Author: Mosh Title: The Storm Rolls On Note: You may not archive, re-post, or alter any of my stories without my permission. Please contact me first. Thanks! |
There's a storm coming. Distant thunder rolls closer, barreling across the black night sky. It's not yet loud enough to be deafening, but it will be when it arrives. The air is thick and hot, an uncomfortable kind of weather that thrusts a person into a perpetual state of dampness. A young man stirs in his bed and waits for the storm to hit. He had sensed it earlier that day, in the muggy air and heavy atmosphere. Remus turns over, his eyes open in the darkness, listening to the deep waves of thunder rising, falling, rising again, ever louder. The curtains are always drawn back this time of year; there are no artificial lights near Hogwarts to hamper sleep or be able to see anything unless the moon is out. When the moon is out Remus doesn't sleep anyway. Restless, he faces across the room, looking past Sirius's bed, watching for the first exciting flash. When it comes, the vivid fork lightning sets the sky outside a brilliant white. During the first streak he sees a figure moving across the room. It's too tall to be Peter, the hair to short and messy to be Sirius's, though he can't see James's features. Only the highlighted shape of him. Like the flash of a camera going off, capturing a second in time and holding it, Remus has a long after-image of James mid-step, moving over towards Sirius's bed. All grows dark again, black as pitch. The storm bides its time, never giving away when it'll next strike. Like an animal on the hunt, it lingers on the borders of the senses, too elusive to anticipate. A floorboard groans; then falls silent. A rumble of thunder cuts off a whispered word; makes it too fragmented for Remus to decipher. It could have been from James, or it could have been from Sirius - he's not sure. He keeps his eyes open, but he's uneasy. Something's not quite right here. Moments stretch on, maybe minutes - it sure feels like it. Finally, another strobe-flicker and this time Remus's eyes are drawn to the bed next to his, the curtains of which are also still drawn back; Sirius never closes them during the summer months. What he sees in that second-and-a-half sucks the breath right out of his lungs. No sounds, only the picture of Sirius sitting up in bed, James kneeling over him. Their chests are pressed together, hands in each other's hair, mouths... naked flesh, sheets slipping down over white hipbones. They're moving against one another. Kissing and... Remus hasn't taken a breath in too long a time. He feels light-headed even though he's lying down. When he finally has to breathe it's shaking with the strain of not making a noise, desperate not to let them know he's awake. If they can hear him at all - he can't hear them, so maybe not. The third flash takes too long to get there, and by the time it does Remus is clutching the edge of his mattress, rigid in his bed. Another second and he sees them - James and Sirius, two of his best friends - in a bright tangle of long, pliant limbs, hard cocks, grasping hands, and tongues eagerly licking lips, throats, collarbones- The next roll of thunder is so fierce and loud Remus flinches, pulls the covers up around himself for security. He panics: did they just hear his cry, that uncontrollable moan he'd let out? He keeps his eyes closed tight, the last image superimposed white-on-red behind his eyelids. It's burned irrevocably into his brain. He knows it'll be with him now, forever like that, a photograph that will never move, but never fade either. Shaken, he listens as the storm trundles on overhead, recedes on the other side of the castle, out over the Forbidden Forest. He knows there's no way he'll sleep now, not after what he's seen. James and Sirius. He'd had no idea... sure, they were close, but that close? Remus swallows and burrows down into the mattress, trying very hard not to imagine what they're doing only a few short feet away. The grandfather clock down in the Gryffindor common room strikes faintly, the chimes floating up the stairs and under the door. They announce 2am. It feels much later than that. Eventually, he hears the same floorboard from earlier creak again. This time, Remus hears the springs in James's bed because he's listening for them, breath held. He exhales slowly, feeling utterly lost. If there was a way of unseeing James and Sirius having sex he would do it in an instant; he knows something he's not supposed to, something he really doesn't want to know yet. Should he tell them? Pull them aside after classes and admit that he was awake? Remus doesn't think he could (even if he really wanted to). So instead, he resolves to keep silent, try not to let this new-found knowledge interfere with his friendships. Somehow, he knows that's much easier said than done. The thunder is so far away now he can barely hear it anymore. In the dorm room all is dark and still again. But the storm still rolls in Remus's mind. ~Fin~ |
Email | Back to index | Back to Top |