Celestial Beings

Remus’s room was smaller than (y/n)‘s. Or maybe it just seemed smaller because he had more things. The walls were lined with bookshelves, paintings, and a few peculiar tools she’d never seen before. His bed was made, books on one side where he didn’t sleep. He had a desk in one corner and a seating area in the other.
“It’s a bit of a mess.” Remus apologized as she looked around. “You can sit anywhere.”
“Remind me how messy looks when you go into my room.” Sirius jokes, helping her to one of the comfy seats opposite the desk as he takes the other seat.
“Your room surpasses messy altogether.” Remus chuckles, taking the chair from his desk and moving it over. He sits down in front of the other two.
“I forget you’re an academic at heart.” Sirius picks up a book from one of the shelves behind him. “Didn’t Slughorn give this to us in 4th year?”
“You’re forgetting I taught at Hogwarts for a year.” Remus snatches the book from Sirius. “Brought extras in case any students needed one.”
“Somethings wrong in my room.” (Y/n)‘s voice startles them. She spoke quietly, just above a whisper.
“How do you know?” Sirius asks her.
“Same color from the mirror.” She winces as she speaks, a sharp pain behind her eyes again. “Sorry, can’t tell you more.”
“You think that’s where it got in?” Sirius glances nervously at Remus. “Or something new?”
“I don’t know.” She puts her head in her hands. “I don’t even know if what I just saw was real.”
“Hey, take a moment.” Sirius puts a hand on her shoulder. “We don’t need to worry about that right now. Just take a second to not think about it all. You’ll go insane if you only focus on one thing.”
“He has a point.” Remus sighs. “I’m not saying to ignore it, but for the moment maybe just set it aside?”
“Set it aside?” She looks at him both confused and worried. “Nothing my father ever does can just be ‘set aside’. He doesn’t wait, he just keeps attacking until he gets what he wants. I don’t even remember what that is because he has the stupid memories!”
“What?” Sirius and Remus exclaim.
“He has your memories?” Remus asks her confused. She shifts uncomfortably in her seat.
“Not all of them…” she mumbles. “Just the ones that pertain to anything important he’s planning, or the ones that would allude to those. I’m not even supposed to know about it myself.”
“He just took them from you?” Sirius raises a brow.
“Lucius probably took most of them.” (Y/n) shrugs. “I remember enough. And it’s not like they’re gone, they’re just hidden in a secret pensive in Malfoy Manor that has 17 different protections and barriers around it specifically designed so I can’t get them.”
“And you’re okay with that?” Sirius ran a hand through his hair.
“No, but it’s hard to go against when you aren’t supposed to know in the first place.” (Y/n) explains. “Besides, as I said it’s designed specifically to combat me. Losing battle.”
Silence fell over the room, the three of them all uncertain as to how to continue the conversation. The only sound being their breathing and the soft pitter-patter of rain against the windows. (Y/n)‘s stomach growls loudly surprising her.
“Oh yeah, still haven’t eaten I guess.” She mutters.
“I’m sure I’ve at least got some snacks in here.” Remus stands and walks to one of the bookshelves. “Do you like crackers? I’ve got some saltines.”
“Sure.” She nods.
“Can I have some too?” Sirius asks, looking at Remus with puppy dog eyes.
“No you can starve.” Remus says sarcastically as he grabs the crackers from the top shelf. “Course you can have some Pads, who do you take me for?”
“Why do you call him that?” (Y/n) asks curiously looking between them. “You have to remind yourself to use his name most the time, both of you do it and honestly, it’s confusing.”
“Uh, just our nicknames from school.” Sirius answers, taking some crackers from Remus as he sits back down.
“Does that include you calling him ‘hunky’?” She asks, biting down onto a cracker, a mischievous smile on her face. Sirius’s face goes red.
“Hunky?” Remus chuckles, looking at Sirius. “I’m ‘hunky’?”
“Oh shut it!” Sirius covers his face with his hands. “I’m allowed to uh.. to appreciate the uh um, well, the objective hotness that is my friend aren’t I?”
“Sure, but ‘hunky’?” Remus smirks. “Maybe you should say it out loud every once in a while.”
“Does that mean you’re going to start telling him that he’s gorgeous?” (Y/n) asks.
“Oh!” Sirius uncovered his face and looked at Remus excitedly. “So I’m not the only one who admires other’s hotness?”
“I’ve told you that before.” Remus retorts, his face now reddening.
“Yeah when we were teens.” Sirius rolls his eyes. “Laughing at me for thinking you’re a hunk when you think I’m gorgeous. Pot meet kettle, huh?”
“Wait, why are you asking all this now anyways?” Remus looked at (y/n).
“Trying to set the earlier shit aside like you said, and I’ve been curious about the names and things for a while.” She shrugs. “Figured I might as well just ask.”
“Does he think anything else about me?” Sirius prods. Remus rolls his eyes.
“Well yeah?” She looks at him confused. “I mean you both think about each other a lot. Nearly as much as Molly worries about the kids and her husband.”
“Does he ever have,” Sirius dramatically leans forward and whispers loudly. “Naughty thoughts?”
“Like you do when he’s not wearing a shirt?” (Y/n) grabs another cracker. “Not as often but-”
“Maybe we can stop talking about private thoughts?” Remus interrupts.
“Sorry.” (Y/n) gives him an apologetic smile. “I forget that not everyone can hear everyone else all the time. Used to be better at shutting it all out but not so much lately.”
“How’d you learn to do that?” Remus asks as he quietly chews on a cracker.
“Prefer to not answer.” (Y/n) mutters quickly, pulling her legs up to her chest. “Not pleasantly.”
“I didn’t think it would be.” Sirius frowns. “From what I’ve gathered of you so far, you’ve been treated as an object since you were born. Most people don’t give things any sort of respect.”
“…You’re not entirely wrong.” She admits. “The only reason he’s decided torment over death for me is because he needs my sight for something. I don’t know what for, but it’s the only explanation that makes sense. All of this for him is another Tuesday.”
“Can you see any magic?” Sirius grabs more crackers from Remus. “Rather, is there a type of magic even you can’t identify?”
“None that I know of.” She thinks for a moment. “I have a hard time with force spells, like when they are being cast. I take too long to see the faint grey they leave behind when they soar through the air. Too quick.”
“I know you can’t say anything to us about it,” Remus shifts in his seat. “But theoretically speaking, could getting rid of the curse be worse than the actual curse itself?”
“Theoretically anything’s possible.” She shrugs, a flicker of pain behind her eyes. “I think in the long run though, no.”
“You know, I remember reading about curses like this once when I was still at Hogwarts.” Sirius stands up, looking at the books on Remus’s shelves. “Moons, you might actually have the book I read. It was one of the books for defense against the dark arts in 6th year. The small red one.”
“Oh!” Remus stands abruptly and grabs a stack of books from his bed. He sorts through them quickly until he finds it. “This, 'A History of Unspeakables' right?”
“Yes! Give me!” Sirius shouts snatching it from the taller man’s hands. He opens it quickly and rifles through. “There’s a page in here that… no… wait, no… this one!” He hands it back to Remus.
“What is it?” (Y/n) carefully stands up, her curiosity now piqued.
“Surprised you remembered this.” Remus looks at his friend impressed. “I’ll read it hold on.” he clears his throat, dusting off the remaining cracker crumbs. “Unspeakables, not to be confused with the Unforgivables or the group within the Ministry, are rare and unique curses that render the cursed unable to effectively tell others about their conditions. This typically is followed by either a cruel and torturous death or a way to make one feel alone, helpless, and easier to manipulate.”
“Figured that much already.” (Y/n) muttered, sitting back down. Remus gives her a stern look. “Sorry, continue.”
“Most Unspeakables are lost to time as they are typically one-use spells. The few that we have found and analyzed seem to be derived from others by word of mouth.” Remus reads. Sirius nods along excitedly. “Most Unspeakables can be cured or broken by getting the cursed person to either a) speak of it, b) live out it’s shelf life, c) find the counterspell or potion, or d) succumb to it and it’s intended effects. Most Unspeakables only last for a few months at a time, where they will need to be recast with a slightly different means and spell.”
“Hmm.” (Y/n) leans back and looks at the ceiling.
“I knew I remembered something like this being talked about before!” Sirius smiles proudly. “The professor’s aunt or something had been cursed by an unspeakable.”
“Unspeakable…” (Y/n) stands up abruptly, her eyes wide with excitement. “I know what to do!”
“Just like that?” Sirius asks shocked.
“I’ll tell you both later when I’m right.” she says, rushing out the door toward her room.
“Wait!” Remus shouts, stopping her from reaching the door. “Kreatcher hasn’t checked your room yet.”
“Oh come on, what else could there be?” She rolls her eyes. “Besides, I need the dresser mirror from in there. I don’t know why I didn’t think about it before.”
“You’ll have to wait.” Remus looks at her sternly.
“Harry is supposed to be coming soon, isn’t he?” She asks him. He reluctantly nods. “I would prefer my um, issue be resolved before then. Less danger.” She winces as she thinks about her next words. “I’d prefer to be curse-free instead of possibly being used to hurt a child.”
Remus stays quiet, studying her.
“Please.” She says quietly.
“Fine.” Remus sighs, stepping aside. “But if it doesn’t work what’ll you do?”
“It’ll work.” (Y/n) says confidently. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
Before Remus can respond she hurries into her room, shutting the door behind her. He hovers in the hall for a moment before going back to his room. Sirius has moved from the chairs to Remus’s bed, looking at the different titles of books.
“Do you sleep with these here?” Sirius asks without looking at the werewolf.
“I sleep next to them most nights, yes.” Remus slumps down into one of the seats. He lets out a quiet huff. “You’re still as nosy as ever aren’t you?”
“Of course, who do you take me for?” Sirius chuckles, beginning to rummage through the nightstand drawers. “Moons, what’s this for?” He holds up a box with a silver necklace inside.
“It was a gift from someone who, uh, didn’t know about my condition.” Remus shrugs.
“And you kept it?” Sirius raises a brow.
“He was someone I used to be close with.” Remus gets up and grabs the box from Sirius. “It was before you got out.”
“You mean before I escaped.” Sirius corrected. “What’s his name?”
“Grant.” Remus answers quietly, carefully putting the box away. “His name was Grant.”
“Was?” Sirius watches his friend closely. “He die?”
“No, no.” Remus shakes his head. “He just, uh, he’s always been good at disappearing. I haven’t been able to find him for a while now.”
“Oh.” Sirius gets quiet, shifting uncomfortably on the bed.
“It’s just something to remember him by, you know?” Remus glances at Sirius.
“Yeah.” Sirius nods. The two are silent for a moment.
“I might’ve lied before.” Remus says quickly. “A few months ago you uh, you asked me about some um, some personal things. And I lied a bit I think.”
“About what?” Sirius leaned forward, his heart starting to race. Remus obviously noticed, his eyes darting to Sirius’s chest.
“I do still have, um, those feelings.” Remus looks Sirius in the eyes and stands up straighter. “About you. From school.”
“You do?” Sirius feels his cheeks warm. “You’re not fuckin with me?”
“No.” Remus shifts from one leg to the other.
“Good.” Sirius let out a sigh of relief. “Cause I feel the same.”
“You do?” Remus looks at him in shock.
“Moons, you’re hot.” Sirius chuckles. “You always have been. Not only that but you’re smart, caring and put up with my bullshit like it’s as easy as breathing.”
“I’m not…I-I don’t…” Remus feels his face heat up as he begins stuttering. “But… I um, I…”
“Moons, you’re a mess.” Sirius says shaking his head as he stands up. “You think too much.”
Remus doesn’t respond audibly, instead he gently grabs Sirius by the waist and pulls him close, looking down into his eyes. Sirius quickly became flustered, not expecting Remus to be so bold.
“Y-you could’ve uh…” Sirius licks his lips nervously. Remus’s gaze drifting to his lips.
“Sirius.” Remus’s voice is low and breathy, sending a shiver down Sirius’s spine.
“Remus.” Sirius rests his hand on the taller man’s hip.
“I can’t kiss you if you keep talking.” Remus tells him, a small smirk on the corner of his lips. Sirius lets out a small chuckle.
“Then kiss me already, before I keep yap-”
Remus interrupts him by crashing his lips into Sirius’s. Sirius kisses back, a hand reaching to cradle the back of Remus’s head, pulling him in even closer. Remus squeezes Sirius’s waist causing the raven-haired male to let out a small whimper. They breathlessly pull apart.
“Merlin I’ve been wanting to do that for ages.” Sirius admits aloud, smiling brightly.
“You’ve got soft lips.” Remus tells him, licking his lips. “You taste like salt.”
“Sorry, had a lot of crackers.” Sirius laughs. Remus lets go of his waist and takes a small step back. “We should do that more often.”
“Agreed.” Remus sits down on the edge of the bed, Sirius plopping down next to him. “If I had it my way we’d be doing more than that more often.” He mutters.
“Remus Lupin, you scoundrel!” Sirius remarks sarcastically. He over dramatically puts a hand on his chest. “Who do you take me for, sir? A floozy to have your way with?”
“Oh hush.” Remus playfully pushes Sirius.
“My honor, my dignity!” Sirius continues.
“As I recall in 5th year you were very open with your honor.” Remus chuckles. “How many times did James and I have to tell you to keep it down again that year?”
“Hey, I’m a catch.” Sirius sticks his tongue out.
“Yes, you are.” Remus agreed.
A knock at the door pulls them from their momentary bliss. Sirius opens it to find Kreatcher.
“What do you want Kreatcher?” Sirius frowns, standing up straight.
“Kreatcher has found where the body came in from.” Kreatcher explains, shooting Remus a dirty look. “Found bits of dirt and clay outside Master Regulus’s old room. Kreatcher has not gone into the room further.”
Sirius’s breath catches in his throat. Ice floods his veins as he hears his brother’s name. Remus seemingly appears next to him out of thin air.
“Thank you Kreatcher.” Remus tells the elf, keeping his eyes on Sirius. “You can go now.”
“Kreatcher go.” Sirius mutters, shutting the door in the elf’s face.
Silence fills the room, neither of the men wanting to break it.