the cadence of part time poets

Chapter 68: Interlude

Workin' on our night moves,
Try'na lose the awkward teenage blues;
Workin' on our night moves,
Mhm...
And it was summertime...

- "Night Moves" Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, 1976

The morning following...

Remus awoke first. It was almost noon. Outside the sun was beaming, and if they'd bothered to throw the curtains aside and open a window, they might have heard the tell-tale signs of life at the estate. Dogs barking from their yard and kennel, a mower busy chewing up the grass, even the sound of Sandra's fancy sports car as it zoomed up the front drive. She and Lyall were off on another day trip. Remus didn't care enough to remember where, as long as it was away. It'd become a norm since summer's start; Sandra enjoyed getting out of the house, and Lyall enjoyed Sandra. It was a symbiotic enough relationship, albeit still a bit strange to Remus. They'd be married soon, he recalled. She'd move in, find a place to put her fancy horses and fancier cars. The maids would start calling her 'Mrs. Lupin'. Would she redecorate? Throw out the untouched linens? Retire the unused beds? Maybe. Remus wasn't sure if he looked forward to it or not. Hope had touched those linens, she'd known those beds.

Do you want to live here, Remus? His father had asked.

No, he'd answered.

Then what use do you have for linens? For beds?

None.

"Mornin'..."

Sirius had woken. He was naked save the sheet that covered him, and so close that Remus could still feel the warmth of his breath on his cheek. Sirius' hair was silhouetted around his head like a dark halo. It reminded him of all the times he'd seen him sleeping in the dorm, except now all Remus had to do was reach out and he could be running his fingers through those raven strands himself. So, he did.

Sirius blinked the sleep from his eyes. He was already smiling. Remus took it as a sign that their day would be good.

I love you, he thought.

"Mornin'," he said.

"Mhm... Been up long?" Sirius stretched, arching his back. Under the covers, Remus felt his leg shift over his own, still knotted together in tandem. Remembering the night before got his heart racing again. Sirius, Sirius, Sirius.

"No, not long," Remus answered. Then he kissed him.

Sirius kissed back, opening his mouth like a blooming rose, and then they slid together until they were sharing the same pillow. It was bliss. Slow, lazy bliss. He never wanted it to end.

"What do you want to do today?" He asked, when they parted. Their limbs were still wrapped around one another; their heartbeats the same. Thump, thu-thump!

"Anything," Sirius answered.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere."

"Anywhere?"

"Mhm.... Anywhere with you."

* * *

Late July 1977

The trip into the city had set the tone for the summer. With the rest of their friends gone on extended vacations, Remus and Sirius were free to come and go as they pleased. Lyall and Sandra seemed to be doing the same; in the span of two weeks they'd visited eight different cities spread out amongst the southern half of the country. Sandra almost always asked Remus to go with them, but he never did. He didn't want to leave Sirius for even a moment, and as nice as she was, he didn't fancy spending any more time with Sandra or his father than need be. Luckily she never pressed the matter. Remus didn't know what Lyall had told her of his reaction to the engagement, but if it meant he would be left alone, then it didn't really matter. Lyall never mentioned any of the trips either, and he never called Remus to his office or brought up the subject of his lessons again. Eventually Remus wasn't even expected to have dinner with them. It was truly like an ebbing tide; Lyall Lupin was starting over. A new life, a new wife, and no juvenile teenagers to lose sleep over.