James slammed his head onto the table with a loud thud.
“James, that’s not going to solve anything,” Lily said without looking up from her Transfiguration textbook.
“I am at my breaking point, Evans.” James lifted his head just enough to glare at her. “My breaking point.”
Peter, who had long since learned to tune out James’ dramatics, moved his knight across the chessboard and watched one of his pawns explode. “This about Sirius and Remus again?”
James gestured wildly toward the far side of the library, where Sirius Black was perched on the arm of a chair, glaring daggers at the fireplace. More specifically, at the person next to the fireplace—Remus Lupin, who was sitting far too close to some Ravenclaw bloke whose name James didn’t care to remember.
“I mean, look at him,” James hissed. “Brooding. Seething. Literally vibrating with jealousy. You’d think Moony was planning to elope with that bloke and leave him heartbroken at the altar.”
Lily sighed. “They’ve been doing this for years.”
“And we have suffered for years.” James threw his hands up. “One of them is going to snap. Either Remus is going to lose his temper and hex Sirius into next week, or Sirius is going to do something reckless and self-destructive—”
Peter cleared his throat. “Uh, he’s already doing something reckless.”
James followed his gaze.
Sirius was on his feet, striding toward the fireplace with all the murderous intent of a vengeful spirit.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” James muttered. “Intervention time.”
Later That Night – Gryffindor Boys’ Dormitory
Sirius should have known something was off the second he walked in.
Remus was already inside, standing near his bed, arms crossed. That was the first sign.
The second was the door slamming shut behind him, followed by James’ voice from the other side.
“You’re not coming out until you sort yourselves out!”
Sirius lunged for the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. “Potter!”
“Sleep tight!”
There was the sound of footsteps retreating, a muttered finally from Peter, and then silence.
Sirius turned.
Remus was watching him with an unreadable expression, golden eyes narrowed. “Well,” he said flatly. “This is mature.”
Sirius huffed and crossed the room, flopping onto his bed. “James is an arse.”
Remus hummed noncommittally, clearly not disagreeing. He was still standing, arms crossed tightly, expression guarded.
Sirius couldn’t help himself. “So.”
Remus arched a brow. “So?”
Sirius forced nonchalance, even as something tight coiled in his chest. “How’s your new friend?”
Remus blinked. “Who?”
Sirius scoffed. “Oh, don’t act like you don’t know who I’m talking about.”
Something flickered across Remus’ face, but he just shrugged. “If you mean Martin Goldstein, he’s fine. We were discussing Charms.”
Sirius clenched his jaw. “Didn’t look like just Charms.”
Remus let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “Oh, I’m sorry—did I violate some unspoken rule of yours? Am I not allowed to talk to people now?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?” Remus pressed, stepping closer. “Because from where I’m standing, you have absolutely no right to be upset.”
Sirius narrowed his eyes. “I don’t like the way he was looking at you.”
Remus exhaled sharply, rubbing a hand over his face. “Sirius, do you even hear yourself?”
Sirius bristled. “I’m just saying—”
“No,” Remus snapped, cutting him off. “You don’t get to just say things like that. Not when you’ve spent the last three years draping yourself over everyone—flirting with anything that breathes—”
“That’s different,” Sirius muttered.
Remus scoffed. “Oh, is it? Do tell me how, because I’d love to understand your twisted logic.”
Sirius hesitated. His hands clenched into fists at his sides. “Because you’re mine.”
Silence.
Remus went very, very still. His expression didn’t change, but his shoulders tensed, his fingers twitched.
“…Excuse me?”
Sirius swallowed hard. “I said—”
“No, I heard you.” Remus’ voice was quieter now, but it carried weight. “I just want to make sure I’m not hallucinating. Because if you genuinely believe that, then you have a funny way of showing it.”
Sirius’ heart pounded. “Moons—”
Remus shook his head, stepping back. “Don’t.”
Panic clawed at Sirius’s throat. He stood abruptly, crossing the distance between them. “Remus, I—”
“No.” Remus’s voice was sharp. “You don’t get to act like this. You don’t get to claim me when it suits you and then pretend it doesn’t matter the rest of the time.”
Sirius flinched. “That’s not fair—”
“Oh, it’s not fair?” Remus let out a sharp bitter laugh. “What’s not fair is watching you be with everyone except me. What’s not fair is being treated like I belong to you while you refuse to do anything about it.”
Sirius’ mouth opened and closed, words failing him.
Remus exhaled, shaking his head. “You can’t have it both ways, Sirius.”
Sirius’ chest was tight, his mind racing. He had always been reckless, always led with impulse, but he had never—never—been reckless with this.
With Remus.
Because if he lost this, he lost everything.
But now, faced with the possibility that he might have already lost it, something in him snapped.
Sirius reached out, fingers curling around the front of Remus’ jumper, tugging him closer. “You are mine,” he said, voice rough. “And I’m yours.”
Remus inhaled sharply. “Then act like it.”
Sirius kissed him.
It wasn’t soft or slow—it was a clash of teeth and lips, desperate and wild. Remus made a startled noise, then melted into him, grabbing the back of Sirius’s neck and pulling him even closer.
Years of frustration, of tension, of unsaid things—everything—poured into the space between them.
When they finally broke apart, both panting, Sirius rested his forehead against Remus’. “We’re idiots,” he muttered.
Remus let out a breathless laugh. “Yeah.”
A loud cheer erupted from outside the door.
“FINALLY!” James’s voice.
Lily’s voice: “Told you it would work.”
Peter’s voice: “Can I please go to bed now?”
Sirius groaned, pressing his face into Remus’ shoulder. “I hate them.”
Remus laughed, fingers threading through Sirius’ hair. “Yeah, but at least now they won’t have to suffer through our tragic nonsense anymore.”
Sirius smirked. “Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
Remus kissed him again, and Sirius decided that maybe, he didn’t mind being insufferable—as long as it meant he got to keep this. Now this one.