An Unexpected Dip
Sun is streaming in through the windows of Gryffindor cabin as Remus blinks the sun out of his eyes. He’s briefly surprised by the feeling of another body pressed up against his until the events of the previous night slowly return to them. After arriving back at camp Remus and Sirius stumbled into an empty Gryffindor cabin where they had slowly taken each other apart.
Now Sirius’s arm is draped across Remus’s bare chest and he’s snoring softly. It occurs to Remus that he’s never seen the man sleep so soundly. His constant tossing in turning in the top bunk even kept Remus awake some nights. Remus pointedly decides not to think too much about what this means. He instead carefully extricates himself from Sirius’s arms and fishes around on the ground for his underwear. His watch tells him he still has an hour before Pete has breakfast ready, so he pulls on his clothes and slips out of the cabin.
The air is still crisp and cool on Remus’s face as he wanders down the shore of the Black Lake. Across the water, he can just make out the lights of the staff house in the trees. He and Sirius were supposed to be sleeping there with the rest of the staff, and he knows their absence will make the events of the previous night painfully obvious. Remus can’t bring himself to care. He doesn’t know what any of this means though. They’re already creeping towards late July which means just a bit more than a month before Sirius and the others leave. He knows he’ll have to settle for casual, he isn’t brave enough to try for something more anyway. Maybe a few years ago he would have been.
A frog leaps across Remus’s path and brings him back to earth, he can just barely hear Sirius’s alarm blaring from the cabin behind him and takes it as his sign to return.
~~~
A blaring alarm jolts Sirius awake. He reaches out for Remus but comes up empty and something in his stomach twists. After weeks of desperate, unreciprocated flirting, he can't believe he finally got Remus to kiss him. He was starting to get truly worried it would never happen. He groans and sits up on the bunk, his feet finding the rough, wooden cabin floors. The ever-constant sound of the lake’s gentle waves fills the cabin and Sirius takes a deep breath. Something about this camp is a little bit magical. He has felt more at home here in the past few weeks than he ever did in London, or France for that matter. It might be dramatic, and forward but Sirius could really see himself spending every summer here, with Remus. This makes Remus’s current absence even more concerning, but Sirius’s alarm is blaring again and he forces himself out of bed and pulls on his clothes.
Sirius pulls open the cabin’s screen door just as Remus walks in. The two collide. Sirius feels a massively embarrassing surge of relief as he looks up at Remus’s freckled face.
“Sorry,” Remus says softly, and then: “Morning,” a gentle smile plays across his lips. Sirius wants to taste it, so he stands on his tiptoes and presses a sweet kiss on Remus’s lips. His relief grows even more when Remus returns the kiss.
“Breakfast?” Sirius asks.
“Yeah,” Remus agrees. The pair walks down the path towards the dining hall, their shoulders brushing together and early morning sunlight filters through the trees. It’s a comfortable silence that falls between them. When they’re just in sight of the dining hall Sirius stops in his tracks.
“Sirius, what?” Remus turns to look at him.
“James you dirty bastard,” Sirius grins. Through the woods, Sirius can just make out Lily and James emerging from Shell Cottage. Remus catches on and starts to laugh.
~~~
Sirius runs ahead of Remus and throws an arm around James’s shoulders, Remus watches the two tussle in front of the dining hall and Lily falls in step with him.
“I won’t ask any questions if you won’t,” She grins.
“Deal,” Remus holds out his hand. She shakes it and they all find their way into the dining hall where Pete has a ridiculous amount of cinnamon rolls laid out on the tables. The others are all already sitting down. Mary and Molly giggle slightly as the newly formed couples take their place, but they thankfully keep whatever thoughts they might have to themselves.
Everyone digs into their meals and Remus feels Sirius’s hand find his thigh under the table. Sirius is talking to James and he stutters when Remus places his hand on top of his. Remus tries to conceal his laugh and Lily gives him a knowing look.
Minnie sweeps into the dining hall not ten minutes later and dumps a stack of papers in front of the counselors. “I hope y’all are ready for your campers to come back, this week is barn week for everyone, which means extra chaos.”
Marlene was gaping at the paper in front of her. “You’re telling me I need to teach a riding lesson? I’ve been to the barn once!” Minnie just shakes her head and ducks into the kitchen.
“Don’t worry,” Mary reassures her. “Teaching a little kid to ride a one-ton animal is really no big deal. Marlene looks like she might strangle Mary. Dorcas hides a laugh behind her hand.
Light rain starts to fall outside as the campers slowly trickle back into camp. Remus and the others wait in the storm shelter and raindrops are pattering against the windows. A van full of little girls pulls in and they sprint across the muddy parking lot. As they pile on top of Lily and Marlene, Remus feels small hands tugging at his t-shirt and turns to find Christopher peering up at him.
“I missed camp so much,” He tells Remus solemnly and then offers him a timid hug. It’s one of those perfect camp moments that Remus will treasure forever. Sirius is behind him laughing with Gid and Fab, and James, in a massive pink raincoat, has said something that has sent his campers into uproarious giggles. A crash of thunder booms outside just as the last campers arrive. Minerva calls off activities for the afternoon and pulls a stack of dusty board games out of a closet. Remus watches Pete make a mad dash from the dining hall, the leftover cinnamon rolls protected by a plastic bag in his hand.
Remus finds himself reading the first few chapters of The Hobbit to a few girls from Marlene’s cabin. It’s a book one of his counselors read to him all those years ago. The stormy skies outside set the perfect scene. As he’s starting the second chapter a wave of uproarious laughter interrupts him. He looks up to find Ginny, who, with the help of Molly, has managed to wrangle Sirius’s hair into two French braids. Oliver and Dean are beside themself about it and Ginny smiles smugly. Sirius leaves the braids in his hair all night, and Remus has to admit he pulls them off rather well.
Remus and Lily have roped all the campers into a hysterical sing-along as the rain finally slows down later that night. The sun is peeking out behind the clouds and painting the whole sky in pinks, purples, and red. Remus wishes he was an artist, he would paint a picture of it. Somehow Gid and Fab convince Minerva to take them down to the waterfront and soon everyone is trekking down the damp trails.
Sirius falls in step with Remus and their hands brush together. “You really love this place don’t you?” Sirius asks.
“I really do,” Remus answers honestly. “Why do you ask?”
“Because I think I love it too,” Sirius grins. When they reach the water Minerva takes up her lifeguard buoy and the campers rush towards the end of the dock, leaving raincoats and sneakers in their wake.
Remus ambles to the end of the dock where he finds James and Sirius locked in debate with Dean who’s treading water below.
“. . .but I’m not wearing my bathing suit,” Sirius is saying.
“Neither am I,” Dean says indignantly.
“He has a point,” James says.
“I know I do,” the boy says, if he wasn’t treading water Remus imagines he would be crossing his arms.
James spots Remus and gives him a friendly wave, but Sirius is still talking with Dean. Remus checks to see if Minnie is watching, and then promptly shoves Sirius into the lake, jeans and all. James is bent over laughing when Sirius re-emerges spluttering, Remus just smiles smugly.
“You absolute wanker!” Sirius splashes James.
“Oi! Mate don’t look at me,” James exclaims. Sirius turns to Remus and his eyes narrow playfully. He winds up for another splash, but Remus yanks off his shirt and dives into the lake before Sirius can get him. The water envelopes Remus into a cool silent world. The colors of the sunset filter through the waves, and the camper’s voices sound warbled from under the surface.
“Sorry,” Remus grins when his head pops back out of the water.
“You’re not sorry,” Sirius laughs. The sunset is reflecting off the water and casting his face in a watercolor rainbow. Remus wonders how someone so beautiful ended up here at a tiny little camp in Northern Minnesota.
“Yeah, I’m not sorry.”
“What’s a wanker?” Remus turns to see Dean still bobbing in the water next to them. James doubles over laughing so hard that Remus is sure he can’t breathe, and Sirius has the grace to look embarrassed.
Crickets chirp in the darkening woods as the campers of Gryffindor cabin trek back towards their bunks, Sirius and Remus bringing up the rear. They’ve been forced to share the only towel left by the waterfront and Sirius has wrapped it around both of their shoulders, his arm around Remus’s waist. Twenty minutes later they’re waiting at the washstand while their campers brush their teeth. Minnie walks by on her nightly rounds and beckons the two men aside. Sirius looks to Remus, who shrugs and they make their way over.
“Now, I’m so very happy that all of my counselors have found love,” Minnie starts, a sly grin on her face, “But I expect you two to behave yourselves in front of the campers.”
Sirius bursts out laughing, and Remus is aghast. “Minnie, I know better than that-” He stutters. “You know I know better than that I-”
“I know Remus, thank you. I was more worried about Mr. Black here,” Minerva raises her eyebrows, and Sirius’s mouth snaps shut. It’s Remus’s turn to laugh.