James and Sirius skipped their way down to the edge of the forest. Seventh year was almost over, in fact, they'd just taken their Transfiguration N.E.W.T., that only left Potions. Then, they'd be off into the Big-Big-Slightly-Scary World of Life. Or at least that's what Sirius called it.
Remus grinned at his friends, hobbling behind as quickly as his bad knees would allow him. The full moon was tonight, and boy did Remus know it. Peter trudged on even further behind Remus, toting a large bag of sweets. He had many assorted candies with at least one of each of their favorite kinds. He had plenty of chocolate for Remus of course. And sugar quills for Sirius, and James really ate anything, so Peter just brought one of every type of sweet.
When Peter and Remus finally caught up with Sirius and James, the two boys were already staring into the Forbidden Forest. Their eyes bright with anticipation. One last camping trip, one more time spent with James and Sirius and Peter, and then he would be out into the world on his own. Remus smiled wistfully and he dropped his gaze from the forest when Sirius's eyes landed on him. Remus could feel Sirius staring at him so he walked a little straighter, and tried to mask his limp a little better.
Sirius sighed and motioned for James to take the tent. "What?" James asked, though he accepted the tent.
"Just- take Peter to the spot? I want to help Moony. He looks okay, but I think this moon is a little harder than the others. Especially since he hasn't been sleeping well with all the studying..." Sirius trailed off as James grinned at him. "What?" Sirius asked, and he felt his cheeks warming.
James just grinned some more. He whistled a tuneless song, and grabbed Peter's arm, "Come on, Wormtail! Wanna help me set this thing up?" He shook the tent around. Peter looked as though he'd rather do anything but set up the tent, but with a quick glance back to Sirius and Remus, he scurried off into the forest after James.
Sirius caught up with Remus, and he kicked the grass with the toe of his boot. "Moony," he said.
Remus looked down at him, because he'd have to if he wanted to have a real conversation with Sirius. Honestly, why was Sirius so short? Remus shook his head, "What?" He continued walking– well more like hobbling, but Remus wasn't going to admit that– through the forest, heading towards their meeting spot.
"I," Sirius looked at the trodden grass before them. He took care to step around the scattered flowers that were growing there. The flowers in the Forbidden Forest always seemed to be more alive than normal ones, especially when summer was arriving. "You looked like you were not doing so well, I, yeah," Sirius didn't know why he was stuttering, nor why he couldn't seem to form full sentences. But, he reasoned, he always felt this way around Moony, at least since fourth year, so it wasn't really anything to worry about.
"Do I?" Remus asked sarcastically. Sirius nodded fervently. Remus bit back his second sarcastic reply; Sirius looked too concerned for him to be making fun. Though, as he thought about it, Sirius always seemed to be truly worried for him. Remus tried not to look too deeply into that thought. He didn't want to get his hopes for something that was most definitely just his mind connecting non-existent dots.
"I guess I am feeling pretty bad this moon," Remus sighed. Sirius rushed to his side, and Remus leaned onto his shoulder, biting back a smile. Sirius peered up through his heavy hair to meet Remus's eyes.
"Just lean on me then Moony," Sirius said. Then he looked at the ground again with a grin. "Look at me! I used song lyrics without even realizing Moon-Moon!" Remus laughed at the ridiculous nickname, and that encouraged Sirius even more. "Lean on me~ when you're not strong~ I'll be your friend, I'll help you carrrrrryyyy on~" Sirius sang loudly and Remus smiled.
"Oi Padfoot! Shut it mate! Everyone's gonna find our hiding place!" James' voice floated through the trees. Sirius glanced at Remus, who groaned inwardly, and then Sirius grinned maniacally.
“It won’t be long~~ Till I'm gonna neEEED SOMEBODY TO LEANNN ON!" Sirius sang, even louder than before. The other three laughed heartily at his shouting. Though Peter was a few seconds late, as if he was waiting to see his friends' reactions.
Sirius helped James set up the tent, and no one except Peter noticed when Remus waved his wand and whispered a quiet charm to make the tent stand up properly. Remus put a finger to his lips and winked at Peter as Sirius shouted, "SEE PRONGS! I TOLD YOU I WAS PUTTING IT IN THE RIGHT PLACE!" It being the tent poles, and the right place was the hole where the stakes were meant to be. But Remus didn't say anything about that.
All four boys sat around their campfire, as the sky got darker and the moon rose higher. Remus leaned into Sirius's shoulder and Sirius rested his head on Moony's. James grinned at his best friends and he threw a marshmallow at the rat sitting on the log across from him. The rat squeaked in indignation, and it ran around the fire to climb up Jame's leg, arm, and nested itself in his hair.
"It is a rat's nest," Remus mumbled from Sirius's shoulder. James looked affronted, and he pulled the rat from his head. He shook his finger at it and placed it on the bench beside him. James thought Peter looked an awful lot like himself as a rat. Then he thought that was mean, so he apologized to the Peter-rat in his head.
"Ha! Moony! That was a good one mate!" Sirius chortled. Remus smiled. But then that smile morphed into a pained expression and he whimpered as the full moon fell upon him. His form began to change, bones cracking and changing painfully. Sirius felt a pang through his chest as his friend's pained cries turned into deep howls. He and James both transformed quickly, and the wolf stared at them. Padfoot peered into his eyes and the wolf nodded, and then it looked down. Padfoot wagged his tail.
~~~~~~~~Time change ~~~~~~~~
The Marauders found a place in the woods behind James's house to do their camping trips during the summer. Each time was almost identical to the moons spent at Hogwarts. But Remus never felt quite as at home as he did when they spent the full moon nights in the Forbidden Forest. Three times a summer, all four of them would leave their shared flat packed with clothes, (and food in Peter's case), to last them a few days. Then, when they got there, they would set up the tent, and then the Full Moon's Activities began.
Now, it was already September again, and the full moon was a week away. Remus stared longingly at the train as it pulled away with all of its students. Lucky kids. They got to go back to Hogwarts.
"Ohhh~ Ickle Regikins!! We'll miss you!" Sirius shouted to his younger brother. Regulus glared back at where he thought Remus, Sirius, and James were standing. They'd crammed themselves under James's invisibility cloak and were seeing Regulus off on the Hogwarts Express. Secretly of course, since the Death Eaters would likely attack and kill them on sight.
Sirius had an arm stuck out, waving to the train wildly, and passersby were shooting the area concerned and incredulous looks. A wizard with bright yellow hair reached out to touch Sirius's arm and Sirius pulled it back under the cloak quickly. The wizard blinked, but the three were already leaving the platform, and boarding Sirius's motorbike to go back to their flat.
Remus wrapped his arms around Sirius's waist, but he hesitated to hold on any closer. Sirius found himself wishing that Remus would hold on closer. Maybe he'd lean into Sirius's back and rest his head on his shoulder and squeeze his waist when they took off and- Oh. Sirius's eyes widened quite a bit and nearly tipped over the bike.
"SIRIUS! What’re you doing!" Remus exclaimed.
"Sorry sorry!" Sirius said, but he wasn't really. Not when it had Remus holding on to him even tighter than before. Then James got onto the end of the motorcycle and pushed Remus up on the seat, to where he was squishing Sirius. Sirius felt like he might die.
Oh sweet death let me live just until we're off this bike.
"Okay! You guys trying to leave without me?" James said with a laugh.
Sirius shook his head mutely. "Ready?" he asked. His passengers nodded, and Sirius swallowed. "Good." Then he started the bike and took off into the sky.
When they arrived at their flat, Peter was nowhere to be found. "Where do you think he'd 'ave gone?" James asked, searching the rooms.
"I don't know," Remus said tiredly. Sirius frowned and he ran ahead to search under the beds and kitchen table, as if Peter might be hiding there.
"Do you think he might have tried to come after us? To King's Cross? We did leave a note... t'wasn't our fault he was out doing ratty things," Sirius wondered aloud.
"Maybe he's still out and about with his," Remus shot Sirius a skeptical look, but he used his words anyways, "ratty business." Sirius gave him a lopsided grin that Remus returned, though his looked sarcastic. Sirius wondered how it was that a grin could look sarcastic.
"Well, it's probably nothing to worry about. Seeing as Wormtail is disappearing more and more often now... Maybe he's gotten himself a girlfriend," James glanced between Remus and Sirius, "or boyfriend," he added.
Remus raised an eyebrow. Sirius narrowed his eyes, "I don't think Peter has either of those mate, he would have told us," he said. James shrugged.
Remus yawned. "Is it almost lunch?" he asked. Then he looked thoughtful, "Is that a good time for a nap?" he muttered. Sirius smirked.
~~~~~~~~ Time Change~~~~~~~~
It had been a week and Peter was still missing. Lily was becoming more and more worried as the days went by. And when the day of the full moon arrived, she and James left at an ungodly time in the morning, leaving Remus and Sirius only a note that read, "Evans and I have gone to find Peter. She says we need to find him, even though I told her he's probably fine. Sorry about the moon, Moony, but Padfoot will take care of you."
Sirius felt his cheeks heat up at the last sentence, and then he saluted the empty air, I most certainly will, he promised. Remus wandered to the kitchen, where he poured himself some coffee.
"Sirius,'' he began, and Sirius looked up with wide eyes. Remus was reminded of Sirius's dog form, when his ears perked up. Remus smiled a little, "Do you think we could go to the Forbidden Forest today? Like we did at Hogwarts?"
Sirius grinned at him, "Of course Moony-kins, anything for you. Feeling a little homesick?" Sirius poured himself coffee, and his face screwed up when he drank it. "Merlin Moony- how do you drink this, t'so bitte-" but Remus was hugging him and the word fell from his mind. He felt the cup slipping from his fingers, so he let go of it over the counter. Thankfully, he hadn't put much coffee in it, so nothing spilt when it tipped over.
He wrapped his arms around Remus in return and buried his face in the taller boy's chest. Really, why did Remus have to be so tall? Sirius's heart beat quickly and he worried a bit that Remus would feel it. But what did the dumb werewolf expect? Holding Sirius that close? It was like he was trying to fluster Sirius. He smiled in spite of his thoughts though it wavered slightly when Moony pulled away.
"Well, if we're going we'd better leave now," Remus said sheepishly. Sirius nodded dumbly. Then he dashed away to gather the tent and a few sets of clothes.
Remus smiled as he left and then he plopped into a kitchen chair. There was no need to pack, he decided. Not when Sirius would bring enough outfits to clothe all the students of Hogwarts.
Remus would just borrow something of his. That made him blush– he would be wearing Sirius's clothes? He drank some more coffee and forced his smile down, it wasn't very hard to do, because his whole body ached when he stood. This moon seemed a bit more harsh than others.
Sirius's heavy footfalls came rushing down the hallway, and the man himself toted a large bag. Full of clothes , Remus thought, and The Tent. Sirius took hold of his arm gently, "Ready to go Moony?"
Remus settled for a nod, and Sirius whisked them away to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, right at the edge of the disapparation wards. Remus pulled away from Sirius and ran to the nearest bush, retching into it. Behind him was a great deal of noise: Sirius dropping the tent and bag. Then he was lightly rubbing his back and Remus was very thankful for that. "Hate- disapparation," he choked out after he was finished.
Sirius nodded his understanding, "I know. I'm sorry, but we had to get here quickly." He smiled hopefully at him. Remus still felt faintly sick, so he just shook his head. Then he felt magic washing over him and his mouth felt clean.
"Hey, what was that?"
Sirius smiled broadly at him, "Toothpaste charm!" he exclaimed. "Works pretty well dontcha think?" Remus smiled back at him. "I'm glad it worked," Sirius continued as they gathered their bags and made their way to the old camping spot. "I've only used it one other time. On Prongs. It uh, didn't end very well that time," Sirius grinned as he recalled it. "Mum, er- Mrs. Potter, was cleaning toothpaste from our hair for hours, Moony."
Remus looked a little sick again. Sirius levitated the tent and the bag so he could support Remus as they made their way to the spot. Sirius faintly recalled the scent of Spring flowers from when they were here last. It had only been three months, but it felt like much longer for him. And likely Moony too , he thought as Remus gazed at the beginnings of Autumn in the trees. Parts of them were green, and parts brown, red, and gold.
There were a few leaves scattered across their trodden path, which made satisfying crunches as Remus and Sirius walked over them. Sirius stomped on the leaves to make their crackles extra loud.
They made it to the clearing, and to Remus's relief, the apple tree that had stood there for as long as the Marauders had been camping was still alive. Though it was turning to multiple shades of Fall. Remus smiled at it and the glistening red apples that hung high in its branches. Sirius noticed him eyeing the fruits and an idea formed in his head.
"Hey Ree, you think you could set up the tent this time? I want to do something before I'm a dog," He said.
Remus raised an eyebrow, "You're always a dog. What are you formulating up there?" he asked suspiciously, tapping Sirius's head. Sirius made a zipping motion on his lips. "Oh thank Merlin you're going to be quiet. I have to do the tent now! If I don't then Merlin may strike me down for not taking advantage of his miracle!" Sirius opened his mouth to speak. "Silencio." Remus said.
Sirius gaped at him. His mouth opened and closed in what would be large, loud protests. No sound came out. Remus smirked at him and sat on a log. He took the tent and began to spread it out. Sirius pulled at his mouth in an effort to make some sort of sound, but nothing came out. He stomped in frustration and decided he didn't really need to make noise to accomplish his task.
He kicked at the leaves strewn under the apple tree and began his ascent. He got about halfway when he looked back down to see how Remus was doing. The werewolf had already set up the tent, and was starting a fire in the middle of the fallen logs that they used as seats.
Sirius refocused himself on his mission. It was the season to pick apples, September was when they were most ripe and delicious. He scaled the rest of the tree and pulled himself onto a branch that looked sturdy. He grinned at the shiny red fruit at the end of the limb. Slowly, he crawled out towards it and pulled two apples from their branch. He wiped them with his sleeve and saw his reflection in the red flesh. He began to crawl back to the trunk of the tree.
Crack. Sirius froze. He glanced down at Remus, who was still busy with the fire. There were small green sticks on the logs he was trying to light, and Remus seemed to be having a heated argument with them. Crack . Sirius winced and reached carefully to his pocket for his wand. Only to realize, his wand was at the foot of the tree, with his leather jacket. Sirius felt fear flood him. If he fell from this tree, he could die. He would escape with many injuries if he was lucky. Crack. Sirius closed his eyes, he still couldn't make any sound, there was no way to shout for help. Crrr-Snap! Sirius felt himself fall with the branch.
"Arresto Momentum!" Sirius hovered above the ground, his nose nearly touching the dirt. Then the spell was released and he fell with a plop. "Finite Incantatem," Remus whispered, kneeling next to Sirius.
"What the hell, Pads?" Remus asked. And Sirius sat up in the dirt, facing him. “Are you okay?”
"Well I suppose you should ask the tree. It's the one that decided to break and try to end me," Sirius said calmly. Then he turned to the tree, "FUCK YOU TREE!" he shouted.
Remus stared at him, "You're an idiot," he said. Then he walked back over to the fire ring. Sirius scrambled to his feet to follow him. He dusted his palms on his jeans, and winced as the small cuts from the tree bark rubbed on the denim. He stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out the two apples he retrieved.
"But Moony," he protested, and Remus turned around to glower at him, "I got us these," he held up the now dusty apples. Remus's glare softened and morphed into a smile. "What am I now?" Sirius asked.
Remus laughed, "Still an idiot, Sirius. The biggest one ever. Now hand over the apple."
Sirius skipped over to him, "Hmm... Should I? After all, if I'm an idiot, wouldn't I not give you what you want?" Sirius teased.
Remus smirked and he pried the apple from Sirius's grip, "This apple had better be good," he said, taking a bite.
Sirius wiped his apple on his sleeve again, and also bit it. He chewed it and grinned. Remus had a similar look on his face, "Worth it?" Sirius asked.
Remus studied him for a second. Then he looked over the sticks in front of him, to make sure that all the bowtruckles had indeed moved to a more healthy tree, and cast Incendio. The fire went up in magical blue flames. Smoke rose into the fading light above them. Sirius could see the faint outline of the moon amidst the clouds. "Nothing is worth you dying, Sirius," Remus finally said, "not even if it tastes as good as this."
Sirius met Remus's eyes, and his stomach did small somersaults. Sirius felt something shift inside him. There was no denying his love for Remus Lupin, not anymore. He felt his heart beating faster as he leaned closer to Remus, and when their lips connected, he thought it might burst into a million pieces. Remus was still only seconds before kissing him back, and then they were pulling each other closer and stumbling away from the blazing fire. Sirius kicked off his boots and Remus did the same with his trainers. And they stumbled through the tent flap, falling onto the mattress Remus had spread out in it.
Remus tasted of apple, and mint, and the bitterness of coffee and Sirius loved it. He pulled Remus closer to him, if that was possible and the kiss calmed slightly. It went more slowly, softly, like they knew the other wasn't going anywhere, and that they were safe here. They pulled apart after a few moments and Sirius looked up at Remus, breathing in deeply. The air smelled of campfire smoke.
Remus smiled nervously at him, "Okay?" he asked.
Sirius grinned, "Okay? Okay?? Moony that was the best kiss of my life. I, Okay? What kind of adjective is that? I oughta find the bloke who came up with it... okay??" Sirius rambled.
Remus's smile grew, "Should I be worried you're trying to find other blokes right after you've kissed me?"
Sirius appeared scandalized. "Moony, you're the only one for me." Remus paled a little. Then Sirius seemed to realize what he said and he blushed wildly, "I mean, for right now- of course- I want to be with you- er- kiss you more. I don't want to find the Okay guy-" and Remus cut him off with another kiss. This one left them both breathless.
"I want to be with you too Siri." And Sirius relaxed into his embrace.
"Brilliant," he breathed.
The moon's rays shown through the tent and Sirius hurried to pull Remus to his feet. "Come on Moony, we don't want to destroy the tent now." And he pulled him away from their camping spot to transform safely.
Later, a phoenix would find the two canines curled into each other, sleeping softly. It hooted and dropped the letter it was due to deliver on the shaggy black dog's head. The bird searched around for some food or treats to eat, and it found a bag of marshmallows on a log. It whistled and took the bag in its beak, flying away.
The two would wake up in their human forms, and stumble back into the tent to finish what began last night. Neither of them would pay any attention to the letter from Dumbledore, asking what exactly they were doing on school grounds.