So, an extremely short one-shot written for the "Don't Drink and Apparate"-challenge. I've finally gotten some time to write today, but obviously I don't have much time, and even less patience, so do forgive me for publishing without re-checking for errors and please overlook my laziness in this thing - I just think of these challanges as quick works of therapy while waiting for a real good idea to pop into my head so... well, just bare with me
Disclaimer: As always, I do not own the characters, seeing as James belongs to Lily and Remus belongs to Sirius and the whole lot of them belongs to J K Rowling, whom I am not. (Still mourning this fact, though)
Apparation skills
Arrgh, those bloody D's, why'd he never get 'em right? They were called the three D's to help him remember the way things went, for Merlin's sake!
Sirius Black had been enjoying himself unusually much for a summer break. In fact, he'd been determined to enjoy every single day of it in his new-won freedom. It had of course been a while now, since he'd run away and been disowned by his family, but this summer – the sweet summer before his final year at Hogwarts – was the first of which he got to spend his entire time bunking at James' place and constantly hanging around his fellow Marauders.
Well, not Messer Moony of course – not yet, mind you – since he'd been on a vacation trip to Scandinavia with his parents ever since their break had begun, but there was still a couple of weeks left and he'd come home tomorrow. Sirius was exited to have the whole quartet reunited again, and… well, to be honest, he had simply missed the bloke terribly much.
The thing was, he'd been out with James this evening – and he'd possibly had slightly too much to drink – having a real good time until James decided to ditch him in favour of the familiar redhead he'd been hitting on since third year. This was when Sirius decided he should better leave his friend to his own with the girl and head back to his – James' – place to get some sleep, not wanting to be worn out when meeting with Remus tomorrow (or rather, today in a couple of hours).
Unfortunately, this was also when Sirius remembered that he hadn't come here riding his bike. His highly beloved flying motorcycle was still left at James' as the bloke in question still hadn't quite learnt to trust the beautiful piece of enchanted metal. Stupid twat. Riding his bike would be so much nicer than apparating, but hell no; they would have to do it the hard way!
Now Sirius had found out that the quite complicated art of apparation became even more complicated if one was tired and slightly tipsy. That bottle of firewhiskey had seemed so very tempting and had made him feel so good at the time – now, however…
He heaved a sigh. It had been a while now since he'd taken and managed the Apparation Test, so really, this shouldn't be so damn hard. All right. Let's think this through. De… Destination, right. Uhm… bed. Sleep. The room where he bunked. Godric's Hollow.
Hm… Determination, yes. Bed! Now! He knew it wasn't so very polite to just apparate straight into someone's home, but then again how polite was it to bang on the door to the Potter mansion this late – or early – and wake up the Mr and Mrs of the house just to get inside? No, the best thing to do here was probably to just pop straight into James' room – quite literally – trying to be as silent as possible. They didn't have any Anti-apparation spells on the house anyway, so he would take that as a kind, considerate invite.
Now, what was next? Why, oh why, did he always tend to forget the last D? His thoughts drifted away just as he tried to remember, and Merlin's balls, did he need sleep before the upcoming reunion! James could do whatever the hell he wanted, but Sirius didn't want to be a zombie or a hyped puppy when seeing Remus again.
Hey, that was it, deliberation! He turned on the spot, already imagining himself on his way crawling into bed. He felt that darn right unpleasant feeling of all of him being squeezed together tightly by pressure, as if pressed through something as tight as three sizes too small leather pants. He was relieved when it stopped and he felt the temperature around him change to a warmer, though not a stifling one, and everything around him went dark as the only source of light in the room was that from stars and a crescent seeping in through the window.
He immediately started unbuttoning his shirt and stripping his pants off silently. He didn't notice anyone else's presence in the dark room; neither did the other person as he was sleeping peacefully in the bed until he was brutally awakened when said bed got invaded by an unexpected guest.
"What the fuck?" was the words that startled a somewhat drunken Sirius enough of registering another person in the room, almost jumping out of bed in shock as he did so (and the fact that the now wide awake other person reflexively fought to push him away didn't really help him stay in there either). But that touch – the abnormally violent touch, but still – and that voice – though cursing and shocked – didn't pass unrecognised. Sirius knew this person, knew him well.
"Moony?" he asked in awe. He was certain about who this was, he just didn't understand why he was here.
The other person immediately stopped twisting – fighting back the enemy – underneath the thin sheet that was his summer cover, and they both turned to try and face each other.
"Padfoot?" Remus Lupin seemed to be just as surprised at finding the identity of the stranger as the other Marauder had been, at the very least. "What are you doing here?"
"I was just about to ask you the same thing", Sirius explained. "You said you weren't supposed to return from your vacation until tomorrow."
"Er…" Sirius could see his friend smile sheepishly even in the dark. "I lied", he admitted somewhat hesitantly. "I got home about an hour ago, and I needed to get some sleep before you guys would come and…" He trailed off.
"… Rip the tapestry and turn everything upside-down?" Sirius suggested helpfully, and the brunette gave a quiet laugh. "Welcome home then, Moony dearest! You missed me?" he added, smiling wickedly as he half-sat to give the other bloke a hug.
In doing this, he fully exposed his bare chest for a pair of hazel eyes and the moonlight to linger on; to capture and frame his contours to shine ever-so delicately. Remus got side-tracked for a little while, but as Sirius wrapped his arms around him for a quick embrace, he gathered himself, answering to Sirius' question as said bloke had drawn a couple of inches back.
"Nope", he teased. "Not the slightest."
"Bloody liar, I know you have", Sirius stated unquestionably. "I'll have you know I've missed you too – a lot, thank you very much."
"Oh, sure, because you've obviously been all alone, without James or Peter as well", Remus said ironically. "You have been suffering unbelievably all the time, I suppose."
"You can't imagine!" Sirius exclaimed dramatically. "James is great fun and all, but he's just… not you", he stated observantly. "Speaking of which, how come you're in his house? You bunking here too?" he asked less intelligently.
Remus raised an eyebrow and a small, amused smile appeared at his lips. "You are aware that you're in my house, right?" he asked, only to have his friend stare at him in utter surprise.
"Whaaat?" he asked, letting his drunken tiredness slip along with the confusion. "Damn it, must have been thinking too much of you when I disapparated", he realized, completely unashamed of acknowledging this. "You know, the Ministry should put out an official warning that one shouldn't drink and apparate."
"Yeah absolutely", Remus nodded, seemingly agreeing. "They really should not just presume that every witch or wizard alive has the one brain cell it takes to figure that out on their own."
"Exactly!" Sirius exclaimed, though then he found he'd need to think this through. "Wait… what?"
Remus simply sighed and shook his head. "Exactly how much have you been drinking, Sirius?" he asked patiently.
"Not all that much", the black-haired bloke replied, waving it off. "And I think I'm starting to sober up now anyway."
"Well, I think you're not", Remus retorted. "And I know you need to get home and get into your own bed now."
"James' extra bed, you mean?" he asked. "It's not as comfortable as this one."
"Well, too bad for you."
Sirius seemed to get the hang of it. "You're throwing me out?" he asked, much more amused than insulted.
"What if I did?" Remus replied, both eyebrows raised.
"Hm… I probably wouldn't like to leave", he informed calmly.
"But you should", the werewolf claimed. "My parents love you, and if you'd come by in… say twelve hours, they'd welcome you with open arms, for sure. But they wouldn't like knowing you are here right now."
"Good thing they don't, then", the black-haired bloke stated unworriedly. "Because, like I said, this is a very comfortable bed and I could probably get more sleep here than at James'."
"Oh yeah? Well, I'd like some sleep too if you don't mind", Remus informed, hinting once again that it was time for the animagus to leave.
"Go ahead, what's stopping you?" Black asked innocently, but then took on a smug smile as he continued. "Afraid I'll get too intrusive?"
As he said this, he slowly slid an arm around the lycanthrope's waist, raising goose bumps all over said bloke's skin as a shudder went along his spine. Sirius was thrilled by this response, and even if he couldn't possibly see it, he imagined how Remus turned slightly redder in front of him.
"Sirius…" Lupin breathed hesitantly. "You shouldn't… I'm tired, and…"
"I bet I could change that within seconds", Sirius whispered suggestively, half-sitting again as he'd propped himself up to be able to lean closer to the brunette, capturing him in putting an arm on either side of his shoulders, leaning over him with a confident smile.
Remus gasped, very much on the alert indeed, as the other seventeen-year-old slowly brushed his lips gently against his own slightly parted ones. The werewolf re-opened his eyes – when the hell had he closed them? – as the animagus drew back half an inch, allowing his fellow Marauder to let out the shaky breath he'd been holding.
Sirius was very pleased with himself and the reaction he received from his friend as Remus pressed his lips back against his for a very enjoyable second, before logic dawned on the lycan again and made him pull back hastily, causing Sirius to huff with disapproval. Logic was always such a party pooper.
"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice already husky and impatient with lust and need.
"You're drunk", Remus stated in a whisper, hardly daring to breathe. "You don't know what you're doing", he thought.
"Oh, but that's where you're wrong, Messer Moony", the black-haired bloke explained with a small, teasing smile now playing at his surprisingly soft lips. "I know very well what I'm doing, and…" he added, his tongue darting out to graze the lycan's lips, "judging by your body language, I'm quite sure I'm doing it right."
Remus shivered again under him, as if to prove him right. Sirius pressed his lips against the other bloke again, harder and more eagerly this time, sliding his tongue along Remus' lower lip; begging for entrance.
The brunette moaned softly but granted him none; instead he pushed the back of his head even further into his pillow in trying to pull away once more, a hand with slender fingers darting up in between them, pushing at Sirius' bare chest to have him back away. Sirius arched an eyebrow questioningly.
"What now, Moony?" he wondered. "Don't try and convince me you don't want this, because I'm pretty sure that it's not your oak wand in your pyjama pocket pressing against my thigh down there, am I right?"
Remus flushed so deep that Sirius could actually see it even in the darkness, but he just smiled amusedly to his friend not to have him worried.
"But… You don't want it", Remus murmured after a while – and this efficiently wiped the smile out of Sirius' face.
"Are you kidding me, Rem?" he wondered incredulously. "Come on, that's ridiculous; I don't even wear pyjama pants, for Merlin's sake!"
Remus shook his head, clarifying. "You think you want it. You're drunk and you've probably not been with anyone for days…"
"A month, actually", Sirius interposed, making the werewolf loose his thread and just stare at the other bloke in surprise for a moment before gathering himself.
"That just proves my point even more", Remus stubbornly debated. "But just look at me."
"I am", Sirius once again interrupted, making the brunette look up at him again and find that yes, he actually did.
"Then tell me, what is there to want, Sirius?" he asked in a whisper of doubt and low self esteem.
Sirius kissed him lightly on the forehead, then on his lips, then further down at his neck before facing him.
"What is there not to want?" he asked in return, his voice all the more husky again for every word that escaped him. He leaned down towards the other wizard's mouth again, but was stopped once more as neither of them seemed to want to give up.
"You won't even remember this", Remus thought whilst trying to swallow down the lump in his throat at the same time as he tried not to give in to the bloody irresistible teen in front of him.
"Okay, let's just assume I won't", Sirius debated. "Where's the bad thing about that? Everything will go back to normal."
"No it won't, don't you get it?" Remus protested. "I'll remember. Everything you've already done and everything you will do from here, I'll remember very clearly, not able to take my mind off it; always carrying this along."
"Really?" Sirius wondered with a hint of a mischievous smile on his lips.
"There's nothing fun about it, Sirius", he claimed. "I don't want to have to look back at this as 'that one time'…"
"Good", Sirius thought, "because I don't want this to be a one-time thing either. Now would you please just shut the fuck up and go along with this?"
Remus didn't move or say anything – hell, he didn't even blink at this – but was simply let to see just about how convincing one Sirius Black could be.
Regardless of how poor the dog's apparation skills were at the moment, he certainly did have other skills still sharpened for him to enjoy.
Not quite satisfied with how this turned out - this is an entirely different fic than the one that was originally on my mind when I saw that wonderfully exiting challenge - but, very well... Review anyways though!