You saw me there, but never knew

In a world where your emotions are visible to everyone through glitter, hearts and flowers that follow you, Remus and Sirius both find themselves hiding their love for each other. Until they don't.

(Scenario) A world where - when you hide your feelings of love for someone, rose petals/hearts appear and follow you wherever you go until you confess your feelings.

They are small at first. Tiny little things that shimmer in the air like glitter. Too small to make out the shape. Emotions are usually bigger, but Sirius fights so hard to hide his emotions, which always cause them to start off a lot smaller before growing.

It's always been a fun game for the others, guessing what they'll be when they're bigger.

"Silver sparkles," James mutters, waving an arm to push them away. There are specks of green jealousy weaving from his body as he looks across the library. "Come on, Remus. We gotta go."

Remus sighs as he glances around at the floor by him. Small hearts litter the place, and he's been there so long that they're piling up. He knows once he starts moving, they'll slowly fade away, but he hates that they're betraying his feelings.

"Why are you jealous?" Peter asks, glancing around. "Lily isn't here."

James frowns. The colours shift to an annoyed red. "Let's go," he repeats.

Sirius plucks at his silver. "Pink," he whispers, mostly to himself, and Remus pushes his chair back. It scrapes loudly against the floor.

"Okay, let's go," he mutters. He starts to walk and the hearts that litter the floor fade away and he's glad. They're a nuisance. He doesn't want to see them anymore, because people look and they ask questions. Questions he can't answer.

James' hands are shoved into his pockets as he walks. The red subsides a little, and he's back to green. Jealousy and speckles of pink litter the colour. The others don't bother asking anymore. He's had hearts for Lily since he was fourteen and though they lessened a bit for a few months, they're back with full force.

"Pink." James moves closer to Sirius. "Pink! Mate, are you in love?"

Sirius freezes. His gaze darts to Remus, before moving around the rest of the Marauders, and Remus feels an ache inside of him.

"No," Sirius scoffs, but the colours are more pink than Silver now, and it hurts Remus.

"I gotta go," Remus says, because he doesn't want them to notice his new emotions. He can feel Sirius' eyes on him, but the others are too focused on Sirius' pink shimmer in the air.

The flowers that follow Sirius around don't start until they're outside of Hogwarts. It's crazy to see him walking around with flowers popping up where his feet touch. Currently, flowers are growing on the sofa as Sirius lazes across it.

Remus' hearts are lined with green. Sirius loves someone, and Remus can't help but feel jealous. His friends can see the green, he knows that, but they don't know who and they don't know why. It's better that way.

Sirius' flowers are larger and larger as the weeks pass. His love for whoever it is is growing, but Remus has no idea who. The hearts that scatter by his feet are doing the same thing. They started when he was fourteen, and he couldn't keep them at bay. He's eighteen now and they're vibrant in their shades of red and pink.

White hearts are the most embarrassing. Innocent love. Sirius says it's sweet, nudging Remus as he does. It's not though, because he's been laughed at by other boys in the school. He does notice that Sirius' flowers are a wide variety of colours. Sirius doesn't display his emotions as well as other people do, so they've started showing more clearly in the flowers and whilst Sirius can act calm and collected, it's a flurry of colours by his feet, which means a whole load of emotions. Sirius just bottles it all up and tries to fight it.

But Remus can see the white flowers that are mixed in with the reds and the pinks. Sirius may have a reputation, but it's completely unfounded.

Remus' flowers haven't been there in a long time. They faded a long time ago. Well, there's still a trace of them on his skin, they're there as though they're ready to fall, but Remus hasn't felt happy in a long time. He's sure the depression he's found himself in has stopped the hearts from appearing as they once did.

He knows that the hearts still want to fall, because as much as he tries, he can't stop love from existing. His heart belongs to someone, and the pain that he feels when he thinks about Sirius Black makes the hearts not want to fall anymore.

He sees the flowers. They're on the ground. Dotted here and there. Barely anything. Something people would miss if they didn't know what to look for.

Remus knows the flowers. He can just tell, he can distinguish them from any other flowers on the ground. He follows the trail and he heads up the stairs and he sees the man.

He's seen Peter's name on the map. He knows the truth. It's not long before Sirius has his arms around Remus.

The hearts start to fall. Flowers grow. But there isn't time for that. There are too many questions, but they need to focus. Harry needs to know the truth about Peter. About Sirius.

The large dog sits on his doorstop, flowers covering the path. He's only been there a minute and there shouldn't be this many and Remus is jealous over who is the cause of this.

He feels the hearts following him as he lets the dog in and walks away. Moments later, Sirius sits at the table.

"Those hearts stopped for a good while?" Sirius asks, his voice hoarse.

Remus nods. "They did."

"I saw you around the grounds," Sirius admits. "There were none. When you came in the shack that night, there were a handful, and they've increased. Either you met someone recently…" he trails off and Remus knows where this is going.

"Still got the white hearts, I see," Sirius adds quietly.

Well, perhaps not. Remus thought Sirius was going to guess who is and always has been the cause of the hearts.

"My flowers stopped," Sirius admits. "I could feel them there. They were just… I was on the verge of having them, but they just… the dementors stopped me having the happiness to show them."

"There are so many now," Remus comments quietly. Because why are there so many? There are very few people around anymore that were around when the Order previously existed. He's tired and he's not sure he can handle knowing what person Sirius holds a torch for this time.

"Still white ones for me too. But that's what prison for twelve years does to you." Sirius lets out a chuckle. "Luv, they started up again when I saw you. Don't you get it yet?"

"They… what?"

"And your hearts. Is it wrong for me to assume that they started when you saw me again?"

Remus can't hide the smile. He reaches down for one of the flowers. They're still as beautiful as he remembers, and it fades into nothing after a few seconds of leaving the floor.

"They did."

Sirius grins. It's a strange sight because he's not seen that smile in so many years and this man is so very different than his Sirius, but it's still the man the hearts fell for. Sirius is in there somewhere. Just like he's not the same Remus anymore, but he's still Sirius' Remus.

"They'll never stop falling for you," Remus admits quietly. "You're a hard person to get over, Sirius. Twelve years apart and it's only ever been you."

Sirius reaches out. His hand covers Remus'.

"Admitting it. It's a start," he says. "But if you're wondering, the first ever flower was because of you, and my last ever one will also be for you."

Remus covers Sirius' hand with his own. "A good start," he admits. "We've got talking to do."

"And I can't wait to be the reason you have no white hearts falling to the floor anymore," Sirius adds with a smirk, and Remus can't help but roll his eyes.

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