When It Rains, Part IV: A Little Must Fall
"It's raining."
"Thank you for that brilliant assessment, Sirius. What next? Are you going to tackle the daunting question of is water wet? What color is the sky? Who James has a crush on?"
Sirius rolls his eyes. "No need to get sarcastic, Moony," He says. Sirius has his arms wrapped around his chest, moving his hands up and down in hopes of creating some nice, warm friction. Remus is standing right next to him and wonders how Sirius can be cold since he can feel the heat rolling off Sirius. He has his hands tucked inside his robe so that he can keep his book - Hairy Snout, Human Heart - dry.
They had just gotten kicked out of The Three Broomsticks as Sirius had thought creating a small draft able to blow girl's robes up might be a nice idea. Now that him and Remus were standing in the alleyway between the pub and the owl post that plan didn't seem so brilliant.
"Well, we best head back to the castle then," Sirius says, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Neither boy moves out from under the awning they were hiding beneath.
"My book," Remus says after a while. "I don't want it getting wet."
"You and books," Sirius says. "You'd think you were protecting your own child, the way you care for that thing." He pokes at the book through Remus's robes, causing the other boy to squirm.
"Shut it, Padfoot," Remus says, jerking away from Sirius. "It's your fault for getting us kicked out, anyway."
Sirius sighs. "How come it's always my fault?" He asks.
"Because it always is," Remus replies matter-of-factly.
"Oh," Sirius says, biting his lower lip and titling his head to the side as if trying to remember something. "Well, that makes sense."
"Some things do that," Remus explains. "They make sense. It's very nice."
"Sounds horribly boring," Sirius says. "And predictable. Well, I guess it goes without saying that something that is boring is also predictable."
"Some people find predicable stuff exciting," Remus says. "Some people like waking up and the morning and knowing there isn't a chance that their best friends have hex their quills to write only in curses words or that when they turn on the shower there is no chance that instead of water, strange smelling pus that turns their hair blue is going to leak through the pipes. You see, sometimes predictability can be fun."
"No," Sirius disagrees. "You just think it could be fun because you're use to have unpredictable friends around to keep you not bored. You always want what you can't have."
"True," Remus says. "But I still think it might be fun, not having to check the mirror every morning to make sure my hair is still it's normal, dull brown."
Sirius laughs and reaches over to flip the back of Remus's hair up. Remus sighs and shakes his head. "Utterly immature," he mutters.
"That's what makes us so fun," Sirius says. "The immature part."
"I know many a girl who woke up this morning with swarms of mice in their beds that might disagree," Remus says.
Sirius shrugs. "That's what they get for being sorted into Ravenclaw," he says. "They're much to smart for their own good, anyway."
"You use to say that about me, you know," Remus reminds him. Sirius and James use to always tell Remus he was much to smart for his own good, regardless of the fact that both of them pulled off much better grades then he ever could without studying. Since Remus's endless supply of book knowledge had come in handy when creating the Marauder's Map the teasing had come to a rather abrupt end. "Should I worry about waking up with a bunch of mice in my bed?"
"Absolutely not," Sirius says. "The only thing you have to worry about popping up in your bed is a dog."
Remus's mind tries to shut itself off before he can think about that.
"Or a rat," Sirius adds. "Or... Well, not a stag I guess. I mean, we might be able to fit prongs on your bed but..."
"I get your point, Padfoot," Remus says, cutting Sirius off before he goes to deep in his own logic.
"I'm just warning you," Sirius says. "One day you could wake up to some sort of animalistic orgy taking place on your covers."
Remus wrinkles his nose. "Thank you, Mr. Black. I think you might have just ensured that I never sleep again."
Sirius laughs, nudging Remus with his elbow and causing the other boy to wobble. "Come on, you can't tell me you never thought of it." He winks in what Remus is sure is meant to be a silly way. Amazing how Sirius makes a silly gesture seem attractive.
Remus screws up his face to make himself look ready to vomit. "You know, maybe if you stopped sharing these weird sexual fantasies with your girlfriends you could actually keep one."
Sirius smile looks positively evil. "Why Remus, I didn't know we were dating!" He exclaims, his hand over his heart to fake shock. The look doesn't go off well at all considering the devilish grin he is sporting. "If only you'd have told me sooner! I would have brought you flowers for our date tonight."
Remus rolls his eyes. "Haha," He says, trying to sound annoyed. Then, "We better get back up to the castle, don't you think?" Without waiting for a reply Remus tightens his arms around his book and heads out into the rain.
The water feels nice and cool against his cheeks, which were starting to turn a horrible blotchy shade of red. It's Sirius fault for joking with him like that. Not that Remus minds Sirius joking around, as it is so much easier than fighting with Sirius. His body, though, doesn't care that it's just teasing. All it cares about is the fact that he had just been talking about sex with Sirius. His body could be horrible stupid and over react at the simplest things like that.
"Wait," Sirius calls. Remus doesn't wait, but Sirius reaches out and grabs him and pulls him back under the awning and right into him. There a small scuffle in which both boys attempt not to embarrass themselves by falling over.
"Wait," Sirius repeats once both are steady on their feet. Remus thinks that even with the almost falling there is no reason for Sirius to have his arms around his shoulders like that. "Let's just wait until it stops raining so hard," Sirius suggests.
"You said that last time," Remus reminds him. "And we were late returning. We got ten points taken away from Gryffindor each, remember?"
Sirius shrugs. "What's a couple of points in the long run?" He asks. "We always get the back with quidditch, anyway."
Remus frowns but he's not sure how else to protest. The worst part is that he doesn't actually want to protest, which leads to his stomach twisting up in a lot more knots than entirely necessary.
Sirius still has his arms on Remus's shoulders well after the two are in no danger of tripping over one another, and the rain water that was so cool on his skin is no longer working to keep his temperature down.
"You're wet," Sirius points out.
Remus rolls his eyes. "Another genius observation. Are you sure you didn't belong in Ravenclaw."
"Na," Sirius answers. "What fun does a Ravenclaw have? No pranks, no rule breaking, no Moony. I don't see how they've all managed to make it so long. I think I'd die of boredom."
"Right. Where's the fun in getting to sit undisturbed for hours to read one of your favorite books? Or in having ample quiet time in which to study for exams? It all sounds dreadfully tedious."
Sirius nods. "Exactly," He says and he still hasn't backed away. Remus can feel Sirius's breath against his hair.
"You're an idiot," Remus says, but as much as he hates to admit it the whole idea does seem frightfully dull. It scares him a little that he can no longer imagine a world that isn't pure torture unless James, Sirius, and Peter are by his side. The whole idea of being so dependent on three people scares him a lot, but not as much as the idea of losing those three people.
"Besides," Sirius says, swaying slightly which is causing Remus, in turn, to sway as well. The sensation is rather calming; especially while he's watching the rainfall just inches away. Remus could have closed his eyes and listened to the beat of the rain on the rooftops and felt Sirius's hands against his shoulders and could pretend that everything in that moment was perfect. "Ravenclaw girls are no fun. All they want to do is talk about their feelings. Utterly repulsive."
It was a horrible way to break the mood. "Yes, heaven forbid a girl should have feelings and want to voice them." Remus ends up sighing when he says this, and shakes his head to add to the disapproval.
Sirius is quiet for a while, but he continues to sway. "I was only joking, you know that Moony," Sirius says, leaning against Remus so that he could prop his chin on top of Remus's head. Sirius has personal space issues that are more of a problem for Remus then they are for Sirius.
"I know," Remus answers. They fall into a nearly comfortable silence, save the fact that Remus's skin is burning up and all he really wants to do is jump out in the rain to cool himself down. With his hands inside his robes, hugging his book to his chest, he can't even swat Sirius away. So he stays where he is and allows Sirius to sway him back and fourth.
After a while Remus feels that he was either going to scream or start fidgeting uncontrollable. "The Ravenclaw boys, though," He says. "They'll put out for anyone."
Sirius chuckles, which Remus doesn't think he should be allowed to do since the sound starts in Sirius's throat and ends in Remus's stomach. "Is that so?" He asks. "I always wondered what you and Connor got up to. Studying my ass. No one can study for that long."
Remus struggles to fight back the panic bells that sound in his brain, forcefully reminding himself that they are only joking around. "That long?" Remus asks, tipping back his head so that Sirius can see his raised eyebrow. "You mean that horrible, infinitely long hour we spent in the library?"
"Well, you know, it's proven that time passes differently in libraries," Sirius says. "Which is why you act like your forty-"
"And why you act like you're four," Remus finishes. Sirius scoffs, raising his chin in the air.
"Ridiculous," He says. "No four year old could come up with half the genius plans I've come up with."
"The other half, though," Remus says. "Like sticking dung bombs on Snape's chair..."
"Sometimes you have to be low brow," Sirius explains. "For the masses."
"The masses, of course."
In the background these is a clasp of thunder, and the lightening illuminates their little awning. Remus is surprised how dark it has gotten. Sirius and him must have been out for some time and the rain had yet to let up. Remus thinks he should suggests they head back to the castle, but he's afraid that if he says it out loud then Sirius will pull away and they'll have to go out in the rain, and Remus was just stating to get use to the feeling of fire boiling over his skin.
"Then, of course," Sirius is saying. "There is my plan to seduce you."
Remus wonders if it's possible to choke on your surprise, then remembers that surprising isn't a real thing so it's much more likely he's chocking on air.
"Your plan to seduce me?" Remus repeats, as though saying the words will force them to make sense. This doesn't work. "And how is that plan working out for you?"
"Well," Sirius is still touching him and Remus isn't sure if he should take comfort in this or not. "It's very complicated," Sirius explains. "It's not something a four year old could pull off."
"Ah," Remus says, because his vocal cords, like his stomach, have decided that the best way of dealing with this situation is by tying themselves up.
"You'll be surprised to learn that I'm well on my way to step five and that the plan has, thus far, been a success," Sirius says. Remus wishes that Sirius wasn't holding him so that he could see the boy's face. For what its worth, and it's worth almost nothing to Remus's nerves, he sounds like he's being completely honest.
"Well, that's good." Remus manages to get the words out, but he isn't entirely sure how and he is rather certain he couldn't, if Sirius asked, repeat what he just said. "I mean, good that you haven't made a total mess of it yet. You tend to make a total mess of plans that involve, well, planning."
Sirius nods. "Too true," he admits. "But this time I've taken extra care to make sure everything goes exactly my way."
"And it has?" Remus asks. "Gone exactly your way?"
"Oh, it has." Sirius sounds all too cheerful. "I mean I do wish it would progress more quickly but Lily says, and before you ask I did indeed enroll the help of Ms. Evans for this particular venture. I did mention how utterly delicate and important the entire matter was, didn't I? And I couldn't afford making some of the... mistakes that have plagued my past works."
"Mistakes," Remus snorts. "To say the least."
"Ye of little faith," Sirius says. "Not that it matters, anyway. Slow but steady was the advice of Ms. Evans, and fortunately for her that has proven most true." Sirius's arms fall around Remus's waist. He wraps them loosely around the other boy's small frame. Remus thinks he should say something to make sure that Sirius isn't just joking around, because it isn't at all funny, but Sirius feels warm in comparison to the cool breeze accompany the thunder storm, and Remus thinks it might be worth it even if Sirius is just kidding around.
"Has it?" Remus asks. "So you are well on your way to seducing me, then?"
"Let me assure you," Sirius says, his voice dropping to a whisper so that Remus wouldn't have been able to hear it if it hadn't been said right against his neck. Even with the heat rising to the surface of Remus's skin he manages to shiver. "That pretty soon you will not be able to resist me charm."
"Well, then," Remus says, fighting not to let his eyelids fall closed. It feels so comfortable in Sirius's arms that Remus knows he could fall sleep right here, leaning back against his friend's chest. "I better be on my guard. I wouldn't want to make it to terribly easy for you."
"Mm..." It isn't so much a word as a vibration that passed through both boys' bodies. Sirius's chin was resting on his shoulders, his arms around Remus, and Remus was letting him get as close as he wants.
This is bad. Remus shouldn't be this happy. There is something wrong.
Still, he doesn't try and fight it.
"Remus." Sirius breath tickles and Remus ends up shifting uncomfortably in his friend's arms. Still he doesn't move away, and Remus wonders if there is something wrong with him. Maybe some sort of lethargic charm or something of the sort, because nothing Sirius does could possibly make him move away.
"Yes?" Remus asks. His voice sounds just as drowsy and out of it as his body feels.
"Wanna snog?"
Sirius's ability to ruin moments was really amazing.
Remus twists around in Sirius's arms, struggling to take a step back and a managing to knock his shoulder into Sirius's chin as he did.
"Owe," Sirius mutters, unlinking his hands to rub at the bruise. "Not exactly what I was going for."
"Did you ask me for a snog?" Remus asks, ignoring the pain in his shoulder and the fact that whatever moment he had been living in a moment ago it was now gone.
Sirius looks at Remus for a few seconds before nodding. "Yeah," He says. "So... Do you want to?"
Remus tries to think about this reasonably. Snogging with your best mate might sound good while you lay awake in bed at night but in real life it was an entirely different matter. One doesn't just go around making out with their friends, especially not when they don't have many friends in the first place and are deathly afraid of losing the ones they do have. Remus knows that no matter how much he imagines he wants Sirius their friendship is much more valuable to him than groping.
"Sure," Remus says. "Umm... Should we head back to the castle, then?"
Something inside of him screams at him for being so bloody hormone driven. Said hormones quickly silent this part of him.
"Right here is fine," Sirius says. He takes a step forward and Remus, unconsciously, moves back and into the rain. Right under the awning all the water falling from the roof is splashing on top of him and in seconds his hair is soaked and water is dribbling into his mouth.
"It's a very good thing you said yes." Sirius gently grabs onto Remus's shoulder. Remus expects to be pulled back into the cover of the overhang. He's more than surprised when Sirius pushes him further out into the rain until both boys are standing outside, letting the water soak into their robes and drip down their skin.
"You see," Sirius explains, taking another step closer and wrapping his free hand around Remus's waist. "This really was the riskiest part of my plan."
"Is that so," Remus asks, spitting out a mouth full of water in the process. He images the rain and spit dribbling down his chin can't be overly attractive, but his hands are still locked inside his robes and he's shaking to hard to do anything about it.
"It is," Sirius says. "See, a lot of the plan from this point depends on you really liking me."
"And me saying yes to the snogging, that means I really like you, right?" Remus asks, even if he already knows the answer. Of course he already likes Sirius. He would have to be blind, deaf, and straight not to like Sirius.
"Sort of," Sirius answers with a bit of a shrug. "I figured if you said yes I could seduce you with my acclaimed kissing skills and at that point you'd have no choice but to fall deeply and madly in love with me."
"Quite the plan you have there," Remus says, trying not to pass out or drown in the rain.
"Let's hope it works," Sirius replies. Remus thinks that he's never seen Sirius look as handsome as he does when he has raindrops sticking to his eyelashes and bouncing off his lips and suddenly he doesn't want to wait for Sirius to explain his plan to him. He wants to kiss Sirius.
So he does.
Sirius is wet and hot, and the feeling that had started in Remus's stomach shots down to his toes and makes them curl. Sirius's tongue is dancing across his lips, licking at the rainwater and Remus's skin. Remus hears a dull, wet sounding thud and doesn't care to dwell on it, but instead reaches up to tug Sirius closer until their knees bump together. Remus is kissing Sirius, drawing his tongue against the roof of Sirius's mouth and running his hands through the soft, black hair and Sirius is kissing him back, moaning into Remus's mouth and hands kneading Remus's waist.
It's amazing how everything in the world can disappear expect for two boys and the rain.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
It is raining at Sirius's flat in London.
"'Twas the night before Christmas, the holly up on the shelves-"
"It's actually two nights before Christmas," Remus says. "And I believe the line is 'It's the night before Christmas and all through the house."
Sirius snorts. "That's not right," He says. "'House' doesn't rhyme with 'Elves' at all."
Remus sighs and shakes his head, the bells on the garland Sirius had places on top of his hair ringing as he did so. Sirius laughs at the disapproving gesture and drags Remus on top of him. The boys are sprawled out over the old coach Sirius's uncle Alphrad had left him, along with more gold than Sirius would ever really need. Remus picks at the flora pattern of the fabric while Sirius manages to entangle their limbs as much as possible without the use of magic to physically knot them together.
"What time is it?" Remus asks. He stops tearing holes in Sirius's couch so that he can tear at the loose threads of Sirius's robe.
"Nearly twelve," Sirius says, drawing circles on Remus's knee. At some point Remus's robe had gotten shoved up until it pooled in his lap, leaving his legs bare, a fact Sirius is taking full advantage of at the moment. Every time he strokes the skin just right Remus will sigh and burry himself back into Sirius's chest.
James, Lily, and Peter all left around ten. Sirius and Remus had been enjoying the gentle, warm intimacy for somewhere around two hours. From the way Sirius's hand kept going higher up Remus's leg the slow, easy touches weren't going to last too much longer.
"I should probably go home," Remus says. He makes no move to leave. Sirius's other hand is bunched into the fabric of Remus's robe right above his belly. Remus's own hand, the one not picking at his sleeve, is curled into Sirius's short black hair, petting behind Sirius's ear and tracing patterns around his boyfriend's face. Sirius's moans and places a soft kiss right behind Remus's ear.
"You're parents aren't going to miss you if you stay a little longer," Sirius says. Sirius's fingers are placing light, teasing touches against Remus's inner thigh. Remus fidgets and Sirius's moans again. Remus has to bite down on his own lip to keep from doing the same, and it takes a great amount of will power to keep his eyes open.
"It's almost twelve," Remus says. "My parents expect me home for Christmas' Eve, you know."
Sirius's breath is much to warm against Remus's neck, a nice contrast to the cold air of the flat. "I'm sure they'd understand that you had to stick around and comfort a poor, family-less friend on this most giving of holidays."
Remus rolls his eyes. "You're not family-less," He says. He can feel Sirius's chuckle behind him and knows it has something to do with how breathless Remus sounds. "You're spending the holidays with the Potters. I wouldn't exactly call that family-less."
"But are the Potters here now?" Sirius asks.
Remus shakes his head. "And that's probably a good thing," he says. "You wouldn't want Mrs. Potter to see you molest poor, innocent me."
"Molesting isn't the word I'd use," Sirius replies. "And neither is innocent."
Remus wonders if he can bite down hard enough of his lower lip to make it bleed. The idea doesn't sound appealing, but Sirius's hasn't stopped touching him yet and Remus's is only human (and a teenage boy) and he's not sure how much longer the rational part of his mind will still be functioning.
"I have to go." Remus reaches down to grab hold if Sirius's wrist and untangles himself from his boyfriend. Sirius groans, reaching up to drag Remus back down.
"You can't go," Sirius whines, nuzzling the back of Remus's neck, which is completely unfair. "It's raining. You should at least wait until it stops raining."
Remus curls his fist up in Sirius's robes, then lets go, then grabs for them again. "Sirius," He wonders if sounding desperate is the best course of action in such a situation. If anything it only makes Sirius worse. His teeth are out, nibbling at the sensitive skin behind Remus's ear and his hands are dragging his robe up around his waist.
"I can apparate," Remus points out. He's leaning back against Sirius, his head falling onto Sirius's shoulder as the boy licks the skin along Remus's jaw. "I... It doesn't matter if it's raining."
"Yes it does," Sirius argues. His fingers are dancing around Remus's stomach, teasing with a few downward dips as he works the cords on the front of his robes. "You'll get all wet if you go out in this storm. Best you stay with me."
"Mm..." Remus thinks it might be a protest, but then he's arching back into Sirius, fists curled up into the dark fabric of his robes, chocking on Sirius's name, and he really doubts it.
By the time Remus apparates home it's well past two in the morning.
He pops right into his bedroom, looking disheveled and not at all like a nice, normal boy who just went over to spend some nice, normal time with his friends should look. Cursing Sirius the entire time Remus grabs a pair of pajamas and stumbles his way through the dark to the bathroom.
He takes a quick shower, feeling somewhat reluctant about washing the smell of Sirius off him, but the idea of his parents asking him why he reeks of sex is enough to convince him. He puts on the clean night pants and long shirt and runs a hand through his hair to rid it of any major tangles. He hopes the shower didn't wake his parents and he hurries back to his bedroom.
Somewhere outside a dog howls. Remus stops halfway down the hall and looks out the window. It's raining, or possibly snowing, or maybe some horrible mushy mixture of both. The streets are empty at this time of night. No kids are up to play in the yard and no carolers are out and about. It's dead silent, and Remus is glad to be awake to see the place looking so peaceful.
He waits for a few moments before he hears the howl again. "Damn," he whispers, and turns around to head down the stairs. His parents must have fallen asleep assuming Remus would have come home earlier and would have let Sullivan in. The poor dog could have been outside in this weather for hours.
Remus makes his way to the back door, coming up with a few more creative curses at Sirius and himself for being so easily seduced. He opens the back door, grabbing the excess cloth of his shirt and pulling it closer to his body to guard against the cold wind and the rain/snow mix. "Sully!" He yells, searching the thick storm for signs of a sandy haired dog. "Sully, come here boy."
He hears the howl again.
"Sully!" He cries, cupping his free hand around his mouth. "Sullivan!"
With a sigh he steps outsides.
A jolt passes through him as he walks onto the frozen ground. He should have thought to bring shoes. Of course, he hadn't known he'd be searching for his dog out in a storm. "Sullivan!" He yells, whistling as best he could when his teeth refused to stop chattering. He squints against the storm, using his hand to shield his vision. "Sullivan, come on. It's cold!"
Out of the corner of his eyes he notices the raindrops look as though they've turned green. "Sully," He yells again, only halfhearted as he turns to look for the source of the green glow.
Sullivan pads up beside his master, hair sticky with something red and warm. He mulls at Remus's heels, begging him to follow but Remus can't move. He keeps staring at the snake and the skull hovering above his house and Remus can't move.