Recap: Remus sat in the Library ignoring his Runes assignment, preferring to think about the night he spent in Sirius' bed. He is rudely interrupted

/ indicates flashback/

Chapter 4 Unwanted Visitors

The pile of Runes books toppled in a slow avalanche, snapping Remus' attention back to the present. Lunging clumsily, he managed to grab them before they fell off the table. Remus glared at the sniggering trio of Slytherins who had deliberately knocked the books over as they sauntered by.

"Oops, so sorry, Lupin," grinned Evan Rosier. As one, all three halted, forming a semi-circle around Remus' chair.

"We hear that the Headmaster was not at all amused by your friend Black's escapade today," whispered Severus Snape, his face a picture of feigned shock. "Not that we mind. It makes life easier for us. All we'll have to do to win the House Cup is sit back and watch your charming Sirius give rein to his more self-destructive tendencies."

Avery chimed in, laughing. "I lost two galleons, three knuts, and you lost 100 points. I'd say it was a good exchange."

Remus knew he should ignore them, but he couldn't keep quiet. "Well, I guess we'll simply have to do a little extra work to earn the points back. We've done it before."

Snape's eyes narrowed. "You may have been able to pick up points before, but even a whiny, little, weakling like you must realize that your act is getting a little old. Dumbledore and McGonagall are no longer amused by their golden boys, Potter and Black." His lips formed a smile, which did not reach his deep, ebony eyes. "I bet Black could very well face expulsion if he tries to pull anything like this again. Wouldn't that be a shame?"

Remus felt the implied threat, but refused to rise to the bait. "McGonagall has no problems with James and Sirius. At least she knows they can handle her assignments and she doesn't have to worry that they'll accidentally transfigure their own ears into large pink bows." He gazed innocently at Rosier, whose skin flushed.

"Lupin, you're asking for trouble-"

"Boys, if you're not here to study, then you should leave!" An aggrieved Madame Pince came bustling over. With a final sneer, the Slytherins left.

Remus forced himself to banish the unpleasant trio from his mind and concentrate on his assignment for the next hour. Then, feeling virtuously studious, he checked out some of the books and made his way back to his dorm room.

Upon entering, his eyes were immediately drawn to the sable-haired vision leaning on the windowsill. The vision turned around, the cool fire in his eyes warming Remus' skin from across the room. Dumping his books on his bed without a care, Remus slowly approached. For the third time that day, they stood a whisper apart, staring at each other.

Without pausing to think about what he was saying, Remus blurted out, "I've been attracted to you for such a long time."

Sirius' lips twitched into his patented lop-sided grin. "Yeah? For how long?" He asked quietly, seeing the path out of his private wilderness lit by the glow in Remus' hazel eyes.

"Years." Remus whispered.

Slowly, inexorably, their lips met and melded together in a wet, lingering kiss. It felt so good, so right, to be locked in each other's arms, pressed together. Remus' kiss-drunk mind gradually realized that Sirius had started grinding his hips back and forth. The friction of their groins pressed together aroused them further, each aware of the bulge in the other's trousers.

A warm trail of air swept across his ear as Remus heard a hoarse whisper. "Ooooh, Remus, please come to bed with me."

Remus silenced the voice with his mouth, his tongue sliding in search of its mate. He felt as well as heard a muffled groan. Drawing back a little, he murmured, "Where are the others?"

Sirius interspersed his abbreviated sentences with kisses. "James at Quidditch practice. Peter mentoring. Third years. Not back till dinner."

They had slowly been making their way across the room. Sirius finished his recitation as they reached his bed. Standing there they paused to look intently at each other, knowing they stood on the brink of something that would change their worlds forever. With one hand tangled in the thick black hair and the other fisted in Sirius' shirt, a heady realization struck Remus like a hammer blow. The only thing he had ever wanted as much as he wanted Sirius was to be rid of his lycanthropy. Right now, he couldn't say which he desired more.

Sirius felt his heart lurch as he stared at the maturely young face in front of him. It struck him that this face had haunted him for ages. He suddenly remembered how he felt the first time he laid eyes on Remus Lupin.

/After being Sorted, Sirius sat at the Gryffindor table, exchanging greetings and introductions with those around him. But, every time McGonagall's voice called out a boy's name, Sirius glanced up, his eyes seeking out the unknown boy to whom he had spoken before the Sorting began. There was something about him that had captured Sirius' attention. He had been standing quietly, ignoring James' anxious squirming. "Let's just get on with this, can't we?" James had muttered. Sirius paid no attention to him. A pale, anxious face in the midst of the crowd had caught his attention. This boy, whose hair made Sirius think of warm, buttered toast, seemed somehow isolated in spite of the other students gathered near him. Sirius had stepped up to the stranger and, with a smile, imparted his sister's explanation of the Sorting Hat. Looking into the other boy's limpid eyes, Sirius had felt a whispery frisson of electricity dance along his nerves. It was hard to breathe properly around this stranger./

Now he understood the inchoate feelings of six years ago. He was in love with Remus. He desired Remus. He belonged with Remus. They were made for each other. His heart soared as Remus smiled at him, and wordlessly, gave him permission to do what he wanted. It was Remus who tipped them both onto the bed in a writhing mass of arms and legs. With their mouths hungrily feeding on each other, Sirius started undoing Remus' robe. Once it was open, Remus flailed his arms in his haste to shed it, but only succeeded in twisting it around himself. Their breathless voices filled with laughter, the two rolled around getting in each other's way, pawing at the aggravating, clinging cloth. With a howl of impatience, Remus struggled up from the bed and finally shucked off the robe.

Feet pounded up the stairs. Their expressions turning to horror, Remus and Sirius recognized the voices outside the door. It burst open. Peter and three third year boys crowded in and thundered over to Peter's trunk. Peter said, "Why don't you guys sit down and, once I find those parchments, we can talk about what to watch out for when you use this stuff in potions."

He began rummaging energetically through the oddments in his trunk, all the while nattering on about fewmets and scarab dung. Remus sank slowly onto his own mattress, the ache in his groin rendering him speechless. Sirius had no such problem. He hurled himself face down into his pillow and shrieked, "Ahhcantakeaeemaw!"

Peter and the other boys turned to look at him. "Sirius, are you alright?" Peter asked, clearly puzzled at this uncharacteristically animated outburst.

"Ahhcantstanded!"

The four interlopers looked inquisitively at a forlorn Remus, who was sitting curled up at the edge of his bed. His hazel eyes burned them with a scary intensity as he interpreted Sirius' muffled cries. "He said, 'I can't take anymore. I can't stand it.'"

Peter was not enlightened. "And this makes sense to you?"

Remus sighed. "Oh, yeah."

Since Remus didn't seem inclined to explain, and Sirius had stopped screaming, Peter turned his attention back to his protégés and expounded on the tricks of using various animal excrements in potions. Remus pushed his books out of the way and, with a slight whimper, gradually collapsed onto his bed.

James Potter climbed the stairs to his dorm room, greeting Peter and his small group of third years as they descended. It had been quite a day. The new Quidditch move, Sirius' climb, McGonagall's outburst, Dumbledore's heavy sentence. James grinned with a bit of inspiration. He'd title today "Climb and Punishment." He'd have to remember to tell Sirius, who had an appreciation of Muggle literature.

There had been no doubt in James' mind that Sirius would successfully scale the wall. He had witnessed, and was occasionally cajoled into, climbs up the rocky, treacherous cliffs near the Blacks' country home in Cornwall. He much preferred taking chances with his health while on his broom, being addicted to the sensation of flying. He got more of a rush on his broom, although he could understand the appeal of climbing to Sirius. Of course, there was that one day in July, when they were fourteen, that someone had seen them and told Mr. Black. Sirius' parents had been furious, especially since they had expressly forbidden their son to undertake such "foolhardy and dangerous" escapades. James had been summarily sent home the following morning and Sirius had been grounded for the rest of the summer. He was not permitted to visit or even write to his friends, and had been forbidden to leave the house except when accompanied by a parent.

James mused. They had kept Sirius on a short lead, virtually imprisoning him in his own home. When Sirius returned to Hogwarts, a number of students thought he must have suffered some long-term illness, since his skin was not the usual healthy bronze that came with spending whole days out of doors. However, the indomitable Sirius had found another way to be subversively productive. He had spent hours scouring the books in his parents' library and had made great strides in solving some of the puzzles surrounding the Animagus transformation. But, today's events were guaranteed to infuriate the Blacks. Sirius would probably receive a Howler that would blow out the windows in the Great Hall.

Upon entering the dorm room James was immediately struck by the peculiar attitudes of the two other boys. Sirius was lying face down, motionless, his head mashed into his pillow. Had James not been able to see the steady rise and fall of his breathing, he would have thought his best friend had asphyxiated himself. Remus lay across his own bed, staring blankly up into his canopy, an expression of pure longing on his face.

"What's wrong?" James asked cautiously. There was definitely something going on here. The very air felt heavy.

Slowly, two heads turned towards him. His friends looked at him with identical expressions of distracted distaste. He glanced down at himself, wondering what sort of repulsive creature was crawling up his robes. Seeing nothing wrong with his appearance, James looked back at the other two in time to see Remus shake his head slowly, giving up on James' obtuseness. Sirius merely plopped his face back into his pillow.

Well, James could take a hint. If they were not going to let him in on whatever was bothering them, then he'd act like all was right with the world. "Are you two planning on going down to dinner?"

Remus heaved a heavy sigh as he stood up. "Yessss."

Sirius groaned and rolled over to get to his feet. He exchanged a look with Remus that James could not immediately translate. They were obviously not angry at each other. No, they seemed more like allies on the same side of some battle. In fact, they looked like they were in the throes of something new and powerful and only half-understood. He'd have to keep an eye on them.

TBC