Chapter One
I sighed again as I studied the chessboard, trying to ignore James.
"Come on Moony just give me a clue!" James whined. I looked up, letting my annoyance show on my face. James just pouted, his messy black hair sticking straight up in several places and his black wire- framed glasses slightly crooked on his face. I sighed in exasperation and said,
"I'm not telling you who I fancy James so just stop asking."
"Aw, come on Moony how am I supposed to help set you up with this bloke if you won't even tell me who it is?"
"Because you won't be setting me up with him Prongs. I'm positive that he is completely straight, so it doesn't matter. Just drop it okay?" I said trying to ignore the stab of pain in my heart after thinking about HIM again. I looked up at James to tell him it was his move but before I could he suddenly exclaimed,
"Oh Merlin, it's me isn't it? Oh Moony you know I love you but a certain fiery redhead might be upset if I suddenly switched teams." My jaw dropped and I stared at him in shock before his face split into a wide grin and he started laughing.
"Oh Moony you should have seen your face!" James was now rolling on the ground laughing. I grabbed a pillow from the couch I was sitting on and threw it at him, my face several shades of red. Just then Mrs. Potter walked into the living room where we were sitting in front of the fire to say goodnight and to tell us not to stay up too late. I promised we wouldn't, I was still recovering from the full moon the other night and was very tired. She left and I heard her going up the stairs and a door close, James then turned back to me his face uncharacteristically serious.
"Moony you know you can talk to me about anything right? I promise I won't tell anyone, not even Padfoot. Maybe I can help you get over this bloke." I sighed and rubbed my forehead. Maybe I should tell him. Merlin knew it would be nice to finally talk to someone about these feelings and last year he had been very understanding when I had told him I was gay, saying that it was good because he didn't have to worry about me going after Lily, not that I would have even if I was straight.
"You have to swear not to tell anyone Prongs. Especially Padfoot."
"I swear Moony. Just tell me already!" I sighed again and slumped back into the couch. I seemed to be sighing a lot lately, I need to watch that. I stared down at my hands resting in my lap as I mumbled my answer, to low for James to make out.
"You're going to have to speak up Moony." I looked up at James again and took a deep breath,
"I'm in love with Pa-." before I could finish there was a knock at the door. James and I looked at each other in confusion. Who would be knocking on James door this late at night? We got up and crept out of the living room and down the hallway to the front door, unconsciously drawing our wands as we went. James reached the door and looked back at me. I nodded and raised my wand as he slowly opened the door. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion when at first I didn't see anyone then I heard a whimper and James suddenly exclaim,
"Padfoot!" I looked down and saw Sirius curled up on the ground, soaking wet from the rain. I could smell the blood on him and felt my wolf become furious, demanding to know who had dared hurt his mate. I pushed past James and crouched down next to Sirius.
"Siri?" I said, my soft voice belying the anger rushing through me.
"Hey Remy fancy seeing you here." James crouched down as well and we helped Sirius into a sitting position. He immediately leaned against my side, too tired to sit up by himself.
"What happened to you Padfoot? You look like shit." Sirius let out a bark like laugh before grinning at James and saying,
"It seems mother dearest has finally had it with me."
"Your mother did this?" I growled already thinking of paying her a visit on the next full moon. Sirius and James looked at me and I could tell by the look on their faces that my eyes were glowing amber, showing just how close to the surface my wolf was. Sirius grabbed my hand and said,
"Hey calm down Moony I'm alright. No need to get all wolfy on us." I forced myself to relax and gave a slow nod of my head but didn't even bother to rein my wolf it, it would be useless until we were sure that Sirius was truly alright. I looked up at James and saw comprehension dawn behind his eyes as he looked between Sirius and I. I silently begged him not to say anything and he nodded before looking at Sirius again.
"Come on Padfoot let's get you inside." I said as James and I carefully grabbed him under his arms and helped him stand before taking him inside. James kicked the door shut and we lead Sirius to the living room and lay him on the couch. While James went upstairs to wake his parents I grabbed some blankets from the hall closet and wrapped them around Sirius who had started to shiver from the cold.
"I thought you weren't going to be here until a week before school started." I looked down at my hands. I hadn't planned on telling him this because I knew how protective of me he got and that he would probably be furious. Sirius reached out and grabbed my forearm.
"Moony?" he questioned. I sighed, again, and looked up meeting his stormy gray eyes.
"This past full moon was… bad" I began holding my hand up when he tried to interrupt. "My dad was unable to be there because of some emergency at work. Well apparently he didn't tell his girlfriend that and she showed up. She heard my screams and came to check on me. Moony could smell her and attempted to attack her. If the door hadn't been so enforced he might have succeed. The next day she told my father that he had to either get rid of me or she was going to leave him and tell everyone what I was. So he asked me if there was any way I could find somewhere else to stay until school started and that he would save up so that next summer he could pay for me to live somewhere else until I got a job to support myself."
"That bitch!" was all Sirius said before he pulled me against his chest and just held me.
"Thanks Siri." I said trying to covertly wipe my eyes internally berating myself for acting like an emotional girl. Before he could respond James walked back in with his parents. I quickly pulled away and stood up.
"I take it you told him about your dad? Knew you wouldn't be able to keep it from him." James said smirking. Mrs. Potter smacked the back of his head before rushing over to Sirius while Mr. Potter started questioning him.
"What exactly happened Sirius?"
"Got in another fight with my mother. She gave me an ultimatum and I told her to sod off. She hexed me before I could draw my wand. By the time I got away I was pretty injured. Honestly I can't believe I was able to apparate here without splinching myself. I was thankfully able to grab my trunk which was already packed since I was hoping to get you guys to let me stay for the rest of break."
"Of course you can stay here Sirius. For as long as you need." Mrs. Potter said as she helped Sirius sit up before carefully removing his shirt in order to heal his injuries.
"Thanks Mrs. P. I promise it won't be for long. I plan to earn some money to get my own place. Hey maybe Moony and I can be roommates. What do you think Remy?" I quickly dragged my eyes away from Sirius bare chest as everyone's attention focused on me. I ignored James's knowing look as I struggled to process what Sirius had asked me.
"Of course Siri. It will be fun." Sirius gave me one of his famous grins that always caused the girls to swoon and never failed to cause my heart to squeeze painfully in my chest when it was directed at me. Trying to not think about my unrequited feelings I asked the first question that popped into my head,
"What was the ultimatum?"
"Huh?" Sirius said looking back up at me having been distracted my Mrs. Potter poking his ribs with her wand.
"You said your mother gave you an ultimatum. What was it?"
"Oh. That. It doesn't matter. I didn't like so I left." Sirius looked really uncomfortable and I had the urge to drop it but before I could James jumped in.
"Oh nuh uh Padfoot you got to tell us now. What finally caused you to tell you mother to shove it?" Sirius looked like he was going to refuse again but before he could Mr. Potter cut in and said,
"You might as well just tell us now son, James won't give up until you do." Sirius groaned in defeat.
"Fine, fine." He said pulling his shirt back on with some help from Mrs. Potter. "She said that either I stop hanging out with that mudblood and werewolf or they would disown me and Regulus would become the Black heir. Obviously I chose the latter. That's why I said I need to earn some money for a flat because I will soon be cut off from the Black vaults." I stared at Sirius my mouth hanging open in shock.
The only reason he still tried to keep his parents marginally happy was because he wanted to keep his place as the Black heir. Yet he had thrown that away just because he refused to give Lily and I up. James was staring wide eyed at Sirius as well but Mr. and Mrs. Potter were looking at Sirius with approval. I slowly sank down on the couch next to Sirius and, for once, I had nothing to say.
"Sirius you've done the impossible! You rendered Moony speechless!" James exclaimed. I grabbed a pillow and whacked him with it as he and Sirius laughed at me. I had the childish urge to stick my tongue out at them but held back. Sirius laid his head on my shoulder and looked up at me with his best puppy dog eyes, the ones I could never say no to, and said,
"Aww… Moony are you really that shocked? You know I love you too much to give you up." I gave a small smile ignoring the twinge in my heart at his words, knowing he didn't love me the same way I loved him. No matter how much I wish he did.
"I know Siri." I said smiling at him before I leaned my head back against the couch. The full moon had only been two days ago and I was still recovering. My eyelids started to droop as I listened to Mrs. Potter do a medical scan on Sirius to make sure she hadn't missed any injuries.
"I think it is time for bed. Moony is starting to fall asleep; he is still pretty wiped from the full moon."
"Good idea James. Sirius, you and Remus will be sharing the guest room since I am now using the second guest room as a storage room. You two okay with that?"
"Yeah that is fine Mr. P." Sirius said. I felt the couch shift slightly as Sirius and Mrs. Potter stood up and opened my eyes to see Sirius standing right in front of me with his hand held out to help me up. I grasped it and let him pull me up while I rubbed my eyes and tried to ignore how close Sirius and I were, and that despite my growth spurt Sirius was still a couple inches taller than me. I could feel the heat radiating off of him and quickly shook my head and turned slightly to the left as Mrs. Potter started talking.
"Well goodnight boys. Now tomorrow I want both you Sirius and you Remus to rest. Then on Thursday we will go to Diagon Alley to get all your school supplies."
"Okay mom."
"Sure thing Mrs. P."
"Of course Mrs. Potter"
"Alright goodnight lads."
"Goodnight!" we all chorused as Mr. and Mrs. Potter went out into the hallway, up the stairs, and back to their room. I suddenly realized I still had a hold of Sirius's hand and quickly dropped it trying to hide my face as it burned. I glared at James as he struggled not to laugh at me. I glanced at Sirius and saw him looking at me in confusion. I flushed deeper and cleared my throat trying to think of something to say. Thankfully James decided to help me out a little.
"Alright come on guys you heard them. Time for bed you two need rest." I nodded and Sirius and I followed James out into the hall and up the stairs. Mr. and Mrs. Potter's room was all the way at the end of the hallway on the right then across from them on the left was the linen closet a little ways down on the right was the bathroom and directly across was James room and then the guest room that Sirius and I would be in with the spare room directly across from it. James walked down the hall and waved goodnight to us before slipping into his room and shutting the door.
I followed Sirius into the guest room. I turned around to shut the door. When I turned back around I had to hold back a moan. Sirius had pulled out his trunk and was now bent over rummaging through it, his arse in the air. I quickly pulled my eyes away from the tempting sight and moved over to my own truck and quickly pulled out my PJ's. I kept my back to Sirius as I dressed trying not to think about Sirius doing the same thing behind me. Once I was done I turned around and frowned when I saw that Sirius was sitting on his bed still fully dressed. He smiled at me sheepishly and said,
"Okay don't laugh at me but…. I need some help. I can't lift my arms high enough to take my shirt off." I grinned and shook my head at him, trying to ignore the fact that Sirius Black had just asked me to remove his shirt, and went over to help him. I helped him carefully remove his shirt without hurting his ribs. I had to keep fighting a blush every time my fingers brushed his bare skin and to keep my mind from wandering. I definitely didn't need an erection right now. Once I had his shirt off, and forced myself not to stare at his chest, I helped him into his pajama shirt before stepping away.
"Think you can handle your trousers Siri or do you need help?" I asked smiling. Sirius just stuck his tongue out at me before he stood up and dropped his trousers so that he was standing in just his pajama shirt and his pants. I blushed and looked away, heading to my bed. I quickly crawled under the sheets as Sirius pulled on his sleeping pants and did the same. I flicked my wand to douse the candles then turned on my side to look at Sirius in the dark.
"Goodnight Siri."
"Goodnight Remy."
