Rating:PG-13
Warnings: It's slash, so if that squicks you, just get out. I'm not tolerating flamers.
Author's Notes: This is just a little plot bunny that came to me last night and wouldn't stop trying to steal my sunflower seeds. Just a one shot, I'm not going to write more with it.
Disclaimer: NOT MINE, except for maybe Remus' dad and his record player. Please don't sue me, I've no money at all.
Enjoy! And review, while you're at it.
"You know, these things are a lot better than I thought they'd be."
"Did you think they'd be bad?"
"Well, no. I just didn't expect them to be so good."
"Mm."
"Mm. Can you hand me some more?"
"Sure. Here-"
Remus leaned back and groped about in the grass behind him without actually looking, and completely missed a small brown bag lying just a few feet away. He frowned and twisted around to better access the little bag. Sirius was sprawled out next to him, lacking any shoes, but wearing a very content little smile. His eyes were closed, and Remus couldn't help but think that there was something decidedly childlike about the boy when he was so relaxed like that.
"Here you go." He said, placing the bag on Sirius' stomach. Sirius thanked him and poured some sunflower seeds into the palm of his hand, popping two into his mouth.
"Good summer so far?" Remus asked vaguely as he chewed on the meat of his own seed. Small-talk was not something that he was particularly good at, but always seemed to fall back onto, whether he wanted to or not.
"Pretty good, yeah."
There was silence except for the sounds of seeds being cracked open and of summertime dusk falling around them. Remus had invited Sirius to spend the summer at his father's house, and Sirius had been eager to visit as soon as possible. Very eager, actually, as Sirius' answer had returned via owl only an hour after Remus had sent the request. And it featured only a few words: 'Yes, of course. See you tommorow? -Padfoot'. Very eager, indeed.
Remus frowned and began scolding himself silently for raising his hopes up again. He really needed to stop reading so deeply into things. It was a well known fact that Sirius hated everything about his family, and he was probably just excited at the thought of spending less time with them. And the more he thought of it, the more he was sure of it. Sirius just wanted to get away. He would have been just as happy if James or even Peter had asked him to stay over.
"So, if these are sunflower seeds, they're basically just little baby flowers, right?"
Remus glanced at Sirius and felt the blades of grass tickle the insides of his ear. Sirius looked completely serious, and Remus wondered not for the first time about what Sirius' childhood might have been like. Questions like that seemed to catch him off-guard sometimes.
"I suppose so, yes."
"And if we didn't eat them, they'd grow into these really tall, yellow flowers?"
Remus nodded.
Sirius looked thoughtful and turned his head to look at the blue and copper afternoon sky. It didn't seem like he was planning on saying anything else, so Remus got a few more sunflower seeds from the bag and rolled them around in his hands.
It wasn't often that he got the opportunity to spend real time with Sirius like this, and he was savoring it. Because although the Marauders were all as close as brothers, it was as if there was some unspoken agreement that James and Sirius were the closest to each other, no matter what. Lately though, that rule seemed to be breaking as James was starting to spend his spare time mooning around Lily Evans. As a result, Sirius felt left out; and Remus was there to be a solid comfort to him. Times were changing, and no one was quite sure how things were supposed to go about anymore.
"I think I'll plant a seed back at Hogwarts."
Remus glanced at Sirius again. He reminded himself that the grass needed to be cut as he flicked a pesky blade out of his nostril.
"I think that's a nice idea." Remus wasn't sure if sunflowers could survive the climate of Scotland, but he figured they could give it a shot.
Sirius continued as if he wasn't listening to Remus. "Because then we could eat sunflower seeds all the time."
Remus turned his head to the other side and pretended he was an ant.
"I could probably get Professor Reeds to let me use a section of the greenhouse."
Remus spotted a little insect of some sort clinging to a weed. He smiled at it and reached for the bag of sunflower seeds, only to discover that there were none left. At first he was vaguely diapointed, but he shook it off and was just happy that Sirius had enjoyed them. He raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"I take it you really liked them, then?"
Sirius shot him a sheepish look. "Yeah, I did." He pulled up a clump of grass and weeds and began to lightly toss it from hand to hand. "That's the reason for the flower at Hogwarts. So that we could have more whenever we need them."
Remus sat up with his hands propped up behind him. He craned his neck to look at the quickly darkening sky. "We should probably head in soon." he said half-heartedly. He really hated to go back inside, where it was all small spaces and candlelight. Maybe he could persuade his father to let him locate their old record player. Then Sirius and he could stay up late and listen to music, which sounded like a good idea the more Remus thought on it.
Sirius sat up and crumpled up the empty sunflower seed baggy. He sighed and looked back at the little house about thirty meters away. "I suppose so." he said, looking just as reluctant as Remus felt. Then he stood up and held out his hand to help Remus up.
Remus took Sirius' hand and inwardly marveled at it's warmth. Then he realized that he was already standing, and yet still Sirius kept a firm grip on his hand. He looked up into Sirius' eyes and their lips met simultaneously, like a beautiful accident. Sirius moved his free hand around Remus' waist, and his tongue slid against Remus' lip. Remus parted his lips and it was amazing, because it was warm and smooth and tasted like sunflower seeds; it was teeth clacking and noses bumping and it was the most wonderful thing, because it was Sirius.
When they parted lips, Remus' eyes were wide and his face was flushed, and Sirius was a beauty with dark eyes and swollen lips who smiled at him and squeezed his hand slightly.
He continued to stand in shock as Sirius let go of his palm and began to walk back to the house. It was the greatest thing that had ever happened to him, he finally decided to himself. It had been soft, a little warm, but over entirely too fast.
Remus blinked twice and ran after Sirius, who was already halfway home.