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Remus stood next to the entrance of the ice cream parlour, gritting his teeth hard enough to make it feel like his jaw would end up split in half. With all his might he had to focus on not smashing the ice cream cones in his hands. The chocolate one that was intended for himself was starting to melt and drip but he refused to lick it clean. He wouldn’t grant James and Peter that feeling of triumph. Those fucking b-… horrible friends! Horrible, horrible friends!
“Take these,” they said. “Sirius will be right back,” they said. “Have fun on your date,” they said.
Remus thoughts went to the tickets sticking out of his back pocket that James put there (attempting to wink with only one eye, failing horribly and then leaving him there with a broad grin on that traitor’s face). He desperately wished he had his hands free. So he could run after them and shove the damn tickets down their throats. Now that would silence Peter’s stupid giggles.
“Hey, I’m back. Thanks for waiting.”
Remus turned to smile at Sirius, who was shaking their wet hands in order to dry them. A few drops splashed onto another customer’s face. Sirius didn’t seem to notice the death glare directed at them at all.
“Where’s Prongs and Wormtail?”
“Oh,” Remus unclenched his jaw as best as he could, “Lily came running up to James saying she wanted to marry him right on the spot and they chose Peter as the flower girl. So they’re probably in that church down the street. Or maybe they thought the bouncy castle was more appropriate for the occasion, I didn’t pay that much attention.”
Sirius raised an eyebrow and huffed a laugh. Suddenly Remus was a little less cross about James and Peter bailing on them.
“Here.” He held out the not-chocolate-flavoured cone of ice cream. “Limona and Pistaccio for your elitist taste buds.”
Another laugh. A loud one this time. “Your Italian is horrible, Moony!” They took the cone and licked up the molten parts. “Oi, Moony, pay attention!”
“Huh?” Remus followed Sirius’ gaze with his own and found liquid chocolate ice cream half a second away from staining his hand. He cursed and finally took care of it. It tasted nice. Chocolate always did. Before acknowledging that, though, he promised to get revenge soon.
“Come on, let’s get back to the fair. Their own fault if Pete and Jamey think they have something better to do.”
-- | --
“Sirius, no! I refuse to go on another rollercoaster!”
“But Moony, it’s no fun when you aren’t next to me!” Remus’ heart did a double take. “I need to be able to scream into someone’s ear!” Of course there was going to be a follow-up to that statement.
Remus sighed. “Then let’s do something else instead. I could win you some plushies or something.”
“Sounds tempting but I sacrificed this opportunity to wear my new dress specifically because of rollercoasters. Please, Remus.”
Oh no. The puppy eyes. Fuck.
Whatever, he’ll survive.
“Okay, but this is the last one for today.”
Sirius face lit up. Like a fucking spotlight.
“Moony! Light of my life! My knight in shining armour! I will win you every plushie on this fair if we survive ’Hell’s Nine Circles’!”
“If we survive it? Wow, you’re doing a really great job at convincing me that I made the right choice.”
Apparently, Sirius decided to not hear that comment. They just grabbed Remus’ hand and pulled him to the ticket booth. As they had to wait in line for at least ten minutes, Remus had plenty of time to take in all the screams of the people currently riding the rollercoaster. Some of them might have been in exhilaration but they still sounded horrifying to him.
It’s not that he was scared of heights or generally easy to frighten. Earlier that day, when Peter and James were still with them, those fuckers, they had visited “Great Britain’s most feared haunted house” and Remus had exited laughing at his idiot best friends who had suffered at least three heart attacks each.
No, it was mostly the speed that unsettled him. And the unnatural movements. And the lack of control. It was basically the same as letting Sirius give you a ride home on their motorcycle.
“It’s gonna be okay, I’ll let you hold my hand.”
Remus returned Sirius’ wide grin with a raised eyebrow.
“I’ll hold you to that promise.”
-- | --
Remus stepped off the waggon tightly holding onto Sirius’ hand. He wasn’t really sure if he actually needed it to stabilize himself or if he just really didn’t want to let go of their hand.
“Now let’s get some chocolate covered strawberries.”
“What-“
Remus pinched his nose, took a deep breath and, once he had finally collected himself, glared right into Sirius’ eyes.
“You’re probably the weirdest person I have ever met.”
The sound Sirius made was some mixture of a snort and a giggle. Fuck, that was so adorable.
“Thanks.” After a moment they added: “Girl right now, by the way. She/Her.”
Remus took a moment to internalize that piece of information. After two months of Sirius being out as genderfluid to the Marauders, he was proud to say, he was getting really good at Not Messing Up.
“May I invite the Lady to a very healthy dinner of chocolate strawberries then?”
Satisfaction rushed through Remus’ veins as he watched Sirius’ cheeks turn pink.
“Sure”
-- | --
“That makes nine pounds.”
Remus pulled his wallet from his back pocket and handed over a 10 pound note. Meanwhile Sirius eyed the sweets in her hands hungrily, apparently refusing to start eating until Remus was ready as well. With a soft smile Remus turned back to the person across the counter to accept the change.
“Thanks. Good evening.”
Moving to leave, he almost tripped over someone, who was crouching down right behind him. He wasn’t all that surprised when he recognized her as Sirius. She was balancing their food on one hand while using the other to grab something.
“Sirius, what are you doing on the ground?”
“I think these fell out of your pocket!” Holding up two suspiciously pink tickets, she returned to a standing position. “They’re for the ferris wheel, right?”
Oh, Remus was so going to kill James and Peter.
“Huh. No clue how those got there.”
Something glinted in Sirius’ eyes, as if she had some sort of big revelation. Then the smirk was back on.
“Oh, but it would be sad if we let these go to waste. Besides, ‘Cloud 9` sounds very romantic, don’t you think?”
Remus gulped. That suggestion was very clear. But it might have been a joke. Remus was too head over heels to be able to pinpoint which was the case here.
Aah, yes. The troubles of being in love with another Marauder.
“Can I have my chocolate strawberries? If you hold them like that for any longer, they’re gonna melt.”
-- | --
Twenty minutes later, Remus was questioning his entire existence as he sat down next to Sirius fucking Black in a way too fucking small, way too fucking pink two-seater of the ferris wheel.
“Moony, you look miserable! Do I need to hold your hand again?”
“Do you think that will help me look past this pink nightmare? And this horrible music?”
“No other way to find out.”
Sirius offered him her hand with a daring gaze.
“I guess you’re right.” Remus took the hand without breaking their eye-lock.
Then it was awkwardly quiet for a few moments.
Sirius giggled nervously and turned her head to look up at the stars.
“Haven’t heard you say those words very often.”
Remus tried his best to suppress his laughs, but he was pretty sure Sirius could feel his body shaking anyway. She threw a quick glance at him and her mouth formed a soft smile. When the ferris wheel finally started moving, Remus squeezed her hand. By now he was pretty sure that his feelings were returned but he still wanted to test the waters a little before he did something he might regret later.
She squeezed back. And then she let her body fully relax against his side, dropping her head on his shoulder.
Fuck, Remus’ heart was not prepared for that.
He took a deep breath (probably Sirius could feel that as well) and her familiar scent filled his lungs. A giddy smile snuck onto his face. He couldn’t recall a single memory in which he hadn’t been happy, being this close to Sirius. For many years now she had been a constant in his life and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Yeah, Sirius could be annoying and loud and stupid (especially in combination with James), but she always cared. She always managed to get a smile back onto his face.
The wheel came to a stop when they were somewhat at the top and Remus was certain that he wanted to do this.
“Hey, Pads,” he murmured. He really hoped his nerves weren’t showing too much.
Sirius raised her head in question. Remus squeezed her hand again and waited for her to squeeze back before he started leaning forward slowly. As soon as their lips touched, Remus mind went numb. Everything was just… Sirius. He wanted to do this forever.
-- | --
On their way home they kept looking at each other. Sirius was wearing a wide grin and every time Remus saw it his chest warmed. He was the one who put that smile there. The pleased expression on his own face was probably just as telling.
“So, you’re my boyfriend now?” Sirius squeezed his hand.
Remus squeezed back.
“Sure. As long as you agree that it is valid to prank your friends in revenge for forcing you to go on a very successful date with your crush.”
She burst out with a brash laugh and on any other day Remus would shush her and remind her that a lot of people were probably already asleep in this neighbourhood. Today he couldn’t be bothered. Instead, he soaked up the feeling of pure glee.
“Fuck, you’re perfect.”