Rosy cheeks, numb fingertips

Cold

The weather outside was freezing. Light grey clouds hung in the sky, and the air itself seemed to contain ice particles. A light wind blew through the trees, making the cold even more obvious, as icy air whipped past noses and through hair and down necks and backs.
Remus, personally, loved it. While most everyone else stayed in their houses, warm and safe from the biting cold, Remus walked through the woods and around the town, crunching snow underneath his boots and almost-painfully breathing in the air. He loved that everyone stayed inside and he had the time to himself. He loved the way the cold froze his skin and made his toes and fingers ache, and made his cheeks and ears bright red.
Even when his eardrums started to hurt and his stomach begged for a hot drink, his favorite thing was just to be out there.
Today was one of those days. His best friend, Lily, never had understood his love of the winter, and hated how very red it would make her, how after about 5 minutes she would turn the same color as her flaming hair.
She had stayed inside like everybody else, curled up by the fire with her book and her tea.
Remus, meanwhile, was walking one of his most frequently occupied routes, the path from behind his houses that wound through the woods and ended at a fountain in the middle of the town. His hands were shoved deep into his pockets and his scarf was wrapped loosely around his neck, just covering his chin.

He breathed in deeply, enjoying how sore his lungs became as the cold air rushed in, and looked around the area. The woods were spooky at night, the dark making twisting branches and chattering animals the perfect setting or a horror movie. But during the day it was beautiful. The animals were visible and non-threatening, and the trees looked more safe and protective than intimidating. Remus's eyes scanned the area, taking in the familiar sights and sounds, and barely even flinched when a bush rattled to the left of him. Until the bush began to curse, of course.

A variety of creative expletives were definitely coming from the bush, as it continued to rattle. If it was possessed, Remus thought the ghost must have been raised by sailors. He took a hesitant step towards the bush, not being too afraid, as he figured that there was a good explanation for this freak of nature.

On his second step toward the bush, a figure erupted from it. A young man, about his age, had abruptly gotten to his feet in the middle of the bush, trampling it as he did. Remus took a step back in surprise, stifling a scream that threatened to leave his mouth, and examined the man in front of him.
He was tall, with wild black shoulder-length hair, that seemed to have survived its time in the bush, with only a small stick left to prove the experience. His face was ruggedly handsome, chiseled features and thick dark eyebrows. The man was sporting a small hoop in his right ear and two silver rings in his left eyebrow.
He was currently blinking in surprise at Remus and slowly lowering his hand that had held a key ring in triumph previously.

The man cleared his throat. "I promise I wasn't spying on you. Didn't know you were there, to be honest. Was looking for my keys. Found them! As you can see" he held up the keys again as he spoke. "Not that you're easy to miss or anything I definitely would have noticed you if I weren't so focused on the keys. Not that you stand out!" His cheeks took on a dark tint as he continued to ramble on.
He most likely would have continued, but Remus decided to save him from himself.

"Remus." He said, stepping forward and putting out his hand, as, he figured, was the polite thing to do in this situation.

The man looked down at the extended hand in surprise, then back up to Remus's face.
"Oh! Right. I'm Sirius." He grasped Remus's hand awkwardly with the hand that was still holding his keys, gasping as he realized and let go immediately. "Sorry! Didn't mean to stab you." He offered up a sheepish smile.

Remus laughed. "It's fine, what were your keys doing in that bush?"

Sirius blushed again. "I.. may or may not have chucked them at a squirrel who I briefly thought was an assailant."