Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Written for Hogwarts Assignment 5: Demonology, Task 2: Write about someone giving in to temptation.
Word Count - 2153
Warning: Some mild sexual content, but nothing particularly explicit.
Beta'd By: Jane and Sam
Temptation
He was sprawled across the sofa, his limbs elegant even in their carelessness. All around the common room, Remus could see the other students glancing at him, the lust and want so evident in their eyes.
Not that Remus could blame them.
Sirius gave off an aura of sex, even when he wasn't trying. There was just something so very tempting about the full bottom lip, the natural pout, the sparkling eyes—and that didn't even take the rest of his admittedly very fit body into account.
A few of the people glancing at Sirius had already had the pleasure of Sirius' kisses, had already felt the caress of his sure fingers. Sirius wasn't shy about his 'conquests' after all, especially not amongst his best friends, so Remus had had the pleasure of hearing all about them.
Most of them had been one-off trysts in abandoned classrooms, or, when Sirius was feeling particularly unimaginative, at the top of the Astronomy tower.
Remus hated that despite his knowledge of the way Sirius treated them, he wanted nothing more than to join the list of paramours that Sirius was so very proud of.
Shifting in his seat, Remus readjusted the book in his lap, trying to focus on the words. He really needed to study for the upcoming Transfiguration exam, but he found that he couldn't read more than a few sentences before his eyes were drifting once more to Sirius.
He was staring into the fire, apparently deeply lost in thought. James was off with Lily, and Peter had gone to bed early, leaving just the two of them in the Common Room, but they'd had a pretty quiet evening.
Sirius hadn't been his usual boisterous self for a few days, now that Remus considered it. He'd put it down to being stressed about the exams if he'd seen Sirius pick up a book at all, but he hadn't. Sirius had been adamant that he wasn't worried about the exams.
"You okay?" Remus asked, kicking his foot out to nudge at Sirius'.
Visibly startled, Sirius turned his head to look at Remus and offered him a small smile as he nodded. "Fine, just thinking."
"Knut for them?"
Sirius snorted. "I doubt they're even worth that much."
Interrupted from his thoughts, and his attention now firmly on Remus, Remus shifted once more in his seat, realising his mistake. He didn't want Sirius' attention right now, when the temptation to blurt out something stupid was so strong.
"I'm sure that's not true," Remus replied, tone soft. The Common Room was slowly emptying, and only a few other students remained, most of them studying for the rapidly approaching exams.
Sirius sighed. "I guess I was just… feeling sorry for myself. I'll get over it, Moony, don't worry about it."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
The salacious grin appeared from nowhere, and Sirius replied, "You could distract me."
His meaning was clear, and if it wasn't, the way Sirius waggled his eyebrows certainly helped with the context. Remus wasn't sure what his face did, but Sirius chuckled, and shook his head.
"Don't worry, Moony, I know you'd never. I'm just playing."
Remus chewed on his bottom lip and looked back down at his book, because he wanted so much to just take Sirius' hand and lead him up the stairs to their dorm.
He wouldn't. Regardless of the temptation, Sirius was too important to Remus to let himself get hung up on a one night stand when Remus knew he would want more.
He would always want more of Sirius.
It was safer, in the long run, to avoid anything that could complicate their friendship. Remus had to cling to that, even as the temptation mounted, calling out to every instinct he had to just… claim.
…
Hands on his shoulders made him jump, and Remus turned his head to see Sirius standing behind him, his hands resting on Remus' shoulders lightly.
"Time to take a break, Moony," Sirius murmured. "You've been studying up here for hours."
"You shouldn't be out of the Common Room," Remus replied, leaning back slightly so his head connected with Sirius' stomach. "You'll get in trouble if you get caught."
"I borrowed the cloak," Sirius said quietly. "Told James I was coming to get you."
"I need to finish—"
"You need to get some rest," Sirius interrupted. "Anything that you don't know now, you're not going to learn, and you're not going to do any good if you fall asleep in the middle of the exam, are you?"
Remus knew Sirius was right, but his anxiety was pushing him to keep studying. What if he didn't remember Gamp's Law, or the theory behind the banishing charm?
"Come on," Sirius said, squeezing Remus' shoulders before he stepped back. "I'll nip down to the kitchens and get you some hot chocolate, okay? Meet you in the Common Room."
"You don't have to do that," Remus said quietly. "I'm okay, Sirius."
Sirius just raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "I'll see you in a few."
He disappeared beneath the cloak, and Remus listened to his soft footsteps until he couldn't hear them any longer.
Sighing to himself, Remus packed the books up, being careful to place them on their correct shelves. Once it was done, he slipped out of the library onto the corridor and made his way back up to the tower.
He was tired, exhausted really, but he knew that as soon as he tried to sleep, his mind would rebel against him. It happened whenever he had to take exams. He was jealous of James' and Sirius' confidence—he'd give anything to believe in himself the way the two of them seemed to.
Peter understood a little more, but he wasn't inclined to books in quite the same way Remus was, so even his understanding was only to a point.
The Common Room was empty when Remus pushed open the portrait, and while his bed called him, he knew Sirius was on his way with hot chocolate, so he dropped himself onto the sofa in front of the fireplace.
It roared to life, the crackling relaxing Remus, along with the warmth. His eyes fell closed as his head tipped back, and he dozed almost immediately.
What felt like seconds later, Sirius was sitting down beside him, James' cloak draped across the table, and two mugs of steaming hot chocolate in his hands. Remus tried to force his eyes to stay open as he accepted the mug, but when Sirius quickly gripped the bottom of the mug, Remus thought he hadn't been too successful.
"You need to sleep," Sirius murmured softly, a gentle smile in his tone.
"I can drink this first," Remus protested, lifting the mug to his lips. He drained half of the liquid in one gulp.
Sirius carefully took the mug away and stood, placing the mugs on the table before he pulled Remus to his feet. Pausing only to pick up James' cloak, Sirius led Remus up the stairs.
Falling onto the bed in his robes sounded like a fantastic idea, but Sirius was one step ahead of him again as he tugged the robe from Remus' shoulders. That woke Remus up a little—exhausted or not, Sirius was undressing him—and he helped to take the robe off, followed by his jumper.
Sirius pushed him gently until he was sitting down on the bed, and then dropped to his knees, bringing many of Remus' secret fantasies to life, even if it was far more innocent than the usual dreams. Sirius unlaced and tugged first the left and then the right boot off, placing them at the end of Remus' bed.
"I'll, uh, let you do that yourself," he said, pointing to Remus' belt.
Remus didn't think he was imagining the slight shake in Sirius' voice, nor did he think he was misreading the lust in Sirius' eyes.
Tired as he was, his willpower wasn't even slightly up to resisting the temptation, and Remus reached out and cupped Sirius' cheek.
"Are you sure you wouldn't rather do it?"
…
Remus woke up suddenly, unsure what had forced him into such immediate wakefulness. A shift of the mattress alerted him that all was not normal, and he looked to his left to see Sirius beside him, still fast asleep.
One of his arms was under Remus' pillow, and the other was gripping at Remus' shirt on his chest, holding him in place. Remus could feel their legs tangled under the covers.
Kisses and caresses and whispered words from the night before filled his mind, and Remus shuddered slightly even as he relaxed back into the pillow.
He'd given into the temptation of Sirius, and it had been perfect. Sirius had been wonderful, tentative and even shy at first, though he'd grown bolder when Remus made it perfectly clear that he wanted.
They'd curled up together afterwards like it was the most reasonable thing in the world, and Remus had a faint memory of Sirius casting a cleaning spell on the two of them before he fully faded into blissfully dreamless sleep.
Checking the clock on his bedside table, Remus realised he still had a full hour before he had to get up, and he closed his eyes. He knew he should get out of bed and take advantage of the hour to do some last minute studying, but he couldn't bring himself to do so.
Hell, he'd already given into the temptation of Sirius, he might as well enjoy it while it lasted.
Sirius snuggled closer to him, his face pressing against Remus' shoulder even as he blinked his eyes open.
Sirius, so sleepy and soft, was the most beautiful sight Remus had ever seen and he took a moment to commit it to memory. Sirius didn't do more than one night, after all, so Remus would never be this close again.
"Why are you awake?" he grumbled, breath warm against Remus' skin.
Remus shook his head. "I don't know, I just woke up."
Sirius grunted, and tugged at Remus until he lay on his side, pressed against Sirius even as the other boy wrapped himself tightly around him.
"Sleep."
"I should—"
"Sleep," Sirius repeated.
When his grip on Remus didn't loosen, Remus gave in, his eyes closing as he pressed even closer to Sirius.
Enjoy it while he could, right?
…
Dinner in the Great Hall was a raucous affair, the last of the exams giving way to the utter relief of the seventh year students. Even Remus hadn't attempted to open a book following the Charms exam, content to enjoy at least a few hours of peace from studying.
Sirius entered the hall after the others, and Remus couldn't stop himself from glancing up when he caught sight of him, swaggering down the table towards Remus, James, Lily and Peter.
"Hey you," he greeted when he reached them, sitting down beside Remus. He pressed a kiss to Remus' cheek like it was the most natural thing in the world, and Remus could only blink at him. "Oh. Are we, uh, meant to be keeping it a secret?"
Remus blinked again, because what?
"Finally!" James cheered, making Lily laugh, and Peter nod fervently in agreement. "I was beginning to think you two were going to be in your seventies before you got your heads out of your asses!"
"Uh…"
"Moony?" Sirius asked, a frown marring his face. "Are you okay?"
"I. Yes?"
"Sirius, did you tell Remus that you love him?" Lily asked, exasperation clear on her face. "Or did you just sleep together and not have a talk like, you know, a responsible human?"
"Love?" Remus said. He didn't squeak, fuck you, James.
"I've been pining after you for years," Sirius said, rolling his eyes like it was common knowledge—which given their friends reactions, apparently it was. "You didn't know?"
"I didn't know," Remus confirmed.
"What did you think last night was, Moony?" Sirius asked, and Remus hated that there was hurt in his tone.
"Uh. I guess I thought it was just… a thing?" he offered, lamely. "I… you could have anyone, you know? Why would you choose me for more than… that?"
Sirius stared at him for a long moment. "You're an idiot. It was never going to be just one night with you, Moony. You're my person. My one person."
Remus felt his cheeks heat, but he couldn't stop the smile from lifting his lips, and when Sirius wrapped his arm around Remus' back, he leant into the touch automatically.
He could have this.
Sirius wanted him for more than just one night, and maybe, just this once, giving into temptation wasn't the disaster Remus thought it was going to be.
"Idiot," Sirius repeated, this time against Remus' ear. "I love you, Moony."
Remus turned his head and pressed a chaste kiss to Sirius' lips. "I love you too."