Author's Notes: Thanks to my reviewers!
Mon2: I do have five pages of a snippet from the early days of Remus and Cassius's relationship written so I will post that when people need a R/C fix. :-) Thank you for your wonderful compliments!
Drastic Diner: Hope the rest of your move went smoothly and that you've got internet access again!
Noone: Here's the next chapter! And I don't want Sirius to die either…I'm currently in denial (again) about that and no, before anyone asks, I will not be writing Remus's POV of Sirius's death…WAY too depressing. (sniffle)
Oh, and Stevens's first name, Aloysius is pronounced 'al-o-WISH-us'. I know when I read names, I always want to know how they really sound. And I realized the pronunciation isn't included anywhere in the story yet. So there it is. :-)
This has some angst at the beginning but then we get to some happy stuff too.
Chapter 42 Halloween
"Good morning." Remus said as he brushed the soot from his robes, he'd just flooed into the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, holding two bunches of flowers.
"What's good about it?" Sirius growled. "It's Halloween. And what are those for?"
"I know." Remus paused. "I thought we'd go put flowers on James and Lily's graves today."
"What?" Sirius snapped.
"Moody's coming with us, he's made arrangements. If we don't linger, it should be safe." Remus looked a little paler than normal, but it wasn't near the full moon.
"I don't want to go." Sirius crossed his arms and glared down at the table.
"All right." Remus said calmly. "Moody is meeting me here in just a bit, I guess it will just be the two of us." Remus sat down. "I wish you'd come." Sirius didn't answer. They sat in silence until Moody arrived ten minutes later.
"Sirius isn't coming." Remus stood, gathering the flowers to his chest protectively.
"Nonsense." Moody said gruffly, pulling a wrapped portkey out of his pocket. "Tessen will signal when it's safe for us to come by making the portkey glow. Should be any moment. Come along, Black." Moody fixed Sirius with an authoritative glare and Sirius walked over meekly. "Put this on." Moody handed Sirius an invisibility cloak and then tapped him on the head doing a disillusionment charm. The portkey, a muggle coin, glowed brightly. "That's the signal. We've got 10 seconds." Moody touched the portkey, as did Remus and Sirius.
They were standing in a small graveyard. Sirius turned his face up, feeling the sun beating down on it. He looked back down. In front of him were two simple stones, engraved with the names James Potter and Lily Potter. Sirius felt tears well up in his eyes. They were dead. Because of him. He would kill Peter, he would revenge them. He would help Harry to live. He wouldn't let them down again. He took a deep breath, smelling the autumn air.
"I wish they had nicer gravestones. But these were all I could afford." Remus said softly. Sirius nodded, then realized Remus couldn't see him so he moved and squeezed Remus's fingers gently.
Remus crouched, laying a bunch of flowers on each grave, and pulled away some of the weeds. "I haven't been coming as often as I used to, with everything going on. The weeds." He stopped, tears choking off his speech. Sirius watched as Remus's thin shoulders shook silently.
Moody pulled two smooth stones out of his pocket and placed one on each of the gravestones. He looked over at Sirius and gave an almost imperceptible nod. Sirius crouched down, picking up two rocks from the ground, keeping them hidden under the cloak until he was right next to the gravestone. He placed one on each, for James and for Lily. He looked back up at the sky, he could almost feel James and Lily looking down on them.
"We best get going." Moody said gently, laying his hand on Remus's bowed head. Sirius had never, in all the years he had known Moody, heard him speak like that. He glanced at Tessen who was standing a few feet away, scanning the area surreptitiously. Moody pulled out a different portkey, a bottle-opener, out of his pocket.
"That'll do, Liam." Moody said gruffly and Sirius watched as Tessen beamed proudly.
"Thank you, sir."
Remus wiped the tears from his cheeks as he stood. Moody held out the portkey and Remus and Sirius both grabbed hold. Moody uttered a word and with a jerk, they were pulled to Windy Corner.
"Bettina." Moody gave a small bow.
"Alastor." Tabby nodded. Sirius pulled off the invisibility cloak and then felt a sharp rap on his head as Moody took the disillusionment charm off. "Tea?" Tabby asked, looking at the three of them. Remus and Sirius nodded. Tabby took Remus's face in her hands and brought his forehead down for a gentle kiss as Moody politely accepted the offer for tea.
"Cassius! They're here!" Tabby went to the kitchen doorway and called up the stairs. Heavy footsteps clomped down the stairs. "Honestly, must you sound like a herd of elephants?"
"Yes." Cassius stuck his tongue out and pretended to be injured as Tabby swatted his arm. Moody sat down at the table. "You're staying?" Cassius asked happily. Moody nodded. "Sirius, sit on this side." Cassius steered Sirius to the opposite side of the table and then Cassius sat down next to him, pulling Remus on to his lap, kissing his neck.
Remus hid a smile at Cassius's obvious intention to have Tabby sit next to Moody. Tabby seemed unperturbed as she poured them all a cup of tea. She sat down next to Moody as Cassius busily put sugar in his tea.
"I think a couple cheering charms are in order for Remus and Sirius." Tabby commented.
Moody nodded, pulling out his wand and waving it at Sirius and Remus who both immediately felt warm and happy. Remus wrapped his chilled fingers around his tea cup.
"Why don't I get one?" Cassius asked, feeling left out.
"You've put four lumps of sugar in your tea, my lamb, you'll be happy enough in a moment." Tabby smiled.
"You're not working today?" Moody asked.
"No, I switched shifts with O'Rourke so I could have today and tomorrow off." Cassius sipped his tea.
"Shacklebolt says Worth wants to promote you." Moody commented, seemingly casually, although Remus knew Moody had never made a casual move in his life. "It'd be a good career move, you're more than capable of doing the job."
"Yeah." Cassius's right hand clenched in Remus's sweater.
Remus turned slightly to look back at Cassius. "You didn't tell me you met with Worth."
"Well…" Cassius sighed heavily. "I just don't want to be promoted, it'll just be meetings and dealing with people asking me questions all the time. I said I'd think about it but I have already and I don't want to be one."
"It'd be an honor to be Senior Auror so young." Moody said. "Kingsley was the first Senior Auror under forty."
"I don't want to be a Senior Auror. I told you before." Cassius said smoothly. Remus knew the Malfoy voice was only used at home when Cassius was upset.
"If you were home every night with Remus, there'd be no reason for your memory not be good enough to be able to answer any question someone asked you." Moody said, making another argument for the promotion.
"I guess." Cassius shrugged, reaching for his cup of tea again.
"And it'd be safer." Moody continued before Tabby laid a hand on his, stopping him. Remus turned slightly to see if Cassius had noticed but he was chewing his fingers, looking down at the table.
"He doesn't want to be a Senior Auror, Alastor," Tabby said calmly, "Not everyone is as ambitious as you. Leave him be."
Moody nodded, draining his cup of tea. "I'll be off then." Remus felt Cassius tense, his arm tightened so much that Remus could barely breathe.
"Don't be mad."
"I'm not mad, my boy." Moody smiled, twisting his scarred face. He stood up. "I have to go because I'm meeting Arthur Weasley for lunch." Tabby coughed softly. "Give me a hug then I'm going." Remus slid off Cassius's lap and Cassius was enveloped in a bear hug by Moody. Remus's werewolf hearing picked up Moody's soft remarks.
"I'm not Julius. You make me proud no matter what you do. I wouldn't care if you suddenly turned into a squib. All right?" Cassius nodded as Moody pulled away. "Have fun tonight with Aloysius."
"All right." Cassius smiled. "Bye."
"Bye all." Moody threw some floo powder into the fireplace and was gone.
"Who's Aloysius?" Sirius asked with confusion.
"Stevens. It's his first name, he hates it." Cassius said with a grin, sitting down next to Tabby and laying his head on her shoulder. She reached up and patted his cheek.
"I can see why." Sirius laughed.
Remus had organized a Movie Night for that night to get Sirius away from Grimmauld Place and to give them all something happy to focus on instead of the anniversary of James and Lily's death. Clara was out of town for work so Stevens came over alone. Stevens had been coldly polite when he'd met Sirius the first time, he was friendlier now. Remus knew it was because Sirius had apologized to Cassius for blaming him for the prank all those years ago.
"Remus, I thought you said we couldn't have tequila anymore." Stevens turned from the counter, holding the bottle of Cuervo.
"Sirius likes it, I got it for him." Remus answered from where he was making salsa.
"Why does Sirius gets to have tequila and we don't?" Cassius asked petulantly.
"Because, unlike certain wizards I know, Sirius doesn't get the urge to strip naked and Disapparate to the Shrieking Shack to pretend he's a poltergeist after he's had a few shots of it." Remus answered calmly.
"That's not fair! It was just the once." Cassius protested.
"Twice." Stevens muttered.
"It was four times. Therefore, you two will not be having any of this." Remus crossed over and took the bottle from Stevens's hand. He handed it to Sirius. "If either of them reach for it, you have my permission to jinx them." Sirius nodded, wondering if it was worth getting Remus mad to see Stevens and Cassius naked. Remus turned back to Stevens. "I got you fire whiskey instead."
"Are we having guacamole?" Stevens asked, changing the subject. "We always have guacamole."
"Cass is in charge of the guacamole. Talk to him."
"Well, Malfoy? Where is it?" Stevens demanded. "I haven't seen you do anything since I got here."
"Tabby made it earlier after I couldn't remember what was in it. It's in the cooling cupboard." Cassius's cheeks flushed.
"You're so cute when you blush." Stevens grabbed Cassius in a headlock. Cassius protested, starting the old argument that went: "are not", "are too", and repeat.
"Have they already been drinking?" Sirius quickly moved over to stand by Remus as Cassius and Stevens fell to the floor with a thud and a few muffled "Ows". For once, Cassius started tickling Stevens first.
"They've had lots of sugar and caffeine – it does strange things to them." Remus laughed as Sirius stared. He was so used to Stevens and Cassius now that it was funny to see Sirius's reaction. Stevens flipped them over and pinned Cassius to the floor.
Now that he'd adjusted slightly to the idea there were two thirty-something wizards acting like 3rd years at Hogwarts, Sirius tried to focus on something other than the fact that the wizards in question were tall, lean, muscular blond men who were rolling around on the floor grabbing at each other. It had been a long time since he'd had sex, and with the fantasy images of Stevens and Cassius naked still in his head, he was starting to get hot. He could see why people had fantasies about twins. He shook his head, noticing something.
"Cassius is giggling."
"Yeah." Remus turned and gazed lovingly at his mate.
"He never even cracked a smile, all those years I knew him before. And he giggles. It's very strange."
"I think it's adorable." Remus smiled. "Ok. Salsa is done. Guacamole is done. Chips are?"
"Already in the sitting room." Sirius answered promptly.
"We're ready for Movie Night." Remus said loudly so he could be heard over Stevens and Cassius.
"And what are we watching again?" Sirius took the bowl of salsa Remus handed him.
"'Airplane'. It's brilliant." Remus got the bowl of guacamole out of the cooling cupboard along with the fire whiskey and a butter beer for himself. "Cass, Stevens. Come on or we'll start the movie without you."
Stevens and Cassius quickly separated. Stevens took the bottle of fire whiskey that Remus handed him.
"Now, Sirius has never seen this so let's keep conversation to a minimum." Remus said, glaring at Stevens and Cassius as they went into the sitting room.
"Aw, Remus, you're no fun." Stevens pouted. "He'll miss out on the full experience if we don't talk." Suddenly Remus found himself sandwiched between Stevens and Cassius as they pleaded their case with words (from Stevens) and kisses (from Cassius). Sirius wished he was Remus.
"All right, all right," Remus gave in. "But I retain the right to put a silencing charm on you if you get too out of hand."
"We won't." They chorused as they sat on the couch trying to look very innocent.
"Here, this chair is for you, Sirius." Remus pointed to the one Tabby normally sat in, she was sleeping in her cat form up in the library. He walked over to the VCR and put the movie in. "And I'll sit –"
"Between us." Cassius answered promptly, moving aside to make room.
"Come on, Remus, you know you want to." Stevens patted the space next to him
"You know you want to? Who says that?" Cassius turned to Stevens.
"I do." Stevens stuck his tongue out then gasped sharply as Cassius's long fingers tweaked one of his nipples. "Ow!"
"You liked it." Cassius arched his eyebrow seductively at Stevens.
"I did like it." Stevens rubbed at his chest. "I'll have to tell Clara. She likes that as well."
"Those are sensitive on girls too?" Cassius asked with amazement. Sirius laughed.
"You have to the section in that book about girls so I don't have to keep explaining everything." Stevens took a swig from the fire whiskey bottle. He and Cassius never bothered with shot glasses.
"I'll sit over here." Remus sat down in his chair and immediately began trying to ignore the two pouting blonds on the couch. It worked for about two minutes. He sighed, got up and sat down between Stevens and Cassius. "Want to join us on the couch?" He asked Sirius. "There's room."
Sirius gazed at them for a moment then shrugged. "I'll be closer to the food, I suppose." He sat on the other side of Cassius. A few levitation spells later, the snacks were all in easy reach as well as the drinks.
"I always thought Ravenclaw was the nerd house." Sirius said thoughtfully after the movie was over and they were all considerably tipsy. He'd slipped down off the couch and was sitting on the floor in front of it.
"Watch it, Black." Stevens growled. "We'll have take action if we feel our house's honor is in question."
"We're evenly matched." Sirius sat up straighter. "I'd like to see you try." Remus was glad to see some of the old spark back in Sirius's eyes.
"Please, it's no contest! You're still thin from all those years in Azkaban and Remus is totally easy." Stevens said dismissively.
"I am not!" Remus protested. "I'm a werewolf so - "
"I'm a werewolf." Stevens and Cassius mimicked. Stevens continued, sounding amazingly like Remus. "I'm a big, bad, dark creature with super-human strength who can be brought down with a well-placed tickling charm."
"That spot behind his right knee?" Sirius asked.
"Uh huh." Stevens and Cassius nodded together.
"You're right, there." Three pairs of eyes focused on Remus's knee and he started to feel very uncomfortable.
"No one is tickling me." He said firmly, hands itching to cover the back of his knee protectively.
"That's right, no one is tickling Remus – at the moment." Cassius reached for the nearly empty bottle of fire whiskey and took a drink from it. "But we could beat you both so…Ravenclaw wins!" He held his hand up to Stevens who waved his hand in Cassius's general direction.
Author's notes: due to some things I thought of yesterday, there will be another chapter between now and the end of the story – so there are still three left. (I know, I know, I'm horrible for extending the story (ha ha ha)) Next chapter will continue Halloween night festivities and then move forward. Also, I updated my little profile on FFnet so if you want to check that out for story update info…you can. :-)