Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me; they belong to the amazing J.K. Rowling
Summary: A sequel to 'Camping For Beginners', the morning and day after Sirius and Remus kissed
For Advanced Campers Only
Remus opened his bleary eyes; blinking rapidly in the sudden exposure to the brightness around the tent. He wasn't cold anymore and he also wasn't alone. Turning his head a fraction to the side he observed one Sirius Black curled contentedly around his skinny frame, still in the blissful state of sleep.
Remus paused for a moment to reflect why this sight affected him so, until in a startling realisation the events of last night came crashing down into his conscious mind. He was caught somewhere between inexorable embarrassment and gradual, stifling excitement which was beginning to bubble relentlessly in his stomach and made him feel faintly queasy.
Everything the night before had felt so easy, so right and yet now Remus didn't know what to think. Had Sirius kissed him out of an inclination of closeness to ward off the freezing temperature? Was he merely experimenting? Or perhaps, Remus suddenly thought, his excitement flummoxing like a diffused firework deep in the pit of his stomach, perhaps it had all been a prank. Yes, that would explain James' knowing expression the night before. Remus couldn't deny that the Marauders were prone to such cruel and unprovoked pranks, James and Sirius especially; particularly if it involved a certain Slytherin called Severus Snape.
"Oi! Are you two up yet? Breakfasts nearly ready"
Remus started to the sound of James' voice from outside the tent. He was blissfully thankful that he hadn't decided to poke his head through and discover two of his best friends in a somewhat compromising situation. The other circumstance of this intrusion was that Sirius had been startled awake.
"Wha 's goin' on?" He asked groggily, rubbing at his eye with his knuckle.
"Breakfast, I believe" Remus replied evenly, surprised at how calm he sounded. Sirius' arm was still slung across his torso. He looked down and raised his eyebrows.
"Right, sorry" Sirius said, noticing the direction of Remus' gaze. He withdrew his arm carefully, as though reluctant to do so.
Remus knew that Sirius was looking right at him; his grey eyes burning into him, making him feel twitchy and uncomfortable, although he tried not to show it. Instead he stared fixedly ahead.
"We'd better get out there" Remus said gruffly, clearing his throat as though it would dispel the awkwardness in his tone.
"Yeah, okay" Sirius replied, finally looking away and extricating himself from the sleeping bag. Remus watched him walk a few steps hunched over in respect of the size of the tent and rummage through his bag. Remus was somewhat alarmed to notice that sometime during the night Sirius had removed his shirt. All he was wearing were his jogging bottoms. All Remus could see right now was Sirius' arse; poised as though purposefully meaning to entice Remus into a reaction, which he certainly was not going to comply with.
Sirius started tugging down his trousers and Remus looked away hastily, pulling his own bag towards himself and shamefully dressing himself underneath the sleeping bag. Sirius turned around fully dressed and examined Remus struggling to pull his jumper over his tawny haired head.
Sirius smiled affectionately and motioned towards Remus again, tugging gently on his jumper to assist him in getting his head through successfully.
"Thanks" Remus murmured when he had finally resurfaced. He could feel his cheeks glowing.
"No problem" Sirius said softly. Their faces were very close together; Sirius' hand was still motionless in the air from where he'd helped tug the jumper down. Remus gulped hard as Sirius used his inactive hand to brush a stray lock of Remus' hair away from his face, his eyes fixed defiantly on Remus' face. Remus found that he couldn't look away, he was completely transfixed.
There was a slight rustle as the tent door was opened. James poked his head through the flap and frowned.
"Come on, breakfasts on the table"
"Table?" Sirius asked blankly, his hand now nowhere near Remus' face, regrettably.
"Yeah, Mum conjured it specially. All it takes is a simple Engorgement charm on a miniature table, came right out of her handbag" James' eyes glowed, clearly impressed.
"Clever one, your Mum" Sirius replied, rising. He held a hand out to Remus to help him stand, partially at least in the small confines of the tent.
Remus was quite grateful for the table; it was nice to feel civilised even if they were eating out in the open air. He placed himself next to Peter who was already wolfing down a fat sausage. He groaned in satisfaction.
"This is delicious, Mrs Potter" He said approvingly.
"Why thank you, Peter" Mrs Potter replied kindly, smiling.
"Yeah, Mum. You've outdone yourself" James said waving his fork, parts of sausage escaping his mouth.
"Don't talk with your mouth full, James" Mrs Potter scolded affectionately.
James closed his mouth and smiled sheepishly.
"So, what's on the agenda for today, boys?" Mr Potter asked, rubbing his palms together enthusiastically.
"We aren't really sure to be honest, Dad. Any ideas?"
"Well, me and your Mum were planning on going on a hike, would you like to join us?"
James looked in turn at the other three boys who nodded and shrugged in assent.
Mr Potter clapped his hands together happily. "Right! That's that sorted then. Finish your breakfasts and let them go down, we'll leave in about an hour"
"Awesome" Peter said, grinning.
"Don't get too excited, Pete" Sirius smiled devilishly. Remus' stomach fluttered at the sight.
"Why not?" Peter frowned.
"You do know what a hike is, don't you? It involves walking for prolonged periods of time, up hills" Sirius smirked.
Peter's shoulders slumped.
James clapped his hand on Peter's shoulder. "You'll be fine. I'm sure it'll be fun!"
Two hours later after walking for a full hour up a never-ending slope, James threw himself onto the ground.
"I can't go on! Forget me. Tell Evans I love her" James sighed dramatically for effect.
"Alright, let's go" Sirius replied, trying to hide a grin. James appeared crestfallen.
"Hey, don't really go!"
"We won't, don't worry" Remus assured him, taking a place on the ground next to him. "Your parents are already far ahead of us, we might as well rest for a bit". Remus had to admit that he was absolutely knackered.
James and Sirius slumped haphazardly onto the ground next to the other two. Remus noted that Sirius had chosen to sit precariously close to him; his knee was resting atop his own. Remus arranged his expression into an unreadable mask. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Sirius frown and the next moment he felt the slight weight of Sirius' knee extricate itself from his own.
Remus coughed to hide his discomfort. James and Peter seemed oblivious to the tension between himself and Sirius. Perhaps Remus was imagining it himself. He chanced a quick glance at Sirius who appeared nonplussed; chatting amiably to James.
"So what shall we do after the hike? That lake will be nice refreshment after all the sweating and heat" Sirius leaned backwards on his hands, squinting upwards at the brightness of the sun. The hazy glow floated across his complexion and illuminated his handsome features; Remus suddenly found himself unable to look away.
"Sounds perfect, mate" James agreed, taking off his fogged up glasses and wiping them on his t-shirt.
"Can't we do that now?" Peter whimpered hopefully.
"Nope sorry, Wormtail. When Sirius Black sets his sight on a goal he makes sure that he achieves it". Sirius turned to look at Remus who started from his unaltered gaze upon Sirius' face.
"He also talks about himself in the third person because he's an arrogant berk" James grinned. Sirius scowled and shoved James, who had to steady himself quickly before he started to stumble down the hillside.
"Shall we start going again?" Remus intervened, apprehensive of a tussle.
Peter groaned but rose unsteadily to his feet. James and Sirius sprung up; prepared for action.
James helped Peter walk ahead but Sirius remained behind to offer a hand to Remus to help him stand up.
"Thanks" Remus mumbled, flushing. Sirius didn't release his hand straight away.
"Look, Remus, we need to talk about last night…" Sirius stared earnestly at Remus' face. Remus quickly averted his eyes out of embarrassment.
"What about it?"
"Well, we kissed" Sirius stated bluntly.
"You kissed me" Remus retorted quietly.
"You kissed me back" Sirius had moved dangerously close to Remus now, still clasping his hand in Sirius' own.
Remus was petrified. He couldn't quite shake the doubt that this was all some terrible prank, or he was merely one of Sirius' many conquests.
"It was…a mistake" Remus muttered. His voice sounded uneven and undoubtedly false.
"Really?" Sirius sounded sceptical. Remus couldn't help thinking how arrogant he seemed at that moment. However he had always admired Sirius' overconfidence, particularly when he achieved the seemingly unachievable.
"Remus, can you look at me please?" Sirius sounded a little more anxious now, his confidence faltering.
Remus looked up unwillingly. Sirius' gaze was piercing; as though he were looking directly into Remus' soul. It made Remus shudder.
"I'm sorry if I've made you uncomfortable" Sirius sounded genuinely apologetic. "But you confused me, one day we're kissing and it feels so good and so right and the next day you're acting like nothing had happened"
Remus opened his mouth to reply but found that his mouth stuck.
"I probably shouldn't have done it, I know that. But Merlin, Remus. You're just so…you. That's not very articulate" Sirius laughed nervously and rubbed his spare hand over the back of his head. "What I mean is you're so smart and you always know just what to say to make me feel better, you light up a room without even trying, you just come in all unobtrusive as though you don't want your presence to be a burden to anyone but it isn't, Remus. You're so unfailingly kind, and well, beautiful I guess. I know men aren't supposed to say these kinds of things, especially to other men but who the fuck says we shouldn't? I know you probably don't feel the same and I've just made a complete arse out of my self but you know what? I don't care. I just wanted you to know all that, because well, you deserve to be told such things, that's all" Sirius took a deep breath. He looked as though he was about to say more until Remus cut him off by kissing him.
It wasn't quite as thorough as their kiss had been the night before but it still spoke volumes for how they were both feeling. After several moments they broke apart and stood staring at each other for several seconds, unable to form a coherent sentence.
Remus' mind had gone completely blank. He didn't know what had possessed him just then but what he did know was that Sirius had been saying inexplicably nice things about him; his lips quirking upwards at each of Remus' supposed traits and as a result, Remus simply could not resist kissing him.
They were spared the torment of having to decide upon some way to break the uncomfortable silence because they heard James approaching down the hill, jogging with a puzzled look on his face.
"What's holding you two up?" He asked suspiciously. The two boys had had the good sense to withdraw from each other. Remus' hand felt cold where Sirius' had held it only moments before.
"Sorry, we got to talking…" Sirius muttered. "Where's Peter? Left him in a ditch somewhere?" Sirius asked, smirking. Remus considered it an expert way to divert suspicion.
James gave Sirius a small push. "Course not. He's resting up there. I didn't realise for a while that you two weren't behind us and when I did I told Peter to wait while I went to look for you. You could have been eaten by bears for all I knew"
"Bears?" Sirius asked sceptically, raising his eyebrows.
James tutted. "Well I don't know, do I? Now hurry up. I don't want to be hiking all day long". James turned his back on the two other boys and started jogging ahead back to Peter's location.
Sirius cast a quick apologetic smile at Remus and followed James at a swift pace. Remus followed him; surprised that his legs were working properly.
When they had finally completed their hike, Mr and Mrs Potter were already comfortably back at camp, cooking lunch. Remus could smell the delicious essence of bacon, causing his mouth to water. The four boys took their places seated at the table whilst Mrs Potter served them their bacon sandwiches.
Remus chewed slowly and deliberately, frequently distracted by feeling Sirius' gaze on him. Often he would look up as well and the two of them would share an awkward smile. There was so much more which needed to be said and yet there was not a private moment in which to accomplish this.
As the day progressed, it did not seem as though there would be a spare moment for the two of them to speak alone. First James wanted to go fishing; Mr Potter tagging along to show them how it was done. Next Peter wanted to go swimming again in the lake. Remus decided not to enter the water this time, he'd been shivering most of the day from yesterday's excursion; clearly his body couldn't cope with the cold temperature of the water.
Instead he'd brought a book out with him. He felt a sense of relief through reading; becoming completely engrossed in someone else's life, someone else's story.
"What you reading?" A voice asked. Remus replaced his bookmark between the pages and looked up. Sirius was standing in front of him, dripping wet with only a towel covering him. Remus was struck dumb for a minute. He had seen Sirius many a time in all his glory; he really was a terrible egoist at times. This time it was different however. Remus couldn't help noticing the beads of water dripping down Sirius' chest, or the way his black hair was stuck to his forehead and yet he still seemed alluringly handsome.
Sirius waved a hand in front of Remus' face, startling him out of his reverie.
"Sorry" Remus coughed. "It's nothing special" Remus replied absently, putting the book down next to him. "Look, I think we need to talk" He added seriously in a lowered voice.
"Nothing good ever comes after saying those words" Sirius sighed. "But okay, let's talk"
Remus paused, swallowing thickly.
"I just wanted to know… if everything you said on the hike was true" Remus wrung his hands in his lap, feeling inexplicably tense.
Sirius knelt down in front of him, taking his hands in his own. "Of course it was all true. Truth is, Moony…I think I kinda love you"
Remus' head snapped up. Sirius had never looked so defiant, or as beautiful as he did at this moment.
"You…what?" Remus was almost speechless with shock.
"I love you. Known it for a long time, I was just too scared to say so. Not the kinda thing guys go around telling other guys"
"You love me?" Remus was puzzled. Before Sirius could respond he added: "But we all love each other, we're friends"
Sirius barked out a laugh. "Remus, stop trying to make this not true. I'm in love with you. Undoubtedly, uncontrollably, inevitably"
Remus remained silent. Sirius started to twitch impatiently.
"Well?" He finally asked.
"Well what?" Remus asked slyly, attempting to hide a smirk.
"Do you think there's any chance you could, you know, love me as well?"
Sirius sounded so vulnerable that Remus had to put him out of his misery.
"Not only could I, I think I already do" Remus smiled; Sirius returning the sentiment in a broad grin.
"Really?" He asked excitedly.
"Really. Who knows why though" Remus smirked and kissed Sirius sweetly.
Sirius pulled away first, his breath ghosting Remus' face. "Let's finish this in a more private location". He smirked and pulled Remus to his feet; keeping his hand in his as they walked back in the direction of the camp; probably to involve themselves in a thorough tent romp.
"Hey where are them two going?" Peter asked in confusion, standing in the murky water of the lake.
James laughed. "Trust me, mate. You wouldn't believe me if I told you…"