AUTHOR: Carmilla
EMAIL: carmilla99@hotmail.com
RATING: PG
FANDOM: Harry Potter
SUMMARY: Romance between Sirius Black and Remus Lupin post-PoA. Really, this part could be a gen friendship story, but it's part of my ongoing series.
DISTRIBUTION: My site Starfall, FanFiction.Net, and anywhere else I send it. If you want it, just email me.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, so there's nothing worth suing me for.
Sirius was the first to wake the next morning. He rolled over, and hit Remus in the stomach with a flailing arm. However, he just whimpered, shifted a little, and continued to sleep. Sirius smiled, and got up and dressed as quietly as possible so as not to disturb him further. Softly, he slipped out of the door, and went to look after Buckbeak and feed him. He returned to find that Remus had turned over and was now snuggling into his sleeping roll. Dear old Moony, he thought affectionately. I'm lucky to have a friend like you. Since their first meeting for nearly fourteen years, just a couple of weeks back, he had never really had the chance to see how age had affected his childhood companion. Time has been kinder to you than it has to me, he thought ruefully, keenly aware of his unkempt hair and his too-thin features. True, Remus had a few grey strands threaded through his blond hair, and when he smiled or frowned then half-formed lines around his eyes and mouth showed up, but Sirius thought they suited him. They lent his appearance an air of dignity and experience. Now though, his face was relaxed in sleep, and looked almost childlike, gentle and vulnerable. How deceptive looks can be, Sirius mused. Although Remus looked very fragile, his friend knew he had a core of steel. He had often suprised older, brawnier boys at school by his strength in arm wrestling, and people who met him in later life knew that while he was an intensely loyal friend, he could also be a bitter and terrible enemy. One of Sirius' worst fears in Azkaban was of Remus hating him. Remus, so fiercely true to his friends, so vehemently opposed to the Dark Arts. Remus, who had argued more than once that spies and traitors were in many ways worse than fully-fledged Death Eaters who had sided with Voldemort from the start. What must he think of one of his two closest friends turning the other over to the Dark Lord? How much of his passionate soul might be consumedin loathing such a deed? Had he even considered that he might be innocent? One of Sirius' worst nightmares of the time was of escaping Azkaban and fleeing to Remus for help. And those gentle grey eyes hardened to flint as he said, 'Help? Help you, scum? Never! I'm glad you escaped though. I always did think Azkaban was too good for you!' And Sirius would cry, 'Stop! No, please! I can explain! Give me a chance!' as Remus raised his wand, no mercy on his face...............
Sirius' dark thoughts were interrupted by those same eyes flickering, closing for a couple of seconds, and then opening more fully. Half lidded, they focussed on him.
"Why are you staring at me?" Remus asked, sleepily. "Do I snore?"
"No, no," Sirius replied. "I was just........thinking, that's all."
"Really? What about?"
"Oh, nothing in particular," Sirius said, hastily. Now, with Remus smiling that little half-smile of his, his fevered dreams seemed foolish. His friend was nothing if not a fair man. He would give even his worst enemy a chance to explain himself. This was the man who had searched half of England and trudged a mile and a half through torrential rain just to be with him, after all. He would not insult his friend by admitting that he had thought he would be so unjust.
As Remus stretched and changed into fresh robes, Sirius turned away to give him a little privacy. Calling over his shoulder, he asked, "Would you like something to eat?"
"Please," said Remus. "I'm famished."
"Not suprised," came the rejoinder. "That was quite a trek you made last night. Why on earth didn't you wait til morning?"
"Didn't want to miss you. I knew you'd probably have to move on pretty soon. By the way, when are we going?" By this point, he had finished dressing and joined his friend at the small table, where he had laid out a little pile of wheat grains and a couple of pebbles.
"Definately a 'we' then, is it? I meant what I said, you know. I won't take it amiss if you want to leave."
"And I meant what I said. I'm sticking with you. That is, unless you're sick of me already?"
"Of course not! Don't be stupid! You know that I - " Sirius broke off as he looked up at his friend's amused face. "You're teasing me, aren't you?" he said, suspiciously.
"Well...........maybe just a little," Remus conceeded.
"Oh, you're evil! You know I can never tell when you're joking." Sirius stopped, looked at his friend, and laughed. "I've missed that," he said. "I've missed you. I've missed all the little things you used to do that made me smile. I've missed...........everything."
"Even the teasing?" Remus enquired, eyes dancing.
"Even that," Sirius admitted, grudgingly. "Mind you, I'm not saying it can't be annoying from time to time," he added sternly.
"Oh, very well," Remus said, still smiling. "I promise not to tease you...........much. If you want to know the truth," he continued in a more serious tone, "I've missed this as well. I've never found anyone else I could relax with the way I can with you."
"Moony dear, you flatter me so," said Sirius with some of his old flippancy. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't feel like having a deep, meaningful conversation right then. Part of it, he supposed, was the way he had broken down the night before. It scared him that his newfound composure could be ruffled so easily. Why was he frightened? After all, it was only Moony. No, that wasn't right. It could never be only Moony. It was Moony, his best friend in the whole world, but he wasn't yet ready to share the horrors of the past few years; not with anybody.
"How about that breakfast?" he said, still trying to lighten the mood. "Sweeetened or not?"
"Just a little sweetened please." Sirius produced a wand from the fold of his sleeve and flicked it deftly over the wheat on the table. The wheat disappeared, and two bowls of cereal were there instead.
"Your cooking's improved," Remus observed wryly.
"Useful little trick, isn't it? All I need are the raw materials, and I can make just about anything. Most of my spellcasting's rather rusty, but this I do remember. I'll teach you it sometime."
"Thanks." As they settled down, Remus thought of something. "Sirius," he asked, "where did you get the wand from?"
"Left it here," came the reply. "This was my emergency retreat druing the Dark Times. Bought a spare wand from Ollivander's and time sealed it here so it couldn't go forward into the present. Doesn't work nearly as well as my old one, but they snapped that, of course. I wish I had it back. It was a good wand. This one's all very well, but it has no.......crackle to it, if you see what I mean."
Remus said that he did, and the conversation turned to other things. As they were clearing up from breakfast, Remus said suddenly, "By the way, you never answered my question."
"Which one?" asked Sirius distractedly, trying to Transfigure the bowls back into pebbles again.
"When are we leaving?"
"Probably in a couple of days. I'd like to stay here as long as possible. The next retreat's on the other side of the country, and Buckbeak hurt his hoof last night as he was landing. I'd like to give him some time to recover before attempting that difficult a flight."
"Fair enough," said Remus. "Oh! That must have been the screech I heard last night."
"What screech?"
"Just before you came in, I heard a screech. It was what woke me up."
"Funny. I don't remember him making any noise. I suppose I was just a little distracted. It was quite late, after all."
"Must have been," said Remus, but all the same, he felt a twinge of uneasiness.
**********
They spent the day indoors, as Sirius explained he didn't like to go out in the daytime, in case someone saw him. That was why he had been out so late the night before; it was the only time he could safely gather food. Remus felt a little awkward suddenly, having nothing but conversation with his friend to occupy him. He was keenly aware of the long years they'd been apart. He's been through hell, thought Remus, and there's no way he can have come out unchanged. He's still Sirius, but not quite the same Sirius I knew. I'll have to be careful not to upset him. Consequently, he was somewhat at a loss as to what to talk about. It seemed unfair to rub his friend's nose in how cut off from society he'd been by talking about what had happened since his imprisonment, but he couldn't think of anything else to say. His mind was blank. Fortunately, Sirius solved his dilemma for him."So," he said. "Tell me about my godson."
For the next few hours, they were happily occupied talking about Harry. Sirius wanted to know everything about him; what grades he got, what his friends were like, (he had, after all, only met them very briefly), what kind of pranks he got up to, how he didin Quidditch. Remus furnished him with plenty of annecdotes, as well as news of the boy's more serious exploits, most of which he had picked up in the staffroom. This led, naturally, to talk of Harry's feud with Snape.
"Well, well, well," Sirius chuckled delightedly, as Remus told him about Harry's constant scrapes with the teacher. "He really is like his father. Glad to see our old traditions are being kept up. Snape needs somebody to loathe, or what would he do with his life?"
They ate quite late in the afternoon, and afterwards played a few games of wizard chess on the mini board Remus had brought with him. Although Remus cleared the board the first couple of games, Sirius warmed up quickly and was soon giving as good as he got. As the sun began to go down, they conceeded a draw on their final match and ate a hearty supper. Remus was rather suprised when, shortly afterwards, Sirius began to prepare for bed.
"Turning in so soon?" he asked.
"Just for a few hours," came the reply. "What with having to cater for two now - not that I mind!" he added quickly, forstalling any comment on his friend's part, "I have to lay in some more supplies. I'll go out around eleven."
"Fair enough," said Remus. Sirius was suprised to see him start to get changed.
"You can stay up if you want, you know," he said, as Remus curled up inside his sleeping roll. "You won't disturb me."
"S'alright," came the slightly muffled reply. "I'm going with you. Just because I'm staying with you, doesn't mean I shouldn't earn my keep."
Sirius was about to argue, then thought better of it. He knew his friend could be very stubborn about this kind of thing. Remus was not a man who took pride in many things, but supporting himself was one of them.
"Suit yourself," he said. "I'll wake you at eleven then, shall I?"
"'K," Remus answered, very faintly. Sirius nodded, and closed his eyes.
The wind that had been howling over the heath dropped away. Outside, Buckbeak settled gracefully in his makeshift shelter. Soon, the only sound to be heard in the hut was the quiet, rhythimical breathing of the two men, and the steady drip of rain on the thatched roof.
END OF PART THREE
To be continued.............. AUTHOR'S NOTE: I apologise for the long delay in posting this chapter, and the overall lack of slashy content. I tried to hurry them on a bit, but these guys seem to want to take their time over things. Next part should be up in a couple of weeks, and I promise there'll be some more.........action in that. In the meantime, this part is dedicated to all those wonderful people who feedbacked the last part, and whom I have kept waiting far too long for this one. I love you guys!