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“Is that Moony’s jumper?”
James’ eyes were sharp as he scrutinised Sirius.
“Oh? Hmm. Must be.” Sirius made a show of glancing down at himself, spreading his arms in the light brown knitted jumper that very clearly didn’t belong to him.
“Must be? Since when do you own a jumper like that?”
“Okay, then. Yes, it’s his,” Sirius admitted. “I borrowed it.”
“Why? Does he know?”
“It’s cold. This feels nice.” And it smelled like Remus, but that was probably a thought best kept inside. Who even knew what James would think if Sirius let him know about that? “This is the softest thing I’ve ever worn.”
James’ eyes narrowed, but he didn’t have time to say anything else before Remus walked in the room.
“Hey, do we—?” Remus cut himself off with the huge sigh he let out. “Is that my jumper?”
“It sure is,” Sirius confirmed, unable to stop the tight feeling in his chest, like his heart was wrenching itself into a knot. He hadn’t exactly asked to borrow Remus’ clothes, nor had he been planning on getting caught by James. He couldn’t tell if Remus was upset about it.
“Are you cold?” Remus asked. Sirius nodded. “And you couldn’t find a shirt of your own?” At Sirius’ headshake, Remus let out another sigh and said, “I’ll ask Mam to make you your own jumper.”
They wouldn’t smell like Remus, then, but Sirius supposed he couldn’t complain. “Thanks.”
Remus smiled at him then, and the knot eased in Sirius’ chest. Remus’ hands twitched, just a little but Sirius caught it. He knew if James weren’t here, Remus would be cupping his hands on Sirius’ face and kissing him. They’d had a hard time keeping their hands to themselves after that one night in late August.
James cleared his throat, the sudden sound of it startling Sirius from the fantasy.
“The… bathroom free?” Sirius asked no one in particular and didn’t wait for an answer before bolting over there.
“What was this about then? You can tell him no, you know?” Sirius heard James saying before the door could close all the way.
“I know.” Sirius could hear Remus’ smile and pictured it on his face, softening his features. “I don’t want to.”
“You let him get away with too much.” James sounded… weird. Like he wasn’t actually talking about the jumper.
“It’s not that serious.”
Sirius had to bite his lip to keep his usual comment from getting out. He didn’t want to get caught eavesdropping. Warmth spread in his chest where the knot had been earlier, and stayed until he emerged from the bathroom, the room now empty of prying best friends. He’d join them for dinner later, possibly wearing his own clothes, but for now he’d take full advantage of having the whole dorm to himself.
★
“Oh, were you sleeping in Remus’ bed again?”
Damn. Sirius thought James had early practice this morning, but maybe he was misremembering.
“Yeah.” There really was no sense in denying it since James had already caught him. He should have waited a moment longer before leaving the soft cocoon of Remus’ bed. “Remus went already, though, didn’t he?”
“I’m right here.” Remus’ voice was still a little rough from sleep as he stepped back in from the bathroom. As it reached Sirius’ ears, it made his stomach flip, not entirely uncomfortably. “Sirius crawled in in the middle of the night. Again.”
“You didn’t push me off,” Sirius challenged, smiling when Remus did so, too.
“As if that would deter you when you feel like having a sleeping buddy.”
“I would have gone to James’ if you said no.”
“Yeah, why didn’t you do that in the first place?” James asked, confusion and a dash of jealousy in his voice. “What makes Remus better?”
Well, wasn’t that the question. The truth was that what made Remus better than James were all the kisses he gave Sirius just before he fell asleep, the way he stroked fingers down Sirius’ forehead and nose to relax him. But he couldn’t say that. “He’s warm. My very own personal heater.”
“I’m plenty warm,” James insisted.
“Guys,” Peter interrupted, finally emerging from behind the curtains of his bed, “this is a really weird conversation to have first thing in the morning. And I’d like to ask: Was I even considered as an option?”
“Of course, my dearest Wormy,” Sirius said, standing up and ruffling Peter’s hair on his way to the now free bathroom. “I’ll come sleep next to you if I ever want you to burrow your whole body under me. That was so relaxing.”
“I don’t do that anymore!”
With that, the conversation had a laughing finish and no one mentioned why Sirius wanted to sleep with another person in the bed with him in the first place. If he could find the words to express it, he’d tell his friends how thankful he was for it. As it was, the only thing he could do was throw a smile over his shoulder, before getting ready to start the day.
And what a day it was. They’d known N.E.W.T.s would be infinitely worse than their O.W.L.s, not that Sirius was particularly concerned, but they hadn’t exactly anticipated being assigned more work than nearly all of fifth year combined, all before break. All the professors said it was to prepare them for spring term, but surely it couldn’t get worse?
Their usual nightly hang out sessions in the cosy common room had long since been filled with somewhat panicked studying. Just usually, most other students disappeared sooner rather than later. Tonight there was an unusually loud bustle in the room, but despite that…
“Oh, is Remus sleeping on your—”
“Yes,” Sirius told the nosy fifth year, and quickly extracted his fingers from where they’d been running through Remus’ hair as he slept with his head on Sirius’ lap. Sirius immediately felt disdain for the girl for pointing it out, as if this were something uncommon. “And don’t you dare wake him up.”
“We wouldn’t dream of that,” Peter interjected before the fifth year could do anything but scrunch her face, offended at Sirius’ snappy tone, shooting Sirius a questioning look.
Sirius gave her an apologetic smile, or the closest he could muster. Peter knew why Remus couldn’t stay awake past eight in the days preceding the full moon, but no one else did and they had spent years trying to divert people’s attention from it. It was actually a bit surprising how little people paid attention to lunar phases, despite it having a huge impact on… a lot of things, really. But most people didn’t physically feel its effects like Remus did. In any case, it was good they didn’t, or they’d have a repeat of what happened with Snape a couple years ago. Dealing with that had been way too big of a hassle for what it was worth.
Was Peter still looking at him? Sirius stared back until Peter turned his gaze away, back to whatever he’d been scribbling. Peter had definitely rolled his eyes when he did that. Wanker.
Remus had told him he’d just “rest his eyes” for a bit, and had probably also told Sirius to not let him fall asleep, but this was what always happened.
Sirius continued chatting with James, who sacrificed most of his free time for Quidditch practice and had to also take advantage of some late night studying, but was great at multitasking entertaining Sirius at the same time, and occasionally Peter, who was getting an unnerved look in his eyes the further the night progressed, pausing periodically to stare into nothingness. Sirius would have felt bad for him if it hadn’t looked very funny.
Remus turned suddenly, frowning up at Sirius and looking generally adorable.
“Hey,” Sirius said quietly, just loud enough for Remus to hear, and hopefully no one else. He had to fight the urge to lift a hand to stroke Remus’ cheek.
“You let me fall asleep,” Remus mumbled, no accusation in his voice.
“You needed it.”
“I kind of feel like going right back to it,” Remus admitted. “Come with me?”
They bid the quickest of good nights to their friends, who merely waved hands in their direction, more than used to this being the routine. And if Sirius slipped into Remus’ bed right now instead of waiting for night to fall, no one was the wiser.
★
Sirius walked briskly down the halls, hopefully looking like he was in a hurry to go somewhere and wouldn’t be bothered. He was looking for Remus, who he suspected might be in the library, studying. Maybe he wouldn’t be opposed to sneaking off with Sirius for a while; it was nearly time for dinner anyway.
His face heated up slightly as he spotted Remus at a corner table in the library, but before he could get too excited about it, he saw that Peter was with him. Annoyance flared in him and he couldn’t push it aside. He’d just wanted a moment alone with Remus, but of course Peter had to be here too. There was no way he could come up with an excuse to get Remus alone now.
“What are you doing here?” Peter asked Sirius when he got nearer, tone clipped. He was surrounded with scattered pieces of parchment and open textbooks, gaze flitting frantically between all of them and Sirius, a wide-eyed look on his face.
“It’s good to see you, too,” Sirius scoffed.
“What are you doing here?” Remus repeated Peter’s question, with significantly less malice, not lifting his gaze from his parchment. His spot on the table was a lot more organised, though Sirius could see he wasn’t as calm as he’d like for others to think, holding his quill with stiff fingers, shoulders hunched.
“Fixing your posture, for one.” Sirius pulled Remus’ shoulders back. The touch was brief and left Sirius wanting to do more, but it was as far as he dared go in front of Peter. “Why do you ask? Don’t you want me here?”
“You can stay, if you can be quiet. I have to get this done before the weekend.” Before the full moon, that was. “Where’s yours?”
“Already gave it to Minnie.”
“Of course you did.”
“What can I say? I’m a Transfiguration expert.”
Remus’ eyes bore into his now, and he frowned. “I hope she doesn’t know that.”
“I’m excellent at keeping secrets,” Sirius assured him with a wink. Peter sighed next to them and Sirius wasn’t sure if it was because of the essay or what he’d said.
“So,” Remus said, “why are you here, then?”
“To keep you company.”
“So I can keep you company,” Remus corrected and glanced at Sirius to see if he was right. Sirius just gave him a smile. Remus sighed and went back to his essay. “Be quiet, then.”
“Wait, what time is it?” Peter suddenly exclaimed, then lowered his voice significantly, as if he just remembered they were at the library. “I need to meet with my Potions tutor.”
With speed Sirius had never seen anyone exhibit, Peter gathered his things and scurried off.
“Why didn’t he drop Potions, anyway?” Sirius asked, following Peter with his gaze until he was out of sight. Alone at last. Though Peter had left his inkwell behind. Sirius deposited it in his bag to give to him later. “He knows he doesn’t have to, right?”
“He needs it for that apprenticeship he’s been after,” Remus said. “For the Ministry.”
Sirius vaguely remembered a conversation about that. Truth be told, he hadn’t really been paying attention to what he might need for his future job. He’d just gone on with subjects he liked and dropped ones he didn’t like. Maybe he’d pursue a mastery in one some day, but for now he didn’t much like thinking about what came after Hogwarts. There was still time.
Knowing Remus wouldn’t let him help with the essay, Sirius didn’t bother to offer. Instead, he reached for a book from Remus’ quite impressive stack and opened it on a random page. He could be quiet—something his friends seemed to have a hard time believing. He did, however, have difficulties sitting still if he had nothing to do. Especially today, when he’d already woken up feeling like he should perhaps go for a run instead of classes.
Remus’ hand slid across the table towards him. Sirius looked up, but Remus was still focused on his essay, not even looking at Sirius. Grateful, Sirius grabbed the offered hand, heart starting to hammer in his chest when a small smile appeared on Remus’ face.
For now, this was very nice indeed.
★
“Did you hear Sirius Black is dating Remus Lupin?”
“That can’t be true,” came the answer, delivered in a disbelieving voice. A fit of barely contained giggles followed. “Lupin is kind of ugly, isn’t he?”
“Ah, hey—!” The two girls couldn’t hear him, already having walked the other way. They must have not noticed Sirius to be talking about him in such a manner. But to say that about Remus, of all people! Who had they been, anyway? Sirius didn’t recognise them enough to even tell which house they belonged to.
He was still standing there, debating whether to run after them or leave it be, when a voice behind him startled him.
“Sirius?”
Sirius turned around quickly, spotting Lily Evans suddenly standing not five feet from him.
“Don’t mind them,” she said, glaring in the direction the girls had disappeared to.
Sirius followed her gaze, chest oddly tight. “They were saying—”
“I heard them. Though it’s not like you to get upset about simple rumours.” Lily frowned. “So what if they think you and Remus are dating? Don’t mind them,” she repeated, then muttered under her breath so quietly Sirius had to strain to hear her, “Seriously, can’t people even show affection to their friends anymore?”
“No, that wasn’t… it—” He’d actually been more focused on the fact they’d called Remus ugly, which simply wasn’t true, but… “Do people speculate about us often?”
“All the time.” Lily’s tone was so carefree Sirius’ anxiety almost let up. “Don’t worry about it, I keep telling everyone to mind their business whenever I hear it.”
“Oh. Thanks.”
They hadn’t really meant to keep their relationship a secret, there just hadn’t been a moment to tell their friends. And everyone else could… mind their business, like Lily said.
“But if you were…” Lily continued, an almost sly tone to her voice. “Dating, that is… That’s fine.”
Was Sirius imagining things, or was Lily giving him a look? Whatever could she mean by that?
He smiled, hoping she wouldn’t be able to see through it. “Well, that’s good to know.”
He had the sudden and unavoidable urge to talk to Remus, who’d hopefully be in their dorm, or at least the common room. It was the full moon tonight, and he usually preferred to spend the hours before it in bed.
In bed was exactly where Sirius found him, curled up on top of the covers. Sirius would have thought he was asleep if he hadn’t had the curtains open and been staring at the door. His eyes locked on Sirius’ the moment he stepped in their room.
Sirius strode over to the bed and promptly sat on it, closing the curtains behind him. He laid down, facing Remus, who immediately reached over to grab Sirius’ hands. Remus’ were cold, so Sirius pulled them closer to his chest, hoping to warm them somehow. Remus was only ever this cold just before his transformation; it had something to do with his body preparing for it by not pumping blood to his extremities. As if he wasn’t suffering enough already.
“Did you know people think we’re dating?” Sirius couldn’t help but blurt out.
“We… are dating?” Remus looked suddenly unsure, like he was afraid Sirius would deny it.
“Yes, of course. But they don’t know that. At least they shouldn’t know that.”
“Right.” Remus was still frowning. “Where did you hear that, then?”
“In the hallway, just now. And Lily said people talk all the time.”
People talked about Sirius constantly and he’d long since learned to ignore what they said. Being the disgraced heir to one of the biggest pureblood houses in the wizarding world wasn’t really something people ignored, even after years of him being disowned from said family. But they hadn’t ever really talked about something like this.
“Are we so obvious?” Sirius asked. “Do you think the rumours might have reached James and Pete?”
“Would it be so bad, if they had?”
Sirius couldn’t answer. They’d talked about this many times before, but he still didn’t know what to say.
Remus yanked a hand free from the cocoon Sirius had made and reached up to tuck a strand of Sirius’ hair behind his ear. His hand stayed resting against Sirius’ cheek.
“If they do already know…” Sirius finally said. “They haven’t said anything. Do you think this is going to change everything?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t like keeping things from them.”
“Me, neither.” Remus held on to Sirius tighter then, clearly just as worried as he was.
Their group, tight-knit since the first year, didn’t have secrets, not after Remus’ failed attempt at keeping his lycanthropy from the others. They were the Marauders, an unstoppable force the likes of which Hogwarts had never seen before and would never see again. They did everything together.
What if Sirius and Remus had ruined it all by acting on their feelings for each other? And what if the longer they waited the worse the aftermath?
Waiting had always seemed the right thing to do. But waiting for what? The right moment? Wasn’t it better to tell them instead of them having to find out from someone else?
But when James later returned from Quidditch practice and Peter from wherever he’d been—Gobstone club meeting probably, judging from the smell—they weren’t acting odd at all. Maybe they didn’t know about what people were saying? Or maybe Lily had exaggerated the extent of how much people were talking? Sirius had long since retreated to his own bed in anticipation of James and Peter’s arrival. Whatever the case was for James and Peter, tonight wasn’t the night to spill any secrets.
“Anyone ready for a night of fun?” James said in his usual way of trying to cheer up the undeniably sombre atmosphere before the full.
“Only if Pete takes a shower first. Moony’s going to kick you out if you come in smelling like that,” Remus said, giving them a small smile. “I thought we agreed on no Gobstones before the full moon.”
“There’s still plenty of time!” Peter said indignantly, but did hurry over to the bathroom to clean up.
James took Sirius’ vacated spot on Remus’ bed and rubbed a hand on Remus’ leg. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
“We’ll meet you there, then.”
Giving James a somewhat weak nod, Remus pushed himself up and off the bed, waved to Sirius and went on his way to meet with Pomfrey, who had no idea the rest of them would be following right behind, as they had done for a long time now.
★
“Here, brought you something.”
Remus lifted his head from the shabby pillow and just managed to catch the jumper Sirius threw at him before it hit him in the face.
“Thanks,” he said quietly and immediately put it on. “Wait. This smells…” He lifted the collar up to properly inhale the scent. A blush started to appear on his face. “Like you.”
“It may be one of the ones I borrowed.”
“And didn’t wash? Gross.” Despite his words, Remus was smiling. “Where are James and Pete?”
“Catching some sleep, I reckon,” Sirius said and nodded towards the bed in a silent question. With Remus’ permission, Sirius climbed into the rickety old bed with him. There weren’t any others in the Hospital wing, a somewhat rare sight for a school where magical accidents happened all the time, so Sirius dared to place his head on Remus’ shoulder. He’d simply stop if someone came in.
“You didn’t feel like doing that?” Remus asked, resting his head against Sirius’.
“And let you suffer here all by your lonesome?”
“Pomfrey’s going to tell you off when she sees you here before breakfast,” Remus pointed out, but reached for Sirius’ hand to hold.
It was the weekend and the sun had just barely begun to rise, so sleeping in wasn’t out of the ordinary. This time of the year sunrises were late, but it was still technically too early for Sirius to be up and roaming around on a Saturday.
“She can carry me out herself then,” Sirius declared and closed his eyes.
Remus’ chuckle sounded a little too far for the fact that they were right next to each other, but Sirius was a little too tired to think about it. He absolutely loved the one night a month they spent running around the Forbidden Forest, but had to admit it was a little tiring in the morning. But nothing he felt ever compared to what it was like for Remus, so he never complained.
Remus’ gentle nudging on his side woke him up almost as soon as he’d closed his eyes. Sirius sat up so fast he nearly fell off the side of the bed, and would have if James hadn’t been right there to catch him.
“You do know you have a perfectly good bed upstairs?” James laughed.
The sun was definitely higher up in the sky now. Sirius hadn’t meant to fall asleep. He shot Remus a half-hearted glare and was met with an equally half-hearted apologetic smile.
“We’re getting too big to all fit on the bed, I’m afraid,” James said as he settled on the chair next to the bed and tossed Remus a pastry, wrapped in tissue, probably taken from the kitchen after breakfast service was finished. Which meant Sirius had missed it as well. James smirked at him before handing him another wrapped pastry.
“Speak for your own self,” said Peter and promptly turned into Wormtail, scurrying up Remus’ leg until he lifted him up to his shoulder, where Peter curled up, ready to slip behind Remus’ neck to hide if he needed to.
Remus smiled, and for a moment his eyes locked with Sirius’ and the look in them softened. Sirius’ own lips turned up, almost involuntarily, in answer. He could easily forget the whole world every time Remus looked at him like that.
Trying to keep in mind where they were, Sirius forced himself to focus on his pastry, sneaking a surreptitious glance at James.
James had an amused look on his face and when he noticed Sirius watching, he shook his head slowly. “I stand corrected. Still room up there for a stag?”
He gave them no time to panic and simply pulled the chair closer to where Sirius was sitting, lifting his feet on the bed.
Madam Pomfrey chose that moment to walk past them, huffing out an exasperated sigh, but said nothing. Sirius knew she secretly loved when they came over to keep Remus company. If only she knew the whole truth.
★
Sirius had gotten a letter.
That in itself wasn’t too unusual, he exchanged letters with various people from time to time. But this one had something in particular that made his blood run cold the moment he set eyes on it.
The Black family crest, neatly pressed in wax on top of the envelope, sealing it.
Without bothering to open it, Sirius set the letter on fire.
“They’re going to send you a howler next,” James pointed out, frowning at the ashes fluttering down towards the table. He vanished them with a quick flick of his wand before any could reach Sirius’ plate. Sirius didn’t care if they had; he’d already lost his appetite.
“They should.”
“What do you think they want?’
“Who even knows?”
Sirius was very careful not to turn around to look behind him, where the Slytherins were currently also having breakfast. If his brother knew anything, Sirius didn’t want to know and he especially didn’t want to see it on his smug little face.
Remus was looking at him intently, having watched the exchange closely. Sirius gave him a smile he hoped was reassuring. There was nothing to worry about. He did, however, really wish to crawl back in bed and perhaps get a chance to start the day again.
Sirius excused himself soon after, telling his friends he’d meet them in Charms.
He didn’t go to Charms.
He didn’t go to Potions after that, either.
By lunch time, he was still sitting up at the top of the Astronomy Tower, freezing yet barely feeling it.
He heard Remus coming up the stairs before he saw him. All of his friends probably knew where to find him by this point—they wouldn’t have even needed the Map—and they knew to step heavily on the stairs to alert Sirius to their presence. He could easily tell which one of them was making his way up the stairs from the sound alone.
“You’d think someone as smart as yourself would know to put on a warm jumper on a chilly day like this.” Remus said as he reached the top. He strolled over to Sirius and waited until Sirius looked up at him to continue. “Or did you forget yours just so I could bring you one?”
“How did you know I even forgot mine?” Sirius shot back, accepting the well-worn, soft jumper from Remus, their fingers touching for a moment, the feeling almost electric. Their eyes met and the look in Remus’ softened, just the tiniest bit, but Sirius still caught it. Remus let go first, letting Sirius pull the jumper over his head, warmth enveloping him instantly. “Thanks.”
“Warm now?”
“Could be warmer.”
Remus sighed and sat next to him, wrapping his arms around Sirius. “Better?”
“Loads.” Sirius turned his head to give Remus a brief kiss, before relaxing against Remus.
For minutes, they sat in silence, Remus’ arms adding to the warmth Sirius felt again. He’d known he’d been cold, but it had been easy enough to ignore. Now that he was rapidly warming up again, everything almost hurt. He wrapped his arms around himself, tucking his icy hands into his armpits to warm faster. Remus tightened his hold and Sirius felt him kiss the side of his head.
“Was it the letter?”
“Yeah,” Sirius answered the question Remus already knew the answer to. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
He didn’t even want to think about it, but of course he’d spent the entirety of his morning doing nothing but thinking about it. He’d almost gotten up to go back to the Great Hall to see if he could somehow reverse the very irreversible spells and bring the letter back before Remus had shown up.
Any of his friends could have come up here, and while Sirius was grateful it had been Remus alone instead, he caught himself thinking that if they’d all come, he would have wanted to feel Remus’ arms around him first, if only because he knew he’d go in for a kiss as well. And he wanted to be able to do that without fear of reproach from his other friends.
“I think I’m ready,” he told Remus.
“Ready?” Understandably, Remus was confused. He couldn’t read minds, that much was evident.
“To tell James. And Pete.”
Remus nodded, the movement shaking Sirius’ head as well. “We can do it after classes, if you want. I know they’re both free in the afternoon.”
“I don’t feel like attending classes today.”
“That’s fine.” It was a really big thing to ask Remus to skip classes, and it brought Sirius delight to know he’d do that for him. “Just… Can we go somewhere warmer?”
They ended up roaming the upper hallways for some time, hand in hand like they often did up here; other students rarely came here unless they were going to the few classrooms. They’d discovered early on that they could have the upper floors almost entirely to themselves at times.
When they finally went back, James and Peter were already in their dorm, sitting together on Peter’s bed and looking over what had to be Peter’s essay.
Both glanced up when Sirius entered, dragging Remus behind him, still holding his hand. Still wearing Remus’ jumper. An uncomfortable pit had settled at the bottom of his stomach the closer they got to the Gryffindor Tower, but there was no going back now. They’d decided to do this, so they would.
It was almost comical, the way both boys’ eyes widened as they looked down to Remus and Sirius’ joined hands, the looks on their faces changing quickly from relieved to… elated?
“We… er, we have something to tell you,” Remus began as Sirius was still focused on what he thought should have been frowns on their friends’ faces, but were huge grins instead. “Sirius and I, we… Well—”
“We’re dating,” Sirius blurted out.
James’ smile did not falter.
Peter’s widened. “Guys… we already— Ouch!”
James had nudged Peter on the side, probably meaning to be discreet, but he actually shoved Peter enough that he nearly fell off the bed.
Peter glared at James. “I mean… This is great news! And I mean news, as in information we hadn’t previously known.”
Sirius shared a brief, panicked look with Remus, not knowing what to say.
It was Remus who found his voice first. “What do you mean you already knew?”
Peter scrunched his face and James suddenly had a hard time looking at either of them.
“I know you all think I’m stupid, but this is low, even for you,” Peter finally said. He quickly silenced the chorus of “We don’t think—” by continuing, “I mean, yes, it’s not uncommon for Sirius to sleep with one of us sometimes, but it started to be exclusively Remus. And I know you’ve been running off to snog around every corner when you think no one’s looking.”
“Not to mention the jumpers,” James added, gesturing to the one Sirius was currently wearing. “And the stars in both of your eyes when you look at each other.”
“James?” Sirius’ tone was definitely pleading. Surely they hadn’t been… Right?
“I don’t know how you thought I wouldn’t notice when you went from clearly pining after Remus, never able to shut up about him when he wasn’t there, and blushing and smiling whenever he even slightly looked in your way, to sneaking into his bed nearly every night, wearing his clothes, always finding excuses to get time alone with him… You can’t keep your hands to yourself even in public anymore. Need I say more?”
“Please don’t.”
“Lily told us to give you guys space and that you’d tell us when you were ready.”
“Lily knows?”
James gave him a look that was definitely full of pity.
It was Peter who confirmed Sirius’ worst fears. “Everybody knows.”
A tingling sensation ran through Sirius’ entire body, accentuated where Remus was still holding his hand, his grip nearly painfully tight.
“Besides,” Peter continued, completely unaware of the full-body shutdown Sirius was experiencing, “we’ve known Remus has had a crush on you since fourth year—”
Immediately surprised out of his shock, Sirius turned to Remus, who had an adorable dusting of red on his cheeks. “You never told me that!”
“I—” Remus stammered, choking on his words.
Peter laughed. “How did you guys even get together? I guess neither of you were part of everybody, then.”
“Peter, you’re not helping,” James said sharply. “But now that this is all out in the open, I’d also like to hear this story. I’ve had to listen to Sirius for years, I deserve some compensation.”
“I’ll show you compensation,” Sirius threatened, and forced himself to finally let go of Remus so he could jump on the bed next to James, pushing him down with the intent of perhaps tickling him into groveling for forgiveness.
“I don’t mind telling that story,” Remus said, looking over at Sirius and James with a fond look on his face.
Sirius found that neither did he, as it turned out. James and Peter hadn’t reacted at all like they’d feared. Not only that, they’d already known and hadn’t said anything—in fact, managing to keep that more of a secret than Sirius and Remus had their relationship. They’d waited until Sirius and Remus were ready. And it didn’t change anything.
It didn’t change anything.