mini_fest | Fic: Freeze & Melt

Title: Freeze & Melt
Author:

mabonwitch
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Marauders, Sirius/Remus
Prompt(s): 9. Snowflakes caught in someone's hair.
Warnings: None
Summary: Sirius has snowflakes everywhere. Remus is distracted.
Word Count: ~1000
Disclaimer: They don't belong to me!
A/N: I had a lot of fun writing this. I love this little no-worries fest and am grateful to everyone involved. I hope this makes someone's day!

It was…distracting. That was all. It wasn't as though he wanted to touch them, or anything. Just- couldn't Sirius wear a hat? Because without it, he had snowflakes everywhere. Remus let his attention drift away from Peter's complaints about Charms and his eyes shifted once more to where Sirius and James were horsing around. James had got Sirius in a headlock and they were both laughing breathlessly. Sirius flailed his arms and gasped, "Help! I've been captured!"

Remus exchanged a look with Peter. No way was he getting between those two. Peter smiled. "Sure, Padfoot, we'll help you." Ducking down, he gathered a snowball and launched it straight at the pinned boy.

"Oi," Sirius protested, "no fair!"

Snickering, James let him go. "What are you, six?" He shot a scolding look at Peter as he said it, though, so Remus figured he must agree.

"Am not," Sirius snarled, and launched himself at James again. With an 'oomph', they went down into a drift.

Half an hour later, they had all had enough of the snow. "Come on, Pete," James huffed, "I'll help you with your Charms essay. That way, we'll be all clear for the hols." He slung a friendly arm around Peter and guided him toward the library.

"You're done, aren't you, Moony?" Sirius cast an appealing look toward Remus. Remus nodded, hoping he wasn't in for an afternoon of pranking. Instead, Sirius shot him a boyish smile and cajoled, "Let's go to the kitchen and get some cocoa."

Remus nodded. "Sure." He wasn't particularly cold; werewolf metabolism and common sense in bundling up had left him a bit hot, actually. Sirius, on the other hand, not only had snowflakes in his hair, he had whole patches of snow frozen into it. He also looked to have lost his scarf and was dripping snowmelt down his cloak. Shivering, they made their way to the kitchens.

"Oh no," a house elf squeaked, "young masters is not wearing their snow clothes in here! Tiffy is taking young masters' snow clothes back to young masters' rooms!" Obediently, they peeled out of their gloves, scarves, cloaks, coats, and hat.

"Thanks, Tiffy," Remus said, just before she disappeared with the lot. They turned around.

"Dibby is having hot cocoa for young masters." Sirius grinned and accepted a cup, wincing as he rushed the first mouthful.

Remus smiled as he blew on his cup. "Honestly, Padfoot, won't you ever learn?"

Sirius smiled cheerfully. "Never!"

Remus frowned. Sirius was shaking worse now and Remus could see why. Snow had apparently melted down Sirius' top. All around his neck was wet, and he thought the back was as well. There was a patch on his chest, and one down near his waist; surely some of that had gone through the sweater and into the shirt below? "You need a bath," Remus proclaimed. "Before you freeze to death."

Sirius blinked at him. "Gonna make sure I scrub behind my ears, prefect?"

Remus snorted. "More like make sure you don't drown yourself."

Sirius brightened. "I can use the Prefect's Bath? You're the best!"

Remus shook his head. Sometimes, Sirius was ridiculously easy to manipulate. "Finish that off, and let's go." Sirius gulped the chocolate, which had cooled while they bantered, and stood.

Sneaking Sirius into the Prefect's Bath wasn't much of an effort but not watching while Sirius shucked his kit turned into one. The right balance of looking and not looking, of keeping a normal amount of eye contact while not staring was tricky. If Sirius thought he was avoiding looking, he'd be facing an inquisition. Instead, he loitered safely out of range while Sirius splashed and chattered, checking to see that the shivering was going down. The squawking and fussing when Sirius discovered his hair had frozen in places was pretty funny. At length, Sirius emerged and grabbed for a towel to dry. Remus allowed himself the precious moment when Sirius was turned away to let his eyes linger on all the places he'd been avoiding.

Sirius nattered the whole way up to the Tower, clothed in only a house robe and slippers. Frowning, Remus cast a warming charm on him, which lasted all the way to their dorm. Most of the students were either out in the snow or in the library, though a few groups huddled close to the fire in the common room. No one bothered them as they passed through. As soon as they were alone, Sirius dropped his house robe. He made a face, explained a moment later as he flipped his trunk open for an extra towel to wring out his hair. "I like it long, but it's a bloody pain sometimes."

Remus made an indistinct sound in response, too busy watching the flex of Sirius' stomach muscles as he raised both hands to wrap the towel tight. With a start, he jerked his eyes away, catching Sirius' smirk as he turned. Oh Merlin, had Sirius seen? He swallowed down panic as he tucked his snow clothes, left in a neat pile on his bed, into his trunk, keeping his back turned. With a little shiver he pulled off his sweater and shirt and dropped them to the floor. A firm hand tugged him around when he would have gone back to his trunk. Sirius, now half-dressed in denims, gave him a serious look from very close. Unnerved, Remus wondered if he should apologise- and then, with Sirius' lips closing softly against his, he didn't wonder anything at all.

Sirius leaned back, then let go of his waist. "Sorry," he muttered, "I thought-"

With inhuman speed, he grabbed Sirius and kissed back. They separated several long, breathless moments later. Sirius grinned. "You were looking."

Feeling shy and bold all at once, Remus smiled. "Yes."

Sirius' hand moved softly over his back. "Better get dressed before the lads come back."

"Hmm," Remus agreed, plopping back on his bed and watching Sirius dress. He felt languid and happy, like drinking the best hot cocoa ever. He propped his hands behind his head.

Sirius turned, buttoning his top button. "Re-" With a wash of pleasure, he saw Sirius sweep a long gaze down his body. Sirius cleared his throat. "I don't know how you managed it," he began, walking to the bed, "but you still have snowflake." His hand reached out and brushed over Remus' right temple. "Right there." Sirius bit his lip. "Very distracting."

The End