Sunlight glinted on the rippling water as Remus sat gazing at the lake. Late autumn had brought with it a series of warm, lazy days before the frost set in for good. Most students at Hogwarts were taking advantage of the reprieve from the cold winds. Flopped on his back, Remus yawned and stirred the grass with his fingertips. He had spent his Saturday morning in the library researching dementors and Patronus charms. Defense Against the Dark Arts was his best subject, and even that was rather difficult for Remus. Course work didn't come easy for him, like it did for James.

Thinking of James, Remus checked his watch. Both James and Sirius had served detention in the greenhouses that morning, for a reason yet to be revealed to Remus. He knew it had something to do with the dungeons and a certain Slytherin prefect. Part of him just didn't want to know, but he'd find out. Neither Sirius nor James could keep their mouth shut about such stuff for long. And Remus always listened, of course. Especially to Sirius, his eyes bright with mischief and mouth quirking into a smile, Sirius was hard to resist. Sitting up, Remus pulled a blade of grass from the warm ground and tied it into a knot.

Irresistable. Yes, that was Sirius for sure. Remus had his own fair share of detentions, thanks to Sirius and his laughing eyes and boundless sense of adventure.

Remus looked at the twisted blade of grass in his hand and smiled. He flicked the small, green knot into the lake and watched it float past shiny pebbles and orange leaves. Footsteps approached from behind him, the rustle of robes sounding in his ears as warm hands clamped over his eyes.

"Wolf boy." A low, throaty whisper growled in his ear.

"Sirius!" Prying the fingers from his face, Remus laughed and blinked at the sudden sunlight.

"How'd you know it was me and not James?" Sirius mussed Remus' hair before he plopped down next to his friend. Was it Remus, or did he sound a little congested?

"Because I would've used a clever concealing charm to hide my identity from the unsuspecting R.J.Lupin," James answered as he sat down on Remus' other side.

"I'm charming enough on my own, thank you." Sirius smiled and rubbed his nose in his sleeve. He quickly turned away from Remus, eyes snapping shut.

"AhhChoo! Aw, not again." Pinching his nose and sniffling, Sirius bowed his head, eyes closed once more. "Ahh, huhchoo!! Ah! CHOO!! Uhghh."

"Bless you. What do you mean again?" Remus narrowed his eyes and took a closer look at Sirius. The boy's grey eyes were watery and his nose was running, two things which Remus had not noticed about his appearance at breakfast that morning.

"He's been sneezing for the past hour." James answered for Sirius. "And I've been blessing him for the past hour. Your turn, Moony."

Sirius sniffled pitifully and nodded. He raised his head, taking soft pre-sneeze gasps through parted lips. The mid-day sun caught a glint of grey as his eyelids fluttered open and he held his head perfectly still. Seconds later, Sirius jerked forward, his long, black hair tumbling over his shoulders and forehead.

"HuhChoo!! Ahh, ahh, Ushhhoo!! Chooh! AhChoo!" The sneezes, ticklish sounding and rapid, kept coming. Sirius paused to take a deep breath, then started another volley of sneezes. "Ehh, KehChoo!! Ah, Huhchoo! Choo! Choo, ehchoo! Kishhoo! Ahh, ahh, heh!! Ehh, Choo! Ahh, ah, oh. Bloody hell!"

Rubbing an itchy looking nose in his sleeve, Sirius groaned once more. He continued to scrub his nose and snuffle loudly until a look of extreme annoyance crossed his face. Pulling his face away from his arm, he set his face. The annoyed look froze his features and with a frustrated whimper, Sirius tented both hands before his nose.

"EhhYishhhahhh!! ChishhhShooo!! AhhShhhahhuhh!!" Sirius peered over his fingertips, lowered his hands, and sniffed deeply. "'Scuse me."

"Bless you." Remus muttered and dug his own handkerchief out from inside his robe. Sirius smiled incredulously as Remus handed it to him. "I'm supposing you don't have one. Take it, Padfoot."

"My hero." Sirius joked, the words muffled as he wiped his nose and gave a few short blows.

Remus just shook his head and watched as Sirius cleaned himself up. He was used to the light hay fever Sirius suffered from in the springtime, but that usually only meant a few sneezes here and there or a stuffed up nose in the morning. Sirius hardly ever had full-blown allergy attacks like this -- the numerous sneezes and what appeared to be a continually itching nose. Resisting the urge to push the thick bangs off Sirius' face, Remus turned to James.

"What happened? Does this have something to do with your detention?" Remus asked, vaguely aware that Sirius had scooted a little closer to him.

"Sort of." James took his glasses off, started to clean them on the edge of his robe, and shook his head. "He's allergic to various tropical plants in Greenhouse 3. Not that he doesn't deserve the extra punishment."

Sirius coughed lightly and laid his head on Remus' shoulder. Remus stiffened a little and started to nudge Sirius away. One glance, however, at Sirius' puppy-dog 'I'm feeling miserable and don't you care?' look made Remus relent and he relaxed.

"See?" Sirius asked, making little sniffling noises. "Remus cares. I'm going to be sneezing the whole damn night. What's your punishment? You were there too, Jamie."

"Listening to you sneeze the whole damn night." James replied.

"And Peter? He didn't do anything, he'll have to listen."

James snorted. "Peter will sleep through anything, you could get a boggart in the room and he wouldn't notice."

"And Remus?" Sirius continued, raising his eyes to Remus and smirking.

"Oh, please. It's Remus." James waved one hand. "You know he won't mind."

A flush crept up Remus' neck and spread to his cheeks. Two fingers touched his wrist and stroked almost imperceptibly before Sirius lifted his hand and made a rude gesture at James. Relieved at the laughter that burst from his two friends, Remus grinned, too. It was well known that Remus took everything that Sirius did in stride, but it still made him feel funny inside.

"Wait," Remus spoke up before his mind ran away from him, "aren't you even going to tell me why you got detention in the first place?"

Sirius sighed and ran his index finger under his nostrils. "Oh, that. Got caught," he inhaled shakily, held the breath, finger still under his nose, "Slytherin Dungeons, huh, hold on - ahhTishhoo! Huschoo! EhhChahh! Oh, uh-oh."

He shoved the handkerchief to his face, taking his head from Remus' shoulder and struggling to sit up. Remus bit back the embarrassment he felt as a group of first years walked by and stared at the two of them sitting together. He placed a hand on Sirius' back and pushed him into an upright position.

"AhhChoo!! Achoo, choo, ishhschoo! Huh, chishhmpff!! KuhChschh!!" Sirius slumped down, elbows resting on his legs, and blew his nose forcefully. Shoulders tensed as he exhaled, he coughed once or twice, finished blowing and then leaned back against Remus.

"Bless you, again." James uttered.

"Oh, god, my eyes itch." Sirius mumbled and rubbed his face in his hands. Whatever Sirius did, he probably didn't deserve this.

"Why don't you go see Madame Pomfrey, Sirius?" Remus asked. James rolled his eyes even before Sirius answered.

"No way. I hate that stuff she makes me take, it tastes horrible, makes me feel dopey and I still itch." Sirius ended with an air of tired finality and an emphatic sniff.

"But you'll stop sneezing." James pointed out.

"I don't care." Sirius said. "Anyway, yeah, Lucius Malfoy caught us taking a look 'round the entrance to the Slytherin Dungeon. Did you know there was a portrait hole next to the Fat Lady that led there?"

"No," Remus answered slowly and first stared at James and then at Sirius, "but come on, would that really get you a detention?"

"Well, no, not really." James mused. "Not if we hadn't also caught Malfoy doing something, er, private."

Sirius snickered. The look in his eyes told Remus that he shouldn't ask, he just shouldn't even ask.

"Private?" He had to ask.

"Oh, Moony! He," Sirius sat up, barely containing his laughter. "He was snogging Snape! Aw, man, I don't know which one I feel more sorry for! It was just oh!! Ahh, ah!Choo! ehhh -- "

Tears spilt down Sirius' cheeks, a combination of mirth and pollen induced irritation. He delicately touched a fingertip to the end of his nose, fumbled at it for a moment, then made a funny whimpering sound. Hand wavering before his face, head tipped back, Sirius took another shallow breath, exhaling in pants.

"Heh, heh, huhh, uhh!! Ushhooo! Choo! Eh, choo, ahchoo, Huhhshhooo!! Uhh!eshhhoo, ahh, ahh! ah! AhhhishhhSHOO!!" Body twisted away from Remus, Sirius sneezed loudly. "Eshhahh!! huhhishhoo!"

"God bless you!" James reached over and patted Sirius on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go inside, I have to meet Lily and Peter anyway."

"Nah, it's okay, I, hhihh, Hiitschoo!! Ahhisyhhaoo! S-sorry, I'll stuhh- stop... huuh, ushh!! Ushhoo!" Red faced and sniffly, Sirius frowned into his handkerchief and pulled himself off the ground. "Ehhtishhhoo!! ahhishhoo! Ahhh, huhh, Choo! EhhSchoo!!"

Remus folded his arms across his chest as he stood next to Sirius. He smiled patiently as the boy blew his nose after the violent sneezing fit, his unruly hair tumbling into his eyes again. A reckless confidence shone in Sirius' eyes when he encountered the skeptic look on his friends' faces. He smiled broadly and lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"All right, all right, it sure doesn't feel like I'm going to stop sneezing." Sirius shrugged his shoulders and clapped Remus on the back. "You want to see the stuff I got for my bike?"

"Do you really think anybody is interested in that lot of twisted metal except you?" James asked as they ambled away from the lake. "Come with Peter, Lily and me, Remus, you won't get bored at the library."

Giving James a look of mock offense, Sirius smacked him on the back, forcing his friend to stumble forward. James turned about after catching his balance and gave Sirius an evil look. He went for his wand and lunged at Sirius, who sidestepped behind Remus. The warm pressure of Sirius' hands on his shoulders, the dampness of his breath in Remus' ear and the brush of their robes distracted Remus for a few long moments. Sudden realization flashed through his mind and he squirmed away from Sirius, laughing and grinning to cover up his embarrassment yet again.

"I'm not going anywhere with either of you until you finish telling me what happened with Malfoy." Remus swatted James' hands away from his face as Sirius ducked behind him again.

Their footsteps clattered loudly in the main entranceway, the quiet cool and dim strange after the warm sunlight. A few students milled about, looking up as the trio of laughing, scuffling seventh years walked in. Sirius lowered his voice and cocked an eyebrow as a Slytherin girl passed them, an annoyed look on her face.

"I told you, Moony, old boy," Sirius slung an arm around his shoulders and walked between him and James, "Slytherins in love, ready to shag at a moment's notice. Disgusting."

Smiling and looking over the rims of his glasses, James nodded. "Lucius and Severus were having a bit of a romantic tryst outside the Potions dungeon."

"Tryst? Romantic?" Sirius snorted back a laugh, stifled two sneezes, then coughed and sniffled to clear his voice. "They were practically down each other's robes. The Ice Prince groping tall, sallow and greasy there, his hands on Snape's ass. Ugh!"

Remus cringed as a look of utter disgust twisted Sirius' face. They stopped in front of the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, Remus and Sirius waiting for James to finish his part of the story. Sirius sniffled constantly, an attempt to hold back another case of the sneezes as his eyes fluttered shut every so often and his nose quivered ticklishly.

"And Professor LeTrent was still in her dungeon and heard Sirius burst out laughing," James continued to explain, "which caused her to step out just as Lucius attempted to hit Sirius with a leg-locking charm."

"Which yours truly blocked with a Rictusempra spell." Sirius added, rubbing the base of his nostrils with his index finger. "Both of which rebounded and hit Snape and all four of us got detentions, although I think Snape might've gotten off if he hadn't insisted that I was 'a fucking, bloody bastard' at least eight times."

His last sentence ran together into a jumble of words as he fought off the tickle. The sneezey expression on his face was hard to mistake, even if the hesitating breath and wavering tone of voice had not betrayed him.

"ehhpTish! Shhooo! Ahh, eshhoo! Choo, AhhChooh! EhhChoo, ishhhSchoo!" Sirius pressed the wrinkled, balled up handkerchief to his nose. "HehChmpff! Chshhmp! Tshhooo! Ahh, empshshoo! Chooo!"

"You go on to the library, we'll see you at dinner later." Remus nodded to James and placed a steadying hand on Sirius' forearm. "Lumina mentis."

The Fat Lady's portrait swung open, and Remus led a still snuffling, sneezing Sirius into the Gryffindor common room. Motorbike parts may not be the most exciting of things, but perhaps they'd distract Padfoot from his allergies.

finis

~ tbc ... maybe ~