"Of Lords and Kings", Harry Potter (Marauders), PG, Sirius/Remus.

[gorgeousnerd]

Title: Of Lords and Kings
Fandom: Harry Potter (Marauder-era/First War)
Rating: PG for sensuality.
Length: About 2500 words.
Characters/Pairings: Sirius/Remus.

Summary: Even princes and lords-to-be need to get away every once in a while.

Notes: For dogdaysofsummer, prompt 4. Click here for the original post, here for the post in chomalfoyfics, and here for the story on AO3. This story's an AU that's continued in "Viewing Party" and "A Chance".


Of Lords and Kings
They rounded a corner, and James ignored their calls. Sirius put a sleeve in front of his face in order to keep from laughing.

Remus leaned against the wall. "Remind me to stay back the next time. That girl--"

"Lily," Sirius said. "Her name is Lily."

"How d'you know?"

"You weren't here for the last trip," Sirius said. "On the way back to the school, it was all James said. 'Lily, Lily, Lily...'"

"His parents won't be pleased."

"So? It's a crush." Sirius paused and added, "A very stupid crush."

Remus swallowed. "But she's Muggle-born. Or a Muggle."

"You, Count Smug, are a half-blood."

"And yet you spend time with me anyway."

Sirius smacked his arm. "Don't be thick. Who else would I cheat off?"

Suddenly, Remus stepped forward, and before Sirius could ask what was going on, their lips met. Sirius was too shocked to move.

He blinked heavily, and Remus had moved back. His face was as pale as the flakes descending around them.

Remus put a hand to his mouth. "I'm so sorry, Your Highness."

He ran off.

–

Three hours earlier

"Your Highness," Dobbs said, bowing. "How were your classes today?"

Sirius yawned. "Boring as ever."

Dobbs waved a hand to the house-elf near the back of the room. It – Sirius could never tell the difference between the genders – ran forward with a tray of food and paused in front of Dobbs, who took a spoonful of pudding and tested it.

Sirius settled in his seat and crossed his arms. "Is that necessary?"

Dobbs favored him with a blank expression. "Your Highness?"

"Never mind." He tried his best not to think of James and Remus eating in the Great Hall with the rest of the students. Digging into the trays immediately, talking with food in their mouths...

Sirius pulled out a scrap of paper and a quill while Dobbs had his back facing him. There was no way he was going to sit around Hogwarts tonight.

–

It probably wasn't chance that the Royal Chambers had a secret passage, or that it changed locations depending on Sirius's wishes. Whoever was on-duty always poked at the walls when checking before bed, probably on his father's orders, but sometimes the exit was in the floor, or even the ceiling.

Today, it was behind his headboard. That wasn't uncommon; the foot of his bed faced the windows so Sirius could watch the weather as he fell asleep, and the wall behind his head was as good a spot as any. He climbed over the wood carefully, but his knee banged the tip, and he winced. He hoped the guards in the hall hadn't heard.

The passage was a slide today, which suited him fine. He perched at the top and let himself fall. His stomach dropped, and he descended, shaking his hair as air whipped around him.

A hole opened in the wall below, and Sirius slid out. His knee buckled as he rose, but he managed to stand, even he fell into a suit of armour as he did so.

"Could you make more noise?" a voice hissed.

"Where are you?"

The air rippled to Sirius's right, and James's head appeared. "Get under here, will you?"

Sirius complied and found the cloak wasn't just hiding James. "Moony?"

"You aren't the only one who needs a few hours away," Remus whispered. "And Lord Potter here is not as subtle about reading notes as he thinks."

James sniffed. "Lord Potter's my father, thank you very much."

"You nobility. So touchy."

"Can we continue this conversation in the village?" Sirius asked. "The night only lasts so long."

"We're going to Hogsmeade?"

Sirius sighed. "Lord Potter wouldn't let us go anywhere else."

–

This wasn't the first time Sirius had been to the Muggle quarter of Hogsmeade by any means. Honeydukes, their usual means of slipping out of the school, was right on the other side, and it had proved too tempting to resist.

Remus, on the other hand, didn't usually sneak out of the school with them, and he gaped around at the shacks and the falling-apart cottages. Sirius watched him stare for a moment, then whispered, "What?"

"Huh?" Remus started. "Oh. It's so..."

Sirius nodded. "London isn't like this?"

"No," Remus said. "A lot more wizards in there. My dad fixes things for our entire block some days."

Only one building had light or sound, and it had both in abundance. The group navigated behind a free-standing wall – the rubble scattered around was probably the remnants of three more walls – and took off the Invisibility Cloak. Sirius stretched his arms up in the air to loosen his muscles; three sixth-years didn't fit too well under one cloak.

"Is this safe?" Remus asked. "For you?"

James laughed. "He goes in once every couple weeks."

"Are you--"

"If you're so worried," Sirius said, "watch my back. Just don't take out your wand unless things get ugly."

"Why?"

"They don't care if you're a wizard, long as you don't flaunt it," James said, tucking the Invisibility Cloak under his robes. "Ready?"

Sirius nodded, and they strode forward.

Sound and light overwhelmed Sirius as they stepped in. Much of the room had people their age: students from Hogwarts who'd snuck out, kids who hadn't been allowed into Hogwarts, and everyone else. They swung tankards and laughed and spilled alcohol everywhere.

Remus's eyes widened with shock. "This is a pub?" he asked loudly.

"Best one in the kingdom!" Sirius yelled back, clapping him on the back. "They brew their alcohol without magic, out in the hills!"

James darted off into the corner – looking for Evans, no doubt – and Sirius navigated Remus toward the bar. A smiling woman wiped some glasses with a rag. "Evening, boys! What'll it be?"

"Two shots of vodka," Sirius said.

She raised an eyebrow. "A little young, aren't you?"

"Such a kidder, this one," Sirius said. "Would you feel better if it was mixed with something?"

"We have orange juice."

"Perfect."

As the woman prepared the drinks, Sirius noticed Remus had a mildly nauseous look on his face. "A little drunkness won't kill you, Moony."

"I know," Remus said.

Sirius leaned close so Remus would be able to hear him without having to shout. "What is it?"

"Does it bother you?"

"What?"

Remus waved a hand toward the room. "The Muggles and the Muggle-borns and the half-bloods that don't make the cut. They don't get trained in magic...barely get any education at all, come to it."

"Muggles can't learn magic."

Remus frowned. "Don't be stupid."

"I'm not my father," Sirius said. "And I'm definitely not my mother."

"Thank Merlin for that."

"There's nothing I can do. Not until I take the throne, and I have to toe the line in order to get to that point as is."

"You're not answering my question."

Sirius's stomach twisted. "It bothers me, all right? A lot. I could have just as easily been the son of a Muggle as my parents' son. And..."

"And?"

The barkeep put a couple of glasses on the bar. They were much bigger than the shot glasses Sirius had had in mind, and the juice was obviously diluted. Sirius took one and gulped at it. Remus took the other, but he didn't drink it.

Sirius dropped the empty glass on the bar and a couple of Sickles next to it. "You gonna drink that?" he asked Remus.

"Probably not."

Sirius took the glass from Remus's hands and guzzled the contents. His head whirled. Remus's mouth moved, but Sirius couldn't hear what he said.

"What?"

"Thank you," Remus said, a little louder.

"No need to thank me." Sirius glanced out at the floor and got a glimpse of red. He turned toward it and pointed Remus in the same direction. "Watch this."

James spoke to a girl with a red shock of hair, although the actual words never reached Sirius's ears. They didn't have to. Her face twisted, and her arm flew through the air. James's cheek sprouted a red handprint after she drew back. Sirius roared with laughter, then moved away from the bar as the girl spun and ran out the door. "Come on."

"What?"

Sirius crooked his thumb toward James. "He's going after her, and he's got the cloak."

James ran outside as Remus slid forward. The pair pushed through the crowd and stepped out into the cold air.

"Hold on!" Sirius called. "You big git!"

"Are you drunk?" Remus asked.

"It takes a lot more than a little vodka to get me drunk," Sirius replied. "I'm still walking straight, aren't I?"

Remus muttered, "Not really," but it was so quiet that Sirius chose to ignore it.

Snow fell from the air as they followed James. Sirius jogged forward to match his pace. "Where you going in such a hurry, mate?"

"Go back," James said, scowling. "I'll be 'round in a bit."

"And I'm the bloody King of England."

"You're Crown Prince of the Isles, actually," Remus supplied helpfully, in line with James as well.

"Fine. Then I'm the Queen."

Sirius waited for a comment along the lines of, "I knew there was something different about you," or something equally cheeky from James. It didn't come, and Sirius didn't fancy fighting a lost cause, so he slowed and let James get a bit of a lead. Remus followed suit.

He exhaled and watched his breath mist in the air. "'S pretty, innit?"

"Now I know you're tipsy," Remus said. "You're getting poetic."

Sirius stepped forward, swayed, and gained his footing. Remus made no move to catch him, but he watched with a careful eye. Sirius could feel it on him.

"You wanna know why I hate the way this works?" Sirius asked. "This...ghetto?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Because my parents let you come to Hogwarts. Let. Otherwise you'd be spending your winter in a crumbling shack."

"Hardly," Remus said. He was beside Sirius, who had no idea when Remus had started walking. "My mum and dad--"

"Your dad went to Hogwarts just like us, and he lost everything because he married your mum."

Remus said, in a quiet voice, "People have done worse."

"Yeah. Like my parents."

"Your parents were born into a system, just like mine."

"But they...they're the ones with the power to change it, aren't they? And what do they do?"

"They raised you, didn't they?"

Sirius turned toward Remus. For the first time, a flush appeared on his face. He skipped ahead, making a run for James, and Sirius felt the liquor burn his veins as he jogged to catch up.

They rounded a corner, and James ignored their calls. Sirius put a sleeve in front of his face in order to keep from laughing, even though James wouldn't hear him.

Remus leaned against the wall. Sirius took a wall opposite. The air seemed hotter now that they had a windbreak, and he resisted the urge to tug at his collar.

"Remind me to stay back the next time. That girl--"

"Lily," Sirius said. "Her name is Lily."

Remus's cheeks were still rosy. Perhaps it was the cold, but whatever the cause, Sirius found it charming. "How d'you know?"

"You weren't here for the last trip. On the way back to the school, it was all James said. 'Lily, Lily, Lily...'"

"His parents won't be pleased."

"So? It's a crush." Sirius paused to consider the situation. From what he knew of Lord and Lady Potter in Gryffindor Manor, he couldn't imagine they would care. It didn't stop James from being a git, though. "A very stupid crush."

Remus swallowed. Sirius watched his Adam's apple bob. "But she's Muggle-born. Or a Muggle."

"You, Count Smug, are a half-blood."

"And yet you spend time with me anyway."

Sirius smacked his arm. "Don't be thick. Who else would I cheat off?"

Suddenly, Remus stepped forward. Sirius's brain was too slow to come up with a response, but he felt a jolt run through his body with their increasingly close proximity, and his lips parted. When Remus's mouth touched his, he sighed a little.

He blinked heavily, and Remus had moved back. His face lost all the blood that had magically colored his cheeks and glowed in the cloudy half-light.

Remus put a hand to his mouth. "I'm so sorry, Your Highness."

He ran off.

But Sirius ran too.

His footsteps were by no means quiet, with his boots crunching in the snow, and Remus had better-than-usual hearing. But he didn't look behind him or stand still, so Sirius put on a burst of energy and grabbed his sleeve.

"Your Highness..." Remus began as Sirius stepped in front of him. The red in Remus's cheeks had returned and brought reinforcements.

"Oh, stuff it," Sirius said. "I thought James was the idiot."

Remus's eyes widened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Sirius decided not to waste words. He grabbed Remus around the shoulders and pulled him forward. Just as his eyes closed, he crushed their mouths together – partially because of his slight intoxication, but mostly because he'd waited so long, longer than Remus knew – and was gratified to feel Remus pressing at the back of his head.

He wasn't sure how long they stayed locked together, but eventually, they both surfaced, panting as they took in the other's face.

"You..." Remus gasped, "are hammered."

Sirius shook his head. "Hush."

"But what about--"

He was in no mood to consider consequences, or the future. That's what Crown Prince Sirius of House Black would do. The teenager who snuck out of his school and snogged one of his best friends wanted only one thing: more.

And so, Sirius kissed Remus again, feeling nothing but the snowflakes on top of his skin and the heat burning under it.