"There was a star danced, and under that was I born."

Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene. 1, Line 348.

—March 9th—

Remus knew something was wrong when he tried to stand up and found that he couldn't. His stomach had been acting oddly for a few days now, but when he swung his legs around in the swivel chair towards the aisle and felt his right leg buckle before he'd even tried to put weight on it, that concern heightened considerably.

"Remus!" Lily was there in an instant, deftly catching the books he'd abandoned in favor of a solid purchase on his desk. "Are you okay?"

Remus looked at his legs curiously for a moment before trying again. "Yeah, sorry. Must've tripped over something."

Lily didn't respond, but shot him a concerned glance. She looked at her watch, then back at him. "You've got Types and Methods next, right? 10am?"

Remus nodded, gritting his teeth against the soreness in his leg. In his experience, "random" aches and pains were rarely random, and rarely harmless. But he had gone for a run yesterday to settle his nerves—his first in a long while—so that was likely the cause. As he tuned in to the rest of Lily's commentary, he caught the end of her sentence.

"...and I've got a study group to attend over lunch today, so...Do you want to grab a coffee now? We've got about two hours to kill."

Remus' stomach turned at the idea of consuming anything, but he pasted a smile on his face with a practiced ease and agreed. The two walked over and stood in line for a few minutes at the coffee shop, discussing their plans for spring break before reaching the register.

"I'll have a cold brew with a splash of milk, and he'll have…" Lily turned to face Remus, who was gently waving her off with a smile.

"I don't need anything, Lil, I'm fine."

"Consider it an early birthday gift, then."

Remus chuckled before putting his hands up in a gesture of mock surrender. "Fine then, you've got me," he said with a small smile. "I'll have a small hot chocolate, please." Lily grinned as she paid.

"There's my favorite chocolate lover," she said, motioning with her hand for Remus to follow her to a table. The two placed their things down on the seats before Lily approached the counter to grab their drinks. Remus followed her figure with his eyes and then gasped as a series of chills swept through him. When Lily came back to the table, she gave him a curious look.

"Rem, are you sure you're alright? I don't think I've seen you eat more than a few saltine crackers for two days, you nearly fell over when you stood up earlier, and now you look as pale as a ghost."

Remus looked morosely into his cup, not quite convinced that he wanted the steaming beverage at all. "I think it's just a stomach bug, honestly. I've felt a bit off since Wednesday, but I'm sure I'm fine."

Lily looked skeptical, but didn't press further. "Your body, your rules," she said, holding her hands up. "But let me or Sirius or—God forbid—James know if you start feeling worse, alright? We've all got cars or access to one and could take you to an urgent care if you needed it."

Remus rolled his eyes and took a sip of his hot chocolate before leveling his gaze to meet Lily's. "He's not that bad, you know. James, I mean."

The redhead huffed in exasperation, but a smile played at her lips. "Not this again. I'm sure he's perfectly lovely to you, but I'm not interested."

"I'm not saying you have to be best friends or anything, I just think you're being a bit harsh on him. Sev may not have been a bad guy, but even you have to admit that he wasn't exactly a good guy either."

"Maybe not, but I never said I needed James Potter to fight my battles for me."

Remus smirked at that. "Oh trust me, he's well aware." Lily shot a bemused look across the table at him. "Anyway, after seven months living with the guy, I feel confident saying that if he was queer, I'd date him. Take that assessment of his character as you will."

Lily quirked an eyebrow before sighing. "Your current track record with men leaves much to be desired, Remus. That's not exactly a ringing endorsement."

"One, not everyone I've ever dated has been awful; Two, not every guy can be 'the one,' alright?"

"Sure, but Matt was objectively awful, you know that, right?"

Remus stiffened in his seat, but waved her off casually. "Yeah, yeah, we've been through this before," he paused abruptly, then stood. "I'm going to run to the bathroom—watch my drink?"

Lily nodded and Remus walked towards the restroom as quickly as he could without drawing attention to himself. Once inside, he knelt in a stall with his hands braced against the cool metal walls. His stomach was churning, and before he knew it he was vomiting rather violently into the toilet bowl. That felt delightful, he thought as he clutched his abdomen in pain. Another wave of nausea came over him and he angled himself towards the toilet again. He stayed there for some time, eyes closed and breathing through his nose.

A door opened and closed gently, and Remus' eyes fluttered open. Funny, he thought, he didn't remember leaning against the wall like this.

"Remus? You in here?"

Remus' eyes widened a bit at the sound of his roommate's voice. "Sirius? What're you doing here?"

Sirius approached the stall, but stayed along the opposite wall. "I was grabbing coffee after class when I saw Lily. She said you came in here a half hour ago but that she hadn't seen you come out. Told her I would stop in and see if you were alright." A pause. "Are you? Alright, that is."

Remus shifted on the ground and let out a quiet groan at the pain in his stomach. "Think I'm sick." He heard a huffed laugh from outside the stall.

"Hate to break it to you, Moon Boy, but that much is obvious. I should've asked 'are you able to walk back to the dorm with me or are you in need of urgent medical care?' How does that one pan out?"

Remus latched a finger under the stall door to open it. "I think I'm alright to walk back."

Sirius looked Remus over appraisingly from above before reaching a hand down. "Well up you get, then." Remus grabbed the offered hand and squeezed his eyes closed as Sirius helped him to his feet. He opened his eyes again when he felt a firm grip around his waist steadying him.

"You sure you're good to walk there?" Sirius asked, his voice lacking its usual joking tone. Remus angled his head to meet Sirius' gaze.

"It's only a few minutes from here."

"A few minutes and four flights of stairs, Remus," Sirius said firmly, but his expression was kind. Remus swallowed.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Remus grimaced, "Let's go, I want to lie down."

A chuckle, and then, "You're the boss, Moon Boy."

The two made their way out of the bathroom without much difficulty, only to be met by a pacing Lily. "Remus, you look awful! Why didn't you tell me that you felt this bad?"

Remus offered up a sheepish grin. "Didn't want to worry you?" he suggested quietly and Sirius snorted.

"Because disappearing for half an hour into a bathroom and emerging looking like a ghost is far less worrisome than just telling your friends you don't feel well, obviously," he muttered.

Lily shot a glare in his direction. "We're taking you back to the dorm. You're going to get in your bed, and get under the covers, and take some Advil, and sleep some of this off, alright?" Remus nodded mutely, still a bit too nauseous to respond properly, and the three left the coffee shop, Sirius' arm firmly looped around Remus' waist and pressed against his back .

They made it to the residence hall without incident, but as they turned the corner from the front desk, Remus cringed at the sight of the narrow stairway.

"Well," Sirius started, "There's four ways we could go about this." Remus looked over at him blankly as he began counting the options off on his fingers.

"One: We let you go it alone and follow behind you—not happening; Two: I carry you in some ridiculous bridal style arrangement—possible, but may upset your stomach further; Three: You get a free piggy-back-ride—promising, but still might upset your stomach; or Four: We keep on like this up the stairs until we meet someone, then we pause and I stand behind you while they pass—seems like the least offensive option to me."

Remus blinked a few times, having been a bit distracted by both the churning of his stomach and Lily's muttered, "the 'Best of the Ivies' and we still can't manage accessibility. Damned old buildings."

He tilted his head to meet Sirius' eyes again before exhaling quietly. "Whatever's easiest, I suppose."

Sirius smiled gently. "Joined at the hip it is, then." The two of them made it halfway up the four flights when Remus stumbled and nearly sent them both tumbling down the steps. Sirius tightened his grip on Remus' waist and looked over at his roommate in concern.

"You good?" Sirius asked, quietly enough that Lily couldn't hear.

Remus' shake of his head was almost imperceptible. "Breathing," he panted, "It hurts."

Sirius' face turned ashen. "Come on, then. We need to get you lying down, I think," he said before moving to pick his friend up. Sweeping Remus' knees up over his free arm and adjusting his other against Remus' back, Sirius carried him up the remaining two flights to their dorm. Lily unlocked the door for them and Sirius walked to their couch and deposited Remus upon it."I'm going to get your pillow and blanket and a bin, alright? Do you need anything else?"

Remus shook his head while his friends went to his and Sirius' bedroom and closed the door to talk.

"So we're both in agreement that this seems like more than just a stomach bug, right?" Lily posited as Sirius started gathering Remus' bedding. The dark-haired boy nodded, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"The problem is," he began as he grabbed Remus' favorite throw blanket from off the window seat, "I don't know if this is just what stomach bugs look like for him. I mean," he paused and scrutinized Lily carefully. "You know about—"

"The cancer?" She cut him off. "Yeah, he told me about it back in October."

"Right. Well. I don't know if the drugs he's on make weird things happen when he gets sick, you know?"

Lily nodded, a pensive look on her face. "Do you have any more classes today?"

Sirius shook his head. "No, my last one ended at 8:30. Was planning to stay in and keep an eye on him."

Lily nodded again, deep in thought. "That's good, that's very good," she murmured absently. "You should see if you can get his fever down a bit, he seemed rather flushed when we were at the coffee shop."

Sirius inclined his head towards her in a curt nod before opening the door to the common area and bringing the bedding over to his friend. Lily went to grab a bin from their bedroom and lingered in the doorway when she saw Sirius kneeling next to Remus and brushing a stray curl off of his forehead as he placed a hand there to gauge the younger boy's fever.

"Alright, Moon Boy," Sirius whispered. "I'm going to need you to sit up just a little for me, okay?" Remus muttered something unintelligible and Lily heard Sirius snort quietly.

"Yes of course, you're very tough. Now roll over just a tad—there you go, that's better now, isn't it? You're going to be just fine, alright? You're going to take a little nap and when you wake up everything's going to feel better, I promise. And I'll be right in the bedroom if you need me, okay?" Another mumble, and this time Sirius stood and Lily could see the gentle smile on his face. She brought the bin over to the couch and dropped a gentle kiss on Remus' head.

"Get some sleep, Rem," she said as Sirius met her by the door. "Do you want to walk me out?" she offered. Sirius gave her a curious look but nodded. The two were halfway down the stairs when Lily broke the silence.

"It's obvious how much you care about him, you know." Sirius faltered on the steps, but his face remained impassive. "I'm serious!" He shot her a grin.

"You're such a drama queen," she muttered. "But honestly though, anyone with eyes could see that you're in love with him, Sirius. You should tell him." Lily paused mid-step, suddenly realizing that Sirius was stopped three stairs behind her. She turned around and saw Sirius, frozen, a white-knuckled hand clutching the railing.

"You don't know what you're saying," he ground out, shaking his head slightly.

Lily smiled warmly at him. "Sirius, I've seen the way you look at him. I know you guys didn't exactly hit it off at the beginning, but the boy is head over heels for you, you have to know that. He'd be overjoyed to know you feel the same."

"And I'm just supposed to take your word for that, am I? Sorry to ruin whatever star-crossed lover fantasy you've made up in your head about the two of us, but that's just…" Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled slowly. "That's just not how things are."

Lily looked up at Sirius with a sad smile. "I know that's what your instinct is, and I don't mean to trivialize your emotions, but you're just...wrong. I mean, think about it—he got into a fight over your reputation within two months of knowing you—"

"When he was dating Matt, Lily. You can't just rewrite history like that."

Lily sighed. "I didn't want to play this card, but..." she looked at Sirius with a devious expression, "Do you want to pretend that cuddling up with each other in bed is 'just something friends do' too, then?"

Sirius stared down at her in shock before stumbling over a response. "What do—how did—who...?"

Lily shook her head in amusement at Sirius' confusion before continuing down the stairs. "You're hopeless, both of you. You love the boy, Sirius. Even if you don't take any action on it, don't deny yourself that admission."

When Sirius returned to the dorm, Remus was fully asleep on the couch, his head angled into the pillow under his shoulder, his body curled in on itself and trembling slightly. "Too damn noble to tell us you weren't feeling good," Sirius murmured, shaking his head while grabbing the blanket from the armchair and draping it over the sleeping boy. Walking into their bedroom to grab a book and relax on his bed, Sirius paused. Lily's words echoed in his head. You love the boy, Sirius. Don't deny yourself that admission. He placed his hands against the wall and leaned his forehead against it, closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths.

Remus picking him up from the hospital after Regulus' death and not asking too many questions or trying to tell him it'd all be okay in the end. Remus coming back from the library with blood streaming from his nose, and only confessing an hour later that it had happened while defending Sirius' honor. Remus' head snapping to face him when he came back from his exploration of the abandoned lot next to the campus bloodied and covered in mud, and then gently wiping the blood from his palms and knee and wrapping them with some gauze. Remus joining him in bed under the blankets when he'd awoken from a series of nightmares after he'd run away from home. Remus confiding in Sirius that he'd only ever been in relationships that ended up hurting, and avoiding meeting Sirius' eyes while sharing that all he wanted was to find a decent partner who wouldn't get angry at him when he set boundaries or talked about the things he loved.

Jesus, he was in love with Remus. The thought sank into his mind like a drop of dye in a glass of water, recoloring every memory, every interaction, every shared glance. His knees began to shake and he flipped himself around so his back was against the wall and then slid to the floor. He was in love with Remus. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back gently as he let the thought wash over him again. He was in love with Remus. And suddenly he couldn't stand to be so far away from the younger boy. He stood back up, grabbed a book, and quickly made his way back into the common area. Remus was still asleep, but he looked more peaceful than he had before. All at once, Sirius was overcome with exhaustion. He grabbed the nearest armchair and pulled it along next to the couch.

Sirius looked at the boy beside him and a gentle smile stretched across his face. Remus was lovely. Sirius thought he'd known that for a while, but perhaps he'd tried to suppress the knowledge while he was denying his feelings. But now, looking at his flushed face, the soft curls, the long eyelashes—Sirius was almost taken aback by how precious Remus was. He was a kind-hearted boy, who saw the best in people and only wanted to be treated kindly in return. Sirius felt his heart swell at the thought of it, but a murmur from the boy in question cut off his mind's wanderings.

"Mmm the floor is hot, I don't want to stay here." Sirius heard, and he began to gently stroke Remus' forehead as the boy shifted around in discomfort.

"Shhhh it's alright, Remus. I'll grab a cool cloth for your forehead, okay? It's alright, it'll all be okay." Sirius stated as he stood to wet a washcloth. When he returned and dabbed it gently against Remus' forehead, the younger boy leaned into the touch and Sirius froze for a second, not expecting that sort of reaction. He let his hand linger there for a moment, before patting the cloth down and leaving it. With his dabbing hand now free, Sirius grabbed one of Remus' hands—the one that was gently tugging on the sleeve of his shirt—and intertwined it with his own. The exhaustion from earlier washed over Sirius again and he yawned quietly, before nestling into the armchair and closing his eyes.

When Sirius next awoke, Remus wasn't just shifting; he was thrashing about on the couch while gripping tightly to Sirius' hand. Something was wrong, he decided, this wasn't how stomach bugs worked no matter what sort of medication a person was on.

"Remus, come on now, wake up," Sirius stated, using his free hand to gently push his friend's shoulder. When he received no response, he tried again with a bit more force. "Remus! Come on, you need to wake up!" Remus' eyes flew open and he gasped.

"Easy there, Moon Boy. Are you alright?" Sirius asked carefully, trying not to draw attention to the fact that their hands were still connected. Remus shook his head violently before turning over and vomiting into the small bin that Lily had placed there earlier. Sirius rubbed gentle circles across his back, whispering quiet words of encouragement.

"I think something's wrong, Sirius. I think," he paused to retch again and Sirius winced. "I think I need to go to a doctor."

"Urgent care, or—"

Remus cut Sirius off with a frantic shake of his head. "Emergency Room. Something's not," he curled further in on himself, "something's wrong."

Twenty minutes later, a tense Remus was leaning his head on an antsy Sirius in the waiting room at the local hospital.

"Mr. Lupin?" a dark-haired nurse called and Remus rose, Sirius standing to join him. "Sorry sir, family only when we do examinations. You'll have to wait here." Sirius deflated a bit, but Remus shot an uneasy smile his way and Sirius sent him one in return. Five minutes went by. Then ten. Then twenty. Then forty. Soon, an hour and a half had passed and Sirius still hadn't heard anything, so when a blonde nurse came into the waiting room and began looking around, he paid no notice. Until she stopped in front of him to catch his attention, that is.

"Are you ?" Sirius' head shot up immediately in concern.

"Yes, that's me. What's happened to Remus, is he alright?" The questions tumbled from his mouth before he could control himself. The nurse looked at him sympathetically.

"How about you follow me and we'll talk someplace private, hm?" Sirius' heart dropped to his knees, something must be terribly wrong. He trailed along behind the nurse until they stopped beside a curtained-off room.

"We had to call Mr. Lupin's mother beforehand, as she was listed as his emergency contact, but he asked us to notify you as soon as the procedure was completed."

Sirius' voice was shakier than he meant for it to be when he finally spoke. "Procedure?"

The nurse chuckled and squeezed his hand gently. "Nothing too terrible. His appendix ruptured, and we removed it. It's a very common procedure, he should be up and moving again by tomorrow morning."

Sirius paled. "But you...You had to perform surgery on him?" he inquired timidly. The nurse chuckled.

"We did, but he took it very well and should recover in no time—four to six weeks?"

"Four to six weeks," Sirius murmured quietly. "Is he awake? Am I...allowed to see him? Or is that only family members too?" The nurse smiled again.

"Normally, it would only be family members, but as Mr. Lupin's mother is still a bit far away and you've stayed here so patiently, and since Mr. Lupin specifically asked for you when he first woke up, we've decided to bend the rules a tad. He's still a bit sedated, so I wouldn't recommend any terribly poignant conversations with him, but I'm sure he'll be glad to see you." Sirius felt a weight lift off of his shoulders as she stood and pulled the curtain back a bit.

Remus was lying in the bed with his eyes half-open when the nurse walked in. He perked up when he realized that Sirius was following along behind.

"Star Boy! You came!" he whisper-shouted, causing Sirius to chuckle weakly before sitting in the chair next to him.

"Of course I came, you dork. I drove you here, I wasn't going to leave you all alone," he retorted kindly. Remus tried to turn a bit in his bed but the nurse stopped him by placing a hand on his right shoulder and holding it against the bed gently.

"We'll be having none of that, Mr. Lupin. Don't make me tell you again, or else I'll have to send Mr. Black here home." Remus' face turned to a pout almost immediately, and it took quite a bit of willpower for Sirius to bite back a grin.

"You can't do that, I love him! That'd be mean. You'd leave me all alone!" Sirius froze as the nurse poked fun at Remus with a smile while replacing materials in the cabinets. Remus couldn't possibly love him, his mind supplied, he was just saying things to mess with the nurse. But when the nurse left, Sirius scooted closer to his friend and surveyed him carefully.

"Are you feeling better now, Remus?" he asked quietly, grabbing Remus' left hand and rubbing gentle circles on it absentmindedly. Remus looked at him carefully, before squeezing his hand and smiling, albeit a bit lopsidedly.

"Course I am. They took all the pain out, and you stuck around. You always make things better, you know," he said, attempting to keep a straight face. The expression was ruined slightly by the boyish grin creeping onto his face, but Sirius couldn't bring himself to be upset. He closed his eyes and exhaled for the first time in what felt like hours.

"I'm glad you're alright, you had me worried there," Sirius offered up finally, squeezing Remus' hand back.

Remus removed his hand from the other boy's grasp and Sirius slowly opened his eyes to see his friend looking at him curiously. He held his breath as he watched the younger boy slot their fingers between each other and then fold together.

An easy smile spread over Sirius' face and he chuckled. "You're something else, Moon Boy, you know that?"

"So you've mentioned." Remus frowned. "You look tired, you should go home and sleep."

Sirius, who was already feeling his eyes start to droop, forced them open to shake his head drowsily. "No sir, not leaving you alone here."

Remus chuckled, and spoke more soberly this time. "Sirius, I love you, but my mom should be here in a few hours. You really don't have to stay."

There it was again, that L-word. Sirius chalked it up to the effects of the anesthesia and shook his head for the second time. "Nope. Not leaving until there's someone else here for you. Maybe not even then."

"And I'm the dork here," Remus remarked kindly.

"You're on drugs, Moon Boy. It's only a matter of time before you embarrass the hell out of yourself, I'm just trying to do you a favor here," Sirius chuckled.

"I don't see what I'm saying that could be embarrassing. I'm only stating facts. The surgery went well. I feel better already. My mom will be here soon. I love you, but you don't have to stick around."

Sirius pretended he didn't hear the last one, for his own sanity. He was getting tired of shaking his head and instead shot a joking glare at his friend. Remus sighed.

"Well if you're not going to go home, the least you can do is get some sleep here. You look exhausted."

"Shouldn't that be my line?"

"Probably."

"I'm wide awake. I'm offended that you would imply otherwise," Sirius retorted, but his yawn contradicted his words.

"As you should be. Get some sleep. I'll wake you up if anything exciting happens, alright?"

"Mmkay."

"And Sirius," Remus started with a long-suffering sigh as his friend's eyes slid shut.

"Hm?"

"I really do love you, y'know."

"Mm."

There was another voice in the room when Sirius drifted back into consciousness. As his awareness came back to him, he noticed that his fingers were still entwined with Remus' and he smiled lazily before shifting in his seat to get more comfortable, keeping his eyes closed while doing so.

"So. This is Sirius, then?" A beat of silence followed, in which Sirius assumed Remus nodded. "The nurse said he's been here since you came in—it's been hours, kiddo, shouldn't they have sent the boy home?" A low chuckle.

"Probably. But they couldn't bear to wake him up after I told them that he'd refused to leave until you showed up." A surprised noise came from across the bed.

"I see. And is this the same one who took care of you after that absolute asshole—"

"Yeah, mom."

"Then he's also the one who—"

"One and the same."

"Hm. I think I like him."

Sirius could hear the smile in Remus' voice. "Good. Because I do too, quite a bit, I think."

"And does he feel the same way?"

Remus didn't respond.

"Remus John, what aren't you telling me?"

"I haven't told him yet. Well, I might've let something slip when I was coming out of the anesthesia, but I don't think I did. So...I've got no clue."

Mrs. Lupin was silent for a moment before speaking. "You're not usually this shy about your feelings."

Remus exhaled slowly. "I like him a lot, mom," he finally said when he spoke.

"I can tell."

"And I don't want to ruin things."

"Understandable."

"Because I don't know if he feels the same way or if that's even allowed."

"You realize the kid spent five hours watching over you at your dorm, another hour or so in the waiting room, and has been asleep here by your bedside for another two hours, right? Are we talking about the same Sirius, or have I missed something?"

Sirius could imagine the blush spreading over Remus' face, as well as his own, and buried his head deeper into his sweater to prevent anyone from seeing. Remus' hand squeezed his gently while he did so, and Sirius was sure he felt his heart swell.

"I don't know, mom. Maybe he's had bad experiences with people in hospitals! After what happened with his brother, I wouldn't be surprised."

clucked her tongue softly. "I think you're reading the cards wrong here, kiddo. I won't deny that he may have had some other reason for sticking around today, but nobody spends this much time around someone as sick as you must've been without having a fair amount of feelings for them."

"That's another thing! How do you even—"

"Did you forget that you gave Lily my number at the end of the first semester?" She texted me as soon as you and Sirius got to the dorm, and again when Sirius took you here. Honestly, by the time the nurses called, I was already halfway to the airport."

"Oh."

"'Oh' is right. But back to what I was saying, I think you ought to tell him."

Sirius felt the hand holding Remus' shake a bit, and realized Remus must be shaking his head.

"I can't, I already told you. And anyway, Matt and I only broke up a month ago, I wouldn't want Sirius to think he's some sort of rebound or something ridiculous like that."

"On your head be it, then. I'm grabbing a coffee from the machine down the hall, do you need anything?"

Sirius' hand shook again, and he heard Mrs. Lupin's footsteps fade down the hallway. Internalizing the conversation that he'd just heard, Sirius shifted again and opened his eyes slowly.

"Hey Moon Boy. How are you doing?" he said sleepily, eyes fixed on Remus.

The boy in question shrugged carefully, so as not to irritate the incision site. "All things considered, I've had worse birthdays."

"Worse birthda—Is it past midnight?"

Remus nodded.

"You know I'm going to make you explain that some other time when you're not in a hospital bed, right?"

Remus laughed lightly. "Oh calm down, it's just the emergency room. These are hardly dire straits."

"But on your birthday?"

"Oh now you're just being ridiculous. I'm fine, honestly."

"You should get some sleep, you know. You look exhausted."

"Rude of you to say that to someone who just had an internal organ turned external."

Sirius gagged quietly. "Probably."

"And anyhow, in your words: 'I'm wide awake. I'm offended that you would say otherwise.'"

"Oh, you remember that, do you? Two can play at that game, Moon Boy. I believe the correct response there was 'As you should be,' or did I get that wrong?" Remus scowled at Sirius, but closed his eyes regardless.

"Oh, and Remus?"

"Hm?"

"Happy Birthday, you dork."