Chapter 5: Dog In The Manger
Disclaimer: We don't own the characters, places or anything recognisable from the Harry Potter Books 'cause they belong to J. K. Rowling. We write only for our own pleasure and make nothing from it.
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April sat up with all the care she could muster, her muscles protesting. She opened her eyes and blinked against the white sunlight. She was alone. This realisation was, for a second time, accompanied by a pang of disappointment. He'd told her he wouldn't join her and yet part of her had thought he wouldn't be able to resist, how arrogant!
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Remus woke up on his bedroom floor staring up at the ceiling; this was certainly more familiar than the last full moon's events. The night's events had been like lucid dreaming. He'd known what was happening and had control over it, and yet he had been the werewolf. He felt a little sick, but not as rough as he had done last month.
He could still smell April in the air and feel the dull call to go and find her. Possibly the most difficult thing about the different wolfsbane was that. He was going to have to replace some furniture and possibly not spend the next full moon somewhere with so many things to break.
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A few weeks later, Sirius arrived for a visit…
Sirius led sprawled out on Remus' sofa. Someone knocked on the door. He couldn't be bothered to get up; Remus would probably hear it anyway. He closed his eyes again and flicked his tail, yawning and letting his tongue stick out really far. Being a dog was quite intriguing.
The door opened. Sirius opened just one eye the tiniest fraction and there was a moment's hesitation on the part of the opener, before they stepped into his line of vision. Sirius' eyes opened wide; he might have got up to open it if he'd had any idea that such a vision would be behind it. Being in dog form, Sirius was treated to her sweet scent, womanly and tantalising. He felt the hairs all down his belly stand on end.
She stood just inside the door, clutching a stoppered green glass bottle. "Remus," she called, looking around. She did a double take at the sight of a huge black dog the size of a bear on the sofa.
Sirius stretched out on the cushions, lazily closing his eyes and showing off his underbelly. Women were always defenceless to all that cute-animal stuff. His tail started to twitch in anticipation; she'd be over offering a delightful tickle in just a minute…
"Remus."
Nothing! Sirius scrabbled off his back and peeped over the back of the sofa; she had come in a bit further and was stood in the doorway leading through to the other rooms in the house. This was cause for drastic action.
Sirius ambled casually round the sofa and over to this sweet little thing that had been dropped into his Saturday morning. He usually made a point of introducing himself to women in human form, but she had taken him rather unawares.
He nudged up against her bare leg. Blimey! She does smell good, not to mention feel good. He let his nose creep a little higher, his tail sweeping unconsciously upward.
"Hello there," she said, distractedly ruffling his ears, hardly seeming to notice he was there at all. "Remus, are you here?"
What a one-track mind! Sirius thought, more than a little disappointed. Usually women were affectionate or, at the very least, frightened out of their wits. Still, she didn't seem too bothered about him having a good sniff. He edged his nose up past her knee and under her skirt, wondering if it would be too inappropriate to have a peek. What she didn't know couldn't hurt her, surely.
"April?"
Spoil my fun! Sirius stepped back to a respectable distance.
"Sorry, I let myself in, the door was open."
Remus stuck his head through one of the doors. "I was in the garden. Come through." He grinned at her, gesturing her along the passage.
I know that grin…! Sirius lifted his tail again and trotted along behind her, through the door into a poky little room that Remus didn't use and that led to the garden. Why hadn't he mentioned this 'April' woman? She was delightful.
"You hadn't come for the first of your Wolfsbane. I brought it for you." She handed him the bottle and he took it, putting it down on a work surface.
Sirius noted that not only did she know about Remus' 'condition', but also that April made him his Wolfsbane. Remus really had settled in here. Talk about getting your feet under the table!
"Thanks." He grinned again.
Oh, come on, you can do better than that, Moony! Sirius cringed at the pair of them.
"Sirius, do the polite thing and introduce yourself." Remus spoke to the dog, stepping out of the back door onto the garden path.
April's brow furrowed in confusion, turning to look at the dog. She jumped when she found herself looking at the tall muscular figure of a man. He looked older than Remus but his hair was still black with flecks of brown and no grey. His pale eyes twinkled with mischief. April was sure that she knew him from somewhere.
"I'm Sirius Black and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance… April." He rolled her name over his tongue in his most seductive tone and treating her to his best charming smile. If Remus wasn't going to make a move then what else could he do?
Knowing his friend only too well, Remus shot Sirius a warning look.
So… you do like her then?
"Ah, I knew you looked familiar. I must have seen you a lot in the Daily Prophet."
This was going to be more difficult than Sirius had expected; she wasn't going for any of his usual tricks.
"How do you know Remus?"
"We went to Hogwarts together." Sirius informed her unenthusiastically.
April stayed for a cup of tea with the two men and peppered Sirius with questions about their time at school. When she made to leave, Sirius showed her to the door.
"Why haven't you mentioned her?" Sirius said, standing at the window and trying to hide behind the undrawn curtains as he watched her walk back down the road.
"Should I have?" Remus tried his best to sound laid-back.
"Should you have? What a stupid question." Sirius moved from his vantage point, wandered into the kitchen and put the kettle on. "And there was me wondering if you'd settle in alright." He shook his head and found some cups.
"I'm used to it by now," Remus said resignedly.
"Not so used to being befriended by tasty young women though." Sirius smiled playfully.
"Too young," Remus amended.
"Too young?" Sirius looked confused. "Oh come on, live a little… Now you look me in the eye and tell me you haven't thought about it."
Remus drummed his fingers on the kitchen table not meeting Sirius gaze.
"At least eight… or fifty times a day!" Sirius added for fun, grinning to himself as he turned his back on his friend to fill the teapot.
Remus stared defiantly at the back of Sirius' head, although he wasn't sure he could have looked him in the eye.
"So, she's good with a cauldron then?" Sirius put the cups on the table and sat himself down, stretching his legs out. Sleeping as a dog always left him with the desire to do an excessive amount of stretching.
Remus reluctantly sat down as well. "It would appear so."
Sirius sighed, trying to think up a new avenue of attack, but failing. "Speaking of women who find me prosaic, guess who I saw over Christmas." Sirius said with a certain degree of relish.
"Enlighten me." Remus wasn't really in the mood to be drawn into a trap by Sirius.
"Oh, go on, you remember! Got me into all sorts of trouble!" Sirius smiled dreamily for a moment, then his expression went sour and he sipped his tea resolutely, burning his mouth.
"Not Florence?" Remus remembered and couldn't see any obvious roads that Sirius could go down with this line of thought.
"The one and only." Sirius sat back still looking resentful.
"How did you run into her?" Remus was genuinely curious. He knew that Sirius had stayed in contact after school, but he hadn't to such an extent, for some reason.
"Well, I was writing to Harry, as usual, and he mentions he has a new DADA professor, again, and it's only her." Sirius seemed brighter now.
"How was she?"
Sirius' expression went through changes again. "Oh, you know, as susceptible as ever."
"Still didn't fall for your charms then?"
"Oh… I didn't mean me." Sirius' voice was lined with bitterness.
"Oh…" Remus gingerly sipped his tea in thought. "You mean…"
"I mean that by the end of the Christmas holiday she had broken my nose and then promptly found me to cry all over."
Remus gathered that perhaps Sirius hadn't been attempting to lure him into a corner over April but had simply wanted to talk about this for a long time. "Snape?" he asked cautiously, knowing full well how much even the mention of the name riled Sirius.
"How did you guess?" Sirius stared thoughtfully at the middle distance. "I'd have thought she'd've had more sense." He looked back at the tabletop and unconsciously traced the grain of the wood with his fingers. "I mean, it's been a long time hasn't it?"
"Since school?"
"Since we were young… and stupid." Sirius stood up and got the biscuit tin.
Remus knew then that this was serious. "They're back together?"
"I don't know, do I?" Sirius chose a shortcake biscuit and bit it viciously, crumbs going left, right and centre. "I don't even think she knew what was going on. They weren't 'together' when I left… but no doubt he managed to weasel his way back in…"
"How come you didn't mention this before?" It occurred to Remus that it had obviously been playing on his friend's mind.
"I don't know. Didn't come up, I suppose."
Remus knew how protective Sirius was of his friends, and this was just another example. He felt exceptionally lucky to know someone so caring, but Sirius did occasionally let things get a little out of proportion. "You aren't still smitten with her are you?" Remus asked, finding no use for beating around the bush.
"God, no!" Sirius announced. "Don't get me wrong, she's still lovely, exceptionally so, but she'll only ever be a teenage fantasy. She isn't, you know…"
"No, I don't think I do."
"You know what I'm talking about."
"You aren't getting all funny about settling down are you?" Remus leant over and placed his hand against his friend's forehead. "I don't think you're at all well, you know?" he announced.
"Get out of it!" Sirius grumbled. "Is it that ludicrous that I might think about it sometimes, that all this seeing woman after woman isn't good for me? I'm 43 years old…"
"This isn't about Florence at all, is it? You would have stewed that one over in your own head. No, this is about getting old, and how far away all that Hogwarts stuff is."
"It's easy for you to say. You didn't miss twelve years in between." Sirius fell quiet and Remus didn't quite know what to say to that; the subject of Azkaban always made Sirius dark and broody, he never wanted to talk about it and Remus wasn't sure if he would have been much help if his friend had done. "Anyway, I'm supposed to be the one counselling you, Mr Procrastinate-Over-Women-Too-Much!" Sirius chipped back in, all virtual joviality.
"It's not procrastination if you never intend to do anything."
"Ok, Mr Utterly-Hopeless-With-Women."
"I preferred the first one, thank you."
Sirius chuckled. "I thought you might."
There was a pause while Sirius gathered his thoughts and sedately returned the lid to the biscuit tin. "What exactly are you planning to do?" he asked eventually.
"When?" Remus wasn't sure he understood.
"Now. In five years, in twenty, we're getting older everyday and I get the impression that you're waiting for something. To be turned away from this place as well as everywhere else, maybe to die of old age, I don't know what it is, but if there's something you want why you don't take it is beyond me. Even if she's 20 years your junior, what is that in relative terms and does it matter, really? And is it that you're scared of? Or are you just frightened she'll leave like the others." Sirius stood up. "Some risks are worth taking. Is she one of them?"
Remus remained silent for some time. Things were rarely as simple as Sirius might have them. "You remember how things are often a lot more complex where I'm concerned."
"You mean your tendency to break the leash once a month."
"Precisely."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but she seems well aware of your condition, and not exactly petrified of you." Sirius winked.
"Of course she's not frightened of me." He all but scoffed.
Sirius couldn't hide his surprise at his friend's response. "Because what you become is so fluffy and adorable?"
"Oh, you don't know." Remus forgot.
"She…She's a werewolf too…?" Sirius grinned, that's probably why she smelt so good to the dog in him.
Remus nodded.
"Oh, come on, you're perfect for each other, just imagine, taking your wolfsbane and curling up in one big basket together."
This had the effect of making Remus splutter violently.
"Wow, what did I say? Surely it isn't that appalling a thought?"
"No, no, my tea just went down the wrong way," Remus assured, sounding more certain of the excuse than he felt.
"You can't tell me that you wouldn't rather have someone to go through it with."
Feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the conversation, Remus tried to change tack. "There might be someone else." He mumbled.
"What…? What are you talking about now?" Sirius frowned so much Remus was worried his whole forehead might fold up and disappear, leaving his eyebrows running into his hairline.
"I mean she might be seeing someone else, I saw her hugging and kissing some guy, in which case, why bother with this conversation?"
"No one looks at someone like she looked at you if they're seeing someone else. That's the point of this conversation."
"She looked at me?"
Sirius just laughed softly and got up from the table, patting his friend on the shoulder.
A/N:
I hope this chapter wasn't too long a wait!
Just a reminder for those of you that read WkoM and WDTDoN this all takes place in the months preceding the Quidditch world cup, so Heather and Sirius have not yet met up again. I just had this thought the other day that we may not have made the timing clear and this would seem very confusing!
Hopefully this story will be a fairly short one and we can get started on the sequel soon; with all three couples. I have to admit to already be writing it on the sly and have to say that I can't wait to get posting!
Thank you to everyone that reads and Reviews, we love all comments.
Lots of Love
Martha and Squirrel.xxx