Drabble: To Take Advantage Of (Remus/Lily)

[captainpookey.livejournal.com]

Title: To Take Advantage Of
Character Pairing: Remus/Lily, cameo by annoying!Sirius
Prompt: "In the Other Sense of the Word"
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~604
Summary:Remus feels guilty for something he shouldn't have done.
Author's Notes: Follow-up to Crossing Lines, this drabble; can be read on its own. Inspired by megans_writing's comment, so thanks. Haha. Definitions from the Oxford American dictionary that's built into my computer.
Link to Promp Table: Voila!


‘To take advantage of’. What was the official definition of that, anyway?

Certainly it didn’t apply to him.

He was a smart man, he knew exactly what he was doing. He did. Honestly. Furthermore, he was a good man. Smart. Smart and good. Certainly he wasn’t the taking advantage type.

“What are you doing, Moony?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re getting my bed wet. Go look at your book somewhere else.”

Remus glanced at the sheets. His robes were dripping quietly, a small pool of water forming around his crossed legs. He could feel the water from his hair running down his neck and into his shirt.

“What are you doing, anyway?”

“Nothing.” Remus could feel Sirius hovering over his shoulder. He ignored him, flipping the cracked pages of the dictionary briskly.

“Why were you in Hogsmeade so long? It’s bloody pouring.”

“I like the rain.”

Advantage
noun
A condition or circumstance that puts one in a favorable or superior position.

That didn’t sound so bad. In the other sense of the word, that could be a good thing. There was nothing wrong with being in a favorable position. Favorable was good.

Superior... He could ignore that part. He could ignore that part, right?

There was nothing about--about ki--about doing that that was superior. Nothing about it that was wrong. It was a favorable action. His face twitched very slightly. He bit his lip and pretended not to notice it.

“You’re doing something. Get off my bed. What’re you doing?”

“Sirius, will you go away?”

“No... No, I don’t think I will.” Sirius poked Remus in the ribs. Pulled his ear. Waved his hands in front of his nose.

Remus leaned away, unperturbed. He skimmed further down the page with his finger, smearing the ink in the process but not really caring. He frowned. His finger paused abruptly, his back stiffened:


Take advantage of
1. Make unfair demands on (someone) who cannot or will not resist; exploit or make unfair use for one’s own benefit.
2. To seduce.

Wait, wait, wait. What happened to the word ‘favorable’?

...Seduction?

...Exploitation?

Remus didn’t like this definition nearly as much, and yet, as Sirius continued to pull on his ear and poke him in the sides, Remus acknowledged that he already knew this. He was, after all, a smart man. It was in vain hopes that he’d dug out his dictionary in the first place. He was looking for some reassurance to drive away the block of granite forming in his gut. But now his legs just felt heavy and his stomach turned uneasily.

Sirius squeezed his cheek. “What’sa matter, Moons?”

“Nothing, all right?” Remus slammed the book shut, tossing it onto the floor. He thrust away Sirius’s hand and strode quickly across the room. “I’m going back out,” he added, much more softly.

Sirius watched him go, his goofy smile sliding into a puzzled frown.

Remus was a good man. Good and smart. But he didn’t feel so good, so smart. He could still taste firewhisky and rain and something undoubtedly sweet on his lips, could still see the words exploit and seduce clearly in his mind’s eye. He felt dirty and stupid and mean.

He was wet and dripping, but he wasn’t wet and dripping enough. He needed to be so wet, so cold, and so absolutely miserable that he could feel good and smart again. Good, smart, and clean.

He hoped it would rain for a while.