Fandom Books, Libraries, and Other Sirius Issues

[AllGoodNamesRGone]

He smiled by how accurate the password was for today, and followed after his dark-haired friend into the common room. He could tell that the Fat Lady had been wondering why they were here at this time, but she seemed to have been too busy with talking with a knight from another painting to give them more than a strange look. Since it was a day near exams, and the hour close to dinner, the dorm was currently empty for other Gryffindors. Unlike the rest of the school, the two had provided their dinner themselves after all, and studying had also seemed to be on hold.

"We should only stay until after dinner ends. So the others don't see all this, or my prefect days are over," he told him, catching the pillow in the air and took a seat on the floor. A time the map could have come in handy, but he suppose they would have to rely on their hearing. He smiled a little by his words, as he got comfortable on the floor. 'Friends before firewhiskey'

"I will cheer to that," he agreed and took the bottle when it was offered to him. He took a swig of the strong drink. The first time he had had Firewhiskey he remembered coughing and reverting comically. Albeit brilliant taste, it burned like no other alcohol down the throat. The first sips making you feel like you lit your body up with an inner fire, but without pain. This time though, Remus had tried it before and just closed his eyes briefly by the burning sensation. After all, he knew what would come next. Firewhiskey didn't only get you drunk, but filled your body with real courage. The magic could make you feel brave in small doses, but overly reckless in larger ones.

He lowered the bottle and cleared his throat. "This is a really good one," he told him and handed it Sirius' way with a smile.

He suddenly got up and went to his bag to retrieve a set of cards. Yet, the coloring was making it obvious that it was not ordinary ones. It was a set of 'Exploding Snap' cards. The magical wizarding exploding game, which they had played a few times, but it was always a hassle that you needed new cards every time you played a game, which meant they would probably only have two or three solid games.

"Want to play a few rounds, loser drinks, and winner...," he thought about it and shrugged his shoulder, not having something for the winner to get off the top of his head.

 

[Arabella Cauwell]

It was difficult for Sirius to relate to the thought of not wanting to get caught for fear of getting a title taken away. Hell he’d practically dared his own mother to do so with the Black family name. Besides Sirius was the least likely to be considered Prefect material, neither had ever wanted that role or any other that might bring honor upon the house of Black. In fact Sirius had been practically convinced that Dumbledore had partially made Remus prefect in the hope of taming or at least slightly regulating his own and to a lesser degree nowadays James shenanigans. It hadn’t worked much to be honest. Remus had a hard time telling his own friends off and Sirius had no problem messing with other prefects, students, or even most professors who tried to tell him what to do. He would not make Remus have a hard time, but he hadn’t felt his behavior very curbed by one Remus Lupin. Still he decided to agree for arguments sake,

“As you wish Remmy, we can think of something in a bit when it comes up.”

Sirius watched Remus finish off his first gulp and smirked as he reached over and knocked back a swig of it himself. He smiled as the burning sensation filled his throat and tickled his nose. Drinking was a funny thing for Sirius as he didn’t have too many boundaries or held back inhibitions…well there were some, but he didn’t think that he’d get smashed enough sharing a bottle of firewhiskey to let those skeletons make their way out of the closet. But who knew? The night was still young.

He smiled back at Remus who explained that the brand was more than acceptable,

“You’ve got that right.”

Sirius smiled at the cards, between that and the drinking it was turning out to be a delinquent night for Remmy. From Libraries to Liquor, all in a days work for a bored Sirius Black and accommodating Remus Lupin. Since he had kind of brought Remus through a crazy day he thought that playing a few games as Remus wanted would help begin to even things out and of course he could help with the problem of what the winner gets after all.

Sirius cleared a spot in front of them for the cards before finishing Remus’ unfinished sentence,

“The winner per round gets to give an order or has to answer a question truthfully. I have some Veritaserum left over from the time I…actually it’s better if you don’t know,” Sirius said stopping himself with a chuckle, “anyway that would make things interesting.”

Sirius made sure to look up at Remus’ face to see how comfortable he was with the idea before prompting,

“What do you say Moony?”

 

[AllGoodNamesRGone]

"Veritaserum?" asked and looked at Sirius taken aback. That was strong stuff, he had no idea Sirius was carrying that around. He had once read about wizards who spilled their deepest secrets in interrogation, without a pinch of hesitance, just by drinking a few drops. Remus had to admit, that the thought of being able to ask Sirius 'anything', was kind of intriguing. For a brief moment his head was coming up with all kinds of things he wanted to know, funny facts, stories and even deeper questions. However, all that was quickly outweighed by the thought of the reverse; that Remus would tell him everything. His rationality taking over, and deciding that the odds were too risky.

"Fine, I agree to the question or order. But can't you just take my word for it instead of using the serum?" He asked and started shuffling the cards in his hand. "...you shouldn't use that stuff lightly, you can make anyone say anything, you know?" He knew he was probably revealing that there were things he didn't want Sirius to know, but hiding it under a layer of 'common sense': 'It was dangerous', 'forbidden to students'... etc etc.

"Not that I will lose," he said, sending him a smile.

Then he split the pile in two halves, holding them against each other to see if they were about equal, before he handed one pile to Sirius. The cards would automatically flip over when they started the game, and when two cards were identical you had to be the first to tap your wand on the image. It was a game of reflex. His eyes instantly concentrated, as the pile started magically turning the cards. One by one, ready to tap the card if they happened to be identical to Sirius'.

 

[Arabella Cauwell]

Sirius Black was a doer, not a thinker. He had taken many risks before without stopping to think about the consequences, ‘like a true Gryffindor,’ he would say. That wasn’t to say he didn’t have his scheming moments, but generally he was more of a head on kind of guy. So in mentioning Veritaserum he had wanted to spice things up and perhaps know more about Remus’ true feelings, but he was not even a little bit thinking that he could lose and thus he would have to tell the truth. Perhaps it was the part of him that was the arrogant element that didn’t allow him to think about losing. He nodded at the potions name, but listened closely to what Remus had to say about it.

It wasn’t necessarily suspicious that Remus didn’t want to use Veritaserum, after all he was a Prefect and it was definitely against the rules to have it and use it, especially as a student, but Sirius didn’t see the big deal in that. It also wasn’t that he didn’t trust Remus per say, indeed he would trust the boy with his life, but oddly sometimes people treated their lives more poorly then there secrets. He was happy that Remus had at least agreed to the betting, but was there something important that Remus was hiding from him?

Sirius tented his fingers and tilted his head trying to see Remus from an angle to catch something he may have been missing. Considering what Sirius already knew about him should be his biggest secret, that he was a werewolf, one would think that anything after that would be lower level and could be known. But he supposed everyone had their secrets. He himself wasn’t as forthright about things as he appeared to be after all. But how much did he want to know the secrets that Remus was hiding? Was he ready for them? Sirius wasn’t sure, but the challenge of it intrigued him,

“Are you keeping something important from me Moony? Taking ones word is not a problem between friends, but if you really wanted to get out of Veritaserum you could have just chosen the order. I’m a bit intrigued that you focused in on the truth serum as the problem, generally people fear orders more than they fear truths. Doesn’t the thought of making someone say anything intrigue you? Why does that idea scare you so much?”

After going Prefect on him about the Veritaserum, Remus began to act cocky, which caused Sirius to chuckle a little, he liked when Remus acted cheeky, even though it was usually false bravado,

“Well we’ll see about that Remmy.”

When the cards began to magically turn, Sirius watched closely, wand at the ready. This game was one of concentration, which was decidedly not Sirius’ best attribute, but his hands were quick and skilled which is where he had a chance. Soon they would find out who would be the first winner.

 

[AllGoodNamesRGone]

When asked if he was keeping 'something' from him, 'something' did come to mind. Remus' eyes momentarily flickered, and he let out a not so convincing; "What? No," spoken way too fast, and he seemed to realise it himself, because he cleared his throat.

He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again he had gathered himself as if nothing had happened. Looking at him with a more resolute expression, and better pokerface. "I am a prefect," he pointed out. "... we would lose a lot of house-points for Gryffindor if any teacher found the serum, or knew that we used it. If they asked, we wouldn't be able to lie, remember? That makes the serum a greater risk than orders." He had made it up, but it did make some sense. The marauders were a gift and a curse when it came to Hogwarts points; they scored a lot of them in classes, but they lost them in their tricks and schemes whenever they happened to got caught. His theory could technically be valid, but it wasn't why he had hesitated. Remus didn't elaborate more though.

Cards flipped and went up in smoke between the two players. Their game was close, and both of them seemed to concentrate as the cards turned. First slow and then faster. Remus got the first matching set, but as the game progressed Sirius got the lead on him, and soon he had no more cards to flip in front of him. The last of Remus' deck going up in smoke. "Merlin..." he sighed, as he lost, and lowered his wand. The last smoke rising up between them and fading into the air.

He send Sirius a smile, and picked up the firewhiskey to take a swig dutifully. When he had had some of the burning liquor, he looked up at his friend, setting it down next to them. "Alright, I choose an order," he told him. Mostly to back up his claim from before.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked him, and looked over at him awaiting, hands resting on his knees. He didn't show it, but there was a part of him that was naturally apprehensive for what Sirius Black could choose for him. "...I am not burning any books."

 

[Arabella Cauwell]

Sirius had always had a keen understanding of people. Perhaps it was growing up pureblood among suck ups and liars, or from an animalistic instinct he had from one to many jaunts as a dog, or perhaps he had been born with the ability and honed it throughout time. Whatever the case Sirius was a keen observer and Remus was a very bad liar, at least to friends, in all fairness Remus could lie quite well and had to in order to keep his furry little secret if you really thought about it. But the quick pace, the throat clearing, the having to gather himself left Sirius smirking knowingly at him, even though he himself had no idea what the secret he was keeping even was,

“Well then it shouldn’t be a problem for you then should it?” Sirius said cheekily.

Sirius really admired Remus’ intelligence sometimes. He could tell that Remus feared some secret of his, but despite that he had come up with a very good reason, at least a very Remus-like reason, not to do it. Of course Sirius could not tolerate Slytherins having a chance to win the house cup, but at the same time he didn’t generally curb his behavior on average to help Gryffindor much. But Sirius loved risks. It was practically in every fiber of his being, risking being friends with a werewolf, risking his neck to ride a motorcycle, risking his inheritance for freedom, hell he’d even risked his friendship albeit unintentionally to mess with Snape. When you really thought about it risk should have been his very name.

“What’s a life without risks though Remmy? Not much of one I’ll bet.”

Sirius smiled up at Remus his eyes dancing with mischief as Remus’ deck disappeared from sight. He enjoyed a taunting look at Remus as the other chose an order, but chuckled a bit as his mind reeled with the possibilities. Some playful, others taboo.

“I didn’t take you for one who was into that sort of thing Moony.” Sirius said teasing as he wiggled his eyebrows, with one such as Sirius Black it was quite dangerous to accept an order.

As Remus shifted nervously in front of him and even said he refused to burn books Sirius couldn’t help but laugh out loud. He didn’t want to push too hard, too quickly, but he definitely had some rather fresh thoughts in mind. Sirius wracked his mind for something that could be somewhere in between getting his way and not forcing it or messing with the friendship to irreparably, and that’s when he thought of a loophole, but he figured it wasn’t quite time to use it just yet, so he said,

“Let’s save the punishments for after the next round shall we? There’s only so much time to play since you want us to have this cleaned up before anyone returns right? What say you?” Sirius questioned, his hands tented under his chin, “if we hold off I promise it won’t be about burning books…at least not this time.”

He gave Remus one of his signature heartthrob smiles as he awaited the other boy’s answer.

 

[AllGoodNamesRGone]

Remus waved his wand over the small pile of ash on the ground, and the cards started to slowly materialise back to their former shapes. Specks of dust reattaching mid-air, and swirling around to find correct placement in pace with the flicks of his wand. The dark sot turning into images, and one- by one they flew over in a perfect pile. He picked it up and shuffled the cards in his hands a few times, while looking over at Sirius and listening to his unorthodox request of 'saving' his dare for later. Remus wasn't sure what he was up to, and it rendered his eyes vaguely suspicious, but also a bit curious what it could be. Trying to figure out what his friend was thinking about, but naturally not having much to go on, except a brilliant poster-boy smile flashed in his direction.

He let out a scoff.

"Firstly, you calling it 'punishment' is not further supporting your case," he said, while blending the cards between each other, old-school with his hands. "...secondly, it's not usually the person who gives the order who want extended time," he pointed out, and then put the pile down before them, and split them in two equal piles. "...But if you don't have anything too harmful planned, I suppose its fine."

Maybe it was the alcohol.

He looked over at him and waited for him to get his wand ready again. "Then let's take the next game," he told him and tapped the top of the pile to initiate the deck for another game to be played.

Soon, the piles started flipping their tops, and this time Remus' eyes were sharply watching the cards. Concentrating more than previously, and tapping the tops of the cards. If Sirius won again he would either have to take two "Punishments", as he called them, or he would have to actually take a Truth. He was pretty sure he knew what Sirius would be asking him, so both of those options weren't all that desirable.

To his relief he played a good game this time though, and in the end he had two cards left when Sirius ran out of his. The last one exploding, and Remus' shoulder's seemed to relax upon the win. Eyes looking over at him with a faint smile.

"Alright, what do you choose?" he asked him.

 

[Arabella Cauwell]

Sirius’ already wide smirk got if possibly even brighter blooming into a smile with just a hint of mischief in the eyes as Remus agreed to his proposal,

“What Remus you’re not into punishments? Some people like that sort of thing,” Sirius said amused, “as for usual people I don’t know much about them, nothing about me has ever been quite usual.”

He also wanted to ask the other boy to define harmful, but didn’t want Remus to take it back. It probably wouldn’t fit that description anyway.

Sirius readied his wand again and for the second match Remus concentrated much closer, but Sirius’ concentration lessened as he wondered what to make Remus do, within reason. Soon although his wand was out Remus had got him and Sirius looked up surprised when it was over, but he was nothing if not amused by his own spacing out and he was happy to see Remus smile, albeit faintly at his win.

Upon being asked what he choose Sirius tented his fingers and smirked challengingly at Remus,

“Dealer’s choice.” He said huskily, not meaning to seduce necessarily, but the drink and the circumstances caused him to relax.

He wasn’t sure which one wanted. Remus was not someone who talked a lot about what he wanted, so Sirius liked to extract the information from him, sometimes in sneaky ways. There was the chance that Remus would not want anything from him of course, but if he did want it Sirius would give it to him and take note for that matter,

“So Remmy what would you like me to do?” he said his aristocracy showing in the gentle tilt of his head as he watched for Remus’ answer.