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Sirius Black was a rambunctious, good-looking rebel - a description generated by the man himself. Well, man may be too strong of a word but this eleven year old was nothing if not confident. Remus Lupin, equal in years to the eldest son of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black but far less self-assured, pondered this enigmatic young man before him. Sirius strode across the Gryffindor common room, loudly cackling at a joke James Potter cracked and glancing behind them to make sure that Peter Pettigrew was laughing as well. Remus had an inkling that Peter would follow those two anywhere; off a cliff or into the ocean, Peter would follow them blindly with a huge smile on his face because at least he was there and standing with these twin pillars of light, even if he was most often trapped within their massive penumbras. At least he was near them. And that was enough for him. It’s enough for him for now, thought Remus as he watched the scene play out. But what’ll happen when one day it’s not enough for him? Remus was shaken out of his thoughts by the subject of them. The trio came bumbling over to him where he was snuggled into the corner of a big red couch near the roaring fireplace. Remus always runs a little cold, especially when the full moon is near.
“Well if it isn’t Loony Lupin reading yet another one of the massive tomes he sleeps with under his pillow every night,” Sirius jested as he plopped himself down next to Remus on the sofa, making a big show of lifting the book out of Remus’ lap as though it was too heavy to hold.
“I don’t sleep with books under my pillow,” Remus muttered. Despite his (albeit weak) defense, he knew that teasing was one of the ways this boisterous boy expressed affection. That and touch. Sirius was always touching one of the four first year Gryffindor boys in some way; when James hugged him during the first week of classes after their first successful prank, Sirius froze and then shoved the other boy away, running in the opposite direction. He admitted to the group later that night in their dorm room that his parents had had never embraced him or given him any kind of physical affection. Not unlike an armadillo, Sirius curled in on himself when making this declaration, as though making himself as small as possible would shield him from their possible rejection. It was in that moment that Remus saw what Sirius was hiding behind all of his bravado: a scared little boy who had never known love to be anything other than harm done “for his own good.” It was also in that moment that Remus vowed to change that; he would make sure that Sirius never felt anything less than completely loved at all times. A large task for one small boy, yes? Fortunately, Remus was not alone in this thought. As soon as Sirius spoke his truth, the other three boys pounced on him, bestowing Sirius with the first group hug he’d ever received. Since then, Sirius never stopped touching them in little ways: a hand on the shoulder, a light jostle in the hallway, or a snuggle in the common room. None of these little gestures ever failed to make the young werewolf blush, but he didn’t quite know why yet. A problem for another time, thought Remus. And, as Remus did best, he pushed off this confusion in his gut, procrastinating this problem for for Future Remus to solve.
After a half an hour of snuggling, Sirius noticed that Remus’ book was slipping out of his grasp and that his eyes were drooping, each blink longer than the last. Sirius slowly plucked the book from Remus’ loosened grip and dogeared the page he was on to save it for the next day. Slightly taller and stronger than the other boy at this point, Sirius picked Remus up off the couch and into his arms. He felt Remus stir and mumble something into his chest as he passed by James and Peter who were playing Wizard Chess at a nearby table, quietly telling them that he was going up to their room to sleep. As James watched Sirius haul Remus up the stairs, something clicked in his brain: something is brewing here and neither of them know it just yet. He smirked to himself, proud of this revelation, and turned back to his game.
When Sirius made it into their shared room, he placed Remus onto his bed as gently as he could before putting his hands on his hips, taking a few deep breaths to steady his heartbeat. Damn Remus, you’re small but dense, thought Sirius as he went to take Remus’ shoes off and tuck the sleepy boy into bed. Once he was under all of his blankets, Sirius gently lifted Remus’ head to fluff the pillow for him a bit. He was looking a bit peaky today. I hope that some rest will make him feel better. As he lightly hit the pillow a few times, Sirius felt something hard beneath it. Lifting it up, he found a copy of Shakespeare’s sonnets and shook his head fondly. I knew you kept books in your bed, Rem!, Sirius thought with a mischievous smile as he set the pillow down.
Now all tucked in, Sirius bent down to Remus’ level and pushed some of his wild curls off of his face. The moonlight shined through the window of their room, casting a faint glow across Remus’ face, making him look almost angelic and for some reason yet unknown to him, Sirius’ heart skipped a beat. Leaning down the slightest bit more, careful not to wake the sleeping boy beneath him, Sirius place the gentlest of kisses to his forehead.
“Goodnight, Moony. Sweet dreams,” Sirius whispered before standing up and heading to bed as well. That night, amber eyes and curly hair danced through his dreams.