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Contrary to what most people might think, Remus Lupin really liked the night sky. He even liked the moon. Well– in a personal sense, he didn’t. But objectively, he was able to acknowledge that sometimes it was quite beautiful.
He loved the stars more though. Billions of tiny specks, scattered across the entire firmament, visible to at least one person at any moment. Billions of them but each even just a little bit different. They seemed all the same from where Remus was standing but up close - they weren’t alike. Remus liked that idea for some reason.
He liked the moon and he loved the stars. He loved the sky as a whole too, its endlessness and the varying shades of it. He loved that one day it was a deep turquoise and the other a nice navy and then the other almost pitch black. He liked the suspense of it.
Sirius Black grew up surrounded by the night sky. His father would stand by his side and say, “This is the one you’re named after. This is your brother’s. And this one’s your cousin, Bellatrix.”
It went on and on because of course the Black family was pretentious enough to name all their members after stars or constellations. Of course.
Sirius found it so self-centered to the point of hilarious. And, in a way, he thought it fit him.
He grew up surrounded by the night sky as well because that was the place he’d go to unwind.
His parents weren’t nice people. Childhood at the Grimmauld Place wasn’t easy. It was long days of a smile there, pushed back shoulders here, and fixing your hair there. It was long days of sharp looks from his mother, long days of waiting in terror for her to eventually snap in the evening.
But when the clock struck an hour too late for his parents to even bother, Sirius was finally left alone. That was when he escaped to the balcony.
He liked the stars. Personally, he had some bad connotations to them, but he supposed they were pretty.
He loved how dark the sky was. He loved how it seemed that it could swallow you whole. Sometimes he wanted that. He wondered what it would be like to live in space. Away from his family.
And he loved, no, adored the moon. It was bright and large, so much more important than all of his family members put together. It gave him hope that there was life away from this. From the Grimmauld Place theatrics.
Sirius Black loved the moon and Remus Lupin loved the stars. And then they met each other.
“What are we doing?”
Remus snapped his head around to see Sirius standing in the entrance of the Astronomy Tower, a stupid grin on his face.
“Pads,” Remus breathed.
“It is I,” Sirius said, giving a tiny bow, and walked up to Remus. “How did you even get in here?”
A smirk pulled on Remus’ lips as Sirius took a seat on the floor next to him.
“I have my ways,” he said teasingly.
Sirius arched his eyebrows. “Is that so? What a little troublemaker you are, Lupin. Breaking into a locked room at school like that.”
“Being friends with you must be rubbing off on me,” Remus said.
Sirius gave him a dramatic gasp. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Remus. I am a perfectly well-behaved student.”
Remus laughed and Sirius realized that that was probably the prettiest sound he’d ever heard.
“So why are you here?” he asked after a brief moment of silence.
“Just—” Remus gestured loosely to the view of the sky.
Sirius looked at it.
It was deep blue, covered in stars, ones Sirius could probably name if he put his mind to it. The moon was shining brightly, almost full.
“You feeling alright?” Sirius asked.
Remus shrugged. “Yeah, you know just a bit… meh. ”
Laughter bubbled in Sirius’s throat. “Yeah. I get that.”
Remus sent him a soft smile.
It was a warm night, quiet, apart from the sounds of the Forbidden Forest. If Sirius focused really hard he could also hear a fire crinkling somewhere.
His gaze drifted from the sky to the parapet that surrounded the tower. He wrinkled his nose, thinking for a moment.
Then he went to grab Remus’ hand.
“Come on,” he said, standing up and pulling Remus along with him.
“Wha—” Remus choked out.
Remus’ skin was soft underneath Sirius’. Warm. He never wanted to let go.
Sirius went out onto the parapet but Remus stayed inside, pulling him back.
“We are going to fall,” he said.
Sirius snapped his head around. “What? No. No way. It’s a school, Moony, it has to be safe.”
Remus tilted his head, arching his eyebrows. “Have you seen this school?”
The corners of Sirius’ mouth twitched up. He turned back to the sky and considered for another moment.
“Alright, how about a compromise?” he said, stepping back inside.
He crouched down again, pulling Remus after him, again.
“Merlin—” Remus breathed. “ What are you doing?”
Sirius grinned and, not letting go of Remus’ hand, lay down on the wooden floor of the tower, only his head out on the parapet.
The sky stretched out above him, prettier than he’d ever seen it.
He looked to Remus who was staring at him doubtfully.
“Come on,” Sirius said. “This has to be safe.”
Remus rolled his eyes and mumbled something but still settled himself next to Sirius.
Sirius watched as his eyes lit up when he took in the view above them.
Sirius squeezed his hand and Remus snapped his gaze to him. Sirius could’ve sworn (or maybe it was just wishful thinking) that a gentle flush spread over his cheeks.
“You like it?” Sirius asked.
Remus’ lips pulled into a grin. “Yeah. I do.”