A/N: Sorry for the delay on this chapter – I had forgotten it needed a bit of rework to fit the M-rating. If you want the original, E-rated version go to AO3 (When in doubt: Sustain - Chapter 21 - LovelyMasks - Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling [Archive of Our Own]).

The only thing I will warn for here is cringy pillow talk! They are both massive dorks 3


Surrey, May 17, 2020

The first thing Remus registered was that he was extremely comfortable. Lying on his side, he felt like he was floating on a cloud, engulfed in a pleasant warmth. He fought to stay in the enjoyable dream he was having but soon lost interest as his brain started to wake up; reality was far better. Warm breath was ghosting over his neck and soft lips grazed his shoulder, rough beard tickling his skin wherever they went. Nimble fingers trailed down his side, his hip, his thigh before continuing up along his spine, around his body, to his chest and his stomach. The body behind him drew closer, warm, solid, and insistent.

"Sirius…" he whispered, his voice gruff from sleep.

"Mhmm, good morning sleepy-head. Glad you're finally awake." Sirius placed a soft kiss on his earlobe.

Remus yawned. "You woke me from a very pleasant dream."

"Was I in it, hmm?" Sirius was now sucking his neck.

"No." Remus exhaled and stretched. "I think it was Prince Harry."

"My deepest apologies, then. Allow me to make it up to you?" Sirius's hand travelled south, teasing just below his navel.

"You're on the right track…" Remus responded with a sigh and wriggled his hips.

This made Sirius grind harder against him. "You're so fucking gorgeous, you know that?"

Remus choked on his response as Sirius gripped him tightly and bit down on his neck.

"Good God…."

"Listen to you—already taking The Lord's name in vain." Sirius tutted. "Want to see how many commandments we can violate before breakfast?"

"Fuck breakfast—let's just stay here all day…" Remus said, writhing under Sirius's touch.

"Profanity and indolence. We're off to a good start."

"I don't think those are actual commandments."

"Hey, what do I know—they kicked me out of Sunday school." Sirius sniggered. "But tell me, Professor… what about coveting thy neighbour's goods?"

"Oh, a one-way ticket downstairs for sure," Remus said, gasping as Sirius's hand—rough and calloused and warm and every bit as talented as he had imagined when he first saw him play guitar—demonstrated exactly what he meant. "And on a Sabbath no less…."

He twisted his head around, pulling Sirius in for a deep kiss, as their bodies sought pleasure in each other. When the strain on his neck became too much, he reluctantly broke their kiss and turned back around. Sirius took this as a chance to attack his neck instead, pulling at his hair to gain better access.

"Is this what you were dreaming about?" Sirius muttered in his ear, husky voice driving Remus crazy.

"Can't seem to remember anymore…."

.

If this was the road to hell, Remus would gladly sign up. Waking up next to Sirius was fast becoming addictive. Which was a problem since Sirius was leaving early tomorrow. But right now, his brain was pleasantly wiped of such thoughts, wrapped up in Sirius, sheets and sweaty limbs all in a tangle, breaths slowly returning to normal. It was several minutes before Remus finally managed to muster the energy to turn and face Sirius. His curls looked wild, and he was looking at him through hooded lids, a contented smile on his face.

"Good morning." Sirius grinned.

"Indeed." Remus laughed and stroked a wayward curl out of his face. Sirius leant over for a kiss, making it long and languid.

When they broke apart, Sirius's face had drawn into a thoughtful frown.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked.

"I don't know, I…." Sirius sighed and ran a thumb over Remus's jawline, "…just feeling a bit sad that I'm leaving tomorrow, I guess…."

"Yeah, me too."

"It's rotten timing, really. I'm just getting to know you."

"I know…" Remus traced the tattoo on Sirius's chest.

"Would you… I mean if I—"

The sound of the door springing open made them jump apart and Remus scrambled to cover himself with the sheets, almost tumbling over the edge of the bed in the process.

"Sirius, do you still have my red Ibanez? I wanna bring it to Eu—" James stopped midsentence as he looked up and saw that Sirius wasn't alone in the bed "—rope…."

"Prongs, what the fuck!" Sirius exclaimed, sitting up.

A smile widened on James's face as he recognised Remus.

"Oh, hiya, Remus—It's good to see you again," he greeted, sharpening his enunciation for each word, and lifting his right eyebrow as he switched his gaze from Remus to Sirius.

"Erm, hi, James, yeah. You too…" Remus said with an awkward little wave, struggling to sit up while clutching the sheets to his chest to cover his scars.

"James, what are you doing here?" Sirius said, obviously annoyed. He hadn't made any effort to cover himself up, but neither he nor James seemed particularly bothered about it.

"You weren't answering your phone." James shrugged, still grinning from ear to ear.

"So you thought you'd just barge into my bedroom on a Sunday morning?"

"Well, I didn't know you had company, did I?" James said, not looking the least bit sorry. "Listen, Remus, now that I have you—do you think I could get Lily's number?"

"Prongs, get the fuck out!" Sirius threw a pillow at him.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," James said, backing out of the room. "I'll let you think about it, yeah?" He shot Remus a wink just before closing the door. "I still need that Ibanez though…" they heard him say from the other side.

"It's in the kitchen, you blind wanker!"

Sirius flopped back down on the mattress when they heard James descending the stairs. He rubbed his face and groaned. "Sorry about that. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Remus muttered, not pleased with the pitch his voice was taking. "Does he, erm… do this a lot?"

Sirius snorted wryly. "James and I practically lived together from age eleven, and his place is just down the road now. We've never really had a lot of boundaries, y'know? But I may need to have a chat with him about the purpose of him having a key to my house," he added in a tone that didn't bode well for James.

"He didn't seem too surprised to find me here, though," Remus said, quirking an eyebrow. "I thought you said people didn't know you like men?"

"James is not people," Sirius said curtly, now swinging his legs out of bed. "He's known for as long as I have. Hell, probably longer. He's cool with it."

Remus put his feet on the floor too and asked, "But the twins… and Peter… they don't know?"

Sirius didn't look at him when he answered, focused instead on riffling through their discarded clothes on the floor. "No, and I don't want them to."

"Why not?"

"Listen, Remus, can we not do this right now?" Sirius said, having now located his pants and started to pull them on.

"Alright," Remus said in a clipped tone, regretting the loss of the nice atmosphere between them, not two minutes ago. He wanted to pursue the subject but sensed that it would be a lost cause. He sighed and started to look for his own pants.

.

Fifteen minutes later, Remus had finished taking a shower and made his way downstairs. Voices came from the kitchen; James must not have left yet. His socks didn't make any noise on the soft carpet as he walked closer, so he couldn't help but catch Sirius's words, "—ever since I returned from California. It's getting old." He still sounded annoyed.

"I just wanna make sure you're up for this. That your head's in the right place."

"I don't know what to tell you, James. You're reading too much into this."

Remus paused. This didn't sound like something he should be overhearing, but he was afraid he would give himself away if he turned back now.

"Am I?" James asked.

"Look, I don't know, alright? I don't know anything right now, so let's just—"

Remus cleared his throat when he reached the doorway. Sirius whipped his head around.

"Sorry, am I interrupting?" Remus said, looking between the two band mates.

"Not at all—James was just leaving," Sirius said, shooting James a pointed look. James gave a look back and for a while they just stood there staring at each other, but Remus got the impression that an entire conversation was still taking place.

Eventually, James averted his eyes and sighed. "Alright, I'll pick you up at half four, make sure you set an alarm."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yes, Mum."

James held up his hand to Remus. "Good to see you again, mate."

Remus slapped his palm to it and grasped it firmly. "You too," he said, glad his voice sounded normal this time.

"Really good," James added and patted the back of his hand. "Send my love to Lily," he added with a wink.

Remus laughed. "I'll try."

"Oh, and you need to call Pete and Doc," James said, letting go of Remus and pointing at Sirius, "and Sonny wants your final list before noon."

"I know, Prongs, I've got it handled," Sirius said in an overbearing tone, stuffing his hands into his pockets and leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Great," James said, though he didn't look entirely convinced. "See you later, then." He turned to leave.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Sirius asked when James had reached the hallway.

"Hmm?" James said, turning back.

Sirius just nodded his head at a guitar case sitting next to the kitchen island.

"Oh, right," James said and walked back, hoisting up the case presumably containing the thing he'd come for.

"See you, Jamie," Sirius said with a cold smirk as James exited the kitchen again. When they heard the front door close, the smile disappeared from Sirius's face and his shoulders sagged.

"Sorry about him." He grimaced and made a vague gesture in the direction James had just left.

"Hey, not a problem," Remus said. In truth, he was rather amused by the whole thing (once he'd got dressed, that was), but it was probably wisest not to tell Sirius this. "Are you alright?" he asked instead.

"Can we… can we start this day over?" Sirius walked up to him and trailed his fingers down his side. "I seem to recall we had a good thing going, before we were so rudely interrupted."

"Hmm, let me see if I remember…" Remus said, and buried his hands in Sirius's curls. He backed him up against the counter and pulled him in for a kiss. They were just starting to get into it when they were once again interrupted, this time by Sirius's mobile going off.

"Jesus Christ, what is it with everyone today?" Sirius groaned and checked the caller ID before declining the call.

"Maybe I should get going—sounds like you've got a lot on your plate today," Remus said stepping away.

Sirius didn't respond immediately; he just rubbed his face, looking exhausted.

"Listen I…. Do you fancy a walk, maybe? Snuffles needs some air, and we can grab some coffee and breakfast in the park?"

"Do you have time for that?"

He smiled and switched off his phone. "Yes, I do."

.

A short while later, Snuffles was leading them down the sleepy suburban road, eagerly pulling on his leash. Remus was keeping a close eye on the dog at all times and made sure to stay half a step behind Sirius. Why had he agreed to this? He had so far avoided interacting with the animal, even though he'd spent a lot of time at Sirius's house since Wednesday. Sirius had taken Snuffles out on short runs in the mornings and let him roam in the big garden the rest of the time, feeding him outside or in his room. But time with Sirius was running out, so Remus put on a brave face and quashed his instincts to run far away from the massive beast.

Apparently, he wasn't very successful.

"What is it with you and dogs?" Sirius asked, regarding Remus curiously.

"Erm… we just haven't got the greatest track record."

"Did a dog give you any of those scars?" Sirius asked softly, gesturing at his body.

"Some of them." Remus swallowed. He could feel the heat creeping up his neck along with a prickling feeling down his back.

"Shit." Sirius grabbed his arm and stopped him in his tracks. "I'm sorry. It's okay. I mean—it's not okay, obviously, it's awful—but I get it…. We can turn back if you want to?"

"No, it's fine." Remus smiled weakly. "I want to work on it—I am working on it. It's just that Snuffles is quite…."

"Big?" Sirius suggested with a chuckle. "Don't let that fool you, he'd never harm so much as a hair on a fly."

"Hmm, only 'cause he lacks the necessary fine motor skills…" Remus complained, but he forced his lips into a smile.

"Fair enough," Sirius laughed. "But he's very well behaved. Look—Snuffles, heel!" he called, and Snuffles immediately paused in his sniffing of a lamppost and trotted back to them. Remus took an instinctive step backwards.

"Sit," Sirius commanded once the dog was standing in front of him. "Good boy," he praised when it obeyed. "Now, down." He snapped his fingers and pointed at the ground. Snuffles lay down at his feet, sweeping the pavement with his tail. "Good, now stay," he instructed and held up a hand. Snuffles gave a soft sound and looked up at his master with attentive eyes.

Sirius took Remus by the elbow and guided him to start walking. Remus kept glancing over his shoulder, but the dog remained in place, still wagging his big, brushy tail. When they had walked as far as the leash would allow, Sirius gave a short whistle and Snuffles bounded back to him, throwing his face into his waiting hands and got his ears ruffled.

"Good boy, Snuffles, good boy." Sirius fished a treat out of his pocket and tossed it high in the air, where Snuffles caught it expertly and wolfed it down. "Alright, run along now." Sirius waved ahead and Snuffles resumed his inspection of the local light sources.

"See? If you feel unsafe, just let me know, and I'll call him to me."

Remus took a deep breath. "Yeah, okay," he said and fell into step beside Sirius. "I'll try to remember that."

.

When they reached the park, they bought coffee and croissants from a cart and sat down on a bench to eat while Snuffles roamed free. The park was fairly busy with people jogging, playing, strolling, or walking their dogs. Occasionally someone would stop and greet Sirius, but most people didn't pay them any mind. Judging by their expensive track suits and well-groomed dogs, most of them probably had no clue who Sirius was, and if they looked at him, it was only because he stood out with his long hair and multitude of tattoos.

"Looking forward to touring?" Remus asked as they sat watching Snuffles play with a German shepherd he'd met.

"Yeah," Sirius said after mulling over his answer. "It's what I do. It's where I belong. I mean—look at this place…!" He snorted and gestured around them. "I never know quite what to do with myself when I'm back here."

Remus wondered yet again why Sirius had chosen to live in a place like this; it seemed so far removed from everything else in his life. But after spending a couple of days at his house, he was beginning to think that it was just a sort of pitstop for him. A place to store himself while he waited for the touring to begin.

And perhaps Remus was just a pitstop as well….

"It must be exciting—travelling to all these new places all the time," Remus said, forcing a smile onto his face.

"It's alright. Though, these days we hardly get to see anything besides the greenroom and the hotel—a petrol station, if we're lucky—before we're on to the next place," Sirius said, resting his elbows on the back of the bench and stretching out his legs. "The press part of touring is really tiresome, but it's becoming bigger and bigger every time. I sometimes wish we could go back to the old days, y'know? Things were less… complicated."

"How so?"

"Back then, we were just four lads and a van. Plus Peter, of course. We were in our own little bubble, not caring what anyone else thought. It was a different energy…." He studied Snuffles who had now found a good branch to gnaw on and was trying to defend it from the shepherd.

"But maybe I'm just glorifying it," he added and sent Remus an apologetic smile. "I certainly don't miss the constant hustling, getting screwed over by labels and venue owners, playing shows for five people throwing beer bottles at you, or sleeping in a car park with nothing but a cereal bar and a bowl of ibuprofen for breakfast."

"Sounds lovely."

"Quite." Sirius smiled. "Talking to a few airheaded journalists is the price we pay to avoid all that, I suppose, so I don't actually mind. Just need to remind myself of that fact sometimes." He snorted and took a sip of his coffee.

Remus hummed his agreement, and they sat in comfortable silence for a while, chewing their pastry and drinking their coffee.

"Hey, erm," Sirius began and took a quick look around. He lowered his voice and leant closer to Remus. "I meant what I said this morning…. As much as I love touring, leaving feels a little harder this time around." He placed his hand on the bench next to Remus's.

"Yeah?" Remus looked up, heart rate increasing.

"Yeah." Sirius shrugged. "But, like, if you want to, we could… stay in touch?" he said, studying the space between their hands intently.

Their eyes met briefly, and Remus had to suck in air to steady himself.

"I'd like that."

He wanted to reach out and touch Sirius, to ease some of the tension he saw there, to erase those doubts, but he knew he couldn't. Not out here. So, he released his breath and leant back.

"So, tell me—is touring as wild as they say?" he asked. "I'm imagining trashed hotel rooms, TVs out the windows, sniffing coke off a groupie's tits, throwing tantrums cos someone's served you brown M&M's—feel free to stop me if I'm completely off the mark here!"

"God." Sirius snorted and threw his head back, closing his eyes. "Will you promise not to hold it against me if I tell you I've done at least half those things?" He opened one eye to look at Remus, squinting in the bright sunlight.

"I don't even want to know which ones…." Remus laughed and shook his head.

"A wise choice." Sirius winked. "But, you know, that whole crawling-naked-through-hotel-corridors thing—like, we've been there, but we don't do that so much anymore."

"Good to know." Remus smiled.


A/N: Is there hope for Remus and Snuffles? And will James get Lily's number? Will Sirius forget all about Remus once the tour kicks off? Let me know your thoughts!

Thank you all for reading and thanks to Lars Ulrich for providing that last line of Sirius's (my translation).