Convergence
Remus pulled his Muggle coat--just as threadbare as his robes--tighter across his shoulders, a poor defense against the early autumn rain. The trek to number twelve, Grimmauld from his small flat wasn't an easy one. He could--probably should--Apparate, but the walk would allow him to compose himself, and he must be nothing if not composed, he thought with a wry smile.
He could barely stand being in that place for a few hours; he didn't know how Sirius managed. Now, he was going to join him in that dusty tomb of a house. It didn't make sense, to be paying rent with money he didn't have when he only went to his flat to sleep. Number twelve had plenty of bedrooms. Sirius had been clearing one out for him for the past week, and he only had a few important belongings to move.
"God. Fuck," Remus said, breathing in the scent of their combined sweat and semen. His body wouldn't stop shivering, though he was hardly cold.
"I'll answer to both," Sirius said with a grin. "Tell me again why we didn't do this earlier?"
"Utter and complete thickheadedness," Remus said, pulling Sirius up into a sticky embrace.
"Right," Sirius said, yawning.
The rain started to fall harder now, heavy sheets of water flashing silver in the lights of Muggle London. He really ought to Apparate.
The idea of meeting Sirius before he'd got his thoughts collected made him frown, and he stepped under a café awning to wait out the worst of the rain.
Sirius was already... unstable. He needed friendship and consistency and support, not a revival of long buried entanglements.
Entanglements that would only bring unsteady emotions to the fore. Entanglements that were already complex and difficult.
Remus rubbed his forehead and watched the rain fall.
Remus closed his eyes and rubbed his cheek against Sirius's stomach. The flesh there was soft and so, so thin; the bones of his hips jutted out and made Remus think if he turned the wrong way, or touched something a little too roughly, they would tear through Sirius's skin.
"You need to eat more," he murmured, sending his fingers on a desultory ramble across Sirius's body, lingering over the path where soft, tiny hairs became thick and wiry. There didn't seem to be a need to rush, now.
"Yes, Molly," Sirius said, his long fingers curling in Remus's hair. "But right now, I'd prefer it if you did the eating...."
"Excuse me? Mister? Could you take our picture?" Remus blinked and looked at the couple in front of him: some Muggle tourists--American, by those broad vowels and self-conscious trailing Rs--dressed in jeans and trainers. "Mister?" the boy repeated.
"What?"
"Our picture? Could you take it? We'd really appreciate it," the boy said, brushing the rain off his face. "It's kind of a special moment," he added, looking happy and embarrassed at the same time.
"We're getting married!" the girl said with a little bouncy jump. "He just asked me right here in the rain, and I said yes!"
"Congratulations," Remus said wrinkling his forehead. "Where's your camera?"
The boy handed him a large Muggle contraption and said, "Just look through the thing and click--it's all autofocus so you don't have to worry about that."
"We only met two weeks ago in Rome," interjected the girl, who seemed unable to stop bouncing. "And we've been traveling together since." Remus peered through the viewfinder at the couple. The girl had black hair and a full mouth, while the boy had intense blue eyes and a slightly haughty posture. "But you know the funny thing?" the girl said as Remus snapped the picture. "We grew up in the same town. My best friend even dated his brother." Suddenly her expression changed to a worried one. "We wouldn't have even met this time, if I hadn't missed my train... I guess it's totally fate."
"Totally," said the boy, taking his camera back. Remus watched them walk away, holding hands.
"What did you say?" Sirius asked, his eyes widening with amusement. "That isn't a very 'Remus' sort of expression."
"Oh, hush," Remus said, pressing Sirius against the banister. "Or we won't make it to your room."
"I wouldn't mind," Sirius said, slipping his hands under Remus's shirt. They were cold, and Remus flinched, before covering them with his and letting his body's warmth transfer to them.
They were close, and Remus twisted until he could feel Sirius's growing erection brush against his own. He shuddered at the contact. "Sirius--" he choked, nodding towards the large portrait in the hall." She would."
Sirius smiled wickedly. "Too true," he said, running the flat of his palm across the front of Remus's trousers. "Come on, then."
Remus watched the couple disappear around a corner, still holding hands. He thought back to when Sirius had shown up at his door, 'under orders to lie low.'
He should've known then: Sirius never followed orders unless he wanted to. A week later, after the full moon, he'd woken to find the familiar large black dog curled next to him. "You stayed with me," he'd said, surprised.
"Of course I did," Sirius said. "Isn't that why we spent all that time learning this little trick? Though I have to say, you're not nearly as much fun when you take that potion." Then he touched Remus's thigh in an unmistakable gesture.
Remus had flinched away, closing his eyes to Sirius's hurt expression. "I don't think I can," he'd said, not knowing if he said it more to Sirius or to himself.
A large group of Muggles pushed past Remus as they left the café. The rain was letting up a little, and the air smelled clean and crisp.
He shook his head and started walking, speeding up almost to a run as he went, shaking the rain from his hair.
Shoving the door open, Remus called out Sirius's name. He appeared on the stairs, a bit of dust clinging to his hair.
"You made it," Sirius said, smiling happily. "I was beginning to think--" he broke off as Remus climbed the stairs two at a time, not stopping until he was in front of Sirius.
He looked at him in silence for a moment, before putting a hand behind Sirius's head and tilting so their mouths met. Sirius smelled slightly musty but inviting, and he tasted better than anything Remus had imagined.
"Changed your mind, I see," Sirius said between kisses.
Remus smiled. "Totally."