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Remus used to like the night sky. When he was a little boy, he used to lie down in the garden with his parents and look up at the stars.
His father would tell him all about the constellations and the stars they could see. He was not an expert in astronomy, but his knowledge was enough to amaze a four-year-old.
His mother would also tell him some stories about how the ancient civilizations had used the stars as a guide to finding their way around the Earth; and how the stars have meant different things to different cultures. She even told him that someday humans will be able to go to the moon!
He enjoyed these evenings with all the enthusiasm a four-year-old can have in his little body.
However, this happiness was not long-lived. They had stopped going outside at night because his father said so. He still showed Remus some star charts he had done when he had gone to Hogwarts. It was not the same, but Remus never complained about it; he still enjoyed watching the stars.
One night, with the full moon shining through his window, a horrible monster appeared in his room and changed his life. He was now forced to face a brutal transformation full of pain every month. He fought against the monster that was inside him every time, but it just caused him more pain.
He started to fear the night sky, to hate it. He didn't want to see the stars anymore. They shared the sky with the moon. Even on nights when the moon was not full, he felt her taunting, showing him that, no matter what he did, she would always return to be full.
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Sirius was never a fan of the night sky. He hated that all his family was named after celestial objects.
Of course, he liked to be named after the brightest star in the sky, and he enjoyed showing it to Regulus every time they could catch a glimpse of it. He didn't like that his name had been used twice before him, though. Despite what his parents say, those had not been good people. He didn't like sharing his name with blood purists and bigots.
And that didn't happen only with his first name. His middle name was no other than the same as his father's. Just marvelous. He didn't like it when he could see the constellation of Orion. It reminded him that he was supposed to follow in the steps of his father. That his future was depicted in the stars, Canis Major always following Orion on his trip around the sky.
One thing that always cheered him up, however, was finding Regulus, the lion's heart. He loved his little brother and thought that they would always be connected if they could find each other in the night sky. He sometimes joked with his brother, telling him that maybe he was destined to be a Gryffindor when they attended Hogwarts. Regulus would watch him with his deep grey eyes blown open with something like hope, but before a small smile tugged at the ends of his lips, he would turn his face and sigh. "You know we will be in Slytherin; we have to." He would say. Sirius didn't like the prospect of being in Slytherin. All his family had been in Slytherin.
As he grew up, he started to hate the stars even more. With every new punishment his parents would try on him every time he did something wrong, with every nasty thing his cousins would say to him and Regulus, he resented more the stars all of them were named after.
Well, almost all of them. He could never hate his little brother's star. It was the only star he would continue actively looking for, out of the vast pool of possible celestial objects, even in the darkest of times.
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When Remus entered the second room of their new flat, he didn't expect to be met with total darkness. It was summer and the middle of the day, and all the rooms had at least one window.
When Sirius cast the spell, he didn't want to miss Remus' reaction; but he needed the darkness for the best effect. All the hard work and sleepless nights will be worth it.
The tip of Sirius' wand touched the corner of the prism in the middle of the room, making it glow a soft light blue for a few seconds. Then, little dots of light went flying around the room, circling Sirius and Remus.
The little lights finally settled, floating a few inches above their heads. Faint lines connected the dots, giving them a more defined form.
There was no doubt that the little dots were supposed to be stars, and that their form was a constellation. Not any existing constellation, though. It was something else. It was them, a few years younger, sharing their first kiss.
Sirius found Remus and held his hand. From this close, he could make the expression on Remus' face, in his eyes.
"I couldn't make the real ones stop meaning bad things for us, but… I think we can make our own," Sirius said with a squeeze of Remus' hand, "ones that aren't associated with pain and fear but with the best memories we make together.
"Besides, we can watch them any time we want; we don't have to wait until night or go away from the city." He finished, a little worried Remus wouldn't like it. He knew what the stars and the night sky meant for Remus, and even if his feelings for them weren't all too pleasant, they weren't as near as bad as Remus'.
"Can you show me how to make them?" Remus asked in a low voice, trying to contain the whole storm of emotions he was feeling, squeezing back Sirius' hand.
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The second room of their flat became a whole new sky inside their home. A sky without a moon, without the stars shadowing Sirius's life.
They performed an extension charm in the room to contain all their constellations inside.
Along that first scene, there were now images of Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail; of the Potters; of Lily and James; of little Harry; of Hope and Lyall; of Peter. All of them in different moments of life. Happy moments.
One day, Remus included two more figures. The only ones that were somehow related to the real night sky. There were they, the two brightest stars of their constellations, now personified, hugging each other. The scene of Sirius' and Regulus' reconciliation mixing with all the other ones of their big family.
That time, Sirius was the surprised one, and his eyes were damper than Remus' had been that first day.
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They never stopped adding more and more scenes. The little dots started clustering together and forming their own little galaxies.
It wasn't only a night sky anymore; it was a whole new universe. A universe that reminds them of all the love they had for each other and for the people in their lives. Always.
