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It was only after two in the morning, the fire starting to die down due to neglect, that Remus thought staying up so late might not have been his greatest idea. He was warm and content curled up next to the fire in the common room with a book propped open on his knees, the oversized sweater he wore added to the general coziness. For hours, he’d been too lost in the writing on the page to care that everyone else had gone to bed or that the ache in his neck would undoubtedly give him a headache at some point. He was only about half way through his book, though, and a dull throb was picking up at his temples. Most often, he’d just ignore that and push on, but he hadn’t gotten a bit of sleep the night before and the distinct lack of heavily scented lavender pushed him further into distraction.
The book he had mistakenly gotten from the library--- a muggle-written book, full of inaccuracies regarding magical creatures, that seemed horribly out of place in the magical world--- was only something Remus had entertained with mild distaste for fifteen minute. After three and a half chapters, he was fully invested, and fully disgusted with himself. Half-hearted attempts at coming up with a valid reason as to why he continued to read such a book were quickly foregone as he fell deeper and deeper into the poorly constructed realm of the book.
The Marauders had been the last ones left in the common room--- James with his head on the table while Peter, watching Sirius with complete horror as he added more and more textbooks to the top of James’ head, sat opposite him--- so Remus had barely even noticed their departure. Not even the sudden crashes and sounds of indignation coming from James had dragged him away from the book.
As Sirius had left, Remus assured him he’d follow the others to bed soon enough. Just another chapter, Pads, don’t worry. To absolutely no one’s surprise, that had been at least ten chapters ago.
Upstairs, behind the curtains of his bed, Sirius decided that it had been a mistake to leave Remus alone in the common room for so long. When James and Peter started packing up for the night, Sirius had sighed and whispered a request for Remus to come to bed soon against his skin, then left. He should have known better, honestly. It was rare that Remus cut himself off at an appropriate time.
Sirius had yet to fall asleep. For a while, he’d stayed awake to listen for Moony’s footsteps and the inevitable feeling of the mattress dipping beside him as Remus crawled his way into Sirius’ arms. Then, when it became very clear Remus was not going to be coming to bed any time soon, Sirius stayed awake simply because he couldn’t fall asleep. It’d been long enough that the steady breathing and heavy warmth of a body curled up against him at night was both comforting and needed to get any rest.
Being a stubborn and petty bitch won out over his desire to sleep, though.
For a few hours.
Despite being highly aware of Remus’ ability to forget that he even exists to the point of not moving a single inch from where he settled down to read, Sirius convinced himself that surely his boyfriend would put the book down at some point. Maybe it would be after his neck got so sore from being in the same position that he could barely move it, but the time would come. So, Sirius stayed firmly tucked under the covers of his bed and waited.
And waited.
He listened to James’ snoring and Peter whispering in his sleep. The wind stayed silent, leaving the night air still and deathly boring. Briefly, he’d fumbled for his wand on the bedside table in hopes of… anything. He was desperately bored. Without his Moony, sleep was elusive and unbudgingly tied to Remus.
Once the pulling at Sirius’ eyes became overwhelming and the sheets felt more like hot sand than cotton, Sirius wrapped his arms around himself and stumbled to the door of the room, careful to not wake his sleeping friends. Dim lights, coming from the common room, were still glowing when Sirius stepped into the stairway. Not bright enough to cause any real discomfort, but enough to make him squint his eyes and frown as he made his way down the steps.
As expected, Sirius entered the common room to find Remus exactly where he’d left him. The fire was still burning and Remus was still curled into the corner of the couch with his muggle book and a blanket. His hair was tousled lightly from Remus’ habit of running his hand through it while he read and his skin was flushed from the heat of the fire trapped beneath his sweater. Even from a distance, the sight made Sirius smile against the annoyance of being kept awake.
Without a word, Sirius padded his way to the front of the couch, standing directly in front of Remus before he was even noticed.
“Shit… Hi, Love,” Remus looked up sheepishly, closing his book but keeping his thumb as a place marker. Sirius thought it should be illegal to look so perfect after having kept him waiting for hours.
Fighting the urge to reach out and fix Remus’ curls, Sirius pouted and crossed his arms. “It’s late. You said you were gonna come to bed when you finished your chapter. It’s been hours , Moons.”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry,” Remus said, fiddling with the corners of the paper. “I lost track of time is all. You could have gone to sleep. I would have made my way or fallen asleep here at some point.”
There was not a single bone in Sirius’ body that was capable of holding a grudge against Remus Lupin. Not even upon being denied his sleep could Sirius find it in himself to be more than mildly upset with Remus. Certainly, that didn’t hold him back from wanting nothing more than to fold himself right into Remus’ arms and close his eyes while the heartbeat beneath his ear steadily marked the passage of time.
Still, Sirius wouldn’t give in too easily. He moved slightly closer to the sofa but didn’t uncross his arms and stayed out of arm's length. “I was waiting for you .”
“Come on, Pads, you don’t need to wait up for me.” Remus placed his book on the cushion beside him and shuffled to the edge of his seat. There wasn’t any doubt in his mind that Sirius wanted to curl up with him as badly as he wanted to pull Sirius into his arms and hold him until they both fell asleep.
“Actually, I do. I can’t fall asleep without you, you git.”
Grinning, Remus reached out his hands, making to pull Sirius towards him before Sirius stepped back. “Don’t be like that, darling. I swear I didn’t know you-- you are unable to get any sleep unless I’m there to… what? Do you need me to cuddle you to sleep?”
Yes. Yes he very much did. And Sirius had absolutely no issue admitting that. Except Remus was an arse and was grinning like the biggest one. So, naturally, Sirius decided to be petty over giving in to his partner’s act. “No. I just prefer to have someone else in my bed so that if someone comes to kill me in the night, they’ll get you first.”
“You could always ask James. I’m sure he’d be happy to help.”
“James is too vain to die.”
“So are you,” Remus pointed out.
“Exactly. And Peter is far too much of a good person. You , however, are willing to die. So I need you to be my sacrifice.”
“That’s a bit kinky, don’t you think?”
Sirius groaned, covering his face with a hand to hide the laugh that slipped out as well. “Stop acting so much like Prongs. It’s upsetting.”
“Aww, are you upset?” It was entirely a mocking voice. A tone to which each of the Marauders had grown accustomed. That didn’t make it any easier for Sirius to resist the urge to be pulled right into Remus’ outstretched arms, though. “Do you need me to kiss it better, sweetheart?”
“Stop calling me nice names, Moony! You’re making it more difficult to be angry!” He could feel the heat crawling up his neck, right to his ears.
Remus shoved the blanket off his lap and moved to stand right in front of Sirius. Sirius didn’t back away. Remus smiled. “Then don’t be angry, dearest. There’s no point in being angry. All it’s doing is making you wait longer to go to sleep.”
“You said you’d come to bed after just one more chapter. I was waiting for you.” His resolve was crumbling faster and faster every second spent so close to Remus. They weren’t touching. It didn’t matter. Sirius didn’t need to be anywhere near Remus to do anything the other asked of him.
Remus’ smirk shifted. His eyes softened, brows pulling together at the center. “I know. I’m sorry, Pads.”
Sirius shrugged and stepped closer, hands hovering just over Remus’ shoulders. When Remus nodded and placed his own hands against the small of Sirius’ back, Sirius pulled and let them crash together. It was too late in the night to continue denying himself more sleep. He wasn’t upset and decided pretending to be was a waste of time. He sighed against the skin of Remus’ neck, holding him closer and whispering, “Would you really kiss it better?”
One hand keeping them pressed together, Remus’ other moved to cup Sirius’ cheek, shortening the distance between them before whispering, right against Sirius’ lips, “Always, my love.”
Remus didn’t have the chase to fully close the space before Sirius had his hands gripping Remus’ hair and pulling him down. Briefly, Sirius cursed how easily Remus could make his heart stutter with just his words. But then he could feel Remus brushing his thumbs over his jaw and nothing else mattered. Gentle hands curling in his hair, pulling him impossibly closer. Soft curls falling against his forehead. The world around them wasn’t allowed to exist.
Being trapped in the moment forever sounded ideal. Being allowed the opportunity to remain caught up in Remus’ affection for eternity only made Sirius desperately want to stop the clock. They were safe together. Always wrapped in each other’s arms, protected from whatever monsters lingered around them. Together, nothing could hurt them.
“Did that help?” Remus asked, breathing heavily but refusing to leave more than an inch of space between them. Sirius couldn’t complain.
“Very much.” Sirius leaned up to knock his nose against Remus’.
Remus returned the gesture. “Perhaps you should actually get some sleep now?”
“ We , Re. We should both get some sleep. You’ve been up reading for hours. You won’t be able to stay awake for classes tomorrow.”
Remus chuckled, “Since when does that bother you?”
“Since I don’t want to go to bed without you. It’s a pain in the ass.”
“I’d saying going to bed with me is more--”
Sirius stopped the words with a hand over Remus’ mouth. “Shut the fuck up.” Remus only grinned. “ Anyway , I don’t care to spend another few hours tossing and turning, wondering when you’ll finally make your way upstairs.”
Prying the hand from his mouth, Remus looked over his shoulder at the empty sofa. “Stay down here, then. I’ll finish my book and you can sleep. It won’t be long, we can go upstairs when I finish. I don’t want to wake James and Peter with the light.”
Too tired to care, Sirius agreed. He leaned into Remus when a softer kiss was placed on his cheek and held on to the hand in his tightly. While Remus arranged himself on the sofa, Sirius continued to hold his hand and waited. Exhausting was truly beginning to wear into his bones, making them feel heavy and uncomfortable. At the slight tug, Sirius collapsed into Remus.
“Your neck is going to get sore in this position.”
Sirius, from where he had fallen against Remus’ shoulder, snorted. “That’s what she said.”
“A comedic genius,” Remus deadpanned. “C’mon, Sirius. You can’t sleep like that--- mainly because I don’t want to listen to you bitch about how sore you are but also because you’ll hurt yourself.”
“You don’t usually seem to mind making me sore,” Sirius muttered, pulling his legs onto the cushions and shifting until he was securely curled in Remus’ lap, head resting against the sturdy chest he found. Remus waited for his boyfriend to stop shuffling about before resting his book on Sirius’ thigh.
With a kiss against Sirius’ temple, Remus brushed the hair away from his ear and asked, “Is this okay?”
Sirius sighed and relaxed into the body behind him. “More than okay. You’re very warm, Moons. And I’m very cold. And tired.”
Remus pulled the blanket from over the back of the sofa onto their legs, covering Sirius with as much as the blanket as he could manage. “Is that better? I can get another one if you need or want it?”
Immediately, Sirius grabbed the sleeve of Remus’ sweater, holding him in place. “No, this is too comfortable to be disturbed. If you try to leave I swear I’ll scream. Then you’ll have to explain that to everyone.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t leave. This is far too comfortable to leave. Though, you are making it slightly difficult to see my book.”
“Well, that’s too bad for you. If you had just come upstairs with the rest of us hours ago, you wouldn’t be trying to read right now. And ,” Sirius continued, words slowly becoming more slurred as weariness forced his eyes shut, “we could be all curled up in our comfortable bed. Asleep. With nice comforters and drapes and the ability to actually lie down.”
Remus looped an arm around Sirius’ waist, rubbing circles into the skin just under his nightshirt. “Later. Soon, I promise. I just have a few more chapters to read, then we can go upstairs and I promise I’ll cuddle you as much as you want.”
“Classes are dumb,” Sirius yawned against the back of his hand.
“Exceedingly,” Remus agreed. A yawn of his own was stifled against Sirius’ hair. “Now go to sleep. I’ll wake you when I’m done.”
“Don’t you dare. You made me wait this long, you can carry me to bed.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Remus flipped his book back open and held it there with one hand. The other snaked up to run his fingers through the black locks of hair splayed across his chest and shoulder. Sirius hummed at the feeling, all tension bleeding out.
It wasn’t long before Sirius’ breathing was evened out. His eyes flickered under his eyelids and his fingers twitched under the blanket. The letters on Remus’ page had become jumbled and foreign, sleep mixing them all together into something entirely incoherent. He shut the book, placing it on the cushions and kissed behind Sirius’ ear.
Remus had intended to wake his boyfriend with the kiss, to admit to tiredness and walk the flight of stairs to the bedroom. But Sirius didn’t stir and Remus was yawning again. Really, he meant to wake Sirius. But then he was falling against the cushions and Sirius was turning in his arms. There wasn’t time to think before Sirius was tucked right under his chin, sleeping peacefully, and Remus had his hands against warm skin.
He meant to get up and help Sirius to bed.
Sleep was faster. Book discarded and Sirius sprawled on top of him, Remus didn’t even notice his mind slipping away into unconsciousness.