the_debt_of_time

nose out of their business. That only left Sirius who had—over the last six months—grown
ten times worse in regards to the rumours that were going around the school about him.
Sirius had almost come to his senses early January when he had shown up in the dorms
looking unbelievably guilty.
"What did you do?" Remus asked immediately. "And why can I smell firewhisky all the way over
here?"
"I fucked up," Sirius said, swallowing hard. "I fucked up bad."
"Padfoot, what did you do?" Remus's eyes flashed with worry as he stood to help his drunken
friend to his bed.
"I had sex with McKinnon," Sirius confessed.
"Is that... not... normal?" Remus raised a brow, having believed most of the whispers
exchanged in the Great Hall in regards to Sirius's nightly activities. While he was quite certain his friend
was not the father of McGonagall's secret love child—all other rumours were never denied by Sirius himself.
"No, it's not bloody normal!" Sirius shouted. "It was the... it was the first time. Fuck, she's
going to be pissed."
"Marlene? Why? Were you that bad?" Remus snorted.
Sirius looked up and glared at him. "No, I was fucking fabulous, thank you, Moony! But I...
I kind of... ditched her right after." He winced, covering his face which was painted with shame.
Remus shook his head. "You're disgusting."
"I know! It's not even her I'm worried about. You can't tell Mia," Sirius begged. "She'll hate
me."
"Why would my girlfriend care who you shag?" Remus asked, narrowing his eyes as a crack of
jealousy became visible in his expression.
Sirius fell back on his mattress, groaning over his mistakes. "Because she thinks Marlene's a slag.
And I don't... Fuck, Moony, I know she's your girl, but I still don't want her to look at me like everyone
else does, okay?"
Remus had been jealous and annoyed, but a large part of him understood. He was
territorial and possessive when it came to Mia, and he still did not understand how Sirius
could have run away from her when she had clearly been so willing to open her heart to
him. But he knew how it felt to look at the girl, think that the sun rose and set every day
with her, and that he would never measure up.