Chapter 4 - Dazed and Confused
For the tenth time Sirius batted away the book Remus was trying to read.
"Padfoot! Will you stop DOING that?"
It was a sunny and unusually warm autumn day, and the foursome were relaxing under the big, old beech tree by the lake. Sirius was lying on his back with his head in Remus' lap, looking up at him with a mischievous grin.
"You shouldn't be reading on a Sunday, Moony - you should rather be looking at ME!"
"Attention seeking mutt," Remus muttered.
Sirius barked and stuck his tongue out, panting like a dog while wriggling closer to Remus.
"Would you mind terribly removing your head from my crotch?" Remus asked with feigned politeness. He was not too keen on risking having a reaction to the physical contact - which might easily happen, especially if Sirius wouldn't lie still.
"Yes, I would actually, since you ask so nicely. I'm rather comfortable where I am. You make a nice pillow," answered the animagus cheekily.
"Padfoot - stop torturing Moony," reprimanded James. "Why are you always badgering him?"
"Well, I can't do it to you, can I? You'd just kick the stuffing out of me!"
"So you take advantage of poor Moony's kind heart..."
"Exactly!" replied Sirius shamelessly.
"Honestly, Padfoot - you shouldn't be doing this," said Remus.
"Why not?"
"Well, for starters, your boyfriend might get jealous..."
"No he won't," Sirius said. "We broke it off."
"What? Why?" asked Peter, who hadn't said anything for some time.
"Because of you lads. He kept bitching about me prioritising you over him. I told him that it wasn't going to change, and if he didn't like it, he could just shove off. Which he did."
"I'm sorry," said Remus. "You really shouldn't abort your romantic relationships for the sake of us, you know."
"Of course I should! If it takes a toll on our relationship. The Marauders ALWAYS come first."
"Right!" agreed James. Then he added, a bit nervously: "Me going out with Lily wouldn't take a toll on us, would it?"
Sirius laughed out loud. "The Lily business has been taking a toll on us ever since you first started obsessing over her, Prongs! We've gotten so used to it by now, it would be strange if it stopped."
"We would never ask you to break it off with her, James. We know how much she means to you," Remus assured him.
James looked relieved. "Thanks lads!"
"Yeah, it's different. It's not like Tim was the love of my life, so I'm not too bothered. Besides -" he continued, "- he gave lousy head."
"SIRIUS!" exclaimed Remus.
"Honestly, Padfoot - I really didn't need that image in my head!" groaned James, while Peter made gagging noises.
Sirius just grinned deviously, taking pleasure in having alarmed his friends so easily.
James elegantly managed to change the subject of conversation to jokes and pranks. Soon Sirius, James and Peter were well into plotting a new scheme against their favourite victims - the Slytherins.
"You know, James - you really shouldn't be doing this anymore, being Head Boy and all..." a frowning Remus commented, although he had no illusions of James actually listening to him.
"Ah, Moony, don't be so boring. What's the harm in a bit of fun? We aren't going to hurt them or anything."
"That's not the point. You have a responsibility now... and besides, if you started showing a bit of maturity, Lily might actually want to go o- A-A-OUCH!" he yelled as Sirius pinched his inner thigh hard.
"Shhh, Moony!" Sirius shout-whispered. "Don't play the Lily-card - that's a cheap trick!"
Kind-hearted or not, this time Remus shoved Sirius out of his lap and rubbed his sore thigh. "You git, Padfoot - that's gonna leave a mark!"
"If you two could stop your lovers' spat for a moment, we could get on with the planning," James intervened. "We're going to need some more bulbadox powder... I'm out. What about you?"
Sirius and Peter both shook their heads.
"Moony?" said James, looking hopefully at Remus.
"NO! And if I HAD any, I wouldn't dream of giving it to you!"
"We'll have to sneak off to Hogsmeade, then, to get some at Zonko's..."
"Right!" agreed Sirius and pushed himself to his feet. "Let's go right away."
"You coming, Moony?" asked Peter.
"What do you think?" answered Remus dryly.
o0o0o
Remus stayed at the spot by the beech tree a couple of hours, reading. He was just about to get up, due to a cold backside, to go back to the castle when he spotted something green in the distance, soaring through the air. He shaded his eyes with his hand and squinted against the sun, trying to make out what it was. As he suspected, it was someone on a broom, dressed in, judging by the colour, what could only be Slytherin Quidditch robes. The flyer looked rather small and graceful, so, due to the fact that all the others on the Slytherin Quidditch team were large and bulky, this could only be their captain, Lucinda Talkalot, or Regulus Black. Remus was rather hoping for the latter. He considered getting up and sneak closer so he could get a better look.
It turned out that he didn't have to bother moving, because the flyer changed direction and came closer to where he was sitting. Soon he could make out the black hair fluttering behind him and the snitch he was chasing. Remus stared at him, mesmerised. Quidditch had never really interested him, and he didn't know much about it. He did, however, know that Regulus was a very good Seeker; he had often listened to James' moaning about how he was the main reason they had such a hard time beating the Slytherin team.
He watched in awe how Regulus skilfully and with impressive agility swooped, turned and dived in his attempts to catch the snitch. And then it happened: as the Seeker flew too close to a tree, a branch caught a snippet of his robes, and he was torn off his broom. Remus only saw him fall towards the ground because the hills and bushes cut off his view of the landing.
He immediately got up and set off in the direction where Regulus had disappeared from view. He felt a slight panic flutter in his chest. He couldn't make out how far the fall must have been, since he could not see the ground below the tree. What if it was a long way down? What if Regulus was seriously injured? What if he had broken his neck or something? He told himself that he was overdramatizing, but nevertheless he heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the boy didn't lie splattered on the ground.
The fall had not been too far, and Regulus was sitting with his legs bent in front of him, holding a hand to his temple, his forehead resting on his knees. When Remus came running up to him, he raised his head to look at him.
The Gryffindor came to a halt a few yards in front of him. Breathing hard from the run, he bent forward and supported his weight with his hands on his knees. "You scared me there, mate!" he panted. "Are you all right?"
Regulus blinked several times, looking dazed. "Where... what happened to the snitch?"
"The snitch?" Remus looked at him in disbelief. "Bugger the snitch - what happened to you, is the question!"
"No - I'm fine. Really. I've had worse. It's nothing..."
"You're bleeding," pointed Remus out, looking at the blood that was trickling down the right side of Regulus' face from a cut at his hairline.
"Oh..." he said, sounding slightly surprised. He lifted his hand to his face, but Remus stopped it with his.
"Here," said Remus, "let me." He found a handkerchief in a pocket and kneeled down in front of the other boy. "It's not deep," he said, inspecting the cut. "It has almost stopped bleeding already." He pressed the handkerchief to the cut and asked, "does it hurt?"
"No," Regulus said hurriedly, although winching a little.
Remus began carefully wiping the blood and dirt off of the younger boy's face. Although fixing his gaze on the task at hand, he couldn't avoid noticing Regulus' grey eyes staring at him. He suddenly felt very bashful as he became aware of how close their faces were. He could feel shallow puffs of warm breath on his cheek, and he had to swallow hard to keep himself composed. He willed his eyes not to look into Regulus', but they were like magnets and when their eyes locked, he found it impossible to look away again.
Before realising what was happening, Regulus had leaned in and pressed his lips lightly to his. It felt like a strong electric current shot through Remus and stopped his heart with a jolt. What if it doesn't start again? What if... he thought with panic. You're being an idiot - your heart hasn't stopped! You don't get cardiac arrest from a kiss! his rational self informed him.
His body obviously did not need his brain's attention in order to work, because he discovered that his mouth was acting on its own, kissing back. The other boy's lips were so incredibly soft and moist, and Remus wanted to taste more. He pushed his tongue gently against those delicious lips, and Regulus opened his mouth and met him with his own tongue. The first sensation of electricity was nothing compared to the shivers the feeling of Regulus' tongue rubbing against his own sent down his spine all the way to his feet.
The kiss probably lasted about a minute, although Remus wouldn't have been able to tell. They broke apart and Remus' eyes fluttered open to see the other boy staring back at him with a look of bewilderment.
"What the bloody hell was that?" Regulus exclaimed in an almost whisper. He touched his hand to his lips as if to feel that they were still there.
"I... I don't know - you started it!" Remus shot back, not understanding why Regulus was being so strange.
They sat and stared awkwardly at each other for a moment. Then, suddenly, Regulus hooked his hands behind Remus' head and urgently crashed their mouths together again. Remus responded immediately with equal intensity. He splayed a hand over Regulus' cheek and let his other hand's fingers tangle in his black locks. The kiss quickly became more and more passionate and when Regulus frantically pulled at Remus to bring him closer, he tipped over backwards, bringing Remus down with him. Remus let out a gasp as he felt hands slipping under the hem of his shirt and up his back. He felt a fresh pang of arousal run through him and grinded against the boy beneath him.
All of a sudden Regulus stiffened, and the second later he was pushing Remus away rather harshly. "Get off of me!" he hissed.
Remus sat back with a thud and gaped in bafflement at the Slytherin, who stumbled to his feet and backed away from him. His eyes were wild with panic and his pupils so dilated that there was almost nothing of the grey left.
"What's wrong?" he tried.
"I... gotta go," Regulus mumbled.
"But your head! We should go see Madam Pomfrey..."
"No!" said Regulus as he turned and scurried away, leaving his broom behind. "Don't follow me!" he shouted back over his shoulder.
Remus was left sitting on the ground, his feelings a complete mess of confusion, arousal and guilt. What on earth had just happened? He had obviously scared the wits out of the younger boy. But he was the one who initiated! Both times! a part of him protested. You should have stopped it, another part argued. He was bemused. He just bumped his head, for Godric's sake! You should have known better. You exploited him!