The only sound in the room for a long moment was the unsteady ticking of the grandfather clock in the comer. Remus stared at his best friend, utterly shocked. Sirius loved him? As in love, loved him? Sirius looked utterly mortified, and ran out of the room and outside onto the porch. Gathering his wits about him, Remus followed, knowing he would have to do some fast-talking to keep Sirius from running.

"Padfoot, you love me?"

"Yeah," Sirius refused to meet his gaze.

"As in, 'I want to spend the rest of my life with you' love?"

"Uh huh."

"Oh. " Remus took a deep breath, then smiled. "That's great. Because I love you too."

"So I'll just go then, since- wait," Sirius eyed him suspiciously. "Did you just say you love me?"

"Uh huh." Remus grinned at him.

"Ah, thought so." Sirius smiled, and Remus found himself in a bone-crushing hug, then Sirius' lips were upon his and he didn't think of much else until they parted for air what seemed like an hour later.

"Mmm. That was nice. Can we do that again?" he murmured, dazed. Sirius laughed, then tapped him gently on the nose.

"As many times as you want."

Sirius was in heaven. He'd just kissed his best friend and had escaped with all of his limbs intact, as well as a confession of love from said friend. Things were definitely looking up now, though he wondered for a moment whether or not he' d shorted something in the werewolf's brain, because Remus seemed to be in a daze, mumbling half sentences and smiling.

"Anyone home in there, Moony? You're grinning like someone just put a dungbomb up Snape's-"

"Perfectly fine." Remus said, cutting Sirius off before he could finish that disturbing train of thought. "Just, erm, a bit surprised. I wasn't expecting to find myself kissing you on my back porch when I woke up this morning."

"Fun, isn't it?" Sirius kissed him again, and Remus could only nod his agreement. They managed to make it back into the house, still locked together, and Sirius began pulling Remus towards the bedroom, intent on making up for lost time. They only made it as far as the living room, where Remus woke from his dazed state and pulled back, looking seriously at Sirius.

"We can't. I'm not-"

"Relax. We don't have to do anything, you know, major," Sirius kissed him again, this time tenderly. "Not until you're ready."

"It's not that," Remus sighed, pulling himself out of Sirius' arms, though he didn't put much distance between him. "If we would, erm, m-make 1-love," (Oh he's cute when he stammers, Sirius thought) "it would mean I'd have to, urn, c-claim y-you as my, my mate."

"Your mate?" This threw Sirius for a loop, and he stared at Remus as though he weren't entirely sure the man was speaking English. "As in, the forever kind?"

"Werewolves mate for life," Remus said moodily, sitting down on the squashy couch. "And I can't take that risk, not if you're not serious, or if this could end tomorrow."

Sirius sighed and dropped onto the couch next to Remus. This was a minor complication in his plans, but nothing he couldn't deal with, eventually. "That's okay, Moony," he said soothingly, reaching out to take his hand. "I love you, and I'd happily spend the rest of my life with you, even if we never had sex. But I'm willing to wait until you're sure. I'll just be taking a few cold showers now and then."

"Really?" Remus looked at him, hope written allover his tired face.

Sirius nearly melted at the sight. "Of course. This isn't some fling, Moony old friend. I love you. Hell, ever since I kissed you that one Christmas, I've wanted to do it again."

"I liked that, you know. Even if I didn't act like it." Remus whispered, looking up at the ceiling and blinking furiously. Sirius knew he was trying not to cry, and it made him want to hold him all the more. "I thought you were just playing, so I didn't say anything about it."

"And I thought you hated it, so I didn't say anything," Sirius gave in to his urge and pulled Moony into his arms, resting his head against Remus' soft auburn hair. "James kept bothering me about it. He suspected, you know, and never let up on me about asking you out. Even up until-" he stopped, unable to go on, and suddenly it was Sirius' turn to blink back tears.

Remus laid his head against Sirius' shoulder, sighing quietly. "He kept dropping hints that I should talk to you about it," he confessed quietly. "Lily too- I think it was their goal to play matchmaker for us."

"We were too bloody stupid to notice." Sirius said bitterly, holding Remus even more tightly. "And it cost us thirteen years apart."

"I wanted to hate you for what happened, but I couldn't. I hated myself for not knowing, for not confronting you about it earlier. And I hated myself for believing that you were capable of something that horrible." Remus closed his eyes, furious with himself for being so stupid. "Forgive me, Padfoot?"

"Of course." Sirius kissed the top of his head. "If you'll forgive me," Remus nodded, then sighed. Silence passed between them for a moment, before Sirius snorted, and shook his head.

"What do you say we stop beating ourselves up about the past, and go have a look at that trunk of mine. I bet there's a few things in there to keep us amused until everyone starts dropping by for a chat."

(Chapter Five: Moody arrives, Molly gets mad, and Sirius gets even.)