Hey. This is just a cute short ficcie. It's Sirius x Remus back in the Marauders' era.

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"Remus?"

Remus Lupin looked up from his book ("Hogwarts, a History"). He had been enjoying the glorious summer afternoon in his usual fashion – curled up under the shady tree he had claimed as his, with a book. Instead of his usual peaceful solitude, he had been… enduring… the company of one of his best friends. Peter was doing a make-up practical for the one that Snape had sabotaged. James was off trying his luck with Lily Evans, now that the exams were over, and so Sirius was left without his infamous partner in crime. It wasn't that Remus minded his friend's company, it was just that Sirius was very… distracting. He insisted on fidgeting or interrupting Remus' book with random questions or musings or trying to read over Remus' shoulder. In short, Remus was beginning to suspect that Sirius was, in fact, trying to be as annoying as possible. It certainly seemed as if he were trying to commandeer all of Remus' attention.

"Yes Sirius." He answered wearily, careful to mark his page with a leaf. "What is it this time?"

"Well, I was just wondering…. How exactly did the giant squid get into the lake? It can't have just migrated from the ocean. Someone must have brought it here. I wonder who it was?"

"What? Where on earth do you come up with these things?"

Sirius grinned. "Well, someone has to think about these things."

Remus sighed and went back to his book, hoping Peter or James would be back soon. As much as he enjoyed Sirius' company, the boy seemed to be following him lately. Rarely now, did he actually get a moment of solitude. And for some reason, Sirius felt it his personal duty to annoy him during these times.

"Hey, Remus?"

The reading boy didn't bother to answer his friend, knowing full well that Sirius would tell him anyway.

"Do you think we could get the squid into the Great Hall for the end of year feast? Maybe in a bubble of water?"

Remus' head jerked up at the mention of another Potter/Black scheme that was likely to get them all into trouble.

"…" He opened his mouth to dissuade Sirius from the idea before it could get lodged in his head and become a reality. But the words petered out as his natural curiosity and penchant for a good challenge took over.

"Well… I suppose, if you found the right charm – I think I've read about it in…." he trailed off, already mentally skimming every relevant library book he'd ever read. Sirius smiled. Remus could be stubborn about staying out of trouble, but it didn't take much to get him interested. Getting his attention, now that was tricky. It wasn't that Remus ignored him, but for someone who was so bright, he was remarkably thick sometimes.

Of course, Remus was back to not paying attention to him, as he thought of all the ways the Marauders might succeed in getting the giant squid into the Great Hall without killing it.

Sirius flicked a stick at him.

"For goodness' sakes, Sirius! You have the attention span of a pixie. Just let me read, just for a moment, without any interruptions. Please?"

"Oh, fine." Sirius complied reluctantly and temporarily, flopping onto the grass beside his friend with a sigh, presumably of boredom.

And so Remus went back his book, enjoying the light breeze, the warm sunshine, and, most importantly, the peace and quiet. And Sirius resumed admiring the way the dappled sunlight from the trees landed on his friend's hair, making it shine, and the way he turned the pages of his book, and the peaceful expression he wore whenever he was reading. And then he went back to plotting how to remove that peaceful expression.