Title: Soul Meets Soul on Lover's Lips

Author: Kate of Kintail, kmcdevit@vt.edu

Fandom: Harry Potter, Marauders era

Rating: R

Pairings: Remus/Sirius, James/Lily

Warnings: Slash and a dose of smarmy puppy love

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not have the rights to the universe or its characters. As such, this is simply a fannish pursuit and I get no money for this.

Summary: Sirius finds himself at a loss Valentine’s Day approaches

Archived/Posted: Originally posted to Marauders_Slash group. Archived on my personal site- Kate's Kintail: the dreamscape. If anyone wants it for elsewhere, just let me know

Notes: I’m horrid at titles- sorry! This one is stolen from the wonderful Percy Bysshe Shelly. There’s also a quote from Elizabeth Barret Browning within the story. In addition, I detest Valentine’s Day, and intended very much to make this cynical and bitter… however, that particular story didn’t get written and this one did. Puppy love won out.

Feedback: Sure. On/offlist

 

 

Soul Meets Soul on Lover's Lips

 

            Sirius had been on his stomach so long that his ribs were starting to hurt. There were crumpled bits of parchment scattered around the bed, and one piece spread over his pillow. James strode by his bed, humming, looking down smugly. He didn’t have to say anything as the sparkle in his hazel eyes spoke volumes. With a frustrated grunt, Sirius pulled the quill from out of his mouth and glared back at him. “Just because you got a gift for Lily already doesn’t mean you have to gloat. You’ve only been with her a couple of months, of course it’s easy for you to find something. Besides, everyone knows it’s easier to shop for girls.”

 

            James chuckled, flopping dramatically onto the bed beside Sirius, sitting amongst the pillows, his back to the headboard, his hands folded behind his head leisurely. “Well then, you should have gone out and grabbed yourself a girl to be your Valentine.”

 

            Sirius rolled his eyes. He would have thought that now that James finally had an object of affection that the subtle jabs about Sirius getting a real relationship would stop. If anything, they’d multiplied and grown in seriousness. James would never say it out loud, but he hinted frequently that he didn’t entirely approve of Sirius and Remus shacking up together as planned when graduation came around in a few months. Without a shadow of a doubt, Sirius knew he and James would be his best friend forever, and that he’d never be so close to anyone in the same way as he was to James. He knew James would stand by him in any decision, and he’d do the same in a flash. And at the same time Sirius knew, because Remus had confided in him, that James thought Remus could do a lot better than a shaggy, scruffy, mischievous Black. “I have who I want,” Sirius replied with a sigh. “That’s not going to change. I just wish I could come up with something brilliant to get for him. Girls are so simple. You buy them a bunch of flowers, a box of candy, and some flashy jewelry they can show off to their friends and they’re mush in your arms.”

 

            “And Remus isn’t mush in yours?” James inquired, the sly grin that had come over his face as he chuckled was still very much present.

 

            “Not for shallow things like that. A bunch of flowers are just going to die a few days later, chocolates will melt and get all messy, and half the people in this school have a shiny heart necklaces. Nah, that’s not the sort of thing my Remus goes for.” His eyes went from James, down to the parchment.

 

            Sirius had come to the conclusion earlier in the evening that if he couldn’t figure out what to buy Remus, he would try his hand at making something. Remus, being the sentimental type, wouldn’t be able to resist that, even if whatever Sirius came up with turned out to be rubbish. Still the words were not flowing as Sirius would have liked. With a deep sigh, he scribbled something. “Okay, okay, how’s this: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways!” Sirius threw his arm out dramatically, twirling his hand in a flourish to illustrate the sentiment.

 

            One side of James’ nose wrinkled as his face screwed up around it. “Kind of cheesy, that.”

 

            “Cheesy?” asked Sirius, looking the words over on the parchment critically after writing them out. He bit his lip as he studied them with intense concentration. “You think?”

 

            Nodding, “Oh, exceedingly so. Cheesy… and plagiarized.” Pretending to look curious, “Is that the sort of thing your Remus goes for, then?”

 

            Sirius groaned and crumpled up the piece of parchment- his last piece of parchment- and tossed it into the air. “What am I going to do?” Sirius whined, rolling over from stomach to back. His head rolled into James’ lap, and James put a hand down to absentmindedly stroke Sirius’ head. He pulled his fingers through the tangles of dark hair, making them pay attention and fall into place as his own hair would never do. He lifted his head quickly to look James in the eye. “Apart from dropping him and getting a girl, I mean.” He let his head fall back into James’ lap.

 

            “I dunno, Mate,” James said in a rare moment of honesty and sympathy all wrapped up in one. “But I’m sure you’ll come up with something.” Sirius groaned and slapped a hand over his eyes, shaking his head.

 

*

 

            He could feel Remus stalking him from across the room. With James in the shower and Peter already asleep and snoring in bed, they were free for the moment to go through their nightly rituals unseen. Remus had his pajamas laid out on his bed, and his head was ducking into the curtains and back out again. He was well practiced in watching Sirius while pretending to be doing anything but watching Sirius. Slowly Sirius settled onto his own bed and changed into light pajamas. The hangings wide open so Remus could see, and Sirius was making a show of watching, full of soft growls and pleasurable noises that came from the back of his throat.

 

            Remus grinned, though still pretending not to notice as their nightly dance was far from finished. He shed his school robe, slipping one arm out, and then the other. He undressed so much more slowly than was needed, feeling Sirius eyes hot upon his bare skin, and listening to the pleased sounds. As though suddenly in desperate need of water, Remus shed his last item of clothing and dawned his robe.

 

            He turned quickly, his erection hidden beneath the thick terrycloth. He walked past Sirius’ bed with his nose in the air on his way over to the window where the water pitcher and glasses resided. Sirius growled seductively as he passed, but Remus pretended not to notice. A frustrated sigh followed from Sirius but, as Remus poured and lifted a glass of water to his lips, their eyes met for the briefest of moments and Sirius grinned this time. Innocent and unassuming was Remus on the walk back, and Sirius hissed “Don’t bother with the pajamas. They won’t be staying on for long,” in but a whisper as he passed by.

 

            Sirius felt like the hunter, though he knew it was only because Remus was letting him be so. He jumped down from his bed, following a few paces behind Remus. He hung off one of Remus’ bedposts when he had made it across the room. “Remus,” he whispered. “Come to bed with me.” Remus smiled but kept his eyes trained on his pajamas, his bed. Such was the dance. He leaned in past the curtains to pick up his top. Sirius pulled back the hangings at the foot of the bed. “Leave it, you don’t need it.” But Remus seemed to feel that he did need it. He pulled back with it, and Sirius moved his head from one side of the bedpost to the other just in time to see Remus undo the bathrobe’s tie. The bathrobe slid gracefully off his shoulders and onto the floor. Unable to resist the body, pale and smooth in the soft moonlight, Sirius lunged.

 

            He wrapped his arms around Remus, covering him in ways the bathrobe had not. He nuzzled into Remus’ neck, giving snuffley kisses. “Come to bed,” he insisted. His body pressed close, and he eased his thigh between Remus’ bare legs.

 

            Mmmm,” Remus sighed pleasantly into Sirius’ shoulder. He let Sirius scoop him up and carry him back across the room. Sirius deposited him on the bed and drew the curtains around them for privacy. Remus ended the hunt, as always, tackling Sirius and pushing him down onto the bed. He showered the young man with kisses, tugging and pulling haphazardly at the pajamas he wished Sirius hadn’t bothered to change into. But for as playful as Padfoot had been a moment before, Sirius didn’t seem to have the same spirit just now. He lay relatively still beneath Remus, instead of struggling and squirming like usual. “Don’t you want to be on top?” Remus asked, pulling back to sit on Sirius’ thighs. “You’re not fighting.” The look in Sirius’ pale eyes made Remus go quickly from confusion to concern. “What’s the matter?”

 

            Sirius shook his head. “S’nothing,” he answered, reaching up and taking hold of Remus’ upper arms, intending to pull him back down in order to resume the touches and kisses.

 

            But Remus pulled free of Sirius’ grasp and rolled off of Sirius completely to lie down beside him in bed. “It’s not nothing if it’s bothering you. And of course you don’t have to tell me.” He reached forward and took a bit of Sirius’ hair, twirling it around his finger as he prepared to wait patiently. “Even if I am getting terribly troubled that my lover suddenly won’t make love to me.”

 

            With a sigh, Sirius rolled over onto his side to face Remus. He spent a moment studying Remus’ face, from the gentle amber-brown eyes to the sleek bridge of his nose, the round cheeks and those kissable lips. “It’s after midnight,” Sirius stated plainly, as though that explained everything.

 

            “I’m relieved to know that, as a seventh year, you’ve finally mastered the complicated art of telling time.” Remus smiled and leaned in, head tilted, lips pressing against Sirius’ to soften the impact of the joke.

 

            Sirius closed his eyes, kissing back lightly, then pulling away with a sigh. “I mean, it’s not Monday any longer. It’s Tuesday and that means it’s…” He trailed off, hoping he wouldn’t have to say it. But Remus’ expression was calm, and held no indication that he understood. “It’s Valentine’s Day,” Sirius said finally, accompanied by a bit of a sigh.

 

            Ohh,” said Remus, his voice light with humor. “Well, then Happy Valentine’s Day,” he leaned in again for another kiss, but Sirius turned his head away. Remus sighed and propped himself up on an elbow to look down at Sirius. “All right, I’ll bite. So, what’s so wrong with it suddenly being Valentine’s Day? Because as I recall, you were eager to get me in bed last year at this time and didn’t hesitate like you are now. Is there some new rule about not having sex on Valentine’s Day until we’ve exchanged presents?”

 

            Sirius buried his face in his pillow at Remus’ last word. “No,” came his muffled reply. “It’s just…” It was bad enough that he hadn’t gotten anything for Remus without actually having to tell Remus about it.

 

            “You didn’t get me anything.” Instantly, Sirius lifted his head, looking over in mild shock. “Lucky guess.” Remus shrugged. “Did you forget Valentine’s Day was coming up?” Sirius shook his head. “Last Saturday when we split up in Hogsmede did you spend your time kicking back butterbeers with James instead of looking for a present?” Again, he shook his head. “Then Sirius, my dear, my love, whatever makes you think I’d be upset with you?”

 

            Sirius looked away shyly for a moment before it hit him. His eyes snapped to Remus’ and held their gaze fixedly. “You didn’t get me anything, either!”     Remus shook his head, but smiled. When Sirius held out his arms, Remus fell weakly into them, laughing. Sirius held him close and nuzzled him, and Remus pulled Sirius’ covers up over their heads. “Oh, Remus,” Sirius laughed, running his hand up and down the young man’s back as he buried his face in Remus’ hair. “I’ve been worrying about this for days now. I didn’t want to disappoint you.”

 

            Remus pulled his head back and replied by catching Sirius with a strong kiss. Caught off guard, Sirius had but half a breath going into the kiss. He breathed in and out deeply through his nose as the kiss continued, not wanting to break it for anything. Remus’ lips pressed hard, then slowly parted and broke the kiss with several small nibbles to Sirius’ bottom lip. Sirius shoved the covers down to take a few gulps of fresh air. Remus simply smiled. “Do I seem disappointed, to you?”

 

            With a laugh, “If you are, I’ll have to remember to disappoint you every Valentine’s Day.” Remus brushed his fingers against Sirius’ cheek softly, and Sirius turned his head towards the petting to get more of it. “When it came down to it, I just couldn’t think of anything that would express, well, how I felt about you.” Though the covers were down and the hangings drawn shut, there was still enough light to see each other in. Even so, Remus didn’t notice the flush in Sirius’ cheeks as Sirius rambled on. “I guess I love you so much that I really couldn’t find something for this one day that said I loved you even more. I just… I don’t really see the point of the day. Like this is the only day we’re supposed to express how much we feel for each other and the rest of the year it’s supposed to go without saying?”

 

            Shaking his head with more laughter, Remus wrapped his arms around Sirius this time, snuggling his lover close. “No, that’s not it at all.” He ran his fingers against Sirius’ cheek, then slid them down face and neck. He began tracing shapes into Sirius’ chest and stroking the short hairs there as he talked. “It’s an old holiday, and one that’s taken on lots of different meanings and celebrations over the years,” Remus explained. “But it all started with this saint, Saint Valentine. As the legend goes, he was sent to a prison for defying the emperor, and there he fell in love with a beautiful young girl who visited him in jail. Anyway, he wrote her a letter just before his death, confessing his undying love and signed it ‘From your Valentine’. Of course, the story also says that the young girl was not only the jailer’s daughter but blind, so there’s no knowing if she ever got the message.”

 

            Not particularly moved by this portion of the legend, Sirius nodded. “So what was he in prison for?”

 

            “Well, that’s the best part,” said Remus, hugging Sirius tighter and giving him a kiss on the temple. “You see, it was forbidden for young men to marry, But Valentine knew that there was no denying true love, so he conducted the marriages in secret. And for that, he was imprisoned and executed.”

 

            “Young men? Really?” asked Sirius, looking up at Remus.

 

            “Well, I believe he was marrying them off to young women, but I think the story holds a great deal of significance for us, don’t you? ” Sirius nodded in firm but silent agreement. They had heard James and Lily discuss marriage a half dozen times, but as it wasn’t possible for the two of them, they had settled on simply living together and enjoying what they had anyway. Several times Sirius had confessed that it would be easier to handle others’ opinions of them if they had a nice, legal, public ceremony to explain their feelings to everyone. “The day is a way of honoring love which once had to be kept secret.” He kissed Sirius’ forehead again. “Besides, the other theory is that the holiday stemmed originally from Lupercalia, and that’s certainly got some personal significance, hasn’t it?”

 

            “Maybe it’s better I didn’t get you anything then,” said Sirius. “While the idea of naked boys running laps around the town seeps rather favorable…” This earned him a playful slap. “I wouldn’t want to celebrate a Roman festival that was started to keep the wolves away.” His voice dropped with an air of seriousness. “Especially not this wolf. My wolf.”

 

            Remus sighed, resting his head on Sirius’ shoulder and hugging still closer. Though at a slightly awkward angle due to how they were lying, Sirius returned the hug. “You’re turning me to mush in your arms, Sirius Black.”

 

            Suspiciously, “Haven’t been talking to James about this, have you?”

 

            Mmm. He still thinks I can do better than his best friend in all the world.”

 

            “And what do you think?” Sirius asked, putting on his best hurt puppy look for Remus.

 

            “I think,” Remus said, kissing Sirius’ forehead, then traveling down his face with kisses. “I think… that I’m perfectly satisfied… being mush in your arms… and I wouldn’t want it… any other way.” With the last kiss to his lips, he rolled back over on top of Sirius, pushing him back against the bed. He started groping and tugging at the pajamas, and continued kissing. This time, Sirius fought back with touches and kisses of his own.