A/N: Things start to really heat up here! A bit of lore, a bit of spice, a bit of everything nice.
All week long, Sirius had looked for glimpses of Lupin wherever he could find him. The Great Hall, of course, afforded the most opportunities for him to covertly eye his professor. Glancing up through his lashes once again, Sirius saw Lupin still seated where he'd been at the Head Table every other one of the twelve times Sirius had looked since breakfast began an hour ago. He couldn't explain the pull; he just needed to know he was there.
The heat pooling low in his stomach meant nothing…probably…possibly… The man was attractive, that was all; it was an objective fact. Surely anyone who glanced up at him would feel similarly.
But the thought that Sirius would see him again that evening on their own, have time to speak to him one-on-one close enough to reach out and put his hand on Sirius' shoulder if he should ever feel so inclined… His stomach lurched into further somersaults and his heart began pitter-pattering dangerously fast again. Which probably meant…something.
He would not think about that just yet.
~0~0~
Sirius knocked on the door to Lupin's office with butterflies racing each other around his stomach. It was finally Friday, and the man had agreed to teach Sirius about the protective charms he'd seen him weaving so skillfully on that very first day.
Despite his string of detentions, Sirius couldn't honestly say he felt like a reformed man, especially when causing trouble meant getting to spend more time with his favorite professor.
As he walked in and saw Lupin standing by his desk, Sirius swallowed. The DADA professor was leaning ever-so-casually, hands shoved in his Muggle trousers, with a grin on his face.
"Good evening, Sirius." His voice was smooth as honey, and Sirius coughed trying to get his own words out.
"Good—good evening, sir," he choked. "Thank you for agreeing to show me the charms."
Lupin inclined his head in a nod before gesturing to the sofa between himself and the door. Sirius had never been in Lupin's office before, and he was still taking it all in as Lupin sat in the chair across from him. The walls were adorned with bookshelves, various trinkets, and loose parchment; the rest of the surfaces, with teacups and various notebooks. Between them sat a low coffee table covered with half a dozen pieces of jewelry.
Sirius' eyes traversed the shiny baubles until his gaze rose to meet his professor's. "Is there any significance to the type of jewelry you choose?"
Lupin shrugged, leaning forward, patchwork on the elbows of his sweater more obvious as he reached for the various pieces. "Not really," he said, picking up a bracelet and moving it between his hands. "I think it's more effective with sentimental items rather than expensive ones, if only because they're less likely to be stolen. But if someone, say from a long pureblood line"—he looked up at Sirius—"was expected to be wearing something old and valuable, then that would be more likely to go unsuspected and thus be a better option."
Sirius lifted a ring and examined it; it certainly looked nothing like the old, probably cursed items his family owned. "When did you start doing this?" he asked, fascinated more and more by the man who sat before him.
Lupin gave a noncommittal shrug, a blush creeping up his neck. Sirius was starting to get the feeling he didn't like talking about himself. "Sometime after I left school. I've been trying to perfect it for about ten years. I think I've gotten close."
Sirius could feel the power and magic in the metal. "Will you teach me?"
Lupin grinned. "Well that's why you're here, isn't it?" Sirius nodded fervently. "All right, then. First things first—"
Lupin spent the next two hours dismantling one of the bracelets spell by spell to show Sirius the intricate layers he had woven into its metals.
Protego Horribilis
Repello Muggletum
Salvio Hexia
Expecto Patronum
The last one had surprised Sirius the most, and as he had yet to learn how to cast a successful patronus, he was sure he wouldn't manage the skills necessary to impart the charmed bracelet with any more than basic protections. Lupin explained that he didn't need to be able to cast a full, corporeal patronus in order to weave the spell into the bracelet, but he still doubted it would have the same efficacy as one that Lupin had cast.
"Why Expecto Patronum ?" Sirius asked during their second session the following week as he sat on the familiar couch, sweat pouring down his back from the exertion of holding so many charms alive at once as he quite literally wove them together in the bracelet.
"It's useful for more than warding off Dementors," Lupin replied as he sat across from him and Conjured two goblets of water for them to drink.
Sirius took his gratefully, drinking deeply as his eyes stayed on his professor's face. "How do you mean?"
Lupin swirled his own goblet, looking into the water. When he answered, his thoughts seemed to be far away, perhaps somewhere in his past. "I have been working on these charms for years, and something always felt like it was missing. There needed to be something else, something that would imbue the item with love and joy and pure light so that it could ward off even the darkest of creatures. Not just evil in general, but something that was strong enough to be transformative and buy the wearer precious seconds to get away."
Sirius thought carefully before asking, "Where did you get the idea for it?"
"Living amongst Muggles, actually," Lupin said as he refilled his goblet and drank more, sweat glistening on his forehead as well. The effort necessary to enchant the bracelets was more than Sirius had anticipated, and though Lupin had already removed his cardigan early on, his white shirt now stuck to his skin, giving Sirius a glimpse of the lean, taut muscles beneath the man's clothes.
He shook his head, trying to refocus.
"Muggles have all sorts of things they use as talismans, but they don't work, obviously. With magic, you need both a magical core, and the proper intent. It's why with Dark magic, you really have to mean it. It works the same way with protective light magic. A Muggle who 'enchants' a bracelet to ward off evil has intent, but no magic. A wizard who does the same half-heartedly would only produce the weakest of protections. True benefit requires true intent."
Sirius considered this for several long moments before asking, "What sort of dark creatures are you hoping these will protect against, professor?"
Lupin only smiled—a sad, morose, exhausted sort of smile—before he rose from his seat. He pointed at the bracelet with his wand and looked Sirius directly in the eyes. "Come on. Again."
~0~0~
Throughout the weeks, Sirius got more and more proficient at holding the various spells in the air as he braided them together and interlinked them into the ions and atoms of the metal. But he experienced something else as his professor taught him how to cast his full intention into protective magic as well. Every time Lupin leaned around him, or over him, or got close to guide his wand movements, Sirius' heartbeat sped up. He was sure that he must have been sweating from Lupin's nearness as much as the actual work. And every time Sirius heard Lupin praise him for getting another step right, a frisson of want surged through him.
On their third lesson, Lupin stood so close behind him that Sirius could practically feel the older man's breath on his neck. Sirius had his wand trained on the bracelet as it floated before them in the air, several spells weaving through and around the linked chains, beams of twisting light as ribbons, curling and binding themselves to the jewelry.
His body was heating up with Lupin standing so close to him, and he could feel something thrumming through veins. He didn't know how else to explain it; faint vibrations coursed through him and Sirius tried to keep his breathing even and steady, sure that one wrong inhalation would have his ribcage expanding into the fraction of space separating his back from Lupin's chest. He wanted to lean back those few millimeters more than he could say, but he knew he couldn't risk it. He didn't want to jeopardize the easy camaraderie they'd developed throughout the last several weeks. And they had , more than Sirius would have ever thought possible.
Lupin asked Sirius questions that no one had ever bothered to ask. Why he enjoyed pranking, what his parents expected of him, why he was no longer close with his brother (wrongly assuming that it was because he was a Slytherin, and not because he'd broken James' heart). They had easily slipped from professor and student to something more closely resembling friends. In fact, Sirius had stopped using sir entirely by that session.
So it was only too easy to become lost in the man's words as he heard him practically whisper near his ear, in a mellifluous voice that wrapped each word in the finest silk, "That's good, Sirius, very good. You're doing so well."
Sirius' eyelids fluttered closed with pleasure, particularly at the way Lupin's tongue caressed his name. He was grateful Lupin was behind him or else he'd have seen the look that crossed Sirius' face. Of course, the spells he'd been holding afloat broke as soon as Sirius lost focus, the charmed bracelet falling back on the table, and he flushed with embarrassment. It wasn't until that moment that he realized he'd made the smallest, softest sound—somewhere between a half-sob and a groan that caught in his throat—aloud.
He felt Lupin freeze and the air chilled around them.
Before he even had the time to think up some excuse, Lupin was taking a step back from him and speaking as if nothing had happened.
"Don't worry, it takes time to master. You've already exceeded any expectations I had for someone who has yet to pass their NEWTs. That's probably enough for today."
Sirius mumbled a hasty thanks and "see you later" before he retreated from Lupin's office as quickly as possible.
Lupin had stood behind him and whispered in his ear and praised him and he had liked it . Like, really, really liked it.
He was done for.
~0~0~
Thank Merlin James was not in the dorms when Sirius returned. Flinging the door shut behind him, he peeled off his clothes, feeling too hot with both embarrassment and need. Sirius quickly lay down on his bed and drew the curtains closed, casting a silencing charm with the flick of his wrist. The last thing he needed was for James or any of the others to discover him in the throes of fantasizing about a certain young Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Panting as he looked up at the ceiling, Sirius closed his eyes, remembering Lupin's breath on his ear as he got closer to help him cast the charms, one large, warm hand over his own that first time—oh how he wished he would touch him like that again. Just to feel the other man's hand on his skin, anywhere, everywhere …
Sirius ran his hands up and down the planes of his chest, along his ribcage, down, down, until his right hand was pressing down against the ache he felt through fabric. He imagined Lupin's breath caressing his ear again and then moving on to his jaw, his neck—followed by a little bite, just on his shoulder, lapped at with an expert tongue that would trail down his body, all the way down—
Fuck .
He reached inside his pants and his cock felt heavy in his hand. The velvety skin moved beneath his fingertips as he brushed his thumb over the head, feeling the liquid that had started to gather there. Gripping himself tightly, he groaned. He was almost painfully hard thinking about Lupin… Remus …Faster and faster, he stroked himself, wishing it were Remus' hand, wanting to feel Remus' beautiful mouth pressing down on him while his professor gave pleasure he had never felt before. Sirius wanted Lupin to pin him to the bed and kiss his way down his body until he could take Sirius' cock between his lips and suck until the young Gryffindor was begging to come. And somewhere in the mix between tracing the length of Sirius' shaft with his tongue and pumping him with his fist, Lupin would lean so his lips brushed the soft shell of his lover's ear as he murmured a soft, " You're doing so well, Sirius ."
Sirius was coming with a gasp, falling over the edge into oblivion and panting hard as warm pools of liquid began to cool on his stomach and chest. As his breath returned to normal, he tried not to wonder what Lupin was up to that night, tried not to wish that the man were there in Sirius' bed to curl around his body and hold him in the afterglow before Sirius would turn to kiss him and return the pleasure the best he could with inexperienced hands.
He fell asleep holding his pillow to his chest, with his final thought before slumber dragged him into unconsciousness that he would need to get himself under control if he was going to be spending any more time with Lupin.
A/N: Thoughts, comments, questions - I eat em up like a ravenous werewolf