It was a fairly common scene on any given Thursday night in the Gryffindor common room in 1975. A shaggy-haired boy with dark black hair and grey eyes was curled up next to a boy with wispy, sandy-brown hair and penetrating amber eyes. The dark-haired boy was fiddling with a muggle puzzle the other had given to him as a gift: he had called it a 'Rubix cube,' though when asked who Rubix was and why he had a cube the boy could not say. Said sandy-haired boy was reading a book on centaurs and their impact on wizarding history. It wasn't for any class, which the dark-haired boy thought was odd, but that's just how the other boy worked.
Their two other friends, a small and round little boy with straw-colored hair and a boy with messy dark hair and spectacles, were in detention that night, leaving the two couch-bound boys alone. They didn't mind too much, however. They liked their alone time—as long as they could be alone together. These boys, of course, were Sirius Black and Remus Lupin: two of the famous Marauders of Hogwarts.
Every minute or so, Remus would try and push his hair behind his ear to get it to stay put as he read. As was the style, he was trying to grow it out long but it wouldn't quite stay put—thin and childlike as it was, matching its owner, the hair had a mind of its own. If Remus wanted it to stay, it went. If he wanted it to blow in the breeze, however, it always seemed to linger close to his head. One of the many mysteries of Hogwarts, he would joke.
Sirius was, of course, painfully aware that his friend had to interrupt his reading every minute to fix that mop of hair. The more and more Remus made fun of it, the more Sirius realized he really liked that hair: the manner in which it fell on his forehead, the way the light bounced off of it, giving it a glossy and sun-touched look…it was perfect. And Sirius couldn't stand by when Remus grumbled every time he tried to push it away.
The next time the young werewolf's hair fell down into his face, and before Remus could be bothered to fix it, Sirius raised his hand and pushed the hair back, his nimble fingers tucking the longest strand right behind the boy's ear. Remus twitched, having been lost in thought and pleasantly surprised by the gesture.
"Sirius?"
"Yeah mate?"
"You tucked my hair behind my ear."
"Did I?" The boy feigned surprise. Remus rolled his eyes.
"Unless it was a ghost—"
"—a ghost would never—"
"Then it must have been you," he smiled. "Why?"
"Why would a ghost never—"
"No, you prat," the werewolf chuckled. "Why did you tuck my hair behind my ear?"
"Oh, that."
"Yes…that."
"Well, I thought you could use the help."
"The help?"
"The help!" Sirius repeated. "You were interrupting your reading to fix your hair. I know how you get when I interrupt your reading, and I didn't want you taking it out on your lovely hair."
"You realize you've now interrupted my reading—"
"Well," the shaggy-haired boy huffed, "I hadn't meant to."
"What did you say about my hair?"
"What?"
"You said," Remus insisted. "Something about my hair. I didn't catch it. What did you say?"
"Oh." Sirius paused, deep in thought. "Well I said it was lovely."
"Lovely?"
"Yes, lovely—are you deaf now, too?" He retorted. Remus rolled his eyes.
"No, I'm not deaf. It's just…what's the word…"
"Weird?"
"No," Remus smiled. "It's sweet—you're not normally sweet."
Sirius pretended to pout. "I can be sweet. Sometimes. To certain people." Remus raised a brow, questioning this statement. "It happens!"
"Sure, it does," Remus drawled. "And who exactly are these people you're sometimes sweet to?"
"Well, it's really just one person."
Remus paused, closing his book. "One person?" He whispered. Sirius nodded.
"One person," he repeated.
Sirius picked up his Rubix cube and played with it some more. Remus, smiling and turning a bit red, opened his book back up and began reading once more. The next time his hair fell into his face, Remus didn't bother raising his hand. Sirius had already pushed it behind his ear.
Sirius Black was sweet. Sometimes. To one certain Remus Lupin.