounds without incident. He was still on edge by the time he arrived back to Gryffindor tower. The boy roughly pulled his robes back from his shoulders the moment he stepped into the common room, the look on his face one of pure frustration.

"Remus, are you alright?" Lily asked, spotting the boy from her place on the sofa nearest the fire. "Come here." She patted the seat beside her and gave Remus a sweet smile.

The boy forced a smile back and dropped into place next to his red-headed friend. "I'm fine," he lied.

"You don't look fine," Lily sassed.

Remus pursed his lips and stretched his legs out in front of him. He wanted to tell the girl that he was mostly on edge from the moon, but it wasn't something he could share just yet. It was true, the two had gotten quite close over the last year and a half since becoming Prefects, but Remus had yet to share his secret with Lily. He wanted to; he truly did. He knew he could trust her, but he just wasn't ready yet.

"Just another Tuesday," Remus offered up.

"Oh yeah," Lily sighed as she pulled her feet up under her. "What did the gorgeous git do this time?"

"Lily!"

"What?" Lily let out a laugh and flushed pink at her own thoughts. "He is gorgeous. Just because he annoys you doesn't make him less nice to look at."

"Okay, okay, just drop it." Remus held up his hand and shook his head in disbelief at Lily. "He was just being his usual annoying self. Pretending the pen didn't work, then he was on about some stupid house in France and going off about how I'd like it there because I'm smart and then he gave me some stupid piece of chocolate." He fumbled through the robes in his hands and pulled out the foil wrapped sweet.

"Oh my! You're right, the guy is absolutely insufferable. I don't know what I would do if some gorgeous bloke gave me chocolate and compliments!" said Lily without any restraint on the sarcasm.

"You do realize that James d-"

"Yeah, I know," Lily interrupted with a teasing glare. She tugged at the hem of her skirt and leaned over against the sofa back. "Why don't you just not deal with him?" she asked. When she received a confused look from the boy, Lily elaborated. "You know he's in the bathroom. You know which bathroom. So just pass it up and don't deal with him. So what if he doesn't get detention?"

"I can't just let him break the rules," Remus argued.

"Who was it that set off all those Dungbombs in the Entrance Hall last month?"

"Sirius."

"And who was it that sneaked into the kitchens a few days ago and swapped all the Slytherin's pumpkin juice with lake water?"

"Well that was James and Peter but in my defense, I didn't actually see them getting the la-"

"That isn't the point," Lily drew out. "The point is that you don't seem to mind letting the rules slide when it's for the good of your friends. So why not let the rules slide once a week when it's your own sanity in question?"

"Because I...well I can't just...but he's going to..." Remus trailed off with a shrug and tipped his head back on the sofa. "I don't know." He passed the tiny chocolate in between his fingers as he threw Lily a desperate look. "I've thought about it. I stand at the door and I think to myself 'what if I just don't go in there?' but I do go in and I haven't a clue why." He smirked at his words and heaved himself up off the sofa. "I'm going to bed."

"Hey, if you don't want that chocolate, I'll take it," Lily called out.

By the next Tuesday night, Remus was in top form once more. His body was healed and full of energy, completely recovered from the full moon. His eyes sparkled with pride as he pinned on his badge and pushed into the corridors for his rounds. There would be no annoyance that night, he was sure of it, for Remus had made a decision to take Lily's advice. He would not go into the bathroom.

It was hard to pass by the wooden door when he knew that Harrison Reid stood on the other side, smoking his cigarette, wearing a smug smile and too much cologne, ready and waiting to make Remus a victim of his childish games. Remus faltered in his steps several times, almost turning back once, but he was strong. He was firm. He did not go into the bathroom. His rounds went off smoothly and not a single student was out of line. A smile graced the Prefect's lips as he returned to the common room that night and joined Lily in her usual place by the fire.

"So?"

"So, I didn't go in. Reid will just have to find some other Prefect to torture from now on." Remus gave a definitive nod and relaxed into the sofa, his smile flickering just a bit.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked, noticing the slight betrayal in the boy's features.

Remus gave a questioning hum and shook his head. "Nothing. What would be wrong?"

The red-head lifted her eyebrows a moment and tried to analyze the boy beside her. "You sure?"

"I'm fine, Lily. Tonight went great," he answered with an exaggerated smile. "I'll see you in the morning." With that, Remus patted the girl's knee and bolted up the stairs for bed.

Wednesday morning brought about a strange sensation for Remus as he sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall having his breakfast. It was a feeling of being watched. He kept his head ducked down, his eyes locked on his toast, while he squirmed in discomfort on his seat. There was a prickling on the back of his neck he was used to getting during test time when the Professors sat behind the students to watch them for signs of cheating.

"Moony, what did you do?" Peter whispered as he leaned forward on the table and stared over Remus' shoulder towards the Ravenclaw students. "You're getting a pretty deadly glare right now."

Remus turned around, though he didn't actually need to. He knew very well who was glaring at the back of his head and his suspicion was confirmed. He raised his eyebrows at a clearly angry Harrison and slowly turned back to Peter. "I didn't do anything. He's a nutter," the boy answered. He tried to focus back on his breakfast but the feeling of being stared at was too much to handle. The boy pushed away his plate and got to his feet, throwing his bag up onto his shoulder as he sped out of the room.

"Remus!"

Remus halted at the sound of his name being called out. He closed his eyes and prepared himself for what was sure to be another round of Harrison's annoying games. "What do you want, Reid?" he asked as the boy caught up to him.

"For starters, I want you to stop calling me by my last name, but you already know that."

"And you know that I'm not going to stop. Look, I need to go by the library before class, can you just get on with it?" Remus shifted his weight and folded his arms over his chest as he waited for Harrison to say whatever it was the boy had stopped him for.

"Did you skip your rounds last night?" the boy asked coldly.

"No."

"No? So you got a new route?"

"No."

"Then where were you? I waited for three stupid hours in that bathroom for you. I waited and waited and I figured you were just running late or something but you never showed up." Harrison pressed his lips tightly together and rubbed his hand over the back over his neck.

"Sorry, but did you say you waited for me to show up?" Remus asked with a confused laugh. "Waited? To get detention? Why would you do that? I didn't realize you enjoyed polishing trophies and writing lines so much."

"To get – What? Polishing the...are you serious?" Harrison held out his hands and stared at the other boy in disbelief. "You're serious. I...I thought you were smart," he laughed.

"Excuse me?" Remus snapped, taking a step back from the older boy. "Just get lost. I'm done playing your stupid games. Find a different Prefect to annoy if you're so keen to tick someone off."

"Different Prefect?" Harrison dropped his arms heavily to his side and turned his back on Remus. "Unbelievable," he muttered as he started to walk away.

Remus rolled his eyes at the other boy before continuing on his path. He hadn't gotten more than a few steps before his way was blocked with the other boy's form once more. "What?"

"Different Prefect? Are you serious with that?" Harrison asked, locking his honey eyes onto Remus' blue. "You're not showing up to give me detention anymore?"

"No, I'm not." Remus stepped around Harrison and hurried off down the hall to the library, muttering under his breath about annoying Ravenclaws. He spent the remainder of the day in a slightly off mood, not able to fully come down from his annoyance. By the time his Prefect rounds rolled around, all the boy wanted to do was get them over with and go to bed.

Luckily, the night was fairly uneventful. Other than one case of two third year Hufflepuffs trying to figure out the entrance to the kitchens, Remus got through his rounds without seeing a single person. He was dragging his feet with a need for sleep by the time he reached the Gryffindor common room entrance. "Password?" the Fat Lady requested as the boy stepped up before her.

"Remus," came a quiet voice from down the hallway, making the boy in question jump.

Remus turned towards the sound and narrowed his eyes, trying to see through the darkness. "Reid?" he whispered hesitantly, not completely sure that his eyes were accurate.

Harrison stepped out from the shadows and grabbed onto Remus' wrist, pulling the flustered boy down the hallway. He ignored the Prefect's demand to stop and tightened his grip when he could feel him trying to squirm away. "Just shut up and come with me," Harrison pleaded.

Remus frowned as he was unceremoniously pushed into the bathroom. "What in the world are you doing?" he asked, rounding on the other boy with and angry expression. "You're so desperate for a detention you've resorted to kidnapping a Prefect?" he asked in a patronizing tone. "You can't find someone else to put through your stupid games? No one would put up with you, huh? You're completely insane, I hope you know that."

The dark haired boy narrowed his eyes and took a step towards Remus, making the other flinch and step back. "What was that?"

"What?"

"You flinched. You think I'm gonna hit you?" Harrison asked, his words half laughed.

"I don't know! You came at me all fast. What are you doing?" Remus flailed his hands around a bit, emphasizing his deep seated confusion.

"What am I doing? You wanna know what I'm doing? I'm doing what I shoulda done four months ago," Harrison answered, stepping towards the boy once more.

"You are gonna hit me!"

"I am not!" Harrison snapped. He took another step towards Remus and grabbed the boy by his shoulders before he could step away. In a quick move, he leaned forward and brought his lips crashing down onto the other boy's.

Remus' entire body ran rigid and cold as he felt the other boy's lips upon his own. He was in shock, to say the least, unable to move or think. He didn't even register as Harrison let his hands drop and pulled away. He stared at the boy with wide eyes, still frozen in place. "What..." He couldn't even finish.

Harrison smirked at the Gryffindor's baffled face. "You really didn't know?" he asked with a small laugh. When Remus merely stared back at the boy in silence, Harrison laughed again. "Well now you know."

Remus opened and closed his mouth several times, searching for and failing to find the words he wanted. Harrison slid a bit closer to the Prefect and brushed his fingers down the boy's arm, sending a shiver through Remus' spine.

"I thought you knew," Harrison whispered. "Until this morning, that is. I thought you...knew. I thought you wanted m-"

"Knew? How could I know?" Remus started at the sound of his recovered voice and stepped out of Harrison's touch. "I'd have to be mental to know."

"More like mental not to know!" The Ravenclaw grinned cheekily over at the other boy and leaned back casually against the sinks. "I invited you to go to France with me, for crying out loud. It doesn't get much more obvious than that."

"Invited? You didn't invite anything. You just rambled on and on about your stupid house and saying that I should...go...sometime... That isn't an invite! It was very misleading," Remus pointed out.

"I gave you candy," Harrison laughed.

"Yeah, well I gave it to Lily. That doesn't mean I'm gonna be snogging her in a bathroom," the boy argued. "This is...this is completely insane. No, you're insane. You're an arrogant little..." He curled his hands into fists and shook them at Harrison, his frustration spreading red across his face. "You can't just kiss someone without asking them!"

Harrison raised his eyebrows and casually stepped towards Remus. "Can I kiss you?" he asked in a tone laced with surety.

"No!" Remus answered in sharp yell. "You can't." He turned and dashed towards the door of the bathroom, trying to block out Harrison's calls to come back. "Leave me alone, Reid," he insisted as the other boy caught him by the portrait once more. "I mean it. You, me, not gonna happen. I can't...I can't even stand you!"

"Just because you didn't get it. You didn't realize I was just trying to get clo-"

"No. I don't care what your reasons were for anything. This isn't gonna happen." Remus near shouted the password to the Fat Lady and stormed into the common room. "I don't wanna talk about it," he said to Lily quickly as he passed the girl whose mouth was open and ready to question him. The boy let out a groan as he stepped into his dormitory room and slammed the door behind him.

"Moony?" came Peter's questioning tone at the same time James asked, "Remus, what's wrong?"

Remus merely shook his head at the boys and dropped onto the edge of his bed. He pulled his robes back from his shoulders and threw them angrily onto the floor while he went about kicking off his shoes. Even his anger wasn't enough to keep a smile from pulling across the Prefect's lips when Sirius dropped onto his knees in front of him.

"What's the matter, Moony?" Sirius asked, staring up at the boy with affectionate grey eyes.

"Nothing," Remus whispered as he passed his fingers through the other boy's wavy black locks and leaned down. He pressed his lips gently to the other boy's and smiled into their kiss. "Everything's perfect."

"You were mad though," Sirius prodded as he moved to sit next to Remus on the bed.

"He kissed me," Remus admitted, his hands twisting together in his lap. "Reid."

Sirius' body tensed up and his face washed with a blank expression. "I'll kill him," he hissed, getting to his feet and starting towards the door.

Remus hurried after the other boy and wrapped his arms tightly around Sirius' waist. "Calm down," he whispered into the boy's ear. "Just calm down. I told him off. I did. Besides -" he let his hands rest at the top of the boy's pajama bottoms and pressed his face into Sirius' neck "- isn't there something you'd rather be doing than storming off after some guy?" he asked.

And Sirius nodded.

A Note From the Author: Thank you for reading. Don't be afraid to leave me a few words in the review box. :D -Jenna