Disclaimer: I own squat.

Chapter 1

Sirius was late to class. Again. He had a nasty habit of doing that. But this time it wasn't his fault, honest. Like the professor was going to believe that.

Although, Sirius thought, it was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. There was a good chance that it was a quiet, fearful old man who Dumbledore had conned into teaching for a year.

The problem was that the job didn't have the same occupant for a long period of time and therefore got a reputation of being cursed. They usually got some crazy, 'out-there' teacher who, to be honest, probably wasn't quite qualified.

Sirius arrived to the door and was about to go in, when he remembered to quicken his breathing and jog in place for a moment to give the illusion he had run all the way from the Gryffindor Tower in effort not to be late to his favourite class.

Sirius entered the room and glanced around, sensing a quiet, attentive air that he chose to ignore. After all, one of the students was still up at the board writing, assumedly profanity.

"What are you all doing?" Sirius cried dramatically. "We're 10 minutes into Dark Arts and the teacher's still not here! We've got another crackpot, this is going to be a good year!"

"Crackpot?" The student looked up, amused, from his writing on the board. "I was not aware I was a crackpot."

Sirius' heart fell through to his stomach. He quickly deduced that the 'student' was no student at all, but rather a young teacher. A very young teacher. This man…boy? Well, he could have been as old as the 7th years sitting in the room.

But he looked wise. His face was pale and he had brown eyes that seemed to pierce Sirius. His had more wrinkles than any young man should, but they were partially covered by the dirty blonde hair that fell over his face. It was quite becoming.

Sirius recovered quickly and bowed spectacularly. "My most sincere apologies, Professor…" he glanced up at the board where the name Professor Lupin was written above some notes. "Lupin!" He finished smugly.

"Consider yourself forgiven…for now." The class laughed appreciatively. "Take your seat, please."

Sirius grinned and quickly ran to the back of the room, slipping into the seat next to James. He immediately began whispering. "What the hell is with Lupin?"

"Yeah, what is he, fourteen? Seems smart though." James commented quietly.

The two boys continued discussing the chances of getting away with pranks and other misdemeanors in his class, oblivious to the classroom surrounding them. They both finally stopped speaking after that all too well known moment of talking into complete silence. The class was staring at them, many with looks of anticipation of the boys' antics and lust at the boys' striking good looks.

Lupin glanced down at the list of students. "Mr. Potter? I was just telling the class that we will be reviewing magical creatures for a time and asking a question about hinky-pucks, when I happened to notice you and your extraordinarily tardy friend we discussing something entirely different. Now please, enlighten us."

Lupin crossed his fingers and balanced his chin on their tips, waiting with practiced patience for an answer.

"I was taking notes, sir. I don't know what you think you saw, but I'm sure a hinky-puck conspiracy was the cause of such visual alterations." James stated seriously, with such innocence that it was almost believable. The class laughed.

Lupin nodded. "How interesting, because I do recall that my mouth should be open when you take notes, not the other way around. You and the tardy boy have just lost 5 points for Gryffindor each." A few classmates groaned, but knew it was to be expected.

Sirius smirked at the teacher and feigned offense. "I would prefer, Professor Lupin that you give me a more flattering name than Tardy Boy."

"You want a better name? Earn it." Lupin stared seriously at the now shocked face of Sirius Black. The class all 'oo-ed at Black getting in 'trouble'. With that the bell rang. "Please read the first half of Chapter 1 by Wednesday, that is all."

Sirius shook his head slightly and picked up his books quickly. The teacher was witty. Too fast for his own damn good. Okay, fine…for Sirius' own damn good. He didn't like being shown up by a teacher, especially one that could have been a peer. He would simply have to make better efforts to maintain his reputation as class clown and a teacher's greatest challenge.

This was going to be a hard year.

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Sirius Black.

Remus starred at the name of the boy who had given quite the entrance, the only one who hadn't answered during role call. He was a Black, one of the few pure-pureblood families remaining, with the prejudices and arrogant pride to back it up. The family traits didn't seem to fit the boy in his class, however.

And what in God's name was the boy doing in the Gryffindor class? Remus wondered, sitting alone in his office that night. He seemed different than who Remus assumed was his brother, whom he had in a 3rd year class with Slytherins.

Remus had to say, he liked the older Black better. He was dark-haired and had the bad-boy appeal that the gir--. Wait stop. Why on earth was he thinking about the boy's physical features? He was a grown man, two years out of school with his first real job. This was ridiculous.

Remus shook his head and stared out the window to the Quidditch pitch where he believed he saw the Ravenclaw team practicing. Yes, there was their slightly over-weighted Beater, a young boy by the name McCall. Smart kid, apparently terrible coordination however.

Remus lost himself thinking about Quidditch and the different teams. He wondered if Sirius was on the Gryffindor team, he certainly looked like a team member. He had a strong build and an incredibly well-toned chest, from what Remus could see through the uniform shirt and tie. That was a sexy uniform on him…

STOP! Damn it, he'd done it again. Back to the Tardy Boy. He needed to keep up with that name, that impersonal relationship. Picking on the boy or ignoring him all together.

Remus threw his head into his hands, angry at himself for thinking about another man. He thought he'd stopped those kind of feelings years ago. Apparently, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was wrong.

I hope this was good or close to it, first slash and all…Please review! I can take some corrective criticism, but no flames! Of course, I can always take lots of compliments too, they would brighten my day. And I really need it lately...