Disclaimer: It's not mine. I'm not J.K. Rowling and right now I have no wish to be. I'm doing this purely for my personal happiness, and for everyone who reads this.
A/N: Thank you to all who read this. And to my beta who may be slow at times, is still wonderful and talented.
Becoming Moony: Moving Complications
Remus grunted as he pushed the large sofa up the steep stairs. How did he let Sirius talk him into this? This was madness, who the hell had decided to put them on the third floor? For two hundred and twenty-nine pounds a week they could have put the two on a lower floor, or at least have a larger lift.
Remus's foot slipped on the next step and he fell to his knees, nearly getting crushed by the red velvet sofa. Sirius's head popped up over the top with a concerned look.
"You okay, Rem?" Remus nodded at him and stood once more. The sooner they got this stupid piece of furniture up into the flat the better. The two eighteen year olds maneuvered the sofa up the rest of the stairs and into their newly rented flat.
"Sirius, I realize that you love this sofa but it is a pain in the ass and it almost doesn't fit. How do you propose to fix this?" asked Remus, putting one hand on the insulting sofa and the other on his hip. Sirius shrugged and pulled out his wand.
"Easy, Rem, just a little swish and flick…"
"Sirius! We are in a muggle area, the door is wide open and you are going to get us sent to a mental institute if you don't stop waving your wand around!" said Remus, pulling the aforementioned wand out of Sirius's hand.
"Oh, don't be such a worrier, Remus! No one is going to wander in here and see-"
"HI! I'm your next door neighbor, I just came by to say hello." came a voice from the open doorway. Remus raised an eyebrow at Sirius, who managed to look properly chastised. Remus turned to great their newest "friend".
The girl who stood in their doorway was of average size and of almost average build. She had brown hair cut into a bob and wide blue eyes. She was wearing jeans and a shirt that read "Don't make me send my flying monkeys after you!" She was obviously not your average teenager.
"Hello. Um, I'm Remus and this moron is Sirius." Remus said, gesturing behind him at Sirius, successfully hitting him in the nose. Sirius smiled at the girl while rubbing his nose irritably.
"Hi, I'm Tory. I live just down the hall. Where are you two from?"
"Um, just outside Manchester." replied Remus.
"I'm from London." mumbled Sirius, putting a hand on Remus's shoulder.
"Yorkshire. So do you need any help bringing your stuff up?"
"That would be great." said Sirius, brightening up considerably. The three teens wandered down the stairs and out to where the Cabrio sat, piled up with all of their junk. The poor thing was nearly buckling under the weight; Remus wondered how they had managed to get from Leeds to Manchester and then Manchester to London without having to do some serious wand work.
"Wow, you two have a lot of stuff. Is there a car under there?" Tory said, leaning over. She had conveniently leaned over just in front of Sirius, forcing him to stop abruptly. Remus laughed and leaned over to pull out another box. Tory was obviously interested in Sirius, too bad that he was taken.
The three managed to successfully bring everything into the house in less than three hours. The moving truck that had helped them move the larger furniture had already left. Remus had paid the man and he had sped off, the old-fashioned trunks and mounds of odd-looking furniture had probably spooked him a bit.
"You guys want to go to lunch?" Tory asked, seeming to delight in the two boys.
"Lunch is good. Let's go, Rem. We can unpack later." said Sirius, pulling Remus along behind the other teens. Remus shook his head and let himself be pulled along. When food was introduced Sirius Black would still do anything for it.
They ate lunch at a new Chinese restaurant that was just down the street from the apartment. Sirius, although he had never had Chinese food before, seemed to love it instantly and announced that they should have egg rolls and lo mien for every meal. Tory snorted into her princess chicken and Remus rolled his eyes above his sweet and sour chicken.
"Are you two Pagan or something?" asked Tory as they walked back to the flats. Remus stumbled over his shoelace and Sirius furrowed his brow.
"What's a Pa-"
"Why do you ask?"
"Oh, no reason. It's just one of those boxes of books I carried was open and it had a spell book on top of it. It's cool if you are, I just wondered." replied Tory, shrugging her shoulders as she pulled out the key to the building. Remus exchanged a look with a befuddled Sirius.
"Remmie? What's a Pagan?"
"It's a religion, Padfoot, don't worry your pretty little head about it." whispered Remus, straightening up as Tory turned to look at them.
"Do you need any help unpacking?"
"No, thank you Tory. We've got it, besides we've already monopolized your afternoon."
"Alright Remus, just let me know if you need any help. Bye boys!" waved Tory as she walked over to her own flat door.
"She's nice, if not a little odd." said Remus, pulling out his key to the flat.
"Remus, I'm a little odd. Dumbledore is a little odd. Tory is almost completely normal."
Remus laughed as he opened the door and promptly fell over a box. It was Sirius's turn to laugh. Remus lay on the floor and glared up at his lover. Sirius extended a hand to help pull Remus up.
"Gee thanks Sirius. I feel very loved." Remus pouted and folded his arms across his chest.
Sirius wrapped his arms around his petit lover and rested his chin on Remus's shoulder. "You know I love you, right?"
Remus gave a small smile and glanced at Sirius, placing his cheek against Sirius's. Sirius pressed a small kiss underneath Remus's ear, right where it tickled. Remus gave a startled laugh and tried to pull away from Sirius. He kept Remus pinned close to him and started kissing up Remus's long neck, a grin on his face.
"Sirius! Stop, that tickles. I can't take it." laughed Remus. Sirius was laughing as well by now and laid Remus across the floor, kissing him all the way.
Sirius stopped Remus's laughter by kissing him passionately. They kissed leisurely for a few minutes, breaking apart only when they were both out of breath. Remus dropped his head back down to the floor as Sirius kissed his way down Remus's neck. Remus brought one hand up to run it lazily through the dark locks in front of him. As Sirius amused himself with Remus's collarbone, there came a tapping at the window.
A groan came deep from Sirius's chest as he leaned up on his elbows to glare at the owl that had dared interrupt him. Remus tilted his head back to look upside down at the poor barn owl that may not survive if Sirius's growling was anything to go by. It carried a rather large envelope and was bobbing up and down, flapping its wings hard. Remus squeezed the back of Sirius's neck and motioned to the window.
"Go let the poor thing in. It's probably exhausted."
"But Remmie, I was just getting to the good part." whined Sirius, resting his head in the crook of Remus's neck.
"Sirius, I live here now. Believe me, I'll still be here in five minutes. Now go get the poor owl in before a muggle sees."
"Fine." said Sirius, pouting as he got up off of the floor and Remus. Remus turned over onto his stomach and watched Sirius open the window, letting the exhausted looking owl in. Sirius pulled the parchment off of the owl's leg and brought it over to where Remus lay.
"What's it say?"
"What's it matter? You said I could come back in five minutes and you'd still be like this. It's been less than five minutes so I get to snog you senseless."
"That is very warped logic, Pads."
"Says you, Mister I'm-Always-Right. But right now I'm going to snog you."
"Are you going to snog me senseless?"
"No. I'm going to snog you stupid."
Remus grinned and wrapped his arms around Sirius's neck, "That sounds better."
/page break/
As the month passed they fell into an easy pattern. They would wake up, shower, go to their respective jobs, come home, eat, shag, and go to sleep. It got rather boring after awhile, or so Remus thought. They needed a way to get out of this pattern that dragged both of them down into the pit of old married couple-ness. But what? Maybe an inspirational conversation would do the trick.
"Hey, Pads?"
"Remmie?"
"If you were an ice cream sundae what would you have on you?" Sirius, who had been taking a rather large gulp of Butterbeer, promptly spat it across the table,
"WHAT?" Remus glanced at him, innocence on his face. Sirius looked at him, disbelief making his face seem somewhat distorted.
"If you were an ice cream sundae, what would you have on you?"
"I think you've finally lost your mind."
"Just answer the goddamn question, Sirius." Remus glared at him, placing his tea mug down. Sirius gulped and decided it was better for his health that he answered Remus' rather odd question.
"I suppose I would have chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and maybe a nice caramel sauce. Yeah! A three maraschino cherries, with a small sprinkling of nuts. Walnuts? No, almonds. I like almonds better." replied Sirius, having a tad too much fun with the actual answer.
"Why three maraschino cherries? Why not just one?"
Sirius frowned, "Well, because three is a better number. That's why." Remus laughed and picked his tea cup up again.
/page break/
Remus was sitting in his chair, reading a wonderful novel, when a sudden knock on the door startled him. He got up and went to the door, wondering whom it could be, because, really, someone visiting at nine in the morning was ridiculous for anyone.
Peter stood on the other side of the door, a worried look on his face. Remus ushered him in and made Peter a quick cup of tea.
"Why the sudden visit, Peter? Not that I mind or anything, it's just, you usually aren't this…erm…spontaneous."
"Yeah, I just needed somebody to talk to. My mum isn't that great anymore, getting old, I think." Peter laughed a sad little laugh and shook his head slightly. Remus looked at him, wondering what had brought Peter to this moroseness.
"Sure, Peter. What did you want to talk about?" asked Remus, moving to sit next to Peter on the couch. Peter slouched back and swallowed noisily.
"Well, nothing really. I'm just worried about You-Know-Who and all."
"Peter, you have nothing to worry about, I promise. It's not like he's going to come crashing into our lives, right?" Remus said, putting a hand on Peter's pudgy shoulder.
"I guess not. But what happens if we do get dragged into this war? I'm not cut out for fighting! I'm more of a doughnuts and milk guy, Not the éclair and coffee guy like Sirius."
Remus laughed, "I have never heard it like that before. Where did you get that analogy?"
Peter blushed, "Off the back of a car."
Remus snickered and sat forward, "I wouldn't worry about it too much, Peter. I don't think anything will happen to you or to us. There is the possibility it could happen of course, but I don't think it will. You haven't been talking to any strange people, have you?"
"No! Of course not! Besides, why would they talk to me? I'm useless when it comes to war and spells and stuff."
"You're not useless, Peter. You just, eh, have a different kind of smarts. I mean, some have brain smarts, some have book smarts, and you just have something different. So do Sirius and James."
"What? Insanity smarts?" said Peter, laughing along with Remus.
"Probably. It would explain quite a bit, wouldn't it?"
"Yeah, thanks for talking to me Moony. It helped."
"You're welcome, Wormtail."
"I need to get home probably, mum isn't doing so well these days."
Remus nodded, "Sure, if you ever need to talk to someone, ring me up, alright?"
"Definitely."
/page break/
"So, she says to me…"
"I'm not sure we want to know what she said to you Prongs. It may not be child appropriate." said Remus, taking a sip of his Earl Grey tea.
"Who's a child here? I don't see any kids." said James. Remus pointed to Sirius.
"There's one right there." James and Peter burst out laughing, spraying their Butterbeer over the table.
Sirius pouted, "Aww, that was mean, Remmie."
Remus grinned and picked up a chip from the basket in front of him. It was times like these that Remus treasured the most. Sitting with his friends in the middle of a crowded Leaky Cauldron, sipping drinks and eating greasy foods that were sure to give you cardiac arrest.
A sudden hush fell over the tavern, a dark blanket of misery covered the patrons. The four boys turned in time to see a Ministry owl fly around the room, a Black Death Note in its beak.
Everyone held their breath as it descended. No one wanted to be the recipient of the next note. A Death Note was only received by the family members of victims of the war. The owl swooped down and dropped the Note into Remus's lap. He felt his stomach drop into his oxford shoes. James sighed and closed his eyes, clearly remembering when he received his own. Sirius reached across the table to grasp Remus's hand and Peter glared down at the table, blinking hard.
Remus slit the envelope open with trepidation, who would it be? Remus scanned the Note quickly and quietly.
"Who?" asked Sirius, tightening his grip. Remus sighed and looked up, blinking back tears to no avail.
"My father." started Remus.
"Well…"
Remus interrupted, "And my mother."
Silence descended over the table. Sirius gazed at Remus blankly, trying to comprehend, James laid his head on the table while squeezing his fists together. Peter stared at the worn wood horror splashed across his features.
"No…it can't be. Both of them? What….I mean…how?" Sirius stuttered, stumbling to a stop. The four sat in silence for a few moments, tears in their eyes. Remus stared at the ceiling, determined not to cry, at least not until they got back to the flat.
"Shit."
"Come on, let's go back to my house, okay?" said James, looking up from the table.
Remus nodded and pulled himself to his feet. Peter stood next to him and motioned to the floo. The four boys flooed to the Potter Manor in a matter of minutes. Josephine met them at the fire a smile on her face. The smile faded at the ragged looks the boys carried.
"What happened? What's wrong?" she asked. Remus handed her the message, before curling into Sirius's embrace. Josephine read it, agony swiping across her beautiful face.
"Oh Remus. Come here sweetie." Josephine pulled Remus into a hug, petting his slightly sooty hair down. James nodded towards the kitchen, mouthed the word 'tea' and waved his hand at Peter and Sirius. The three boys moved away, giving Remus a minute or two to have his meltdown, for Remus didn't like to express volatile emotions around others.
Remus curled his hands into the purple, crushed velvet, over robe Mrs. Potter wore, tears beginning to make the long journey down his cheeks. The lady of the house held him to her until all his tears were gone, murmuring comforting nonsense.
When, at last, Remus lifted his head from her shoulder, Josephine smiled and stood straighter.
"Let's go find those boys, hmm? Make sure they don't ruin my kitchen." Remus gave her a watery smile and followed Josephine to the kitchen. Sirius was leaning against the sink a cup of tea in hand and a pensive look on his face. James stood next to the stove, pouring two more cups of tea. Peter was sitting at the table, fiddling with one of the chocolate biscuits before him.
"Hey." mumbled Remus, moving to stand next to Sirius, taking the blue and white teacup offered to him. Sirius wrapped an arm around Remus's numbing body. It was getting increasing hard to stay standing, thought Remus, laying his head on Sirius's broad shoulder.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Not really, but I think I will be."
"Good." whispered Sirius, putting his chin on the top of Remus's head. James lay in his mother's arms, misery on his face. For James, it was almost like losing his father all over again. All the boys had met John and Helena Lupin at some point and they could not believe that two warm and loving people could be destroyed in such a small moment of time.
"Remus, honey? If you need anything, just let me know, okay?" said Josephine. She knew the pain of losing a loved one. Planning Harold's funeral had nearly done her in, but having to plan both of your parents' funerals? Remus would have a hard time in front of him, that was for sure.
"Thanks."
/page break/
The funeral was held on June twelfth, it was a bright and sunny day. The sun was shinning high in the sky and not a cloud was to be seen. It was almost as if the weather was cooperating, in memory of the two wonderful people who were being buried that afternoon.
The procession walked toward the gravesite, Remus and his Aunt Sophia in the lead. Sirius walked just behind Remus, a solid presence at his back. The Potters, Lily, Tory and Peter were just behind him, all in the deepest of blacks. It was funny, mused Remus, Lily went to the trouble of wearing the blackest black she could find and her hair still stood out like a sore thumb.
The burial passed quickly, Remus didn't remember half of it. All he knew was Sirius. Sirius, who sat next to him the entire time, who held his hand throughout, and who anchored him to the ground better than any eulogy.
Remus floated through the next few weeks, not even flinching when he lost his fourth job in a row. The full moon passed without a glance, Moony simply sat in a corner and whimpered. All Sirius could do was watch; watch Remus fall apart in front of him and not be able to do a thing to help. Remus would cry at night, usually in his sleep, and Sirius could only hold him tight and pray that they made it through this.
Lily, Josephine, and Tory all tried to help out as much as possible. Josephine made most of their meals, Lily brought Remus books of all types, and Tory did most of their laundry if she had time. Tory was also the one to sit with Remus while Sirius was at Auror training, as Lily was doing her own Healer training. Sirius owed Tory a lot, she basically took care of Remus when he couldn't, and she was actually a pretty cool neighbor.
It took two months for Remus to get back to normal, the small group was eternally grateful to whatever deity saw fit to give Remus back to them. As for Remus, he buried himself into books and his new job as a sales assistant in a muggle record shop. Time passed slowly, but wounds healed, and soon all was back to normal. Or, as normal as four male teenagers can get.
A/N: There you go! I made myself cry, how silly. Oh well, hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to make my day and review!