A Tale of Two Puppies
Title: A Tale of Two Puppies
Previous Parts: Prologue, Chapter 1 - Sorted, Chapter 2 - And Rat Makes Four, Chapter 3 - What's In A Name?, Chapter 4 - Lilium Inter Spinas, Chapter 5 - Just A Furry Little Problem, Chapter 6 - That Which We Call A Rose, Chapter 7 - Full of Firsts (Part I)
Author’s Notes: MWPP era, in their Third Year. Siri’s POV.
A Tale of Two Puppies
Chapter 7 - Full of Firsts (Part II)
Saturday evening found Sirius sitting on one of the couches in front of the fire in the common room, Natasha chattering and curled up close by his side.
He’d had a surprisingly good time with the blonde girl, though he’d felt awkward at first. He wasn’t particularly used to spending one-on-one time with girls and had been rather nervous that he’d say or do something that would upset her, but, as Remus had warned him, she was not shy, and he’d obviously made a good impression on her. He doubted she’d be sitting so close to him now if he’d offended her during their date.
All things considered, the Big Date (as James had insisted on calling it every time it came up in the days leading up to the weekend - which had been often since both James and Peter had found it incredibly amusing) hadn’t been nearly as frightening as Sirius had feared. He and Natasha had merely gone to lunch (Sirius had paid, as per his instructions) then wandered around Hogsmeade holding hands before walking back to school. It had, all in all, been a rather nice day, though holding hands had been a little uncomfortable: their hands just didn’t seem to match up properly.
As the day had progressed, Sirius had even begun considering the possibility of going out with the girl again - she was fun in her own way, and he had to admit he rather enjoyed the attention. However, he figured he didn’t need to decide right away, and he was content for the moment to listen to her chatter (she really did chatter a lot) and watch as she inched closer. It amused him that she clearly thought she was being subtle.
By the time James and Peter returned from their own jaunt into town (bags with the Zonko’s label overflowing with purchases), Natasha had practically inserted herself in Sirius’s lap.
James sent Sirius an amused look, hazel eyes glinting with laughter and the threat of future teasing.
Sirius favored his single friend with a superior smirk, and made no move to join his friends as they began setting up for a game of chess.
Natasha grinned at Sirius in what she obviously thought was a flirtatious manner. “You have such nice hair,” she purred, sliding her hands through the black locks.
Sirius tensed instantly and forced himself not to cringe at the feel. “Don’t,” he told her, just barely managing not to snap. He caught her hands and held them away from his head.
“What’s wrong?” she pouted.
“Nothing,” he said hurriedly, not wanting to explain, he knew he’d just sound foolish. “Just - just don’t touch my hair.” Sirius released the girl abruptly, realizing suddenly that James was watching him with a strange expression. Sirius raised an eyebrow at his friend, and James quickly looked away, focusing on the chessboard in front of him.
What’s with him? Sirius wondered. He was about to voice his question to his oddly-behaving friend, when the portrait opened and Remus scrambled in. The smaller boy looked even more worn out than he usually did after a transformation.
Remus saw Sirius looking at him and offered him a tired smile, but didn’t approach.
Natasha was chattering again, but Sirius had stopped paying attention.
“Re!” Sirius called as the tawny-haired boy crossed the room towards the staircase up to the boys’ dorms. “Come sit with us!”
Remus turned, and Sirius thought he saw the amber eyes flick briefly towards the blonde girl in Sirius’s lap before the brunet boy shook his head. “I just want to sleep,” he said and vanished up the spiral stairs.
Sirius glanced at James and Peter. The two boys seemed thoroughly absorbed in their game. “Should we go up and see how Rem’s doing?” he asked them loudly.
“He probably just needs some rest,” James replied without looking up.
“Yeah,” Sirius muttered. “Of course.”
“Siri?” Natasha purred in Sirius’s ear.
Sirius clenched his teeth together to keep from doing permanent physical harm to the girl. No one except Remus called him ‘Siri’ anymore - not even Romy. Then again, Romy didn’t call him anything these days, not since she’d reneged on their family-arranged engagement and run off to marry Ted Tonks on her seventeenth birthday.
“Is something wrong?”
“Don’t call me ‘Siri,’” Sirius gritted.
“What? Why not?”
“I don’t like it,” he informed her tersely.
“But I’ve heard Remus call you -”
“Remus is special,” Sirius bit out, cutting her off. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go make sure he’s feeling okay.” Without waiting for a reply, he unceremoniously dumped her onto the couch and, ignoring her indignant cry, took off up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
The dorm door was closed, and Sirius opened it quietly in case Remus was already asleep.
He tiptoed inside and softly shut the door behind himself. As soundlessly as he could, he crept across the room towards Remus’s bed and peeked between the drawn curtains.
There was no one there.
Puzzled, Sirius glanced around the room, but it was empty.
Then he heard the sound of running water coming from the bathroom.
Sirius crossed the room and pulled the bathroom door open, his friend’s name on his lips. But as the door swung back to reveal the inside of the room, the sound stuck in his throat.
The shower farthest from the door was on, steam curling around the curtain, but Remus wasn’t in the stall. The small tawny-haired boy was sitting curled up on the tiled floor, half out of his robes, head buried in his arms, shoulders shaking.
“Re!” Sirius gasped, and lurched forward.
Remus’s head shot up, eyes wide and almost frightened in a pale, tear-stained face.
Sirius fell to his knees by the other boy’s side. “Re. Re, what’s the matter? What’s wrong? Are you sick? Are you hurt? Are you not recovered?” he ran one hand through the light brown hair of the smaller boy, fingers gently caressing the younger boy’s scalp - checking the skull for any damage - then he cupped the tear-stained face in both hands, worriedly searching amber orbs with his own half-panicked grey eyes.
Remus stared - silent and still but for the continued slight shudders running through his body - for nearly a full minute. Then, as though at some sort of signal, he collapsed against the taller boy, gasping sobs wracking his slender form.
Sirius couldn’t think what to do. It was always Remus who took care of the Marauders when one of them was emotional about something. Sirius himself had never even been good at looking out for Regulus, which should have been a natural fraternal thing. How did a boy comfort another boy?
Automatically, Sirius’s arms wrapped around the shaking boy, holding him close and rocking gently, soothing murmurs issuing wordlessly from his lips.
Slowly, the sobs and shaking subsided, until only the occasional tremor passed through the exhausted boy.
Sirius continued to hold and rock his friend until even the tremors had stopped and the smaller boy’s breathing began to even out.
“Rem?” Sirius whispered, gently stroking a hand through the tawny locks.
“Mm?” came the half-asleep reply.
“Let’s put you to bed. You need sleep.”
“Mn-nh,” the light-haired head shook against Sirius’s shoulder, arms tightening around the black-haired boy’s neck. “Shower.” The word was partly muffled against Sirius’s robes.
Sirius blinked and looked up. He’d forgotten the shower was running. No wonder it was so hot in the bathroom. “I’ll turn it off,” he said.
“No.” Remus pulled away and tried to stand. He wobbled dangerously.
Sirius was on his feet in an instant, ignoring the pins and needles in his sleeping legs as he supported the smaller boy.
“Need to shower,” Remus insisted, trying to pull away again and nearly falling to the floor in the process.
Sirius frowned. “You need to sleep. You can shower tomorrow.” Without even considering what he was doing, he picked the smaller boy up in his arms to carry him out of the bathroom.
“No!” Remus twisted, trying to escape. “Need to shower now!”
Sirius looked down at his struggling armful, frown deepening. “You can barely talk, let alone stand up on your own. How do you plan to take a shower?”
Remus stopped moving. He looked up at the boy holding him and the pitiful look in his amber eyes made Sirius want to start crying as well.
“Need to shower,” Remus repeated in a whisper. “Feel dirty. The wolf… am dirty.” His eyes pleaded with Sirius to understand.
Sirius did understand, and felt awful, but the fact remained - “Re, you can’t stand up on you own, how…” Sirius trailed off. I could…
Carefully, Sirius set Remus back on his feet, still supporting him.
“Siri?”
“I’ll help,” Sirius said simply, and began unbuttoning the rest of Remus’s robes.
Remus, seemingly stunned, didn’t move until Sirius had shed his own robe and shirt and begun unbuttoning the shirt Remus had been wearing under his robes. “No!” Remus cried, trying to stop Sirius’s hands, but too late.
The shirt fell open to reveal a thin torso etched with scars.
Sirius froze, eyes tracing the patterns that showed up stark white against pale skin.
“No,” Remus whispered again.
Sirius looked up, startled out of his trance by the broken whisper, and realized the other boy had started shaking again, eyes too bright and threatening to overflow. He felt like the biggest, most stupid troll ever. Can’t you do anything right? A cruel voice that sounded horribly like his father demanded.
Impulsively, Sirius jerked Remus into another hug. The younger boy, still unsteady on his feet and already trusting most of his weight to Sirius, fell against the taller boy, nearly knocking them both to the ground.
A strange tingle ran through Sirius’s body as bare skin met bare skin, but he paid it no mind, too focused on the boy in his arms. “Is that why you never change in front of us?” he asked, then, not waiting for an answer, “You should have told us.”
Silky hair brushed against Sirius’s skin as Remus shook his head. “Ugly,” the brunet whispered, warm breath ghosting across Sirius’s flesh and giving him goose bumps.
“Oh, no, Rem! Not you. Never you. It’s a part of you. It’s nothing to be ashamed of! You could have trusted us. You should have trusted us. You should have trusted me.”
“Dirty,” Remus breathed against Sirius’s chest.
Sirius shivered. “Let’s get you clean, then,” he murmured, his voice a little scratchy. He cleared his throat and pulled away slightly, still supporting the other boy with one arm. He helped remove the rest of Remus’s clothes, revealing more scars. He quickly shed his own shoes, socks, and pants, but, feeling a strange momentary awkwardness as Remus - still leaning heavily on his arm - watched him, he left his boxers in place as he ushered his friend under the heated spray.
A sigh escaped Remus’s lips as the hot water hit them, and his amber eyes closed in relief as he tilted his head back.
Sirius shifted uncomfortably, watching the water droplets slide down his friend’s exposed throat and over the scarred chest. He abruptly reached for the soap and lightly poked the other boy’s foot with his toe.
“Let’s get you clean,” he repeated when the amber eyes looked at him.
Remus nodded and took the proffered bar.
Nearly a quarter of an hour later, Sirius tucked the covers around his washed, dried, and pajama-ed friend. He sat on the edge of Remus’s bed, running his fingers through the still-damp tawny hair. “Did you want to talk about it?” he asked quietly, knowing the answer, but still wondering what could have been bad enough to make someone as strong as Remus break down like that.
“No,” Remus murmured quietly. He would never talk about what happened during the full moon. “Thank you, though. For everything.” He found Sirius’s free hand with one of his own and squeezed. Then his eyes closed as he drifted towards sleep.
Sirius stayed where he was, combing his fingers through the light brown hair with one hand, the fingers of his other hand still comfortably entwined with Remus’s. He wondered if it was always more comfortable to hold hands with a friend than a girl, but didn’t dwell on it - it was just a passing reflection, he didn’t really want to think about Natasha just then.
When James and Peter’s footsteps sounded in the stairwell, Sirius reluctantly rose to go to sleep in his own bed.
Remus stirred at the movement and opened his eyes. “Don’t go,” he murmured, tightening his grip on Sirius’s hand.
The door opened and Sirius, still half inside Remus’s curtains, heard his other two dorm-mates head straight for the bathroom.
“I should go to bed,” Sirius said softly.
“Don’t go,” Remus said again, not letting go of the hand clasped in his. “Stay.”
Sirius hesitated a moment.
“Please.” Remus’s amber eyes were pleading. “Please stay.”
Sirius nodded agreement - he’d never seen his friend like this before, and he simply couldn’t say ‘no’ - and sat down again.
“Sleep with me?” Remus asked.
“What?”
“Nightmares…” the tawny-haired boy bit his lip.
Sirius hesitated again, but nodded once more mere seconds later - how could he refuse? - rising to his feet. “Just let me put on a shirt,” he said. He had only put on pajama bottoms earlier, as he didn’t usually sleep in a shirt.
But Remus wouldn’t release his hand. “Stay. Please, Siri. Stay with me.”
This time Sirius didn’t hesitate or nod. He merely crawled into the bed with his friend, wrapping both arms around the smaller boy. He could smell the shampoo in the tawny hair pressed against his nose. “Of course I’ll stay,” he whispered.
The warmth of the slight boy’s body in Sirius’s arms and the scent of his hair had a drugging effect on the dark-haired boy, whose eyelids began to droop.
“Thank you, Siri,” Remus murmured. He snuggled back against Sirius’s chest and, still holding his hand, pulled the covers over them both.
Sirius tightened his arms around his friend. “Of course,” he whispered again into Remus’s hair. “I’ll always stay with you.”
Both boys were fast asleep by the time James and Peter returned.
TBC
Previous Parts: Prologue, Chapter 1 - Sorted, Chapter 2 - And Rat Makes Four, Chapter 3 - What's In A Name?, Chapter 4 - Lilium Inter Spinas, Chapter 5 - Just A Furry Little Problem, Chapter 6 - That Which We Call A Rose, Chapter 7 - Full of Firsts (Part I)
Author’s Notes: MWPP era, in their Third Year. Siri’s POV.
A Tale of Two Puppies
Chapter 7 - Full of Firsts (Part II)
Saturday evening found Sirius sitting on one of the couches in front of the fire in the common room, Natasha chattering and curled up close by his side.
He’d had a surprisingly good time with the blonde girl, though he’d felt awkward at first. He wasn’t particularly used to spending one-on-one time with girls and had been rather nervous that he’d say or do something that would upset her, but, as Remus had warned him, she was not shy, and he’d obviously made a good impression on her. He doubted she’d be sitting so close to him now if he’d offended her during their date.
All things considered, the Big Date (as James had insisted on calling it every time it came up in the days leading up to the weekend - which had been often since both James and Peter had found it incredibly amusing) hadn’t been nearly as frightening as Sirius had feared. He and Natasha had merely gone to lunch (Sirius had paid, as per his instructions) then wandered around Hogsmeade holding hands before walking back to school. It had, all in all, been a rather nice day, though holding hands had been a little uncomfortable: their hands just didn’t seem to match up properly.
As the day had progressed, Sirius had even begun considering the possibility of going out with the girl again - she was fun in her own way, and he had to admit he rather enjoyed the attention. However, he figured he didn’t need to decide right away, and he was content for the moment to listen to her chatter (she really did chatter a lot) and watch as she inched closer. It amused him that she clearly thought she was being subtle.
By the time James and Peter returned from their own jaunt into town (bags with the Zonko’s label overflowing with purchases), Natasha had practically inserted herself in Sirius’s lap.
James sent Sirius an amused look, hazel eyes glinting with laughter and the threat of future teasing.
Sirius favored his single friend with a superior smirk, and made no move to join his friends as they began setting up for a game of chess.
Natasha grinned at Sirius in what she obviously thought was a flirtatious manner. “You have such nice hair,” she purred, sliding her hands through the black locks.
Sirius tensed instantly and forced himself not to cringe at the feel. “Don’t,” he told her, just barely managing not to snap. He caught her hands and held them away from his head.
“What’s wrong?” she pouted.
“Nothing,” he said hurriedly, not wanting to explain, he knew he’d just sound foolish. “Just - just don’t touch my hair.” Sirius released the girl abruptly, realizing suddenly that James was watching him with a strange expression. Sirius raised an eyebrow at his friend, and James quickly looked away, focusing on the chessboard in front of him.
What’s with him? Sirius wondered. He was about to voice his question to his oddly-behaving friend, when the portrait opened and Remus scrambled in. The smaller boy looked even more worn out than he usually did after a transformation.
Remus saw Sirius looking at him and offered him a tired smile, but didn’t approach.
Natasha was chattering again, but Sirius had stopped paying attention.
“Re!” Sirius called as the tawny-haired boy crossed the room towards the staircase up to the boys’ dorms. “Come sit with us!”
Remus turned, and Sirius thought he saw the amber eyes flick briefly towards the blonde girl in Sirius’s lap before the brunet boy shook his head. “I just want to sleep,” he said and vanished up the spiral stairs.
Sirius glanced at James and Peter. The two boys seemed thoroughly absorbed in their game. “Should we go up and see how Rem’s doing?” he asked them loudly.
“He probably just needs some rest,” James replied without looking up.
“Yeah,” Sirius muttered. “Of course.”
“Siri?” Natasha purred in Sirius’s ear.
Sirius clenched his teeth together to keep from doing permanent physical harm to the girl. No one except Remus called him ‘Siri’ anymore - not even Romy. Then again, Romy didn’t call him anything these days, not since she’d reneged on their family-arranged engagement and run off to marry Ted Tonks on her seventeenth birthday.
“Is something wrong?”
“Don’t call me ‘Siri,’” Sirius gritted.
“What? Why not?”
“I don’t like it,” he informed her tersely.
“But I’ve heard Remus call you -”
“Remus is special,” Sirius bit out, cutting her off. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go make sure he’s feeling okay.” Without waiting for a reply, he unceremoniously dumped her onto the couch and, ignoring her indignant cry, took off up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
The dorm door was closed, and Sirius opened it quietly in case Remus was already asleep.
He tiptoed inside and softly shut the door behind himself. As soundlessly as he could, he crept across the room towards Remus’s bed and peeked between the drawn curtains.
There was no one there.
Puzzled, Sirius glanced around the room, but it was empty.
Then he heard the sound of running water coming from the bathroom.
Sirius crossed the room and pulled the bathroom door open, his friend’s name on his lips. But as the door swung back to reveal the inside of the room, the sound stuck in his throat.
The shower farthest from the door was on, steam curling around the curtain, but Remus wasn’t in the stall. The small tawny-haired boy was sitting curled up on the tiled floor, half out of his robes, head buried in his arms, shoulders shaking.
“Re!” Sirius gasped, and lurched forward.
Remus’s head shot up, eyes wide and almost frightened in a pale, tear-stained face.
Sirius fell to his knees by the other boy’s side. “Re. Re, what’s the matter? What’s wrong? Are you sick? Are you hurt? Are you not recovered?” he ran one hand through the light brown hair of the smaller boy, fingers gently caressing the younger boy’s scalp - checking the skull for any damage - then he cupped the tear-stained face in both hands, worriedly searching amber orbs with his own half-panicked grey eyes.
Remus stared - silent and still but for the continued slight shudders running through his body - for nearly a full minute. Then, as though at some sort of signal, he collapsed against the taller boy, gasping sobs wracking his slender form.
Sirius couldn’t think what to do. It was always Remus who took care of the Marauders when one of them was emotional about something. Sirius himself had never even been good at looking out for Regulus, which should have been a natural fraternal thing. How did a boy comfort another boy?
Automatically, Sirius’s arms wrapped around the shaking boy, holding him close and rocking gently, soothing murmurs issuing wordlessly from his lips.
Slowly, the sobs and shaking subsided, until only the occasional tremor passed through the exhausted boy.
Sirius continued to hold and rock his friend until even the tremors had stopped and the smaller boy’s breathing began to even out.
“Rem?” Sirius whispered, gently stroking a hand through the tawny locks.
“Mm?” came the half-asleep reply.
“Let’s put you to bed. You need sleep.”
“Mn-nh,” the light-haired head shook against Sirius’s shoulder, arms tightening around the black-haired boy’s neck. “Shower.” The word was partly muffled against Sirius’s robes.
Sirius blinked and looked up. He’d forgotten the shower was running. No wonder it was so hot in the bathroom. “I’ll turn it off,” he said.
“No.” Remus pulled away and tried to stand. He wobbled dangerously.
Sirius was on his feet in an instant, ignoring the pins and needles in his sleeping legs as he supported the smaller boy.
“Need to shower,” Remus insisted, trying to pull away again and nearly falling to the floor in the process.
Sirius frowned. “You need to sleep. You can shower tomorrow.” Without even considering what he was doing, he picked the smaller boy up in his arms to carry him out of the bathroom.
“No!” Remus twisted, trying to escape. “Need to shower now!”
Sirius looked down at his struggling armful, frown deepening. “You can barely talk, let alone stand up on your own. How do you plan to take a shower?”
Remus stopped moving. He looked up at the boy holding him and the pitiful look in his amber eyes made Sirius want to start crying as well.
“Need to shower,” Remus repeated in a whisper. “Feel dirty. The wolf… am dirty.” His eyes pleaded with Sirius to understand.
Sirius did understand, and felt awful, but the fact remained - “Re, you can’t stand up on you own, how…” Sirius trailed off. I could…
Carefully, Sirius set Remus back on his feet, still supporting him.
“Siri?”
“I’ll help,” Sirius said simply, and began unbuttoning the rest of Remus’s robes.
Remus, seemingly stunned, didn’t move until Sirius had shed his own robe and shirt and begun unbuttoning the shirt Remus had been wearing under his robes. “No!” Remus cried, trying to stop Sirius’s hands, but too late.
The shirt fell open to reveal a thin torso etched with scars.
Sirius froze, eyes tracing the patterns that showed up stark white against pale skin.
“No,” Remus whispered again.
Sirius looked up, startled out of his trance by the broken whisper, and realized the other boy had started shaking again, eyes too bright and threatening to overflow. He felt like the biggest, most stupid troll ever. Can’t you do anything right? A cruel voice that sounded horribly like his father demanded.
Impulsively, Sirius jerked Remus into another hug. The younger boy, still unsteady on his feet and already trusting most of his weight to Sirius, fell against the taller boy, nearly knocking them both to the ground.
A strange tingle ran through Sirius’s body as bare skin met bare skin, but he paid it no mind, too focused on the boy in his arms. “Is that why you never change in front of us?” he asked, then, not waiting for an answer, “You should have told us.”
Silky hair brushed against Sirius’s skin as Remus shook his head. “Ugly,” the brunet whispered, warm breath ghosting across Sirius’s flesh and giving him goose bumps.
“Oh, no, Rem! Not you. Never you. It’s a part of you. It’s nothing to be ashamed of! You could have trusted us. You should have trusted us. You should have trusted me.”
“Dirty,” Remus breathed against Sirius’s chest.
Sirius shivered. “Let’s get you clean, then,” he murmured, his voice a little scratchy. He cleared his throat and pulled away slightly, still supporting the other boy with one arm. He helped remove the rest of Remus’s clothes, revealing more scars. He quickly shed his own shoes, socks, and pants, but, feeling a strange momentary awkwardness as Remus - still leaning heavily on his arm - watched him, he left his boxers in place as he ushered his friend under the heated spray.
A sigh escaped Remus’s lips as the hot water hit them, and his amber eyes closed in relief as he tilted his head back.
Sirius shifted uncomfortably, watching the water droplets slide down his friend’s exposed throat and over the scarred chest. He abruptly reached for the soap and lightly poked the other boy’s foot with his toe.
“Let’s get you clean,” he repeated when the amber eyes looked at him.
Remus nodded and took the proffered bar.
Nearly a quarter of an hour later, Sirius tucked the covers around his washed, dried, and pajama-ed friend. He sat on the edge of Remus’s bed, running his fingers through the still-damp tawny hair. “Did you want to talk about it?” he asked quietly, knowing the answer, but still wondering what could have been bad enough to make someone as strong as Remus break down like that.
“No,” Remus murmured quietly. He would never talk about what happened during the full moon. “Thank you, though. For everything.” He found Sirius’s free hand with one of his own and squeezed. Then his eyes closed as he drifted towards sleep.
Sirius stayed where he was, combing his fingers through the light brown hair with one hand, the fingers of his other hand still comfortably entwined with Remus’s. He wondered if it was always more comfortable to hold hands with a friend than a girl, but didn’t dwell on it - it was just a passing reflection, he didn’t really want to think about Natasha just then.
When James and Peter’s footsteps sounded in the stairwell, Sirius reluctantly rose to go to sleep in his own bed.
Remus stirred at the movement and opened his eyes. “Don’t go,” he murmured, tightening his grip on Sirius’s hand.
The door opened and Sirius, still half inside Remus’s curtains, heard his other two dorm-mates head straight for the bathroom.
“I should go to bed,” Sirius said softly.
“Don’t go,” Remus said again, not letting go of the hand clasped in his. “Stay.”
Sirius hesitated a moment.
“Please.” Remus’s amber eyes were pleading. “Please stay.”
Sirius nodded agreement - he’d never seen his friend like this before, and he simply couldn’t say ‘no’ - and sat down again.
“Sleep with me?” Remus asked.
“What?”
“Nightmares…” the tawny-haired boy bit his lip.
Sirius hesitated again, but nodded once more mere seconds later - how could he refuse? - rising to his feet. “Just let me put on a shirt,” he said. He had only put on pajama bottoms earlier, as he didn’t usually sleep in a shirt.
But Remus wouldn’t release his hand. “Stay. Please, Siri. Stay with me.”
This time Sirius didn’t hesitate or nod. He merely crawled into the bed with his friend, wrapping both arms around the smaller boy. He could smell the shampoo in the tawny hair pressed against his nose. “Of course I’ll stay,” he whispered.
The warmth of the slight boy’s body in Sirius’s arms and the scent of his hair had a drugging effect on the dark-haired boy, whose eyelids began to droop.
“Thank you, Siri,” Remus murmured. He snuggled back against Sirius’s chest and, still holding his hand, pulled the covers over them both.
Sirius tightened his arms around his friend. “Of course,” he whispered again into Remus’s hair. “I’ll always stay with you.”
Both boys were fast asleep by the time James and Peter returned.
TBC