Remus stared up as the rain pounded against an invisible barrier above his head. It was a handy shield charm Remus had modified to work like a Muggle umbrella, forming a semi-sphere above him that would repel most objects. It was a lonely kind of joy, standing in the middle of the deserted courtyard, watching the rain dash itself to pieces above him. It was nice, just… solitary.
The splash of running footsteps on wet pavement interrupted Remus's contemplation of airborne projectiles and he looked up to see Sirius, grinning hugely and soaked to the bone, stepping into his cylinder of dry air.
For several moments Sirius had been watching Remus from the safety of the covered pathway, debating with himself. If it had been James or Peter, or even Lilly, standing in the middle of the rain he wouldn't have hesitated, would have jogged over and enlivened their mundane existences with a bit of his own bubbly personality without a second thought.
But it was Remus.
And, somehow, that was different.
Had it been anyone else standing there, Sirius would have gone because he wanted them to see him.
But it was Remus and, one way or another, everything had been reversed.
The thing was, he wanted to go for all the wrong reasons.
He wanted to go because Remus was beautiful in the rain.
Because the line of his neck, with his head tilted back to watch the rain, was breathtaking.
Because he was shivering slightly and all Sirius wanted to do was-
Things he shouldn't want to do. Things that Boys Don't Do.
If it had of been anyone else, Sirius would have gone because he was Sirius.
But it wasn't anyone else, and Sirius went because it was Remus.
He hurtled out into the falling rain, becoming immediately soaked to the bone, and told himself he was overthinking things.
That it was just Remus. Only not really, because Remus would never, ever, be just anything.
"Hey Moony," he said cheerfully, stepping into Remus's handy umbrella charm.
"You," Remus said with a smile "are completely soaked." Sirius grinned, resisting the urge to shake his head like a dog, trying to unstick his robes from his chest.
"'Swat happens when it rain, you know," he said knowledgably, giving Remus a sly wink and tapping his nose. Remus rolled his eyes.
"Only if you run about in it like a madman."
"Says the guy standing in the middle of the open courtyard."
"You'll notice that I, unlike some people, have managed to remain dry."
"You know," said Sirius thoughtfully, moving closer "it almost seems wrong to remain dry on such a wet day…" Remus swallowed nervously, suddenly aware of just how small the area his charm covered, how close they were standing. His hand went to his wand to enlarge the charm, and then settled back against his side.
"It's a form of rebellion," he replied, imitating his own normally even tone and ignoring the flutters in his chest, "you should be all up for it."
"Oh no," said Sirius solemnly, "I would never rebel against nature, she's a bitch." He edged a bit closer, grinning evilly. Remus slowly began to shake his head, eyeing Sirius with suspicion.
"No, no, no, no, I put in a lot of effort to remaining dry, no Sirius, don't you dare-"
And Sirius, like the dog he was, shook himself enthusiastically, covering Remus in fat drops of water. Remus let out an extremely manly shriek and, as his attention wavered, felt the charm disintegrate. There was a moment of silence as the rain, loud and insistent, fell unhindered upon the two of them but, just as Sirius was beginning to wonder whether he'd gone too far, Remus began to laugh. He rested on hand of Sirius's shoulder, clutching his stomach and doubling over, gasping and crying. Sirius grinned down at him, pleased with himself.
"Oh my god Pads," Remus wheezed, grinning up at him "I can't believe you just did that." Finally controlling his laughter to the occasionally outburst of chuckling, Remus straightened, still grinning. Like Sirius he was completely soaked, and his thick brown hair had been pushed by the weight of the water into his eyes. In a reflex move left over from countless mornings after the full, occurring before Remus woke up in Hospital Wing, Sirius reached across and softly pushed Remus's hair out of his eyes. Seeing Remus's surprised expression he froze, realizing immediately that this was one of those unspoken things that Boy's Don't Do. After a moment however, Remus relaxed and smiled a little shyly at Sirius, his lips wet from rain.
"Back to the Common Room?" he asked casually, and Sirius nodded quickly, trying not to appear too relieved. All the way back to the Common Room they kept up a steady stream of light chatter, gossip and general ribbing. It was almost completely normal.
Except that Sirius kept looking at Remus a little too often, a little too intensely.
Except that every time Remus went to push his hair out of the way he would pause, and smile softly to himself.
Except that every time it rained, Remus would make sure he was in the courtyard.
Except that, even though Remus was now extremely proficient at the umbrella charm, he and Sirius would troop back into the Common Room half-an-hour later, flushed and soaked to the bone.