fatal love

chapter 98

Sirius didn't bother going back to see the rest of the Marauders. When Benjy left to go to the Hog's Head, he went straight back to the castle. It was unsurprisingly quiet, but the Gryffindor Common Room was overrun with First and Second Years, taking advantage of getting to sit on the sofas for once instead of being relegated to their dorms.

With no one around, Sirius grabbed some work he needed to get done and headed to the library. Madam Pince smiled at him when he came in, and he waved at her before choosing one of the desks at the back. He worked on some translations for Ancient Runes for a while, taking his time and enjoying the logical nature of the work. He'd been there for at least two hours before he saw Remus walking over, an apprehensive expression on his face.

"Are you alright?" Remus asked, sitting down next to him.

"Sure," Sirius shrugged, "just trying to get ahead on some stuff."

"You and Fenwick seemed... tense."

He grimaced. "We chatted, we're fine. I don't really wanna talk about it."

"Did he..." Remus looked very uncomfortable. "Did he... cheat on you or something?"

The idea was so ridiculous that Sirius had to laugh. "No, Merlin, no," he said quickly. "We aren't even like that - if anything I've cheated on him."

"With me? " Remus frowned.

"No- well, I mean, yes, I guess, but not you, and him and I aren't, you know-"

"So there are others?"

"Well, yes, I mean, only- but it wasn't-" Sirius sighed in frustration. His words were coming out a garbled mess as he tried to explain himself. "This is coming out all wrong. Forget it."

Remus stared at him, his eyebrows furrowed. "Okay," he said slowly. "But are you, like, okay? You aren't, y'know... upset?"

Sirius smiled at Remus, struck again by just how bloody kind the boy was. If Remus had been hooking up with someone, and then got into a fight with that person, Sirius would probably have thrown a party in celebration. But here Remus was, trying his best, bless him, to put his own feelings aside and check on Sirius. Even if Remus had got the wrong end of the stick, it made Sirius feel a rush of affection.

"I'm fine, Moony," he assured him. "We... I just didn't like a decision Benjy made. But he didn't do anything wrong, and we talked about it."

"Alright," Remus said, "if you're sure?"

"I am," Sirius said.

"So... the others?" Remus looked hesitant.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You wanna hear about all my escapades, Moony?" he smirked.

Remus glared at him.

"It's not enough for you to be thinking about me and Fenwick?" Sirius continued in a low voice. Fuck it, he never claimed that he was kind. "Me and him, alone, for hours... you want me to tell you when there are others? What I do with them? What I do to them?"

"Fuck you," Remus growled.

Sirius bit his lip. "I want to."

"Stop it."

Sirius snorted. "I'm fucking with you, Moony," he said. "I snogged another guy, once. There wasn't anything there, I barely know the bloke."

"Oh."

"Glad to know I can get you all jealous though." Sirius winked at him. "It's hot."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I'm glad I'm so amusing to you."