Collide: Chapter 5, Part Four
Sorry about the awful wait,
remix_redux got in the way. This one is a shorter one. Or at least it feels that way even though it's over 1500 words. Next part is in motion though, I promise. Hopefully this will be enough to tide you over.
Title: Collide
Pairing: Remus/Sirius of Harry Potter fandom
Rating: NC-17 overall; this part is PG
Summary (for all parts): AU (Remus never went to Hogwarts). Everytime Remus gets close to someone, they start to uncover the truth about his strange disappearances and injuries. He can't stand the look on their face when he tells them the truth so instead he erases any trace of their relationship from their mind with a simple obliviate. Tired of getting intimate with someone only to become strangers again, Remus resolves never to get involved with anyone ever again. Of course, resolutions are made to be broken.
In this part: Remus is nervous, Delilah is bored, and Sirius is Sirius.
Previous parts: Chapter 1: part one | two | three
Chapter 2: part one | two
Chapter 3: part one | two | three | four
Chapter 4: part one | two | three | four
Chapter 5: part one | two | three
When Remus came into work the following morning he was no closer to answers concerning Sirius' detachedness than he had been the night before but he did have a number of theories. They ranged from Sirius being preoccupied with the wedding to Sirius being depressed over losing his best mate to marriage down to Sirius just losing interest in him.
He had almost decided to give up, lying in bed stroking Eleanor's fur, until he remembered what it had been like being with Sirius. The feeling of comfort, just lying bed with him and the anticipation of seeing him again, was something he couldn't let go of. His resolve strengthened, he had climbed out of bed, cringing at the way his bones cracked. Now at work, his resolve was slowly weakening. He felt familiar self-doubt creeping in as he wondered what Sirius would want with a werewolf like himself.
The library was near-empty, unusual for a Sunday afternoon. Most folks were either at the Quidditch match or watching the miserable weather from their windows, Remus supposed as he glanced out one of the many stained glass windows. He sighed as he meandered into the reference section, a small circular room near the back of the library. A soft growl made him look up from the parchment in his hand. A brass lion paced on top of the dark wood shelving underneath a sign which said, 'Please do not remove reference material from this room. Or else.'
"It's just me," Remus muttered to the empty room. The lion gave a large yawn and curled up, resting his head upon his brass paws. Remus wished he had that luxury. The full moon was approaching quickly and even though he knew it was purely psychological, his body started to stiffen as the moon approached as if it was already anticipating the change.
He grabbed the books he needed to check the medicinal properties of a number of rare plants for a professor at Hogwarts and settled down in one of the olive wing-backed chairs for the long read ahead of him.
Before long, the lion growled once more, alerting Remus to the presence of someone else. He wasn't surprised when Delilah wandered in, her skirt swishing around her legs. Remus wondered idly how she could possibly wear a skirt in this weather before he remembered that she usually flooed in to work, bypassing the blustering winds.
"Whatcha doin'?" she asked before collapsing into the chair beside his.
"Uh, research," Remus replied, glancing up from his text.
"Anything good?" she asked, leaning over in her chair to steal a glance at the book in his lap.
"Just potions," he answered, making a face. He had never liked making potions when he was home schooled. Looking up ingredients was almost as boring as brewing them, though not nearly as dangerous.
"Ooh, poisonous stuff?"
Remus had to smile at her sudden enthusiasm. "No. Antidotes, actually."
Delilah slouched in her chair. "Not nearly as interesting."
"Not nearly," Remus agreed before returning to his research. He felt her eyes on him and when he glanced over at her, she sighed and held out her hand.
"Pass one over. I believe I am in danger of dying from boredom."
"Surely death would be better than looking up medicinal properties of plants?" Remus said lightly.
"Probably," she agreed but took the proffered book nonetheless.
"Uh, Kakoli," Remus offered after looking down at his list of plants still not crossed out.
"Sure thing."
Between the two of them, they got through the list fairly quickly. Remus thanked her as he put back the books with a simple levitational spell.
"Professor-" he looked down at his parchment, "Snape will be pleased, I imagine."
"You're done your work, I killed an hour and Professor Snape gets his properties. Everybody wins," Delilah said with a nod.
"Only a couple hours to go," Remus offered, glancing at the grandfather clock tucked between the shelves. Delilah sighed melodramatically and marched out towards the stairs. Remus went in the opposite direction, towards his desk to rewrite his scribbled notes before sending off an owl to the professor. When he arrived, there was an envelope with his name written on it in elaborate cursive.
Puzzled, he opened it and immediately dropped it when little - he squinted - hearts floated out and like bubbles, popped in the air. He scratched his head before pulling out the heart-shaped card. "Happy Valentines Day!" it declared in large hot pink sparkling letters. Not Sirius then, Remus thought to himself.
"Happy Valentines to my favourite librarian," the card read. Underneath was a curling D, next to which lips suspiciously close to the colour of Delilah's lipstick puckered up in a kissing motion. Chuckling to himself, Remus set the card on his desk. While grateful for the gesture, he couldn't help but wish that there was an additional envelope on his desk, one with his name in Sirius' handwriting.
He sighed and sat down at his desk for the task of writing up Professor Snape's notes. This Professor Snape was notoriously meticulous when it came to his research and most of the other librarians refused to even glance at his requests. Remus didn't mind so much. It was challenging work which was more than he could say for most of the reference questions he received. He picked up his quill and began writing.
It was close to four o'clock when he heard the clicking of heels on the hardwood floors.
"Your Prince Charming just walked in," Delilah said, her the corners of her lips turning up in a slight smile.
Remus dropped his quill, causing Delilah's smile to widen. "Really?"
She nodded. "He's upstairs in tracing and locating spells. I was just shelving a couple things when I noticed him."
"Right," Remus said slowly and picked up his quill again before setting it back down. He stood after a short deliberation, and ignored Delilah's smirk, as he walked past her to the stairs. Each step felt more and more difficult as the butterflies rose in his stomach. What was he even going to say? What if it seemed like he was stalking Sirius?
He paused, his foot on the second stair from the top. He almost turned around, deciding against "accidentally" running into Sirius, when Sirius appeared in front of him.
"Oh, uh, hello," Remus said, failing completely at sounding surprised to see Sirius.
"Hello yourself," Sirius said with a weak smile. He looked worse for wear, if the circles under his eyes were anything to judge by, although knowing how much he had drank at the wedding, Remus was not surprised. He was actually surprised to see him out at all.
"Got home okay last night, then?"
Sirius nodded, a sheepish smile coming to his face. "You?"
Remus nodded and glanced down at the two leather-bound books in Sirius' hand.
"Trying to locate someone," Sirius said when he noticed Remus' gaze.
"Oh?"
"I got a -" Sirius moved as a middle-aged woman barged past him and down the stairs, giving Remus a dirty look as she did.
"Maybe we should go downstairs," Remus suggested, only just now realizing they were effectively blocking off the stairs.
"Oh! Right," Sirius said before following Remus down to the main floor.
"Sorry, you were saying?" Remus prompted once they had moved into a more remote area of the main floor.
"I got an owl last night," Sirius said uneasily. "It was from my brother."
"Regulus? I thought he was -"
"He is still missing," Sirius interrupted. "He knew about James' wedding though… I was hoping he might be in Britain, but.." He shrugged. "So far I've been having a hard time finding him."
"Maybe he's making it hard for you," Remus said softly. "Some people don't want to be found."
"I know, it's just that… it's been a while." For a moment a look of great sadness crossed Sirius' features and Remus couldn't help but reach out his hand to touch Sirius' arm. "Anyway," Sirius said abruptly and Remus dropped his hand. "I should let you get back to work."
Remus nodded reluctantly. He would much rather talk to Sirius than write up a professors notes but Sirius was right, he did have work to do.
"Take care," Sirius said before turning and walking towards the desk.
"Wait!" The words were out of Remus' mouth before he made the conscious decision to speak. Sirius turned and looked at him expectantly. Remus could feel himself redden at his sudden outburst and he floundered for something to say. "Did you want to grab something to eat later?" He finally said.
A smile came to Sirius' face, chasing away any remaining sadness. "Sure."
"I'm off in an hour," Remus volunteered.
"Pick you up in an hour, then," Sirius said easily, giving him a smile before turning once more to leave.
Oh dear, Remus thought as he watched Sirius leave, a slight swing in his hips. "Here we go again," he muttered under his breath.
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