A strong wind blew against the house, knocking pine needles onto the roof with a quiet, almost unnoticeable clatter. Sirius was happy. It was an autumn afternoon, and he was bundled up in bed, wrapped in three quilts and in the comfy pajamas Remus had given him as an early birthday present because Sirius had ruined his old ones a month before. He was comfortable and warm and had no intentions on getting out of bed today.

He was teetering on the edge of sleep when the bedroom door suddenly opening woke him with a start. "Siri! There's a bug!" Remus stumbled to a stop beside the bed, his too-long pajama pants, which used to be Sirius's, tripping him.

"So?" Sirius mumbled. "There are bugs ever'where. They don't hurt."

Remus whimpered. "Don't care. Bug in the shower. P-please get rid of it?"

Sirius cracked an eye open to peer up at the werewolf. He wasn't wearing a shirt, a sign he had been about to use the shower had the bug not taken up residence there, which Sirius found unbelievable. It was, in his opinion, bloody freezing. Remus seemed unaware of that fact or didn't care.

"Why do I have to do it? M'comfy and mmrrmmphh.." He squeezed his eyes shut and burrowed deeper into his cocoon of quilts.

"I don't want to go near it. Please, Siri! It might have left and we'll lose it and it might turn up in the bed later and..." Remus shuddered.

Sirius heaved a huge sigh, very reluctantly pushing the blankets off. He shivered as the chilly air stung his neck and chest where his top was unbuttoned. "Fine," he almost snapped. He swung his legs out of bed, being thankful that their room was carpeted. He padded out and down the hall, pausing before the bathroom. He didn't want to walk on the no doubt cold tile bare-footed. He twitchingly entered as he felt Remus push against his back impatiently.

He plucked a magazine from a rack, rolling it up and approaching the shower. He spotted the bug, an earwig of considerable size, lounging near the drain. He raised his arm to smack it with the magazine when Remus suddenly grabbed hold of his wrist. "No, don't kill it!"

"What?" Sirius looked over his shoulder at the distressed werewolf. "What else am I supposed to do? You dragged me out of bed to deal with it..."

"I didn't mean kill it. Just... pick it up somehow and let it outside?"

"Pick it up," Sirius repeated flatly. "It's a bug. It's..." He was going to say something along the lines of, 'It's not like it's an animal or really alive or anything,' but he knew that was faintly ridiculous and Remus would disagree.

So instead he released another sigh and unraveled the magazine, resting an edge near the bug and used a finger to push it on. The earwig made no show of resistance and settled on the paper happily. Remus quickly retreated, having no desire to get in the way or within touching distance of it.

Sirius straightened and made his way through the house to the backdoor, where he stopped and stared at the door, knowing he was going to have to open it and expose himself to the freezing air outside. He was oblivious to the bug crawling toward his hand.

Finally summoning up some Gryffindor courage, he opened the door and winced as a blast of chilly air swept into the house. He held his arm out and shook the magazine to release the insect, and after examining the book to make sure it was gone, quickly stepped away from the door and shut it again.

Remus had watched from the hallway, and smiled as Sirius approached. "Thank you," he said.

"Mmph. Can I go back to bed now?" was the grumpy reply. Remus nodded and reentered the bathroom, shutting the door behind himself. Sirius plodded back into the bedroom and wrapped himself up in the quilts. Some of his hair must have found its way down the back of his shirt, because he felt a persistent tickle, but didn't care enough to move and fix it. He was warm again.

A little later he was roused from a light sleep as the mattress dipped behind him. He turned his head, not opening his eyes, scenting a nice shampoo he recognized. His eyes did eventually flutter open as he felt a kiss placed on his nose.

"Are you intending on sleeping the day away?" Remus asked quietly, smiling down at him. He nodded.

"You have to help with dinner, though. Lily and James are bringing Harry over tonight, remember?"

"Bugger them. I jus' wanna sleep..."

"Mmph. I know how to get you to wake up a bit..."

Sirius made a soft sound of happiness in his throat as he felt the werewolf kiss along his neck gently. He tilted his head to allow better access, and Remus pushed his hair out of the way and leaned down to kiss him again, but stopped suddenly; Sirius only felt warm breath on his neck before Remus launched himself away from him and off the bed, practically flying to the door.

"There's a bug on you!" came the terrified explanation before he disappeared completely.

Sirius dazedly reached a hand to his neck, and indeed made contact with a small wriggly thing, just under his ear. He flicked it off and sat up, gazing down at the earwig he had tried to release earlier.

"Remus was afraid you'd make it to the bed," he murmured. "Now that you've accomplished that and sleeping with me, it's time for you to really go." He picked it up in his hand and pushed the window open, dropping the bug outside, though, he thought wryly, he doubted Remus would have minded if he killed it at this point. He'd get terribly jealous if he'd known the little insect had slept with him.