Remus sighed as he sank down into his usual seat at the Ravenclaw table. Celia shot him a commiserating look before turning to continue her conversation with her other Ravenclaw friends. Remus ran a hand through his tawny hair, leaving it looking slightly more ruffled than before. Unnoticed by him, a pair of hungry aquamarine eyes was fixed on his disheveled state, looking away before the 'looking' turned into 'staring blatantly'.
Remus stared at the table, his thoughts obviously elsewhere. His mind was wandering away to the time after Sirius had kissed him on the cheek.
Flashback
In a daze, Remus walked down the halls to the Charms classroom. He kept recalling the feeling of the smooth, soft lips pressing against his cheek. His cheeks had reddened almost immediately, and the cool lips drew away, leaving a distinct feeling of loss within Remus' being, which he had squashed.
Remus was pulled out of his daze when a boy approached him in the corridor.
'Hi. Remus, right?' the boy politely inquired.
Remus nodded, quickly assessing the boy. He was about his height, give or take a few inches. Honey-blond hair fell over his forehead, partially covering intense grey eyes. He was rather attractive, Remus noted, for a boy, however, his mine was firmly on the blue-eyed Gryffindor.
'I'm Patrick Diggory. From Ravenclaw too. Are you going to Charms?' At Remus' nod, he continued. 'I'll help you find your way. I'm going there too.' He started looking nervous. 'You don't mind do you? If you want, I can just back off.'
Remus shook his head, half-smiling. 'No, it's alright.' He reassured. 'That's very kind of you. I'm sure I wouldn't know how to find my way through this big castle.'
Patrick looked relieved, and motioned Remus to follow him.
'So… how do you like Hogwarts so far?'
The two continued down the hallway, and by the time they reached Professor Fltiwick's classroom, Remus felt at ease with Patrick. Patrick was really hilarious, and he made up wild jokes just to make Remus laugh, and Remus did laugh, at the sheer absurdness of it all. Remus counted himself lucky; to have made such good friends in Hogwarts within the short period of time he had been here. In fact, countless sleepless nights had been spent at home, wondering whether this school was going to be different, whether they students would laugh and make fun at his expense like in previous schools..
He had a feeling that Celia and Patrick were going to make great friends, and he had high hopes for Sirius to become more than that.
All that changed though, when he walked into the classroom. Sitting next to Patrick near the middle of the class, he watched Sirius and James walk in from the door, with Peter tagging slightly behind the two. Sirius' eyes darkened at the sight of Remus, and the black-haired wizard simply stalked past Remus' desk before slouching into the seat a little ways back from Remus' one without even acknowledging Remus' presence.
Remus sat in shock for a while. What had just happened? He thought they were getting along fine before this! Was Sirius deliberately snubbing him? Throughout the lesson, Remus could not concentrate on a single thing the tiny Professor squeaked out. His mind kept going round in a whirl, a maelstrom of thoughts, all leading back to one question. Why was Sirius so angry with him? For when Remus' eyes had connected with Sirius for that brief moment, he swore he could see the blood boiling in his eyes. The calm blue that his eyes normally were had turned into a raging ocean, churning with anger. Remus had felt a shiver go down his spine at that very moment.
With his mind in a twist, Remus could hardly concentrate on the usually routine task of trying to get a dove to dance on the table-top. His head was also on full-alert. The raw, unbridled gaze of Sirius was concentrated solely on his head, and Remus could feel it. Waves of fury were practically rolling off the frame of Sirius which Remus could sense clearly, due to his hypersensitive werewolf instincts. Remus didn't even dare turn around to face Sirius. Already, his head seemed on fire under Sirius' wrath. Who knew what could happen if he turned around? Most likely he would be blinded for life, and have flames bursting out of his eyeballs. Remus shuddered. That was not a pretty thought to have.
Remus felt Patrick leaning in. 'What's wrong?' Patrick whispered. 'I thought you were a whiz at this. Did you lie to me?' A tone of slight amusement had crept into his voice, and Remus couldn't help but smile. 'No,' Remus replied, turning his face towards Patrick's, so they were merely a few inches apart. Distractedly, Remus felt the flames at his head up a few notches. 'You merely assumed I was after gazing at the wise countenance of myself.' Patrick snorted at this, and turned back to his work. 'Get a move on, oh Mighty One. Amaze me with your impeccable wit and intellignece by actually managing to make your dove dance!
Remus growled in frustration. He didn't know what the hell was wrong with Sirius! Remus wondered vaguely with a little apprehension whether he had unwittingly committed some kind of faux pas in dating. After all, Sirius was the first person that he had a little interaction with beyond the friendliness of other relationships. In fact, Remus had to admit that Sirius kissing him on the cheek was the farthest he had ever gone with anyone. All his relationships thus far had been practically non-existent. Remus was by nature shy and reclusive, and he would never dare make the first move for fear of rejection. He had vowed to make a new start at this new school, but already Remus could feel the familiar feelings of dread of rejection creeping up on him.
Remus shook his head mournfully, attracting the gaze of some females, who ooh-ed dreamily at the forlorn look on Remus' face, which almost immediately drew out all the maternal instincts in the women.
Sirius, eyes blazing, nostrils flaring, drove a knife right down the middle of his chicken, wishing heartily that he had a good knowledge of voodoo, so that this chicken could translate to a certain other person. Unfortunately, he had skipped the 'how to torture enemies through lifeless objects' class in favour of 'how to make numerous girls (or boys) fall at your feet begging for you.'
At the sight of the irate Sirius, Peter squeaked, and moved as far away as possible, without falling off his seat. A murderous Sirius was not a thing to be scoffed at. In fact, it was a thing that would make you run screaming out of the bathroom starkers rather than face him.
James, however, was completely oblivious to his friend's intentions. His eyes were glued onto Lily, and his lips were moving with the silent prayer that she would look his way, after which he would immediately rumple his hair. Yes, James was indeed an obsessive fool in love.
Sirius chewed viciously on his poultry. It just made his head pound, seeing that Diggory, he practically spat out the word in his mind, sitting next to his Remus, whispering in his Remus' ears, no doubt trying to steal Remus right away from him!
Patrick was no better than his older brother, Sirius thought. Patrick's brother, Amos, had actually been seeing the girl Sirius was dating at that time behind his back! The fact that Sirius' main point of dating the girl to get closer to her best friend was not relevant anyway. That Diggory had actually dared steal a girl out from under his nose! His whole family was scum, Sirius growled. Filthy, stealing scum.
Remus looked up. Sirius was staring at him. Again! It really made him nervous, and he could hardly do anything right today, with that burning glare directed at him today. He really wished Sirius would stop it, but it didn't look as if Sirius' glare was showing any signs of stopping.
Remus sighed, before deciding to pull Sirius aside and speak to him after dinner.
Five o'clock found James and Sirius sprawled on their beds, both having decided to skip Divination. The Divination teacher, Ms Fanley, was a real old croak. Her predictions were nothing short of absurd, with already more than half the class predicted to die before their fifth year, which had passed a year ago.
James had just finished listening to Sirius rant on about Patrick Diggory.
'And Remus actually sat next to him! What is Remus' problem? Was he trying to make me jealous or something? Because, it isn't working!'
James said. 'Well, obviously it is! Look, you're all so worked up now because Remus sat, I repeat sat next to another guy! Isn't he allowed to do that? You didn't even get so worked up when Amos took Alice away from you! And you dated her for three weeks, the longest record for you!'
Sirius gaped for about a minute, before James threw a pillow at his head.
'But still. Diggory, of all people!' Sirius' protests had died down to a barely-heard mutter.
James sighed for about the fifth time in five minutes, he thought wryly. 'Look, I'll tell you what I think. From what I saw of Remus today,-'
'You mean you actually took your eyes off Lily?'
'-He doesn't look the sort to try and make people jealous. In fact, I doubt he even had a real relationship before. Did you notice all the people staring at him? I doubt Remus even realized it! He's just way too innocent to recognize signs like this. And he probably doesn't even know why you're mad at him.'
Sirius mulled over James' words for a while. 'Oh, alright.' He conceded reluctantly. 'So, it means I have to apologise now huh?'
'Yeah, I think you should.'
'Okay! Great! I'll make up with Remus after dinner, and then we can kiss and make up! Yeah!' Sirius looked distinctly happier.
James breathed out a sigh of relief. 'Great. Now that the great Sirius Black is happy, can he attempt to help me with getting Lily to notice me?'
After dinner, Sirius set off on his way to the Ravenclaw Common Room, intent on finding Remus. However, he didn't expect to be pulled into a dark alcove. Blinking his eyes, Sirius readied himself to punch a Severus Snape, or any of the Slytherin goons. To his surprise, Sirius found himself facing the level eyes of one Remus Lupin. Then, he noticed the closeness of Remus and him. The alcove was only just big enough to accommodate both of them, and Sirius could feel the fabric of Remus' robes brushing against his with every breath he took.
Remus took a deep breath before addressing Sirius.
'Sirius, why are you so angry with me?' He twisted a part of his robes nervously, not daring to meet Sirius' eyes. 'I'm sorry if I unintentionally made you angry, but I really don't know what I did. I-'
Sirius cut him off.
'No, it's my fault. I mistakenly got jealous over something unimportant. I'm sorry.' It took a lot out of Sirius to apologise. Blacks had been raised to never admit weaknesses, and apologizing was a sign of weakness.
Remus let out a sigh of relief. He had been desperately afraid that Sirius would reject him, like so many others had. Feeling a hand on his chin, he lifted it up to meet Sirius' eyes. He let out a soft gasp when their eyes connected, and only then did he notice how near they were to each other.
Sirius tucked a lock of stray hair falling into Remus' eyes behind Remus' ears. He then asked Remus, in a voice so low it could almost have been a whisper.
'Remus. Have you…ever kissed anyone before?'
Remus blushed at the question, and tried to duck his head again, but the hand on his chin wouldn't' let him.
'No.' He admitted softly, and was rewarded with the small smile Sirius gave him.
'May I … may I be your first?' Sirius whispered, and when he received a small nod in return, he tilted Remus' head slightly upwards to Sirius' taller frame. Meeting Remus' lips was heavenly. Remus' lips were so soft; Sirius didn't know what to do at first. He was just locked in a kiss with Remus, and enjoying it immensely. Then, Remus moved his lips tentatively, and Sirius took control of the kiss again, moving his, and letting out his tongue to lick at Remus' closed lips again. Then, letting out a soft sigh, he withdrew, meeting Remus' glazed eyes.
'Did I meet what you thought your first kiss would be like?' Sirius inquired gently.
'More than what I expected.' Remus breathed, before locking his hands behind Sirius' neck, and pulling him in for another.
This time, Remus' lips parted when Sirius licked at his, and Sirius took his time in exploring Remus' mouth. Remus' tongue also explored Sirius' albeit tentatively, and sensation made Sirius feel more alive than anything he had ever experienced in his life. None of the kisses he had ever given, or received, had invoked such feelings within him. Pulling apart to let Remus breathe, to which Remus whined deeply in protest, Sirius rested his forehead against Remus'.
After both of them had caught their breath back, and were just standing, Remus' arms around Sirius' neck, and Sirius' arms around Remus' waist, Sirius pulled Remus closer.
Remus looked up, and this time met Sirius eyes burning, not with anger, but with the fire of passion.
'Remus.' Sirius asked in a whisper. 'Will you be mine?'
Meeting Sirius' eyes, Remus answered with all he had. 'Yes.'
Sirius' eyes brightened considerably, until Remus was certain that he was looking into oceans with the sunlight playing with the waves. A dazzling smile crossed Sirius' lips, and he pulled Remus in for another kiss.
A/N: Well, phew. There's the longest chapter I have written to date, and well, most of it was the ramblings of the upper part of it. I hope y'all like it. My chapters are getting longer and longer! Urgh. I really hope I can cope. Well, Review!
So, with my life right now…I got back all my results! Wasn't as great as I thought it would be. Normally its my humanities that pull me up. B for Literature is really bumming me out, and the B for History really horrified me. I never got less than an A for History before in my whole life. Geography disappointed with an A2. Surprisingly, my Sciences were the ones that pulled me up. I never thought of myself as a Science person though. Argh! And we have to choose our subject combinations next week! Hope i can be eligible for the 9 subjects combo. My average is hovering at 70 point something..which is really cutting it too close to the cut off point of 70 to feel stable. I really need some advice. Triple Sciences(Physics, Biology, Chemistry), or Triple Humanities(Geography, History, Literature)? Anyone who has sat through the O'levels have any tips? Both have disadvantages. the concepts of Science will be hell on my existing brain cells, but the Humanities will just KILL my hands.
I might not be able to update in a week's time anymore, seeing as how though my school does end in a week's time, my training also starts intensively too. Tournament is coming in two months time! I'll try my best though. I already have a picture in my mind of how this story will end, though it's filling in the middle part that gives me the problem.
And thank you for all the reviews! Really is so exciting to see all those reviews and hits to this story! Thank you all new reviewers, and old ones who have stuck with me!