Bewitched | wolfstar au

Forty-four

The following few weeks bring with them Remus' almost alarmingly too quick rise to fame.

Between working morning to evening on weekdays, Remus has to find time for returning phone calls from sympathetic readers, keeping up with all the articles in small local Wizarding newspapers and even a bloody radio programme.

And through all of this, Sirius is beside him like an angel, helping him sort things out and... And just, being there, the only stability Remus can find in a world changing way too fast into something he doesn't like and sure as hell doesn't want.

And so, with the full moon lurking nearby, Remus finds himself tucked in bed with Sirius' fingers in his hair.

"Is it not working?" Sirius asks softly, as if he's afraid that even his voice would be too much for Remus.

Remus peels his eyes open. They feel sticky. "Mm?"

"The medicine," Sirius looks at him, eyes glossy and dark. "Is it not helping you at all?"

"At all? Yes. Enough? No," Remus tries to smile, but ends up wincing instead.

"There has to be something that can help..."

"It's alright," Remus reaches for Sirius' hand and pulls it away from his hair. He wants to kiss the inside of Sirius' wrist, where the veins are drawn under his skin in soft blue and green. But he doesn't, of course. "It goes away after a while."

Sirius gives him a look that he can't really read.

"It's alright, Sirius," Remus repeats. Sirius looks down at their hands. "I'm used to it," Remus adds.

"You shouldn't have to be," Sirius says, his eyebrows drawing closer together. 

"Well, I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Remus quirks an eyebrow. "And really, I feel better already. I told you, it goes away after a while."

"Can you sit up, then?" Sirius asks, looking doubtful.

"Yeah, I can," Remus winces as his back stretches, but manages to pull himself up. Sirius adjusts his pillow against the headboard. "I'll get you your soup, then," he smiles at Remus. In an unexpected move, he means forward and presses the sweetest of kisses on Remus' cheek, a simple brush of his cool lips on Remus' fever-hot skin, and hurries out of the room.

Like an idiot, Remus stares after him, so shocked that he can't even blush. He stays frozen until Sirius returns with a tray, which he sets down on the little bedside table, right on top of the cupcake book.

"Do you need me to..." Sirius gestures at the bowl of soup, "uhm, feed you?"

Now, Remus blushes. "No," he chokes out, "I think I'll be fine." A brief pause later, he adds, "Thank you, Sirius."

Sirius only gives a sweet smile in response. He hands the bowl over to Remus.

"Go on," he says encouragingly when Remus doesn't do anything.

"Are you going to... stare at me eat?"

"Oh," Sirius gives him an apologetic look. "Sorry, sorry. I'll make myself scarce," he laughs, standing up. Remus almost calls out to stop him. But stops himself when he sees that Sirius only goes over to his desk and sits down there, staring out of his window.

"Totally not looking at you right now," he says. Remus can only see his back, but he can tell Sirius is grinning. "Please eat now, your highness."

"Since you insist," Remus laughs.

Halfway into his bowl of soup, he speaks up again. "Why did Lily call?"

"You heard?"

"No, that's why I'm asking you,"