Sirius never claimed to be perfect. After all, with the name Black, people automatically assume you were as much of a bigot as the Malfoy's. It didn't matter his own reputation. His name was a brand, forever damning him to a pureblood hell.

Of course, this never stopped him making friends. Several times during his childhood he snuck out to play with the neighboring Muggle boys. He'd been severly punished, but it was worth it.

If his parents had had their way, he would have been surrounded by pureblooded bullshit from birth to death. Fortunately, there was his Aunt Andromeda. She was the one that kept from going to Durmstrang, the one that told him of the Potter boy.

By the time he was eleven, Sirius had realized, fully, that the pureblood lifestyle was not for him. He boarded the Hogwart's Express, and his life changed forever.

His first step into the compartment he slammed straight into a scrawny boy with sandy hair. They fell to the ground in a tangled heap.

Sirius took advantage of the boy's distraction to study him. Tiny, at least a good four inches shorther than him, with pale skin and freckles. Long lashes framed hazel eyes, and the mischeavous gleam was not lost to him. Sirius was in love.

Suddenly, he felt himself being hoisted to his feet. Glancing behind him, he saw the Potter boy and a pudgy, rat-faced kid.

He was never the same after that. When he tripped down a flight of stairs and broke his arm, they were there for him. When he hit puberty, Remus and James were going through the same thing. When an urequited love hurt him deeply, Peter was there to comfort him. When he left home at sixteen, James took him in. And when, at seventeen, he confessed to Remus that he was in love, Remus promised he'd be there, forever.

So now, only hours after he made Peter the one under the Fidelus charm, he lay in his lover's arms.

"I'm sorry."

Remus' face wrinkled slightly.

"For what?"

"Not being perfect."

Remus smiled, and kissed him on the forehead.

"I love you the way you are, with all your imperfections."

No, Sirius never did claim to be perfect.

(&)(&)(&)(&)(&)

A/N: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.