Adunatio

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Day Two

Movement and a loud gasp woke Remus up. It was still dark, pitch black, in fact, and Remus had a hard time believing that he had even opened his eyes. His face was sweating and he lifted his left hand out of habit to wipe at his forehead.

Oh. Right. I'm attached to Sirius. And that's what had woken Remus up, for he wasn't used to sharing a bed with someone. Remus' sharp eyes were getting used to the darkenss and he began to make out shapes. A blackness that was Sirius' hair, the outline of a nose, a pair of eyes staring at him.

Little puffs of breath were coming out of Sirius' nose, and Remus could feel them on his chest, for they were closer now than they were when they drifted off to sleep. Grunting a little, Remus scooted back a little, finding the closeness unnerving when he wasn't half-asleep. He had always been the type of person that felt uncomfortable touching people, for some reason. Maybe it had to do with his condition, and the fact that touching human skin reminded him of what he could never do on the nights when he was a wolf, but he didn't think so, because his parents told him once that he had never liked them holding him when he was little, before he was bitten. As he scooted back, however, Remus began to regret it, because a musky smell filled his nostrils.

His breath hitching, Remus felt his eyes widen as he looked into Sirius'. That smell...it was a scent that Remus detected sometimes coming off of Sirius as he first made his way past his bed in the mornings. It was the scent that he had been engulfed in after he had slept with Naylia Thatcher, a fellow Gryffindor who was a year ahead of him last year.

It was the smell of semen.

"Sorry," Sirius whispered then. "It's a habit. I couldn't help it, though I never knew how hard it would be to do with my left hand."

Remus felt his mind reeling. How could Sirius be so...casual about it? He had been wanking off not a breath away from Remus, and all he could say was, 'It's a habit,'? Remus pushed back, off the bed, and opened the curtains with his free hand, not looking at Sirius. He felt as if he were going to throw up, or faint, or...he didn't know what he was going to do, exactly.

The smell was what was unnerving. It still wafted up from the area of Sirius' crotch and permeated the entire enclosed space of the bed, almost choking Remus as he sucked in air from the room. How could he DO that with Remus being RIGHT THERE...?

"Well, now that I see how uncomfortable it makes you, I'll try to not do it until we're separated again, okay?" Sirius asked from behind Remus. Sitting back down on the bed, his back to Sirius, Remus nodded his head. He didn't really believe it. After all, it was a natural thing. But Remus was going to be damned if was going to pleasure his own self with Sirius standing there next to him, watching him, in the shower...

"We have to take a shower," Remus mused aloud, closing his eyes at the thought. Now there was nakedness to contend with.

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They had tried, upon entering, to each take a separate stall, but they found that it was almost impossible, for a large wall separated each shower. Remus had known what that had meant, and he resigned himself to the inevitable.

"Nice arse," Sirius quipped. Remus whirled around and glared at him, blinking his eyes at the warm water that streamed out of the shower.

"Stop looking," he growled back. He turned back around, rinsing the rest of the suds out of his hair one-handed. But the sight of Sirius, grinning and completely starkers with dark hair plastered to his forehead and steam waving the lines of his body, was hard to erase. It was strangely alluring...

No, it's not. I'm straight! Remus jerked out of the running water and reached for a warmed towel, hastily drying himself off roughly and wrapping it hastily around his waist. "Are you done?"

"Yes, you can turn around now," Sirius said, and Remus sighed in relief, glad that this was over. He turned around...and Sirius was still naked.

Remus cried out in frustration, and Sirius chuckled. "Come on, Remus, it's not like we haven't seen each other before."

"Not on purpose, we haven't," Remus found himself wanting to beat his own head in with a hammer. Or maybe, Sirius' head.

Sirius finished with his shower while Remus stood, averting his eyes. Sirius actually started humming at one point, his voice garbled by the water, and Remus had to focus all of his attention on the maze of cracks that lined the stone walls to bite back his annoyance.

"Come on, I'm a bit peckish," Sirius noted a bit later, and Remus found that he was actually starving. "We're going to miss breakfast. If you hadn't taken so long, staring at my handsome body...not that I blame you..."

Remus just grunted. He was amused, but he wasn't going to let Sirius get the upper hand. Let the dark-haired boy think that he was angry and upset about the whole situation.

And so they went down to the Great Hall for breakfast, after dressing awkwardly, for James wasn't around to cast the Engorgement charm again, and Peter was nowhere to be found, apparently not waiting like he usually did.

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The day passed in another miasma of frustrations, not unlike the previous day. Remus began to appreciate the fact that he wouldn't be permanently attached to Sirius forever. They went to Arithmancy that day, Remus promising Sirius that they would attend Muggle Studies on Friday. The teacher, Professor Vector, raised her eyebrows at the way they were joined together, but she didn't say anything. She just tightened her lips and told Sirius not to disrupt her lesson. It wasn't that hard to convince her that Remus would have to miss the next lesson so that Sirius could attend his own.

The real difference about this day was Quidditch practice. Already one up in the season, since Gryffindor had beaten Ravenclaw, the team had been practicing feverishly. The whole House was looking forward to the upcoming match against Slytherin, which was to take place in a few weeks time. Sirius played as a Beater, while Remus didn't play at all. He liked flying, but he was never as good as some of the others were. He also didn't think that it would be prudent to commit himself to another regular schedule besides school itself, considering he was out for a few days every month, anyway.

After much persuading from Sirius and Peter, as well as James' whispered insistence that Sirius desperately needed the practice, Remus found himself outside that evening, dressed comfortably in an old, faded grey jumper and a pair of brown trousers. Sirius had his Quidditch uniform on, and was clutching his Nimbus Excel, the newest model to date. Remus looked over at him.

"And how are we going to pull this off?" Remus eyed the other players, who were in the air, some trying to discreetly stare down at where Sirius and he were joined. Sirius seemed not to notice as he steadied the broom.

In fact, what Sirius suggested was near impossible. Remus didn't think that it would work, but as Sirius instructed him to get on the broom backwards, facing Sirius, and put his head on Sirius' shoulder so his friend could see, he began to sigh. It was uncomfortable. Sirius had brought their joined arms to fold in between them, and Remus was practically sitting in Sirius' lap, because he would be blocking the view if he wasn't. So Remus found his thighs thrown over Sirius', chest against chest, his head right above Sirius' right shoulder so that Sirius could use his left hand to swat the club. The biting wind mussed his hair and made it fly into his face, and even Sirius was turning his head so that the strands wouldn't get caught in his mouth.

"This isn't going to work," Remus told him. "You can hardly see because of my hair, and you can only use one hand."

"You're off your head!" Sirius shouted back, because they had taken to the air, the wind carrying their voices every which way. "This is a brilliant idea!"

Remus eyed the players that he could see, who were gaping at them, and James, who was unsuccessfully trying not to smile. "You wouldn't be saying that if I had thought of it."

"You have plenty of good ideas, Remus," Sirius replied. Then he shouted, "Oi, you, what're you looking at, eh? Never seen two boys ride a broom together before?"

His face heating up, Remus buried it into Sirius' shoulder and concentrated on the feeling of the wind rushing through his hair. Sirius was warm, and the warmth seeped through the clothes straight into his chest, making his breath short. Remus burrowed closer, digging his nose into the shoulder of his friend, and it smelled a little like sweat and a lot like...what is that smell? "Are you wearing some type of cologne?"

"Yeah, Lily got it for me for Christmas," came the reply. "You like it?"

Remus loved it. It was masculine and spicy and seemed to fit Sirius perfectly. "It's okay." He found himself snuggling closer, pressing more firmly into his friend, wondering how he could have missed when Sirius had put it on that morning. He supposed it was sometime when he was trying not to watch while they got dressed that morning.

They said nothing for the rest of practice, and Remus rather enjoyed the feeling of the wind in his hair. He shook every time Sirius swung his left arm to hit at a flying Bludger, and he wriggled closer to his friend as a particular difficult flying move was executed, Remus holding on for dear life. He was sure he was going to fall off the thing, despite having seen Sirius perform the upside-down move for years. Finally hearing the whistle from James, Remus sighed in relief in the knowledge that the practice was over. Landing next to where Peter was grinning at them, Sirius told him that he needed a shower.

"But we'll go back to the dormitory showers. The Quidditch changing room showers are all in one space, and I know you don't want that," Sirius said to him as they made their way back to the castle. Remus just nodded.

It was still evening when they got back. Engorgement-charming their clothes off, Remus followed Sirius into the shower stall, making his eyes stay glued to where Sirius' short dark hair stuck to his neck from sweat, and not drift lower. Why he felt the urge to let his sight drift lower in the first place was beyond him.

"Wash my back?" Sirius asked, holding out the soap. Remus, groaning inwardly, scrubbed at the smooth, muscular surface, perhaps a bit too hard, concentrating his gaze on a brown mole on the left shoulder blade, and Sirius sighed. "Want me to do yours?"

"I can manage," Remus replied. He finished Sirius' back and turned them around so the soap could wash off. Sirius turned around and faced him.

"Have you ever had sex, Remus?"

Remus stared at him. What kind of question was that? "None of your business! Why do you care, anyway?"

Sirius grinned. "I just want to know. Call me nosy, if you'd like." Remus felt the hand attached to his wrist tighten. "Come on, tell me."

Remus rolled his eyes. "I'd rather not talk about it while we're both completely starkers in the shower together." He watched as Sirius, still smiling, looked down. "Hey!"

Laughing then, Sirius looked back up, his eyes sparkling. "You can have a free peek at me, now."

Exasperated, Remus turned off the shower and grabbed two towels from the rack, throwing one at Sirius. "I don't want a free peek."

"Are you a homophobe?" The next question hung in the air for a few seconds. Remus turned back around to find Sirius still standing there, the towel on his arm, an odd expression on his face.

Remus wondered why Sirius was asking him these questions. What was he trying to say? "I'm not a homophobe. I'm just straight."

"Right." Again, that weird expression, and a shadow crossed Sirius' face. "Time for bed, don't you think?"

"Actually, I have to finish that essay for Transfiguration."

Sirius nodded. "Oh yeah, so do I." He wrapped the towel around his waist, finally, and stepped out beside Remus, still dripping water. Rivulets ran down his face from his hair, and his shoulders and chest were glistening. Remus forced himself to look away. It was odd, what the sight was doing to him.

What did it mean?