When Remus woke up later that morning he was alone.
He tried not to be disappointed as he sat up and rubbed the sleep away from his eyes. He tried to ignore how cold his bed now seemed. He tried to stop wondering if Sirius would have been there if he had just opened his eyes a few minute sooner.
But no matter how hard he did try, he couldn't help but sigh as he swung his feet over the edge of his mattress and stood up. He stretched, joints popping and walked over to his wardrobe to gather his robes.
"Maybe it was all a dream," he muttered, glancing back at Sirius' bed. It seemed to him that no one had slept in it all night -- but you could never trust such things in the wizardry world. Magic could sooth away any crease or fold in bed sheets, even if someone was laying under them.
If it was a dream, it was extremely vivid. Remus could remember the warm the Sirius' body made. He could remember how his face looked in the dim lighting. The fragment of his name still echoed in his head.
"Rem…"
Remus shuddered. It had been no dream and he'd known it.
But where'd he run off to then? he thought, throwing his robes down on his bed, starting to unbutton the shirt that had made the trip to the Forest and back with him. Once that task was done, he slid it off and let it fall to his feet.
They're all not in bed, his brain reminded him. Peter and James are gone too. Maybe they just went to bathe, like you should.
He frowned. Bathing didn't seem like such a bad idea -- he could felt dirt clinging to him, now that he thought about it. It made him shudder again. Remus Lupin could not stand being filthy. And he wasn't going to make an exception this time either.
He knelt down and picked up his abandoned shirt. Shrugging it on half-way was as far as he got before the common room door opened and a soaking wet Sirius came marching in.
A towel hung around his shoulders; his chest was bare and shimmered under the sunlight as he walked. Raven locks fell in perfect curtains around his face, shinning like onyx in the sun. A pair of breetches, as black as his hair, was the only thing that kept him from being completely exposed (though even they clung to his body and gave Remus quite a show). Sirius made it to his own bed before he stopped, finally realizing that Remus was awake and starting at him.
He gave Remus a crooked, knowing grin, his gray eyes flickered like fire. Remus felt himself melt.
"Well, well," Sirius drawled, "look who's up and making my day worth while." Remus blushed and looked away. Or tried too. His eyes were too enthralled by Sirius' half-naked body to do much anything else than stare. He couldn't even blink.
Sirius, clever little bugger, knew it too.
He dropped the towel to the floor, hands going to his hips. "Like what you see, Moony," he asked, grin growing wicked, as he gestured at himself.
This time Remus did look away. He heard Sirius chuckle.
"Oi, you can stare, Rem," he said, walking towards him. "It's all yours anyway, so you can stop with this shyness!"
Warm hands were suddenly on his shoulders and Remus looked up in spite of himself. Amber clashed with silver; Remus had to gasp at how close they actually were. This was a whole different experience than last night -- Sirius was awake and very, very conscious of how his actions effected the other boy.
It took a minute to summon up his power to speak (Sirius had that type of enchantment -- he could make anyone forget the most simple of tasks by a single look), but he finally managed to say something.
"Why did you sneak into my bed last night," came the quiet question. He'd hope to startle distance between them with an unexpected question but Sirius didn't even bat an eyelash.
"Because I wanted to." Simple. To the point. Remus narrowed his eyes; Sirius only continued grinning. "You know you liked it or you would have pushed me ou--"
"Did you dream about me," Remus interrupted, taking a small ounce a pleasure of the sight of Sirius Black's jaw falling half-open in surprise and shock.
The second passed and it snapped back shut, resuming its grin.
"Maybe, maybe not. What's it matter to you, hm, Rem?" An elegant raven eyebrow arched in question. "Did you want me to dream about you?"
"Maybe, maybe not," he repeated, a smile of his own meeting his lips. He gave Sirius a tiny shove, and the boy stepped back, fearing he was too close for Remus' comfort. "I'm going to take a bath now."
Remus grabbed his clean robes off his bed and made his way to the door. Sirius was the one to open it for him.
"That's great! I was thinking about doing the very same!" He winked. "Maybe we'll have the prefects bathroom to ourselves."
Remus started at him -- this time in confusion, not awe.
"But…didn't you already take your bath? By the looks of you--"
Sirius silenced him with a kiss. "By the looks of me, I'm a soaking wet mess. You can thank Evans and dear 'ole James for that."
If anything, Remus got more confused. "What?"
"Things were going well between them this morning. Seemed like they were actually going to act civil around each other for once. But then James made a move to grab her hand and she flipped. Hexed water right out of her wand to 'put a damper on his hopes'." He rolled his eyes. "Or so she said. I was the lucky bloke who was standing right next to the git when he got sprayed and, thus, so did I."
"Well," Remus asked, trying to hide his laughter with a cough. "I missed a rather…eventful morning, didn't I?"
Sirius shrugged. "Just a bit. If we hurry, you'll probably still see James sitting in the middle of the common room in his puddle of despair. Come on." He grabbed Remus' wrist, snuck another kiss to his lips and started down to the stairs.
"H-hey, now!" It wasn't much of a protest, but, then again, Remus really didn't feel like protesting at the moment. His shyness was momentarily gone (probably stolen by a kiss) and the thought of the two of them spending time together in the baths excited him.
It really didn't matter that he had said something at all, because Sirius would have kept on. He wouldn't have released Remus' wrist for anything.
"Rem?" Sirius looked back at him when they reached the bottom of the stairs. "You know how you asked about if I dreamed about you last night or not?"
Remus, who was starting at James mopping in a puddle like half the common room, looked back and nodded. "Yes. What about it?"
"I did dream of you," he told him, smiling. "I always dream about you."
Hello lovelys!! Today is a special day indeed!! Can any of you guess why??
I'll give you a hint: Check the published date.
That's right: IT'S LAPSE'S SECOND BIRTHDAY!!
Celebration time!! -dances and presents a large cake- If you review you get a slice. ;3
And speaking of reviews and the ones who write them, since this is a special day, I'm gonna reply the reviewers!! Yaaay!
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5redroses -- Aye! Remus did get his wish -- in this chapter and the last! I figured I ought to be nice to him now, while I have the chance. ;)
rekahneko --As you can see, he did remember! Little Remus would never forget something as sweet as that -- would you? (I wouldn't, but, then again, I'm a dork! XD)
MagicalWinry -- I DID! (you're welcome)
HermyCaz -- I'm glad you love the story; it made me glad when I read your review! And look! It's only been a couple days! ;3 But it felt like a year over here, let me tell you!
BLAHBLOT -- I think I love you too! -hugs- Your review made me blush and so happy that I didn't give up on this story. And do I really give them life? You have no idea how great of a complement that is. I always fear that they will seem…I don't know how describe it…like their just words. So I try really hard to make them each have their own personalities and souls -- like an good author, I want you guys to live with my characters (though I don't own any of these!).
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Thank you all for reviewing! I love each and every one of you and I dedicate this chapter to you!! Also, to the reviews of this chapter, I give this to you as a present: tell me something you want to happen in the story, and I'll see if I can add it in for you, alright? (But please make it sensible! If I get an request that is utter nonsense, I will ignore it. Cool?)
And I'm doing all this just to make you guys happy, not because I'm running out of ideas. -thrusts finger at a notebook- Last summer I wrote a detailed, five-page plot that I still plan on using, so this story will go on for a little while!! :3
Happy reading, I hope to hear some luscious ideas!!
Forever and always,
Ele.