It just started pouring rain. What perfect writing weather! Ha... ha... On one hand, I like spring because I can start planting my garden. On the other, it's starting to get warm and I just don't function as well in temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius.

And now, fluffy stuff featuring a cast of characters I will never have the privilege of owning...

xxx-xxx

Severus was nervous. He felt like he was going mad, telling his parents he was going around with another boy. His mother had probably caught on, she always was good at things like that. His father on the other hand... Who knew how he would react.

Sirius touched his soulder then, reminding the Slytherin that he was there to support him. Severus let himself smile, tight and uncomfortable, but a smile none the less.

He called his mother to the living room, and turned the telly off so as to have his father's full attention.

"What'd you do that for?" He grumped.

"Hush, dear, Severus has something to tell us," his mum said, taking a seat in her rocking chair just to the left of Tobias' recliner.

"I was in the middle of a football game..."

"Hush."

The man did a double take when he saw Sirius, probably for the first time. "Who's this?" he asked.

"Hush, dear," Mum said again, this time with more authority. She definitely knew what was up. It was strangely nice to see her in the driver's seat instead of the passenger's side for once.

"Well, um, hi Mum, Dad," Severus started. Maybe he should have read a few more books after all.

"Hello, sweetheart," Mum said.

"So, I wanted to tell you both something..." Severus stole a glance at Sirius. The Gryffindor offered a warm smile. He gained a bit of confidence. "You see this man over here?"

"Yeah, who is he anyway?" Tobias asked.

Severus sighed, "this is Sirius Black. He's my, um, boyfriend."

His father furrowed his eyebrows, trying to make sense of it for himself. "You like blokes, son?"

"I like one," Severus explained.

"Right, right..." Tobias muttered. "Are you one of them gays, Severus?"

"Kind of? I'm not really sure." Severus said, "I've been attracted to girls as well."

"So it's a phase."

"Maybe, maybe not."

"Do you plan on living this gay lifestyle shite I seen on the telly?"

"There's a gay lifestyle?" Out of the corner of his eye, Severus caught Sirius muffling a chuckle.

"You know what the Bible says, boy? Homosexuality is a sin. You and your 'boyfriend' are going to go to hell."

Eileen sighed, speaking before Severus' temper flared. " Tobias, dear. When was the last time any of us went to church?"

"I can believe what I want. It's a free country."

Sirius chose this moment to speak, "and Severus can date whomever he wants. It's not your place to say."

"I should have a say... I'm his Pop!"

"This isn't the 1800s, father. It's 1977 for Merlin's sake! This is the digital revolution, times are changing!" Severus stated. "Soon enough muggles will develop cars that fly without magic, is there really time to judge someone based on who they love?"

Severus took a breath, noticing that both his parents and Sirius were looking at him with a mix of confusion and adoration. The adoration was coming mostly from Sirius and his mother. It made him feel less awkward about what he'd just said.

"When you put it that way..." Tobias said, "what's the point of wasting resources like that just to make the world 'magical'? We don't need technology to get things done, just some good old-fashioned work ethic."

It was kind of a success, Severus decided. Knowing his father, he would ignore any notion that his son's sexuality was anything but normal, just like he lived convincing himself that magic didn't exist. It wouldn't make things any easier, but it was better than other possible outcomes.

Xxx-xxx

Lily nearly pounced on Sirius the day they all received their Hogwarts letter. She proudly displayed her Head Girl pin on her shirt, and convinced James to do the same with his Head Boy pin.

To say Sirius was happy when their school lists came by owl was an understatement. Things were increasingly tense in the Evans' household after Eileen told Olive about the boys. Now on top of a possible Death Eater attack, Sirius found himself tiptoeing around Mr. And Mrs. Evans. They tried their best to understand, they really did, but sometimes it just got awkward for all parties involved.

He needed a break, the others did too, he could tell. So, after James made arrangements to meet up with Remus and Peter in Diagon Alley. Since James and Severus both had brooms, and Mr. Evans was using his car that day, they took to the skies.

They headed out during a cloudy period after breakfast. Lily clung to James for dear life, she never was too fond of brooms. Sirius leaned against Severus as the Slytherin guided them through the clouds. The broom was an older model than James', but Severus made up for it with firm control.

"You're pretty good at this, Snape." James said, "why'd you never try out for Quidditch?"

"It would cut into my studies." Severus muttered.

"That sucks, man. School would have been so much better if I could have beat you on the field." James laughed, "it's not too late, you know. We could still make some sweet memories."

For a moment James lost his balance, courtesy of Lily squeezing him tight around the waist. He was quick to regain his balance, only causing Lily to clutch to him closer. James laughed, half choking from lack of air, "We're fine, Lils."

They only ran into one other Wizard on their way south, an Auror who was doing sweeps in Spinners End, who introduced himself as Frank before wishing them a good day. He seemed familiar, but Sirius couldn't quite place him.

They would meet the other two Marauders at Flourish and Blotts after noon and go to lunch afterwards. That gave them about two hours after they landed. Their first stop was, of course, Gringotts. Lily had to exchange her muggle money, and the boys each had to take a sizeable amount from their accounts. Sirius was confusedto find that his mother hadn't yet removed him from the family account. James encouraged him to take more than he needed, just in case. Sirius was tempted, to be sure, but in all honesty he had done nothing to earn any of that money.

After that, the couples went their separate ways. Sirius followed closely behind as Severus went straight for Ollivander's Wand Shop. Their hands brushed, but the Slytherin recoiled slightly and sped up a few paces. Sirius was a bit hurt, but he could understand the situation his boyfriend was in. So he didn't push it.

Sirius decided to wait outside the wand shop, window shopping in the surrounding area to keep busy. He noticed there weren't that many Hogwarts students milling around, but then, letters probably got sent out a week ago or so.

Eventually, Severus joined him outside a sweets shop that boasted homemade fudge.

"What'd you get?" Sirius asked.

"Birch, 14 inches, quite rigid, with a dragon heartstring core," Severus said, revealing the wand and giving it a swish.

"Hm, a bit dark for birch, isn't it?"

"Just a finish," Severus tucked the want into his pocket. "It's more comfortable than my old one, I think.."

"Well, I'd say you're a different person than when you were eleven."

"Not that different."

"Ah, but I don't hate you anymore. Something changed that." Sirius paused before joking, "you're pulling on my heartstrings."

They laughed. His eyes met with Severus' for a second, then they both looked away. The Gryffindor had the sudden inexplicable urge to kiss the young man. Sadly, they were in public, and Severus had only just recoiled from the possibility of holding hands. Kissing was not the best plan of action just yet.

Severus seemed to have other plans though, pulling Sirius into the nearest alleyway and wrapping his arms around Sirius once they were round the back side of the sweets shop. His lips were chapped, the product of flying against the wind currents for a long time, but the kiss was sweet and slow.

When they parted, Sirius couldn't help but point out, "that's the first time you kissed me," in a slightly dazed voice.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm always the one initiating. You kissing me, I think I like it."

"Then I suppose I'll have to do it more often," Severus said.

"You'd better," Sirius growled. His hands found Severus' dark jumper, and he pulled the Slytherin up into another kiss.

Sirius and Severus discreetly joined the mull of fellow shoppers after a few more kisses, both a little flushed and a bit more out of breath as if they'd been running.

"What's next?" Sirius asked.

"Apothecary."

Again, Sirius followed behind his boyfriend at a safe distance. He took the time to admire the Slytherin's backside. He looked fit in clothes that fit him, robes enveloped his body and make him look like a scrawny bat, and Sirius couldn't remember seeing Severus in casual clothes in all the years they had gone to school. He relished the opportunity he had now.

This time he perused through the aisles of fragrant herbs, poked at jars of pickled eyeballs, and cages housing tiny creatures that supplied enchanted spider silk, fairy dust, as well as a tank of inky black fish Sirius could have sworn he'd seen in a book somewhere. The shopkeeper's ginger Tomcat prowled along a shelf above Sirius, carefully watching for him a few minutes before their eyes met. The cat hissed and ran off in search of a snack.

Sirius found Severus in the back of the shop, pouring over a dusty old potions book that looked like it had sat on the clearance shelf since 1207.

"Got everything?" Sirius asked.

"Almost," Severus muttered. "Just a moment..."

Sirius hummed and took to stretching his arms. He trailed a finger across a nearby shelf, checking for dust, before finding the back pocket of Severus' trousers and slipping inside. He peered over the other boy's shoulder, and Severus tensed considerably. "Is it that interesting?"

Severus cleared his throat and nodded. He carefully closed the book and placed it back on the shelf. "Black, kindly remove your hand from my arse."

Sirius did as he was told, bringing his hand to his chest in mock hurt at the use of his last name. "C'mon," he said. "If we go now, we'll be just in time to meet up with the others."

"Yes, alright."

Severus purchased his things, and as Sirius predicted, they strolled up to Flourish and Blotts just after Remus and Peter, and only seconds before James and Lily.

"What'cha doing here Snivellous?" Peter asked with a snicker.

"Right, you're the only one who doesn't know, aren't you, Pettigrew. Always the last to know," Severus droned.

"What are you on about, snake," the short boy snapped, reaching into his robes for his wand.

"Chill out, Wormtail." James said, "we're cool."

"Really, are you sure you aren't brainwashed?"

James turned to the Slytherin, "are you brainwashing us?"

"If anyone is, it's probably Sirius."

"That's a 'no' then."

Peter narrowed his eyes. "I still don't trust him. Why are we cool with him being here?"

Sirius took the opportunity to clear his throat. "Remember how I'm gay?"

Peter nodded, eyes narrowing. "Right, and you still wouldn't take me up on my offer."

Sirius waited for a moment to see if it would click for the dirty blond. When it didn't, he briefly took Severus' hand, who gave him a little squeeze. "Dating?" Sirius offered, "we're dating."

"Oh!" Peter said. "Wait, he's gay? Snivellous, I thought you were busy drooling over Evans."

Severus shifted awkwardly. "Yes, well. I wouldn't say I ever drooled over Lily... I am seeing a man now, so I am at least a bit..."

"Right, okay. I think I get it," Peter nodded.

James yawned, draping an arm around Lily's shoulders. "Well that's all the important people, let's go get this over with so we can eat."

"Agreed."

Xxx-xxx

Just wanted to mention that I have a poll up on my profile where you can vote on what I'm going to write once I finish Summer Love, and it will continue to be open until I'm done this story.

In other news, camp NaNo is going pretty good, which is why I have a new chapter for you to read. Let's all hope I continue like this...