"what are you doing?" remus raised a questioning eyebrow at sirius, who looked with a guilty smile at him.
"i checked over your transfiguration essay," he said, stretching against the common room couch. "you had a few mistakes here and there, i corrected them, if you were wondering. you're also short on a few centimeters, by the way."
"bloody hell." remus laughed, sitting down to sirius, suddenly feeling warm. "and i assume yours is about the size of you again? i remember mcgonagall found it funny last time, how you managed to write a long one in such a short time."
"yeah, well," sirius shrugged, reaching in his bag and tossing remus his own essay (the other boy looked at him gratefully), "you know i don't like writing my homework right away. and what can i do, if i have a lot to say on the topic?" he let out an airy laugh. "by the way, if you need the potions essay, it's in my bag too, just look for it. i didn't write as much there, though, since i'm not—"
"a fan of potions," remus finished, grinning; sirius smiled bakc. "yeah, don't need that one. i had james explain that stupid potion to me, i was in the hospital wing when you brewed it. thank god for james potter, am i right?"
"what's up with me? what did i do again?" the previously mentioned boy asked, jumping over the couch and landing next to sirius, who smiled.
"nothing, we were talking about your greatness in potions." sirius nodded towards him, as a greeting, with faux respect. "and how you helped remus here with his potions work, since he wasn't able to attend."
"oh, yeah," he said, shrugging lightly, "well, anything for a friend, isn't that right? and talking about friends, where is peter? i thought he was supposed to be back by now; is he still in detention?"
"not anymore!" peter shouted, having just passed through the tunnel to the common room. "stupid fucking filch, made me scrub the toilets. i don't know who the hell takes a shit in myrtle's bathroom, but it was like a bloody explosion, i swear."
"no more details, mate, please, we just had dinner," james said, grinning, covering his eyes with the back of his arm. "really not willing to hear about shit and toilets right now, sorry."
"i wonder if myrtle shits too." sirius snickered.
"sirius!" james moaned, letting his head hit the headrest. "merlin's sake!"
"what?" he laughed. "i'm just wondering!"
"how about you stop wondering?" remus chuckled, a cigarette between his lips, looking at sirius with a knowing look. sirius reached in his pocket and tossed him his lighter.
"wanker, smoking in the common room. what example are you setting to the children, mr. prefect?" peter said, shaking his head and grabbing a cigarette from sirius' pack, open on the couch.
"oi," he protested, grabbing his pack, but not before peter managed to steal a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and, too, use sirius' lighter. he flicked it open, took one of his own, and, snapping his fingers, lit it. "great, i have to buy more when we go back to london. what am i to you? a vendor?"
"are now," the two answered as one; james and sirius laughed.
they were alive, and young, and that was all that mattered, all there was to their life, now. they didn't have much time left, either way; why not spend it in debauchery, in beauty, each taking a slice of life?
