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Remus sat against a tall oak tree, a book in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, a blanket around his shoulders to hold off the light chill. The castle and grounds were completely lifeless today-- everyone was at Hogsmeade, but Remus had decided to stay. He liked these quiet days.
A large, black dog came trotting down to the lake, ears perked up and tail flicking back and forth. Remus smiled and set his coffee down beside him as the dog approached him. “Hey, there,” he said softly, reaching out to scratch behind the dog’s ears. “What’s a dude like you doing at Hogwarts, huh?”
The dog let out some sort of whine. He reached out one paw, gently dragging the pad down Remus’s arm. “You trying to tell me something?” He asked, as if this dog spoke English.
Remus glanced behind himself, making sure there was no one around to see him having this one-sided conversation with a stray dog. The grounds were still entirely silent. He turned his attention back to the dog, running a hand from the top of his head, all the way down his back, and over his tail. He didn’t feel a collar or anything.
“I guess you’re alone, then?” Remus said softly, scratching behind the dog’s ears again. The dog let out a half-whine, half-growl. “Well, you can hang out with me here if you’d like. Think we could both use some company, yeah?”
Remus took a sip of his coffee, leaning back against the tree. The dog appeared over his shoulder, sniffing the coffee. Remus pulled it out of his reach. “Sorry, dude. Dogs can’t have coffee,” he said, his hand covering the cup.
The dog growled, and Remus jumped. “Jesus, you’re vocal. Can you just lay down or something? I’d like to finish my book,” he said with a tinge of annoyance.
The dog hung his head and obeyed, curling up on the soft grass with his head on Remus’s lap. Remus smiled, running his fingers through the dog’s thick, black fur. “There we go. You comfortable?” The dog licked all the way up Remus’s arm. “Okay, that’s gross as hell.”
The dog keened, and Remus relented. “Sorry, that was rude of me,” he apologized begrudgingly. He paused for a second. “If I’m gonna keep talking to you, I guess I should give you a name, huh?”
Again, the dog whined. Maybe this thing does understand English? “Okay. How about… Snuffles? Cute, right?” he suggested.
The dog growled, barring his teeth. Remus held his hands up. “Okay, okay, sorry. Picky. How about… Padfoot. I like that. You like?” he asked, absently playing with the dog’s fur.
Remus received another long, wet lick up the side of his arm. He rolled his eyes. “Do that one more time and your name is Snuffles,” he threatened.
The dog-- Padfoot, now-- let out another soft keen. Remus sighed, returning his attention to his book. One hand still stroked Padfoot’s fur, his fingers getting tangled here and there, but he liked the feeling of the soft fur under his fingers. It was warm, and comforting.
After a bit, Padfoot stretched and got up. Remus glanced up to see him walk around the tree slowly, and then--
Sirius came out from behind the tree, his skin pale aside from the flush to his cheeks. He was smiling wider than Remus had ever seen. Padfoot was nowhere to be seen.
“Hi!” Sirius greeted enthusiastically, sounding out of breath. Remus dropped the book as he looked around, searching for the dog that had suddenly disappeared.
“... did I really just hallucinate a whole ass dog?” Remus asked, eyebrows pulled together in deep confusion.
“Nope!” Sirius replied enthusiastically, and Remus could practically see his whole body trembling in excitement. “Watch again!”
Remus blinked, and Sirius was gone, and the dog was back.
“You’re raising far more questions than you’re answering,” Remus said weakly, backing up against the tree. The book he was reading was long forgotten, probably covered in dirt by now, but Remus didn’t care.
The dog turned into Sirius again, and Sirius— or maybe a hallucination— kneeled in front of Remus, grinning madly.
“Well,” Sirius leaned forward, pressing his hands against Remus’s legs. “Long story short, we did some reading. You know how werewolves are only dangerous to humans, not animals?”
Remus bristled slightly. “... yes?”
Sirius’s grin widened, if that was even possible at this point. “Well, you know, that includes Animagi. And having a ‘pack’ can help protect against injuries, because it distracts the wolf or something like that. Anyway, we’ve been working on this for a while— me, James, and Peter— and I finally got it,” he rambled on, his hands squeezing Remus’s knees. He kept talking, but Remus stopped paying attention at some point, his mind on complete overload.
Remus couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t. His lungs were replaced with hard concrete, he couldn’t breathe. One hand clutched at his chest while the other flew to cover his mouth.
So many emotions were swirling through Remus’s head— shock, gratitude, admiration, relief, and maybe a bit of horror. He couldn’t believe this. No one had ever done anything this big— let alone illegal-- for him before.
“Sirius... you...?” Remus whispered breathlessly, his vision suddenly blurred with tears.
Sirius gave Remus’s legs a quick squeeze, biting his lip, still smiling wider than Remus had ever seen. “Yep! Stole books from the restricted section, asked Minnie for, um, hypothetical advice, all that jazz. We can start joining you as soon as James and Peter get their shit together.”
Remus gasped in complete and utter shock. “How long?” he breathed
“Since second year,” Sirius said casually, joyfully, like it was nothing. “We started reading right when we found out. Peter’s idea, actually. I thought there was no way it would work, but here we are.”
Remus let out a sharp sob and absolutely threw himself into Sirius’s arms. Sirius gripped his waist so tight Remus could hardly breathe, but he didn’t mind. He sobbed loudly into Sirius’s shoulder, completely overcome with a million emotions.
“Thank you, Sirius,” he managed between cries. “Thank you s-so much. No one’s ever... god, thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Sirius sniffled, and Remus noticed his shirt was getting wet with tears as well. “It’s really no problem, Re. Like, not at all. You’d do the same for us,” Sirius said gently, rubbing his hands up and down Remus’s back.
Remus pulled away from the hug, looking into Sirius’s warm, grey eyes. He found them staring right back into his, and he found himself getting absolutely lost in the grey. Sirius leaned closer, just slightly, and Remus mirrored the movement.
“Padfoot,” Remus said softly, close enough that he could feel Sirius’s breath on his face— and could feel how it stopped for a split second at the nickname.
Sirius smirked. “Yeah, Moony?”
Remus gasped. “Oh,” he breathed.
“You like?” Sirius asked with a soft laugh.
“I do,” Remus grinned. “Um, can I...?"
Before he could even finish the sentence, Sirius was pulling him into a rough, messy kiss, his black painted nails sliding into Remus’s curls. Remus let out a tiny, surprised gasp against Sirius’s lips and pulled him flush against his chest, matching his enthusiasm. His arms went around Sirius’s waist, keeping him where he was, wishing this would last forever.
A second later— or a decade, Remus didn’t really know— it was over, and Remus already found himself missing the feeling of Sirius’s lips against his own. He took a couple deep, gasping breaths, and leaned in again.
“Shit,” Remus breathed, entranced by the love in Sirius’s eyes. “Do that again?” He asked shyly, a slight flush creeping up on his cheeks.
Sirius didn’t waste any time pulling Remus right back in, and Remus let out a light, contented sigh. He was falling hard for the boy in his arms, who had gone to incredible lengths to make his life just a little easier, and brushed it off as if it was nothing.
And he didn’t mind it one bit.