Camping Trip

Title: Camping Trip
Author: pantherprincess
Pairing: implied Remus/Hermione/Sirius
Rating: PG/-13
Word Count: 651
Challenge: LMOM - #2
Disclaimer: Characters property of JK Rowling and everyone else who owns rights to the Potter books and films. I am NOT one of those people.

Thanks to chasedestructo for being my biggest fan. And for being the one holding the cattleprod and screaming at me to write.



"No."

"Come on..."

"Absolutely not."

Camping had been a mistake. Maybe if Hermione Granger had become an athletic child instead of sequestering herself away with books during formative years, she would enjoy this. Maybe.

Now Hermione found herself fifty feet in the air, her knapsack caught on a protruding ledge. Sirius stood at the bottom, his arms outstretched, pleading with her to drop down.

"I swear I will catch you."

"Use your wand!"

"My wand is in your bag!" Silence spread between them as Hermione stared down at him in disbelief. There was no way she could reach inside her bag and keep her precarious position.

"Sirius." She paused, her voice calm. "What is your wand doing in my sack?" Silence, and then:

"Well...it seemed like a good idea at the time." She caught a glimpse of his shoulders shrugging, that god-awful arrogant smirk on his lips.

That was it. She could deal with the mosquitoes and the sleeping on the ground. She could even deal with pissing in bushes and being without tissue. But dangling in the air without the aide of magic or a soft landing? NOT acceptable.

"You bloo--aaargh!" Her words turned into a screech as the strap of her bag broke, sending her shooting straight towards Sirius and, most unfortunately, the ground.

***

Bam! Her screeching body hit Sirius, who quickly wrapped his arms around her and rolled as soon as they hit the ground. She lay sobbing against his chest, cursing him, nature, and camping in general. Sirius tried to hide his mirth, running his hand down her back, through her hair until suddenly the situation wasn't funny any longer. Also not amusing was the sudden twitch between his legs, reacting to the excitement and to having a warm body clinging tightly to him. He let his head fall back hard against the solid-packed dirt.

Fucking inconvenient.

"Sirius? Hermione?" Ah, Remus. Of course.

"Well hullo there, Moony. Nice of you to show up." Remus looked pointedly at the whimpering girl caught in his arms, something akin to a warning flashing in his eyes.

"Am I interrupting something?" Realization spread across Sirius' face in the form of a devious grin. He ran his fingertips lightly, teasingly, down Hermione's spine before letting the pads of his fingers rest lightly on the exposed sliver of flesh between her shirt and her cargo pants. Hermione's whole body twitched and she fell silent, but didn't move off of him. Good...

"Why, would you like to join in?" He raised his eyebrows in challenge, feeling oddly satisfied at the slight narrowing of his friend's eyes and the flare of his nostrils, so he wasn't surprised at the swiftness in which Remus scooped Hermione out of Sirius' arms, pulling her against his body.

***

Gods she felt good. He knew on some level that Sirius was only baiting him and he knew he was an easy mark, but still...seeing them like that had kicked in the need to assert his dominance. Briefly he tried to convince himself that this was a human impulse as a opposed to wolfish instinct. He was roused out of his thoughts by the sound of a soft laugh. He looked down to see a bemused smile on Hermione's face.

"Hello Remus." She pressed up against him rather obscenely, her pretty face still marked by the tracks of her tears through dirt and scratches on her face. His mouth hung open slightly and he realized that he had just lost control of the situation. Good thing, too, because he had no idea what his next move would have been. Her smile spread wider, her teeth white and sharp. But no, that was an hallucination. This was Hermione. Sweet, bookish Hermione who hated camping and physical exertion.

"Well, Remus. *Would* you like to join in?" She mimicked Sirius' earlier proposition. A chuckle from Sirius caused his head to snap up, surprise still evident on his face. Sirius stalked towards them, hands coming to rest on Hermione's hips. She smiled widely, earlier events obviously forgotten and forgiven.

"I think I might end up enjoying camping after all."

FINIS