Disclaimer: Same one as last chapter…

Silver Bells, Golden Rings

Remus walked back to the flat he shared with Sirius. It was always possible for him to Apparate there, but he felt that he needed the time to clear his head and perhaps the chilled air might put him more in the Christmas spirit. By the time he reached his front door, however, all he felt was very cold and still quite sour. He stuck the key in the lock and pushed the large, burgundy door open.

Sirius was standing just behind the doorway waiting for him. Remus had to chuckle when he saw him. He was wearing deep red robes, fastened around the waste with a gold sash. They were tailored and cut so that the robes accented his finely toned features. His raven hair was pulled back by a shiny red ribbon to match his robes. It was in his usual style of a shaggy ponytail, which left luscious tendrils of gleaming black hair to fall sexily over his chiseled face.  Atop his head hovered a few leaves of mistletoe and greeting Remus was a brilliant white smile that chasmed his pretty face. Remus stared at him incredulously. 

"Well?" Sirius beamed at him, rocking back and forth on his heels. Remus neglected to answer and instead just continued to watch him, hand still fastened around the brass doorknob. "You going to kiss me or not?" he persisted, perfectly aware at the disbelieving look on his lover's thin face.

Remus chuckled. "Can I close the door at least and put these packages down?" He began to go about shutting the door, very certain Sirius would approve of his wishes.

"No," Sirius answered instead cheerily. He was still rocking back and forth, this time with more gusto.

"No?" echoed the other, turning around again.

Sirius shook his head and replied, "No," once more. Remus stared at him questioningly. "You have to kiss me first."

"I do?"

"Yes," giggled Sirius. "You do."

"But the door—" He dropped off and motioned to the outside. Muggles were passing by and looking very strangely at the way Sirius was clothed. Remus turned back to face Sirius, who had a very cheeky grin on his face.  "And the boxes—" He tried to start again, lifting his arm up to show Sirius his many gifts. All he got back in reply was one raised eyebrow. "Well, they're heavy," he laughed out loud, wondering why he was trying to convince Sirius that he needed to put heavy objects down.

"I don't care," Sirius hummed at him. "You have to kiss me first and the more you stand there waiting, the longer you have to hold all those things."

Remus sighed and gave in to the delightful punishment. He placed a firm, chaste kiss on Sirius's lips. Just as he pulled back and smiled at the other, Sirius grabbed him, and pulled him into a gentle, passionate kiss. The packages all tumbled to the ground as Remus felt himself dissolve in Sirius's arms. He wrapped his thin arms around Sirius's neck and ran his long fingers through that soft, ebon hair. Sirius kicked the door shut and brought Remus over to a large, overstuffed, claret chair, all the while tripping over neatly wrapped boxes. He finally sat down next to Remus and pulled him into him. There he sighed and the mistletoe disappeared above his head. 

"So what was all that for?" Remus asked merrily, feeling much better than he had a few moments ago.

"I was under a spell, Moony," Sirius responded with a smile. "Your spell."

"And my kissing you broke that spell?" he jested back, wrapping a free arm around the other's neck.

"No," he answered, reveling in his lover's grasp. "It made it stronger if anything." He nuzzled his face into Remus's neck.

Remus started a fire in their fireplace and went about floating the packages across the room until finally they rested in an orderly pile under the tree. By the time he was done with that, Sirius had conjured up some wine for them to sip.

"Always have to have everything in its proper place, don't you?" Sirius sighed, raising his glass to toast with Remus.

"Always," Remus said, leaning into Sirius and meeting his already raised glass with a chink.

"Well, then," Sirius began quietly, "you might need to have a look at this to decide where its proper place is…" He dug around thoroughly for a moment is his pocket. Remus watched him in mild curiosity. Soon, Sirius pulled out his closed fist.

"What's that?" questioned the other. "What have you got there?"

"This" he replied, opening up his hand. Lying serenely on his palm was a singular golden ring. Sirius swallowed noticeably and offered his hand higher for Remus to see it.

Remus studied the gold ring. It gleamed in the lights from the tree, reflecting them back to him. He smiled and then fondled the ring presently on his ring finger close to his chest. "But I have a ring," he commented, smiling up at his boyfriend.

"I know!" Sirius exclaimed happily. "But that's my class ring. I gave you that after graduation and that was three years ago." He looked excitedly at Remus. "Besides, you have one of your own.

"But I still cherish it," Remus sighed, giving Sirius a little peck on the nose. He cuddled closer to him in the chair. "It's from you. Remember, you gave it to me in the woods right after you said that you 'love me and would do so until your dying day.'"

Sirius chuckled lightly in the back of his throat. The sound made Remus love him all the more. "Well, I'm really happy you love the ring so much, Moony, but…" He looked down at the ring he had pressed between his fingertips. "This one is special."

Remus closed his eyes and smiled, breathing in Sirius. "How?"

Sirius stood up, causing him to fall against the arm of the chair. Remus whimpered a bit in complaint of being left alone in the chair, but stopped doing so after Sirius gave him his luminous smile. Remus adjusted himself into a more comfortable position in the chair, coiling his legs and the blanket around him.

"How?" he repeated curiously.

"Well," his companion began, holding up the ring to that it could the light of the fire and glowed like something magical, "This ring has a very special purpose." He glanced at Remus and smiled and them went back to looking at the ring. "It is meant to be given to the most beautiful creature on the planet. So…" 

Sirius stood up and walked over to the record player. "Siri, what are you doing?" giggled Remus.

"This," Sirius answered sweetly. He had turned on some Christmas music, currently playing Silver Bells softly in the background. He walked right in from of Remus and knelt down.

Remus was finding this all completely amusing but as Sirius knelt on one knee his entertained grin fell to a wondering smile. "What is this?" he whispered.

"Moony," Sirius started, holding the ring up again, "Remus Lupin, will you do me the honor of making me the happiest man on Earth? Will you marry me?"

Remus's eyes had widened and were dancing with a new enchantment Sirius had never seen before. He looked at Sirius as if he couldn't believe it. "D-do you mean it?" he stuttered, voice faltering and cracking as it did in that lovable way it did whenever he was nervous.

Sirius just nodded. "You are beautiful, Remus, in every single way. I love you more than anything I have ever known. You make me complete. Please marry me."

Remus felt like he was about to burst. Sirius kept staring at him with that golden ring in his fingers and a heartfelt smile pulled over his full lips. "Well?" Sirius just about screamed when Remus hadn't answered.

He threw his arms around Sirius's neck. "Oh, did you even have to ask!" he cried, burying his head into Sirius's shoulder. He could feel him start to stand and felt himself being hoisted up along with him. He wrapped his legs around Sirius's waist.

"That's usually how it's done, Remmie," Sirius joked quietly in his ear.

He pulled back from him, looking into his deep gray eyes. "Yes," he whispered at first, but then elevated his voice. "Yes. Yes! YES! A thousand times over 'yes!' I would love to marry you, Padfoot, more than anything, but you won't be the happiest man, because that right belongs to me!" He grinned blissfully at Sirius.

The other chuckled. "Well, we can work out the finer points later… like who gets to wear the dress." He winked at Remus, who just shook his head and leaned his forehead against Sirius's.

"So are you going to kiss me or what?" Remus asked, nearly reciting what Sirius had asked earlier.

"'Yes. Yes! YES! A thousand times over "yes!"'" Sirius quoted, and drew Remus up in his arms to kiss him. He placed his lips gently against his partner's, kissing him lovingly. Remus deepened the kiss and wrapped his arms around Sirius's neck. He tightened the pressure of his legs around Sirius's hips in order for Sirius to be able to let go with his arms. Sirius ran his hands over Remus's back, soon finding his shirttail and running his hands over the soft skin of his back. Remus twirled his fingers through the shaggy tufts of his black hair, which were pulled into that disheveled ponytail. He let the red ribbon typing his locks together to fall off and curled his fingers even more so through the lose hair.

Sirius stumbled backwards into the wall by the large window, pulling Remus in closer to him as their session heated. Just then, the door opened and a man and women came walking in. The young man had messy black hair and sapphire eyes, which were framed by a pair of wire-rimmed glassed. He was tall and lanky, and carrying a large package under his arm. The woman was the same age as the man and she had long, burgundy red hair, which was pushed back with a green headband that matched her emerald eyes. She was shorter and had a more curvaceous body. She took carried a present, but it was no larger than a Muggle shoebox. The man was the first to spot Sirius and Remus.

"Wow," he stated plainly, eyes widening at the sight of them.

"Oh dear," chorused the woman almost at the same time as she too noticed the pair.

Sirius was the first to notice them and felt a blush rise on his cheeks. He pulled his mouth away from Remus, who followed his gaze to the man and women standing in their living room. The man placed the large package down. Remus also felt as his face burn as he began to go completely beet-colored.

"So this is what you do when we're not here," the man said comically, crossing his arms over his chest. Sirius placed Remus down on the floor and tried to straighten his robe.

"James!" reprimanded the woman, giving her husband a little nudge in the arm. "You're embarrassing them." She walked calmly over to Remus and gave him a hug. "Besides," she said casually, "I think they're cute together when they do that." Her comment made Remus's color darken and he whimpered in mortification. She hugged him again and laughed.

Sirius approached James as usual, coming to receive a hug but James stepped away. "Padfoot, you were just sucking Moony's tongue out of his mouth… I'm not hugging you right after that." Sirius faltered.

The woman pulled away from her hug with Remus. "James!" she chided again.

"Lily!" he mimicked.  

"Oh, James!" she said playfully again. She walked over to Sirius and gave him a hug. "You mustn't pay any attention to what that husband of mine says, Siri," she whispered in his ear, but load enough for James to hear it.

"Never did in the first place," he whispered back.  Everyone but James chuckled at that and sat down in front of the fire to enjoy a lovely Christmas together.     

To be continued… maybe, maybe.

A/N: Thanks you guys fer all the great reviews! I really appreciate it! I don't quite like the ending on this chapter and I might even continue it, seeing as Sirius and Remus didn't tell James or Lily yet. And then there are all those presents to open, especially the mysterious gift Remus got for Sirius. Anyway, thanks again. Be really dahling, would you now, and go review this fer me and review some of my other stuff too! Especially the works that don't have many reviews yet. ::Pout pout::