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Time for Bed, Wake Up


Remus stood in the clearing of trees at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, his hands in his robe pockets to stay warm as he looked around in the moonlight, filtered by leaves and evergreens. Lily sat on a log, clutching the deer feed sack and stared into the dark surrounding them, listening to the cricket song that filled the night. A few fireflies flickered between the trees…

“I don’t think it’s coming, Lily,” Remus said. He’d patiently waited what felt like an appropriate amount of time - but he was getting cold and, after all, he knew the stag wasn’t out there in the trees. The stag was laying on the couch in the Common Room before the fire, probably asleep, with Remus’s boyfriend asleep on his lap. Waiting there in the dark was useless.

“But he has to come,” Lily said tearfully.

Remus shuffled his feet over the bracken slowly. He hated how sad she looked, sitting there, staring down at the bag of feed, running her fingers over a little illustrated deer on the package. He cleared his throat, “Maybe… maybe we could try another night. Maybe he’ll find the food you spread around and come back looking for more once he knows he can find it here.”

Lily nodded, “Yeah. Maybe.”

Remus walked over and pulled her to her feet and put his arm ‘round her shoulders, “I mean, bloody hell, aren’t you cold? I certainly am.”

“You’re always cold,” Lily murmured.

“It’s true,” Remus said with a sigh. “One of the wonderful little perks of my furry little problem.”

Lily laughed.

“C’mon, let’s go inside,” Remus said.

They walked back out of the woods to the grounds, Lily glancing over her shoulder as they left the trees of the Forest, and snuck past Hagrid’s hut, which was aglow with warm light and strange noises coming from the half-open windows… Remus wished he’d taken along the Marauder’s Map to get through the castle, but they did okay without it, using the Trophy Room Passageway to cross the majority of the flights they needed to go up to Gryffindor Tower, and finally Remus was muttering the password to the Fat Lady - “Bezoars” - and they snuck inside.

Just as he’d suspected, the Marauders were still asleep by the fire.

They walked over to the couch and Lily and Remus looked them over. “They look so innocent asleep,” Lily whispered.

“Not Sirius,” Remus answered. “Smirking even in his sleep. Look at that. Probably dreaming up ways to torture me.” He shook his head.

Lily laughed quietly, then she looked at Remus with serious eyes. “Thank you for going with me.”

“Let me know when you go again,” Remus answered.

“I will.” Lily smiled, then, “Well. I’ll let you get on with waking those three up. Good night.”

“Night.”

He watched her go then he turned to the others and he walked ‘round to the front of the couch and nudged Peter’s knee gently with the toe of his trainer. Peter sniffed and blinked awake a bit, looking up. “Rey?” he asked groggily.

“Yeah. Time for bed, mate.”

“Oh… okay.” Peter nodded and struggled to get to his feet, even with Remus’s help.

Remus nudged James next. “Hey mate, bedtime.” Without saying a word, James got up sleepily, Peter and Remus tugging his arms. “You two go on, I’ll bring Sirius up in a minute.” Nodding, Peter pulled James along to the stairs.

Remus watched them go, then knelt down beside the couch and stared at Sirius’s sleeping face a few moments. He might not look innocent asleep, but he did look peaceful and happy and it made Remus happy to see Sirius happy like that, so he hesitated just a tad in waking him. Finally, though, he knew he must - the house elves would be wanting to clean the common room soon - so he reached out and shook Sirius’s shoulder gently, kissing his face as he did. “Padfoot,” he whispered.

Sirius stirred and woke slowly, sniffling and flexing his jaw slowly, his eyes blinking until they focused on Remus looming over him.

“Wake up. I need to snog you,” Remus said.

“Oh,” Sirius murmured, “Now I’m good enough to snog am I? Now that you’re ready for it?”

Remus sighed. He had a feeling this would be Sirius’s attitude. “I’m sorry,” he said thickly and he folded his hands through Sirius’s, their fingers all twisted together. “You know I love you.” He meaningfully spun the ring on Sirius’s finger. When it moved, he could see the skin underneath was already several shades paler than the rest of his skin where the ring hadn’t been removed since Remus had given it to him. He liked that. He bent forward and kissed Sirius’s hand. “Yeah?”

Sirius sighed, “I just wanna hug you and stuff. All the time. And I don’t give a fuck who’s looking at us.”

“I know you don’t. You’re a lot braver than I am that way,” Remus whispered.

“It’s not braver,” said Sirius quietly.

“I think it’s braver,” Remus said and he brushed Sirius’s hair off his face. “I think you’re the bravest in all the world.”

Sirius laughed sleepily, “Shut up.”

“I do.” Remus stared into his lovely grey eyes for a long moment. They drooped with sleep as he smiled back up at him. “C’mon. Let’s get you to bed.”

“Okay.”

They fell asleep curled up on Remus’s bed up in the dormitory, Sirius snuggled into Remus’s arms, his face buried in the taller boy’s neck, their legs all tangled up. Both of them were just relieved to be where they belonged.




The next morning, James groaned as he woke to the feeling of hands shoving his shoulder roughly. “Wake up. Wake up, Prongs.”

“Go away, Sirius.”

“Prongsieeeeeeeeee….”

James groaned and rolled over, but that didn’t stop Sirius Black. Rather, it just encouraged him to be even more annoying as he climbed aboard the bed and began to bounce up and down on the mattress, disturbing James’s slumber. “Oiiiiiiii.” James shoved him and Sirius tumbled, laughing, from the bed and onto the floor with a thump.

James sat up and threw his pillow at Sirius, “Why’d you do that for?”

“Because, mate, it’s time for breakfast and you’re snoring with these great honks like your stag does. HONNNK. HONNNNK.”

James rubbed his eyes and grabbed his glasses from the nightstand, shoving them on his face with a yawn, “I don’t honk.”

“But you do!” Sirius argued.

James stretched. “Bloody hell, I’m not used to getting up this early. Why the bloody hell do they schedule classes so early? They should let us sleep in. Next term, I’m dropping any classes that start before ten o’clock, and Professor Minnie can just deal with it.”

Sirius laughed. “Everyday will be a lie in!”

“As it should be,” James nodded enthusiastically. “Where are the other two?” he asked, looking around and seeing Peter and Remus were gone.

“Well, Peter left the moment he smelled bacon, afraid the house elves would run out (they probably have now that Peter’s eating it); and Remus had to go show the Firsties back down stairs with Evans.”

“Oh. Right.”

“I was nice. I waited for you. Because I’m a good friend like that.” Sirius grinned.

James got up and changed out of his pyjamas and into his school clothes, which were a little frumpled because he was just putting on the same ones he’d worn the day before, his hair all messy. He glanced at the mirror but made no efforts to neaten it. “Alright, I’m ready. Let’s go.”

“Without even a comb through! If only I could live so recklessly,” Sirius muttered, shaking his head.

James laughed.

Downstairs, Remus and Lily were eating, sitting across from one another at the table as the first years looked about at the post owls coming in through the windows high overhead, dropping letters and packages to students around the room. They marvelled when Liam Harding received one from his mum and it turned out to be a bag of Jelly Slugs that he shared with the rest of them - even offered one to Lily and Remus, but they both declined.

“So you two were out late,” James said, climbing onto the bench beside Lily and grinning as he reached across her face for a piece of toast. He shoved it in his mouth, holding it between his teeth as he poured himself some pumpkin juice. “Wherrff yah guhh?” he asked, mouth full.

Lily made a face, “Oh Merlin. Do you have to be so bloody disgusting?”

Dexter Cardwall laughed.

James grinned at him and spit the toast into his hand, then grinned at Lily. “Sorry, Evans.” He cheersed her with his glass of pumpkin juice as Sirius slid in row next to Remus and started gathering his food. “Gotta go see a girl about some snogging. See ya, Love.” He turned and walked away, winking to Dexter as he shoved the toast back in his mouth.

“Ugh,” Lily whined. “What in the world does Maryrose see in him? He’s positively grotty.”

“I think he’s handsome,” squeaked Vivian Warshaw.

Remus snickered at the look on Lily’s face. “Oh honey, you can do sooo much better than James Potter,” she said.

Sirius said lowly, “Can she though? I mean… he’s James bloody Potter.”

“Is he really important?” Vivian asked.

Sirius grinned at Lily’s annoyed expression. “Yeah he is. He’s brilliant. Best in Transfiguration in our class. Dumbledore even said so.” He looked at Lily as he shovelled a load of cut up fruit into his mouth. “And he might be Gryffindor’s Quidditch captain this year, too.”

“What’s Quidditch?” asked Oliver Kent.

Sirius pretended to have an attack of the heart at this question. “My God. You’ve got a lot to learn, little bean.”

Oliver looked quite excited.