AUTHOR'S NOTE: Uhm. So I saw this sitting in my folder for this fic... and I never updated it for ya'll? Uh, yeah, my bad! I'm actually almost done with the fourth chapter as well, I think... Just have to figure out if I like the ending. Nothin' too exciting this chapter. And another shitty, awkward ending. Sorry D:
"You can still leave, Sirius…" Remus whispered, standing awkwardly at the side of the bed on the second floor of the Shrieking Shack. Sirius shook his head, his shaggy ebony locks waving back and forth at the motion.
"I can't leave you alone, Moony," the Black heir explained, beginning to get slightly irritated with his friend's insistence that he disappear. "Besides, I get out of any sort of detentions by not being in attendance for the prank."
To be honest, the teen was a little upset that he wouldn't be able to get an easy Halloween lay whilst basking in the glow of a prank well done, as he had done nearly every year.
Remus sighed tiredly, gracing his companion with a wane smile while clumsily tugging at the knot of his tie. It made Sirius uncomfortable to have to see Remus' taught, pale face, covered with a pale sheen of sweat from obvious discomfort.
"…You alright, Moony?" Sirius asked softly, unsure of how to handle the situation. Usually James handled Remus, because usually Remus handled everyone else. Sirius had never been one for comforting anyone else, even James, who was closer to him than his blood brother, Regulus.
"…" Remus' face fell into his hands with a strangled sob, causing something inside of Sirius to twist painfully.
Shite, shite, shite!
The young Animagus slowly crossed the room's distance between them and placed an arm around Remus' frail shoulders, pulling his companion into a gentle embrace and seating them down on the edge of the bed.
"Hey, Remus, it'll be alright!" Sirius hushed uneasily, running his hand up and down the werewolf's easily palpable spine.
"I … I don't know if I can take this forever, Sirius." Remus whispered, pulling his head from his hands and revealing that not a single tear had been shed.
"Hey, now, what d'you mean by that? You've got Padfoot and Prongs and Wormtail to help you now!" Sirius exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood the only way he knew how.
"… I can't have you lot looking after me forever." Remus deadpanned, fixing a calm, knowing gaze upon Sirius. The other felt himself fall ever so slightly into those heavy honey eyes; they were so deep and open and warm, it was hard not to want to gush out every single problem onto Remus.
Perhaps the base of Remus' problem wasn't just having to deal with his Lycanthropy, although Sirius would not be one to make light of the affliction – maybe, in actuality, Remus was tired of keeping things inside all the time. Remus was always listening to others; keeping secrets, taking burdens, being a shoulder to cry on.
"You've got us Remus—You've got me. We'll be here as long as you need us," Sirius promised softly, ruffling the skinny teen's sandy-brown locks in an affectionate manner. "I'm certainly not going to run home after we graduate… I'll be at your beck and call," he teased gently, cracking a devious smile.
"I--" the teen's smile and start of a sentence splintered into a grimace and exaltation of pain as Remus fell back unto the bed and curled up into himself, a series of sickening cracks making the boy's entire body spasm.
"Moony! Christ-"
"Get out … of h-here… Sirius!" Remus hissed, turning his now-burning amber eyes towards the Animagi.
Not needing to be told twice, Sirius quickly backed out of the room and closed the door, throwing his shirt, tie, underwear, socks and knickers into a pile at the base of the stairs before allowing the warmth of the transformation flow across his body and change him from Remus' best mate to a part of Moony's pack.
A series of groans and snaps came from behind the thick wooden door, making Padfoot whine as he trotted down the stairs.
Remus was by far the strongest person that Sirius knew. One time a month the teen allowed himself to give in to the ailment that wracked his body, never allowing a soul to see the painful expressions on his face, to see the other boy feel, which was hilarious in its own way, for everyone in the Gryffindor house knew that Remus felt the most about everything and everyone.
It wasn't long before the Wolf came barreling from the upstairs room and headfirst into Padfoot, the two tussling and exchanging playful nips for nearly half an hour before Moony's attention began to wander.
In hopes of keeping the werewolf distracted and docile, Padfoot lead the hulking creature out the back doorway and into the Forbidden Forest, where the two ran under the silver light of the All Hallows Eve moon, the heady scents of the wood carried on a sharp, late autumn wind. The sensory overload was nearly too much for Sirius, who had never taken Padfoot out into the open before.
The pack mates ran for hours, until the silver light of the moon faded into the peachy-pink cool of dawn and dew began to settle on the leaves. It took plenty of coercing on Padfoot's part to get Moony back into the Shack, yet merely minutes after settling in at the top of the stairs, the two fell asleep, huddled together on the floor to keep warm.
When Remus awoke, his body ached all over. A thin, dusty yellow light came in through the boarded windows, and it was easy for the teen to quickly recognize where he was, although most of the night before was a silver-tinted blur.
What Remus did remember was that he had left Sirius alone with the Wolf the night before, and the boy quickly rolled over and made to sit up before he noticed that Sirius was laying next to him, partly curled around him, arms thrown haphazard above his head.
Remus held his breath as his heart rocketed into his throat due to shock. He hadn't expected Sirius to be this close. He could smell the sweat emanating off of both their bodies, mixed with the musk of their animal counterparts that was coming from the floor, where their scent had been rubbed in.
Clearly, Sirius had woken up at some point after the werewolf had receded, as he was wearing his pants, although he was still shirtless.
Remus stared in envy at the muscle-padded body of his most sought-after companion, from his nearly six-pack abdominals, to his gently bulging biceps and well-formed pectorals. It made the werewolf hate his own scrawny, boney, scared physique even more. He ran a hand down his own side, pressing against his prominent hip joint and tickling the partially numb flesh of the scars that riddled his bare thighs.
Sirius' skin was tan and lightly freckled, as skin is apt to do when it is exposed to sunlight, pulled taught over his musculature. His face was faintly stubbled with the beginnings of a black goatee that he hadn't shaved in a few days, leading to a warm neck with a fairly prominent Adam's apple, although Remus knew his own to bulge much more unattractively from his skin-and-bones neck. The entirety of Sirius' body was clear of any repellent marks, much unlike Remus'.
Remus' skin was always pale, although it always became worse before, during and shortly after the full moon. The entirety of his body was covered in scars that, even though they were of an ivory shade, managed to stand out against his skin thanks to their strange, dead sheen. Among the scars scattered across his torso – including a horrible five-inch line that ran crossways along his stomach where he nearly disemboweled himself – was a thicker, black bite mark that wrapped around his right hip; it had been the cause of his entire condition, the one scar he refused to touch, or ever reveal to the world.
Without thinking about it, Remus allowed his fingers to dance up Sirius' side, into the crook of his armpit – stilling when the boy moved, most likely because he was ticklish there – and along the inside of his well-muscled arms until he came to the teen's face. Absently, he pushed a few loose strands off Sirius' forehead, running his fingers through the long, silky locks.
Why the hell was Sirius Black wasting time to play Transfiguration with a dangerous, hideous, scrawny, bookworm of a teen? It made sense that he had grown close with James; the two were almost eerily similar, and very dangerous when they got their heads together. But Remus … well… he felt more like a pity case, to be perfectly honest. Otherwise, all he was good for was random fact finding and being a shoulder to cry on, or an ear to whisper in.
A wave of insecurity washed over the already exhausted, pain-wracked boy, making him feel nauseous and utterly alone, until he fell back into the darkness of sleep.
Sirius had woken up halfway through the space of time between moonset and sunrise, waking up to a fully human Remus, who only had one, miniscule cut running the length from behind his ear to the base of his neck. Most of the bleeding appeared to have subsided, but hair and dust had gotten stuck to the bloody slash, and Sirius' conscience hadn't allowed him to just leave it as it was.
Careful not to press against the wound and wake his exhausted charge, Sirius had cautiously run his wand from tip to tip of the gash, watching the marvel of silvery skin threading the bloody scratch closed within seconds.
Once Remus had been taken care of, he had proceeded to pull on his pants and had attempted to pull on his shirt, but had promptly fallen back asleep, much too exhausted from his escapade the night before.
Now, however, when he awoke, he realized that the sun was much too bright, coming from too sharp of an angle.
"Shiste—Remus, wake up!" he exclaimed, leaping to his feet and yanking his arms into the sleeves of his wrinkly white shirt, before he realized there was no point- he had the Cloak; he could walk out stark naked, for Merlin's sake.
"Sirius… Wha's going on?" Remus grumbled; his words muffled by his chin being buried in the crook of his elbow.
"Remus, I've got to get out of here… Pomfrey will be here any minute—"
"Remus, dear! Are you awake?" Came a pleasant, wind-chime voice from somewhere downstairs. Sirius froze, cursing softly under his breath and looking beseechingly towards Remus. He had to say something- the cloak was right in view of the door; there was no way that he could get anywhere near it without Pomfrey spotting him.
"Ah… Yes, Madame Pomfrey, I'm awake!" Remus exclaimed, leaping up and quickly reaching for his underwear and hastily yanking them up, a grimace of pain creasing his face. "But… ah- don't come up yet, please! I'm not quite dressed!"
Sirius felt his face flush warm at Remus' blunt, awkward statement, but was grateful when the other teen slowly closed the door and tossed the Cloak his way.
"So… I'll bring Prongs and Wormtail by the Hospital Wing later, eh, Moony?" Sirius whispered, throwing the Cloak around his shoulders and leaving naught but a disembodied head. Remus looked to go a little green around the gills for a moment before he nodded, sitting himself down on the bed with a tired sigh and a slow stretch.
"Th-thanks for staying with me, Sirius." Remus breathed, running a hand back and forth through his hair and scattering the short strands into a spiky ensemble, smiling winningly.
Sirius felt a pang of guilt that he couldn't be there to escort Remus to the Hospital Wing himself, but it was imperative that no one have even an inkling of what he and his cohorts had done for Remus.
"Of course, Moony." Sirius smiled, throwing the hood up over his head and disappearing.
On his way back to Hogwarts, Sirius took a detour through the basement of Honeydukes, grabbing a large 16oz bar of pure milk chocolate and sliding it under the cover of the Cloak before he began the steep climb back into the corridors of the school.
One back inside Hogwarts, Sirius dashed to get into the common room unnoticed, and managed to be laying sound asleep in his bed when that year's Head Boy came in – looking for Remus, of course – and left.
It had been a trying night, and Sirius would have liked nothing better than to continue lying in this bed of his all day, but he was sweaty and reeked of dog. Before James and Peter could bombard him with questions, Sirius managed to get a stall in the bathroom, toiletries tucked under one arm as he stripped his pants and socks off, tossing them haphazardly by the door. Steam was good for clothing, right?
The night kept playing over in his head- the moonlight, the feel of the chilling autumn wind in Padfoot's fur, feeling the family pull of being part of a pack. The werewolf had been extremely easy to control. Although Sirius was under the impression that the werewolf was dangerous, he couldn't seem to fathom the creature – especially since Remus was his other half – doing something that would hurt others; at least, never on purpose.
Sirius wished that more nights could be like last night; no need for Prongs at all, because the werewolf was so well behaved. Sure, Remus had one little mark—most likely from a rough branch that had been too low on the tree, from how it had looked.
When the water began to run cold, Sirius stepped out from the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist, carrying his toiletries and used clothing back into the dormitory, where Peter and James stood, regarding him anxiously.
"How did it go?" James exclaimed, his eyes sparkling but his mouth set in a more serious expression.
"How many new scars do you have?" Peter asked, his voice low and cautious.
"It went off without a hitch, mates," Sirius purred, depositing his use clothing into a pile at the foot of his bed, grabbing a clean uniform, and closing the curtains around his bed.
"How did you get him to be so good, Pads?" James asked, his voice slightly muffled through the curtain.
"He just was, Prongs." Sirius admitted, shrugging to himself behind the curtain.
"So no new scars?" Peter asked again, sounding nearly disappointed. Sirius again felt the need to growl at the corpulent teen.
"No, Pete, no new scars. On me, anyway-"
"I thought you said it went off without a hitch!" James hissed suddenly. Sirius pulled back the curtain, tying a knot in his tie.
"There are no scars on me, Prongs," Sirius started, blowing a stray strand of hair from his face, "But Remus got a minor cut… most likely from a branch…"
"A BRANCH?" James cried, quickly catching himself and lowering his volume. "You took Moony outside?!" he hissed, his mouth falling slack in shock.
"He barely moved from my side, Prongs!" Sirius explained, raking a hand back through his slightly damp hair. "He was getting bored just romping around indoors… so I figured, you know, moonlit jog in the woods!" He tried to put a joking spin on the last words, but it did nothing to ice down James' fire-hot glare.
"You just figured? Sirius, when will you ever think before you act?" James snapped angrily, raking a hand back through his spiky black hair. "This isn't just some fun weekend trip! Remus is a person, and he –or you—could be killed!"
Sirius glowered at the floor for a moment before he grabbed his shoes and socks, tugging both on haphazardly, tucking his wand into his pocket.
"Yes, well—everything went fine, James." Sirius growled childishly, "But if you'll excuse me, I have to get to class."