Chapter 4
Title: Moonstruck
Pairing: Sirius/Remus
In which gifts are exchanged and Sirius makes a discovery.
Chapter 4
A few weeks after the victory in the Great Hall, Sirius managed to convince the Heads of the Houses to allow students to enter other dorms' common rooms. The conditions were that they must be accompanied by a student from that dorm, must not be informed of the password, and must stay strictly in the common area. His excuse was to "promote inter-House relations," but what he really wanted was to spend quality time with his boyfriend without having to sneak around. Of course, numerous other couples benefited from this new development, and Sirius became a hero. Even more so than he had been with Quidditch!
Meanwhile, Remus got his first glimpse of the Gryffindor tower. And of course as soon as he had managed to bend the rules, Sirius broke them by dragging his boyfriend up to his dorm room.
"So, what do you think?" Sirius asked, slowly spinning around the middle of the room with his arms widespread.
Remus looked around at the neatly made dorm beds (the house elves had obviously been here), the carefully packed trunks, and the tall windows overlooking the Forbidden Forrest. The room was circular with five four-poster beds taking up most of the space. It was remarkably similar to the Ravenclaw dorms, except for the coloring. "It's very red."
"Yes, well, that is a Gryffindor color." Sirius walked over to his bed and sat down. "You want to lie down for a bit?" He looked at Remus imploringly. "I promise I won't bite," he added with a toothy grin.
"Mmm. Only for a little while, it's getting late and I'm sure James will be back soon."
Sirius snorted, "He's with Lily, he won't be back for ages."
They cuddled on the bed for a while, and Sirius started nuzzling into Remus’ cheek while petting his soft hair. He trailed kisses down the smaller boy’s jaw and licked his chin. Remus pulled him up to kiss him properly, and they began snogging in earnest. Sirius stroked the other boy’s tongue with his own. God, he could never get enough of that taste. He pulled back with a moan as Remus clawed at his back and began nipping at his throat. He faintly heard Remus growling before the other boy abruptly got up.
"I really should be going." He grabbed his robe off the floor where he had discarded it earlier.
Sirius fell back on the bed with a pout. "Whilst thou leave me so unsatisfied?"
Remus turned to him surprised, "I didn't know you read Shakespeare."
"You probably also didn't think I read at all." Sirius returned with a grin.
"Well, but I wasn't going to say that."
"What did you think I did over the holidays?" Sirius lost his smile. "While I'm trying to avoid my relatives," he added sourly.
Remus walked back to the bed and sat down next to him. "It won't be so bad this time. I promise to write."
"Actually, you can do better than that." The grin was back. "I got you something, I was going to wait until our last night here, but I'll give it to you now. James and I have a set, but when I saw a newer version at Hogsmeade last weekend, I thought of you.
Remus just looked at him curiously as the dark haired boy pulled out a package from one of his trunks. It was obvious Sirius had wrapped it himself. The brown paper was ragged at the edges, the tape was stuck at odd angles, and the string was doing absolutely nothing to hold the whole thing together.
Sirius smiled sheepishly as he handed it over to his boyfriend. "Happy Christmas."
"Thank you." Remus took the package and set it on the bed as he unwrapped it. "A mirror!" He exclaimed as he quickly drew his hands back. The mirror had an oval shape, slightly larger than an open hand, and was framed in braided silver. "It's beautiful, thanks," Remus stated as he carefully folded the paper back around the mirror, "but I didn't get you anything," he added as he looked up.
Sirius stared into those golden eyes that never failed to entrance him. "It's actually my present too." He pulled out an identical mirror from his trunk; this one was not wrapped. "They're not just mirrors, see, it allows communication between the two people holding them." He tapped on his mirror with his wand and stated "Remus Lupin." A faint glow could be seen between the edges of the paper. As he cautiously pulled back the wrapping to reveal the face of the other mirror, Remus could see sparkling blue eyes and wild black hair reflected in it.
"James and I would use them when we had separate detentions,” Sirius spoke, the mirror echoing his words. “Those only worked in the same building. But this new design allows for communication over greater distances, so I can talk to you over break. All you have to do is tap it and say my name. When you’re done, just say Finite Incantatem." He demonstrated and the mirror dimmed, before showing Remus his own reflection.
“That’s brilliant.”
~~~((*))~~~
“So, did you have a good break?” Remus asked, sitting next to his boyfriend on the bed.
“It was decent, thanks to you. I managed to avoid my relatives most of the time. And I actually got one neat present.” Sirius held out his right hand for Remus’ inspection. He was wearing a large silver signet ring.
“I got this ring from my Uncle Alphard. He found it in his attic while sorting through some trunks and thought I might find some use for it. I don’t care for the Black Family Crest so much, but it’s got something French written on it. It reminded me of you,” he added shyly.
Remus leaned closer to take a look. He pulled back with a gasp. “Sirius, do you know what that means?” he asked with a frown. The dark haired boy shook his head. “Toujours pur. It means ‘Always pure.’”
“Oh. Oh!” The Gryffindor blushed furiously. “I’m sorry! I didn’t realize…you know I would never…”
“It’s alright. Why don’t you just take it off?”
Sirius quickly obliged, shoving the ring into his bedside drawer. “I suppose I should have known. What with my parents’ pure-blood mania. I’m sorry,” he repeated.
“Don’t worry about it.” Remus lied down on the bed and opened his arms in invitation. “Come here you, I’ve missed you.”
Sirius carefully lied on top of him and snuggled close. “Me too. I missed holding you like this. I missed your voice.”
“I talked to you practically every day in the mirror.”
“It’s not the same.” Sirius sighed. “Say something else in French. Something nice.”
“You mean something other than ‘Toujour pur?’”
“Yes, please.”
“Alright. Je t’aime.”
“What does that mean?”
“I like you.”
Sirius smiled. “Je t’aime too.” They grinned goofily at each other. “How do you say, ‘you’re beautiful?’”
“Tu est beau.”
“Tu est beau, Remus Lupin.”
Remus flushed, but snuggled closer.
Sirius felt completely happy. He pressed his face into his boyfriends warm neck, the scent and heat making him feel drowsy. “I love you,” he whispered, before realizing he had said that out loud. “You don’t need to say it back,” he rushed on, “I just thought you should know.”
Remus turned in his arms before fixing him with his golden gaze. “I care about you more than I’ve cared about anyone else.”
It was enough. For now.
~~~((*))~~~
“I wish you would spend the night.”
“I don’t fancy being expelled again.”
“Again? You were expelled from Beauxbatons?”
“Sirius, you promised not to push.”
“I’m not pushing. I’m just curious. You never tell me anything about your past. It’s not like I’m going to judge you, I’ve done more than my share of things that should have gotten me expelled.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Fine. But you won’t get expelled, no one has to know. We can set up a silencing charm on the curtains. And you can sneak out in the morning using James’ Invisibility Cloak. Please, I just want to wake up for once with you still next to me.”
Remus sighed. “I really shouldn’t. I have too much work to do.”
“Who does schoolwork on a Friday?”
“I’m really behind. Someone has been distracting me!” Remus emphasized the point by poking Sirius in the stomach.
A couple nights later, he managed to convince Remus to see things his way. He owed James one, for keeping the other 6th year boys out of the dormitory until midnight. It had been a wonderful evening. They had kissed and cuddled, and even gone further than ever before. Somehow Sirius had ended up completely naked, though Remus had refused to take off his pajamas. Still, both boys had fallen asleep with matching grins on their faces.
Sirius woke to find Remus snuggled close to his side. He smiled. This was perfect. He pulled his boyfriend closer and started stroking the warm back. His hand slipped across a sliver of flesh, exposed where Remus’ shirt had twisted up during the night. He felt an odd texture marring the smooth skin, and slowly lifted the nightshirt to see what it was.
Scars. A number of long pale scars ran along Remus’ waist and back. What could have caused scars like these? Had Remus been in an accident? Is that why he was so reluctant to take off his shirt, because he was embarrassed? Sirius didn’t think so, that just didn’t fit with his boyfriend’s personality. Had someone done this too him intentionally? He couldn’t imagine the quiet boy being involved in a fight, though he had been expelled from Beauxbatons. Yet Remus didn’t seem confrontational, he recalled the incident with Snape and how Remus had pulled him back instead of joining in.
“What are you doing?” Sirius snapped out of his musings to find Remus watching him suspiciously.
“Nothing - I . . .” Sirius dropped his hand, flushing. God, he was such a bad liar.
“You bastard! You promised me!” The Ravenclaw jumped up out of the bed and put his shoes on. “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you.”
Sirius had never seen him so angry. “Wait! I’m sorry. Remus!”
“Just stay away from me Black!”