Disclaimer: Soooo not mine, I'm sad to say. I'm just playing
and mean no harm.
The words
that were supposed to be stationary on his parchment began to dance, then grew
fuzzy to Remus' hurting eyes. Still, he tried to continue writing. Even the
easiest of potion formulas could give him trouble on his best days. Currently he
was in the middle of a complex formula and if he lost his train of thought now
he was sure he'd never again find it again no matter how many stations he
visited. But his quill bumped against the balled-up handkerchief that rested on
the paper and the ink was quickly absorbed by it.
Grumbling,
Remus tried to forget how he'd sworn to himself not to ruin another
handkerchief like this. He grabbed the handkerchief and crumpled it into a
fist. Then he felt a warm breeze brush his cheek and catch the loose folds of
his robes. And, as quick as he'd been to pick up the handkerchief, he quickly
lifted it to his nose. He pressed the balled-up cloth to the bottom of his nose
and breathed out of his mouth warmly against his hand. "ehhhhhh-hehhhhhh..." He gripped the side of the table at which he
sat. "hihhhhhhh-K'chttt! h'chhtt!
Huh-K'Chhtt!" He sneezed as quietly as he could, which wasn't really all
that quietly. Remus let out a deep breath that was one part the rest of the air
from his build-ups and one part relief that it was only three sneezes that
time.
He lifted
his head and vocalized his frustration. "Would subode blease shut the widdows?" But his request seemed to fall on deaf
ears. He looked around the Gryffindor common room where everyone seemed rather oblivious
to his situation. Not that he minded the fact that the whole house wasn't
watching him fall apart, but he was a
prefect and he really would have liked some respect. Though in the lack of
respect, he would settle for a few closed windows.
But the
general population most decidedly liked them open. They liked the cloudless sky
and warm sun. They liked tall grass and fresh flowers. They liked the soft
breezes and sweet scents. They liked... "ehhh...
ehhhh-CHIHHH! Hehhh-h'CHTT!" They liked things that made Remus sneeze his
head off. "ehhh-HihShtttt! H'Chhttt!
K'Chttt! Huhhhh-huh-CHTTT! Argh!" He turned his hand over and rubbed the
back of his hand against his runny nose.
He looked
around to see everyone still doing their own things. Several girls sat in a
corner, giggling over a fashion magazine. Peter was curled in an armchair,
chewing on the end of his quill and looking over his books at some other girls.
James was handing a bunch of flowers to Lily, then taking her by the hand and
dragging her up to his dorm room. Remus rolled his eyes at this. They'd have to
do a few cleaning spells tonight before bed just to get the smells out of the
room, or else Remus wasn't going to get a wink of sleep.
Halfway
through a good scrubbing of his burning eyes, Remus' breath caught again. "heh-h-h'CHHITTT!" He sneezed into the
back of his hand, then dropped it against the table he sat at alone. He looked
across the room at Sirius who was playing cards with a group of fifth years. Clearly
Remus wasn't going to get anything out of any of the other Gryffindors, or two
of his three friends. "Sirius?" he moaned, getting Sirius' attention. "Close
the widdows? Just for a little while?" he pleaded.
Sirius
sighed and nodded. He obliged Remus by waving his wand and uttering the spell
that sent all the windows to slam shut and all the shutters to cover them. As
the candles in the room sprang to life, giving as much light as the sun through
the windows had, groans erupted around the room. "Sorry!" he apologized to
everyone. "Just for a few minutes, okay? Go outside if you can't cope." Several
people did, in fact, pack up their bookbags and head out of the tower.
Sirius,
however, excused himself from the game and headed over to Remus. "Spoilsport,"
Sirius teased, taking the seat across from Remus at the table. "Don't you think
it's beautiful out there today?"
Remus
replied by giving him a cold look, but his reaction was quickly spoiled by more
sneezes into his raised handkerchief. "hehhhh...
ehhhh..." Sirius leaned forward a little out of concern. "ehhh-hihhhhhhh... hihh-IHChhtttt! HuhShhhh!
hehhhChhtttt! IhChhhttt!" Remus' head snapped back and forth with each
sneeze, rendering the handkerchief rather useless for anything when he'd
finished sneezing.
With a sigh,
Sirius pulled his own out and handed it across the table. Remus still looked
crossly at him. "Go on, Love. Take my hanky. Believe me when I say you need
it."
Wishing he
didn't look as bad as he felt, Remus set down his used and ink-stained
handkerchief and took Sirius' fresh one instead. He blew his nose and rubbed it
as dry as it would get for the moment. "Hate this," he murmured.
"Awww,"
said Sirius, shaking his head. "It's the first day of spring. Don't you know
what that means?"
Remus' head
bobbed up and down in a fierce nod. "Oh, absolutely. Sbrig beads by eyes burd
add by throat itched add by dose... hehh...
by dose is stuffy add ruddy add sdee... sdeeee..." He shook his head and motioned
with a finger for Sirius to wait for him to finish. "ehhhh-hihhhh-IHHHChhhuhh! IhhhChhhhh! H'Chihhhhh!" Remus had all
but given up on the idea of restraining his sneezes even a little now. "ehh-H'Chuhhhh!" He sniffled and rubbed
his nose again. "Sdeezy," he finished with frustration.
Sirius
slowly nodded in agreement. "All right. I'll give you that. But spring's also
the time when young men's thoughts turn to..." His fingers walked across the
table, then took Remus' hand in his. "Well, you can figure out the rest, can't
you? You're a clever lad."
Remus
smiled briefly, but then his head snapped back down again. "huh-Chuhhhh! ehhhT'Chhhhh! Hehh... heh-KShhhh!"
Sirius
ignored the sneezes and leaned forward even more. "But I'm cleverer."
"Oh?" Remus
said, mildly interested but not ready to get his hopes up.
Sirius
nodded and squeezed Remus' hand reassuringly. "Because I happen to know what
will make you feel better. I mean, in addition to me, of course."
Remus
raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
Sirius
scooted his chair closer and positioned his mouth beside Remus' ear. "A nice,
long shower with lots of steam and a bathroom without windows."
Giving a
deep sigh, Remus nodded. "Add a boyfried to edjoy it with." Hoping Sirius would
be equally generous with his knowledge of potion formulas later, Remus
immediately packed up his school books and papers and led the way up their
stairs to the bathroom.