A Fleeting Moment
Written for QLFC Season 9, Round 5
Team: Wimbourne Wasps
Position: Chaser 1
Reserve: No
Prompts: Laziness
1) (object) pocket watch
2) (pairing) Remus/Sirius
3) (restriction) no female characters
Word Count: 1.227
A/N:
Warning:
The sun tickled the tip of Remus's nose and he sighed contentedly. He was lying on the shore of the Black Lake, enjoying the warmth of the unusually bright spring day.
He should have been working on the Potion's essay that was due tomorrow, especially because he knew full well James and Sirius would ask him to copy his work before the day was done. Peter was the only one of them to actually try and get his assignments done himself, but most of the time he would give up halfway through and do as the other Marauders did.
But Remus couldn't help himself; the heat of the sun was relaxing his tense muscles and made all the bruises and scars on his skin hurt a lot less.
His brow furrowed over his closed eyes as he remembered how he got them. The last full moon had been a particularly bad one and his heart still stopped at the shock running through him when he had come back to his senses, seeing both Sirius and James with deep, bloody scratches on their arms and legs and Peter, still in his animagus form, cowering in a far corner of the Shrieking Shack.
That was the reason he'd rather give in to lazing by the lake than studying in the library; the golden light of the sun drove away the darkness of that night, that was still fresh in his mind.
It had been a week already, but Remus was still exhausted from his last transformation. He was bordering on the edge of sleep when a shadow suddenly blocked out the sun on his face.
He opened one eye to identify the disturber of his rare moment of peace. The features of the person leaning over him were obscured by the halo of light around their head, but Remus would have known that deep, mischievous chuckle anywhere.
"What do you want, Pads?" he sighed.
"I wanted to see how our Potions essay is coming along," Sirius declared with a grin as Remus raised one eyebrow at him.
"Our Potions essay?" he asked wryly.
Sirius only laughed for an answer; he knew the annoyance in Remus's voice wasn't real. He was always glad to help his friends with their homework.
He rummaged in his pocket and drew out a round object on a long golden chain, which he dangled in front of Remus's face.
"Actually, I wanted to bring you this," he explained softly.
Remus recognised the thing Sirius was holding out to him immediately; it was his old pocket watch. It had been a gift from Remus's father and had been in the Lupin family for generations. The clockwork was slightly broken, so its ticking was extraordinarily loud for such a small watch. But this mechanical flaw was the exact reason Remus had a habit of carrying it everywhere; the steady ticking calmed his nerves and helped him focus.
Today, he had left it behind in his dorm intentionally, though; today, he had no wish to be reminded of how the time was passing.
He extended his hand and took the watch off Sirius anyway, shuffling to the side to make room for him on his blanket. Sirius sat down behind him with crossed legs and drew Remus's head into his lap.
Remus's eyes closed as Sirius started playing with his hair. A relaxed sigh escaped his lips as he lost himself in the soothing sensation.
For a moment, he concentrated on nothing but Sirius's touch and the red pattern the sunlight was painting on the insides of his eyelids. His pocket watch lay forgotten in his closed fist that rested on his stomach, its ticking drowned out by the song of the birds and the chirping of the cricket.
Neither of them spoke because no words were needed. They just sat there, at the shore of the lake, enjoying each other's company in silence. Remus was glad Sirius had found him; with him, ignoring his duties was always easiest.
After some time, Sirius did speak up, however. "How are you feeling, Moony? You've been acting strange since our last little trip."
Remus smiled to himself; whenever he had to transform and his friends would accompany him in their animagus form, Sirius would call it '´their little trip', same as James referring to his lycanthropy as 'his furry little problem'.
His friends truly were a gift that Remus had never even dared to dream of having. He didn't want to think about how he had hurt them, not on this beautiful day.
So instead, he opened his eyes and looked up at Sirius. He was gazing down at him, concern written in his grey eyes, but the expression on his handsome features was soft and gentle.
"You don't need to worry about us all the time," Sirius muttered down at him, "we'll be fine. We'll always have your back; no matter what, it will always be the four of us."
Remus didn't answer but a smile of his own formed on his lips. He tore his eyes away from Sirius and looked up at the sun above them. He squinted at the brightness, extending his hand as if to grab one of its rays. The light seeping through his fingers painted striped shadows onto his face.
"Do you ever wish a moment could be forever?" he asked. "That you could just take it and conserve it for when you need a good thought to hold on to?"
His open palm closed around nothing as he felt a familiar sadness wash over him; nothing was forever.
"Isn't that the beauty of it though?" Sirius responded with a gentle voice. "To know this exact moment is here only now and you have to live it, no matter what?"
He took Remus's outstretched hand into his and brought it to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss on the inside of his palm; he could feel the heat of the sun burning on Remus's skin.
"But even if the moment's gone, some things are forever," Sirius's soft smile had turned into a mischievous grin, "like James's and my eternal need for your Potion's essays, Moony."
Remus couldn't help but laugh at Sirius's attempt to break him out of his melancholic thoughts; he always knew how to ease his mood.
The pocket watch had dropped from his hand as he had outstretched it towards the sun; now it was resting next to Remus's head on the blanket. He could hear it's rhythmic ticking once again, but where it had unnerved him earlier, he now felt his heart peacefully beating in time with the steady sound.
With a sigh, he got to his feet and stuffed the watch into his pocket. He had lazed around in the sun long enough; it was time to make sure none of them would fail their class. He pulled Sirius to his feet and let out a resounding laugh as he practically jumped up, shoving him playfully and yelling, "Race you to the castle, Moony!"
A fond smile still lingering on his face, Remus watched Sirius darting off while he took his time to fold up his blanket, his heart filled with gratitude; not only for him, but his other friends waiting for him in their Common Room as well.
Maybe Sirius was right; some things were indeed forever.