He lost himself in his book; feudal lords, concubines, and poverty. China was beautiful, and more importantly, it was not in New York City.

"China? Is that where you're going?" a voice interrupted him as Remus started the chapter on the Great Wall. He rolled his eyes and turned to face the speaker next to him. Another boy had flopped gracelessly into the seat next to him. He had long black hair, grey eyes, and aristocratic features. The other looked at him inquiringly.

"Well? China, or are you one of those tourists that only reads about the destination?" Remus scrambled for a witty reply and lanced at his lap. The lap beside his had hands folded delicately and a book also.

"Why? Is that where you're going?" Remus asked cheekily, gesturing to the boy's choice. Te boy looked down quickly and quirked a smile.

"Well, I guess I asked for that by reading Dante's 'Inferno'…"Remus chuckled at his reply and glanced at the monitor overhead. New York to San Francisco would be boarding in 10 minutes. The boy beside him glanced up also.

"So. Where are you going if you're not headed for China? Cleveland? Indianapolis? Chicago?"

"San Francisco," Remus answered absentmindedly as a voice crackled over the intercom.

"Ah. Well, I have something to take care of quickly, see you soon!" And with that, the boy wandered away. Remus shook his head and cracked his book back open. A few minutes later, the gate agent called for them to begin boarding, and Remus forgot all about the other boy. As he walked away, the boy crumpled up his ticket for Chicago into a ball and headed for the ticket counter.

Remus placed his finger in his book to keep his place and shouldered his backpack. He fished his ticket out of his pocket with free hand and the gate attendant flashed it quickly. A censor lit up green, and Remus walked into the tunnel. He boarded and walked down the aisle towards his seat. Of course; luck number 13. Remus smiled to himself and slid in towards the window and opened the shade up. The full moon balanced precariously overhead, shining brightly and lighting the runway with a pearlescent glow. He leaned his head back against his seat and closed is eyes as the rest of the passengers loaded. A bell chimed and Remus opened his eyes. The flight attendant wad shaking her head and Remus shut his eyes again to squeeze in a quick doze as the plane taxied to the correct runway. Beside him, Remus heard someone flop down, breathing heavily. He kept his eyes shut and heard the person click their seatbelt closed.

"Miss me, China Boy?" a low voice whispered into his ear. Remus' eyes slid open slowly and he turned to face his seatmate. It was the grey eyed boy from earlier.

"Hey there, China Boy, couldn't get enough of my charm?" He asked, smiling roguishly Remus shook his head, "Yeah, he muttered, something like that…" The boy grinned and extended hi hand.

"Sirius Black. Nice to meetcha."

"Remus."

"Well, Remus of No Last Name, it's a pleasure to be flying with you today—well, more like tonight, I suppose…" Sirius shook Remus' hand as his eyes flickered to the window. The lights illuminating the runway zipped past as the plane accelerated.

"I always love flying at night; even with the captain, it seems like you never know where you'll end up…" Sirius glanced at Remus again and raied an eyebrow.

"Know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I fly a lot." Remus trailed off as the plane accelerated and lifted into the air. He clutched at his armrests and squeezed his eyes shut as the plane's angle increased and ascended into the clouds. Sirius grasped the other boy's arm and Remus' eyes shot open.

"What are you doing?" He gasped as the plane soared higher.

"Helping out a fried." Sirius said, and turned his eyes back to the front of the plane. Remus blinked slowly and looked at Sirius' profile. The boy's strong jaw twitched as his lips pulled into a smile.

'Thanks." Remus whispered. As he relaxed, his eyes slid shut, and Sirius slipped his arm around the other boy's shoulders. As the flight wore on, Remus' head settled against Sirius' neck and he nuzzled the grey eyed boy's throat. Sirius shifted until he got comfortable and laid his head against Remus'. He rubbed his cheek against the smaller boy's thick brown hair and settled in for the rest of the flight. As Sirius' eyes began to close, Remus gave a jerk against him. Remus' book dropped from his lap as his hand started shaking. Sirius narrowly got out of the way as Remus' head flung back against the seat. His back cracked loudly as it arched, his head remaining against the seat as his chest strained forward. His hands clenched the armrests again and Sirius' eyes widened as his fingers left dents in the thick metal. Remus' eyes opened slowly and he glanced around in a daze.

"I can smell it. Where is it Sirius?"

"Where's what?" Sirius asked quietly.

"It hurts my nose. Where's the silver coming from?" Sirius' eyes widened again and his free hand clenched at his right ear. Through his hair, Remus saw the flash of his earrings.

"This?" Sirius whispered. Remus nodded, and Sirius unfastened them. He dropped his earrings into his glass of orange juice and pressed the button to summon the stewardess. She collected the glass and walked away, not knowing about the silver earrings that dwelled at the bottom of the glass. As she got further away, Remus became visibly more relaxed.

"So…what was that about?" Sirius asked in confusion.

"That's why I'm going to San Francisco." Remus said quietly.

Hey, this is the second weekend in a row that I had to fly, so I dug out my notebook at 30,000 feet and wrote you this fun little chapter. It all started when I was thinking about the book situation ("Why, is that where you're going?") I'm not sure yet if Remus should be a werewolf, or if I should give him some fun other condition. Let me know if it should be AU or if Remus just never went to Hogwarts. Yes, I realize that this is the lovely version of travel where no one's gone through security, but hey: it's Harry Potter. It's not like they can't Imperio their way through or something…And on that happy note… It's 12:40 and I have to get up soon. That would require going to sleep first…let me know what you think/want/probably won't get. Toodles!