"night of the full moon"

Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything you recognize from a certain set of children's fantasy books.

A/N: I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Got an idea for this while listening to the Billy Joel song of the same name in the car today. Hope you enjoy it!

Epilogue: second wind

Remus' POV

That was a very scary moment for both Sirius and myself. I didn't know why I attempted something as drastic as suicide and Sirius just didn't want me to again. All that mattered though was that I was all right. Somebody up there liked me, and I knew whom. Mary. I knew that she was looking down and watching over me. It took me a while but I got over her death. It was a long hard road. But as Sirius liked to tell me, we all got our second wind eventually; it just took me longer than others.

About three weeks after I overdosed, I fell asleep in the bath, almost drowned. If it hadn't been for Sirius coming in and being a mother hen checking on me, I would have died. Sirius was beside himself for a week. He thought I had done it on purpose, kept watching me like a hawk. I felt guilty, started wondering if maybe I had done it intentionally. I even went to a Muggle psychiatrist for a while. But that only intensified some of the pain. The only time I felt better was when I was with Sirius.

Some people called us gay. We didn't think we were. We didn't know what we were; we were just two guys with a close relationship. There was no sexual activity, not even kissing. We just loved each other, an indefinable love. It wasn't brotherly, and it certainly wasn't sexual, so what was it? I still don't know. But it was there.

A month after the overdose, I started feeling well enough to search for work. But, I had no luck; most of the employers didn't want a werewolf joining their ranks. Sirius gave me the initial idea. All I did when I was home was read. I loved books and everything about them. So Sirius suggested I open a bookshop. That was my second wind.

I called it "The Book Nook" and I opened it on Clerkenwell Street in London, only a few blocks from our flat. In the beginning, the only people coming in were James, Lily, Sirius at lunchtimes and a few people who only picked things up, but didn't buy them. Then, one day when I was feeling particularly hungry and depressed, I got the idea to turn the storeroom in the back into a café of sorts. We cleaned out all the boxes and instead put in a few round tables and stools. Sirius was the cook, he made finger sandwiches and chocolate biscuits and tea and people started coming in, taking a sit-down, reading a novel and then buying it! Sales went way up.

I thought everything was just as it should be. Then…it happened. It was a normal enough night; Sirius and I were cleaning up after a day of work with "In the Mood" on the old victrola. Sirius wasn't crazy about swing music, but it was my shop, so he let me play it.

"You think we did good today?" Sirius yelled over the twangs of the bass fiddle and sweet sound of the horns.

"I think we did wonderful today, Sirius!" I yelled back.

"I feel great, Remus. We've finally got our lives together." Sirius said in normal tones, the song was at its soft part.

"I feel good too, Sirius." I replied, wiping a tabletop.

"I feel so great, I could dance!" Sirius yelled as the song blared its horns and kicked up again. He came into the area with the tables and grabbed my hands, whisking me away from the table I was cleaning.

"You're crazy!" I said through laughter.

"I know! Don't you love me for it?"

"Of course."

We whirled around and I saw a light in Sirius' eyes that was positively electric. He looked like he was right where he should be, and looking back now, I'm sure I looked the same to him. As we turned, Sirius' foot caught a leg of the table we were passing.

"Uh-oh." He said, before toppling to the ground, taking me with him.

I landed on the floor with a thud, opening my eyes I saw Sirius'. Sirius was lying on top of me. I swallowed, was it suddenly hot in here?

"Moony?" Sirius' voice trembled with this inquiry.

"Yeah?" I replied.

There was no reply. Sirius leaned down slowly and placed his lips on mine. I kissed him back; there was no denying it felt good. Soon, Sirius stuck his tongue between my lips; I obliged and parted my lips more. When his tongue entered my mouth, exploring every corner, I stuck my fingers in his hair.

There was no doubt that we were both enjoying this moment. So I was rather surprised when Sirius jerked away from me as though he'd been electrocuted. He looked at my confused visage for a minute, and then regaining his composure, straightening his tie, he lifted himself off of the floor and me. He walked to the back part of the café that was the small kitchen.

It seemed as though Sirius wanted to pretend it hadn't happened. It made me a little mad that he had begun that moment and then ended it so abruptly, without any explanation at all. But I didn't want to ruffle feathers when we both had seemed to be so complete for the first time since the overdose.

As I walked to the cash register to lock it up, I couldn't forget the feeling of Sirius' tongue and the way he had tasted, something like tea and a cheese sandwich. My fingers in his hair had seemed so right at the time, but thinking about it made me feel embarrassed and scared.

"I'm gonna head home, then." Sirius said, suddenly coming into the room, making me jump slightly.

"Um, all right." I replied, fighting down the urge to jump over the counter and kiss him again as he pulled on his leather jacket. "I'll see you there."

"Mm-kay." He mumbled and left the shop, the bell on the door jingling quietly.

As I watched him walk past the window, I noticed the song playing on the record player. It was an old Frank Sinatra tune, "I've Got You Under My Skin."

"You got that right, Frankie." I said to no one in particular as Sinatra sang the title lyrics. I sighed, grabbed my overcoat from the hook, turned the record off and turned off the lights. Who knew what the future held with this tension between Sirius and me.

THE END

A/N: Well, no one saw that coming, eh? Lol. Of course, if you haven't guessed it, I will announce it: THERE'S A SEQUEL COMING! YAY! Lol. It will be called "The New Moon" and should be up sometime in February. It will focus on Remus and Sirius' struggle to accept they're kind of in love and then their relationship. Until then, please review!