Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

His dad had told him what would happen on his first trip to Hogwarts. He’d start at the train station in London and board the Hogwarts Express. He’d travel on the train up to Scotland and arrive in Hogsmeade, the wizarding village just outside the school, and then he would be taken by Hagrid, along with the other first years, to the shore of the lake. He would then travel via boat to a dock beneath the castle. From there, he would be led to the Great Hall by Professor McGonagall, the deputy headmistress. She would line them all up and call their names alphabetically so they could sit on the three-legged stool and have the sorting hat placed on their head, and it would tell them which house they would be in for the next seven years. There would then be a welcoming feast before they would be taken to their new dormitory, where he would sleep until the morning, and his lessons would begin. 

His dad had repeated this over and over again, so Remus would know exactly what would happen. He would go to his lessons for the rest of the week, and then on Sunday evening, he would go down to the hospital wing where the matron, Madam Pomfrey, would take him to the place that had been set up for him to transform. Remus knew all this off by heart. What his dad had failed to prepare him for were his dorm mates. James Potter, Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black. 

He tried to keep to himself, but they just kept pushing. They wanted to be friends, but Remus had no idea how to do that. He had to keep his secret safe at all costs. If anyone found out, he’d be expelled for sure. 

Sunday night came far quicker than he’d expected. At the time he’d been told to go to the hospital wing, he got off of his bed, put his homework away and told his roommates that he didn’t feel well and was going to the hospital wing. 

“What’s wrong with you?” Sirius asked. Remus felt his cheeks heat; he hadn’t expected anyone to ask him that. 

“Erm, stomach ache,” he spluttered, blurting out the first thing that came to his head. 

“I’ll walk you down,” Sirius said, putting his own homework away. 

“No, it’s fine, I can walk myself,” Remus protested, but Sirius was determined. 

He grabbed Remus’s hand and led him all the way to the hospital wing. 

“I’ll see you back at the dorm,” Sirius grinned, waving at him merrily, and for the first time in his life, Remus felt what it was like to have a friend, something his dad had never prepared him for. It was the most magical thing in the world. 

Chapter Text

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Sirius hissed under his breath as he ran from Filch with the case of dung bombs in his hand. He needed somewhere to store them so that if he was caught, there wouldn’t be any evidence. Why hadn’t he brought the cloak?! Oh, right, because he was chaos incarnate and loved the thrill of wandering around the castle holding a case of dumb bombs. Idiot. 

He ran to one end of the corridor and met Mrs Norris. She hissed at him and batted at his feet with her claws out. “Shh, fuck off, you stupid cat,” he growled, but she just growled back. Sirius was pretty sure that she knew he was the big black dog that had chased her on more than one occasion. He could do it now and easily escape, but he couldn’t carry the dung bombs as Padfoot. 

He decided to run to the other end of the corridor, but just as he neared the corner, he heard hurried footsteps. So he ran back to the cat. 

“Is someone there, my sweet?” Shit, Filch was approaching Mrs Norris from behind. Sirius spun around and ran back, but someone was still coming from the other end. He spun around so many times trying to decide which way to go that he made himself dizzy. He was about to give it up for lost when a door materialised in front of him. Without a second's hesitation, he wrenched open the door and ran inside. 

He pressed his ear against the door, listening. 

“Padfoot? Padfoot?” Remus called out in a hushed voice. Sirius opened the door and grabbed Remus by the back of his robes and dragged him into the room just as Filch came round the corner with Mrs Norris at his feet. He was sure they would be found and prayed silently that Filch would just walk by. 

“Mrs Norris, why are you so interested in that bit of wall?” Sirius heard Filch say. He backed away from the door, preparing for Filch to discover them, but nothing happened. “Come on, my sweet, we’ll find them,” and then Sirius heard the sound of footsteps moving away from the door. 

“What is this place?” Remus asked, and for the first time, Sirius looked around the room. It was stacked from floor to ceiling with broken furniture, books, trophies, socks and all manner of other random items. It was amazing. 

“Moony, my old friend, I have no idea, some sort of room of requirement, because it just appeared when I needed somewhere to stash those,” he pointed at the case of dung bombs he’d put on the floor. “I am so going to explore,” He took Remus’s hand, because as brave as he was, he still needed his Moony, and together they began to explore the room and look for treasures. 

Chapter Text

“This is exhilarating! I am exhilarated!” Sirius babbled happily, bouncing around James in his excitement. 

“Shh, you’ll get us caught!” James hissed, grabbing Sirius’s arm tightly and yanking him to his side. Sirius pouted but tried to keep his excessive energy under control. All that went out the window as soon as the forbidden forest came into view. 

He couldn’t contain himself any more and took off across the grounds, transforming into a huge shaggy black dog for the first time at Hogwarts. His huge paws hurtled him across the grass and into the trees. He was followed swiftly by a massive, regal stag with a tiny, fuzzy rat hanging onto its antlers for dear life. He barked happily at them and then began chasing his own tail, catching it between his teeth and checking to make sure the others were watching how clever he was being. His tail began wagging like mad when he saw that all the attention was on him, and he quickly lost his hold on his tail, but he didn’t care; there were thousands of scents to smell. His nose immediately dropped to the leaf-strewn ground and began sniffing. 

He spent hours hunting for each new smell until he knew what it was. James had to stomp his hooves a few times to get his attention when it was time to leave. Reluctantly, Sirius followed him back up to the castle. It was time to show Remus what they had learned to do over the summer. Sirius was weirdly hoping Remus would pet his head and give him a belly scratch. Maybe he’d curl up in Remus’s bed with him. He hoped Remus wouldn’t be cross with them. But then again, who could be cross with such a cuddly dog? 

Sirius got himself so excited over the idea of showing Remus, he ploughed straight in without remembering the rehearsed way James had made him practice. 

He transformed into the giant dog as soon as he opened their dorm room door and jumped on the resting Remus. 

“AHH! WHAT THE FUCK!!!!” Oops. 

Chapter Text

It was just the same as he’d always remembered it—Hagrid’s Hut, hugging the tree line. The stretching branches of the trees behind it shaded half of its roof, but the low winter sun shone off the windows, almost blinding Remus as he looked at it. Remus couldn’t remember how many times he and his friends had run down to see Hagrid. He was always so happy to welcome them in. He listened to all their shenanigans, grievances and pains, letting them get whatever they wanted off their chests and offering helpful insights here and there along the way. They’d learned pretty quickly that it was okay to accept tea from Hagrid, but if you valued your teeth, you’d stay away from his rock cakes. Though that hadn’t stopped them from pocketing them any chance they got to use as ammunition or as a secret gift to Snape. 

Remus had learnt over the years not to think of his friends by name. It hurt too much. But this way, he could remember all the fun times they had, especially now that he was back at the castle and haunted by their memories. 

He had no idea why he’d walked outside. It was freezing. He clapped his hands together and was just about to get his mittens from his pockets when he swore he saw something. 

A chill ran down his spine, and the hairs on the back of his neck and arms stood up. For a second. Just one tiny second, he thought he’d seen Padfoot.

He’d escaped Azkaban in July and had been spotted in a village not far from here. Remus hadn’t wanted to believe that he was after Harry, but if what he’d just seen wasn’t his eyes playing tricks on him, then that meant…

He hurried away from the forbidden forest and back up to the castle. He vowed to keep a closer watch on Harry from now on. That boy was far too much like his father.  

Chapter Text

Remus looked at the welcoming outside of the Three Broomsticks Inn as he waited for Sirius. Somehow, miraculously, he and Sirius had survived the war a second time. Remus still had nightmares of Bellatrix shooting a killing curse at Sirius inside the Ministry. If it wasn’t for Harry, he didn’t know what he might have done. 

A sharp crack alerted him to Sirius’s arrival. 

“Is Rosmerta in?” Sirius asked, standing on his tiptoes and peering in through the window. Remus shrugged. 

“More than likely,” he replied. “Why do you want to ask her out?” He snickered. Sirius pulled a face at him before taking his hand and leading Remus into the packed pub. 

The pub was overflowing with Hogwarts students. Some were looking a bit nervous. Remus was sure that the worry would eventually fade, but for now, the memories were far too fresh for most of them. 

“Rosmerta!” Sirius boomed, and the barmaid spun around on her shiny red heels.  

“SIRIUS BLACK!!!” She cried in shock. Remus winced. Some people hadn’t yet heard that Sirius had been found innocent on all counts and was a free man with an apology from the Minister himself. Sirius had framed it and stuck it in their hallway. Kingsley had found it very funny when he came over for a visit. But Remus needn’t have worried as Rosmerta came clacking out from behind the bar and hugged Sirius, kissing him on each cheek, leaving bright red lipstick smudges behind. “I’m so sorry I believed all that codswallop about you. I should have known better,” Sirius gave her a tight squeeze and whispered something in her ear. “Oh, you little imp,” she whacked him with her dish towel. “Here, you and Remus go up to my private parlour, and I’ll send up some drinks for you,” she handed him a key and went back to her barkeeping. 

“You know I’ve always wanted to have a nosy at Rosmerta’s private parlour,” Sirius smirked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Sirius Black would always be a menace. 

They settled in the comfortable room. The fire burst into life as they walked through the door, and drinks were already waiting on the little table in front of a plush sofa. 

They’d barely sat down when the door burst open and Harry came barrelling in. He’d been living with them ever since the end of the war. He’d returned to finish his final year. He’d wanted to skip it, but after a few discussions with Remus, he’d decided to finish his school career. 

Harry rushed over to the sofa and wiggled himself into the nonexistent gap between Remus and Sirius. 

“What are we drinking?” he asked, grabbing Sirius’s glass out of his hand and peering at the dark liquid. 

“We are drinking firewhisky, you are drinking butterbeer,” Remus said sternly, retrieving Sirius’s glass from Harry’s mitts.

“Aww, you’re no fun,” Harry sulked. Remus handed the glass back over to Sirius and ruffled Harry’s hair.

“On your next birthday, we’ll buy you a whole bottle, and the three of us will drink the lot, and you can listen to our rendition of Changes,” Harry beamed up at him, and Remus couldn’t help but hug him to his side.

Ron and Hermione came in next, carrying four bottles of butterbeer. Behind them, Remus was shocked to see Draco Malfoy. 

“Hope you don’t mind,” Harry said quickly. “I thought it might be nice for you to get to know each other,” he glanced in Sirius’s direction. “You're his only family left.” 

Remus kept a careful eye on Sirius as he glared at the Malfoy boy. 

“Why would I want anything to do with Malfoy’s son?” Sirius said childishly. 

“I go by Black now, actually,” Draco said haughtily. 

“Harry is my sole heir. So don’t even think about coming after the family fortune,” Sirius scowled, his hand reaching out for Harry possessively. 

“I have my own fortune, and it’s far greater than the Black one. Thank you very much,” Draco glowered at Sirius. They both folded their arms across their chests and huffed, turning away from each other. 

“That's what you think,” Sirius muttered under his breath. Remus leaned down and whispered in Harry’s ear. 

“They’re basically the same person,” and Harry burst out laughing, breaking the tension in the room. Sirius downed his drink and refilled it from the bottle that had just appeared. 

“Fine, Draco, how’s Cissy doing?” he asked cordially. 

They spent the rest of the afternoon catching up, and it seemed that Draco Black had grown up quite a bit since the last time Remus had met him. Remus was even included in Sirius’s invitation to dinner at Malfoy Manor. 

“That was a bit of a surprise, but it went pretty well, I think,” Remus mused as they walked out of the Three Broomsticks after thanking Rosmerta for her hospitality and giving her her key back. 

“Yeah, he’s not so bad and if Harry’s friend with him now, I suppose we’ll have to learn to get along,” Sirius sighed loudly, but Remus could tell it was all for show. 

“Well,” he said, grinning slyly at the backs of their godson and his friends. “I have a feeling they may be a little more than friends,” and he pointed at their linked hands. 

“Oh, bloody hell!” Sirius grumbled and apparated away. Remus laughed so hard he had to wait a few minutes until he could safely apparate home. Life was moving on after the war, and while he might question Harry’s choice of partner, he was happy he would get the chance to see their relationship grow. 

He turned on the spot and, with a loud crack, he apparated home.  

Chapter Text

He hurried inside the cave, dragging Buckbeak in by the rope around his neck. He was soaked to the skin, and Buckbeak wasn’t faring much better. He’d been aiming for the shack, but this would have to do for now. A rat ran across his feet, trying to escape the rain as well. Buckbeak darted forward, knocking Sirius off his feet and snatched up the rat in his powerful beak. “Thank you, Buckbeak, that was delightful,” he growled. 

The Hippogriff was useful, and he owed part of his life to the beast. If Buckbeak hadn’t also been on the executioner's block, Sirius might never have escaped that night. 

He picked himself up from the ground and lit the end of his stolen wand. It fought him at every turn, but at least it was a wand. He’d have to find another one. He wondered whether Ollivander would be able to tell it was him if he glamoured his face. That way, he’d get a wand that wanted to work with him. 

He had nothing to eat, and his stomach gurgled with need. To take his mind off it for the time being, he pulled out the last letter he’d received. He unfolded the slightly crumpled parchment and held the unruly wand closer. 

He’d received the letter just before he’d set off on his journey to Hogwarts after Harry’s last letter. He was worried. Something was going on with this tournament, and he’d rather be nearby if anything happened. 

‘Dear Snuffles,

It’s been so long since I’ve called you that. I know I should have tried to contact you sooner, and I’m sorry I didn’t. I hope you can forgive me. After seeing you at the end of last term, and everything that happened that night with me. 

I’ve been in a bad place, Snuffles. It still haunts me because what if I’d killed one of them or, worse, bitten one of them? So I did what I did twelve years ago and took the coward's way out. I hid away from everyone, though that is only you and Harry. But still, I am sorry for not writing back. 

I just wanted you to know that I miss you, and I hope that we can be friends again. I found the enclosed in boxes you left here, and in some of the boxes I was given from James and Lily’s house after... I hope you’ll use it when you’re ready. 

Moony’

Sirius dug his bony hand into the satchel and held up the mirror. He took a steadying breath and whispered. “Remus Lupin.” The glass shimmered and swirled for a moment until Remus’s golden eyes filled it. 

“Sirius,” he breathed, and they both stared at each other in silence for a while. Revelling in being able to see each other. “Where are you?” Remus asked, his brow furrowing as he tried to peer behind Sirius. 

“A cave in Hogsmeade,” Sirius replied. 

“HOGSMEADE?!” Remus gasped. “Sirius, are you mad?”

“Probably,” Sirius muttered, but dove into explaining what Remus had missed. 

“I’m coming, don’t move,” Remus said hurriedly once Sirius was finished and vanished from the mirror so that Sirius was left staring at his own unkempt reflection. He scowled at the waxen figure he’d become and stuffed the mirror back in his bag. 

It didn’t take Remus long to find him. He was miraculously dry when he ducked into the cave. Sirius suspected he’d used a water-repelling charm. He jumped to his feet and rushed Remus. At the last second, Remus opened his arms and Sirius fell into them. Merlin, it felt so good to have some human contact again. 

“Moony!” he croaked. 

“Sirius,” Remus replied, his voice thick with emotion. They stayed like that for a long time in each other's embrace before finally Sirius moved away. “I thought we could have a picnic,” Remus grinned, producing a picnic basket from thin air. 

“Remus Lupin, I bloody love you,” Sirius grinned as Remus began to take out all the goodies he’d managed to fit inside the basket. 

They ate until even the crumbs were gone. Sirius felt full and so sleepy. His eyes began to droop, and he found himself being gently pulled to Remus’s side. He nestled against Remus and let sleep take him.

“Get some sleep, Padfoot, we’ll figure out how to help Harry in the morning,” Remus whispered just as Sirius fell fast asleep.

Chapter Text

Remus did not like the Quidditch locker room. It smelt like feet, and for a sport where your feet were not allowed to touch the ground, Remus had no idea how it could possibly smell so much like feet. 

Like every match that Gryffindor played, Remus was dragged into the locker room by Peter, who was excited to give his play-by-play opinions to James and Sirius. Some of them were actually quite useful and James regularly used them to better the team, but as Remus had literally just listened to Peter telling him all this as they watched them play, he really couldn’t see the point of being in that smelly room, well apart from one.

Sirius poked his head out of one of the shower stalls and crooked his finger. Remus glanced around to make sure no one was watching and casually walked over to him. He slipped inside and was greeted by the best sight he’d ever seen. Sirius, totally naked, with hot shower water running down his body. 

Remus’s brain short-circuited, and he forgot that he was still fully clothed, woolly jumper and all. He surged forward, pushing Sirius back until he was pressed against the cold shower tiles, and he kissed him with a ferocity he rarely showed anyone else. Sirius was his, and he wanted the world to know it. 

Chapter Text

“Absolutely ridiculous! So, going to put dung bombs in Filch’s pockets. Mrs Norris better watch out,” Sirius grumbled under his breath as he buffed the polish off an old Quidditch trophy. He’d been caught jinxing the taps in the school bathrooms to spray water all over them. He only managed to get three of the bathrooms finished before he was caught by Filch coming out of the girls' bathroom on the fourth floor. He’d been taken straight to Professor McGonagall’s office. 

He’d just about convinced her that he had needed to go to the toilet so badly he’d run into the wrong one when a bunch of students turned up at her door, soaked from head to toe in water. He’d received a month of detention. It was mostly worth it. 

But after five days of polishing the same trophies over and over again and smelling like polish no matter how much he used of James’s fancy soap, he rubbed all over himself. His hands ached, and his neck was getting stiff. He wanted to go hang out with his friends, but instead, he was stuck there. 

“Psst!” A voice whispered from somewhere in the room. He spun around searching for the whisperer, but he couldn’t see anyone. 

“Must be hearing things, or it's Peeves,” Sirius rolled his eyes and buffed the front of a special services to the school award for some tosser called Riddle. 

“Psst!” the voice said right in his ear.  Sirius jumped into the air, dropping his cloth and the tin of polish with a loud clatter. 

“What’s going on in here?!” Filch hissed, barging into the trophy room. 

“Sorry, dropped the tin,” Sirius apologised cheerfully, stooping to pick up the dropped items. Filch narrowed his eyes at him and slowly backed out of the room. 

“I’m watching you,” he hissed and shut the door. 

Sirius waited a moment before getting back to polishing. 

“Psst!” The voice whispered in his other ear this time. Sirius stuck his hand out and hit something solid. Whatever it was, burst into a fit of laughter and Sirius knew exactly who it was. 

He felt around and gently tugged at the cloak, revealing Remus beneath it. “Hi,” Remus said, grinning mischievously. 

“You prat!” Sirius gained back. “What are you doing here?” Remus shrugged. 

“I thought you could use some company.”

“Oh, and you thought making me think I was going mad was the way to do it?” Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow questionably. Remus shrugged again. 

“What can I say? I was bored.” 

“So, have you come to help me polish?” Sirius asked hopefully. 

“Something like that,” Remus answered, raising his wand, and the cloth and tin rose out of Sirius’s hands and began polishing the trophies on their own.

“Moony, I full on love you!” He cheered, throwing his arms around Remus’s neck. Remus rested his hands on Sirius’s waist. Sirius’s heart began pounding. He leaned back to look at Remus’s face, keeping his arms around his neck. His stomach flipped. Remus winked at him and moved his hands away from Sirius’s waist. Sirius didn’t want Remus to move his hands, but he didn’t know how to voice that without it sounding weird. 

They sat down and chatted for the next hour until the cloth was done polishing. 

“I’ll meet you in the dorm,” Remus said, slipping the invisibility cloak over himself until Sirius was staring at the space Remus had been. 

The door opened, and Filch poked his head around the door. 

“Are you done yet?” he sneered. Sirius put a smile on his face and skipped past Filch. 

“Yup, see you tomorrow,” and gave him a little wave. He’d never seen him look more horrified. 

Once he was alone in his bed that night, he thought about that odd moment with Remus. He’d never felt like that before, apart from with…

“Oh Godric! I fancy Remus!”

Chapter Text

Last night had been Remus’s third full moon since his arrival at Hogwarts. He had a few new cuts and a large gash across his left side, but other than that, he seemed fine. Madam Pomfrey had done what she could with his wounds and, after applying a thick layer of Murtlap Essence, had sent him off to bed for a few hours. 

Today, though, was Sirius’s birthday. James had been planning a surprise midnight party for their friend, and Remus had been all in, until he learnt what date it was. Sirius’s birthday was on the 3rd of November, and on that night, as the clock struck twelve, Remus would be safely tucked away in that dusty hovel Dumbledore had arranged for him to transform in. So, he pretended to be excited by the planning and helped James and Peter figure out how to get into the kitchens. All he did was ask Gideon and Fabian Prewett how to get in. He even helped hide the food under his bed along with Sirius’s birthday presents and some fireworks. But as the sun began to set, Remus complained about a stomachache and hurried off to the hospital wing, missing the entire party. 

He walked all the way back up to Gryffindor Tower to collect his things and change his clothes. It was evident that his dorm mates had had a party from the mess all over the floor. Remus tilted his head up and saw scorch marks on the rafters above. Someone had set the fireworks off inside. He quickly sorted himself out and then rushed off to get to his next lesson. 

The History of Magic classroom was just as boring as its professor. The walls were bare, and the blackboard was covered in such a thick layer of dust that it was grey. The only exciting thing to ever happen in that room was when Professor Binns came in through the wall because he was a ghost. The rumour was that old Binns had no idea he was dead. He got up one day and carried on teaching, and no one had dared tell him. 

James, Sirius and Peter were already sitting in their usual seats, though Sirius had pulled a chair across the aisle so he could sit with James and Peter instead of alone. 

“Remus?!” Peter said excitedly as he came in. Remus gave his friends a shy little wave and crossed the room to take his seat. 

Sirius dragged his chair back across the aisle and stared at Remus expectantly. It took Remus a second. 

“H-happy birthday, Sirius,” he stuttered. He rummaged around in his bag for the neatly wrapped gift he’d got for Sirius and handed it over. “Sorry, I didn’t make it for your party," 

Sirius wasted no time and ripped the brightly coloured paper away from the picture frame. He gasped at the moving image. A few weeks ago, Marlene had shown them the camera her dad had bought her before they started school, so she could take pictures of her friends and send them back home so they would know who she was talking about. The first year, Gryffindor boys had stood in a wonky line with their arms around each other's shoulders, grinning like loons. He’d asked Marlene if she could get him a copy as well when she had them developed, and of course, she’d said yes. He’d owled his mum and asked if she could send a frame to fit the photo once he’d got it from Marlene, and then he’d hidden it at the bottom of his trunk and then in a box that he stuck to the bottom of his bed as he had caught Sirius in his trunk stealing one of the jumpers his mum had knitted him. 

“Wow, Remus, it’s amazing,” Sirius stared at the picture, stroking his fingers over the four figures. “Thank you,” he said, turning to Remus and hugging him hard. “Thank you, he said again, whispering the words into Remus’s ear. 

Sirius let him go and leaned over the aisle to show James and Peter his gift. They chatted excitedly until Professor Binns floated in and the lesson began. 

Professor Binns’ low drone proved too much for Remus, and he fell into an exhausted sleep. 

“Remus, Remus?” Sirius nudged him awake. “Come on, lesson’s over, and it’s time for your favourite subject, lunch.” Remus got slowly to his feet and, with the help of Sirius and James on either side of him, walked out of the classroom and towards the great hall. He was so glad he’d been able to make friends as amazing as James, Sirius and Peter. He just hoped they never found out what he was. He couldn’t bear to lose them.   

Chapter Text

They were having their first official date in Hogsmeade. James and Peter had waved them off like proud parents as they walked down the main street in the village, hand in hand. Remus still couldn’t believe it. His lips kept twitching as they tried to curl up into a huge, dopey smile. He wasn’t sure where Sirius was taking him, but he honestly didn’t care, as long as they were together. 

It turned out he’d found a picturesque little walk through the outskirts of the forest. They walked the path through the trees and spotted all sorts of colourful wildflowers. The air smelled like spring as the forest woke from the long winter. The little path suddenly disappeared and became a huge meadow, filled with even more wildflowers. 

The ground was blanketed with purple crocuses and dotted with delicate snowdrops. Remus tried his best not to squash any of them, but it was a tall order. 

In the centre of the meadow grew a ring of oak trees, each one more gnarled than the last. Their branches hung low and heavy. Sirius wasted no time and scaled one of them, climbing high into the tree's branches. Remus craned his neck to watch him. 

“Come on, Moony, the view is amazing from up here!” Sirius called jovially at him. 

“I’ll take your word for it,” Remus told him. There was no way he was climbing a tree. He was broken enough from being a werewolf without adding non-Luna injuries to his body. Sirius shrugged, not pushing the issue and began to climb down. 

He stopped on a long branch just above Remus’s head. Remus saw his eyes flash with mischief and fully expected him to jump on him. But, to his surprise, Sirius dropped onto the branch and, swinging himself around, he dangled upside down at the perfect level to kiss Remus. 

Remus ran his fingers through Sirius’s tumbling locks and took a step forward. Sirius’s breath ghosted across his lips. A charged energy flowed between them as they breathed heavily, barely an inch apart. A gust of wind rocked Sirius just enough for their lips to connect, and that was all they needed. 

Remus pushed his hands into Sirius’s hair and held him in place as he kissed him hard, his tongue sneaking out and asking Sirius to let him in. 

Eventually, Sirius pushed his upside-down hands against Remus’s chest, and Remus released him. 

“Sorry, getting a bit dizzy,” Remus barely had time to react as Sirius’s legs lost their grip on the branch. Remus wrapped his arms around his torso, Sirius’s feet waving above his head. He carefully lay Sirius down on the slightly damp grass and helped him to his feet. 

“Shall we go for a butterbeer?” he asked, looking up at the darkening sky, and Sirius nodded, wrapping his arm around Remus’s waist for stability as well as just because he wanted to. 

The first few buildings came into view, and the heavens opened. Fat droplets of rain pounded down on them. They pulled their collars up and hurried into the nearest shop. 

Their clothes dripped onto the floor, and a cheery witch came over. 

“Oh, dear, it's a bit soggy out there,” she mused and offered them both a drying charm, which they accepted gratefully. “There’s a table over there if you want,” she pointed out, and it was only then, after taking in his surroundings, that Remus realised what shop they had taken shelter in—Madam Puddifoot’s. 

He’d rather brave the rain than stay in that sickly sweet shop. Sirius reached out and grabbed him by the elbow, steering him to the empty table. 

“Don’t be a snob, Moony,” he hissed and forced him into one of the chairs. Sirius held up the menu and tapped it with his wand. Seconds later, plates materialised in front of them filled with dainty little sandwiches and fat cream cakes. He’d also ordered a pot of tea, which he began to pour into the fragile-looking tea cups. 

They spent the rest of the afternoon eating and drinking tea while watching the raindrops stream down the front window. Miraculously, just as Sirius had finished paying, the sun came out. “Moony?” He asked, sticking his elbow out, so Remus could take his arm. Remus felt his cheeks heat as he linked his arm through Sirius’s. They walked back towards the castle, but not before a quick detour into Honeydukes. All in all, Remus couldn’t imagine a better forest date.  

Chapter Text

For the first time in his life, Sirius was out shopping without a chaperone and, even better, for the first time, he was free to roam Hogsmeade, the only all-wizarding village in Britain. 

He all but ran through the boar-topped gates that stood guard at the edge of the school's boundaries and down the stony lane into the village. For three years, he had arrived and departed the village on the Hogwarts Express and had never once been allowed to set foot in a shop, not that he hadn’t tried. Hagrid could just see everything from where he towered over everyone. But today. Today would be different. 

He immediately lost James, who was just as excited as he was, but they would find each other eventually; they always did. 

Peter, it seemed, had followed after James and Remus had been left with Sirius. “Cheer up, Remus, I promise we can go to Honeydukes. But first, we’re going to Zonko’s Joke Shop.”

He’d been planning his route all summer. He was honestly surprised that his parents had signed the permission slip at all. He’d gone to Orion, and his father had quickly taken it off him and locked it in his desk drawer, much to Sirius’s horror.

“I will give this back to you before you return to school. Do not remind your Mother,” and that had been the last Sirius had heard about it until Orion had slipped it into his pocket on the train platform while Walburga had been straightening Regulus’s collar. 

He felt a strange freedom that he usually only felt as the Hogwarts Express was pulling out of Platform 9 3/4, leaving his parents and his other life behind. 

Remus huffed at him and set off into the throng of Hogwarts students. Sirius ran after him, and soon they were standing outside the joke shop he’d dreamed about visiting ever since he overheard someone talking about it in Diagon Alley when he was eight years old. 

He couldn’t move as he stared up at the shimmering gold letters above the door and listened to the whirls, pops, bangs and excited shrieks coming from inside. Remus opened the door and looked back at him, but his feet simply wouldn’t obey him. Remus rolled his eyes and stepped back to his side. He grabbed Sirius’s hand and pulled him away from his spot. 

Sirius gasped once they were inside. It was everything he’d always dreamed it would be. 

Chapter Text

“Remus! Please!” Sirius yelled after him. Sirius had been trying to talk to Remus for weeks now, but Remus did everything in his power to avoid him. Sirius had broken him by revealing to Snape how to get to him on a full moon. He’d been so sure that his furry little problem would be common knowledge by the end of the week, and he’d be back in Wales by the weekend, but somehow, Dumbledore and McGonagall had convinced Snape to keep Remus’s secret. It didn’t stop him from being a vicious twat to Remus, though. Remus could take the harsh jabs if it meant he could stay on at Hogwarts. So, Remus stormed away from his former best friend. 

Sirius persisted, though. It was a sunny day, and the majority of the school was out enjoying the grounds, so no one was around. It was just him and Sirius. 

Thankfully, Remus had inherited his dad's long legs, and he easily outstrode Sirius, but Sirius was a Quidditch player, or rather had been; he’d been banned from the team after the incident. Sirius hurried his step, catching up with Remus without breaking a sweat. 

Remus headed towards the moving staircases. If he could just get up to Gryffindor Tower, then he could slip into the head boy's room where he’d been sleeping since Sirius’s betrayal, and then he’d be safe. 

He stepped onto the next staircase, and it began to move. He looked over his shoulder, and Sirius was still climbing the last few steps of the previous staircase; he wouldn’t make it. Remus relaxed a bit. He’d be tucked up safely in his room before the stairs even moved back to collect Sirius. What he hadn’t counted on was Sirius’s lack of judgment and his zero fear of heights. Sirius ran across the landing and jumped. 

He landed with a thump on the very edge of the stairs, his legs dangling into empty space. 

“Remus, help!” he yelped. Remus had to think very hard about his decision for a second. His jaw tensed and un-tensed a few times before he inevitably went over and hauled Sirius up. “Fuck, thanks, Moony,” Sirius gushed. Remus rounded on him. 

“You don’t get to call me that, not after what you did!” He hissed and stormed up the rest of the staircase and onto the next. 

“Remus! Wait!” Sirius called after him, racing to catch up. 

“Fuck off, Sirius. I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to see you. I don’t want to hear you. I don’t want to know you exist. Fuck off!” His words seemed to finally sink in, and Sirius stopped following him. Remus didn’t look back. He couldn’t. He did manage to catch a glimpse of Sirius in the reflection from a suit of armour. Sirius looked broken. Good. 

Remus finally got to the painting of three Greek witches wearing floaty white robes and picking potion ingredients. He whispered the password, ‘Bubotuber Puss,’ and entered through the passage once the painting had swung open. He dropped all his things on the floor beside the little sofa and turned towards his bedroom. He flopped onto the bed, burying his head in his pillow and wept.   

He missed his friend, but he didn’t know how to forgive him, and Sirius wasn’t giving him the space to figure it out. He just hoped that the looming Summer Holidays would be enough time, and he’d find a way to be Sirius’s friend again. For now, he wiped his tears on the back of his hand and opened his bedside table, taking out his last chocolate frog. He opened the package and bit into it. He felt instantly better, and by the end of it, he felt together enough to pick up his book and read for a few hours. 

Chapter Text

Padfoot hurried across the well-maintained grass, eager to find out what the cat had learned. 

He’d befriended the cat on his first night back on the school's grounds. He’d been surprised that the school's wards had let him in, but he supposed that, as Padfoot, he was different enough to fool any spells that had been cast. 

The cat found him pretty quickly. He’d barely set a paw out of the forbidden forest when the hissing ginger cat had been leaping at him. Luckily, he’d managed to convince it that he meant no harm, and somehow the cat seemed to understand what he was after.

The cat hadn’t shown up yet, and he was feeling antsy. They always met at the same time every other night. He was sure that tonight was the right night. He sat down and thought hard about the last time he’d seen the cat. 

The entrance doors suddenly opened, and light pooled across the dark grounds. Padfoot lay as flat against the grass as it possibly was for a giant, bear-sized dog to do so. 

The slight breeze brought with it the scent of the figure walking briskly out of the castle and towards the gates. 

It took everything in him not to run across the grounds and greet him. What was Remus doing here? He let out a low, involuntary whine, and Remus spun around, his keen eyes searching the area. 

Sirius stayed perfectly still, willing Remus to carry on. He watched in horror as Remus squinted his eyes in his direction. This was it. He’d been caught. He’d be sent back to Azkaban before he had killed Peter. 

Remus began walking towards him when, from out of nowhere, the cat appeared. He hissed at Remus and darted back towards the school. Remus’s eyes followed him, and Sirius used the distraction to flee across the grounds until he was hidden by the dip. He could no longer see Remus, but he could still smell his scent in the air.

The cat trotted over to him and grumbled at him in an annoyed way before heading towards the forbidden forest. Padfoot got to his feet, after checking the coast was clear, followed the cat's bottle brush tail into the trees, his head spinning as he thought about Remus and how close he’d come to blowing his cover. 

Chapter Text

A few of his friends had invited Sirius to a dingy little bar on the wrong side of the river. He rarely ventured into this part of London and was already deciding if he should call a taxi and go home. The three young lads on the corner in adidas jogging bottoms and matching zip-up tops stopped him from getting his phone out. Instead, he plunged his hands into his pockets and bowed his head as he hurried past them. 

“Oi, oi, pretty boy!” One of them wolf-whistled him, while his mates laughed raucously. Sirius didn’t dare look back.

At the next corner, he pulled his phone out and checked that he was still going in the right direction. According to his phone, the pub should be on the next street. He picked up his pace, and there it was. 

The Hog’s Head looked like a proper dive from the outside, and Sirius had to really egg himself on to even walk through the door. He looked up at the sign above the door depicting a severed boar's head with arrows sticking out of the broad neck. He grimaced and pushed his way through the door. 

“Sirius!” James called from a table further in. “I already got you a beer!” Sirius hurried over as the second James had shouted; all eyes had been on him. 

“Didn’t think you were coming,” Fabian winked at him and passed a fiver to Gideon's waiting hand. 

“I told you, Black’s no coward,” Gideon said gleefully, pocketing the note. 

“Yeah, yeah, but Pettigrew’s not turned up yet. I still have time to win that back,” Fabian grumbled. 

“Oh, Peter texted me, his Mum’s got the flu, and he’s staying home to keep an eye on her,” James said matter-of-factly, sliding Sirius’s pint over to him. Sirius picked up the glass gratefully and immediately put it back down. The thing was filthy. 

“Damn it, Potter,” Gideon huffed and dug the now slightly crumpled five-pound note from his jeans pockets and thrust it at his twin. 

“Ha! Victory is mine!” Fabian grinned gleefully, running a hand through his fiery red hair. 

“I’m going to get a new pint,” Sirius told the table and got up. 

“What’s wrong with that one?” James asked, his brow furrowing. 

“The glass is disgusting,” Sirius pulled a face at it and nearly gagged when Gideon picked it up and downed it. 

“Waste not want not,” he said, smacking his lips together. 

“Get a round in, would you, Black?” Fabian said sweetly, glugging down the rest of his pint and putting his glass down beside Gideon’s two. Sirius rolled his eyes, but collected the empties and went over to the bar. 

The barman’s lip curled in a growl when Sirius dared to ask for a clean glass, but he did eventually bend down and grab one from the bottom shelf. He blew dust off the bottom of it, and Sirius accepted that this was probably the best he was going to get. At least the inside was clean. 

By the time he got back to the table, a young girl with the blondest hair he’d ever seen was fiddling with a microphone on the little makeshift stage behind their table. 

“Oh my god!” Gideon gushed. “No one said Pandora was singing tonight.” 

“Who’s Pandora?” Sirius asked, putting the tray of drinks down on the table and quickly grabbing his glass before anyone else could steal it. Gideon and Fabian stared at him as though he’d just said he regularly rubbed dead fish on his face to look younger. 

“Only the most magical singer in the entirety of Britain!” Gideon told him before swooning against his brother. 

“If only we weren’t so, so, so, gay,” Fabian sighed dreamily. 

“We would totally hit that,” Gideon sighed sadly. 

“You guys are such twats,” Sirius huffed into his beer. 

A few minutes later, a bright light shone on the stage as Pandora reappeared and stood before the microphone. 

“Hello, my little Wrackspurts, how are you all tonight?” She said sweetly. Her voice had a musical tinkle to it that Sirius found very pleasant. The tiny girl took a deep breath and then opened her mouth. Her voice was beautiful and ethereal. Sirius was mesmerised.  

She sang five songs and then bowed to her fans. “Next up is my new best friend, the stunningly handsome Remus Lupin!” She looked across the crowded pub. “So be nice, and maybe I’ll come back out and sing you one last song.” Sirius saw a few people nodding, and Pandora skipped off through the door opposite the stage. A tall, skinny man, wearing the ugliest jumper Sirius had ever seen and brown corduroy trousers, walked out of the same door with a beat-up, chipped, old guitar in his hand. Sirius didn’t give him a second glance. He picked up his phone and began looking up Pandora, wondering if she had an album. 

“Oh, erm, sorry, I need a stool,” Remus stammered into the microphone, and a girl with hair red enough to rival the Prewett twins' hair raced forward with one from the bar. 

“Thanks,” Remus said into the mic as she hurried away.

Remus sat on the stool and strummed a few times, tightening and loosening the pegs as needed. Finally, when he was happy with the sound, he moved the microphone nearer. Loud, screeching feedback blasted over the speakers. “Oops, sorry,” Remus apologised and moved the mic again until it stopped. “Okay. I’m ready,” he smiled shyly at the crowd and began strumming the first few chords of Bad Moon Rising in a slower tempo than the original. 

Sirius put down his glass and listened as Remus’s fingers moved across the treats and his deep timbre sang a much darker version of the song. 

Remus had closed his eyes and let the music take him, and Sirius couldn’t stop staring at him. 

Remus played the last few chords and looked up, meeting Sirius’s eyes and grinned. 

Chapter Text

Sirius, James and Peter stared at the destruction Moony had wrought on Hagrid’s Pumpkin Patch. Moony hadn’t left a single one of the vibrant orange squash intact. Hagrid was going to be distraught. 

“Reparo!” Sirius didn’t think it was going to work, but it was worth a try. The smushed pieces of pumpkin bravely wobbled before turning to pulp. 

“Glue?” James asked. Sirius shook his head. 

“We need to destroy these more,” he sighed, pointing to the claw marks scraped into some of the larger pieces and the few wisps of silver wolf fur. 

“What was it with him and these damn pumpkins?” James asked, completely perplexed.

“Who knows,” Sirius chuckled. 

“He really was having a good time, though, wasn’t he?” Peter joined in Sirius’s laughter. 

“He did look happy with that giant one on his head. It looked like a helmet,” James joined them with their mirth. They only stopped when they heard movement coming from Hagrid’s hut. Sirius had to come up with a plan and quickly. 

An image popped into his head, and Sirius turned his most dazzling smile on James. 

“Prongs, my old friend, you’re about to get very messy,” 

Sirius and Peter watched from under the invisibility cloak as the stag trampled and chewed chunks from the pumpkins, blanketing the ground in orange. 

“Oi, wha’ are yeh doin’?!” Hagrid yelled at the stag, brandishing a pink umbrella, and the regal creature with strings of pumpkin seeds decorating his antlers took off into the forest. Sirius and Peter followed after him. Sirius didn’t want to see a sad Hagrid. 

They found James trying to brush the slimy guts of the pumpkins out of his hair. Peter helped clean James up, and then they snuck back into the castle before anyone realised they were missing. 

They’d sleep for a few hours, and then they’d make their way to the hospital wing and hope that Remus was awake, not that that stopped Sirius. He’d sit for hours and watch Remus sleep. But today, he really hoped that Remus would be awake, because he couldn’t wait to see Remus’s face when he told him what Moony had been up to all night.

Chapter Text

Remus was in the hospital wing again. That was the third time in three months that Remus had disappeared off to the hospital wing just after dinner and wasn’t seen again until well into the afternoon of the following day. Sirius furrowed his brow. There was a connection there, he just couldn’t quite see it yet. 

Sirius took to observing Remus. He found it helped with solving the problem. He was good at solving problems. He regularly beat the older students and, on occasion, Professor McGonagall, in finishing the Daily Prophet's crossword puzzles. 

Remus had taken to glaring at him any time he caught Sirius watching him. Sirius refused to look away, which riled Remus up and ended up with him storming off with Sirius hot on his heels, until Remus took a secret passage Sirius didn’t know about, and he’d have to go hunting him down.

“I’m going to go see Madam Pomfrey,” Remus announced the next month. Sirius wondered if he actually was ill. He’d watched Remus looking peakier and become more irritable in the last week. He thought the same thing had been happening all year, but he couldn’t be sure. 

“Oh, OK, hope you feel better soon,” James said, his voice full of concern as Remus gathered his things and left through the portrait hole. “Where are you going?” James called after Sirius as he hurried out of the common room after Remus. 

“Remus forgot his book,” Sirius called over his shoulder. Remus had actually forgotten his book, and Sirius thought he’d be glad of it if he was staying the night again in the hospital wing. 

Remus had managed to walk quite far, considering the small amount of time between their departures from the common room. “Hey, Remus, wait up!” Sirius called after him. Remus spun around, his eyes were wide with fear. Sirius knew it was fear; he’d seen it enough times in Regulus’s eyes and reflected in his own to know what it looked like.

“What do you want?” Remus asked curtly. Sirius chose to ignore his tone and held out the book. 

“I thought you might like this,” Remus blinked down at the book and took it with shaking hands. 

“Oh, er, thanks,” he tensed up and winced for a moment before straightening up. He rubbed the back of his neck and put on a strained smile. “Sorry, I’m really not feeling well,” he said as a farewell and carried on towards the hospital wing. 

“I’ll walk you,” Sirius told him, and hurried to keep up. Remus pursed his lips but said nothing. Sirius noticed beads of sweat gathering on his forehead. The castle was freezing; he shouldn’t be sweating. He would if he had a fever, the little voice in the back of his head told him. 

Remus stopped outside the hospital wing, his palm against the wooden door. 

“Thanks, Sirius,” he said before he went inside and firmly shut the door in Sirius’s face. 

It was only when he, James and Peter were getting ready for bed that the pieces clicked together. James was drawing the curtains when he said matter-of-factly. 

“Full moon tonight,” before pulling the fabric closed, blocking out the moonlight. 

No, it couldn’t be. Sirius ripped his calendar off the wall behind his bed. He looked at today's date. Full moon. He flipped back to the previous month. It had been a full moon on the day Remus had gone to the hospital wing. He flipped back further, the day before his birthday. The night Remus hadn’t come to his midnight party, it had been a full moon. 

His blood ran cold. The scars, the disappearances, the irritability, the obvious pain he was trying to hide. Remus was a werewolf, and how bloody cool was that?  

Sirius grinned triumphantly at himself. He’d figured it out. He knew Remus’s secret. He looked at his oblivious friends, settling down for the night and realised he couldn’t tell them. He let out a long sigh. He could keep a secret. 

Once he was certain that James and Peter were asleep, he went downstairs to the empty common room and sat on the window bench looking up at the night sky. The moon was huge and bright, casting its eerie light across the grounds. He wondered where Remus was. He hoped he wasn’t cold. 

When he finally went up to bed, he stole one of Remus’s jumpers; he’d take it to him in the morning, as soon as the sun rose and tell him he knew his secret.

He fell asleep dreaming of the beautiful wolf he imagined Remus turned into every month and wished he could see him in real life, but that would be impossible. 

Chapter Text

“Sirius, tell me again why we’re breaking into Dumbledore’s office?” Remus groaned as they approached the stone gargoyle that guarded the staircase which led to the headmaster's office.

“Because, my dear Moony, I went to a Muggle joke shop this summer, and I’ve had the vision of Dumbledore sitting on this in my head ever since. It haunts me, Remus,” Sirius whispered, waving the brown bag in his face for the hundredth time. Remus had no idea how he’d been convinced to join Sirius in this ridiculous prank. Neither of them would even see it happen unless they waited under the cloak in his office all night, which he was not prepared to do.

They reached the stone Gargoyle, and Remus reluctantly gave Sirius the password. 

“Cockroach Cluster!” Sirius spoke just loud enough for the password to work, and then they were on their way up. 

Remus was surprised that the door at the top of the stairs was unlocked. Remus had been in the Headmaster’s office many times over the years he’d been at Hogwarts, mainly to check how he was getting on with the shrieking shack. Remus had lost count of how many fake smiles he’d had to plaster on his face. 

Sirius scampered over to the ornate wooden chair behind the equally decorated desk. He fiddled around for a few moments and then rushed back to Remus and back under the cloak. “Right, let’s go,” he snickered. Remus still didn’t see the point of the prank. 

The next morning, Sirius was still sniggering with glee, and they walked down to the great hall for breakfast. “I wish I could have seen his face this morning when he sat down,” Sirius sighed dramatically as they walked into the great hall.

Dumbledore was already seated in his chair at the professor's table and was deep in conversation with Professor McGonagall. Sirius observed him eagerly, looking for any sign that his prank had worked. 

They found a suitable spot to sit down at on the crowded Gryffindor table, and Sirius let out an alright fart the second he lowered himself onto the bench. “What the?!” he exclaimed, his alabaster skin tinging pinker than Remus had ever seen it. Sirius stood up again and felt around on the bench while the closest Gryffindors burst into laughter. 

His hands finally found what he’d been searching for. Whatever it was, it was invisible, but Remus was pretty sure he knew what it was. 

Sirius took out his wand and, after a few attempts, brought the bright pink whoopee cushion into view. Remus immediately looked up at the headmaster, and the old wizard's periwinkle blue eyes twinkled with mirth. He saw Remus watching him and winked. Apparently, the headmaster had bested the great Sirius Black. 

“That was absolutely brilliant!” Sirius crowed. “I’ll have to think of something better next time,” he said before sitting back down and helping himself to breakfast. All Remus knew was that he would not be part of the next prank, or so he thought. 

Chapter Text

The war was over, somehow they’d survived, and the world seemed a little bit brighter. Sirius was a free man for the first time since he was in his twenties. It was a novel feeling being able to walk down a street without someone screaming his name in fear. 

He’d come to Hogsmeade with a list of things to do. First, he was to go into Honeydukes and buy the damn shop or at least the contents so that Remus would have a good supply of treats in the house. Second, he was determined to get a lipstick kiss on his cheek from Rosmerta, and third, he was going up to the castle to see Buckbeak. He owed a lot to that grouchy beast and missed him quite a lot, actually. 

After leaving Honeyduke’s with the promise his order would be delivered first thing in the morning, and getting his wish of a lipstick mark on his cheek from Rosmerta, plus a tankard of Mead on the house, Sirius decided to walk around a bit more of the village as he still had a bit of time to kill before the time he’d arranged to meet Hagrid. 

The shrieking shack came into view ahead of him, and Sirius stopped by its rickety fence, leaning on it as much as he dared and staring at the house he had so many memories of. 

Remus hated that house. He did not have the fond memories Sirius had. 

Voldemort had left his mark on the building as well when he used it as his base during the Battle of Hogwarts. Sirius had an idea, and as no one stopped him, he went ahead with it. 

“Just a little further,” he promised, leading a blindfolded Remus up the path towards the shrieking shack. 

“Where are we, Sirius?” Remus asked, turning his head this way and that, trying to listen for clues. 

“You’ll find out in a second,” Sirius tugged a little harder on Remus’s sleeve, eager to see his reaction. “Okay, right here,” he said, positioning Remus where he wanted him, and slowly he removed the blindfold. 

“What am I looking at?” Remus asked, furrowing his brow. “It’s a nice house, Sirius, but we have a house, in fact, we have a few.” Sirius rolled his eyes at his boyfriend. 

“Look harder, Moony. Doesn’t it look a tiny bit familiar?” Remus stared at the house, taking in the newly glazed windows, the fresh paint on the wooden slats, the brand-new red roof tiles, the thick wooden door and the perfectly landscaped garden. 

Sirius knew the moment recognition hit Remus as his eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open. 

“Sirius, is that the shrieking shack?” Remus stammered, unable to take his eyes off the now beautiful house. 

“Yup, though it’s not really a shack and I doubt there’ll be any more shrieking, unless you wanna…” he tilted his head toward the house and waggled his eyebrows lewdly. Remus punched him lightly on the arm. 

“Pack it in Padfoot,” he smirked. He turned more serious and opened his arms for Sirius to walk into. “Thank you for this,” he waved towards what had been the shrieking shack. 

They stayed there for a while, looking at all the renovations Sirius had done before Remus let him lead him inside to see the interior. They didn’t make it home that night, and rumours that the shrieking shack was still haunted spread throughout the village like wildfire. They visited it regularly to keep the rumours alive. 

Chapter Text

There were a few things Remus truly detested. One was being late for any meal because of other people. Two, the defacement of books. Three the damn full moon, as well as a few other things. The moon couldn’t be helped, but what could be helped was being forced to go up to the Astronomy Tower at midnight to record the stars' movements. How had wizard kind not come up with an easy alternative? He knew there were devices that could show you any time of the day, but they were expensive and only wizards with vaults full of gold would be able to afford one. 

So here he was at the top of the Astronomy Tower in fucking December, freezing his bollocks off to look up at a bunch of clouds, unable to plot a single star. 

He huddled at the back of the semi-open level and cast a warming charm on himself. 

“Cheer up, Moony,” Sirius said, bouncing over to him. He bumped up against Remus’s side, snuggling into the warmth he’d made for himself. 

“Easy for you to say,” he grumbled. He was still sore from the last full moon only two nights previously. 

“I have a surprise for you,” Sirius said in a sing-song voice. He moved to stand in front of Remus and twirled his hands in a flourish, plucking two ornate metal tankards from thin air. Remus smelled it immediately and felt saliva pool in his mouth. He let out a soft moan, and Sirius grinned from ear to ear. 

He happily took the tankard of rich, hot, hot chocolate and began to lick the whipped cream from the top. “Feeling better now?” Sirius asked as he moved back to his favourite spot beside Remus. 

“Yes, thank you, Padfoot,” he said as he took a long drink of his hot chocolate. If he got this kind of treatment every time he was forced out of bed to come up to this draughty lesson, he’d probably be a lot happier about it.

“OK, class, we’ll call it a night here, the skies are not playing tonight, you are dismissed,” their Professor announced, and he and Sirius were the first ones to skip down the stairs and hurry back to their dorm room. 

They were already in bed by the time James and Peter caught up with them, Sirius having just slipped behind Remus’s curtains before they came in. They were being a bit reckless, as they hadn’t told their roommates about the change in their relationship, but Remus now found it almost impossible to sleep without Sirius safely tucked against his chest, and Sirius had said the same about Remus. 

“Night,” James yawned as he got into his own bed. 

“Night,” Peter said, his voice sleepy as he too went to bed. 

“Night,” he and Sirius said together, hoping neither James nor Peter would notice that Sirius’s voice had not come from his own bed. They snuggled up and fell asleep, Remus’s annoyance with Astronomy completely forgotten.   

Chapter Text

Sirius adored Professor McGonagall. She was strict but fair and always had time for him. She knew all about the issues he had at home. When he’d run away, she’d taken him into her office when he first arrived back at the castle, and they sat for hours while Sirius told her everything, every last sordid detail of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. She’d been horrified, of course, and vowed to fight Walburga Black herself if she tried to force him to go back. She’d also used the information to get Regulus out of his mother's clutches. They both lived at the Potters now, though Regulus was still a bit huffy about that. Sirius could see the change in him. Regulus was reverting to the sweet, soft boy Sirius remembered from their childhood. All in all, Minerva McGonagall was Sirius’s hero, though that did not stop him from misbehaving in her class. 

They were supposed to be turning Jackalopes into coat racks. Sirius had already managed it twice and was now bored. He started shooting the little pellets his Jackalope was leaving all over the desk at the back of Peter’s head. 

“Knock it off, Sirius!” Peter complained as he started the incantation again. Peter hadn’t managed to transfigure much yet, apart from making his Jackalope’s antlers too big for it to lift. Sirius did not do as Peter said and continued to fire the hard little pellets at Peter’s back. He missed a few, accidentally striking Remus with them. He gulped; he was in for it now. 

Remus’s back straightened, and he cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. Sirius slunk down into his seat. He didn’t even see it coming. Remus hit him with the jinx silently, leaving Sirius to anxiously wait for whatever it was Remus was about to do to him. 

“You seem to be doing very little, Mr Black. Care to show me how far you have got?” McGonagall had snuck up on him. Sirius jumped in his seat and quickly nodded to her. He stood up, pulling his sleeves up and raised his wand. He cleared his throat and squawked like a chicken. The entire transfiguration classroom went silent, all turning to stare at him. 

He cleared his throat again and attempted the spell a second time. He made a sound like a trumpeting elephant. Sirius clamped his mouth shut in horror. 

“Mr Black,” McGonagall sighed in exasperation. He tried to explain himself, but all that came out was a cacophony of animal noises, some he’d never even heard before. 

“Detention, Mr Black.” She said with disappointment before moving to Remus and Peter’s table to observe them.

Once she was gone, Remus turned around, smirking at him. Sirius scowled at him, being careful to keep his mouth shut. 

“It could have been worse, Sirius. I was going to make you eat literal shit.” 

Sirius couldn’t wait for the bell to ring. He’d already decided to give up the day for a loss and go back up to the dorm room and wait for Remus to release him. He did have to appreciate it for the genius prank it was. He’d find a way to get Remus back. He’d landed him with a detention after all. 

Sirius hummed to himself, the only way he could make a human-sounding noise, as he scrubbed frogspawn soap all over the inside of every single one of Remus’s knitted jumpers. He’d have to hide in the shack for a week after this. Totally worth it. 

Chapter Text

Remus stared at the one-eyed witch statue. He’d been doing it a lot since Sirius broke into Hogwarts on Halloween. Surely he wouldn’t, would he? 

Remus rubbed his temples with the tips of his fingers, a sudden migraine interrupting his flow of thoughts. 

The Sirius he knew most definitely would use the old tunnel they used to use to get to Hogsmeade, but according to multiple sources, the Sirius he knew was long gone, taken over by madness from being around Dementors day and night for twelve long years. Would this Sirius have the capacity to use the secret tunnel? He’d tried to gain entry into Gryffindor Tower with a knife for Merlin's sake!

Remus looked around and once he knew that the coast was clear, he whispered, “Dissendium,” and slipped into the opening in the witch’s hump. 

He dropped to the dirt floor and lit the tip of his wand. Remus sniffed the air, but caught nothing but the slightly mildewy smell from the damp earth around him.  

He walked the entire way to the trapdoor at the end of the tunnel that led to Honeydukes without finding anything that suggested that Sirius or Padfoot had been anywhere near the tunnel. No, he expected that this tunnel hadn’t been visited since the last time he and his friends used it fifteen years ago.

He slowly made his way back up to the school, feeling better within himself that he hadn’t told anyone about the tunnel to Hogsmeade. Besides, Honeydukes hadn’t reported a break-in, and if Sirius was as mad as everyone kept saying he was, would he even be able to use magic? 

He had a few things to ponder, but first, he needed to catch up on the mountain of marking that had piled up since his day off. 

He walked away from the one-eyed witch without glancing back, his head swirling with almost forgotten memories of four best friends sneaking out to the village on an adventure. They were bittersweet, but he cherished them all the same. 

Chapter Text

Remus wondered whose bright idea it was to make him a prefect, seeing as how he already had enough going on in his life, mainly turning into a vicious, deadly beast every single month. This year, he also had O.W.L.s to compete with. Remus did not think this year was going to go all that well for him. 

The only benefit he could see to being a prefect was the bathroom and its enormous bath, decadent bubble bath and oils. Although he didn’t much like having to share it with 21 other people. 

He’d gone to the bathroom a few times and found it occupied. He’d waited the first few times, but the other prefects enjoyed long, luxurious baths as well. 

Remus had managed to snag the bathroom after a particularly bad transformation. He was covered in semi-healed cuts and had woken up with two dislocated shoulders. The hot water, lavender oil, and thick bubbles were doing him wonders. 

The final knot in his neck was finally working itself free when he was rudely interrupted by a loud pounding on the door. He startled at the sudden noise and glared at the door. It was an unwritten rule that you didn’t try to hurry the occupant along. Whoever it was, pounded on the door again. 

“Fuck off!” Remus shouted. 

“Moony, it’s me, let me in!” Sirius hissed on the other side of the door. 

“Pendulum!” Remus called out, and either the door had unlocked or Sirius had repeated the password. He came hurtling in, quickly closing the door behind him. 

Sirius was panting as though he’d run a great distance or a short one very fast. 

“McGonagall. Fanged Frisbee. Big mistake,” Sirius gasped in way of explanation. 

A sharp rap on the door had Sirius scampering away from the door and diving perfectly into the pool-sized bath, slipping beneath the bubbles with barely a splash.

The rap on the door came again, and Remus called out. 

“Yes?”

“Ah, good, Mr Lupin,” McGonagall answered. “Cover yourself, I’m coming in.” Remus barely had time to sink deeper into the bath, so only his head was above the carpet of bubbles before the door was open for a second time. All he’d wanted was a nice hot bath without being disturbed. “Sorry for the intrusion, Mr Lupin, but I have been warned that Mr Black was spotted running this way at high speed, and as there is a Fanged Frisbee currently slicing its way through my bookcase,” Sirius’s fingers brushed over Remus’s stomach. Remus gasped, inhaling a mouthful of the thick bubbles floating on the surface of the water. It was then that he realised that Sirius was still fully clothed, and he was completely naked. 

“Sorry, Professor.” He coughed, trying to clear his throat of the bubbles. “I haven’t seen him. I was trying to help my shoulders with a hot bath after my last transformation.” A look of pity crossed McGonagall’s features. 

“Yes, sorry, Remus,” she said, just as Sirius stroked his thigh. He was able to control himself better this time and kicked out at his friend, catching him in the side. A bubble of air burst though the bubbles and Remus turned beet red, knowing what McGonagall would think that was. “Right, I’ll leave you to it, but when you see that miscreant friend of yours, please inform him he has a month's detention, thank you,” and with that she turned on her heel and left the prefect's bathroom. 

Remus reached beneath the water and hauled Sirius to the surface. He’d cast a bubblehead charm under the water so he wouldn’t need to come to the surface to breathe, clever little shit. 

“Prick,” he huffed, letting go of Sirius’s sopping-wet jumper. He belatedly realised that it was actually his jumper. “You’ve got a month’s detention by the way,” he added, but Sirius didn’t seem to care. He was treading water extremely close to Remus. “I don’t know why you didn’t just apologise to her. Why delay it? She knows it was you,” Remus asked him, trying to move back a bit. His back hit the side of the bath, and Sirius moved through the water, stopping right in front of him. 

Sirius clearly wasn’t going to answer Remus’s question and had another activity in mind. 

“Fancy a snog then?” Sirius grinned wickedly at him and waggled his soapy eyebrows. Remus rolled his eyes and put his hand on top of Sirius’s head to shove him under the water in the hopes of escaping him. He gasped, almost inhaling the bubbles again, when Sirius found something else for his mouth to do. 

Chapter Text

The dorm room had become their sanctuary. Without it, Sirius was sure he would have gone mad. In here, he could touch Remus all he wanted. Kiss him as fervently as he possibly could. Stroke the soft hairs at the nape of his neck without getting funny looks, and best of all, lie naked beside him after a thorough shagging. If he tried any of that in the common room, they’d run him out of the tower. 

If Sirius had his way, they’d never leave this room, but Remus insisted they needed to go to lessons, the swot. So off Sirius went to his lessons with Remus, pretending to listen to his professors all the while daydreaming about what they’d do as soon as the bell rang, and they could return to the utter bliss of their dorm room. 

Sirius couldn’t wait until they had their own place, as there was no doubt in his mind that Remus was his forever. The end of the school year couldn't come soon enough.

Chapter Text

The Marauders were spending another day lounging around on the grass beside the Black Lake. The sun beat down on them, but the cool breeze blowing across the water kept them cool. Remus was lying back just within the shade cast by a wild cherry tree, its branches heavy with its ripening fruit. His eyes were just closing when his head was unceremoniously banged on the ground, when his bag, which he’d been using as a pillow, was yanked out from under him. 

“Oi!” He growled, walking Sirius on the arm as he rifled through Remus’s bag. 

“Sorry, Moony, I need some parchment,” Sirius continued to dig around until he pulled a sheet out and held it aloft triumphantly. He quickly shut Remus’s bag and pushed it back under Remus’s head. Remus grumbled as the contents were now in an uncomfortable order. 

“Why did you need parchment?” Remus asked, sitting up and watching his friend. 

Sirius had his back to him and kept his shoulders hunched and his head down as he did whatever it was he was doing with Remus’s parchment. 

He reached into his pocket for his wand and cast a few spells under his breath. Finally, he stood up and turned around, balancing a beautifully folded paper boat on his open palms. 

“That’s lovely, Sirius, but did you really need to give me a bruise over it?” Remus asked, only sounding slightly annoyed. Sirius just beamed at him, turning to carefully place the tiny boat on the lake's surface. 

“What are you up to, Padfoot?” James grinned, clearly sensing that there was more to this than met the eye. 

“Wait and see,” Sirius told them, winking at James. He pulled his sleeves back and cleared his throat. “Ahem, Engorgio!” The tiny boat swelled in size until it was the size of a small rowing boat. “Tally Ho!” Sirius crowed, jumping into the makeshift boat. 

“He’s a total nutter,” Peter snorted as Sirius fought to keep his balance as his boat tilted from side to side. 

“Ah, dear, Wormtail, I am simply…” Whatever he was about to say was lost to the scream that erupted out of his mouth when the wind suddenly changed direction and blew him out onto the water. “Woohoo!” He yelled, pumping his fist. James and Peter stared at him in awe. 

Remus got up to stand beside them, bending to pick up something Sirius had dropped. 

He spun Sirius’s wand between his fingers. 

“How long until he notices he doesn’t have his wand?” he asked mischievously. James and Peter took one look at him and burst into laughter. 

“Oh, that is excellent,” James gasped. 

“Oh, fuck, the giant squid!” Peter squeaked, pointing out across the lake. 

It was like something out of a pirate film. The squid’s long tentacles protruded out of the water and batted the paper boat around with Sirius clinging on for dear life. 

“HELP ME!!!” His words drifted to them, barely audible from that distance. 

“Accio Black brat!” Remus said lazily, and Sirius shot across the lake’s surface and landed with a thump at Remus’s feet. 

“Thanks, Moony,” Sirius blew out a relieved breath, getting to his feet. They watched as the squid slowly pulled the boat down to the lake's icy depths. 

A strange whooshing sound came from behind them, getting closer and closer. Regulus Black landed with a thump in the same spot his brother had moments ago. 

“What the fuck, Lupin?!” He growled, slipping his wand from his holster. 

“RUN!!!” Sirius bellowed, and they took off back up to the castle with heavy shield charms protecting them from Regulus’s barrage of curses as he chased after them. Next time Remus used the summoning charm, he was going to be more specific about what he wanted to summon. 

Chapter Text

Sirius looked around the Gryffindor common room for what could be the last time ever. He sniffled as he took in the room. They’d had so many good times here. 

An arm wraps around him, and Moony is there, comforting him. 

“Come on, Pads, we’ll miss the train. We can’t miss the train on our last journey,” he hummed, stroking Sirius’s hair. Sirius turned his tear-stained face up to look at Remus.

“I’m just trying to commit it all to memory. That’s the spot we set Wormtail’s trousers on fire,” he pointed at the black char mark on the carpet by the fireplace. “He had to go to Madam Pomfrey for burn cream for his arse,” Sirius let out a wet laugh. “That's where James nearly brained himself when he tried to fly his broom in here to impress Evans,” he pointed at the rafters above them and the one with a noticeable dent in it. “And that's where you kissed me for the first time,” Sirius choked on a sob as his hand shakily pointed to the window seat on the other side of the room. 

It had been the night before they left for the Christmas holidays, and Sirius was too excited to sleep. It would be the first Christmas he would spend at the Potters. Somehow, Remus had known he was bouncing around in his own brain and brought him downstairs, so the others could sleep. 

“I can hear your brain whirring,” he’d muttered sleepily. Remus had shoved him onto the window seat and followed him up. “Look up at the stars for a bit, yeah, it always calms you down,” Sirius did as he was told and watched the fat snowflakes fall from the thick grey clouds above them, the odd star twinkling through the gaps. 

It didn’t take long for Sirius’s mind to relax and sleep to come rushing in. He shivered, realising how cold it was now that the fires had gone out. 

“Brrr, Moony, warm me up,” he said through chattering teeth. Remus was always cosy and warm. He shuffled forwards and attempted to wiggle his hands under Remus’s jumper, but Remus was too quick for him and caught his wrists, encircling them with his hands and trapping him. 

He held them aloft, and they stared into each other's eyes in shock. The next second, Remus was leaning in and pressing his soft lips against Sirius’s, and his life had changed forever. 

“Yeah, those memories will forever be ingrained in my brain,” Remus told him fondly, bringing him back to the present. Remus tilted Sirius’s chin up with the tips of his fingers and kissed him sweetly. “There, one last good memory to take with us,” Remus declared, and Sirius let him walk him out of the place they’d called home for the last seven years. 

They passed through the portrait hole and said farewell to the Fat Lady. 

It was while they ran to catch the last carriage pulled by thestrals that Sirius realised that he’d always miss the time they shared at Hogwarts, but that they had the rest of their lives to live, and in less than a month, he and Remus would be moving in together. 

He grinned at Remus and snuggled closer, no longer caring what anyone else thought of them. 

“I love you,” he said proudly. Remus looked down at him and took his hand. 

“I love you too,” Remus told him, kissing him gently, and they watched the castle until it disappeared from view. Sirius snuggled up to Remus’s side, where he intended to stay for a very long time. 

Chapter Text

Remus was feeling feverish. His whole body ached, and he’d been covered in a thin sheen of sweat for the last two days, and, with it being late June, the weather was already keeping him warm. The wolfsbane potion might allow him to keep control of his mind during each transformation, but it made the buildup ten times worse. He almost wished for the sweet oblivion, a true transformation brought over the long nights of his wolf brain, thinking only of Sirius. He knocked on the door of the dungeon. 

“Enter,” an oily voice sneered. He pushed the heavy oak door open and shuffled into the potion's classroom. 

Snape didn’t say anything to him, didn’t even acknowledge his presence, waiting for him to speak first. 

“Good evening, Severus. I’m here for my potion.” His voice was hoarse and dry, and he fought the urge to cough. Snape looked up from his cauldron. 

“Ah, Lupin,” he said, as though he hadn’t realised Remus was even there. He waved his wand over his cauldron and stepped away, turning with a sweep of his robes to the back of the classroom where a single, small cauldron sat, hidden behind a stack of dusty books. 

Snape ladled a portion out into a goblet and handed the smoking potion to him. 

“Thank you,” Remus said evenly, attempting to force his aching muscles to form a smile. He failed dismally. He tipped the goblet up and drained its contents as quickly as possible; it tasted truly disgusting, like wet cardboard and burnt cat hair. 

He handed the goblet back and turned towards the door. 

“You will need to take another dose tomorrow,” Snape reminded him. Remus resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He’d been taking the dratted stuff since September. He knew when he needed to take the potion.

“Of course,” he said instead, taking the high road. “See you tomorrow night.” Little did he know that the next night he would be reunited with two of his old school friends, one he’d thought had been dead for twelve years and would forget all about taking that final dose of wolfsbane potion.  

Chapter Text

“Shit!” Sirius hissed as he untangled himself from the bedsheets and fell to the floor. He was late for Quidditch practice. James was going to kill him. 

“Padfoot, what are you doing?” Remus’s sleepy voice yawned from the bed Sirius had just fallen out of. 

“Quidditch practice,” he told him. “Go back to sleep, I’ll be back before you know it,” he leaned over and pressed a kiss to Remus’s slightly parted lips. He was rewarded with a very happy grin as Remus snuggled back into the warmth. Sirius stared at him for a moment before checking what time it was and freaking out again. 

He yanked his Quidditch gear on as quickly as possible and grabbed his broom. He glanced back at Remus’s bed one last time before jumping out of the dorm room window. 

He lifted out of the dive about halfway down the tower; hopefully, no professors would be awake this early, and he wouldn’t get detention for flying out of a window, again. He leaned low against his broom handle and urged his broom forward, towards the quidditch pitch. 

“Cutting it fine, Sirius,” James grumbled as he landed beside him with his best smile on his face as he pushed his windswept hair out of his face. He quickly tied it up so it wouldn’t blind him during practice. “Where were you anyway? You weren’t in your bed when I went to get you up?” 

“Nowhere,” Sirius answered as nonchalantly as possible. James gave him a look. 

“Which poor girl ended up with you in her bed last night?” Sirius had found a way to get in and out of the girls' dormitories without needing to set foot on the staircases. A broom. He used a broom. 

Sirius’s hand flew up to his chest, covering his heart. 

“I solemnly swear that I was not in a girl's bed last night.” Yep, definitely not a girl's bed.  

James scrutinised Sirius’s face and then rolled his eyes. 

“Fine, boy’s bed then,” Sirius felt his face heating, and before James could prise the answer out of him, he took off again. He’d rather fly laps of the pitch than answer that particular question. “SO IT’S SOMEONE WE KNOW?!” James hollered after him, jumping on his own broom and chasing after him. Sirius knew he had a matter of seconds before James caught up with him, but try as he might, he couldn’t think of any other name but Remus. 

James tackled him, and they fell to the ground, landing in a tangle of thrashing limbs as James tickled him. 

“Remus! It was Remus!” He screamed, praying that Remus would forgive him. James stopped tickling him and got to his feet, hauling Sirius with him. 

“All you had to say was you got in the wrong bed again.” He rolled his eyes at Sirius and went to address the rest of the team and start their practice. Sirius didn’t know whether to be offended or relieved. He chose to be offended.  

“Oi, Potter, I knew exactly where I was sleeping last night and exactly whose cock I sucked!” Shit, Remus was going to kill him.  

Chapter Text

This had been a fantasy of Remus’s for quite some time. The idea of being stuck in a broom closet with Sirius had got him off more than once. 

He’d spent countless hours imagining the feel of Sirius’s hot breath ghosting across his skin as they were forced together in the small confines of the cupboard. How Sirius would lean in and kiss him when the tension grew too great, and they’d lose themselves in each other, forgetting about whatever they were hiding from in the first place.  

The reality, however, was a nightmare. Having Sirius this close made Remus’s body react, and he couldn’t stop it. He cringed away from Sirius, pressing himself into the darkest reaches of that small space. 

Sirius was completely oblivious to Remus’s anguish and kept nudging him with his elbow as he whispered jokes on Filch’s behalf. 

Sirius’s chest kept bumping against his, and it was only a matter of time before other things bumped against each other. Remus screwed his eyes shut and tried to angle his hips in a way that Sirius would never be able to brush up against. But it was too late. In the darkness, Sirius trod on his untied shoelace and fell forward. Remus instinctively reached out and caught him. Sirius went willingly into his arms, and that’s when Remus froze in horror. 

“Oh, thank fuck!” Sirius exclaimed, catching Remus completely off guard, as that was the furthest thing from what he’d expected Sirius to come out with. “I thought it was only me.”

Sirius reached up and cradled Remus’s jaw and brought his head down to meet his lips. 

Remus was in complete disbelief. He pinched himself to check that this was real, and he wasn’t dreaming. His arm throbbed where he’d pinched, and his eyes widened as reality set in. He was in a cupboard with Sirius, and Sirius was kissing him. He grinned and pulled Sirius closer. Sirius let out a low moan as Remus took over the kiss, and right at that moment, Remus didn’t care if Filch found them. He was happier than he’d ever been in his life. 

Chapter Text

Madam Pince had walked past him at least eight times now, and Remus had no idea why. He was on his own, doing actual schoolwork. His friends were nowhere near the library as far as he knew. She came round again, and this time, Remus stared at her. She narrowed her eyes at him and continued down the next aisle of books. 

It was as he was gathering his things together, he’d finally had enough of Madam Pince’s hawk-like gaze, that he heard a stifled giggle. He spun around and saw nothing. But he’d definitely heard something. 

He closed his eyes and sniffed. The smell of leather and cedar filled his nostrils; he’d know that scent anywhere. 

“Sirius, you prick,” he growled under his breath, and this time the giggle wasn’t stifled. He grabbed his things and stormed out. 

Sirius caught up to him, having removed the invisibility cloak, but Remus refused to slow down, forcing Sirius to jog beside him to keep up. 

“Don’t you want to know what I was doing to make Pince keep her eye on you?” Sirius asked, his face split in two by the huge smile that just kept getting wider. 

“No,” Remus grunted. He’d really wanted to get that essay finished. The full moon was in two days, and if he didn’t get caught up now, he’d be trying to finish his work when all he wanted to do was rest.

“Oh, come on,” Sirius pleaded, and that was when Remus noticed that people were snickering as they walked past them.  

“Fine,” he hissed under his breath. Sirius placed the tip of his wand onto one of his curls, and colour seeped up, changing the black curls to a vivid blue. Remus closed his eyes and took a deep breath before walking away from Sirius and into the closest bathroom. His hair was baby pink. He looked like a bag of candy floss. No wonder Madam Pince had been watching him if Sirius had been changing his hair colour. He quickly removed the spell and watched as his natural sandy colour erased the pink. 

When he came back out, Sirius was waiting for him. 

“Aww, you changed it back,” Sirius pouted. Reaching up and stroking his fingertips over Remus’s hair. Remus grabbed him by the wrist, bringing his hand to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to his palm. 

“It’s not my colour,” he said, mischief flashing in his eyes. “But it is yours!” He used the same spell with a Lupin twist on it on Sirius and took off before Sirius could jinx him. 

Sirius' hair changed colour every ten minutes for over a day before the charm wore off. He demanded that Remus show him how to cast the spell. Remus did, but only after Sirius promised he’d only use it on himself. The school was a sea of multicoloured hair by the end of the week. 

Chapter Text

Sirius couldn’t keep his hands off Remus. They both had a free day and were supposed to be going up to the dorm to take full advantage of the empty space. But it looked like they might not make it that far. 

Sirius spotted a bathroom not much further up the corridor. He pressed himself up against Remus and pressed their lips together, pushing into him until Remus stepped back through the door. 

“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!!!” A voice screamed at them. Sirius and Remus jumped apart as a ghost came rushing towards them, passing through them both and making them shudder. They were in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. 

“You took me into a girls' bathroom?!” Remus whacked him across the chest with the back of his hand. 

“Hey! I didn’t know. I thought we were on the third floor.” 

“GET OUT!!!!” Myrtle screamed at them before setting all the taps on and showering them in water. The floor began to flood, and they made a quick exit. 

“Sorry, Myrtle!” Sirius called over his shoulder, and the small ghost screamed, exploding the toilets and flooding the bathroom further as he and Remus hurried away. Sirius somehow managed to keep his hands to himself the whole way up to the dorm room and was rewarded for his good behaviour, but he’d make sure to check what room he dragged Remus into next time.