Week Four Drabbles
Oh, we have some wonderful AU/AR drabbles for you this week! Congrats to all the authors for managing to fit 'carrot' into your drabbles without blinking an eye! :)
This is the final week that we will be eliminating two participants and I don't envy you guys having to choose who goes and who stays with us. Good luck, and on with the show!
1.
Title: Not Just a Werewolf
Author: chlare
Summary: AU where werewolves have an even lower status in the Wizarding world. What could have happened before the boys went to Hogwarts.
Contains: Serious background child abuse/neglect/slavery. But then this is the Black family, after all.
"You'd better take proper care of this pet, Sirius. He's only a werewolf, but I still spent good galleons on him. Happy Bir..." Remus shivered in the large foyer, no longer listening to the sharp-eyed man to whom he'd been released.
His eyes met the other small boy's and Remus wondered just what proper care might mean here.
---
Soft grey eyes appeared like beacons at the small window of Remus' cellar room. Remus turned away to change clothes, unsure of what those eyes might mean tonight.
"I won't let you hurt anyone," came an earnest whisper.
Remus had heard Sirius' mum and dad laughing over the idea of having Sirius 'walk' him during the full moon. 'Maybe take out a few Muggles while they're at it,' Orion Black had nearly chortled.
"I poured some sleeping draught on the dinner carrots, Father won't even know his own wand much less where we are," the earnest tone sounded more desperate now. Remus hoped for Sirius' sake that this would be the case.
The Blacks had found the small stash of sweets, books and later Muggle newspapers that Sirius had given him. A werewolf was not his friend, they'd screamed at Sirius, one did not treat an animal to novels and Fizzing Whizbees.
Remus hadn't seen Sirius for several weeks after that. He felt lucky that food and water continued to appear in the 'bowls' in his cell.
- - -
Two.
Two letters from Hogwarts. Remus stared at Sirius, feeling as though he might truly burst out of his skin. Walburga and Orion were livid, but Remus hardly heard their raving after five years.
Sirius looked sideways at him and gave Remus the quickest flash of a grin.
A real wizard... He wasn't just a werewolf anymore. Seemed Sirius had actually been right about that.
2.
Title: Saturday Morning Cartoons
Author: dragon_gypsy
Summary: “That duck reminds me of you.”
Contains: It's totally a non-magic college AU in my head, butuh... Also: the cartoon in question!
Remus was in the kitchen making breakfast when he heard the hum of the telly as it turned on, and the creak of the couch as someone sat down. “Good morning, Sirius,” he called without even having to look. There was no way James or Peter would be up yet just to watch cartoons. Not when there was a hangover to sleep off.
“What are you making, Mommy?” Sirius called back.
“That's Moony to you, you naughty child,” Remus said, coming into the other room with a bowl of mix and a whisk in his hands. “And I'm making pancakes.”
Sirius looked up at him over the back of the couch. “If you get any on your face, I'll lick it off for you.” His rouge grin made it hard for Remus to tell if he was joking or not.
So instead he busied himself with stirring the batter in a vigorous fashion, eyes trained on the telly as he watched a duck play chess against a coyote with a rabbit watching on. He never did understand the appeal of cartoons on a Saturday morning. Not to mention they followed their own sort of logic that he had yet to figure out.
“That duck reminds me of you,” Remus said, watching as the duck stormed about and the rabbit walked placidly out of the shot munching on a carrot.
“What, Daffy Duck? No way, man.” Sirius shook his head and stared at the telly in a rather sullen manner.
Remus watched his face as the cartoon progressed, and noticed a subtle change in expression each time Daffy Duck did something else over-the-top. “That duck is totally you,” he finally said as it ended, and Sirius shifted uncomfortably.
“Okay, maybe we're a bit alike...”
3.
Title: If Only It Could Be Like This Always
Author: lotherington
Summary: ‘If only it could be like this always - always summer,
always alone.’ -- Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited. Remus and
Sirius at Oxford in the 1930s. Remus (mis)quotes Wordsworth for his
own romantic purposes. :)
Contains: Fluff, posh!Sirius
‘You really are exceptionally handsome, you know,’ Sirius said, smiling up at Remus, lounging on the riverbank. The summer vac had just begun, both their colleges had emptied, and Oxford was all theirs. For a while.
‘Oh, I’m sure,’ Remus mumbled, arching an eyebrow and lowering himself to the grass. Sirius wrapped his elegant, sun-warmed fingers around Remus’s wrist and squeezed gently.
‘Hello,’ Sirius said, still smiling.
‘Hello yourself,’ Remus replied with a smirk, reaching into Sirius’s suit jacket and pulling out a solid silver cigarette case, engraved with the Black family crest. He placed two fags between his lips, struck a match and lit them, holding his thumb against Sirius’s bottom lip until his mouth fell open and Remus could slide a cigarette in.
Closing his eyes, blowing the smoke in his chest towards the dusky sky, Remus rested his hand on Sirius’s hip, fingers curling around the bone. His hands were more used to the earth of his grandfather’s carrot patch and climbing trees and washing up than Sirius’s fine linen trousers or his cashmere scarves or the longpile carpet in
Sirius’s rooms, but Remus wouldn’t change a thing, not about then, that, there and not about now, this, here. Sirius moved closer across the grass and rested his head on Remus’s chest, over his heart. ‘I love you, Remus Lupin,’ he murmured, stretching up and bringing their lips together, soft and warm and wet.
Remus smiled and pressed his hand gently against Sirius’s neck, thumb seeking out where his pulse beat just below the lily-white skin. ‘Bliss it is in this dawn to be alive,’ he murmured, eyes still closed, rubbing his nose against Sirius’s, resting their foreheads together, heart so full he could feel it in his chest. ‘But to be young is very heaven.’
4.
Title: Ordinary Magic
Author: gorthead
Summary: When Remus Lupin's neighbour James Potter comes back
home from boarding school for Christmas, he brings a curious new
friend with him.
Contains: Kidfic & schmoopiness
Remus Lupin's neighbour, James Potter, is back home for Christmas
after his first semester at boarding school. It is, he tells Remus,
"brilliant", then turns to the friend he's brought with him for
support. "Right, Sirius?" He hasn't introduced the other boy to Remus,
but they smile at each other, both amused by James' familiar and often
self-centred enthusiasm.
Sirius Black has sharp grey eyes and intelligence to match, so Remus
can't help wondering, a few days later, if he's making jokes when he
asks what a television is, then, later, announces that his parents
have never allowed him to play in the snow. Remus wants to make fun of
him for it, but something about the other boy's earnest look stops
him, makes his stomach do something funny, so he simply blinks and
tilts his head in disbelief. Sirius laughs easily and takes his hand,
pulling him out of the Lupins' kitchen. "Come on, show me."
James' family is visiting his grandmother, and Remus and Sirius spend
the afternoon outdoors, cheeks red and wet flakes trapped in their
hair. After several hours and two impromptu snowball fights, they
stand shoulder-to-shoulder in front of a completed snowman. Remus digs
into his pocket, pulls out the carrot he's borrowed from his mother.
"Here, you do the nose," he offers, handing it to Sirius.
Sirius takes it from him, examining it curiously before pressing it
into the topmost snowball. "Like this?" He pauses, then announces,
"Muggles are strange." Before Remus has time to be offended, Sirius
slings his arm over his shoulders and says, "But I like you." They
make eye contact for a moment, and his stomach drops again, somehow
warm and strangely pleasant. Smiling at Sirius, he already can't help
but hope that summer vacation comes quickly.
5.
Title: Dragon Tales and Other Truths We Tell
Author: escribo
Summary: Remus tells Harry a bedtime story
Contains:
“Once upon a time--”
“I’m too old for fairy stories. Tell me something new.”
“Like what?” Harry rolled his eyes and impatiently ran his hand through his hair, mussing it until it stood in every direction, and the resemblance to James startled Remus. “One of your books instead?”
“No. I want you to tell me about the bad night.”
“Harry--”
Harry lifted his chin, determined to have his way--and that, Remus thought, was all Lily.
“Alright,” Remus said, giving in. “Once upon a time--”
“Moony!”
“I know, Harry. But I promise this isn’t a fairy-tale. All the best stories start this way.”
“It’s not how Sirius tells it.”
“No. Sirius always starts by slaying dragons with nothing more than a carrot, which worked when you were younger.”
“I’m ten now. Tell it right?”
“Okay, but I only know parts. I nearly came too late.”
“Because you and Padfoot had a fight.”
“Yes.” Remus smoothed his hand over Harry’s quilt, not quite able to meet Harry’s eyes. The real answer was that there had been many fights and Remus had stormed out, determined to leave for good.
“But then you followed him,” Harry prompted when Remus let the silence stretch too long.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I loved him, Harry. I love him. And it wasn’t easy because his bike flew so fast--”
“And you only had a broom--a Comet 300.” Harry and Remus both turned to look where James stood in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. “It’s past your bedtime, Harry.”
“Please dad,” Harry pleaded. “Just one more?”
“I could tell you about the time I met a werewolf,” Sirius said as he came up behind James and winked at Remus.
“And you weren’t scared because it was Uncle Moony.”
“Once upon a time...”
6.
Title: Station to Station
Author: huntingsnarks
Summary: Sirius can’t tear his eyes away from the elbow-patched commuter across the compartment.
Contains:
Sirius had hardly seen the bloke before he wanted to know him. He was sitting on the other side of the train compartment, all scuffed shoes and elbow patches, sandwiched between a woman staring balefully at her carrot sticks and a man buried somewhere beneath the business pages.
Half a glance was enough to set Sirius’ curiosity alight. Someone his age with elbow patches was clearly someone worth knowing. This was no half-dead commuter on the end-of-day express. This was someone different - someone called R. J. Lupin, according to the weathered briefcase at his feet.
Three stations later, the letters were etched into Sirius’ mind. His cross-carriage curiosity had solidified into fascination. It hardly helped that the bloke was attractive, appealing in that rumpled, intelligent sort of way that Sirius had never found appealing before.
Clearing his throat, Sirius bent his dog-eared novel back along the spine and told himself that he wouldn’t stare. He wouldn’t. Not even if the bloke was wearing attractive bloody elbow patches.
Staring or no staring, reading didn’t work. Sirius’ eyes skittered around the small, unfriendly text, absorbing nothing. He glanced upwards.
And R. J. Lupin spoke.
“Don’t like it?”
Sirius blinked.
“The book,” Lupin said with a helpful gesture, lips quirking at the edges. “You were glaring at it. And then at me.”
Sirius stared. This bloke was wearing elbow patches and smirking at him. The incredible nerve of it made him snap his book closed and smirk right back.
“Doesn’t mean I don’t like it.”
Lupin snorted, and by the time the train pulled up to the next platform, Sirius was decided on a course of action. There was really nothing else to do. He stood when Lupin stood and met those expectant eyes dead on.
“I’m getting off with you.”
Lupin smiled.
7.
Title: Welcome to the Dark Side, We Have Sirius
Author: ali_wilde
Summary: If it’d been like this, JKR would have only got 2 books out.
Contains: off screen character death and naughty words
“So,” Sirius had mused, leaning back against the pillows all those weeks ago. “Good idea or what?”
“Good enough. You’re only slightly less of a megalomaniac than he is.” Remus had grinned in response. “But you’re better looking, I’d rather suck your cock and, at least, I’ll be second in charge.”
It had long been Sirius’ plan to lead werewolves and anyone with an ‘alternative lifestyle’ to overthrow Voldemort and take over the Death Eaters. From within. It had to be so easy. Voldemort was a vain fool, wasting time waiting for the right moment to kill the boy.
Just kill him. That could have been done a thousand times. By just about anyone. Why the senile old fool had to do it himself was beyond Sirius.
Avada Kedavra! You’re dead. Yay!! Let’s party, thankyouverymuch. Piece of fucking cake.
Remus had been reluctant to join him at first, thinking that no good could come of any plan that Sirius was the head of. But, when Sirius had dangled the ‘second in charge’ carrot in front of him, he’d put aside his reservations quickly enough.
Now they made an awesome team, both in and out of bed. The Death Eaters answered to them. The Order answered to them. The whole Wizarding World answered to them.
Everything was running smoothly. Werewolves were treated the same as everyone else. Remus had grumbled once and said he preferred it when everyone was scared of werewolves; he’d received more respect then. Potter was dead and, strangely, only a few people cared. They’d been dealt with, swiftly. Unlike the constant disarray that had reigned when Voldemort was alive, there really wasn’t much for Sirius to do.
Except Remus.
He glanced at his 2IC. “Remus..?”
“Last one naked is a Flobberworm!” Remus took off for the bedroom.
8.
Title: Half-breed
Author: anothersaturday
Summary: Remus was never bitten by a werewolf. Sirius was. Angst ensues.
Contains: angst, the possible implication of underage sex (though if you prefer, I guess you can interpret it like they're just making out or something?)
It’s a secret, so of course Sirius lets it slip, once and then again, until it’s no secret at all, till half of Gryffindor knows what he is.
The thing with Remus, now: that’s a proper secret.
“You can’t tell anyone,” Remus says, in his bed with the curtains all drawn. Sirius wonders whether he really minds about people knowing. Possibly he just likes having something to hide. You can see just by looking at him that he’s never had a secret before: he is so proper, so exactly what he should be, with his high marks and open confident manner, his prefect’s badge polished to a gleam.
***
Once in the middle of things, Sirius whispers, “Does it scare you? Only all it’d take is me biting too hard or something and you’d catch it.” He’s exaggerating, but Remus doesn’t know any better, and anyway all he does is kiss Sirius harder.
Mostly they avoid the subject.
***
Letters come from home, in his mother’s hand: discretion, they say; protect the family name. Instead of “werewolf”, she always writes “half-breed.”
***
“Do you mind it, much?” Remus whispers one night. He is lying on his back, staring at the ceiling as he speaks. “Being… you know.”
“Nah, m’not bothered.” He’s lying, of course.
Remus rolls onto his side, meeting Sirius’s gaze. “I wouldn’t be able to stand it,” he says gravely. “If it were me.” For some reason he is blushing: all carrot-red, all beetroot.
“You’d have to stand it, though.”
“No,” Remus insists, “I could never,” and Sirius almost hates him: the conviction in his tone, his pitying eyes. But he does not move away when Remus rests one hand on the side of his face; his almost-broken, almost-handsome face, marred only by its arrogance, its scars.
9.
Title: Furry Little Problem
Author: eprime
Summary: Schooldays AU. Remus is all scratched up.
Contains: silliness
"Let me kiss it better." Sirius nibbled at the fingertips peeking out of Remus' bandage-swathed hand.
"Idiot."
Sirius grinned, taking note that despite the acerbic response something suspiciously like a smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. Emboldened, Sirius moved his lips to Remus' wrist, feeling the faint thrum of his pulse.
"You're scratched here, too." He licked up the red stripe that went all the way up to the crook of Remus' elbow.
A lovely sound of approval fell from his boyfriend's lips, and Sirius moved to straddle his legs, intent on having his way with the boy before their roommates returned.
Of course, James Worst-Timing-Ever Potter chose that moment to burst into the dorm.
"All right, ladies?"
Totally unabashed, James threw himself down on the bed next to them and gave Remus the once over.
"Shite mate, your furry little problem is getting out of hand."
"Do you mind, Potter?" Sirius growled.
"Not at all." James waved his hand magnanimously. "Nothing I haven't seen before, thanks to you."
Shooting James an exasperated glare and wishing for the days when James was still scandalized by his two mates exploring the love that dare not speak its name, Sirius rolled off of Remus to sulk.
Remus hissed as Sirius bumped his hand, and he held it aloft, watching a spot of bright blood bloom on the white bandage.
James whistled. "It's getting worse and worse. Moony'll scratch your eyes out one day. Vicious little bugger."
"Don't badmouth, Moony!" Sirius shot off the bed and scowled.
James snorted as Sirius crossed the room and began to croon to the large, white rabbit crouched in the roomy hutch.
"He's a good boy, really." Sirius slipped him a bit of carrot he'd saved from lunch. "Aren't you, Moon--ow! Bugger!"
10.
Title: Greased
Author: whitmans_kiss
Summary: Sirius Black is a motorcycle mechanic, Remus Lupin serves overpriced hors d'oeuvres. Both are in love.
Contains: Language, bad innuendo, fluff
The counter service bell’s resonating ding startled Sirius enough that he dropped his wrench on his forehead with a foreign expletive before shimmying out from underneath the custom bike he’d been painstakingly tweaking for the past four hours.
“Can’t you read the fucking sign? We close at seven, and it’s - Christ, Remus, don’t fucking do that,” Sirius’ diatribe turned into a languid purr as a pair of hands slid around his neck, pulling him into a heated kiss, careful to keep the rest of the body they were attached to off to the side.
Instinctively, Sirius reached to pull Remus in closer, but was instantly greeted with another sharp rap to the head.
“Oi! Not on the same bloody spot as the wrench -”
“Mind the uniform, you horny dog,” admonished Remus, planting a last peck on Sirius’ cheek before stepping back. “I’ve already got carrot juice stains on my front from some wanker rather unsatisfied with his order.”
“Well, I’m sure my carrot can satisfy you,” Sirius leered, leaning forward to trap him against the counter, blatantly ignoring Remus’ protestations about motor oil and grease and - hush, it’s lubricant, Moony, lighten up. “Are you working another shift at The Phoenix tonight? Because I’m thinking about us staining some sheets, instead…”
“Right, give me even more laundry to do tomorrow.”
“You’ll do nothing of the sort,” Sirius murmured, voice low and husky as he dropped kisses along the smooth skin of Remus’ neck - he could already feel the tension gather along Remus’ spine as Sirius dangled the prospect in front of him. “Or, if you’d rather, there’s some dropcloths in the back…”
“When you put it like that, I think I will take another shift.”
“Fuck you,” though the grin made it a promise as Sirius turned to lock up.
VOTING IS CLOSED
Comments are screened. Please include both the number and title of your favourite and least favourite fic in your vote. That's one OVERALL favourite and one OVERALL least favourite, not per team. Participants, you are encouraged to vote, but please don't vote for your own drabble.
Happy Reading! :)
This is the final week that we will be eliminating two participants and I don't envy you guys having to choose who goes and who stays with us. Good luck, and on with the show!
1.
Title: Not Just a Werewolf
Author: chlare
Summary: AU where werewolves have an even lower status in the Wizarding world. What could have happened before the boys went to Hogwarts.
Contains: Serious background child abuse/neglect/slavery. But then this is the Black family, after all.
"You'd better take proper care of this pet, Sirius. He's only a werewolf, but I still spent good galleons on him. Happy Bir..." Remus shivered in the large foyer, no longer listening to the sharp-eyed man to whom he'd been released.
His eyes met the other small boy's and Remus wondered just what proper care might mean here.
---
Soft grey eyes appeared like beacons at the small window of Remus' cellar room. Remus turned away to change clothes, unsure of what those eyes might mean tonight.
"I won't let you hurt anyone," came an earnest whisper.
Remus had heard Sirius' mum and dad laughing over the idea of having Sirius 'walk' him during the full moon. 'Maybe take out a few Muggles while they're at it,' Orion Black had nearly chortled.
"I poured some sleeping draught on the dinner carrots, Father won't even know his own wand much less where we are," the earnest tone sounded more desperate now. Remus hoped for Sirius' sake that this would be the case.
The Blacks had found the small stash of sweets, books and later Muggle newspapers that Sirius had given him. A werewolf was not his friend, they'd screamed at Sirius, one did not treat an animal to novels and Fizzing Whizbees.
Remus hadn't seen Sirius for several weeks after that. He felt lucky that food and water continued to appear in the 'bowls' in his cell.
- - -
Two.
Two letters from Hogwarts. Remus stared at Sirius, feeling as though he might truly burst out of his skin. Walburga and Orion were livid, but Remus hardly heard their raving after five years.
Sirius looked sideways at him and gave Remus the quickest flash of a grin.
A real wizard... He wasn't just a werewolf anymore. Seemed Sirius had actually been right about that.
2.
Title: Saturday Morning Cartoons
Author: dragon_gypsy
Summary: “That duck reminds me of you.”
Contains: It's totally a non-magic college AU in my head, butuh... Also: the cartoon in question!
Remus was in the kitchen making breakfast when he heard the hum of the telly as it turned on, and the creak of the couch as someone sat down. “Good morning, Sirius,” he called without even having to look. There was no way James or Peter would be up yet just to watch cartoons. Not when there was a hangover to sleep off.
“What are you making, Mommy?” Sirius called back.
“That's Moony to you, you naughty child,” Remus said, coming into the other room with a bowl of mix and a whisk in his hands. “And I'm making pancakes.”
Sirius looked up at him over the back of the couch. “If you get any on your face, I'll lick it off for you.” His rouge grin made it hard for Remus to tell if he was joking or not.
So instead he busied himself with stirring the batter in a vigorous fashion, eyes trained on the telly as he watched a duck play chess against a coyote with a rabbit watching on. He never did understand the appeal of cartoons on a Saturday morning. Not to mention they followed their own sort of logic that he had yet to figure out.
“That duck reminds me of you,” Remus said, watching as the duck stormed about and the rabbit walked placidly out of the shot munching on a carrot.
“What, Daffy Duck? No way, man.” Sirius shook his head and stared at the telly in a rather sullen manner.
Remus watched his face as the cartoon progressed, and noticed a subtle change in expression each time Daffy Duck did something else over-the-top. “That duck is totally you,” he finally said as it ended, and Sirius shifted uncomfortably.
“Okay, maybe we're a bit alike...”
3.
Title: If Only It Could Be Like This Always
Author: lotherington
Summary: ‘If only it could be like this always - always summer,
always alone.’ -- Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited. Remus and
Sirius at Oxford in the 1930s. Remus (mis)quotes Wordsworth for his
own romantic purposes. :)
Contains: Fluff, posh!Sirius
‘You really are exceptionally handsome, you know,’ Sirius said, smiling up at Remus, lounging on the riverbank. The summer vac had just begun, both their colleges had emptied, and Oxford was all theirs. For a while.
‘Oh, I’m sure,’ Remus mumbled, arching an eyebrow and lowering himself to the grass. Sirius wrapped his elegant, sun-warmed fingers around Remus’s wrist and squeezed gently.
‘Hello,’ Sirius said, still smiling.
‘Hello yourself,’ Remus replied with a smirk, reaching into Sirius’s suit jacket and pulling out a solid silver cigarette case, engraved with the Black family crest. He placed two fags between his lips, struck a match and lit them, holding his thumb against Sirius’s bottom lip until his mouth fell open and Remus could slide a cigarette in.
Closing his eyes, blowing the smoke in his chest towards the dusky sky, Remus rested his hand on Sirius’s hip, fingers curling around the bone. His hands were more used to the earth of his grandfather’s carrot patch and climbing trees and washing up than Sirius’s fine linen trousers or his cashmere scarves or the longpile carpet in
Sirius’s rooms, but Remus wouldn’t change a thing, not about then, that, there and not about now, this, here. Sirius moved closer across the grass and rested his head on Remus’s chest, over his heart. ‘I love you, Remus Lupin,’ he murmured, stretching up and bringing their lips together, soft and warm and wet.
Remus smiled and pressed his hand gently against Sirius’s neck, thumb seeking out where his pulse beat just below the lily-white skin. ‘Bliss it is in this dawn to be alive,’ he murmured, eyes still closed, rubbing his nose against Sirius’s, resting their foreheads together, heart so full he could feel it in his chest. ‘But to be young is very heaven.’
4.
Title: Ordinary Magic
Author: gorthead
Summary: When Remus Lupin's neighbour James Potter comes back
home from boarding school for Christmas, he brings a curious new
friend with him.
Contains: Kidfic & schmoopiness
Remus Lupin's neighbour, James Potter, is back home for Christmas
after his first semester at boarding school. It is, he tells Remus,
"brilliant", then turns to the friend he's brought with him for
support. "Right, Sirius?" He hasn't introduced the other boy to Remus,
but they smile at each other, both amused by James' familiar and often
self-centred enthusiasm.
Sirius Black has sharp grey eyes and intelligence to match, so Remus
can't help wondering, a few days later, if he's making jokes when he
asks what a television is, then, later, announces that his parents
have never allowed him to play in the snow. Remus wants to make fun of
him for it, but something about the other boy's earnest look stops
him, makes his stomach do something funny, so he simply blinks and
tilts his head in disbelief. Sirius laughs easily and takes his hand,
pulling him out of the Lupins' kitchen. "Come on, show me."
James' family is visiting his grandmother, and Remus and Sirius spend
the afternoon outdoors, cheeks red and wet flakes trapped in their
hair. After several hours and two impromptu snowball fights, they
stand shoulder-to-shoulder in front of a completed snowman. Remus digs
into his pocket, pulls out the carrot he's borrowed from his mother.
"Here, you do the nose," he offers, handing it to Sirius.
Sirius takes it from him, examining it curiously before pressing it
into the topmost snowball. "Like this?" He pauses, then announces,
"Muggles are strange." Before Remus has time to be offended, Sirius
slings his arm over his shoulders and says, "But I like you." They
make eye contact for a moment, and his stomach drops again, somehow
warm and strangely pleasant. Smiling at Sirius, he already can't help
but hope that summer vacation comes quickly.
5.
Title: Dragon Tales and Other Truths We Tell
Author: escribo
Summary: Remus tells Harry a bedtime story
Contains:
“Once upon a time--”
“I’m too old for fairy stories. Tell me something new.”
“Like what?” Harry rolled his eyes and impatiently ran his hand through his hair, mussing it until it stood in every direction, and the resemblance to James startled Remus. “One of your books instead?”
“No. I want you to tell me about the bad night.”
“Harry--”
Harry lifted his chin, determined to have his way--and that, Remus thought, was all Lily.
“Alright,” Remus said, giving in. “Once upon a time--”
“Moony!”
“I know, Harry. But I promise this isn’t a fairy-tale. All the best stories start this way.”
“It’s not how Sirius tells it.”
“No. Sirius always starts by slaying dragons with nothing more than a carrot, which worked when you were younger.”
“I’m ten now. Tell it right?”
“Okay, but I only know parts. I nearly came too late.”
“Because you and Padfoot had a fight.”
“Yes.” Remus smoothed his hand over Harry’s quilt, not quite able to meet Harry’s eyes. The real answer was that there had been many fights and Remus had stormed out, determined to leave for good.
“But then you followed him,” Harry prompted when Remus let the silence stretch too long.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I loved him, Harry. I love him. And it wasn’t easy because his bike flew so fast--”
“And you only had a broom--a Comet 300.” Harry and Remus both turned to look where James stood in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. “It’s past your bedtime, Harry.”
“Please dad,” Harry pleaded. “Just one more?”
“I could tell you about the time I met a werewolf,” Sirius said as he came up behind James and winked at Remus.
“And you weren’t scared because it was Uncle Moony.”
“Once upon a time...”
6.
Title: Station to Station
Author: huntingsnarks
Summary: Sirius can’t tear his eyes away from the elbow-patched commuter across the compartment.
Contains:
Sirius had hardly seen the bloke before he wanted to know him. He was sitting on the other side of the train compartment, all scuffed shoes and elbow patches, sandwiched between a woman staring balefully at her carrot sticks and a man buried somewhere beneath the business pages.
Half a glance was enough to set Sirius’ curiosity alight. Someone his age with elbow patches was clearly someone worth knowing. This was no half-dead commuter on the end-of-day express. This was someone different - someone called R. J. Lupin, according to the weathered briefcase at his feet.
Three stations later, the letters were etched into Sirius’ mind. His cross-carriage curiosity had solidified into fascination. It hardly helped that the bloke was attractive, appealing in that rumpled, intelligent sort of way that Sirius had never found appealing before.
Clearing his throat, Sirius bent his dog-eared novel back along the spine and told himself that he wouldn’t stare. He wouldn’t. Not even if the bloke was wearing attractive bloody elbow patches.
Staring or no staring, reading didn’t work. Sirius’ eyes skittered around the small, unfriendly text, absorbing nothing. He glanced upwards.
And R. J. Lupin spoke.
“Don’t like it?”
Sirius blinked.
“The book,” Lupin said with a helpful gesture, lips quirking at the edges. “You were glaring at it. And then at me.”
Sirius stared. This bloke was wearing elbow patches and smirking at him. The incredible nerve of it made him snap his book closed and smirk right back.
“Doesn’t mean I don’t like it.”
Lupin snorted, and by the time the train pulled up to the next platform, Sirius was decided on a course of action. There was really nothing else to do. He stood when Lupin stood and met those expectant eyes dead on.
“I’m getting off with you.”
Lupin smiled.
7.
Title: Welcome to the Dark Side, We Have Sirius
Author: ali_wilde
Summary: If it’d been like this, JKR would have only got 2 books out.
Contains: off screen character death and naughty words
“So,” Sirius had mused, leaning back against the pillows all those weeks ago. “Good idea or what?”
“Good enough. You’re only slightly less of a megalomaniac than he is.” Remus had grinned in response. “But you’re better looking, I’d rather suck your cock and, at least, I’ll be second in charge.”
It had long been Sirius’ plan to lead werewolves and anyone with an ‘alternative lifestyle’ to overthrow Voldemort and take over the Death Eaters. From within. It had to be so easy. Voldemort was a vain fool, wasting time waiting for the right moment to kill the boy.
Just kill him. That could have been done a thousand times. By just about anyone. Why the senile old fool had to do it himself was beyond Sirius.
Avada Kedavra! You’re dead. Yay!! Let’s party, thankyouverymuch. Piece of fucking cake.
Remus had been reluctant to join him at first, thinking that no good could come of any plan that Sirius was the head of. But, when Sirius had dangled the ‘second in charge’ carrot in front of him, he’d put aside his reservations quickly enough.
Now they made an awesome team, both in and out of bed. The Death Eaters answered to them. The Order answered to them. The whole Wizarding World answered to them.
Everything was running smoothly. Werewolves were treated the same as everyone else. Remus had grumbled once and said he preferred it when everyone was scared of werewolves; he’d received more respect then. Potter was dead and, strangely, only a few people cared. They’d been dealt with, swiftly. Unlike the constant disarray that had reigned when Voldemort was alive, there really wasn’t much for Sirius to do.
Except Remus.
He glanced at his 2IC. “Remus..?”
“Last one naked is a Flobberworm!” Remus took off for the bedroom.
8.
Title: Half-breed
Author: anothersaturday
Summary: Remus was never bitten by a werewolf. Sirius was. Angst ensues.
Contains: angst, the possible implication of underage sex (though if you prefer, I guess you can interpret it like they're just making out or something?)
It’s a secret, so of course Sirius lets it slip, once and then again, until it’s no secret at all, till half of Gryffindor knows what he is.
The thing with Remus, now: that’s a proper secret.
“You can’t tell anyone,” Remus says, in his bed with the curtains all drawn. Sirius wonders whether he really minds about people knowing. Possibly he just likes having something to hide. You can see just by looking at him that he’s never had a secret before: he is so proper, so exactly what he should be, with his high marks and open confident manner, his prefect’s badge polished to a gleam.
***
Once in the middle of things, Sirius whispers, “Does it scare you? Only all it’d take is me biting too hard or something and you’d catch it.” He’s exaggerating, but Remus doesn’t know any better, and anyway all he does is kiss Sirius harder.
Mostly they avoid the subject.
***
Letters come from home, in his mother’s hand: discretion, they say; protect the family name. Instead of “werewolf”, she always writes “half-breed.”
***
“Do you mind it, much?” Remus whispers one night. He is lying on his back, staring at the ceiling as he speaks. “Being… you know.”
“Nah, m’not bothered.” He’s lying, of course.
Remus rolls onto his side, meeting Sirius’s gaze. “I wouldn’t be able to stand it,” he says gravely. “If it were me.” For some reason he is blushing: all carrot-red, all beetroot.
“You’d have to stand it, though.”
“No,” Remus insists, “I could never,” and Sirius almost hates him: the conviction in his tone, his pitying eyes. But he does not move away when Remus rests one hand on the side of his face; his almost-broken, almost-handsome face, marred only by its arrogance, its scars.
9.
Title: Furry Little Problem
Author: eprime
Summary: Schooldays AU. Remus is all scratched up.
Contains: silliness
"Let me kiss it better." Sirius nibbled at the fingertips peeking out of Remus' bandage-swathed hand.
"Idiot."
Sirius grinned, taking note that despite the acerbic response something suspiciously like a smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. Emboldened, Sirius moved his lips to Remus' wrist, feeling the faint thrum of his pulse.
"You're scratched here, too." He licked up the red stripe that went all the way up to the crook of Remus' elbow.
A lovely sound of approval fell from his boyfriend's lips, and Sirius moved to straddle his legs, intent on having his way with the boy before their roommates returned.
Of course, James Worst-Timing-Ever Potter chose that moment to burst into the dorm.
"All right, ladies?"
Totally unabashed, James threw himself down on the bed next to them and gave Remus the once over.
"Shite mate, your furry little problem is getting out of hand."
"Do you mind, Potter?" Sirius growled.
"Not at all." James waved his hand magnanimously. "Nothing I haven't seen before, thanks to you."
Shooting James an exasperated glare and wishing for the days when James was still scandalized by his two mates exploring the love that dare not speak its name, Sirius rolled off of Remus to sulk.
Remus hissed as Sirius bumped his hand, and he held it aloft, watching a spot of bright blood bloom on the white bandage.
James whistled. "It's getting worse and worse. Moony'll scratch your eyes out one day. Vicious little bugger."
"Don't badmouth, Moony!" Sirius shot off the bed and scowled.
James snorted as Sirius crossed the room and began to croon to the large, white rabbit crouched in the roomy hutch.
"He's a good boy, really." Sirius slipped him a bit of carrot he'd saved from lunch. "Aren't you, Moon--ow! Bugger!"
10.
Title: Greased
Author: whitmans_kiss
Summary: Sirius Black is a motorcycle mechanic, Remus Lupin serves overpriced hors d'oeuvres. Both are in love.
Contains: Language, bad innuendo, fluff
The counter service bell’s resonating ding startled Sirius enough that he dropped his wrench on his forehead with a foreign expletive before shimmying out from underneath the custom bike he’d been painstakingly tweaking for the past four hours.
“Can’t you read the fucking sign? We close at seven, and it’s - Christ, Remus, don’t fucking do that,” Sirius’ diatribe turned into a languid purr as a pair of hands slid around his neck, pulling him into a heated kiss, careful to keep the rest of the body they were attached to off to the side.
Instinctively, Sirius reached to pull Remus in closer, but was instantly greeted with another sharp rap to the head.
“Oi! Not on the same bloody spot as the wrench -”
“Mind the uniform, you horny dog,” admonished Remus, planting a last peck on Sirius’ cheek before stepping back. “I’ve already got carrot juice stains on my front from some wanker rather unsatisfied with his order.”
“Well, I’m sure my carrot can satisfy you,” Sirius leered, leaning forward to trap him against the counter, blatantly ignoring Remus’ protestations about motor oil and grease and - hush, it’s lubricant, Moony, lighten up. “Are you working another shift at The Phoenix tonight? Because I’m thinking about us staining some sheets, instead…”
“Right, give me even more laundry to do tomorrow.”
“You’ll do nothing of the sort,” Sirius murmured, voice low and husky as he dropped kisses along the smooth skin of Remus’ neck - he could already feel the tension gather along Remus’ spine as Sirius dangled the prospect in front of him. “Or, if you’d rather, there’s some dropcloths in the back…”
“When you put it like that, I think I will take another shift.”
“Fuck you,” though the grin made it a promise as Sirius turned to lock up.
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