Note: Definitely had this done last night and just spaced on posting it.
Hermione was fine the first day.
And the second.
But by the third day of her administrative leave, she'd already cleaned the massive house from basement to attic, done all the shopping for the next two weeks, and finished all the runic translation puzzles Remus had clipped from the Prophet and saved for a rainy day. She returned from Flourish & Blotts with a man-high stack of books and locked herself in the study.
On the sixth day she ran out of books and attempted to return to the Ministry to do paperwork, only to be forcibly escorted from the building by Harry and another Auror.
Nine days into her forced vacation and she was officially driving Sirius mad.
"This can't just be because of work," insisted Sirius; though, by now Remus had grown fairly exasperated with his lover's grumblings.
He handed the half-pinned Sirius the requested tool and turned back to the paper as his companion continued fiddling and clinking with the underside of his motorbike. "You're fond of imagining things," he murmured, falling back into the latest story of renovations in Diagon Alley. "And you underestimate how important Hermione's job is to her."
Another snort. "I'm pretty well aware of that." He sat up, wiping his oil-stained hands on an even dirtier rag. "I'm telling you it's more than just work."
Remus leaned over from his seat at the workbench and wiped a smudge from Sirius' aristocratic cheek, kissing the newly-cleaned skin there. "And what do you think it is?"
Sirius' long hair spilled over his shoulder like a curtain and when he looked through it to scrutinize Remus, he hoped it was enough to stop the lycan from noting the hesitation in his eyes. He turned back to the rag and continued working it over his hands. "I think she needs a shag."
He said it in such a way that it straddled the line between seriousness and dry humor, and then left it for Remus to decide which he'd rather it be – the truth, or a joke.
Silence.
Remus chuckled, but it sounded weak. "Why...uh, why would you think that?" he tripped over his tongue rather uncharacteristically and his overt attempt to lace his curiosity with indifference spoke volumes. His Moony would have told him to stay out of her personal life while teasing him about volunteering for the job. His Moony would have reminded him of "that one bird fourth year" and then "that other one during the hols". This Remus...
He was totally in love with her.
The flippant smirk came so easily to his face, Sirius wondered if Remus would see right through it. He threw the rag at Remus, who caught it automatically, and hauled himself to his feet. "Because everyone needs a shag," he said and forced a bark of laughter. His heart flipped to see Remus' face instantly melt into a smile and he tried to shrug it off.
Remus reached out and caught the taller man by the belt. "Is that all you think of?" he asked, lips curving into a secret smile as he pulled Sirius close.
Sirius wondered how long that smile would be just for him.
"Maybe," he teased. Letting himself be pulled between Remus' parted legs, he silenced all the nagging voices in his head and focused on the coy touch of his friend and lover. The problem wouldn't go away, but he couldn't fix it right now and he didn't want to try. Instead, he slipped a hand under the hem of Remus' sweater so he could press his palm against the flesh of his hip.
"In the shed?" Remus whispered.
"Just don't hurt the bike."
Remus' husky laughter echoed out the door.