Thanks to: The Evil Cup of Tea, I r8ped Riddle, Uozumi (I hope you're not on a downward spiral right now?), Robyn Anne, Lady Stone, Vela-chan, Lady Sundig of the Wired, Water Sprite, Gwen Potter, Liver Beazard, ddz008, fuzzyfishbowl, Mordecai, madkornfan, Jasini, Magical Mistress of the Manuscript, xMadgirlx, Chloe-Wagnner freakyfairy, Polkat, Lauren, Mr D. Grey (Mawkish? It's not mawkish! Well, maybe a little bit…), Rachel Molko, q, Kristi, JadeWerewolf, Ambika-san, A.L. Lorraine, Kitsuna-Ri, Lady DeathAngel, Ice Princess, Flamingo, Fade to Black, Demus (sends heaps of virtual love), tinuviel42 (SEAN BEAN RULES!!! *ahem*), Lady Sirhasisi, Give the World for Mr. Black, Celestial Drgn, Lighthouse Stripes, bard (Wow, Canada! I used to live in Alberta when I was very little!), riyna*riddle, Apona, red-eyed-rose, Eilonwy, ladyassassin (Stuart Townsend! Stand corrected, darling: Sean Bean is the fittest bloke on earth. :) Despite being in his forties, with kids and several divorces…) noraseyes, {*mariatortia*}, violentstrom32 and Princess Flame.

            Remus has come home…

~Sirius' POV, 17th December, At James' house for the Christmas holiday~

Shivering, I leave the bathroom. It's my own private bathroom, and adjoins my bedroom, which is very nice as it means I'm free to walk around naked. As I'm doing now. Behind me I leave a trail of water as I've just got out of the shower and haven't dried my hair properly.

          Downstairs I hear the doorbell and the sound of the storm outside as the door is opened, then James' voice. I stand stock-still and wonder if James possibly said what I think he did: "Remus?"

          I shake my head and decide I'm imagining things.

          I bend down to find some clean jeans in the bottom draw of the large chest in my room. Suddenly, I get the overwhelming feeling that somebody is watching me. "Who's there?" I say, too afraid to turn around, in case it's not who I think it is.

          "I am," says Remus.

          I get up and turn around to look at him; he's soaked to the skin and looks almost unfamiliar in pale blue Beauxbatons robes. I just stand and stare at him- stark naked- for God knows how many minutes. "How?" I manage to ask.

          "I didn't like France," he says quietly. I try to work out what he's thinking. I want to see if he's changed- if our relationship has changed. Has he found somebody else? Is he still gay? Am I still his boyfriend? Then I realise that Remus is staring at me too and the tension in the air is unbearable but I can't seem to break it.

          Eventually it's Remus who breaks the silence. "Nice arse," he says, with this crazy half-smile playing on his lips.

          "Oh God," I mumble, still unable to find the words to express how I'm feeling. Then Remus runs across the room and we're hugging each other tightly. I'm naked and he's very wet and none of it matters.

          "I came home," he says quietly, with his head buried in my neck.

          "I know."

          "I couldn't stay for a second more," he adds.

          "It's alright."

          "I love you"

          "I know."

          Then I release him and go to the bathroom where I find him a towel to dry himself off with. "You must be freezing," I say gently.

          He shrugs his shoulders. "I'm alright. I'd like a cup of tea, though." He seems to be looking at me strangely.

          "Tea. Right. I'll go downstairs and get you some." I walk over to the door and open it, feeling his gaze burning into my back.

          "Sirius?"

          "Yes?"

           "You do realise you're naked, don't you?"

          Blushing, I manage to find a pair of jeans and pull them on.

          ~~~

          James greets me downstairs. He's grinning like a maniac. "How did he get here? Is he staying? For how long?"

          I'm forced to tell James that I don't have a clue.

          James stops grinning and looks at me soberly. "You are happy, aren't you?" he says eventually.

          "Oh God, yes! Of course! I love him! It's just-" I stop, not sure what's wrong.

          "Go on."

          "I don't want to lose him all over again." The sick feeling of hurt washes over me as I imagine having to say goodbye again.

          James doesn't seem to understand. "Look, mate, you should be telling Remus this, not me. He looks like an absolute wreck, and he's just been through weeks of hell and-"

          "You're right," I say and start to dash back up the stairs.

          "SIRIUS!" James calls after me.

          "WHAT?"

          "I SENT A HOUSE ELF UP WITH SOME TEA FIVE MINUTES AGO!"

          ~~~

          Remus is sat on my bed sipping scolding tea when I come back into my bedroom. He looks up at me helplessly. "I caught the Knight Bus to James' house. I didn't know what else to do," he says, putting the cup of tea down and looking rather bedraggled.

          I come and sit next to him, preparing to say and do what I'd been dreaming about for the last month. In the dreams I always gave a wonderful, eloquent declaration of love and then kissed him gently.

          In the reality, I open my mouth, and then before I can say a word, I burst into tears. It feels absurdly good to cry, even better to hold Remus to me and sob into his red hair, and still better than that to stop crying and start kissing him madly.

Eventually, we break apart. Remus takes my left hand and absently plays with the wedding ring I'm wearing. His eyes take on a faraway look for a moment and then he smiles at me. "I see you're wearing my ring," he observes.

"You do realise that two men can't get married?" I say, wondering if Remus has overlooked this simple truth.

"I know. I just wanted someone to wear the ring."

"Why?"

"It's my grandmother's wedding ring. I was supposed to give it to the girl I proposed to."

"Oh. Then maybe you ought to be keeping it," I say, mock-seriously. Then I coax my hand from Remus, get off the bed and open my Hogwart's trunk. I pull out a bundle of letters- one for every day of his absence- and a parcel. All of them have the Beauxbaton's address on. I give them to Remus and he immediately begins to open the first letter.

"No, open the parcel," I say.

Remus grins at me and tears the brown paper off the tiny jewellery box.

I sit back down and put my arm round him. "Remus Lupin, will you marry me?"

He puts the ring; a gold band inset with a black stone, on his wedding finger and admires it. "You just told me men couldn't get married."

"I know. I just wanted someone to wear the ring," I tease.

Then he starts to laugh and I can't help but join in. If anybody happened to walk in right now they would be shocked to find Remus and myself in fits of hysterical laughter and occasionally choking out remarks like 'Good to see you again, Mrs Lupin', 'Mr Black is overjoyed to see Mrs Black!' and "I'm the man, Sirius. Glam rock highwayman, remember?!"  

Eventually we calm down and Remus shows me a photograph of us kissing passionately. "They found it. I can't go back."

In a split second, my mind is made up. "You're not going back there. We'll leave school. I've got savings. We can get a flat in London or Hogsmeade or somewhere."

"You'll leave school?" asks Remus breathlessly.

          And I guess this has to be the most romantic moment of my life, even without the concerts and picnics and glitter. "For you- anything."

          "Then we'll do it."