The Boat

A one-shot based off the song "Kiss the Girl" and the scene in which it plays in The Little Mermaid.

A sadness crept about Hogwarts as good-byes were issued and packing was finished. It was two days before summer break, and, as it was, many of the seventh years fare-welled for the last time. A small group, however, was not so sad, as they were sure, as they were still as childish as ever, that they would see each other in no time. So, in place of good-byes, Sirius and James had conjured a boat and had been planning on tricking Snape into going across the lake in it and setting it to flames as their last prank. Quite harsh, yes, and, indeed, they really didn't care if he died or not. But Lily thought it to be harsh as well, and wouldn't let her boyfriend (James) go through with it. "You could be sent to Azkaban that! For life, in fact! It's called a murder, and it's against the law, just to fill you in!" she had said, keeping James under her watch to be sure he kept in order. Sirius had promised James he'd try and get it done, but not with Remus on his trail. So, he settled with his usual pranks on Snape to keep him self occupied.

Now Sirius had nothing to do. James and Lily were snogging somewhere and he'd been caught watching (of course) and was told to, as Lily put it, "Keep your nose out of other people's business and stick it in a book for once!" He left them in the deserted classroom in which they'd found them and made his way onto the grounds, heading for the lake, grumbling the whole way.

"If Peter wouldn't have landed himself in detention, I would have something interesting to do," Sirius grumbled to himself as he stopped under the beech tree near the lake. As he stood, looking up at the leaves of the tree, all the memories which had formed under this tree can flowing back to him like dozens of rivers to a lake: Memories both good and bad. They'd never be again. Sure, the four of them might see each other-- hell, of course they would. Sirius would probably end up moving in with Remus, seeing as James was clearly going to marry Lily, and Peter . . . well, if Sirius had to choose between neat, serene, peaceful Remus, and pack-rat, jittery, anxious Peter: There was no questioning. Who wouldn't want to live with Remus? But then, of course, hadn't Remus stated that he wanted to travel the world before settling down? It wasn't a very Remus-like thing to do, but if he had his head set on it then Sirius knew there was no change in direction.

Sirius looked out over the grounds and a certain oily-haired, hook-nosed, Severus Snape caught his eye. Why not? It's worth a beating from Lily, Sirius thought to himself. He looked over at the boat that he and James had tied to a nearby tree. He made to push off the beech tree, which he'd been leaning against, but had to make a double take. There was someone in the boat. His boat. How dare they?

He stormed over to the small, wooden boat, preparing for an argument, but stopped half way there. An angel . . . in my boat? Sirius thought to himself, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. He looked at the boat again, and, although Sirius still had the impression that there was, in fact, an angel in his boat, this time, Sirius saw Remus.

Remus was lounging lazily in the boat, his head resting on an edge, his tawny ponytail hanging out of the boat. His feet were propped up on another edge, and, big shocker here; he was reading silently, one of his favorite activities.

Sirius meandered over to the boat, stopping so as he blocked the sun that cast Remus in a sea of light. Remus looked up in surprise and Sirius, smiling at Remus's dazed and baffled expression, said, "'Lo, Moony! Enjoying my boat?"

"It's nicely crafted," said Remus, looking back down at his book.

"Isn't it, though?" said Sirius, taking a seat in the boat and removing his shoes and socks, placing them in the boat. As he removed his robe, placing it next to Remus' robe, he watched Remus out of the corner of his eye, getting the strangest of sensations as he watched and rolled up his jeans, dipping his feet in the lake.

"Quite," said Remus simply, flipping a page in his book.

"Yes, yes it is," said Sirius. "You wanna give it a go?"

Remus looked up, considered him for a moment, and then set his book down. "Sounds delightful," said Remus, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt and the cuffs of his jeans.

"Great, because I was going to go whether you wanted to or not," said Sirius, using magic to cut the rope. He jumped out of the boat, pushed it a ways, then jumped back in, his feet wet.

There was a comfortable silence as Remus read his book once more and Sirius ran his wand lazily through the water, magically pushing the boat onward. Then Sirius looked up from the clear water and up at Remus. An angel, he thought to himself, You bloody thought one of your best mates looked like an angel . . . He's a damn bloke, for heaven's sake! But no matter how hard he looked at Remus, Sirius found that he still looked astonishing. It was as if a certain glow hung about Remus and everything he touched.

Sirius removed his wand from the water. They were about halfway across the lake now. Sirius continued to watch Remus, expecting him to do something outstanding. But, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself otherwise, even if he just flipped a page, or mumbled one of the words out loud, Sirius found himself considering everything Remus to do as breath taking. He could just sit there and stare into space and Sirius would still have the strange urge (which had just crept upon him) to kiss Remus.

You're straight, aren't you? You were last time you checked, Sirius thought to him self, holding a hand to his forehead. Sirius had always liked girls, he had always kissed girls, he had always fancied girls. He had been on dates with girls more times than he could count. Didn't that mean anything? Apparently not. Not then, right there, in that boat. He had always had this strange attraction to Remus, and now that he thought about it, it was making all the sense in the world.

So, he was in love. For once in his life, he was really in love. All the girls he had been with, and it all ended with a guy. But what to do? Remus was sure to leave for his trip once he got home, and he'd leave poor Sirius, heartbroken without a place to live or a hand to hold. And he'd never even know in the least that Sirius Black, the Hogwarts Hottie, had fallen for him.

Well, I'll need to tell him, Sirius thought, rapping his fingers on the side of the boat. How stupid of me to not see this earlier and leave myself with only two days! And if I want to sort things out, I'll need tomorrow, so it has to be today. It has to be now. But how?

A good question: How? He could go on for hours and hours, explaining to Remus how he got butterflies every time he heard his voice, and how his scent intoxicated him; how he loved the way the sun made his hair shine, casting off a sort of halo about his head. And don't even mention his eyes: His deep pools of honey and cinnamon, as if they were made to be sweet.

Sirius made up his mind. It would only take three words. Four, including the word to get his attention. And, no, it's not, Hey! Why eat soup?

"Remus!" Sirius said, as if stating a fact, sitting cross-legged.

"Yes, Sirius?" said Remus, turning the page of his book.

"Uh . . . I need to tell you something," Sirius said, losing a bit of his confidence. He couldn't talk to someone who was half-listening and half-reading a book if he was going to say something this important. Remus, just as Sirius had hoped, closed his book and gave Sirius his full, undivided attention. It was better, but it unnerved Sirius greatly. "I . . . um . . . you . . . err— What are you reading?" Sirius managed, twisting his hands nervously.

"Sometimes Sirius, you can be so agitating," Remus sighed, picking up his book once more.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Sirius thought to himself. Well, clearly, I have less backbone than I thought . . . So . . . Then it came to him like a candle lit in a dark room. Sure, I love you, could have worked, but what did that say? He always said he loved stuff. He loved dogs, he loved his motorcycle, he loved bacon. He had even told Remus he loved him on the occasion that he did his homework for him, but that didn't mean a thing. He didn't love Remus like that. He loved Remus. He would do anything for Remus, unlike bacon. He wouldn't do much for a piece of bacon. Maybe play dead, or roll-over, or something.

No, he had to do something that got the message through. He was going to kiss him, no matter what Remus's reaction. Sirius leaned forward slightly, figuring how to approach such a thing. He didn't want to have Remus' attention; he might get suspicious. He wanted to catch him by surprise. Maybe this isn't such a great idea, after all, Sirius thought to himself, sitting up right once more. What if he doesn't like me like that? Won't I just be making a fool of myself? Well . . . Remus already thinks I'm a fool anyway . . .

But, what did it matter? Sure, Sirius might end up heartbroken and alone, but this was his last chance. If he kissed him, he either ended up alone, or with Remus. If he did nothing, he ended up alone, never knowing if he could have had true love or not.

I need to do this, Sirius thought, slapping himself mentally. Oh, Merlin . . . But what if he doesn't feel the same about me? I . . . He bounced lightly on the spot, rocking the boat slightly. What if he thinks I'm weird because I like him; a guy? Merlin! I didn't think of that!

Suddenly, the boat began to move along once more. A few good-sized waves had come along, created by the wind, and the two boys were drifting along once more. Remus set his book down once more and looked out over the lake, looking tranquil and at ease. He's so bloody quiet all the time, and yet I know exactly who he is, Sirius thought. How does that work?

Soon the boat had drifted towards what looked like land and right through a curtain of vines into a small lagoon-like area. Some kind of pressure, Sirius mumbled inwardly.

Remus looked around at the new scenery. His eyes sparkled with delight, as if to say, Sirius, you know me too well! I love this kind of thing! But he just smiled at Sirius and continued to look around.

Sirius clenched his teeth in pain. It was the perfect place. No one would see; they'd be totally alone: Just like he had dreamt before. He always found these dreams-- about kissing Remus-- awkward, and kept them to himself. In fact, he barely even let himself think about them. But now he was recalling a few dreams in which he was alone with Remus, in similar situations like the one he was currently in.

It's more than perfect! Just do it! No matter what he says, you'll be glad you got it off your chest. He pulled nervously at his long ebony hair. He was stalling and he knew it. Call it what you will, but Sirius considered a very bad (although sometimes useful) habit. He wouldn't admit it, but he was scared of being rejected. A girl had never dumped him; that was his job. There was only one place he had been rejected, and that was his own home. He had still been scared, but he was glad he was gone.

"Moony," said Sirius, rubbing his neck. You idiot! You were supposed to take him by surprise! Now you've ruined it!

"Padfoot?" said Remus, turning away from the water, where he had been watching the fish play.

"Uh . . . " Sirius said with the up-most intelligence, blushing furiously, "Nice . . . pondy thing, eh?" He bit his tongue hard. He had been so close. He couldn't back out . . . but how could he dive in?

"Yes, it's beautiful," said Remus with a twinkle in his eye.

They floated slowly through the lagoon, ducking a few tree branches and going through a few more curtains of vines.

Do it! Do it now! Sirius was nearly turning purple, as he was holding his breath. It was as if he were waiting for someone to do something, when all along that someone just so happened to be him.

"Are you alright, Sirius?" said Remus, leaning over and setting his hand on Sirius's hand. In reality, Sirius was nearly getting sick with nerves trying to convince himself to kiss Remus.

"Yeah, just brilliant," said Sirius, glancing down at Remus's hand. It was too perfect; he didn't even have to go in very far. Just a few inches and he'd being kissing the boy of his dreams.

This is it. Don't let it slip away. Lean forward, kiss him, and wait.

A light breeze passed over the two

I've never heard opportunity, and now it's knocking louder than ever. Answer the damn door, idiot!

Remus tilted his head and frowned in concern.

You've been denying the fact that you love him since day one and now you know it's true. Aren't you a dare-devil? So take a chance, pussy!

A leaf fell soundlessly into the boat.

Sirius wasn't quite sure what really happened next, but he knew he had leaned forward, and, to his surprise, he met Remus's lips somewhere in the middle, and not only was he kissing Remus, but Remus was kissing back.

Sirius felt two arms wrap around his neck and he pulled Remus in closer after his arms were around Remus's waist. They kissed until neither could stand the lack of oxygen any longer, and their eyes opened. They gazed into each other's eyes, an inch away, until Remus finally spoke.

"So, coming with me on my trip?" he whispered, his breath warm on Sirius's ear.

"I would die without you," said Sirius before Remus pulled him into another (literally) breath-taking kiss.

"I assume that's a yes," Remus mumbled into their kiss.

"I'm never going to say no to you," Sirius said softly, smiling.

The wind whispered, and they never did travel the world. The fish wiggled and leapt, and they did not love always and forever. A bird chirped, and they did come to love with all they had.

End

Yay for gooey, sopping-wet, happy endings.