Chapter Text
“OK, my turn now,” said Sirius a few minutes later, his voice a bit funny. “But you'll have to give me a minute – Merlin's beard, Moony, that was brilliant – my legs are shaking.”
Remus smiled.
“Go to bed, I'll join you in a second. And you can, er, pay me back tomorrow, if you still feel like it.”
Sirius rolled his eyes.
“Look,” he said, taking Remus' wand from atop the pile of his clothes, and he turned a bar of soap into an axolotl. “Is non verbal Transfiguration enough to convince you that I bloody well know what I'm doing?”
“Sirius! The Trace!”
“They won't know it wasn't Tom or one of the other patrons, relax.”
Sirius was right, of course. Remus knew all too well that he was often reckless, but (almost) never foolish. He wouldn't have risked getting expelled just to prove a point – probably.
“How come you are this keen on me all of a sudden, anyway, if it's true that you've fancied me for years?”
Sirius lifted one eyebrow.
“I've never had you all for myself like this, have I? That was sort of the point of asking you to come see me in London. To be alone with you and see if we could finally manage to get things started.”
“Get things started?”
“Yeah, you know, like – like try and see if we want to be together.”
“Together,” repeated Remus, in frank amazement, staring at Sirius' axolotl.
“Yeah, OK, nevermind,” said Sirius quickly. “It was just an idea. I knew you wouldn't want to.”
“Are you out of your mind, of course I want to.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, obviously – I'm just – I was under the impression that you just wanted, you know – sex.”
“Well, Moony, let me make this perfectly clear: I also want sex. As much sex as we can reasonably have, and then a bit more, just to be sure.”
Remus grinned, still looking away from Sirius.
“But also all the other stuff, you know,” went on Sirius, now also staring resolutely at the scampering axolotl. “The sweet stuff. Holding hands, the works. Being with you. I like you a lot, Remus, I really do.”
Remus looked up, surprised. Sirius hardly ever called him by his name. He smiled.
“And I you, Sirius. More than any other person I've ever met.”
**
“Did I do OK?”
Remus grinned.
“What kind of question is that? Couldn't you tell?”
“Yeah, well, I want to hear you say it,” said Sirius, lifting his head from Remus' chest. He looked so beatiful that the idea that just a few minutes earlier he had had Remus' cock in his mouth was almost too much for Remus' mind to accept. “C'mon, humour me.”
“All right, then. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. No, I take it back, the best thing that ever happened to me was meeting you. But this is a close second. Are you happy now?”
Sirius beamed.
“Very. And I'm really glad I'm not the only one here who gets secretly sappy.”
“Secretly being the operative word, right?”
“Oh, yes, definitely.”
“Promise you won't tell James.”
“Merlin's beard, no,” said Sirius. “We would never live it down if he knew we get all sentimental like this.”
“Maybe if he ever manages to get with Evans he'll understand, but until then – I'm fine with him knowing we're together, mind – well, if you are, obvously.”
“Yeah, we're telling him, of course. I was actually thinking I could make, I don't know, some sort of banner for the common room – I SNATCHED THE HOTTEST BLOKE IN THE YEAR – SUCK IT, LOSERS – something like that, I'm still working on the exact wording.”
Remus laughed.
“Well, that would be very confusing for people.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s see, for one they would wonder why you're advertising the fact that you, er, snatched yourself. Most likely wondering if it's some sort of euphemism, too.”
**
“I think I will ask James if I can stay at his place over the summer.”
“... what? Oh. Oh, right. Yes, it sounds like a good idea.”
“They have spare rooms, his parents like me, I reckon they would say yes. Then I'll stay at school for Christmas and Easter and get a job the moment we're out of school.”
Sirius' voice was steady enough, but he had his back turned to Remus. Remus, his palms clammy all of a sudden, wondered if Sirius was expecting him to offer his hospitality instead. He thought of his parents' cramped cottage, of the cellar where he transformed during the summer. He didn't particularly like the idea, but what else could he do?
“You could, you know – come stay at mine,” he began, tentatively. “I'm sure my parents would be OK with it.”
Sirius shook his head.
“No, no. Thank you. I really think it's better if I stay at James'. I – I want us to start things off the right way. I could never live off your parents while I try and learn how to be your, well, your boyfriend, I suppose. Does that make sense to you?”
Remus tried to picture himself in Sirius' position.
“Yes,” he said, truthfully. “But still. If you want to come visit, feel free. Anytime. Come being the operative word, in this case.”
Sirius laughed that beautiful bark-like laugh of his.
“I'll take you at your word,” he threatened jokingly, finally turning to face Remus “You'll beg for me to leave you alone. I have homework to do, Sirius, stop being irresistible in my close vicinity!”
“Yes, yes, that sounds exactly like something I would say.”
“I know you very well, you see, my darling Moony.”
“Well,” said Remus, his hand on the small of Sirius' naked back. “I reckon in time you could get to know me even better if you tried – what do you say?”
Sirius grinned.