Yes, I know, FINALLY I UPDATE! I'm SOOO sorry for this! Ok… brownies for…
freakyfairy- that's almost the best review I've ever had… now I have guilt for ignoring this story~!
anymos-chan- I've had the same problem… thanks for the review anyways!Purplepuffychainsaw- I'm SORRY! *gloimps for forgiveness* just let me beg!
LilaStar- I didn't mean for it to dangle… but, here we go!
Fireblade K'Chona- I'm sorry, Lilly! Gimme a break!
kaleenie beenie- …maybe I shouldn't give you any more Sugar… it does stuff to you...
L-sama- I'm sure you do have a lot of ass… well, here goes! *Hugs*
C- short, quick, and to the point. I like you.
Sorry to everyone else! You ARE important, but don't you want the story? Well, here we go then!
Chapter 8: Emotion Sickness
"When I think about my life, I wanna kiss myself goodbye, Sugar High."
Morning came, and as soon as Sirius was sure his werewolf friend would be up, he got out of bed and crept over to grab his clothes and the Marauder's Map. James and Peter were so drunk from last night they would be out until McGonagall found them, so Sirius merely shut the door as he hopped out of the dorm and common room.
Creeping up back passages to avoid fans, Padfoot made it into the Hospital Wing in one piece. All last night, the only thing he dreamt about was Moony. His own dear Moony, who felt so right in his arms. As soon as Mme. Pomferey saw the shaggy black-haired boy coming in, she glared and led him to the corner of the sick ward.
Remus sat in the starched white bed, his face back to pale normalcy, a piece of toast in between his lips as he chewed. The amber eyes were concentrated on the latest issue of the Daily Prophet. On his bed stand were flowers, chocolates, stuffed animals, letter, a new book, Berty Bott's Every Flavored Beans, a few chocolate frogs, and a vase of green tulips. Obviously, the Lupin family had already heard of the almost-fatal accident. But the deep amber eyes only stared at the front page of the wizarding newspaper in slight regret.
"Mr. Lupin, buck up, you have a visitor." Mme. Pomferey stated coldly, eyeing Sirius with a warning on her face. Remus looked at her and then at Padfoot, who stepped out and sat next to the werewolf. As the nurse walked away, Remus' cheeks reddened slightly.
"We're in the Daily Prophet," the werewolf mentioned disappointedly, giving Sirius the paper as he continued to gnaw on his toast. The wizard tried to look interested in the paper, but couldn't help smiling today, especially at how cute Remus looked eating toast, which was black and heavily buttered.
"It's good news, Rem! Not everyday a student falls out of a 800 ft Quidditch stand!" Remus turned slightly green as he looked at Sirius again. Padfoot grabbed a piece of toast from the werewolf's breakfast tray and munched as he read the article.
"You're used to attention…" Remus muttered under his breath, looking at the end of his bed as he downed his orange juice. His eyes closed and opened again as he noticed Sirius smiling at him, his hands behind his back. The amber eyes questioned the animagus.
"Yea, I am, and it's time you became visible again," the scruffy Marauder said gently, bringing his hands around to reveal a small bouquet of peach roses. As he handed them to the werewolf, his brown eyes watched the small but noticeable smile form. Moony's eyes were sparkling.
"You didn't have to…" was all Remus could think to say as he blushed, but kept the smile in his pale face.
"I wanted too," was Padfoot's answer, as he smiled kindly, eyes fixed on the entrancing boy before him.
"…Why?"
Sirius stopped and thought for a minute. Letting Remus know now would be too easy, and Padfoot loved games. And so, he answered directly, yet obscurely. "Because for the first day in my life I'm so happy that I'm realizing only one person could ever make me feel this way."
Remus' heart dropped out of the pit of his stomach and his smile faded. Padfoot was in love. It was so obvious in the brown eyes that Moony kicked himself for not noticing it in the first place. He had waited too long… And now he had to bear it. Pain formed a lump in the back of the werewolf's throat as he fought back tears. Shakily he guessed, "Nympha Collins?"
Sirius laughed, but stopped when he saw Remus' dead amber eyes. Though the wizard's mouth was curved in a smile, he looked ready to cry at any minute. Gently, Padfoot answered, "No, I'll tell you later. Want to screw off today? Just the two of us?"
"Today? Now? Why?" the werewolf's mind was telling him that spending a day around his walking heartache would be the death of him. But something in the warm inviting brown eyes made him want to spend the day with Sirius, if it were going to be that last time.
"You shall see! Now, no more questions! Get dressed and lets get out of here!" he exclaimed as he pulled Moony out of bed and gave him a change of clothes. Before leaving, Remus charmed his gifts away and said a silent prayer for strength.
Rushing down the hallways, Remus called, "We're going to get in trouble!"
Sirius just laughed and ran faster, yelling back, "Live a little, Moony!"
Trying to catch up to Sirius Black was one thing, Remus thought as he ran as fast as possible, trying to catch him was another.
That afternoon was spent dodging fans, playing with Wizard Crackers, and lying under the old oak tree near the Forbidden Forrest. James and Peter joined them after lunch, when they finally guessed correctly where they would be. That dinner was spent trying not to look too incriminating when the Slytherins discovered Swelling Singing Sneak pills in their soup.
Remus and Sirius escaped up to the tower before anyone could follow. The common room was pretty empty, so they decided to stay in there for a while.
"So who is the person that makes you this happy?" Remus asked, still trying not to cry. All day had been fun, but when he was under the oak tree with Sirius, it hit him that the scruffy Marauder would never look at him so endearingly again.
"Aw, Moon. You don't want to know! Besides, I'm sure you already do!" Sirius answered, laughing. The vision of Lucius Malfoy singing as a colotura was still fresh in his mind.
"Please, Sirius…" Moony said again, almost begging.
The animagus turned around to look at him. Even the fake smile had faded and had been replaced by shattered remnants of one. Sirius tried to smile back, but couldn't. Seeing Remus that sad did something to him. And why would he be sad anyways? It wasn't like he was in love or anything. "I'll tell you Christmas holiday."
"That's not fair, Padfoot!" Remus said, stepping on his own foot to keep from crying. He never wanted Sirius to see him cry, so he did his best to laugh.
The scruffy boy shook his head and walked into the dormitory. "It's only a week away, Moony! You can hold out that long."
As soon as he heard the door to their room click, Remus collapsed into a red armchair behind him and began to sob quietly. Sirius had a love… he had waited too long to tell him… now he would be gone for good. The werewolf could not stop crying, even as James and Peter tried to find out why he was sobbing. The Marauder would say nothing but sob.
James walked into the dorm with Peter, thoroughly confused. Sirius was sitting on his bed, looking up at the red canopy and thinking about Moony.
"Hey Sirius, do have any idea why Remus is sobbing puddles downstairs?" Prongs asked, hopping onto Padfoot's bed.
"Yeah, he won't say 'nothing about it." Peter piped, jumping onto his own. They both looked at Sirius, who sat bolt upright and looked around, very worried.
"He's… crying?" He had gone too far. After he swore to never hurt him, he had. Now his heart's flame sat in the common room bawling his eyes out. "Oh man…" was all the scruffy Marauder could manage to say.
"…Do you know?" Wormtail persisted, eyeing Black intently.
"Does he look like he knows, Pete? Honestly, and you call yourself Captain State-the-Obvious." James spat sarcastically, then going back to grinning.
As the two continued to argue about certain nicknames, Sirius closed his eyes. With hand on heart, he solemnly swore on all the pranks, persecuting, and foolery that the Marauders stood for, he, Sirius Canis Black, would tell Remus James Lupin about his undying passion and love on Christmas Eve, and no later.
Just then, Prongs grabbed Moony's diary from its shelf and said, "Well, if he won't tell us, let's see what's eating him!"
Peter gave James a shifty look and agreed. Sirius nodded and sat next to Jim on Remus' bed, reading over his shoulder.
Moony's handwriting was impeccable, petite, and easy to read. None of that windy stuff that Sirius uses to confuse the professors. Suddenly, James smiled victoriously and stood up, jumping to the center of the room and holding the book high so that the other two couldn't read what was making him so happy. "Well, my dear gentlemen (and I use that term loosely here)," he exclaimed, milking the attention for all it's worth. "Today is, indeed, a stepping stone in the Marauder's history! I know what's eating our dear Remus J Lupin to the point of sobbing!"
"Oh, get on with it, ya sod." Sirius growled, ready to rip the diary from his hands if he didn't talk soon.
"Well, it's plain to see from this passage that our young, tender, and innocent Remus…" James took the time to clear his throat, increasing the suspense in Peter's case, before whispering, "is in love."
Peddigrew laughed so hard he fell off the bed and James smiled triumphantly. But Padfoot stood there, shocked. No wonder he had been ready to cry all afternoon… he was in love with someone else… Then, Sirius' depression turned to anger inside of him. Why had he waited so long!? Why had he not just told Remus, then he would've had a standing chance! Finally, he growled, "Prove it, Prongs."
James cleared his throat again and, in opening the book to the marked passage, cooed, "Oh how I long for my dark-haired angel to rescue me from my despair. How cruel fate has been to leave me alone and confused with but a pen and collection of paper for drawing out my heart, making my ink and the blood one. If the eternal Goddess can hear me, please, I beg you! Send me my glorious and saving angel to love me!" Then, before he could go on, Prongs fell on the floor, roaring with laughter.
Peter's face was as red as a beet from laughing so hard, but one laugh was missing. The two looked at Sirius as he slowly picked up the diary, returned it to the place on Remus' bed stand, and somberly crossed the room to his bed. His usually laughing eyes were earnest and pain-filled. All he wanted now was to fall asleep, to wake up, and have it all been a dream. Sirius would not give up so easily though. If Moony wanted to find out, he would, "dark-haired angel" or not.
With their fun spoiled by some invisible force, the two other Marauders climbed into bed, exchanged Goodnight's, and fell asleep. The fourth Marauder would fall asleep in the common room, still crying.