The Marauders: Year Four

Hot Chocolate in the Dark

Hot Chocolate in the Dark

Remus woke up, still laying on the dock. It was still dark, the waxing moon reflecting in the rippling water's surface at the far end of the cavernous underground lagoon. Sirius was gone. He rolled over, looking around. He peered over the edge of the dock at the water, panic rising up in his throat. Had Sirius rolled over and gone splashing into the depths of the water? He didn't know what to do --

Then a door at the top of a flight of steps he hadn't even noticed before opened and a light split the dark and, afraid it was Filch, he scrambled down the dock to the shore and rushed to press himself to the wall, hoping to go unseen if Filch looked about the room from the stairway. There were footsteps on the stairs and Remus held his breath.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing?" Sirius laughed, coming around the end of the stairs.

"Bloody hell! There you are! I thought you fell in," Remus said.

"So you hid by the stairs?"

"Well then I thought you were Filch."

"You weren't going to jump in after me?" Sirius asked, looking a bit hurt.

"I'm a bloody terrible swimmer," Remus answered. "Would've drowned you a lot faster than I could've helped you."

Sirius made a face, considering this a moment. "So werewolves sink, interesting. There's one for a trivia game for you." He rubbed his chin, "Wonder if we got an iron lung and strapped it on --"

"Not this again. They still don't make goggles for werewolves," Remus said.

Sirius grinned.

"So where've you been? I woke up and found you gone. I don't like it when you're gone."

Sirius held up his hand - the one not holding his wand - revealing a large thermos. "Went to the kitchens to get us some hot chocolate. You can't go ice skating without hot chocolate, Moony-kins." He said it as though Remus should've known where he'd gone all on his own.

"Of course, I should've thought of that," Remus replied dryly.

"You just looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you, and I thought I'd let you sleep 'til I got back, sorry. Never thought you'd wake up while I was gone." Sirius pulled Remus over to one of the little boats and he climbed in and tugged Remus after him so they were sitting on two of the little benches in the boat, using the third between their knees as a tiny table. He set out the hot chocolate and filled two small mugs he'd tossed into his pocket with the steaming chocolate. "There you are, Moony."

Remus gingerly picked up the mug, holding it in his palms and enjoying the heat of it as Sirius gobbed back half of his own in one go.

"Don't you like hot chocolate?" Sirius asked, seeing Remus holding the mug.

"I do, I'm just cold and it's warm on my hands."

"I think hot chocolate's my favorite hot drink in the winter," Sirius announced. "Even more than warm butterbeer. But blimey, don't ever tell James I said that, he'd have my head examined. Addicted to butterbeer, that one is."

Remus laughed, "I like Ovaltine."

"Ovaltine?" Sirius made a face, "What in bloody hell is Ovaltine? It sounds terrible."

"It's a malt," Remus replied, "You can drink it hot or cold, it's delicious either way."

"Malt?" Sirius had one eyebrow raised.