First Harry Potter fanfiction? 8D I had so much fun writing it you have no idea. I really love writing as the Maruaders, man. They are my absolute favorites, and I really hope to write more soon :3 So yeah, this is some SiriRemi. My Maruaders have been heavily influenced by the fanfictions Obsessive Lily Disorder and Casting Moonshadows. If you haven't read those... I don't even know what to say.
Enjoy, folks :3 This story was beta'd by the lovely Ziggy Pasta.
-Commence-
"Hey, Moony, what'chu reading now?"
A hand came and rested on his shoulder, rubbing it softly. The scent of a forest just before a rainstorm met his nostrils, and Remus allowed himself a content sigh. It was Sirius again. He was always tagging behind him, worried. Any where Remus went, Sirius would eventually follow, careful to make sure that he was okay and safe. He always was, Moony tried to insist, but there really was no arguing with Sirius Black; he had inherited his family's ability to charm anyone into letting him do nearly anything.
"It's just a book..." Remus said, his voice muffled softly by a piece of Honeydukes chocolate. He swallowed the milky treat and lifted his head, his sandy hair brushing against Sirius' chin. "...About the moon..."
Sirius' head dropped onto Remus' shoulder, nuzzling against him tenderly. "I can see that, mate. You know my eyes go straight to the pictures." The pale hand left his other shoulder and pointed at an inked diagram of the moon's patterns. "So... why're you reading it, then?"
Remus shrugged his shoulders. "It was in the library."
"And Messrs Moony is just randomly attracted to the one with a moon in it?" Sirius' perfect brow rose, a sarcastic tone to his voice.
"You're using Messrs in the wrong cont –"
"That doesn't matter, mate. Answer my question." Sirius' voice was a little snippy, his hands taking the book from Remus and flipping through it, glancing at the pictures. "What's got you so interested in the moon all of a sudden?"
Remus tried to grab for the book "Well, uh, I am a werewolf and all."
"Well, uh, I know that, Moony," Sirius said, tucking the well-worn book under his arm. "But, you've never gone out of your way to read up on the moon. You said you don't like it."
Remus' eyes fell to his lap. "I never said that." His mouth moved slowly. That was a lie. There had been numerous times where Sirius or James would bring in a book in hopes that it could help with his Lycanthropy. And every time, Remus couldn't bear to read past the first or second chapter because they were all so... unfairly biased, portraying werewolves as horrible, savage beasts.
"You're a rotten liar, mate." Sirius grinned, his fingers tugging playfully on the locks of Remus' hair. "Can't you just, you know, tell me the reason?"
Remus fiddled with the frayed ends of his robe. "Fine. Sit down, then, will you?"
Sirius's tall body folded down, crossing his legs and sitting in front of Remus like an obedient dog. " Take 'er away, Messrs Moony!"
Remus sighed. "Well... next week is something the Natives call the Full Wolf Moon. It happens on really rare occasions, when the moon's orbit allows, the perigee of the moon faces us during a full moon."
"And a perigee is...?"
"The part of the moon that's the closest to us, Pads."
"Right-o. So you were checking to see if it would affect you in any weird way? ...Will it?"
Remus nodded. "I just wanted to be sure. I don't want to... you know... hurt you or James. Or Peter. And it makes Moony a little friskier... but that's about it..."
Sirius snorted. "Well, I do love my Moony frisky." He rose to his feet, offering a hand to Remus. "C'mon, dinner's about to be served and James hid a promise ring in Evan's pudding."
Remus allowed himself to be pulled up, his bones groaning in complaint from the sudden movement. He leaned against Sirius' side, taking in the comforting scent. "So Padfoot, can I have my book back now?"
Sirius was guiding them both past the tables, and a very tight-lipped Madame Pince, who shushed them for walking too loudly. The Animagus muttered a few choice curse words once the door was closed behind them, and Remus pretended like he had heard nothing against the keeper of his books.
"'Fraid not, Moony." Sirius tapped the side of his nose. "I think I'll take a gander at the pictures before I return it to your bookshelf." He had a very secretive smile to his eyes, a look he often got while planning an attack on Snivellus, or any other Slytherin, for that matter.
Remus tried to inch away from him slowly. "You're not going to charm it to sing its underlying love for me again, are you? Or have it eat my face? Or my chocolate? What ever you do, Mr. Padfoot, leave my chocolate out of it, alright?"
Sirius laughed, jumping over the trick step in the stair case. "Don't worry, mate. I won't cast a charm on it. Promise." His held out his pinky, a seemingly benign look on his face.
Remus paused on the bottom step, looking from Sirius' face to his pinky. And slowly, he held out his own pinky, and wrapped it around the other's. "Do you, Mr. Padfoot, promise to not touch my book in any way, besides to turn the pages?"
Sirius smirked. "I do."
The werewolf released his pinky. "Fine. Let's go eat, then. Think they have chocolate pudding today?"
Sirius returned his hand to his pocket. "Probably. If they don't, I'll sneak down to the kitchen tonight and grab you some. I love tickling the pears."
He had believed he had lost this book. All through his sixth year he had tried searching for it. He had thought Sirius had chosen to never return it, whether because he had lost it himself, or because he had broken the pinky promise to not charm it, Remus didn't know. But now here it was, in this box with all his other books. It looked like he remembered it, albeit a little dustier. It was so strange that the book decided to appear again, especially now.
Remus settled down onto the floor, the book in his lap. He dusted off the cover, peering at the stamped-in letters. It seemed to be intact, and Remus couldn't sense any remains of a charm. So he opened the book, flipping through it. Despite the fact this book referred to werewolves as beasts and horrible creatures, Remus had long since stopped caring, and was actually enjoying reading it. He knew most of what was printed in this book, but Remus didn't mind. It had been so long since he had just stopped to read a book. Things with the Order had been getting so bad... and now Sirius was gone... there hadn't been much time for anything.
And then, something slipped from between the yellowing pages. Remus frowned, picking it up. It happened to be a piece of folded parchment. He unfolded it, and he was stunned to find the familiar marooned colored scrawl of a love long lost.
"To my dearest amazing, super hot, gorgeous, special love, Moony,
If you're reading this, it's because you've discovered that I have indeed returned this book, and that it was sitting nicely on your bookshelf! I promised I wouldn't charm it, didn't I? Aren't I just an amazing boyfriend? I didn't cast a single spell! But I did write something on page 734. Please don't kill me with your super werewolf abilities. But anyway! I'm writing this just a few minutes before Prongsie and I have to head out for Quidditch practice! He thinks I'm being a total bumboy writing this, but then again, he's the one who charmed himself to speak in rhyme after Evans said that she appreciated a bloke who liked Shakespeare.
Now, I know what you're probably thinking, mate. Why in Merlin's name would your amazing super sexy Padfoot write you a letter and then leave it in this book to be squished between the pages? Well, it's because I know that if you read this book again, you're not going to be happy. You can't lie to a dog, Remus. I know that seeing people call werewolves beasts and stuff bothers you. I mean, it bothers me, too! My werewolf isn't a beast. He's a fun-sized little bundle of fluff with teeth. Who falls when you threaten him with chocolate or books! I should write a book! I'd call it... "The Honestly True Book of How I Fell in Love with a Werewolf". Great idea, am I right? I could do book signings, and maybe get some fangirls. But they'd only be fangirls. I only need my fanwerewolf!
So, Remus, I should really wrap this up soon. James is getting his knickers in a knot. ...And he's just informed me that he's not wearing knickers or anything else underneath those pants. Lovely bloke, he is. Just know that whenever you pull out this book and find this letter, let me remind you to just put it down and come snog me instead. I'm always up for snogging. And after snogging, I'll buy you some of the really good Honeydukes chocolate. Just don't read this book, or turn to page 734. Because I don't like seeing my adorable Moony with those sad amber eyes. I saw enough of them the first time we met!
LOLAWSASMM,
(Lots of Love and Wolfy Snuggles and Some Marauders Mischief)
Sirius
(PS. Try saying knickers in a knot seven times fast.)
(PPS. Do actually go to page 734.)
(PPPS. Mooooony~ I wanna take you to the moon~ Where it can be just me and you~!)
(PPPPS. James says hi.)
(FINALPPPPPS. I LOVE YOU REMUS JOHN LUPIN!)
(WAITILIEDPSAGAIN. Please don't cry. Because I bet you are. And when I get back from Quidditch, I swear I will smother you in love and chocolate like you have no idea.)
Remus hadn't realized he was crying until he read the very last footnote. The tears rolled over his nose and down his scars, and dotted the book.
He missed his friends. He missed them so much. For a moment, it felt like they were all back with him. But... they weren't. Remus was here alone, in his shabby London flat. His friends had left him to fight by himself. He was the very last Marauder standing. Sometimes, he really felt like giving up. But then, he wouldn't be a Marauder. Marauders always stood until the last battle was won and the last spell cast, and the battle was nowhere near ending. They still had so much farther to go. Voldemort was getting worse.
A glimpse of movement caught his watery eyes. Tucked right into the seam of a book was a picture. As Remus brought it closer to his face, he realized that it was a picture of Sirius in his Quidditch robes. He was giving Remus a rather cheesy peace sign, his grin big. The window showed Remus that the picture had to have been taken very early in the morning; the sun hadn't risen fully yet. Remus wondered if the picture had been taken the same day as the letter had been written. Every now and then, the Sirius in the picture would lose eye contact with him, and his face would turn into a scowl. He saw James, also donning Quidditch robes, trying to stick his head into the picture frame. Sirius pushed it out with his hand.
Remus couldn't help but grin. It felt like his friends were back, in a weird sense. The werewolf tucked
both the letter and picture into his back pocket, before remembering page 734. His hands went to the book again, and he flipped to the page. Scanning it quickly, Remus easily found the part he was meant to be looking at; Sirius had deemed it necessary to circle it with his quill before writing below it.
" 'Werewolves, although beasts deemed to be horrible in long-term relationships, can sometimes take to finding mates in other animals, generally large dogs. They can create packs that run with the werewolf during its night of transformation. SEE PAGE 545 for more information on packs.'
Well look at that, Moony! Horrible in long-term relationships! What does this old coot know, eh? Well, he seems to know that you and I are absolutely positively you-can-bet-James'-Evans meant to be~! Woof, mate."
-fin-