Winter 2011 - Day 5
adventchallenge Day: 5
Title: Young Hearts Run Free
Fandom: Harry Potter, therefore characters belong to JK Rowling and not me
Pairing: Remus/Sirius
Rated: T Words: 2929
Warnings: pre canon (Marauders era), author’s sense of humour, combines book and film sources
Summary: Christmas falls on a full moon, so Remus is not allowed to invite Sirius to his house for the holiday. Is it only because Sirius is a Black and Remus is a werewolf, or do his parents suspect the depth of their affection?
Prompt supplied by rose_walker22: our families may not want us at Christmas but we'll always have each other, happy ending
…Christmas will be at an inconvenient time this year so your mother would rather you spend it at The Playground than the shack in Hogsmeade. We agree that it is most unfortunate for your friend to remain alone at Hogwarts over Christmas. However, we decided it will be safer for Sirius if he does not visit you during the holiday. The Blacks are an ancient family harbouring archaic prejudices. If they discover the nature of your health condition then…
Sirius sat on the edge of Remus’ bed and handed back the express falcon post. His plans for this free period hadn’t included reading depressing owl post. He knew ‘an inconvenient time’ was Lupin code for ‘full moon’, but he’d never heard of The Playground. It sounded ominous. “Where’s that?”
“The backyard. I can’t exactly be in the house…” Remus tapered off. “I’d rather not talk about it now you definitely won’t be coming too.”
“At least your parents were polite enough to suggest I stay with James rather than fester here alone.”
“At least they didn’t suggest inviting Wormtail instead.” If Remus had to hear Peter Pettigrew crapping on about how terrific James Potter was all holiday, he’d tear Peter’s head off, lycanthropic form or not.
“Do you think they know about us?” Sirius asked after some hesitation.
“My parents, or our friends?”
“Both.”
“James might.”
“Prongs? He hasn’t said anything to me.”
“Well he wouldn’t, would he?”
Sirius put an arm around Remus and put his chin on Remus’ shoulder. “I won’t let anyone’s opinion stop me seeing you.”
The breeze from Sirius’ lips tickled pleasantly inside Remus’ ear, unlike the words, which rankled. “That’s what worries me.”
Sirius bristled. “Snivellus deserved more than he got. How dare he threaten to expose you?” Chastised by the disappointment in Remus’ eyes, Sirius dropped his arm and moved away.
“What if my parents do know, Sirius? What if they disapprove and take me out of Hogwarts? What will you do to them if they try to come between us?” Remus asked quietly. He hadn’t chosen to become a werewolf at the age of five and his parents hated the thought of locking him away. The Lupins knew confinement, tranquilisation, and exile were the most common methods of dealing with werewolves who became a risk to their loved ones. They might confine Remus permanently to end his relationship with Sirius, or anyone else for that matter. Werewolves mustn’t mate.
“I’d never… and neither would you!”
“How can we be sure?” Remus continued in the same tone as before. “I argued with my mother about cleaning my room before a transformation once and…”
Sirius stopped him before the self-loathing spread. He knew Mrs Lupin was alive, healthy, and not a werewolf. He stood with his hand in Remus’ and led him to the window between their beds. Sirius passed his wand over the glass and it became as reflective as a mirror. “See here,” he said with loving determination, standing behind Remus and putting his arms around him, both hands resting over Remus’ urgently beating heart. “This is not the reflection of a killer. This young man has the most compassionate soul, the softest heart,”
“Sirius,” Remus tried to interrupt and wriggle out of the embrace.
Sirius was having none of that. “The sweetest kiss,” he ploughed on evenly. “And once a month, for approximately seventy two hours while the moon is full, he becomes a creature more powerful than any mere wizard, the stuff of legend…”
“Are you turned on by my dark side?” Remus teased.
“A little,” Sirius admitted. “But, but - he fights that change, denies to embrace the liberty found in bloodlust craved by others with a similar affliction, even though it increases the agony of every transformation.” His voice rings like that of a born orator. Dumbledore would envy his ability if he heard Sirius now. “Everything about this young wizard makes me proud to be his boyfriend.” He leaned over Remus’ shoulder and Remus turned into their softest yet most emotional kiss to date. Sirius gave a swift kiss to Remus’ cheek and moved both hands to Remus’ tie as footsteps approached their door.
“Moony’s never going to learn to tie a Windsor if you keep doing it, Padfoot.” James flung books and quills at his trunk. The trunk opened obediently and the items scuttled about inside until each found its proper place. Prongs’ eyes crinkled behind his glasses as he threw himself sideways onto the nearest bed with far less grace.
Sirius blatantly kissed Remus’ cheek.
“Dogs are out of the kennel, now,” Remus said with bland acceptance.
“’Bout time,” James declared. He sat forward with the expression reserved for mischievous plotting. “Now, how’re we going to get Padfoot to Moony’s for Christmas?”
*~~~*
“Been to Moony’s before?” James asked on Christmas Eve morning as they hid Sirius’ things away in his bedroom. The Potter parents thought Sirius was spending Christmas at his cousin Andromeda’s, since neither was welcome in the Black ancestral home.
“Nope.”
“Things must be serious if he invited you for a full moon.” James teased, knowing it to be true.
Those Muggle bikini babes decorating Sirius’ bedroom at Grimmauld Place couldn’t distract James from the evidence provided by his friend’s alternate form.
“Eat Doxy droppings, Potter.” Sirius often doubted Remus felt as strongly as he did. He hoped James was right.
“You know it’s big, like, their backyard?”
“Like the Forbidden Forest, except I’m the only scary thing in it,” Sirius quoted Remus’ description as he kicked an unmatched sock under James’ wardrobe. They’d accio everything when Sirius got back. He would be seventeen on Boxing Day, Remus too by New Year. Many of their hopes pivoted on the phrase when we’re of age.
James transfigured Sirius’ aftershave into a porcelain lily. “Did he mention The Playground is enclosed by a gigantic silver cage?”
“Thestral dung!” Sirius transfigured the porcelain lily into an ivory centaur. He’d met the Lupins at Platform 9 3/4. They’d given him lifts to Grimmauld Place before his lovely mother kicked him out. “There’s no way those people would lock their son in a cage.”
“Swear on my efforts to get into Lily Evans’ frilliest knickers.” James covered his heart and groin at the same time so Sirius knew he wasn’t yanking his Mandrake. “It’s more like a reserve, to let him run wild and free while keeping him safe.”
Sirius sat against the corner of James’ dresser and rolled three golden snitches between the fingers of one hand. “Remus would have told me something like that.”
“No he wouldn’t. He can tell me because I’m just a mate. You’re his mate.”
Sirius pegged the snitches at James. They orbited his smirking head until a shrill voice cried “Hurry up doodle head!” from the otherwise innocuous alarm clock beside James’ bed.
“Come on Padfoot. They’ll be letting Moony loose once the sun sets and it’ll be nice for him to have a familiar bum to sniff when he gets there.”
Sirius was too nervous and excited to get James back for that. Prongs and Wormtail were the only two old enough to apparate, and Prongs was the only one to pass his test.
“Can we apparate directly into this cage?”
“Probably not, but I can easily change direction and land beside it.”
“What if I get splinched?”
“Moony will still love you without a doodle.”
Sirius nicked James’ wand and flicked a stinging jinx at James’ buttock, but they apparated before it hit.
*~~~*
They apparated safely and shot revealing spells at the sky to check that they were in the cage before James apparated out. Sirius removed his clothes, carefully placed his wand between the folds and stuffed them in a hollow tree. Then he became the black shaggy dog, marked the tree with a jet of wee, and searched for lingering scents of Remus. He crossed fresh trails of pheasant, grouse, goat, goose, and less recent traces of deer. There was a shallow stream that disappeared into an underground fissure too narrow for a well-fattened fish to swim through. Patches of trees broke up a meadow broad enough to run and hunt in.
James hadn’t been exaggerating about the expansive compound. The Lupins must sink every galleon into maintaining this haven for their son. Sirius knew he’d judged their characters correctly the few times they’d met. He considered running back to the marked tree, changing back and using his wand to send a message for James to take him away again. The Lupins wanted Remus to lead as safe, happy, and normal life as possible. Befriending a Black was not safe for a werewolf, even a disowned Black like Sirius. Dating one declared Hunting Season Open.
Then Sirius spotted the house. The gate was the only part of the cage not protected by a concealment charm, no doubt in case of emergencies. Late afternoon faded into early evening. Sirius rested with his jaws on his paws and watched the gate. His heart raced in anticipation.
He fell asleep.
*~~~*
The familiar scent of his boyfriend caused one canine eye to open.
“Hello Sirius.” Remus always looked dreadful when the change was upon him but tonight he looked worse. He felt worse.
Sirius changed back specifically to hug him, knowing the extreme transformation could begin at any moment. He kept one hand over his privates. “How’d you sneak up on me?” Sirius asked.
“Wind changes-and I’m a werewolf.” Remus’ minute smile faded quickly.
“You’re a magnificent werewolf,” Sirius assured him.
“I’m going over there to change.” Remus pointed, lowering his head as he stepped away and removed his winter jacket.
Sirius’ heart shuddered off beat. They’d shifted in front of each other for months before Sirius stopped being such a set of witch’s robes and kissed Remus. What was different this time? Something between Remus’ hunched shoulders caught Sirius’ eye. “Is that a collar?”
“It makes it easier for my family to find me. They don’t like me being out here alone when I’m not lycanthropic, in case I’m hurt, or…” Remus had hoped James would explain some of this before bringing Sirius here, so he wouldn’t have to.
“Having a family that loves you is nothing to be ashamed of, Remus.” Sirius loved him and hadn’t had to suffer through the decisions faced by the Lupins. He had one other advantage-he could remain with Remus during the full moon.
Remus was embarrassed by the collar, but not ashamed of it. There was nothing wrong with Sirius, yet his mother cast him out while the Lupins tried everything to keep Remus in the family. Before Sirius had time to dwell on this disparity, Remus took his hand and began to run. Sirius mentioned the various animals he’d discovered after they startled a pair of rabbits.
“Pheasant for Christmas dinner! I smelled deer…”
“They had my playground stocked with deer instead of goats before I arrived. For reasons obvious to the two of us I refuse to eat deer, so.” Remus’ shrug became a wrench of muscles and he fell to one knee.
Sirius rapidly helped him remove the remaining layers of clothes and tossed them into the branches of the nearest tree before once again becoming the loveable black mutt. Inside Remus bones stretched, splintered and healed in different shapes. Muscles shifted, sinews grew and tightened. Every cell hurt, like being struck by lightning through pin-pricked sized openings, all over, but that didn’t compare to the torment his mind endured. Padfoot sat on his haunches, whimpering in empathy as Moony stood and howled his complaint to the moon that oppressed him.
Padfoot howled once Moony stopped, and then they ran again.
*~~~*
For three nights and days they ran, hunted, killed, and ate as a pack of two. They did everything together. Everything but that, although they licked each other’s wounds clean when Padfoot caught his muzzle in the concealed fence while snapping at a grouse, and Moony was butted up the bum by a goat while eating its mate.
It was the closest to free either had ever been. For the first time Remus was one with the werewolf. They slept beside each other with their noses touching. Twitching ears or the wag of Padfoot’s tail communicated their joy when too tired to yip, nip, and bound about.
The moon lost its control and Remus returned while they were napping in the sun. His hand remained curled in the hair at the back of Sirius’ neck as he also regained his wizardly form. They smiled radiantly at each other and kissed.
“We’re conveniently naked,” Sirius pointed out.
“So we are. Help me take the collar off?”
“Are you sure?” Sirius was already reaching for the buckle as he asked.
Remus always had the liberty to take the collar off. Keeping it on was a sign of good faith. But Sirius would be leaving soon and the next time they saw each other would be at school. “I’ll hang it from a tree branch while we swim in the shallow, freezing cold creek, or…” His hand moved to Sirius’ hip and his lips hurried to cover Sirius’ mouth.
Sirius rolled onto his back and encouraged Remus to grind on top of him. His hands forgot about unfastening the collar and eagerly squeezed Remus’ naked bum as they became hard and sweaty. Spending more than seventy two hours in canine and lycanthropic forms meant that some traits lingered. They growled and nipped to communicate satisfaction rather than speaking. Remus came first. Sirius immediately followed.
“All those opportunities in the Shrieking Shack or our dorm room, and the first time we do more than kiss is at your parents’ house? Yet Dumbledore reckons I’m the bad boy of Gryffindor.”
“I’m being a perfectly good prefect by setting the example of not frotting with fellow students on school grounds or during visits to Hogsmeade.”
Sirius ran both palms all over Remus’ back, side, and abdomen as their tongues performed a familiar duet. “So frotting’s out during the school term, what about fucking?” The throatily delivered question mustn’t have sounded as seductive to Remus as it did to Sirius, because he suddenly stood up and adjusted his collar. Sirius sat up to touch his leg then held his hand. “Remus?”
Remus took time sorting what needed to be said from what shouldn’t. “Do you know why Dumbledore waited so long to confront Grindelwald?” he asked Sirius.
“No, and I don’t care! I love you enough to become a flea-bitten mongrel. You love me enough to give me the most spectacular Christmas of my life. This is the time to make plans for our future-serious couple plans, Remus-not have a magical history lesson!”
Remus linked their fingers tightly together. “They were lovers too,” he confided.
Sirius laughed. “Haven’t heard that one before.’
“They were our age, maybe a year or two older. Dumbledore told me. After my prefect badge arrived, before I told any of you, I took it to him and said he’d made a dreadful mistake, possibly the worst in his long life. He said no. His worst mistake was to let lust and affection for Grindelwald dominate family loyalty and responsibility. Dumbledore made me a prefect so I’ll keep my pants on at school. I can’t control myself while under the moon’s influence, so the rest of the time I have to be extremely diligent.”
“Everyone has the potential to be a Godric Gryffindor or Gillert Grindelwald. Which will you be, Mr Black?”
“Pardon?”
“Something Dumbledore told me while I was serving detention for that thing with Snape.” Sirius held his naked boyfriend close, possibly for the last time. “Neither of our families will let us be together.”
“I will,” Remus said firmly. “This is my sanctuary. No-one has been in here with me when the moon takes hold before. When we’re going to be together, I want it to happen here. No matter which shape we’re in.”
Sirius almost tackled him, laughing and kissing. “When school’s finished we can build a hut to sleep in, right here.”
“Not if we’re caught like this,” Remus declared between kisses. “Our pelts will be turned into hearth rugs.”
“My family might do that, yours wouldn’t.”
“Don’t be too sure about that. I presume you were wearing clothes at some stage, Sirius?” Mr Lupin said in a dangerously flat voice. Sirius and Lupin bounded apart, faces ablaze, and hands covering less than happy privates.
“Told you there was no point saying no,” Mrs Lupin said through the corner of her mouth. Her eyes resolutely focused in another direction.
“Better invite Sirius to stay until New Year, Remus,” Mr Lupin said wearily.
“We’ll discuss this later,” Mrs Lupin said to the falling snow.
“Much later,” Mr Lupin added.
“Once you’ve found your clothes and put them on.”
“Will you stop it?” Mr Lupin demanded of his wife.
“Told you, though, didn’t I! Why else would Remus risk…”
“How much trouble are you in?” Sirius asked softly as Mr and Mrs Lupin continued arguing on the way back to the gate.
“Loads. Dad hates it when Mum’s right.”
*~~~*
Sirius Black and Remus Lupin sat on a broad stump protruding through snow-covered ground, with an arm around each other, on the eve of a new year. They drew conjoined love hearts in the snow and on tree bark with their wands. They kissed and held hands as fresh flakes melted in their windswept hair.
This was no longer Moony’s safety enclave. It was theirs.
Title: Young Hearts Run Free
Fandom: Harry Potter, therefore characters belong to JK Rowling and not me
Pairing: Remus/Sirius
Rated: T Words: 2929
Warnings: pre canon (Marauders era), author’s sense of humour, combines book and film sources
Summary: Christmas falls on a full moon, so Remus is not allowed to invite Sirius to his house for the holiday. Is it only because Sirius is a Black and Remus is a werewolf, or do his parents suspect the depth of their affection?
Prompt supplied by rose_walker22: our families may not want us at Christmas but we'll always have each other, happy ending
…Christmas will be at an inconvenient time this year so your mother would rather you spend it at The Playground than the shack in Hogsmeade. We agree that it is most unfortunate for your friend to remain alone at Hogwarts over Christmas. However, we decided it will be safer for Sirius if he does not visit you during the holiday. The Blacks are an ancient family harbouring archaic prejudices. If they discover the nature of your health condition then…
Sirius sat on the edge of Remus’ bed and handed back the express falcon post. His plans for this free period hadn’t included reading depressing owl post. He knew ‘an inconvenient time’ was Lupin code for ‘full moon’, but he’d never heard of The Playground. It sounded ominous. “Where’s that?”
“The backyard. I can’t exactly be in the house…” Remus tapered off. “I’d rather not talk about it now you definitely won’t be coming too.”
“At least your parents were polite enough to suggest I stay with James rather than fester here alone.”
“At least they didn’t suggest inviting Wormtail instead.” If Remus had to hear Peter Pettigrew crapping on about how terrific James Potter was all holiday, he’d tear Peter’s head off, lycanthropic form or not.
“Do you think they know about us?” Sirius asked after some hesitation.
“My parents, or our friends?”
“Both.”
“James might.”
“Prongs? He hasn’t said anything to me.”
“Well he wouldn’t, would he?”
Sirius put an arm around Remus and put his chin on Remus’ shoulder. “I won’t let anyone’s opinion stop me seeing you.”
The breeze from Sirius’ lips tickled pleasantly inside Remus’ ear, unlike the words, which rankled. “That’s what worries me.”
Sirius bristled. “Snivellus deserved more than he got. How dare he threaten to expose you?” Chastised by the disappointment in Remus’ eyes, Sirius dropped his arm and moved away.
“What if my parents do know, Sirius? What if they disapprove and take me out of Hogwarts? What will you do to them if they try to come between us?” Remus asked quietly. He hadn’t chosen to become a werewolf at the age of five and his parents hated the thought of locking him away. The Lupins knew confinement, tranquilisation, and exile were the most common methods of dealing with werewolves who became a risk to their loved ones. They might confine Remus permanently to end his relationship with Sirius, or anyone else for that matter. Werewolves mustn’t mate.
“I’d never… and neither would you!”
“How can we be sure?” Remus continued in the same tone as before. “I argued with my mother about cleaning my room before a transformation once and…”
Sirius stopped him before the self-loathing spread. He knew Mrs Lupin was alive, healthy, and not a werewolf. He stood with his hand in Remus’ and led him to the window between their beds. Sirius passed his wand over the glass and it became as reflective as a mirror. “See here,” he said with loving determination, standing behind Remus and putting his arms around him, both hands resting over Remus’ urgently beating heart. “This is not the reflection of a killer. This young man has the most compassionate soul, the softest heart,”
“Sirius,” Remus tried to interrupt and wriggle out of the embrace.
Sirius was having none of that. “The sweetest kiss,” he ploughed on evenly. “And once a month, for approximately seventy two hours while the moon is full, he becomes a creature more powerful than any mere wizard, the stuff of legend…”
“Are you turned on by my dark side?” Remus teased.
“A little,” Sirius admitted. “But, but - he fights that change, denies to embrace the liberty found in bloodlust craved by others with a similar affliction, even though it increases the agony of every transformation.” His voice rings like that of a born orator. Dumbledore would envy his ability if he heard Sirius now. “Everything about this young wizard makes me proud to be his boyfriend.” He leaned over Remus’ shoulder and Remus turned into their softest yet most emotional kiss to date. Sirius gave a swift kiss to Remus’ cheek and moved both hands to Remus’ tie as footsteps approached their door.
“Moony’s never going to learn to tie a Windsor if you keep doing it, Padfoot.” James flung books and quills at his trunk. The trunk opened obediently and the items scuttled about inside until each found its proper place. Prongs’ eyes crinkled behind his glasses as he threw himself sideways onto the nearest bed with far less grace.
Sirius blatantly kissed Remus’ cheek.
“Dogs are out of the kennel, now,” Remus said with bland acceptance.
“’Bout time,” James declared. He sat forward with the expression reserved for mischievous plotting. “Now, how’re we going to get Padfoot to Moony’s for Christmas?”
*~~~*
“Been to Moony’s before?” James asked on Christmas Eve morning as they hid Sirius’ things away in his bedroom. The Potter parents thought Sirius was spending Christmas at his cousin Andromeda’s, since neither was welcome in the Black ancestral home.
“Nope.”
“Things must be serious if he invited you for a full moon.” James teased, knowing it to be true.
Those Muggle bikini babes decorating Sirius’ bedroom at Grimmauld Place couldn’t distract James from the evidence provided by his friend’s alternate form.
“Eat Doxy droppings, Potter.” Sirius often doubted Remus felt as strongly as he did. He hoped James was right.
“You know it’s big, like, their backyard?”
“Like the Forbidden Forest, except I’m the only scary thing in it,” Sirius quoted Remus’ description as he kicked an unmatched sock under James’ wardrobe. They’d accio everything when Sirius got back. He would be seventeen on Boxing Day, Remus too by New Year. Many of their hopes pivoted on the phrase when we’re of age.
James transfigured Sirius’ aftershave into a porcelain lily. “Did he mention The Playground is enclosed by a gigantic silver cage?”
“Thestral dung!” Sirius transfigured the porcelain lily into an ivory centaur. He’d met the Lupins at Platform 9 3/4. They’d given him lifts to Grimmauld Place before his lovely mother kicked him out. “There’s no way those people would lock their son in a cage.”
“Swear on my efforts to get into Lily Evans’ frilliest knickers.” James covered his heart and groin at the same time so Sirius knew he wasn’t yanking his Mandrake. “It’s more like a reserve, to let him run wild and free while keeping him safe.”
Sirius sat against the corner of James’ dresser and rolled three golden snitches between the fingers of one hand. “Remus would have told me something like that.”
“No he wouldn’t. He can tell me because I’m just a mate. You’re his mate.”
Sirius pegged the snitches at James. They orbited his smirking head until a shrill voice cried “Hurry up doodle head!” from the otherwise innocuous alarm clock beside James’ bed.
“Come on Padfoot. They’ll be letting Moony loose once the sun sets and it’ll be nice for him to have a familiar bum to sniff when he gets there.”
Sirius was too nervous and excited to get James back for that. Prongs and Wormtail were the only two old enough to apparate, and Prongs was the only one to pass his test.
“Can we apparate directly into this cage?”
“Probably not, but I can easily change direction and land beside it.”
“What if I get splinched?”
“Moony will still love you without a doodle.”
Sirius nicked James’ wand and flicked a stinging jinx at James’ buttock, but they apparated before it hit.
*~~~*
They apparated safely and shot revealing spells at the sky to check that they were in the cage before James apparated out. Sirius removed his clothes, carefully placed his wand between the folds and stuffed them in a hollow tree. Then he became the black shaggy dog, marked the tree with a jet of wee, and searched for lingering scents of Remus. He crossed fresh trails of pheasant, grouse, goat, goose, and less recent traces of deer. There was a shallow stream that disappeared into an underground fissure too narrow for a well-fattened fish to swim through. Patches of trees broke up a meadow broad enough to run and hunt in.
James hadn’t been exaggerating about the expansive compound. The Lupins must sink every galleon into maintaining this haven for their son. Sirius knew he’d judged their characters correctly the few times they’d met. He considered running back to the marked tree, changing back and using his wand to send a message for James to take him away again. The Lupins wanted Remus to lead as safe, happy, and normal life as possible. Befriending a Black was not safe for a werewolf, even a disowned Black like Sirius. Dating one declared Hunting Season Open.
Then Sirius spotted the house. The gate was the only part of the cage not protected by a concealment charm, no doubt in case of emergencies. Late afternoon faded into early evening. Sirius rested with his jaws on his paws and watched the gate. His heart raced in anticipation.
He fell asleep.
*~~~*
The familiar scent of his boyfriend caused one canine eye to open.
“Hello Sirius.” Remus always looked dreadful when the change was upon him but tonight he looked worse. He felt worse.
Sirius changed back specifically to hug him, knowing the extreme transformation could begin at any moment. He kept one hand over his privates. “How’d you sneak up on me?” Sirius asked.
“Wind changes-and I’m a werewolf.” Remus’ minute smile faded quickly.
“You’re a magnificent werewolf,” Sirius assured him.
“I’m going over there to change.” Remus pointed, lowering his head as he stepped away and removed his winter jacket.
Sirius’ heart shuddered off beat. They’d shifted in front of each other for months before Sirius stopped being such a set of witch’s robes and kissed Remus. What was different this time? Something between Remus’ hunched shoulders caught Sirius’ eye. “Is that a collar?”
“It makes it easier for my family to find me. They don’t like me being out here alone when I’m not lycanthropic, in case I’m hurt, or…” Remus had hoped James would explain some of this before bringing Sirius here, so he wouldn’t have to.
“Having a family that loves you is nothing to be ashamed of, Remus.” Sirius loved him and hadn’t had to suffer through the decisions faced by the Lupins. He had one other advantage-he could remain with Remus during the full moon.
Remus was embarrassed by the collar, but not ashamed of it. There was nothing wrong with Sirius, yet his mother cast him out while the Lupins tried everything to keep Remus in the family. Before Sirius had time to dwell on this disparity, Remus took his hand and began to run. Sirius mentioned the various animals he’d discovered after they startled a pair of rabbits.
“Pheasant for Christmas dinner! I smelled deer…”
“They had my playground stocked with deer instead of goats before I arrived. For reasons obvious to the two of us I refuse to eat deer, so.” Remus’ shrug became a wrench of muscles and he fell to one knee.
Sirius rapidly helped him remove the remaining layers of clothes and tossed them into the branches of the nearest tree before once again becoming the loveable black mutt. Inside Remus bones stretched, splintered and healed in different shapes. Muscles shifted, sinews grew and tightened. Every cell hurt, like being struck by lightning through pin-pricked sized openings, all over, but that didn’t compare to the torment his mind endured. Padfoot sat on his haunches, whimpering in empathy as Moony stood and howled his complaint to the moon that oppressed him.
Padfoot howled once Moony stopped, and then they ran again.
*~~~*
For three nights and days they ran, hunted, killed, and ate as a pack of two. They did everything together. Everything but that, although they licked each other’s wounds clean when Padfoot caught his muzzle in the concealed fence while snapping at a grouse, and Moony was butted up the bum by a goat while eating its mate.
It was the closest to free either had ever been. For the first time Remus was one with the werewolf. They slept beside each other with their noses touching. Twitching ears or the wag of Padfoot’s tail communicated their joy when too tired to yip, nip, and bound about.
The moon lost its control and Remus returned while they were napping in the sun. His hand remained curled in the hair at the back of Sirius’ neck as he also regained his wizardly form. They smiled radiantly at each other and kissed.
“We’re conveniently naked,” Sirius pointed out.
“So we are. Help me take the collar off?”
“Are you sure?” Sirius was already reaching for the buckle as he asked.
Remus always had the liberty to take the collar off. Keeping it on was a sign of good faith. But Sirius would be leaving soon and the next time they saw each other would be at school. “I’ll hang it from a tree branch while we swim in the shallow, freezing cold creek, or…” His hand moved to Sirius’ hip and his lips hurried to cover Sirius’ mouth.
Sirius rolled onto his back and encouraged Remus to grind on top of him. His hands forgot about unfastening the collar and eagerly squeezed Remus’ naked bum as they became hard and sweaty. Spending more than seventy two hours in canine and lycanthropic forms meant that some traits lingered. They growled and nipped to communicate satisfaction rather than speaking. Remus came first. Sirius immediately followed.
“All those opportunities in the Shrieking Shack or our dorm room, and the first time we do more than kiss is at your parents’ house? Yet Dumbledore reckons I’m the bad boy of Gryffindor.”
“I’m being a perfectly good prefect by setting the example of not frotting with fellow students on school grounds or during visits to Hogsmeade.”
Sirius ran both palms all over Remus’ back, side, and abdomen as their tongues performed a familiar duet. “So frotting’s out during the school term, what about fucking?” The throatily delivered question mustn’t have sounded as seductive to Remus as it did to Sirius, because he suddenly stood up and adjusted his collar. Sirius sat up to touch his leg then held his hand. “Remus?”
Remus took time sorting what needed to be said from what shouldn’t. “Do you know why Dumbledore waited so long to confront Grindelwald?” he asked Sirius.
“No, and I don’t care! I love you enough to become a flea-bitten mongrel. You love me enough to give me the most spectacular Christmas of my life. This is the time to make plans for our future-serious couple plans, Remus-not have a magical history lesson!”
Remus linked their fingers tightly together. “They were lovers too,” he confided.
Sirius laughed. “Haven’t heard that one before.’
“They were our age, maybe a year or two older. Dumbledore told me. After my prefect badge arrived, before I told any of you, I took it to him and said he’d made a dreadful mistake, possibly the worst in his long life. He said no. His worst mistake was to let lust and affection for Grindelwald dominate family loyalty and responsibility. Dumbledore made me a prefect so I’ll keep my pants on at school. I can’t control myself while under the moon’s influence, so the rest of the time I have to be extremely diligent.”
“Everyone has the potential to be a Godric Gryffindor or Gillert Grindelwald. Which will you be, Mr Black?”
“Pardon?”
“Something Dumbledore told me while I was serving detention for that thing with Snape.” Sirius held his naked boyfriend close, possibly for the last time. “Neither of our families will let us be together.”
“I will,” Remus said firmly. “This is my sanctuary. No-one has been in here with me when the moon takes hold before. When we’re going to be together, I want it to happen here. No matter which shape we’re in.”
Sirius almost tackled him, laughing and kissing. “When school’s finished we can build a hut to sleep in, right here.”
“Not if we’re caught like this,” Remus declared between kisses. “Our pelts will be turned into hearth rugs.”
“My family might do that, yours wouldn’t.”
“Don’t be too sure about that. I presume you were wearing clothes at some stage, Sirius?” Mr Lupin said in a dangerously flat voice. Sirius and Lupin bounded apart, faces ablaze, and hands covering less than happy privates.
“Told you there was no point saying no,” Mrs Lupin said through the corner of her mouth. Her eyes resolutely focused in another direction.
“Better invite Sirius to stay until New Year, Remus,” Mr Lupin said wearily.
“We’ll discuss this later,” Mrs Lupin said to the falling snow.
“Much later,” Mr Lupin added.
“Once you’ve found your clothes and put them on.”
“Will you stop it?” Mr Lupin demanded of his wife.
“Told you, though, didn’t I! Why else would Remus risk…”
“How much trouble are you in?” Sirius asked softly as Mr and Mrs Lupin continued arguing on the way back to the gate.
“Loads. Dad hates it when Mum’s right.”
*~~~*
Sirius Black and Remus Lupin sat on a broad stump protruding through snow-covered ground, with an arm around each other, on the eve of a new year. They drew conjoined love hearts in the snow and on tree bark with their wands. They kissed and held hands as fresh flakes melted in their windswept hair.
This was no longer Moony’s safety enclave. It was theirs.