~*Flashback*~
"So...this is the end...where I once had friends, now I have none...I knew that, although they said it didn't matter to them...once they saw the true terror of what I was, they would abandon me for fear. Who could blame them? What they said when they were twelve is much different than what they think now when we're fifteen..."
Remus laid in the all-too-familiar bed, his eyes closed tightly as he thought. He knew that he was in the Infirmary under the watchful eye of Madam Pomfrey; there was no need to open his eyes. He knew that it was daylight, and any other time, he would hear the familiar and welcome voices of his friends nearby, making their way in to see him. But not today...not again. All of them would ostracize him now...James, Lily, Peter...and most painfully, Sirius. He would give anything to have the trust of those he cared for most returned...
He took a deep sigh and felt the advent of hot tears filling beneath his eyelids. How he wished he could take it all back...
"Oh, come on, Madam Pomfrey! Let us go in and see him! It's not gonna kill him if we just go in and give him a few well wishes, now is it?" came a familiar voice, a male voice. It sounded urgent, and the voice that accompanied it was enough to send Remus' eyes opening wide as he shot up in his seat, grimacing away the pain.
"He's gotta be lonely in there all by himself, Madam! And we're not going to try anything; you know us better than that!" came the next voice, a smooth tenor. Remus looked surprised, his mouth hung slightly ajar from his surprise, and his still-moist eyes were glimmering with hope.
"Oh...fine then, boys. but make it quick or I'll make sure the Headmaster hears about it! Now go on in there, quickly!" came the irritated but amused voice of the nurse. Almost instantly, a tall boy with dark messy hair ran in, his glasses askew upon his face and casting light into his eyes. Followed closely on his heels was another boy, taller, with ebony hair and a sudden, worried gleam in his warm grey eyes.
"James...Sirius..." Remus said quietly, a smile spreading across his tired face. James reached the bedside first and pulled up a nearby chair, but Sirius disregarded the chair that James had offered him and opted to sit beside Remus on the bed, putting a warm hand on the ill boy's own.
"How are you, Moony?" James asked quietly, looking concerned.
"Relieved..."
"What do you mean, Remus? Did you think that we would abandon you after the past few nights? Never...seeing you suffer like that is all the more reason for us to stick by you. You don't think that we'd leave you all alone to combat that, would you?" Sirius interjected, squeezing his hand lightly. Remus leaned back against his pillows, regarding the expressions on his friends' faces. The warmth of Sirius' devoted hand told him so much more than those mere words...
"I honestly thought that you would shun me after that transformation...it was the worst that I've ever been through...and you three had to be there..."
"Don't worry about it, Remus. Your friendship is more important to us than that cursed lycanthropy. You should know by now that we'd do anything for each other," James said, his eyes intent. He then stood and smiled. "I'll let you to have a few moments alone before Madam Pomfrey kicks us out. See you later, Moony." And he was gone.
"Remus...I told you that I would stand next to you, no matter what...and I haven't changed, not one bit." Sirius paused, as though searching for the words. Remus saw in that moment a flicker of nervousness in his grey eyes. "I love you, Remus...I know that we've been together for amost a year...but I finally realize that I love you..."
~*End Flashback*~
Warmth...that was the first thing Remus thought when he awoke the next morning. Not the full moon, not why he has to live another day with himself...he felt warm and content; a feeling that he relished greatly as he lay there with his eyes closed. Sighing, he tried to fall back asleep, but a voice stopped him.
"I know you're awake, Moony..." came the soft, sleep-dulled voice of Sirius in his ear.
"And what if I'm not?" Remus smiled and opened his eyes blearily, blinking away the last dregs of sleep. He couldn't think of a more welcome sight to wake up to than Sirius' face smiling at him, especially on Christmas morning. It was the single most wonderful Christmas gift Remus had recieved; even greater than the possible cure.
"Happy Christmas..."
"Never a happier one, Padfoot."
Due to the fact that it was already about 11:00 am when they awoke, after they had breakfast finished and they had gotten themselves cleaned up and dressed, it was well past noon, almost 5:30 that evening. Sirius who suggested a quiet, private walk through the smooth Christmas snow. Remus, after observing that the wind was no longer blowing and he felt up to the task regardless of the night's oncoming full moon, agreed.
The snow crunched lightly under their feet as the two reunited lovers walked through the snow laden trees, the sun glinting beautifully through the bare branches against the white ground. Remus' hand felt warm and wonderful in Sirius' grasp as they talked, thankful for the secluded area that they were in. None would go looking for them; especially with the rumors of a werewolf remaining very much alive in the surrounding towns. So they were safe from all prying eyes and curious onlookers, besides the very few werewolf hunters that were in Scotland. But that was of little importance to the two at the moment. All that they were concerned with was each other.
As they come across a snow-covered meadow at the opposite edge of the forest from Hogsmeade, Remus removed his hand from Sirius' grasp to wipe the stray snow from his honey brown hair and smiled, struck by a sudden thought.
"You know, Sirius, I came across your godson yesterday at the Three Broomsticks; he was in the company of one Ron Weasley. I'm not quite certain, but the way they were acting reminded me of how we were when we were that age and trying to cover up our relationship from James and Lily. What do you think, Sirius?"
There was no answer. Remus stopped and glanced to his side, noticing with some alarm that Sirius was no longer at his side; his footprints had ceased several yards back at the treeline. There was no trace of him whatsoever, and Remus began to seem a bit frantic. He turned around and looked back and forth for any sign of dementors, his wand raised and ready. But oddly, he felt none of the effects that a dementor had on people.
"Sirius?" he called, turning around to face the trees again. This time, he was answered, quite obviously.
*SMACK!*
Remus recoiled quickly and almost fell backwards as the freezing snowball splatted against the side of his face, sending cold bits of snow all over his face and into the folds of his cloak. There was a great shout of laughter, and Remus recovered just in time to see another one coming at him. He dived out of the way with a smile upon his features, skidding across the slick snow on his chest. His blue eyes twinkled with laughter as he saw Sirius standing beside a large oak, laughing and holding another ball in his hand. Not this time...
Sirius watched with amusement as his lover leapt out of the way and slid across the snow, tumbling a bit and coming up into a sitting position, covered with more snow than he had started out with. He began to laugh at Remus' disgruntled but humored expression, and didn't even notice the oncoming projectile until it hit him square in the face, splattering cold, wet, melting snow all over him.
"OH you didn't just do that, Moony!" he cried, running out from his forest shelter.
"OH I sure did, Padfoot!" was the boyish reply.
The fight was on.
Snowballs flew from combatant to combantant furiously for over an hour, along with some of the most outrageous insults imaginable. It was as though they were boys again, sheltered on the safe grounds of Hogwarts.
"You throw like my grandmother!"
"Oh yeah, Padfoot? Well, your grandmother throws like Severus Snape!"
"Your grandmother IS Severus Snape!!"
This was accompanied by the most laughter, and Sirius was up and running, preparing for a tackle. Remus stood quickly and started to take off running, but Sirius proved to be the swifter, and pounced on him, causing them to tumble head-over-heels through the snow. As they came to a stop, both men were laughing uncontrollably. Sirius looked down at Remus' youthful face, shadowed in the setting sun, and smiled, suddenly growing silent as he brushed a few damp strands of hair from his face.
"I love you," he said gently, a smile still playing on his lips. Remus smiled as well and pulled him down in a gentle kiss, but stopped as his eyes took in the state of the orange sun, almost only a sliver on the smooth horizon.
"Oh God...now it comes..."
Sirius looked over his shoulder at the slowly rising full moon and quickly stood, helping Remus up from the snow. Here comes the trial; how would Remus fare under this moon? Sirius stood next to him, prepared to transform as soon as the moon finished it's heavenly ascent. He glanced over at Remus, he had his head bowed and his eyes shut tightly. Sirius knew that he feared the moonlight above anything else; and this would be the worst moment of his entire life other than when he was first bitten...the knowledge that what has been done cannot be undone. They could only pray.
Remus took a breath and clenched his fists; he had learned from many past experiences never to trust in a supposed cure; usually the cures only made the pain more persistant and diffcult to bear. He stood there and opened his eyes, fixing his eyes on his feet, then slowly rasing his head to the heavens, a stern grmiace upon his features. He looked up though the silvery moonbeams into the face of the full moon, and as the light cast down upon him, a soft wisp of laughter escaped his lips. He felt no curl of pain, no rigidness in his limbs...he smiled mockingly up at the moon and lowered his arms, a feeling of exctasy overcoming him as he turned to face Sirius with a genuine smile that Sirius had admittingly never seen before.
"You're free, Moony..."
"Free...never has the word had such weight than now..."
Sirius regarded that expression as Remus stood under the gleam of the full moon, no longer harrassed by his long time fear and foe, and suddenly he let out a great laugh of joy and pulled Remus into his arms, embracing him victoriously under the dim light of the majestic and defeated moon. He no longer had to worry...for he was was no longer under the toils and snares of his past...
~*Part Seven Coming Soon!*~
"So...this is the end...where I once had friends, now I have none...I knew that, although they said it didn't matter to them...once they saw the true terror of what I was, they would abandon me for fear. Who could blame them? What they said when they were twelve is much different than what they think now when we're fifteen..."
Remus laid in the all-too-familiar bed, his eyes closed tightly as he thought. He knew that he was in the Infirmary under the watchful eye of Madam Pomfrey; there was no need to open his eyes. He knew that it was daylight, and any other time, he would hear the familiar and welcome voices of his friends nearby, making their way in to see him. But not today...not again. All of them would ostracize him now...James, Lily, Peter...and most painfully, Sirius. He would give anything to have the trust of those he cared for most returned...
He took a deep sigh and felt the advent of hot tears filling beneath his eyelids. How he wished he could take it all back...
"Oh, come on, Madam Pomfrey! Let us go in and see him! It's not gonna kill him if we just go in and give him a few well wishes, now is it?" came a familiar voice, a male voice. It sounded urgent, and the voice that accompanied it was enough to send Remus' eyes opening wide as he shot up in his seat, grimacing away the pain.
"He's gotta be lonely in there all by himself, Madam! And we're not going to try anything; you know us better than that!" came the next voice, a smooth tenor. Remus looked surprised, his mouth hung slightly ajar from his surprise, and his still-moist eyes were glimmering with hope.
"Oh...fine then, boys. but make it quick or I'll make sure the Headmaster hears about it! Now go on in there, quickly!" came the irritated but amused voice of the nurse. Almost instantly, a tall boy with dark messy hair ran in, his glasses askew upon his face and casting light into his eyes. Followed closely on his heels was another boy, taller, with ebony hair and a sudden, worried gleam in his warm grey eyes.
"James...Sirius..." Remus said quietly, a smile spreading across his tired face. James reached the bedside first and pulled up a nearby chair, but Sirius disregarded the chair that James had offered him and opted to sit beside Remus on the bed, putting a warm hand on the ill boy's own.
"How are you, Moony?" James asked quietly, looking concerned.
"Relieved..."
"What do you mean, Remus? Did you think that we would abandon you after the past few nights? Never...seeing you suffer like that is all the more reason for us to stick by you. You don't think that we'd leave you all alone to combat that, would you?" Sirius interjected, squeezing his hand lightly. Remus leaned back against his pillows, regarding the expressions on his friends' faces. The warmth of Sirius' devoted hand told him so much more than those mere words...
"I honestly thought that you would shun me after that transformation...it was the worst that I've ever been through...and you three had to be there..."
"Don't worry about it, Remus. Your friendship is more important to us than that cursed lycanthropy. You should know by now that we'd do anything for each other," James said, his eyes intent. He then stood and smiled. "I'll let you to have a few moments alone before Madam Pomfrey kicks us out. See you later, Moony." And he was gone.
"Remus...I told you that I would stand next to you, no matter what...and I haven't changed, not one bit." Sirius paused, as though searching for the words. Remus saw in that moment a flicker of nervousness in his grey eyes. "I love you, Remus...I know that we've been together for amost a year...but I finally realize that I love you..."
~*End Flashback*~
Warmth...that was the first thing Remus thought when he awoke the next morning. Not the full moon, not why he has to live another day with himself...he felt warm and content; a feeling that he relished greatly as he lay there with his eyes closed. Sighing, he tried to fall back asleep, but a voice stopped him.
"I know you're awake, Moony..." came the soft, sleep-dulled voice of Sirius in his ear.
"And what if I'm not?" Remus smiled and opened his eyes blearily, blinking away the last dregs of sleep. He couldn't think of a more welcome sight to wake up to than Sirius' face smiling at him, especially on Christmas morning. It was the single most wonderful Christmas gift Remus had recieved; even greater than the possible cure.
"Happy Christmas..."
"Never a happier one, Padfoot."
Due to the fact that it was already about 11:00 am when they awoke, after they had breakfast finished and they had gotten themselves cleaned up and dressed, it was well past noon, almost 5:30 that evening. Sirius who suggested a quiet, private walk through the smooth Christmas snow. Remus, after observing that the wind was no longer blowing and he felt up to the task regardless of the night's oncoming full moon, agreed.
The snow crunched lightly under their feet as the two reunited lovers walked through the snow laden trees, the sun glinting beautifully through the bare branches against the white ground. Remus' hand felt warm and wonderful in Sirius' grasp as they talked, thankful for the secluded area that they were in. None would go looking for them; especially with the rumors of a werewolf remaining very much alive in the surrounding towns. So they were safe from all prying eyes and curious onlookers, besides the very few werewolf hunters that were in Scotland. But that was of little importance to the two at the moment. All that they were concerned with was each other.
As they come across a snow-covered meadow at the opposite edge of the forest from Hogsmeade, Remus removed his hand from Sirius' grasp to wipe the stray snow from his honey brown hair and smiled, struck by a sudden thought.
"You know, Sirius, I came across your godson yesterday at the Three Broomsticks; he was in the company of one Ron Weasley. I'm not quite certain, but the way they were acting reminded me of how we were when we were that age and trying to cover up our relationship from James and Lily. What do you think, Sirius?"
There was no answer. Remus stopped and glanced to his side, noticing with some alarm that Sirius was no longer at his side; his footprints had ceased several yards back at the treeline. There was no trace of him whatsoever, and Remus began to seem a bit frantic. He turned around and looked back and forth for any sign of dementors, his wand raised and ready. But oddly, he felt none of the effects that a dementor had on people.
"Sirius?" he called, turning around to face the trees again. This time, he was answered, quite obviously.
*SMACK!*
Remus recoiled quickly and almost fell backwards as the freezing snowball splatted against the side of his face, sending cold bits of snow all over his face and into the folds of his cloak. There was a great shout of laughter, and Remus recovered just in time to see another one coming at him. He dived out of the way with a smile upon his features, skidding across the slick snow on his chest. His blue eyes twinkled with laughter as he saw Sirius standing beside a large oak, laughing and holding another ball in his hand. Not this time...
Sirius watched with amusement as his lover leapt out of the way and slid across the snow, tumbling a bit and coming up into a sitting position, covered with more snow than he had started out with. He began to laugh at Remus' disgruntled but humored expression, and didn't even notice the oncoming projectile until it hit him square in the face, splattering cold, wet, melting snow all over him.
"OH you didn't just do that, Moony!" he cried, running out from his forest shelter.
"OH I sure did, Padfoot!" was the boyish reply.
The fight was on.
Snowballs flew from combatant to combantant furiously for over an hour, along with some of the most outrageous insults imaginable. It was as though they were boys again, sheltered on the safe grounds of Hogwarts.
"You throw like my grandmother!"
"Oh yeah, Padfoot? Well, your grandmother throws like Severus Snape!"
"Your grandmother IS Severus Snape!!"
This was accompanied by the most laughter, and Sirius was up and running, preparing for a tackle. Remus stood quickly and started to take off running, but Sirius proved to be the swifter, and pounced on him, causing them to tumble head-over-heels through the snow. As they came to a stop, both men were laughing uncontrollably. Sirius looked down at Remus' youthful face, shadowed in the setting sun, and smiled, suddenly growing silent as he brushed a few damp strands of hair from his face.
"I love you," he said gently, a smile still playing on his lips. Remus smiled as well and pulled him down in a gentle kiss, but stopped as his eyes took in the state of the orange sun, almost only a sliver on the smooth horizon.
"Oh God...now it comes..."
Sirius looked over his shoulder at the slowly rising full moon and quickly stood, helping Remus up from the snow. Here comes the trial; how would Remus fare under this moon? Sirius stood next to him, prepared to transform as soon as the moon finished it's heavenly ascent. He glanced over at Remus, he had his head bowed and his eyes shut tightly. Sirius knew that he feared the moonlight above anything else; and this would be the worst moment of his entire life other than when he was first bitten...the knowledge that what has been done cannot be undone. They could only pray.
Remus took a breath and clenched his fists; he had learned from many past experiences never to trust in a supposed cure; usually the cures only made the pain more persistant and diffcult to bear. He stood there and opened his eyes, fixing his eyes on his feet, then slowly rasing his head to the heavens, a stern grmiace upon his features. He looked up though the silvery moonbeams into the face of the full moon, and as the light cast down upon him, a soft wisp of laughter escaped his lips. He felt no curl of pain, no rigidness in his limbs...he smiled mockingly up at the moon and lowered his arms, a feeling of exctasy overcoming him as he turned to face Sirius with a genuine smile that Sirius had admittingly never seen before.
"You're free, Moony..."
"Free...never has the word had such weight than now..."
Sirius regarded that expression as Remus stood under the gleam of the full moon, no longer harrassed by his long time fear and foe, and suddenly he let out a great laugh of joy and pulled Remus into his arms, embracing him victoriously under the dim light of the majestic and defeated moon. He no longer had to worry...for he was was no longer under the toils and snares of his past...
~*Part Seven Coming Soon!*~