It had always started off the same way. Remus knew when it was coming. The first clue would be a complete lack of Padfoot sounds. No rustling of papers or swearing or munching of food - an intense silence. Remus listened for those silences. The longer the silence, the more tensed he would feel until he was a coiled spring waiting for Sirius to make his first subtle yet deliberate move.

He pretended to be completely absorbed in his study. His eyebrows were furrowed, as if he was reading, and his eyes flicked across the pages, but he took nothing in.

Then he felt it. A soft lingering touch on the side of his left shoe. His legs were crossed with his left leg resting on his right. He tried to keep his breathing steady – this time he would not let win, he would not let himself be distracted.

He turned to the next page and did manage to read a couple paragraphs before – there! - Sirius had moved his hand and now he had a grip on both sides of his shoe.

Both boys were breathing in sync: in out, in out, in out.

Remus soon grew used to the touch on his foot. He could hardly feel it at all. 256 breaths later and he was sure he had imagined everything and he had almost read another chapter when then there was another deliberate move. Sirius's other hand reached up and grabbed on to his left ankle.

At this Remus couldn't continue his guise. He had stopped turning pages and was just staring at the book. He tried to keep his breath from hitching and waited for Sirius to make his next move. He never could quite believe how much patience Sirius had for games like this.

Sirius chose this precise moment to strike; he pulled Remus's shoe off in one fluid movement. This caught Remus by surprise and he let out a quiet gasp. It sounded very loud in the otherwise silent room. Remus could almost hear the smile creep across Sirius's face. Padfoot would be delighted that he had finally got a reaction from him.

Sirius quickly pulled Remus's sock off as well. Remus was very proud of himself for holding back a squeak.

Sirius began to slowly run his fingers over Remus's bare skin in little circles. When there was no response from Remus he became bold and began massaging the foot more firmly kneading his fingers deep into Remus's tissues.

Remus twitched his foot impatiently to discourage Sirius's behaviour but it didn't work. If anything, it had the effect of increasing Sirius's incessant stroking.

He kicked out more solidly with his foot and muttered, "Let off, Padfoot,"

This had the opposite of its intended intent however. Remus had broken The Silence, and to Sirius's logic this meant that he could talk now too.

"Are your feet a little achy, Moony?" he murmured, "You do seem a little tense,"

At this comment Remus let out an indignant snort which Sirius dutifully ignored.

"I bet you," he continued, "that if I give your feet a rub they'll feel much better. You just keep reading your book and I'll make you feel relaxed."

Remus was feeling anything but relaxed. His eyes were clenched closed, his face was blushed and he bit down on his cheek to keep from moaning. Because of Sirius's earlier light feathery touches the nerve endings in his feet seemed hypersensitive.

Now Sirius was using more force he was feeling sensations in his feet he had never felt. His breathing became shallow and he tried to pull his foot away.

Sirius looked up at Remus and pouted, "Aw, it's not working, you're still so tense. We have to fix that,"

He stood up and pulled Remus around by his feet so he was lying along the sofa on his back with his feet dangling off the end of the furniture. He deftly removed Remus's book from his hands and placed it on the coffee table beside him.

When Remus tried to grumble he shushed him, "Look, just give me ten minutes and if you're not feeling 50% more relaxed I'll give you your book back and leave,"

As Remus tried to work out in his fuzzy head if there was a spell that could diagnose a person's relaxedness as a percentage Sirius pulled off his other foot and shoe and began to alternate between massaging each foot.

He began to tell Remus about his day in a soft voice – the harmless prank he and James had played on Snape, what had been served for breakfast and the new charm Flitwick had taught them today that he was sure Remus knew already. Of course Remus knew it already, nothing Sirius told him was news to him, they'd been together most of the day!

The constant chatter did distract Remus and as he relaxed into the leather sofa he found he could enjoy the soft touches on his feet after all.