Title: Rain

Author: Tyelle

Rating: R.

Disclaimer: Original title, no? I own nothing. Obviously. This is the first story I've written in a long time. I got the idea because my friends will be graduating in a couple of months. Slashy. There's sex at the end. But don't worry my friends, I'll try not to get graphic. 2,476 words. Wasn't meant to be that long, but what can I tell you? Word limits are, well, limiting.

My eyes flickered open and found a dark shape swimming in front of me. The early dawn light was shining intrusively through the velvet curtains of the dormitory windows, casting soft shadows on the opposite wall of the room.

"Sorry," whispered a husky voice inn my left ear, "Did I wake you?" I smiled wearily and nodded. The bed creaked as the lanky figure in striped pajamas lay down next to me. Lean arms encircled my chest and a bony chin rested on my shoulder. He nibbled my jaw where it met my neck. "Go back to sleep."

I woke a short time later feeling bruised and shaken as always. I was entangled in my sheets and Sirius' arms. I rubbed my nose into his jet-black hair and smelled the pines of the forest. Sirius moaned softly in my arms and moved closer to me, pushing his face into my neck. I smiled and closed my eyes again.

I hadn't noticed that one of the five beds in the room was empty. The bed's owner, a horribly awake James, entered the room at his usual gallop.

"Wake up!" he bellowed cheerfully, "We have N.E.W.T's today!"

"Then why, again, would we wake up?" The mumbled query came from the lump cushioned against my chest. He sounded grumpy. I chuckled and sat up, stretching. Sirius growled at the loss, attempting to pull me back down. I obliged, remembering joyfully that we had a free first before our History of Magic exam. I wasn't too worried. I'd reread my notes before sundown the night before.

I woke for the final time to the heavy thumps of Peter hopping on one foot around the room attempting to pull on his boot. I shook Sirius awake, but he gently slapped my hands away. Only after I'd scolded, wheedled, chided, begged, and thrown my potions book at him did he rise and pull on his robes. His threats to dismember me were made less intimidating by his hair sticking out in all directions.

Half an hour later I sat down at a desk next to a gray window. A ministry official with somber green robes and hair as gray as the sky outside passed out large piles of parchment. I glanced over at James who was looking desperately at his paper, then at Sirius, who was looking back at me. Good luck, he mouthed, then bent his dark, shaggy head over the parchment.

I completed the short answer questions within three-quarters of an hour, silently blessing my photographic memory. I could see the answer to "What branch of the Ministry of Magic was founded by Frogfoot South in 1562 and what were his motives?" clearly on a page of my notes labeled January tenth, or something to that effect. As I finished writing, a sudden onslaught of rain pelted the window next to me, making me jump.

I looked up from my exam. Several students were staring wistfully out at the rain-soaked grounds. I, too, looked outside. I imagined the big read steam engine picking us up near the little cluster of lights that was Hogsmeade station. I imagined never getting back on that train again.

I tore my eyes away from the gloom. I glanced back over at Sirius, who was scribbling and chewing on the end of his quill. The clock struck twelve. Half an hour left. I turned back to my paper and started on the essay section. There was a lot of freedom here, and I picked a topic that I knew a lot about: the relations between wizards and goblins in the nineteenth century.

I walked out of the great hall after I was through and waited around for Sirius and James. James came out first, doing a little jig of excitement and tapping his trainers against the floor, followed by a cranky Sirius. He came over to me and leaned his chin on my shoulder.

"I missed the Frogfoot South question because I forgot to ask if I could borrow your notes on it. That was the day I missed, remember?"

"Yeah, I forgot. Sorry."

"No worries, love," he replied. His face resumed its usual cheeriness. "Let's go back up to the common room. We haven't another exam until three."

We ate lunch in the Gryffindor common room. James' mum had sent him a case of butterbeer that he'd been saving for exams, and together we downed all twelve bottles. By the end, we were giggling excitedly. We were planning our seventh-year prank, to rearrange every book in the library and hex them so they would only return to that spot (our favourite thing was to drive Madame Pince completely bonkers), when I was suddenly reminded that in two weeks we would be gone. I snuggled into Sirius, who put his arm around me protectively.

"Whassa matter?" He asked, little furrows appearing on his brow.

"Nuffing," I mumbled. He pulled my chin up so I was looking straight into his eyes. He looked puzzled; the little flecks of gold in between the green in his eyes twinkled in the firelight. I insisted that nothing was the matter, so his kissed me tenderly. I was floating.

As James and Sirius continued talking about the book charm, I recalled when I'd first met Sirius. In the hallway on our first day of classes, I was trying to find the charms room. I was wandering down a corridor and I took a wrong turn. I bumped straight into a tall, bumbling chap whose hair was falling in his eyes. He dropped his books, and I bent hurriedly to pick them up, apologizing profusely. When I stood back up, the boy smiled cockily at me. His teeth were perfectly straight and white. He pushed the hair out of his face and stuck out his hand. I shook, dropping his books back onto the floor. He laughed at me. He was always laughing.

Sirius was stroking my hair, running his long fingers through it, brushing my ear and making me shiver pleasantly. His hand left my head.

"Whoah! It's five until three! We have to run." We sprinted out of the common room and down the seven flights of stairs to the dungeons. There were no windows to stare out of during my potions exam, but I finished early, so I went back up to the great hall and stepped out the front door.

It was still raining, but it had calmed slightly. There was a roll of thunder as I splashed through the wet grass down towards the lake. I sat down under a willow tree, which blocked the dampness a little bit, but my hair was soaked and hanging limply across my forehead. I stared out over the waves and beyond, through the mountains and the fields that we passed on the train to school. I imagined leaving the beauty of the countryside and returning to Kent, where I was born. What would I do for work? Who would hire a… someone like me?

Someone approached my tree and sat down, making a loud plopping noise in the mud. I heard a sniff and a rustle, and then it was quiet. Whoever it was hadn't seen me. I stuck my head between the swinging branches of the willow. It was Sirius.

I crawled out on my hands and knees and went over to him. He turned his head, startled, when he heard me coming. He recognized me, and sniffled again. I wasn't sure, but he looked like he was crying. My strong Sirius, who never cried, even when Percy Buggles put that slug-belching hex on him and he was in the hospital wing for three days. My brave Sirius, who'd kept himself from breaking down when we'd gone to his dad's funeral three years before.

He wrapped his arms around my neck and sobbed into my shoulder. I held him close, one hand on his head, and just sat with him while he cried himself out. After a few moments, I pushed him away gently.

"What's wrong?" He wiped his nose on the sleeve of his robes.

"What happens to us when we leave?" He asked, his deep voice cracking. My heart flew up into my mouth. I'd just thought about leaving school. I hadn't considered the fact that Sirius, who lived in the heart of London hours away from me, would be gone too. Unbidden, a tear ran down my cheek. He noticed.

"Now, not you too," he chided, wiping it away. "I need you to be strong for me." I tried a smile, but it came out more like a grimace. I took his hands and spent a long while staring at them while the drizzle pounded on the top of my head.

Sirius pulled my face up to his and kissed me soundly on the mouth. I opened up to him. Carefully, checking the ground for roots and stones, he took me by the shoulders and pushed me onto my back. Holding himself up on his elbows and cushioning my head with his hand, he swept his tongue around my mouth.

I pulled away, and crawled back to the willow tree. He followed, a desperately hungry look in his eye. My jaw dropped slightly, and I felt a low tickle in my belly. Under the safe branches of the tree, we were hidden from everyone. We were alone.

Sirius and I had been together for three years. We worked well for each other. We had endured hazing and threatening notes and being beaten up for years. I loved him more than anything. But I had never been with him, so to speak. As much as I was scared, I knew he was too.

The fear was gone from his eyes now. And I knew it was from mine, too. He kissed me again, his hands running up and down my chest. I cupped his cheek with my hand and rolled my tongue against his, feeling him moan deep in his chest. He pulled his mouth away from mine and stared me straight in the eye. I melted beneath his gaze. I couldn't resist him. I nodded. Yes.

His mouth returned, this time kissing just beneath my left ear. I felt his hands sneak down and start bunching up my robes at my waist, exposing my trousers underneath. I assisted him in pulling the robes over my head. He crept under my Transylvania Quidditch t-shirt and his fingers traced the lines of my chest muscles. A few moments later my shirt was off, and I shuddered as the breeze touched my skin.

I reached up and fiddled with the buttons of his shirt, but my hands were shaking. Sirius pulled his mouth off of my chest and smiled, helping me. I felt the blood rush to my face, but the embarrassment was soon gone once I'd run my hands over his strong arms and down his sides, making him gasp and giggle.

He lowered his head and started trailing tiny kisses down my chest. I threw my head back, feeling it hit the soft ground as he ran his tongue slowly over my nipple. I gasped his name when he bit my ribs, tickling them. He bruised my hipbone with his mouth before moving back up my chest to kiss me again. I purred into his open mouth, and he smiled.

I didn't realize he had been undoing my belt until I heard the clink of the buckle. I grasped his shoulders and kicked off my shoes. He stopped kissing only to pull my pants down around my ankles, and when he kissed me again I worked at the button of his trousers, then, slow as could be, undid the zipper.

He pulled them off, and I could see him bulging underneath his boxer briefs. His eyes were dark and cloudy, and his mouth was slightly open as he stared into my face. I pushed my chest against his, kissing him passionately. As he pushed his tongue deep into my throat, he slipped two fingers underneath my strap.

I moaned and quivered when I felt him rubbing me. It was gentle, not too fast, as though he was struggling to hold himself back as long as he could. I reached up and slipped his undies down his thighs. He rolled momentarily onto his side to kick them off, then pulled mine off as well.

All motion stopped. The world quit turning. Time seemed to stand still. He sat there gazing at me for long moments, and I at him. I was seeing everything I'd ever need to see.

"Oh, God," he whispered, "Remus…"

He couldn't hold himself any longer. He threw himself back over my body, kissing me as hard as he could, and ground his hips into mine. We made contact, and I cried out into his open mouth. The hard, smooth contours of his body fit perfectly with mine. I thrust my hips upward, my hands in his hair. His hands moved to hold my hips down as he moved against me, keeping me from bucking. I was straining against him, crying his name. He was sucking my neck, stroking my groin muscles with strong fingers, pulling me closer to him. I closed my eyes, and I could see stars as one last wave came over me, and I collapsed. I felt his warmth flood over my stomach and onto the grass, and he crumpled into my chest.

I kissed the top of his head, and he moved his face to mine. I put my arms around him, holding him to me.

"We live together," I said. He looked at me, confused. "That's the answer," I repeated. "We live together. I can't stay away from you." He grinned at me.

"Then we'll live together," he whispered. "Remus?"

"Yeh?"

"I love you."

The rain pounded down around the willow tree, and we lay there looking out at it for a while. The giant squid was having some sort of fit at the other end of the lake. The sun was setting, and the windows were lighting up at the castle. I had one more exam to take tomorrow. Perhaps I wouldn't miss school that much after all.

I 3 fluff. I'm sorry it got that graphic, it wasn't supposed to be. But I left out some stuff. Yay!