Title: Saishū
Yume
Author:
Ex-Professor Remus Lupin
Rating: R
Genre:
Action/Adventure/Alternate Universe/Romance
Era: None
Pairing(s):
Remus/Sirius, Severus/Harry
Summary: It
starts, as a simple kidnapping. It will become an adventure unlike
any other as a group of mismatched heroes find themselves drawn into
a war for not only their lives, but also their very souls.
Disclaimer: This
story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK
Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury
Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc.
No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is
intended.
Author's
Note: It's been raining everyday down here in Southwest Florida
for the last week or so and it's fucking annoying as all hell. I'm
all for rain, but when it rains on me when I'm riding my bike and I
have a book in my hand, I'm not going to be appreciative of Mother
Nature's gesture.
I'm now
a fulltime student at the local community college. I've been so
busy with classes and all that crap that it's been hard to find
time to sit and write. I shall try to get these chapters out as
quickly as possible. I can only hope I hold up to my part of the
bargain.
-
Chapter
Nine
Hesitation
-
Sirius
walked slowly down Diagon Alley, shuffling his feet slowly across the
pavement while people pressed around him in a suffocating mass. He
had felt so out of place in that stupid library. Never mind the fact
that he liked reading, it was the simple fact that he wasn't
royalty or some idiotic knight. Also, the food had been far to rich
for his taste.
"I'd much rather eat here," he said, glancing at the Leaky Cauldron. It was a rundown looking place, but it held memories for the thief.
Pushing open the door, he slid into the common room to find several familiar faces sitting inside. Behind the bar was a thin, balding man was washing a glass. Near the fireplace, a large man was nursing a huge cup of steaming liquid. Sirius waved to the man at the bar and approached the man at the fireplace.
"Hagrid," he said fondly.
The big man started and looked blearily down at Sirius, his black eyes glowing with the fire.
"Ah, do I now ya?" the man asked.
Sirius rolled his eyes. Obviously, the big man was drunk.
"It's Sirius, remember," he said.
"S-Sirius!" the giant stumbled to his feet and pulled Sirius into a crushing embrace. The stench of fire whiskey was strong on the giant's breath, and it was nearly impossible to ignore it in his position.
"Y-yeah," Sirius said weakly as he was set back on his feet, holding his ribs and wincing.
"Will yea join me?" Hagrid motioned to the table.
Sirius gazed absently at Hagrid; it had been a few months since he'd last seen the man. Hagrid had a love for travel and whiskey, and it was well known that he would disappear for months at a time in search of fine whiskey and un-chartered territories. He knew the land of Hogwarts as well as he knew the animals he was so fond of, along with the location of every bar in the city.
"Sure," he said, and with a sigh, he took the empty seat and prepared for a story about some dangerous new skill the giant had learned or some new place he'd found while he'd been away. When the barman brought him a fire whiskey, he felt once more at home.
-
Remus watched his uncle as he paced about the conference room, his black robes fluttering about him delicately. It had been several minutes since Remus had unwillingly told his uncle of the events that had transpired in the Forbidden Forest and the reason for his amber colored eyes.
Finally, Albus stopped walking. It appeared that he had come to some sort of decision. "How is your father?"
Remus was taken aback by the question and he showed it by staring at his uncle in shocked silence. The emperor coughed lightly.
"He's been acting so strange lately," Remus admitted with a dejected sigh. "People have been meeting with my father and I fear – I fear that father may be planning something terrible. No one listened to me when I relayed my suspicions. They believed that I was reading too many fairytales."
"So you turned to me," Albus pressed.
The prince stammered.
"Y-yes, I believe you are the only person that Father would listen to," he brushed a flyaway strand of hair from his eyes. "When the Marauders came to Gryffindor, I made plans to get on the ship. I never expected that the crew would kidnap me."
Albus smiled.
"That would be my fault. I enlisted the help of my brother, Aberforth; he is the leader of the Marauders," Remus' uncle smiled fondly at him. "I feared that if we had acted directly it would have started a war. I am relieved that after the theatre ship crashed that you managed to make it here safely."
Remus nodded absently.
"Yes, we ran into some of the mages that Severus had been working with. They are still after me I fear," he admitted slowly.
"Yes, well, perhaps it would be best if we wait until after the tournament before we make any rash decisions. Afterwards, we will return to Gryffindor."
Remus nodded.
"I'm certain that my father will listen. He has to."
-
Morning dawned with a soft reassuring yellow light. It filtered through the white curtains pulled hastily over the inn windows and spilled onto the blue coverlet of the bed in the corner. Traveling upward, it revealed the curled and sleeping figure of the young man who had escorted Prince Remus all the way from Gryffindor to Ravenclaw.
With a small groan, he blinked open gray eyes. Said eyes snapped shut once more at the intrusion of sunlight into their depths. Rolling over, he tugged the blanket further up onto his shoulder and tried to fall back asleep.
Ten minutes later, he turned over and tried again.
Five minutes after that, he threw the blankets to the floor with a grunt of irritation and sat up, yawning and stretching. His hair was tangled and he would have to spend ten minutes brushing it out. He had marks on his face from the harsh cloth of the pillowcase and his back was aching. It seemed that he had slept on a rock.
"Good morning," he looked up to find Severus standing in the doorway, dressed and groomed.
"You're up early," Sirius grumbled.
Severus nodded.
"Yes, well, this city is fairly interesting. I have never been here before," he answered. Sirius felt every right to gawk at him in astonishment. After a moment, the mage scowled and cleared his throat.
"Well," he said casually, standing up and stretching. Severus, with a scowl, stalked out of the room, grumbling something about common decency. Sirius, looking down at himself, realized that he had slept naked.
-
Two hours later, he was dressed and standing at the foot of the library stairs, gazing up at the magnificent building and wondering why he had come. Convincing himself that he hadn't come because he'd wanted to talk to Moony – Prince Remus, he reminded himself with a glare at the glass doors. He started to walk up the steps.
Said doors opened suddenly and a woman, tall and willowy, exited the beautiful building walking gracefully down the stairs toward Sirius. Dressed in leather shorts and a yellow belted vest beneath a yellow duster, she seemed to glow. Her dark red hair was pulled away from her face into a low hanging ponytail. She carried in her right hand a spear. The eight-foot long weapon was made of the purest of silvers and the blade was carved to delicate precision.
As she walked past Sirius, she stopped, and turned brilliant blue eyes to him. "You are the one who was with Prince Remus yesterday," she said softly.
Sirius recognized her finally. Princess Ginevra, the elven maiden from Hufflepuff.
"Yeah," he answered.
"I see, and you are here, why?"
"Just standing," Sirius answered with a scowl. "It's not illegal, you know."
"Of course," she gazed shrewdly at him for a moment longer.
"And what are you doing? Last time I checked, princesses didn't go off scantily clad by themselves?" he accused.
"I," she drew herself up, "am a Dragon Knight and I am going to be entering the Festival of the Hunt tomorrow. I have every intention of winning and so, I have deemed it appropriate that I practice my skills."
"You're a Dragon Knight?" Sirius asked amazed and the princess laughed.
"Yes, though I doubt you can appreciate it as fully as a human. Now, unless you are entering the tournament, I have no business with you," she turned to go.
"There's a half-giant entering the tournament. You're going to have some competition."
"I can only hope," she said, and with a flutter of her coat, she was striding quickly and purposefully down the steps. Sirius stared after her, grinning.
Shaking his head, he finished his walk up the stairs and entered the cool sunlight building that was the Great Library of Ravenclaw for only the second time in his life. Walking toward the elevator, he was not surprised when one of the knights stepped forward to stop him.
"You are not allowed," the man said. Sirius looked carefully around the room. It was empty, except for a large urn.
"I know," the man fell to the ground with a grunt as Sirius used the blunt end of his dagger and applied it carefully to the side of the man's head. Gazing down at the unconscious guard, he hoped it wouldn't be this easy when he got upstairs.
-
Remus stood upon the balcony at the top of the library. His amber eyes were narrowed as he gazed past the city walls and to the wide plains of the cliff. The wind was blowing from the north and it blew his hair across his face, whipping the white, silver threaded robes he was wearing about him.
He turned at the sound of the footsteps. There, standing in the doorway was Sirius. His long dark hair flew across his neck and face. Remus frowned as he stepped out onto the balcony and came to stand at his side.
"Hello," Sirius said.
"How did you get up here, this is a restricted area?" the prince asked.
"It wasn't that hard," Sirius answered casually, "I do this for a living, you know."
"Of course," Remus turned away from him and glared out at the city. He didn't know why he was angry, but he was and it didn't matter. Sirius scratched the back of his head and gazed around the balcony. Finally, he gave up and leaned onto the balcony beside the prince, staring out at the lands that surrounded the kingdom.
"Those mountains separate us from Hufflepuff, you know," he said conversationally, pointing to the towering mountains barely visible from where they stood.
"I'm helpless aren't I?" the question surprised him. He gazed silently at Remus, trying to think of something to say. "Why did you agree to take me to Ravenclaw? Is it – is it because Aberforth ordered you to?"
"No," Sirius looked away from the prince. "I wanted to, that's all. I couldn't leave you there in the middle of the Forbidden Forest. I just, the others were going to Slytherin to get parts for the airship so they could make repairs. I just, I hope they're all right."
There was a moment of silence and then Remus said softly, "Are you going to enter the tournament tomorrow?"
Sirius shook his head.
"No, I'm not really interested in the money, of course, the princess probably isn't either, but she's entering," Sirius answered. Remus smiled softly and stared out at the mountains between Slytherin and Hufflepuff.
"Why don't you, it would be good experience. I am sure Severus will be entering and I know he would enjoy the competition," Sirius' gray eyes narrowed and the prince laughed.
"If they offered me something more interesting than five thousand galleons, I might be interested," Remus smiled at him for a moment, and Sirius grinned. "I've the perfect prize. If I win the tournament, you'll have dinner with me."
"Haven't I already done that?" Sirius rolled his eyes.
"No, dinner, alone, just you and me," Remus' amber eyes widened in surprise and he flushed.
"B-but, that would be inappropriate," he said, pulling himself up.
"Why?"
"I am the heir to the throne of Gryffindor. I can not be dallying with some, thief," Remus frowned. "Besides, you – you're a man."
"And?"
"I know what you're trying to do!" the prince said, glaring fiercely at Sirius.
"What?"
"Y-you think you can just, you can't, you," Remus brushed angrily at his hair, forcing the long strand back from his face, only to huff in annoyance when they flew back into place. Sirius laughed and reaching out, swept the honey colored strands away and before Remus could protest, kissed him.
Sirius hadn't exactly planned to kiss the prince. After Remus' reaction back in Hogsmeade, he had vowed that it had been the stupidest thing he'd done in a long while. He was waiting for Remus to shove him away, but he didn't.
Remus hadn't expected Sirius to kiss him, especially after he'd been trying to yell at him and explain that men just didn't kiss other men. He raised his hand, with every intention of slapping the other man; instead, he found his hand tangling into Sirius' feather soft hair.
Pulling Remus as close as possible, Sirius lost himself to the feeling of the pliant body now in his arms and the shivers that were traveling up his spine as he pressed Remus into the balcony. He forgot for an instant that the body beneath his hands wasn't some boy he had picked up at the bar. This was someone who barely knew his own body's response to such actions, let alone, someone else's.
Remus gasped in shock as a hand traveled up his spine. He pulled away from the kiss, breathing heavily, and staring wide eyed at Sirius as he caught his breath.
"Apparently I can," Sirius whispered, slightly out of breath.
Remus glared at him and pushed him away, brushing his hair from his face, and wiping his mouth. He crossed his arms defensively over his chest.
"I'm not having dinner with you," he grumbled. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Sorry," he said conversationally. Remus glared at him.
"You certain do not sound sorry."
"I was sorry the first time," Sirius said softly. "You didn't push me away, this time. It's entirely your fault that you didn't stop me."
Remus flushed.
"You surprised me," Remus explained. "And I still won't have dinner with you."
"This isn't about the dinner," was the quiet reply.
They stood silent for several minutes, staring out across the dark valley between the Cliffs of Ravenclaw and the Hufflepuff Mountains where Hogsmeade and Slytherin lay. After a few moments, Remus said, almost too soft for even Sirius to hear, "Maybe I will have dinner with you after all."
Sirius smiled wistfully at him.
"It doesn't have to mean anything," he said slowly. "I told myself before we got here that I was going to wash my hands of you. I can't though. I'm not sure why, but I just can't. I like you, and if I had my way, I would kiss you again. But," he sighed, "you probably won't let me do that again."
"No, I won't let you do that again. It would best if you did indeed wash your hands of me. These feelings you have for me are unnatural."
"Do you really think that?" Sirius asked. Remus' amber eyes narrowed and he bite his lip.
"Yes," he answered, unsure as to whether that was him or his upbringing, speaking.
"Doesn't matter, soon you'll go back to Gryffindor, and I'll be here. So, in the end, it will just be another stupid mistake that I've gone and made."
"I'm sorry," Remus whispered.
"Don't apologize, it's cruel," Sirius bit his lip. "And what are you so sorry about?"
"I don't know. I'm just sorry."
-
Author's
Note: Um...not sure where it all came from. The story sort of flew
away from me and did that. I hope they aren't too out of character
or something because then I'd just have to kill myself. God, I
completely wasn't expecting that. You guys can rant at how awful
this was in the reviews because I do appreciate reviews.
Next Chapter: Finally, what you've all been waiting for: The Festival of the Hunt...
