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Remus hadn’t smiled in six days. Sirius was keeping track.
“Six days. Since the last moon,” He informed James and Peter while Remus was off at a prefect meeting one evening. He’d said goodbye to them after dinner, with his still-not-smiling face.
“That can’t be right. Not even a smirk?” James asked.
“Not even a sarcastic one,” Peter verified. He could usually be trusted with strange details like this, when pressed for them.
James looked horrified. “How have I not noticed this?!” He demanded. “One of my best friends is miserable for a whole week-”
“Less than a week.”
“He’s not miserable, he’s just not happy,” Sirius clarified, fidgeting with the toe of his sock where he sat on the floor in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor Common Room. “And don’t beat yourself up, you’ve been stressing over yesterday’s match for a month.”
James had, in fact, been stressing about the game they’d won the previous day for the past two months. But the week leading up had been particularly strenuous. Still, he grumbled, “You noticed, though.”
Peter gave James a look that managed to convey Sirius notices everything about Remus and you know it- everyone knows it - with only his eyes.
“The point is, what are we going to do about it?” Sirius demanded.
Peter gave it thought. “We could try the usual. Special trip to Honeydukes?”
Sirius nodded. “What else?”
It was difficult. None of them had ever had to think about how to make Remus smile before. Smiling always seemed to come easy to him when he was with them. He was always laughing or grinning or giving disapproving little smirks.
“This is dreadful! He’s our best friend, we can’t think of one thing besides bloody chocolate that might make him smile?”
James was frustrated, but Sirius was genuinely of upset about it. “I miss it, I miss his smile, it’s not fair. Are we his friends or not?”
Peter and James exchanged another look.
“We’ll think of something. Give us some time.” James touched Sirius’s arm in the way that usually grounded and relaxed him.
At that moment, however, he pulled it back into himself and stood up. “I’m going to bed.” He announced, and stomped up the stairs.
James turned to Peter. They didn’t have long before Sirius would be wondering why nobody followed him up. “Is it time?”
“It’ll work, for sure.”
“But do we really want to do it just because he hasn’t smiled in a while? Are those the terms we want it to happen on?”
“Do the terms really matter? Once they’re together they’ll be happy as gnomes in mud. I don’t even think they’ll remember this once it’s all over. No part of it is malicious and only a bit of it is manipulative.”
James chewed on the inside of his cheek. He and Peter had been debating how best to get Remus and Sirius together since the first day of term two years prior.
“Alright,” James nodded, finally. “Time to commence Operation: Make Moony Smile.”
~
James and Peter came up to the dormitory only to check on Sirius and to grab James’s invisibility cloak, though there was still plenty of time before students were expected to be in bed.
“Kitchen run,” They explained vaguely before they left. Sirius was too distracted by his own thoughts to notice. Before talking about it, the Remus-not-smiling thing had been bothering him. After, it was killing him.
How could they not know how to make Remus smile? After six years together?
Sirius would figure it out. He’d try everything.
The door opened again half of an hour later, and Sirius expected to hear the jubilations of a successful kitchens run. Instead he heard the slow shuffling of someone getting ready for bed.
He poked his head out of the curtains of his four poster to see Remus, looking utterly exhausted (and unsmiling as ever), pulling a night shirt over his unbound chest. Sirius pulled himself back into the confines of his bed to give him the little privacy he never asked for.
He was a bit startled, a moment later, when his own curtains began shifting and Remus climbed into his bed and under the covers.
“Hello to you, too,” Sirius scoffed, but he was grateful for the intrusion. It was only occasionally that Remus was the one to seek comfort. Usually he waited for Sirius to crawl into his bed.
“Mhm, hi,” Remus yawned and tugged on Sirius’s night shirt. Sirius pulled the blankets aside to slide under them with Remus obediently. He laid his head on the other boy’s arm.
“Moons, you okay?” Sirius asked. If they couldn’t figure out how to make their friend happy, they were going to at the very least talk to him about it.
Remus shrugged, “Tired.”
Sirius watched Remus’s eyes move beneath their lids. “It’s more than that, it’s been like this for awhile.”
The eyes opened. He looked exhausted. “Tired… Of being so tired.”
Sirius nodded and pushed a collection of curls out of Remus’s face, more to feel them in his fingers than to be helpful to his friend. Remus’s eyes softened.
“Are you sure that’s all?” He asked, keeping a slow, steady rhythm of fingers in hair. He thought it might be calming to Remus; it definitely was to him.
Remus shook his head. There was a long moment in which the only audible sound was Remus swallowing and Sirius’s toes moving against the sheets. “I think I ate a squirrel last moon and since then I’ve felt… dunno.”
Sirius’s heart sank. They’d lost track of Moony for only a few minutes last week. “Tell me?”
Remus took a breath before he answered. “I’m disgusting. I’m a person who picks little bits of grey fur out of my teeth some mornings. Everything is wrong, my mouth feels wrong. Everything-” He squeezed his eyes shut tight and his voice cracked.
Sirius moved his hand down to Remus’s face and pressed his palm to his cheek. “You are not disgusting. You have nothing to do with your wolf. I’m sorry you have to deal with his consequences.”
Remus didn’t meet his eyes for a long while. They were shiny in the dim candle light - the little that had managed to seep in through the curtains - when he did. “How can you say I’m not?”
His fingers came to rest on Remus’s lips. “Your mouth is not wrong. Looks very very okay to me.”
There was a moment of stillness before Remus kissed the pad of Sirius’s index finger.
I wasn’t like Sirius had never been kissed by his friends before. But this was different. Quiet and tender. He brought the finger to his own lips to kiss, then put it back against Remus’s definitely-not-wrong mouth.
Remus did not smile. But he closed his eyes and he looked so peaceful, Sirius did.
~
The following morning, Sirius was awoken by James and Peter’s loud progress through their morning activities.
“Padfoot, get up!” James hollered. Sirius took a breath and was about to yell something back when Remus brought a finger to his own lips with a very quiet “shhh”. His eyes were completely alert, he’d clearly been awake for some time.
Sirius let the air go from his lungs and followed Remus’s example, pretending to be asleep.
When James ripped back the curtains to yell some more he came to find them nestled together quite comfortably, breathing deeply. He seemed to lose heart. “Come on, Wormy, let’s go get breakfast. If they don’t come down we’ll bring them something.”
“You know we’ll be late for class if we do that,” Peter protested. Sirius wanted to chuck a pillow at his head, but he resisted. The curtains closed back over them, blocking out the too-bright light and muffling the voices.
“Yes, but the plan is more important, is it not?”
“Yes, alright, fine. I’m hungry.” The voices left the room still bickering.
When the latch clicked shut, Sirius opened his eyes again. “Plan? What plan do you think they’re on ab- Remus?”
Remus was chewing his lip, there was a glint of mischief in his eyes that had been absent the last week or so.
Sirius’s heart rate picked up noticeably. He was worried Remus would be able to hear it, they were so close.
And then then the little space there was between them wasn’t there anymore, and Remus’s lips were on his. Just a brief peck. A warm, quick little kiss on his lips that burned like fire.
“Resmuns,” He cleared his throat, unable to form the name with his burning lips.
“Is that okay?” Remus asked, back to biting his own bottom lip like it hadn’t just been on Sirius’s.
Sirius nodded, still dumbstruck. “Yes it- wait, I don’t know. I have no idea whether it was okay or not, you’ll have to try again and we’ll find out.” He smiled his most angelic smile- or as best as he could manage first thing in the morning with a cloudy brain.
“For science, sure,” Remus nodded. This time he sat up a bit on his bony elbow and leaned over Sirius. He brought their lips together with terrible slowness.
The second kiss was longer. Careful and slow. Their lips moved together and Sirius’s arm came up around Remus’s shoulder to steady himself. It was still on the innocent side, as far as kisses go, but Sirius was consumed by it.
When they moved apart, Remus stayed up on his arm, looking down at Sirius.
“What was that for?” Sirius asked finally.
Remus smiled. So big and bright, it was difficult to remember he hadn’t for so long. It made Sirius’s chest ache- “It was an apology kiss,” and then plummet.
He swallowed hard. A kiss that meant anything other than ‘I want to kiss you’ was not what Sirius wanted. “An apology kiss?”
“Yes. I apologize for not having done that sooner.” Sirius picked up a pillow from behind his head (he and Remus had been sharing just the one, with no need for the second) and thwacked Remus in the side with it. “And you didn’t do it sooner either, so I think you owe me an apology, too.”
Sirius would have protested. Really, he would. But the invitation to kiss Remus again was too enticing.
There were four more kisses before Sirius could ask again. “O-okay. I’m really not complaining. But why now?”
Remus moved back a bit to speak and Sirius immediately regretted opening his mouth. “Heard James and Pete talking. They’re plotting to get us together, they seem hellbent on making me happy or something. They’re not quiet. I’m a little worried that I have so many secrets that depend on those two to be kept. Anyway, I thought whatever they’re planning would be a whole lot more fun if we were in on it from the other side.”
Sirius was simultaneously amused that Remus was so instantly dedicated to messing with their friends and still a little hurt that there was any motivation behind the kissing other than kissing. “So this was because you want to pull one over on them?”
Remus shook his head and brushed his fingertips against Sirius’s prominent cheek bone. “No, this was because I’ve wanted to do that for a long time, but I didn’t have confirmation that you did too until just a few minutes ago. In addition to this, I would like to get back at them for interfering.”
Sirius tried very hard to concentrate on forming an opinion, but the only things that seemed real were that Moony wanted to kiss him and Moony’s lips are right there.
There were two more small kisses before breakfast.
~
“Friday night, you know what that means,” James practically squealed over dinner that evening.
“That Wormtail’s got a date?” Sirius asked. Peter threw a soft, fresh baked roll at him.
“Gross, no thanks,” Peter notoriously did not date because Wormtail notoriously thought everything about the practice was unnatural. “Yes, James, we know what that means. We’ve only had the same Weekend Ritual for, what, two years? Three?”
Friday nights were the start of the weekend, which meant Marauding nights. They broke into sets of two and tackled bits of the castle for their cartography project.
“What are the teams?” Remus asked. His face was less tired and absent than the previous set of days, but he still wasn’t smiling. A little thrill ran through Sirius at the knowledge that he was the only one Remus was smiling at these days. All of Remus’s beautiful smiles reserved just for him.
“Wormy and I have that suspicious third floor corridor and you and Sirius have every broom closet on the fourth.”
“Broom closets?!” Sirius protested.
“But Padfoot and I were together last time, too.” Last time had been two weeks ago, as the night before a Full Moon was not a night with ideal conditions for sneaking about a castle.
James held up a hand, “Gents, -Lady?-” He paused to confirm Sirius’s occasionally fluctuating pronouns. Sirius shook his head. “Gents, if you’d prefer, you can have the lavatories on two, those still need mapping. But there was that one time Wormy got trapped in the broom closet on four and came out in the dungeons, so those definitely need investigating. Would you rather switch partners, since you were together last time?”
Sirius looked at Remus and thought of that morning in the dormitory. They hadn’t been alone since. No, no, he most certainly did not want to switch partners. Remus was already shaking his head.
“Then it’s settled. We move out at midnight.”
~
The castle was quiet. Silence magnified by the need to be extra stealthy under the cloak. The four of them didn’t fit under it anymore by any means. After Remus’s growth spurt they had basically had to abandon the notion that getting around under it would be easy. Wormtail was already a rat on James’s shoulder to accommodate space, and Remus was practically doubled over to half his height. His breath on Sirius’s ear was troublesome.
At the stairs between the third and fourth floors, Remus and Sirius ducked out.
“Good luck,” Remus murmured in the general direction of where their friends might be. “Manage your mischief well.”
They crept along the corridor as quietly as they could, close to the walls to stay in shadow. Every few dozen feet there was some door or another open with windows inside that leaked moonlight into the hallway.
“Remus-” Remus held up a hand to silence Sirius.
“Not yet.”
They kept going.
“When?” Sirius fidgeted impatiently.
“When we’re alone.”
That made Sirius’s heart beat about twice as fast and three times as loud.
They came to the first broom cupboard and Remus pried it open slowly to ensure there was no unnecessary creaking and that nothing would fall out onto them. When it seemed safe, he ushered Sirius inside before pulling himself in and the door shut behind him.
“Now?”
“Wait,” He warned. Sirius huffed and folded his arms. “Muffliato. Okay, now. What were you going to say?”
“When are you gonna kiss me again?” He asked. He sounded like an impatient child even to himself.
It was too dark in the cupboard. Sirius couldn’t see Remus at all. But he could feel when he stood just inches away. And he could definitely feel when a hand with long fingers came up around the back of his neck and pulled him forward.
And there was no mistaking Remus’s lips when they made contact with his cheek. Sirius couldn’t tell whether his cheek was the target, or Remus had simply miscalculated the trajectory given the darkness, but it was effective nonetheless. He turned his head the few degrees needed and kissed him properly.
In hindsight, the muffliato spell was a very good idea. Whether James and Peter had followed them under the cloak or not, surely Filch or someone would have heard the racket of old chairs falling and dustbins clattering to the ground as they struggled to find purchase in the tiny room.
Before very long, Sirius was perched up on some sort of shelf with his back against a wall and Remus was pressed against him fully, situated between his legs. Gone were the chaste kisses of that morning. These were the kisses of two people who had spent all day thinking about just how they’d like to kiss each other.
When Remus’s mouth moved from Sirius’s lips to his neck, Sirius made a noise in his throat that he didn’t even know could come from him and pulled back. “Wait, wait-” He gasped.
“Too much?” Remus pulled his hands away immediately. Sirius’s brain screamed at him for being the one to make Moony stop like that.
“N-no. But isn’t this what they want? Aren’t we just doing exactly what they think we’re going to do? How is this winning?” He asked.
Remus rested his cheek against Sirius’s. Sirius could feel his smirk. “It’s winning because whichever set of events led to you making that noise means I am winning whatever game we’re playing.” He kissed the hinge of his jaw. Sirius shivered. “And because they don’t need to know this is what we’re doing in here. We’re gathering information for the map,” Remus said, and he sounded almost innocent. “Discovering new territory and… Whatnot.” His hand slid up Sirius’s thigh to rest on his hip. The sound threatened to break out of Sirius’s throat again.
It was quickly silenced by a set of very capable lips.
~
Sirius was alarmed by how cool Remus remained under all this pressure. His head was ready to explode from all of the emotions and the sensations and the secrets. Remus just stayed his collected, unsmiling self. They didn’t speak properly again until James and Peter had gone to brush their teeth before bed.
Sirius hopped onto Remus’s bed and kissed his nose. “Mind if I spend the night?”
Remus’s face broke into a dazzling smile, but still he said, “This once, yes I do.”
Sirius’s face fell. “What, really?”
Remus pulled him close and kissed his forehead. “Really. It is taking all of my effort not to ask your permission to snog you in front of everyone as is.”
“Do it!” Sirius sat up to exclaim. “You have my permission!”
Remus shook his head. Sirius groaned.
“Whyyyy? Why all of the secrecy? I’m so happy, why can’t I yell about it? I can’t even tell James. I tell everything to James! And I can’t tell him this really important, big, huge thing?!”
Remus moved a bit of Sirius’s hair behind his ear. “It’s only for a little while for a bit of fun. If you’re not comfortable with it we’ll stop.”
Sirius bit at his lip. “And we’d be out? Together? You’d want people to know about us?”
Remus looked surprised. “Yes, of course. Do you think I don’t want people to know?”
“Well I don’t know! You want us to sneak around and not sleep in the same bed and all.” He pulled a pillow into his lap and hugged it, but Remus plucked it out of his grasp and pulled him into his arms instead.
“I’m still trying to believe my luck that you want the same things I do. I am not… ashamed of this. It’s only a prank. If it’s making you think in any way that I want to keep anything about me and you quiet, then we toss it out the window right now.”
Sirius was silent for a moment. The words were all he needed. Remus wanted to be with him and he didn’t want to keep it to themselves. He could trust Remus’s words.
“Okay.” Sirius agreed. In fact, once he could be fully confident that Remus wanted him - all of him - the prank seemed kind of fun. It had been ages since anyone had successfully pulled of an intra-Marauder plot. And the idea of having this with Remus was not unappealing. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to my cold and lonely bed to spend the night shivering and pining.”
Remus sat up while Sirius rolled off the side of his mattress. “You’re sure you’re okay with it?”
Sirius hopped up onto his own bed and nodded. “Yes. For now, yes.”
Remus didn’t have time to ask whatever question was on the tip of his tongue. James and Peter burst back into the room arguing about something Quidditch related. Sirius couldn’t be bothered to eavesdrop. He pulled the curtains closed around him and let his mind wander where it really wanted to.
That morning he’d woken up feeling like a completely different person. Everything had happened so fast, and yet it felt like it had all been coming together for years.
He drifted to sleep on thoughts of roaming hands and so many kisses.
~
“Can’t you see it’s working?”
“No?! They haven’t even been up to their usual bed-sharing thing. This is a disaster, we’re driving them apart!” James threw himself into an armchair and pouted.
It had been three days. Three days of ‘You two investigate that small, enclosed space’ and ‘Hey, I overheard Moony saying you look really fit in that skirt’. Three days and nothing. If anything, Remus and Sirius seemed to be spending less time attached to each other than usual.
Peter shook his head. “No no no, don’t you realize? That means it’s working! Their dynamic is different. It’s shifting.”
“Well what if it’s shifting to something uncomfortable? What if we ruin the friendship they had? What if we’re wrong?” James asked. It was early in the morning Tuesday morning. They were the first in the Common Room. Sirius and Remus were still fast asleep upstairs in the boys’ dorm.
“James,” Peter reassured him. “This is Sirius and Remus we’re talking about. We’re not wrong.”
James nodded. Of course they weren’t wrong. But if he and Peter were the source of Remus and Sirius feeling uncomfortable with each other even for a moment he’d never forgive himself.
“Listen, tonight, we take drastic action. Hope we’ve been on good behavior in Transfiguration lately, we’ll have to be extra carefully good today.” Peter informed him. It was a sign that real intricate plans were being made when Peter was the one delegating responsibility.
“Transfiguration? Why?”
“Just trust me.” Of course, James did.
~
It had been three days. Three days of alternating between being snogged senseless and left alone with her thoughts. Sirius was never going to survive this.
Tuesday morning found her in Remus’s bed, ten long fingers tangled in her hair, incredible tongue dancing against hers. Her own hands were pressed flat against the sheets, just trying to keep herself somewhat upright over him.
“They could be back an-any moment.” Sirius stumbled over her words, cut off by persistent kisses.
Remus leaned up to kiss whichever parts of Sirius’s face he could reach. “Won’t, just one more minute.”
“Bit… Risky,” Sirius was breathless, completely unsure how she was managing speech at all.
“Worth the risk, I just need three more minutes,” Remus pulled her back to him, hands still in her hair.
Sirius laughed and delighted in the smile on Remus’s lips. The one that was hers and hers alone for now. “Just three now?”
“Fifteen tops.” Nothing more was said for a lot longer than fifteen minutes.
~
“You want me to use my position to give unnecessary detentions to students in order to set two teenage children up on a date?”
Tuesday evening, well after dinner, James and Peter had excused themselves to the kitchens, supposedly on another run e for sweets and gone instead To Minerva McGonagall’s office. There was minimal but still existent hope that leaving Remus and Sirius alone in the dorm for a while would enforce some of the sexual tension that seemed to be evident to everybody except for them.
James put on his best face of astonishment. “Professor, this is not about some children being vulgar, this is about two people entering adulthood with the prospects of starting a life together! This is about young love! This is about Remus Lupin and Sirius Black! You must see it.” Peter nodded behind him.
“Get out of my office, Mr. Potter.”
“But Professor-”
“I know you think of school rules as flexible at best, but this is a new level of disregard.” Her tone was sharp but her eyes didn’t quite match. James thought he might have found an in.
“Then get on my level, Professor!”
“Out!”
The pair headed for the kitchens in brooding silence. At least James was brooding. Peter seemed positively gleeful.
“What are you so happy about? She said no, we’re failing even harder than we were before.” James snapped.
Peter shook his head. “She didn’t say no.”
James stopped and turned on him, frustration bubbling in his veins. “Yes, she did! This was a terrible plan, this was never going to work!”
Peter just grinned. “She didn’t say no,” He repeated. “She told us to get out, but she didn’t tell us ‘no’.”
James thought back over the conversation.
“Well it still didn’t feel like a ‘yes’.” He continued walking down the corridor in the direction of the kitchens.
“We’ll see.”
~
Think they’ve given up?
I think they’re biding their time
I really wish they wouldn’t, the sooner this is over the sooner I can get a good night’s sleep again
Haven’t been sleeping well either?
No, need you for that
Mmm
Miss you.
You’re still okay with doing it?
More than, harmlessly messing with Prongs’ head is my favourite pastime
You’re such a good friend
I know
I mean it, though
Yes, Moony, I’m enjoying it. Don’t get me wrong. I just miss a) You, and b) Adequate sleep
I know the feeling.
Can we meet in the old Astronomy classroom after this?
Can’t
Why not?
Told Wormtail I’d help him with his Charms essay
What about later tonight?
Only if you can get the cloak from Prongs and I think he has plans involving Evans with that tonight
Typical. So busy trying to get us together they won’t give us a chance. And who the hell is James anyway, trying to push us together??? When is he going to try asking Lily out once and for all so they can get married and have ninety fat babies togeth
“Sirius Black, Mr. Lupin, is that a note you are passing back and forth?” Professor McGonagall interrupted herself in her lecture about human transfiguration to reprimand them. “Let’s have it then.” She held out her palm and began walking toward them.
In a full panic, without thinking, Sirius tapped the bit of parchment with his wand and said “Incendio.”
“BLACK!” Oh, it was the wrong thing to do. Briefly lighting one of her classroom’s desks on fire was in fact the wrong thing to do.
“Both of you, detention, my office, tomorrow night.” There was no speaking back to the hard line that was her mouth. Sirius was a frequent guest at her detentions, but she still hated disappointing her.
She didn’t miss her next glance though. Ever so quickly her eyes flicked to James, who Sirius turned to see was grinning like a madman.
~
It was getting to be too much.
Sirius hadn’t had a moment alone with Remus since Tuesday. Everything the previous day had fallen through, and they hadn’t even had time in the dorm Friday morning to themselves. Sirius hadn’t been properly kissed in over twenty four hours and it was making him irritable.
“Just a few minutes in an abandoned classroom, no one needs to know!” Sirius whispered, pleading with Remus as they walked to their detention.
“No, we’ll be late.” Remus was walking quickly, which was a hardship for Sirius because it took him several steps to match one of Remus’s on a good day. Every so often their fingers brushed and Remus’s would curl around Sirius’s for just a fraction of a second. It took Sirius’s breath away every time.
“A quick peck behind a tapestry! Anything Remus, I’m losing my mind, I can’t stop thinking about-”
Remus rounded on Sirius and for a strange moment, he thought he was going to be chastised by the Prefect. Instead one of Remus’s hands wandered into Sirius’s robes, under his shirt, up his back, and the other rooted itself in his hair. He pressed their noses together before he kissed him.
Sirius was beside himself. Remus’s hand on the bare skin of his back, lips on his, in the middle of a corridor that was only really empty by happenstance.
“That?” Remus said, lips still pressed against Sirius’s, some time later.
“Wha-hm?”
“Couldn’t stop thinking about that? Because I can’t.” Remus brought their fingers together to pull him back into walking side by side. Slower now than before.
“Y-yes, that.”
Sirius gathered himself only in time to get to the transfiguration classroom where they were to be meeting Professor McGonagall to file some old, previously graded essays for her for their detention.
“You will start with the K’s and you may not leave this room until you are through with the O’s.” She nodded several very heavy looking stacks of papers. Sirius’s stomach turned. They’d be here all night. “Those would be that stack on the end.”
“Professor?” Remus asked curiously. Sirius followed his gaze to obviously the smallest stack there.
“I expect it to take an hour. But for the love of Merlin, Black, don’t set things on fire in my class on purpose again.” Sirius nodded sheepishly. He doubted very much that it would take them a full hour to do the allotted work, but he didn’t say so. McGonagall appeared to be preparing to leave, and if he was stuck in a classroom with Remus for an hour with only enough work to take up half that time, well he’d damn-well find a good use for the rest of it.
~
James and Peter were waiting for them outside the portrait hole when they returned that night. Sirius was twice as grumpy as he’d been before the detention. About halfway through their time, he’d attempted to make a move on Remus and succeeded only in knocking down two of the larger piles of essays. They’d spent the rest of the hour sorting those out as best as they could.
“You lot staying up awhile then?” Remus asked them while James told The Fat Lady “Fermentation”.
Peter shook his head. “Nah, I’m beat. We were just staying up to see if anything had happened in detention.”
Remus raised an eyebrow. “What thing of interest has ever happened in detention?”
“Just wondering if there had been any developments?” James asked. Peter elbowed him. They stepped into the Common Room, which was completely empty. Not surprising for that time of night.
“Developments?” Remus asked, face the picture of innocence. As a Marauder, he could not have been more suspicious. “We were filing for McGonagall. And I’m fairly certain she unfiled all that just for us, because I can’t imagine her being so disorderly ordinarily. Well, anyway, thanks for waiting up, but Sirius and I are going to get started on Slughorn’s essay before bed.”
“Oh! I’ll help, I’ve started mine already,” James offered. Sirius had to try very hard not to punch him.
“If you’re all staying up, I will,” Peter agreed.
Sirius looked up at Remus, who appeared to be thinking very hard. “Right, okay. We’ll just grab our things from the dorm, then.”
“Mine, too,” Peter scampered off in the direction of the stairs up to their dormitory. “Do you have a spare quill I could borrow?”
Remus looked over to Sirius with loss in his eyes. Remus with his beautiful scars and perfect lips. He collapsed into an armchair, pretense of essay material retrieval forgotten. They were defeated. There would be no kisses tonight.
“I can’t stand this!” Sirius yelled before he could stop himself.
James looked immediately worried. “Stand what? Are you alright?”
“I am missing all of the good kissing opportunities just so we don’t get caught by you two! I can’t do it anymore, I need to be kissed! Look how kissable I am!”
“Oh I see that,” Remus agreed immediately. James and Pete were staring between them, shock visible in their wide eyes and slack jaws.
“James! Peter! You’re a little late, trying to get us to admit our feelings, okay?! We’ve been making out all over the castle for a week!” Sirius continued, voice twice as high as normal, Remus’s eyes burning into him. He didn’t seem upset that Sirius was outing them at two in the morning in the Gryffindor Common Room. Mostly he seemed like he wanted to kiss Sirius as much as Sirius wanted to be kissed by him.
“A week?!” James shrieked. “The entire time we’ve been trying to-”
“YES! And you were so busy TRYING you didn’t catch us once! And I can’t take it anymore, I need you to know so that I can kiss my boyfriend without fearing you’ll walk in and make a scene!”
“I think you’ve got making a scene covered, Pads,” Remus was infuriatingly amused.
“Boyfriend?!” Peter practically shouted.
“A WEEK?!” James repeated.
Sirius huffed, tossed himself onto the arm of Remus’s chair and took his face in his hands to plant a short-lived but very satisfying kiss on his lips.
Just like he wanted to, exactly when he wanted to.
When he pulled away, Remus was smiling.
“Aha!” Peter yelled and pointed. James looked at him like he’d grown a head. “He’s smiling! We did it!”
There was another long moment during which James just looked at Peter incredulously. “Did- did you not notice anything else about this moment?!”
Peter shrugged. They both situated themselves on the adjacent sofa to debate whether or not they’d had any part in the union of their friends. Sirius took the opportunity to slide into Remus’s lap.
He felt a kiss land on his right cheek. He wasn’t sure it was possible to be happier than he was.