On a scale from one to red
AN: just a small little drabble. There is no excuse.
It was a day close to Christmas, and the whole of Grimmauld Place had been redecorated to celebrate the holidays, very professionally, one might say. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were working on their homework in the living room, their essays and quills littering the table as they sat around it, legs crossed and eyes narrowed.
Remus was on a fauteuil near the fire, reading a heavy set book with a nice leather back. The writing was demanding all of his attention, but for once, Sirius Black did not seem bothered by this. Harry knew Sirius very well – he hated not being the centre of attention when it came to Remus Lupin, and therefore it surprised Harry greatly that his Godfather had not yet thrown that book across the room so Remus would indulge in whatever crazy thing it was Sirius wished him to indulge in.
As it was, Sirius was busy with a plank piece of parchment stretched out on the side table before him. He too was seated on the floor, right in front of Remus, with his back sometimes leaning comfortably against Remus' legs. It didn't seem to bother the brunette, and Harry found it cute, that after all this time, they could still be such good friends.
Molly was knitting on the couch next to Remus' fauteuil, sometimes glancing over to concentrate on what Sirius doing. Harry found it funny that although he was a grown man, Molly still felt the need to check up on him.
Tonks was in the room as well, on a chair by the table. She was very obviously staring at Remus, even though she pretended not to whenever one of the teenagers looked at her. She would just give them a grin and continue pretending to read a magazine. Remus seemed unfazed by the attention he received, the book far more interesting. Harry thought it was rather cute, this small crush Tonks had developed. It saddened him too, because he knew it was unreciprocated. In all the time Harry had known Remus, only Sirius could make him smile widely and full-out. No one else was funny enough, or had that striking sense Sirius brought about. Harry supposed maybe Remus wasn't very interested in having a girlfriend and settling down. He seemed happy enough just being there for his friends, really.
Sirius dipped one of the many quills he had accumulated in a pot of bright yellow ink. He scratched at his chin, pushing a black tress of hair from his face, before drawing a wonky circle, and then scribbling something down next to it. It made Harry want to chortle, seeing him focus on such an easy task, but at the same time it filled him with a deep certain fondness for his Godfather, knowing that something so small could keep him busy for such a long while.
"Remus," Sirius looked up at the man suddenly, making an additional scribble to his drawing, giving the other man's knee a little poke.
"What is it Sirius?" Remus peered over the edge of the thick book momentarily, granting the other man with a smile – a smile that Sirius always reciprocated, though now, he only returned it with a serious look.
Harry paused his own writing to watch their interaction, and saw Tonks do the same, studying them meticulously.
"On a scale from one to yellow, how adorable do you think I am?"
The question caused Remus' smile to widen. Harry repressed a chuckle and Tonks' eyes widened, and she looked at the werewolf intently to see his reaction. The brunette ruffled Sirius' hair, like he would Padfoot's and gave him a simple answer, in a tone not much different from the one a father would use on his son: "I'd say you're a whole lot of yellow Padfoot."
"Like this?" Sirius messily coloured the circle yellow, leaving some spots uncovered in his haste.
"No, Siri," Remus leaned over next to the man, pointing at the childish drawing – he grasped the man's hand, aiding him to colour the circle, "fill it out completely, here, see?"
"You find me this much adorable?" Sirius asked, slightly awed.
Remus gave another one of his kind smiles and nodded, returning his attention to his book. Even though he pretended to read, and Sirius gave a stern nod before looking back down at the parchment, Remus' eyes were most definitely fixed on Sirius' figure. Sirius leaned back against Remus' legs, then crouched back over his parchment. He dipped another quill in a sky blue colour, before drawing it over the parchment, underneath his yellow circle.
He drew another circle, this time a little bit bigger and more round than the last one. He added a scribble and looked at the brunette pensively. Remus looked back with a mysterious smile, as if he already knew what Sirius was going to ask next.
"Remus," Sirius began sternly, a stubborn set to his jaw, "how much, on a scale from one to blue, do you love me?"
At this question, Molly looked up. Harry was still watching the two men, but he also noticed how now the other three teens ceased their writing as well. Sirius didn't notice their interest, only waiting for an upright answer of his best friend.
"I love you all the blue in the world Sirius," Remus said truthfully, and this time Sirius smiled hopefully.
"All of it?"
"Yes, all of it," the brunette gave a confirming nod, and watched as Sirius happily set to filling out the blue circle.
Remus set down his book now, apparently deciding that Sirius was more worthy of his attention. He absentmindedly pushed one of Sirius' locks behind the man's ears when he bent over to regard the drawings, and Tonks' eyes widened at the small gesture of intimacy.
"Remus..." Sirius sounded hesitant, and he turned to watch his friend again – this time, when he turned he bumped his nose into Remus', due to their proximity, and he blinked innocently.
"Yes?" Remus queried, urging Sirius to continue.
Sirius gave a little huff, which Remus could feel against his lips. Everyone in the room waited expectantly for Sirius to ask another question.
"How many blue do you suppose it takes for you to be in love with me?"
Remus chortled. Tonks gasped. Harry's eyes widened and Molly dropped her knitting needles.
"Sirius, loving and being in love isn't the same," he patted the raven hair, pulling back a bit, so he could see the raven's whole face, "you need another chart for that."
Sirius gave a determined nod, taking another quill. He dipped it into the red, and drew a big circle, bigger than the two others together. He added a quick scribble and turned to Remus again, as if he had suddenly grown impatient.
"Remus, on a scale from one to red..." he took a pause to inhale deeply, suddenly nervous, "how much are you in love with me?"
Remus smiled fondly, cupping the man's cheek. Sirius turned, leaning between Remus' legs so he could listen intently. He placed his hands on Remus' knees and waited patiently, seeing his friend carefully weigh his next words.
"I'm in very much red with you Sirius," Remus said with a strange sort of sternness, a little frown on his face, "so much red it could rival even the Gryffindor's red. All the red you could think of."
"All that red?" Sirius blinked cutely, leaning up expectantly.
They were now so close their chests were almost touching, and Remus could barely nod without bumping face with Sirius.
"All of it," he whispered, quirking his head lightly.
Sirius smiled and nodded in understanding. Then, he leaned forward enough to press his lips to Remus', stealing a passionate kiss from his lover. He heard the gasps of their spectators, but ignored them, instead wrapping his arms around Remus' neck and pulling him in closer.
They parted for a moment, and were breathing rather heavily. Remus was smiling though, and Sirius nuzzled the other man's nose, forcing a noise of contentment from his lips.
"Remus?" he said again, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Mhm?" Remus made a rather incomprehensible noise, which Sirius took as 'yes', and he pushed his nose against Remus' again.
"Does this mean we can hold hands in public now?"
"You want to hold hands?" Remus laughed flatly, huffing before kissing Sirius again.
Sirius shrugged.
"I meant to say 'shag each other senseless', but I very well couldn't, with the teenagers in the room."
Remus laughed, and they kissed once more – Sirius dipped his tongue inside his lover's mouth and revelled in the taste, groaning softly – one of Sirius' hands setting on the brunette's hip. When Remus pulled back from the kiss, rather reluctantly, Sirius gave a pleasant sigh and cushioned his head into the brunette's lap. Remus stroked his fingers through the black hair, and considered picking up his book again, when Sirius lifted his head enough to look at Remus again.
Their gazes met and Remus grinned, fingers playing with the hair at the back of Sirius' neck.
"So can we?" Sirius asked curiously, reminding Remus of his earlier question.
"Hold hands? Of course we can," Remus laughed, entwining their hands as if to prove it to him.
Sirius gave a little grin, kissing the scarred hand in his own delicately.
Then, he said, quite blatantly: "shag each other senseless, I mean?"
Remus considered it for a moment.
Then, with a small shrug of his shoulder, he answered: "I suppose we could do that too."
The last red circle was forgotten completely, and neither of them thought to fill it out ever again. Mapping the other's body with their lips suddenly seemed a lot more interesting than a red circle.
AN: on a scale from one to red – I'm in a whole lot of red with you. Review if you think I'm any good at drabbles, comment if you've any remarks. I love a childish-turned-horny Sirius. So sue me.
