It was freezing. He was going to freeze to death, he just knew it. Remus looked to Padfoot as he bounded and frolicked gleefully through the snow and shook his head. Sure, it was all well and good for him; Padfoot had thick fur to keep him warm. All Remus had were his robes, that were already wet up past his knees from all the snow.

Padfoot seemed to sense his discomfort, as a second later, Remus was looking at Sirius instead of a great black dog covered in snow.

'You OK, Moony?' Sirius asked, his head cocking to the side in a distinctly doglike fashion. 'You seem… not so pleased.'

'It's freezing!' Remus complained. 'It's well and good if you have fur, but being out in the snow is not at all fun when you're frozen up to the knees in wet robes.'

'I'll warm you up,' Sirius grinned and launched himself at his friend, tackling him to the ground.

'Ack, Sirius!' Remus tried, in vain, to push him off and get up out of the snow. Sirius was simply too strong, or perhaps just too determined, to throw off. 'Come on, get off, it's freezing down here!' He shivered violently as snow piled down the back of his robes, effectively proving his point.

Sirius felt the forceful tremble and jumped to his feet in one fluid motion, holding out his hand to help Remus up. 'Sorry Moony, sometimes I forget you really just don't like the cold.'

Remus eyes the forlorn expression on Sirius' face and shook his head. 'It's fine Sirius, honestly. Just… don't toss me in the snow again, alright?'

'You've got yourself a deal,' Sirius grinned. 'Now, let's get you inside before you freeze to death.' Still holding Remus' hand, he tugged his friend along back towards the castle.

'You feeling warmer, Moony?' Sirius asked, handing Remus a cup of hot chocolate he'd gotten from the kitchens.

Remus looked up at him, tearing his eyes away from the common room fire, and smiled. 'Yeah, thanks.' He accepted the mug gratefully.

The common room was deserted. Most of the Gryffindors had gone home over the holidays. Remus had stayed so his parents could go visit his mother's family in France, while Sirius had stayed behind to keep him company and avoid his own family.

'Hmm,' Sirius eyed him pensively for a moment before flopping down onto the floor by the fire next to him and wrapping his arms tightly around Remus' shoulders. 'You still look cold.'

'Ouch!' Remus had spilled some of the scalding chocolate on his hand in surprise. He put his cup down and sucked the burned hand.

'Shit. Sorry, Moony,' Sirius looked aghast. He pulled the injured hand away from Remus' lips and inspected the reddened flesh. 'Hmm, that looks like it hurts.'

'I've had worse, Sirius,' Remus rolled his eyes and made to pull his hand away, but Sirius held it in his grip, still studying it pensively.

Without a word, Sirius raised the captured hand to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to the angry red mark left by the hot chocolate.

'Er, Sirius?' Remus raised his eyebrow at his best friend. 'What exactly are you doing?'

'Making it better,' Sirius told him as if it were the most normal thing in the world. 'It's what you do when someone's hurt, innit?'

'Er, I don't think that's how it works, Sirius,' Remus felt his cheeks flush pink. 'That's more something mothers do for small children, or I s'pose, lovers would do to be extremely affectionate…'

Sirius said nothing, still looking at Remus' hand. The red was fading away already as he watched it. He seemed to have not even listened to Remus' protest. 'See? I did make it better.'

Remus picked up the hot chocolate again, simply for something to do while Sirius sat in one of his apparently contemplative moods. He brought it up to his lips and took a sip, forgetting just how hot it was. 'Aw, shit,' he set the cup messily back down and tore his hand away from Sirius' grip, pressing madly at his burnt lips.

'Moony, you swore?' Sirius looked at him, shocked. 'That must have hurt.'

'Hurts more on the mouth,' Remus said quietly around the stinging of his lips. 'The skin's more delicate and sensitive.'

'Hmm,' Sirius eyed him for a moment. 'Want me to make it better too?'

Remus blinked. Had Sirius honestly just ask what he thought he'd asked? Before he had a chance to respond, Sirius leaned forward and brushed his lips against Remus'. It was gentle and brief, but as Sirius pulled away, Remus felt as though his lips had been branded with a hot iron.

'Better?' Sirius smiled at him, the emotion in his eyes inscrutable.

'Er,' was all Remus could say for a moment. His fingers travelled back his lips in confusion. His lips were tingling, but he knew it had nothing to do with the hot chocolate.

'Moony?' Sirius' expression became worried as the minutes ticked by. 'Are you going to say something?'

Remus blinked again, gauging his possible reactions. He could say nothing and pretend this had never happened. Even as the thought occurred to him, Remus knew it would be impossible. He's known for a while now that his feelings for Sirius were different than his feelings for James or Peter. It looked to him as though Sirius might have those same feelings in return.

Without giving himself the chance to think any more on it, Remus launched himself forward, knocking Sirius onto his back and mashing their lips back together. Sirius greeted this with an enthusiastic sound in the back of his throat. He curled his fingers through Remus' shaggy camel coloured hair and pulled him closer until Remus was laying on top of him.

After what felt like a blissful eternity, Remus broke away for air, gasping in slightly. He looked down at Sirius, who had on a ruffled, just-been-kissed-through-the-floor look on his face, a glazed look on his eyes, and his lips had become red and puffy. 'Er, sorry,' he rolled aside and sat up, reaching down to help Sirius up as well. 'I sort of lost it there for a second.'

Sirius snorted. 'Moony, you can lose it any damn time you want if I get to have another snog like that every time you do.'

Remus smiled slightly. 'So, what does this mean for us, Sirius?'

'What do you mean?' Sirius cocked his head to the side, looking very doglike indeed as he did.

'Well, we can't just kiss and then go one pretending it never happened,' Remus explained quietly. 'I suppose we should figure out what this means.'

'It means I love you, Moony,' Sirius said matter-of-factly. 'And we didn't kiss, we snogged, and rather enthusiastically, I might add.'

Remus was hung up on the first half of what Sirius had said. 'You love me? As in, you fancy me? Me? The bookish werewolf you're constantly dragging into trouble even though you know he's far too boring to even-'

'Moony, you're far from boring,' Sirius rolled his eyes, cutting him off with his reply. 'And it's a bit more deep-rooted than simply fancying you by now. I told you, I love you.'

Remus licked his lips. He noticed how Sirius' eyes followed the motion intently. He smiled. 'Well, Sirius, there's really nothing I can say to that other than: I love you too. I have for a while. I just, really didn't know how to approach it, or you know, if I should ever approach it at all.'

'I was testing the waters a bit,' Sirius grinned sheepishly. 'I had a feeling, but sometimes I'm not always sure I'm reading you right, Moony. I'm glad I got this right, though. That would have been embarrassing.'

Remus chuckled appreciatively. He nudged Sirius' knee gently with his own. 'So, I suppose this means nothing's going to change, then.'

'Oh, I never said that,' Sirius shook his head. 'There's definitely going to be some changes… a whole lot more snogging for one. Maybe some handholding for more polite company, some cuddling by the fire after a frolic in the snow.'

Remus smiled fondly. 'I could certainly go for that right about now.'

'Another snog? Why Moony, you're so insatiable,' Sirius wagged his eyebrows, but leaned closer to Remus, bringing his arms up and around him. 'Hm, yea, this is nice. I could get used to this.'

'Mmm,' Remus agreed, snaking an arm around Sirius' waist and leaning his head on the other boy's shoulder. His eyes fell on the cup of hot chocolate that had started it all. He noted how no more steam was rising from the cup. He reached for it and frowned, the cup didn't feel warm to the touch anymore. He took a sip and gagged – it was freezing. He set the cup down and looked up at Sirius who smiled, his eyes soft. Luckily, thanks to Sirius, he wasn't freezing anymore.