"Moony, stop pacing," said Sirius. "You'll wear a tread into the train."
Remus ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know why I'm so nervous," he admitted at last, finally stopping his agitated fidgeting. "You're the one going in to meet my parents for the first time."
A crease appeared between Sirius' eyebrows. "Well," he said, though there was an edge of nervousness edging his voice. "I have met them before. Just not as, you know, your boyfriend."
Sirius, perched as he was in his seat, began to shake his leg up and down, tapping his fingers on the other knee.
"Oh Merlin, Moony. I'm going to make a complete fool of myself, put my foot in my mouth, and... What if- what if I blow something up? You know I have a problem. What if I break something? What if-"
Remus placed a calming hand on Sirius' arm, sending silent strength through the contact.
Upon second thought, Remus decided they both needed all the strength they could get, and promptly sat himself down in Sirius' lap. They were almost immediately joined at the lips. Nips and licks were exchanged, tongues clashing and fighting. They fell into a comfortable embrace, plundering one and then the other's mouth. Hands snaked up backs, pushing and pulling so they were connected not only at the lips, but at the chest and groin and legs and everywhere else, practically one person.
"Oi!" James' voice filtered in through their ears, but neither acknowledged nor moved because of it. "Save us the show, you'll have all the time in the world to do that at Moony's house."
James' comment was the thing that propelled Remus back up and off of Sirius, right back to his earlier position. He continued his pacing.
"I have an idea," Remus said, scowling at James and Peter and then pushing them out. "I don't know how well they'll take the news, so I think we should…"
The door opened after only one knock, revealing a shaking Remus.
"Hello, Mum," he greeted when he saw her, dropping his trunk on the steps in front of the house to run forward and embrace her.
"My, Remus, you've grown!" She said, astonished. "You'll be as tall as your father now."
He shrugged, turning to retrieve his trunk. Outside the door, he spotted the reason for his anxiety. Shooing the dog in, he glanced at his mother.
"Hey, Mum, I found this stray dog on the way here. It followed me here and I think we should take care of it for a few days."
His mother looked at the scraggly black dog with grey eyes, wary. "Are you sure? He does look scraggly and unkempt,"
Remus stifled a nervous chuckle at the insulted bark Padfoot gave. "Yes. Only for a few days, then we'll send him back."
His mother searched his face, presumably looking for the reason her son had suddenly found a love of dogs. "If you're so determined," she allowed. "I'll get him a plate of water. Hmm… maybe it's a she- is it, Remus?"
His eyes widened, laughter bubbling to his lips. "Oh no, mum. I'm sureit's a boy."
"You can never be too sure," she called over her shoulder as she disappeared into the kitchen.
As soon as Remus was sure she was out of earshot, he lowered himself to the ground. "How am I going to do this, Padfoot?"
The dog gave a helpless whine, nuzzling its moist nose into Remus' neck. He gave the soft fur a careful stroke, and straightened up, fear pulsing through his veins, burning him.
He was sent to his room to unpack, and Padfoot was captured by his dad and had been put through a good, hard petting session. Padfoot had probably enjoyed that, Remus thought.
And then dinner was upon them, and Remus was right on the edge of having a nervous breakdown. There were so many ways the conversation could go…
"Remus, eat your vegetables," his mum said, chastising him.
He shrugged, continuing his movements. His leg shook underneath the table and he felt as though he were sweating profusely.
"Are you feeling alright?" His mum asked, making a move to stand up and check his forehead for a fever. His father looked up in worry, eyebrows creasing. "You look flushed," she said.
He shrugged her off, returning to silence.
"Mum, Dad," he said after an extended pause in conversation. "I have something to tell you."
They exchanged a look that Remus didn't want to read, and swallowed his agitation and fear. He could do it.
"It's- something bad," he whispered, hedging. All eating had stopped at the table, and Padfoot came over to nuzzle his leg.
"Are you sick?"
"Is it something to do with the werewolf transformation?"
"Are your grades slipping?"
"Remus Lupin, did you get someone pregnant?"
Remus spluttered at the attack of accusations, but all he could do was shake his head.
"Well then, what could it be?" His dad looked confused, if relieved that it had nothing to do with a girl.
"See-" Remus didn't know what to say. "It is kind of the opposite of getting a girl pregnant, I guess."
"What is that supposed to mean? Who did you…?"
Remus gulped, looking for something to buy him time. He saw Padfoot crawl under the table, missing the heat of the dog's body for a second before remembering where he was.
"You know- Opposite of a girl."
He didn't want to or know how to say it.
Twin gasps from his parents sounded into his ears, and he closed his eyes, waiting for the onslaught of anger or disappointment.
Instead, they said, "Who are you?"
He opened his eyes in complete confusion and opened his mouth to speak… only to see Sirius emerging from beneath the table. Only his head, though.
"Hello," he greeted. "I'm Sirius. We've met before."
They were still speechless in shock.
"I apologize for sitting like this, but it would be indecent to get up. Changing back to human form leaves me… a bit lacking in the clothing department. Ever so sorry. However, that's not what we're here to discuss."
Remus' parents had begun to regain their normal colouring, but still didn't' say anything.
"Your son is, currently, my boyfriend." He said, dropping all pretense of beating around the bush. "It is perfectly normal, we have not gone loopy, and if you have any sense at all you'll see that it's right. I love him more than anyone else and would never think to hurt him. Now, close your gobs and digest that, please. While you do that, I'll have Remus show me his room to lend me some clothes. Thank you!"
Cheerfully, Sirius stood up, covering himself with a blanket he'd transfigured out of something or other.
Remus, just as shell-shocked as his two parents, followed Sirius up the stairs.
"You're mad," He said, once they'd reached the fairly safe confines of his room. "Utterly mad."
Sirius dropped the blanket. "Mad enough to attract the attention of another who is equally as mad?" He asked, nonchalant.
Remus did his best to keep his gaze above-waist, but it didn't work. "Absolutely," he whispered.
Sirius laughed, throwing his head back in glee. "Help me get dressed; your parents are probably on their way up here."
At that reminder, Remus' eyes widened and he set about finding appropriate clothing.
A knock sounded at the door a few moments later, "Are you two… er, decent?" His mother asked.
Remus blushed, "Yes, come in."
Sirius grabbed his hand, grounding him and making his nervousness recede "We can do this," Sirius said. "After all, if we've survived McGonagall, I'm sure we can survive your mother."
"Hmm," answered Remus under his breath. "Don't be so sure of that."
"I heard that," his mother said, hands on hips. Her tone was matter-of-fact and she left no room for cheekiness. "Now, let's get to business. Sleeping arrangements first…."
3/50 for Gamma Orionis' OTP Bootcamp Challenge at HPFC, prompt was "agitated".