"Make a wish, Moony."

"You know what I'm going to wish for, so what's the point?"

Sirius' excited face fell a little, and he set the double-layer chocolate cake he'd just finished frosting on the kitchen table. "Moony," he reminded him, "we've been round and round about it. I have to go." Remus grew quiet and didn't answer.

"You do agree that I have to go?" Sirius asked. Remus still didn't answer.

"Oh, c'mon, Moony. Don't make it harder than it has to be. Besides, sulking is my specialty. You're really not very good at it."

Remus mouth twitched at the corners, but when he remembered all the running to and fro, the making plans and lists, and Sirius' recently elevated mood, he frowned again. "You're glad to be going, though. Aren't you?"

Sirius jerked his head up in surprise, momentarily forgetting the burning match between his fingers. "Ouch! Damn and blast!" he exclaimed, dropping the match and sticking both fingers in his mouth. "Moony, how can you say such a thing?"

Remus just whispered, "Because it's true, isn't it?"

Sirius watched the match gutter out on the table, leaving a scorch mark on the pale wood. He sighed and answered, "Yes, it is."

Remus resumed his uncomfortable silence, and Sirius paced back and forth across the kitchen. "Don't look like that, Moony. I can't stand it. You know I don't like leaving you here, for Merlin's sake. I just need to get up off my arse and do something."

When he still refused to speak, Sirius lifted his chin and forced Remus to look at him. "The offer to come with me still stands, you know. You've given notice at the shop already." Something like a flicker of interest lit up in Remus' eyes, but it just as quickly died. He shook his head.

"It's that important that you finish the two weeks?" Sirius asked.

"It would be the decent thing to do, but it's not that so much," Remus explained. "I know perfectly well that you'll be safer without a werewolf along for the ride. It just wouldn't work, and I know that."

"What, then?"

Remus sighed, exasperated with himself. "Oh, Padfoot, I'm just being selfish, I guess. I'm sorry."

Sirius smiled broadly. "Well, it is your birthday, after all. You're entitled." With that, he struck another match and lit the candle that was perched crookedly on top of the chocolate frosting. "Make a wish, Remus."

Remus looked at Sirius for a moment, and finally he grinned and leaned over to blow out the candle.

"What'd you wish for, Moony?"

"I can't tell you that, or it won't come true, you big git," Remus teased.

"Fine. Be that way."

"Fine. I will."

"I hope you wished to be less irritating in the coming the year, as a sign of your increasing maturity."

"Very witty, Padfoot."

They shared Remus' birthday cake in a companionable silence, and then Sirius asked, "Do you really think we're going about this the right way?"

Remus nodded. "I do. I don't like it, but I think it's the best way. You and Bucky head north. If what we think Voldemort is up to is correct, Harry needs you more than I do." Remus looked up and added, "Which is saying something, you know. Just promise me you'll be careful."

Sirius grinned. "I'm always careful. I just have a different definition of careful than you do."

"That, my love, is what worries me most."

"Well," Sirius continued. "you'll be too damned busy to worry overmuch, I guarantee it." He gestured around the kitchen. "If you think making this place inhabitable was a job, just wait until you see the house in London. Dangerous, that."

"I'll manage. Just get yourself and Harry home safely, Sirius. That's my wish."

"Oh, shite, Moony. Why'd you go and tell me then? Now it won't come true!" Sirius laughed.

Remus laughed with him for a while, and then he abruptly grew serious once again. With an edge of panic in voice, he asked, "You won't leave until after the full moon, will you?"

Sirius ran his hand through Remus' graying hair. "I'll stay until then, Moony. I promise." Sirius looked down at their empty plates and asked, "Do you want some more cake?" Remus, who could never say no to chocolate, readily agreed. After refilling their plates with enormous hunks of cake, Sirius pushed back his chair and announced, "I have a present for you."

"Oh, Sirius, you shouldn't have done that," Remus said.

Deadpan, Sirius responded, "All right. Do you want me to take it back then?"

Remus' cheeks turned pink, and he answered sheepishly, "No."

Sirius grinned and opened the back door. A moment later, he reappeared with a tawny owl perched on his shoulder. Remus just stared. "I figured an relatively inconspicuous and reliable form of communication might come in handy for this phase of the operation. So what are you going to name him?"

Remus thought for a minute and replied, "How about Orion?" They grinned at each other, and their fingers intertwined. Remus looked down at Sirius' callused hand in his own smooth, clerical one and noticed a smear of chocolate frosting on his finger. With a mischievous glint in his eyes, he put Sirius' finger in his mouth and sucked off the frosting.

Sirius' eyes grew wide, and he said, "Oh, Moony, you shouldn't have done that."

"And why ever not?" came the reply.

"Well, I can't let you stop there now, can I?"

Remus laughed. "Then at least one of my wishes will come true, won't it?"

Sirius smiled and kissed him. "Happy birthday, Moony."