Collide: Chapter 4, part one
Title: Collide
Pairing: Remus/Sirius of Harry Potter fandom
Rating: NC-17 overall, although this part is more like PG-13.
Summary (for all parts): AU (Remus never went to Hogwarts). Everytime Remus gets close to someone, they start to uncover the truth about his strange disappearances and injuries. He can't stand the look on their face when he tells them the truth so instead he erases any trace of their relationship from their mind with a simple obliviate. Tired of getting intimate with someone only to become strangers again, Remus resolves never to get involved with anyone ever again. Of course, resolutions are made to be broken.
In this part: Remus finds himself in the library, an owl arrives, and Sirius makes an unexpected visit.
Previous parts: Chapter 1: part one | two | three
Chapter 2: part one | two
Chapter 3: part one | two | three | four
Collide
Sunday afternoon found Remus in the library feeling very pleasantly shagged and trying to hide a smile as Delilah passed by levitating a set of encyclopaedias. Of course he failed miserably and the encyclopaedias were levitated to the ground while she leaned up against the Reference desk and looked at Remus curiously.
"Someone had a good weekend," she practically purred.
"What would make you say that?" Remus asked casually as turned from her to rearrange the books behind the desk, and then arrange them back in order.
"Oh, I don't know… maybe that smile you're trying to hide or maybe the snowy owl that came a couple minutes ago."
Remus turned around at that and Delilah broke into a grin. "What owl?" he asked, his attention suddenly piqued.
She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of parchment with 'Remus' written in cursive on the front.
"This one," she said as she tossed it onto the desk. She winked as she walked away, encyclopaedias trailing after her causing patrons to either duck or be gently bumped as they wove their way to the fourth floor.
Remus looked down at the parchment in front of him. He reached down to open it when a teenage boy bounded up to the front desk.
"I need books on unicorns," he said and Remus tucked the parchment into the front pocket of his robes.
Remus turned to the large dusty tome beside him. The Book of Everything was written on the front of the leather volume in gold cursive writing. To a casual observer it looked like a normal book, that is until it started to speak.
"Wilbur," Remus said and the pages parted as the book yawned - there was no other word for it - and then smacked its pages together noisily. "I need all the books on unicorns," Remus said and there was some grumbling until Remus said, "please" and then the book flew open and its pages whirled by until they stopped abruptly at a blank page. Slowly, blank ink materialised onto the page and when it was done, there was a complete listing of all the books on unicorns in the library. Remus hovered his wand above the page and there was a soft humming noise before the words were sucked into Remus' wand in a steady stream of black. One tap to another piece of parchment and the words materialised in front of him.
Remus looked the list over quickly, a quill in hand, a put a star beside the ones that were most helpful and not too advanced for a teenager.
"For a school project?" he inquired.
The boy blushed. "There's, uh, this girl," he muttered and Remus smiled.
"Then you'd be best to look at this one as well," Remus said and circled the entry entitled '101 Sonnets Devoted to the Great and Noble Beast, the Unicorn.'
"Second floor," he told the boy as he handed over the parchment.
"Thanks," said the boy quickly before heading towards the staircase.
The book beside Remus slammed shut and Remus sighed. He hated when Wilbur was in one of his moods.
"I need to be rebound," Wilbur muttered in his gravely hoarse voice, the pages parting in a mock mouth.
"Yes, well, I'm sure Ms. Odlis will get to it eventually," Remus said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone.
"You always say that," Wilbur said sourly and sighed, his pages ruffling, before going quiet.
Remus ignored him and turned his attention instead to the letter practically burning a hole in his robes.
Dear Remus,
James insisted on having some sort of stag party and so naturally I insisted on
having a hen party. James, unsurprisingly, didn't like that idea and so we're
having a sort of joint farewell to freedom (not that, between you and I, James ever really
had any). We'd love for you to come, especially if it makes a certain Sirius Black behave.
You know the address. It is this Friday at 8pm. No need to bring anything except your
lovely self.
Cheers,
Lily
P.S. I hope you recovered okay from Friday night. I'll make sure you have a smoother night next month.
Remus smiled and tucked the note back into his robes. He was just going to get some parchment to write Lily back when someone approached the desk.
"What are you doing here?" he couldn't help but ask.
"Is that any way to greet patrons, Remus?" Sirius said with a teasing smile. "I'll have you know I came to return the books I borrowed."
"Ah. How'd that work out?" Remus asked.
"The books worked out fine," Sirius said, "but the geomancy wasn't as much help as I hoped it would be."
"What were you trying to divine?" Remus asked. He didn't know much about geomancy, having never studied it himself, but he did know it was a form of divination which interpreted markings on paper or in the sand.
"Just, uh, the location of something," Sirius said. He suddenly looked very uncomfortable and Remus didn't press the issue further.
"Look, there's a party on Friday," Sirius said, changing the subject.
"I know, Lily sent an owl."
"So, you're going?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I was considering it," Remus said, unable to help the coyness that slipped into his tone.
Sirius smiled and leaned onto the desk so he and Remus were almost touching. "I could make it worth your while," he said in a low voice and Remus cursed that just Sirius' voice alone could arouse him.
"Oh, really?"
Sirius licked his lips. "Really."
"Remus," said a voice and Remus suddenly pulled back.
He cleared his throat. "Yes?"
"I just wanted to see you jump," Delilah said with a smile before turning to Sirius. "You must be Sirius Black."
Sirius shook her hand with a quick amused look at Remus. "Indeed, I am. And you are?"
"Delilah."
"Pleasure," Sirius said warmly.
"Well, I'll leave you two to… talk," she said suggestively with a smile before leaving in the direction of the children's section.
"She seems nice," Sirius remarked. "Pretty girl."
"She is," Remus agreed.
"I've actually got to get going," Sirius said and Remus was sure it wasn't his imagination that Sirius seemed reluctant to leave.
"I'll see you Friday."
"If not before," Sirius said and Remus felt his insides twist though not unpleasantly as Sirius walked away.
"He does have a nice arse," Delilah remarked as she sidled up beside the desk.
Remus nodded distractedly. "He does," he said with a wistful sigh. He thought back to last night and the amazing massage Sirius had given him. He seemed to know just the right areas and the right pressure to leave Remus feeling like a pile of goo. He had also seemed to know just the right ointments to relax Remus' bruised muscles and fade the scars on his wrists and chest. So much in fact that Remus had grown curious. Remus frowned as he remembered their conversation.
"Where'd you get this?" Remus asked.
"Lily, a little while ago," Sirius replied as he smoothed the ointment onto Remus' back.
"You must have been quite hurt for her to give you this stuff," Remus said carefully. He recognized it as the stronger ointment Lily gave him on especially bad moons. Sirius paused in his ministrations.
"I, uh… let's just say I've been on the receiving end of quite a few bad relationships," Sirius said quietly with a self-deprecating laugh.
Remus turned his head sharply at that, unable to help himself. "I'm sorry," he said helplessly.
Sirius just shook his head. "It's over. It's fine."
Remus ran his fingers over the smooth parchment in his pocket and wondered what else Sirius wasn't telling him.
In the next part: Remus decides to do a bit of research (aka, another trip to the department of Black family history)
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