Warnings:None, really.

Chapter eight

The look Harry is trying not to give Sirius makes him sigh a little before he looks at his godson.

"Padfoot, you know that everyone has been speculating. About you and Teddy," he adds and Sirius's first reaction is to deny everything because while he may be 'out and proud' as people say these days, Teddy is not.

"So we're the gossip-material now, are we?" Sirius asks with a hard smile and Harry fidgets slightly.

"It's not like that, but Teddy and you are always together. You practically live with each other, Sirius. What am I supposed to think?"

"That it isn't any of your business," Sirius tells him, "There's nothing wrong with friends spending time together."

"But he's Remus's son, Sirius," Harry says quietly, "look, I'm not judging, you know I would never do that to you or Teddy." He looks so open and honest, he is, always has been, his godson. "Sirius—you and Teddy, the both of you mean so much to me. I just don't want anything happening to you guys."

"I'm a bit of an idiot, aren't I?" Sirius finally replies and Harry's lips turn up at that.

"Yeah well, Teddy would probably agree that it's more than 'a bit'," he replies and Sirius chews on his lip as he tries to think how best to approach Teddy. The boy has actually not contacted him at all after his abrupt departure. It is only coincidence that Sirius had decided to visit Harry just today and is now getting to hear about Teddy landing the job as a curse-breaker.

"I should talk to him," Sirius says, not particularly to anybody and Harry hums in response. "Is he—" His question gets interrupted by the crack of Apparition in the hallway.

"Harry! Haaaarrryy! Where are you? Merlin, you'll—" Teddy's excited shouts halt as he reaches the living room and he spots Sirius with his godfather. His expression instantly closes off, "what is he doing here?" Sirius almost smiles at his attitude, he really is so young.

"Congratulations, Teddy. I heard about the job." Teddy does look at him then and he still has his jaw shut so tight it looks painful. "Teddy, I think I owe you an apology." What? Old age makes a man wise...

"You think you owe me an apology?" Teddy even sounds incredulous. Alright, so maybe he hadn't said it correctly but the fierce look in his eyes, the bright hair that is slowly turning to a fiery red and his clenched fists is something so rare that Sirius is in awe of how much their relationship means to Teddy; it isn't just him.

Then he makes the mistake of actually smiling. He realises this only when Teddy shouts out in anger and Sirius sees him moving closer and—oh, shit! He falls back against the sofa as Teddy pushes him.

"You're a bloody, right git, you know that?"

"Teddy!" Harry steps forward in alarm and holds his hands up when Teddy's head whips to glare at him, "alright, look, I get that you're mad at him. But let's try to talk about this like adults, okay?"

"There is nothing to talk about," Teddy says heatedly and turns that angry gaze on Sirius. He really needs to fix the situation, and fast.

"Teddy, Harry is right. Look, I know you don't want to hear this, but I'm sorry. I really am." They lock gazes for a few moments that feel like hours and then Teddy turns on his heel and walks back the way he came.

"Just. Whatever." He strides out and Harry and Sirius look at each other before Sirius hastily stands up with an apologetic look at his godson.

"Harry—"

"You better go after him." Harry assures him, "God knows why my godfather and godson turned out to be such immature prats," he says under his breath and Sirius grins before following Teddy.

"Teddy! Teddy, stop!" Teddy of course, does no such thing and increases his pace as Sirius begins jogging after him, the amusement fading away as it looks like Teddy will need a proper explanation this time. "Teddy, please. Just hear me out."

Teddy keeps walking and Sirius, in a last attempt as he angrily stops in the middle of the road shouts out, "Teddy!"

"What?!" Sirius is stunned for a second that the boy has actually faced him even if from a distance before his expression changes to a scowl when Teddy speaks up. "Are you purposely being obtuse? Take a hint, Sirius; I don't want to talk to you."

"Are you purposely being a blithering idiot?" Sirius throws at him and somewhere in his mind he thinks they must look like one of those couples who throw pots and pans, make scenes in public as they shout about the problems in their love life in every sordid detail and then have hot, make-up sex but Teddy is being such a child about this.

Teddy glares at him and then flips him the bird before turning away again. Sirius throws his hands up and kicks the air in front of him. Fine. Let him be that way.

"What?" he barks at the woman staring at him wide-eyed. She scampers.

ooOOoo

Twenty seconds.

Teddy's hands are sweating as he is standing outside Sirius's door. He doesn't know if Sirius will open the door and then slam it in his face or maybe he will just not open the door at all.

Thirty four seconds.

Maybe Sirius is not home and Teddy can just go back to his apartment and resume packing.

Thirty seven seconds. Teddy gasps as Sirius opens the door. He opens his mouth to greet him but his mouth goes dry at the sight of Sirius dressed casually but nicely, very nicely. He has three buttons on his violet shirt unbuttoned; only Sirius can make a colour like that look so damn good. But then, Sirius can make potato sacks look sexy probably.

"Hello, Teddy. Fancy seeing you here," Sirius says in a normal voice and Teddy clears his throat.

"Yeah, I guess I wanted to talk to you before I left. I got Chinese." He holds up the bag in a symbol of truce. Sirius opens the door wide and invites him inside.

It's okay, you can do this Teddy.

"So, err— you look good." Is the first thing Teddy says to him when they settle down on the opposite ends of the sofa. He flushes and Sirius smiles.

"I've got a date," Sirius replies and Teddy stares at him, gob smacked as Sirius continues looking at him as if to gauge his reaction.

"You—you have a date?" he doesn't mean for it to come out that way but the fact that Sirius can have dates and see other men as soon as the first sign of problem arose between them irks him. A flare of anger is working its way up in him but he does not want to leave on bad terms so he stands up. "In that case, I won't take up any more of your time." He checks his pockets to see if he hasn't accidentally dropped his phone and then steps forward.

"Teddy," Sirius's slow drawl stops him and the man snakes an arm around his hand, then tugs it firmly, "you're so hasty to jump to conclusions these days."

Teddy allows himself to fall into Sirius's lap a little ungracefully as his limbs flail and he scowls, feeling small in size.

"You're so tense," Sirius tells him with a hand against the nape of his neck. He pushes the pads of his fingers against it and Teddy sighs involuntarily, "I don't want you to go away like this, Teddy," he says softly and the younger man opens his eyes to face Sirius.

"Padfoot," he replies quietly, in truce as he rests an arm on the man's shoulder, "I know things are hard for you, I've been reading my dad's diary and it's got me thinking." Sirius has that look again, the one where he looks so vulnerable that it hits Teddy every time hard.

"I get that it must be difficult for you when I—when I look so much like him. Was that it?" Sirius closes his eyes and Teddy caresses the side of his beautiful face, "it was, wasn't it? Was it something I said?" Sirius keeps his eyes cast downward as he presses his own hand against Teddy's against his cheek.

"It was the way you said you resented being called Edward, it was just so—" He breaks off and Teddy feels his ache somehow and tightens his arm around his shoulder, "—I'm sorry, nobody wants to hear about a past lover. But sometimes—"

"It's alright," Teddy tells him even though it is not, it hurts but then they haven't been long enough together, hardly a year which is probably not as long for Sirius even if it makes him slightly giddy to think about it. "Just, don't withdraw from me like again, Sirius. Talk to me, I can't take it when you push me away."

"Alright," Sirius complies and looks at Teddy with a look full of awe at his attitude and then smiles, "we should eat, it'll get late." Then Teddy remembers.

"What about your date?" he asks crossly, knowing that now that they have made up, Sirius would probably cancel his date if persuaded enough. But then, Sirius is a bit of a gentleman.

"Ah. Not a date, Teddy." Sirius bites his lip as if to hide a smile, "a hot date. And he looks rather fetching in green, I must say. The piercing is working for him, was that supposed to be a surprise?" It takes Teddy as second to realise what he had said and he punches his arm, none too lightly.

"You arse! You lied to me?" Sirius chuckles.

"Harry did tell me you were planning on coming by." Teddy threads his fingers through the inky hair.

"He knows about us?" Sirius pulls him closer and shifts to accommodate him on his lap.

"I suppose he does, he has some idea at least. He is alright with it." He reassures the younger man before tugging on the single hoop in Teddy's ear with his teeth, "are we going to talk all day or would you like a visit to my bedroom." Teddy grins as his blood begins rushing.

"How about we do this right here?"

ooOOoo

They don't specify anything but for whatever reason, they remain in that state of limbo where neither is sure of the extent of each other's feelings but realise that what they have is good enough to keep going.

"You can't come here whenever there is a full moon, Sirius. I know how inconvenient it can be." Sirius rolls his eyes over the phone fondly as he cradles it while reading over the draft of Albus's essay on vampires. He strikes out the line where the boy had suggested stuffing garlic down the throat and holds the phone tighter as if that will physically close their distance.

"Ted, you should know that even Grindelwald coming back to life won't stop me." Teddy laughs into the phone.

"Just a second," he says and Sirius hears shuffling on the other end and Teddy's conversation with probably the head of his team in a muffled and then more shuffling before Teddy returns to his phone. "Hey, sorry about that; Mr. Marfain wanted an update on the dig." Sirius automatically smiles as that familiar sense of pride fills him at Teddy's jovial voice at being able to work for real, he always seems so happy even when he says he misses Sirius.

"Mmm. And what about that Corson boy?" 'Any need for broken bones?' He adds in his head.

"Well, we aren't friends but I might have let it slip that my boyfriend was once a wanted mass-murderer, it isn't a problem, is it?" Sirius laughs out in surprise and gives him permission to tell tales of all his murdering conquests; it is easier now that those events are almost a lifetime away.

They talk for a few minutes before Teddy has to leave and they hang up, with slight difficulty on Sirius's part. He sits still for a minute as he gathers his thoughts and realises that this thing with Teddy feels like something very serious.

ooOOoo

Teddy wakes up to the smell of fried sausage and blinks up at the ceiling as the foreign aroma wafts into his nostrils. He turns to see the clock reading 9:30 A.M and stretches; Sirius really does know how to tire him out but then, he himself had been impatient enough to wait hours after his transformation to jump with Sirius right into his bed. He snuggles into his old, familiar bed.

He dons on Sirius's shirt over his sweatpants and pads into the kitchen and stands at the doorway admiring Sirius's bare shoulders as he is stirring something on the stove. He smiles; it isn't that he minds the food in Amman, but Merlin, if he hasn't missed a proper English meal.

"Come on in, kid," Sirius says without seeing and Teddy grins at his doggy-senses as he walks up and presses his body against the older man's.

"Don't call me that," he replies automatically, "I swear I'll go all bad wife on you and withdraw sex." Sirius laughs at that and turns slightly to kiss his nose.

"Don't be so cruel, I'm only teasing," Sirius tells him and Teddy rests his head on a shoulder as he watches the man flip the bacon in the pan.

"Mmm, maybe I'll make it worth your while if you do stop," he whispers as he nuzzles into the joint of his neck and shoulder, "a home-cooked meal? I think you're the closest thing to 'the perfect man' every woman dies for." Sirius turns the stove off and rubs his chin on Teddy's head.

"Aren't you glad you snagged me before someone else did?" Teddy nods against his neck and pulls away.

"Can I help?" Sirius hands him a plate onto which he flips the bacon perfectly. "Showoff," Teddy mutters but walks away to set up the table.

He is turning over the glasses when the noise of the coffee maker startles him and he looks up to see Sirius fiddling around with mugs and the sugar pot. There is something so domestic about the picture, Teddy thinks as his heart begins thudding and his stomach drops low when Sirius pours the coffee into two mugs—one which is Teddy's and the other that has become Sirius's now as he drops by often—that all he can think of is that this is what he wants.

This is it for him. With that realisation comes a momentary panic followed by a sweet contentment as Sirius turns around and smiles, the corners of his eyes crinkling and all he can think of is how much he is in love with Sirius.

"Alright?" Sirius asks him, as he cocks his head when he places their mugs in front of them and Teddy is staring at him. He shakes out of his thoughts and returns the smile.

He doesn't reply and instead, leans over the table and kisses Sirius on the mouth, startling the man.

AN: Thank you everyone for the support!Hope you enjoy this installment! :)