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Champagne fountain by the entrance for the adults to consume, and a five-tier cake in the middle for the kids to look at, not to eat, just look. The high ceilings dripping in sparkling chandeliers and the exclusive guest list. Girls tugging their velvet evening gloves, boys tapping their polished oxfords, and house elves circling the halls with silver platters filled with whatever hors d'oeuvres Walburga requested that night.
None of that was quite as memorable to Sirius as the birthdays he spends at the tiny London apartment he shared with Remus above the chippy, waking up in a mismatched pj set and a missing sock to the smell of apple cinnamon pancakes and that gorgeous, dimpled smile.
For all the traditions Sirius grew up to detest, this one is the only one he treasured. He’d rub his eye, get his morning kiss, and a lap full of pancakes and one small gift, just one, nothing fancy or extravagant.
Most of Remus’ gifts were always handmade - he liked to put his thoughts into them. Like just being in Sirius' life wasn’t enough, he has to strip his love from his soul and stick it on a brown wrapping paper and a tacky ribbon bow.
Every single one of them was special, from a knitted quilt to a pearl chain for his pocket watch, and all the way to a notebook full of poems he wrote for Sirius.
This year was an exception, apparently, as Sirius looked at the black rectangular box on the tray.
Remus chuckled as Sirius flipped the box in one hand. “Are you sure this is for me? You’re the one who’s attached to that VMS Muggle box, you know.”
Remus, as expected, rolled his eyes. “Well, first of all, my love, it’s called a VHS,” Sirius yelped and giggled as Remus pinched his waist when he repeated the exact same words with him.
He knew what it was called, but he’s never one to miss out on the opportunity to taunt Remus. It’s just too easy sometimes, and it's so entertaining watching Remus’ face go through the 5 stages of denial, like he’s trying so hard to look upset or bothered, but that unconditional, exposed fondness in his eyes would always betray him
“Hey, no pinching on my birthday!!”
Remus just kissed his pout and snatched the tape from his hand
“Why don’t you eat your breakfast, and I’ll play this for you, yeah?”
Sirius pouted more if that’s even possible, sue him for hoping he would spend his birthday morning shagging his boyfriend instead of watching a random movie.
Remus jumped back into bed as the movie started with a familiar song and pictures of the night sky
The second star to the right,
Shines in the night for you
Sirius felt an itch in his throat, and his vision began to blur.
******************
“And, he can fly!!” exclaimed Sirius with that look in his eyes whenever he talked about the wonders of all things Muggle, which was ironic in this context, considering he’s fascinated by magic, something that was the norm in his house.
“So what, we can fly too??” James had said, and he had a point. Remus never knew why Sirius was so fixated on the boy who could fly.
If Sirius could watch TV through his Muggle neighbor’s window from his own, surely there must’ve been something that was more intriguing to him than a kid’s animated movie.
Although Remus’ heart did break a little at the dejected look on Sirius’ face. And this simply wouldn’t do.
“Not without a broom you can’t,” he argued. Sirius arched his brows at him curiously. “All Pan needs are happy thoughts and pixie dust.”
All three eyes were on him now.
“You know.. kinda like a patronus, only instead of casting a magical shield, you get to fly.” He shrugged as he bit into his eggs.
James and Peter blinked at him like he just sang the national anthem in Mermish.
Sirius smiled at him in silent gratitude.
And Remus’ heart did the actual singing.
******************
Remus bit his lip as he tried to gauge Sirius’ reaction. He was doing that thing he always did, where he started blinking too fast to keep his tears in place. He hoped to god he didn’t fuck up with this gift, maybe he should’ve just knitted him another scarf he always liked those.
“I can’t believe you remembered,” it came, fleeting, barely a whisper, with a broken croak at the end; he wouldn’t have caught it if his eyes weren’t glued to his face.
And what an absurd thing to say, as if the tiniest details about Sirius aren’t permanently seared into Remus’ brain.
He caught the one tear that managed to escape with his thumb before he dropped a kiss on his head and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, letting him get comfortable on his chest as they watched John and Michael in the middle of their epic sword fight.
Remus kept sneaking glances at Sirius the whole time, trying to figure out what was it about this movie. He still had that look in his eyes when Peter finally showed up and taught the Darling siblings how to fly.
Then the movie ended with Wendy and her parents by the window, looking out into Hook’s ship in the sky.
When there's a smile in your heart
There's no better time to start
Think of all the joy you'll find
When you leave the world behind
The credits rolled as Remus sat, waiting for Sirius to say something
“You want to know why I'm obsessed with this movie so much.” It wasn’t a question. Sirius didn’t need to look at him to know what he was thinking about; he’s just that easy to read, or maybe the words on his pages are only visible to Sirius.
“He’s not actually magic,” he started
“Peter, he’s not a wizard, he’s just a muggle boy that did the impossible” he said, his voice void of that longing spirit it used to carry whenever he spoke about this movie.
“He found pixie dust,” Remus finished his thoughts for him. Sirius wasn’t the only one who could read. And Remus, he gets it now, it was never about the flying.
“Happy thoughts and pixie dust, that’s all he needed” Sirius looked up from Remus’ chest. And there’s that smile again, the one that makes his heart sing and dance and perform a whole drum solo.
“So does that make me your Wendy?” Remus teased, heart warming at Sirius’ belly laugh.
“No, you knob,” he shifted in his seat, holding Remus’ face between his hands, but Remus backed out before he could get his kiss “and why the hell not?”
Sirius rolled his eyes, “Because-“ he pulled him in for a searing kiss, “unlike Peter, I actually want to grow old” another kiss, gentler this time, “hopefully with you in my life.” God, Remus wanted to eat him whole.
“Yeah?” He tucked a stray strand behind his ear, and Sirius hummed.
“Sap,” Remus kissed him.
“M’not,” Sirius kissed him back, “Shut up,” another kiss.
“Make me,” and Sirius did.
“Plus I want to see the look on your face when I’m 60 years old and still making you drool over my arse.”
“Oh, you little-“ Remus was on him in seconds, flipping him over and finding that one spot in his waist that made him wiggle and wail like a boiling kittle.
“Hey, no physical attacks on my birthday!!!”