It was the tea that finally tipped Sirius over the edge. The endless peppermint tea that Remus would drink, for stress, for concentration, any excuse that Remus could find to make tea, he would take.

The smell clung to his breath, to his clothes, that sweet fresh smell. It would intoxicate Sirius, he could get drunk on the smell of Remus.

But that would never be allowed, never be what Remus wanted. And so Sirius consoled himself with an endless parade of girls, who would bash their eyelashes and let him take them for walks round the lake or to Madam Puddifoots. They would drape themselves all over him and smear their lips with sickly sticky lip-gloss, tasting like strawberry or cherry.

And Sirius would think of that cool earthy smell that he met every time he entered the dorm room. He'd hold these girls tighter and drown himself in the thought of that smell.

Part of him desperately wanted to tell Remus this, to tell anyone about this feeling inside him, that was burning him up. But he couldn't face the look of horror on Remus' face to see him backing away from him. And so, at Christmas, it was a fifth year Ravenclaw girl who went to Hogsmeade with him, who held hands with him, who kissed him.

Not Remus.

They were walking out of Honeydukes when the smell hit Sirius again. It was tinged with the traditional smells of Christmas, gingerbread and cinnamon; all the smells Sirius associated with the Potters. With home.

He let his hand fall from his date's, in this moment he couldn't even remember her name.

"Excuse me" he muttered, then ran off into the snow.

By the time he reached the dorm room, he was breathing hard, his cheeks flushed, covered in snow.

"Remus!" he gasped, "I need to tell you something!"

"You always do" came a cool voice.

Remus was sat, not on his bed, where Sirius was looking but on the windowsill, looking out into the snow. He slammed the book he was holding shut.

"Go on then" he said irritably, "Which girl was it this time?"

This reaction was not what Sirius expected and all the adrenaline seemed to deflate out of him.

"No…I, it's nothing like that." He raised a hand weakly and gestured to Remus, "I want to talk about you."

Remus snorted and folded his arms, "In all the years you've known me you have never wanted to talk about me." He snapped, "Just you, you and this girl, you and that girl. Always you."

Sirius knew he was supposed to be saying something but his mouth was just gaping open in shock.

"I didn't know…" he tried but Remus cut him off.

"No, you never do."

They stood in stony silence. Sirius' heart was pounding, Remus had never shown any indication that he was mad at Sirius, ever. James, endlessly devoted to Lily always ignored Sirius' talk about girls, but Peter hung on every word and Remus had always at least looked interested, like he wanted to hear what Sirius had been up in various broom closets, or behind the greenhouses, or by the lake…..

"It's the tea" he blurted out.

Remus arched an eyebrow, "What tea?"

"Your tea, your peppermint tea, its all I could think about in Honeydukes, all I've been able to smell for weeks on end. It just makes me want to be around you Moony, all the time. I don't care about those other girls, they don't fit right. Not like you." Sirius was beginning to get breathless. "And I just wished I hadn't gone to Hogsmeade today without you, and that I'd stayed here with you or if you'd come with me and we'd been together, just us. Because I think I've been searching for someone that felt like home all this time in the wrong place. I think its been staring me in the face and I've been too scared to admit it."

There was silence. Remus' had gone from angry to his eyes becoming wider and wider but now he looked thoughtful.

"Do you really mean that?" he asked quietly.

Sirius nodded, "These girls don't make me lose my train of thought like you do, I don't care about them like I do about you."

Remus nodded and looked at the ground. Sirius was almost bouncing in anticipation.

"Remus, say something."

Remus walked across the room in measured footsteps, placed his hands on either side of Sirius' face and crashed their lips together.

The kiss tasted like peppermint. It was fresh, it was new and Sirius felt like he would never get enough of it. He opened his mouth slightly wanting to respond and his heart leapt when Remus deepened the kiss, swiping his tongue across Sirius' lips. This felt right, it felt like a million different things at once but most of all, it felt like the first kiss that made sense.

Remus broke away and stood back, a blush creeping up his neck. He looked at Sirius with a shy smile and ran a hand through his hair nervously, almost tugging on it.

"Should I go to the kitchen? Make us a cup of tea maybe?"

Sirius laughed then reached out to grab his hand, watching Remus' eyes widen.

"Tea sounds perfect."