Title: Mischief Managed
Author: Kait
Rating: PG
Pairing: Remus/Sirius
Summary: He remembered the first time he sad on this couch.
Notes: Written for the contrelamontre couch challenge.


Mischief Managed

Remus remembered with a little too much clarity exactly the first time he had sat on this couch.

Sirius had warned him with a fierce look before they'd even arrived. "Now remember, Moony... this is your choice. You asked for this. They're... they're unbearable, to be honest. And I'd much rather you just wait outside until I get what I need. But if you want... you asked for it. Okay? And... don't mention anything about us... please. I love you, and it's not that I care what they think or say about me but you... I can't stand to be there if they're going to be saying horrible things about you. I just..." And then Sirius had grabbed him and kissed him fiercely and pulled him up to the front door with a little hiss.

Mrs. Black was beyond the word stern. He had spent no more than thirty minutes sitting on this very couch listening to her speak sharply and firmly about pureblood superiority, about Slytherin pride, about what a failure her son was. He held his tongue, as Sirius requested, but it burned him up inside. At fifteen he wasn't as sure of love and devotion as he would later be, but he knew loyalty and knew it was wrong that he was sitting here, sipping tea, listening to this woman tear apart his wonderful Sirius.

It had been about twenty years ago, the first time he sat on this couch. It seemed to pass in an awkward mix of fast forward, slow motion, and instant replay. Childhood had escaped him before he even realized it, pain and anguish highlighted his twenties and seemed to drag on forever and those horribly explosive moments between Sirius and himself... those played over and over in his mind as he tried to go over them to find a way he could have righted the wrong that destroyed the only family he had left.

But the time now, at the present, was going forward at a calm, steady rate. He made sure of that, thank you very much.

The fire was warm and comforting and Sirius was less than an arm's length away, prattling on inanely about dragons and unicorns and giant spiders and dozens of other creatures he had spent the afternoon discussing with Hagrid. Remus didn't even have to listen to the words anymore, he could feel them through Sirius' tone alone, from the way he leaned back into the soft leather of the couch, completely relaxed. He could understand just by glancing at his lover's eyes and seeing the fear and doubt and dark shadows gone for once.

Remus smiled and turned, cutting Sirius off mid-sentence.

"You know," he said, intruding on Sirius' lengthy discussion of Nifflers. "This is the very same couch that I sat on for half an hour the one and only time I met your mother." A little of the doubt and shadow came back into Sirius' eyes. He frowned.

"Oh... gods, Moony, I didn't know." He moved to stand. "I'll get rid of it. Burn it or...something. I mean, we should--"

"I think we should have sex." Silence. "Right now," he added.

"Here?" Remus couldn't help but chuckle at the look on Sirius' face. His eyes were nearly bugging out of his head.

"Mm. Yes. That was my intention." He reached out and tugged on the front of Sirius' robe, pulling him closer. The other man recovered from his shock and let his lips quirk into a rakish grin.

"Always a Marauder at heart, eh, my Moony?" Remus could only smile, quite wolfishly, truth be told, in reply.

"Let's make some mischief, shall we, Mr. Padfoot?"

"I think we shall..."

-end-