Chapter Text
The married life was swell.
Ariel, as it turns out, was fascinating, even without the presence of her brother. Perhaps more so.
She had, atop the mantel of her room, a rather large model of a ship in a bottle, one that she stared intently at before sleep. Remus often entered the room to see her staring at the glass, he wondered what she was thinking, but knew better than to ask.
She also was entirely interested in death, she had several books, nonfiction, surrounding the topic of mortuary science, as well as many books about vampires. It was not as if she thought she was above, but merely that she was aware and complacent with it, making peace with her on demise preemptively.
She rose late and disappeared for several hours during the night, Remus had no idea where, and was almost frightened to ask.
Her time was spent mostly in the library, engrossed in a book, sometimes with Remus by her side. The two read in silence, debriefing afterwards. This was a perk to the marriage.
Soon came the warmer months, and time was spent in the garden. Her and Remus walked together, speaking little, an unspoken understanding creating a friendship within the confines of their marriage.
Ariel spent her time with only a few people, this meant Remus, by obligation due to their physical proximity, her brother Sirius, though arguments seemed to be their method of communication, her knight James, who’d grown amicable towards Remus, and two strange and rather rude deviants, who Remus did not understand, named Evan and Barty.
Barty was the duke of the kingdom, and previously, Remus had learned, Ariel’s partner. “It was an embarrassing and short stint, I promise you.” Ariel swore. He cursed like a sailor, and had greasy hair the color of straw.
Evan was tall with deep tanned skin, hair much blonder, he spoke less than Barty, which was not a great feat, but carried himself with a cool conviction.
Though there were two other royals living in the house, Remus was not privy to seeing the King and Queen for the majority of time. The two were invisible at day, unfeeling towards their son-in-law, uncaring towards their children.
Hope and Lyall had returned home, as Remus was to do with Ariel, after a year living in De Moire, they bid their farewells with a party neither of them enjoyed.
The greatest part of his new life in De Moire, was undoubtedly Sirius.
Though he did not share his sister’s passion for the literary arts, Sirius was too an intellectual. He spoke deeply and passionately to Remus, everyday they talked about something new. He was a connoisseur in philosophy and theater, discussing plays with a twinkle in his eyes.
It was common for the two to bump into each other and spend the day together, it was not for Remus to wake up to Sirius at his door.
“Good morning, Moony, darling.” Sirius said as Remus swung open the door to leave his room.
“Gah- Sirius, don’t scare me like that!” Remus yelped, at first sight of the grinning prince. “What are you doing?”
“I’ve a surprise for you.” He grinned deeper.
“Can it wait until after breakfast?” Remus groaned, rubbing his eyes.
“No, come along now, won’t you?”
-
Remus followed Sirius downstairs and out of the castle, then through the garden and past the edge of the forest.
“Sirius, where are we going?” Remus called as they ventured deeper, into the thickest part of the woods.
“You’ll see in a moment.” Sirius called back, clearing a path as they walked on. “Here we are.”
Sirius pulled back the final branch to reveal a clearing.
In the clearing was an elaborately placed blanket and basket, lit from the sun through the singular gap in the thick net of trees.
“It’s finally warm enough to go out, thought you might fancy a picnic.” Sirius shrugged, walking forward, face hidden.
“Sirius, this is… amazing.”
“Well, I didn’t make the food or anything.” His ears were tinted a faint pink, betraying his emotions.
The two sat and ate large amounts of pancakes, fruits, pastries, and whatever else Sirius had taken from the kitchen.
Soon after the food was gone, the two laid on the blanket, staring up at the sky.
“What were you going to warn me about? When the guards dragged you off?” Remus asked, staring at Sirius’s hooked nose growing darker in the sun, the mole next to his lip he’d never noticed before.
Sirius stayed quiet for another pause.
“Well, my parents… aren’t good people.” He said, not meeting Remus’s eyes. “I worried they would… I don’t know, you seemed too good to be attached to this nightmare.”
“Seemed, I don’t anymore?” Remus asked, a light attempt at a joke.
“You’re still the best of all of us in the castle.” Sirius decided. “Except maybe James, you fit in well though.”
“Thank you?”
“That’s not it though.” Sirius swallowed.
“No?”
“We’re broke.” He answered. “De Moire, the family, all of us. The kingdom doesn’t have a stable enough economy to sustain our… flagrance. That’s why they were so desperate to get their lovely young daughter in a marriage. They tried with Lucius Malfoy, the king of a faraway kingdom, a much richer one. Ariel refused, she told him no, that she’d never love him, or pretend. He left, mother and father were furious with her, told her she had to marry whoever would take her, and support the kingdom. We got lucky with you I suppose.”
Remus was surprised, but not in shock.
“I wondered… with the state of the kingdom, if you were financially troubled.”
“Well, we drink champagne on a mead budget.”
-
The two were on the verge of over heating in the sun, and Sirius’s face had begun to tint pink, as they migrated towards a lake nearer to the palace.
They hadn’t forgotten, but were undisturbed by the earlier conversation, jumping into the water, splashing and playing around like a couple of children again.
Soaking wet, they flopped onto the slightly sandy dirt bank off the side of the lake.
“God, I haven’t had fun like this since I was a little boy.” Remus said, face down in the dirt, smiling like an idiot.
“God, I had no fun as a little boy, I went wild my teenage years.” Sirius went down to stare face to face at him. “I go here all the time though, it’s never usually so excellent.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s making this trip so great?”
“You.”
The two simply stared at each other another minute, moving closer, so much closer, Sirius could smell the salt water on Remus’s skin, Remus had Sirius’s hair stuck to his forehead.
“Am I interrupting something?” Asked a voice off to the side.
Remus and Sirius whipped their heads around to see Ariel, in a summer dress the same length as usual, but with puffier, shorter sleeves. She had a new crease between her eyebrows, and looked curiously towards her brother and husband.
“What do you want, Ariel?” Sirius groaned. “Why must you pester me at the most inopportune times?”
“I didn’t know you’d be at Lovers Lake, I saw you and went to say hi.” She rolled her eyes.
“Lovers Lake?” Remus looked at Sirius, giddy with realization.
“It’s shaped like a heart.” Sirius grumbled. “Shoo, you can see Remus later. He’s mine right now.”
Ariel turned her head, mumbling some sort of goodbye, but the two had phased her out, and locked eyes with each other again.
“Where were we?”
-
Remus and Ariel both prepared for bed in their respective sides of the room. Remus wore a sleeping gown, his face unshaven and stubbly, Ariel wiped off her thin layer of makeup, making her look younger and more tired.
Their routine was as usual, an hour or so of reading in silence next to each other, an awkward kiss good night, and the two laid in the darkness.
Remus always fell asleep first, practically as soon as the candle was extinguished, but tonight his eyes stayed open a moment longer.
“How was Lovers Lake?” Ariel asked, a mere whisper in the darkness. It was an unusual deviation, especially from someone as routine as her.
“Oh, fine, Sirius and I were out for a picnic and wanted a swim.” Remus explained, his face grew warm and he was glad Ariel couldn’t see it in the darkness. “Lovely day.”
“Hmm.” Ariel said, gazing up at the ceiling as she did every night. “A picnic you say? With my brother?”
“Yes.” Remus answered, unsure of how to continue, it was no secret he and Sirius spent time together, but talking about it, even to Ariel, seemed strange and invading.
“I see.” What Ariel thought was unclear.
“Are you… upset by this, Ariel?” Remus queried.
“No- I just,” She breathed heavily, flexing her fingers. “Forget it, pay no mind.”
-
It was a full moon.
The stars shined beautifully in the sky, without a cloud to cover a single one.
Sirius and Remus sat in the upmost tower of Black Manor, days after their trip.
“Look, you can see it right under Orion’s belt.” Sirius sat close to Remus, inching closer as he guided Remus’s hand to point to his star.
“Is that- I see it!” Remus gasped as his pointer finger lined up with a star.
“It’s beautiful.” He gasped, staring at the star, glimmering off thousands of miles away.
“It’s a dot on the horizon.” Sirius dismissed, leaning his head precariously on Remus’s shoulder. The weight was welcomed by Remus who melted on top, resting his ear on the part of Sirius’s hair.
“I think it’s beautiful, just as the prince.”Remus’s voice was soft and careful, looking down at Sirius.
“You think I’m beautiful?” Sirius gazed up at him, his eyes twinkled, each iris a clear blue-silver.
“Of course I do.” Remus said, misty with tire, drunk on Sirius’s stare up at him, sweet and addicting.
“Oh, Remus.” Sirius’s eyes grew bigger, no, closer. Closer, and closer to Remus’s face. Their noses were brushing. Closer still, closer.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t-“ Sirius pulled back, eyes bigger now with fear. His face was red and hot as his stomach turned, his usual aura slid off his shoulders and was replaced with regret.
Remus cut him off, pressing his lips against Sirius’s.
-
That morning at breakfast, Ariel arrived late.
Sirius and Remus were speaking when she strode into the room, with her knight trailing close behind her.
The two had gotten closer, testing the limits to see how close someone could come to catching them, and were kissing the moment before Ariel entered.
“Brother, husband, we need to talk.” She said shortly.
Remus glanced at Sirius from the side of his eye, wondering if this is where it came to an end.
She inhaled sharply, “I am aware of your… fondness for each other. But, that is not what this is about.” Both Sirius and Remus rose to speak, to defend themselves? To say she was wrong? They did not know. “I need to… tell you something. I have a plan, it benefits you.”
She trembled slightly, afraid to speak. James gripped Ariel’s shoulder, squeezing it in comfort, she looked back and smiled slightly.
“I am to die.”