A/N: After more than a little prodding I decided it was time to upload the next chapter. Thanks for the heads up for all the other sites, I'm looking into it. Right now school has started and it's one of my most important years, so if I perhaps don't update as regularly it's not because I have lost interest, but because I am losing time. Without further ado, here's the chapter.
Chapter Six
"Have you seen Moony?" Sirius asked James lazily from the arm chair he was resting on. It was the same one Remus had been sitting on earlier and Sirius could almost still smell him. He was tossing an albino rat he had found into the air, transfiguring it into a ball and then catching it. He had repeated this several times before Peter made a noise akin to a whimper and Sirius realized that he was making Peter extremely uncomfortable. He was about to do it again for spite when a tall, skinny second year Gryffindor came hurrying over.
"You've found Daisy!" she exclaimed.
"Oh, er, yeah," Sirius said uneasily. He ran a hand through his hair while she took the rather unscathed rat from his lap. While he was glad to have found the owner, she had taken away his play toy and now he was back to being bored. Hence, the earlier question of where was Remus.
"I think he's in the library," James replied distractedly. His face was screwed in concentration as he carefully glued together what looked like various coloured bits of construction paper.
"What are you doing?" Sirius asked.
"It's Lily's birthday in a couple days. I'm making her a card." James didn't look up from his place on the floor but instead ruffled his hair with his glue covered hand.
"You're what?"
"Making her a card," James replied again.
"But why are you using muggle glue and that paper stuff?" Sirius asked, clearly perplexed why his friend would spend so much time on something that could be done so much easier with magic.
"Because I read... somewhere... that girls like it when guys make them stuff," James replied indignantly.
"Have you been reading Witch Weekly again, Prongs?" Peter asked from where he was looking at his Famous Wizard cards.
James turned a bright shade of red and pretended to be very interested in the blue-handled scissors in front of him.
"Well, I'll leave you to it," Sirius replied. It looked like a messy affair, not something he particularly wanted to get involved with if he could help it. He ignored the calls of a few Gryffindor girls and left the common room. It was eight o'clock so Sirius reasoned that Remus was most definitely in the library. Lately Remus had been spending less time in the library and more time reading in the common room, and while Sirius liked to think that this change was because of him, he knew that it was most likely his ego talking.
He stepped into the library tentatively. He looked around and didn't see Remus. He did however see a couple Hufflepuff girls who giggled and waved him over. Instead of ignoring them, he decided to approach them. Maybe they knew where Remus was...
"Have you seen Remus?" he asked them. Their faces fell when they realized he had only come over to ask about his friend.
"I think he was in the back somewhere," one of them mumbled.
"Thanks," Sirius replied with a slight frown. Alarm bells were going off in his head and he couldn't think of why. Back of the library? Ah...yes. Now he remembered. Sunlight had trouble reaching the back stacks of the library, making it a perfect make-out spot. In fact it was the place where Sirius had first caught Remus kissing Colin Nolan. Sirius assured himself silently that Remus was probably just researching something. Nothing to be concerned about, he told himself. Nevertheless, he tiptoed around until he found Remus, sitting down with his back against a shelf of books; much the same position that he had found him in before with Colin. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized Remus was alone.
"Hey," Sirius called, causing Remus to look up from the book he had been reading.
"Hello," Remus replied.
"What are you doing?" Sirius asked, trying to sound casual.
"I'm reading." Remus motioned to the book in his lap.
"Oh," Sirius replied. He sat down next to him on the floor. "You can read in the common room," Sirius pointed out.
"Yes, but I needed to get away for a bit."
"With whom?" Sirius asked and immediately regretted it. The words had been in his head but he hadn't actually meant to speak them aloud.
Remus gave him a peculiar look. "With myself."
"Oh, it's just that last time I saw you here, you were..." Sirius didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to because they both knew exactly what he was referring to.
"So, every time I'm in the library I must be with someone?"
"No, I – "
"Sirius, you need to trust me," Remus said evenly. "I'm not like Colin, I'm not going to screw around on you."
"That's not what I meant. I do trust you, Moony," he insisted.
"That's not how it seems," Remus mused.
"Well, why are you in the back of the library by yourself then?"
"I already told you. I needed to get away for a bit," Remus replied.
"Away from what? From me?" Sirius interrogated.
Remus gave a soft sigh. "Not everything is about you, Padfoot."
"So you're not going to tell me?"
"No, I will if you really want to know," Remus said. He was getting a little impatient with the constant questioning when really all he wanted was to be left alone. "It's an anniversary of sorts."
Sirius thought back frantically. Was it their anniversary? No...that couldn't be right. Anniversary? Sirius wracked his brain trying to come up with something even remotely correct. When he didn't respond, Remus spoke again.
"My dad. He died two years ago today."
"Oh Merlin, Moony. I'm sorry. I... I forgot."
Remus shrugged. "It's not important. I might have forgotten if our positions were reversed."
"No you wouldn't have," Sirius said. "You always remember small things like that."
"Like what?" Remus asked, genuinely curious.
"Like you know my brothers birthday."
"August sixteenth," Remus said quietly.
"You know all of our birthdays too and you probably know the day that you got bitten and you'll know our anniversary – "
"I won't be able to put up with you for a year, Padfoot," Remus said with a straight face. When Sirius turned towards him though, he smiled, his eyes full of mischief. "Besides, I take Arithmancy. It helps with remembering numbers."
The smile slowly faded and Remus found himself looking into Sirius' eyes.
"I'm sorry I forgot," Sirius said again. "Do you want me to leave?"
Remus nodded slowly and Sirius got up. When he got up, though, the warmth that had been pressed again Remus was gone and he found himself missing it.
"Sirius?"
Sirius turned immediately from where he had been walking away.
"Maybe you could stay for a little while, if you want."
Sirius smiled and sat back down beside Remus. Content to have the warmth back beside him, Remus opened his book again and escaped into a world of things called telephones and automobiles. A world where people didn't use magic and dark wizards didn't murder men for refusing to give up their only son to the Dark Lord's services.
"Moony?" Sirius asked some time later.
"Uh huh?" Remus replied without looking up from his book.
"What are you doing for Easter Holidays?"
"Going home."
"Oh, right."
Silence except for the sound of Sirius shuffling around. Finally Remus put down his book, sensing his restlessness.
"What are you doing for Easter?" he asked Sirius.
"Nothing, just going to be staying at my place in London. Alone." Sirius looked up at Remus as he said the last word, and while he tried to hide it, Remus saw the hope and something else – lust – hidden there.
"I see," Remus said carefully. He knew Sirius had a habit of reading into things too much.
"Will you come stay with me?" Sirius asked. Remus turned towards him, taken aback at his uncharacteristically straight question. Usually Sirius played around with things until the other person had guessed what he was trying to say.
"I can't. I'm sorry," he added after he saw how Sirius' face fell. Sirius really was awful at hiding his emotions. "I need to go home to see my mum, and Easter is only two weeks away. I wish you had mentioned it earlier."
"It hadn't occurred to me earlier."
Remus braced himself for an argument and the flaring of Sirius' temper, but nothing came. He felt at a loss trying to grasp at the silence that hung so heavy between them. He could argue with Sirius, he could make him see reason, but he could not reason with silence. It was hard to argue when there was only one person doing the arguing, so he sat in the silence as well listening to Sirius' breathing.
He stood up suddenly, causing Sirius to almost fall over at the sudden movement.
"Where are you going?"
"To the Owlery," Remus replied. He filed the book he had been reading back into the shelf in its proper place.
"Who are you owling?" Sirius asked, curiosity filling his big, grey eyes.
"Mum. I need to let her know that I will only be dropping by for one of the days during the holidays."
"Oh?" Sirius inquired. He intertwined his fingers in Remus' and kissed him quickly on the cheek. Remus recoiled from the kiss, as if by some reflex, but kept his hand in Sirius' until they got to the main library lobby. Sirius made no move to take Remus' hand in his own once again, but stayed closer than was needed for mere friends and Remus could feel many eyes on them as they left the library.
"Must you be so close?" Remus said irritably once they had left the library.
"I like being close to you," Sirius replied simply.
"People were looking."
"They were looking at me, not you," Sirius smiled.
"They were looking at us. You should know by now that I don't like drawing attention to myself."
"You know I know that," Sirius said almost coyly. He leaned towards Remus and gave his jaw a quick kiss. He laughed when Remus tensed under his touch.
"Sirius," Remus said in a low voice. It was almost a warning but Sirius knew better. He liked to push Remus, to see how far he would go. So, naturally, he kissed him again, this time on his earlobe. Remus turned on him so fast that Sirius didn't even see it coming. He just knew that all of a sudden his back was against the wall and Remus was against him. Remus pressed his lips against Sirius' and pulled away just as Sirius had got over his initial shock and had started to kiss back.
"Happy?" Remus asked, an eyebrow cocked.
Sirius opened his mouth to say something and then just grinned.
"Well, are you coming or not?" Remus said with false impatience and walked away, leaving Sirius against the wall. Sirius jogged to catch up and kissed Remus again lightly on the neck. Remus playfully pushed him away, but he was smiling.
"So, you're coming to stay with me over Easter?"
Remus nodded. Sirius started rambling about how it was going to be the best Easter ever and all the great things they were going to do. Remus mostly tuned him out as he thought about his own mother and how she would react to the news. She'll be fine, Remus told himself. So what if it's her first Easter alone since Dad died. She'll make due. Aunt Melinda will come stay with her. She'll be fine. She'll be fine. She'll be –
"Remus?"
Remus turned his head sharply towards Sirius. "What?"
"I asked you if you preferred white or dark chocolate."
"You know I prefer dark," Remus replied. Sirius nodded and slipped his arm protectively around Remus' shoulders. Remus made no attempt to shrug his arm away. He never talked about his fathers untimely death to anyone and he especially never accepted pity or comfort but this time he found himself wishing that he didn't have to be strong all the time. He found himself wishing that for one day he could let himself melt into the care of another, and he wanted that someone to be the boy right beside him.
He wrote the note quickly to his Mum, but read it over three times before finally getting the courage to give it to one of the school's owls.
"She will be fine, won't she?" Remus asked as the owl took off into the dark starry sky.
"Of course," Sirius replied in his usual self-assured manner. "It is me that you should be worried about."
"Why is that?"
"Because if you don't come stay with me now, you may find yourself in mortal peril," Sirius said with a straight face.
"Oh?" Remus raised an eyebrow.
Sirius nodded and walked closer towards Remus. Remus backed away but found himself against the stone wall of the Owlery. A cool breeze was blowing in through the glass-free window but Remus found himself feeling quite flushed as Sirius kissed him with one of his more long seductive kisses. Remus started to protest but found himself unable to do so as Sirius smothered him in kisses anywhere there was skin showing. He felt Sirius fumbling with the clasps on his robe.
"No no no," he murmured softly. Sirius looked down at him, crestfallen. "Let's go to the seventh floor," he breathed. Sirius immediately got the reference and grinned. He kissed Remus on the tip of his nose and pulled him by the hand out of the owlery and down a flight of stairs to the seventh floor. Remus looked around nervously for other students but no one seemed to be roaming the seventh floor. They reached the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and smiled at each other furtively.
They walked past the opposite wall three times, concentrating on what they needed to fulfil their needs. A door appeared and they hesitated for a moment before opening it. The scene before them was familiar, yet very unfamiliar all the same. Although it was night outside the castle, it seemed to be afternoon in the Room of Requirement. Inside was a huge willow tree, very similar to the one under which they had experienced their first kiss together. Under the willow tree was soft green grass that swayed ever so slightly in the breeze. On top of the grass were many pillows and a couple blankets. Remus and Sirius smiled at each other, the former shyly and the latter slyly with unhidden lust. Remus locked the door quickly with his wand and breathed a sigh of relief.
Before he knew it, Padfoot had him pinned to the ground beneath the giant Willow. Sirius went to undo Remus' robes again but Remus protested softly. Sirius growled in impatience but Remus didn't seem willing to just let Sirius take care of him. Well, Sirius had had quite enough of that. With a flick of Sirius' wand, Remus' hands were tied above his head.
"Padfoot, I didn't know you were into bondage," Remus said, trying to sound teasing but a note of panic slipped into his voice.
"I'm not, you perv, but it's the only way I can get you to let me take care of you," Sirius replied. He tucked his wand behind his ear and set to work undoing Remus' robe. Remus watched him with bated breath. He expected to Sirius to recoil at any moment, to suddenly realize that he was too good for Remus. He waited for Sirius to get up and confess this was all an elaborate prank and now he was going to leave Remus tied up in the Room of Requirement. He heard the sharp intake of breath and looked up expectantly at Sirius.
Sirius had managed to get Remus robe undone and now the buttons of his shirt were undone and the shirt had been thrown open.
"I..." Sirius started to say.
"I told you," Remus said pointedly. He had almost started to go on to tell Sirius that he wasn't very attractive at all, and how sorry he was that Sirius had got his hopes up when Sirius interrupted him.
"No you didn't tell me," Sirius shook his head. "You failed to mention how sexy you were, Mr. Lupin."
Remus turned an interesting shade of pink. "You think I'm..."
"Not only do I think you're sexy," Sirius continued, "But I think you're positively wicked and selfish for wanting to keep this body all to yourself and not sharing. I think that must be some sort of sin."
Sirius grinned wickedly at him in such a way that made Remus squirm beneath his roving hands. Sirius kissed down the length of his torso, stopping at particularly sensitive areas. Remus, for all his quietness in class, was quite vocal when it came to sensitive areas and before long Sirius had reduced him to a moaning mess of his formerly reserved self. Remus trembled under Sirius' hands and Sirius shushed him gently with kisses. He smiled up at Remus reassuringly and Remus returned the smile, feeling increasingly comfortable around his new lover. Sirius' tongue followed the thin line of hair from Remus' navel until the waistline of his pants. Here, Remus started breathing more heavily at the thought of where exactly Sirius' tongue would be next. He struggled against his ties but was unable to free himself to stroke Sirius' hair that had fallen onto his now naked stomach. He tried to relax his body but Sirius had this way of making his body respond in such a way that he had never even knew he possessed. He closed his eyes and felt, rather than heard, Sirius' breathing on his skin, right near the top button of his pants.
Sirius unbuttoned Remus' pants with the slightest bit of apprehension. He wanted to make Remus feel as good as Remus had made him feel the other night. Just how to accomplish this, though? He had never even thought about going down on another bloke until a couple weeks ago. Before then, the idea had positively disgusted him and he wondered how his girlfriends were able to do it so willingly without qualms.
Now though, it wasn't about 'going down' on someone, it was about pleasing someone, and not just anyone. He wanted to please Remus simply because Remus deserved it. So, he would do his best, he decided. It turned out his best was quite good. So good in fact that it wasn't long before Remus cried out his name along with mixed curses and came in his mouth. Sirius grinned up at his sweating mate.
"You sure you haven't done that before?" Remus asked, panting. Sirius shook his head.
"Was it okay?"
Remus laughed and Sirius suddenly felt self conscious.
"That was bloody amazing. Not okay."
Sirius released his mate's hands and kissed his wrists better.
"Now, if you behave," he whispered to Remus, "Next time I won't tie you up."
"What if I like being tied up?" Remus retorted. Sirius snorted and hit him over the head with a pillow.
"Pervy werewolf."
They laughed and then tickled each other before it turned into an all-out pillow fight. It was funny, Remus mused later, that the Room of Requirement seemed to know what they needed even before they did. Now, however, judging by the bulge in Sirius' pants, it became apparent that some needs were still not taken care of.
"Siri...," Remus said softly. Sirius turned his attention towards his lover. He collapsed gently on top of Remus.
"Yes?"
"I trust I don't need to tie you up to have a go?" Remus smiled.
"No, you can have a go anytime you like," Sirius grinned.
"Anytime like now?"
"Like now," Sirius agreed. And then, as an afterthought, "I definitely wouldn't object to now."
Remus undressed Sirius quickly so they were both nude.
"Moony?" Sirius asked while Remus was leaving wet kisses up his thigh.
"Uh huh?"
"When you come visit during Easter can we stay in bed all day?"
Remus grinned at him. "But, Padfoot, what would we possibly do all day in bed?"
"I could think of a few things," Sirius groaned as Remus took him into his mouth. He tilted back his head, absorbed in the feeling of Remus' tongue. He never wanted this feeling to end, yet at the same time he was anxious for release. He could feel it building inside him like a firecracker waiting to explode. Remus teased him whenever he got close to the edge until he couldn't take it anymore.
"Feel better?" Remus asked afterwards as he ran his fingers through Sirius' dark hair.
"I feel great." Sirius smiled as he pulled on his clothes. He tossed Remus his wand and watched as Remus buttoned up his shirt. He felt the urge to undo those buttons again but contented himself with the thought that he would be able to unbutton them again soon enough.
"We better get going," Remus said, motioning towards the door, "It's after nine."
He unlocked it and pulled Sirius through after one quick look back at the Room of Requirement.
"Thank you," he said to Sirius once they approached Gryffindor tower.
"For what?"
"For making this day easier for me." Remus rested his head on Sirius' shoulder and Sirius wrapped his arm automatically around Remus' shoulder.
Sirius frowned slightly. "I don't like seeing you upset, Moony. If there's anything I can do to make things easier for you, I try."
"That's what makes you so wonderful," Remus sighed. He said the password to the Fat Lady and crept inside, Sirius at his side. The common room was deserted except for James and Peter playing Gobstones in front of the fire. They looked up as Sirius and Remus walked in.
"Finish the card?" Sirius asked as he sat down on the couch.
James nodded.. "She's going to love it!"
"I have no doubt," Sirius replied.
"Well, I'm off to bed," Remus said, stifling a yawn.
"Me too," Sirius said a bit too quickly. James snickered and shook his head.
"I hope I'm not that whipped when Lily and I start dating," he said.
"You mean if, not when," Sirius laughed. James scowled.
"You wait and see!" he said, shaking a hand at Sirius' retreating back. "You believe me, don't you Pete?"
Peter nodded earnestly while James beamed. They'll see, he thought to himself, Lily will definitely want to go out with me when she sees how creative and artistic I am. Granted, the card was a little messy and less than symmetrical, but the thought was there.
He joined Sirius and Remus in the dorm room moments later, and after tucking the card carefully into the end table beside his bed, he fell asleep with a silly smile on his face. Judging by the look on his face, it wasn't hard to discern what he was dreaming of.