Simply Moony

"Aw, bless...don't they look sweet curled up together?"

I slowly opened my eyes and froze. I was leaned against Remus, and apparently we'd both been asleep - he still was. Kacia and Sirius were standing in front of us, practically wetting themselves laughing. Wonderful.

"What are you doing down there?" Kacia asked me between giggles.

"The Fat Lady wasn't here - we were just sitting here, but..."

I stopped talking and scrambled somewhat awkwardly to my feet. Sirius leaned forwards and woke Remus up; he muttered something about pickled eggs and mustard sandwiches and looked in bewilderment at us all.

"What - where -?"

"We're outside the common room," Sirius told him. "C'mon, let's go back in...custard tarts."

The Fat Lady, who had been watching the whole episode with some amusement, swung forwards and we entered. As I expected, the common room was empty.

"What time is it?" Remus mumbled sleepily. I glanced at my watch.

"Half six. We might as well stay up now."

"Well, at least I'll get my Transfiguration homework done," Kacia said with a smile.

"You will not," Sirius said, taking her hand. "You are coming with me."

"I'm sure James and Peter will love that," Remus said wryly.

"Who says we're going into our dorm? Lily and James'll be in there, and they'll have kicked Peter out so they can have it to themselves. Which means that if Lily's in our dorm, then Kacia's dorm will be empty."

Both grinning and holding hands, they disappeared up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. I sat down in a chair in front of the fire, and Remus sat down facing me.

"We are never going to live that down," I complained. "I didn't drool on you or anything, did I?" He smiled.

"I don't think so. I didn't snore, did I?"

"No, not that I know of. God, I'm not even tired any more...I've got homework I could do, but - well, I don't particularly want to interrupt Sirius and Kacia."

"I wouldn't want to either."

"Does Lily go in your dorm a lot? On a night time, I mean?"

"Yeah, all the time. I've lost count of the times that James has kicked me out so they can have it to themselves. I sleep down here - Peter tends to sleep on the window-seat one floor down from the top of the tower."

"And there's me thinking Lily just got up early! All the times she's told Kacia off for not coming back to the dorm on an evening as well..."

"James can't wait 'til next year - he's convinced he's going to be Head Boy. Which means that he'd get his own room."

"Yeah, well, he probably will be. And no doubt Lily'll be Head Girl, too."

"Y'know the other week," Remus began, a glint of amusement sparkling in his eyes. "I walked into the dormitory one morning when Lily had gone and I caught James using a Concealment Charm to cover up this massive big lovebite on his neck...it was the funniest thing I've seen in ages, it was huge! At least three inches all the way round."

"I've seen Lily using a Concealment Charm occasionally too," I told him. "Her excuse is that she gets a rash from the perfume she wears on her neck."

"Who'd have thought it - Gryffindor's Golden Couple giving each other lovebites...Lily's probably a vampire, I bet she breaks the skin."

I threw a cushion at him in mock-anger.

"That's one of my friends you're talking about," I chided him. He threw the cushion back at me and it bounced off my head.

"So? What are you going to do?"

"This," I said, and before he could do anything I pulled out my wand and hit him with a Tickling Charm. I always carried my wand with me when in school, but Remus obviously didn't, because when he recovered, he jumped from his seat and lunged at me.

"Right, you asked for it -"

I jumped out of his way and darted around the back of the chair, laughing like a loon. He was laughing too as he chased me round, and it went on for about five minutes before he finally caught me and began tickling me. I nearly wet myself I was laughing so much. And then...

He stopped tickling me, and we just sort of stared at each other for a couple of seconds, and then he really shyly and awkwardly leant forwards and kissed me.

I was so shocked, I flinched away from him. I didn't do it on purpose; it was just an instinctive reaction because I wasn't expecting it. He looked at me, and before I could apologise, he turned and fled.

I felt awful. It wasn't that I didn't like him - quite the opposite, in fact - I just wasn't used to boys liking me. It was always Kacia they went after, and I was always overlooked.

I decided to go after him. I'd never been up the boys' staircase before, but I just kept on climbing the stairs until I found him. He was sitting on the window-seat that he told me Peter always slept on, just staring out of the window.

"Room for one more?" I asked. He jumped and looked around, but stayed silent. I sat down next to him. "Look - I'm really sorry about -"

"It doesn't matter. Leave it."

"I only wanted to -"

"I said leave it, OK?"

His tone was so sharp, his expression so fierce, that I decided not to continue even though a good half of me wanted to. Instead, I sat in silence too, staring out of the window just like he was. Eventually, he turned away from the window.

"I should be the one apologising, anyway." I looked at him.

"Why?"

"Because it was inappropriate, me kissing you."

"Was it?" I reached out and put a hand on his arm, but he flinched and pulled it away. "Remus, I was just surprised, that's why I didn't react. I'm not used to being kissed, that's all, least of all unexpectedly like that. And the thing is - I do like you. I like you a lot."

He raised his eyes to mine, the beautiful amber-like orbs looking directly into my own.

"Do you mean that? You're not just saying it?"

"Remus, why would I lie?"

He smiled, reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of my eyes. I smiled back, and this time when he kissed me, I didn't pull away.

~***~

We didn't move from the window-seat until the boys from the dormitory at the top of the tower (first-years, incidentally) came hurtling down the stairs, running down to breakfast.

"What's she doing here?" one of them asked Remus, a look of disbelief on his face. "She's not a boy."

"Well spotted," I said acidly. I turned back to Remus. "I'd better go back to my dormitory - get changed and stuff. If I don't see you at breakfast, see you in Charms."

"Bye." He kissed my cheek (which I thought was quite brave of him really - after doing that in front of first-years, he'd be subjected to all sorts of immature comments), and I went as quickly as I could down the boys' staircase.

"Chloe!"

It was Lily. I'd never seen her look more shocked. She looked from me to the boys' staircase, mouthing soundlessly.

"What were you - I mean - you -"

"I was sitting on the window-seat with Remus," I said truthfully. "Now, will you let me past? I have to go and get changed."

I pushed past her and ran up the girls' staircase to our dormitory. I knocked first (I assumed that Sirius was still in there), and then Kacia came to the door, sleepy-eyed and yawning.

"Oh, it's you...what time is it?" she mumbled, as I followed her into the dorm.

"Nearly quarter to eight," I informed her. I pointed to her bed, which had the curtains drawn around it. "Sirius still here?"

"Mm? Oh, that...yeah."

"Don't you think you'd better wake him? He'll be late for Charms."

"So? That's his own bloody fault."

"Have you two had a row?" I asked, taking clean underwear from a drawer.

"No. Well - sort of."

"What about this time?" I scrambled onto my own bed and drew the curtains.

"He just - oh, it's nothing really..."

I got dressed as quickly as I could, then pulled back the curtains. Kacia was sitting on Lily's bed, staring miserably at the floor. I went over and put my arm around her.

"What happened?"

"It was just - when we came back here earlier, I wanted to talk to him about those rumours - y'know the ones about him and Natalie Edwards?"

"Yeah - they're not true, are they?"

"I don't know!" Kacia wailed. "I tried to get him to talk to me, but he wouldn't - he was all over me, he wouldn't even talk to me properly...it was awful, I've never seen him like that before - it was like he was possessed or something..." She stopped speaking and sniffed. I handed her a tissue - it was Lily's, but I presumed she wouldn't mind. Kacia blew her nose loudly.

"You go and have a shower, take your time - I'll tell Professor Flitwick that you were sick in the night and you're still a bit tired, he'll be fine about it."

"Thanks, Chloe," she sniffled. She stood up and shuffled off towards the bathroom.

After a couple of seconds, Sirius stuck his head around the curtain.

"I didn't mean to upset her like that," he said quietly.

"Yeah, if you say so." I hurriedly stuffed my books into my bag. "Just make up with her, all right? Tell her the rumours aren't true." He nodded, and I left. I wasn't worried about Kacia - she and Sirius always argued, or went through "a trial separation", but they always got back together again.

It was quite sweet really...