|
Title:
Breakfast Time Author:
tarotgal Characters:
The Marauders, etc. Comments:
Yes please! Breakfast Time
Sirius lowered his hand slowly, then leaned in, his cheek
against Remus' as his arms pulled around him for a tight hug. "Feels like a bit
of a fever to top it off," he murmured, rubbing a hand up and down the man's
back comfortingly. Remus nodded, pawing at his nose with the back of his
hand. "I thought as much." Feeling as if the hug were a bit awkward, he forced
the man to pull out of it. Looking a little guilty, Sirius hung his head. "S'my
fault. I shouldn't have let you stay out in the rain while we watched James'
practice." He recalled the handsomeness of the man's face as it dripped wet
with raindrops running down it. How he'd wanted to pounce on the man then, lick
him dry, nuzzle him warm. Two wet bodies rolling in the mud like dogs as the
rain fell all around. But he had settled for stealing a soft kiss when the
others weren't looking. Remus laid back, spreading his arms, falling into the
cushy covers of his bed. "You had your umbrella over us all; I was quite dry
while we sat." Not to mention that Sirius' arm had stayed around him the whole
time, holding him warm and close. And not to mention that Lilly had been on his
other side, snuggled up against him to keep under the umbrella that stretched
from just over her to just over Peter. "You were chilled," Sirius said, stretching in play with
a faked yawn to lie down beside Remus. "Don't deny it, I felt you shiver near
the end. I was going to suggest going in just before they finished for the
evening." Rolling his eyes, "You can't catch a cold from a chill,"
he said blatantly. Sirius nuzzled closer, draping an arm over his middle.
"You were already weak and tired from..." from his time of the month, Sirius
refrained from saying out loud. Even in the small dormitory, and even empty as
it was now, they refrained from saying it outright as if by some unsaid code.
"You probably just picked it up from... someone...." Both boys' thoughts strayed to
detention with the Slytherins a few nights back. Sirius thought he remembered
seeing Snape sneeze a number of times, turning, showing them his back as he
fell forward with each. Remus remembered Malfoy coughing a few times rather
pointedly in his direction. Sirius also remembered guarding Remus as he napped
during the detention beneath James' invisibility cloak. The detention had
fallen the night following the last night of Remus' transformation and the man
had been exhausted already without needing to spend a whole night awake outside
in the cold night air. "Yes, someone," Remus agreed, closing his eyes as
his own nose tickled fiercely. He rubbed his nose against his sleeve roughly to
subdue the feeling, to no avail. His breath hitched, and the feeling was so
strong that he squeezed his eyes shut. "eh-heh...Ehshoo! Kehshoo!" Feeling
the man staring at him as he wiped his nose on his sleeve, he sniffled and
suggested, "Shouldn't you be going down for breakfast?" Sirius eyed Remus a moment. "You're not hungry?" Shaking his head, Remus pulled the covers up around
himself all that he could with Sirius lying beside him on top of them. "I could
use some more rest... ehh-Heshoo! Heh-Keshoo!" Sirius, wand in hand, summoned the tissues from one of
his bed stand drawers and put it in-between the two of them. "I'll check on you
later, then." He felt his stomach rumble with hunger and inched back for Remus.
Still feeling a bit guilty, he gave the man a small peck on the cheek before
heading down to breakfast. * * * The morning sun glittered off the feathers of the
hundreds of owls descending upon the great hall. Mail was well-timed to calm
down some of the exploits of that morning which had come from the Slytherin
table. There had been a rather public display of spells by one, and a number of
Slytherins jumping onto the bandwagon with pranks and mischief of all sorts
which both entertained and disturbed all attendants to the breakfast that
morning. Sirius looked up to find an unfamiliar owl circling over
their table looking confused. So he put up his hand and called the owl over,
offering some of his toast to prove he could be trusted with its delivery.
After debating a while with the owl, it finally left a thin, blank envelope for
Remus with Sirius. James and Sirius both had subscriptions to the Daily Profit
tossed into their orange juice, and Lilly received a small package of what
turned out to be her mother's famous cookies. She took the ribbon off the
package and, tossing her hair back, tied the ribbon around her head with a
small bow on top. Sirius glanced through the paper as he devoured another
plateful of eggs and toast. But he kept his ear half open to the conversation Peter
and James had been having since the chaos began that morning. "I just don't see what's wrong with wanting someone
trustworthy to follow if it helps you both get where you're going," Peter said,
gnawing on his toast in tiny rat-like bites. "Nothing at all," replied James with his
you-can-believe-everything-I-say sort of face on, "As long as the person you're
following is the right sort." And Sirius noticed his eyes fell not upon Peter
but looked past him, across the room to where Dumbledore stood with the defense
against the dark arts professor, trying to get a curtain against the Slytherin
wall to release a tiny owl it was playing with. "There's a harm in following
without questioning, Pete, no matter how much charm anyone might have." Peter squeaked, "But if he's really great and you admire
the person..." James laughed, and leaned in, keeping his voice low.
"I'll tell you, with that bunch of Slytherins I wouldn't be doing any admiring.
I can understand being power-hungry but they're restless for mischief." Sirius nearly spat his drink out, managing to cup his
hand over his mouth and turn to the side before exclaiming, "You're one to talk
about mischief Prongs!" The four had a
good laugh, and Sirius made Peter a hat out of his Daily Profit for no other
reason than the boy had a very addictive and comforting sort of laugh. * * * Remus couldn't fall back asleep, despite his best effort
to do so. He couldn't seem to get comfortable in bed without Sirius. It was too
hot under the covers, and too chilly above; cuddling against warm Sirius had
been the perfect balance. So he propped up his pillows and tried to read an
assignment for History of Magic, keeping the tissue box close at hand as it was
needed more often than he would have liked. He couldn't remember the last time
he was sick very clearly, aside from the werewolf bit of course, but he had a
strong recollection of something very disgusting being poured down his throat
by the school nurse and the sour, stale smell of sheets on a cot in the hospital
wing. Certainly not something he wanted to remember more vividly, especially if
he were already feeling poorly. "Mister Remus Lupin, Sir?" Remus looked down to find a small elfish face staring up
at him. It balanced a large stack of sheets and pillowcases on its head between
two long, pointed ears for in its hands was a large silver tray topped with a
steaming teapot and a large bowl of fruit. It was just a few feet high, and
Remus would sure he wouldn't have seen it over the side of his bed if it hadn't
first called out to him. If this had been his first sighting of the creature he
would probably have screamed and jumped off the bed in surprise. "Hello Henny,"
he greeted, running a hand through his hair and sitting up straighter. "I is hearing that you is not feeling so good again," he
said, rocking on two very large feet as if it had a built-in rocking chair. "So
we is bringing you a get well breakfast from the kitchens." Remus smiled, thinking how good tea really sounded to him
right now. "How thoughtful you and the other house elves are!" he exclaimed,
overdoing it as much as his limited energy allowed. He rubbed at his nose, watching the elf beam with pride.
"We is doing our bestest, Sir." The elves were used to seeing him sleeping in the
day after his transformations had ended, though they had never so much as
brought him an entire tray before. Henny set the tray down on the bedside
table. Remus dipped into the tissue box again, breathing heavily
into it a moment before sneezing again. "ehh-Emshuhh! Heh-Chehhh!" He
turned to the side slightly to blow his nose clearer, then turned back with a
muttered "Excuse me." The house elf, still rocking on his feet, grinned. "Oh,
bless you Mister Remus Lupin!" Remus smiled, though slightly embarrassed. "Thank you,
Henny." "Remus?" echoed up the stairs into the room. The house elf jumped a foot on his large kangaroo-like
feet and pulled his ears down over his eyes. Whining with some great concern,
"I is not supposed to being here with students about!" The house elves cleaned,
lit the fires, even made their beds. But the mark of a good house elf was not
being seen and perhaps if he couldn't see the incoming student, the
student wouldn't see him. "S'all right, Henny. It's my..." what was he? "My close
friend," Remus snuffled, rolling his eyes as Sirius came around the corner.
"Hey," he greeted the man. "Hey," Sirius returned, his tone soft and sympathetic. He
hung, hugging the corner of the doorway, seeming apprehensious to enter. But
instead of asking how Remus was feeling or asking if he were interrupting, he
just clung and leaned in the doorway. Remus waved a beckoning hand, scooting over in bed and
giving the empty spot an inviting pat. Sirius, not one to decline an offer,
walked in though eyeing Remus' visitor already there. So Remus explained, "This
is Henny, one of the Hogwarts house elves," as if Sirius couldn't recognize the
creature decked in oversized socks and an old pair of corduroy shorts with a
hole in the seat for his head. "Sometimes they bring me a bit of food when I'm,
uh, a bit under the weather." Sirius noticed the weariness in his voice, and
wondered if Remus had gotten any sleep at all during his absence. The house elf blushed and let his ears go as he bounced
to the table and gestured to the tray. "I is brining sleepy Mister Remus Lupin
good food." Sirius tried his best not to laugh at the silliness of
the house elf's statement. He seated himself beside Remus on the bed. "Very
nice. Healthy, hmm?" The house elf nodded quite enthusiastically and stood on
tip-toes to rest his chin on the bed. "Yes, yes. You is most welcome to have
some, too, close friend of Remus Lupin." "Why that's very nice," Sirius said, trying again not to
laugh. "But I've just come up from a wonderful breakfast." He patted his
tummy. "And I'm all full up." The house elf, Henny, beaming with delight, bonked his
head against the bed frame with a pleased giggle and disappeared out the door
with a "Feel better, Sir!" "Brings you food, huh?" he asked with a laugh, reaching
over Remus to snag a strawberry despite his lack of hunger. "Aw, he's nice," Remus defended. "They change our sheets
every day and they notice things, you know? Like how I'm gone for a few days
pretty often. So they offer me food sometimes when I'm recovering and I'm more
than eager to accept if it pleases them." He leaned over, onto his side to pour
a cup of tea. Sirius, fearing he'd spill, hopped right up and darted to
the other side of the bed to get him some. As he poured with one hand, he
pulled a small clump of napkins from his pocket. "It's no tea tray, but I
brought you a muffin from breakfast." "Thought I might be..." he stopped, his breath catching,
eyes narrowing. "...hung... huh... huh-hurChishh! Huh-cheshh!" Shaking in bed.
He unrolled one of the napkins around the muffin and buried his nose in it for
a bit of a blow. "Hungry, yes," said Sirius with a gentleness he reserved
for Remus. Then, he handed the tea over with the proper amount of sugar and
lemon added. "The tea should help you feel better." Softly, he sat back down on
his usual side of the bed and draped his arm around Remus. Remus thanked him for the tea and snuggled into him,
comfortable against the familiar warmth. "Don't we have class soon?" he asked,
closing his eyes to savor the gentle, soothing tea. "Mmm," Sirius replied with an affirmative sort of edge.
"Transfiguration. We're learning how to transfigure ourselves into small forest
creatures." He smirked. "Boy, can't imagine how to do that." He and James had
perhaps mastered the art of transfiguration better than any Hogwarts student
every had, and by their fifth year at that. "And I'll catch you up on anything
you missed," Sirius offered, sensing some worry in that. Of course, he and
James had willingly filled Remus in on anything he had ever missed, even before
they found out about the reason Remus was gone every so often. But at least
now, Remus didn't have to go through it alone. "Besides, I'd rather stay here
with you, you know?" "Thanks, Sirius," Remus managed with a heavy yawn. Then
he sniffled and scrubbed his nose with his wrist. Rather than suggest Remus try and sleep, Sirius shook
with a jolt of sudden realization. "Oh, I forgot! You've a letter!" He leaned
forward and groped for it beneath his robes. "Who's it from?" Remus asked, curious but tired. "Dunno. Didn't recognize the owl and the envelope's
blank." He pulled it out and handed it over, settling back against the pillows
comfortably, squeezing Remus' shoulders. There was an excitement in receiving
such a mysterious letter, and he was eager to find out what it was about. Remus, however, did not seem to feel the same sort of
excitement. He took it reluctantly, tore it open with his teeth, and pulled a
single piece of paper out. His eyes skimmed it ever so briefly before balling
it up with the envelope, tossing it toward the trashcan, and willing it to
burst into flames with a simple charm. The ashes, cool and calming, sprinkled
down into the trashcan. He sighed and closed his eyes. Perhaps if he were to
fall asleep quickly, he wouldn't need to explain. "What was all that about?" Sirius asked with no
reservation. Before Remus could answer, he grabbed for a tissue. His
breathing raced in a strong, panicky sort of way. His eyes narrowed, mouth hung
open. "heh... huh... heh-eh-EhCheshhh! Heh-Hushoo! HehUhsheshh!" He rubbed
his nose dry and settled back against Sirius, against the pillows. "Job
rejection," Remus explained finally, without feeling. "Silly of me to hope.
After all, who wants to hire a werew--" "Oh, Remus," Sirius sighed with sympathy. "Can't you... I
dunno... not tell them about that?" Remus snorted, closing his eyes. "Against the law, that
is. Employers need to know when they can or can't rely on an employee. And they'd
figure it out sooner or later and have me off to Azkaban." He and the others
rarely spoke of their plans for after Hogwarts next year because of Remus'
situation. James and Lilly had no reason to worry, being head boy and girl and
all, and James wouldn't need to work for money regardless. Sirius, tough and
quite bright, had a good future in anything he wanted as well. Peter, on the
other hand, didn't seem to have a very strong talent in any particular area,
and applied to the usual places only. "You'll find somewhere," Sirius tried to reassure him.
"Besides, you have me and I'd never let them send you to Azkaban." He nuzzled
the man affectionately and wrapped both arms around him securely. Remus, not
entirely believing him about the job, was glad the subject had closed. He
cuddled back with a powerful yawn that Sirius couldn't help but notice. He took
the empty cup of tea from Remus' hands and tugged the blankets up a bit more.
He pulled the tissue box close enough for Remus to reach when needed. "Oy, now.
No worrying allowed. Get some sleep, all right?" He pressed his cheek against
the man's head and hugged him tenderly. "Feel better." Remus, yawning and nodding, fell asleep in
no time with his head on Sirius' chest and his arm around Sirius' waist. |