Chapter Five: Under the Stars

The moon was waning, and Remus smiled as he looked at it. It was at these times that he truly appreciated how beautiful it was, and saw it as a light in the darkness instead of his fate. A light in the darkness, he thought. Sirius. The brightest star in the sky.

"There's your star," he said to Sirius, who was stretched out on the blanket next to him. "There, right above the top of the birch tree." He extended one long arm and pointed.

Sirius's gaze followed. "My parents once told me that they named me Sirius because I was conceived in August, when the star rises and sets with the sun," he said. My love for you will never set.

Remus moved closer to him. "Sirius…there's something I've been meaning to give to you."

Sirius turned over so that he faced him. "What's that?"

From the pocket of his robe, Remus took out a small burgundy box and handed it to Sirius. "Here. Open it."

Inside of the box was a ring; golden and smooth, it had a black stone in the middle. Sirius gently took it out and placed it on his fourth finger.

"I inherited that from my mother's father," said Remus. "It's the only thing of worth I have."

No it isn't, thought Sirius. You are of so much worth that I can't even begin to describe it.

"I – I gave it to you because I wanted something that would remind you how much I want to give you," said Remus, glad it was dark so that Sirius couldn't see him blush. The long years of secrecy and hiding had made it hard for him to express what he felt. Even though this had improved greatly since Sirius had returned, it was still difficult for him at times.

"You've given me so much already, Reme," said Sirius solemnly. Then he laughed. "You aren't going to believe this."

"What?"

Grinning, Sirius handed Remus another box. When Remus opened it, he found inside another ring, this one also gold, but a little smaller, and with a white stone. He gasped. "How did you get this?"

"It's been sitting in my vault at Gringotts since I was eighteen and my parents gave it to me. I had Harry get it out for me."

"Harry!"

"Yeah, when you took him shopping for school supplies. When you went to go buy his books and he went to get new robes, he took a detour and - " Sirius was interrupted by a hard kiss on the mouth.

"I take it you like it?" he asked a minute later when Remus finally released him.

"Of course I do, you silly git," said Remus, and rested his hand on Sirius's chest. He rested one finger lightly on the stone. "What kind of stone is it?"

"A moonstone, ironically enough."

"Yours is an onyx. The blackest stone there is. Ironically enough," said Remus, smiling devilishly.

Sirius twisted the ring around on his finger. "It feels like a wedding ring."

Remus looked at him. "I'd marry you if I could. You know that, don't you?"

"Darling, of course I do. And for all intents and purposes, we are married."

Remus smiled. "I've got the most handsome husband in the world."

"No. I do," said Sirius firmly, and with that, he slid on top of Remus.

"Sirius, we'd – ohhhh – better not, love," Remus gasped as Sirius kissed his neck. "What if the neighbors see us?"

"There aren't any for four miles," said Sirius as he undid the top button of Remus's robe.

"Still, I'm paranoid."

"One minute then," said Sirius, climbing off of Remus and walking over to where they'd left the dinner dishes. From underneath the folded tablecloth, he produced the Invisibility Cloak.

"We'd better not," said Remus. "It's Harry's, and I doubt he'd want us making love under it."

"You know, James once offered it to me for this exact purpose," Sirius said.

"He didn't!"

"He did. It was in our seventh year. I remember we were sitting on the roof smoking – "

"Since when did you and James smoke?"

"We did it for maybe a week. Stupid idea, James quit because Lily couldn't stand it and I quit because it was, like I said, a stupid idea. But that's beside the point. Anyway, we were sitting on the roof smoking, and I was talking about you – "

"I didn't know you talked about me to James when we were in our seventh year."

"Well, I did. So, we were talking about you, and out of nowhere he said, 'You know, Padfoot, if you and Moony ever get over your hang-ups and actually have sex, I'll loan you the Invisibility Cloak for privacy.'"

"I refuse to believe that James said any of this. I think you're making it up so I'll give in and make love with you on the roof."

"I am not! He actually said this. Sometimes I think he wanted us to be together almost as much as we did." He paused. "Come on Moony, we'll wash it afterward."

Remus considered. "All right."

He moaned as Sirius climbed on top of him, loving the delicious pressure of Sirius's body pressing against his. Letting his head fall back, he allowed Sirius's tongue to explore the crevices of his mouth as his hands stroked his neck. Remus loved Sirius touching his neck. Sometimes, even when they weren't going to make love, he'd ask him to stroke his neck until he fell asleep. And even if the moon was nearly full, he would never have trouble sleeping on those nights.

Hearing Remus moan, Sirius could feel himself grow harder. That was what he loved about making love with Remus – one man's bliss fed the other's. Neither were the type of lover that could be satisfied by receiving pleasure and not giving equal amounts back. Trembling, he closed his eyes as Remus undid his robe. Every touch sent delectable shivers through his body. Once he was naked, he felt the silky fabric of the cloak caress his back as Remus's deft fingers caressed his chest.

"Sirius," Remus whispered in his ear, "which way are we doing this?"

"How's this?" asked Sirius, spreading his legs.

"Just what I was thinking."

Experimentation. If there was one thing Remus adored about their sex life, it was the experimentation. Now that he thought about it, they had never made love in the same way two nights in a row…not that it was only nights. When it came to different positions, locations, and desires, Sirius was willing to try anything he thought would please both of them. "Just tell me how I can make this better," he often said. "Anything, darling. It's yours."

And, despite his sense of sexual adventure, he wasn't kinky. Which was good; neither was Remus.

Suddenly, Remus realized something. "We forgot the Silencing Charm."

"Damn," said Sirius, climbing off with the cloak wrapped around him (for Remus was still dressed) and groping about for his wand. Finding it, he said the charm and they resumed where they left off.

Since he first became attracted to Remus (that is, since the moment he met him), Sirius had dreamed of undressing him: slowly unfastening his clothes, letting the fabric fall away from his skin, exploring its alabaster softness. They had yet to make love once with Remus removing his own clothes, and tonight was no exception. Kneeling over Remus, Sirius unbuttoned his robe and slid it off.

Remus's scars had always been shameful to him, but with Sirius, he hardly noticed them anymore. "If I were an artist," Sirius had told him once, "my studio would be covered with pictures of you, naked and beautiful."

Now they were completely naked together, Sirius smooth and Remus hairier, both of them with skin the color of a pale eggshell. But an eggshell would have been quickly crushed by the passion with which they clung to each other.

"I need you," Sirius gasped, his hands roaming over Remus's body, his favorite territory. "Please, Reme, I need you inside of me – "

Quickly, Remus grabbed Sirius's wand from where he had dropped it. "Lubrio," he whispered, and slid inside of his lover.

Moaning, they thrust together, their bodies glistening with sweat, Sirius biting Remus's neck and clutching his backside. Sirius climaxed a second before Remus did, both of them shrieking with ecstasy.

When it was over they lay together under the stars and moon, exhausted but satisfied. "Let's sleep up here," Sirius whispered. "It's warm enough."

Remus nodded and pulled an extra blanket over them. He turned to Sirius to tell him he loved him, but then their eyes met, saying so much more with one look than a thousand words could.