Like It's Your Birthday

by DashFnanz

It takes texts, chocolate cupcakes, a visit to a garage and a late night on the roof for Remus to realise what the funny feeling in his stomach means. Now he just has to say the words. / For Liza.

The title is an adaptation of the song Like It's Her Birthday by Good Charlotte.

Happy birthday, Liza! I hope everything about today makes you happy and I hope you find much more happiness in the future. Thank you for being such a great friend and protector and co-parent, and please keep being our fluff queen because we couldn't do without you ;)

Fair warning to all who read this piece—the scenes are not in linear order, so if you're confused at any point and going "wait, this isn't right" that's probably why. I tried to go for a disconnected scenes kinda vibe, but with a twist because I don't think this is how most writers write disconnected scenes XD.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you to my betas Ari (arcane illusions) and Bex (DobbyRocksSocks) for all your input and encouragement and for, most importantly, taking my "f*** life, f*** everything" and raising me a "yes, fair, now go write the thing" because face it, I needed that XD.

Written for multiple challenges on the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry forum. Additional prompts are listed at the end.

Assignment #12: Photography: Famous Photographs

Task #8: First Cell-Phone Picture - Philippe Kahn (1997): Write about a first (first steps, first day of school, first date, etc.)

Disclaimer: J.K Rowling is not a goddess, but her writing is magical, and I can never compare. So, she keeps the characters, the places and her own created world, while I borrow them all every now and then like the pathetic human I am. The plot is all mine though!

Word count: 14,133 words.

Warnings: none

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Sirius has been having the time of his life.

The stars are shining brightly, but no one is looking at the stars tonight. James and Lily are taking centre stage—his best mate, and his best mate's girl. Sirius has never seen James smile brighter, and Sirius has known him all his life.

James and Lily's wedding is just as magical as Sirius expected it to be.

Lily's been planning this day for a little more than a year; every tiny little detail has been taken care of by her. Sirius has heard her talk endlessly about the intricacies of her satin-smooth bridal gown, the beaded lacework on her veil. She's had seating plans running through her head since not even a month after James proposed. The flower arrangements are impeccable, done by Lily's closest childhood friend who Sirius has heard is a florist.

James has also been dreaming about this moment—and has for a little more than a decade. Not the champagne and floral bouquets, not the garden reception or cloth-covered chairs with its red bows, not the artfully-hung string lights or the airy white canopy over the dance floor. For James, it was always just Lily.

And tonight, they both get to live their dream.

They look radiant.

Sirius smiles as he sees the way they look at each other across the reception. James is with his father, the senior Mr Potter murmuring to him quietly over a glass of champagne, and Lily is way at the other end, laughing along with a group of her friends from art class. But even as they're both lost in conversation, their eyes never leave each other, and not for the first time, Sirius realises that this is what love is.

"Ahh, Sirius, there you are," Dorea Potter gracefully approaches him with a gentle smile on her face. Noticing where his gaze is headed, her smile widens a touch, and she quietly comes over to stand beside him under the gazebo he has claimed for himself. "Observing the happy couple?"

"They are happy, aren't they?" Sirius asks as he stares. Dorea nudges his arm as she adjusts the wrap on her shoulders.

"He seems so," she murmurs at length, her eyes on her son.

James is smiling softly at something his father says, and the older man looks at him with unmistakable pride in the lines of his face. Father and son, they are carbon copies of each other.

"That's what Jamie's going to look like in thirty years," Sirius comments, gesturing at the older Mr Potter with the tall champagne flute in his hand. "Not bad, I'd say."

Dorea chuckles. "Well, I am partial to my husband, Sirius, so thank you." He grins, and she smiles and sighs. "James looks so like him, doesn't he? He's all grown up, our James."

Sirius hums. "He's a good man, Mrs Potter, and he has you to thank for it. You raised him well." Dorea, however, simply scoffs.

"Mrs Potter?" she counters, glaring lightly at him. "One of my sons just got married today, Sirius; what must I do to get you to call me Mum? You're my son as much as James is, and I will not take any arguments."

Sirius blinks, grinning softly. "You're very insistent, Mrs Potter. Fine, Mum it is."

"I've waited long enough," she sniffs, hiding her smile. "Now come on, call me Mum again. And do it properly this time."

His lips twitch. "I love you, Mum," he teasingly says, turning and leaning into her a little to embrace her with his free hand. She pats him on the back, and his smile turns more genuine at the motherly gesture. Squeezing her shoulders with his arm, he whispers softer, "I love you, Mum."

She smiles at him as she pulls back. He takes in her dress properly, a long, royal blue gown with a slight sheen. She looks content and happy, her hair done up to perfection, and Sirius could say she looks almost as radiant as Lily does.

"I never said so before, by the way," he says as he smiles back, "but Mum, you look beautiful."

"And you look very handsome," she responds, reaching up to adjust the lapels of his expensive grey suit with firm hands. "Now, you go and have fun out there. You're the best man, and I won't have you standing here on the sidelines. Go dance, or join your friends. No brooding."

"I am not brooding!" Sirius gasps faux-dramatically, but she simply raises one perfectly-tended dark brow.

"Fine, hiding, then. None of that either. Now go," she says, giving him a little push and a lingering little smile, and with quite a bit of put-upon grumbling, he catches her hand and pulls her along with him gently.

"I'll mingle if you dance with me first," he adds teasingly as they near the dance floor at the centre of the reception, and with a final reluctant glance back at who Sirius likes to call her Mum Friends, she sighs and pulls the shimmering silvery wrap tighter around her shoulders and places her other hand in his.

"One dance," she levels him a warning look, "that's it."

"Just for you," Sirius says with a wink, "I'll accept that compromise."

He genuinely feels like a child as he dances with her. It's a fun, upbeat song, and Dorea can only sway with reserve for so long till the combination of the beat and his own infectiousness helps her loosen up and match some of his own moves. Nothing too fancy—he keeps it slow and easy for her—but fun nonetheless.

Dorea, while incredibly relaxed and lighthearted with them, is notorious for keeping her persona dignified amongst company. Sirius feels proud to get her to genuinely have some fun with him.

And Dorea is definitely having fun, because Sirius cajoles her into staying for two more songs with almost no effort at all.

Someone taps him on the shoulder as the third song slows to an end, and he turns to see Charlus Potter smile at him genially, crows' feet and silvery hair highlighted against the bright spotlights levelled at the dance floor.

"You did an excellent job getting her to dance, son, so would you mind if I stole her away for a dance of our own? It's been so long since I've seen her move," Charlus ends with a little wink at his wife, and Dorea rolls her eyes. Sirius grins, because this might actually be what James and Lily are going to be like thirty or so years from now.

"Of course," Sirius accepts lightly, and Charlus takes his place instead. Dorea protests, of course, but ultimately, she does put her hand in his. And as Sirius manoeuvres through the crowd of dancers, he glances back and sees them swaying slowly together, murmuring and smiling and uncaring of James' teenaged cousins who are bouncing to the quick beat so near them.

Yes, he realises, this is what love is.

It's quieter away from the thick of the crowd. Sirius bumps into James at the very edge of the short little dais that marks the dance area, who stops him.

"Hey Sirius, have you seen Lils? I got distracted by Frank and when I turned around, she wasn't there."

Sirius chuckles, shaking his head. "Because you must keep an eye on her every second, of course."

James simply gives him a look, wire-rimmed glasses glinting gold in the lights.

"Fine, fine, if I see her around, I'll tell her that her new husband is all worried about her health," Sirius snarks with a smirk, before reaching out to push James lightly on the shoulder. Throwing an arm around him, he leads his best friend away from the dance floor to the gazebo he'd previously claimed. James stumbles on the neatly-trimmed grass as he walks along, his eyes subtly glancing around for what must undoubtedly be a shimmering white dress and a shock of ginger red.

"Loosen up, Jamie," Sirius says, "the girl's already married your stupid arse. Besides, if she can handle you, she can handle herself. She's fine."

"I'm not worried about her," James shakes his head as Sirius pulls him under the makeshift white gazebo.

It was erected just for the wedding, tiny canopies stuck along the edges of the garden to provide a little privacy. It's decorated with beautiful red and white flowers along the trellis, matching the floral arrangements dotting the premises, and Sirius sighs at the light, soothing fragrance of the lilacs. He can catch a whiff of red tulips if he concentrates.

The air of calm around them seems to have a good effect on James, because his shoulders are far less tense than they were minutes ago.

"So, you're married now," Sirius comments after a while. The automatic grin on James' face at his words makes him smile a little. God, but is James a goner.

"I'm married now," James repeats, sounding both shocked and amazed.

"Lily is your wife," Sirius adds, turning to look at him with a quirk of his lips.

"Lily is my wife," comes James' slow response.

Sirius chuckles. "You're married, mate. And I don't have to see Lily's face to know that she regrets nothing. Well, besides that incident with Tuney dearest."

James makes a face at the mention of Lily's sister—it hadn't been so much an incident as their instant revulsion of the new husband the horse-like woman had flaunted around before the wedding ceremony could begin. Vernon Dursley looked nothing less than a pig, and he acted no less than one, and Sirius would have been quite happy to throw them both out himself if it wouldn't ruin the wedding of two of his best friends.

"God, I'm her brother-in-law now," James says, screwing his face up like he's sucking on a lemon. Sirius can imagine that the comparison is only too accurate; he himself feels something sour form on his tongue when he catches a glimpse of her.

"You take the good with the bad, mate," he tries to console James, patting him on the back. "She's the bad, Lily is the good. One of them firmly outstrips the other, and it's certainly not Petunia."

"True," James agrees, and they lapse into silence. And then, "Are you really sure she doesn't feel like changing her mind?"

Sirius glances at him, taking in his firmly set jaw and the uncertainty around his eyes. He shakes his head. "When I signed up for best man, mate, I thought the pre-wedding jitters would be done with after the vows were said." He rolls his eyes. "Yes, you git, she still loves you, and if you saw the smile on her face through anyone's eyes but your own you'd know how much she does. Girl's not going anywhere, Jamie."

James looks a little more convinced, but not as much as he'd like. He squeezes James' shoulder. "Tell you what, I'm going to go look for her and send her here. Don't move, yeah?" Looking around at their quiet little corner of the place, he grins mischievously. "It's romantic here. You may even get to cross public wedding sex off your list."

He hears a soft cry of, "Sirius!" behind him as he jogs away, and he very pointedly doesn't look back to check if the look on James' face is appalled or contemplative.

He finds Lily right on the opposite end of the garden by the not-yet-open dinner buffet, where a large water cooler and a table stacked with small water bottles are arranged at a side table. One of the little bottles is in her hand, and she's animatedly talking to a tall, sandy-haired man as she gestures with the mostly empty plastic bottle.

The buffet area is quiet—barring the few caterers who are still setting up, Lily and the other man, there's no one else around.

"Oi, Lils," Sirius calls out as he approaches the duo. Lily looks over the man's shoulder and grins brightly when she sees him, but while the man stiffens, he doesn't turn around. Sirius observes the lean lines of his back and wonders who the man is.

"Sirius!" Lily exclaims when he draws near. "What brings you here?"

He lingers a couple of feet away, shoving his hands in his trouser pockets. "James is having a bit of a crisis out there because he didn't see you for a while," he explains with an amused grin. "Go be a dear and tell him that he's still the love of your life?"

"Love of my life is a bit strong," Lily points out cheekily, but Sirius rolls his eyes in response.

"Today is literally your wedding day, you don't get to make that joke right now," he counters, sucking in his lips to hide his smile.

She grins, but relents. "Fine. Where is he?"

"Out by the gazebos," he replies, pointing vaguely in the direction from which he came. She nods firmly and, draining the dregs of her bottle, chucks it in a discreetly-placed trash can.

"Right, I'll go find him," she says, then stops. "Oh, by the way, I didn't introduce you yet, did I? James has met him, but you haven't."

She turns to the other man, who Sirius sees is now fiddling with a water bottle quietly at the table as he murmurs to one of the caterers. She pulls the other man away from his conversation with the caterer and drags him over, but Sirius still can't quite see his face, because his features are covered by a shadow from a large tree beyond.

"Sirius, this is one of my oldest friends—we've known each other for… how long now? Since we were six?" she turns to ask the other man, and Sirius hears a light chuckle in response.

"When have I understood the concept of time, Lily?" a low, smooth voice asks, to which Lily blinks and shrugs with one bare shoulder.

"That's true," she says and turns back to Sirius decisively, "Since we were six. He's the florist you keep wanting to meet," she adds with a teasing smile, "Did all the floral arrangements out here. Aren't they beautiful?"

"Very," Sirius agrees, turning to the florist in question. "The flowers are gorgeous. And it's very nice to meet you… er, sorry, but I don't know your name. Lily wasn't even willing to give us that much," he ends, glaring at her, but she looks completely unapologetic.

The man chuckles again, stepping closer to him and more into the light. Sirius takes one look at him and feels his breath leave him.

"Thank you," that smooth voice says, "I am particularly pleased with the way these florals turned out. And yes, Lily did mention how little she's told you about me. Can't say I'm surprised."

"Well, you two get all caught up and have fun," Lily says beside him, "I'm going to see my husband about the wedding vows I made to him only hours ago." He doesn't know if she leaves or not, because he has eyes only for the fascinating man before him.

"You must be Sirius Black?" the handsome stranger questions with a little uncertainty, and Sirius nods, gathering up all his social skills from the pit of his stomach to make the best of this conversation. Because he may not know this man yet, but that doesn't curb the inexplicable part of his mind that tells him how much it wants.

How much he wants.

As he proffers his hand for the other man to shake and introduces himself properly, he cannot shake away the feeling that tonight is going to be a good night.

.oOo.

Lily Evans picks out a red tulip and a white orchid the minute she strides in through the door of his flower shop.

"I want these two," she says firmly, setting both stems down on the counter in front of him.

Remus Lupin assesses the flowers and looks up at her. "You're going to need more than two kinds for a full-scale wedding arrangement, Lily."

"I know," she replies instantly, "but these are my top two picks. I'll have to look at more reds and whites to decide what more the arrangements need, but for now, this is my selection."

Remus smiles and puts the two stems in the basket he has under his counter to temporarily keep all the flowers customers decide they don't want till he gets a chance to put them all back in their displays again.

"I'll special-order a bunch of the tulips and orchids for you," he promises her, and she gives him a relieved look in return.

"So you'll do my wedding?"

He chuckles. "Was there any doubt? Lily, I'd be honoured to take care of the floral arrangements for your wedding."

"Thanks, Rem," she says in response, smiling a little. She slumps a little, leaning her elbows on the counter. "Y'know, we'd nearly had the cake-tasting scheduled for this time—they called it "conflict of schedule" or some rubbish. I think they're just trying to make me go mad. Anyway, I had a little chat with them and it's arranged for tomorrow now."

Remus grimaces, imagining the kind of "chat" an irate Lily could have had with them. That poor wedding baker. "You could have just visited tomorrow, Lils," he points out a little in amusement.

"Nonsense!" she argues, "I always come here on Saturdays. Besides, Sirius wanted to come here to order the flowers instead because of the cake-tasting, but I'm having none of that. Like I don't know he wanted to come here just to meet my mysterious florist friend," she ends with a spectacular eye roll, and it makes Remus chuckle with more amusement.

"I will never understand why you see the need to hide me from James and his friend," he says when the laughter dies down, "Poor bloke must wonder if you're having an affair."

Lily scoffs. "He knows that's not true. And while I love you, Remus, I do not love you like that. He knows it."

"He doesn't even know my name," Remus counters—quite rightly in his opinion.

"Details, details," she says airily, straightening up a little to wave him off. He shakes his head.

"Does he know what a devil you are?" he asks dryly, giving her a fond look.

She grins at him and winks. "Knows it and loves it."

"Of course he does," Remus shakes his head again, "So, you're going to keep me a mystery till you two get married, or am I supposed to wear a masked costume to the wedding?"

Lily snorts, and Remus knows that she is undoubtedly thinking of his Halloween disaster five years ago. "You can keep the costume in your closet for another day, Red Riding Hood."

"I'd ordered the wolf costume," Remus stresses defensively, not for the first time, "Come on, we agreed to put the incident behind us."

"You walked right into that one though, talking about costumes and stuff," Lily points out with a savage grin, "But sure, we'll drop it for now. And no, you don't have to wear a mask at the wedding, you git. I'll introduce you to both of them then."

"Still think all this secrecy is overkill, by the way," he points out, "It's only making them more curious about me. I bet the only thing stopping them from trying to ferret me out is their respect for you."

"Nope, not happening," Lily shakes her head emphatically. "They're corruptors, and you're easily corruptible. I'm leaving this till the last possible second; I don't need you joining forces and reigning havoc everywhere."

"Lily, I am the most innocent person you know!" he defends himself, looking at her with sad eyes.

"Are you kidding me? Rem, you are the definition of a dormant devil. Those eyes, see?" Aggressively, she points to his face. "Bloody sad puppy eyes. You're secretly evil, and I'm the only one who sees it."

"I run a flower shop," he stresses, raising a brow. "Can a man get any more harmless than that?"

"And I've also seen you wrestle down a man nearly twice your size, Rem," she adds pointedly. "You can't fool me. You're evil incarnate. Your evil little heart is just waiting for someone to give it direction and purpose."

"And you're a conspiracy theorist," Remus says, biting his lip at the conviction in her voice. Her deep green eyes are sharp and narrowed, and even her wavy red hair looks like it's bristling. "Okay, calm down, I believe you—I'm secretly evil and out to get the world."

"Don't do that sarcasm thing, you're too good at it sometimes. Makes me shudder."

"Why, because you believe it to be true?" he probes teasingly.

She shudders again. "Don't do that, I told you you're evil. That is evil."

Remus can only laugh.

They fall into silence after that. Lily glances around at the shop like she always does, taking in all his meticulous flower arrangements and the decals on the wall. He's hardly impressed with his shop, used to seeing it every day. But Lily, even though she's been to the shop every week, looks around every time like she's stepped in for the first time.

Remus thinks it must partly be because she's the one who designed it for him when he renovated the place three years ago. Lily takes great pride in her work, and he knows how much effort she put into making it more suited to his more muted tastes. The entire shop is painted and furnitured in white, and while he's put up a large antique clock and some tasteful accents, that's all there is. And unlike most flower shops, his displays are all set against the wall with just one table along each corner of the shop for loose bunches of flowers and ferns, because Remus absolutely despises clutter.

He changes and sets out new arrangements every Saturday morning before opening, conveniently enough that it matches up with Lily's Saturday visits. The flowers are at their best when she sees them, and she is always appreciative of his arrangements. The premade bouquets sit on the lower shelves, little plant pots and loose flower bunches arranged neatly on his two tables. He's got baskets and single stem displays along the upper shelves, arranged by colour, and Lily never fails to tell him that his shop reminds her of a rainbow.

Lily comments on his display of dahlias, and Remus marvels to himself at how she always knows which display he likes best each new week. The dahlias are wonderfully fresh this week.

They then spend a while occupied with their own things, using each other's company to focus. Remus works on his inventory register, remembering to make a note for Lily's tulips and orchids. Lily usually brings something over to finish or preoccupy herself with—like floor plans or rudimentary electrical diagrams for the projects she designs—but this time, it's just her phone. Remus suspects that she's getting wedding things done.

His suspicions are confirmed when Lily looks up and says, "Well, the photographer's just been sorted. Also, James wants to know what your thoughts are on computer games."

Remus' lips twitch. "Tell him I've never played in my life."

"He's going to be so disappointed," Lily adds with a smirk as her fingers fly over her phone's keyboard.

Remus shakes his head. "I can't believe I'm going to get to meet your boyfriend at the same time as your great-aunt from Salisbury."

"Fiancé," she corrects with a giddy little smile as she puts down her phone, and he grins and amends his sentence.

"Can't believe I'm meeting your fiancé at the same time as your great-aunt. How's she still even alive?"

"I know, right?" Lily concurs conspiratorially, "she looks like she's ninety. But urgh, you forgot my sister," she adds, leaning heavily on the counter between them. "Mum's making me invite her even though she didn't invite me to her wedding, and I just know it's going to be a disaster."

"It'll be fine," Remus soothes, "It's Petunia, she won't want to make a scene in public, especially among family. Ignore any gloating or pointed comments and you'll be fine."

Lily looks at him wryly. "What makes you think I'm capable of doing that?"

"You're not," Remus says honestly with a grin, "But you're going to be too blissful to care."

Lily stares, then acknowledges his sageness with an agreeing laugh. "I hope you're right," she says at length. "Because I really, really don't want her ruining my wedding."

"She won't. I'll stand within four feet of her at all times; she never does anything when I'm around."

"Because even she sees your inner evil," Lily interrupts to point out.

"Fair," Remus shrugs and accepts to save time. No one can argue with Lily when she's convinced about something. "And Sirius seems pretty gung-ho about the wedding from the things you've been telling me, so he's not going to let her disrupt anything either. We'll make sure everything turns out alright, Lils."

"Thanks, Rem," she says with a relieved sigh, "I needed that."

"Anytime," he reassures with a smile. "I'll be there for you if you need me, you know that." Lily smiles back gratefully. Her phone chirps and she looks down, frowns, and then looks up again.

"Well, I've got to go, James needs me at the shop," she says apologetically, "Also, he tells me to tell you that they'll teach you."

"How to play computer games?" Remus clarifies, feeling amusement rise within him.

"Yes," she confirms with a soft laugh, and then looks down when her phone chirps again, "And Sirius says, and I quote, 'Did you know that playing computer games can increase focus and endurance?' And then there's a wink."

Remus shakes his head, laughing. "Tell him to go suck on a sausage."

She throws her head back and bursts out in laughter herself, leaning back against his counter as she tries to contain her giggles. Remus smiles, because it's rare to see her laugh like this nowadays—preparations for the wedding have had her so wound up, and he misses her carefree, if meticulous, self.

"Corruptors," she points out with a finger through her laughter, and chuckling himself, he agrees.

"And you're corruptible," she says later once they've both calmed down. "Go suck on a sausage." He grins innocently. She gives him a look and continues to talk as she types his response to Sirius on her phone.

"You know that next week, Sirius is going to ask you about the most phallic-looking flower he can dig up, right? No more innocent computer game talk for you."

"If he brings up either laceleaves or candleflowers I'll know you enabled him," Remus warns. She grins, unapologetic.

"They're odd little buggers," she shrugs in defence. "And they do too look phallic."

Remus can only roll his eyes.

"Well, I'll see you next week," she says over his shoulder as she walks to the door of his shop—French door, and white like everything else in his shop, "Oh, and you should throw in lilacs too. White. We can use it for the gazebos, it'll smell nice."

"Will do," he calls, reaching for his book to make a note about the lilacs. "And don't stress yourself out over all the little details, Lils. The wedding's going to turn out great."

"It's called planning," she counters, reaching for the door, "and I'm an interior designer, Rem, planning is in the job description." Her phone chirps twice in succession, and she looks at the screen. "Well, it seems they also need lunch," she comments, "Busy day at the shop. Oh, and Sirius is outright flirting now; he's telling me to say, 'Only if you'll ride my bike.'"

Remus chokes.

She shrugs, grinning. "You asked for it. God, introducing you two is going to be hilarious. Good luck, Remus."

Sticking out a tongue at him—because, for all that they're grown adults, Lily is still a child—she pulls open the door and leaves with a tinkle of the bell.

Remus makes a face, grinning despite himself as he pulls up the basket under his counter to put all the loose flowers back in their places.

He's eager to meet James Potter, of course he is. But meeting Sirius Black would be… interesting.

And Remus cannot wait.

.oOo.

Morning sunlight streams into the room through the open curtains, rousing him from his sleep. Sirius rarely needs to set an alarm—his window looks out over the east, and he gets to wake up every morning to a faceful of the sunrise. James calls it cruelty, but Sirius finds that it's the best way to wake up.

He pounces for his phone the minute his eyes are fully open. It's become a troubling habit—Sirius doesn't usually spend much time on his phone—but his messages are a nice incentive to smile at every morning. And just like always, there are notifications from a certain someone.

Today at 6:09 am

Remus Lupin — No, Sirius, I'm not going to make origami out of flower petals. Drop the idea. It's abuse to the petals.

Today at 6:10 am

Remus Lupin — Also, good morning :D I hope you have a good day today.

Sirius grins widely. He is an early riser, but Remus wakes up even earlier than he does, and Sirius always finds a good morning message on his phone every day.

And good morning messages aren't the only texts they exchange.

Not for the first time, his mind drifts to the man he met at the wedding. Remus was the last person he expected as Lily's best friend, and he's never been more pleased to find himself wrong. Remus Lupin is a delight.

He hasn't seen Remus since the wedding. It's been two weeks since, and while they text every day, he hasn't met the man again. Sirius wants to, though—and he plans to bring up the topic next weekend, because he doesn't want to sound too pushy. Would he sound desperate if he sent Remus a text right now?

Hey Remus, when can I see you again? You've been on my mind every day, and I want to learn everything about you.

Too pushy.

Sirius has never had to overthink this much in his life. But as much as he is attracted to the other man, he feels like it's more than that.

He's only heard about Remus for years now; Lily's told them all the childhood stories. And he and James have sporadically communicated with Lily's mysterious florist friend on her Saturday visits to Remus' shop. But Sirius has never really known the other man properly, and despite Lily's stories and the occasional absent comment, he's always pictured her friend to be… well, like her. Excitable, determined, forward, very social.

And Remus, Sirius has come to realise, is nothing like Lily at all. Maybe that's why they work as well as they do.

Remus is quiet and withdrawn, very witty. He has an intense sort of passion that Sirius finds himself drawn to—that intensity comes through clearly even when they're texting, often tempered by Remus' nerd-like goofiness over the subjects he's passionate about. Like flowers. The man is passionate about his flowers and his flower shop. It makes Sirius smile, if he's honest with himself.

But mostly, Remus is placid and relaxed, and Sirius loves it. He himself is wild and expressive, and Remus' calm demeanour is soothing to him, like a quiet safe place. Like the gazebo at James and Lily's reception. Remus also looks like he couldn't bench-press a walking stick, but something about the energy he gives off makes Sirius not wholly doubtful that the man once fought off a drunk bloke twice his size.

Sirius likes everything he's seen about Remus.

Getting up, he pads into the bathroom to get all his morning rituals over with. He has to open up the shop himself today, as he has for the past two weeks. He's lucky that he has Arthur Weasley to help out in James' place. If not for Arthur, he'd have had to close up shop till James and Lily return home, and he'd be lounging around with nothing to do for a month which would only make him go mad. Sirius doesn't do well with inaction.

The newlyweds will be honeymooning for eight more days in Cairo. James has texted and voiced complaints to Sirius over the past two weeks for what has felt like every waking minute, and Sirius honestly wonders if they are even getting up to anything in the bedroom because Lily has just been dragging him everywhere.

The silence in the flat is unnerving without either of them to occupy the space with him.

It's James and Sirius' flat, actually, but once James and Lily started dating, she was a frequent guest in their place. Over time, she grew to be a constant face around the flat, and a few months after they got engaged, she had officially moved in.

Their lease is going to be up in a month, and when it runs out, they're going to go hunting for a bigger flat. Neither Sirius nor James are willing to give each other up—they've essentially roomed together since they were eleven and at their fancy boarding school—and Lily doesn't mind Sirius being around any more than he minds her. Which is to say, they frequently fight like disagreeable siblings and then make up like nothing's happened. It drives James around the bend, because he can never tell whether they're fighting or best friends—which is what makes it so fun.

He tries telling himself that there's just a week until James and Lily return, and a week is not long at all. The apartment will feel less like a stranger's home when they get back, Sirius knows.

Pulling on a pair of clean enough jeans and an old blue band t-shirt, Sirius heads to the kitchen to make a mug of instant coffee. It's quick and easy, and soon enough he's gulping down burning hot coffee and setting the mug down in the sink. It joins the rest of the dirty dishes in the sing, and Sirius has the distinct feeling that he's going to get yelled at a lot when Lily comes back home. He just personally happens to feel that it makes more sense to do it all at once. At a time when Lily is conveniently back and can do it for him instead.

Swiping the keys to his bike from the kitchen counter and grabbing his leather jacket, he heads out and locks up. An elevator ride down and he's out in the morning sunshine, straddling his motorbike and revving the engine. The sound of his bike pleases him, a familiar thrum.

It's not a far drive to the shop. He has to take a right off the nearest town centre, and the shop is right there on the next main street. He parks in his usual spot in a little side lane branching out a little ahead of the shop. Giving a fond look at the sleek chrome finish of his precious bike, he makes his way back to the shop.

And as it has for the past two weeks, the first glimpse of the graffitied shutters of the shop makes his shoulders relax.

He's home.

.oOo.

When Remus gets back into the car and starts it up, his steering wheel is stuck.

He tries starting up the car over and over, tries switching gear shifts, presses the gas pedal with utmost care, but nothing gets the wheel to move. Nothing. He's baffled, but he's also very, very annoyed. Getting back out of his car in frustration, he pulls out his phone and uses his GPS to find the nearest auto garage.

Mondays are evil, he decides. He may open the shop only for a half-day on Mondays, but that doesn't make them any less hellish. Mondays are his people-days.

He's had a bad day today since before the sun rose. He couldn't get any sleep last night, tossing and turning fruitlessly before he gave up and pulled a book to read from his bedside—but then he fell asleep with the book propped up against his stomach, curled awkwardly against the headboard, and woke up with a crick in his neck and a sharp twinge in his back, neither of which have left yet.

Then, of course, the coffee machine broke, a supplier for more of his exotic flower orders called in a delay for an emergency shipment, he tripped on the two steps of his apartment lobby and nearly fell flat on his face in front of a group of seven young children, couldn't find a parking space at the supermarket, had the last box of butter snatched away from him right before his eyes, had a bag of his groceries rip on his way to the car, and then proceeded to get every single red traffic light as he drove around to complete the rest of the tasks on his list.

And now there's this.

It takes forever for the GPS to find his location, but it eventually finds a garage just a street over from the town centre he's at. He doesn't come here often—there's another shopping centre nearer to him for when he needs things for himself—but he's visiting his mum next week, and there's a special shop here selling the kind of scented candles and bath bombs that she loves best. The lavender-scented ones are the most authentic he's found in this part of the city.

But even though Mondays are his scheduled day to do all the odd jobs, he regrets coming here on this Monday. Because of course his car had to give out when he was away from familiar territory.

The garage is not too far from his parked spot—maybe he could walk over to the location and get someone to come here and look his car over? He looks down at his car assessingly, and then opens the door and gets in on a whim. It's been a few minutes; maybe the wheel will get unstuck this time.

Turning the keys to start it up, he holds his breath and waits, then reaches for the wheel.

It shifts.

Setting his phone down on the passenger seat, he tries gently going forward and turning his wheel a little towards the road, and it still works. Breathing a huge sigh of relief, he checks the address on his phone, gears himself up, and prepares for the short, high-tension drive to the garage.

The wheel turns smoothly at the next main street, but it doesn't do much to reduce his fear. Driving slowly and carefully, he looks down the left side of the street for the name of the garage.

He sees it halfway down the street: S.B.J.P. Motors. The garage itself is a sprawling thing, not like the tiny little auto shops Remus is more prone to seeing. The garage name is in bright yellow on a dark red signboard the length of the garage itself, and while the place looks respectable enough—it looks expensive, in fact—it's so different from the usual grimy grey-and-blue exterior one expects from garages that Remus is a little worried about what he might find inside.

It's not like he has much of a choice. If they charge exorbitantly to look at his beat-up old car, he can do nothing but suck it up and pay the bill. After the day he's had, he's not going to drive back home with a steering wheel that might lock on him any time.

Plus, he has no time to get into an accident or a scare—he has to open up the flower shop for the evening. Hopefully, whatever's wrong with the car can be fixed soon enough that he can get back home in time to unload all the groceries before he heads to the shop.

Parking behind a lamppost right beside the garage, he switches off the engine, pulls out the keys, opens the door, and steps out. Looking over the roof of his car at the garage as he closes the car door, he steels himself, nods decisively, and heads in.

There's no one inside.

"Hello?" he calls out, stepping a little more into the place. It's a little dark inside, but not too dark to see that the place looks empty. There are three cars more towards the back, and five bikes in front of them placed in a row, two of them levered on Jack stands to give the wheels a lift. The smell of motor oil is pungent, almost making him want to hold his breath.

The click of a handle reaches his ears, and he turns to the left to see the door to a back office open and a man come out.

"Just give me a second, mate, I'll be right with you," the loud voice says, and it sounds inexplicably familiar. Remus frowns, a little confused as he tries to place it.

"Sure, take your time," he remembers to say, because he's polite if nothing else.

The man picks up something from a table near the door and, using it to tie his shoulder-length hair up, walks over to him.

And Remus stares.

"Sirius?"

The man looks up from tying his hair, startled. "Remus? What are you doing here?"

"I… my car broke down," Remus says blankly, pointing a thumb behind him, "No it didn't… it's not… it's the steering wheel…"

Sirius chuckles, blinking to get over his surprise, and Remus looks down, feeling like a fool.

"Steering wheel, huh? Let's take a look at it. You parked outside?"

"Yeah, right by the entrance," Remus mumbles, turning around to head back out into the sunshine. He's a little relieved to be away from the stifling stench of motor oil; the stuffy smell was making him a bit lightheaded.

He points out his car, and Sirius nods and sets down the toolkit he carries, propping up the bonnet to assess the condition of its insides. He asks Remus to describe the problem, which he describes as best as he can, and then Sirius makes a humming sound and inspects the mechanics under the bonnet more thoroughly while Remus stands nearby.

Remus pretends not to notice the little glances Sirius throws him every now and then, but he does.

He also pretends that he's not sneaking glances right back at Sirius, but he is.

It's funny—Lily had mentioned before that James and Sirius co-run an auto repair shop, but he'd never thought back to it or pictured Sirius like this.

Certainly not after meeting him for the first time at the wedding. Handsome and polished and dressed to the nines, it's all Remus has ever pictured him as since. It's all he's seen of Sirius, after all. But looking him over right now, Remus almost regrets never considering what he looked like beyond the suits and ties. Because this… what he's seeing now is so much better than Sirius in formalwear, something he never thought could actually happen.

Greasy wine-red t-shirt, faded old jeans, dirty high-top sneakers. His arms are bare, exposing toned muscles and greyish-black smudges all over, with more smudges littering the thigh fabric of his jeans. His wavy dark hair is hastily tied back with what looks like a stretchy black rubber band, and there is the slightest hint of stubble along the highlights of his jaw. Remus cannot help but think that casual is made for Sirius Black.

"Okay, this should be simple enough," Sirius says finally, looking up over the bonnet. "Looks like your power steering pump has given out. You'll need to order for a new one, but for now I can do a quick patch-up job which should keep you safe for a few weeks. I'd have had to get Arthur over to fix it if it was something major—he's taking James' place while he's still off in Cairo—since I usually do bikes, but this is easy enough that I can do it myself. Unless you'll like me to get Arthur to do it? He's on his lunch break, but I can call for him, he's right inside."

Remus shakes his head vigorously. "No. No, if you think you can do it, then let him have his lunch. It should be fine."

"Okay then," Sirius says with a bright smile, and Remus doesn't mind surrendering his car to the hands of a bike mechanic so much when faced with that smile.

Sirius opens his toolkit, rummaging around for something, and when he finds it, he turns back to the car.

"So, James and Lily are coming home tomorrow," Sirius comments less than a minute later, his head under the bonnet. Remus startles, blinking to stop staring dumbly at the dip in the lines of the mechanic's back. He had thought Sirius would want silence to concentrate, but apparently not.

"Yes, they are," Remus affirms in a moment once he's collected himself, nodding with a little smile—not that Sirius can see. "I can't believe it's been three weeks already, can you?"

"Oh, not me, these three weeks have gone on forever. Can't wait till Jamie gets back home and I can stop receiving these ridiculous texts. Lily's dragging him to see all the sights while on vacation, and the heat is apparently the worst hardship he's faced."

"Oh yes, you mentioned his messages!" Remus exclaims. "When we were… texting?" Grimacing, he trails off. Is he allowed to mention their late-night text conversations when he's face to face with Sirius? How does one go about something like this?

Luckily, Sirius doesn't seem to notice his inner conflict, simply throwing him a quick smile over a shoulder before he responds. "I remember telling you about it, yeah. I swear, Remus, there's a new series of texts every twenty minutes, and that's just to complain about the heat. His fault, really, for picking Egypt of all places to go visit. What else did he expect to find, a pond of ducks to feed?"

Remus grins. "Maaaybe he knew how much Lily wanted to see Cairo, which is why he took her there."

Even with his back turned, Remus can tell that Sirius is rolling his eyes. "Lily has also wanted to see a mosh pit, so he could've just taken her to camp out there for a week. Would have been fun; maybe the heat and sweat from all those drunk ravers would have been less intense than…"

Sirius pauses to pull out his phone from his pocket, uncaring of the grease on his fingers, snorts, and looks at Remus. "Oh, this is the latest: he feels like he's stuck his head inside a camel's sweltering behind."

Remus winces. "Creative."

"This is nothing," Sirius responds, pocketing his phone and throwing his spanner in the air to catch. "Wait till you hear about how much he'd like to kiss a fish so that he can steal the water from its lungs."

Remus blinks, and picks out the most important part to point out in Sirius' sentence. "Fish don't breathe water."

"I tried telling him that," Sirius says with a wry grin, "but he was having none of it. Can't argue with him when he wants to be dramatic."

"Just him?" Remus asks with an amused twitch of his lips. "Don't be a hypocrite."

"I'm not as bad as Jamie is, thanks very much."

"Oh, you most certainly are. Don't think I've forgotten the conversation we had a week ago, Black. You wanted to use origami to shape a middle finger out of flower petals to give to someone so that you could say fuck you with flowers," he counters, air-quoting the last line to drive home his point. Sirius, however, is completely unapologetic, if his grin is anything to go by.

"But that was a week ago!" Sirius dramatically pleads, hand over his chest and smudging it further. "Remus, I've changed, please. I'm not the same man I was before. I'll do better, I swear—"

"Shut up," Remus finally says when the laughter threatens to overwhelm him. "You've made your point, shut up."

Sirius stops to grin, nearly hitting himself in the sternum with his spanner. That does it for Remus, and he bends over to laugh properly. He can hear Sirius join in, laughing even louder than he is, and while Remus may have had a terrible day, it was almost—almost—worth it for this moment he gets to share with Sirius.

Even once the laughter dies down, Remus can't stop grinning, and Sirius gives him a big smile. "Feel better?" he asks knowingly, and somehow, Remus isn't surprised that Sirius knows that he's had a bad day.

"Much," he replies, still smiling, and Sirius gives him a happy look before he turns back to the car. Remus had almost forgotten that he was here for the car.

It's a few more minutes of quiet silence then, as Sirius finishes up with the steering wheel pump, but it's a pleasant one. Remus quite likes it, really—he's surprised that their initial awkwardness around seeing each other so suddenly vanished so quickly, since he usually takes a long time to be comfortable around people. But Sirius has a natural charisma and friendliness that instantly puts him at ease, and he's grateful for how uncomplicated it is to navigate a conversation with him.

Remus notices when Sirius looks like he's finishing up with the car. Sirius looks over the mechanics of the pump a final time, and then straightens up and stretches his arm, using his other hand to put down the bonnet.

"And we're done."

Remus sighs under his breath, feeling relieved. Sirius aims him an easy smile as he packs up his tools, and then leads Remus back into the interior of the garage. This time, the smell of motor oil doesn't feel as strong.

"You know, I bet you're going to get to see Lily before I do," Sirius casually says as he rummages around behind a desk quickly for something. "She might ditch James to see you before they even get home."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she did," Remus agrees with a laugh. "I've been getting texts from Lily too, and judging by all the messages, she sounds beyond giddy. She really did love Cairo."

"She's always wanted to go, yeah," Sirius says with a little smile as he finds and pulls out a long invoice book. He comes up next with a pen, and clicking it, he begins to fill out a fresh page. "Do me a favour. You know that squealing thing she does when she gets excited?"

"I think I know," Remus answers, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "What do you want?"

Sirius' grey eyes flick up to him. "Can you count how many does it and tell me?"

"Why?" he asks with growing suspicion, dragging out the word.

"Just so that I can tease her with it," Sirius says, grinning devilishly. "It's a thing we have."

"Oh. Okay, then."

"So, will you?"

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Remus shrugs. "Sounds harmless enough."

"Awesome. Oh, and another thing—see if you can slip in a reference about guinea pigs when she does it," Sirius adds while he continues to scribble, looking up to shoot him a quick wink. Remus feels his stomach get a little funny at the wink.

"Another 'thing' you have?"

Sirius laughs. "You're a smart bloke."

"I try," Remus quips, going a little pink.

"Lily's going to go apeshit when she realises I'm colluding with you," Sirius says gleefully as he sets his pen down and goes about tearing out the sheet. "If she wants to know whether I told you the guinea pig origin story, pretend I did."

"Like I wouldn't," Remus scoffs. "She's entertaining when she gets all ruffled up."

"Bloody hilarious," Sirius agrees, chuckling as he hands over the invoice. "I see what Lily meant about you being easily corruptible. James is going to hear all about this, believe me."

Remus grins sheepishly before he looks down to inspect his bill, and stares.

The figure on the sheet is not expensive, no. It's quite reasonable.

In fact, it may even be a bit too reasonable.

"Sirius…" he starts, looking up to argue against the bill amount, but Sirius immediately cuts him off.

"Standard rate," the mechanic cheerfully says with a big grin.

Remus cannot tell whether it's a lie or not, but something about the sharp look in his grey eyes tells him not to pursue the subject. He's torn about it even as he gets out his wallet and opens his mouth to refuse the discount, but the next thing Sirius says makes his mind blank out—and it successfully distracts him from the dilemma of the price.

"So, we should meet up sometime," Sirius says, and Remus could almost miss the hesitancy in his confident tone. He very nearly does.

Should they?

… Well yes, of course they should. Sirius is nice and funny and friendly, and Remus likes him. They could be great friends. And even though they text every day, he definitely wants to see the man more often.

"That sounds really nice," he responds honestly, and Sirius' returning smile is bright and pleased. "We could do something over the weekend?"

"Sunday? I know you close up earlier then," Sirius offers. "And, uh, maybe I could come over to your shop sometime this week?"

Remus brightens. "Yes, of course! Tell me when you're coming over, and I'll text you the address." Absently, he pulls out his card to pay with and slides it over to Sirius.

"Perfect. I could get Lils to tell me where your shop is, but she's just going to give me the wrong directions." When Sirius turns the card reader machine over to him, he punches in the numbers and hands it back.

"I'll give you proper directions," Remus says with a laugh. "It's easy to find. Hope and Light, that's the name—you'll see it right on the main street."

"Sounds good," Sirius responds with a satisfied-looking smile, and Remus chuckles at his expression.

They say their goodbyes just as a tall, gawky red-headed man steps out from the back office, waving to Remus in a friendly way before giving Sirius a more familiar grin.

"I'm gonna go work on the Volks, Siri," the redhead says, thumbing backwards at the line-up of cars, to which Sirius nods.

"I'll join you in a couple of minutes, Arthur."

"James' replacement?" Remus asks, and Sirius hums in response.

"Nice bloke, Arthur. We're lucky that he's still on his last weeks of parental leave, and he agreed to take over for Jamie while he's off."

"Parental leave, that's… wow, that's… uh, congratulations," Remus stumbles sheepishly, not knowing how to respond to it.

Sirius smiles. "I'll pass on the wishes to him," he says conspiratorially, and Remus gives him a grateful smile as he leaves.

It's only when he's outside and pulling open the door of his car that he realises that he didn't get Sirius to correct the absurdly low total on his bill.

Smiling to himself, he realises how perfectly well Sirius had distracted him.

And as he starts the car and drives away, spotting the sunny yellow letters of S.B.J.P. Motors in his rearview mirror, he finds that he doesn't mind.

.oOo.

"Rem, stop faffing around in there and come back," Sirius says with a laugh, pulling up a corner of the blanket in invitation. He's curled up on the couch in Remus' flat, a heated bowl of popcorn on the coffee table, waiting for Remus to pick a bar of chocolate as a snack so that they can start the movie.

"It's hard to choose, Siri, I got so many different kinds for Christmas," Remus calls from behind the door of his fridge.

"Don't act like you're not going to finish them all in two weeks," Sirius calls back teasingly, trying and failing to conceal a laugh. Less than a minute after he settles back into the couch, he feels a—very delicate—whack on his head from the frozen bar of Remus' choice.

"Do not mock me, Black, or there will be pain," Remus warns as he falls gracelessly into the empty space of the couch with a thump. Sirius scrabbles for the edge of the blanket again, throwing it over Remus with a grin.

"Which one did you get?" he asks instead, and grins at yet another successful distraction when Remus immediately focuses on the chocolate, showing him the front of the bar with a pleased look.

"Hershey's milk chocolate," Sirius reads, cracking up at how utterly predictable he is. "The giant bar. But of course."

Remus shoves him in the shoulder, grinning happily. Leaning forward to grab the remote, he says, "Thanks for bringing out the blanket, Sirius, that was good thinking. I do feel quite chilly."

"You always get chilly, Rem," Sirius says, shaking his head with a grin of his own as the beginning credits start to roll. "But considering that we're almost getting into January… yeah, it's definitely getting colder."

"I dislike winters," Remus says, making a grumpy face at the very word, "It's too cold outside."

"Hey, as long as we're warm in here, right," Sirius comforts with a smirk and an over-the-top eyebrow waggle, and it gets the reaction he's going for. He smiles at the loud, genuine laughter he gets in response.

"You're hilarious," Remus deadpans when he can finally stop smiling, and Sirius says nothing, just leans further into his shoulder. Remus throws an arm around him and leans back against the stuffed backrest of the couch, and Sirius kisses his cheek with a soft smile.

Something they learned over their two months of dating—and in the four months since they've known each other—is that while Sirius is a talker during movie-time, Remus is not opposed to chiming in with some deriding comments of his own when it's Sirius he's watching the movie with. James enables Remus when he's around, and Lily shakes her head going on about corruptors and the corrupted, but neither of them have really seen Remus at his best. That privilege is only for Sirius.

Tonight's choice is some trashy Christmassy rom-com that wouldn't be out of place as a Hallmark original on the Christmas 24 channel. For all he knows, it actually is a Hallmark movie. He only picked it because it looked very mockable.

The popcorn bowl empties over the course of the movie, and Remus even shares two pieces of his chocolate with him when he wheedles the other man into giving him a bite. Remus gets a very chocolatey kiss for his sacrifice.

It's light and fun, a simple kind of happiness Sirius has grown to appreciate over the months. The lights are low, warm yellow bulbs casting Remus' living room in a dim glow. Remus is wearing the thick caramel cardigan Sirius got him for Christmas over a knitted jumper, and he looks so cosy that Sirius just wants to lie against him forever.

The end credits go up an hour and a half later, but they are both too content and lazy to reach for the remote again. As soft music from the closing soundtrack plays, they bask quietly in the calmness of the room. Sirius can feel Remus' warm breaths against his forehead.

"Hey, Remus?" Sirius eventually asks as a thought crosses his mind. The music has stopped, and there's complete silence save for the sound of their slow breathing.

"Yes, Siri?"

"What made you realise?"

Remus pauses. "Realise what?" he asks, but Sirius knows that he knows. He always does.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," he accuses, poking him gently in the ribs. Remus squirms, but doesn't offer anything. "Come on, when did you know you were attracted to me?"

Remus reaches for the remote, fiddling with the buttons before turning it off. "You're very attractive, Sirius, why wouldn't I be attracted to you? I was from the start," he responds, but Sirius doesn't believe him.

"While that is extremely flattering—and I'm so going to tease you about it later—I also know you, Rem. You may look all mysterious and shit, but I know you well enough now to know that it's just because of how utterly oblivious you are. So come on, 'fess up. When did you realise?"

Remus goes bright red, and Sirius smirks, knowing he's onto something.

"I—I'm not oblivious—"

"No, you definitely are, and it's adorable," Sirius counters, grinning. "C'mon, tell me. Please?"

Remus looks at him and sniffs. "Just for that, I'm not saying anything."

"What? No! Rem, that's so rude."

"I am a very rude person. Deal with it."

"You are not, you're just evil. An evil little teddy bear."

Remus shakes his head. "Of all the things you decided to agree with Lily on," he says, glancing at Sirius with faux-disappointment, "I still cannot believe you chose that."

"Well, you're not doing anything to disprove us, are you? You're literally not answering my question right now."

"And that makes me evil?"

"It is when you do it to your wonderful boyfriend who you love very much," Sirius tries, aiming to look appealing. Remus shakes his head again, but there's a tiny smile on his face this time.

"Not happening, Sirius." Remus shifts, burrowing further under the blanket and more into Sirius' arms. "Now come on, we may have the blanket but I'm starting to feel cold again, because someone tried to hog the blanket halfway into the movie."

"I didn't do it on purpose!"

"Shut up, you totally did. You did it so that I would feel cold and you could warm me up, and I'm feeling cold right now, so get on with the warming up."

Sirius pauses, looking slyly at Remus. "If I hug you really tight, would that warm you up?"

"I think it would, Siri."

"And later, we could warm ourselves up… another way?"

"Whatever you want, Siri."

Sirius smirks. "Or we could warm up that way now?"

Remus thinks, then shakes his head. "Bedtime. I don't want to get up just yet."

"Fair," Sirius accepts, his mouth softening into a smile. "And honestly, I think I like this way of warming up just as much." Remus smiles back as Sirius tightens his arms around him, amber eyes soft and warm and happy. Sirius loves those amber eyes. Actually, he thinks he loves Remus. Just Remus.

Sirius sighs, and closes his eyes. They may fall asleep right here, but he doesn't really mind.

And maybe Remus is also good at distracting him. He'll hound Remus about the answer to the new question on his mind later. But for now, he's content to be right where he is.

.oOo.

Today at 9:31 pm

Sirius Black — remus, come out from that corner and join us

Today at 9:31 pm

Sirius Black — its a partyyyy

Today at 9:31 pm

Sirius Black — arent you having fun?

Remus reads his texts and huffs a soft laugh to himself. Sirius is relentless, but Remus kind of likes the attention.

He doesn't know what this feeling he has in his stomach is, but he's seeing a new side of Sirius Black tonight.

He's known Sirius for a couple of months now, and they've been meeting up and dropping in on each other at their respective shops, and each time, he's always had Sirius' complete attention. Even when James is there to joke around with Sirius at the garage, or if Lily's at the flower shop on Saturdays, or if they're out at a bar with the couple, he's never had to fight for Sirius' attention because Sirius' eyes have always been on him. And he's never had to wonder about Sirius' social side before, because he's never had reason to.

Well, until tonight.

It's a housewarming party; Lily, James and Sirius' new place is finally ready. Lily had constantly kept him abreast of every little development in their extensive search for the perfect flat, not that Sirius hadn't also given him updates by text. Remus had helped them move and set everything up, but something about the people occupying the place and the homey, lived-in look it has acquired and its pleasant lighting makes the flat feel like a whole new home.

It's cosy and intimate, but also a little intimidating. Mostly because of the people.

His phone vibrates in his hand, and as he unlocks it again to check his new messages, he's treated to a barrage of texts one after the other.

Today at 9:32 pm

Sirius Black — dont make me come drag you

Today at 9:32 pm

Sirius Black — i will come over there, remus

Today at 9:32 pm

Sirius Black — and you wont likeeee it

Today at 9:33 pm

Sirius Black — remussss did i do something let me fix it

Today at 9:33 pm

Sirius Black — pleaseeee

Today at 9:33 pm

Sirius Black — come on its my birthday

Today at 9:34 pm

Sirius Black — i can see you staring at your phone, remus why wont you answer me

Remus shakes his head, smiling despite himself.

Today at 9:34 pm

You — Give me a minute to type before you go making assumptions, you clod.

Today at 9:34 pm

You — You are so drunk.

Today at 9:35 pm

Sirius Black — not drunk just buzzed

Today at 9:35 pm

You — Also, your birthday isn't till tomorrow and it's not midnight yet.

Today at 9:35 pm

Sirius Black — its almost midnight so same thing

Today at 9:35 pm

You — It's not even 10 yet, Sirius.

Today at 9:36 pm

Sirius Black — same thing

Remus chuckles again, wondering how Sirius can type so quickly when he's drunk, and with perfect spelling as well. Though, he has seemed to have lost his hold on punctuation.

It's true, tomorrow is Sirius' birthday. They'll go out somewhere special for dinner together as a group tomorrow evening to solely celebrate his birthday, but that isn't stopping him from counting tonight's housewarming get-together towards a birthday party for himself.

And it's easy to see Sirius' influence in the number of drinks stocked in the kitchen and the booming rock music, just as easy as it is to see James' touch in the hastily put up decorations and balloons. Only James could be so tacky. Remus can still see Lily fuming over them, and Remus knows he'll later tease her for marrying someone with no taste.

Looking up, he spots Sirius right in the middle of the large living room, telling a raucous story to a group of people Remus doesn't know with James to chime in with details every now and then. It's overwhelming, realising how many people Sirius knows. How many of them Remus doesn't know. The parts of Sirius' life he's not privy to yet.

But Sirius keeps checking his phone, making the act look natural even as throws his arms up in the air dramatically and continues with his story. It makes Remus feel something inside. Pleasure. Satisfaction. That pride at himself, knowing that even as Sirius is surrounded by the people he's known at different stages of his life all in one place, he still considers Remus to be important.

Today at 9:37 pm

Sirius Black — you coming over?

Today at 9:37 pm

You — Yes.

Clutching his phone tightly, he pushes off the wall in his cosy dark corner and makes his way to the centre of the action. Sirius looks up and smiles instantly when he sees him. Pausing right in the middle of his story and stretching an arm out, he beckons Remus closer.

He goes to stand right next to Sirius, who has one leg propped up on the edge of the coffee table casually, his other arm resting on his knee. Sirius reaches up to throw an arm around Remus' shoulder when he gets near, and he immediately feels a little better about having everyone's eyes on him. If he says something wrong and messes anything up, Sirius will fix it.

"Everyone, this is Remus, you've heard of him. Lily's mysterious florist friend, eh?" Sirius squeezes his shoulder in reassurance, and James looks up from his perch on the armrest of their couch to smile at Remus comfortingly.

"Remus, this here is Peter," Sirius continues, pointing to a short, stocky bloke with floppy mousy hair who waves at him. "He's an old friend, went to school with us. And you know Marlene, she's Lily's designing co-consultant."

"Heya, Rem," Marlene says with a quick, toothy grin, and Remus smiles and greets her back.

"And that's Benjy Fenwick, he looks at our accounting sometimes. He's an accountant, hotshot that he is. And those are the twins, Gideon and Fabian—they're Molly's brothers, remember Molly? And she's Dorcas…"

The new faces look friendly, but they get overwhelming quickly. When the introductions get over, he sticks to talking to Marlene and James. They are understanding, and he's grateful that they don't immediately try to include the others in the conversation. However, a cheerful-faced man Remus vaguely remembers being introduced as Frank turns to listen in on them when Remus talks about the flower shop, and when Frank chimes in about the flowers he'd brought for his wife for their anniversary and how quickly they dried up, Remus is quite in his element as he explains how to lengthen the life-span of freshly cut flowers.

And even when the conversation flows well away from flowers, Remus finds that it's quite easy to keep up.

It gets easier from there. A few more people join their little group, and the conversation expands to include little groups of people talking among themselves. Remus participates as best as he can, but his eyes keep straying to Sirius every few minutes, observing his carefree, wild laughter and the way he throws his whole body into every expression.

Over time, his mind starts to show him the similarities between the Sirius he's known all this time to the one he's seeing tonight. The smile is the same, for one. It's an all-out grin, bright and wide-eyed and as always, reminding him of a particularly excitable dog. And every time Sirius glances back at him, his eyes turn soft and warm and familiar, just like the Sirius he knows.

It's not so different, Remus decides after a long inspection. He can get used to this Sirius, too.

But there's something about the way Sirius also looks at James with a similar soft familiarity, and the fondness with which he teases Lily into joining them—it has Remus thinking that he doesn't haveto get used to this. Not really. Because the way Sirius acts around the people Remus knows he's closest to tells him that this social, energy-filled Sirius isn't the one who makes up the core of who he actually is.

That Sirius, he already knows.

And it makes him feel good.

"I'm in the mood for juice," Sirius suddenly, his voice loud enough that Remus can easily hear him over the din of conversation and the pumping beat in the background. "I'm going to go see if there's any in the kitchen, and if any of you fuckers have already finished it I will kill every last one of you."

As one, everyone in the room rolls their eyes. Remus is delighted to see he's not the only one to have that reaction to Sirius' empty threats.

Sirius decides to squeeze in through the occupied gap between the coffee table and the sofa for some—likely drunk—reason, and everybody on the couch yells when he steps over their feet to get to the other side. He does extremely well with the little space he has to work with, actually. That is, till he gets to the very end and trips over air, almost falling right onto Remus.

Remus' eyes are wide as he puts up his hands to keep Sirius from crashing into him, inadvertently helping to steady Sirius in place.

Sirius stares at him, frozen and still a little bent over, and as he gets over the shock of the sudden almost-disaster, his lips turn up into a smirk. He cranes his neck back to look up and see Sirius' face properly. "Not drunk, hmm?"

Sirius blinks slowly, then grins, his smile cheeky and defiant. "Nope, just buzzed." With a wink, he straightens up and ambles into the kitchen. Remus looks over at his retreating back with slightly burning cheeks and a familiar funny feeling in his stomach and shakes his head.

James pulls him back into conversation, but his heart is not in it this time. He's too preoccupied with the funny things he's feeling to really pay attention to what they're talking about.

It's just that… sometimes, it's like Sirius makes him light up from the inside.

It's definitely not something he's felt for his friends. Lily's been his best friend for a long, long time, but she's never made him feel so… alive. That's what this is. And it's funny, because he really shouldn't be feeling so many affectionate emotions for a—admittedly, very close—friend when they've only known each other for a handful of months.

Sure, Sirius is attractive. It's the first thing he noticed about the man at the wedding, his stunning, sharp features. But a lot of the people Remus knows are attractive, really—Lily is the perfect example, and he knows James agrees—and good looks have never turned his head this much. He grows used to them over time, and it usually just fades into a background acknowledgement of a person's beauty. But Sirius, well… Sirius hasn't been off his mind since the night they first met.

Sirius walks out of the kitchen with a cup of orange juice in hand with Lily at his side, laughing together about something. Sirius has his head thrown back, exposing the column of his neck, and Remus cannot tear his eyes away.

Sirius really, really hasn't been off his mind since they met. And if he's honest with himself… he doesn't really want Sirius off his mind either.

Is that what this is about, then? Is it that he's attracted to Sirius? Is it superficial? Is there something deeper to this?

Suddenly, he can't breathe. James is saying something in his ear, but it's too loud and fuzzy and distorted and he can hear absolutely nothing. James looks a little bit worried, but he brushes it off with a wave of his hand.

"Excuse me for a minute," he says as he gets up, and from the corner of his eye, he can see Sirius glance towards him. "I just… yeah. Gimme a minute." He stumbles as gracefully as he can towards where he knows the bathroom is and closes the door behind him.

Standing in front of the bathroom sink, he takes a long, hard look into the mirror and assesses his own self.

When did he start to like Sirius this way? He tries looking back over his memories of the past months, but he cannot find a particular moment that sticks out to him. Sirius has always just been… Sirius. Kind, funny, witty, dramatic, loyal, friendly, overenthusiastic Sirius. He's the one who's always checking in on Remus and making sure he's okay. He's the only one Remus has stayed up at night for, late-night conversations that can both make him laugh and make him think. He's the one Remus' eyes first travel to when they're in a crowd, and he's the last one Remus says goodnight to.

He's the reason Remus has familiarised himself with the area around S.B.J.P. Motors, and inadvertently also the reason Remus found Moon-Pies, a bakery just a stone's throw away from the garage that has the best chocolate cupcakes in the whole world. And he's the one who nicknamed Remus "Moony", a tongue-in-cheek reference to the cupcakes that they all tend to bribe Remus with now in order to be forgiven for their minor daily transgressions.

It's Sirius. It's everything about Sirius. He's just so Sirius.

Remus blinks at himself in the mirror, runs a hand over his face, and laughs to himself.

Because now that he really thinks about it, why wouldn't he like Sirius? Sirius is a man made for him to fall for. Remus has never felt more comfortable, more himself with anyone the way he's been with this man. And for every new thing he learns about Sirius, he just wants to learn something more.

All things considered, Remus decides as he shakes his head at himself, falling for Sirius Black may not be the worst thing he's done to himself. In fact, it may be one of the best.

Provided, that is, Sirius Black likes him back.

His phone vibrates in his hand, cutting off the fresh wave of panic before it threatens to rise. He unlocks his phone and glances at the screen to see the latest message.

Today at 9:57 pm

Sirius Black — everything okay?

He automatically smiles at the message—trust Sirius to be the first to worry about him. It's sweet, actually.

Today at 9:57 pm

You — I'm alright, thanks. I'll be right out, Sirius.

Today at 9:58 pm

Sirius Black — okay. come quick, we're having fun out here. can you hear us singing?

Remus strains to listen, and then realises that he doesn't have to. It's so loud that he's pretty sure the neighbours would have been breaking down the door if it wasn't still early enough to be somewhat acceptable. He was simply too deep in his own thoughts to hear them.

Chuckling again, he shoots off a reply.

Today at 9:58 pm

You — I would be deaf not to.

Today at 9:59 pm

You — That means yes to your drunk self.

Today at 9:59 pm

Sirius Black— not drunk am just buzzed

Today at 9:59 pm

Sirius Black— stop trying to make me admit im drunk, i know what youre doing

Remus can't help but laugh again.

He does make his way out of the bathroom in a moment. The second he steps out, he's confronted with a roar of people's voices, and it takes him a second to remind himself that it's supposed to be singing. It doesn't sound very… musical.

It doesn't take long for him to adjust to the new decibel, however. It's almost infectious, how wildly they're singing along to the currently playing Queen song. Finding his old shadowed corner of the living room, he rests back against the wall, crosses his arms, and watches the proceedings with a smile.

He's not surprised to find Sirius at the centre of it all. Knowing Sirius, he was probably the one to start them singing. And James is right there next to him, pulling Lily closer by the shoulder and singing loudly right in her ear. Remus chuckles when she starts slapping him repeatedly on the arm.

Everyone else occupies different areas and corners of the living room, dancing and hooting and not following the general tune of the song at all, but they look like they're having fun. They sing for Sirius like it's his birthday already, even though it's not for another two hours. In the grand scheme of things, however, it feels like a trifling detail—because the look on Sirius' face is everything.

He's so full of life, grinning around at everyone like a child, and Remus decides that Sirius should look this way forever. Ecstatic.

When Sirius' eyes find him and instantly soften into their familiar fondness, however, Remus changes his mind. He wants Sirius to look this way forever. At him. With those sparkling, kind grey eyes of his.

Sirius waves him over with a soft smile that belies the way he's been moving and bouncing all this time, then stops and pulls out his phone, fingers flying over the screen. Seconds later, Remus' phone buzzes.

Today at 10:01 pm

Sirius Black— wanna join me?

Remus smiles.

Today at 10:01 pm

You — Yes.

He pockets his phone and pushes off the wall in his cosy dark corner, making his way to the centre of the action. To Sirius.

Sirius can't keep the smile off his face, and neither can Remus.

.oOo.

They've been on the roof of the building for an hour and a half now, looking for some peace and quiet together.

The party is still going strong downstairs, but Sirius approached him in the kitchen at ten-thirty with the keys dangling from his fingers and murmured that they could always let themselves back into the flat later. Remus fingered his own set of keys given to him by Lily this morning, kept safe in the depths of his pocket, and nodded.

It wasn't long before Sirius had dragged Remus up to the roof to see the night sky—clouded as it may be—and they've been here since. The air is stiff, and it has sobered Sirius up quickly.

The moon is full and round, but no one is looking at the moon tonight. They take centre stage; they're the ones who occupy each other's complete attention.

The way it's supposed to be.

They discuss everything, from the planning involved in moving to their days at their shops to reflecting on an old text conversation to their old relationships. Sirius hasn't asked to go back downstairs yet, even as it nears midnight, and it's a question that niggles at Remus' mind. Doesn't he want to ring in his birthday with all his friends? Is it that he's lost track of time?

But no, Sirius checks the time on his phone a few minutes later as they're still talking, looking out at the city. Sirius looks satisfied at what he sees and pockets his phone again, but doesn't ask to go back.

And Remus is confused.

It's when they linger in silence that Remus glances back at Sirius and sees the tiny, content smile on his face, and that's when the pieces slot together.

It's the silence. Sirius is constantly moving, always buzzing. He may have found energy among all those people downstairs, but this… this is what he's really looking for. Silence. Calming, quiet peace. Something to quietly nudge his buzzing mind into a slowdown, someone to ease him into something relaxed and easy.

And somewhere over these past few months, Remus has grown to become that person. Because he has never seen Sirius more at peace with himself than when Sirius is with him.

Remus may have worked to come to terms with his feelings in the hours since he's had his realisation, but this may be the one push he needs to see that maybe his feelings aren't so one-sided after all.

Sirius is looking at him, question in his grey eyes at the clear conflict on Remus' face. The air is quiet, they are quiet, and it's as perfect as it can be.

Remus swallows as he stares back, and he takes the moment for what it is. A chance.

"I… I think I'm falling for you," he softly admits to the man before him.

Sirius' eyes widen, but while he looks surprised, he doesn't look… displeased. "You… you think so?"

"I know so," Remus says with a soft smile at his reaction, because he does. He knows now.

It's a long pause before Sirius shows what he's thinking, a pause that makes Remus want to fidget more and more. But when Sirius does, it's with a long, slowly let-out breath, his lips widening into a grin bigger than anything Remus has ever seen on him. He's almost slumped forward in his giddiness.

"Well, it's about time," Sirius finally says, pulling him closer by the edges of his overcoat. Sirius pulls him right into a kiss, lips crashing into each other, and Sirius kisses him without abandon, like it's his birthday and Remus is his present.

Which it is. Neither of them notice that the time on their phones shows exactly a minute past midnight. It's the third of November now, Sirius' birthday.

But if they did notice, Remus knows Sirius well enough now to know what he would have said. Big wide grin, smug upturned smirk, sparkling grey eyes.

Happy birthday to me.

---

[June] Writing Club:

Bromance to Romance: Plot Point: Write about having faith in someone

Record Collection: Anytime You Need A Friend, Mariah Carey: Genre: Friendship

Written in the Stars: (trait) talkative

Book Club: Harry Potter: (object) glasses, (plot point) birthday, (emotion) uncertain, (color) green

Showtime: Piragua - (trait) Sweet

Lizzy's Loft: Wake Me - I can't believe I captured your heart

Elizabeth's Empire: All the Wasted Time - Parade: "Look at you—how could I not be in love with you?"

Angel's Archive: Cheshire Cat [Alice in Wonderland] - (action) Grinning widely

Scamander's Case: Grindylow: (character) Remus Lupin

Marvel Appreciation: James Rhodes: (Genre) Friendship / (trope) Bromance / (Dialogue) "I'll be there for you if you need me."

Lyric Alley: There's just so many things

TV Spree: Action: Arguing

The Forecast Says: 14th: Rain: Snuggling under a blanket

EnTitled: My Nickname - Write about James Potter

Hobby Hole: Word: Scribble

Gen's World Tour: Unnamed Highway Cryptids - Write about someone feeling like they're being watched

Resolution Evolution (Writing): Write a fic with the theme: Celebration

[Spring] Seasonal Challenges:

Days of the Year & Religious Events: June 12th - Loving Day - Write about being in love

Aquarium Month: Heater - Write about someone cold being warmed up.

Karaoke Week: Just the Way You Are - Bruno Mars

World Theatre Day: The Music Man!AU - alt: 'Till there was you'

Crayon Day: Lavender

Children's Book Day: The BFG - (plot point) Write about someone mixing up their words

World Autism Day: Write about someone who struggles socially

Zoo Lover's Day: Sea lions - Write about someone that feels like they're on display.

Spring Colours: White

Hufflepuff Challenge: Pocketful of Sunshine – Natasha Bedingfield Prompt: Write about a positive person or a person who has a sunny personality

[Quarterly] Leaving On A Jet Plane: Tahiti (Object) Flowers

[Bi-Monthly] Piñata: Medium - (item) Phone

[June] Fortnightlies:

Liza's Favourite Things: Pairing: Sirius/Remus [BONUS: is a gift, of course XD]