Padfoot and Moony

Impossible Disappearances

Remus sat on the roof of the astronomy tower, a girl with billowing red hair lounging beside him. They had just finished their prefect patrols and had both agreed that the Gryffindor tower was the last place they wanted to be right now.

The two of them, squinting at the lowering sun, were very quiet, and Remus held an Indica joint in his fingers, the glowing end trailing ash that floated off over the edge of the roof and out of sight. Lily had suggested coming up here for a smoke, since Remus had been so stressed and snappy at everyone for the last few days and she couldn't stand seeing him so upset anymore.

"Want to tell me about it?" Lily asked, casting an anxious glance over at him, watching as he slowly blew out a cloud of smoke, eyes slightly glazed.

"What do you want to know?" He murmured, breaking off a piece of tile and lobbing it out towards the lake.

"What's upsetting you?" Lily prompted. Remus stayed silent for a moment, picking at the moss, and then spun his head to stare at the lake, as if it had the answers.

"Two weeks on Monday.. and Sirius," he said at last. Lily turned his words over in her head. Two weeks on Monday was the full moon, which was understandable to be frustrated about, but what was with Sirius?

"I thought you two bought a fucking house together yesterday?" She implored, at a loss of how Sirius could be a problem in the slightest.

"Yeah," Remus laughed, the harsh, jarring noise echoing across the grounds. "I'm being an idiot, that's what."

"I don't understand."

Remus sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, taking another inhale on his joint. His eyes were very misty by now and he seemed a lot calmer, which made Lily inwardly smile. "He's so beautiful, you know?"

"I- Wh- Yeah, sure. Is this a problem for you?" She said, flabbergasted at this.

"Yeah, he's so perfect and it's making me sad I can't tell him that."

"Why can't you?" Lily questioned, "why don't you just tell him if it's bothering you so much?"

"Yeah?" Remus said, grinning lazily. "Yeah, okay, I'll do that." He leant back and rested his head on the cool tiles, his arms spread wide to his either side. "Can I hug you?"

Lily laughed and lay back, head on Remus' chest.

It was quite nice, Lily thought fondly, staring up at the constellations and feeling the bizarrely warm breeze trailing across her face. However, she soon realised that Remus would pass out soon from the pot, and they had to climb down from the roof and slip back to Gryffindor tower unseen before that time.

She shook him from his daze and together they tiptoed back up and down the stairs and then through the portrait hall and to their own dormitories. "Goodnight," she smiled, hugging him, before padding softly up the girls' spiral staircase.

Sirius, James and Peter were awake when Remus stumbled through the door, smiling pleasantly and eyes half closed with drowsiness. "Hey Rem," Sirius greeted and the other two chorused a 'Moony!" at the same time about five seconds afterwards. "Man, you're baked," Sirius giggled, standing up from the huddle in which they were sitting around the Marauder's Map and embracing the much taller boy slumped on the doorframe. "Sleep?"

Remus nodded and leant into Sirius' shoulder. "You're very, very beautiful, Lily said I should tell you because it's true," he said sleepily. The dark haired boy laughed and settled Remus into bed.

"Thank you very much," he tucked Remus in, pecked him on the forehead and drawing the curtains round the fourposter, before heading back to the other two, who were pointing at Severus' little name tag, which wasn't in the Slytherin common room or the dormitories. It wasn't even in the dungeons.