A/N: Here's the next one. I own nothing as always. The song quote is from A*Teens "Closer to Perfection". This is being posted in honor of having seen Robert Pattinson in Dallas! He's better in person!
Chapter Six: Closer to Perfection
"I stand in the light of faith, I thank you in so many ways."
Sirius felt the change shift through him slowly. It was a bit like having someone dribble warm water down the back of your neck. He could hear James and Peter laughing behind him and he hoped to Merlin that he wasn't stuck halfway or was some sort of amphibian.
"You're such a dog, Sirius!" Sirius turned to glare at James, but the look only seemed to make them laugh harder.
"No, really, you're a dog. Looks like some sort of Newfoundland." Peter managed to stammer out before dropping to the floor of the Changeling Room.
Sirius twisted back around as a mirror materialized behind him. He admired his shiny new coat and long, lean body. He made a rather lovely canine, if he did say so himself. The only problem was his eyes. They remained the same grey color and it was a shame, because it made him recognizable to anyone who knew him well.
Sirius focused on getting his own body back and felt cold water instead of warm. He looked down at himself, counted his fingers and toes, nodded, and then sneered at the two laughing boys.
"Fine, you do it if you're so wonderful. Let's see what you end up with."
James straightened up and focused on his body bending and molding into his animagus form. Several moments later a large deer stood where his best friend had been. Sirius snorted with laughter. James was a goddamn deer! Only it had really big antlers, maybe it was closer to a moose.
"Yeah, James like being Bambi is much better." Sirius rolled his eyes at the large beast, which stumbled over to him. Sirius regretted not standing up before making his comment. Having a large stag hanging over your head wasn't all that enjoyable.
"How do you know who Bambi is, Sirius? It's a muggle movie." Peter asked. Sirius rolled his eyes in frustration; Peter was so annoying sometimes.
"Bambi Wilkes has a rather frightening obsession with her namesake."
James's laughter filled the room; Sirius jumped, not realizing that the boy had changed back.
"You know, we need nicknames. Peter is Wormtail as decided when he sneezed and changed into his rat form. But we need a nickname for the other, right?"
Peter nodded frantically, trying to get over the embarrassment of only managing the change because of magical influenza. Sirius pondered the antlers for a moment.
"Padfoot is yours, Sirius. Since you have pads on your feet, makes sense, right?" James grinned and Sirius gave a shrug, if could have been worse. They could have named him Blackie or something equally as ridiculous.
"You should be Prongs, James." The two black haired boys stared in bewilderment at Wormtail.
"What kind of name is that?"
"No, no, Sirius, it kind of makes sense. My antlers look a little like giant forks. I like it."
"You do?" Sirius and Peter looked at each other and back at James.
James shrugged at the dual question, "Yeah, it's not like anyone was coming up with a better idea."
Sirius gave one last shrug and transformed back into the newly christened Padfoot, already more comfortable in that form. He didn't want to deal with the human emotions that came with James betraying him.
/page break/
Sirius looked down at the body in his arms. The rips and sores were horrendous, but the worst seemed to be a large gash on the side of his head.
"Poor Remus."
"Yeah, what did he do to deserve this?"
"Don't know, Padfoot, what does anybody do to deserve anything?"
Sirius lay on the cold floor next to Remus's battered body. He saw James sink, boneless, to the floor on the other side of Remus and let himself relax. Staying awake all night, fending off a playful werewolf, really took it out of a person.
He was woken by a drip of water splashing onto his cheek. Remus was awake and crying.
"Remmie, what's wrong?" He brushed a tear off Remus's cheek.
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why would you do something like this?"
"Because we're your friends." James mumbled.
"Yeah." Remus's chin wobbled and Sirius hugged him tightly.
/page break/
"Sirius, are you paying attention to me?"
Remus snapped his fingers in front of the bemused face.
"Remmie, you do realize that you are a very bad liar, correct?"
"I…what?" Sirius laughed at the completely dumbfounded expression on his friends face.
"I know you were nominated as a distraction for my surprise party."
"I don't know what you mean." Sirius marveled at the way Remus's cheeks tinged pink.
"Come on, Remmie. You can't distract or lie worth a damn. I don't know what James was thinking when he picked you. But that's okay, I'm enjoying our walk." Sirius slung his arm around Remus's shoulders.
"Thank you, Pads."
"Do you suppose we should keep walking or go back and surprise them?"
"Aw, they've worked hard, let's let them 'surprise' you."
"Alright."
They spent the next hour and a half walking around the entire lake. They made small talk for a while, but soon fell into a very comfortable silence.
Sirius soon noticed Remus shivering and pulled his scarf off, wrapping it around his friend. Remus protested but Sirius shrugged off his pleas. The full moon was only a week away and Remus didn't need to be sick during the transformation.
Sirius also knew that Remus needed new outerwear; his scarf was missing, his gloves had holes, and his cloak was so threadbare in places it looked like mesh. He knew that Remus's family couldn't afford new things, but he knew that Remus would never accept them from him. So he did what he could for his little friend, trying to keep him from being cold.
"Should we head back to the castle now, they should've finished preparing by now." Remus asked, burrowing into Sirius's still warm scarf.
"Yeah and if they're not then the surprise will be on them!"
"Don't sound so gleeful, you wretched brat." Remus laughed. Sirius punched the thin shoulder in front of him in retaliation. Remus laughed again and took off for the castle with Sirius hot on his heels.
Remus had to slow down when he reached the sixth flight of stairs and groaned when Sirius appeared behind him.
Sirius managed to wrap Remus in a gigantic bear hug and force him to the ground. They giggled helplessly for a moment before resuming their return to Gryffindor at a more sedate pace.
/page break/
Sirius paused, he could see why James was so enamored with Evans, she was evil. Poor Remus, he thought, whatever will he choose?
Seeing those exotic gold eyes resting on him, Sirius raised an eyebrow as if to say 'I dare you'. It wasn't as if he wanted Remus to suffer, but it was amusing to see the straight-laced boy come undone.
In a way it made sense for Remus to choose him. Peter was far too prudish and was, quite plainly, squeamish about any form of homosexuality. James was very in "love" with Evans and didn't want anything to screw that up, not even a prank kiss. It was plain to see however, that Remus was only comfortable to a certain point. He had started to move forward, but had stopped two inches away, as if he were unsure.
Sirius leant forward and pressed his lips against Remus's slightly chapped ones. It was rather nice, he decided. Remus kissed rather well. He didn't know if it was because of Evander Bradshaw or natural ability, but he also didn't really care as long as it didn't stop. Remus pulling away brought Sirius back to reality with an Earth shattering halt. This was his best friend! Remus was practically his little brother! Wanting to kiss him was bloody ridiculous, wasn't it?
As Remus left the room, Sirius's mind ran in circles. What was wrong with him? Why had he let Remus kiss him in the first place? Never mind the fact that Sirius had done the actual kissing of the two, Remus was a natural submissive. Wait, Sirius thought, why was he even thinking about things like that? It wouldn't happen again so things like who was submissive didn't matter, right?
/page break/
Sirius slouched down next to the exhausted werewolf; the transformation had been very taxing this time. The cold weather had finally gotten to Remus; he had been in the infirmary for the last week with a terrible cold. Madame Pomphrey had been worried that it would turn into magical influenza, especially since Peter had just gotten over it.
He grabbed one of the blankets off the bed and pulled it over them. It was really too bad that James and Peter couldn't be there, but Peter had a date (Bullshit, Sirius's brain supplied helpfully) and James had caught Dragon Pox and was currently in isolation. A violent shudder shook his body and he pressed closer to Remus. One good thing about being a werewolf was having a warmer body temperature. Remus always joked that he was better than a hot water bottle.
Remus whimpered and rolled toward him, opening pained eyes. There weren't too many cuts on his body, but Sirius was sure that Remus had some pretty nasty bruises. The most worrying part was that Remus had a very low body temperature.
"Siri, I'm cold."
"I know, Remmie. It snowed last night. Don't worry, the matron will be here soon." Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus. It took a lot to get the boy cold and Sirius wasn't that cold.
"Sirius, you need to go, I can smell her perfume."
"I'm not leaving you." Remus groaned slightly and rested his head on Sirius's chest. Sirius wasn't convinced this was a good thing, but didn't argue.
/page break/
Madame Pomphrey was not amused. She was not at all pleased to find Sirius there, but she didn't seem to realize that he had been there all night. It turned out, however, that Remus had some very intense internal bleeding. Any longer and he might have died Sirius wasn't terribly surprised; he had had to direct Moony away from Hogsmeade rather forcefully last night. It was, however, frightening to think that he had been so close to losing Remus. It put a few things in perspective and his conclusion that he was attracted to Remus in some way was solidified.
Sirius kept waiting to be called to Dumbledore's office. He wasn't sure if Pomphrey had told on him or not, but as time passed he realized that, for whatever reason, she hadn't said anything.
It was nice to know that someone cared enough about Remus to let him have a friend be with him. This advancement was quite clear in Remus; he was more vibrant and happy. It made James and Sirius happy to see Remus so joyful.
Sirius was, however, concerned about the budding crush he had on Remus. He was worried that someone would find out about it and use it against him. His mother would not be amused to find out that her eldest son had homosexual tendencies, especially since said crush was on a half-blood werewolf. Things would not go well for him if the Black family ever found out. But it was so hard to hide it. Every little thing Remus did seemed to affect him. Every little smile or twinkle in his eye. Even watching Remus read made him feel warm and fuzzy inside.
Oh hell, he thought, I'm so screwed.
A/N: There! How's that for a lovely little present. Enjoy!