Green Trees Around Us, Blue Skies Above

Sirius can hear crickets chirping quietly as the heat of the day slowly melts away. Remus is leading their campers towards The Gathering and Sirius brings up the rear. The smell of woodsmoke floats towards them and excited voices echo through the trees. When they reach the fire ring Minerva appears as if she is holding court while the campers settle down onto log benches. 

“Welcome everyone,” Minnie smiles, “to this summer's opening campfire. We are so excited to have you here. I'm glad to see many familiar faces, along with many new ones.” Sirius watches Remus get up from his seat and meet Lily in the middle, near McGonagall, who has now launched a debrief on fire safety. 

“Thanks, Minnie,” Lily grins after the older woman finishes her speech. 

A gorgeous smile stretches across Remus's face. “If everyone could please stand up. We’re going to teach you a song.”

“Do we really have to sing?” Little Christophers' eyes go wide as he tilts his face up to Sirius. A few girls on the other side of the gathering fly out of their seats, huge grins across their face. Marlene is dragged along with them, a perturbed but happy look on her face.

“Yeah, come on, it’ll be fun,” Sirius whispers. “Look at how excited Gid and Fab are.” The twins were positively bouncing up and down at the opposite end of the bench. 

Sirius had learned Camp Illvermory’s songs during staff training. After the way McGonagall drilled them into his head, he could recite every ridiculous lyric by heart. This did not in any way prepare him for the wonderful thing that is the opening campfire. It was loud, crazy, and beautiful. Kids who were quiet at dinner were screaming and laughing and dancing. Remus and the other senior counselors recite line after line of gibberish about talking wildlife and crazy weather. Remus is completely uninhibited. His long limbs wave in the air, his hazel eyes flash, and his tawny curls bounce across his forehead. He and Lily laugh wildly as they make their way around and around the campfire. Sirius tries his best to stay engaged with the kids, but he finds it harder and harder to not watch this new side of Remus appear before his eyes. The energy is contagious and Sirius gives the songs his all as well. He catches James’ eye across the fire and they both grin. Sirius laughs at the thought of himself from a year ago watching all of this. Freshly disowned and on the outs with everyone but the Potters, he could have never imagined a place like this. 

An hour later the sun has fully set, and the energy is starting to lag. Pete brings out marshmallows and roasting sticks. The campers chase each other around with sticky fingers while Dorcas and Mary valiantly keep anyone from tripping into the fire. Sirius finds himself knelt at the campfire with James, roasting marshmallows of their own. 

“That was . . .” James trails off and shakes his head.

“Really cool?” Sirius offers.

“Yeah.” James agrees. “I’m really glad we came here.”

“Me too.” 

“Y’know I had to shovel horse shit all afternoon?” James mutters. 

“Potter! Language!” Lily, who just happened to be walking by, exclaims.

“Sorry Lils!” James grimaces.

“Don’t call me that,” she snaps back and stalks away.

“Looks like that's going well for you huh?” Sirius laughs at his best friend.

“I’m in love with her I think,” James is staring dopily after her.

“Anyways . . . horse shit?”

“Oh right! I shoveled horse shit all afternoon and still managed to have a great time. How is that even possible?” James wonders. 

Their conversation is interrupted by a young red-headed girl running up to them with a bag of marshmallows clasped in her hand. 

“I bet I can fit more marshmallows in my mouth than either of you!” She giggles.

“Oh really? You think so?” Sirius raises his eyebrows. In just the past few hours he has felt him settling into a comfortable personality with the campers. It’s easy to make them laugh or smile, and it feels good. The concerns he shared with Remus earlier are quickly slipping away.

“I do think so.” She crosses her arms.

‘Well, I think we better introduce ourselves before we go head to head.” He holds out his hand. “I’m Sirius.”

“Ginny.” Her little hand shakes his. Sirius feels eyes on him and turns to see Remus with an indecipherable look on his face. Sirius offers a soft smile. The moment is interrupted by a very flustered Poppy who prohibits any marshmallow-eating contests and the grounds of avoiding a trip to her office. 

“Everyone please return to your seats!” Molly calls out. Gid and Fab are pulling on one of her arms each. 

“We have one more song to close out our first night,” Lily says. “Remus and I will teach it to you, and then we will meet in the middle to sing it together.” 

“Sound good, y’all?” Remus asks. He is met with a chorus of nods and sounds of agreement. “Perfect.” 

As they start to sing Sirius is amazed. This song is slower and prettier, not one they learned during training. Remus’s voice isn’t perfect. It cracks a bit on the higher notes and is slightly out of tune on the lower ones. But it’s charming in a way Sirius can't even begin to explain. It’s like Remus’s love for camp is radiating out of him through the music. A faint smile plays on his lips as he sings and Sirius is transfixed. 

~~~

Sirius is watching him, and Remus is having a hard time not staring right back. He continues to sing, but his eyes meet Sirius’s and he can’t look away. Sirius’s mouth is open in a perfect ‘O’ and his cheeks have the slightest hint of pink. As he and Lily launch into the final verse Sirius is grinning and every part of Remus feels warm. He’s forced to finally look away as the song ends. 

Molly ushers everyone up from the benches and the campers come together in a circle, clasping hands with one another. Remus takes a deep breath and tries to collect himself. He isn’t given the chance. 

A warm hand grasps his and Sirius is standing next to him. Remus looks down to meet his eyes and has to tear his gaze away quickly.

“That was beautiful,” Sirius whispers.

“That’s high praise,” Remus brushes it off, trying to sound casual. He’s pretty sure he fails. 

“I mean it,” Sirius shrugs. His hair falls into his and Remus resists the sickening urge to brush it away. 

“I know you do,” Remus says gravely. A memory flashes through Remus’s mind. Benjy’s fingers sticky from s’mores, tangled in his hair. A first kiss following last year's opening campfire. He pushes the thought away, and Sirius’s hand in his is more than enough to keep him grounded in the moment. The other man’s hair is loose around his shoulders and the glow from the fire warms his features. Remus stares for a little too long. 

‘What?” Sirius asks.

Remus grimaces, and shakes his head. “Nothing.”

Lily starts to sing once more, and Remus joins in. Soon The Gathering is filled with song. This is one of Remus’s favorite moments of the whole summer. Everyone joins together in a hodge-podge choir to sing to the big empty woods.  

Green trees around us, blue skies above.

Friends all around us, in a world filled with love.

Taps sounding softly, hearts beating true, as we all sing,

Goodnight to you.

Days done, gone the sun.

From the lakes, from the hills, from the skies,

All is well, safely rest,

God is nigh.

“Goodnight everyone,” Minerva says softly, and the circle disperses. Remus’s head is swirling the whole walk back to the cabin.

Remus is about to climb into his bunk when a quiet voice calls out from the main room of the cabin. Christopher is standing in the center of his sleeping bunkmates, faint tears trailing down his cheeks. 

“I miss my mom,” He whispers. Remus feels his heart melt.

“Can we talk outside?” He whispers. Christopher nods. The boy reaches out to take Remus’s hand, and he has to slouch to keep the contact. They settle on the front porch of the cabin hands still clasped together. “So you’re feeling a little homesick?” Remus asks gently.

“I want to go home. I don’t like this bed and I want my mom to tell me a story,” Christophers' cheeks flush slightly, the pink just barely visible in the dark.

“Could I tell you a story instead? It’s a good one, I promise.” Christopher nods ever so slightly and leans his head on Remus’s arms. “I came to the camp for the first time when I was your age. And I’m going to tell you a secret now, so shhh,” Remus mimes locking his lips and the boy giggles through his tears. “I cried the whole day before I left. I refused to pack, and I wouldn’t even eat dinner. My mom didn’t let me stay home though.” 

“She didn’t?” Christopher gasped.

Remus shook his head solemnly. “That first night of camp I didn’t talk to anyone, and I cried myself to sleep. Then the next day I made a new friend, and then another one. I got to swim in the lake and meet the horses, and all of a sudden I felt like I was the happiest ever. When it was time to leave at the end of the Summer, I begged my mom to let me stay.”

“Really?”

“I swear,” Remus offers the boy a pinky promise. Christopher accepts it with a serious face. “Now can you make me a promise?” The boy nods. “For these first two weeks, I want you to meet as many people and do as many new things as you can. If you still want to leave when the first break comes around, then we can talk to your Mom about not coming back. Yeah?”

“I promise.”

“Good. Let's get you to bed.” Remus gets up and reaches for the door handle, but it swings open before he touches it. He’s surprised to find himself face to face with a half-asleep Sirius.

“Sorry, um- bathroom?” Sirius gestures towards the latrine at the end of the path.

“Right,” Remus nods.

“I’ll be right back, night Chris,” with that Sirius disappears into the night. Remus shakes off his surprise and helps Christopher climb into bed. He takes a step towards his bunk, but instead finds himself back outside on the porch, bare feet in the dirt and pajama pants caught on the old planks. He tells himself he’s not waiting for Sirius, but he’s not sure what else brought him out here. 

When Sirius emerges back out of the night, Remus half expects him to walk right back into the cabin, but he doesn’t. He drops right down onto the porch next to Remus, their shoulders brushing together. 

“How’d you get so good at that?” Sirius breaks the silence first.

“What? Were you listening?”

Sirius has the grace to look ashamed. “I didn’t mean to, but I really had to pee, and but I also didn’t want to interrupt so . . .”

“At least you're honest,” Remus laughs quietly. 

“Anyway, at dinner, and the campfire I felt great, but then some girl by the washstand was just absolutely wailing about the stuffed animal she left behind. I was absolutely clueless.” Sirius throws his hands in the air. “I watch you with the kids and it’s so obvious that you were made for this job. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as passionate as you. It’s kind of like magic.”

“It can’t have been that bad,” Remus tries to reassure him. He ignores the warmth on his cheeks brought about by Sirius’s praise. “And I’m not magic. Just experienced.”

“Oh, it was that bad,” Sirius cringes. “I think I actually made her cry harder before Lily stepped in.” Remus has to stifle a laugh. “It’s not funny,” Sirius pouts.

“It is, a little bit,” Remus insists.

“Maybe a little bit. But I really was shit, you might have been right about me.”

“Sirius, I didn’t mean that.” They’d been joking, but Remus could see the genuine worry hiding behind Sirius’s eyes. “I- I shouldn’t have been so rude. I was just so caught up in last summer that I was a bit of an ass.”

“Yeah, you were being a right git,” Sirius agrees. They laugh and the conversation lulls, Remus is about to head for bed when Sirius breaks the silence once more. 

“What happened last summer? I mean- I know that there was some shit from that Snape bloke, but it seems deeper than that, at least for you.”

Remus frowns, uncomfortable that Sirius has read him so well. “Um . . . I-" He stutters.

“Sorry, you don’t have to tell me. I was just wondering, I guess.”

“I just don’t have much else but camp,” Remus shrugs, it’s not the truth, not all of it at least. He knows it and he thinks Sirius does too. “I’m gonna head to bed,” Remus quickly gets up before Sirius has the chance to probe any further.