Not Just Another Day in the Park (PG-13)

Remus grinned as he fell into the water beside Joc with a splash, and resourfaced laughing. "Lets hope it doesn't then," He agreed.

Joc responded to Remus’ laugh with a grin and a splash. She stood and blew him a kiss before singing, “You can’t catch me,” and running as much as she could through the calf-deep water towards shore.

"Liar!" Remus exclaimed with a teasing grin before following behind Joc, pushing his way through the water in a slow-motion run that the water forced upon him.

Joc paused briefly to look behind her and give Remus a chance to catch up when she reached shore. “I never lie,” she called. She knew he’d be able if he really tried but it was still fun to play a game like this from time to time.

Remus rolled his eyes. "We'll see about that," He said in a challenging tone. Seeing that she'd waited for him to reach shore, he slowed down when he did to give her time to run away a little. However, he didn't wait long and was quickly after her, grinning as he ran, despite the fact that it was rather chilling to run when he was so wet.

“I’m offended that you don’t believe me sir,” she said as she turned to run as Remus approached shore. She pulled her wand and magically dried herself off to keep from getting too chilled as she ran. She turned to run backwards, “You may want to do the same, wouldn’t want you getting sick now.”

Remus nodded with a smile. "Probably smart." He agreed, slowing down to draw his wand. For some reason, he kept forgetting that he was now legally allowed to perform magic-that was one of the few rules he tended to follow, since he liked to avoid confrontation with the Ministry. But now, having been reminded, he quickly dried himself off, stuck the wand back in his pocket, and ran a little faster to catch Joc, though not at top speed since he didn't mind playing for a while.

Joc saw as Remus dried himself then picked up speed and she herself turned around and resumed a speed that was quick but not quick enough that he won’t be able to catch her. They continued at their paces for several moments and just as Remus was closing in on her Joc took a quick turn and began running back towards the stream and their shoes.

Remus reached out as Joc ran right in front of him, but he just missed. So he, too, turned and chased her back in the direction of the stream. As they neared edge of the water, he put on a sudden burst of speed to catch up to Joc. He stretched out his arms with the intention of pulling her into a hug as a form of "catching" her.

Joc felt Remus’ arms reach out towards her as they neared the stream and stopped. “Oh it seems I’ve been caught. What would you like for your reward?” she asked turning to face Remus.

Remus, shifting around so that he was facing Joc instead of holding her from the back pretended to contemplate this. After a moment he decided with a flirtatious grin, "Hmmm...How about a kiss?"

“Oh, such a steep price, I don’t know if I can pay.” She said playfully wrapping her arms around Remus’ neck. Teasingly she gave him a peck on the cheek and pulled back a bit too give him a grin.

Remus laughed at her comment on the "price.". "See, that wasn't to hard, was it?" He teased. "And be careful how you answer that-my self-esteem isn't as solid as it may seem," He then added with a wink.

“A peck on the cheek is nothing, you asked for a kiss,” she pointed out, “and my apologies sir, no offense was meant.” She made a mental note to watch any further teasing along the same lines in the future. She pulled Remus in and placed her chin on his shoulder with a content smile.

Remus looked at her for a moment and, gathering that she was taking him seriously about having a low self-esteem, said with a laugh, "You do realize I was just joking, right?" Of course, his self-esteem wasn't exactly as high as he often made it appear, but it wasn't like he couldn't handle the occasional joke. Remus smiled as Joc leaned against him, and hugged her to him for a few moments, feeling rather content.

“Yes, I’m just pointing out that yet again you haven’t quite gotten what you asked for,” she said not moving from where she was. Joc took hold of Remus’ hands and took half a step back, “If we were to take a seat back on the rock could you manage to stay dry this time?” she asked teasingly.

"Well, I suppose I could try," Remus conceded with a laugh. Admittedly, though, it had been quite cold last time whenever the wind blew, and he didn't feel like freezing again so he would at least try not to get wet. So he cuffed up his pants before taking back one of Joc's hands and wading into the water.

Joc smiled when Remus agreed to take a seat on the rock again, it was one of her favorite places in this park. It was just isolated enough that she could be alone with her thoughts if needed and she was surprisingly happy to share it with him since she had never really brought anyone here before. Joc followed Remus into the stream as he led her in.

Remus managed to avoid getting himself wet, much to his relief, and he couldn't help but smile when he reached the rock with no water on him other than on his feet. So he then hoisted himself on to the rock and sat down.

Joc noticed that the hem of her skirt was just skimming the surface of the water but it was barely wet so she paid it no more attention. When she took her seat she pulled enough up so it was out of the water then pulled up her knees so that they lay next to her. Her seat taken she leaned gently against Remus.

Remus smiled when Joc leaned against him, and laid a gentle arm around her shoulders. He then looked around the area they were in, and, after a few moment of silence, commented, "It's beautiful here." He had, of course, come to this park one or twice, but he hadn't come across the little pond before.

Joc looked up at Remus from her place in the crook of his arm. “Yeah it is, and quiet.” She pulled the arm that he had placed around her to her chest and wrapped her arms around it. The only thing she could do in this moment was smile and since she couldn’t reach his lips Joc kissed the arm that she now had a bit of a death grip on.

Remus nodded in agreement. "That it is..." He said absently, thinking about what a calming place it was...And how nice it felt to sit there beside Joc. At the thought, he returned her kiss on his arm by kissing her lightly on the top of the head.

“You should see it in the fall, its just surrounded by the most beautiful warm colors imaginable.” She snuggled into the crook of Remus’ arm and realized how much it felt like home. “So… any ideas for conversation or are we just going to sit here enjoying the scenery?” She didn’t really mind spending quite time with Remus but so early in their relationship it seemed odd that they couldn’t find something to talk about.

"You'll have to show me some time," Remus said with a smile, making a mental note to try and get down here during the fall. Remus then pondered a conversation topic and then asked, "Have any interesting plans for the rest of the summer?"