Alright, I finally get this up. For the longest time I couldn't figure out how I wanted to do the ending, so it's been sitting around my comp for a while. Written for Matti and Jeremy, both in apologies for my absentness and in thanks for introducing me to the oh-so-wonderful pairing of Sirius/Remus. grin So, obviously, this is S/R, and also my first try with the HP fandom. Concidering this is crap, compared to the other stuff I've done lately, it's not the best foot forward, but whatever. Gotta start somewhere, and I don't care about this fandom much. Though I've read all the books, numerious times. Title borrowed from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, I hope I'm not infriging there. Fluff ahoy.

Disclaimer: Neither the Harry Potter charectors (owned by J.K.Rowling) nor the title As You Like It (whomever owns Shakespeare's copywrites), however the story is all my own making. Not responsible for anyone who reads further and then is upset by the homosexual content. Boo to you.

As You Like It

by

Red

It's a peaceful, warm summer day. The clouds are floating lazily across the sky, mirroring the students below them and the giant squid floating at the top of the water to catch the sun's rays. I have my robes' sleeves rolled up to my elbows and my tie pulled loose to allow fresh air to reach my neck.

Only two more exams to go, and only a few more days at school. It's always sad leaving school. It's been so much of a home for me, with all my friends around. Even the inevitable homework and the insane teachers going into overdrive for our OWL year, it's all still worth it.

Of course, over the summer I'll be spending a lot of my time with James, Peter and Sirius.

Sirius will be at Jim's place; after that argument at Christmas Sirius hadn't gone home except occasionally sneaking in by Floo to get some new clothes and things.

Peter will be at home, but his parents will probably let him spend a lot of his time at James' place, and of course I'd go too. I guess our parents must have resigned to the fact that we weren't going to spend more than a few days apart all summer.

I sighed and folded my ankles as I leant back against my favourite tree. A shadow approaches; the figure is all dark, standing in front of the sun, but I know who they are by their build, by their movements, by their presence.

He makes a sort of decided fall, thumping to the ground beside me. He is always careless like that, never minding the brief moment of pain. He moves on, lives for the next moment. I never get hurt like he does; I fear pain more than anything else.

"Remus..."

I smile at my name rolling off his tongue, falling from his lips. So practiced, so natural. Has no one ever said that everything sounds better coming from a lover? It is certainly true, in my experience.

"If you were to be reincarnated after you died, what would you like to come back as?" I ask on whim, watching as the cooling wind blows grey-water clouds towards us.

"Stupid question, Moonie," he murmurs, leaning over to nuzzle me a bit.

"Of course," I sigh, leaning towards his eternal warmth. "A nice, big, black, purebred dog, who'd much rather be a mongrel." The metaphor grows on me.

"Mmmmmm..." the chuckling rumble of his voice near my ear and the puff of air that accompanies it sends my heart fluttering. The brushing of his skin against mine forces me to close my eyes briefly and take a deep breath of the near-summer air. My body needs no order to move closer to its partner, and I feel enveloped, in every possible way, locked in his arms.

I remember at first, being so tense whenever I felt a piece of his body against mine, my heart racing. I don't know when it changed from a natural shyness of touch, to a crush's unease, to a lover's comfort, but the journey definitely made this destination worthwhile.

"Rain..." the breath that let that word out made a few strands of my brown hair blow outwards from his face where it pressed beside mine. In my preoccupation with the warm feeling inside of me, and the warm body that had manovered so it could rest almost behind me, I had not noticed the cooling of the air around me, and the movement of all the other students towards the castle.

A drop fell, and then another, pattering against the leaves above only to drip down slowly and land on my lap.

"We should go inside..." I murmur, carefully trying to extract myself from the embrace without stepping on anything not belonging to me. With a grunt, Sirius caught me about the waist and I am in front of him again, but this time staring him in the face. I feel the blush worm its way onto my face as I see the emotions riddling his beautiful, deep eyes.

He's so possessive.

Oh...

The flavour rushes through me, filling the crevasses and holes. I am squeezed hard, pulled tight against him by his firm, guiding hands. I know where mine are; touching, touching his face, as the muscles in his jaw move, producing these exquisite feelings against my lips and tongue.

"LOVEBIRDS! MOONY! PADFOOT!"

We are startled out of our revere, where we probably would have stayed until we were both satisfied. Like the end of the world.

"Um..." I bite my lip, glancing from him in front of me, to where the shouting was coming from. Obviously James, in the front hallway.

"SUPPER'S STARTING YOU DAFT GOATS! GET UP HERE; WE'RE NOT SAVING ANYTHING FOR YOU!"

Sirius grinned and levered himself up, pulling me with him. "Let's go. 'Ole Prongs sounds a bit jealous."

Catching my hand, I didn't even have time to pull my cloak on properly before he was running, laughing, and dragging me behind him through the heavy rain. I can't help but laugh when we reach the safety of the doors, watching him shake himself like a dog, spraying everything with water. We walk behind the rest of the crowd towards the dining hall, and he's still holding my hand, and a smile still gracing his handsome face as if he loved everything he saw, though he assures me that he loves me most of all.

I squeeze his hand as we're about to enter the hall and he gets the message, stopping for a moment.

"I love you," I say quickly, willing him with my eyes to understand the depth of emotions trying to be conveyed in those words. He just smiled, and I knew he understood, at least a little bit. I smile back, letting myself relax. We stepped into the loud dining hall, and made our way over to where James had indeed held us seats, at the end of the table.

I am surrounded by exuberance. Must slap and shake away Sirius' wandering hands under the table while eating and maintaining conversation with James and Peter. Otherwise, if they realize what's going on around them I will never hear end to the teasing. As if there was no teasing anyways.

I am full after another excellent meal I lean back to look at the sky. The clouds still show rain, though the brisk wind is blowing them away from us even now. Then I catch sight of the moon, waxing, as it appears mistily through a haze of cloud before disappearing. Almost full. Perhaps only a few more days. I sigh and rest my head on my hand, gazing into nothing, feeling the phantom shocks of pain that fill my body whenever I remember those monthly nights. As if someone was grasping hold of the different parts of my body and forcing them to go in the direction they want them to, never minding whether the bones were meant to go in that way at all.

"Hey, Moony, you're lookin pretty dazed. Dreamin about Padfoot again?"

I snapped my vision back on my attacker, James, and laugh along with them, playing along to the joke. They never like it when I get serious about my...problem. It makes them uneasy. It seems they have to joke around about it to make it feel less real, less scary. I don't mind. It helps me think less of it when they're around.

Even though I had been planning on having a good sleep tonight, to make up for what I'll be missing soon, Sirius found his way into my bed. We're just lying together now, he on his side beside me, gently stroking my skin, making me shiver. He leans in for a kiss, but I hear the hangings rattle and pull away.

"What?" he grumbles.

"I think someone's trying to get in..." I whisper.

"You don't have to whisper I put that silencing charm on it, right?"

I nod. I had helped. He kisses my shoulder and I sigh; my eyes are heavy. It must be late...

"Boys, I would like to speak to you," Professor Dumbledore drifts up to cut us off from breakfast. I stop to wait for James and Sirius, the inevitable pranksters.

"No, no, Potter, you can go down to breakfast. I just want to speak with Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin."

I start. Since when have I gotten in trouble? But I follow him, casting a confused glance to Sirius behind the professor's back. He just shrugs, and discreetly reaches out under his cloak to touch my hand before we reach the heavy wooden door that opens the way to Dumbledore's classroom.

He sits down in front of us, and waves us into two straight-backed chairs that have materialized in front of his desk. We wait silently for some hint as to our wrongdoing.

"Last night I was doing a bed-check," he started, and a blush heats my cheeks. He couldn't know, could he?

"I was surprised to find a rather unusual, but effective, locking charm on your bed, Remus. When I had dismissed that, I found a rather persistent silencing charm placed on your draperies as well. I can only wonder how such charms could make their way onto a bed."

His eyes twinkle as he looks at me with those piercing blue eyes. I could tell there was a smile threatening to spread across his face, but he had it quite in check.

"Now, Mr. Black, you know that there is a rule against boys going into the girls dormitories, and vice versa, so I must warn you that no clandestine activities will be permitted at night in either dormitories."

I swallow a smile at that warning, and looked at my smirking partner out of the corner of my eye. I honestly don't think that will stop us from finding some way to be together. After all, he just said in the dormitories. He never said anything about being against our relationship in general.

He dismisses us with a wave of his hand and we exit his classroom as quickly as possible, heading for the dining hall in silence. But the look that Sirius gives me as we step inside reinforces my belief that Sirius Black was not going to be denied something he wanted by a simple school rule, and I would be all too happy to oblige his desires.

Please review, though I am aware of the lack of plotness and over-fuzzy nature of this fic. Apologies for any spelling or grammar mistakes.