A boy, sitting alone in front of the dying embers of the fire, yawned. His book slipped out of his loose grasp, but he made no move to retrieve it. Instead, he checked his watch and sighed.

It was late, Remus Lupin decided. Too late. Past-reasonable-explanation late. That'd be right.

He stretched his arms above his head and pushed out his chest, his eyes fighting sleep.

"You look sexy when you do that," a voice interrupted his apparent solitude, a voice that simultaneously sent shivers down his spine and made his stomach flip.

Remus stood up and, defensively, began smoothing down the creases in his shirt, not making eye contact with the taller, darker boy, whose gaze he could feel burning into him.

"I didn't say stop," Sirius said, his voice barely concealing the smile playing about his lips. He moved closer.

Remus looked up. "You're late."

"Am I? Didn't notice," said Sirius, linking his arms around Remus' neck.

Remus took no notice of his touch, and jabbed a finger into the other boy's chest. "You went and landed yourself in detention again, didn't you?"

"Come on, Moony, what does it matter?" Sirius said, shaking the hair out of his eyes.

"It matters a lot! We hardly spend any time with each other now, have you noticed?"

Sirius leant forward, his mouth inches from Remus'.

"What with you being in detention every night, and me being a Prefect, we're lucky if we spend an hour together these days," Remus continued, ignoring Sirius, who was now sliding his hands down to Remus' waist.

"Are you - Are you even listening to me?" Remus demanded, as Sirius laid his head on the smaller boy's shoulder.

"Course I am," his breath raising the hairs of Remus' neck.

"No, you're not. You're trying to get me to kiss you."

"So what if I am? I can multi-task," Sirius said, his lips running gently over Remus' collarbone.

"It won't work." But already Remus could feel his will ebbing. Sirius had that effect on a person.

The other boy growled in the back of his throat, and his hands began playing around the waistband of Remus' trousers.
"Sirius..."

Sirius kissed his way up and across Remus' jaw, his black eyes staring unblinkingly at Remus with surprising ferocity.

Remus drew a sharp intake of breath as Sirius pulled them together, digging his fingernails into the small boy's hip.

Of course, it wasn't surprising that they were soon entwined on the couch, Sirius' legs wrapped around Remus, Remus moaning all too loudly.

Remus convinced himself that it was purely for his own safety, giving into Sirius. The boy became frightening when he didn't get what he wanted.

But, in reality, Remus knew the routine. Sirius would mess up, and then make it better. He'd whisper the words to make it all go away - make the entire world go away, if necessary. He could do it.

Remus would never admit that Sirius was in total and complete control of him. He didn't mind, if the nights began like this, he thought, as Sirius began unbuttoning his shirt.