A Mate

A Mate

Chapter 8: Discovery of Intentions

It had been three days since the two silent pledges were made, and still things were uneasy with the Marauders.

James was ready to pull out his hair with frustration, as he continued to watch his friends act so oddly; even Peter seemed a little distracted, and James, knowing Margot was certainly out of the picture, wondered what was on the boy's mind.

The most tension in the group however, was coming from none other than Remus and Sirius. The two were acting like stilted strangers, as if their happy and affectionate friendship had never been. The physical contact between them that had recently began, faltered into nothing and the James watched with despair, as both seemed to retreat from each other.

James couldn't for the life of him comprehend this sudden distance. If Remus and Sirius had had some kind of argument he could understand, but Remus had been with Rachel at the time of Sirius' explosion, which seemed to be the thing that had begun this strange stalemate.

Yet why was Remus acting the same way?

James shook his head as he watched his two friends across the common room, as they completed their homework for the day. Usually there would have been laughter, teasing glances and talking, but now there was only silence.

"What is the matter James? If you huff anymore, you'll turn into a steam train," a soft voice murmured.

James glanced at his girlfriend, and tiredly gestured to the silent pair.

"Oh."

James watched a curious smirk flicker over Lily's face, before it quickly disappeared.

"What?" James frowned suddenly. "Do you know something?"

Lily's eyes widened innocently. "And what would I know of your friends, that you don't?"

James looked at her suspiciously, before he noticed Sirius getting up and going towards their dorm room.

"We'll have words later," James said to her, warningly.

Lily bobbed her tongue out and James couldn't help but smile at his girlfriend's playful impertinence.

He quickly raced up the stairs to catch Sirius lying on his bed, eyes mournfully focused on the ceiling.

"Well, Sirius, are you going to tell me what's been wrong with you for the past couple of days, or are you just going to sulk some more?" James asked lightly, as he sat down on his friend's bed.

"Go 'way James," Sirius muttered, as he continued his moody glaring at the ceiling.

"Hmmm, let me think... no." James' eyes narrowed. "Look Padfoot, I understand that you're upset, I really do, but what do you think this stupid moodiness is doing to the rest of us? I've even had McGonagall come up to me and ask if you're all right!"

Sirius snorted, and James, seeing that he was making some headway, continued.

"We're all concerned, how do you think we feel? How Remus feels, do you think he-"

"Don't talk to me about Remus, James," Sirius growled suddenly, sitting up to turn his glare on James. "He probably feels a hell of a lot better than what I'd make him feel, if the reason for my 'moodiness' got out."

James frowned, wondering what he was on about.

"Do you mean if he found out you like him?" James's frown deepened when he saw Sirius flinch. "Padfoot, really, I think it would just be best for you to tell him if that's all that's been bothering you. I think you'd be pleasantly surprised if you-"

"If I what James?" Sirius snarled, getting up to pace about angrily, his hand raking back his dark hair, with furious emotion. "If I tell him how much I'm in love with him? Should I tell him that?"

James, shocked by the strength of Sirius' feelings, could only stare at the other boy in astonishment.

"Should I beg him to be with me, to love me when he's got no bloody inclination to be more than friends? Should I ask him not to love that American bitch and stop a process that he has no control over, to die, for me?" Sirius raged.

James frowned, wondering what Sirius was on about.

"You mean Rachel? Sirius, they're not together at all. She's not interested in Remus, and neither is he in her," James said, before smiling slightly. "Look after you'd come up here on Saturday, I followed them back to Dumbledore's office and found out that it wasn't a date at all, Sirius. They're both gay. Remus and Rachel are gay."

Sirius stared at James, before shaking his head in denial.

"That is where you're very wrong, Prongs." Sirius picked up the book that had made him so angry and threw it on his bed, with distaste. "Read page 923 and you'll know exactly how wrong you are. Don't come to me and tell me things you don't know for certain. Remus is lost to me and I'd no more make him be mine than I'd shoot him with a silver bullet."

James watched as Sirius stormed out, obviously upset. He sighed, and wondered what the hell Sirius had got into his stupid head this time. He turned to the page and read the chapter entitled 'Werewolves and their Mates, Calls and Signs of the Search for Love'.

'...lonely call ...exactly every hour during the change....

...wolf is considerably more restless....

...quicker acceptance towards other creatures in its territory...

...increasing sensitivity of their senses...particularly painful if the werewolf has already found a potential mate, their body incorporating the mates scent as a part of it's own....

...Nightmares....

...Wild mood swings ....'

"Oh, bollocks," James whispered softly.

James now understood Sirius' reaction completely. With Rachel's untimely appearance and Remus' kinship with her, Sirius must have thought that Rachel was Remus' mate. But that couldn't be so, if what he'd heard was correct. Remus and Rachel were gay, they'd said it - laughed about it, and if a werewolf needed a mate, he knew it probably had to include love, a bond like that couldn't last without it.

James read on the next page, and his eyes widened at what he read.

'The wolf, when threatened, takes over completely and the darker half of the werewolf controls the situation until calmed. This calm is usually achieved when certain conditions are met, one of these being the safety of the mate. The werewolf is only usually provoked to act at its most violent if the potential mate is in danger. Any aggressor is lucky if they escape alive from the werewolf's uncontrollable urge to kill the threat....'

Everything seemed to suddenly make sense, everything that had been wrong with Remus: his odd avoidance with Sirius at the beginning of term, his strange indifference at everyone's approving attention to his appearance, his preoccupation whenever Sirius was around, and his seemingly random blushes. Now everything was made clear, and James was sure he heard a 'click' in his mind, as he slotted all the pieces together.

"Sirius is Remus' mate." James smiled. "Sirius thinks it's Rachel who's his mate, and Remus, probably believing Sirius to be straight, has tried to go on, despite his feelings. Oh, they don't know what is coming to them."

James' grin was disturbingly on the edge of what could be described as 'manic', and he let out a low chuckle.

"Right, time to sort this little mess out, but first a confirmation." With that, James walked down to the common room to see a certain redhead.

*

Remus' eyes narrowed slightly as Eve pressed closer to Sirius, biting her lip as she pointed out something on her homework scroll, and smiling up at Sirius when he explained to her the answer.

She had no right to be there. Remus clenched the Transfiguration book in his hands tightly, as the dark-eyed girl suddenly placed her hand on Sirius' leg, casually, as if she had a right.

The wolf inside Remus growled, but the tawny-haired boy refused to show his anger, pushing it aside, it wasn't as if Sirius was responding to her flirting. No, Sirius had been anything but responsive over the last couple of days. Remus frowned as he thought about Sirius' strange distance, and watched him with injured eyes, as he continued to talk to Eve, something that he'd stopped doing with Remus that morning. It was as if some invisible barrier had been placed between them, and Remus was worrying - what if Sirius had found out? What else could the reason be? He knew that some of the awkwardness between them was because of his own feelings and new resolution to hide them forever, yet he hadn't expected the complete withdrawal of their friendship that seemed to be slowly, but surely happening.

Remus' eyes were suddenly drawn to Sirius, who had looked up just in time to catch him staring. Their gazes locked, and the question in both their eyes was enough to drown a world. What was this strangeness between them? Why now, as they gazed at one another, did that same strangeness seem to ascend to a higher level? The ferocity of their mutual gaze kept them transfixed, and would have gone on, had not Remus felt other sets of eyes upon him.

He broke contact with Sirius - the most contact that he'd had with the other boy for days - and looked to where he knew he was being watched.

James and Lily.

As soon as they saw they had attracted his attention, they busily lapsed into quiet whispers, too quiet for even Remus' werewolf hearing. He wondered what they were talking about, and a dreadful apprehension came over him as James called Sirius over to them both.

The three began to talk, and Sirius seemed to become agitated. Remus' breathing hitched a little as he saw Sirius' angry glare, and he could bear it no longer. Quickly shutting his book, he walked out of the common room and up to his dorm, his breathing in ragged gasps, as he tried to get his emotions under control.

They knew.

They must know. What else would they be talking about?

Remus curled up on his bed, and drew his knees up, wrapping his arms around them in his usual defensive stance.

Lily, despite her word, must have just told James that he was gay, who in turn just told Sirius, who... who didn't look very happy about it, to say the least.

Remus' gasps were coming in short bursts, anyone else might have thought that they were sobs, but Remus' eyes were dry, tired from their constant leaking.

The slender boy bit down hard on his lip to stop himself, to regain some control. He came back to himself with a start, when he suddenly discovered a salty taste in his mouth, and brought trembling fingers to his lips, frowning slightly as they came away red.

He couldn't suffer the thought of Sirius hating him. Yet, was there a difference? Was this silence and distance preferable to at least some glances, even if they were hateful?

Remus shook his head, as he collapsed back on his bed, and closed his eyes wearily.

He couldn't answer.

*

"I don't want to hear it, James," Sirius warned his best friend, as he approached him warily.

"Sirius, I am asking you to stop acting so pig-headed. Not only are you hurting yourself, you are also hurting Remus," James said as he fixed his friend with a serious look.

Sirius' eyes flicked to where Remus sat, the boy seeming to be engrossed in his book, and he frowned while he read.

"Does he know? Is that why everything's so...." Sirius trailed off and suddenly remembered that he was also in the presence of Lily. "What is she doing here?" he asked stiffly.

Lily seemed to be in a very happy mood, and surprised Sirius by giving him a wide grin. "I'm here to help you silly boys out of this mess."

"Yes, well you could have done it a lot sooner Lily," James said irritably, as he looked at his girlfriend. "Just tell him please."

Lily rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath, before she smiled sweetly. "Sure, Sirius I can tell you now that you have not a chance, Remus is not gay and I don't wish you all the happiness in the world when you finally get a move on, and do something about this ridiculous situation."

Sirius frowned at the girl and looked to James, who was grinning madly.

"See, I told you," James said smugly.

"James, were you even listening to the same thing as I was?" Sirius asked. "And when did you go and tell bloody Evans, Merlin knows how many people she's already-"

"Well, excuse me, see that James. I told you, no faith in me what-so-ever. I can see why you need my expertise with this idiot, but really-"

"Expertise? Oh, so you know all about gay crushes do you? Had a few yourself I suppose, you know I always thought you and Rubella-"

"Shut up!" James yelled, silencing them both. When the two finally looked contrite enough, he continued as if there had been no interruption. "Look, Lily had a conversation-"

"You mean I didn't have a conversation," Lily interrupted.

"Right, right, Lily 'didn't'," here James quoted the 'didn't' with his fingers, while his voice dropped to accommodate the falsity of the remark before going on, "have a conversation with Remus, who 'didn't'," James performed the appallingly unsubtle hand gestures yet again, "admit he was gay."

Sirius glanced at them both as they watched him expectantly, and when he just stared back, Lily continued. "You know, Black, if my word and James' word isn't enough for you, perhaps we should get it in blood, written in Remus' hand," Lily suggested flippantly. "And now, if you'll excuse me gentleman, my lesbian lover awaits." Lily smirked as she walked over to where her friend Rubella was waiting.

Sirius frowned as Lily left for the girls' dorm, after exchanging goodnights with James; unable to think up a reason why they were saying this. A movement caught his eye, and he watched Remus quickly leave the common room, looking a little upset. Sirius wondered what was wrong with the boy and nearly followed, until he remembered their situation.

"James, did you read the book?" he asked wearily, as he dropped down into an armchair opposite James, no longer trying to fight against the absurd suggestion.

James nodded quickly. "Yes I did, and Sirius did you read it? Did you see the last passage?"

Sirius frowned, and shook his head, remembering he'd been too angry to continue reading, just wanting to fling the evidence of Remus' love away from himself.

"Well, perhaps you should." James gave him a piece of paper, and Sirius saw it was the passage he'd started to read.

'The wolf, when threatened, takes over completely and the darker half of the werewolf controls the situation until calmed. This calm is usually achieved when certain conditions are met, one of these being the safety of the mate. The werewolf is only usually provoked to act at its most violent if the potential mate is in danger. Any aggressor is lucky if they escape alive from the werewolf's uncontrollable urge to kill the threat....'

"What? But that can't be right...." Sirius muttered, as his eyes raked over the page again and again. "There must be some kind of mistake."

Sirius looked up at an annoyed hiss, and saw James glaring at him angrily.

"What is wrong with you, Padfoot; you, who is always so confident? Why are you acting all coy now? You are Remus' mate, and it is only you who's in the way of both your happiness."

Sirius miserably gazed at the page again, his mind focused on James' words, and those written in front of him.

"I know James, but it's Remus y'know?" Sirius looked up at his friend, eyes shining with sadness. "I can't lose him."

James nodded solemnly, and patted his friend awkwardly on the arm.

"I know Padfoot, I know. And for that I have a plan, one that will show you the truth for sure," James said, with a grin.

*

Remus had awoken that morning to a very disturbing conversation that had refused to leave his mind. He'd thought of it so many times over the day, he couldn't even remember what his last class had been, and he sat down in the common room as dazedly as he had got up this morning.

He had just woken up, frowning a little at the voices that invaded his ears, and stirred him from his sleep.

"So, I saw you and Eve getting pretty comfy last night, Sirius. What's that all about then?" James's voice asked cheerfully.

Remus had stiffened suddenly at the girl's name, and anxiously waited for Sirius' reply.

"Oh you know, nothing much," Sirius answered.

Remus relaxed and scolded himself for being so paranoid.

"Nothing much, you told me last night that you were going to go for it!" James exclaimed.

Remus' breath had caught in his throat, and his thoughts denied what his ears told him.

"Well, yeah, but we'll just have to see won't we?" came Sirius's falsely modest reply.

James laughed. "You know she's all yours whenever you want her, you cocky bastard."

Sirius laughed. "I know."

Remus listened with dismay as James continued his teasing, and Sirius seemed to respond to it happily, never denying his attraction to Eve. After they'd gone, Remus opened his curtains, only to come face to face with Peter who looked to have come in order to wake him.

"Did you hear that? Lucky git, Eve Ryan is incredibly hot," Peter muttered darkly, as he went over to dress.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Yes, she is," Remus murmured despondently, eyes locked to the door where Sirius and James had just exited. "Very."

Remus still refused to believe it. Sirius and Eve? It couldn't be, Sirius was better than that little tart, he wouldn't get taken in by her.

Remus was ready to accept that Sirius might eventually fall for someone who was not himself, but not when it was someone so unsuitable for Sirius.

Remus was suddenly aware of James and Peter, who made their way over to him, talking and laughing as they walked.

"Hello, Remus," James greeted him cheerfully.

Remus nodded to him distractedly, while his eyes were still trained on the door.

"Who are you looking for?" Peter asked, as he too craned his head to watch the door.

"Oh, just for Sir-"

And there he was.

With.

That.

Tart.

"Remus?"

Remus ignored the tentative question, and continued to watch as Eve suddenly 'stumbled' and Sirius quickly caught her, bringing her into his arms carefully, so she didn't fall.

Remus' hands clenched and his nails dug into his palms, as he saw the girl coyly touch Sirius' hair and giggle her thanks.

Remus' nails dug deeper.

Sirius smiled at her and gestured to a seat that was unoccupied and sat down.

Remus breathed out slowly, it was all right; she couldn't really do anything when sitting beside hi-

Remus couldn't help as the growl escaped when Eve's second bout of 'clumsiness' struck, and she fell right into Sirius' lap.

"Remus?"

Remus ignored his name as his eyes narrowed with fury, when Eve suddenly leaned into Sirius, her lips pressing against his and-

Remus stood up and stormed passed the couple. He turned, just before he left the room and saw he'd got Sirius' attention by his quick exit; his angry eyes met curious grey ones, and with that, he turned and raced out of the common room, trying to get as far from the sight of Sirius as possible. Yet the scene was scorched into his mind, and kept playing over and over, despite how far he walked, and it seemed the fury with which he condemned it, angrily burnt his flushed cheeks. He only realised the burning was actually his own hot tears when he ran out into the Hogwarts grounds, and the cool night air blew his tears cold.

Tears continued to drip from his treacherous eyes, and Remus dropped beneath a tree near the forest's edge, finally letting his grief pour out and be known to the world, his keening sobs of loss echoing in the lonely night, eerily reminiscent of his own lupine howls.

He'd lost him. He hadn't even had him, but he'd lost him, and now Remus would be doomed to the last few months of his life watching Sirius love another.

*

Sirius grimaced as Eve's weight came crashing down on top of him, and she smiled up at him in what she probably thought was a winsome manner. Sirius smiled back at her, and his eyes flickered over to where Remus sat. Sirius was surprised to find that the boy looked ready to commit murder, and it was this distraction that allowed Eve to finally get her chance.

The girl leaned down and kissed him, pulling him into what he considered to be one of the most disgusting kisses anyone could have ever experienced.

Sirius felt someone rush past them, and he looked up to see Remus' slender form dashing to the door. Before he left, the boy turned around, and Sirius was amazed to see tears shining in Remus' eyes. Remus gave Sirius such an injured look as he fled that Sirius cursed himself.

"Oh, shit," Sirius said, as he pushed Eve off him, who dropped to the floor with an accusing yell.

James came up to him, looking angry.

"Sirius, that was not in the plan!" the boy frowned. "I can't believe you'd do something like that - do you believe me now? Now that you've probably torn Remus' heart to pieces?"

"James, I didn't do that, it was her." Sirius pointed at the irate girl, who was picking herself off the floor with as much dignity as she could muster.

"Oh please," Eve snorted, and with that she walked off and accidentally fell into another boy's lap.

Sirius looked at James pleadingly.

"Honestly James, it's not my fault the bloody harpy wanted more action than I could give her," Sirius said darkly as he looked at said harpy.

"Well, you'd better go after him and explain," James said.

Sirius nodded his head quickly, and then seemed to become a little dazed. "He really does like me, doesn't he? You weren't making it up."

James grinned and smacked Sirius upside the head, and pressed the map into his hands that he'd just got from his bag.

"Go on, you silly mutt, before he changes his mind," James said, laughing as Sirius took off quickly, losing no more time.

*

"Remus!"

Remus looked up through blurred vision, and saw a figure jogging towards him. He wearily pulled his knees up, and hugged himself, and shook his head, his forehead dropping to rest on his knees, soaking the material where his tears fell.

He couldn't deal with this now, not now, not him.

Anyone else but him.

"Remus," the voice was closer now, and Remus noticed that he had slowed to a walk.

He tightened his hold on his legs, and screwed his eyes shut, trying to stop the tears, trying to stop seeing the person that had put them there.

"Remus."

Remus jumped, when the voice whispered his name so closely, and he stood up, backing away from the voice he could no more ignore than he could his own thoughts.

"Remus, please, what's wrong?"

Remus shook his head, the tears still falling, yet now silently, and with less desperation, as if the very sight of his problem was a solution.

"Remus, tell me what the matter is, please. I'm your friend."

Remus raised his eyes to Sirius, and he saw there the awkward desperation of a boy who had no idea of what to do.

"Leave me alone, Sirius. You can't do anything," Remus said quietly.

Sirius stepped forward with a frown.

"No, I know I can, so why won't you just tell me, and make this easier on us both?"

Remus snapped, and pushed Sirius back against the tree where he'd wept for the same boy.

"Don't presume to tell me what I can or can't do - this isn't easy, Sirius," Remus growled, his eyes flashing golden in the darkness of the evening. "This is the most difficult thing I've ever had to go through in my life, and if I tell you, you will hate me forever."

"I could never hate you Moony," Sirius said sincerely, his eyes watching the pain in the smaller boy. "I accept you completely, as my friend, as my love... as my mate."

Remus' eyes widened at what the boy just said, so surely, so strongly that he took a step back from the other. They were words that he'd secretly desired to hear from Sirius for what had seemed like forever. The golden flecks faded from his eyes, and he stared at Sirius, looking like a lost child that didn't understand what was being said.

"Remus?" Sirius asked unsurely, stepping forward hesitantly. "I'm in love with you."

Sirius slowly reached out a hand, and stroked the slender boy's soft cheek, following the trails of new tears that trickled down pale skin. When Remus didn't stop him and only looked up at him with a strange mix of disbelief and wonder, Sirius smiled encouragingly and brought Remus chin up. He leant down and touched his friend's soft lips briefly with his own, before pulling away and watching the boy's reaction.

Remus continued to look at Sirius in an incomprehensible manner. Had he just said what he thought he had said? Had he just done what he thought he'd done? It couldn't be, a werewolf's life was the life of sorrow, of disappointment and misery. This could not happen.

"Eve...." Remus whispered, with a confused frown.

A guilty looked fleetingly crossed Sirius face, and he gave Remus a worried smile.

"I needed to be sure you liked me back. I'm sorry if I hurt you, Remus. I just couldn't believe that you would-"

Remus cut the boy off by pulling him into another kiss, a questioning brush of the lips that required an answer, the only answer Remus really needed. Sirius sensed the boy's need and quickly responded, his strong hands pulling the slender boy into his body, showing Remus just how sure of an answer he could be.

Sirius gently coaxed Remus' mouth open, and his tongue slipped inside the other's surprised mouth. Remus followed Sirius' lead uncertainly, and copied what the other boy did, eventually getting the idea and the awkward little kiss soon became a desperate expression of their mutual affection, a final output for all their locked up passion.

Sirius tightened his hold on Remus possessively, as he kissed the boy with almost a predatory pleasure. Remus' slender hands slid their way up Sirius' back, coming at a stop on his shoulders where they held tightly, the grasp narrating the fear with which Remus held of the reality concerning his newfound happiness.

"Why are you crying?" Sirius whispered as they broke of their kiss, his nose nuzzling Remus' wet cheek.

"I'm not, anymore," Remus whispered back, a small smile appearing on his face, before looking a little anxious. "Sirius, do you know-"

"I now everything, how you went through the change, how you need a mate, how... I'm that mate?" Sirius asked, looking into amber eyes for confirmation.

Remus nodded, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks.

"I also know how this process is supposed to be completed," Sirius whispered in Remus' ear.

Remus pulled back from the boy, and looked up at the other with shocked eyes.

"I want you, Remus, and I want you to know that I love you, and will do so for all my life, so you needn't ever worry I will abandon you," Sirius said solemnly.

Remus glanced up at Sirius in disbelief.

"You really want this... me? You're not just doing it out of some kind of pity?" Remus whispered, uncertainly.

Sirius growled and softly stroked Remus' tawny locks.

"If there is one feeling I will never feel for you, it is pity. I love you, Remus, and I want you, forever."

Remus couldn't help but smile happily as Sirius once again kissed him with the same passion he'd shown earlier.

Sirius trailed biting kisses down Remus' smooth neck, reveling in the small noises the boy made, as he continued his assault. Sirius found his arousal for the boy in his arms, growing at an alarming rate, and he couldn't stop himself from suddenly pushing Remus against the tree the boy had previously had him cornered at.

"Sirius," Remus whispered, his breath hitching as Sirius' hands ran down his body, almost worshipping.

"Remus. Merlin, I want you," Sirius growled as he covered the slender boy with furious kisses that were just as passionately returned.

"So, take me then," Remus whispered to Sirius, gasping when the other boy ground against him, making them both flush with a new type of excitement.

"Are you sure?" Sirius moaned as he moved slightly, the clothes between the two hardly a barrier against their lust.

Remus answered with a hard kiss, and arched up into his lover and both moaned with desperation at the ache they felt for each other.

Remus and Sirius suddenly became violent in their need for bare flesh, something primitive seizing them both. Their wild lust for each other was the only thing they could think about. This was no ordinary pleasure game, Sirius and Remus both knew. This desperation that cried for satisfaction of their love, originated from a process that was about to be completed.

Sirius tore the last of the material from Remus' body and looked at his pale love, and Remus watched the hunger creep into those smoky grey eyes as the other naked boy gazed at him. Remus knew the hunger Sirius expressed was also mirrored in his own eyes, and his breath caught in his throat as Sirius pushed him to the ground; the boys collapsing on the cold grass, the surrounding night the only cover of their lovemaking.

Remus responded to Sirius' kisses with his own gasping hunger, and his breath hitched as he felt a questing finger against his opening. The tawny-haired boy whimpered slightly at the alien feeling, only to soon forget the discomfort as Sirius covered his mouth with reassuring kisses, and another hand caressed a much more sensitive part of his body. The pain soon melted away, and suddenly the finger brushed against something that made him yelp with pleasure. Sirius, sensing the boy's surprised ecstasy repeated the action and smiled, as the boy beneath him gave a deep moan that had Sirius harder than ever. Sirius continued his probing, adding another finger and slowly stretching Remus so that he would be able to easily accommodate him

Remus writhed under Sirius' clever, clever hands, and he moaned when the boy suddenly stopped. Sirius shushed him gently, and put a knee in between two pale legs, and Remus understanding the action instinctively, spread his legs and bit his lip as Sirius settled there, giving Remus a reassuring smile.

Remus smiled back, knowing he was safe with his dark-haired lover, and closed his eyes, as Sirius began to push into him.

Sirius moved slowly, cautiously, kissing Remus and whispered reassuring words into the boy's small ears.

Remus opened his eyes as Sirius finally pushed inside him completely and returned Sirius' fevered kisses with overwhelming affection. It hurt, but the pain was fading and already he could feel that spot inside him aching to be touched once more.

Remus tightened his hold on Sirius' shoulders as the boy slowly started to move. So very slowly, that at first both Remus and Sirius bit their lips from the terrible friction it produced. They both moaned as Sirius thrust into Remus a little sharper than intended, and Sirius soon began to move quicker, giving in to the desperate lust that he'd been holding back all this time.

Remus mewled as Sirius thrust faster and deeper inside him, colliding with that spot again and again until he felt he would explode. Both boys groaned as they both moved in sync, fast and hard as their climax reached its peak and both rode it out with pleasure-filled moans.

Sirius rolled off Remus and then pulled the boy to him. Remus nestled in his embrace with a satisfied sigh, Sirius slowly caressed his hair and he smiled sleepily, feeling a contentedness he'd never truly felt before.

"You do realise you're mine forever now, don't you?" Remus murmured into Sirius' warm chest.

"And you realise you're mine completely, also forever?" Sirius asked the boy, grinning at his new and only love.

Remus smiled as he looked up into Sirius' eyes, feeling an astonishing sensation.

"I can feel you," Remus said, amazed.

Sirius looked at him, puzzled, but then too discovered the unfamiliar presence that seemed to be melded with his own mind.

"You're happy," Sirius said, with cheerful astonishment.

"And so are you," Remus said, almost with disbelief.

"Of course I am Remus, I love you."

Remus smiled again, feeling for the first time in his life that he could be certain of those words, when he felt the warmth behind that affectionate thought.

"I love you too," Remus said.

Both boys closed their eyes, happy with the ending they had found. Their bond, though still a new, would grow into something so strong that not even death could break it. Their lives, though filled with countless difficulties and adventures much rather forgotten than recalled, ended happily, as they both had the one thing they'd longed for most: each other.

*

Epilogue

It was different this time.

Skin started to shiver, the heat and pain blended as the flesh twisted, bones cracked and muscles contorted as the change began. Hair sprouted all over, and the face stretched into a snout, feral golden eyes flashing as the wolf took over.

The pain stopped as the new creature rose in the place of the old, stretching and sniffing in the darkness. The moonlight shone through the cracks in the boards of the prison, illuminating another creature that was present in the room. The wolf howled with ferocious delight at the creature, the howl ringing out in the silence of the night. Another joined in with the howl, and two cries could be heard, a question and an answer. The wolf's call rose higher with other's as they both sang out into the night. Finally, the wolf had got what was needed most.

A mate.

*

THE END