Wasted Time

Non-cannon, RL/OFC

AN: This fic is set in my AU, but it isn’t really what is going to happen in the line of stories that I have working in my head. This just wanted to be written first, I guess. Sort of an alternate storyline in my own AU. Like a, “It could’ve happened this way, but it didn’t.” kind of thing.

Anyway, it is set shortly after James & Lilly’s wedding. Sirius, Remus, Peter and a couple of Female OC’s are sharing a house. I assume James and Lilly were also living there before they got married and moved out.

A great big hug & lots of thanks to my betas Talon Black & Jaimz. I love you both!

Wasted Time ~ A Harry Potter Fan-Fiction by Sindra


Cassie relaxed deeper into the crook of his arm, still out of breath from the quick tumble they'd just shared. He pulled her to him, adjusting the blanket as he was consumed by the oncoming oblivion of sleep. She leaned her head back on his arm watching his muscled chest rise and fall in even, steady breathing. As her own breathing settled and it dawned on her that sleep was inevitable, she slowly ran a gentle hand across his stomach, hooking it around him to pull his warm body even closer to hers.

"Mmm...that feels nice...come here Stephanie." Sirius mumbled groggily.

Cassie snuggled into him, relaxing for a moment. Then her head snapped up as she processed what he had just said. "What in the hell did you just call me?" she bellowed at Sirius as she practically jumped up out of the bed "Answer me you son of a bitch!" She was promptly losing a battle with her nightshirt as she tried to pull it on over her head. She finally managed to succeed and shoved her arms into the sleeves. Then she forced her bare feet into her slippers, not even bothering to search for her underwear. She was halfway out the door before Sirius had even recovered enough from sleep to catch half of the words Cassie was throwing at him.

"Cass, what are you --" Sirius began, pulling up his slacks and slipping on his shoes to chase after her. "Cassie! Sweetheart, come back!"

At that Cassie turned on him. "Don't even think about trying to sweet talk your way outta this one, Sirius Black! Just... leave me alone!" As if punctuating her statement, She turned on her heel and closed the short distance to her bedroom, slamming the door in Sirius' face as he continued to follow. He was left helpless as the locking charm clicked into place.

"What did I even do?" He wondered aloud to the empty hallway, replaying the incident in his mind.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After letting herself have a good cry, and then hours of trying to read one of her many books to try and calm her mind, there came a knock on the door. Cassie made her way to the door angrily, preparing herself to shout over Sirius' fumbling apology, only to see a pair of blue eyes instead of Sirius' grey ones as she opened it. She slowly stepped aside as Remus entered her sanctum. He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, she didn’t know why he was awake and here when he could have been in his own room, asleep as the rest of the house was. Then she noticed the two mugs in his hand, one teeming mug full of tea with a splash of cream a dollop of honey, just the way she liked it, and the other full of the amber liquid she recognized as firewhiskey.

"I wasn't sure which one you would need," he said to her, holding both mugs out to the girl. He watched as she tipped the firewhiskey slightly over the tea, adding enough to her steaming drink to help ebb her anger at Sirius. She handed the cooler mug back to the werewolf, feeling his large hand envelop hers as he took it. "Did he do it again?" He asked gently.

Cassie could only nod in mid-gulp. Then smiling sadly, she said, " This time it wasn't just when we were going to sleep. It was after..." She broke off there, unable to complete the admission. She blinked away the tears and stilled her breathing, swallowing the sobs that threatened to return from earlier. Once she had herself under control she looked up at Remus, sipping slowly from the mug he had been kind enough to bring her. She saw the pity in his eyes and something behind it, something she didn't recognize as he held his arms open to her. She slid gladly into his welcoming embrace and let him console her.

Remus forced himself not to sigh as he wrapped his arm around the poor girl's shoulders. "He's just being a right berk, little one. Don't give it another thought. How many nights has it been, and you're still going back to him? Why, Cassandra? Why are you putting yourself through that? He's not good enough for you..." The words were out of his mouth before he could even think on them. Then she started shaking uncontrollably and Remus realized she was crying again. "Damn it. I'm sorry. You know I'm no good with words. Come on now Cass, calm down. It's not worth crying over that lousy..." His voice trailed off as Cassie looked up at him. It wrenched his heart that he couldn't see any of her usual smile on her face, not even in her eyes. "You want me to hex him for you?" He asked, deadly serious, as he cupped her face lightly in his massive hands.

Cassie burst out laughing. Remus supposed he had done his part and stood, ready to take the empty mugs to the kitchen. He smiled down into the pretty witch's face, gently pushing a lock of her chestnut hair off her face and behind her ear before turning to leave. He almost didn't hear the quiet 'Thank you...again' she mumbled at his back. He turned back only to see her reach out to her nightstand and angrily throw down a picture of Sirius and herself that had been taken at James & Lily's wedding. He made up his mind to do something for her, and he knew just what he would need to do it, too. He set off to count his galleons so he could get the necessary materials for his gift to the girl.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning Remus surprised her after breakfast wanting to know if she would like to go on an outing to Diagon Alley with him. After finishing the washing up, she made a quick grocery list before joining Remus in the hallway to apparate. The pair walked down Diagon Alley, Cassie nearly bouncing. She looked over to find Remus watching her, smiling slightly as he led her through the lines of vendors. When she was sufficiently distracted by a stall selling some potions ingredients he slipped around a corner and stopped at the stand he had hoped would be open today. He quickly purchased a thin pad of paper and some drawing charcoal. Then he bought a quidditch magazine and a Daily Prophet from a nearby stand to distract Cassie when she asked what he'd bought. He followed her around, carrying the crate she quickly filled with the fruits and vegetables she purchased. They walked a bit more, she mooned over some clothes and a pretty little purple glass bottle of perfume. He wrinkled his nose for effect when she made him sniff it, though he liked the scent. It was some kind of flower, and it reminded him of the pretty girl now absently holding his arm as they turned back to apparate home. After helping her unpack the crate of groceries, he pretended to have forgotten something and apparated out of the kitchen and back to the alley. Remus quickly found his way back to the stand with the little glass bottles and grabbed up the purple one she had shown him before. He handed some coins to the vendor before apparating back and walking briskly through the front hall of the house with the small box containing the bottle dwarfed in his large hand. By the time he climbed the stairs he could smell the meal Cassie and Lilly were preparing, as the newly-wed Potters often came over for communal meals.

He hurried to his room to deposit the bag with the paper, charcoal and magazine and the box on the edge of his bed before leaving and locking the door. When he reached the kitchen he grabbed a stack of plates from Cassie and began to set the table, astonishing both witches with his readiness to help. He set the table then went out to collect the rest of the houses occupants for supper. Cassie just looked at Lily, smiling that the slightly social Remus she had come to know was showing himself to others.

The meal that took place was full of conversation, stories from life during school and about the Marauder’s escapades. The only person not joining in the conversation was Sirius, who was still pouting about being pointedly ignored by Cassie. The meal ended after a long while, accompanied with yawns from everyone as people wandered to their beds. James and Lily headed off to the spare bedroom arm in arm. Cassie walked briskly to hers, Remus and Sirius both heard the door close and a click announced that she had once again magically locked the entrance. Clearly she was not ready to forgive him. Remus walked to his room and grabbed the paper and charcoal quickly, then he returned to the dining area to use the table for his work. He sat down and quickly went to task, drawing lines and smudging them gently with his finger. He was working so intently he hardly noticed when Lily entered. She went to fetch some water, silently watching the werewolf focusing on the drawing, his tongue poking out between his lips. She was clearly confused when she saw the subject of his sketch, but shrugged with a 'to each his own' train of thought. She prepared her tea and left the kitchen without saying a word.

The next morning before dawn, Cassie threw open her door and stalked off in the direction of the library, wanting to avoid Sirius at all costs. She stopped short when she saw the light was on. She didn't see or hear anyone so she quietly inched into the room, wand at the ready, her mind flashing battles involving Death Eaters all the while. Once inside the room she glanced around happy to find no one there, though there was something on her reading table that she didn't remember leaving there. Had she forgotten to read some of her post? No, she hadn't gotten any lately, and yet there was an envelope with her name on it. She smiled as she recognized Remus' scrawl in charcoal. She gingerly opened the envelope pulling out first a book of matches and then a note. 'Thought you might want something you could destroy instead of just throw around the room next time he fucks everything up.' And then she pulled out the second sheet of folded paper, opening it to find a very accurate, carefully drawn sketch of Sirius Black. With a smile on her face, Cassie turned back towards the stairs. She walked up and gently knocked on Remus' door. When there was no response she tried a second time before turning to leave. Behind her she heard the click of his door opening as the shirtless werewolf answered her knock. Cassie turned towards him, tears rimming her smiling eyes, and kissed him gently on the lips. He just stood there, mouth agape as the woman turned and bounded back down the stairs, not noticing Sirius peering at her from behind a crack in his own door, unable to believe what he had just seen.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sirius Black couldn't believe his eyes. He had been opening his door, intent on making Cassie listen to his apology when he heard it. He had heard her light footsteps out in the hall and he was going to hurry to her before Cassie could make her way into her room. He was shirtless, his long black hair sexily mussed from sleep, he was confident that he could win her over yet again. Cracking his door open a bit, he saw Cassie at Remus‘ door, still in her nightshirt. He watched as she turned and kissed the man-wolf before bouncing off to the stairs. He quickly but quietly shut his door before Cassie could see him. Fire burning in his gut, he waited until he was sure she was gone, then threw the door open and rushed at Remus, swinging a fist wildly and actually connecting with the confused man's face. Remus came to his senses and was able to grab the pureblood man's fist before he was hit a second time. "What in the hell do you think you‘re doing, Mate? She was mine! And you...into your bed...I should...She was mine!" Sirius spat. Suddenly it all made sense to Remus, what his friend had thought he saw. The thought brought a smile to his face as the sound of bare feet on the stairs announced Cassie's presence. Where anyone else would have jumped down Remus' throat if they caught him restraining the animagus the way he was, Cassie instead turned on Sirius.

"I was yours? Do you even hear yourself, Sirius? No one owns me! And I won't have you talking about me like that either, like I’m some sort of property. You don't even want me..." All the shouting at such an early hour brought everyone except Peter to crowd the threesome in the hall. James was the first to reach them and was trying to pry Sirius from the werewolf's giant hands, and to no avail. "You don't even want me! You just settle for my body with Stephanie in your mind!" Cassie screamed at him as the mentioned witch joined the group circled around the near hysterical woman.

Everyone's reactions overlapped one another.

Stephanie looked almost as though she had been slapped. James turned and hit Sirius his own self. Lily grabbed her husband by his collar, dragging him away from the helpless man. Peter watched the whole scene furtively through his keyhole. Remus threw the now unconscious Sirius to the floor, his arms wrapping around a weeping Cassie. He quickly lead her downstairs to the library couch while whispering to her, trying to calm her enough for her to breathe. Each sob that wracked the girl's frame tore at the slightly older man's heartstrings. He was nearly begging her to calm down when she looked up into his wide grey eyes. Their lips were close enough for Remus to feel her soft, sweet breath on his. He leaned into the girl he held on his lap…

"Someone wanna explain to me what in the name of Merlin’s beard was going on up there?" James bellowed at Cassie as she slipped away from the werewolf that had been holding her.

"I believe Sirius has just lost the game he‘s been playing." Lily stated simply from the doorway.

"What were you talking about back there? What you were saying to Sirius… You weren't making any sense. I certainly never…" Stephanie said as she entered the room slowly, not knowing if Cassie wanted to see her.

At that the young witch started crying again, causing Remus to glare at Stephanie over Cassie’s head as she crumpled against his chest and he rubbed a hand soothingly down her back. "I know you never…, and that just makes it worse. He doesn't love me. Doesn't even want me. All week he's been saying your name, Steph. He cuddles up to me, and then says something like, 'You smell so good, Stephanie' or 'Come closer, Stephanie.' Every time. And I can't take it any more. I...I just can't take it..." She cried harder into her protector’s chest. Remus' focus was completely on the girl he held as James, Lily and Stephanie stood, mouths agape staring between each other and the sobbing girl until Remus chivalrously picked her up and carried her to the only place he could think of that no one would follow.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Cassie finally calmed down she took a moment to look around. She had never been in Remus’ room before and couldn't believe how tidy it was. She also couldn't believe how much room he took up, even crouching down on the floor in front of her as he was. She was still hiccupping from the crying and could hear James yelling at Sirius out in the hall.. 'This is all so messed up', she thought sadly, shifting over on Remus’ bed to make room for him next to her. Instead he just pulled back the blanket and laid her back on the pillow. He slid her feet under the bedding and pulled the covers up under her chin. Turning away he started towards the door, wanting to get some breakfast or at least something to drink for the exhausted woman who was in his bed and causing all kinds of unsuitable thoughts to flood his mind. "Stay? Please, stay with me..." Cassie’s voice was hardly more than a whisper but Remus couldn't have heard her clearer. He turned and started to sit in the chair in the corner as Cassie started to shift on the bed. "No, I meant, here. Will you just… hold me?" In an instant Remus was at her side, arms wrapping around her as he fit himself snugly beside her smaller frame. He laid back as she settled her head under his chin, he breathed in her scent deeply. Within moments her breathing had steadied and he could tell she was finally settled into sleep. He slowly pulled one arm away from her, soothing her at her whimper of protest, and reached over to set his wand on the nightstand just in case.

Time passed slowly, Remus eventually relaxed enough to fall into sleep as well. As he suspected no one bothered them in his space. After several hours of sleep, Remus felt the girl stir at his side and slowly opened his eyes, absently pulling her closer and feeling pleased when she obliged him and slid closer. "Mmm, how'd you sleep?" He asked softly. She sat up and had a good stretch as he moved to sit so he could get some food to fill their stomachs, which in Cassie’s case was playing a symphony as she laughed self consciously. Returning a few minutes later he found Cassie poking around his room and pulling books down from his open shelves. He stood there amused when she didn't stop looking when he returned. "What are you hoping to find, darling?" The term of endearment slipped out without Remus even thinking. She turned smiling to him, shrugging slightly. "Brought you some food. Just a little something.'" He sat on his bed with the tray of strawberries, cream, and even a bit of buttered toast, hoping he had brought something she would eat. She reached eagerly for the strawberries, moaning slightly as she bit into one. Remus’ mind once again wandered to all manner of inappropriate places at the sight. He stood, walked over to the shelf where he kept his clean shirts and reached into the stack withdrawing something wrapped in foil, and a small flask. He took a deep swallow from the flask and handed the foil wrapped surprise to Cassie as he sat down on the bed. She cautiously unwrapped it, eyes going wide as she saw the contents.

"Chocolate?” Remus nodded in response to the question. “Real Belgian chocolate?” He nodded again and smiled. “Oh, Remus, that's so generous of you! Sharing your chocolate stash with me…" She leaned over to kiss him lightly on the cheek before slipping a small piece of the chocolate in her mouth, The moan it elicited and the look of ecstasy on her face had his manhood standing at full attention as he started to shift awkwardly in an attempt to hide it. The look on Cassie’s face told him he had failed miserably, and also that she was pleased by the effect she had on him. She broke a small piece of the chocolate off of the larger hunk in the foil and held it up to a strawberry with her fingers. "Open up." She ordered. Smiling, he obeyed so she could slip the treat into his mouth. His eyes closed as he savored it and when he opened them again she was mere inches away from his face, lips parted slightly, want clouding her eyes. He started to lean into her but was stopped by a sharp knock on his door, quickly followed by James’ voice as called out to check on Cassie. "I'm fine, James. I'm just gonna stay in here for a while though. Not really ready to face everyone after this morning." She crossed the room as she spoke, opening the door to talk quietly to James, asking that no one else come to check on them for the remainder of the day. That she would come out when she was ready. Her cousin smiled kindly and promised to pass the message along before he left.

Once she shut the door, Cassie began unbuttoning her confining nightgown and pulled her arms free, tying the sleeves of the garment behind her hips before sitting on the bed to munch on a piece of toast. She snuck a glance at Remus, only to find him staring at her with a clear longing on his face. She stood on shaky legs as she carefully moved the tray from the bed to the chair and settled herself on his lap, a knee on either side of his slender hips. "Am I being too...?" She never finished the question as Remus closed the distance between them. Taking his time to move his lips against hers, he gently flicked his tongue against her bottom lip. He slowly explored her entire mouth before pulling back and dragging his lips, teeth and tongue down her jaw and across her neck, sucking hard on her collarbone. He pulled back with a pleased expression to admire the dark purple spot that had formed. Cassie started running her hands over the man before her, pulling his shirt up and off him before kissing him again as he fumbled with the clasp of her bra. He finally succeeded and pulled back from her long enough to pull her camisole and bra away from her creamy skin.

"Oh sweetheart, you are a pretty little thing..." Remus mumbled into her neck as he began to kiss and nibble her again, hands coming up to her breasts, gently working the nipples to hardness. He gasped when Cassie’s hands pulled open his belt and fumbled with the button and zip of his pants. He stood and shucked his pants then he laid her down in his bed, slowly opening the rest of the buttons of her nightshirt and pulling it, lacy panties and all, from her body. She whimpered slightly as she tried to pull him to her and he resisted. He was having a hard time taking it all in, the beautiful girl who he had been in love with since he had first laid eyes on her was here, in his bed, waiting for him to join her. He stood slowly and stepped over to open a drawer and pull out the small box from the market the day before. Making her close her eyes, he opened the box and lightly sprayed the perfume over the beautiful girl, seeing her smile as she recognized the sent. He went to her then, settling himself between her legs as he kissed her senseless. He lowered a hand to her silken folds, grazing his thumb over her clit and gently sliding a finger into her core, watching her shudder in response. He slowly withdrew his finger and slid it back in and Cassie started to work against his hand, moving her own hand down to stroke his cock. As she did she was pleased to see his eyes lose focus as he leaned into her to kiss her again. "I want you so badly, Cassie" Remus moaned against her lips. She pulled his hand from her then, and guided his throbbing erection to her entrance, waiting for him to make the next move. She took a deep breath, willing herself to relax as he slowly slid himself into her wet heat. Raising her legs and locking her ankles around his waist, she moaned as he filled her to bursting. He slowly started to move inside of her, both of them moaning at the tight fit. Marveling at how every motion, no matter how slight, caused intense pleasure. Remus’ hips began to move faster and Cassie set her own rhythm against his, moaning and gasping her way to climax. Within minutes the entire house was able to hear the woman scream Remus’ name as he pushed her over the edge. Remus’ movements became short and lost much of their finesse as Cassie clamped down in her climax, bringing him to his ultimate release. He leaned down and half moaned half whispered, "I love you, Cassandra" into her ear.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As they lay in a tangle of limbs, Cassie didn't know what to say. Had he just been saying it? Why would he love her? It was true she had feelings for him. Had them since she started school, really. But he was always off reading or studying and never showed any interest in her except when he wanted a game of wizards chess. But that was just because she was the only one he knew that could give him a run for his money. So when Sirius had come to spend the summer with the Potters a few years ago, Cassie had let his pureblood good looks sweep her off of her feet. She had let herself get caught up in a whirlwind romance and he had ended up treating her horribly. And she had ended up with the quiet werewolf anyway… life had a funny way of working out. She looked over to see the man looking perfectly contented, even in sleep. She gently disengaged herself from him, sprayed a bit of the lavender perfume on the pillow where her head had been and slipped off towards the door pulling on his shirt. She had something to do.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Remus lay there, holding the gasping witch in his arms. His head was in the clouds, though. He could hardly believe what had just happened. He had spent years watching her fawn over pretty boys, not paying him any mind, and yet here she was. He had denied his feelings for her, even to himself and to James. And yet he had just blurted them out loud, and she hadn't turned on him for it. That was his immediate expectation after the words had come out. He had been sure that she just wanted a quick lay to get over the fight with Sirius, and he had gone and brought feelings into it. The man had been positive the tiny woman was going to turn tail and run. But she just snuggled into his shoulder as her breathing slowed to normal. Remus smiled, happy with this turn of events and felt her shift. He closed his eyes and pretended to sleep so she wouldn't see the goofy grin that had been spreading across face. Then he felt her moving away and it took all of his self control not to pull her back. He heard her take a few steps and heard the perfume spray just before he smelled the lavender, a scent he would forever associate with Cassie, hit his pillow. He heard fabric swish and opened his eyes a crack to see her shimmying out of his door in nothing but his shirt. He didn't want to think it, but he supposed he had scared her off as he watched the door close behind her. He sat there for a few moments thinking on how to make things right, because he couldn't imagine life without Cassie in it. Her brightness and cheer kept him going when he felt as if nothing else could. He was all but losing hope when he heard the door click open again. His fingers tightened on his wand for a moment before he saw Cassie emerge through the door, a piece of paper and book of matches in hand. Remus smelled the sweet perfume and he made a mental note to find a way buy crates of it for his girl.

He sat up when she didn't come back to join him in bed. He pulled her by the waist to sit on his lap and watched as she struck one of the matches he had given her and lit the sketch of Sirius on fire. As the paper curled into embers and ash Cassie leaned back to her lover, turning her head to make sure he was watching. When nothing was left but ash on the floor, she carefully collected all of it into an envelope, Remus handed her a piece of the charcoal he had bought and watched as she wrote on the outside.

She sighed as she turned to face her wolf, asking bluntly, "Did you mean it?"

Remus’ throat caught as he responded, "More than you know, love. I've loved you since I saw you in the Great Hall the very first time."

"Good, because I'm through devoting time to people who don't love me back. And since I plan on being with you for a very long time, I needed to make sure you loved me as much as I love you."

Remus sat there dumbfounded. Then he asked the question that was tearing up his mind, "Why would you want to be with a were… someone like me ?" He turned away as he spoke, ashamed of what he was. But she gently reached out to cup his chin in her hands, forcing him to look at her as she answered.

"'Because you've taken care of me, even when I was making a fool out of myself over Sirius Black. You've always seen me for who I am, not the picture in your head of who you want me to be." she said, without even needing to think. She hadn't even consciously known she had loved him and yet here she was, able to lay it out without a second thought. "Why would you love a girl like me? I’m nothing like the few girls I’ve seen you with before."

"Of course you’re not." Remus grinned. " I couldn't be with a girl that reminded me of the woman I love. It would’ve gotten too complicated. Never would have been good enough since she wasn't really you."

Cassie kissed the man for all she was worth before settling back into the pillows for some more loving as Remus slowly worked her body over with his mouth. "I love you too, Remus." Cassie moaned as he slipped his tongue into her center.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Sirius awoke the next morning he crossed the room over to his dresser. He looked in the mirror to see that the split in his eyebrow was healing nicely, then he turned with a yawn to prepare himself for the day. That was when he saw it. A small envelope with Cassie’s loopy handwriting across the outside, laying on the floor where she had pushed it underneath his door as he slept "A picture to burn...?" Sirius repeated, confused as he opened the envelope to find nothing but ashes and a scrap of paper, its edges burned, upon which was drawn a very good likeness of his own left eye before James had split it. Tears in his eyes, he leaned on the doorframe as he realized it really was over. He opened his door to make his way to the bathroom, then he looked up to see Cassie and Remus, arms around one another, walking past and down to the kitchen.