Marauders One Shots

The Way You Love Me (R.L.)

Title: Faith Hill - This Kiss

Warnings: none - tooth rotting fluff

Word count: 1.1k

-------

It's the way he loves you:

On a morning, knowing that you'll have overslept despite your best intentions, he'll have a glass of a fresh orange juice waiting. He'll press a kiss to your cheek, chuckling at the rushed expression on your face.

It's the way he loves you:

Exam season starts to creep up on the seventh years and you start to spend more and more time in the library – reading and rereading the incantations and histories for spells you've been performing for years.

He finds you face down on a table; snoring slightly as the sleep deprivation and stress catch up with you. Your head is nestled on top of your arm, a textbook poking out beneath. It doesn't look to be a comfortable position, he thinks, gently moving the textbook. He closes it, adding it to the pile of books around you.

A small smile breaks across his face as he shakes your shoulder. "Darling," he whispers.

You frown, grumbling in your sleep.

"Come on, time to get up."

"Why?"

"You've fallen asleep in the library – time to get you to your bed."

You rub your eyes, making grabby hands at him. He indulges you; drawing you in for a hug.

"Stay with me tonight?" You ask, yawning against his chest.

His hand runs through your hair as he whispers, "Always."

It's the way he loves you:

After each full moon, you're there waiting in the hospital wing. Ready to help with whatever injury to whichever friend.

He watches you flit around the wing, grabbing bandages and dittany and pumpkin juice. Anything and everything to help.

If anyone was to look upon his face, they would say that he's in love and he has it bad. And he wouldn't deny it; he is in love. He's in love with someone who selflessly puts her own needs last whenever he or a friend needs help. He's in love with someone who studies until all hours because she wants the perfect grades to get the perfect job so they can have the safest start to their lives together.

It's the way he loves you:

The sun warms your face as you lay in the grass, and the summer breeze ruffles your hair. It's turning out to be a perfect day.

You can hear James and Sirius bickering over something; Lily chiming in with her opinion every now and then.

Remus lies beside you, drifting in and out of consciousness. He was still feeling the effects of the full moon two days ago.

The entire left-hand side of his body is pressed against your right. He craved this after a full moon; the feel of you. It calmed him; it grounded him. It reminded him of what was waiting for him after every lunar cycle.

You turn on your side; your back to the rest of the Marauders, facing Remus wholly. His hair moves in the slight breeze; his face ageless as he rests. He's beautiful, you think. You drag a finger up and down his arm, savouring the shiver that runs through his body at the feel of your touch.

But you could tell that the moon was still bothering him, "Up you get," You whisper, poking his shoulder.

He opens an eye, "Why?"

"We're going back to the common room – it'll be emptier in there. You don't need to worry about the noise and that. You can just rest."

He groans, shifting to sit up, "You're right as you often are."

"You flatter me, Lupin. Let's go," You say, standing up, holding a hand out for him.

He takes it with no question. You wave to the rest of the group, telling them you'll see them all at dinner. They wave back, telling Remus to feel better. His heart warms with affection for them.

His heart warms with affection for you – you could always tell what he needed and when. It had to be something of a cosmic connection.

He couldn't help but think himself lucky, for the first time in his life, as you both walk towards the common room.

It's the way he loves you:

You sit at the breakfast counter, a mug of hot coffee in your hand. Time has aged you, but it has him. And yet, to him, you're still as youthful as the day you first smiled at him and he first fell head over heels.

You twist the wedding band sitting on your left hand; lost entirely to a daydream that Remus wishes he was party to. If only for a day, an hour – he would love to see what goes in your mind as you drift into your daydreams.

He takes moments like these often; where he can stand back and admire the woman who married him without a second thought. He admires the woman who has loved him every day since Fifth Year and would continue to love him to the end of time itself.

Your hair has started to grey and lines form around your eyes when you smile or laugh. He know his is doing the same, but for all the time, he has spent with you. He has never loved or wanted you more.

It's the way he loves you:

With his entire being.

Remus Lupin has loved you from the very moment you were paired together in Herbology and you asked him if he truly understood what was happening; laughing when he admitted he did not. But your laugh, your smile – the way it lit up your face. All he could do after leaving the greenhouses was think of you; James, Sirius and Peter all gave him shit for it.

But he knew, he knew then and there that he had fallen absolutely arse over tea kettle in love with you – he just had to work up the nerve to ask you out.

He did or rather you beat him to it when he started to stutter through his question. Putting a hand on his, telling him that yes, you would like to go to Hogsmeade with him this weekend, that you'll meet him in the clocktower courtyard and that you can't wait. He watches you walk away in a daze with absolutely no idea as to how he just managed to get you to agree to a Hogsmeade date.

Remus has battled with who he is for a very long time; he knows that he won't ever feel at peace with the curse bestowed upon him at such a young age. He has trouble accepting every single part of himself, but you do. You accepted it all and accepted it with open arms. In that instant, he knew he would follow you to the ends of the earth to ensure your happiness.

Everything was easier with you; as if the burden of his lycanthropy was lightened and that he didn't need to feel constant pressure and worry of whether someone would find out his secret. You were there to kiss away any anxiety, any issue. For that, he devoted himself to you.