Chapter Two

The day after the full, Remus woke in his little bedroom with a dull ache in his head and his skin covered in the usual scratches and wounds. His mother was sitting beside the bed, and she smiled at him and handed him a mug of hot chocolate. He sat up, feeling utterly lousy, but then remembered where he would be this time tomorrow. In Sirius' arms, he hoped.

It took a lot of forced smiles and pretending not to ache all over to get his parents to even consider letting him leave for James' the next day. In the end though, they decided that another day of rest at home was needed, and left Remus alone in his room, fuming. He slept the day away, and then awoke the next morning feeling a lot better. He leapt out of bed, and then had to sit down, wincing at the pain. Maybe he wasn't up to leaping quite yet. He ran a hand through his caramel coloured hair, and picked up his wand. 'Thank Merlin for magic,' he thought, as his trunk proceeded to pack itself.

…

The rain pelted down in a frenzy as he waved goodbye to his parents and watched them drive away, and then dragged his suitcase up James' front path. He knocked on the door and stood back, rain soaking his clothes and plastering his hair to his forehead. The door was thrown open and a tall boy with messy black hair flung himself on top of Remus. He held on as if he would never let go, and after a minute of standing in the rain, with Sirius getting just as wet as Remus had been, Remus spoke.

"Um, Siri, do you think we should probably go inside? We're getting a bit wet."

All he got from Sirius in reply was his lips being captured and kissed mercilessly, while the rain soaked them both through. Then there came an amused voice from the doorway. "You could have at least brought him inside before you ravaged him, Padfoot."

Both boys broke apart and turned to see James leaning on the doorframe, smirking at them. "Good to see you Moony. Maybe now Sirius will be a manageable form of hyper with you around."

"Don't count on it," was Sirius' reply, and he sent a wink at Remus.

James stepped back to let the soaking boys in, and levitated Remus' trunk after them. James' mum bustled out into the hallway when she heard them come in, and she enveloped Remus in a hug.

"Remus, it's been almost a year since we last had you here! Merlin, you're soaked! And you, Sirius! What have you been doing!"

None of the boys thought it appropriate to divulge that information, so they just shifted from one foot to the other and tried to appear innocent.

"Well drying spells will only do so much and, in experience, a hot shower is much more comforting. James will take your trunk, dear, and Sirius, you can have a shower after Remus. Off you go!" She waved them out of the hallway and up the stairs, and called, "I'll have food ready when you come back. Peter is being a dear and helping me make scones."

The three Marauders looked at each other, and burst out laughing at the thought of chubby little Peter in an apron.

James levitated the trunk up the stairs and set it outside a door on the landing.

"You and Sirius are sharing the guest bedroom. Peter's in with me. Sirius insisted," James raised his eyebrows at the two soaking wet boys in front of him, and said, as an afterthought, "Just so you know, my parent's room is on the other side of the wall, so please remember silencing charms…"

With that, he trotted back down the stairs to the kitchen, probably to capture photo evidence of Peter in an apron.

Sirius pushed open the bathroom door and ushered Remus in, then shut it behind them. At Remus' confused face he said with a smirk, "You didn't think I'd let you shower alone, did you?"

He turned on the shower jet then moved toward his boyfriend. His lips caught Remus', and a set of hands turned their attention to the buttons on his shirt. Soon they were standing under the hot stream of water, arms wrapped around each other's naked torsos.

Sirius dropped his gaze down Remus' body, and bit his lip. "I missed you, you know. And I came to the conclusion that I am, in fact, truly madly and deeply in love with you."

Remus looked at the boy standing in front of him, his mind replaying the long awaited words that had just come out of his mouth. They were a tad pushed for space in the shower, and Sirius was staring balefully at him through his dripping fringe. It was not exactly how Remus had pictured the revelation, and he found that he had the unexplainable urge to laugh.

"That wasn't very romantic."

Sirius eyes widened, and he bit his lip again. "Sorry?"

Remus couldn't hold it in anymore. He laughed. His arms went around Sirius' waist, and he held him close. Relief flooded through him that he had no need to be jealous, and that Sirius felt exactly the same way about him, as he did about Sirius.

Through his floods of laughter he choked out, "I'm truly madly deeply in love with you, too."

Sirius' lips met the skin on Remus' shoulder, and he murmured, "I never took you to be one of those people that laugh at people's loving sentiments."

Remus pulled back and smiled, "I never took you to be one of those people that gave loving sentiments."

Their lips met, and Remus' hand dropped to stroke Sirius' length, eliciting a groan from Sirius. Sirius returned the favour, and 2 minutes later his head fell back against the shower wall with a strangled cry of, "Oh god, Rem." Remus fell forward so his head rested on Sirius' shoulder, and they stood like that, letting the water wash over them.

Sirius gently put a hand to Remus' waist and murmured, "They'll start getting suspicious soon."

Remus sighed and righted himself, then turned off the water. Stepping out of the shower into the cool air, Sirius grabbed two towels off the rack and wrapped one around his waist, and the other around Remus' shoulders. Then he leant in and kissed him gently, and summoned their clothes off the floor. They only had to fly about a metre, and Remus gave a snort. "Show off."

"You love it," came the cheeky reply.

Once dressed and warm, they descended the stairs and were hit by the smell of baking as they stepped into the kitchen. The sight that met them was one they would certainly not be letting James forget for a very long time.

Peter was sitting at the kitchen table, holding a scone in each hand and chewing. Mrs Potter was standing by the oven, twisting dials and muttering, "Stupid muggle invention." It was James, however, that caught their attention. He was standing as far from the door as possible, arms crossed over his chest and pouting. And he was wearing an apron. And oven mits. And had a teacloth around his head.

Sirius took one look and burst into floods of uncontrollable laughter. Peter just grinned and continued chewing, and Remus' eyebrows almost shot off the top of his forehead. James grimaced and tried to cover more of himself with his gloved hands, and Mrs Potter turned around and smirked. Looking at her, Remus could see which parent James' had gained the unmistakable expression from.

Mrs Potter crossed the kitchen and picked up a plate off the table. "Scone, Remus? They're just out of the oven. I swear to Merlin if the taste of cooking made in a muggle oven didn't far exceed those cooked by magic, I would have incinerated that oven years ago. I'm sure it hates me."

Sirius was still doubled up laughing, and Remus had to control himself to stop from heading the same way. He politely took a scone from the plate, and said tentatively, "Thanks Mrs Potter. Uh… why is James wearing… looking… uh… why?"

The famous smirk found its way back onto Mrs Potter's face, and she replied airily, "He was teasing Peter for wearing an apron, so I thought he might like to see how it feels. I think he looks rather dashing."

All eyes went to the far corner of the kitchen, and James' face turned from an embarrassed red, to a mortified almost purple. "She's charmed them so I can't take them off. Believe me, I've tried."

Sirius wiggled his eyebrows at him and said, "Oh I don't know James, I'd leave them on. I'm sure Evans would find it very becoming."

If Mrs Potter heard or wondered who 'Evans' was, she didn't say anything, and they all sat down at the table. After a few minutes of watching James struggle to eat with the oven mits on, Mrs Potter took pity on him and removed the charms. James had them off in a heartbeat, and threw the mits, apron and tea towl across the room. "I am so glad I was born a male," was his only comment. The others just laughed.

As they sat talking at the table, the slightly sick feeling was returning to Remus' stomach. James and Sirius would elbow each other at every second word, and stories of their 'adventures' from the past week were brought up at every possible moment. Remus knew it was silly, but he couldn't help but feel a little left out again. When Mrs Potter's back was turned, James whispered to Sirius, "Wanna try for a successful hijack of the neighbour's motorbike again soon?"

Sirius nodded enthusiastically, and then looked at Remus. James then added as an afterthought, "Rem can come too, if he likes." It was nice to be included, but he couldn't help feeling like he'd only be intruding. He looked at the chubby blonde boy sitting across the table from him, happily spreading jam on his fifth scone, and looking quite contentedly oblivious. 'Sometimes I envy Peter,' thought Remus.

AN: Thanks for reading this far :) Next part will be up possibly tomorrow, depends when I next find myself bored or without something productive to do. Although this could be considered a lot more productive than half the stuff I have to do ;) But anyway, reviews are greatly appreciated, and I also hereby dedicate this chapter to Harriet, as she has just discovered that it was me writing these all along. :L Love to all who read and review, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :) Toodles!