Title: Bound to Each Other
disclaimer The characters do not belong to me. They belong to JKR and the various publishing houses. I use them as I wish.
Summary: Sirius and Remus are living at #12 during the time of OOTP. Young Remus has an obsession with marking what is his.

Sirius and Remus were bathed in sweat, Remus still curled over Sirius, who was spent. Leaning forward slightly, Remus kissed the back of Sirius' neck, only then allowing him to get off his knees.

Remus rolled over and laid on his back, Sirius resting his head under Remus' chin. His nails moving slowly up his spine, Remus kissed the top of Sirius' head.

In the past weeks, their lovemaking had become more forceful, reckless and abandoned than normal. These were dangerous times. Voldemort had returned.

"Give me a few minutes, Remy and then we can have another go." Siri closed his eyes and to Remus' dismay, was soon fast asleep. Remus knew they were no longer the young lovers they once were, but he craved Siri, he needed him, needed the assurance that he would never leave him again. The danger he and Siri were facing was haunting him, entering his dreams. He wanted to wake Siri, make love to him again, so hard that the pain in his heart would stop.

He looked lovingly at Sirius and stroked his long curtain of dark hair, now damp with sweat. Both men now breathing in unison, as they normally did after making love. Sirius snored lightly and bent his knees, putting him into a loose curl, revealing the crescent moon tattoo on his left pelvic bone. Remus reached down with his left hand and ran his middle finger along that tattoo, almost caressing it. At the same time, running the middle finger of his right hand along the matching dog star tattoo on his own right pelvic bone.

He smiled and bent his neck forward to kiss the top of his lover's head, remembering the time, so many years ago when they had first been marked with moon and star...

It was early morning during their 6th year at Hogwarts. They were in Remus' bed, the red curtains closed tightly and a silencing charm in place.

Sirius, lying on his stomach, had just been awakened and was still drowsy, disturbed way too early from his sleep. "mmmph….huh?…wha….morning luv," he said turning his head and looking at Remus. He laid his head back down, closing his eyes.
.
He felt a slight tickling across his back and shoulders. Remus, quill in hand, had traced his feet on Sirius' back and was now embellishing the words "Property of RJ Lupin" across his shoulders.

"Sorry Siri, did I wake you?" He really had meant to wake Sirius, but now felt bad about it, just the same.

"Sright Remy." Sirius yawned.

Remus continued, drawing designs down, along Sirius' spine, ending at his tail bone.

"Luv, not the cheeks today, ok? I know where this is ending up. So why doncha just get on with it?"

Remus' face grew hot as he began to blush. Taking the initiative in any situation was a very recent thing to him, not that he couldn't, just that it had been more comfortable to be an active player. Things were different with Sirius, though. Since their first kiss, Remus knew what he wanted, to possess Sirius. After all, Sirius was his.

He locked his fingers in Sirius' hair and pulled Sirius' head away from the pillow. As Sirius turned over, Remus cradled Siri's head with his hand. Pulling his head forward, he kissed Sirius, running his tongue across Siri's lower lip. Sirius opened his mouth. Remus' tongue crossed the threshold and Sirius sighed, sucking that intruder deeply into his mouth. Remus willed his tongue to grow longer and then that he was all tongue. He longed to climb inside that mouth and explore every inch. Instead he broke away and again picked up the quill.

"Go for it Michelangelo!" Sirius closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip, spread his legs and sighed, already trembling, yet readying himself for what was coming.

Sirius' inner thigh now Remus' canvas, he began drawing the crescent moon. But as he could barely hold the quill, the lines were wavy.

"Damn, Remus, finish already, would ya!" Sirius didn't mind the feeling, but was growing tired of getting claimed. Looking down he began to laugh, "What's that you've drawn? An every flavoured bean? No, a smile? Lol, good work Remy."

Remus smiled, "Well, I know what it is. Anyway, you've screwed up the mood. This is no laughing matter." "Finished!"

He looked down and began to laugh. "Damn Siri," he smiled as he laid down atop his lover. He kissed Sirius' collarbone, then open mouthed, teeth bared, slowly moved to his ear, tasting every inch of skin along the way. He explored every crevace of Sirius' ear, finally sucking his lobe. Sirius trembled, his breathing now coming in shallow puffs.

"Siri," he whispered as he pressed his body more firmly against Sirius, who moved involuntarily against him. "We could make it permanent, you know. No interruptions then."

Sirius turned his head slightly, trying his best to look stern through blank eyes. "I told you before Remus. No way."

Remus was encouraged by this. Last time he brought this up, he was called Lupin, not Remus. Siri was warming to the idea. Remus moved his head forward slightly and circled Sirius' nose with his own, moving his tongue along Sirius' lips. When Sirius did not budge, Remus looked hurt. His eyes became damp and he buried face beneath Sirius' chin, saying in his best apologetic voice, "I'm sorry Siri. I didn't mean to upset you, b-but…." He looked up at Sirius with sad eyes.

"Quit it Remus. I know what you're doing."

"Siri, pulleeeeze, just this one little thing. It would mean so much to me," and he moved his body even more firmly against Sirius', continually readjusting his position slightly.

Sirius knew he couldn't resist this much longer, that he was close to breaking, to promising Remus anything. And he knew Remus was fully aware of this. Damn werewolf, having to physically claim him. He had to come up with a plan to squelch the idea of a permanent tattoo.

A wide smile appeared on his face. "OK Remy, I'll get the tattoo."

Remus looked at him suspiciously. Something was up.

"Really Remy. I'll get the tattoo, but not on the thigh; on the pelvic bone. I'll get the tattoo, on one condition. If you're going to claim me, I get to claim you. If I get a crescent moon tattoo, you get a dog star one."

Remus moved slightly away from Sirius. A tattoo on his body? He had never thought of that before. Would he let Sirius make that kind of claim on him?

"Fair is fair, Remy. If you claim me, I claim you. If I get a tattoo, you get your tattoo right here." And he pressed his fingers against Remus' pelvic bone, smiling broadly, apparently sure that Remus would at last forget the idea.

"Gotcha," Remus thought. Knowing full well the price he would pay, he smiled at his lover, a glint in his eyes, "So Siri, when do we get them?"

Sirius' jaw dropped and he looked wide eyed. "Well..er..um. Tomorrow?"

Remus again locked his fingers in Sirius' hair, cupped the back of his head and forcefully drew him forward. "Siri, you're such an arse."

"Maybe so, but a very cute one."

Happy that Sirius again had his mouth open, Remus slid his tongue inside. "Well, we'll soon see," he thought as he moved fingers down Sirius' spine.

Next morning, after ducking James and Peter, Remus and Sirius were off to get their tattoos. Remus walked, hands in pockets, dreading what he was about to do, only half listening. Sirius was turned around walking backwards, in front of Remus facing him.

Sirius had warmed to the idea. "You know Remy, this is way cool. We need to get them on the opposite sides so that they touch when we are making love. Well they won't always touch, but good enough. Mine'll go on my left side and yours on your right." He paused, waiting for some response from Remus, when none came, he began again. "While we're in Hogsmead we need to shop for a few other things. Got a few ideas to go with the new markings, one you will especially like. Whatcha say? And then we may….."
Remus was amazed at how someone could literally skip backwards and talk nonstop at the same time.

A little later, they walked out of the salon, a great deal sorer than when they went in, yet they held each other close, walking slowly home, trying their best not to stop in the middle of the road and kiss. Those tattoos had bound them closer than they had ever been, an outward sign of what they knew in their hearts; dog and wolf, marked, belonging to each other.

That night, their lovemaking was the most passionate ever, even if the tattoos were still painful. That was the beginning of many months of happiness that neither of them had thought possible.

Remus came back from his memories, back to the present, wishing he could have stayed there with Sirius, never to grow older. But then he looked down at his lover, whose mouth was slightly open, a bit of drool escaping from the corner of his mouth onto Remus' chest.

He recalled the years of sorrows and grief, emotional hurts and wrongs they had inflicted on each other, many would never fully heal. Waves of emotion came over him. Smiling at the spot on top of Siri's head where his scalp showed through thinning hair, he knew definitely that they were no longer young, no longer innocents.

Remus sighed, eyes damp. He loved this man, Sirius Black. He was content with his life and would want it no other way.