Author's notes: We're gonna skip ahead just a little. ;
And now, Sakai Michiba presents:
The Letter
Part 9 of the Smitten series
It had been two weeks since Sirius and Remus had first kissed, and, to Remus's pleasant surprise, they had not gone any farther than just kissing. He was slowly becoming less shy with Sirius, and though there had not even been roaming hands, Remus dreamed about what it would feel like when they eventually began to get more sexual. He wanted to, just not yet. He wanted to get to know Sirius slowly, and the secretive handholding and the kisses in the middle of night were proving to be a good way to do so.
They were currently sitting at the breakfast table, side by side, and he was listening to Sirius complain about how much he hated Potions and everything to do with it. Their fingers were entwined and hidden beneath the tablecloth from view of the other tables, and Sirius kept sneaking glances over at Remus, a secret sparkle in his eyes that only Remus knew to be there.
"Well, you know," James began, leaning forward and taking a long drink of his orange juice. "You only have to be in Potions for one more year if you want. You're never going to amount to much, anyway. I'll have to keep taking it, I'm afraid." He laughed as Sirius growled at him, and Remus gave a silly smirk.
"I'll amount to more than you. The teachers fancy me, at least. They have it in for you." He rubbed his fingertips on the back of Remus's hand, and Remus gave him a little squeeze.
There was a sudden fluttering of hundreds of wings as the post came in, and Remus looked up as he always did out of curiosity. Some people got mail everyday, while others, like Remus, almost never received anything. A large, black owl swooped down in front of them and dropped a letter at Sirius's plate, and Remus gave it a curious look. His hand was released as Sirius reached up to unfold the letter. "Three guesses whom it's from," Sirius said with distaste, and he read it over quickly before he blinked and looked around the Great Hall for a moment. Remus noted that his hands were shaking.
"Sirius, is everything all right?" he asked quietly, and beneath the table he touched his boyfriend's knee. Sirius didn't say anything, just folded the letter back and placed it in Remus's hand before he got up from the table and left, shaking his head a little. There was a moment of stunned silence.
"Well…Let's see it." James cracked his knuckles and reached for the letter in Remus's hands, but Remus snatched it away. "The hell? Hand it over, Moony!" he demanded, seconded by Peter.
"He didn't give it to you," Remus said quietly. "And probably with good reason." Sitting there solemnly, Remus opened the letter and, making sure James could not snatch it from him, he read over it.
It was from Sirius's mother, telling him that Regulus had been initiated into the Death Eaters and if he himself did not join within the next few weeks, he would be disowned. Regulus, according to the letter, was a respectable boy whom Sirius should model himself after, but no, Sirius had to go against everything he was raised for just to make trouble and fuck the family over. His mother called him several nasty things and left the letter at that, not even bothering to sign it.
Remus folded the letter again and looked over to the Slytherin table, where Regulus was sitting amongst his friends, laughing and looking as though he were bragging. With a shake of his head, Remus pocketed the letter and stood up, checking his watch. "James, take notes for me today, okay? Good ones. I'm gonna go run damage control."
"But—"
"James, please." Remus smiled at him and walked from the Great Hall, winding his way up to Gryffindor Tower and saying the password before he went into the common room. Sirius was not there, so he went up to their dormitory and closed the door behind him, finding Sirius sitting in front of the window. Without saying a word, he walked to him and sat down beside him, holding out his hand for Sirius to take, if he wanted.
There was a moment of silence before Sirius made the smallest sound and turned to bury his head in Remus's shoulder, and Remus felt the sting of tears on his neck as he lifted his arms to wrap around the other. "Sirius…You knew it was coming," he whispered against black hair.
Sirius did not reply, instead lifting his head to look Remus in the face. Remus felt his heart melt at the sight of tears coursing down Sirius's cheeks, and he leaned in to give him a few gentle kisses on the lips, stroking his hair and using his thumb to dry those tears. "Come now; you're much too lovely to cry. When you cry, you get all blotchy and ugly and I can't date you then."
This made Sirius's lips twitch upward, and he laughed quietly, though the sound was so heavy-laden with tears it sounded quite like a sob. "Sh-shut up. I'm upset," he claimed, and he shook his head a little. "Remus, will you promise me something?" He looked up through his dark hair and into the other's eyes, his lower lip trembling.
"Anything," Remus replied as he took hold of Sirius and hauled him close into a warm embrace. He was unnerved a bit by this display from Sirius; Sirius was never the type to get upset in this manner and cry, especially in front of anyone, and he never got upset over his family, as far as Remus could tell. This outburst suggested, however, that Sirius got quite upset over his family often, and Remus found that when he thought back, Sirius often disappeared when he got letters.
Sirius swiped at the tears on his cheek then took Remus's hand in his own, kissing his palm. "Don't ever, ever join Voldemort," he begged, and his face crumpled as Remus leaned in and kissed his ear. "Promise me, Remus!"
Remus's hands came up to bury in his lover's hair, and he held their cheeks together like that used to when they were in first year and they would make a promise. "I promise," he said in a breath, and he smiled a little as Sirius lay his head on his shoulder. "Come on, now; cheer up. I'm not going anywhere. We can go lie down and I'll tell you stories or something…James is taking notes for us today."
Sirius nodded a little and got up, dusting himself off before he crept into Remus's bed, covering himself up and smelling the pillow before his lover joined him, toeing off their shoes and kicking them from beneath the sheets before he closed the drapes. Sirius buried his face in Remus's neck and kissed it gently a few times before he got settled and closed his eyes, resting.
Remus smiled and stroked his back gently as he began to tell him stories of adventures he had had as a werewolf, of coming across other werewolves and getting in fights with other animals. He had never spoken of this to anyone, but he figured that if he were going to tell someone, Sirius was the best person to tell. Occasionally, the brunette would give a small laugh or sound of sympathy, but for the longest times in between, he would listen quietly.
Remus was recounting the tale of the first werewolf fight he had been engaged in when Sirius slipped a hand into his shirt, fingertips mapping out the skin. Remus paused in his story and looked down at Sirius, swallowing as those fingers traced his bite scars and a scar that was currently healing from last month's full moon. "Careful," he whispered, because even though it had been almost four weeks since Valentine's Day, the scar was not entirely healed. Sirius's fingers burned a little on the wound.
Sirius nodded and looked up into Remus's face as he touched him like this, knowing that no one else ever had, and he moved to kiss him as he rested his hand on the fierce bite scar on Remus's shoulder. As he tasted Remus's lips, he could feel magic pulsing beneath the old wound, and he gave that shoulder a bit of a squeeze before he broke the kiss and moved to pull Remus's shirt completely off.
The lycanthrope allowed it, his blush invisible in the dim light as Sirius sat up a little to inspect the scar. Even in the dark it burned faintly silver. He moved to press his lips against it and then smiled at Remus, who was watching him quietly. "I can count your ribs," he laughed quietly, and he ran his fingers over them.
"Yes, well I can count yours, too. You know I eat too much to be dangerously thin." Remus reached over and wrapped his arms around Sirius's waist, drawing him back down so he was lying on top of him. Sirius laughed quietly and buried his face against Remus's ear, kissing the lobe and the shell before he touched the other's cheek with his fingertips. "Thank you for taking care of me," he whispered, and he nuzzled his head into the pillow. "Thank you so much."
"Shut up," Remus said quietly, and he turned his head to kiss Sirius's cheek before he patted his lower back. "Somebody's got to."
