It was raining. Pouring, really. Because of this, Remus Lupin found himself in a situation where he questioned his best friend's sanity-not for the first time, mind, but this reason of questioning him was a new reason indeed.
A few hours earlier, Remus had left the library. This wasn't an uncommon sight, nor was the sight of him with four new books that had nothing to do with anything. He supposed, looking back on it, that he should have seen it coming after his friend jumped out from behind the door of said library, simply bursting to go outside. It wasn't this idea that surprised Remus into his current situation, in fact, it was quite normal for his friend to go outside when it rained. Remus had never questioned it.
Until now.
Somehow, Remus really didn't want to know, his friend had found a relatively startling discovery. This discovery was why his friend loved the rain. Remus had always loved the rain, he'd said. What that had to do with anything, Remus could not have told you at the time. He could tell you now.
His friend had begged, pleaded, even gone as far as to pin Remus against the wall and get uncomfortably close, demanding that Remus put the "damn books down and pay more attention to him" as he put it. Remus had then replied, quite calmly, seeing as this was not the first time this had happened, either, that he had to put the books down in their dorm, which was still a floor away. His friend had backed away after that, mumbling something Remus would never be able to decipher. He, really, had no desire to try.
Remus' friend stayed noticeably silent the rest of the way to the dorm, allowing Remus to become ridden with guilt. Whenever his normally jumpy and uncontrollable friend turned into the puppy that he was, it was a sign of…well, let's just say that you had a right to be guilty whenever this happened. Something that Remus had done put his friend down, and Remus had no way to know what it was.
But, he picked up considerably when Remus put the books down on his bed in the dorm. Remus had not even gotten his scarf or cloak on before he was yanked, rather forcefully, he realized now, out of the dorm and through the halls of their school until they reached the doors leading outside. It was then that Remus' friend let go of his now bruised wrists, simply so he could open the doors. Once they were outside, Remus followed his friend to the Black Lake, a large expanse of water near the Forbidden Forest that was a tad over filled with all the rain that had fallen over the last week.
Thankfully, there was a tree his friend dubbed close enough to the water that they could sit under. Remus had settled quite comfortably underneath it, next to his friend, and closed his amber eyes. Of course, he had to open his eyes so he could remove his, now considerably wet, blonde locks, normally a tad curlier, out from underneath his eyelids. His friend beat him to it.
Remus froze when he felt his friend's fingers, rough from playing Quidditch, brush across his forehead with noticeable care. It wasn't that Remus cared, particularly, but his friend had never done that before, and it startled him. Remus had quickly relaxed into the touch, and had barely noticed his eyes flutter close as his friend's fingers continued to tenderly brush across his hairline. After a while, his friend's touch lulled him into sleep.
That he had fallen asleep was not the problem. It was that he had lulled his friend into a false sense of security when he slipped into darkness. Remus did not know how long he had stayed asleep, nor the he care. He could guess, though, now that it was much colder than before, even though the water was still warm. It was still pouring, and the gentle tap, tap, tap of rain hitting water and the red and gold leaves above them was soothing to Remus' sensitive ears. He could also hear his friend's breathing from where he sat. He discovered that his cloak now contained his friend as well. Remus figured his friend had forgotten his inside.
His friend had always been clingy. He wouldn't be himself if he weren't. But, of late, Remus noticed that he no longer was so clingy with their other friends as he was with Remus, in fact, his friend had become considerably more clingy to him over the past few months. This did not bother Remus, and his other friends took no notice that he saw.
But his clinginess had never led to a question of his sanity. But, now that Remus thought about more, it wasn't a question of his friend's sanity; so much as it was of his own. Because he did not mind the position they were in, his friend's head on his shoulder, while Remus had been asleep with his head on top of his friend's. He noticed, as well, that his friend had his left arm wrapped around Remus' right, while their fingers were entwined ever so slightly. This was another thing that his friend had never done that frightened Remus for a small moment. Then, he again relaxed into the touch, feather-light and gentle. He laid his head back on his friend's so his friend's wet, dark hair was against Remus' cheek. Remus let his eyes slid closed, and he slipped back into sleep.
When Remus woke, the first thing his clouded mind register was that his fingers were still entwined with those of his friend's. The other thing was that they were closer than they had been before, and that his friend was awake. He opened his eyes to find that his head was leaning on the tree trunk, not of his friend's. His friend, however, still leaned on him, and he could see him playing gently with their fingers. He smiled slightly and gave his hand a gentle squeeze, alerting his friend of his regain of consciousness.
His friend looked up, and amber eyes met gray. His friend smiled. "Hey, you," he whispered, obviously not wanting to disturb the quiet atmosphere that surrounded them.
"Hey," Remus whispered back, his eyes clouding over slightly. His friend shifted, so their faces were closer than before. Again, Remus found he did not mind. Remus closed his eyes for the third time when his friend pressed his lips lightly to Remus'. Just like the touches before, they were gentle, cautious, and light, but so obviously there. They exchanged several kisses like that over the next few minutes, not moving other than to curl slightly closer.
Remus had never thought about his friends that way, not consciously, anyway, but it was clear he had subconsciously. He discovered that he had felt that way for a while about him, but had never realized. His friend moved his arm, not the one holding Remus' hand, so that his fingers brushed Remus' chin lightly as they kissed. Remus hadn't ever been kissed before in his sixteen years, so he had no idea what he was doing. But his friend didn't seem to care. Remus' friend had kissed many girls over the years, so he obviously knew how to guide Remus.
When they at last pulled away, neither one opened their eyes. They stayed there, frozen, but his friend had moved his arm to settle it in his lap while they remained in the position they had been for a while. Remus could feel his friend's breath, a scent that smelled strongly of peppermint and cigarette smoke.
Eventually they relaxed again, both content with their new secret, something they had together, for once, because all of their other secrets involved their other two friends. Remus felt his friend lean his head on his shoulder, and his friend went back to playing with their entwined fingers. Remus was happy to let him, for he could tell his friend needed a moment to think it over.
Remus had almost fallen asleep for a third time when he heard his friend's chocked whisper, "Remus?"
He looked at his friend, who was looking at the hands, which he was still playing with. "Yes, Sirius?" he whispered, still not wanting to disrupt the silence.
"Are you okay with this?"
The question startled him. Sirius had never been known to think about other people's judgment, only what made him happy. Remus realized, now, though, that they had been friends for the better of six years, and if he wasn't okay with going onto something more, as Sirius so wanted, Remus could tell, then they would forget this incident happened. He realized then that he had been silent far too long, and Sirius' breathing had started to grow rather ragged. "Yes, I'm okay with this."
Sirius visibly calmed down, relaxing against Remus again. "You know," Remus, muttered after a while, "It's kinda unnerving to see you so calm and relaxed. You're never like this."
He felt Sirius shrug. "I'm like this a lot more than you think. Mostly at night, though. When no one else can see me."
Remus nodded slightly, content with the answer. He made to go back to sleep, but Sirius turned his face up towards Remus' again, clearly begging for another kiss. Remus was only too happy to oblige. It started out feather-light, as before, but slowly deepened.
Remus suddenly pulled away, which he regretted, and hissed, "Someone's coming."
The effect was instantaneous; Sirius opened his eyes wide, to see, indeed, two people coming through the fog of rain. Remus pulled their hands apart, and regretted it seconds later, but he also gently moved Sirius to where he could pull the cloak away from him. Sirius whimpered, and Remus stopped, looking into his eyes, trying to show that he was sorry, and Sirius stood with a smirk to meet the duo head on.
Remus found, to his greatest aggravation, that the two people were none of than James and Peter, the two friends that completed the pranking quartet that was the Marauders. He loved both of them dearly, they were his brothers, after all, but right then he wanted nothing more than to punch them in the face and tell them to fuck off. Clearly, by the look Sirius shot him just before they were in hearing range, he wanted that, too. Glad he wasn't alone on that; he stood up, pulling his woolen cloak around his cold body.
"Where have you two been?" James demanded, jogging up to them. "We've been looking for you forever! You realize you've been gone all day?"
Remus was surprised at this, but didn't show it, and if Sirius was, he hid it well, too. "We've been right here, James, all day."
James looked between the two of them, disbelief written all over his face. "Are you fucking kidding me?" he asked finally.
Remus shook his head slowly, his lips tightening, "No. We're not "fucking kidding you" Prongs. It was raining all day, we both love the rain, why wouldn't we run around in the rain?"
"Because you never do that, Moony," Peter said.
Remus rolled his eyes, trying to cover a slight panic. "Well, when you have Mr. Padfoot over here literally dragging you outside, leaving bruises on my wrists, thanks for that, by the way, you really don't have much choice, Wormtail."
This answer seemed to satisfy James and Peter for now. Remus wondered fleetingly how long it would satisfy, though. It was hard to keep anything from James; after all, between him and Sirius, he would never be able to decide who was more nosey. James pulled a face before he turned around, stalking towards the castle. Peter followed him, and Remus felt Sirius slid his hand into his before following.