Second Chances

TITLE: Second Chances

AUTHOR: Lady Sirius

PAIRING: SB/RL

RATING: NC17

FEEDBACK: darklove_zorg@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: Of course all rights to Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling

- I would claim Sirius if I could (but alas this is not meant to be!)


DEDICATION: To my glorious, talented, wondrous and everlastingly sexy
inspiration - Gary Oldman. And it is also dedicated to my good friend
Kitty - she is the Remus to my Sirius in our rpgs, and has inspired me
to write about their love.


Chapter Six

Who Can It Be Now?


Sirius still lay on their bed, while Remus straddled him, gently tending to his wounds. His loving fingers were quite soothing to the touch, and Sirius moaned aloud, perhaps exaggerating a bit in order to gain his lover\'s sympathy. But Remus was playing along, nursing his big baby to the best of his abilities, both of them getting caught up in what they were doing and oblivious to what was happening in the rest of the house.....
.......until the door to their room was suddenly thrown open, and one startled Harry Potter stood in the doorway, looking at them both.

Remus froze where he was, while Sirius\' mouth dropped open in amazement as Harry looked from one man to the other.

\"OH MY GOD!\" he said, his green eyes growing huge.

\"Harry,\" Remus began, while Sirius began to stutter nonsense syllables.

Harry drew closer to the bed, his eyes never leaving them. \"How on earth did you get those cuts?\" he asked. \"Remus, shouldn\'t we take him back to Hogwarts, let Madame Pomfrey take care of him?\"

Remus looked down at Sirius, stifling the urge to smile in his relief, before turning his attention back to the teenager. \"We can\'t take Sirius back there at the moment, Harry, I\'m taking care of these myself. As for how he got them...\"

Here, Sirius interrupted smoothly. \"Harry, I\'m fine. Believe me.\" He smiled at his godson gently. \"Although you may wonder why Remus... I mean... well, Harry... I need to talk to...\"
Harry grinned at Sirius, and then at Remus. \"Oh puh-lease! I\'m not a baby you know. I\'ve known about you two for a long time now.\"

Sirius and Remus exchanged amused glances, and when Sirius opened his mouth, Remus laid a gentle finger across it. \"I happen to love your godfather, Harry, very much, ever since we were younger than you are now. I hope that you approve?\"

\"Approve?\" Harry repeated. \"Why wouldn\'t I approve? My own godfather and my favourite teacher in the world? I think it\'s awesome!\" And he smiled back at them in his enthusiasm.

At that moment, they heard the sound of swiftly moving feet, and the red head of Ron Weasley appeared in the doorway. \"Here you are!\" he said, just catching himself from falling into the room, instead latching onto Harry for ballast. His eyes took in the tableau before him, and grew big.

Remus and Sirius both opened their mouths, but before a syllable could escape their collective lips, Ron continued. \"Blimey, Sirius, are you okay?\" And both men began to laugh, joined by Harry.

\"What\'s so bloody funny? You look like you\'ve been mauled by a wild animal!\" Ron said indignantly, and for just a moment an idea flashed through Harry\'s eyes - which quickly moved from Remus to Sirius - but he refrained from saying anything.

\"It\'s not that, Ron,\" and Harry bent his head to the other boy\'s, whispering softly.

\"Oh, that!\" Ron said, laughing. \"I already knew that, mate!\" And he shook his head at the folly of middle age. \"I can do you one better than that!\"

\"Ron!\" Harry cautioned, his cheeks turning a bright red.

Before Ron could utter a word, there was the sound of more running feet, and the multicoloured head of the auror could plainly be seen behind the boys.

\"Wotcher!\" she cried. \"Sirius? What the hell?\" And quickly shut her mouth as she realized what had happened, of course.

\"What the hell is this, a fucking convention?\" Sirius growled.

Tonks had the forethought to push the boys the rest of the way into the room, shutting the door behind them. \"There, that\'ll keep the others from looking,\" she said. She looked uneasily at the werewolf, but realized he had everything under control. Then she remembered to glare at her cousin. \"Language!\" she admonished him, indicating the two teenage boys with a tilt of her head.

\"Tonks, we\'re not babies,\" Harry reminded her.

\"Yeah, we\'re old enough to do it, so I wouldn\'t worry about us hearing it,\" Ron said before Harry could shut him up.

Tonks almost split a gut laughing, doubling over and clutching at her middle. \"Men!\" she managed to gasp out between fits of laughter.

\"Do your parents know?\" Sirius asked Ron, which earned him a shake of the head from Remus and more laughter from Tonks.

\"Do yours?\" Harry shot back.

Sirius scowled and started to say something, but was forestalled by Remus. \"Sirius\' parents knew years ago, and disowned him accordingly. They never had anything to do with either one of us again.\"

\"Small loss!\" Harry snorted. \"Besides, I don\'t think Ron\'s parents are like that.\"

\"No, they\'re cool,\" Ron reassured them. \"They treat Harry like part of the family, don\'t they, sweet cheeks?\" He pinched Harry\'s cheek between his thumb and forefinger, which only made the teenager scowl. Remus had to laugh at his resemblance to his godfather, which earned him a similar scowl from his lover.

Just then the door to the room opened, and all heads turned toward the newcomer. Hermione entered the room, shutting the door quickly behind her. She looked around her, looked at the bed, and gasped.

\"Hermione,\" Remus began as she made her way to the bedside.

She looked up at the werewolf with big eyes. \"What kind of a salve are you using there? Are you sure it has antiseptic properties, to fight off infection?\"

Remus smiled at the young woman, while Sirius rolled his eyes. \"Yes, I am sure. I\'ve used it before.\"

\"Good,\" she said, nodding her head in approval, continuing to look from the angry looking wounds to Remus and back again.

\"Wotcher,\" Tonks interjected with an attempt at humour, \"talk about your rough foreplay!\" And she hooted as she laughed at her own wit.

Sirius glared, and was about to say something caustic, when the door opened (who didn\'t see that coming?) and in stepped Arthur Weasley, Sirius\' cousin a couple of times removed or some such rot. He glanced about him, taking in everything.

\"Well, well,\" he said in his usual jovial manner. \"Looks like the gang\'s all here!\" He turned toward his son. \"Your mum sent a message with me for you. She said to make sure you get the clean underwear she brought you, and to put all your clothes and things up, both you and Harry, before you - and I quote - get too involved with mischief making with Harry\'s bloody godfather - end of quote, no offense Sirius.\"

\"None taken, Arthur,\" Sirius said, even as Ron\'s cheeks flamed a scarlet hue which rivaled that of his infamous Weasley hair.

\"Hello, Arthur,\" Tonks greeted him with a hug, \"how are things at your end of the Ministry?\"

\"Oh, doing as well as can be expected,\" he replied with a grin. \"Oh, Sirius, remind me to show you something we just got in - a muggle musical device that is even better than a record player.\"

\"Better than records? I\'m in!\" Sirius grinned, starting to rise, but Remus put a restraining hand on his lover\'s chest.

\"Stay put, Padfoot!\" he admonished him, and watched in amusement as the expected pout appeared.

Once again the door opened. Two identical heads, both grinning in the very same shit-eating way. In waltzed both Fred and George Weasley - a tandem duo if ever there was one. One step away from being Siamese twins. Everybody already in the room shifted to make room for the newcomers, who slid in easily, acknowledging those around them, and exchanging glances with one another at the sight on the bed.

\"Oolala!\" Fred exclaimed, \"about bloody time you two stepped out of the closet!\"

\"Must have been stuffy in there, don\'t you think?\" George chortled. And both boys threw back their heads and laughed.

\"Son of a bitch!\" Sirius swore aloud, while Remus only smiled good-naturedly, blushing slightly, but never moving from his perch on Sirius\' legs.

\"Hullo, Dad, didn\'t see you here!\" Fred said, while George echoed, \"Fancy meeting you here!\"

\"Not surprised, it\'s a bloody zoo in here,\" Sirius grumbled, which earned him a smack in the head from Tonks, and a raised eyebrow from Remus.

And about that time Ginny walked in, as the twins had not bothered to close the door behind them. \"So this is where you all went!\" she said. \"Mum sent me to find you, Ron, and you, Harry, and you, Hermione, and you two too!\" - looking at Fred and George- \"She has tasks for all of you.\"

\"Close the bloody door, you twit,\" Ron cried, \"or she\'ll find us for sure! \"

Ginny did as she was told, stepping farther into the room where she noticed Remus and Sirius for the first time, stopping just for a moment to look at them, before exclaiming, \"Sirius, you\'re hurt! Are you okay?\"

\"Sirius is fine, Ginny,\" Harry hastened to reassure her, a calming hand on her arm. \"Remus has the situation well in hand.\"

And all eyes were directed toward the bed once more. Remus seemed to be a bit flushed, while Sirius was rapidly becoming more irritated. \"Since when has this become the number one spectator sport in this house?\" he growled. And received another smack from Tonks.

\"Wotcher! Be nice, Sirius!\" she admonished him. \"I think the young ones are trying to get out of cleaning this bloody place, and I don\'t blame them. Least you can do is let them hide in here. Not like you two are actually doing anything at the moment, is it? Not like you don\'t spend all damn day doing it anyway. Give it a rest, okay?\"

Seeing that Sirius was about to explode, Remus put his hand over his lover\'s lips. \"I\'m sure Sirius and I don\'t mind a little company,\" he said warmly. \"The more the merrier.\"

Just then the doorhandle rattled, and the door opened a crack, then a little more, and before they knew it the tattered and disheveled form of Mundungus had slid into the room, his eyes fixed on the hallway, hissing over his shoulder, \"Sirius, it\'s me! I got sumpin\' to show ya!\" And then the man actually turned around to find the crowd behind him, staring at him. \"Oh, did I come at a bad time?\" he had the grace to ask, looking for and finding Sirius\' form beneath Remus upon the bed. He approached them, rattling loudly as he moved, his mouth dropping open. \"Cor blimey, what happened to you? You get into a fight with a wild animal? I think you lost that one, mate!\"

Sirius gave Mundungus a dirty look. \"This isn\'t a good time,no,\"he said.

Mundungus spotted Harry among the group, gave him a cheeky grin. \"What\'s up, young Mr. Potter?\" he asked. Then, \"Hello you two,\" to Fred and George, \"got any...\" but before he could get too far, they shushed him, and discreetly pointed at Arthur Weasley who was giving the three of them a curious look. \"Hullo Arthur, didn\'t see you there,\" Mundungus said, reaching beneath his rags and scratching himself without regard to the rest of the room. Hermione turned her head, rolling her eyes, and the boys didn\'t seem to notice. Ginny was too busy staring at Sirius\' naked chest to pay attention, and Tonks was merely amused.

Hermione was the first to point out something that was fairly obvious to her but seemed not so to the rest. \"Don\'t you think Molly is going to come up here and look for us?\"

\"Holy hell,\" Ron muttered, looking at his brothers. \"You did set a privacy charm, or at least a silencing charm before you came in, didn\'t you?\"

Fred looked at George. George looked back at Fred. \"Not me, mate!\" they said simultaneously.

\"Bloody hell,\" Ron swore, just as the door opened.........

..............and in walked Molly Weasley herself. \"Sirius, have you seen............\" and she stopped speaking abruptly as she saw all the young faces she was looking for, assembled in one room. Her glance wandered over to the two figures on the bed. Her eyes widened, and she was at the bedside in a quick moment. \"Sirius, dear, do you really think you need so many people in your room when you should be resting?\" She looked anxiously at Remus, as if for confirmation.

Sirius looked around him at everyone. \"Is there anyone in this bloody house that isn\'t in this room at this moment?\" he fairly screamed in a very irritated manner.

\"I believe Professor Snape is still in the kitchen,\" Ginny replied helpfully, still staring at Sirius. And his naked chest, covered with tattoos.

\"Bloody hell, why doesn\'t someone invite him up?\" Sirius asked sarcastically.

\"Invite who up?\" came a long slow drawl from the doorway, and all heads turned as one to behold the very potions master himself, standing there, his dark eyes cooly appraising the scene before him. His usual snarky, sarcastic self. Recovered from his hangover and looking for victims. He saw with envy the werewolf positioned on top of Black, but gave no indication that he was annoyed by the sight. Or extremely jealous. \"Well, well,\" he said, \"nobody told me the meeting had been moved up here. What\'s on the agenda, then?\"

\"No agenda,\" Remus replied cheerfully, trying to keep the wolf from leaping over the heads of everyone in between him and Snape and tearing his throat out. He managed to keep him in check, and managed his usual warm smile. \"Just good friends spending time together. Right, Sirius?\" He looked expectantly at his lover.

\"What? Oh, right, good friends,\" Sirius ungraciously picked up his cue. \"I\'ll let you know when my enemies are assembling, and be sure to send you an invitation, shall I?\"

\"Yes, do that, Black,\" Snape rejoined. \"I\'ll bring the refreshments.\" His voice dripped with sarcasm. \"If anyone is interested, I do believe Kreacher is rifling through some of the drawers in the family room. He keeps muttering something about \'save the family\'and \'unnatural creatures.\' Whatever that means.\"

Molly sprang into action, motioning toward the children, gathering them up like a mother hen. \"All right, say good-bye to Sirius and Remus, we have work to do,\" she said briskly. \"I\'ll see you boys at the meeting,\" and she swept out of the room, the dejected youngsters in her wake. They all said farewell as they left, sighing and groaning, Mundungus and Arthur bringing up the rear, knowing that they were included in that command as well. The last to leave was Harry, who winked at both Sirius and Remus, before hurrying to catch up with the others.

Snape stood in the doorway a moment, his eyes drinking in the sight of the half-naked Sirius before he left. He shook his head at them disgustedly. \"Can\'t you animals control yourself in the slightest?\" he asked, before sweeping from the room, resembling nothing so much as an overgrown bat.

Remus\' eyes widened at this parting shot, and it took a great deal of effort to keep the wolf from hastening after Snape. But he managed to control him. He glanced down at Sirius, surprised that his lover wasn\'t trying to go after the dark wizard himself.

But to his dismay he found that Sirius had apparently fainted.