Remus Lupin couldn't sleep.

It was past midnight as he lay awake staring at the ceiling above his bed, his thoughts running away to the rhythm of Peter's monotonous snoring in the background.

If six years had taught him anything about Sirius Black, it was that at times like these he was best left alone until he overcame his mood of complementary self-loathing and self-pity, a combination that could only ever exist within someone like him.

But something told Remus that this time was something different, something bigger, somehow.

He sighed, giving up like he knew he would when he went to bed 3 hours ago, deciding that perhaps this might be worth the wrath and angst that would inevitably follow.

'Prongs', he hissed, poking the sleeping James Potter in the back so that he let out a sleepy groan. 'James, I need the map.'

James wordlessly handed Remus the Marauder's Map from underneath his pillow before turning to his side and falling immediately back to sleep.

Remus envied it, his ability to look past his worry for Sirius. The two of them, he thought, were so like one another, so synchronised that they didn't even have to worry anymore; they knew the other could count on them when they needed it most.

Remus made his way out of the dormitory, activating the map as he did so. On most days he would have taken James' cloak as well, but today, he thought, he could abuse his prefect privileges without feeling too guilty about it.

'Astronomy tower,' Remus murmured to himself. 'Figures.'

Remus wordlessly climbed onto the roof, adjacent to where Sirius sat with a cigarette. He said nothing as instinct told him it was best to let Sirius speak first.

Sirius finally met his eyes then, holding his gaze almost desperately. 'Took you long enough.'

'We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to.'

Sirius sighed, resting his head against Remus' shoulder. He took Remus' hand in his, absent-mindedly turning it over and examining his fingers for the sake of avoiding Remus' gaze as he spoke.

'It's just – I don't deserve any of it, you know? The Black family name and all the job offers that'll come because of it no matter how hard I tried to detach myself from it – and, and now this, an inheritance because someone died, Moony! I didn't work for it, I haven't worked for anything! The only thing I have worked for is not being a Black, not being one of them, and – '

He looked up at Remus now.

'And you, Remus Lupin, the bloody prefect with top marks in every subject.' Sirius smiled slightly, almost sadly. 'You get none of it because of – because of your condition. You deserve the world and don't get any of it, and here I am sitting on a pile of money for doing nothing but being a piece of trash.'

Remus smiled at him then. 'Actually, I think you might be exaggerating things. I mean, I don't have piles of riches but I do have a trashy punk-wannabe boyfriend. Not quite the same as wealth, of course, but I mean I can't really complain.'

Sirius let out a short chuckle and leaned in to kiss him then, briefly so that Remus got a slight taste of the smoke and mint that is so characteristically Sirius. 'You're bloody amazing, you know that?'

'So I've been told.'

They sat in silence, moving closer to one another against the cold.

Remus got up then after a few moments, recognising that sometimes the best thing to do was give someone space.

He leaned down to kiss Sirius once more, softly but passionately, filled with a warmth that only Remus could give him.

'Remus.' He stopped at the doorway. 'I – uh-'

'I love you too, you dork.'

Sirius grinned in the darkness as he watched Remus walk away.