Now, Sakai Michiba presents:

The End of an Era

Part 24 of the Smitten series


Remus would not come out of his room after he woke up that evening, instead sitting on the edge of his bed and studying a little extra Potionswork. Sirius sat with him, explaining a few theories and rubbing the small of his back in the small patch of sunlight coming from the window. When Remus had lapsed into silence and leaned against him, Sirius sighed and took the book from him, discarding it. He slid his arms around Remus's stomach and kissed his cheek, whispering, "Remus, gimme a smile, love…"

Remus brought a hand to his lips and looked down at the floor, shaking his head a little. He could hear John and Flora yelling downstairs; it had been several hours and they were still arguing. He could not make out what they were saying, but he knew for sure that he did not hear his name in the argument. He suspected that something else was going on. "Sirius, I don't want to leave here until we go back to school," he whispered, and he moved to bury his face in Sirius's shoulder. "I'm afraid I won't be of any use until then…"

Sirius frowned and pulled Remus into his lap, holding him there and kissing the nape of his neck. "You don't have to be of any use, Remus," he claimed, and he smiled as Remus brought his hands up to touch the back of his neck. "You just need to relax and try to start feeling better. The full moon always throws you off. You'll feel better in the morning."

Remus gave a weak nod and slid off of Sirius's lap, lying down on the mattress and opening his arms to his boyfriend. "I suppose so. Come lie with me?" He sounded miserable, and when Sirius crawled into his embrace, he wrapped around him and gazed into his eyes. "Thanks. You're too good to me," he breathed, and he closed his eyes.

Sirius rested his head on Remus's chest and closed his eyes as well, his hand sliding under his shirt and rubbing his stomach. The yelling downstairs stopped, and someone was hurrying upstairs, not even bothering with knocking before the door was flung open. Sirius expected Remus to jump up and push him away, but instead he was pulled a little closer. "What?" Remus asked in a low, raspy voice.

It was Flora, who closed the door behind her and went to the bed. Sitting on the edge, she reached over and touched her son's arm before she heaved a heavy sigh. "Remus, your father and I…Well, your father has not been…" Sirius opened his eyes and looked at her, shocked to see tears running down her cheeks. "He's not been working late, Remus. He's…been with another woman. I can't take that, Remus, I can't!"

Remus's eyes widened and he sat up, forcing Sirius to sit up with him. "Mum, what?" he asked in a hushed voice, and he slipped his hand into Sirius's. "He couldn't've. He's always spoken out against that sort of thing…" He was frightened by the sight of his mother breaking down in front of him, and he tucked his head in against Sirius's shoulder, peering at her with wide eyes.

"Hypocrisy is a sneaky bitch," she whispered, and she moved to hug the two boys to her bosom. "He will be leaving soon. This is my house, not his. You are welcome to stay or go with your father, whichever you are more comfortable with. My feelings won't be hurt if you decide to go with John." She let them go and looked away, not wanting to cry in front of them as she was.

Remus closed his eyes and shook his head, fighting the urge to cry over his parents. "I'll stay with you, Mum," he said, voice muffled by Sirius's shirt. "He can't look at me anyway…" His fingers clutched Sirius's upper arms, and he was never so happy to have someone to hold onto. When Sirius tightened his arms around him, he choked a little and shivered.

Flora saw that her son needed to be alone with Sirius, and so she leaned in to kiss his hair. "I will tell him. You two just stay up here, okay? I don't want you coming downstairs until he's gone." Her voice broke, and she hurried from the room, closing the door behind her.

The moment the door closed, Remus heaved a sob in Sirius's arms and clawed at him, hurting in a way he never had. "Out…out the window. I gotta g-get outta here, Sirius. Just for a few hours, please…Let's go out into the field where th-they can't find us…" He looked up into Sirius's eyes with tears streaming down his face, and Sirius could not help but nod.

They stood up and went to the window, crawling out by way of the fire escape. Remus went first, and when he got to the bottom, he seized Sirius's hand and took off running with him into the same fields Sirius had hid in earlier in the summer. He felt his side cramping; he was much too tired from the full moon to be doing this sort of thing, and when he fell onto his knees in the high grass, he buried his face in his palms and sighed.

Sirius stopped running and whirled around to sit in the grass in front of Remus and draw him close. "Remus," he breathed out heavily against his hair, his eyes reflecting the sunset as his lover met his gaze and punched him in the chest. Sirius closed his eyes and let Remus hit him again and again, not fighting back at all as Remus punched him harder each time.

"WHY!" Remus yelled at him, and he grabbed Sirius suddenly by the shoulders, shaking him with fury. "Why the FUCK does this have to happen NOW! WHY does he have to BE SUCH A FUCKING IDIOT? Sirius, I HATE HIM!" His grip slackened and he fell into Sirius, labored breath beginning to slow and even out.

Minutes of silence passed, and Sirius gave him a warm squeeze. "Feel better?" he whispered, and when Remus nodded a little, he smiled and kissed his forehead. "Good…Love you."

Remus sniffed and pulled back to look at him with a sheepish little smile. "Love you, too. Erm…Sorry for hitting you like that. I…I wasn't thinking at all. I'm just so tired of everything going wrong all of a sudden," he ranted, and he wrapped his arms tightly around Sirius's neck. "I don't ever want to hit you or cheat on you or anything like…anything like that."

Sirius shook his head and moved to kiss Remus deeply on the lips. Their mouths opened and tongues moved to touch, sliding around one another in slow, burning strokes, and when the kiss broke, Sirius cupped Remus's cheek in his palm. "If it makes you feel better, you can hit me all you want, though I'm sure there are a hundred things we could do that would make you feel better than hitting me," he claimed, and he gave his boyfriend a kiss on the cheek. "Now, I'm allergic to this grass, so why don't we go sit by the pond? Different grass there…"

Remus nodded and shakily stood up, taking Sirius's hands and twining their fingers when they began to walk. He did not speak, instead watching his feet cut through the high grass, and when they arrived at the pond, he sat by the edge and watched the ducks settling on the water. Sirius sat behind him, and he leaned back against his chest between his legs with a long sigh. "Let's sleep out here…"

"'Kay," Sirius breathed, and his lips brushed against Remus's neck and shoulders. He felt Remus relax against him, and within a few moments, the werewolf was snoring lightly in his arms. Sirius shook him awake and pulled him back to the tree by the pond, leaning back against the trunk and helping Remus lie down with his head in Sirius's lap. The brunette ran his fingers through Remus's hair until they both slept again.