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While most of his classmates were excited to go to Paris and they were all chatting excitedly on the train ride there, Sirius had put his headphones on as soon as they had left the station. He dozed off now and then, and he realises he has missed the whole ride there when Lily nudges his leg to wake him up and he finds that they are already in Paris.

“You’re that excited about Paris, huh?” she teases.

Sirius just groans, too tired to answer. He had been excited when they were first told about their trip - assuming he would spend the day with James, Remus and Lily. But Remus had planned a romantic day in Paris with his girlfriend - some girl he had gone out with only once - and it left Sirius being the third wheel on James and Lily’s day in Paris. They insisted they didn’t mind, but Sirius still felt bad about it. And, he has to admit, he’s a little pissed off at Remus for spending the day with whats-her-name instead.

He stretches, still a little sleepy, and when he looks over to Remus - expecting to find him and whats-her-name being all lovey dovey with each other - he immediately senses the tension on his face.

“What happened there?” Sirius asks James and Lily.

“They had an argument.” Lily rolls her eyes. She’s also not a fan of the girl, but they have all tried their best to keep their opinions to themselves, seeing as Remus really seems to like her. Sort of. As Lily pointed out, he seems to like the idea of dating someone more than he actually seems to like her.

Sirius had been frustrated at this observation, because he had asked Remus out twice. Once when they were just fourteen, and Remus had rejected him because, according to him, they were too young. It had given Sirius hope that he would say yes when they were older, but when he asked him again just a few months ago, Remus said no again. This time his excuse was that it would be too awkward because they’re such good friends. It would only ruin things between them. It felt like a shitty excuse, and Sirius wishes Remus had told him the real reason why he said no. If he didn’t like him back, he could have just said so.

Still, he knows how excited Remus was for his day with whats-her-name in Paris, and he hates to see the disappointed look on his face.

“What did they argue about?”

“Why?” James asks - knowing full well that Sirius can’t wait for Remus and the girl to break up. “Still hoping he’ll change his mind about her?”

Sirius pulls a face, because what can he say? He can’t exactly deny it, can he?

They get off the train, and Sirius is expecting Remus and whats-her-name to leave the station to head off on the day Remus has planned for them. But he notices the girl dragging Remus off to a quieter place, and a tense conversation follows.

“We have to…,” Lily begins, but when she sees what Sirius is staring at, she keeps quiet. “She wouldn’t dump him today of all days, would she?”

“She would,” James says. “Did you hear the shit she said to him earlier?”

It’s only been a few weeks since they met, and they’ve only been on one date, but when the girl walks off, Remus is left standing there by himself, feeling heartbroken and miserable.

Sirius knows exactly what happened, so he runs over to him and without saying a word, he wraps his arms around him.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispers.

Remus sniffles into his shoulder and he clings onto him for support, but then he pulls himself free, a small, unconvincing smile on his face.

“It’s fine.” He shrugs. “I’m just a little disappointed, because I thought…” He sighs, swallowing hard to keep his emotions in. “I spent so much time planning today, thinking it was what she wanted…”

“What did she say?” Sirius asks, their friends by now having joined them.

“That I had to back off, because she felt like I was trying to claim her..”

Sirius’ first instinct is to follow whats-her-name out of the station and tell her off for being so cruel to Remus. He has spent so long trying his best to plan the perfect day for her, so how dare she say this to him? But what good would fighting with her do?

“She’s a…,” James starts, but Lily quickly covers his mouth with her hand, well aware of the word he was going to use.

“I’m sorry, Remus,” Lily sighs. “But you know that you did nothing wrong, right?”

Remus shrugs, that heartbroken, disappointed look still on his face.

“She’s not worth your time,” James agrees. “If she can’t appreciate what you did for her…”

“You deserve to be with someone who appreciates you,” Lily says, but Sirius can tell that even though they mean well, their words are only making him feel worse.

“How about you and I go check out Paris together instead?” Sirius suggests, hoping it will take Remus’ mind off the break-up, if only just a little.

“I had all these things planned…,” Remus mumbles as he takes the list out of his pocket.

Sirius can’t help but smile as he grabs it from his hand and he checks it out.

“We can still do these things.”

“But…”

“First stop…,” Sirius tries to read the first name off the list, but his French isn’t great, and it only makes Remus laugh. “What’s that?”

“It’s this little bakery near the Eiffel Tower,” Remus explains, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. Clearly embarrassed at what has just happened and that Sirius has to step in. Not picking up on the fact that Sirius is just happy to get to spend the day with him. “She kept talking about wanting to eat macarons, so…” He shrugs. “We don’t have to go there now.”

“Of course we do!” Sirius grins. “I like macarons too!”

“You two will be fine, yeah?” Lily laughs, shaking her head. “We’ll meet up tonight for dinner?”

“Unless you have other plans?” James teases, pointing at the list.

“We’ll see you tonight,” Sirius laughs, shooing them off. “Have fun!”

“You too!” Lily winks, before dragging James out of the station.

“So.” Sirius grins, pointing at the name on the list again. “Let’s go find this bakery!”

Sirius could tell that Remus tried his best to be cheerful, but that he was still more than just a little disappointed at how the day had started out. Even the sight of the Eiffel Tower hadn’t cheered him up, and after taking a quick picture of it, they had walked on to find the bakery on the list.

Sirius wasn’t sure why that bakery exactly, because they had walked past a dozen already, but he didn’t ask. Mostly because he doesn’t want to hear it if it has to do with Remus’ girlfriend, or, he remembers, ex-girlfriend.

“Is that it?” he asks, pointing at a small bakery across the road. In the window he can see the display of macarons in every colour and flavour, and he can see why Remus chose this one.

“Mhm.” Remus nods, clearly thinking about whats-her-name again. But when Sirius grabs his hand and drags him into the bakery, he can’t help but smile.

“We should try every single one of them!” 

“Have you won the lottery?” Remus laughs, pointing up at the list of prices. The darned things cost a fortune, and back home Sirius could have had a full English for the cost of two of these tiny little pastries, but he doesn’t care. Remus had these macarons on his list, so they will try them, no matter the cost.

Sirius orders himself a box full of mixed flavours, ranging from pistachio, to chocolate and mint, and even a lavender one. But when Remus has to order, he’s a little hesitant to choose any more than a plain chocolate one.

“We’ll take the love box, please.” Sirius smiles, pointing at the heart-shaped box, full of macarons with flavours like chocolate, rose and raspberry.

Sirius can’t help but notice the dark blush on Remus’ face as he is standing there with the heart-shaped box in his hands - the blush only growing darker when Sirius insists on paying for it.

They take their macarons and their coffee, and they sit down at a table outside. They can still see the Eiffel Tower from where they are, but Sirius isn’t looking at it. He is too distracted by the shy smile on Remus’ face as he takes a small bite out of one of the pastries.

“And?”

“It’s good.” Remus nods. “Thank you.”

Sirius can’t help but smile at how shy, and even a little nervous Remus seems. They’ve been friends for years, and if Lily and James were here he would be stuffing his face with macarons. But since Sirius asked him out for the second time, when they’re alone together he seems different. Not uncomfortable, and not like he is thinking about the fact that Sirius clearly fancies him, but different. Sirius can’t quite figure out what it means, but he’s hoping that it’s a good sign.

Sirius had only eaten one of his own pastries - wanting to keep the rest so he could share the rest with Remus on the train ride home - and he spent the rest of his time enjoying the view. Not the Eiffel Tower or the busy street lined with tourists, but Remus who had looked so hurt and disappointed not even an hour before. But who now had a smile on his face, and who was happily chatting about the time he and his mum had tried to make macarons.

Sirius could have sat there listening to him all day long, but he had seen the long list of things Remus had planned, so they had finished their coffee and they had moved on to find the second thing on the list.

It very quickly became apparent that they wouldn’t be able to do every single thing on the list in only a day, so after scrapping at least half of it, they ended up going to the Louvre. Remus couldn’t decide what he wanted to see more, but Sirius had heard him talk about the museum for years, so he hadn’t given him much of a choice - instead he had grabbed his hand and dragged him to the nearest metro station.

They figured they would spend an hour, maybe two hours at the museum before moving on to the next place, but as soon as they had stepped into the museum, it was obvious that this was not something you could get through in an hour. And, Sirius figured, with how happy Remus looked, why would they bother to try?

“We could always come back to Paris to do the rest of those things on your list,” Sirius suggests when they’ve sat down to have something to eat. It’s already been a few hours, and they haven’t even seen half of the museum yet.

“I don’t care about most of the stuff that’s on there.” Remus admits, blushing as he focuses a little too hard on opening his drink.

“Then why…,” Sirius begins to ask, but then he realises that he put the list together for whats-her-name. “I’m sorry, Moons.”

“I was an idiot, wasn’t I? Thinking she liked me.”

“She did like you… I think. She’s just…” Sirius tries hard not to call her any names, but he really can’t think of anything nice to say about her after what she’s done to Remus. “She’s not worth it.”

Remus gives a nod, but he still doesn’t seem fully convinced. It’s only been a matter of hours, so Sirius can’t say he’s surprised. But he wishes he could grab him and shake him up to make him see sense.

“So what things on that list did you want to see? Other than the Louvre?” he asks, but Remus just shrugs. “Tell me.”

“Just the Louvre, really.”

“Seriously?” Sirius laughs. “All of that other stuff was for her?”

“I guess…”

Sirius shakes his head, trying hard to suppress an eyeroll. Because in a way he thinks it’s sweet, but mostly he just wishes Remus would have thought about himself a bit more.

“Well, the place is big enough to spend the rest of our day here, right? If there’s nothing else you want to see.”

“No!” Remus laughs. “It’s your first time in Paris, you should see…”

“Moons,” Sirius cuts in, “Today is your day, alright? If you want to see the Louvre... “ He looks around, doubting they’ll get through the whole thing before they have to meet James and Lily for dinner. “We’ll try our best.”

“You’ll be bored.”

“Do I look bored?”

“No, but…”

“I could never be bored when I’m with you.” Sirius smiles, and when he sees the dark blush on his friend’s face, he reaches out and he gives his hand a squeeze. “I mean it.”

Remus shushes him, too embarrassed to know how to react. But he doesn’t tell him off, and he doesn’t pull his hand away. Another good sign, Sirius thinks.

“Now, come on, we’ve still got a lot to see.”

Remus, being the kind of person he is, had kept an eye on his watch all afternoon to make sure they would leave the museum on time. But once they had left, they had clearly taken a wrong turn and they ended up walking a long way in the wrong direction.

Remus knows that they’re close to being late for dinner, but when they cross the bridge - hoping to find a station so they can take a metro to where they were supposed to meet up with Lily and James - Sirius all of the sudden grabs his hand.

“What?” he snaps, before quickly apologising.

“Look!” Sirius points at the locks on the bridge, a big and excited smile on his face. “We should do that!”

“Pads…”

“Moons…” Sirius teases in the same voice. “It’ll only take a minute.”

“It’s a couples thing,” Remus mumbles, a little embarrassed, but he doesn’t object when Sirius drags him over to the little stall at the end of the bridge. “Did you hear what I just said?” he laughs when Sirius takes out his wallet to pay for a padlock.

“I did.” Sirius grins. “Which is exactly why we should do it.”

Remus just shakes his head, but he doesn’t tell him that they are not a couple - or that they never will be.

Before, Sirius thought that Remus had rejected him because he didn’t like him back, but after today he knows that his ‘shitty excuse’ was probably genuine worry that they would ruin their friendship. That he had rejected him to try and protect their friendship, because, as always, he had put himself and his own feelings last.

But, if today has proven anything, it’s that they can spend time together - or, Sirius thinks, go on a date - and still be friends by the end of it.

“Do you want to do it?” Sirius asks, as he takes the marker from the girl who sold them the padlock. He hands it to Remus, who writes their initials on the padlock, still looking a little uncomfortable - his blush growing darker when the girl keeps staring at them with a knowing smile on her face.

He quickly hands the marker back to her, and they get back onto the bridge. But once the lock is on, and Remus wants to head to the metro, Sirius wraps his arms around him and he holds him tight.

“I love you, Moons,” he whispers, not expecting to hear Remus say the words back to him. But Remus whispers them back, and he presses a quick kiss to his lips before freeing himself from his grip. It’s not exactly the romantic first kiss Sirius had imagined for years, but after Remus’ rejection only months ago - and him still sort of having a girlfriend this morning - this is so much more than he could have wished for.

“We really should go now,” Remus laughs, not failing to notice the big, sheepish grin on Sirius’ face. “Stop looking at me like that!”

“Like what?” Sirius asks, still grinning, but unable to stop himself.

“Like that!”

After having to run to get to the restaurant on time, they are now waiting for their dinner to be served. Lily and James had apparently argued half the day because James was convinced he knew which way to go, and he had gotten them lost at least a dozen times. And, of course, he refused to listen when Lily knew better. They are still arguing about it now, but they’re like this all the time, and Sirius and Remus know that they will have made up by the time they get home.

It gives Sirius and Remus a moment longer to themselves, so Sirius turns to face Remus and he hesitates for a second before gently placing a hand on his leg.

“Are you okay?” he whispers - the look on his face enough for Remus to know that he is asking him if he is still thinking about whats-her-name.

Remus gives a nod, looking down nervously at Sirius’ hand. After that moment on the bridge Sirius would have expected something else, maybe a smile or something, but Remus looks a little uncomfortable, so he takes his hand away from his leg.

“Today wasn’t so bad, was it?” he asks, trying to find out how Remus feels. What he is thinking.

“It was fun,” Remus says. “Even if it wasn’t the romantic day I had planned.”

“I don’t know.” Sirius shrugs, nudging him in the leg. “It was pretty romantic, wasn’t it?” He teases, “For our first date.”

“Our first date?” Remus laughs. He opens his mouth to make a joke of it, but then he nods, unable to keep the big smile from forming on his face. “Does that mean there will be a second date?”

“Of course.” Sirius grins. “I mean, it’s going to be hard to top a day in Paris, but…”

“What are you two whispering about?” James asks. He has his arm around Lily’s shoulder, and it’s clear that they have already made up again. “How was your day?”

“It was fun.” Remus nods, his face flushing when he shares a knowing look with Sirius.

“Fun?” Lily laughs, cocking an eyebrow.

“Oh, you know.” Sirius shrugs. “We had macarons… went to the Louvre… made out…”

“We did not…!” Remus hits him in the arm, but from the embarrassed look on his face their friends can tell that what Sirius said is not far from the truth at all.

“At least someone had a romantic day in Paris…” From the tone of her voice, it’s clear that Lily still isn’t over the argument, and within seconds James is defending himself again.

“So…” Sirius smiles, turning back to turn his full attention to Remus again. “About that second date…”