Patience
Title: Patience
Author: SassyInkPen (August 2004)
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Remus/Peter
Rating: [Mature]
Part: 1/1
Summary: Written for the Remus Remix Challenge. Remus and Peter seek comfort from each other. NOTE: The drabble I was given was such a charming and wonderful piece of dialog, that I put it directly into the story and then built around it.

Author I was given: i_smile

Drabble:

"And that one?"

"Here, let me see," Peter said. He leaned closer, squinting up at the
sky. Soft hair brushed Remus's cheek; heat curled in his belly. "Which one?"

"Bright one, sort of reddish."

"Remus." He could hear Peter's grin. "That's not a star. That's Mars."

He laughed, embarrassed. "I said I needed help."

"Why ask me?"

Remus shrugged. "You're good. And Sirius and James, they're not...."

"Patient," Peter supplied. Remus nodded.

They fell silent. Peter's eyes skimmed the constellations; faint
moonlight outlined the curves of his face. He turned, then, and smiled at Remus; Remus felt he finally belonged.



Patience
By SassyInkPen

*****

If it seemed that the Marauders were a unified force, that was only partly true. Certainly, they were all friends, very good friends in fact. But the years, and the process of growing up took its toll on them as it did on anyone, and the older they got, the more convoluted their group became. James and Sirius lead the pack...called the shots, ran the show. They did everything, and they did it all together. They included Remus and Peter, of course. Remus never really questioned their friendship, but he sometimes wondered whether or not they considered it a gift. He knew they thought they were doing Peter a favor.

He wasn't. He genuinely liked Peter. In fact, he liked him a lot, and these days it was beginning to alarm him a little bit. Not that it was all bad, but it was so completely unexpected that he wasn't sure what to do about it. So far, all he'd been able to work up to was a bit of mild pining at bedtime when he could watch Peter undress and climb into bed. He rarely fell asleep before he got to see Peter's shaggy hair drop loosely over his eyes as he turned over in his sleep.

Then Remus would lie flat on his back, eyes squeezed shut and breath ragged as he tried desperately to banish this want that tugged at him wherever he went. In the mornings he would sit in the tangle of his blankets, sleepy eyed and attentive as Peter got ready for school. Peter would grin and prod him, saying, "You are so lazy...I don't know how you make it to class on time."

The more that James and Sirius banded together to fight their pointless battles and play their stupid tricks, and the more that Peter tried desperately to fit in and prove himself...the worse Remus felt. He hated to see the way they treated Peter. They didn't see what he did, they were too wrapped up in themselves.

It didn't take long for Remus to realize that he had to do something about the way he felt. He would surely die of it if he didn't. But...working up the resolve was an entirely different matter. For weeks he hung around with Peter, half-listening and half-yearning, lacking the courage to just say it. Or do something. He was earning the nickname Mooney in more ways than one...

Still, it wasn't wasted time. He truly enjoyed every moment that he spent with his friend and they were growing closer every day. It lessened the sting of being on the outside for both of them, he thought. But he knew that Peter still felt left out a lot of the time, and he took any opportunity to try and bring him in. Or even to get him alone, which had other advantages as well. Ones which tended to become more urgent in the days before the full moon, when he started to feel it's pull.

*****

"And that one?"

"Here, let me see," Peter said. He leaned closer, squinting up at the sky. Soft hair brushed Remus's cheek; heat curled in his belly. "Which one?"

"Bright one, sort of reddish."

"Remus." He could hear Peter's grin. "That's not a star. That's Mars."

He laughed, embarrassed. "I said I needed help."

"Why ask me?"

Remus shrugged. "You're good. And Sirius and James, they're not...."

"Patient," Peter supplied. Remus nodded.

They fell silent. Peter's eyes skimmed the constellations; faint
moonlight outlined the curves of his face. He turned, then, and smiled at Remus; Remus felt he finally belonged. He knew it was now or never. They lay side by side in the grass on one of the steep hillsides by the lake, where they could be comfortable and have an excellent view of the sky, and when Peter looked at him that way, he knew...

Peter grinned, "Well you're always so good with me...thought I'd return the favor."

Remus rolled to his side and reached out to brush a lock of hair from Peter's face. Then he felt that little curl of heat expanding, and before he knew it, he was on his elbow, leaning over Peter and pressing his lips awkwardly to Peter's mouth.

He could feel Peter's hands clutching at him and sense his alarm, but it felt so good that he just couldn't stop. Climbing on top of Peter, Remus stroked his hair and gingerly moved his kisses to Peter's cheeks and neck.

"Mooney?!" gasped Peter as soon as his mouth was free, "What are you doing?!"

"Don't ask me to stop, Peter," breathed Remus, threading his fingers with Peter's and pressing both hands to the ground. "I just....I need this, please..."

"But Mooney?!"

"Look, I'm not hurting you am I?" Remus whispered against a pink ear before tracing his tongue around it.

"No, but..."

"But nothing," pleaded Remus as his breath grew ragged and he climbed over Peter's legs, stretching out on top of him. "It feels good doesn't it?" he panted, "You can't deny that...I can hear the way you're breathing..."

"You're squashing me, Mooney," Peter said breathlessly as he arched beneath him.

Remus couldn't quite tell if he was leaning into his kisses or trying to get away from them. He put more of his weight on his knees and eased up just a little, then he carefully captured Peter's mouth in a slower, more skilled kind of kiss. Peter tasted warm and sweet and Remus moaned with long pent up desire. After a few moments, he realized that Peter was responding ever so slightly and might even be considered to be kissing back.

He picked up his head and looked at his friend, soft brown hair tussled and spread on the grass, eyes shining. Peter looked surprised still, but not angry and there was a certain encouraging look of curiosity in his expression.

Remus grinned at the innocent look on Peter's face, "I guess I sort of took you by surprise, hmm?"

"Yeah. But it's ok." Peter blushed. "It...it does feel good."

"You sure? I...I didn't mean to get carried away."

"I'm sure."

Peter's hands were at his shoulders now, clutching him softly and starting to venture over his arms and back. When Remus felt Peter's cool fingers slip up the side of his neck, under his hair, he gasped and met Peter's gaze. Peter grinned, and this time when Remus kissed him, there was no mistaking the way he kissed back.

Remus moaned with pleasure and rolled off to Peter's side, pulling him with so that they could curl around each other in the grass. The light breeze flickered around them and was just cool enough so that every time their lips met, Remus was surprised again at how warm they were.

He ran a hand down Peter's side and stroked his leg. All the thoughts that he had while lying in bed came to his mind, and he grew curious. He wondered if he affected Peter the way Peter affected him. Brushing his fingers up the inside of Peter's thigh, he searched for the answering hardness that would tell him if Peter's response was genuine.

Peter gasped and moaned against the side of his neck when he found it. Remus couldn't help but grin at the shy way Peter hid his face, but he didn't stop. He turned his hand over and cupped the bulge between Peter's legs. The soft fabric of Peter's corduroy trousers stretched taut over his straining erection and carried the warmth of the boy's body.

"Remus..." pleaded Peter in a shaky voice.

"Hmm?" Remus was already reaching for the button on Peter's waistband, but the look of uncertainty Peter gave him made him stop and pull his hand away.

"I'm...I'm sorry..." mumbled Peter, looking painfully embarrassed.

"It's all right," Remus told him, brushing the hair from his eyes and pulling him close. "We're the patient ones, remember?"

Peter grinned and moved so that he could kiss Remus this time. And really, that was as good as anything, Remus thought, wrapping his arms around him. They lay there, kissing and talking until the stars were fading into the early haze before daybreak and they knew they had to get back.

If it seemed, after that, that the Marauders were not such a unified force anymore, no one made any notice of it. And if James and Sirius noticed that their friends did not spend as much time with them as they used to, they didn't say anything. For his part, Remus quit worrying about them and what they thought...because he had far better things to think about. Especially when sitting in his bed, watching Peter getting ready for school.

The End