by Syranthil
Warnings: slash—don't like, don't read.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Summary: Remus finds out that Sirius is unfaithful, and confronts him on it. But Remus always did have a hard time standing up to Sirius.
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"You're leaving again."
Sirius stood, back to Remus, fingertips resting lightly on the doorknob. Even if Remus couldn't see the expression on his lover's face, he knew better than to hope for it to be a guilty one.
Sirius turned slightly, glancing at Remus out of the corner of his eye. "Your point?" His tone of voice stung Remus like acid. "I assume, of course, that you have one."
Remus stood angrily, blinking back tears. He bit his lip, unsure of what to say—trying desperately not to cry.
"Why, Sirius?" he managed, finally, choking the words out through a throat that was half-closed up from trying to hold back a sob. "What did I do? This is the third—"
Sirius turned to face him fully, his expression blank. "Far more than that, I'm afraid," he snapped.
Those words hit Remus hard. More than that—gods… no… How can he do this to me! The pent-up tears escaped his eyes at last, sliding down his cheeks as he screwed his eyes shut. "How long?" he whispered, his voice breaking, his hands clenched tightly into fists. "How long have you been cheating, Sirius?"
The question was greeted with silence, but Remus couldn't bring himself to open his eyes and demand an answer. He wasn't even sure he wanted to know.
Moments passed, and Sirius didn't answer. Did he leave? Remus wiped away the tears with the back of his hand, and opened his eyes.
Sirius was standing right in front of him, an indecipherable look in his eyes, his arms crossed over his chest, as though trying to determine whether it was worth the trouble to answer.
Remus' eyes met those grey crystalline orbs for only a few moments before his will shattered. He averted his eyes carefully, getting ready to turn and go back to bed. What had he been thinking? Sirius held the keys to Remus' very soul. He always would, no matter what he did. No matter how much he hurt Remus.
Remus was half-turned already when Sirius' voice reached quietly out into the darkness, anchoring him, pulling him back to focus his attention on Sirius.
"Don't you still want me to answer that question, Remy?" Sirius asked, somehow turning the sweet lover's nickname into a mockery with a single sneering twist of his lips. One delicate, midnight-black eyebrow arched upward slightly as he took a step forward, close enough to touch Remus, but never reaching out to do so.
Remus felt a vivid blush rise to his cheeks, and new tears well up in his eyes. Of course. Sirius was just in one of those moods—and Remus happened to be the target of all those well-aimed, well-crafted insults.
With Remus, Sirius always aimed for the heart, and it seemed this was… was no exception.
Remus turned to leave again, and this time, Sirius reached out and caught hold of Remus' wrist. Even that gentle but unyielding touch sent a tiny shudder down Remus' spine.
"I'll tell you anyway, Remus." He could hear Sirius' clothes rustle as he stepped forward again, could sense the gentle warmth from Sirius' body now pressed lightly against his back. "On again and off again for oh, a year, I think."
Sirius' harsh whisper slashed through the very last of Remus' walls, with more ease than a knife could have done in water.
Remus' throat closed up again as another strangled sob struggled to escape his lips. Half of him was shattered, knowing that Sirius had barely waited a year into their relationship before he started going off to his midnight liaisons again—but the other half was cursing itself for not noticing, when it had been going on so long.
Tears blurring his eyesight, Remus tried to yank his arm out of Sirius' grip—he wished he could just disappear completely, forget this had ever happened.
Sirius' fingers held firmly to his wrist, as the other boy used Remus' momentum to swing him around into his arms.
Sirius ran his fingertips over Remus' cheekbone, a twisted smile touching his lips as his eyes swept over Remus' face.
"You look exquisite when you suffer, Remy," he murmured softly, brushing Remus' soft chestnut hair back from his face.
He brushed his lips lightly over Remus' only once, then pulled back. "Your tears even taste beautiful." His voice could barely be heard through the ringing in Remus' ears, but he managed to get his point across—his next kiss, though still gentle, had some sense of urgency about it, as he slid his hands over Remus' shoulders and down his arms, pulling him closer.
Remus gave up on the painful prospect of actually thinking, and lost himself in the feather-light caress of Sirius' lips on his.
fin
Author's Note: First off, thanks to everyone who reviewed! It means a lot. And secondly, yes, I do realise that Sirius is severely OOC in this fic. It's not my favourite way to characterise him either, but I just wanted to try something new.