Warnings: Slash like the wind! SB/RL

Disclaimer: I own nothing but an '85 Chevy station wagon that won't start.

Notes: Thanks to my beta, Oony, who writes amazing Remus and Sirius stories. Also, this chapter is dedicated to Scision, who is miraculously able to read and review 30 seconds after I post. Amazing!

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Unexpected

by Rekahneko

Chapter 2 of 2

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Sirius and James snaked their way through thick groups of people in the dark pub.

"Do you see him?"

"Not yet. Wait, I think that is him." James pointed over to one of the booths where two young men were kissing roughly.

"Hey Remus!" James' voice carried across the crowd.

Remus jumped up off his seat. In doing so, he dislodged a boy with dyed black hair who had been sitting on his lap. The boy landed on the pub floor with a loud 'thunk' but Remus barely spared him a glance before redirecting his attention to his friends from school.

"Err, hi guys. What are you doing here?" Remus' voice was a bit strangled and he ran his hand through his hair uneasily.

"We thought we would stop by for a surprise visit." James smiled broadly at his friend's discomfort, thinking it all an amusing joke for his own benefit.

"Yes, well. You really nailed the surprise part," Remus muttered, almost to himself.

Sirius just glared, noticing a bit of blood where his friend's lower lip had split.

"So, um, why don't we find a table or something," Remus suggested, nervously twining his fingers together.

"What about your friends?" Sirius said with an edge to his voice as he finally joined the conversation.

"Right. An introduction. Okay." Remus was clearly uncomfortable with the thought of the two groups of friends intermingling. He pointed at each person in turn. "Sirius, James, Sarah, Robert, and Daniel." At the last name, he motioned to the floor and wrinkled his nose with a slightly disgusted face at the boy still sitting there, looking confused, in the midst of peanut shells and spilt beer.

"Great! Now let's go get a table." Remus dragged his two school friends away without further comment to his previous tablemates who didn't seem particularly bothered. He pulled Sirius and James over to the farthest corner of the pub.

As they settled at the table, there was a brief, awkward pause as Remus tried to think of something to say, James grinned maniacally, and Sirius glowered.

"So, what made you decide to show up for an unannounced visit," Remus finally said, trying to sound more interested than accusing.

"Well Moony, we decided to travel this summer. It took a while to get my Mom to agree, but heck, we are seventeen and ready to be on our own, right? So Sirius and I got these really cool bottomless backpacks, well, of course they aren't really truly bottomless…"

While James continued waxing poetic about the summer so far, Remus sneaked a peak at Sirius. Yes, he was still glaring, obviously upset.

I wonder what he is so ticked about this time. And Sarah says I am moody. But wow, he looks good with a tan. Come on, Remus, don't stare.

"Remus?"

"Oh I agree," he replied, having no idea what it was that James had been saying.

James smiled at him, delighted. "I am glad you think it's fine that we put off all our school work until the end of the vacation. That is so unlike you to agree! Finally you are coming around to our point of view. Sirius and I have had a good influence on you, right, Pads?" He elbowed Sirius in the ribs.

"Yeah, whatever." Sirius scowled at the tabletop.

Remus coughed, feeling awkward again. "You want me to get us a few beers or something?" he said weakly, hoping for an excuse to leave the table for a moment and get his bearings.

"No worries, Rem, I got it!" The tense atmosphere had made James uncomfortable enough to test his newly acquired and slightly dubious skills with muggle money.

Sighing, Remus watched James wind his way through the milling crowd to the bar. This day was just not going well.

"So, Sirius, how is the trip so far?" He turned to his friend, hoping for a calm, neutral conversation.

"Shit, Remus, what the hell?" Obviously Remus was out of luck.

"What do you mean?" Remus flinched inwardly while working to keep his expression blank.

"What the hell are you doing with these people? What is wrong with you? Are you like this every summer? How come you never told us about your friends?" Sirius' voice was laced with acid.

Remus winced at the tone and then frowned. "These are just people I hang around with, not really friends or anything..." His cautious tone didn't go over well by the expression on his friend's face.

"They are a bunch of losers and you are acting all different. This isn't you at all!"

Remus looked down to notice his fists clenched. He took a deep breath before answering coolly, "They aren't so bad. They keep me from dying of boredom all summer. And how exactly would you know how I am acting? You guys just arrived." Remus raised an eyebrow, trying to stay calm and collected.

"You are different, don't deny it. I don't like it. And what is up with you and that guy? You were all over each other."

A low growl escaped before Remus could stop it. "Leave it alone, Sirius. Are you going to turn all sanctimonious on me all of a sudden? Like you have never seen two guys together or something? Like you didn't mess around with that 7th year Huffelpuff guy last year? Out of everyone, I always thought you would be the one to understand a bit of harmless fun."

"That's not it at all, Remus," said Sirius, looking like that was, in fact, it.

"So what is the problem then? The drinking? Are you forgetting that you and James got trashed at least once a month last year? Don't tell me you are upset at me for drinking a bit. Cigarettes? What?"

Sirius didn't say anything, instead he intently traced the grain of the wood table.

"Then what the hell is it? Gods, why are you always so difficult."

James arrived with a pitcher of beer and several glasses, interrupting the tense silence with a story about how the barmaid reminded him of his one true love, Lily. They had heard it all before since just about everything reminded James of Lily.

After an uncomfortable hour or two of strained conversation between Remus and Sirius, interspersed with long winded tales from James, the three boys made their way back to the Lupin house. They settled on the newly transfigured beds that had somehow been squeezed into the small bedroom that belonged to Remus.

As usual, James fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow while the other two Marauders tossed and turned.

Finally, Sirius interrupted the silence, "Listen Moony, I am sorry I was such a brat today. I was just surprised, that's all."

"Not unexpected, I guess." Remus shrugged into the darkness and sighed.

There was a long pause before Sirius spoke again. "Why do you hang out with those people, Remus?"

Remus thought a moment before answering. "Here, with them, I can do anything I want."

"And this is what you want, Remus? Merlin! What the hell is wrong with you?" Sirius looked away from his friend, trying unsuccessfully to hide his frustration and confusion.

"Sirius, you don't know what it is like to be held up to an impossible standard." Instead of the angry tone he had used earlier, Remus' voice was quiet and imploring.

"You and James get to fly by, pulling wonderful grades out of your ass at the last minute, charming your way out of detention. Everyone looks at me and expects a model student and perfect behavior. I can't let anyone point to anything I do and say, 'See? I knew we shouldn't have let a werewolf into Hogwarts.'"

Sirius looked up in surprise.

"I have all the hopes of the werewolf community pinned on my performance, whether they know it or not. Dumbledore put his job on the line to have me at Hogwarts, you know. Nothing less than flawless will do. I don't suppose you have any idea what I feel like I risk every time I help with a prank." Remus peered sideways at his friend, trying to judge his reaction.

"But that's not fair! You shouldn't have to live up to all of that. You shouldn't have to be like anything other than yourself."

"No, I shouldn't. It sucks." Remus curled up in a ball, hugging his pillow to his chest. His eyes closed and he took a deep breath before continuing. "You know, I have always been a bit jealous of you."

Sirius widened his eyes, tipping his head to the side in inquiry.

"You had a lot of ridiculous expectations on you too, but you were able to leave them behind when you left your family. I can't get away from being a werewolf, ever."

Remus continued. "But these people I hang around with, they don't care about expectations or any of that. Actually, they don't care about anything at all really. I admit to using them to do a fair bit of venting during the last two summers. It helps."

"Oh." Sirius mused silently for a while. "So, does this mean you aren't really the person I always thought you were?"

"I suppose that all depends on who you assumed I was." Remus' voice held a thoughtful note.

"Well, I thought you were shy, quiet, conservative." Sirius mentally added, 'Nice, boring, straight.'

"Shy? I don't know about that, Pads. People are not always worth the trouble, especially when you have secrets like mine. I suppose I am quiet most of the time, truly an introvert. And you should know I'm not as rule bound as everyone else at school seems to think. I help enough with the pranking for you to have figured that out at least."

Sirius pulled at the edge of his blanket. He started to speak, hesitated, and then started again. "You weren't very nice to that one guy at the pub. I haven't ever seen you be less than careful with someone else's feelings like that." Sirius spoke softly as if to lessen the critical nature of the comment.

Remus didn't seem to mind. "True, I wasn't very nice." He shrugged into the darkness. "I don't really care. None of us are particularly nice to each other. No one is bothered about it and things are better that way."

"But if he is your boyfriend, don't you, well, I mean, don't you like him?"

"Oh, he isn't my boyfriend. He is just some guy to help pass the time; a stand-in for someone I might want to have a real relationship with." Remus carefully did not look at Sirius while he said those words. "I don't really like him much at all to tell the truth. Dan has done so many drugs his mind is in a constant haze. Don't feel too bad for him, Sirius. As soon as I am gone, he will be in someone else's bed."

"It just doesn't seem very nice."

"What about Susan Jones?"

"What about her," Sirius said, warily.

"How is my lack of a relationship with Dan any different then what you didn't have with Susan last year?"

"It just is."

"Right. Sirius, you are such an ass sometimes."

"It's just that, well, it's just not you, Remus. The 'you' that I thought I knew anyway."

"And what do you think about this 'me' that you felt like you knew so well?"

"You were, I mean are, my friend! A great person!"

"What do you really think, Sirius? You know what I believe? I believe you think of me as an uptight, straight-laced, pushover. You and James forget I am around half the time unless you need a copy of the class notes or help with your homework because you left it until the last minute."

"That's not fair!"

"Isn't it? Well, in the last few years it certainly seems like that is what you think of me, when you bother to think of me at all." Remus sighed. "I am probably just being over dramatic."

Rubbing his forehead as if he had a headache, Remus continued. "Listen, don't worry about it. Things will be back to normal when we get to Hogwarts, okay, Sirius?"

There was a long silence.

"It's not true, you know."

"What isn't true, Pads?"

"We do think of you. I do. A lot. All the time. I just always thought you were untouchable, perfect. It was like you never made a mistake, never did anything wrong. And now… I just don't know what to think."

"Why do you have to think anything in particular?"

"I'm not James, you know. He can just accept anything that is thrown at him, grin, and move on. To be honest, seeing you here this summer is shaking my foundations." Sirius sent a rueful smile over at the boy on the next bed over.

"Well, you could have owled before arriving and things never would have changed."

"When I do ever plan ahead? And it's good that I know more about you, right? Even if it isn't something I… Something I might have figured out on my own."

"You were going to say 'even if it isn't something I like,' weren't you? I really am sorry for destroying the image you had of your 'Perfect Prefect.' I hope you didn't find out too many things about me that you don't like."

There was no response as Sirius seemed to be thinking over the conversation so far.

"You know," he said finally, "I think that doing what you want to do is more important than living up to some image that you feel like people expect of you."

"You believe my pitiful excuse for a social life is more important than the future of the werewolf community? Than Dumbledore's job?"

Sirius shook his head, "No, that's not what I am trying to say."

"Listen Moony, I will make you a deal. You come with James and me sometimes when we are being a little wild during the school year and I will make sure it never gets back to anyone. Your reputation will stay intact, okay? Nothing will be ruined or changed, I promise."

Remus wondered. Maybe his friends' arrival hadn't been such a bad thing after all. Perhaps he was giving in too quickly, but he was so tired of pretending, hiding. "All right Padfoot, but I will be taking you up on your promise. If I get into trouble beyond a few detentions, you are so dead."

Sirius grinned back. "I have to admit that I've gotten used to you sitting high up there on that pedestal. But it might be much more interesting now that you are down here with the rest of us…"

Moving over a bit to where his own bed touched Remus', Sirius leaned closer. "Remus, I have a very important question for you."

"What is it, Sirius?"

"Do you have a thing for black haired guys?" His mischievous smile was a welcome change from his earlier bout of dour moodiness.

Remus sent a considering glance over to his classmate. "Perhaps," he equivocated.

He was rewarded with a wide smile. "Excellent."

Sirius brought his hand up the other boy's face and caressed his cheek. As Remus' eyes widened, he let his thumb run across the slightly parted lips before closing in with his own mouth.

The two pulled apart after only a few breathless moments, Remus still looking a bit surprised and Sirius smiling smugly.

"What about James?" The werewolf chewed on his lip, glancing to Sirius and then to their slumbering roommate.

"Don't worry, you know how he sleeps like a rock, and anyhow, Prongs is at least three feet away from us."

At Remus' skeptical look, Sirius flashed a wicked grin and pulled him closer.