Author's notes: You guys ate my last chapter up!
And now, Sakai Michiba presents:
Just Because
Part 13 of the Smitten series
Remus Lupin woke up in Sirius Black's bed, yawning and sitting up to give his eyes a rub. He was alone, and he was quite disappointed about it. The last thing he could remember was Sirius in the shower with him, kissing him and then touching him for the first time. And now he was in bed. "Sirius?" he called out sleepily, and he moved to open the drapes around the bed when he heard a crinkle of paper. Letting the sunlight in, he took the parchment that was on his pillow and squinted at it.
Moony,
You've slept in as always, so good afternoon! Today's Hogsmeade, but since you're probably not feeling up to walking around all day, I'll bring you the usual and maybe a little something extra. I would love to stay here and finish what we started last night, but Jamesie is making me go. I'll think about you all day.
Love you,
Sirius
Remus read the letter several times over and blushed, having a moment and hugging it to his chest. "Sirius…" he sighed, and he closed his eyes. He wished Sirius had stayed, too, to finish what they had started the night before in the shower. He thought for a few moments of Sirius touching him, of Sirius holding him in his arms and stroking him in the hot water.
Before he could get worked up, he hauled himself out of bed and went to the window. He had not slept in too late, since the carriages were just pulling out of sight. Going to his knapsack, he pulled out his homework and began working on it.
Sirius jumped out of the carriage the moment they arrived in Hogsmeade, grabbing James by the arm and pulling him out onto the main street. "We have to go to Honeydukes and get Moony's chocolate supply!" he exclaimed, and he pulled his best friend down the cold street to the candy shop.
"Calm down," James snapped irritably, and he sniffed. "We have all day."
"No, I'm going back on the early carriage. Moony shouldn't be by himself all day, not when he's still recovering. He might need my help," Sirius chirped as they moved into the crowded shop, pulling James through the crowds of people to the chocolate section. He smiled to himself, knowing how excited Moony would be to be standing where he was with the cash he had in his pocket. He had been selling some of Remus's old notes that he had been given a long time ago to the younger years, and as such he had a good pocketful of money. He began filling his arms with Moony's favorite chocolates.
James gave him a bit of a sour look. "You really like Remus, don't you?" he asked, and when Sirius turned to give him a strange look, James smiled. "I don't care if Remus and I get in fights all the time. You'd better not treat him like shit. I'd tell you I'd kick your ass, but I think he can manage that all on his own."
Sirius stared at him, several Galleons worth of chocolate in his arms and a chocolate sucker stick in his mouth. "'M not gonna hurt Moony," he said, slightly muffled. "He'd kick my arse." He gave a devilish grin and dumped all the chocolate into James's shopping basket. Snatching the basket from him, he continued to pour chocolates into it before he controlled himself and scampered up to the counter. "I want to get him something else besides these. Something important."
James rolled his eyes and helped Sirius unload the basket onto the counter. "Well, I've got an idea; I saw something in that shop by Zonko's. You probably won't be able to afford it all, but…I'll loan you the money." He smiled as Sirius shelled out the money for the chocolate and helped him carry the bags. "Let's hurry, shall we? I'd say they're relatively popular."
Remus was getting bored very quickly; he had finished his homework, and taken a proper shower, and now he was playing Wizard Chess with a second year. When he heard the portrait open behind him, he did not bother to look back because it was much too early, but he felt arms slide around his shoulders and he whipped around. "Sirius, you're back early…You made me break my concentration, you cad."
The second year flashed her pretty smile at Sirius and giggled as he kissed Remus's ear. "Did I do that?" Sirius inquired, and he smiled to the girl. "Sorry, Alice, but I've got to steal your partner away…"
"S'all right," she said, and she stood up from the board. "Thank you for the game, Remus. You were kicking my arse anyway." She gave them a lingering gaze before she giggled and scampered away from them to join her best friend.
Remus watched her before he turned around to stare at Sirius. "Have fun?" he asked, and he pulled a face as Sirius showed him an enormous bag. "Oh God. If that is all for me, Sirius Black, I swear to you—"
"Something is mine," he whispered, and he pulled Remus up from his chair. "Come on." He found himself blushing a little as Moony's hand slid into his, and he took him upstairs into the dormitory. When Remus sat down on the bed, Sirius sat across from him, crossing his legs on the mattress and beginning to pull contents out of the bag.
"Sirius..." Remus hissed as his boyfriend began to pull out more chocolate than he had ever seen in his life off of a store shelf. "Sirius, you're broke. You can't afford all of this!" he exclaimed as he picked up a very large bar of his favorite flavor. "Where did you get the gold?"
"No matter," Sirius said quietly, and when he had emptied the pounds and pounds of chocolate out onto the bed, he looked into the bag and swallowed hard. His gift was still in the bottom. "I um…have something else for you," he claimed, and he blushed at the fury on Remus's face. "Don't give me that look." He pulled out a wrapped package and placed it in Remus's hands.
Remus shook it playfully, blinking because it was heavy but did not rattle or anything. "This had better not be a book," he said quietly, giving the other a nasty look before he pulled the paper from a nondescript cardboard box. Sliding his fingers through the tape holding it closed, he lifted the lid and stared inside. "Sirius? What's this?"
Sirius reached in and took one of the two small mirrors. "Two-way mirror. We…we enchant them so whenever we look in, we can talk through them. Prongs got a cheap pair for me and him, but this pair is much nicer." The mirrors were beautiful, cherry wood trimmed in gold, and when Remus turned his over, he saw their named carved into it in flowing script. "Touch your wand to it and say my name," Sirius said quietly, and he did it along with him a moment before they appeared in one another's mirrors. "How's that?" Sirius asked, a grin on his face.
Remus stared down into it for a few moments before he looked up into Sirius's face. "You're a bastard," he whispered, and he pushed the chocolate and mirrors to one side before he seized Sirius around the neck and kissed him on the lips. "I don't have anything to give you! You're such a sodding bastard…"
Sirius wrapped his arms around Moony's lower back and blinked in surprise when tears spilled down Remus's face. "Moony, what?" he asked softly, closing his eyes as he was given a very wet kiss. "You great pouf, I love you, too…"
Remus grinned into the kiss and gave Sirius a squeeze as tight as he could manage. "Thank you…It's the nicest thing anyone's ever given me. I, um…I want you to…to do what you said you would do in your letter to me this morning."
Sirius blinked. "Too late to skip out on Hogsmeade, Moony…I've already gone and come back," he said, and he slipped a hand into the other's hair.
"No…I mean…You said you would finish what you started last night, you know? I think as long as it's not hot and as long as…as long as I'm not standing up, I won't pass out again." He was sure his face was going to burn right off, but Sirius was not faring much better in the color department, and he looked away. "Nevermind…"
Sirius shook his head. "No. No, not nevermind. I'd love to." He swallowed and scratched Remus's scalp with his short fingernails, feeling him melt in his arms. "I think that's a great idea, actually."
Notes: This is not the end of the chapter, but due to its graphic nature and this website's policies, I cannot post the remainder here. To see the rest of this chapter, please attend (sakaim. livejournal. com), just delete the parenthesis and spaces. You can find the rest there! Happy reading!
