Title: A Considerate Thought
Rating: PG, respectively
Pairing: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Warning(s): Slash; slight angst, slight fluff.
Feedback: Would genereally be appreciated
Summary: Remus makes tea.
Word count: short - 650
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
And my essays lying scattered on the floor
Fulfill my needs just by being there
And my hands shake, my head hurts,
My voice sticks inside my throat
I'm invisible and dumb
And no one will recall me…
Remus eats his moderate dinner in peace. He sips his lukewarm tea in-between polite bites of potato and thinks of nothing but the surrounding silence and how he must write a report for Dumbledore before going to sleep. There is no one near him to interrupt his thoughts, so he simply continues to memorize the main points he wishes to write and wonders idly how such a large kitchen could ever feel so empty.
His potatoes and meat disappear soon enough off his plate and the saucer soon stands vacant. He smirks grimly and stands to wash the plates. Running the water until it steams against the cool metal in the sink, he rinses off the cup first and places it next to him on the counter, ready to be filled again very shortly. He handles the plate next and stores it back into the cupboard with the other unused tableware. It is then that he goes to fix himself another pot of tea.
He readies the tealeaves into the bottom of his cup and wandlessly boils the sitting water in the kettle. It only takes a minute to steam, but he uses the time anyway to think about nothing in particular and to notice that his bare toes are cold. A high-pitch whistle makes him jump and distracts him from the woes of his feet. The water is boiling.
Gently lifting the kettle of the karaft, Remus pours the streaming liquid into his cup and watches as the tealeaves stir and swirl at its bottom. A considerate thought then occurs to him and he hurries to retrieve a second cup to prepare for tea. He pours the water onto the tealeaves a second time, and this time adds milk and honey to make it sweeter. Sirius always liked his tea sweet.
He places the two hot cups onto a tray so that he may carry them up he stairs with more ease. Careful not to spill, he brings them up two long flights of stairs and turns the corner into a darkened hallway. The door at the end is cracked open an inch and light pours from inside. Remus smiles to himself. It means that Sirius is not sleeping and would not mind to be bothered with tea.
He pads quietly towards the door and pushes it open with his back, focusing on not jostling the tray too much. He greets Sirius quietly and places the cup next to a dish of cold potatoes and meat. He informs him that he has another report to write on Order business and will be in the study if Sirius would like some company. He does not add that he is the one who desires the company.
Just as quietly as he entered, he exits, leaving the tea to cool on the table in peace. He returns to the main floor with his cup to work in the study, just as he had said. He hopes Sirius comes down, or at least eats his supper.
Yet the tea stands un-drunk and the meal un-eaten. For it is hard to consume anything when a room stands empty, when a house stands silent except for the slightly delusional werewolf writing in the study, sipping his tea.
Remus writes his essay in peace. He sips his tea in-between sentences and paragraphs, and thinks of nothing but the surrounding silence and how he must write this report for Dumbledore before he sleeps. There is no one near him to interrupt his thoughts, so he simply continues to tune out the imposing lifelessness around him and wonders idly how life could ever feel so empty.
