A huge thanks goes to: Gwen Potter, Cobalt Violet, Demus (cheers babe!), Smudged, Gami (And who says Professor Snape is evil! He's a damn good character and I love him to pieces! *ahem*), Huan the Wolfhound, Celtic Bard, Sugar (beginner slash? Can you tell that?), Dragon of Sakura, madkornfan, ketchup and mustard, Sugar Hi, Erfaciel, thearequeen277, Senya Starseeker and LadyLyra. That's a lot of reviews! Please keep it up!
This chapter picks straight up where the last left off…
~Sirius' POV, 6th September~
"I want you to pierce my ear, Sirius."
WHAT! Remus wants me to pierce his ear? I'm lost for words. I wonder if I've misheard him but no, he's holding out an earring in his soft palm.
"Can you pierce my ear, Siri?" he repeats when I don't answer. He's looking at me expectantly.
"I, well, erm…" Great answer, Sirius. Go ahead and impress him with you eloquence and quick thinking. I honestly don't know how to respond. I've never pierced anyone's ear before. Remus no doubt thinks that I pierced my own but I didn't- I went to Diagon alley and had it done in Magic Mick's Beauty Salon.
"You know that I'm not advanced enough to use a specialised pain-killer spell?" I say.
Remus nods.
I honestly don't know what to do. I don't want to inflict any pain on poor Remus but, and this sounds selfish, I want to be close to Remus. I honestly can't think of a better way to get close to him than to lie him down on a bed, lean over him and stick a pin through his ear. Ouch.
"I'll do it, Remus, as long as you're sure that this is what you want… And you know that it'll hurt and that I'm not to blame for any-"
"Thank you, Padfoot," he says sincerely.
"You're welcome," I mumble. 'I'll do anything for you,' I add mentally.
Remus is still looking at me as though waiting for instructions. "I'll go and get everything I need and you, uuummm, go and make yourself comfy upstairs." Remus dashes off and I'm left wondering what to do and trembling with excitement at the thought of that dear handsome werewolf being entirely at my mercy.
It's only now that Remus has gone that I can reflect on what has just happened. My first thought train runs something along the lines of this: Remus has dyed his hair- my God! It looks gorgeous- and he wants his ear pierced- how strange. It seems as though Remus is turning to glam rock- I bet he'd look gorgeous in eyeliner…
~Upstairs~
"Are you sure about this?" I ask Remus as soon as I'm through the door. I'm beginning to sound like a broken record.
"I've never been more sure about anything," replies Remus with a shy smile. For just a second I allow myself to fantasise about Remus saying those words to me under different circumstances. I think about what it would be like if Remus were truly my own- a secret relationship, midnight walks, stolen kisses and waking up by his side every morning of every day (I seem to remember reading somewhere that werewolves mate for life- suits me fine!)
"Am I alright here?" Remus is asking me. He's sat on his bed and I notice that his hands are clenched together as though he's afraid.
"Yeah, that's great. And try to relax, it'll be fine." Remus leans back on the pillows propped against his headboard, evidently trying to relax. I doubt he'd manage it so well if he knew that my hands are trembling even as I clutch a magically cleaned pin, a bottle of surgical spirit, cotton wool and my watch, which for the benefit of ear piercing I've transfigured into a non-melting ice cube. I dip the cotton wool in the surgical spirit and perching on the end of Remus' bed I lean towards him and reach out to run the surgical spirit over his ear-
"Ouch!"
"Remus, I haven't done anything yet!"
"Sorry, I was just bracing myself for pain," admits Remus sheepishly.
"Really. So what do you think we'll be doing next full moon?" I ask him (he has to be distracted somehow) while I carefully place the surgical spirit on his bedside table and start to numb his ear with ice.
"The same as always. We'll run round Hogsmeade and try not to hurt anybody," says Remus. I just nod and deciding the ear is suitable numb, I reach for the pin-
"What are you doing?" asks Remus suspiciously. I lean forward until my head is just inches away from his- I can hear his breathing is rapid and uneven. He turns to face me and- why does he have this effect on me? - His warm chocolate brown eyes captivate me. He smells clean, of soap and laundered clothes but also vaguely of butterbeer and of pipe smoke (he must have been in the Three Broomsticks today). I have the most overwhelming desire to push him down so he's lying beneath me and to kiss him and Hell, I could be wrong but I'm beginning to wonder if Remus Lupin doesn't want me to kiss him, he's so close. A strand of my hair is trailing over his face and any second our lips will meet, any second… The pin is poised above his ear… and out lips are almost touching-
"Shit! Oh-oh, BLOODY HELL, PADFOOT! OW! I wasn't ready for it," moans Remus. Then he shuts up as though he's afraid that I'll think he's a coward.
"Hush," I say, gently mopping up the blood (and only a tiny bit at that!) Then I ease the earring through his ear and admire my handiwork. Not bad at all.
As much as I still want to lay him back on the bed and ravish the poor werewolf, I'm afraid that it might look like I'm taking advantage. Instead, I drag him over to a mirror and let him take a look. He peers at his reflection for a couple of minutes as though he's not quite sure that it's actually him and then turns and grins at me. "It didn't hurt that much," he says casually but he still looks pale and slightly ill (although maybe he's pale because his best MALE friend nearly kissed him). He also looks stunning. Absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. And I still love him so much.
But the trouble is that he doesn't look like the Remus J. Lupin that I'm used to anymore.