AUTHOR: Carmilla
EMAIL: [email protected]
RATING: PG-13
FANDOM: Harry Potter
SUMMARY: Romance between Sirius Black and Remus Lupin post-PoA
FEEDBACK: Always appreciated. Even if it's just 'Hurry up with the next part, you bitch!'
DISTRIBUTION: My site, Starfall, FanFiction, and anywhere else I send it. If you want it, just email me.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, so there's nothing worth suing me for.
DEDICATION: For my newfound friend, Black Beyond, who has comforted me during my writer's black and encouraged me to keep at it. Hope this lives up to expectations ;)
Callused hands caressed him, knowing exactly where to touch, where to tease, to stroke; knowing him better that he thought possible. A black-haired head joined the hands, trailing across his chest, spiralling slowly downwards, softly calling his name -
"Remus....Remus, wake up!" Slowly, Remus opened his eyes, to find Sirius leaning over him, hair tousled from sleep, a hand shaking his shoulder gently.
"Time for our late night raid," said Sirius. "You know, the one you refused to let me go on unaccompanied?" he added with a grin, as Remus blinked owlishly and tried to focus on his surroundings.
"Yeah, of course.....just give me a minute to get dressed," yawned Remus, still trying to drag himself from the hazy dreamworld he was rather reluctant to leave.
As soon as they were both up and dressed, they went outside, Sirius placing a 'Nothing Here' charm on the hut.
"It's a much less sophisticated version of the one in Diagon Alley," Sirius explained as he finished. "Too weak to be noticed by wizarding folk, but just enough to distract any curious locals from exploring further."
"You've an excellent memory," Remus remarked. "You seem to recall much more of our schoolwork than I do."
"Come of having fewer memories between times to clutter it up," Sirius said, attempting a flippant grin and not entirely succeeding. Remus, couldn't think of an answer which wouldn't he hurtful, offensive or just plain silly, so he did the next best thing; he laid a comforting arm on his friend's shoulder and smiled gently. He was rewarded by a grateful, affectionate look from Sirius before he turned away to untether Buckbeak. The hippogriff stretched lazily, rather like a cat. Sirius made a bow, as did Remus, and Buckbeak stooped in return. Sirius mounted with practised ease, and gestured to his friend to follow him. But Remus seemed to hesitate.
"What are you waiting for?" Sirius called down.
"I've never ridden an animal bigger than a Shetland pony, and that scared me," confessed Remus, wryly. "Broomsticks are all very well, but I'm not at all sure I want to get up there."
"Well, if you prefer to go back to bed after all, then go ahead. I'll be back before you know it."
That did it. Remus bit his lip, and gingerly pulled himself on to the kneeling hippogriff.
"Too stubborn for his own good, that's my Moony," teased Sirius, relishing having the upper hand for a change. "you ready to fly? Takeoffs are usually a bit bumpy, so you might want to hang on to my waist. I promise, once we get up there, you'll really enjoy it."
Remus did as he was instructed. The closeness of his new position, combined with the jumbled memories of his dream, were doing nothing for his mental state. Fighting several conflicting urges, he had to keep reminding himself that, in the waking world, Sirius was not his lover.
Putting Remus' slight increase in breathing down to nerves, Sirius dug his heels lightly into Buckbeak's back, and the hippogriff stirred his great wings and took flight. Remus felt his stomach turn over at the sudden, rather jerky movement upwards, and screwed his eyes tight shut. However, after a minute or so, the tempo evened out, and he risked a peak at the world around him. It nearly took his breath away. The landscape below was carpeted in moonlight, which glinted off patches of water and gave the moonlight a pale, unearthly glow. The village near one of its edges showed up as a cluster of flickering lights, and shadows from the clouds above chased each other across the ground. Buckbeak beat his wings leisurely, keeping them gliding at a slow, steady pace.
Hearing Remus' involuntary gasp, Sirius grinned to himself. "Quite something, isn't it?" he said. "The best thing about flying this way is you get to admire the view."
"It's beautiful," Remus whispered, almost reverently. "Like something about of a painting, or a fairytale."
"Yeah," said Sirius. After a brief pause, he added, "Thank you."
"For what?" asked Remus, surprised.
"Being here, I guess. This kind of beauty is best if you can share it with someone..........do you know what I mean?"
"Of course. Thanks for......well, for sharing it with me."
"Well, Buckbeak here doesn't really respond to these things the way you do," said Sirius, once again lightening the mood before things grew too deep. He knew that, if Remus stayed with him, then sooner or later they would have to talk seriously. They couldn't allow all the events of the past fifteen years to hand between them unsaid, it would be ridiculous. Better to confront the issues than to continually second-guess each other on them. But right now he was happy relaxing in his freind's company, and he wanted to prolong that happiness while he could.
Remus knew his friend's teasing for what it was, and didn't take it amiss. From his schooldays onwards, Sirius had laughed off any kind of meaningful talk. Remus, a very solemn child, had been offended by this at first. However, as he matured, he came to realise that this was just his friend's way of dealing with things that made him uncomfortable. Although he personally preferred those kind of things in depth, he understood Sirius' methods and respected them. Knowing his friend needed it at the moment, he kept up the light-hearted banter.
"Oh, I don't know," he said airily. "Look at him. He appreciates this as much as we do. I know an artistic soul when I see one, you know."
Sirius grinned, and decided to push his friend a little.
"You? You know nothing about art, never have done. Your taste is far too conventional, my boy. Look at poor Buckbeak, he's all offended. He doesn't want to be called artistic by someone with your view on the subject."
"Oh, and I suppose yours are better, are they?" said Remus, sniffily. It was a struggle to keep the offended tone in his voice, though, when he wanted to burst out laughing and hug his friend tightly. "You, with all your modernist learnings? Swirling colours that scream when you approach them, and sculptures that attack each other on sight? That's not art, that's chaos!"
It was a well-trodden debate between them, and it felt good to revoice the old arguments. The pair continued to torment each other happily until they reached Sirius' 'scavenging ground', as he liked to call it. Unfortunately, by this time the moon had disappeared behind the clouds, and because they didn't wan to attract unwelcome attention, they were somewhat at a loss as to how to see. Remus came up with a solution; a spell that imitated moonlight, providing them with enough illumination.
"Neat little trick, that," said Sirius appreciatively as he began to gather corn, herbs and other necessaries from the village's fields. Remus had been dubious about this at first, but Sirius had told him that he had placed plenty of growing spells on the crops, along with charms to keep away pest and attract good weather, and was merely collecting an appropriate fee. Knowing that Sirius had no other easy means of getting food, Remus agreed that this wasn't morally wrong.
"I'll teach you it sometime," he said, "in return for that cookery spell of yours."
"Done," said Sirius.
**********
Sometime later, laden with supplies, they began to fly home. Remus was surprised at how quickly the hut had become that to him. He was adrift in happy dreams of a cosily domestic life with Sirius, who was also silent, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. The moon had appeared again, softened by a thin mist, bathing the sleeping land in a silvery glow."A night for lovers, huh?"
"What?" said Remus, startled out of his reveries. Sirius couldn't read minds as well, surely.
"I just meant, you know, the pale moon, the quiet country landscape, the occasional nightbird's song..........every cliché present and correct."
"Yeah, I guess," said Remus, as casually as he could whilst still trying to will his heart back to its normal rate.
"I've been meaning to ask you, actually. Have you got a lover? Or a ladyfriend, or whatever you want to call it? Because if you have, I wouldn't want to get in the way -"
"No, no, there's no-one," Remus interrupted hastily. "Or at least, I'm not dating anyone."
If Sirius saw the distinction between the two, he gave no sign of it. They flew on in comfortable silence, until they reached the hut. As they descended, Remus thought he saw a shape flutter away from the roof, but it was gone before he was sure it had been there in the first place. They landed with a bump, and Sirius jumped off, before offering a hand to Remus. He grasped it, swung one leg over, and slid down the hippogriff's back.
"There now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" asked Sirius, leading Buckbeak to his pen.
"Was what?"
"Flying, of course, Mr. I-only-ride-Shetland-ponies."
"No, it wasn't bad at all. It was........wonderful."
"Come inside, said Sirius, gesturing to the hut door. "It's getting late."
**********
Having been woken the first time, Remus was finding it difficult to get to sleep again. Instead, he was watching his friend, sprawled on one side, mouth half-open. He watched the chest rising and falling in slow, rhythmical movements, and noticed how the worry-lines on the face eased away with sleep. He watched the tiny, restless shiftings of the limbs, and the twitching fingers closing and relaxing on the blanket. He paid rapt attention, wanting to memorise every detail of this scene and store it up, in case they were ever parted again. And that was how he heard the tiny sound his friend made."Remus," Sirius moaned, softly.
END OF PART THREE
To be continued........NOTES: Sorry it took so long, folks, I had a nasty bout with writer's block and a mountain of schoolwork to overcome. Hopefully the next part won't be so long coming. Apologies for leaving you hanging like that. Forgive me?
