"This is a thing people do?" Sirius asked, looking around the orchard in bafflement. "But we can just buy apples at Tesco!"
Remus rolled his eyes and reached up with his free hand to pluck another apple off the nearest tree. He loved Macouns, and he could never find them in the shops.
"Yes, people do this," he told Sirius. "I did it every year when I was a kid." He dropped the apple into the basket Sirius was carrying.
"But why?"
"I dunno! It's fun, innit? Good way to get outside, learn about where your food comes from, spend time as a family..." he trailed off awkwardly.
Sirius looked away and let go of his hand.
"Fuck, m'sorry. I wasn't thinking," Remus said. He stopped walking and grabbed Sirius gently around the wrist. "That was really stupid of me."
Sirius smiled sadly but wouldn't meet Remus' eye again. "No, I mean, I don't know why I still get bothered about these things. I've been used to how shit my childhood was for a long time now."
"It's understandable that it still gets to you, though," Remus said gently. "I should be more careful. Like, I know better than anyone how it feels to have shit you don't want to be reminded of."
Sirius gave him a real smile this time, lopsided and mischievous. "Yeah, god, I can only imagine. You were such a nerd at school! Horribly embarrassing stuff."
Remus, who could see a Sirius-style deflection from a mile off, decided to let it slide.
"Excuse me for being on scholarship! I couldn't afford to muck about like you and James!"
Sirius laughed his bark of a laugh. "We did alright, me and James."
"Yeah, and you never let any of us forget it, either!"
Sirius laughed again and retook Remus' hand. Remus leaned over and dropped a kiss on Sirius' smile-raised cheek. He would never get tired of that smile.
Sirius got into the swing of things as the day went on. He enjoyed tasting all the varieties of apples. He ate quite a few more than he put in the basket.
"I have to be the taste-tester!" he told Remus. "We don't want to choose the wrong ones!"
"I'm just saying, you're going to have a dreadful stomach ache later," Remus cautioned.
"Nah, I won't," Sirius said. "Stomach of steel, remember?" He drummed on his stomach demonstratively. "And besides, if we eat them now, we don't have to pay for them later!"
When they had picked (and eaten) their fill, they attempted the corn maze. Remus, who didn't like to feel trapped, didn't enjoy it very much. But it was worth it just to hear Sirius' delighted laughter every time they hit a dead end and had to try again.
When they finally found their way out, he kissed Remus soundly in triumph.
"I am an absolute genius at mazes," he announced.
"Sure you are," Remus replied affectionately.
At the end of the day, they bought cider doughnuts at the kiosk by the entrance.
As Sirius licked cinnamon sugar off of his fingers, he said thoughtfully, "You know, I think Reg would really like it here."
"Oh?" Remus said, careful to sound casual.
"Yeah," Sirius said. He snorted. "I mean, he'd pretend he thought it was stupid and childish, but I think he'd get a real kick out of all the baby trees. And the corn maze! Fuck, he'd love the corn maze. He'd want to race me through it, I bet. Bet I could beat him, though."
"Well, you are a genius at mazes," Remus said.
"Exactly!" Sirius laughed.
Remus took Sirius by the hand again, ignoring the sticky residue of the doughnut.
"You know," he said carefully, "I'll bet if you invited Regulus to come along sometime, he'd say yes."
Sirius took so long to answer that Remus thought he might be ignoring the suggestion. Finally, however, he squeezed Remus' hand.
"Do you really think so?" He sounded painfully uncertain.
"Yeah, I really do," Remus said. "I really, really do."
"Maybe I will, then," Sirius said. "Fuck Orion and Walburga. Me and Reg can still be a family."
"Oh, Sirius," Remus said. "Of course you can."
Sirius leaned over slightly and rested his face in the crook of Remus' neck.
"Thank you for today," he whispered into the warm skin. "I love you."
Remus ran his fingers through Sirius' hair, then brought his arms up to wrap around his back.
"I love you too, Pads. So damn much."