ficlet:: keeping off the furniture
For dogdaysofsummer, day 27.
ficlet:: keeping off the furniture
by Raven
PG-13, Harry Potter, Sirius/Remus. An August full moon, many years on.
Over the Forbidden Forest, night was falling in great swathes beneath the trees.
"I still don’t see why we couldn't do this at Grimmauld Place," Remus was saying, pushing branches out of his way irritably. They swung back, and Sirius ducked. "It's not like the interior decoration wouldn't, in some cases, be positively improved by being brutally savaged."
"It wouldn't be brutally savaged," Sirius said, after a moment. "It would be... pawed at inquisitively."
"The point stands. Tell me, was it a Black family tradition that there be snakes on every article of furniture and every piece of china? Entwining serpents on coffee cups are not necessary. Neither are wrought iron bathtubs with the family crest."
Sirius grinned. "You ought to look in the attic for my baby rattles. Solid silver, of course."
"Of course," Remus agreed. Swiping at the last stretch of thick undergrowth, they were out of the forest. Ahead of them, the landscape swept grandly towards the horizon, the sunset burning purple behind the low-lying clouds. Somewhere in the distance, dim glimmers of silver were still visible; the last of the sunlight on the lake, Sirius thought. Several paces ahead, the trees shimmered oddly in the late-evening light; ahead, something blurred in and out of focus.
"The edge of the grounds," Remus said after a while, nodding at the irregular boundary. "Did this harebrained plan of yours involve crossing it, or shall we take our chances with the centaurs?"
"The centaurs only bother humans," said Sirius confidently. "And what do you mean, harebrained?"
"Stupid. Idiotic. Daft. Something Sirius Black would think of."
"You ended that sentence with a preposition. You bastard."
Remus was startled into laughter, and accidentally flushed some starlings from the bushes behind them; standing still, they watched the flock ruffle and flutter across the deepening sky. "Yes, all right, point taken. But why are we here, I ask you? When we could be in an upstairs room at Grimmauld Place, which I will admit is not the most congenial place I've ever been, but we'll be locked in and we can go downstairs for tea in the morning."
"How unutterably English you are." Sirius sniffed. "No, Moony. Don't you miss this? Don't you miss" - he waved an expansive arm at the vista of mountains and water - "being here? When we were here where it's clear, and lonely, and I don't know, fresh, and not trapped in smelly houses in London being told to keep off the furniture?"
"Actually, no," Remus said, sharply. "I don't miss it. I never remember it, if you recall. And I don't regret not remembering it."
"Christ, you know that's not what I meant." Sirius looked at him, but Remus's eyes were on the sky. "You know… look, I didn't mean it like that. I'm not being nostalgic for this, I'm just..."
"Just remembering." Remus heaved a deep sigh and surprised Sirius by sitting down heavily on the ground. Lying on his back, he looked up, and he was almost smiling. "I'm sorry, you know."
"What for?" Sirius said, joining him on impulse. The landscape looked even more dramatic from the level of the slightly damp turf, the trees looming on one side with the castle looming behind them, and the mountains and sky on the other. The middle distance was becoming hard to see, and the last of the light was dying quickly.
"For being cranky. When you're… when you're here." Still horizontal, Remus fumbled in his pocket and brought out a conical flask; grimacing, he drank off the last of the liquid inside, and Sirius could feel the whole-body shudder. "When you're here, and for a long time you... weren't."
Sirius frowned, to himself, mostly; he doubted Remus could see anything but the coming of the shadows. "Is that potion from Snape?"
"Yes." Remus sighed, and his hand closed over Sirius's. "I won't hurt anyone, Sirius. I wouldn't have agreed to this otherwise."
"I know."
There was a long, long pause. In the far distance, Sirius could hear the beginning of the small night sounds, the crickets and rustles and far-off calls of centaurs. A chill wind was beginning, stirring his hair and cloak.
After a while, he asked, "What did you do, all those years when I wasn't here?"
Remus said, voice blurring, "Mostly, I waited for you."
"Moony," Sirius said, and changed, and howled at the sounds of the bones breaking in the dark.
end.
ficlet:: keeping off the furniture
by Raven
PG-13, Harry Potter, Sirius/Remus. An August full moon, many years on.
Over the Forbidden Forest, night was falling in great swathes beneath the trees.
"I still don’t see why we couldn't do this at Grimmauld Place," Remus was saying, pushing branches out of his way irritably. They swung back, and Sirius ducked. "It's not like the interior decoration wouldn't, in some cases, be positively improved by being brutally savaged."
"It wouldn't be brutally savaged," Sirius said, after a moment. "It would be... pawed at inquisitively."
"The point stands. Tell me, was it a Black family tradition that there be snakes on every article of furniture and every piece of china? Entwining serpents on coffee cups are not necessary. Neither are wrought iron bathtubs with the family crest."
Sirius grinned. "You ought to look in the attic for my baby rattles. Solid silver, of course."
"Of course," Remus agreed. Swiping at the last stretch of thick undergrowth, they were out of the forest. Ahead of them, the landscape swept grandly towards the horizon, the sunset burning purple behind the low-lying clouds. Somewhere in the distance, dim glimmers of silver were still visible; the last of the sunlight on the lake, Sirius thought. Several paces ahead, the trees shimmered oddly in the late-evening light; ahead, something blurred in and out of focus.
"The edge of the grounds," Remus said after a while, nodding at the irregular boundary. "Did this harebrained plan of yours involve crossing it, or shall we take our chances with the centaurs?"
"The centaurs only bother humans," said Sirius confidently. "And what do you mean, harebrained?"
"Stupid. Idiotic. Daft. Something Sirius Black would think of."
"You ended that sentence with a preposition. You bastard."
Remus was startled into laughter, and accidentally flushed some starlings from the bushes behind them; standing still, they watched the flock ruffle and flutter across the deepening sky. "Yes, all right, point taken. But why are we here, I ask you? When we could be in an upstairs room at Grimmauld Place, which I will admit is not the most congenial place I've ever been, but we'll be locked in and we can go downstairs for tea in the morning."
"How unutterably English you are." Sirius sniffed. "No, Moony. Don't you miss this? Don't you miss" - he waved an expansive arm at the vista of mountains and water - "being here? When we were here where it's clear, and lonely, and I don't know, fresh, and not trapped in smelly houses in London being told to keep off the furniture?"
"Actually, no," Remus said, sharply. "I don't miss it. I never remember it, if you recall. And I don't regret not remembering it."
"Christ, you know that's not what I meant." Sirius looked at him, but Remus's eyes were on the sky. "You know… look, I didn't mean it like that. I'm not being nostalgic for this, I'm just..."
"Just remembering." Remus heaved a deep sigh and surprised Sirius by sitting down heavily on the ground. Lying on his back, he looked up, and he was almost smiling. "I'm sorry, you know."
"What for?" Sirius said, joining him on impulse. The landscape looked even more dramatic from the level of the slightly damp turf, the trees looming on one side with the castle looming behind them, and the mountains and sky on the other. The middle distance was becoming hard to see, and the last of the light was dying quickly.
"For being cranky. When you're… when you're here." Still horizontal, Remus fumbled in his pocket and brought out a conical flask; grimacing, he drank off the last of the liquid inside, and Sirius could feel the whole-body shudder. "When you're here, and for a long time you... weren't."
Sirius frowned, to himself, mostly; he doubted Remus could see anything but the coming of the shadows. "Is that potion from Snape?"
"Yes." Remus sighed, and his hand closed over Sirius's. "I won't hurt anyone, Sirius. I wouldn't have agreed to this otherwise."
"I know."
There was a long, long pause. In the far distance, Sirius could hear the beginning of the small night sounds, the crickets and rustles and far-off calls of centaurs. A chill wind was beginning, stirring his hair and cloak.
After a while, he asked, "What did you do, all those years when I wasn't here?"
Remus said, voice blurring, "Mostly, I waited for you."
"Moony," Sirius said, and changed, and howled at the sounds of the bones breaking in the dark.
end.