The Storm

"I'll be sure to send you all an owl within the next few days, so don't be frantic if I remain silent for a few days!"

"Yeah, you'd better, Remus J. Lupin, or the whole lot of us will come after you in the night!"

"Of that I have no doubt, Sirius!" Remus laughed as he hopped down from the iron steps of the train, the warm winds of summer buffetting his lean body and ruffling his silver-flecked chestnut hair.His azure eyes glimmered with a certain sadness, for this was their last year of childhood. Only one more year of Hogwarts lay before them. Sighing longingly, he turned and looked up at Sirius, who was bounding down the steps, jumping the last one and narrowly missing his friend. He laughed heartily, his grey eyes alight with a youthful gleam, and sighed, laying a hand upon Remus' shoulder.

"Oh, Sirius," Remus said, sighing and putting his hand upon his heart with an statement of mock seriousness upon his handsome features. "Just think...this time next year...we will be free. alone to fend for ourselves in this wide and perilous world."

"The world is doomed!" came the voice of James Potter as he stepped from the train. His dark eyes gleamed behind his round glasses, and the wind mussed his naturally messy ebony hair.

"And just what is that supposed to mean, James?" Sirius asked, turning quickly away from Remus to lay his eyes upon Potter with a raised eyebrow, his ebon hair falling into his face as he did so.

"It means that I don't think that the world is ready for the Marauders!" came Lily Evans' voice as she hopped from the Hogwarts Express, the wind blowing her copper hair against her face as she looked about.

"Oh, I couldn't agree more!" Sirius replied with a laugh, then turned to look out over the crowd of wizards and witches there for their children as he looked for his own parents. But something else caught his eye.

"Hey...who is that?" he asked his friends, tapping Remus and James on the shoulder and gesturing to his left.

"I don't know; I've never seen her here before," answered James, but Remus said nothing, his gaze fixed upon her with a strange glimmer in his eyes.

A woman stood near the exit to Kings' Cross, her robes looking disheveled and frail upon her thin, sickly frame. Her long, tawny brown hair was pulled back to keep it away from her thin face, and she appeared tired and frightened; her dark, sunken eyes looking around carefully. She appeared a mere ghost of a woman, once beautiful and vivacious, now pulled away from reality by a strange, unseen force. She clutched her robes and wand closer about her, as though the warm wind was a winter breeze, chilling her to the bone.

"Remus? Do you know who she is?" came James' concerned voice, shaking him from his reverie.

"Yes...yes, I know her." Suddenly, Remus was moving, grabbing his things up into his arms and heaving a sigh. "She's my mother." With that, he turned and started to hurry off. But Sirius asked a question that caused him to stop and look back.

"She surely can't be here alone! Where's your father?"

Remus halted quickly and took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Turning back to face his friends one last time before leaving, his eyes suddenly revealed a trace of a symptom that they had not witnessed in his azure eyes for years. It was fear and regret; strange and almost alien to his handsome, youthful blue eyes. It was a trait that gave him the appearance of one who had lived a long and pain-riddled lifetime; full of unjust burdens.

"My father is dead," he said quickly, and turned as quickly as possible. He did not want to wait around for Sirius to delve deeper into his father; it was devastating enough without revealing it openly. He closed his eyes for a moment in rememberence of that terrible night, then opened them as he stepped up to his wispy mother. He smiled at her in an attempt to hide his uneasiness.

"Hello, Mum," he began, a pleasant tone in his charming voice, "Miss me?"

His mother simply regarded him with cold grey eyes and turned, her robes fluttering behind her as she made her way towards the exit into Kings' Cross. Remus sighed and lowered his eyes a bit; the wind casting some of his silvery hair over his eyes, then followed. She hadn't been the same since that night. He had been nine years old.

His father had been a good man; kind and intellgent. He had borne a great compassion for the magically afflicted; especially those that bore the curse of lycanthropy. He had been the head of the Werewolf Support Services for many years before Remus had been born. He loved his job just as he loved his family, and when Remus was bitten and nearly kiled at the age of four years; it compelled him even further to find a successful cure for the werewolves. He was the one that Remus had clung to for support before and after each full moon; his father was always on watch to make sure that Remus did not only injure others, but himself as well. Always being there for Remus proved to be his downfall as well.

Remus remembered well the terrible bloody scene; the crimson that stained his hands and his body under the pale morning light...

For a moment, he looked around frantically; though he was weak, he was frightened and confused at the sight of blood; he had not killed someone...had he? No, that was impossible, his father was always there to prevent that. It was then that his troubled nine-year old eyes found the mangled corpse a few feet ahead. The face was indiscernable; and fluids soaked the area surrounding the body. Remus fell back; the chill wind battered his bare body under the cruel winter sun as he looked upon his victim. The trees howled aorund him from the gusts, and slowly, he crawled towards the corpse, hands trembling.

Blood matted the chestnut hair that was left upon the body; the clothing, Ministry of Magic robes, were shredded and torn all down the torso and through the chest, and blashphemous gashes still seeped dark red blood onto the forest floor. A wand lay nearby, still glowing a bit from a previous and last spell. The kill had been fresh...and coldblooded. Remus shook his young head, tears of heavy guilt and fear trespassing upon his innocent; weary face. He had murdered...at the young age of nine, he had murdered his father in a fit of cold blood...all because a damned disease that rushed viciously and malevolently through his veins.

His mother had never really forgiven her son though she knew in her heart that he could not have helped himself. She slowly became more recluse and wary of her son; anytime he stepped into a room, she jumped back slightly and pulled away from him. When he had recieved a letter from Albus Dumbledore that told him that he could attend Hogwarts with special precautions, she snubbed at the letter and let Remus decide. When he had departed from the house to head for the Hogwarts Express on his first day...she did not even say good-bye. Remus had tried several times to bring down the wall that she had raised between them, but each time, it gave her more animosity towards him; it was as though she thought that his attempts to be a son were merely a way for him to get more prey.

"Remus!" barked a voice, startling him from his painful memories. He jolted and looked up at his mother; he hadn't even realized that they were home. She eyed him dangerously, then swept into the house, her long ebon hair wafting wispily behind her. Remus sighed and shook his head as he looked past the house and into the dark forest beyond. The sun had begun to set, and dark clouds were beginning to come over the horizon. The air smelled of rain. With a grunt, he lugged his possessions over his shoulder and under an arm, and trudged heavily into the old, weed-entagled house. Once the house had been lovely and beautiful, well-kept and free of strangling gnomes and plants. But they no longer had enough money to pay for a gardner, and his mother had lost any drive to leave the house even for something as trivial as flowers.

He stepped inside the house and looked around as he set his meager amount of belongings on the floor. Nothing had changed since last September. The air was musty and the walls were slowly darkening with mildew, and the once fine furniture had fallen into disrepair. To many of those he knew, they would never even dream to live in such a state, but for Remus, it was nothing strange; living conditions were the least of his worries, and he knew what it was like to live under harsher conditions. He looked around and saw that his mother's door was ajar; it was dark now, and the other light was coming from her room. Feeling that he should finally try and get some sense into his mother, he took a breath and stepped forward towards her room. He slowly opened the door; it creaked terribly, and he looked in on her with a curious expression.

"Mum?" he asked softly. She stood before a tall looking glass, her back facing him. Her long hair floated down her back, contrasting greatly with the stark white nightgown that she wore. He could not know her expression. "Mum?" he ventured again, stepping forward and reaching out a gentle hand. "Are you alright? Perhaps you need some rest," he said gently. But before he could lay his hand warmly upon her shoulder, she whirled around to face him, her grey eyes flashing and a great silver saber in her hands, gleaming from the candlelight with a dangerous light. Wide-eyed, Remus too ka step back; fear clenched his heart with its chilling fingers as he stepped back; his azure eyes alight with trepidation and confusion.

"Mother?" he reiterated; his hands up and trembling. She raised and blade and stood before him, regarding her son angrily.

"I do not need any rest...Do not lay your bloody hands upon me...Out...get out, now. Leave me and take all those painful memories with you!" she cried, her voice loud and cold as she pointed the saber at him grimly. "You are not my son...my son died in the forest thirteen years ago...and left behind a taunting shadow of him; a monster. Get out now, or I shall kill you as you killed your father, in cold blood and bloodthirst!"

As these words escaped her pale lips, Remus felt his defenses fall all about him. Eyeing the blade with defiance, he stood up straight and erect and gazed into her angered face.

"So you would leave me without family; without ties to anything that I am?" he cried, fists clenched at his sides in frustration.

"You are a beast! A savage, unhumanly beast!" she screamed to him. "You are nothing but that! You're nothing more to me than the murderer of my son and my husband!" With that, she leapt forward at him, her eyes flaring with enraged and fearful fire. The blade sheened in the dim candlelight as she brought it to bear. Remus stood there stark still in horrified shock, his blue eyes glittering with bewildered confusion. He stepped back quickly and tried to jump out of the way of the stinging blade, but she was too fast. He felt the fiery touch of the silver swipe lightly across his cheek, drawing a line of bright crimson. Though it was not a mortal wound, the effect that silver had on his lycanthrope body was quick and strong. Where the blade had touched blood was searing with fiery pain so great it made him reel in dizziness. He stumbled back, hand presed against his wound, and fell against a wardrobe roughly. His shoulder and back protested in pain as he managed to look up at his mother, who was coming at him swiftly. With what strength he had, he fell from her slicing blow and tumbled haphazardly across the unpolished wooden floor. He came out of the roll as he rammed into the wall outside of her room; it knocked the wind out of him for a moment. He staggered to his feet just as she came to the door and looked down upon him with fiery, condencending eyes. A wicked, almost insane smile curled upon her faint lips.

"So it ends, my...son," she spat down at him. In the distance, faint lightening flashed through the oncoming cloud cover. The silver light flared upon her thin, frail face as he gazed up at her. A determined expression suddenly found its way onto Remus' handsome though wounded features as he gazed at the shining blade. He shook his head quickly, the dim candlelight highlighting the silver in his hair.

"No, mother; it will not finish here," he said defiantly, raising his head to look her directly in the eyes. With surprising swiftness, he ducked from the blade and ran from her. He heard her cry out in rage; her footsteps, though light, were pounding in Remus' ears; they were the footfalls of death. He came into the living area where he had left his trunk and other meager possessions, and from his folded robes he pulled out his wand and pointed it at her. Knowing that this was breaking the law of Underage Wizards, but not really caring, he fixed his azure eyes on her and pointed the trembling wand at her swiftly oncoming form.

"Expelliarmus!" he bellowed. A shot of greenish-silver flew from the tip of his wand. With a seemingly vociferous sound of clashing metal, the saber flew rom his mother's hand. She staggered back a few steps and narrowed her smokey eyes at him, clencing her fists at her sides. He looked at her with a heaving chest; the wound still sapping his strength steadily and burning like fire. He took a few deep breaths and lowered his hand steadily, bitterness full in his gaze. "Good-bye, mother. You'll never be...plagued and terrorized by this...monster again," he said bitterly, and turned, running from the house that he no longer would ever call his home. His feet pounded upon the path as he ran, and he heard the door slamming shut behind him. It opened again, and a voice cried out to him, full of glee and rage.

"Yes! Death is too good a fate for a creature such as you! Live with your abberation; suffer the guilt and terror of the thing you are! You will find no resting place in this cruel world; you have no friends to watch over you! Go; maybe you'll rid the world of your damned pestilence!"

Although he heard these words in his ears as he turned down the road and knew that he should not take these things seriously; they still fell full upon his heart. The tears fell full upon his cheeks as he ran forward, still staggering slightly. His shoulder raged with bruised pain and the wound upon his face felt as though a hot poker had been placed upon his cheek. He gritted his teeth as the thunder came from the sky and the rain began to fall; much like the storm that was raging in his soul. Monster...creature? Was he truely these things?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The road had taken him a long ways; he had not ceased running for fear that his mother might still trailing him. While he doubted this, he simply felt compelled to run, as far away from that dread house. He didn't know how long he had been running; in the midst of the beating rain and berating winds he had lost track of time. His clothing was soaked from the harsh rain, and his body still was weak from the silver blade. He shivered violently as he came into the lights of a small city. He hid his wand and continued to run, ignoring the stitch in his side. The street lights overhead flashed down upon Remus as he ran; this was a primarily Muggle city. Clutching the Ministry of Magic warning in his palm, he shoved the wet piece of parchment into his pocket and paused, leaning under an overhang on a building.

He took a few redeeming breaths and closed his eyes for a moment. The roar of the thunder was harsh in his ears, and the pounding rain that fell upon his weary head stung his woesome gash severely. He wiped some rain from his tired features and sighed, looking down at his feet. His clothing was soiled from the heavy rains, and as he looked out over the deserted, simly lit streets, he suddenly felt very alone. his thoughts drifted back to his mother's cruel words, and he cringed.

"No...I have friends...I do...and if they could see me in such a state; they would be outraged...if only I could find out where I am..." he muttered to himself tiredly. Lightening flashed overhead followed by a loud clap of thunder, causing him to jump. He glanced down the streets quickly, and started on his way again. There was no time for leisurely strolls in this horrid weather. Although he was slowly losing his stamina from the silver blade's mark, he didn't let this stop him. His thoughts kept drifint back to the terrible events of the day, and he began to wonder, "Perhaps my mother is right...perhaps I am just a filthy, terrible beast..." He sat down in a small , enclosed outdoor bus terminal and regarded his reflection in the glass map cover. His face was drawn and haggard, and his clothes and hair were in a state of terrible disarry. "And I look like a creature...a thing that no one cared enough for to keep in a warm house..."

But as he was looking, he realized what exactly he had come across. Under that glass was a map, outlaying all the bus routes for this city that he was in. He ran his hands over the tiny words and multicolored route markers quickly, scanning for a familir name. He glanced at the city's name and regarded it with firm scrutiny.

"Kensington..." he replied to himself softly, his brow creased lightly with thought. "I know that name...where have I heard that name before?" After a few moments of silent thought under the harsh music of pounding rain on plastic, it came to him. "Sirius! Sirius lives here!" He heaved a sigh of relief and leaned back against the terminal's thin back wall. He had to get there, tonight. He couldn't stay here the entire night in the chilled rain.

After another moment, he sighed and stood; he couldn't delay any longer. He only hoped that Sirius was home. As he stood and started to step out from the sheltered terminal, a thought struck him. He didn't exactly know where Sirius' exact address was. He looked around quickly for the nearest telephone booth; he had learned about them in Muggle Studies a few years back. They supposedly had things called "Telephone Directories" inside that told the address and sometimes phone numbers of all the residents of a particular town or city. Without delay, he quickly looked about for a phone booth, and finally found one; thankfully enclosed. He stepped in quickly and pulled out his wand.

"Lumos," he whispered, and suddenly the dark booth was filled with dim light. Remus looked about the small booth quickly and saw the thick directory upon a small, graffitti-covered shelf. He pulled it into his tired arms and pulled upon the wrinkled, thin pages. The adrenaline was still pumping through his veins, keeping the inevitable exhaustion at bay for the moment. At first he started to look in the "S" section for Sirius, but it took him a few moments to realize that the names were listed in alphabetical order...by last name. With a tired sigh, he heaved the sizable front portion of the book back over until he reached the "B" section. He ran his trembling finger down the paper quickly, and almost missed the names he was looking for. He closed his eyes for a moment and leaned thankfully back against the glass walls of the booth.

"I hope Wendell and Isis Black are in the mood for late-night, sopping wet visitors..." he mused to himself as he ripped out the page that held the address of his hopeful santuary. "Nox," he said softly, and the light upon the tip of his wand was vanquished. Overhead, the rain still beat roughly, and he sighed as he opened the gliding door. Without another thought, he dashed out into the glum, thunderous night. As the thunder pounded overhead, so did his heart and the wound upon his face; both from weariness and a great emotional struggle inside his mind.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Nothing beat being home alone for a week, mused Sirius in his subconscious state. He would be able to sleep in as late as he wanted and not worry about parents bugging him or waking him up at all hours of the night banging on his door and such...Thank God for Ministry of Magic Out-of-Country trips...

*Bang bang!*

This sound brought Sirius up from his slumber quickly. He looked blearily around his dark room, illuminated every once and a while by flashes of lightening. He shook his head and grumbled about thunder as he laid back down. He yawned and stretched himself out across the bed, throwing his arm over the headboard tiredly. The pitter-patter of the rain against his windowpane performed as a natural lullaby for a while, but not for long.

Sirius sat up as the banging beacme more distinctive. Over the dull roar of the rain he could hear a voice, though very slightly, which confused him a bit; who in their right mind would be out in the rain this late at night? He stumbled ungracefully from bed and grabbed a slightly melted candle. He lit it and rubbed his eyes a bit, trying to banish the sleep from his eyes. He scratched his head grumpily, which mussed his already messy ebony hair, and slowly plodded from his room. The candle made for dim light, and his wand would have been brighter, but he was simply too lazy at the moment to worry about such things.

"This had better be good," he grumbled in his sleep-dulled voice as he neared the front door. The bangings were more insistant with each time, and finally, Sirius was there. "Alright, alright, I'm here...geez..." he said tiredly, setting the candle on the nearby front table. He grasped the cool doorknob and turned it, opening the door slightly to shield himself from the rain. "Who's there..." he said, sounding more like a statement rather than a question. But lightening illuminated the dark front steps, shining upon the visitor's face. Sirius' eyes went wide.

Standing there upon his doorstep was none other than Remus Lupin, breathless. He was soaking wet and held a crumpled, hopelessly soiled piece of thin paper in his hand. The water dripped from the ends of his drenched hair and down his tired, fearful face, and a terrible, bloody gash ran down his left cheek. His chest heaved with his labored breathing, and in the storm's electric light, Sirius could see the great anguish and exhaustion that lay hidden under the surface.

"Remus!" he cried in shock, and quickly reached for him, pulling him inside the warm house. He quickly closed the door afterwards and put his hands upon his desperate friend's shoulder. "Remus, what's wrong? What happened!? Why are you here?" he asked quickly, but shook his hand on second thought. "Tell me in a minute; I've gotta get you something to dry off with!" he cried, running off for the linen closet, leaving Remus standing in the foyer, alone and shivering. After a moment, he came back, toting several thick, fluffy towels. Sirius could barely see his friend's face in the dim candlelight, but nevertheless, he found his wet, trembling body and threw a few towels over his shoulders and head. He was fully awake now, and terribly concerned for Remus; something must've happened, something bad; for Remus to run all this way in the pelting rain. He grabbed his candle and started to lead him to his room.

As Remus felt the towels fall over his body, he closed his eyes and gave a thankful prayer to the heavens that he had Sirius. He followed Sirius into his room and sat down on the bed, shivering still. Sirius sat down in front of him, setting the retrieved candle upon his bedside table. Remus could see the intense worry that lined Sirius' youthful, tired face, and he took a deep breath to try and calm himself a bit.

"Remus; what happened?" Sirius finally asked, putting a warm hand upon Remus' shoulder. Gently, he reached up and let his finger touch the gash ever so lightly, but as his fingertips barely brushed the wound, Remus reeled back in pain, inhaling sharply. "Remus...who did this to you?" he asked, softer and more imploringly.

Remus looked up and looked into Sirius' shaded eyes, and the memories of his mother and her awful words came rushing back to him in a great flood. Now that he knew he was safe, the adrenaline was ebbing, and it realased it's grasping hold upon his mind and body. Then the tears came down his cheeks; warm salty tears edging painfully on the bloody slash.

"My mother..." he said softly, barely audible over the beating rain outside. "My mother did it," he said again, a bit louder and bitterly. "Because I'm a monster, a vicious being with no conscience, only a primeval whim to murder and massacre innocents for my own devious pleasure." His voice was cold and bitter, but rather to himself than his mother.

Sirius looked shocked and slightly appalled. "Your mother?" he spat in disbelief. "Why would she-"

"Because I killed my father, Sirius! I killed him; his body was so mangled that it was undiscernable as to who he even was!" Remus cried sharply, looking directly into Sirius' darkened grey eyes with a terrible, frantic expression.

The room went silent as Remus shouted these horrible words, save for the vicious crack of lightening outside. Sirius stared at him for a moment as he watched Remus, usually strong and smiling, dissolve into anguished sobs before him, soaked and riddled with fear and unease. Sirius closed his eyes in disbelief.

"Was it on the full moon?" he asked softly.

"You think I would kill him on purpose? My father was the only one who ever truly understood the pain I went through every month; why would I kill him purposely?" he asked, again bitter. The lightening flashed upon his for, gleaming in the dripping silvery hair and casting a momentary light upon him; as if reflecting the storm that was raging inside of him. Remus bowed his head and shivered, wrapping his arms about himself. "So she wanted to exact revenge for him...kill me as I killed him...so called me such names that I cannot bear to repeat...she came at me with a silver saber...and it struck me across the face, sapping my strength...so I ran as fast as I could from there; I didn't know where I was headed...I suppose my fear was the only thing that fueled me to get this far...you're not going to turn me out as she did for your own fear, will you?" he suddenly asked, not looking at Sirius' face. But suddenly, a pair of warm arms wrapped around his cold shoulders and pulled him into a safe embrace. Gentle fingertips ran through his wet hair, and Remus closed his eyes as he heard Sirius' heartbeat, soft and rhythmic in his ear..

"Never...I'll never be as selfish, foolish, or cowardly as she...you deserve so much better than this; to be thrown out in the rain for something that you could not have helped; I'm not one to try and murder for my own gain...you know me so much better than that. But never will I be able to forgive her for her actions...you can stay here with me; forever if you like..." Sirius paused as these words escaped his lips, and he glanced down at the trembling figure of Remus in his arms with a soft gaze. He wasn't shivering so much any more in his arms, and Sirius didn't mind getting a bit wet...for so long, Remus had borne such a great burden of pain and grief. Sirius thought it was unjust that his dear friend had to be cursed in such a manner, and by God, he would do anything to try and help ease some of this pain. "Did she say anything else...Remus?" he urged lightly; maybe if he got Remus to talk a bit more about it, he might get some of it off of his chest.

Remus took a shuddered breath and put his hands on Sirius' arms, squeezing lightly. "She said..." he took a breath; the words were branded like fire in his mind. "She said, "Death is too good a fate for a creature such as you...Live with your abberation; suffer the guilt and terror of the thing you are...You will find no resting place in this cruel world; you have no friends to watch over you..Go; maybe you'll rid the world of your damned pestilence!"..." Remus shuddered again and closed his eyes, still not making eye contact.

"The world won't be rid of you so easily; not if I have anything to say about it," Sirius said firmly, and gently pulled Remus' head up so that they could look at each other eye-to-eye. Sirius' eyes, while determined, shown with a gentle light of compassion, and Remus smiled ever so slightly.

"Thank you..."

Sirius returned the smile, and as he looked upon the face of his distraught companion, he felt a strange sensation upon his mind. He gently moved one of his hands to the wounded cheek and brushed a few tears away. He made sure not to touch the wound itself for fear of causing more pain to Remus. They were so close, and as the lightening flashed outside again, Remus' face was illuminated again; his hair was no longer dripping, and his face shown a great deal more releif than horror and pain. His azure eyes gleamed in the dim candlelight, and Sirius had to stop himself. His mind was whirling; now he had an internal storm of his own to contend with...

A kiss...so innocent a thing, and yet it caused Sirius great apprehension. If he were to kiss Remus now...would he regret it the moment after? Would Remus recoil with loathing or even fear at this display of slight intimacy? So much lay at stake in that action, and the words that Sirius feared might follow; seeing Remus in such pain had done only strengthing of the soft love that Sirius had felt for him...and yet it caused him so much tribulation. The price might be the death of one or many cherished relationships...a price that Sirius deemed quite high.

But as he looked down into the thankful face of Remus, a thought came to him. Similar demons...Remus had felt the same fear when he realized that his friends were discovering his lycanthropy...Remus had feared loathing and trepidation; the breaking of friendships from the people that had given him so much loyalty and hope...and yet when they did find out, Sirius and James did not care, nor did Peter. no; they even helped him...was it not just coincidence that he and Remus should be battling such similar demons? Sirius didn't think so; he didn't believe in coincidence.

Slowly, he brought his face very close to Remus' and smiled at him lightly. He brushed a few strands of dangling, damp hair from his face and let his hand rest on his unmarred cheek gently.

"Remus...you'll never be alone again...you'll never have to suffer alone again...Remus?" Sirius paused and swallowed lightly. "What would you do...if I kissed you?" he asked very softly and slowly; careful about his words.

Remus' eyes didn't show surprise nor fear; if anything, he looked calm and gently happy. "I might do this," he said softly, and gently leaned in the extra inch and pressed his lips against Sirius' tenderly. Though he still trembled slightly; all tremors seemed to fall away for a moment in that moment of intimacy; the thoughts of his mother's vicious words and her silver saber, the running and exhaustion...even the storm outside seemed to ebb for a moment, as did the raging tempest in Remus' own heart. He wrapped his weary arms around Sirius as he pulled away from his lips,and regarded him carefully with a smile unlike one Sirius had ever seen before upon Remus' youthful face.

Sirius chuckled very lighty and felt all doubts fall from his mind; the raging maelstrom inside had fallen silent; he no longer had anything to fear. He held Remus close and sighed gently as he ran a few tender fingertips through the ends of Remus' mussed, damp hair. Then, the words that he had feared might come after that fateful kiss came, but not with the trepidation that Sirius had felt before. No indeed...these words were some of the easiest words he had ever uttered.

"I love you, Moony..."

~*You hadn't seen your father in such a long time
He died in the arms of his lover how dare he
Your mother never left the house
She never married anyone else
You took it upon yourself to console her
You reminded her so much of your father
So you were banished
And you wonder why you're so hypersensitive
And why you can't trust anyone but us
But then how can i begin to forgive her
So many years under bridges with dirty water
She was foolish and selfish and cowardly if you ask me
So here we both are battling similar demons (not coincidentally)
You see in getting beyond knowing it solely intellectually you're not relinquishing your majestry
You are wise you are warm you are courageous you are big
And i love you more now than i ever have in my whole life*~

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