Warnings: Slash - if you don't like it, don't read it. If you don't know what it is, don't read it. Rated for drinking, swearing, and a vague sort of sexiness. SB/RL

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Heck, I don't even own my own sofa.

Notes: Notes: Thanks to my brilliant beta Oony! I am trying for a bit of a different style than what I have already posted. Helpful hints would be… well… helpful. Thanks!

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Remus' Summer

by Rekahneko

Chapter 1 of 2

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"The man at the store said the house was over here somewhere, Sirius; I am sure it isn't too far now."

"Remind me again why we didn't just floo over?"

"Because this is supposed to be an adventure. You know, two best friends roughing it, traveling the world, seeing where the road takes us."

"Okay how about reminding me why I am friends with you again?"

"Ha, ha. You just have no stamina. Wait until I tell your fan club at Hogwarts!" James ignored the glare from his friend. "Anyhow, I think I see the house beyond those trees."

"Well, at least I'll be able to see Moony. I haven't seen anybody else this entire vacation, and you're driving me up a wall!"

They trudged a bit farther in the hot sun before James spoke again. "It's going to be such a great surprise, us showing up on his doorstep. I haven't been to his house in two years."

"Are you sure his mom won't mind us just showing up?"

"It will be fine. If we tell her that we plan on staying in town, she will almost certainly invite us to stay at the house instead, and if she doesn't, well, we just find a place nearby. But I'm sure it will be all right."

The two boys walked down the dusty country lane, approaching the Lupin house. The orchard around the house hung heavy with fruit and the flower garden burst with color.

A figure was crouched down next to a large line of plants in a part of the garden that looked like a vegetable patch.

"Mrs. Lupin!" James hailed Remus' mother, beaming happily at her from across the lawn.

The older woman rose from her perusal of the vegetables and, after studying the two boys for a moment, said, "James? Sirius?" She smiled as they walked up to her spot in the yard.

"Hi, Mrs. Lupin, James and I were just passing by," Sirius ignored an elbow from his friend, "and thought we would stop in and say hello to Remus. Is he around?"

"Remus is about somewhere. He might be in town at the bookstore or the library," she said vaguely as she paused to wipe her forehead with the back of her hand. "Will you be staying in town for a while? If so, you are always welcome to stay with us of course; there is plenty of room."

"We would love to stay for a few days if that doesn't put you out too much. James and I are traveling the country this summer, backpacking and visiting friends and family."

Sirius paused and gave Mrs. Lupin his most charming smile. "Actually we stopped at both the library and the bookstore and even the café on the corner when we passed through town and we didn't see him."

"Well, maybe Remus is somewhere with those local friends of his. He keeps busy, but I saw him a few days ago. He mentioned going to the boat docks once or twice so perhaps if you checked there… I can never keep up with you teenagers and whatever it is you all do." She shrugged, gave a distant smile and went back to her garden.

"Thanks! We will go find him then. See you later, Mrs. Lupin."

The two black haired boys turned and started back to town. As they left earshot, James turned to his friend. "I wish my mom was more like Remus' mother and didn't worry about where I was going all the time. She lets him do whatever he wants. Do you have any idea how difficult it was to get Mom to let me take this trip?"

"Yes, I do since I was right there at the time. I live with you now, remember?" Sirius knocked on his friend's head, clearly looking to see if anyone was home.

"Funny. I guess Moony finally made some friends around here. I wonder if they are muggle or wizarding."

Sirius scowled. "Remus never says anything about his home life and he certainly didn't mention any friends. He never mentions anything. That is one of the reasons I wanted to visit. I wasn't able to before, remember? I was stuck at 12 Grimmauld all summer when you were here last."

"I remember, Sirius. But it isn't like you are so forthcoming about your own summers or anything."

"Hey! I am now that I live with you. It's just that Moony is always so quiet and proper and I picture him sitting alone in the library all summer, occasionally leaving for tea and a bit of chocolate."

James grinned at the image. "Yeah, I could see that. But obviously he has found a few people to hang out with so he must not be completely miserable or anything."

"Yeah, I guess not." Sirius didn't look particularly pleased at the thought that the quietest Marauder might have other friends. "They better be nice to him though. You know how he can get. He is much too nice and way too polite. People are bound to take advantage."

"I am sure he's fine, Sirius. And stop being so overprotective. You act like his mother sometimes, I swear."

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"I think I see some people over there by that building next to the lake. Let's go look."

"Prongs! Let's use the invisibility cloak." Sirius brightened at the idea of skulking around while his friend sighed. "Don't look at me like that, it will be fun. We can sneak up and scare Moony or something, I dunno. If he isn't there we can throw a dungbomb and see how the muggles react. Assuming they are muggles. How can we tell?"

"Wizards will have wands, Sirius." James rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but if they are wizards around muggles, maybe they hide their wands. Remember that one muggle looking guy we ran into last week? The one who yelled at us for acting too wizard…ish in front of muggles? There was no way I would have suspected him to be a wizard."

"Whatever, Sirius, let's just get the cloak out already." James sighed his annoyance while Sirius smirked at getting his way.

They ducked around a tree, enlarged and then searched through their bags.

"Isn't it great that we can finally do magic now that we are over 17? Even if we have to hide it when we are muggling around."

"Muggling? Did you just invent another word, Padfoot?"

"You know you love it. Come on. Hurry up with the cloak so we can find Remus, okay? I am starting to get hungry."

"You are always hungry. Here it is, just let me shrink our packs again."

The two boys peered around to make sure they were alone before shrinking their large backpacks and hiding under the cloak. They carefully made their way toward the tiny dots against the building, one of whom may or may not be their missing friend.

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Remus Lupin was having a bad day. The next full moon was 2 weeks away and he was completely recovered from the last one so there was no excuse on that front. The last time he had actually seen them around the house, his family had been perfectly pleasant in their normal distant way. Though Remus had his usual frustration at their apathetic response when it came to anything to do with their only son, they weren't the problem either. He just had this creeping sensation that something was going to happen today that he wasn't going to enjoy it at all.

"Maybe I shouldn't have stayed out so late last night," Remus said quietly to himself, shifting slightly as he leaned against the wall of a large white building with peeling paint.

"Thought it was fun." The boy next to him turned bleary eyes in Remus' direction. His faded black t-shirt screamed death threats at anyone who could read, and, though the dyed black hair and chains on his clothes gave off a rather intimidating look, it was completely belied by the vacant look in his eyes.

"Whatever. Hand me a smoke, I'm out." Remus grimaced, recalling how earlier, he had brilliantly knocked his last pack of cigarettes into the lake. It was just one of those days it seemed.

"Get your own, Lupin."

"No, you owe me, hand them over, you git." Remus glared.

When none were forthcoming, Remus turned to the girl slumped on the ground next to them. "Sarah?"

"Sorry. You want something to drink instead?" The plump girl waved a mostly full bottle at him.

"Isn't it a little early?" Remus eyed the girl critically, noting her shrug. He thought for a moment. "Fine then. Thanks."

Remus took a long drink, screwing up his face in distaste as the powerful alcohol burned his throat. "This stuff is shit straight." He gazed morosely at the liquid as he swirled it around inside the bottle for a moment. After another large swig, he held the bottle out to her.

She nodded absently as she took the bottle back.

"This day sucks. I am bored and annoyed and damn it, Daniel, I really need a cigarette." The blond moved to stand, hands fisted on his hips, in front of the glassy-eyed, dark haired boy.

"Fuck you, Remus," his friend replied, without too much vehemence.

Suddenly, Remus' hands shot out, catching both of the boy's wrists and locking them against the wall. "Really?" Remus suggested, leaning in close, eyes narrowed. "Promise?"

"Get a room you two," said the bored girl from the ground. "Or at least move a little so I can get a better view."

"What will you give me to make a show of it?" Remus smirked down at the girl and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively as he pressed up against the other boy.

She pretended to consider for a moment. "Not worth it." She laughed at his mock offended expression. "Especially since I can get a free show tonight when you get trashed at the pub."

Remus snickered his agreement while the black haired boy smiled vaguely, looking a bit confused but generally unconcerned over the exchange.

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The two boys under the invisibility cloak shook off their shock and, in silent agreement, started moving away from the group they had been observing.

"Maybe he has a twin brother we don't know about," Sirius whispered.

"I don't think so."

"A cousin?"

"Let's just go back to town and get some lunch, all right?"

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A year ago, Remus felt like the end of fifth year at Hogwarts couldn't have come fast enough. After the Whomping Willow incident, he had spent a lot of time re-evaluating his friends, his goals, his life. Remus found himself with a lot of anger and no outlet, especially since he wasn't on particularly comfortable terms with James and Peter and he wasn't talking at all to Sirius.

That is how he was feeling the first day of summer vacation when he had wandered aimlessly around town, thinking. He had looked for a distraction, some way to vent. What he found was a group of misfit teenagers willing to include him without question. They didn't ask too many questions and they weren't at all picky about how anyone behaved or what anyone did with their time. Remus couldn't say they were friends exactly, they just helped stave off the boredom. They were a perfect way to pass the summer for an angry, frustrated teenager.

Remus managed not to pick up any habits that were too difficult to drop when school swung around again in the autumn, and no one had noticed anything different about him. He was pleased about that but also a tad bitter because, when it came to him, no one ever looked too hard under the surface. Maybe he was just too difficult to read or too secretive, but it was aggravating that within a minute of seeing James, he could tell if the boy had been recently rejected by Lily or not. Remus knew exactly when Sirius had been talking to his brother or received another letter from his family, and he knew when Peter was feeling excluded or offended by his friends.

What did his friends really know about him? They knew he was a werewolf, and they accepted that. Remus appreciated it, he really did. Yet, sometimes, it was as if that was it for them. As if he had a role to fill as Nerdy Werewolf Friend and they didn't even know it didn't really fit him as well as it might. Though he missed his real friends, he was relieved to be back with the summer crowd, just because he could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, without feeling like he had to fit into a particular mold.

Remus had finished up sixth year with his usual high grades but without nearly as much anger as he had at the end of fifth year. Instead, he was annoyed and bored but happy once again to be away from the stifling nature of the social scene that was Hogwarts. He didn't know what his friends would make of his summer situation and at this point, he wasn't really interested in finding out. Not that they ever asked, really.