Carry You Over To A New Morning

Remus paused for a moment, then reached out and took his wand gently, his fingers brushing softly against Sirius's outstretched palm, which felt warm. He pocketed his wand, carefully, and then looked up at Sirius, who met his gaze with earnest, grey eyes.

'Where did you get this?' Remus asked him, his tone a mixture of curiosity, admiration, and confusion.

Sirius's only response was a shrug of his shoulders, the black leather of his jacket stretching over his skin. He lowered his outstretched hand and pushed it into the pocket of his jeans. Remus ignored this vague attempt at secrecy, and repeated his question, a hint of impatience seeping into his voice.

Sirius merely smiled a smile that was maddeningly cheerful, yet charmingly innocent. Remus suspected it was a smile he wore often.

'Fine,' Remus said, trying to not sound as brassed off as he felt. 'Thanks for returning it to me, Mr Black.'

Sirius's grin faltered slightly at the formal tone of Remus's voice, but seeing as they'd really only seen each other a handful of times, Remus didn't know what Sirius expected him to say. They could hardly be described as friends. It didn't matter that Sirius Black would always be one of the cases Remus would remember as long as he lived – it was just one of those things.

Remus, who realised an awkward silence had fallen between them, met Sirius's eyes and smiled, then nodded politely and turned round, intending to make his way back to the apartment he still shared with Marlene, and enjoy what was left of his well-deserved day off.

He was half-way down the street, which was filled with the loud chatter of eager end-of-summer shoppers, when Sirius appeared at his side, having run over from where Remus had left him. Remus, whose thoughts had been occupied with trying to figure out how on earth Sirius had managed to swipe his wand without him noticing, only registered he was there when he spoke.

'I thought we might get lunch,' said Sirius, would-be-casually.

Remus, shocked out of his thoughts, could only stare at him.

Sirius looked hopeful, all sixteen-year-old brightness, his smile wide and open.

Remus shook his head, confused, and then said, 'I don't think so, Mr Black.'

Sirius's face fell almost comically, and Remus was more than surprised to find his face displayed emotions so openly. It was a far cry from whenever Remus had treated Sirius in hospital; Sirius's face had usually been unreadable, then. Remus wondered vaguely whether he had ever really known Sirius well at all.

'Why not?' Sirius demanded.

Remus rounded on him, feeling extremely old and tired all of a sudden. 'First off,' he said, matter-of-factly, sounding rather like he was composing an article for Challenges in Charming than having an actual conversation, 'you are my patient and I am your Healer, Mr Black. Having lunch with you would not only be highly inappropriate, it would be against the rules.'

Sirius opened his mouth, probably to respond with a scathing comment about those very rules, but Remus continued before he could say something, 'And secondly, because I think it's a spectacularly bad idea.'

At this, Sirius's face displayed a flicker of amusement that could be read in the corner of his mouth, which twitched up, revealing a dimple in his cheek that Remus had never seen before. Today was a day of firsts.

'Why?' Sirius asked, his tone cheeky. 'Afraid I might kiss you again?'

Remus stopped walking, feeling his eyebrows knit themselves into a frown. He had tried his very best not to dwell on the kiss, if only because Sirius was so very, very young, and it had been so very, very inappropriate. They hadn't spoken of it – Remus had barely acknowledged it when it had happened, even – and it felt out of place in this conversation which, Remus realised, was inappropriate in and of itself.

'Mr Black,' he said, 'I apologise for what transpired between us a few months back. I realise it was entirely inappropriate.'

''S all right. I kissed you,' Sirius interrupted, with a shrug of his shoulders.

Remus's headache increased in pressure and thumped painfully, unexpectedly blurring his vision. It did that, sometimes. Remus clenched his eyes shut out of reflex, waiting for it to pass. Sirius's face, which blurred back into focus when he opened his eyes, was streaked with worry, and he was stood very close to Remus.

'All right?' he asked, softly. His hand was hovering close to Remus's arm, and Remus wondered for a moment if he'd been swaying on his feet.

'Headache,' Remus supplied, taking a step back. 'I'm going to get home. Sorry,' he added, not really knowing what he was apologising for.

'I'll take you,' Sirius volunteered, Gryffindor chivalry shining through clearly in the words.

Remus's shook his head in resignation, realising there was little he could do to stop him. The rest of his surroundings swam into focus as the pressure in his head decreased, and he could see clearly again. They fell quiet as they continued, and after only a few minutes, Remus began to recognise the whitewashed carriage houses and sashed windows that made up the beginning of his street.

He felt Sirius's grey eyes scrutinizing his face.

'Really, I'm quite alright,' he said, firmly.

Sirius made no response.

They had reached the black-painted door that led up to the first-floor flat he shared with Marlene, so Remus stopped walking, rather abruptly. There was a slightly comical moment in which Sirius, who had walked on, noticed Remus hadn't followed, and had to double back. In the meantime, Remus had fished his keys out of his coat pocket and had opened the door that led into his flat. He turned to face Sirius with one hand cradled protectively around the door handle.

'Thank you, Mr Black,' he said, kindly.

Sirius, catching the dismissal in his tone, looked absurdly crestfallen. His mouth twisted downwards and his grey eyes glowed brightly, resentfully, in Remus's direction. Remus realised, for the first time, that Sirius Black was just a child, and his clumsy invitation to lunch had probably been his way of saying thank you for all the help Remus had given him over the years.

In short, Remus was being an absolute shit.

'Why don't you come in for a cup of tea before you go,' he said, stepping aside, wondering what on earth he was doing.

The smile Sirius gave him was blindingly beautiful.


Remus led the way up the stairs that led to his flat, Sirius walking quietly behind him. When they reached the door to the flat, Remus opened it with the keys, and stepped aside, motioning for Sirius to go in first. By the time Remus stepped into the flat after him, Sirius had already made his way into the living room. He'd hung his leather jacket on the coat rack and had neatly toed his shoes off. They stood neatly next to Marlene's bright red heels. Remus took off his own coat and shoes, and tossed them with far less care on the rack, which swayed, teeter-tottering dangerously for a moment.

Sirius's feet were bare and seemed rather large as he stepped gracefully around the coffee table that stood in front of the sofa, and made his way to the bookcase, which took up most of the blue living room. Remus watched Sirius still as he studied the books, his broad shoulders pulling the fabric of his thin white shirt tight. For a moment, he wondered if he should say something, but thought better of it, and made his way into the kitchen, instead. He found the kettle, which Marlene had put away in one of the large pots Alice had left behind, and filled it with water.

'Are all of these yours?' Sirius asked, his polite tone drifting into the kitchen.

Remus lit the stove and put on the kettle. 'Most of them,' he answered, walking back into the living room. When he came to stand next to Sirius, he saw that Sirius's hand was stroking the spine of a set of gilded books about pureblood wizarding genealogy he'd been given as a Christmas gift by his grandparents. They were, possibly, the most expensive thing he owned.

'Found them a bit backwards,' he admitted, softly, and Sirius turned to him, a faint grin on his face.

'They are.'

The kettle chose that moment to whistle furiously, and Remus returned to the kitchen, lifting it gently off the stove and pouring the boiling water into two mugs he'd grabbed from the cabinet.

'Milk or sugar?' he asked over his shoulder and was surprised when Sirius, instead of standing in front of his bookcase, answered him while being sat on the kitchen table, his hands bunched in the off-white table cloth. Remus hadn't even heard him move. 'No, thank you.'

'All right,' Remus responded, dropping sugar into his own tea, and sitting down in the seat furthest from Sirius. Sirius grinned at him properly, and slid off the table easily, slumping into a seat. Remus realised, not soon after that, that he had no idea what to say next.

Sirius, however, had no such qualms. 'Live here on your own?' he asked.

Remus shrugged vaguely. 'Not really. I share it with one of my best friends, but I'm usually at Valerie's.'

Sirius studied him quietly. 'Girlfriend,' he guessed.

Remus nodded, wondering why he'd felt the urge to bring her into the conversation, all of a sudden. Maybe to allow himself the illusion that he had some control left; that he wasn't just completely confused and useless.

'Figured you'd be married and have a couple of kids,' Sirius said, in response.

Remus choked on his tea, the bitterness of the black tea stinging his throat. He coughed, putting the mug back on the table, and could form no response for a moment. When he looked up, he found Sirius grinning at him teasingly, having obviously read him perfectly.

Remus had been right: this had been a spectacularly bad idea. He opened his mouth to say as much but was interrupted by the loud, unexpected crack of Apparition and Marlene's voice ringing out from the living room.

'Remus?' she called, a note of worry in her voice, and Remus responded with a croak, his throat still stinging.

She appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, her lime green Healer robes swirling around her. 'Martin said you showed up with your hand full of second degree burn blisters and no wand.'

Sirius looked up at him sharply, having apparently not been privy to this information.

Remus wondered, for the umpteenth time, when on earth Sirius had managed to swipe his wand. He hadn't even seen him around St Mungo's. 'Found my wand,' he answered, finally, but Marlene was looking at Sirius and didn't reply. Sirius was looking back at her impassively, looking very much as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't. Marlene's eyes narrowed, and then she turned to Remus.

She raised her eyebrows, and Remus realised, with a jolt, that she would recognise Sirius from Alice's New Year's party, and would wonder what on earth he was doing here. He also wondered, perhaps unfairly, if Alice had told her anything.

'Sirius was the one who found my wand,' Remus corrected himself. 'He returned it to me. So I asked him up for tea.'

Marlene looked at him incredulously, her face unbelieving. She didn't look at Sirius, who was staring into his mug with an unreadable, guarded expression on his face. He looked, for all the world, as if they were back in the hospital, and Mrs Black was breathing down his neck. Remus tried to keep his face impassive as he looked back at Marlene, but it was hard, because she knew him quite well.

'As long as you're sure you're all right,' she said, eventually.

'Fine. Just a headache,' Remus responded, dismissively.

Marlene frowned. 'You've been having a lot of those lately.'

Remus pulled a face, but didn't respond, because there wasn't much he could say to that. He hadn't really been paying much attention to the frequency of his headaches, if he was being perfectly honest. They just happened every once a while.

Marlene looked at him for a moment longer, but knew that she wasn't going to get anywhere, so she dropped it. 'I've got to get back to work,' she said, finally. 'Enjoy your tea.' She gestured vaguely at the table, and then turned on her heel and made her way out to the living room, where she would Apparate back to St Mungo's.

'Nice robes, McKinnon,' Sirius shouted after her, unexpectedly.

Marlene turned round and, uncharacteristically, raised her middle finger at him, before Disapparating with a sharp crack.

'She's James's cousin,' Sirius offered, even though Remus hadn't asked. 'She hates me.'

Remus could only look at him, surprised.


In the end, Sirius stayed long after the tea was finished.

Remus was surprised to find that he didn't run out of things to say, as he thought he might. Eventually, they had moved into the living room, where they were still sat, across from each other on the comfortable, blue sofa. Sirius talked with his hands, expressively, and his hair had a habit of falling into his eyes when he was telling a particularly riveting story. His laugh was warm and comfortable, and it was quick to ring out, bark-like, when he entertained Remus with stories of some scandalous prank he'd pulled.

At moments, he was sixteen, eyes young and mouth eager, like when Remus told him of a particularly tricky Healing Charm that required immense concentration. Other times, he was very old and haughty-sounding, like when he told Remus of the time he'd met his father at Gringotts, and the older man had ignored him entirely, pretending he didn't exist at all.

Right now, however, he looked spectacularly tired. His elbow was leant against the sagging sofa pillows, his head resting on his hand, and his eyes were drooping. Remus glanced at his watch and realised it was nearing two in the morning.

'Time for bed, I think,' he said.

Sirius's eyes looked at him sleepily, accusingly, but he yawned obligingly, sitting up straight and stretching his hands, his knuckles cracking awfully.

Remus winced at the sound. 'Come on,' he said, standing up. 'I'll take you back to the Potters.'

Sirius scrubbed a hand over his face, and then turned to him. 'Don't worry about it, Lupin,' he said, his voice hazy and low. 'I can Apparate.'

'You're sixteen,' Remus said, in surprise.

Sirius shrugged, but didn't offer a response, moving past Remus and up off the sofa. He walked past the coffee table, which was filled with empty cups of tea and remnants of the simple omelette Remus had made for dinner (Sirius had assured him that he was very impressed with his cooking skills). Sirius paused, suddenly, at the door of Remus's bedroom, which stood slightly open.

'Yours?' Sirius asked.

Remus nodded, slowly.

Sirius gave a careful, somehow guarded smile, tilting his chin up in acknowledgement of Remus's answer. Then he moved past the door towards the coat rack. He found his leather jacket and his shoes, and slipped them both on with effortless ease.

'I'll see you around, Lupin,' Sirius said, rounding on him.

'Remus,' Remus said.

'Remus,' Sirius agreed, and Remus didn't know why he was so very surprised when he gave a cheeky little wave, turned on the spot, and Disapparated with a sharp crack that rang out through the empty flat.

Marlene hadn't come home. Remus sank back down on the sofa, leaning his head back against the pillows. He was in so, so much trouble.