Author's Note: The prompts for this chapter were the beach and the quote"No one is nicer than I am. There was once, but I took care of that." Hope you like this chapter, and get excited for Sirius and Remus' return to school ;).


August

Remus loves the sun. It isn't so much the warmth it exudes, or the light it gives, but just the fact that it is there, high in the sky, gives Remus comfort. It is such a contrast from the moon, cold and unforgiving and distant, that it makes Remus forget, if only for a second, what he turns into under the moon's watchful gaze.

Because of this, Remus is perfectly content with sitting on the beach, watching Peter and James and Sirius romp around in the waves, and soaking up the sun.

Sirius, however, is not content with this arrangement. Remus has barely enough time to register what is coming towards him before he is drenched with water that flew from shaggy black hair, and covered with sand that has scattered everywhere with the sudden weight of a body.

"Moony!" Sirius says happily. "Come on, don't just sit here, we're at the beach!"

"I like sitting here," Remus says, laughing.

Sirius shrugs and pulls himself up into a proper sitting position. "Then I'll sit here with you. Stop you from being too boring."

Remus grins. "Thanks, Padfoot."

Sirius looks at him out of the corner of his eyes. "What are you thinking about?"

"I dunno. We're going to be sixth years. This is our second-to-last year at Hogwarts. Isn't that crazy?"

Sirius bites his lip. "Yeah. I don't really- it's not that I don't want to graduate, but I dunno. I just…it's weird, you know? Leaving all this behind?"

Remus smiles slightly. "We still have two years, Pads, no need to get nostalgic yet."

Sirius punches him on the arm. "Sod off," he says good-naturedly.

Remus shoves him back. "But yeah. It'll be strange. But we'll make these last two years memorable."

Sirius grins wickedly. "Hell, yeah. And hey, maybe you'll finally get a girlfriend." He pauses. "Or a boyfriend, if that's what you prefer."

Remus' smile slips. "Oh. Yeah. Well. I doubt it. I'm just the nice guy. Not the guy girls want to get involved with. Or blokes, I suppose."

"You are nice," Sirius agrees.

"No one is nicer than I am," Remus says, grinning. "There was once, but I took care of that."

"Mm, well, it's only to be expected. We all have to be known for something."

"And what are you known for?"

"My good looks, naturally," Sirius says with mock-seriousness.

"Oh, naturally," Remus drawls sarcastically. "It's a wonder that you don't have a bird hanging on to you right now."

Sirius grins. "Ah, well, I have you, Moony."

Remus blushes slightly and ducks his head to hide his embarrassment. "I'm hanging on to you, then?"

Sirius laughs. "Well, who can blame you? What with my good looks and all."

"Yes," Remus says, fighting to keep his voice care-free. "And I'm sure you're hanging on to me. You know. With my niceness."

"Ah, but we need to consider the theory that nice guys finish last," Sirius says, grinning at him. "I don't know if I can actually be attracted to a nice guy." He gasps in mock-horror.

Remus bares his teeth at him. "But there's also the little-known fact of my furry little problem. That's not very nice."

Sirius nods his head thoughtfully. "Yes, that's true. Gives you a bit of a dangerous edge. Rather sexy, actually."

Remus blushes again. "Does it cancel out my niceness?"

Sirius smirks. "I wouldn't go that far. But it comes fairly close. Well, Moony, I s'pose I can be attracted to you, then."

"Such a relief."

"I thought it would be," Sirius says, batting his eyelashes dramatically. "Oh Moony. We can be together now! Finally!"

Remus feels slightly nauseous. He tries to retain his joking demeanor. "Thank Merlin!"

In a second, Sirius has straddled him and is grinning at him wildly. "I've waited so long for this," he says, growling slightly and licking Remus' cheek.

Remus' eyes widen slightly and he tries to ignore his racing heart and think of an appropriately funny comeback. He can't, and is grateful for James' approaching shout: "Oi! What's all this?"

Sirius slides off him and laughs. "Don't be jealous, Jamie, you can always join in."

James rolls his eyes but grins. "I'll pass. If you two are done snogging, Pete and I are bored and you can't really have a proper game with only two people, so come on."

Sirius gives an exaggerated wink to Remus. "We'll continue this at another time, Moony, my love," he says huskily, before running over to Peter.

James raises his eyebrows at Remus. "What was that all about?"

Remus stands up briskly. "Sirius flirts with everyone. It was just a laugh."

"Yeah?" James asks skeptically. "Well, he looked a little serious, heh heh, very Sirius indeed."

"It's not that funny," Remus snaps. "And he wasn't serious."

James cocks an eyebrow at him. "Well, if you say so. But Sirius has never licked my cheek or straddled me." He smirks and runs over to join Peter and Sirius.

Remus follows, shaking his head. It was ridiculous, it was only a laugh, it didn't actually mean something. When he has reached his friends, Sirius grabs his hands, pulling him into a reckless dance in the crashing waves. He's laughing wildly and Remus starts to laugh as well, and the look Sirius gives him makes him think that maybe Sirius wasn't completely joking, after all.