The door clicked quietly as it swung shut behind Arthur.
Arthur Weasley. He'd been the only one keeping the ebbing awkwardness in the room at bay.
Now they were all alone. For the first time since that day, they were alone.
Remus gulped, flitting his gaze to the heavy grandfather clock on the other side of the dining room, pointedly avoiding Sirius's direction. Sirius. Gods, he knew he could never look away if he let himself take the man in fully. Sirius was more rugged than he'd ever been. His long black hair was a looser curl now, and peppered with white strands that made him look older than he ought to. Remus felt a stabbing pain in his stomach at that detail.
"Moony-", Sirius blurted out, capturing Remus' attention. "You- um.. did you you, uh.. see that...", his voice trailed off to a mumble.
An uncomfortable -but not unfamiliar- silence fell across the room. It felt like the itchy collar of a jumper that begs to be taken off, or the pinch of an unbroken shoe. Sirius shifted tensely in the small oak chair he was perched on, and Remus found himself suddenly very interested in the travel magazine to his left. It was, to his horror, in Spanish- but he persevered in pretending to read it.
Sirius took in the mess of a man in front of him. Moon- Remus was less gangly than he remembered, with shorter hair and more silvery scars snaking up his throat. Sirius shivered. Soon, he began to notice smaller details- the small tear in the cartilage of his left ear, the ring of amber around his hazel eyes, the familiar rythm his fingers tapped out as he fidgeted -dum, du du du dum-. He felt a small smile creep across his weary visage, for the first time in too long.
This time, when Remus looked up from his Spanish language travel pamphlet, he was forced to meet Sirius' eyes. Gods those eyes. Deep wells of dark brown that beckoned him in like a Siren song. And, frankly, he wanted to listen. After all these years of nightmares, mourning alone, and regrets, Remus Lupin was getting desperate. Because, well, when you love someone with your whole heart, your entire being, your very soul, it's not easy to let them go.
"Pads I-"
"Moony-, no you first."
Remus bit his lip anxiously, fighting to keep his cool. "I- well, y'know. It's been so long, and I just-" Remus babbled out, evidently struggling to find the right words.
"I know. I know, Moony." Sirius looked up at his lover (one might have said ex-lover in a case less extraordinary than their's) with as little trepidation as he could manage.
Then, as if an invisible string had snapped, the tense energy in the room melted away, replaced by a comforting warmth. A tender exchange of small affirmations and fleeting touches melted into one, as their lips were seized in a kiss.
A kiss that tried to make up for 12 and half empty years.