For @wolfstarmicrofic Prompt
Sirius spends a good hour scouring the grounds before he has the notion to look up.
Most second years didn’t dare venture into the forest, but Remus was quiet and small enough to settle in the nook of a gigantic root somewhere until he was either forcibly removed, or starved to death. Sirius already knew from a dare that the mushrooms that littered the grass were not edible.
He peers into a tree hollow, pausing at the sound of a gentle sniff.
Sirius tilts his neck back, and grins.
The canopies above aren’t quite thick enough to block the sun, and scattered beams of light plunge down into his face. Squinting, Sirius places a hand on his forehead, and waves.
Remus mutters something. His legs are wrapped around a thick trunk, giving him enough leverage to keep his palms over his eyes.
“Surely you’re uncomfortable.”
“Not until you come down.” Sirius scratches his head. “How’d you even get up there?”
There’s a beat of heavy silence.
“The neighbourhood boys used to chase me. They didn’t want to be friends with-” Remus swallows, and rubs harshly at his eyes.
Silently, Sirius curses James for his big mouth, and lack of tact. His best friend didn’t possess a modicum of decorum, and now he was out in the bushes, vaguely cold and fretting.
Sirius Black didn’t fret.
“We don’t care that you’re a werewolf,” Sirius says, firmly.
Remus flinches at the word, slouching further into the bark, as if willing the wood to simply swallow him whole.
Sirius supposes he might be better off using a nicer tone, but the comfort he was used to included yelling and threats of bodily harm.
“You don’t know how,” Remus murmurs.
His voice is watery, and barely rises above the wind coasting through the leaves.
“You did it,” Sirius says dismissively, lodging one foot into a notch in the tree, “so I definitely can.”
He barely makes it halfway when a branch snaps beneath him, and the hard ground greets his body before he can register that he’s falling.
Sirius blinks, staring up at the bright sky, and Remus’ cherubic face peering down at him.
“I’ll come down,” Remus says quickly, when Sirius begins to stand with a groan, “don’t be stupid.”
“Don’t fall,” Sirius retorts, beaming.
The throbbing in his tailbone was worth it if it meant Remus felt better. Maybe he’d even hold his hand. If Sirius lost Remus’ friendship because of James’ inability to shut it, he’d curse him into oblivion. Those small, cold fingers curled around his made Hogwarts far less daunting during his first days in the castle, drowning in a sea of expectation and disappointment. Sirius had always been drawn to Remus, or perhaps their demons had simply been drawn to each other.
“You’re welcome, by the way,” Sirius says when Remus reaches him, accepting his offered hand with a small smile, “I think I bruised my ass.”