good weather promotes bad ideas [ remus ]

[Sirius Black]

all we care about is runway models,
cadillacs and liquor bottles

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Sirius Black found himself in a good mood. There was no particular reason for his jovial nature. Perhaps it was because Snape had not smelled up Grimmauld Place it quite a few days. Maybe it was because he had a house full of people all summer, even though it was quickly dwindling to an end. It could have even just been because it was a beautiful day outside. For whatever reason, Sirius looked his best today. His hair was smartly cut, he had finally shaved his facial hair, and he wore gray robes that matched his eyes perfectly. Other than the lost weight and a few lines etched on his face, Sirius could have almost passed for his former self.

At the moment, the house was silent. Sirius took the time to sit in his favorite armchair and read “The Daily Prophet.” Usually the news quickly ended his good mood, but he liked to stay abreast as to the going-ons in the Wizarding World. It seemed to be a slow news day surprisingly since the front page article just featured tips on how to protect yourself and your family. Whenever no major terrible events was executed by Death Eaters, “The Daily Prophet” would just post safety tips. To Sirius, the news article existed as further proof that today was a good day. He folded the newspaper and tossed it on the nearby coffee table, completely missing it. He grumbled good-naturedly, but let it lay where it was.

Sirius rose from the couch and walked over to the window. Outside greeted him with bright sunshine lighting up his muggle neighbourhood. Suddenly, Sirius felt it. It was that itch that lured him outside into the warmth. His childlike home was just too small for him right now. He wanted to be outside and run laps and chase birds. Would his neighbours notice a large, black stray dog? Sirius did not think so. And what was life without a little bit of risk? Professor Dumbledore’s voice halted him for a moment. He did promise to stay inside. But surely just half an hour outside would be fine. They were muggles. At worst, they would throw something to make him scatter. At best, they would let their children play with the dog and he would have some company.

He was about to transform into Padfoot when a noise stopped him. Even Sirius was not stupid enough to let someone know what he planned to do. He would just be patient until the person left.
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Word count: 420
For: Remus

[Remus Lupin]

Remus whined softly as the sun insisted on slipping through the heavy curtains and woke him up. Wait.. heavy curtains? He didn't own any of those. The lycanthrope slowly sat up and streched, bones and joints cracking and complaining as he looked around. “Oh-” he muttered. An Order meeting had ended particularly late last night and Sirius had convinced him to stay over. He knew Sirius had asked partly because he just didn't want to be alone and Remus, who was still without a proper job, had nowhere to be in the morning so he had accepted. How could he not accept? Sirius was his oldest friend, Remus would practically do anything for him, really.
Stepping out of bed onto the luxurious carpet, Remus smiled for a moment, savouring the feeling of not stepping onto a cold floor this time, before moving to the bathroom. He didn't know what time it was, but he was hungry and although he liked sleeping in, he wasn't in the mood to have Padfoot pound his bed as a means to wake him up, as had happened so often when they'd still gone to school together.

He refreshed himself quickly, dressed and made himself look as decent as he could before gingerly walking downstairs (damne portrait..) and slipping into the kitchen to make himself something to eat. Remus couldn't help it, he didn't like eating things Kreacher had made. He hated prejudice, but that House Elf was just.. plain vile.
The sun illuminating all the corners of the dark house that it could find worked remarkably refreshing on him. The end of the summer was nearing, but it seemed the sun had attempted a last stand to make the final days as beautiful as possible. Pity the garden was in such a terrible shape (who knew what grew in there..).

Munching on a sandwich, Remus walked into the living room, the door clicking closed behind him. The moment he saw Sirius, he saw his friend stop dead in his tracks and half smiled. “Conscious catching up with you? It's only me.” Remus smiled slightly. Sirius looked good today and he was glad. Remus had seen him in far, far worse moods and conditions and everytime Sirius looked like this (like nothing had happened), Remus hoped that it would last. He was somehow slightly jealous at Sirius for still being able to look almost like he used to, like he had aged normally. Sure, Remus could charm his hair back to its previous colour, but would that change anything? He couldn't heal the scars (werewolf scars are notoriously difficult to heal and fade only so slowly). He could conceal them with charms as well, of course, but that would be a lot of work and besides.. no one beside his friends ever really saw him anyway – why would he try? He didn't want to seem vain and it wasn't like hiding the symptomes would rid him of the decease.
He walked up until he was next to Sirius, glancing outside. “Weather's nice,” he commented, a bit dryly. Remus knew what Sirius was like. He could even feel his own canine pull at his mind for a brief moment, wanting to go out. But Remus wouldn't leave his friend, it would be unfair to go where Sirius could not.

[Sirius Black]

I’m bringin’ sexy back,
them other boys don’t know how to act

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“A conscious?” Sirius barked with laughter, as he was wont to do. He shook his head at the idea that there would ever be a small part that would ever want him not to have as much fun as possible. Well, maybe there was a chance that a part like that existed, but there was no way he would ever listen to it. “That’s why I keep you around, Moony. Not that Sirius would ever really listen if Remus told him no. He tried before, but Sirius just plunged through.

Sirius knew Remus knew what Sirius was thinking when he told him the weather was nice. It was a sign of true best friends when one friend always knew what the other was thinking. Why should he not want to go outside? He was allowed to, sort of. Now that his name was cleared after the Battle of the Mysteries, Sirius was allowed to go outside. Dumbledore warned him to take it slow while people adjusted to the fact he was not a criminal. Muggles, at least, did not know his canine form. Only the Death Eaters did, so it was not like it was a huge risk.

Besides, what was the point of living without actually living?

“I’m going outside,” Sirius announced proudly. It was one of those gorgeous days outside. The day was slightly overcast, so it was not extraordinarily hot. Plus, it was just nice to be able to go outside again. He knew he was interrupting Remus’ lunch, and Sirius had yet to eat, but there seemed to be no better time than the present. “Come on out, Moony!”
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Word count: 275
For: Remus
Notes: Sorry! I wanted to get a post out before work. Just so you know, I talked to Katie and she said that Sirius was still pardoned, like he was in Half-Blood Prince, but that he should take it slow because the Wizarding World is still trying to get used to it. I know it sort of messes up my first post, so I tried bridging the gap in this one.

[Remus Lupin]

Comments: Ooh, yay, pardoned! *happy for Sirius*
Word count: 304


“A conscious? That’s why I keep you around, Moony.” Remus grinned along and chuckled softly to himself as his old friend erupted with laughter. “And such an unbearable burden it is,” he teased. “You Blacks - always need to be kept out of trouble.” Not that he knew a lot of Blacks. Remus tended to avoid them, as a matter of fact, except for Sirius and his younger cousin, Nymphadora, who was, technically, not a Black at all, but she looked so much like Sirius that Remus was ignoring that for the sake of retorics.
Remus was a little ill at ease about Sirius going outside on his own, to be honest. You never knew what silly muggles, witches, or wizards might do. Some people were, to put it bluntly, idiots. Unlike Sirius, Remus did take Dumbledore's warning very serious and although he could understand his friend wanted enjoy the remains of summer as much as he could, he was afraid something would happen to him. That would be more than awful. Remus didn't think he would be able to continue to force himself to smile if Sirius was gone. No, he was sure – he wouldn't be able to. Losing Sirius would be just as terrible as losing, as dying himself.
He was glad he would be joining his carefree friend, just so he could make sure nothing happened to him.

He shook the sombre thoughts from his head, though, and grinned lopsidedly at Sirius. “Come on out, Moony!” “What makes you think you even have to ask?” he asked his friend in turn, devouring his food in less than two bites and immediately darting for the hallway and returning with their coats. Mrs. Black shouted insults at them from behind the door, but Remus didn't care so much today.

[Sirius Black]

together we can,
shoot the moon, stop the rain, even ride a hurricane

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Sirius nodded solemnly at the joke that Remus was a burden. He was anything but. He was a brother to Sirius, much more than Regulus ever was. Not that Sirius would ever tell Remus that. Did he want to see like a girl? No way. But then again, it was one of those unspoken things between them. Sirius considered Remus a brother and he knew that Remus felt the same way. They were really all each other had.

Remus’ comment about keeping Blacks out of trouble brought the smallest of frowns to Sirius’ face. He hated being compared to his relatives, even when it was joking. Normally, the joke would not have brought any sort of reaction out of Sirius, but being back in childhood home made him remember just why he hated his family so much. Every room brought back memories of his terrible youth. Yet he was in too good a mood to let a joke bring him down, so he smirked. “I know a certain Black who wouldn’t mind getting in trouble with you. And from what I can see, you wouldn’t mind getting into trouble with her either.” Sirius winked and expected Remus to deny it or at least blush. Sirius expected Remus had a crush on Tonks for quite some time, but he had never really pursued the topic. He would be happy for them if they ever dated, but a part of him would be upset if Tonks took Remus away from him.

When Remus returned with their coats, Sirius raised an eyebrow. “Summer, Moony. You know, when it’s hot out.” Besides, dogs really had no use of coats. Sirius had considered going out in human form, but then he changed his mind. It was more enjoyable and less weird for a dog to run around in the sunshine, rather than a fully-grown man, especially if Remus came along. It was especially weird for two grown men to run around. A fully-grown man was allowed to chase a crazy dog without arousing too much suspicion, however.
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Word count: 342

[Remus Lupin]

Word count: 452

Remus knew they saw each other like more than a brother. He didn't speak of it either, but not because of the reason why Sirius never voiced it. He was just afraid as soon as he said it, it would fall to pieces. As long as he kept it a secret (and Remus was more than good at keeping things to himself, almost too good), it felt safer and less vulnerable. Sirius wasn't just like a brother, he was his wolf's last remaining pack mate – a bond that was forged of a deeper kind of trust.

The Black residence was, indeed, still a dark and dreary place to be. This summer had been rather busy, but Remus had plans to suggest cleaning the place up thoroughly once the children were back at school. Not just because the atmosphere was terrible, but also because there would be dark artefacts lying about which they really should get rid of. On top of all that, it would give Sirius something to do (and Remus wasn't in the mood to completely dismantle Sirius' bike again while there was no need to do so; 'just for fun,' as Sirius said). Besides.. wouldn't it be nice to happily paint over the terrible old, dusty, torn, dark wallpapers in every room and let some light and air inside? Remus had grown up in a homely sort of house himself and now that Sirius was free to live his life again, he at least wanted his friend to have a pleasant house to live in. Changing the house into a nice place would probably be great therapy to deal with the memories that floated about here.
“I know a certain Black who wouldn’t mind getting in trouble with you. And from what I can see, you wouldn’t mind getting into trouble with her either.” As Sirius expected (he knew him too well), Remus blushed and muttered something that seemed to sound like 'don't be ridiculous, Pads'. It was true, Remus liked Nyphadora. Like Sirius, she brought out the good sides in him and made him feel younger again. She hadn't really responded to his glances, though, which Remus could imagine (some days, he looked like he was about to fall to pieces, after all).

He was a little confused when Sirius didn't want a coat. “Oh, yes, of course.” He shrugged. “Don't know what I was thinking.” Remus grinned lopsidedly and knew exactly what he was thinking. (Sirius fault for mentioning Nymphadora, she stopped him from thinking straight!) Putting the coats over the back of a chair, he glanced outside for a moment before asking, with a bit of a chuckle: “Need I bring a leash?”

[Sirius Black]

can you move it like this?
I can shake it like that.

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Sirius knew once he saw Remus’ cheeks go an adorable shade of red that he was spot-on. So Remus had a crush on his little cousin. For just a moment, the teasing smile left his face to be replaced with a soft smile that was rarely seen, such as when he held his godson for the first time. Then Sirius remembered all of the times he and James set up Remus up with girls in school, or at least tried to. Sometimes Remus really could be stubborn. Sirius failed to see what was wrong with dating a girl he or James had snogged. They just wanted to make sure Remus dated a good kisser. Sirius refused to snog Tonks just to see if she was good enough for Remus. He would let Remus find out that one. Purebloods were really into inbreeding, but Sirius refused to follow in that tradition.

The grin stayed on his face when Remus asked about the leash. His eyes glared mockingly at his friend, “No thanks, Moony. I let you guys try that once. My neck hurt for days.” He rubbed his neck and pouted, trying to be dramatic. Actually, as Sirius recalled, after one particularly tall, leggy Gryffindor heard about his pain, she gave him the best neck massage he ever had, and then a bit more. He grinned again. It had been too long since Sirius had been with a girl. Now that he was released, maybe he could lap up some attention from women who dug the bad guys.

“You know, Moony, I still think you should become an animagus. Illegally, of course. We don’t want people thinking the Marauders have gone soft. Maybe you would be a cat and I could chase you all day!” Sirius knew Remus would never, ever be a cat because they would not get along as well as they did. It was a theory Sirius had. Ever since first year, Professor McGonagall and Sirius did not get along. It might have been because Sirius accidentally dropped a dungbomb outside her office one day, but he doubted it. Then, when the three Marauders successfully became animagi, Sirius felt a stronger pull to dislike the professor. He reckoned it was because at his core he was a dog and she was a cat. Theories like that were reasons why Sirius should not be allowed to think on nothing for too long.
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Word count: 404

[Remus Lupin]

Word count: 596

Remus half smiled when he saw the almost tender smile on his friend's face. “You're going soft, Pads. Watch out or you'll melt,” he teased, trying to make the awkwardness on his side of the conversation evaporate. He didn't have much experience with girls, even though James and Sirius had often tried to get him to go after a girl when they were still in school. Back then (and, sometimes, still), Remus hadn't been able to grasp girls very well (not in that sense of the word); they had this.. something he couldn't put his finger on, as though they could look straight into your soul, sometimes. Remus still saw this characteristic in the Weasley matriarch often enough. Or maybe that was just a mother's instinct sort of thing. Either way, he had always usually stayed away from girls (Lily Evans being one of few exceptions, simply because she was James' girl and not a giggling airhead), not sure how to react around them and, somehow, afraid they'd look into his eyes and see what he was or that he was hiding something. Girls had this thing for secrets and Remus had a lot of secrets that he kept (and was still keeping), he didn't want to be unravelled like a sweater just because some girl was in the mood for a puzzle – yes, he confessed: he had sometimes felt intimidated back then (especially Ravenclaw girls, they were the worst – every rejection had only ever motivated them to rise to the challenge).
Sure, now he was older and decidedly wiser (or so he hoped..) so he knew girls couldn't read minds (mindreading had nothing to do with having certain chromosomes or not), but he wasn't, and never would be, a ladies' man like Sirius.

The lycanthrope chuckled at his friend's sense of dramatics and rolled his eyes, used to it by now (but so glad to see this trait returned to his friend, the hollowness of Azkaban gone from those grey eyes). “Oh, pity, you know how I like leashes and leather,” he commented dryly, half grinning still, brushing some invisible dust off of his sleeve. Remus wasn't one to make comments like that, usually, you'd think, but really – it depended all on who he was with and although sex was not something Remus didn't take seriously (or Siriusly – either way), he could joke about it. To a certain extend (as long as it was a joke; discussing the real thing was quite a different matter).

Sirius' next exclamation pulled him from this thoughts. “You know, Moony, I still think you should become an animagus. Illegally, of course. We don’t want people thinking the Marauders have gone soft. Maybe you would be a cat and I could chase you all day!” Remus scoffed and friendly punched his friend's shoulder. “You know full well I'd be your alpha, so I'd be chasing you if there'd be any chasing going on at all.”
To be honest, Remus doubted he could be an animagi, simply because he was not human. He had never heard of non-humans becoming animagi before and besides.. being an illegal animagi? As if he didn't have enough problems with the Ministry already.. He decided not to mention it, though. Today was a beautiful day, Sirius was in a good mood, as was he.
“Shall we, then?” he suggested, nodding at the door. “Any specific park you want to go to? Or a specific bitch you plan on meeting?” Remus teased, hand already on the door handle.