FIC: Rough Times for sullensiren
Title: Rough Times
Author: fullmoon_dreams
Recipient: sullensiren
Rating: R
Highlight for Warnings: *None other than a bit of smut *
Word Count: About 5,000. Sorry, I can't seem to manage short.
Summary: The Marauders and Lily decide to celebrate the end their final year of school with a road trip around the country.
Author's notes: Thanks to my beta, LadyAnnikaa. SullenSiren, this didn't turn out quite as light-hearted as I intended it, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
“So, what do you think?” James Potter asked as he gestured around the tent.
“It’s not really a tent though, is it?” Lily asked with a frown. “It’s more like a house with canvas walls.”
“It’s a wizard tent,” Sirius told her. “This is the deluxe model. It has six bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, living room, dining room…”
“Stop!” Lily put her hands over her ears. “Haven’t you guys ever been camping before, I mean properly?”
“This is properly,” James huffed, folding his arms across his chest and flopping down onto the three seat sofa.
“This tent has more bedrooms than my house does.”
“We had to get the deluxe model because the next one down only had three rooms,” Sirius explained. “And with five of us going, it isn’t enough.”
Remus frowned at Sirius’s words. Of course three rooms wouldn’t be enough. After all, if Sirius and Remus shared a room someone might actually put two and two together and realise they were a couple. And we wouldn’t want that, would we?
Lily shook her head and smirked at each of the young men in turn. “I think it’s time that you discovered the joys of camping muggle style.”
James looked like he wanted to shake his head no, like Sirius was doing, but instead he was reluctantly nodding his agreement.
Remus turned to Sirius and shrugged. It looked like they were going to be roughing it for a week.
***
Remus watched in amusement at the latest in a long line of arguments unfolded before his eyes. Sirius was fighting Lily tooth and nail on every little point. Unfortunately, thanks to James, he was finding himself outvoted on every point as well. James was in a constant state of indecision, backing Sirius up in the first instance, but swiftly backing down in the face of opposition from his girlfriend.
“We aren’t leaving our wands at home,” Sirius declared emphatically. “I don’t care if muggles don’t have them when they go camping, wizards do. James will you grow a pair and back me up here!”
James looked like he was caught between a rock and hard place. Remus took pity on him and turned to Lily. “I agree with Sirius on this one. I know we’re trying not to think about it, that we want to enjoy a last carefree holiday before looking for jobs, but we all know that things are getting worse out there. There’s a war going on and to leave our wands at home would be rather foolhardy.”
The rest of the men nodded as he spoke.
“Emergency use only,” Lily stated. “And not because you can’t pitch your tents, light a fire or fix your hair.”
“I don’t use magic to do my hair,” James piped up.
Lily reached up to playfully ruffle the hair in question. “That’s obvious.”
James huffed a little more and went to get the hamper of sandwiches and treats that Lily had prepared for the drive.
Sirius loafed around near his bike as James and Peter packed everything into the boot of the car.
“Can’t we at least enlarge the boot a bit?” Peter asked. “We’re never going to fit everything in here.”
“Muggles can manage it,” Lily told him as she leaned in to twist one of the boxes around and make room for the sleeping bags. “Sirius, is this sleeping bag yours?”
Sirius sauntered over to take a closer look. “Yeah, what’s the matter with it?”
“It’s got heating charms on it,” Lily accused. “Muggle sleeping bags don’t have heating charms, even in the winter, and this is late July.”
“You said we can’t use magic on the trip,” Sirius said with a smirk. “Since we’ve not left yet, I don’t think this should count. Besides, I don’t have the advantage of sharing body heat at night, not like you and James.”
Remus turned away quickly before he said something he knew he would regret. It looked as though he and Sirius weren’t going to be getting all snug and cosy in their tent like he’d thought they would.
Lily pointed her wand at the sleeping bag and smoothly removed the heating charms with a flourish of her wand. “Has anyone else charmed or spelled any of the stuff they’re bringing?” she asked.
“You’re not taking the charms off my bike,” Sirius told her. “I only just got them working.”
“You’re not bringing your bike, are you?” James asked. “I thought we were all going in Lily’s car.”
Sirius inched towards his bike as though someone was going to take it away from him. “I thought you and me could take the bike and follow the others.”
James shook his head. “I’m travelling up front with Lily. She’s going to teach me how to drive.”
Remus thought that Lily didn’t look like she was happy about doing anything of the sort.
Sirius glared. “Fine, Peter will ride with me, then. How about it Wormtail? You’ve not had a chance to ride on my baby yet, have you?”
Peter shook his head. “I’d rather go in the car actually. It’s already starting to rain and the car has a roof.”
Remus pretended to straighten things in the boot, wondering just when it was that Sirius had made him the last resort for company.
“Remus, why don’t you ride with Sirius?” James suggested.
“Don’t worry,” Sirius interrupted before Remus could answer. “I’ll just ride on my own. You can all eat my dust.”
“I think it’ll be the other way around,” Peter pointed out. “Lily’s the only one who knows where we’re going.”
Sirius shrugged with disinterest. “Fine, I’ll follow you. And don’t you guys be eating all the food either.”
***
Remus could see Sirius close behind them as they travelled along the muggle roads.
Lily had turned on the radio and was trying to teach James the words to You Made Me Believe in Magic by the Bay City Rollers.
“I sound like an idiot singing this,” James complained. “Can’t we listen to something less girly?”
“It’s a huge muggle hit,” Lily argued. “Remus, Peter, come on, sing up and James will too.”
“Oooh threats,” Peter teased from his seat at the back of James. “Keep quiet Remus, or else we’ll both suffer.”
Remus laughed, earning himself a glare from James. “You’re both gits,” James muttered. “Is it time for lunch yet?”
“It’s only half past ten,” Lily reminded him. “We’ll stop around one at this great picnic spot I know.”
“One!” James groaned, clutched his stomach. “I’ll have grown weak from hunger by that point.”
Remus turned to look out the back window again as James and Lily continued to squabble. Sirius was still there, riding his bike muggle style on the road, rather than flying it above them in the air.
Remus tuned out the bickering from the front seats and let his mind wander to the man following behind them.
Dressed in dark blue jeans and a black leather jacket, there was no doubt that Sirius looked every inch the muggle biker. His black hair was blowing in the rush of the wind. The tie holding it back had come loose and there were locks escaping with every mile they travelled.
Remus wondered what it would be like to be on the back of the bike right now, his arms around the waist of his lover, his chest pressed up against Sirius’s back, the hardness of his cock just inches away from the entrance it sought. Damn, he was getting hard just thinking about it. He tried to will his erection to go away, reminding it that it wasn’t going to be satisfied any time soon - Sirius had made that perfectly clear.
“You okay, Moony?” James asked.
“Yeah,” Remus replied, turning away from the back window to face the front. “Why do you ask?”
“Because I’ve just asked you three times, if you remembered to pack muggle matches,” James said. “Lily said there’s a petrol station a few miles up the road and we’re going to stop and get some water since we forgot that. We’re trying to think of anything else that might have been missed.”
Remus shook his head. “I got the matches when I picked up the first aid kit.”
“If anyone gets injured then I say it’s an emergency and we should use our wands,” James replied.
“Not for the little stuff,” Lily said. “Now, back to the question of whether we’ve got everything…”
***
Remus left James and Lily loitering in the small shop and went round the back of the building to the gents.
He slipped into the stall at the end, in the mistaken belief that it might be less frequently used and therefore slightly cleaner than the rest of them.
A door slammed at the opposite end of the room.
“Remus, are you in here?”
Remus could hear Sirius’s footsteps heading his way. He wondered whether to ignore him, but knew that he wouldn’t get away with it. “I’m in the end stall,” he called out.
A second later, Sirius rapped smartly on the door. “Come on, let me in then.”
“I’m not done yet,” Remus called back. “Why don’t you use one of the others?”
“Don’t be thick,” Sirius replied. “We’ve not got long before we’re back on the road, so open up and let me in there.”
Remus zipped himself back up, pulled the chain, then turned to unbolt the door and step back so that Sirius could enter. The moment Sirius was inside Remus pushed the door shut and locked it again.
“Saw you watching me from the car,” Sirius commented. “Undressing me with your eyes.”
“I could have been on the bike with you,” Remus reminded him as he stepped closer. “Pressing flush against your back.” He spun Sirius round to face the door and pressed against him. “My hands on your body.” His hands snaked around Sirius’s waist, slipping lower to grope at his crotch.
“Just do it Remus,” Sirius demanded. “Do it!”
Remus stepped back and tugged Sirius back round so that he was facing him. “You said it yourself, we’ve not got much time.”
Sirius groaned as Remus tugged him down for a hard kiss.
When their lips touched Remus forgot they were in the gents’ toilets at a dingy old petrol station. He forgot their friends were probably already looking for them, and that anyone could walk in and hear them at any moment.
Instead he remembered that they were going to be camping in the woods for a week and that this was the only time they were going to get off until they were home. If this was all he was going to get for the duration of the holiday, he intended to make the most of it.
The muggle jeans were restricting and tight, even more so now he was fully hard. He pressed his groin against Sirius’s, feeling the answering hardness pushing back with each jerk.
Remus pulled back from the kiss and buried his face in Sirius’s neck. He knew he was close, and from Sirius’s laboured breathing, so was he.
He could feel Sirius’s hands on his arse, urging him closer, keeping him near, pushing him to the brink of his orgasm.
They rubbed against each other, frantic and desperately searching for release.
Remus bared his teeth, sinking them into Sirius’s neck. It wasn’t hard enough to break the skin, but it was enough to push Sirius over the edge.
Sirius cried out and slumped back against the door. “Fuck-Remus-Fuck!”
Remus held him upright and kept him from falling as he continued to grind their hips together, chasing his own orgasm.
“Sirius,” he whispered into the ear of his lover as he felt the hot flood of release in his pants.
Sirius held him until his tremors subsided. It was with great reluctance that Remus finally pulled back and took stock of their ensemble.
“Maybe I should ride with you the rest of the way,” Remus suggested with a smug smile and a vague wave at the rather obvious stain on the front of his light blue jeans. “We wouldn’t want the others to notice this and start asking questions, would we?”
Sirius shook his head and pulled out his wand. “I think this constitutes an emergency,” he declared as he set their appearances to rights. “There, all sorted.”
“Why don’t you want me to ride with you?” Remus asked. “You asked James and Peter, so why not me?”
“Remus, don’t start.”
“I’m not starting anything, I just want to know when it was I became the last resort amongst your friends. Hell, not even the last resort! You didn’t even ask me.”
“You think you’re the last resort?” Sirius shook his head and threw up his hands in despair. “We’ve been shagging for months. We just got off a few minutes ago. But we’ve got to be careful not to let the others know.”
“Why? Did it ever actually occur to you that maybe I’d like our friends to know about us?”
Sirius turned his back and yanked open the door to the stall. “Here we go again,” he muttered as he stalked to the grimy wash basin. “I already told you that we’ll tell them when the time is right.”
Remus followed after him, determined to at least try to get his point across. “And when might that be? I thought it was supposed to be after we left school, so that things wouldn’t be awkward in the dorm if they took it badly. Well, in case you haven’t noticed, we left school a month ago.”
“You want to ruin our holiday by telling them now?” Sirius retorted.
“Why are you so sure it would ruin it?” Remus asked. “Do you really think our friends wouldn’t be happy for us?”
Sirius looked like he was about to reply, but his words were forestalled when Peter stumbled into the room. “What are you guys doing in here?” he asked. “Lily’s about to send out a search party.”
Sirius grinned. “If you’re here looking for us under her orders, I think she already has.”
Sirius slapped Peter on the back and steered him towards the door. “Come on Moony, we don’t want to keep them waiting.”
Remus grumbled under his breath as he followed the others back to the car. Of course he didn’t want to ruin their holiday, but he was tired of sneaking around, watching what he said, being careful of how he acted and how he treated Sirius when others were around.
He wanted to do what James and Lily did. He wanted to touch Sirius in front of his friends without worrying that someone might get the right idea about them.
Now, watching Sirius climb back onto his bike, he wanted to jump on behind him and to hell with what everyone else thought.
“You want some company?” he called to Sirius. “I think we’ve left the rain behind us.”
Sirius shook his head. “You go with the others.”
Remus sighed and got into the car beside Peter. Like it would out them just by riding on the back of Sirius’s bike! Sirius was being ridiculously paranoid and Remus was more than a little tired of it.
***
“What do you mean there’s only three tents?” Sirius asked. “I thought there was one for each of us?”
Lily hammered the peg into the ground before she turned to reply. “Each tent sleeps two people, three at a push. There are five of us, plus the food and equipment. Three is more than adequate.”
James nodded as he poked his head out of the half-erected tent. “Me and Lily in one tent, you and Remus in the second and Peter and the food and stuff in the third.”
“I thought I might sleep outside actually,” Peter commented. “It’s looking to be a nice night.”
James shrugged. “Your choice. Or you can squeeze in with Remus and Sirius.”
Remus chanced a quick glance at Sirius to see what his reaction was to that comment.
“Why don’t you and me bunk together, Prongs?” Sirius asked. “Then Remus and Peter can have the second tent, and Lily can have some privacy with a tent to herself.”
James glared at Sirius. “What’s your problem these days? If I didn’t know any better I’d say you and Moony were fighting.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Sirius snarled. “I was just thinking of Lily.”
“Let me worry about Lily,” James snapped back.
Remus kept quiet, wondering just how much more squabbling would happen before the end of the day, and where exactly he would end up sleeping that night.
***
Remus could tell that Sirius was still awake. He knew the rhythm of his breathing so well he almost had it memorised.
He strained his ears to see if he could hear James and Lily in their tent on the far side of the fire. But all he could hear was the sounds of the night and his own thumping heartbeat.
“Sirius?” he whispered.
“Hmm?”
“Are you tired?”
“Not really. You?”
“No.” Remus pulled down the zip of the sleeping bag and sat up. “Budge over.”
“What?” Sirius looked at him as thought he had lost his mind. “Remus, not here.”
“Why not?”
“What if they hear us?”
Remus reached out to slowly undo Sirius’s sleeping bag as well. “What if they do?”
“Have you lost your mind?” Sirius hissed.
Remus ignored him as he pushed the top of the sleeping bag aside and scrambled over so that he could climb on top of Sirius, straddling him with purpose.
“Remus!” Sirius tried to nudge him off, but the slight figure of the werewolf was deceptive, and Remus wasn’t going to budge without a fight.
“Tell me you don’t want me,” Remus whispered as he slowly rocked against him. “You know you want me as much now as you did last night. Tell me.”
Sirius’s resistance, such as it was, crumbled. He nodded and gripped Remus’s hips with his hands. “Need you in me.”
Remus grinned as he tugged on the drawstring of Sirius’s pyjama bottoms. “Knew you couldn’t resist me,” he teased as he slipped his hand inside and slowly began to fondle the heavy balls and leaking cock that he found there.
Suddenly a sound outside their tent caused them to halt.
“What was that?” Sirius whispered.
“Probably one of the others getting something to eat or something.”
“This was a bad idea,” Sirius said and he rolled the distracted Remus off of him and ducked out of the tent.
Remus waited for nearly fifteen minutes before he finally realised Sirius wasn’t returning.
He stuck his head out of the tent to see where he was.
Sirius was sitting by the long dead fire, poking it with a branch, as though he could coax it back to life. It seemed that Peter had given up on sleeping under the stars. It was probably his movements that had distracted them.
Remus tiptoed across the camp and sat down beside Sirius. “Are you okay?”
Sirius nodded silently.
“You know you can’t lie to me.”
Sirius snorted. “Then why did you ask if you already knew?”
“Because I wanted you to tell me the truth, to confide in me like you used to.”
“I do confide in you.”
Remus shook his head. “Not any more. Things have changed since we… you know…”
“Maybe we shouldn’t have done this,” Sirius suggested quietly. “Things were less awkward between us before.”
“They’re only awkward now because you let them be that way. Do you want to call it quits?”
Sirius’s head snapped round to face him. “No! Remus, no!”
“Then what do you want?” Remus whispered.
“I want to stop worrying about how to act around you. I want the others to know how I feel about you.”
Remus stayed quiet, feeling that Sirius hadn’t quite finished yet.
“I’m scared,” Sirius whispered as he turned away and looked up at the stars. “What if he treats me differently after he knows?”
Remus didn’t have to ask who it was that Sirius was referring to. It could only be James. “Why would he?” he asked quietly. “You’re like a brother to him.”
“Didn’t stop my real brother turning on me.”
“Your problems with Regulus have nothing to do this. Does he even know about us?”
Sirius nodded. “He saw us in Hogsmeade once. He saw enough to guess.”
“Oh. I didn’t realise.”
“We weren’t careful enough.”
“We’ve been careful enough that James has no idea about us,” Remus pointed out.
They both jumped at the sight of a messy head of black hair emerging from one of the tents. “You guys still up?” James asked as he sat down near them. “So, Moony, has Padfoot told you what’s bothering him yet?”
“Nothing’s bothering me,” Sirius insisted petulantly.
James snorted. “Even Wormtail has noticed there’s something up with you. I’m not going to let you ruin our holiday by being a sulky git the whole time.”
“I’m not sulking.”
Remus smiled at Sirius’s very sulky pout. He had to hold himself back from actually leaning forward to press own mouth against Sirius’s and draw that adorable lower lip between his own lips.
“Me and Moony are together,” Sirius suddenly blurted. “Like as a couple.”
Remus’s jaw dropped as he stared at Sirius, whose own gaze was riveted on James.
Remus half expected James to say that he already knew. Or that he at least suspected. But from the deafening silence he could tell that he had really had no idea.
“We’re gay,” Sirius added, as though the additional clarification was somehow needed.
“I heard you the first time,” James finally said. “Are you sure?”
Remus turned to face James. “Yes, we’re sure.”
Sirius inched towards him and Remus felt his hand encased in the firm grip of his lover. “James? Are you okay with this?”
James shook his head mutely. “But you like girls, you both like girls. Don’t you?”
Remus sighed. “We like each other more.”
“We more than like each other,” Sirius added.
“What are you saying?” James asked. “You’re in love or something?”
Remus nodded and gave Sirius’s hand a quick squeeze. This wasn’t going as well as he had imagined it would. James didn’t look all that supportive and he was hardly jumping up to offer his congratulations.
Sirius’s ripped his hand away and Remus turned to watch his lover hurry back to the tent. Fuck!
He turned his rising anger on the cause of it.
“You can be a real git sometimes,” he snapped. “Do you know how long he’s been wanting to tell you? Do you realise how much he’s worried about how you’ll react?”
“What do you expect me to say?” James replied. “I’m in bloody shock here.”
“You could tell him that it won’t make a difference to your friendship, for a start.”
“But it will, won’t it?”
“Not unless you let it.”
“But he’ll be your best friend now, won’t he?” James argued.
“No more than Lily has been your best friend for the past eight months.”
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
“Because Lily’s my girlfriend.”
“And Sirius is my boyfriend. Now go into that tent and tell him that you’re happy for him.”
“You can’t order me around like this,” James said, although he rose to his feet and walked over to the tent.
Remus waited while James went into the tent. He was tempted to go after him, but he knew that he had to leave them to work things out on their own. He couldn’t let himself interfere.
Finally James emerged. He didn’t say anything as he passed Remus, just offering him a quick nod, before hurrying to his own tent again.
Remus turned to see whether Sirius was coming back out, but there was no sign of movement.
Another ten minutes or so passed, and Remus pondered whether or not to stay where he was or join Sirius. Eventually he chose the third option and went for a walk instead.
When he returned Sirius was waiting by the re-lit fire.
“You okay?” Remus asked as he sat down beside him.
Sirius nodded. “I think he’ll be okay with us, when he gets used to the idea.”
“I thought he’d take it better than this,” Remus admitted. “I thought maybe he’d already guessed and was just waiting for us to tell him.”
Sirius laughed harshly. “Since when does James wait for anything?”
Remus sighed and reached out his hands to the warmth of the fire.
“You cold?” Sirius asked with obvious concern.
“A little.”
Sirius moved closer and wrapped an arm around Remus’s shoulders, hugging him close.
“What if Peter wakes up?” Remus reminded him. “What if he sees us?”
“I don’t care any more,” Sirius replied. “James will tell him in the morning anyway.”
Remus leaned onto Sirius’s shoulder and looked up at the stars above them. “What if he doesn’t come round?” he asked quietly. “What if you have to choose?”
Sirius sighed and Remus knew that he shouldn’t push the issue. He didn’t want to know which way Sirius would jump if he had to make the choice between his best friend and the man who loved him.
Remus wished he could take back the question, but it seemed that Sirius wasn’t going to answer anyway.
“Come on Remus,” Sirius finally whispered. “Let’s turn in for the night.”
Remus nodded and let Sirius help him to his feet.
He followed Sirius into the tent, and when Sirius lifted the edge of his sleeping bag and urged him to curl up alongside him, Remus didn’t hesitate to do so.
James would come around. Remus believed it because he had to.
In the meantime he would be there for Sirius, just as he always was.
***
The next morning Remus woke to the sensation of someone dropping feather-light kisses along his jaw.
He smiled sleepily and opened his eyes. “Morning,” he whispered.
Sirius pulled back just enough to return his smile. “Did I wake you?”
Remus nodded. “Not that I’m complaining. I like being woken up this way. How are you this morning?”
Sirius shrugged. “I’ve come to a decision.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve decided to that if James want’s to be all weird about this then that’s his problem. I’m not hiding any more.”
Remus wondered if he should be worried about the wicked grin that stretched across Sirius’s face.
Sirius sat up and pulled Remus along with him. “Let’s go get breakfast.”
Remus crawled out of the tent and saw immediately that James, Lily and Peter were already up and about. He could also tell that James had told the others about them. Now to see if Sirius was going to stick to his decision.
He waited for Sirius to put some distance between them, but it didn’t happen. Instead, Sirius took hold of his hand and tugged him towards the fire and the tantalising smell of Lily’s cooking.
“Two full English breakfasts please,” Sirius declared as he sat down, pulling Remus with him.
Remus caught James and Peter exchanging glances and put a few inches of space between him and Sirius.
The space wasn’t there for long though - Sirius moved closer to him and put a steadying hand on his knee. It was when Remus looked at that hand that he realised how nervous Sirius still was. The trembling was so minor it was almost unnoticeable, but it was there, and Remus took hold of the hand in support.
“James go and get some more eggs,” Lily ordered.
“What am I, a bloody waiter?”
Lily rolled her eyes. “A waiter wouldn’t argue.”
Sirius snickered and loudly whispered “whipped” as James passed.
Remus looked at Lily who smiled back at him, just as she always did. At least someone wasn’t treating them differently. He turned to Peter who was concentrating on his breakfast as though it would run off of his plate if he looked away from it.
James returned with the eggs, only dropping one on the way back to the fire.
“Here you go,” Lily said, passing the first filled plate to Sirius, who immediately passed it on to Remus.
“Thanks,” Remus said as he scooped up a forkful of mushrooms.
Sirius’s hand reached onto his plate and snagged the largest piece of bacon.
“Hey!” Remus exclaimed, slapping the hand away. “Wait for your own plate, Greedy!”
Sirius chuckled. “But stolen food always tastes so much better,” he replied, reminding him of their frequent forays into the Hogwart’s kitchens during the last seven years.
“You should know better than to let Padfoot get that close to your plate,” James teased.
Remus laughed as well, glad that James was at least making an effort to act normally. Perhaps things would be okay after all.
***
The last of their things were bundled into the boot of Lily’s car and they were ready to leave for the next leg of their journey.
Remus was automatically following Peter into the back of the car when he felt a hand on his arm holding him back.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Sirius asked with a smile and a nod to his bike. “Aren’t you planning on riding with me?”
Remus could feel the eyes of their friends on him and he knew that things weren’t quite back to normal yet, and perhaps they never would be, but that didn’t stop him from making his choice.
Daring any one of them to say a single word, he watched Sirius mount the bike and then climbed on behind him.
He wrapped his arms around Sirius, his grip tightening as the bike roared to life.
“You sure you know the way?” Lily asked.
Sirius nodded. “Yeah, we’re good. We’ll meet you for lunch at the Red Dragon.”
“We’ll see you there,” Lily agreed, as she started the car.
Sirius nodded and turned the bike skyward. “Bet we make it there first,” he replied.
Remus laughed and held on as the sound of James shouting “cheater” carried to them on the wind.
Then all he could hear was the wind in his ears, at least until he leaned into Sirius’s back and the sound of a heartbeat, strong and steady, joined the sound of the wind. He slipped a hand inside Sirius’s jacket, resting the palm over his heart and feeling it increase beneath his fingers.
His own heart raced as he wrapped himself around his lover, sighing with contentment.
Beneath them he could see Lily’s battered old Ford winding down the country lane. James seemed to be fighting a losing battle with the roadmap and Peter seemed to be laughing at something.
Remus smiled as he watched them. Then they were no more than a speck in the distance and he and Sirius were soaring towards the clouds.
Their road trip might have got off to a bit of a shaky start, but he knew that things were going to be all right. With Sirius in his arms, it could never be otherwise.
Author: fullmoon_dreams
Recipient: sullensiren
Rating: R
Highlight for Warnings: *None other than a bit of smut *
Word Count: About 5,000. Sorry, I can't seem to manage short.
Summary: The Marauders and Lily decide to celebrate the end their final year of school with a road trip around the country.
Author's notes: Thanks to my beta, LadyAnnikaa. SullenSiren, this didn't turn out quite as light-hearted as I intended it, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
“So, what do you think?” James Potter asked as he gestured around the tent.
“It’s not really a tent though, is it?” Lily asked with a frown. “It’s more like a house with canvas walls.”
“It’s a wizard tent,” Sirius told her. “This is the deluxe model. It has six bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, living room, dining room…”
“Stop!” Lily put her hands over her ears. “Haven’t you guys ever been camping before, I mean properly?”
“This is properly,” James huffed, folding his arms across his chest and flopping down onto the three seat sofa.
“This tent has more bedrooms than my house does.”
“We had to get the deluxe model because the next one down only had three rooms,” Sirius explained. “And with five of us going, it isn’t enough.”
Remus frowned at Sirius’s words. Of course three rooms wouldn’t be enough. After all, if Sirius and Remus shared a room someone might actually put two and two together and realise they were a couple. And we wouldn’t want that, would we?
Lily shook her head and smirked at each of the young men in turn. “I think it’s time that you discovered the joys of camping muggle style.”
James looked like he wanted to shake his head no, like Sirius was doing, but instead he was reluctantly nodding his agreement.
Remus turned to Sirius and shrugged. It looked like they were going to be roughing it for a week.
***
Remus watched in amusement at the latest in a long line of arguments unfolded before his eyes. Sirius was fighting Lily tooth and nail on every little point. Unfortunately, thanks to James, he was finding himself outvoted on every point as well. James was in a constant state of indecision, backing Sirius up in the first instance, but swiftly backing down in the face of opposition from his girlfriend.
“We aren’t leaving our wands at home,” Sirius declared emphatically. “I don’t care if muggles don’t have them when they go camping, wizards do. James will you grow a pair and back me up here!”
James looked like he was caught between a rock and hard place. Remus took pity on him and turned to Lily. “I agree with Sirius on this one. I know we’re trying not to think about it, that we want to enjoy a last carefree holiday before looking for jobs, but we all know that things are getting worse out there. There’s a war going on and to leave our wands at home would be rather foolhardy.”
The rest of the men nodded as he spoke.
“Emergency use only,” Lily stated. “And not because you can’t pitch your tents, light a fire or fix your hair.”
“I don’t use magic to do my hair,” James piped up.
Lily reached up to playfully ruffle the hair in question. “That’s obvious.”
James huffed a little more and went to get the hamper of sandwiches and treats that Lily had prepared for the drive.
Sirius loafed around near his bike as James and Peter packed everything into the boot of the car.
“Can’t we at least enlarge the boot a bit?” Peter asked. “We’re never going to fit everything in here.”
“Muggles can manage it,” Lily told him as she leaned in to twist one of the boxes around and make room for the sleeping bags. “Sirius, is this sleeping bag yours?”
Sirius sauntered over to take a closer look. “Yeah, what’s the matter with it?”
“It’s got heating charms on it,” Lily accused. “Muggle sleeping bags don’t have heating charms, even in the winter, and this is late July.”
“You said we can’t use magic on the trip,” Sirius said with a smirk. “Since we’ve not left yet, I don’t think this should count. Besides, I don’t have the advantage of sharing body heat at night, not like you and James.”
Remus turned away quickly before he said something he knew he would regret. It looked as though he and Sirius weren’t going to be getting all snug and cosy in their tent like he’d thought they would.
Lily pointed her wand at the sleeping bag and smoothly removed the heating charms with a flourish of her wand. “Has anyone else charmed or spelled any of the stuff they’re bringing?” she asked.
“You’re not taking the charms off my bike,” Sirius told her. “I only just got them working.”
“You’re not bringing your bike, are you?” James asked. “I thought we were all going in Lily’s car.”
Sirius inched towards his bike as though someone was going to take it away from him. “I thought you and me could take the bike and follow the others.”
James shook his head. “I’m travelling up front with Lily. She’s going to teach me how to drive.”
Remus thought that Lily didn’t look like she was happy about doing anything of the sort.
Sirius glared. “Fine, Peter will ride with me, then. How about it Wormtail? You’ve not had a chance to ride on my baby yet, have you?”
Peter shook his head. “I’d rather go in the car actually. It’s already starting to rain and the car has a roof.”
Remus pretended to straighten things in the boot, wondering just when it was that Sirius had made him the last resort for company.
“Remus, why don’t you ride with Sirius?” James suggested.
“Don’t worry,” Sirius interrupted before Remus could answer. “I’ll just ride on my own. You can all eat my dust.”
“I think it’ll be the other way around,” Peter pointed out. “Lily’s the only one who knows where we’re going.”
Sirius shrugged with disinterest. “Fine, I’ll follow you. And don’t you guys be eating all the food either.”
***
Remus could see Sirius close behind them as they travelled along the muggle roads.
Lily had turned on the radio and was trying to teach James the words to You Made Me Believe in Magic by the Bay City Rollers.
“I sound like an idiot singing this,” James complained. “Can’t we listen to something less girly?”
“It’s a huge muggle hit,” Lily argued. “Remus, Peter, come on, sing up and James will too.”
“Oooh threats,” Peter teased from his seat at the back of James. “Keep quiet Remus, or else we’ll both suffer.”
Remus laughed, earning himself a glare from James. “You’re both gits,” James muttered. “Is it time for lunch yet?”
“It’s only half past ten,” Lily reminded him. “We’ll stop around one at this great picnic spot I know.”
“One!” James groaned, clutched his stomach. “I’ll have grown weak from hunger by that point.”
Remus turned to look out the back window again as James and Lily continued to squabble. Sirius was still there, riding his bike muggle style on the road, rather than flying it above them in the air.
Remus tuned out the bickering from the front seats and let his mind wander to the man following behind them.
Dressed in dark blue jeans and a black leather jacket, there was no doubt that Sirius looked every inch the muggle biker. His black hair was blowing in the rush of the wind. The tie holding it back had come loose and there were locks escaping with every mile they travelled.
Remus wondered what it would be like to be on the back of the bike right now, his arms around the waist of his lover, his chest pressed up against Sirius’s back, the hardness of his cock just inches away from the entrance it sought. Damn, he was getting hard just thinking about it. He tried to will his erection to go away, reminding it that it wasn’t going to be satisfied any time soon - Sirius had made that perfectly clear.
“You okay, Moony?” James asked.
“Yeah,” Remus replied, turning away from the back window to face the front. “Why do you ask?”
“Because I’ve just asked you three times, if you remembered to pack muggle matches,” James said. “Lily said there’s a petrol station a few miles up the road and we’re going to stop and get some water since we forgot that. We’re trying to think of anything else that might have been missed.”
Remus shook his head. “I got the matches when I picked up the first aid kit.”
“If anyone gets injured then I say it’s an emergency and we should use our wands,” James replied.
“Not for the little stuff,” Lily said. “Now, back to the question of whether we’ve got everything…”
***
Remus left James and Lily loitering in the small shop and went round the back of the building to the gents.
He slipped into the stall at the end, in the mistaken belief that it might be less frequently used and therefore slightly cleaner than the rest of them.
A door slammed at the opposite end of the room.
“Remus, are you in here?”
Remus could hear Sirius’s footsteps heading his way. He wondered whether to ignore him, but knew that he wouldn’t get away with it. “I’m in the end stall,” he called out.
A second later, Sirius rapped smartly on the door. “Come on, let me in then.”
“I’m not done yet,” Remus called back. “Why don’t you use one of the others?”
“Don’t be thick,” Sirius replied. “We’ve not got long before we’re back on the road, so open up and let me in there.”
Remus zipped himself back up, pulled the chain, then turned to unbolt the door and step back so that Sirius could enter. The moment Sirius was inside Remus pushed the door shut and locked it again.
“Saw you watching me from the car,” Sirius commented. “Undressing me with your eyes.”
“I could have been on the bike with you,” Remus reminded him as he stepped closer. “Pressing flush against your back.” He spun Sirius round to face the door and pressed against him. “My hands on your body.” His hands snaked around Sirius’s waist, slipping lower to grope at his crotch.
“Just do it Remus,” Sirius demanded. “Do it!”
Remus stepped back and tugged Sirius back round so that he was facing him. “You said it yourself, we’ve not got much time.”
Sirius groaned as Remus tugged him down for a hard kiss.
When their lips touched Remus forgot they were in the gents’ toilets at a dingy old petrol station. He forgot their friends were probably already looking for them, and that anyone could walk in and hear them at any moment.
Instead he remembered that they were going to be camping in the woods for a week and that this was the only time they were going to get off until they were home. If this was all he was going to get for the duration of the holiday, he intended to make the most of it.
The muggle jeans were restricting and tight, even more so now he was fully hard. He pressed his groin against Sirius’s, feeling the answering hardness pushing back with each jerk.
Remus pulled back from the kiss and buried his face in Sirius’s neck. He knew he was close, and from Sirius’s laboured breathing, so was he.
He could feel Sirius’s hands on his arse, urging him closer, keeping him near, pushing him to the brink of his orgasm.
They rubbed against each other, frantic and desperately searching for release.
Remus bared his teeth, sinking them into Sirius’s neck. It wasn’t hard enough to break the skin, but it was enough to push Sirius over the edge.
Sirius cried out and slumped back against the door. “Fuck-Remus-Fuck!”
Remus held him upright and kept him from falling as he continued to grind their hips together, chasing his own orgasm.
“Sirius,” he whispered into the ear of his lover as he felt the hot flood of release in his pants.
Sirius held him until his tremors subsided. It was with great reluctance that Remus finally pulled back and took stock of their ensemble.
“Maybe I should ride with you the rest of the way,” Remus suggested with a smug smile and a vague wave at the rather obvious stain on the front of his light blue jeans. “We wouldn’t want the others to notice this and start asking questions, would we?”
Sirius shook his head and pulled out his wand. “I think this constitutes an emergency,” he declared as he set their appearances to rights. “There, all sorted.”
“Why don’t you want me to ride with you?” Remus asked. “You asked James and Peter, so why not me?”
“Remus, don’t start.”
“I’m not starting anything, I just want to know when it was I became the last resort amongst your friends. Hell, not even the last resort! You didn’t even ask me.”
“You think you’re the last resort?” Sirius shook his head and threw up his hands in despair. “We’ve been shagging for months. We just got off a few minutes ago. But we’ve got to be careful not to let the others know.”
“Why? Did it ever actually occur to you that maybe I’d like our friends to know about us?”
Sirius turned his back and yanked open the door to the stall. “Here we go again,” he muttered as he stalked to the grimy wash basin. “I already told you that we’ll tell them when the time is right.”
Remus followed after him, determined to at least try to get his point across. “And when might that be? I thought it was supposed to be after we left school, so that things wouldn’t be awkward in the dorm if they took it badly. Well, in case you haven’t noticed, we left school a month ago.”
“You want to ruin our holiday by telling them now?” Sirius retorted.
“Why are you so sure it would ruin it?” Remus asked. “Do you really think our friends wouldn’t be happy for us?”
Sirius looked like he was about to reply, but his words were forestalled when Peter stumbled into the room. “What are you guys doing in here?” he asked. “Lily’s about to send out a search party.”
Sirius grinned. “If you’re here looking for us under her orders, I think she already has.”
Sirius slapped Peter on the back and steered him towards the door. “Come on Moony, we don’t want to keep them waiting.”
Remus grumbled under his breath as he followed the others back to the car. Of course he didn’t want to ruin their holiday, but he was tired of sneaking around, watching what he said, being careful of how he acted and how he treated Sirius when others were around.
He wanted to do what James and Lily did. He wanted to touch Sirius in front of his friends without worrying that someone might get the right idea about them.
Now, watching Sirius climb back onto his bike, he wanted to jump on behind him and to hell with what everyone else thought.
“You want some company?” he called to Sirius. “I think we’ve left the rain behind us.”
Sirius shook his head. “You go with the others.”
Remus sighed and got into the car beside Peter. Like it would out them just by riding on the back of Sirius’s bike! Sirius was being ridiculously paranoid and Remus was more than a little tired of it.
***
“What do you mean there’s only three tents?” Sirius asked. “I thought there was one for each of us?”
Lily hammered the peg into the ground before she turned to reply. “Each tent sleeps two people, three at a push. There are five of us, plus the food and equipment. Three is more than adequate.”
James nodded as he poked his head out of the half-erected tent. “Me and Lily in one tent, you and Remus in the second and Peter and the food and stuff in the third.”
“I thought I might sleep outside actually,” Peter commented. “It’s looking to be a nice night.”
James shrugged. “Your choice. Or you can squeeze in with Remus and Sirius.”
Remus chanced a quick glance at Sirius to see what his reaction was to that comment.
“Why don’t you and me bunk together, Prongs?” Sirius asked. “Then Remus and Peter can have the second tent, and Lily can have some privacy with a tent to herself.”
James glared at Sirius. “What’s your problem these days? If I didn’t know any better I’d say you and Moony were fighting.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Sirius snarled. “I was just thinking of Lily.”
“Let me worry about Lily,” James snapped back.
Remus kept quiet, wondering just how much more squabbling would happen before the end of the day, and where exactly he would end up sleeping that night.
***
Remus could tell that Sirius was still awake. He knew the rhythm of his breathing so well he almost had it memorised.
He strained his ears to see if he could hear James and Lily in their tent on the far side of the fire. But all he could hear was the sounds of the night and his own thumping heartbeat.
“Sirius?” he whispered.
“Hmm?”
“Are you tired?”
“Not really. You?”
“No.” Remus pulled down the zip of the sleeping bag and sat up. “Budge over.”
“What?” Sirius looked at him as thought he had lost his mind. “Remus, not here.”
“Why not?”
“What if they hear us?”
Remus reached out to slowly undo Sirius’s sleeping bag as well. “What if they do?”
“Have you lost your mind?” Sirius hissed.
Remus ignored him as he pushed the top of the sleeping bag aside and scrambled over so that he could climb on top of Sirius, straddling him with purpose.
“Remus!” Sirius tried to nudge him off, but the slight figure of the werewolf was deceptive, and Remus wasn’t going to budge without a fight.
“Tell me you don’t want me,” Remus whispered as he slowly rocked against him. “You know you want me as much now as you did last night. Tell me.”
Sirius’s resistance, such as it was, crumbled. He nodded and gripped Remus’s hips with his hands. “Need you in me.”
Remus grinned as he tugged on the drawstring of Sirius’s pyjama bottoms. “Knew you couldn’t resist me,” he teased as he slipped his hand inside and slowly began to fondle the heavy balls and leaking cock that he found there.
Suddenly a sound outside their tent caused them to halt.
“What was that?” Sirius whispered.
“Probably one of the others getting something to eat or something.”
“This was a bad idea,” Sirius said and he rolled the distracted Remus off of him and ducked out of the tent.
Remus waited for nearly fifteen minutes before he finally realised Sirius wasn’t returning.
He stuck his head out of the tent to see where he was.
Sirius was sitting by the long dead fire, poking it with a branch, as though he could coax it back to life. It seemed that Peter had given up on sleeping under the stars. It was probably his movements that had distracted them.
Remus tiptoed across the camp and sat down beside Sirius. “Are you okay?”
Sirius nodded silently.
“You know you can’t lie to me.”
Sirius snorted. “Then why did you ask if you already knew?”
“Because I wanted you to tell me the truth, to confide in me like you used to.”
“I do confide in you.”
Remus shook his head. “Not any more. Things have changed since we… you know…”
“Maybe we shouldn’t have done this,” Sirius suggested quietly. “Things were less awkward between us before.”
“They’re only awkward now because you let them be that way. Do you want to call it quits?”
Sirius’s head snapped round to face him. “No! Remus, no!”
“Then what do you want?” Remus whispered.
“I want to stop worrying about how to act around you. I want the others to know how I feel about you.”
Remus stayed quiet, feeling that Sirius hadn’t quite finished yet.
“I’m scared,” Sirius whispered as he turned away and looked up at the stars. “What if he treats me differently after he knows?”
Remus didn’t have to ask who it was that Sirius was referring to. It could only be James. “Why would he?” he asked quietly. “You’re like a brother to him.”
“Didn’t stop my real brother turning on me.”
“Your problems with Regulus have nothing to do this. Does he even know about us?”
Sirius nodded. “He saw us in Hogsmeade once. He saw enough to guess.”
“Oh. I didn’t realise.”
“We weren’t careful enough.”
“We’ve been careful enough that James has no idea about us,” Remus pointed out.
They both jumped at the sight of a messy head of black hair emerging from one of the tents. “You guys still up?” James asked as he sat down near them. “So, Moony, has Padfoot told you what’s bothering him yet?”
“Nothing’s bothering me,” Sirius insisted petulantly.
James snorted. “Even Wormtail has noticed there’s something up with you. I’m not going to let you ruin our holiday by being a sulky git the whole time.”
“I’m not sulking.”
Remus smiled at Sirius’s very sulky pout. He had to hold himself back from actually leaning forward to press own mouth against Sirius’s and draw that adorable lower lip between his own lips.
“Me and Moony are together,” Sirius suddenly blurted. “Like as a couple.”
Remus’s jaw dropped as he stared at Sirius, whose own gaze was riveted on James.
Remus half expected James to say that he already knew. Or that he at least suspected. But from the deafening silence he could tell that he had really had no idea.
“We’re gay,” Sirius added, as though the additional clarification was somehow needed.
“I heard you the first time,” James finally said. “Are you sure?”
Remus turned to face James. “Yes, we’re sure.”
Sirius inched towards him and Remus felt his hand encased in the firm grip of his lover. “James? Are you okay with this?”
James shook his head mutely. “But you like girls, you both like girls. Don’t you?”
Remus sighed. “We like each other more.”
“We more than like each other,” Sirius added.
“What are you saying?” James asked. “You’re in love or something?”
Remus nodded and gave Sirius’s hand a quick squeeze. This wasn’t going as well as he had imagined it would. James didn’t look all that supportive and he was hardly jumping up to offer his congratulations.
Sirius’s ripped his hand away and Remus turned to watch his lover hurry back to the tent. Fuck!
He turned his rising anger on the cause of it.
“You can be a real git sometimes,” he snapped. “Do you know how long he’s been wanting to tell you? Do you realise how much he’s worried about how you’ll react?”
“What do you expect me to say?” James replied. “I’m in bloody shock here.”
“You could tell him that it won’t make a difference to your friendship, for a start.”
“But it will, won’t it?”
“Not unless you let it.”
“But he’ll be your best friend now, won’t he?” James argued.
“No more than Lily has been your best friend for the past eight months.”
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
“Because Lily’s my girlfriend.”
“And Sirius is my boyfriend. Now go into that tent and tell him that you’re happy for him.”
“You can’t order me around like this,” James said, although he rose to his feet and walked over to the tent.
Remus waited while James went into the tent. He was tempted to go after him, but he knew that he had to leave them to work things out on their own. He couldn’t let himself interfere.
Finally James emerged. He didn’t say anything as he passed Remus, just offering him a quick nod, before hurrying to his own tent again.
Remus turned to see whether Sirius was coming back out, but there was no sign of movement.
Another ten minutes or so passed, and Remus pondered whether or not to stay where he was or join Sirius. Eventually he chose the third option and went for a walk instead.
When he returned Sirius was waiting by the re-lit fire.
“You okay?” Remus asked as he sat down beside him.
Sirius nodded. “I think he’ll be okay with us, when he gets used to the idea.”
“I thought he’d take it better than this,” Remus admitted. “I thought maybe he’d already guessed and was just waiting for us to tell him.”
Sirius laughed harshly. “Since when does James wait for anything?”
Remus sighed and reached out his hands to the warmth of the fire.
“You cold?” Sirius asked with obvious concern.
“A little.”
Sirius moved closer and wrapped an arm around Remus’s shoulders, hugging him close.
“What if Peter wakes up?” Remus reminded him. “What if he sees us?”
“I don’t care any more,” Sirius replied. “James will tell him in the morning anyway.”
Remus leaned onto Sirius’s shoulder and looked up at the stars above them. “What if he doesn’t come round?” he asked quietly. “What if you have to choose?”
Sirius sighed and Remus knew that he shouldn’t push the issue. He didn’t want to know which way Sirius would jump if he had to make the choice between his best friend and the man who loved him.
Remus wished he could take back the question, but it seemed that Sirius wasn’t going to answer anyway.
“Come on Remus,” Sirius finally whispered. “Let’s turn in for the night.”
Remus nodded and let Sirius help him to his feet.
He followed Sirius into the tent, and when Sirius lifted the edge of his sleeping bag and urged him to curl up alongside him, Remus didn’t hesitate to do so.
James would come around. Remus believed it because he had to.
In the meantime he would be there for Sirius, just as he always was.
***
The next morning Remus woke to the sensation of someone dropping feather-light kisses along his jaw.
He smiled sleepily and opened his eyes. “Morning,” he whispered.
Sirius pulled back just enough to return his smile. “Did I wake you?”
Remus nodded. “Not that I’m complaining. I like being woken up this way. How are you this morning?”
Sirius shrugged. “I’ve come to a decision.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve decided to that if James want’s to be all weird about this then that’s his problem. I’m not hiding any more.”
Remus wondered if he should be worried about the wicked grin that stretched across Sirius’s face.
Sirius sat up and pulled Remus along with him. “Let’s go get breakfast.”
Remus crawled out of the tent and saw immediately that James, Lily and Peter were already up and about. He could also tell that James had told the others about them. Now to see if Sirius was going to stick to his decision.
He waited for Sirius to put some distance between them, but it didn’t happen. Instead, Sirius took hold of his hand and tugged him towards the fire and the tantalising smell of Lily’s cooking.
“Two full English breakfasts please,” Sirius declared as he sat down, pulling Remus with him.
Remus caught James and Peter exchanging glances and put a few inches of space between him and Sirius.
The space wasn’t there for long though - Sirius moved closer to him and put a steadying hand on his knee. It was when Remus looked at that hand that he realised how nervous Sirius still was. The trembling was so minor it was almost unnoticeable, but it was there, and Remus took hold of the hand in support.
“James go and get some more eggs,” Lily ordered.
“What am I, a bloody waiter?”
Lily rolled her eyes. “A waiter wouldn’t argue.”
Sirius snickered and loudly whispered “whipped” as James passed.
Remus looked at Lily who smiled back at him, just as she always did. At least someone wasn’t treating them differently. He turned to Peter who was concentrating on his breakfast as though it would run off of his plate if he looked away from it.
James returned with the eggs, only dropping one on the way back to the fire.
“Here you go,” Lily said, passing the first filled plate to Sirius, who immediately passed it on to Remus.
“Thanks,” Remus said as he scooped up a forkful of mushrooms.
Sirius’s hand reached onto his plate and snagged the largest piece of bacon.
“Hey!” Remus exclaimed, slapping the hand away. “Wait for your own plate, Greedy!”
Sirius chuckled. “But stolen food always tastes so much better,” he replied, reminding him of their frequent forays into the Hogwart’s kitchens during the last seven years.
“You should know better than to let Padfoot get that close to your plate,” James teased.
Remus laughed as well, glad that James was at least making an effort to act normally. Perhaps things would be okay after all.
***
The last of their things were bundled into the boot of Lily’s car and they were ready to leave for the next leg of their journey.
Remus was automatically following Peter into the back of the car when he felt a hand on his arm holding him back.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Sirius asked with a smile and a nod to his bike. “Aren’t you planning on riding with me?”
Remus could feel the eyes of their friends on him and he knew that things weren’t quite back to normal yet, and perhaps they never would be, but that didn’t stop him from making his choice.
Daring any one of them to say a single word, he watched Sirius mount the bike and then climbed on behind him.
He wrapped his arms around Sirius, his grip tightening as the bike roared to life.
“You sure you know the way?” Lily asked.
Sirius nodded. “Yeah, we’re good. We’ll meet you for lunch at the Red Dragon.”
“We’ll see you there,” Lily agreed, as she started the car.
Sirius nodded and turned the bike skyward. “Bet we make it there first,” he replied.
Remus laughed and held on as the sound of James shouting “cheater” carried to them on the wind.
Then all he could hear was the wind in his ears, at least until he leaned into Sirius’s back and the sound of a heartbeat, strong and steady, joined the sound of the wind. He slipped a hand inside Sirius’s jacket, resting the palm over his heart and feeling it increase beneath his fingers.
His own heart raced as he wrapped himself around his lover, sighing with contentment.
Beneath them he could see Lily’s battered old Ford winding down the country lane. James seemed to be fighting a losing battle with the roadmap and Peter seemed to be laughing at something.
Remus smiled as he watched them. Then they were no more than a speck in the distance and he and Sirius were soaring towards the clouds.
Their road trip might have got off to a bit of a shaky start, but he knew that things were going to be all right. With Sirius in his arms, it could never be otherwise.