Pairings: Remus Lupin and Sirius Black (as always); But there are some other pairings popping up… Hints of: Percy/Penelope, Harry/Draco, Ginny/Tom Riddle a.k.a. "Voldie" (Ew), and then a very possibly Bill Weasley/Sirius (??? Don't ask! I have no clue where my muse comes up with this stuff. I really have decided I'm insane for liking the pairings I do.)
Rating: As of now, PG-13 (But, as I said, how do I know what children should read?)
Disclaimer: I own no Siri… ::wail:: I own no Remmie… ::double wail:: I certainly don't own Bill… (Ooh! That'd be fun…) So if you want to throw rotten tomatoes at someone, throw them at her! ::Points to J.K. Rowling:: Unless, of course, it is concerning the plot line… ::Ducks as some random peasant throws tomato:: Because that—um—is mine. ::Dodges a flying cucumber:: Hey! I said "tomatoes" there, mister! Listen, why don't ya?!?!?!
A Brother and A SoulmateSirius sat up with a jolt. He heaved the object, which he assumed to be Remus's rigid corpse, off him. His pillow flew across the small room of the tent and hit the far fall, landing, plump, on the ground. His chest was heaving, lungs gasping for breath. The name of "Remus" still seemed to hang in the air, like he had been screaming it, all over again, just like he did those few nights back. In an instant he realized what was going on. He was dreaming again. He was reliving the death of the person he loved more than anything in the world. He let out the breath he realized he was holding and wiped his sweaty brow with the back of his hand. The emptiness and despair filled the void once more where his heart used to be. Just then, another person entered the room.
"Sirius?" a quiet, calm male voice asked. The figure was carrying his wand, a dim light shone from it, illuminating him as Sirius sat restlessly in a jumble of covers on his cot, his pillow laying at the other corner of the room. On seeing this, the man moved closer to him. He lowered himself onto his makeshift bed, placing a caring palm on his hand. "Are you okay?" he asked sensitively, massaging his tense hand in a sympathetic way.
Sirius didn't need to see his face. He knew who it was by the sound of his voice. "I'm all right, Bill," he sighed, removing his limb from the younger man's reach. He still couldn't stand to be touched by anyone who wasn't…. him. He could sense more than see through the gloom the disbelief printed on his friend's face. "Just a bad dream, really," he tried to convince him.
Bill elevated his wand so that Sirius could see his face. The cool, clever blue eyes and as well as the bright red hair were his family's key traits, but also had inherited Molly's look of motherly concern. It seemed out of place almost right now, with his long fiery hair drifting haphazardly over his neck and shoulders, his dragon tooth earring reflecting the light. He scrutinized Sirius to see if he was telling the truth.
"Honestly," the man in question replied to the look candidly, rising up his palms in defense. "Just a bad dream. I swear it." Bill narrowed one icy blue eye at him. "Don't look at me like that, young man…" Sirius warned him, drawing a small smirk from the other. "I'm still nine years your senior. You owe me creditability." He put his hands down, smiling as much as he would ever smile since that night.
Bill sighed and looked about the room. "You were yelling his name, you know?" he told the older man, warily gazing at how he would respond at the mention of his dead lover.
"I know…" he whispered almost inaudibly.
"Very loudly. Like you were reliving it all over again." Sirius winced at the mentioning of this. Bill hesitated and then inquired carefully, "Were you?"
Sirius looked away. "What does it matter?" he asked desolately.
"It matters," Bill said gently, placing his hand delicately to Sirius's scratchy, unshaven cheek, "to me."
Sirius jerked away from the contact and pressed his back into the wall, putting space between the eldest Weasley brother and him while also sending a message. He wasn't ready to be touched yet.
His eyelids hung over his dark gray eyes as if he was nearly asleep, but Bill knew this to be untrue. He was merely watching him, closely. He shrugged, getting off the slender cot, and walked over to where the white pillow lay in a lump. He levitated it with his wand, which was still lit at one end, dusted it off with his free hand, and sent it through the air back to its owner. He lifted the wand to show his face again and smiled kindly at Sirius. He couldn't see the older man's reaction but he managed to discern a muted, "Thank you," through the ruffling of covers as he slid back into bed. He walked towards the door, intent on going back to his own quarters, which was compiled of just the couch since he had given up his bed in order for Sirius to sleep there, as it was that he couldn't rest in the room that he and Remus had once shared. A sudden thought flickered in his mind and he stopped at the tiny doorway to the small wizarding tent chamber.
"Sirius?" he questioned solemnly. A soft grunt was all he got in response. "I know Dumbledore said not to push you, that you'd be ready to talk about it in time, but I am your friend. I care about you," he said in his soothing baritone voice. "A lot more than you think," he added quietly. He would have stopped to ponder all the lovely ways he could think of to get Sirius's mind of his darling Remus, none of them having to do with much talking, but he continued anyway, knowing that this wasn't the time. "I know you think I'm young and that I wouldn't understand, but I would. I've been through a lot already. Maybe," he shrugged lightly, half meaning his comment and half not, "you just don't want to trust someone under thirty. I don't know. All I know is, I'm here for you when you need me. I want to help you anyway you can. Just… just remember that." With that, he whispered "nox" and his wand went out, leaving Sirius in the dark and with a lot to think about.
Bill had been through a lot in his life already. The twenty-eight-year-old had just come out to his family last year. Much to the chagrin of his mother, he told her and the rest of the then only seven other Weasleys (Percy had gone mad and was the first to abandoned his life and his fiancé, Penelope, to join Voldemort on the side of evil. His quest for power had led him to dangerous ends.) that he liked boys as much as he liked girls. He wanted to bring his then boyfriend at the time over to dinner. Most of the family got over it and accepted it, except for young Ginny. She couldn't face her brother's open bisexuality, not on top of already dealing with the new revelation of her long time crush's homosexuality and the rampant sex stories spreading about Hogwarts of him and Draco Malfoy. Sirius had to admit to himself though, they did make a cute couple, especially when they fought. She ran away from home and now was another unfortunate victim of the Dark Lord. Obviously her year with Tom Riddle when she was twelve left more of a mark then originally everyone thought. She was determined to rule along side him, a man a good forty years older than her, as his Dark Lady. The thought of the two of them just disgusted Sirius to no ends. Then there was the terrible tragic loss, especially to Bill, not to mention the rest of the Weasley clan, of Charlie Weasley. He had died heroically trying to stop Voldemort from using dragons against a Scottish city. Bill had been the closest brother to him and so took the news the hardest.
Yes, Sirius thought, Bill has been through a lot in his life. But he thinks a nice smile and a few sympathetic words will make everything all better. How can he possibly understand what it is like to loose a brother and a soulmate?
Author's Note: Pointless to ask, I will do so anyways… review maybes? Pwease? ::Bats eyelashes:: Fer me? ::Jumps out of the way as several tomatoes are thrown:: Okay, okay! Not for me then! Not for me! For them? ::Points to a very pretty Sirius and Bill (He has to be pretty. He has long hair and his ear pierced)::
Please review! Chapter Two will be up shortly. Promise, will try to make it longer. Ta-ta!
