Fic: Build A Little Fire This Midnight for blanketdinstars
Title: Build A Little Fire This Midnight
Author/Artist: liseuse
Recipient: blanketdinstars
Rating: PG-13
Contents or warnings (highlight to view): None
Word count: 1,950
Summary: In which there are quiet stolen moments, violin playing of dubious quality, and sticky locks.
Notes: I hope you enjoy this, blanketdinstars! All thanks go to my wonderful beta wildestranger. Any remaining mistakes are mine and mine alone. The poems quoted are ‘Cold Morning Sky, by Marya Zaturenska, 'Paradise Lost' by John Milton, and 'In the Firelight' by W.B. Yeats.
‘Sirius,’ Remus called as he shouldered the door shut. He winced at the jolt it sent through his ribs, cursing, for the thousandth time, their terrible front door and its even worse lock. ‘Sirius, are you home?’
The house echoed silently and as Remus sighed he saw hints of his breath in the hallway. There was an abandoned cup on the hall table, the tinge of a warming spell lingering in the air. Only faint, at least fifteen hours old. Remus pulled his coat off, careful not to move his left arm too much and kicked his boots to the side of the hallway, muttering a fervent prayer that the boiler was feeling kind as he made his way upstairs.
He set the bath running, raising an eyebrow at the brown water and tiredly shoving the last of his strength at magicking it into running clear before gritting his teeth and getting undressed. ‘Fight for the cause, they said,’ he said under his breath, ‘do the right thing, help stop a silent massacre. No one mentioned people bringing knives to fucking wand fights.’ He peeled his shirt-sleeve off his arm and hurriedly clamped it back, reaching over to the cabinet for bandages. ‘Remus J. Lupin, transferable skills: unfastening safety pins with only one hand whilst holding a makeshift tourniquet in place. Underrated in the everyday world, that.’
He turned the taps off just as the boiler started clanking ominously and sank down into the hot water. Coming through the window was the sound of muffled shouting from the pub down the road and the eleven year old next-door murdering ‘It Came Upon the Midnight Clear’ on the violin. Remus hoped that Sanjit had improved by Christmas Eve or the carol service was going to be even more fraught than usual.
--
‘Morning,’ Sirius yawned over his mug of coffee. He cricked his neck and pressed a kiss to Remus’s hip as he walked past.
‘Morning,’ Remus smiled. ‘What time did you get in last night?’ He set the kettle on the gas ring and rummaged in the cupboard for the sugar.
Sirius rolled his head round and shrugged. ‘I don’t know, some time after three in the morning. Turns out that deepest darkest Somewhere manages to be very far away indeed when you’re looking for Floo points.’ He slumped back in his chair and rubbed his hand over his eyes. ‘I miss being able to Apparate.’
‘There, there,’ Remus said through a yawn. ‘On the plus side you missed Sanjit making various carols sound like a cat was being strangled in an approximation of a tune.’ He poured the boiling water over the coffee granules and shoved three spoonfuls of sugar in. ‘Have we got any food?’
‘No,’ Sirius said. ‘The last of the bread grew legs yesterday so I fed it to the malevolent swans, and you finished the milk so we can’t even have porridge.’
‘Bugger.’ Remus said before taking a gulp of coffee. He turned and shook the canister nearest the sink. ‘Aha, the lady jangles,’ he said triumphantly, ‘and if she’s jangling that much there’s enough for us to have at least toast at the caf’.’
‘Sweeter words have never been spoken,’ Sirius grinned and swallowed the last of his coffee. ‘I wonder if we can stretch to an egg.’
--
‘I love mornings like this,’ Sirius said, watching his breath plume out in the cold air. ‘They remind me of school.’ He ran his hand along the railings as they passed the primary school and looked like he was thinking about jumping in the puddle before remembering he had his old, leaky boots on.
Remus tipped his head back and tried to blow smoke rings with just his breath and watched the birds sitting on the telephone lines. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his coat and his hair was escaping from under his bobble hat. ‘Oh, morning fresh and clear as heavenly light,’ he said, turning to walk backwards.
Sirius tipped his head towards him, pulling his collar up around his neck at the same time. He walked up close and brushed his hand over Remus’s before reaching into his pocket and stealing the packet of cigarettes.
Remus laughed, ‘Could have just asked, you know.’ He chucked his lighter over from the other pocket. ‘Cold Morning Sky, by Marya Zaturenska. Not that appropriate really. Goes on to talk about the warmth of the sun and ‘the blood’s April’. Nice couple of lines about ‘the smallest intervals of expanding dawn’ and how ‘quiet fills the eyes, lightens the feet’ though.’
‘Not quite praising him our sphere, while day arises, is it.’ Sirius lit two cigarettes and handed one over. ‘I don’t think I want to meet the orient sun though. I like December in London. It’s gloomy and grimy.’
‘And a bit too godforsaken for Milton?’ Remus said before blowing a proper smoke ring.
‘I think you put enough God in it for the two of us,’ Sirius winked. ‘What time’s church on Christmas Eve again?’
‘8 for carols, 11.45 for mass,’ Remus said witheringly. ‘Just as it has been the past two years. And you don’t have to come.’
‘I’ll come,’ Sirius said softly. ‘At least for carols. I’m good at them. Not much good at the rest of it though.’
‘You don’t have to be good at it,’ Remus laughed. ‘No one is good at it, that’s the point. And you have to come to the carols. I need an independent witness to verify if Sanjit has actually got any better or if familiarity has bred acceptance.’
--
‘Happy Christmas Eve!’ Lily said, throwing her arms around Sirius and Remus, clobbering Peter with a shopping bag in the process. ‘Sorry,’ she called over her shoulder. ‘I didn’t mean to!’
‘She’s said that three times today,’ Peter laughed, ‘I’m going to take it personally if she does it again. Happy Christmas, you two.’
‘Happy Christmas, Pete,’ Remus said. ‘Thought you’d have gone to your mum’s by now.’
‘Going down tomorrow,’ Pete said, ‘wanted to come and sing some carols with you lot. Told her I had to work.’
‘Oooh, lying to mum!’ James grinned. ‘We’ve been such a good influence on you!’ He pulled Sirius in for a hug, ‘Happy Christmas mate.’
‘Happy Christmas you giant idiot,’ Sirius said into James’s shoulder. ‘Oof, let a man breathe.’ He stepped back and grinned. ‘I think it’s going to snow!’
‘Not this again,’ Remus rolled his eyes. ‘If it does snow it won’t be until tomorrow. You’re not going to get to walk out of a carol service into a snowy winter wonderland, and you won’t be turned back in time to an adorable Victorian moppet holding a lantern.’
‘Stop spoiling my fun,’ Sirius pouted. He tipped his head back and sniffed the air. ‘I bet you one kiss that it’s going to snow.’
‘Fine,’ Remus said. ‘I look forward to collecting. Oh, look, the doors are open, come on. We need to hide somewhere near the back if we don’t want to be deafened by Sanjit.’
--
‘SNOWING. MOONY, IT’S SNOWING!’ Sirius yelled as they left the church. He stopped and turned around to beam at Remus. ‘I told you it was going to snow.’
‘When are you going to turn into an adorable Victorian moppet?’ Lily asked. ‘I really want to see that. All good behaviour and perfect manners.’ She tucked her hands in her coat pocket and bundled herself under James’s arm. ‘Bloody hell it’s cold.’
‘You know what else it is?’ Sirius asked, dancing backwards. ‘It is snowing and it is Christmas and Moony was wrong!’ He held his hands out to catch the snowballs. ‘It is a Christmas treat as a reward for listening to Sanjit and then sitting through Mass.’
‘Sanjit has improved,’ Pete said. ‘Not much, but a bit. It was mostly bearable. Bit screechy on Good King Wenceslas but almost entirely in tune on As With Gladness.’
‘Shame no one actually knows the words or how to sing that one, really,’ James laughed. ‘All goes fine for the first two verses and then the rest get a bit wobbly.’
‘Yes, yes,’ Sirius said impatiently. ‘But you’re all missing the point of what I said. It is snowing and it is Christmas and it is snowing. Remus lost and he owes me a kiss because it is snowing.’
Remus smiled ruefully. ‘I did lose, you did win, it is snowing and it is Christmas and I do owe you a kiss. But you’ll let me wait until we get home before you demand payment, right? I don’t fancy getting beaten up outside St. Cadwallader’s.’ He shoved a pair of mittens at Sirius and turned him round by the shoulders. ‘Our nearest Floo point is down that way.’
Lily slipped out from under James’s arm and kissed Remus and then Sirius on the cheek. ‘We’re in the opposite direction. God I wish they’d let us apparate.’
Pete gave all of them a quick hug and pointed straight ahead. ‘And I’m that way. It’s going to be a complete fucking pain Flooing to mum’s tomorrow. I had to book a slot five months ago and the only one I could get was 8.30am.’
‘Right,’ Lily said, ‘I love you all but I’m freezing to death and it doesn’t seem a glorious way to go. Very unimaginative. I’d much prefer “dueling accident in barn in Wiltshire kills glamorous young witch” sometime next year. Happy Christmas all, good luck with families various and assorted and we’ll see you the day after Boxing Day for the second annual Thank God We Survived That piss-up.’
James nodded seriously, ‘Yes, don’t forget that. Bring alcohol. Much alcohol.’ He gave them all another hug and hurried after Lily before she disappeared out of sight in the snow.
‘I’m off as well,’ Pete said yawning. ‘Have a lovely Christmas, see you post Boxing Day.’
‘Bye, Pete,’ Sirius and Remus chorused accidentally and waved. ‘Pretend to say hello to your mum from us!’
‘Will do,’ Pete called faintly before moving out of sight.
--
Sirius smiled sleepily at Remus as he leaned on the front door, holding it jammed in place so Remus could jimmy with the lock. ‘We need a better front door,’ he said.
‘We need a better flat,’ Remus laughed and hung his coat up. ‘Shame I didn’t think to ask Father Christmas for one. Socks will have to do.’ He kicked his shoes to the side and then kicked Sirius’s as well. ‘You light the fire, I’ll put the kettle on.’
Sirius pushed off from the door and leaned in to Remus, kissing him gently on the lips. ‘I’ll get the whiskey out.’ He shuffled along the hallway to the living room and Remus heard a muttered ‘suffering Circe it’s cold in here’ before the fire leapt into life.
By the time Remus came out from the kitchen carrying a tray the fire was burning merrily and Sirius had set a charm imitating fairy lights above the fireplace. ‘Tea’s up,’ he said, setting the tray down and sitting on the floor in front of the sofa with his legs stretched out towards the fire.
Sirius poured healthy measures of whiskey into glasses and settled himself down next to Remus. ‘Happy Christmas,’ he whispered, and put his arm across Remus’s shoulders.
‘Happy Christmas,’ Remus smiled and held his glass up in a toast, clinking their glasses together. He leaned in to kiss Sirius, putting his glass down on the floor and turning to face him. ‘There, that’s your debt paid.’ He leaned in again and kissed Sirius fiercely. ‘Now, finish your drink, and let’s go and dream of kings and kingdoms.’
--
Author/Artist: liseuse
Recipient: blanketdinstars
Rating: PG-13
Contents or warnings (highlight to view): None
Word count: 1,950
Summary: In which there are quiet stolen moments, violin playing of dubious quality, and sticky locks.
Notes: I hope you enjoy this, blanketdinstars! All thanks go to my wonderful beta wildestranger. Any remaining mistakes are mine and mine alone. The poems quoted are ‘Cold Morning Sky, by Marya Zaturenska, 'Paradise Lost' by John Milton, and 'In the Firelight' by W.B. Yeats.
‘Sirius,’ Remus called as he shouldered the door shut. He winced at the jolt it sent through his ribs, cursing, for the thousandth time, their terrible front door and its even worse lock. ‘Sirius, are you home?’
The house echoed silently and as Remus sighed he saw hints of his breath in the hallway. There was an abandoned cup on the hall table, the tinge of a warming spell lingering in the air. Only faint, at least fifteen hours old. Remus pulled his coat off, careful not to move his left arm too much and kicked his boots to the side of the hallway, muttering a fervent prayer that the boiler was feeling kind as he made his way upstairs.
He set the bath running, raising an eyebrow at the brown water and tiredly shoving the last of his strength at magicking it into running clear before gritting his teeth and getting undressed. ‘Fight for the cause, they said,’ he said under his breath, ‘do the right thing, help stop a silent massacre. No one mentioned people bringing knives to fucking wand fights.’ He peeled his shirt-sleeve off his arm and hurriedly clamped it back, reaching over to the cabinet for bandages. ‘Remus J. Lupin, transferable skills: unfastening safety pins with only one hand whilst holding a makeshift tourniquet in place. Underrated in the everyday world, that.’
He turned the taps off just as the boiler started clanking ominously and sank down into the hot water. Coming through the window was the sound of muffled shouting from the pub down the road and the eleven year old next-door murdering ‘It Came Upon the Midnight Clear’ on the violin. Remus hoped that Sanjit had improved by Christmas Eve or the carol service was going to be even more fraught than usual.
--
‘Morning,’ Sirius yawned over his mug of coffee. He cricked his neck and pressed a kiss to Remus’s hip as he walked past.
‘Morning,’ Remus smiled. ‘What time did you get in last night?’ He set the kettle on the gas ring and rummaged in the cupboard for the sugar.
Sirius rolled his head round and shrugged. ‘I don’t know, some time after three in the morning. Turns out that deepest darkest Somewhere manages to be very far away indeed when you’re looking for Floo points.’ He slumped back in his chair and rubbed his hand over his eyes. ‘I miss being able to Apparate.’
‘There, there,’ Remus said through a yawn. ‘On the plus side you missed Sanjit making various carols sound like a cat was being strangled in an approximation of a tune.’ He poured the boiling water over the coffee granules and shoved three spoonfuls of sugar in. ‘Have we got any food?’
‘No,’ Sirius said. ‘The last of the bread grew legs yesterday so I fed it to the malevolent swans, and you finished the milk so we can’t even have porridge.’
‘Bugger.’ Remus said before taking a gulp of coffee. He turned and shook the canister nearest the sink. ‘Aha, the lady jangles,’ he said triumphantly, ‘and if she’s jangling that much there’s enough for us to have at least toast at the caf’.’
‘Sweeter words have never been spoken,’ Sirius grinned and swallowed the last of his coffee. ‘I wonder if we can stretch to an egg.’
--
‘I love mornings like this,’ Sirius said, watching his breath plume out in the cold air. ‘They remind me of school.’ He ran his hand along the railings as they passed the primary school and looked like he was thinking about jumping in the puddle before remembering he had his old, leaky boots on.
Remus tipped his head back and tried to blow smoke rings with just his breath and watched the birds sitting on the telephone lines. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his coat and his hair was escaping from under his bobble hat. ‘Oh, morning fresh and clear as heavenly light,’ he said, turning to walk backwards.
Sirius tipped his head towards him, pulling his collar up around his neck at the same time. He walked up close and brushed his hand over Remus’s before reaching into his pocket and stealing the packet of cigarettes.
Remus laughed, ‘Could have just asked, you know.’ He chucked his lighter over from the other pocket. ‘Cold Morning Sky, by Marya Zaturenska. Not that appropriate really. Goes on to talk about the warmth of the sun and ‘the blood’s April’. Nice couple of lines about ‘the smallest intervals of expanding dawn’ and how ‘quiet fills the eyes, lightens the feet’ though.’
‘Not quite praising him our sphere, while day arises, is it.’ Sirius lit two cigarettes and handed one over. ‘I don’t think I want to meet the orient sun though. I like December in London. It’s gloomy and grimy.’
‘And a bit too godforsaken for Milton?’ Remus said before blowing a proper smoke ring.
‘I think you put enough God in it for the two of us,’ Sirius winked. ‘What time’s church on Christmas Eve again?’
‘8 for carols, 11.45 for mass,’ Remus said witheringly. ‘Just as it has been the past two years. And you don’t have to come.’
‘I’ll come,’ Sirius said softly. ‘At least for carols. I’m good at them. Not much good at the rest of it though.’
‘You don’t have to be good at it,’ Remus laughed. ‘No one is good at it, that’s the point. And you have to come to the carols. I need an independent witness to verify if Sanjit has actually got any better or if familiarity has bred acceptance.’
--
‘Happy Christmas Eve!’ Lily said, throwing her arms around Sirius and Remus, clobbering Peter with a shopping bag in the process. ‘Sorry,’ she called over her shoulder. ‘I didn’t mean to!’
‘She’s said that three times today,’ Peter laughed, ‘I’m going to take it personally if she does it again. Happy Christmas, you two.’
‘Happy Christmas, Pete,’ Remus said. ‘Thought you’d have gone to your mum’s by now.’
‘Going down tomorrow,’ Pete said, ‘wanted to come and sing some carols with you lot. Told her I had to work.’
‘Oooh, lying to mum!’ James grinned. ‘We’ve been such a good influence on you!’ He pulled Sirius in for a hug, ‘Happy Christmas mate.’
‘Happy Christmas you giant idiot,’ Sirius said into James’s shoulder. ‘Oof, let a man breathe.’ He stepped back and grinned. ‘I think it’s going to snow!’
‘Not this again,’ Remus rolled his eyes. ‘If it does snow it won’t be until tomorrow. You’re not going to get to walk out of a carol service into a snowy winter wonderland, and you won’t be turned back in time to an adorable Victorian moppet holding a lantern.’
‘Stop spoiling my fun,’ Sirius pouted. He tipped his head back and sniffed the air. ‘I bet you one kiss that it’s going to snow.’
‘Fine,’ Remus said. ‘I look forward to collecting. Oh, look, the doors are open, come on. We need to hide somewhere near the back if we don’t want to be deafened by Sanjit.’
--
‘SNOWING. MOONY, IT’S SNOWING!’ Sirius yelled as they left the church. He stopped and turned around to beam at Remus. ‘I told you it was going to snow.’
‘When are you going to turn into an adorable Victorian moppet?’ Lily asked. ‘I really want to see that. All good behaviour and perfect manners.’ She tucked her hands in her coat pocket and bundled herself under James’s arm. ‘Bloody hell it’s cold.’
‘You know what else it is?’ Sirius asked, dancing backwards. ‘It is snowing and it is Christmas and Moony was wrong!’ He held his hands out to catch the snowballs. ‘It is a Christmas treat as a reward for listening to Sanjit and then sitting through Mass.’
‘Sanjit has improved,’ Pete said. ‘Not much, but a bit. It was mostly bearable. Bit screechy on Good King Wenceslas but almost entirely in tune on As With Gladness.’
‘Shame no one actually knows the words or how to sing that one, really,’ James laughed. ‘All goes fine for the first two verses and then the rest get a bit wobbly.’
‘Yes, yes,’ Sirius said impatiently. ‘But you’re all missing the point of what I said. It is snowing and it is Christmas and it is snowing. Remus lost and he owes me a kiss because it is snowing.’
Remus smiled ruefully. ‘I did lose, you did win, it is snowing and it is Christmas and I do owe you a kiss. But you’ll let me wait until we get home before you demand payment, right? I don’t fancy getting beaten up outside St. Cadwallader’s.’ He shoved a pair of mittens at Sirius and turned him round by the shoulders. ‘Our nearest Floo point is down that way.’
Lily slipped out from under James’s arm and kissed Remus and then Sirius on the cheek. ‘We’re in the opposite direction. God I wish they’d let us apparate.’
Pete gave all of them a quick hug and pointed straight ahead. ‘And I’m that way. It’s going to be a complete fucking pain Flooing to mum’s tomorrow. I had to book a slot five months ago and the only one I could get was 8.30am.’
‘Right,’ Lily said, ‘I love you all but I’m freezing to death and it doesn’t seem a glorious way to go. Very unimaginative. I’d much prefer “dueling accident in barn in Wiltshire kills glamorous young witch” sometime next year. Happy Christmas all, good luck with families various and assorted and we’ll see you the day after Boxing Day for the second annual Thank God We Survived That piss-up.’
James nodded seriously, ‘Yes, don’t forget that. Bring alcohol. Much alcohol.’ He gave them all another hug and hurried after Lily before she disappeared out of sight in the snow.
‘I’m off as well,’ Pete said yawning. ‘Have a lovely Christmas, see you post Boxing Day.’
‘Bye, Pete,’ Sirius and Remus chorused accidentally and waved. ‘Pretend to say hello to your mum from us!’
‘Will do,’ Pete called faintly before moving out of sight.
--
Sirius smiled sleepily at Remus as he leaned on the front door, holding it jammed in place so Remus could jimmy with the lock. ‘We need a better front door,’ he said.
‘We need a better flat,’ Remus laughed and hung his coat up. ‘Shame I didn’t think to ask Father Christmas for one. Socks will have to do.’ He kicked his shoes to the side and then kicked Sirius’s as well. ‘You light the fire, I’ll put the kettle on.’
Sirius pushed off from the door and leaned in to Remus, kissing him gently on the lips. ‘I’ll get the whiskey out.’ He shuffled along the hallway to the living room and Remus heard a muttered ‘suffering Circe it’s cold in here’ before the fire leapt into life.
By the time Remus came out from the kitchen carrying a tray the fire was burning merrily and Sirius had set a charm imitating fairy lights above the fireplace. ‘Tea’s up,’ he said, setting the tray down and sitting on the floor in front of the sofa with his legs stretched out towards the fire.
Sirius poured healthy measures of whiskey into glasses and settled himself down next to Remus. ‘Happy Christmas,’ he whispered, and put his arm across Remus’s shoulders.
‘Happy Christmas,’ Remus smiled and held his glass up in a toast, clinking their glasses together. He leaned in to kiss Sirius, putting his glass down on the floor and turning to face him. ‘There, that’s your debt paid.’ He leaned in again and kissed Sirius fiercely. ‘Now, finish your drink, and let’s go and dream of kings and kingdoms.’
--