Remus
wasn't exactly a fan of The Velvet Underground. He just didn't buy
into the depth of a song about "shiny boots of leather,"
drugs or no drugs. Sirius, however, soaked it up like stolen liquor.
"Merlin, Remus, you're so bloody prosaic!" he'd insist
while emphatically waving his cigarette around. Remus simply ignored
him, instead musing on how only a seventeen-year-old like Sirius
could use the word "prosaic" and make it sound natural.
Perhaps it was one of the few benefits of his pureblood upbringing.
Sirius was really only good at pretending he understood what it all
meant, anyway. He doubted the wizard-raised boy even knew what heroin
actually was.
Still, despite the teasing and the fake
bohemian nonchalance, Remus adored his mornings with Sirius,
listening to deep music while Peter slept and James went out to the
pitch for an early practice.
It was on such a morning, as
Nico's drawling, deep voice vibrated under Remus's ear, and they were
both sprawled out in a blanket on one of the many balconies of the
castle that Remus marveled at the easy happiness that came with
listening to Sirius speak.
Tha taller boy had just finished
another long tangent on the hidden joys of Lou Reed's music.
"Y'know
Moony," he mumbled around his fag, "you just have to close
your eyes and listen, but, y'know, not listen. Just keep your eyes
closed and you can feel it. Without listening, y'know?"
Sirius
glanced over at him.
"Mm."
Remus did not
know, but he dutifully closed his eyes and reveled in the softness of
Sirius's hair on his arm. A settled silence had fallen on them like a
net and Remus half-smiled up at the pink in the sky in giddy
appreciation for it. It was chilly in the mornings, and the trees
above them would sometimes shake stale rain on their faces, but it
was also perfect. So, so perfect.
Heroin started up, a pretty
intro of guitar and violin. Sirius had stubbed out his cigarette near
Remus's forehead.
"Sirius, that's going to catch the
blanket..."
He stopped abruptly, because Sirius was just
staring at him with that intense, 'I'm about to do something reckless
and completely nonsensical' look in his eyes.
"What?"
And
Sirius leaned over and kissed him soundly on the lips. It was a long
kiss, clumsy, with clacking teeth and bumping noses and knocking
cheek bones, Lou Reed's voice was getting louder and the drum was
speeding up it's staccato, uneven rhythm, and Sirius's hair was
tickling his chin, and Sirius's hand was on his neck, and Remus
closed his eyes and just /felt everything,/ and there was a silly
laugh in the music. Remus was giggling too, feeling Sirius smile
around his tongue, and his lower lip was smacking and wet, and his
body was getting warm, and suddenly the agonized, ripping chords of
the strings died off and just as abruptly, so did the kiss.
The
record clicked, fuzzed, and started over as they stared at each
other. Then Remus said, "Oh."
Sirius grinned, popped
a cigarette in his mouth, and said, "Exactly."
Remus
went back to staring at the sky as Sirius started up talking again.
He closed his eyes, listened without really listening, and smiled.