The rain hits the stone walkways echoing off the high walls of the Hogwarts courtyard. It is only February, but the snow has already been melting away by an unseasonal warmth that has settled over the castle. The puddles splash merrily as drops disturb their contents endlessly.
Remus Lupin looks at his feet as he steps into a puddle. The Umbrella clutched between his cold fingers creates a dry gap in the continuous down-pour. Little rivulets stream off the angled ends and join the puddles he is standing in. He looks up at the grey sky and frowns.
Sirius' eyes look like a stormy sky when he was upset about things. Tremulous, dark, dangerous and hurt. Like when he was disowned by his mother the previous year. His whole expression had drawn into a darkness that reminded Remus of these storm clouds.
Water dripped onto his nose and he wrinkled it, feeling the cold water roll of his nose. He thought about Sirius when he was alone because he was afraid that somehow James would learn to read his mind if he thought anywhere near him. He thought about the way Sirius smiled when Sirius wasn't looking, and the way he was always there when Remus needed him, when Sirius wasn't around.
It isn't that he doesn't want to say something to Sirius. He does, but how would Sirius react to some of the things that he wants to say. Like that Sirius is more handsome then all of the best rainstorms? Or that when he is around, Remus' heart speeds up just enough that he is surprised Sirius himself doesn't hear it beating along in his chest.
Cold fingers tighten on the umbrella handle and he closes his eyes. He wants to say so many things to Sirius Black. He wants to mention that he might just be…
"You are going to catch your death out here."
Remus starts and drops his umbrella with a dull splash as it hits the muddy ground. Cold water assaults his senses as he turns to see, of course, Sirius Black standing behind him. He has his own umbrella up and a curious look on his face as he regards Remus from a few feet away.
Remus feels like a berk. The rain has quickly soaked his hair and for some reason the common sense to rescue his umbrella from the mud doesn't click. Instead, he stutters indignantly in response to Sirius' amused smile.
"Now I am pretty sure youwillcatch your death." Sirius walks up and covers Remus' head with his own umbrella. They are standing just a breath away from each other. The water coming of Sirius' umbrella surrounds them. The whisper of rain on the vinyl spread of the metal skeleton sounds suddenly very far away. Remus is briefly reminded of a scene from a rather old black and white romance movie he had watched with his mother once.
The he briskly gives himself a mental smack for associating anything he and Sirius do with an oldromancemovie. He had=s apparently become unhinged from being inside too long in the long winter months.
"Remus?" Sirius is looking at him now, a little concerned. Remus doesn't blame him. He is behaving like a girl caught in the hall by her crush…and there is the romance analogy again…He us sure his emotions have been switched with a third-year girl's.
"Err…sorry. I was thinking." Remus didn't look up. Sirius might know how to read minds as well as James and then he would be in some trouble.
"Thinking about how to invent new ways to catch the plague? You've been out here for almost two hours." Sirius brushes some of Remus' wet hair from his eyes. Remus closes them. He could feel his cheeks heating up.
"No." He said in a tiny voice. Sirius raises an eyebrow and Remus cracks a golden eye to look at him. Remus can't look him in the eyes.
Sirius doesn't say anything, but stoops, snagging Remus' umbrella and closing it. He hangs it from the crook of his arm and grabs Remus' hand. It's like an electric shock that shoot from Remus' fingertips to his heart. He doesn't even realize they have started walking until the are halfway across the courtyard.
He doesn't have the courage to ask if Sirius feels it too.
Just like he doesn't have the courage to tell Sirius he thinks he might love him.