Past - In the previous chapter, Remus goes to Hogsmeade with Caleb and Sirius gets a bike from his girlfriend of the time... Enjoy ^ ^

Midnight of the 13th of February. Tomorrow would be Valentine's Day. And I would most likely spend it alone like I'd done every other day for the past month. Though it'd given me time to prepare the most romantic present I could muster, hopefully one that might call him back to my ailing arms.

I slid the card and the rose out from under my bed, smiling down at the delicate glow of the petals. It may have not looked like much during the day, but it was a truly remarkable plant, blooming only once every 16 years, each thorn laced with a reasonable amount of poison and each flower said to cure even the worst of maladies. I knew that if it worked, well, there would no longer be a single reason for him to agree to see me, and one of the things that made him who he was, made him so beautiful, would be destroyed. But that was a sacrifice I was willing to make. This was for his happiness, not mine.

I stood up and staggered across the room, still somewhat under the effects of every time I'd been scratched and attacked by the bitch of a plant while trying to steal it from Herbology and remove the spikes afterwards, towards Remus' bed.

Ok, I was just going to leave it on his trunk and go back, right? I'd just put it down and make nothing of it... ok, maybe just a little peep wouldn't hurt, I mean it'd been a while and he'd probably have it charmed and shut off anyway... no harm done...

I slinked through the darkness, trying to make as little noise as possible, stretching an arm, grabbing at the black, in search of the hanging cloth, before I came stumbling onto his mattress and over his sleeping body. A quiet groan escaped his lips, but he didn't rouse, leaving me on top of him, in contact with his delicate skin, so soft, smooth, I wanted to feel all of it, touch it, kiss his wonderful imperfections. My mind was set, the flood gates of every urge I'd ever had, any stirring, feeling, impulse that pulsed through my veins. There was no going back. This was almost the first time I'd made skin on skin contact with him in nearly a year... and... Well, I hadn't felt more alive.

I scrambled up to sit over him, looking down on the pale white of his skin, hands perched lightly on his shoulders. He was thinner than I'd remembered him, his ribcage faintly protruding in little ruts from his flesh, like rows of earth fresh for planting seeds, but still with the undying warmth radiating at the touch, a quaint souvenir of all the long nights, all the glowing mornings, all the happy days.

I sat for a moment, just watching, feeling his heat, listening to the quiet labouring of his lungs in the silence. He may have looked dead, eyes firmly shut, body sprawled limply across the covers, but his face sparkled with life, flicking through reams of emotion, destroying the stoic facade he put on for people he didn't know and now, since our drifting, me. I move my hand, placing a thumb on his bottom lip and parting the two folds of tender, rose flesh, savouring the sensation on the tips.

"Remus, are you awake?" I whispered rather pointlessly – if he was, he would have thrown me off him ages ago, but I had to be sure.

My fingers slid into his hair, locking perfectly, or perfectly enough for me, losing themselves in the golden silk that spayed across his pillow case. I leaned in closer, stealing one gentle breath from the air around his head, the air he breathed, before joining our faces in a crushing frenzy. His lips were plump, fresh, lined with the age old taste, the taste of passion, love, beauty, unconditional loyalty and exceptional kindness. A lazy muscle in his face, twitched, slowly springing itself to life against the movement of mine. My near whole hoped that there was meaning in the movement, but the cruel realist within me stuck whispering to my ear of the subconscious mind.

"Si... Sirius... why are you here?" Remus mumbled, dreamily, yet coherent enough for my body to switch to a panic mode.

I thumped the card and the present on his chest and leapt back into my bed. Merlin, please say I wasn't getting a scolding when I woke up.

X

"Oi, Padfoot, wake up!"

I grunted and handed over the note I'd given Moony every Tuesday morning for almost a year, which, if I recall correctly, said: To Remus, by no means am I coming to Potions, I quit, Sluggers creeps the shit out of me. If our last teacher comes back, maybe, goodbye, I need sleep. Love Sirius x

"Oi, stinky, I'm not asking you to go to potions." Growled a pissed off sounded voice.

My head turned, eyes opening slowly to an unhappy James. "What do you want?"

"Oh, I was only flicking through my text book today, page 274, as the professor asked, and a nice lacy pink thong jumped out onto my lap. And. Well it isn't Lily's so I think it belongs to you." He hissed throwing it at my face. "And, Sirius, get a grip, its Valentine's Day, would Remus really go out of his way to wake you up when every time he has before you've effectively told him to fuck off? Besides, he has a boyfriend, I'm sure he'd rather be with him than an ex that hasn't saved and sleeps naked. If I were him, I'd be a bit cau-"

I shot upright. "He has a boyfriend? Since when? Who?"

"Yes, isn't that what I just said? Caleb Brown, since Hogsmeade. You know, the floppy haired twat, Captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. " He huffed, voice lathered with irritation.

"No! Not Kaaleeb! Daddy does not approve!"

"... That makes me Mummy, right?"

My mouth stretched into what was supposed to be a grin, but turned out more like some kind of face Hanibal Lector would pull.

"I don't know what sort of creepy games you and Remus have played in the past, but I'd rather that you didn't refer to yourself as 'Daddy' around me ever again."

"Oh, come on Jammie, you know you like it." I smirked, standing and slumping an arm around his shoulders. "Anyway, we need to devise a rainbow of pranks to perform on the lump of nobb cheese as a sort of admission trial, see if he's good enough to have Daddy's little Remus."

He pinched the arc of his nose and gave me a strenuous look. "I will when you put some clothes on and shut up."

X

"Well, this is... awkward..." Wormtail muttered, as he rolled around on the floor, trying to 'break the ice' I assume, by rolling all over it... though I guess he hadn't learnt that the stop-drop-and-roll technique only worked on fires.

"So, Kaaleeb, I guess this is why you ditched your little brother last Hogsmeade visit. Are you normally this heartless, or do you only save it for special occasions?" I jeered. For Merlin's sake, Remus could do better than this cock hole.

He gave out a hearty laugh and shook his head. "You really are a funny one, Black. I would almost be able to understand why Remus dated you if where half as arrogant. More to the point, I didn't really need to go, we were only discussing what birthday present to get his dad, so in some respects it didn't even have anything to do with me."

Yes, so much better.

"You're a fine one to talk so I'd rather you didn't insult my best friend." James sneered, looking like he was about to jump the guy and rip his ears off with his teeth. "Anyway, Kaaleeb, you prepared for our Quidditch match, Saturday? Sure you won't get a bit over yourself and knock yourself off the broom with your own bat?"

"Definite, though I might knock you off with it."

"You're a nasty piece of work, you know that..." I heaved. "Are you sure you're just not a Slytherin who's uniform got sun bleached?"

Remus walked back into the room, grinning, holding five Butter Beers in his arms. "Sorry it took me so long, but I had to get them out of my stash without anybody seeing me. Have you lot been getting along while I was gone?"

Kaaleeb beamed upwards and took a bottle. "Yes, thanks, we were just discussing the Quidditch this weekend, weren't we boys?"

I leant into James. "This man is like an abusive stepdad."

"You think I haven't noticed?"

"I still have the thorns from that flower, do you wanna sneak them in his drink while he's snogging Rems?" I muttered from the side of my mouth, producing a small bag and slipping it to James like it were some kind of drug. "Do your job well, Mummy..."

"As you wish, Daddy..."

Unfortunately, we didn't manage to kill the bastard or even knock him out for any considerable amount of time.

I'd forgotten James was the king of subtly.