"Hey, come on now— are you a man or a dog?" teased the boy with light brown— though quite possibly flecked with grey— hair.
The other boy, who's wild black mane cascaded over his eyes as he leaned over his companion, stopped his actions briefly— just long enough to let out a carefree laugh.
"Well you see, Moony, I've been meaning to tell you for a while now," Sirius joked before planting another dozen of light kisses across Remus's face.
A warm, fuzzy feeling of happiness spread through the wolf like wildfire. The lightheartedness of the situation— of the irony— only served to elate Remus Lupin to another level of high. While such a conversation, though with switched roles and regards to his lycanthropy, had not too long ago been the very substance of his darkest nightmares, it was, in this case, heartwarming— reminding him of the kind actions of his friends that rendered them animagi.
The kisses slowed with the rhythmical falling of snow and then stopped all together. The cozy fire, low yet still burning, illuminated the two figures nestled together in the common room. With the other students away for Christmas break, the only sound, other than an occasional crackle or pop of ember, was the leisurely breathing shared, so preciously, between the two of them. Remus pulled himself closer against Sirius's chest and listened to the rebellious heart that beat within.
"Remus?" the taller boy's voice broke the silence.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think we'll always be like this?"
The way Sirius hesitantly traced the back of his hand with a thumb made Remus uneasy. He sat up in order to face him squarely.
"What's wrong?" he asked, a bit confused about the darkening undertones of an otherwise pleasant evening.
"Well, do you?" Sirius repeated, his silvery, brooding gaze not meeting the smaller boy's.
"Sirius," Remus started, "I love you— forever and always. To the end of time— always."
Now, it was the black-haired purebred's turn to shift around on the couch, facing Remus directly. A pained expression danced across his usually-controlled face.
"Don't say that."
Droplets formed at the corners of Remus's eyes. "You mean… you don't love… me, anymore?" he choked out.
"No! There, there," Sirius hushed his teary-eyed lover, "It's not what I meant, Remus. I just mean— If I were to die tomorrow, I wouldn't want you to go through the rest of your life miserable. I'd want you to move on— fall in love, again."
"Sirius— I could never love anyone else but you," the prefect replied, stunned— his mouth slightly agape.
While the boy looked so adorable, the dog had to resist taking advantage of the situation, and, instead, cupped the younger boy's scarred face with a gentle hand.
"You should try."
Silence echoed throughout the room.
Upon the lack of response from the young werewolf, Sirius changed the topic to a joke— like he always did.
"You could marry one of my cousins," he smiled, wiping the tears away from the pair of stormy eyes looking away at the fire.
"But— Sirius… No offence, but… your family is…" Remus tripped over his fragmented sentences, not wanting to offend the Black's only male heir.
"Not either of those two, silly," Sirius laughed, "I've never cared for them much. Well, I'm disowned, Andromeda's disowned— we're almost the same person!"
"But, didn't she get disowned because she married a muggle-born? I can't marry someone who's already married," the werewolf replied, clearly taken the conversation more seriously than Sirius had intended.
Sirius, who was falling asleep from the heat of the fire and the calmness of the night only lazily replied, "Her daughter, then. She was born five years ago."
Though the conversation's pacing lulled, Lupin's mind still raced.
"But I'm too old… If you were to die tomo—" he spit out, only to be interrupted by a loud snore.
He shook Sirius shoulder slightly.
"What?" the older boy asked groggily.
"Well," Remus replied, timidly, "We were having a conversation…"
A few silent moments slid by.
"Promise?"
Sirius's voice startled him, as he was sure he had fallen back asleep.
"I promise."
Thank you for reading.