Marauders - Always - Part One

Bread When It's Not Cooked

Despite the wolfsbane, Remus was still sore in the morning. He sat on the chair by the fire with his feet up on a pillow on the coffee table, and a cup of Ovaltine clutched in his palms. The fire burned bright and warm beside him and he wore a blanket over his lap.

It was hotter than hell in the room, though Remus was shivering. The wolfsbane apparently didn't help much with the chills.

Which was why James Potter thought himself quite funny when he came in, sat on the couch, and tossed his legs up on the coffee table beside Remus's, wearing a pair of brightly patterned swim trunks and sunglasses.

"You're such an idiot," Lily laughed, stepping over James's legs to get to the side closer to Remus. She was shaking out an additional blanket she'd just gotten out of a trunk behind the couch.

"What? I'm enjoying the fire," James said.

Lily rolled her eyes. "It isn't that hot, honestly."

But it was, honestly.

Remus smiled, "It's alright, we're both being a bit ridiculous, I suspect," he said, tugging the blanket down over his arms.

"Did somebody say ridiculous?" Sirius asked, coming down the stairs.

Lily looked up and choked on a laugh. "Sirius Ophelia Blupin!"

Sirius had put on his own pair of swim trunks - bright orange things with huge yellow flowers on them that he'd gotten in Costa Rica - and an inflatable unicorn swim ring about his waist. He wore a scuba diving mask and a snorkel was fitted to his mouth, and a pair of garish blue flippers were on his feet. He padded down the stairs carefully, as James raised his sunglasses to watch while Remus, Lily, and Peter laughed. When he'd reached the living room and stood before them all, he drew a deep breath and blew into the snorkel. A plethora of big iridescent bubbles fell from the tip of the snorkel and floated up a few feet before popping. He grinned as James clapped his hands, and took a bow.

"Bravo," James called.

Peter was laughing, too, his face red with the amusement as Sirius came in, put a beach towel across the coffee table, and shimmied out of the inflatable unicorn, setting it onto the table in the middle, and sat down in the center of it like he would do if he were floating in a pool, grinning at Remus and James.

Lily shook her head, "You two... are mental," she said pointing at James and Sirius.

Remus smiled at his husband's scrawny frame, his chest bared as he pulled a pair of sunglasses from Godric-knew-where and shoved them onto his face as he laid back so the unicorn head was a pillow. 

Lily leaned over Remus, spreading the blanket over his lap, her hair falling over her shoulder as she did, and Remus's nose twitched, catching the scent of her, and he said, "Lily, did you change your shampoo?"

"No," she said.

Sirius had pulled his glasses off to look at Remus. "I thought so, too. Doesn't it smell different?"

"Yeah, something smells different."

"Maybe they've changed an ingredient," Lily shrugged. She tucked the blanket 'round Remus's legs carefully.

Remus shrugged, "That's probably it."

"Is it bad? Should I change it?" Lily asked, concerned, looking from Sirius to Remus.

"It's not bad," Remus said, "It's just..." he looked at Sirius for support.

"Different," Sirius supplied.

"Yeah, different," Remus finished.

Lily sat down on the couch next to James. "And you really can't smell whatever it is?"