The past few months had sidled past almost unbeknownst to me. I'd skipped from partner to partner in that time, none lasting more than a week or so, becoming more of a test-your-strength game in a fairground than an actual relationship. After the first few, people learned how I worked, it worked: first to me on Wednesday and it was your turn to play the prince and break, what I considered, the curse Remus had put on me, with whatever means you felt necessary – whether it was being a romantic or a downright whore, I would take it.

Now November was upon us, breathing icy winds, morning grass so crisp from the cold hand of night, childishly wonderful to tread upon, quietly cracking and warming the soul. The snow gathered upon the ground and rose to meet our ankles, dusting the area with a frosty white icing as we sat in a small horse draw carriage and travelled towards the lake. It was the closest I'd been to Remus in months, his head rested on my shoulder as he slept with the comforting shake of the carriage as it tracked through the snow, unintentionally of course – us being back together was merely a distant dream for me – he'd just happened to roll his head toward me in his sleep, the magnificent bastard. It seemed as if he was almost scared of what I would do at night when he was sleeping, nowadays, and therefore taken to closing the curtains around his bed and placing a multiple charms on them so I couldn't get in. Maybe he'd realised my night-time hobby. But the fact that we were now no more than best friends was growing ever more painfully apparent. I burned to affectionately rub my cheek against his head or kiss the top that rested so very close to my face, though Peter and James were staring at me with a look that said 'touch him and he's going to throw you out of the fucking carriage or break your face', creating a see-through barrier between us, so I could merely watch the silver screen roll my favourite film as the specs of white accumulated from the open top, pinking his nose and cheeks with cold in an almost irresistible fashion.

The cart slid beside a set of carriages, all obviously there to take full usage of the ice on the lake while they still could, while others moved towards Hogsmeade with excited 3rd years bouncing around inside – greatly anticipating their second visit to the village. Even after the journey had stopped, Remus didn't stir. I would have moved and let him come crashing down upon the seat, had I been feeling particularly malicious that day. But I decided to wake him up quietly, delicately shaking his shoulders to slowly pull him from his sleep.

"Oi, Rems... you in there? We're here already. You can get up."

He shuffled a bit, nuzzling himself further into me but not waking.

"Oh, c'mon... Moony... for Merlin's sake! Do you intend to torture me like this for any longer?" I heaved, restraining myself as best I could from dragging him into a wild kiss I'd been hoping to give him for almost a year now. "Please, or I'm going to end up doing something to you, leaving yourself so open like this."

As if those were the magic words, his curtains lifted and he snapped back, facing me and giving me a truly reproachful look. "What did you do?"

"No, no, no, nothing at all!" I put my hands up, in almost a surrendering position.

He flicked me another critical look.

"You can ask Prongs and Wormtail if you want." I leapt from the carriage into the snow and turned back to him. "Pick up your skates and be careful on the way down – it's a big drop and you're still a bit sleepy."

"Siiiiiriuuuuuus!" called my current girl, waving from the other side of the pond and skating across to me.

"Ah, Camélia... Wait a sec, I'm gonna put my skates on."

"Help me get down from here." Remus perked from behind, sitting in one of the entrance holes, legs swinging childishly, scarf wrapped half the way up his face, rubbing his hands together to save them from the freezing air. "Please."

"And assist Rems." I called back, facing him and smiling. "So, how do you want to do this?"

"Well, maybe, can I, just, put my hands on your shoulders and..."

I nodded, staring at his groin which was now level with my eyes – I hadn't found myself in this proximity with his crotch in a good while and the mere idea took me off on a bit of a walk around my imagination.

"Ok... don't drop me..."

My mind could not comprehend how lucky I was – being asked to touch him, prop him up, hold his hips as he lowered himself to the floor. I could feel myself drooling inside my mouth, wishing I could just slip my hands up his top, feel him, touch his bare skin, let my fingers bask in the wonder that lay below the layers, but it was all over too soon, his feet on the ground and body free from my grasp.

"Come on, Sirius." Camélia sighed, pulling me onto the ice and as far away from Remus as possible. "I thought you two weren't going out."

"That's because we're not."

"Well it certainly looked like you were. If you're not dating, why did you need to help him?"

"Why not?" I growled at her increasing scepticism. "Just because we're not dating any more doesn't mean he isn't one of my best friends."

"Looks like he's using you to me..." She muttered under her breath.

"What did you just say?"

"Nothing." Came prancing from her mouth, in a little high-pitched tune, before she pulled me into her and nibbled at my ear. "I was thinking... maybe tonight we could... seen as I only have 3 days left – let's make the most of it..."

"Whatever you say, captain!" I fawned.

"I'll go back to my friends then... see you tonight." She winked, locked lips with me for a moment and skated away.

I felt slightly dirty, wrong, as I had at very first, instantly wiping the taste from my mouth and returning to Peter and Remus, who was sliding about like a baby deer. I didn't want to be like this, continue like this, but this part of me needed to be loved, whether or not there was love going back to the initial sender, it was just a compulsion I could not shake.

"Alright, guys? Having fun?" I smirked, skating backwards, trying to talk to them.

"No!" Remus huffed. "These things are going to kill me."

"Never were one for sports, were you?" I laughed, inviting Peter to join in the mock.

"Shut up and – ah – help!" He slipped a little, clutching my upper arms and using me for support.

"There, you're getting the hang of it." I grinned, a while later when we were both working smoothly together, staring at his face in concentration. "Think you can let..." He looked up and into my eyes, dead straight, their vibrant blue glinting, a small smile shining in the depths. It caught me off guard – he hadn't looked at me like that since back when 'Remus and Sirius' was a pair – my heart clenching, skipping a beat. I stopped in my tracks. "...go?"

Before I knew it, he'd tripped over me, sending us both tumbling onto the ice - me on my back, him sitting on top, hands by my shoulders, looking positively stunned. His hair had grown a lot recently, falling out of the messy ponytail he'd taken to tying it in and framing his face perfectly, gathering crystal specs of snow and sparkling in my eyes. He was an angel; he had to be; the light cloud glowing around his head, the perfect little expression he was pulling, halfway between shock and amusement. I didn't want to leave him like this. I wouldn't want to breathe, I wouldn't want to eat, I wouldn't want to drink without knowing he was beside my side. I didn't want to forget.

I sat up a little to look into the eyes that some wonderful celestial being had handed him, remember every lump, bump, crevice they contained, unsure of when the next time I could look at them so closely would come. It felt like I was absorbing him for hours, but what must have only been a couple of seconds to the rest of the world before my heart took over my mind and every feeling I'd had ever since we parted surged to the surface.

"You're beautiful, Remus..." I muttered, caressing one of the largest scars that ran over his features and sweeping a little of his hair to clear his face.

My eyes shut as I leant further up; finely attacking his lips with my own, holding onto is face with one hand, letting the electricity run through my veins, course round my body, like falling in love with him all over again. And for a moment, I'm sure he felt it too, where his lips moved with mine, kissing me back. The soft touch of his mouth, the quaint ripples of his scars as our skin met, melting me with the delicious tasted I'd yearned for throughout the passing months, heart singing, soaring, with every heartbeat, and each of his own, pulsing quietly in his mouth. It didn't last long, but it was there, savoured on my tongue until the next time... if there was a next time.

And then he slowly pulled away from me, carefully getting up and composing himself as if it had never happened.

Camélia was there already, face filled with revolt, glaring at Remus. "You're a disgusting freak! First you turn him into a homo, just like you, and then you dump him as quickly as you got him! And when he's finally getting over you, you pin him to the ground and make out with him before getting up and pretending like nothing happened! There's a circle of hell for people like you!"

"Cammie... leave him alone, please..."

"No! People need to know about monsters like him!"

I scrambled for a moment and rose to my feet. "I SAID LEAVE HIM ALONE! IT WAS ALL MY FAULT, JUST GIVE IT A BREAK!"

"DON'T TRY TO COVER UP FOR HIM! I TOLD YOU HE WAS USING YOU AND YOU HAVEN'T EVEN NOTICED IT!"

"YOU SAID YOU ONLY HAD 3 DAYS LEFT, GET ANY MORE PISSY WITH ME AND IT'LL BE NIL!" I bellowed as my last retort.

She slid across the ice towards me and slapped me hard around the face, eyes smouldering. "Yeah, there is a circle of hell for people like him... And you're in it!"

The crowd that had gathered around the commotion steadily dispersed as familiar had pressing almost comfortingly against my back.

"You shouldn't have done that..." James heaved.

"Which one?"

"Either. Don't be surprised if we find Remus hanging from the rafters when we get back to dorm."