***Content Warning: This chapter contains a mildly sexual situation.
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Ch. 7 - Breakfast and Bathwater
Sirius came downstairs the next morning to find Remus sitting in the same spot at the kitchen table he had left him in the night before. Next to him was the previously third-of-the-way filled bottle of brandy, presently empty.
"Godric's sake, mate."
"I'll you...I'll buy you 'nother," Remus slurred. His eyes were red and appeared sunken on his haggard face. He hadn't slept.
Sirius, who couldn't care less about the brandy, just stared anxiously at his friend. Remus wasn't even a drinker, since alcohol aggravated his monthly transformations. He hadn't acted like this since Emmeline left.
"Listen Remus, I know I'm not a model of perfect behavior or anything...but you can't be doing this. You remember how bad it got last time."
"...I know that." He simply wasn't in the mood (or the mental state) to argue with Sirius. He was right, after all.
Sirius poked his head in the pantry and emerged with a box of cereal, then grabbed two bowls from the cupboard and the milk out of the fridge. He then came and sat down across from Remus, pushing the empty bottle out of the way and setting down the bowls. Flicking his wand ever so slightly, he enchanted the milk and cereal to pour themselves. Two spoons floated out of a kitchen drawer and into the bowls.
"Thanks," Remus mumbled, pulling his bowl towards himself. The thought of milk made his stomach turn, but he was so hungry that he began eating anyway.
"So," Sirius began with his mouth full, wiping a dribble of milk from his chin. "Are you going to stop her from making a big mistake, or are James and I going to have to get rid of McLaggen and hide the body?" Through his chewing he cracked a smile at his own joke, but Remus didn't seem to find it very funny.
"I can't jist barge into'er flat'n demand that...engage...that she end'er engagement." He attempted another bite, but spilled his spoonful on the table. If he weren't so pathetic right now, Sirius would have found this all very amusing.
"...Did you tell her that you still love her? You do still love her, don't you?" he checked, spooning another bite into his own mouth.
Remus gave up on eating the cereal and pushed the bowl away. "I love...she knows I still love her." What a silly, unhelpful question.
Sirius furrowed his brow. "...Did you expressly say it? Like spell it out for her?"
...Spell it out for her? Remus thought he must've been in really bad shape if he was on the receiving end of relationship advice from Sirius-"sir shags-a-lot"-Black. He had to sift through his foggy thoughts to recall. "...Well, not, no, but I th-thought it was rather obvious…"
"...Remus, I think if she knew you still loved her, she would have been here hours ago."
Woozily, Remus raised his head to stare at Sirius. He thought for a moment (which had become exceedingly difficult), then abruptly shot up out of his seat.
"Yourrright."
"Woah, wait Remus, hang on-"
"I have to tell'er, I have to go now-" he started, before tripping over his chair and plunging to the ground with a great ker-plunk.
"What the Rabbie Burns is going on down there?"
"Nothing Marley, go back to sleep!" Sirius shouted back up to the second floor as he tended to Remus. "You can't tell her until you've sobered up," he advised, grunting as he picked Remus up off the floor (with some difficulty, as Remus was a big fellow,) and led him to the front room. Getting him up the stairs right now was out of the question.
"Let-go-of-me," Remus griped, trying to push Sirius off of him but instead just flapping his arms around uselessly. Sirius heaved him onto the sofa, where he passed out.
"You'll hurt yourself if you try to apparate like this, and what good would you be to her if you happened to leave your bottom half behind?" Remus was in no position to appreciate the remark, but that didn't stop Sirius from enjoying his own joke.
...
1977: Seventh Year, End of First Term
"Godric's sake mate, you're telling me you've never gone under the skirt?!"
"Shh!" Remus hissed, practically jumping over the table to cover Sirius' mouth. "Could you be any louder?!"
"C'mon Moony, let's have it then," James coaxed him. "Have you, or have you not?" The three boys huddled around the table with their undivided attention on Remus.
Remus, who had suddenly taken on the complexion of a tomato, took a large gulp of butterbeer and nervously wiped the froth from his upper lip. "I hardly think this is the place to talk about such things," he objected, observing the hoards of students having separate conversations around them. It was their final Hogsmeade weekend of first term, and the pub was packed.
"Wizards have sat in this very establishment discussing the 'inner workings' of witches for centuries," James lectured playfully. "Taking this conversation elsewhere would merely be snubbing the longstanding history of The Three Broomsticks."
"Here, here!" Sirius snickered with James then brought his attention back to Remus. "Look, it's a simple yes or no question-"
"Okay! Okay...No, I haven't gone under…" He felt stupid saying it. "...We haven't done that."
James, Sirius, and even Peter, gawked at one another.
"You've been dating for like, a year!" James reminded him, as if he needed a reminder.
"You do fancy her, don't you?" asked Peter.
"You do fancy WOMEN, don't you?" asked Sirius.
"YES, I definitely fancy her, and I'm not even going to dignify that second question with an answer."
"I dunno, some blokes like other blokes! It's a perfectly legitimate question!"
"Moving on. So what's stopping you then?" wondered James.
Not anything that he could say without having to endure further, more emasculating ridicule. "...We've both been really busy studying for N.E.W.T.s-"
"You can't possibly blame your lack of action on the poor N.E.W.T.s!"
"You don't have a...you know...issue with the ol' broomstick, do you?" Sirius questioned hesitantly, pointing in the direction of Remus' pants.
"What- No! Of course I...wait a minute, have ALL of you done that already?!"
"Don't look at me," replied Peter, backing out of the huddle and taking another swig of his butterbeer.
"What about that Hufflepuff girl you were after?" asked James. "Sadie?"
"Sasha," he corrected him for the hundredth time.
"Yeah, her."
"Didn't have the nerve to ask her on the second date."
"I thought it was Mary Macdonald you fancied," said Sirius.
"Never had the nerve to ask her on the FIRST date. But enough about me." He raised an eyebrow at James, who held up his hands in defense.
"Well- okay, Lily and I haven't exactly-"
"Aha! See! You haven't done it either!" Remus flung an accusatory pointer finger at him.
"I HAVE done it, thank you very much, just, regrettably, not with Lily. Yet. Besides, WE'VE only been dating for two months, and after the history we've had I can't mess things up by rushing something like that." He yielded to Sirius. "Don't get Snuffles here started on his conquests." But this was to no avail, as Snuffles had already started.
Sirius leaned into the huddle with an air of alpha-male dominance. "You poor sods. I've shagged half the girls in our year, and half the girls that were in the year above us."
"Sure you have," groaned Remus, rolling his eyes. Even in his unbelief, he could not help but feel just a tad jealous of Sirius'...confidence. Let's call it confidence.
"I swear on my mother's grave," Sirius insisted with a dark smirk.
"Your mum's still alive," James returned.
"Pity, isn't it?"
"Merlin's beard Pad, you irreverent sonofahag."
Sirius got back to the topic at hand."Go on, you can ask Em or Lily. I've been in the knickers of A THIRD of the Gryffindors, probably MOST of the Hufflepuffs, and nearly ALL of the Ravenclaws. Almost had me a Slytherin once, too."
"Spare us the details Casanova," James remarked.
"Padfoot, that's rubbish and you know it," Peter challenged him.
"Okay, okay. HALF of the Ravenclaws."
"TWO Ravenclaws is not HALF of the Ravenclaws!"
"Yeah, well, half of the attractive Ravenclaws."
Remus frowned at him. "Don't be a prat, Pad."
"Haven't managed to get into your favorite Ravenclaw MARLENE's though, have you?" Peter taunted him. Sirius scowled and thwacked him on the shoulder, causing him to spill butterbeer on himself. "Hey!"
"Wormtail, if you're not careful, I'll feed you to Remus next time it's his 'time of the month'."
Remus looked at the lot of them, feeling as though he was rather behind the curve.
"Where...where do you even go to...you know…"
"Fortunately for you my dear fellow, we have a resource that grants you access to unlimited hiding places." As he said this, James discreetly slipped the marauder's map into Remus' coat pocket.
"You slimy git," Remus whispered with a grin, very impressed with Prongs. "I thought I'd never see this again. But how did you manage to get it back?"
"Invisibility has many perks, Moony."
"Filch must've thought it was just some prank parchment, so he didn't lock it up properly," Sirius explained. "We saw an opportunity and nabbed it from his office last week while you were recovering from your 'sick day.' Peter's never getting to hold it again."
"For the last time, I'm SORRY."
James continued. "One of these days, I will let Filch have our map, so that someday some other mischief-makers can nick it from his office and enjoy its wonders. But for now, it seems you have greater use for it. If you're willing to get creative, that is."
"Willing to get creative about what?" inquired Marlene, who had just entered the pub with Lily and Emmeline and was shaking the snow from her boots. Sirius stiffened up in a manner uncharacteristic of someone who had allegedly shagged "all" of the Ravenclaws.
"Our project for Slughorn. Ghastly business," mused Remus, saving the group with his quick thinking.
"Three more butterbeers, please!" Emmeline waved at Madam Rosmerta behind the bar, and the new arrivals took their seats at the table. Lily slid under James' outstretched arm and snuggled up against him, a sight that was still shocking to the rest of the group after six previous years of her (supposedly) loathing him. Much to James' delight, she'd had a change of heart at the start of this school year.
"You boys are quiet all of the sudden," Lily observed. "Have you been gossiping about us?
"No," they all said, a bit too quickly.
"Where have you lovely ladies been?" asked Sirius, changing the subject. He smoothly draped his arm around Marlene, who promptly removed it from her shoulders and scooted a few inches away from him.
"Scrivenshaft's, then we stopped in Honeydukes," Emmeline told them, producing a baggie of lollipops from her satchel. She selected one from the bag and popped it in her mouth. James and Sirius had to stifle their laughter at Remus' expression at this after their previous conversation. Noticing that he was staring at her, Emmeline offered him the bag. "Want one?"
Remus snapped out of his trance and cleared his throat. "N-No, thanks though."
…
The following evening, when the majority of Gryffindor house had gone off to bed, James, Remus, Peter, and Emmeline lingered in the common room finishing an assignment for Charms the next day. (Lily had finished it days ago and Sirius hadn't started it at all.) Emmeline was snuggled up against Remus, and seeing that this was a good opportunity to leave the couple to their business, James feigned a yawn and got up from his chair. "I think I'll turn in for the night."
"How did you finish that quickly?" Emmeline asked, slightly peeved.
"Who said anything about finishing it?" he scoffed. "Come on Peter, let's go."
"Hang on James, I've just got a bit more-"
"You can do it in the dorm," James snapped, hoisting Peter up off the floor by the collar. "Not too late now Vance, remember we've got Quidditch practice tomorrow."
She rolled her eyes. "Thanks, DAD."
"Yeah, yeah." He gave Remus an encouraging wink before dragging Peter upstairs.
Now Remus and Emmeline were alone.
He spent several minutes staring blankly at his unfinished Charms homework, stalling. Meanwhile, Emmeline kept scribbling away. Eventually when he'd made up his mind, he slid his arm around her waist, pulling her towards him as he planted an unexpected kiss in the space between her neck and shoulder. She smiled coyly and peered sideways at him.
"Should I put this homework away then?" she offered, laying the parchment aside and turning to wrap her arms around his neck.
He kissed her again, this time on her cheek, and rose to his feet. "Let's go somewhere else," he suggested, taking her hand and raising her up as well.
"Oh please Remus, not the seventh floor broom closet again…"
"I've got a better idea," he reassured her, producing the map.
Emmeline eyed him suspiciously. "How did you get this back from Filch?"
"We have our ways." He donned a devilish grin and pointed to the map with the tip of his wand: "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he recited, as ink appeared and sprawled out over the parchment. "How do you fancy…" - He ran his fingers over the hallways and rooms. (And though he would never recall what gave him the courage to suggest it,) one in particular gave him a tantalizing idea. - "...a dip in the prefects' bath?"
Emmeline turned bright pink, but smiled. "I don't think I'm allowed in there…"
"Nonsense, I'm a prefect. You'll be like...my guest."
"But what if somebody comes in?"
"Then we'll have plenty of warning," he promised, pointing to the map.
After a quick trip upstairs to borrow James' invisibility cloak and two towels, the couple snuck out of the common room and headed downstairs to the prefects' bathroom. Once there, Remus set the cloak and open map down within a safe distance of the bath, so they could have some advance notice should anybody wander in.
There was an uncomfortable lull as they stood facing each other, neither wanting to be the first to initiate. Remus considered abandoning the plan altogether until, in a burst of bravery, Emmeline pulled her long sleeved shirt off and threw it aside, revealing a bra. Remus' mouth hung agape. He had never seen a girl in a bra, in the flesh anyway. He had to blink to prove to himself that this was real and not an advertisement or a film. More importantly, he had never seen his lovely girlfriend in a bra, and Emmeline was quite lovely.
"...Don't leave me hanging," she murmured, shyly folding her arms across her body. Remus drew in a large breath before shedding his own shirt as well. Emmeline could not prevent herself from letting out a small gasp when she saw that he was covered in scars. His torso looked like that of a battered war hero. In his excitement Remus had forgotten about his scars, and that they were not very normal. He thought again on advertisements, and how the shirtless men in them never had any blemishes. He suddenly felt very embarrassed.
Emmeline approached him timidly, then reached out to touch one of the many purplish-pink marks. She noticed him wince slightly and pulled her hand back.
"Do they bother you?" he asked, his voice low.
Cautiously, Emmeline reached out again and gently ran her fingertips over a few of the scars. The raised tissue felt smooth under her touch.
"No, I think they're sort of beautiful."
Remus could not help but scoop her into his arms and kiss her eagerly. They fumbled as they tried to remove each other's trousers, breaking the kisses only to giggle a bit. Once this was done, they remained in their undergarments and carefully climbed into the pool, recommencing their embrace in the water. Emmeline pulled herself up so that she had her legs wrapped around him, with one arm over his shoulders and the other running through the back of his sandy-copper hair as they kissed. She removed her arms for a moment, and when Remus opened his eyes her bra was floating away. He did a double take at her breasts.
"Merlin's beard," he wheezed.
He lowered himself to sit on the ledge inside the bath with Emmeline straddling him. When exactly was he supposed to...erm...make his entrance? His train of thought derailed when he felt Emmeline shaking beneath his hands, and he pulled away from her lips.
"You're shaking," he pointed out, running his hands up her arms. She shouldn't have been shivering; the water was very warm. "What is it? Have I done something?"
"No! No, this is absolutely brilliant Remus, it's just…"
"...Emmeline it's alright you can tell me…"
She folded her lips into each other and cast her gaze away from him. "...It's just that I'm...honestly I'm a little scared…"
Remus immediately climbed out from under her and took her hands in penitence. "Dear God Emmeline I'm so sorry, it was not my intention to pressure you," he apologized vehemently. "I'm nervous myself. We don't have to do anything if you don't want to."
"But Marlene said-" she began, instantly covering her mouth after she'd said it.
Remus squinted at her. "...What exactly DID Marlene say to you…?"
Then it dawned on them.
"Did Sirius talk to YOU?! "
"Yes."
"I could KILL them all," Emmeline fumed, before they both burst into laughter.
"Look," Remus said after getting all of his giggles out. "We shouldn't do this just because our friends are saying we should. That's not a good enough reason."
"It just felt like I was behind schedule or something."
"I'm starting to think there's no such a thing as 'behind schedule', and that our friends are a bunch of pricks."
Emmeline chuckled. "Agreed."
He helped her out of the bath, wrapping her in one of the towels, and they began to dress themselves.
"It was worth a shot," Emmeline sighed, squeezing water out of her hair.
Remus smirked, fully aware that the first image of her bare chest would remain with him for the rest of his days. "Very worth it, I'd say."
"Actually, I was hoping we could give 'it' a go when I come to visit you for New Years," she suggested bashfully.
Remus was about to express his enthusiasm for the idea, when out of the corner of his eye he saw footsteps approaching on the map. He rapidly thrust the cloak over the both of them.
Suffice it to say, Argus Filch was entirely befuddled by the brassiere he found floating in the prefects' bath.
