Author's Notes: Woo hoo! Yes, Jack and Corbin are finally together, but the angst doesn't stop here!

Thanks to Banka (I liked the hospital scene too), Assur (so glad you liked the chapter!), and MoonyPadfootJr (I'm glad you noticed the reference to Back in Black, I try to keep all my stories connected) for your reviews. And special thanks to XaveriiJade for her input and betaing.

I think the next chapter should be up within a week. Summer has flown by so I think I will just update this on weekends once school starts.

Chapter 12 The first two months

Jack arrived at Corbin's house on Saturday. Corbin lived about twenty miles south of Hogwarts. Being in the area never failed to make Jack nostalgic for his school days. He could hear Janna's voice and he walked inside without knocking, as had become his habit.

"Jack!" Corbin looked over at the clock, Jack was a little early. "Hi."

"Jack darling!" Janna gave him a warm hug. "How are you? It seems an age since I saw you."

"It's only been two months, Janna." Corbin said dryly.

"And I said it seemed an age." Janna rolled her eyes and winked at Jack. "I dropped by to say hello – not to help Corbin cook or to hear the details of the first date." She paused. "Corbin won't tell me anything. Did you kiss?"

"Of course." Jack grinned.

"Oh, wonderful!" She clapped her hands together. "Well, I will let you two alone. Have a great evening. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Janna kissed Corbin on the cheek. "That leaves you with quite a lot of possibilities."

She hugged Jack again and Disapparated with a crack. Corbin stood for a moment.

"Um. Do you want something to drink?"

"Sure. Anything is fine."

"There's wine, butterbeer, water, juice – several kinds of juice."

"Butterbeer is fine. Thank you."

Corbin retrieved a bottle and handed it to Jack.

"What's for dinner?" Jack asked after taking a drink.

"Lasagna." Corbin answered, walking back over to the counter to finish preparing the salad. Jack followed and jumped up to sit a few feet away from Corbin.

"Corbin, we need to kiss."

"What?" Corbin looked over at Jack.

"We need to kiss. When we start a date, you have to kiss me, because otherwise it's just like all the other times we've hung out."

"Oh." Corbin set down the knife he was holding. "I suppose that makes sense."

"You can't kiss me from over there." Jack said teasingly.

"Right." Corbin walked slowly towards Jack.

Jack reached out and put one hand on Corbin's shoulders and slipped the other around the back of his neck. Corbin touched his lips to Jack's for a moment and then separated.

"How much of a kiss do you want?" Corbin's hands flexed on his thighs.

"Um. I hadn't thought."

"Well, dinner's almost ready, so a full-on snogfest seems out for tonight, but I'll factor it into dates from now on."

"I'd settle for just a little tongue." Jack said, feeling slightly surreal.

"All right." Corbin pressed his mouth against Jack's and slowly teased the tip of his tongue into Jack's mouth. Jack felt a slow slide of arousal as Corbin's tongue touched his and stroked over it before withdrawing. "Was that a little? Or do you want more?"

"That was good." Jack said breathlessly.

"I didn't have time to set the table, could you?" Corbin asked, turning back to the stove. Jack immediately agreed and got plates and silverware. The rest of the evening passed in easy comfort. Aside from more kissing when the evening ended, it was much like all the other evenings they had spent together.

A few nights later, they were at Jack's flat. Corbin had immediately slumped onto the couch, resting his head against the back.

"Well, fitness tests are over for another year." Jack said, sitting down next to him and handing him a glass of water.

"Thank God."

"You know you like them. You like being able to best Malfoy." Jack said lightly.

"I didn't best him. He placed first in more categories than I did." Corbin answered sharply. "Bloody wanker."

"Honestly, the two of you – can't you just get along?"

"No."

"All right then." Jack said amicably, used to the long-standing feud. He moved closer and pressed his mouth over Corbin's, slowly pushing his tongue inside. One of Corbin's hands curled around the back of his neck as Corbin murmured something, tilting his head and deepening the kiss. He touched Corbin's shoulder and then trailed his hand lightly down Corbin's arm. As his hand reached the hem of Corbin's shirt, he felt the other man stiffen. "What's wrong?" Jack asked, moving his hand to rest on the couch next to Corbin's thigh.

"Nothing." Corbin shook his head, pulling Jack back towards him. Jack kissed Corbin gently and after a while, when both of Corbin's arms were around him, tried moving his hand to Corbin's hip. Immediately, Corbin became rigid and tore his mouth away, breathing heavily.

"Too fast." Jack said softly, he didn't have to make it a question. "I'm sorry."

"No…no, I'm sorry." Corbin said, red staining across his cheekbones.

Jack leaned in and gave Corbin a chaste kiss. "I forget you're not used to this."

"What do you mean?" Corbin's voice had an edge of anxiety.

"Well…I mean...you dated Malfoy a long time ago, didn't you? And I imagine…not that I imagined it…well…one time, maybe…anyway, Janna probably wasn't that...um…assertive, right? So, you haven't had much experience with men groping you, and it was a long time ago."

Corbin looked at him.

"Not that I meant…that I was groping you…I meant…We'll just take it slow."

At first, Jack was glad to be able to take the relationship slowly. His relationship with Sirius had been a whirlwind of emotions and physicality, as if it had known it wouldn't last long. The relationship with Corbin was the opposite. As the weeks went on, Corbin seemed to grow more and more unattainable, both physically and emotionally. But Jack was too distracted by the upcoming anniversary of Sirius's death to think about it.
Jack had made arrangements to meet Remus, Cassius and Harry at the small cemetery on the one year anniversary of Sirius's death.

Jack watched the Lupin family arrive. As they walked towards him, Harry leapt up onto Cassius's back, twining one arm around his neck and reaching the other hand towards Remus. Remus took Harry's hand gently in his, saying something to him that Jack couldn't hear. Jack smiled. Harry was a few months away from being seventeen but he sometimes acted like a small child and other times acted like an adult that had seen too much. He'd had a lot of bad things happen in his life. Jack was glad he'd adjusted so well to being Remus and Cassius's son. Although he knew Sirius had loved Harry deeply, he wasn't sure Sirius would have been able to deal with all of Harry's issues like Remus and Cassius did.

"Hello." Remus called, waving the bouquet in his hand.

"Hello." Jack smiled. He'd already put his flowers on Sirius's grave, after tending to the few weeds that had grown since his last visit.

After a short time of quiet reflection, they all returned to Windy Corner for tea. Harry had permission to stay the day.

They were sitting in the sitting room eating scones and sandwiches when there was a knock at the door.

Tabby answered it and Jack heard a familiar voice. He felt a rush of happiness that Corbin had come. He ran into the entryway and threw his arms around the other man.

"How'd you get here?" Cassius asked suspiciously as Corbin and Jack walked into the room.

"Your unplottable spell failed. There was a memo at work about it, complete with a map." Corbin said.

Cassius started to stand, looking outraged and panicked at the same time, Remus grabbed his shirt, shaking with silent laughter. Corbin smiled. "I'm teasing. I used to visit, when Owen lived here."

"You. Oh." Cassius relaxed.

"Oh, husband, that was…" Remus laughed. "Very mean of Corbin, of course."

"Honestly, give you a magic eye and we can call you Moody Junior." Corbin sat down in the chair next to the fireplace.

"Remus won't let me get one."

"Janna wouldn't let me…" Corbin trailed off thoughtfully.

"If Corbin gets one, I have to get one." Cassius turned to Remus. "Otherwise he'll have an edge."

"If Corbin gets one, we will talk about you getting one." Remus said, looking over at Jack and raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not in favor of magic eyes." Jack said, to the room in general. Harry grinned from where he was sitting between Cassius and Remus.

"Well, we should be getting Harry back to Hogwarts." Remus stood.

"Can't I stay for dinner?" Harry asked.

"No, we'll be eating on the way, otherwise you'll get there too late."

"Papa," Harry wheedled. "Please?"

"No, Harry."

"Come on, kiddo." Cassius said, standing up and holding his hand out. "You can drive." At this, Harry stood quickly and went off to the kitchen to say goodbye to Tabby and Moody.

"How was your day?" Corbin asked as they walked out to his car after Jack had said their goodbyes.

"It….was good, not good, but good at the same time…you know." Jack answered waving to Cassius, Remus and Harry as they walked to Cassius's car. "You drove to work?"

"God, no. I flooed home, then I drove." Corbin started the engine. "It's just about an hour to get here. Put your seatbelt on."

"My what?" Jack asked blankly.

"Your seatbelt." Corbin paused. "You have ridden in a car before, haven't you?"

"No."

"Really? You dated….what's-his-guts when Janna and I were first married, he had a car, I talked to him about it."

"Never rode in it. And his name is Lindsay."

"You're kidding."

"Lindsay is a perfectly nice name."

"No, I meant about never riding in a car. You dated him for a while."

"I've known you for ages and we've been dating two months now and I've never ridden in your car." Jack pointed out.

"Well, that's because we always floo or Apparate when we go places."

"So did Lindsay and I."

"But you dated." Corbin made a vague hand gesture.

"Yes, I know." Jack said slowly. "I remember he was quite well-endowed. My jaw used to ache something fierce after going down on him."

"Really? That's surprising because he had abnormally small hands." Corbin fiddled with the radio. "Anyway, I just thought…cars are nice when you're dating someone because you can make out in the backseat."

"Really?" Jack looked over his shoulder. "It's not as big as a bed."

"It's…well, of course it isn't." Corbin reached across Jack and tugged sharply on a black strap that hung near his shoulder. "This is a seatbelt and it….keeps you in your seat. In case of a crash or a near-crash. You pull it across," Corbin pulled the strap across Jack's chest, "and then you slid this part into this." Corbin inserted the flat metal tab into a metal box with a slot near Jack's hip. "And ta da, you're buckled in."

Jack tugged on the strap. "How do I get buckled out?"

"Good question." Corbin grinned as he moved away, pulled his own seat belt on and put the car into gear. "I thought you might like the drive, it's pretty."

Jack looked out the window as Corbin drove through the woods to a road. He gunned the engine and merged onto a road with many other cars. Jack gripped the handle of the door tightly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Corbin glanced over at Jack before glancing over his shoulder and suddenly the car moved sideways.

"It's like being a chaser, you go around the cars that are in your way." Corbin said.

"We're going fast."

"It's all right." Corbin said, his hand patting Jack's knee before moving back to a lever between them. He moved the lever and the car sped up a little more, the motor humming a little more quietly. Jack looked out at the scenery whizzing by the car.

"I'm glad you came to get me," he said quietly, looking over at Corbin.

Corbin glanced over and smiled. "The sky's supposed to be clear tonight, I thought we could do some stargazing."

"That'd be nice."

"Jack, are you all right?"

"Yes."

"Look, I…" Corbin frowned as he took a road that lead them away from all the other cars. He turned into a paved area where no other cars were and stopped the motor. He turned and looked across at Jack. "Let's cut the bullshit. You miss Sirius. I'm your friend – that didn't stop when we started, uh, dating...so, you need to talk to me. All right?"

"I miss Sirius." Jack said, gazing out over the valley. "I miss…I miss him arguing with Snape, I miss him laughing with Remus, I miss him listening to me, holding me, kissing me. I miss him. And I know there will always be part of my heart that will belong to him. I'll always love him.

"It was wonderful to be able to talk about him with Remus and Harry. Remus told us some stories about when he and Sirius were at school." Jack sighed. "Did you know Harry thought it was his fault, Sirius dying, I mean?"

"Yes."

"You did?"

"Stevens told me. He said both Remus and Harry blamed themselves."

"Sirius wouldn't want them to blame themselves. He'd want us all to be happy. He didn't really get to live – you know? I mean…being in Azkaban and then on the run. I feel like…like I need to appreciate everything more…for him. Does that make sense?"

Corbin nodded silently.

"I feel that way about my parents too. You probably feel the same way, about your Dad."

"No."

"Oh."

"But I feel like that about Owen." Corbin said softly. "I loved him, not love love…just friends, but still I miss him. I still think about him, like how he would snort when he would laugh really hard. And how he thought the stupidest things were funny. And he'd smile in the goofiest way whenever he saw Malfoy. It was like…you could almost feel his love for him…like it was a tangible thing, it had shape and mass. I-"

"What?" Jack whispered, afraid of breaking the mood.

"I always wanted someone to love me like that, like I was their everything." Corbin stared into the distance. Abruptly he shook his head and glanced over at Jack. "I didn't mean," Corbin shook his head again. "I was just talking."

"I like it when you talk. You don't do it so often, you know." Jack tried to move closer but was stopped by his seat belt. "Can you buckle me out?"

"Unbuckle." Corbin said with a laugh.

"Unbuckle me, please?"

"Why?"

"Because I want a hug and I'm restrained by this diabolical black strap."

Corbin leaned across silently and pushed something to make a clicking noise. The strap moved across Jack's lap and Corbin moved Jack's arm without saying anything so that it wouldn't get caught in the strap. Jack moved across the seat and put his arms around Corbin, feeling his solid warmth.

"Thank you for being my friend." Jack murmured, settling against Corbin's shoulder.

"Yeah." Corbin muttered back.