Top Dog

Top Dog

"Moony."

No response. Perhaps there is an eye twitch, but perhaps not.

"Mooooooooooony."

Now there is certainly a slight quirking of the lips. However, amused amber eyes remain focused on the pages in front of them.

Silence. The lips now form a slight frown as the eyes take on a worried and slightly nervous hue.

WHOMP!

"Padfoot! You great bully, get off!" The boy with shiny black hair and wicked grey eyes simply gave a cocky smile to the flushed face of the lanky boy who was serving as his seat for the moment. He tilted his head to one side and smiled. Amber eyes blinked and returned the stare.

Padfoot continued to stare. And stare. And stare. And -

"Gah! Bloody hell Pads, stop it!"

Sirius smirked. Making dear Moony squirm was definitely high on the list of 'Padfoot's Most Favorite Pastimes'. Unfortunately, it was also on Moony's list of 'Moony's Reasons Why Padfoot is a Giant Prat'. But alas...

"I will if..." Sirius trailed off.

Remus sighed and quirked an eyebrow at his companion. If Sirius thought that Remus was going to rise to the bait he was sorely mistaken. So poor pompous Sirius Black was forced to wait for the if what?. And wait. And the Blacks were never terribly patient people.

Sirius frowned at his stubborn friend and mumbled something along the lines of 'you're no fun' before deciding that it would be best if he were to finish his sentence, as his Moony seemed to be unable to.

"I'll get off you If, and only if, you agree to play American football with Prongs, 'tail, and me."

"Well, I can hardly play with you if you're sitting on me, m'dear."

"Hmph. You know what I mean. I'll play with you if you agree to play with me after I agree to get off you and you agree to come play with me." The statement left Sirius feeling rather cross-eyed and young Remus rather bewildered and confused. But Remus was a smart lad, or so he liked to think, so he pretended that he was knew precisely what gibberish Sirius had just spouted.

"Er...Okay Pads."

"Smashing!" He leapt up with renewed vigor and offered a hand to Remus. Remus accepted and was rather launched to his feet by an enthusiastic Sirius. He tugged his hand way from Sirius and began to dust himself off.

When he was satisfactorily dust free, he smiled at Sirius. Sirius smiled back before reaching out to ruffle Remus's hair. Remus sputtered indignantly while Sirius laughed and darted away, leaving Remus to grumble incoherently and follow his silly fiend -er, friend, out of their dormitory.

The pair made their way into the Gryffindor common room and grabbed James, who was currently sending death glares at Frank Longbottom as he flirted shamelessly with his girlfriend Lily Evans, and Peter, who was playing chess and losing spectacularly to Tim Abbot.

They left the common room together. However, James adamantly remained facing the flirting couple and had to be dragged out backwards by his robes at the scruff of his neck. They made their way out to the field with a minimum of curious glances in their direction. The school was quite used to the odd whims and actions of these particular boys.

The games pitch held a few would-be sunbathers enjoying the last of the sun's rays before fall began in earnest. As soon as the boys reached the center of the field Sirius took command. James might have contested with him for this spot had he not the extremely evil look on his face of one who was thinking evil thoughts concerning Frank Longbottom and a certain Giant Squid in heat.

"Right. So we're going to have to recruit a few of these fellers if we want to have a proper game...and...er..." he paused for a second and looked a bit unsure. This in itself was enough for Remus to look up curiously. After a surreptitious glance at Remus, he continued.

"We'll have to take off our clothes." Remus' eyebrows shot up at this and Sirius seemed to realize his mistake. "Wait! No! I meant robes, yes, robes. It will be, er, easier to move without them." Sirius blushed rather handsomely. Remus and Peter nodded in consent. James would have nodded as well if he were not otherwise preoccupied, a dark happy smile upon his lips.

Remus's fingers moved to his buttons and began to work on taking off his robes. Sirius rested his eyes on Remus, and more specifically, Remus' hands. His blush deepened and if Remus had looked up from his confusing buttons he would have asked Sirius if he was getting an adequate supply of oxygen.

Sirius suddenly turned around and shed his robe quickly before turning around. Pointedly not looking at anything, he addressed them again.

"Right, er, so I'll go recruit some members for our game. Erm, you guys can set the boundaries and goals and transfigure a ball, yes? Good, good." With that Sirius walked off in the direction of the greatest majority of sunbathers.

Remus shook his head and smiled before setting out to do what was asked. Before long, Sirius returned with a goodly amount of people. Remus smiled in earnest. He knew that no one could resist that Sirius Black charm. Silly prat.

"And now, we make teams! Naturally, I will be one captain, and the other will be..." he looked at his Marauders. His grey eyes appeared to be pondering something as they jumped from Remus, to James, to Peter, and back again to Remus. "Will be James!"

With that, James appeared to snap out of his reverie, albeit reluctantly.

"What's this? Captain? Oh yes, right." He walked over to the beckoning Sirius. The two began a quiet but intense discussion, complete with exaggerated gestures, widening of eyes, and furtive glances at an increasingly more nervous Remus. Eventually their discussion abated and Remus was left feeling curious and slightly relieved. Until, that is, James turned and winked at him, causing the nervousness to return full force.

Sirius declared that he had decided that he would generously allow James the first pick. Remus's level of confusion rose. Sirius never gave up the first pick. Something was up, and if he couldn't figure out what, then his name wasn't Remus J.-

"Lupin!" Remus snapped abruptly to attention by the sound of James' voice.

"Eh?" James rolled his eyes.

"You're on my team you silly twit."

"Oh." Remus ambled over to stand next to his new captain. It was Sirius's pick.

"Pettigrew!" Peter smiled a grateful smile at being picked so soon and walked eagerly over to Sirius. The name calling continued uneventfully, and surprisingly alphabetically, ending with:

"Weasley!" The scrawny red head walked over to James and was welcomed with a smile from Remus.

Sirius began to gabber again. "Right then. Now that that's settled, let the game begin! Oh wait! How do the Muggles start? Oh yes! They flip a coin! Got a coin? Anyone?" James dug around in his pockets before pulling out a Knut.

"This okay?"

"Yep. Okay Jamsie, witch or newt's eye?"

"Erm...newt's eye." With that, Sirius flipped the Knut and sixteen pairs of eyes watched it fall to the ground. Sirius picked it up, and with an annoyed look on his face, addressed the crowd once more."

"Newt's eye it is! Alright, so you guys get to start."

The boys lined up on either side of the line. James called his boys into a huddle.

"Alright men. I'm the designated quarterback, got it? Good. Everyone else run like crazy and try to give me an opening for a play. Hmm... who can't catch or can't run fast?" A few tentative hands raised in the air. "Alright. You folks will be blockers for the guys that can run and catch. Sound good?" The group assented to James's 'strategy' and began to line up on the line.

James walked over to Sirius and shook hands seriously before returning to his men.

"Alright. As soon as Rob here shouts hut and gives me the ball, you guys," he gestured to Sirius's team, "have to count to five-one thousand before you can attack me." With that, both teams prepared for battle. Remus prepared to run like crazy. Sirius prepared to do something very similar and yet very different.

"Hut!" The ball was lobbed to James. Remus made his way skillfully around the mess of people pushing against each other and into the clear. He saw James throw the ball to him and he sprinted along, prepared to catch it and run some more. His fingers made brief contact with the side of the ball and he smiled. However, fate was rarely kind to young Remus and it also tended to have a wicked sense of humor.

WHAM!

Grunt. Remus looked up into the playful eyes of none-other that Sirius. Sirius who was currently splayed on top of Remus with his hands on either side of Remus's head and his legs tangled with Remus's.

"Got you." Sirius smiled at Remus who rolled his eyes and shifted quickly, leaving Sirius on his face in the wet grass.

"Very nice Padfoot." James looked at the pair curiously before walking over to give Sirius a hand-up. Remus had caught the ball, despite everything and so the group stomped further down the field. Next time Remus would not be so lucky.

WHUMP!

Remus collided to the ground solidly. Once again he found himself looking into mischievous gray eyes.

He narrowed his eyes at Sirius.

"Padfoot! I wasn't even going for the ball that time! You bloody prat!" Sirius simply shrugged, as best as he could from his current position, and gave Remus a sly smile. With a strange feeling in his stomach, Remus had a sudden inclination as to what James' wink may have been about.

"Well it is tackle football after all." Sirius got up and helped Remus off before jogging to where the next play was. Remus wondered demurely if he should look into the way that Sirius held his hand for a moment too long or how Sirius had brushed dirt off of Remus's hip when there wasn't dirt in there in the first place. Remus decided to save the headache for a later time.

And so it continued. And continued.

WHAM!

For the umpteenth time, Remus found himself on his arse in the dirt with a very happy Sirius Black on top of him. Sirius smiled. Moony scowled menacingly. He had had enough. Padfoot was acting like a bloody prat and seemed to think that he was top dog. Moony decided that it might be time for his lovely Padfoot to remember just who was top dog.

Fortunately, fate decided to smile at him and give him the opportunity. The Weasley kid had finally scored a touchdown and after the kick, it would be Sirius' turn for defense and Remus' for offense.

Sirius, unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, was quarterback for his team.

"-two-one thousand, three-one thousand, four-one thousand, five-one thousand-"

WHAP!

Poor Sirius never knew what hit him. He hadn't even had time to throw the damn ball. He looked up into the golden eyes of one very happy and satisfied Remus Lupin. He swallowed audibly. This wasn't supposed to happen. Of course, Sirius figured that Remus would be a little ticked off, but he had suspected that Remus would just brush it off. Guess not.

Remus' hot breath coasted along Sirius' cheek as he lowered his lips to Sirius' ear.

"Got you."

Remus pushed off of Sirius, stood up gracefully, and sauntered away. Sirius stood up more slowly before brushing himself off stupidly and walking over to the next play. He caught James' eye before he lowered himself into a squat and frowned. Stupid Prongs bloody stupid laughing at him.

"Hut! One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand, four-one thousand, five-one thousand-"

WHAM!

Poor Sirius once again found himself pinned under the lithe and surprisingly solid body of his friend. Remus smiled down at him and winked before pushing himself to his feet. Bloody prat.

And so it continued. And continued.

When Remus had the future offensive, he skillfully avoided any attack from poor Sirius. On the defensive, Remus managed to plow into Sirius most of the time. The other half of the time, Sirius was so nervous and confused that his plays were crappy anyways.

The game ended with Remus sprawled on top of Sirius as James cheered and did a victory dance. Time had run out, giving victory to James's team. James's team hoisted James onto their shoulders and carried him off of the field as Sirius's team followed with resigned looks on their faces. James had declared butterbeers on the house, so the troops meandered to the Gryffindor common room.

Sirius, however, remained with his arse securely planted onto the ground under his dear friend Remus. Both boys were covered in grime and scratches from the rough game.

Remus smiled. Sirius glowered.

"You can get off now Moony."

"I could, eh? Hmm."

"Remus!"

"Hmm? Oh yes. I think I'll let you up if..." Sirius growled.

"If what?" He never was very patient.

"If you admit that I am top dog and supreme ruler of the universe!" Sirius groaned. The game was up. He could both give up his pride and admit that Remus was top dog, or be brave and say nothing at all and let a supremely smug werewolf sit atop his middle until the end of time. He opted for the unlisted option and struggled for all that he was worth.

"You little brat!" Remus laughed and began to wrestle with his friend. After each considered the other thoroughly beaten, both boys lay out on their backs in the wetness of the green grass. The only sounds on the darkening field were happy gasps of laughter and the panting of the two boys.

"Remus?"

"Yes Siri?" Remus decided to humor Sirius with an immediate response.

"I like you."

"Gee wiz Pads. I like you too." Sirius blushed a bit before turning over to look at his friend. Leaning on an elbow he took the opportunity to eye his friend with un-disguisable interest. Remus looked over at him curiously.

"What?"

Sirius smiled softly. "Oh nothing."

Remus turned to Sirius with a puzzled look on his face.

"Nothing at all?" He leaned in teasingly. Sirius leaned in to meet him.

"Oh nothing really." Sirius watched Remus' amber eyes change to gold as his friend became more curious and frustrated.

Sirius sighed. He reached out a hand to brush Remus' dirty hair from his eyes.

"You and I could really use a shower eh?" With that he stood up and reached a hand to Remus. Remus took the proffered hand and was raised to his feet a scant few inches before Sirius. The two locked eyes for a few seconds before Remus smiled.

"Sounds good Pads." Sirius turned and began walking towards to showers. Suddenly, he felt a pressure on his hand and looked down to see Remus' hand attached to his. His eyes widened and he looked sharply up at Remus. Remus smiled at him benignly. Then he did something entirely unexpected.

He leaned in and kissed Sirius on the mouth. He pulled back. Smiled at the bewildered expression on his friend's face. Leaned in and did it again. Of all the nerve.

Remus smiled at Sirius. Sirius blinked. Twice. Remus's smile faltered. His golden eyes darkened as he looked down. He put his dirty hands in his even dirtier pockets and turned away from Sirius.

"I-er, I'm sorry Sirius. I guess that I misread your signals," he smiled crookedly, "that is if you were even giving me any in the first place. Just-just forget it. I'm sorry." Eyes downcast Remus began to walk quickly to the safety of the school.

He almost made it too.

WHAM!

For the final time that day, Remus felt the jolt of being slammed in-between the hard ground and a warm body. He looked up into Sirius's wild eyes. Searching, searching....

"You're not taking the Mickey out of me are you?" Sirius said, well, seriously.

"What? No, Sirius-"

Sirius ended their staring contest quickly. He pressed his lips to Remus' furiously and his world exploded. Remus was real and sweaty and there and solid and ohGodsogood-

Sirius's stubble scratched against Remus's cheek sharply and he winced back, knocking their teeth together.

The kiss then formally ended leaving both boys gasping; Remus more so as he had never recovered his breath from being tackled. Once they had recovered. Sirius flopped over and they both sat up, facing each other.

Then they both proceeded to talk at once:

"I'm sorry I just wasn't ready-"

"Are you sure? I mean-"

"-I thought you wouldn't be interested-"

"-I thought you might have been trying to grope-"

"-in me so I still wanted to touch you-"

"-me on the field so I thought that maybe-"

Remus, ever the logical one, decided to stop the madness. He placed his lips once more on Sirius', silencing him quite effectively. Sirius whimpered once and was silent as Remus did Very Interesting Things With His Tongue. Remus broke the kiss lazily and nuzzled with Sirius for a bit before pulling away. Sirius opened his eyes lazily and started to open his mouth. Remus rolled his eyes and placed one hand over Sirius' mouth.

"Look. I like you. A lot."

"Mhi jloh oo gru."

"What?" Sirius' eyes danced wickedly before he licked Remus' hand. Remus yelped and wiped his slimed hand on the back of his trousers.

"That's gross Padfoot!"

"You didn't seem to think that my tongue was so gross a minute ago." Sirius smirked and Remus had the good grace to look a bit bashful. But only a bit.

"You don't know where my hand has been the past two hours, is all. I mean, it was a pretty dirty football game." Sirius blanched and scowled at the wolf. Remus smirked and then decided that it would be in his best interest to continue his previous statements.

"What were you saying before?"

"I was trying to tell you that I loved you, but my words were otherwise obstructed." Remus smiled and took Sirius's hand before walking in the direction of the main entrance of Hogwarts. Remus decided to ignore the 'L word' for the time being as well. Everyone knew that Sirius was crazy. Remus thought to himself that Sirius would simply have to prove that he was crazy for Remus Lupin before Remus believed him when he used that word.

"So, er, will you be my boyfriend?" Remus laughed at the awkward picture that Sirius made. Sirius who was never awkward. Sirius who was blushing madly and looking at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Yes Sirius. I will 'be your boyfriend' as you so handsomely put it. On one account." Sirius stopped on the grass and wheeled around, still holding Remus's hand, to face Remus. He noticed Remus's slight smile and gave a smile of his own.

"Anything for you Remus, love of my life." Remus raised an eyebrow and broke into a full smile.

"You have to proclaim me top dog and ruler of the universe."

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