Work Text:
“I want to get something special for Moony.”
James Potter opened his eyes halfway and looked at his best friend before turning his head on his pillow, facing the other side, and snuggled into his comforter again. He heard the other boy move around the bed and suddenly, two cold hands were tugging at his ankles under the duvet.
“And you.” Tug. “Are going.” Tug. “To help me.” Tug. TUG!
James grabbed his bed’s posts with both hands and kicked the air with both legs, trying to get out of Sirius’s grasp. “Leave me alone, Sirius! It’s eight in the bloody morning!”
“Exactly! So, we only have 11 hours until we have to be back at the castle or Minnie will have our heads. Again!” Sirius continued to tug at his friend’s feet and at last, James stilled.
“Why did you wait until the last fucking day to buy his present?!”
“Know your audience, James!”
James rolled his eyes, “Fine. But you are buying lunch.”
Sirius let go and clapped his hands together and smiled, “Alright!”
It was Valentine’s Day, and Sirius cursed at his forgetful mind which was the ultimate guilty party in this. He had thought about what to get Remus for this day, but his boyfriend insisted he didn’t want anything, which was very frustrating to say the least.
Sirius tapped his foot while he waited for James to get ready. Remus was having an all-day study session with Lily, he’d made sure he was busy today so he wouldn’t ask questions, and had been out of the dorm since 7 am. That left him with a total of 11 hours to find the perfect present.
Well, 10 hours now since James had refused to get up for twenty minutes and, when he’d finally risen after the feet tugging, he’d had the slowest shower ever.
“James, come on, mate!” Sirius yelled for the hundredth time.
The bathroom door opened, and James came strutting out, dressed, and shaved?
“Did you shave?”
“Of course, have to make sure I look good for Lils.”
“You literally have one hair on your entire face.” Sirius deadpanned.
James smacked the back of his head, “I have more hair than you do!”
***
The two boys left the castle under the cloak and reached Hogsmeade around 9:30 am. They entered Ollivanders, where the lovely Alice was behind the counter, an eyebrow raised and a smirk on her lips.
“What do you two want?”
Sirius perched himself against the counter, smiling brightly at their friend.
“Alice, you look so beautiful today! Frank is a very lucky man…”
Alice crossed her arms, “Yes, he is.”
“Okay, here’s the thing…” Sirius continued.
“No.”
“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask!” he whined.
“I don’t need to. You’re never up to anything good.”
James stepped in, his hand pushing Sirius’ face aside.
“We only need to use the floo connection to go to Diagon Alley.”
Alice huffed, “Yeah, right! And how do I explain that to Mr. Ollivanders? The floo is only to be used by employees.”
Sirius pouted, “Please Alice, it’s very important that we get to London today!”
“You better have a good excuse then.”
“You know Remus! You like Remus. I need to get him something for Valentine’s Day.”
Alice’s eyes softened, “Aw, that’s sweet. Still no, but cute.”
Sirius insisted, grabbing her hands in his, “Alice, listen to me. Remus is the best of us, and he deserves the best gift for a day like today. There’s literally nothing in the small town of Hogsmeade. He deserves something as beautiful as him, as sweet, as important! He deserves something that fulfils his dreams, that makes him believe he’s worthy of something great, that…”
“Merlin, you’re such a drama queen… Fine, I’ll let you use the Floo.” Alice sighed, taking her hands back from Sirius’ grasp.
Sirius’s face lit up.
“But! You owe me Sirius Black. Actually, you both owe me.”
Sirius dismissed her with his hand, “yeah, yeah whatever, Fortescue.”
James stepped in first, grabbing the cloak from Sirius’ pocket.
“Oi! What about me?!” Sirius raised his arms into the air.
“This was your idea so think of something!” James smirked as he grabbed Floo powder and yelled “Diagon Alley.”
Sirius choked on some of the smoke left behind him and Alice chuckled at his contorted face. He stilled as he tried to think of a way to use the Floo connection without being spotted by whoever was at his destination. After a couple of minutes, Alice sighed and took out her wand from the inside pocket of her robes.
“I swear I don’t understand what Rem sees in you…”
She waved her wand in the air and Sirius felt the tingling sensation of a disillusionment charm on his skin.
“Oh! I hadn’t thought of that!” He smiled.
“You don’t say…” answered Alice, one of her brows had risen into her forehead.
On the other side of the chimney, James stood under the cloak facing a confused Mr. Ollivander who had been making inventory but stopped abruptly upon hearing the chimney come to life, with of course, nobody appearing in it.
James moved as quietly as he could to the other side of the store, where the entrance was and when he made sure Mr. Ollivander couldn’t see him, took the cloak off and opened and closed the main door, making the bell ring.
“Good morning Mr. Ollivander!” James smiled at the old man.
“Oh, hello young man. What can I help you with?” He replied kindly, still looking at the chimney over his shoulder.
“Well I was looking for a wand, obviously… Mine is a bit old, I got it at age ten you see?” James presented his wand to the man.
While the wandmaker was inspecting it, he focused his eyes on the chimney. It produced a small puff of air and James knew Sirius was about to arrive. Just when the noise sounded, he yelled.
“WHAT DO YOU THINK, SIR?!”
Mr. Ollivander quickly looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.
“No need to yell, I am old but my hearing is in perfect shape.”
James felt his neck and ears go red, “Of course, I’m sorry sir.”
Mr. Ollivander eyed him suspiciously and disappeared to the back, to go search for a wand. James took the opportunity to check on his friend.
“Sirius?” he whispered.
“Yeah. I’m here.” He heard by his ear.
James jumped, “Bloody hell! Don’t do that!”
He heard Sirius chuckle just as Mr. Ollivander appeared with a box in his hands.
“Well, this one is similar to your current wand but it’s core is not unicorn hair, but phoenix feather. Give it a try boy.”
James waved it towards the now empty box, casting a silent Leviosa and the box flew into the air without hesitation.
“Perfect fit.” Mr. Ollivander smiled.
James smiled back and reached into his pocket, feeling his wallet but pretending he didn’t.
“Oh no… I must’ve forgotten my wallet back at the ice cream parlour. Excuse me, could you set this aside for me and I’ll be back in a bit to collect and pay for it.” James smiled his most dashing smile.
Mr. Ollivander nodded, “Of course. Just remember we close at 6 pm, my boy.”
James nodded and turned for the door, “Thank you Mr. Ollivander!”
He opened the door and found his way onto the street. He walked over to the next store before calling for his friend.
“Sirius! Where the hell are you?”
The black-haired boy appeared by his side and James jumped back again, a hand on his heart.
“Stop doing THAT!”
Sirius barked a laugh and passed his arm over his shoulders, “Come on Prongs, we’ve got some shopping to do!”
They made their way to Flourish and Blotts, Sirius walking fast and with purpose into the shop. He checked all the bookshelves inside, book by book, and James was about to lose his temper when his friend sighed, and lowered his head.
“I can’t buy him a book… It’s not special! Lily bought him a book for his birthday already, so did Pete!”
“Remus is a cultured guy, what else can you get him?” James shrugged.
“A muggle record!” Sirius yelled.
“Um… I got him that Queen one last Christmas”.
“Fuck you, James…” Sirius mumbled. “Ugh, that’s what I mean! It has to be something special, something no one else would think of, or would do for him…” Sirius gasped suddenly, raising his index finger into the air.
“No! You are NOT getting his name tattooed, Sirius.” James deadpanned.
Sirius went to speak again, “Nor the full moon…” James interrupted.
“Ugh. I should’ve brought Pete…” Sirius murmured as they left the store.
They went into several other stores but came up empty on ideas. Around 1 pm James argued it was better to eat something, recharge, and keep looking. Sirius was quick to protest but his growling stomach made a point and so they went into the Leaky Cauldron for a bite.
Sirius was quiet the entire meal, his brow furrowed and playing with the fries remaining on his plate.
“Alright, lay it on me.” James said as he reclined back in his chair.
“I just want this to be special for him, you know? It’s our first Valentine and I already forgot about his present, Prongs. He’s had mine for over a month!” Sirius’s eyes were still casted down.
“Remus is not going to care about his present, Pads. He’s head over heels for you! For Merlin’s beard, knowing him he’s going to love whatever you get him!” James reasoned.
“It’s not that, it’s… Ugh, I just feel like I’m not doing enough.”
Sirius buried his face in his hands. James knew this strategy very well; they’d known each other for seven years after all. He reached out to his brother, tugging at his wrist so he would look up at him.
“Hey. Remus loves you for who you are. We all do, you know that. Don’t get in your head about this, okay? I know it’s hard to let go of these things, especially when Remus is so thoughtful and observant but come on, he would go crazy if you were on top of him 24/7.”
Sirius laughed quietly at this. It was entirely true. Remus loved taking care of his loved ones but hated being taken care of.
James smiled, “So, how about you make him something?”
Sirius scoffed, “I’ve thought about that but what can I make that he’s going to love?”
James thought for a second, “maybe we can start off small. Think about what Remus likes and figure out if you could do something along those lines?”
“Yeah, that actually makes a lot of sense.” Sirius’ lips tugged at the corners, his smile closed lipped.
“So, Remus likes books…” James began.
“Yes, we’ve established that…” Sirius rolled his eyes.
“What about a photo album?”
“Hm… I don’t think he’ll like having pictures of himself displayed like that. You know how he gets about his scars…” Sirius dismissed the idea.
“What about… a sexy photo album?!” James smirked, making his eyebrows dance.
“You got way too excited about that idea, mate. Anything you want to tell me?”
James fake gagged, “Ew! You’re like my brother!”
“You’re the one who said it!!!”
“Alright, focus please. What else does Moony like?”
“Um… Chocolate, sweets in general… Oh Merlin!” Sirius gasped.
“What?”
“I could make him a chocolate cake!” Sirius raised his hands into the air, in triumph.
“I mean, that’s great Sirius but there’s only one problem…”
“It’s perfect! I could call it Recipe of Love.” Sirius said, with a twinkle in his eyes.
“You can’t cook for shit.” James rolled his eyes.
“Well, you can help me!”
“Me? I burn water!” James exclaimed.
“Fine! Anyway, I’m sure I can figure it out. How hard can it be?” Sirius shrugged.
***
Turns out, very. At least for Sirius Black.
After lunch they’d returned to the Castle as fast as they could. Mr. Ollivander had seen through their act upon entering the store (Sirius’ disillusionment chars weren’t as good as Alice’s) and chastised them with a smile on his face, which hadn’t really been all that threatening. He was a sweet man.
Upon arriving, James had bolted towards Gryffindor tower, leaving Sirius all alone in the kitchens. He’d approached his favourite elf, Minty, who’d given him the recipe for Remus’ favourite chocolate cake, the one they only served on Halloween night, and wished him good luck.
Eggs, flour, milk, dark chocolate, baking soda, sugar… It sounded simple enough.
He checked the time. He had 2 hours to do this. He was meeting Remus in their room at seven so that they could exchange gifts and have some time together. James and Peter had been warned not to disturb them until at least nine.
He added all the ingredients into a bowl and mixed them with a swish of his wand. While the batter was mixing, he turned the oven on. The recipe didn’t specify the degrees it was supposed to cook at; he guessed it was because the elves had to cook dozens of these and did it with magic, for efficiency.
He’d agreed to do it all by hand, the Muggle way. It held more meaning, James had added, and he was sure Remus would appreciate it even more.
Sirius looked at the handles in the oven and decided that 480 degrees would cook the cake faster and save him time. He turned the handle towards the maximum position and went to check on the batter that now had a rich brown colour and little bubbles on top. He smiled, satisfied, and placed it inside the oven.
While he waited, he decided to approach Minty and the other elves, who were busy with that night’s dinner.
“Mr. Sirius! How is the chocolate cake going?” Minty smiled up at him as she dusted her flour covered hands on her pants.
“It’s going flawlessly, my dear Minty! I don’t know what James was so worried about, I’m an excellent cook!” Sirius beamed.
Minty nodded happily. “Who is the cake for, Mr. Sirius?” Minty smiled.
“Oh! For my boyfriend. He loves it when you make it for Halloween so I thought recreating it would be a great gift for Valentine’s Day.” Sirius ran a hand through his hair, feeling his cheeks redden. He still had to get used to calling Moony that, boyfriend. It had only been a couple months after all.
Noticing his slight embarrassment, Minty spoke up.
“Would Mr. Sirius like some pudding?”
“That would be great, Minty! Thanks!”
He sat at the table as Minty presented him a huge bowl full of strawberry pudding, a personal favourite that the elf occasionally did for him and Peter. They talked as he enjoyed his desert and when he was done, he thanked the small elf and went to check on his own creation.
The oven let out a puff of smoke as he opened it and he swished his wand to levitate the mold into the counter beside it. He shrieked.
“Bloody muggle oven! It burned my cake!”
The dessert in question had blackened at the top and Sirius inspected it from different sides, but it looked the same from all angles.
“Okay, okay, I can fix it.” He told himself.
He checked his watch and cursed at the time displayed. Six thirty. Shit.
“Icing!”
***
Remus checked his watch again. Ten past seven. Well, it’s not like Sirius was super punctual, he thought. He sat on his bed and grabbed the nearest book; he settled on his pillows and was about to open the cover when the door to the dorm opened with a bang.
Sirius came in strutting, his wand raised, pointing at something in the air that he couldn’t see.
“Hey lover” he smirked.
Remus raised an eyebrow, his lips lifting at the sides in an amused smile.
“Hello… Sirius.”
The other boy approached him and after kissing his lips quickly, he turned to put down whatever it was he was levitating.
“What’s that?” Remus asked.
“Your present!” Sirius beamed.
He smiled. He loved to see Sirius all excited, white teeth showing and eyes bright.
“I thought we said no presents…” he continued, stepping into his boyfriends’ space and circling his waist with both arms.
Sirius melted a bit, “noooo… You said, “I don’t need anything Sirius”. But I got you something anyway.”
Remus chuckled, “Good, cause I got you something as well.”
“What is it?! What is it!?”
Remus turned towards his bedside table and reached into the first drawer. Sirius saw a small, wrapped package enclosed in his hand but his eyes couldn’t linger as Remus hid it from view behind his back.
“Okay, it’s kind of lame but I really hope you like it.”
Sirius reached his hand out and Remus placed the small rectangle in his palm. He unwrapped it as fast as he could and threw the paper onto the ground, revealing a cassette tape. His eyes widened.
“Is this…” he said.
“I recorded your favourite muggle songs in it. Here, turn it over.” Remus turned the tape over in his hand. The front read Your favourites. With love, Moony.
“Moony… This is… This is the best gift I’ve ever gotten.” He raised his eyes towards the boy, who was rubbing his neck awkwardly.
“Really? It’s not too… sappy?”
“What?! No! It’s perfect. You’re perfect.” He raised on his tiptoes to kiss him slowly, like he’d been waiting for all day. Remus’ hands ran through his hair and he moaned.
“Wait, wait.” Sirius said as he stepped back.
Remus pouted at the sudden loss and just because he couldn’t resist that face, Sirius pecked him again, smiling. He was so cute when he got all mushy.
“Okay, I think I did a pretty good job with this.”
He reached for his wand and tapped the air, revealing a… round shaped pudding? What was that? Remus tried to control his facial expression. Sirius looked so proud of his… whatever this was.
“So?! It’s the Halloween feast chocolate cake you like! I did it all by myself. The muggle way, of course. And I even shaped it like a heart, see?”
“Wow Pads, this… Thank you. It looks so good, baby.”
The “cake” looked like mush. The icing was so liquid it was dripping onto the floor; the heart shape didn’t resemble a heart at all, and the yeast hadn’t risen so it was as thin as paper. The colour was too dark to be chocolate.
“Here, have a taste.” Sirius dipped his finger in the icing and offered it to him.
Remus hesitated but upon seeing the sparkly eyes of his boyfriend, swallowed past his doubts and licked the finger. He opened his eyes suddenly. It was surprisingly good. It tasted like chocolate milk.
“Oh, that’s good!” he smiled, relieved.
Sirius’s face fell a bit, “You didn’t think it would be?”
Bugger.
“No, no. It's just… Well, it looks different from the one the elves make at Halloween you know?” he explained.
“Well… they do it with magic, so I figured that was why…” Sirius looked at the ground, his brow furrowed.
Remus felt like a complete asshole. He grabbed a small piece of the cake and bit into it, trying to cheer him up. He immediately regretted it.
He couldn’t help but spit it back into his hand, the burnt taste lingering on his tongue.
“Oh, Merlin…” he reached for a glass of water he kept by his bed and downed it, trying to get rid of the awful taste.
“Oh, come on! It can’t be that bad!” Sirius huffed in annoyance and reached for a bite as well.
As soon as he did his face scrunched up. He chewed very slowly as Remus watched, amused. Well, Sirius Black wasn’t anything but stubborn, that was for sure. He snorted when the other boy swallowed with great effort.
“It’s good.” Sirius said with a straight face.
Remus hummed in agreement, trying to keep in his laughter. But Sirius started clearing his throat and he couldn’t handle it anymore. He burst out laughing as Sirius took the glass from his hand, casted an aguamenti and downed it without breathing.
“Merlin that tastes like pure coal. Ugh.” Sirius stuck out his tongue and shook his head, trying to get rid of the burnt taste. He’d ruined his present… Great.
He casted a glance at Remus who was rubbing at his eyes with his jumper sleeves and couldn’t help but smile a little. His boyfriend reached for him when he saw the disappointed look on his face.
“Oh baby, I really appreciate you taking the time to make something for me.”
Sirius sighed, “Thanks, I guess… I just wanted to give you something special, you know? I thought it could be like a new tradition or something? Like love recipes…?”
Remus chuckled, “You are my recipe for love, baby.”
Sirius tried to hide his blush, “you’re such a sap, Moony.”
Remus reached back to the cake and smeared the chocolate covering his finger onto Sirius’ nose.
“Oi!”
“I’ve got ideas for this…Care to join me?” Remus suggested, walking backwards towards his bed.
Sirius smirked and locked the bedroom door with a wand wave.