The Lupin Code of Conduct

The door to Remus’ study opens suddenly, with a loud bang, and two other werewolves barge inside, dragging a stranger with them.

“We didn’t find Mulciber,” Dorcas announces.

“But we do have this little Animagus for you,” Marlene adds and pushes the young man to the front, but keeps her wand pointed at him.

“Not so little,” the guy grumbles, clearly more bothered than scared. He’s skinny but not short, with oversized clothes and unruly black hair that reaches his shoulders. 

Remus gets up from his chair and walks over the desk to lean back on it and study the scene from up close. This is… unexpected. “What happened?”

“He was in the flat,” Dorcas elaborates and throws something to Remus. He catches it easily and it turns out to be the stranger’s wand. “ Bastard turned into a dog and tried to flee as soon as we appeared.”

“Well, it’s not like you politely knocked, eh?” The guy comments again, this time looking around, most likely trying to calculate the best escape route. Still not scared.

The more Remus observes him, the more convinced he is that this person is used to being in dangerous situations. That’s not a good sign.

The only reason wizarding London isn’t overrun by rogue werewolves is because the scariest one of them all has a very strict moral code and he personally makes sure that everybody else follows it as well. It’s not an easy job to run a group of cursed shape-shifters, but Remus Lupin is committed to it.

No werewolf listened to him at first, when he came to the city – in his early twenties, calm, tall, strong but not insanely jacked and sounding like a scholar. But they’ve learned pretty fast that because of being turned at a very young age, he has a rare ability to sometimes communicate with his wolf during the full moon. Then they learned his wolf is the scariest fucking thing London has seen in a long time. Then they’ve learned he’s a skilled wizard, too. And so now many werewolves hate him, but only few dare to defy him.

Mulciber dared to break the Werewolf Code of Conduct, which is why Remus sent people after him, but they brought something different instead.

“What's your name?” he asks calmly, observing the stranger closely. There’s a raw beauty under all that… chaos and it’s hard to miss.

Finally, the guy focuses his gaze on Remus. His face shows a clear lack of trust. “Sirius Black,” he answers in a slightly offended tone. “What’s yours, hm?”

“Remus Lupin.”

“Wait…” Intrigue flashes in Black’s grey eyes. “Aren’t you that big, scary wolf of London?” Once again, there’s no trace of fear. He sounds almost… amused. “Shit, I thought you’d be older, mate.”

The way he says it makes it sound like Remus is a kid, which – he’s not. He straightens his back slightly and points out patiently, “I’m twenty eight.” It sounds only slightly defensive.

“Yeah, well, I’m twenty six,” Black shoots back, suggesting the number really is not impressive at all. 

“You look younger,” Remus comments because it’s true, but also to get back at him a little bit. The guy’s behavior is… interesting.

Black scoffs. “Okay, cool. This is a stupid conversation. Can I go? I'm not really into stupid, ya know?”

Dorcas rolls her eyes. “Aren’t you a little comedian…”

“What are you into, then?” Remus asks instead, playing the part. He has both time and patience to see where this will go and anyway, banter might be a good way to start getting information out of the guy. They did find him in Mulciber’s flat, after all. 

“Being free,” Sirius answers immediately with a note of sarcasm. “Being let go, released… Now, that would be hot.”

Remus smiles openly this time. “You’re amusing.”

Black’s eyebrows furrow and he looks a bit confused by the fact that Lupin isn’t getting pissed off. “Or you’re just easily amused,” he suggest.

“Trust me, he’s not,” Marlene jumps in with a huff.

Sirius is getting more and more confused by these werewolves. They seem way too chill to be kidnapping people. “Okay, whatever.” He looks around again. “Can I go now? I don’t think your law concerns me much, yeah? I’m a different kind of shape-shifter.”

Lupin ignores his comment completely. “What were you doing in Wulfric Mulciber’s flat?” he asks, still holding Sirius’ wand. 

He’s odd, that Lupin guy. He doesn’t look very intimidating, save from the scars on his face, maybe, and his tone is very polite. So is his behaviour. And yet, there’s something in the air around him, a tension of sorts which suggests there’s more under that layer of kindness. There must be, right? He got every werewolf in London to listen to him, somehow, and they are not known for their obedience.

Whatever the secret is, it’s in the room with them and that’s what makes Sirius decide lying might not be a good idea. He’s bold, not dumb.

“Well, to be perfectly honest with you… I was mostly there for weed.”

“Oh, lord ,” Dorcas sighs dramatically, clearly done with this.

“You were buying it from Mulciber?” Remus presses for details. “Was he in the flat as well?”

“Well, no. To both of those questions.” Sirius sighs and pushes his hands into the pockets of his baggy, black pants. “Listen, dude, that guy is like… a friend of a friend, of a friend, all right? He had a party four days ago, I needed a place to crash after. I guess I just… haven’t left yet. That’s just how things go sometimes, yeah?”

Remus finds that kind of chaotic lifestyle to be both concerning and awful, but keeps that observation to himself. “So when did you see him last?”

“I don’t know, sunshine, about two days ago? No idea where he went. Maybe on a road trip.” Black grins dangerously at the end.The last part is clearly a bullshit suggestion. 

“Okay, he’s useless,” Dorcas decides. 

Marlene nods in agreement. “Yeah. Sorry, Moony.”

“Now, that’s just rude,” Black argues, then remembers he wants to get out of here, “...but not untrue.” 

Remus watches Black for a moment longer. He seems harmless, but also pretty smart – that kind of smart that knows it's safer to make others think you're dumb. It's difficult to assess him in such a short period of time.

“Evan?” he calls, looking past Black, Marlene and Dorcas, at the wolf waiting in the threshold. “Can you get James, please?”

James is one of the few people who live in this big manor that aren't werewolves. He's also Remus’ closest friend, maybe partly because of that. It's much easier to bond with someone who you don't have to keep in line at the same time. What’s important right now, though, is that Potter’s very good at certain brands of spells.

“Wait a moment, please,” Remus addresses Black, shifting his gaze back to him. 

Sirius sends him a bitter smile. “Oh, I'm sorry, are you suggesting I have a choice?”

Dorcas and Marlene roll their eyes simultaneously.

James walks into the office a moment later and looks around curiously. His gaze lingers on Sirius, but he doesn't say anything when moving closer to Remus. Only raises his eyebrows in a silent question. Remus moves back behind the desk and pulls James in to have a private exchange in whispered voices.

“Put a tracking charm on that guy,” he requests. “And a spying one. If Mulciber appears near him in the following days, we want to know.”

James nods, happy to get the full story once the stranger is gone from their property.

“We'll let you go in a moment,” Remus announces loudly, turning to Black again. “But I'll hold onto this,” he raises the hand in which he's still holding Sirius’ wand, “until we find that friend of a friend, of a friend of yours.”

“Oh, fuck off. You can't do that.”

“I won't have to if you just tell us where he is right now.”

Black narrows his eyes at Lupin, truly angry with him for the very first time. “I don't know where he is, asshole!”

Remus nods and smiles sympathetically. “Then we will all have to be patient.”

Sirius flips him off with a smile dripping in fake sweetness. 

They let him go soon enough, but only after that James guy puts some kind of spell on him without asking for permission or explaining what it does, which, again: rude. Without his wand, Sirius can’t simply apparate and has to instead walk out of the house like a Muggle. That’s how he discovers how impressive the manor is – old and tall, sitting on the edge of the woods. 

Honestly? He’d stay for a cup of tea, if offered. The place is nice and the owners are his favourite kind of bastards – hot ones. An hour, two more and he’d probably be able to steal his wand back, too. It would save him the trouble of retrieving the spare one.

* * *

James has to search for Lupin merely four hours later. He finds him in the usual spot – their library – swallowed by a book.

“Somebody managed to deactivate all the spells I’ve put on our doggy friend,” he announces. “No idea how.”

Remus unwillingly drags his eyes away from the text. “Oh?” That usually doesn’t happen. “Do you think Mulciber could have done that?”

James shrugs. “I doubt that. Those were advanced charms. I know my shit, Moony.”

“I know you do, Prongs” Remus agrees. “We’ll have to find Black again, I guess. Unless we find Mulciber first.”

* * *

They need almost an entire day to locate Sirius Black again. Before they manage, they learn he’s one of London’s most successful curse breakers for hire, but finds it repeatedly difficult to follow Ministry’s guidelines for such businesses. Somehow, that’s not very surprising. It also explains how he managed to get the spying spells off so easily.

Remus wants to be the one to go get him, once they finally have the location, because he really does find the guy entertaining (to a certain degree). Unfortunately, he has to sit in the meeting about possible changes in the Werewolf Code of Conduct at the Ministry. When he gets home, tired and with a headache, he finds Sirius on the couch in their living room, chatting happily with James in front of the fireplace. It’s an… interesting sight.

“Hello,” he says slowly, observing the pair carefully. James can be pretty judgemental and it’s rare for him to warm up to a person so quickly and so openly.

Sirius’ eyes are on Lupin immediately. “Oh,” he says and his voice becomes more provocative. “The big, bad wolf is back.”

Remus just smiles at him tiredly, clearly above being bothered by comments like these and shifts focus onto his friend. “Where are we at?”

“No Mulciber, still,” Potter announces with a clear displeasure. “This one says he hasn’t seen him, either.”

“Why did you break the spells we put on you, then?” Remus asks and drops into the armchair nearby. It’s a strange theritory, this thing here. They still have Black’s wand and all, but he doesn't seem angry. He’s not trying to leave, either, even though other wolves are somewhere else in the manor and it’s only James here, watching Black alone.

“They were uncomfortable,” Sirius explains with a smile that suggests he’s bullshiting. It has a certain charm – the way he doesn’t try to hide that he’s lying but still refuses to tell the truth.

The reason they are all here isn’t charming at all, though.

“Did James tell you why we are looking for Mulciber?” Remus’ gaze becomes serious. “He killed three Muggles during a full moon, because he refuses to take the calming potion. That’s the guy you were partying with.”

Cold invites cold, and so the atmosphere gets tense in mere moments.

“Sorry to hear that, but it has nothing to do with me” Sirius observes harshly. He doesn’t sound bothered much by the deaths of innocents. It makes Remus suspicious again. 

“We found you in his flat,” Lupin points out. “You keep saying you don’t know each other that well, but all I have to go on is your word and that doesn’t mean much to me right now.”

Sirius cocks his head to the side and studies Remus’ face. It’s a nice face, is the thing and he likes the scars. They contrast nicely with that calm, polite tone, and the confidence on top of that makes this werewolf… a challenge. Sirius likes those, too.

“What about him?” he points at James. “The stick up his ass seems to be smaller than the one up yours, maybe my word means something to him.”

James lifts his palms, signaling he’s staying out of it. “This is a werewolf business, mate. Moony is the one who calls the shots.”

“Fucking hell, I’m not a werewolf, am I? What do you want from me, hm? You stole my wand and kidnapped me twice! I thought you were supposed to be a good guy, Moony ,” he accuses.

The second question is actually a good one, so that’s what Remus focuses on, right after he acknowledges that his nickname sounds very different in the mouth of this Animagus. “I want to keep an eye on you, in case it turns out you do know Mulciber well and he tries to contact you. Or find you. But seeing as spying spells don’t agree with you, we’ll have to keep you here, I’m afraid. Until he is found and brought to justice, of course.”

“Wait.” Mirth sparks in Sirius’ grey eyes. “You mean you want me to stay here ? In this huge house, for free ? Oh no,” there it is again, that cocky smirk. “How will I manage? Oh, this is the worst ,” he adds dramatically, very obviously meaning the opposite.

Remus furrows his eyebrows, trying to understand this odd man in front of him. He’s using lies and sarcasm to tell the truth, he’s clearly talented and intelligent, but seems to live a messy life and there’s this odd mixture of frustration and amusement surrounding him. And he’s insanely attractive – Remus is too tired right now to keep pretending he doesn’t notice it.

“So you agree to stay here for now?” James jumps in, sounding both amused and surprised.

“I will survive it somehow,” Sirius agrees. “Can I have my wand back?”

James and Remus share a look.

“Your call, Moony,” James decides.

Remus shifts his gaze to Sirius again. He doesn’t trust him yet. He likes him, which is already a problem, but he just doesn’t know the guy enough to confidently say this isn’t some kind of game for him.

“Not today,” he finally decides. 

Sirius’ smile turns dangerous. “What, you want me to work for it ?”

Merlin, living with this creature is going to be a nightmare, isn’t it? “No,” Remus sighs. “I want you to be patient and don’t cause any trouble.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

“And I’ll need you to give us the second wand, too.”

Confident, cocky act falls apart for a moment as surprise flashes on Sirius’ face. “How do you…”

Remus just extends his open palm, clearly waiting for the wand to be handed to him. “Don’t make me take it from you.” 

Lupin’s tone doesn’t sound much different. It’s still calm and polite, but the voice is slightly lower, somehow. Or maybe it’s the wording that makes it sound more authoritative. Whatever it is, Sirius feels caught off guard, then he panics for about two seconds and then he feels… something else. It’s been a while since he met somebody immune to his distraction techniques – the charm, the bullshit, the sense of humour. He doesn’t have to force these character traits, they are a natural part of him, but they are also tools. Ones that aren’t not working very well on Remus Lupin, clearly. 

He gets the wand out from the big pocket low on his baggy trousers and reluctantly hands it over. 

“Good,” Remus says simply. “Thank you.”

Sirius looks away. That politeness is going to make him do something stupid at some point. He can already feel it.

Next to them, James snickers quietly for some unknown reason.

* * *

It takes Sirius exactly one day to start feeling at home in the Wolf Manor and only one more to become obnoxious. 

“Hey, can I also call you Moony?” He leans on the kitchen counter as Remus pours himself a cup of coffee and smiles innocently. 

Lupin sighs. “No.”

“I’m gonna take that as a yes,” Sirius decides cheerfully.

“…how?”

There's no response. Remus rubs his temple and takes the cup to the table, where a plate of food is already waiting. When he sits down, his gaze briefly catches on Sirius. Black's hair is even more messy in the morning and his pants always seem to sit too low to be considered appropriate. The narrow stripe of pale skin gets exposed every time he raises his arms to stretch. As far as Remus is concerned, Sirius stretches way too often.

“So, Moony ,” Sirius follows him, leans over and steals the coffee for himself. “Anyone ever told you you’re pretty hot?”

Remus tries to focus on the newspaper. “Yes.”

“Mhm. Confident, too.” Sirius rotates the other chair with one hand and drops down onto it once it’s backwards. He uses it’s back as a rest for his forearms. “That’s even more attractive…”

“Sorry, do you need anything?” Remus glances at him, trying to sound polite but boy, is he fighting demons right now. “Other than my coffee, that is.”

Sirius sends him a smile – that bright, cocky grin that just begs to be turned into something else. “Well, a few things come to mind…”

Remus sighs again. Then he smiles. Then he chuckles and turns his head fully to the guest. “I know what you're doing and it's not gonna work. You understand that, right?”

Black's lips part slightly in surprise, but he recovers quickly. “What am I doing, then?”

“You know I have your wands on me and you're coming up with ways to get them,” Remus shares easily. “I know you went through the things in my room yesterday when I was out, too.”

“Well…” Sirius pushes his hair back and takes a long, slow sip of Remus' coffee. “This is awkward.”

“For you, yeah.” Lupin agrees and turns back to his newspaper. He lets the silence stretch, hoping it teaches Black something, but eventually adds, “Most people in the house have already warmed up to you, if that's any consolation.”

“Not you, though,” Sirius observes with a note of real disappointment.

Remus glances at him again. “I like you, Sirius,” he says openly. “I just don't trust you yet.”

“That's fair, I guess.”

“And your plan wouldn't work anyway,” Lupin adds, because Black's provocative energy is infectious. Apparently.

Sirius raises his eyebrows expectantly. “Why not? You aren't into men…?” He's been pretty sure, based on the glances Lupin was stealing, thinking he's being subtle. 

Remus reaches out and gently takes back his cup of coffee from Sirius. “I like guys who know how to behave,” he explains patiently and takes a sip himself.

Once again, Black is slightly stunned. “No you don't,” he argues finally.

It's Lupin's turn to be confused. “Pardon?”

Black grins dangerously. “You like making people behave.”

“Why would you think that…?” 

Sirius looks around, opening his arms theatrically. “That’s literally what you do everyday, all day. Is it not, Moony ? Everybody needs to follow The Lupin Code of Conduct... ”

Well. That’s an interesting point. Right now, Remus does feel a slight – only slight – urge to make Black at least a tad less arrogant.

* * * 

The manor is oddly empty a few days later. Sirius walks downstairs in the morning, ready to annoy, amuse and impress, but there's not a single werewolf in sight. He has to make his own coffee and food, which is rare and a bother – usually there's always a victim he can talk into sharing. 

He wanders down the corridor with a piece of toast in his mouth, barefoot and with no purpose until the library's open doors catch his attention.

The table Remus is sitting at is covered in books and parchment, per usual. He doesn't look up when Sirius walks in, consumed by the text he's reading.

“Where is everybody?”

Lupin startles, though it's barely noticeable. “How do you mean…?”

“The whole house is empty.”

Remus smiles. It's always warm, the way he does it. Even when he jokes or demands, there's that unshakeable kindness to it. “We all have work, you know? Not everybody can sleep until ten every day…”

Sirius scoffs and leans against the doorframe with his arms crossed in front of his chest. “You do understand I’m unable to do my job without the wand, right?”

“Ah, about that.” Remus reaches into a small but clearly magically extended pocket on his sweater and pulls out Sirius’ wand. “We caught Mulciber just before dawn. That might be also why those who aren’t at work are still sleeping right now.” He doesn’t get up but simply tosses the wand to Black.

Sirius catches it easily and examines it carefully before looking back at Lupin. It feels good, to have the wand in his hand again, at last. He doesn’t comment on the fact that the other one – his spare – hasn’t been returned. “Why are you doing neither, then?” he questions instead. Some people are at work, some are still sleeping – Remus just said so. And yet, he’s here.

“I’m doing my job right now,” Remus points out and his brows furrow slightly. 

“Sure,” Black chuckles, then starts fixing his hair. “You’re writing more wolf rules on that parchment, or…?”

This is the moment Remus learns that Sirius Black uses his wand to tie his hair. It’s an oddly distracting piece of information. He takes a few seconds too long to respond. “No.” He clears his throat. “I have a degree in History of Magic. I’m working on becoming a professor.”

Black blinks dumbly. “...what?”

Remus pointlessly moves a book from one stack to the other. “Which part was confusing, exactly?”

“But I thought you were in politics, with all that werewolf stuff…”

“That’s not my job,” Remus explains patiently. “That’s just something I do.” He keeps his gaze on the parchment. He can’t tell if it’s the way Black is leaning on the doorframe or the simple fact that he’s wearing a tanktop, but something about him today is… harder to ignore and Lupin is trying to focus here. “The way werewolf communities were structured in the past did inspire me quite a lot, though.”

“Mhmm,” Black hums, sounding as distracted as Remus feels. 

“Anyway, we're done with holding you here,” Lupin looks up again. “Sorry for the inconvenience.” It’s clear from his voice that he means it.

Something new flashes on Black’s face and he straightens. “Do I have to leave, then?” He asks with a defensive note to it.

Remus nods, because he doesn’t have time right now to try and decipher what the sudden mood change is about. “You can go whenever you like,” he confirms. He probably should sleep off the night mission, like the rest of the pack, because he completely misses the difference between have to and can . 

Luckily, Sirius does not.

* * *

“Didn’t you catch Mulciber already?” James asks over the game of chess.

“Yeah, three days ago,” Remus agrees. “He’s dealt with.”

“So what's Black still doing here?”

It’s a pretty good question. Remus was avoiding it very successfully so far. “I don’t know,” he admits slowly. “I guess he just... never left.”

James grins. “Does this mean we can keep him?”

Remus makes a face. “He’s not a pet, Prongs.”

“I like him.” Potter shrugs. “And technically, he can be a dog.”

“Looks like you have a type when it comes to friends,” Lupin points out, wondering how much wolves and dogs really have in common. 

The rest of the house would be sad to see Sirius go. Remus also enjoys having him around – all the bold suggestions, witty comments, the sass. The problem is, they still don’t know much about that odd creature and there’s a risk he’ll just disappear one day. Something about the man suggests he does that often. It seems, therefore, dangerous, that Remus has already gotten used to him.

* * *

For such a guarded, distrustful person, Black turns out to be surprisingly tactile. James is the first clear victim of this, but soon half of the werewolves living in the manor also have Sirius leaning on them, grabbing their shoulders, stealing things right from their palms… 

Remus is conflicted about this development. Sirius is very skilled in inserting himself into Remus’ personal space, which unlocked something in Lupin and now he instinctively searches for the fucker, too, when they are in the same room. Which would be totally fine, if not very clear, but not yet address tension – a connection of sorts – between them. 

Well, Sirius does address it. A lot. But he always makes a joke out of it – exaggerates and turns it into flirting a game, hiding behind a bold persona. That's not enough for Remus. He's a private and patient man. No amount of provoking of this kind will make him act on his own desires, because when he wants something, he wants it for real. And he wants it for good . 

It doesn't change the fact that Sirius is always there and Remus is just a man. It's slowly becoming an issue.

Right now, for example, Remus is calmly reading a book and Sirius is lying on the couch with his head in Lupin's lap, playing with a bracelet on his own wrist. That usually would be considered crossing a line in Remus' book, but the menace was gone for four days, breaking a curse somewhere. It was… uncomfortable, not knowing where he is and what he's doing, exactly.

Part of Remus wonders if this can be his wolf side talking. He does feel a certain connection and responsibility for werewolves that live in the manor and he's even protective about James and Lily, and Lovegood as well, even though they aren't wolves. It's slightly different with Black, though. Less… rational. 

“What kind of curse was it?”

Sirius blinks lazily, shifting his gaze to Remus' face. “Aren't you reading your pretty little book?”

“I'm asking your pretty little self a question.”

“Hah. Nice one. Just some family curse, nothing exciting. Took me a day, basically.”

Well. That's an annoying piece of information. “Why were you gone for four, then?”

“Oh, the girl who paid me, let me crash there. The neighbour had a party.” Sirius grins.

Remus brows furrow in displeasure. Last time Sirius spontaneously stayed somewhere, it was the flat of a rogue werewolf. “You’re just allergic to stability, aren't you?”

“I go places, what's wrong with that?”

“Nothing, you’re right. I just mean… Don't you have an actual, permanent place of residence?”

Sirius is talkative and charismatic, definitely extraverted, sure, but there’s still much they don't actually know about him. Nobody does, it seems. Remus may or may not have asked around. The ancient name Black is well known in the wizarding world, sure, and there's some gossip surrounding it, but when you add “Sirius” to it, people recognise him for the curse breaking businesses and that's that. It's possible to find out how to get in touch with him, but not where he lives, for example.

“Permanent place of residence sounds boring,” Black declares with a smirk.

Remus scoffs. “Come on. You've built a nice career, you must be able to afford a place.”

“Are you kicking me out…?”

“No! No…” Remus hand itches with want to comb his fingers reassuringly through the thick, black hair. “I'm just wondering.”

“Well,” Sirius sighs but sounds less defensive. “I kind of blew up two houses already. Breaking curses doesn't always go well, you know? And the Ministry is always on my ass about something, as if their protocols don't make it impossible to work effectively. So it's just easier for me to… couch-surf.”

Remus can't imagine living like this. He'd lose his mind. He might lose his mind, watching Sirius live like this, too. “You're a mess, Black,” he sighs and shifts his focus back to the book.  

Sirius smiles dangerously, still lying comfortably on the couch and Remus' lap. “I’m pretty sure you’re into it.”

Here they go again, then. “Oh?” Is all Remus says, because how else is he supposed to respond? The creature that’s looking at him through the thick eyelashes is going to make this conversation a nightmare anyway.

“You keep staring at me,” Black points out and he doesn't try to hide his satisfaction.

“Maybe I keep staring at my clothes,” Remus suggests calmly. That's a thing, by the way – Sirius at some point decided Lupin's closet is also his closet. He never asked, he just walked into the kitchen in Remus' t-shirt one morning, almost making the werewolf choke. It never stopped after that. It did, however, escalate.

“They are your clothes, you know what they look like” Sirius points out lazily and lifts one arm to admire the sleeve of Remus’ flannel which he’s stolen today. “Why would you need to stare at them?”

Once again Remus feels the urge to touch. To grab this frustrating person, pull them close and never let go. Sirius deserves to be kept in one place, kept stable, kept warm . There’s a bruised little soul under all that smugness and jokes, Lupin knows. He can sense it, but he’s too kind (and too scared, maybe) to dig his fingers painfully deep into Black and drag it out to the surface.

Eventually, all Remus does is huff quietly. “Why do you need to use me as a pillow?” he answers with a question of his own.

Surprisingly, that shuts Sirius up. He turns his head away, feeling the sudden warmth in his cheeks and after a few seconds he pushes himself up to sit on the couch normally. Remus goes back to reading to give him space, even though he’s tempted to stare instead and prolong that rare moment of Black’s embarrassment. 

“Are you sleeping here tonight or do you have another job out of town?” Lupin asks after a few moments, keeping his eyes on the book.

“Here,” Sirius mumbles, slightly offended that… Remus makes him feel things. He re-ties his hair with the wand, because it got messed up when he was lying.

“Have you eaten?”

“The supper? Not yet…”

“Mhm. James and Lily are the ones cooking today. It should be ready soon.”

“Cool.” Now Sirius sounds slightly grumpy.

Remus turns to him with a patient smile. “Hey,” he says for no reason and reaches out to brush Black’s cheek with his knuckles. “It’s good you’re back.”

The world shatters around Sirius and rebuilds itself again in mere seconds, but some pieces fit differently now. He can’t get a word out, so he just stares at the man in front of him, wondering what it would take to deserve him. Remus is a warm, bright light, able to wrestle even his own lycanthropy and Sirius is just… a dark chaos. He doesn’t know how to get closer, doesn't have the tools for it and it’s probably naive to think he’d manage if he had them, anyway. All he can do is… steal moments like these, between all the jokes and the sarcasm. That, he’s good at.

* * *

Two things are unfolding parallelly. First one is Serious becoming more and more determined to be a menace – he's in Remus' space even more often, the jokes get dirtier, the comments more moody. He's after something, clearly, but doesn't want to say what it is and instead just pushes and pushes, and pushes. The second thing is the fast approaching full moon, which always makes werewolves more agitated and struggling to sleep at night. All in all, not a good combination.

“Barty, we can't let you do that again.” Remus' voice sounds stern. “You need to lock yourself up for the full moon.”

Sirius slows down, then stops in the middle of the corridor, listening in. The doors to Lupin's study are ajar and he can hear the conversation easily.

“Come on, mate,” a different voice argues. “Work with me here.”

“I said no!” Remus raises his voice only slightly, but the frustration is very clear and very unlike him. Sirius moves closer to the door, intrigued. He’s seen Lupin being serious, but never angry. He's always been curious about that side of him – that unyielding resolve and strength that makes others follow his vision.

“And I hear you ,” the stranger says, “but I think we could compromise here, no?”

The door is more than ajar, to be honest, so it's not a big deal that Sirius pushes them slightly to see everything better.

“Barty…” Remus begins slowly in a tone that's a weird combination of politeness and threat. He stands up and leans forward with his palms placed on the desk. “I'm going to say something now, and I really need you to listen more carefully this time.”

It's fascinating to see Remus this authoritative. Sirius makes a step, wanting to sneak in, but the floor creaks under his bare feet. 

Lupin turns his head immediately and his gaze pierces right through Black. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Sirius is a troublemaker and he's been caught red handed so many times, his response to it is almost automatic. “Hello!” He grins brightly, full of bullshit. “Sorry, is it a bad time? I was wondering…”

“I'm busy,” Remus announces through gritted teeth.

“Cool, this is going to be quick– And who is this ?” he turns to the other guy, walking further into the office and fixing the wand in his hair. 

"Barty," he wolf introduces himself with a cheeky smile. "Who are you?" he asks, putting a similar amount of intrigue as Sirius into his tone.

“Sirius, leave, please,” Remus warns. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Black dosen't move his gaze back to Lupin. "I just wanted to ask about the…”

Remus' open palm hits the desk so hard, the sound explodes painfully all over the room, dragging everybody's attention. “Get out,” he orders, furious.

Sirius’ eyes open wide and he stands frozen for a moment – the first second is for fear, the second for anger and betrayal. “Calm the fuck down! Bloody hell, I just–”

“What?!” Remus interrupts him. “You’ve just walked into my study without knocking, with no regard for my privacy and the simple fact that I’m in a meeting.” His voice isn’t loud anymore, but the anger rings clear. Remus has been on edge because of the full moon, understandably, and it became weirdly frustrating to watch Sirius get closer and closer with other wolves in the manor. Making friends with Barty, now that's too far. “We’re not all here for your amusement. This house has rules, Black! You need to stop pretending they don’t apply to you.”

“Sorry, is it about right now or something else, sunshine?” Sadly, becoming an asshole is Sirius’ greatest defence mechanism, when he cares about something. “Because it sounds like you have a more general issue with me.”

Maybe this is how they move forward – break the pretense, stop holding back. Maybe Sirius just needs to push a little bit more…

“Leave.” Remus commands icily. “Now. I mean it.”

Or maybe not.

It’s the coldness in Lupin’s voice that finally makes Sirius listen. He grabs his wand and apparates from the room without another word. He's breathing too fast when he lands on the busy street and everything becomes slightly blurry once regret crashes down onto him. He really can't blame this one on anybody but himself, can he? The chaos sticks to him, dark and thick – it comes as a package deal, together with the name Black and it always, always wins.

* * * 

A day and a half later Sirius is sneaking into a room again, but this time it's late and dark, and it's a bedroom. He wallowed in self-pity for a while, then got smarter (or more pathetic, depending how you look at it) and now here he is.

“Hey, Remus,” he whispers, walking closer to the bed. “Moony, hey, can you hear me?”

The moonlight is bright – only a day away from the full moon – and it rests gently on Remus’ skin. He’s lying on his right side and dragged all the covers there, too, when tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. It left his bare back exposed, so Sirius studies the faded scars for a moment.

“What are you doing here?” Lupin mumbles into a pillow, delayed. He doesn’t turn to face the intruder, which means he recognized Sirius by his voice alone. He sounds more exhausted than anything. The moon’s been keeping the wolves restless at night for a while now. That probably added to his recent lack of control.

“I just…” Sirius moves closer, stops, considers his options and then actually climbs onto the bed: the empty side. “I wanted to say sorry, okay?” he whispers, hovering over a half-asleep Remus.

“Sure.” Lupin sighs into his pillow.

“I mean it,” Sirius presses, sounding only slightly desperate. 

Remus sighs again and shifts under the covers until he’s lying on his other side, facing Sirius. “Okay,” he says tiredly, opening his eyes only for a moment. He doesn’t even question why Black is here in the middle of the night.

Sirius is feeling more and more hopeless. He cautiously lies down on the mattress, too, so his face is on the same level as Lupin’s and continues his whispered speech. “I know I can be annoying sometimes, all right? And I crossed the line there, yes, but I was kinda hoping you’re not planning on kicking me out of here–”

“Baby,” Remus murmurs, clearly barely listening. “Let me sleep, please.” He reaches out, almost blindly and drags Sirius in, unconcerned with… well, anything, until Black’s back is pressed to the warmth of his own chest. He’s too tired to hold back or consider the consequences. He just wants to rest and not worry about the whereabouts of this beautiful menace, and his position allows him to achieve both.

Remus’ hold is both gentle and firm, and the heat radiating from him sinks deep into Sirius’ bones in seconds. There’s no hesitance or tension in Lupin’s body, only certainty. Sirius is speechless yet again – it’s kind of a thing, apparently, that only Remus can shut him up. He tries to fight it for about ten seconds, then allows himself to melt into the embrace and the dark chaos melts away.

“So does this mean I can– “

“Shhh,” Remus' arm tightens around Sirius for a moment, then he shifts to nuzzle even closer. It’s not entirely clear if he’s still fully awake.

Black lies still for a while, staring at the wall and listening to Remus’ rhythmic breathing, which contrasts terribly with his own, racing heart. “You called me ‘baby’,” he whispers finally.

Remus sighs for a third time and opens his eyes. “And I told you to let me sleep,” he observes, then lifts himself up on an elbow to reach back and drag the covers more evenly over the both of them, ignoring the fact that Sirius is still in his clothes. 

“I’m sorry,” Sirius says quietly, turning his head to catch eye contact. He means waking Remus up, provoking him constantly and, well, all the bullshit, too.  

Remus smiles and leans down to kiss his cheek. “Don’t be,” he says, his voice still hoarse with sleep, and wraps an arm around Sirius again. “I’m into it.”