Disclaimer: All original themes, characters, etc, are property of J.K. Rowling. Content of this story is mine, yo. ;D
Rated T: Not intended for slash-haters or 'littleuns'. Mild sexual scenes, adultry, inappropriate language, and some more stuff.
Lips
Chapter 1: Living Room Confession
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"It's awkward being near you again."
Remus Lupin, upon hearing the shy words, turned to look at the younger man sitting beside him on the ratty couch, noticing how the reddish tinge of the room cast a orange shadow on the man's glasses.
The werewolf coughed on the stale air of the Weasley's currently empty living room, except for Harry Potter and himself, and replied.
"Yes."
He blushed at his lack of words, and turned an even deeper shade of pink when Harry's smile spread across his well-built face.
Silence filled the room again, and the two sat together, timidly, for quite some time. It had been two years since they had spoken, and a year and a half since they'd seen eachother. The well-hidden and secret relationship they had shared for two years had been intense, but the break-up had also been well-masked, leaving many to wonder why, in the name of Merlin, these close friends had stopped speaking to eachother. Now, considering Harry's marriage to Ginny, and Remus's relationship with Tonks again, being in eachother's company was even more emberrassing and nerve-wracking.
Harry drummed his fingers across the dusty, brown armrest, and blushed peculiarly when Remus turned to look upon him once more. Harry cleared his throat, looking around the dull, messy living room, and asked, "How is... Er... Well, I mean, how are you?"
Again, Remus found himself smiling mildly as Harry shot him a quick grin. "Well... I'm alright. Tonks is great, I love her." It was not only Harry who jolted at this confession, but Remus as well.
Am I trying to make him jealous? thought Remus. Never having felt that way, or even admitted love to Tonks, he could not deny the sinking feeling in his belly of guilt and self-consciousness.
"Oh," was all that Harry said, quickly disguising his envy of Tonks as a bored, uninterested face. Remus had not missed the sad look. It made Remus feel accomplished, and happy, despite having made a kind man upset. And, at realising this, Remus felt his guilt seep even further into his stomach.
Staring at an old, yellow lamp, wondering what had caused the small hole toward the bottom, Remus sniffed and stretched his legs out, under the scratched, wooden coffee table.
"Er, well, do you? ...I mean, er." Harry looked as if it caused him great pain to speak. Remus stared blankly. "Do you, at all, I mean... Miss me, at all?" Harry's discomfort was unmistakable, and his heavy red flush as well.
"Do you miss me?" The x-professor inquired.
Harry's lips tightened, and he said not a word for what felt like half an hour, when, in reality, was only about a minute.
"Yeah. I do." The auror, the victor against Voldemort, the married man, turned and smiled modestly at the older werewolf.
"Ah." Remus's
heart quickened, easily emberrassed and ashamed of his behavior. We
ended it... Talk like this is inappropriate, and he's much too good
for me. Staring at the younger man's fingers, now stretched out
across the armrest, Remus finished with, "Me too. I mean, I miss
you too." He licked his lips and repositioned himself against
the back of the couch. And just as immediately as the correspondance
had started, it ended, like a fox jumping into a river for a good
swim, only to snap its neck and die when colliding with a rock that
had before been hidden by the rush of water.
Some time passed, in
which they played a simple game of Go-Fish, using an old, tattered
deck of cards Harry found in a nearby drawer. Neither continued their
previous line of conversation, though both thought of it
considerably. After having cleaned up, and tossed the battered deck
back into the dresser drawer, both men sat again on the dusty couch.
"Do you really love Tonks?"
"Do you really love Ginny?"
"Yes. I love her." The green-eyed man scooted only slightly nearer to Remus, leaning against the back of the couch as Remus had done before. "But... Well." He smiled calmly.
"I..." He looked at Harry, acutely aware of the small space Harry had moved. "We shouldn't really be talking about this." Stop it before it leads to trouble, thought Remus, frightened and doubtful of Harry's intentions.
"You're right." Harry looked at Remus's pale hands, crossed upon his lap. "But, well. I'm thinking about a divorce!" Harry blurted. "Weeks after I married her, I realised it wasn't right, and I know we haven't talked in a long time, but I always thought your advice was best, and--"
Harry stopped his rant to breath, and then stared at Remus's abnormal expression.
That was why, then, Remus thought. That was why he asked. Not because he wanted to rekindle our relationship, but because he wanted marriage counsel.
"I don't know, Harry. I've never married before." Was Remus's lame excuse not to advise Harry. In truth, Remus was so jealous of Ginny, and surprised at the ferocity at which his love for Harry had resurfaced, he did not wish to help him at all, as a sort of immature revenge.
"Have you ever thought about marriage?" The moppy-haired man asked.
"Yes. Only with one person, and it wasn't meant to be." His fair hair drifted over his forehead as he turned to face the other direction, bringing one hand to cover his mouth. It unsettled him how being near Harry for merely an hour or so could shake up his emotions so easily. They were silent again, until Remus removed his hand, and slid across the span of the couch, closer to Harry.
Their thighs nearly touching, Remus, gathering all of his courage at once, said, "He didn't want to be with me. We didn't agree on a lot of things. He... Yelled at me a lot for being so self-conscious, and... He walked around on me! He said he didn't think I was clear enough about our relationship, so he thought it was okay to see other people, since it was nothing serious! We had practically no sex, and, because of that, I didn't love him. I did love him! He was emberrassed to love a bloke, an older one especially, and said I was too cowardly! I couldn't be brave! He was so much younger than me, my friend's son, and had such a wonderful life ahead of him! I didn't want to ruin it! We had to hide everything, anyway!" His golden-brown eyes watered, and his voice wobbled in anger.
Harry cowered, his nose pink from trying to hold in his own tears at such terrible accusations directed at him. His chest felt tight, as if his rips were constricting around his lungs.
"Remus..." Harry swollowed, his saliva like sandpaper against his throat. Awkwardly, Harry pressed his leg against the teary-eyed werewolf's warm thigh and pushed his palms against the back of the couch, leaning up toward the lips of his x-professor's.
Remus drew back slowly, afraid again, but relented quickly at the sight of Harry, eyes closed, blushing, with moist lips, expecting... Expecting a...
The first kiss was strong, but short, making a smacking noise as they parted. Desires unsatiated, their mouths drew together and Harry hugged Remus close. Remus, too, embraced Harry, though less assuredly. As Harry's tongue licked Remus's lips, asking for entrance, however, the weak, light-haired man held Harry tightly, one arm crushing Harry's head against his own, as he granted entrance. Feeling the black-haired man's heated movements, and noticing that Harry had repositioned himself onto the werewolf's lap, Remus blushed with arousal and clung to Harry savagely as Harry grabbed his round glasses and through them to the side.
And at that moment, the fire in the stove lit bright green, swooshing loudly, as the people Remus and Harry had been waiting for flooed into the living room.
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.. Is this a shitty story? Tell me! D: I know I didn't really explain everything... But Chapter 2 will explain more, I swear! joj This was kind of an "inspiration of the moment" story I wrote a few years ago that I spiffed up and decided to continue recently... dies