After dinner, the common room was buzzing with students. Remus was reading about Manticores for his Care of Magical Creatures exam. He was draped over Sirius who was sprawled across an armchair by the hearth. One of Remus' arms drooped over the side of the chair; the other held his book vertically on his abdomen. Sirius was casually brushing the pad of his thumb over Remus' wrist whilst he stared into the crackling fire. Remus read a line from the textbook in his head.
"The Manticore is highly dangerous and also impervious to most magic."
His vein throbbed bright blue and his index finger twitched.
"The Manticore is highly dangerous and also impervious to most magic."
Sirius' neck was angled towards the ceiling, but his gaze remained on the fire.
"The Manticore is highly dangerous and –"
"Blat" said Remus. The hand holding the book slipped and he lost his page, the volume falling onto his stomach.
"Klooph" said his stomach. Remus' head collapsed onto the back of the chair, his hair tickling Sirius' eyelid.
"Remus Remus Remus Remus Remus," Sirius murmured.
"Remus." Remus confirmed.
"Remus, I am going to make your vein explode."
"Charming, Sirius."
Remus let his free arm reach up, tangling his hand in Sirius' black hair. The beginning of sleep set in, half-hooded eyes contemplated the golden sparks drifting up the chimney. Just like small fireflies he thought. Very small fireflies.
"You shouldn't spend so much time studying, you know." Sirius hummed.
Remus didn't answer; instead he nuzzled his cheek into Sirius' jaw. That way, he could feel him smiling.
Sirius positioned his right arm over Remus' chest. His fingers curled lightly over the place his heart resided.
Beat beat beat said Remus' heart.
Beat.
Beat.
Beat.
Author's Note: It should be noted that I do not own any of the characters in this story, nor the places therein. Also, the sentence on Manticores comes from the hp-encyclopedia.
