Unsinkable Love

Sirius sat in front of his dresser staring into the mirror- thinking about Remus, his face was ingraved in his brain- his smile was just perfect. This was the first time Sirius had felt this way about someone- the thought of Remus made Sirius smile, however his smile disappeared as he heard a knock on the door.

Sirius had quickly set down his brush and watched through the mirror as the door opened revealing Severus- they held eye contact for a second before Severus spoke up.

"I know you've been melancholy. I don't pretend to know why. I intended to save this.." he said walking towards Sirius who just put his hands into his lap, Severus leaned up against the dresser facing Sirius and continued. "..until the engagement gala next week but, I thought tonight."

Severus paused as he opened the box he was holding, to reveal a necklace- so expensive Sirius was too afraid to touch it- afraid it might shatter in his hands.

"Good gracious." Sirius said reaching to touch it lightly but paused just above it, causing Severus to chuckle.

"Perhaps as a reminder of my feelings for you."

"Is it-"

"Diamond. Yes it is." Severus said smiling then walking behind Sirius with it and lightly putting it around his neck.

"56 carats to be exact." Severus said clasping it behind Sirius' neck and moving his hair back so they could both see it better in the mirror. "It was worn by Louis the sixteenth. And they called it Le Coeur de la Mer."

"The Heart of the Ocean." Sirius said quickly in shock.

"The Heart of the Ocean. Yes." Severus said and smiled looking into Sirius' eyes then down at the necklace. Sirius was staring at the necklace in awe then his gaze went up to meet Severus' eyes.

"It's overwhelming."

"Well, its for royalty. We are royalty, Sirius." Severus said resting a hand on Sirius' shoulder, Sirius looked between the necklace and Severus.

"You know, there's nothing I couldn't give you. There's nothing I'd deny you.." Severus said as he knelt down next to Sirius and turned to look at him, causing Sirius to turn and look at him as well.

"..If you would not deny me. Open your heart to me, Sirius." Severus finished as he held eye contact with Sirius, Sirius looked over Severus' face then looked back to the mirror and looked down at the necklace that was heavy around his neck- finally bringing his hand up to it, ghosting his fingers across it.

~~~~

"Well, I've been on my own since I was 15, since my parents died. And I had no brothers or sisters or close to kin in that part of the country so I lit on out of there and I haven't been back since. You could just call me a tumbleweed blowing in the wind" Remus said to Sirius causing them both to chuckle.

"Well, Sirius, we've walked about a mile around this boat deck and chewed over how great the weather's been and how I grew up but I reckon that's not why you came to talk to me, is it?" Remus said causing Sirius to break eye contact and look down as they walked.

"Mr. Lupin, I--"

"Remus."

"Remus" Sirius said looking at him for a second before continuing. "I want to thank you for what you did. Not just for pulling me back, but for your discretion."

"Your welcome." Remus responded looking at him- they made eye contact and Sirius quickly looked away and spoke again.

"Look. I know what you must be thinking. Poor little rich boy. What does he know about misery?"

"No." Remus said stopping and putting a hand on one of the ropes for a lifeboat, causing Sirius to turn towards him.

"No, that's not what I was thinking. What I was thinking was what could have happened to this boy to make him think that he had no way out?" Remus said tilting his head as he talked- looking right at Sirius, Sirius looked away then right back at him.

"Well I..." Sirius started then scoffed walking past Remus to stand by the half wall railing.

"It was everything. It was my whole world and all the people in it. And the inertia of my life, plunging ahead and me powerless to stop it." Sirius said then at the end held out his hand showing Remus the engagement ring on his finger- Remus looked down and his jaw dropped and held Sirius' hand.

"God, look at that thing. You would have gone straight to the bottom." Remus jokes but didn't get a laugh out of Sirius this time, Sirius only continued.

"500 invitations have gone out. All of Philadelphia society will be there. And all the while I feel I'm standing in the middle of a crowded room screaming at the top of my lungs and no one even looks up." Sirius rambled then sighed looking back up to Remus.

"Do you love him?"

"Pardon me?" Sirius asked confused.

"Do you love him?" Remus repeated.

"You're being very rude. You shouldn't be asking me this." Sirius said getting nervous and looking away then back at Remus.

"Well, it's a simple question. Do you love the guy or not?" Remus said causing Sirius to scoff and look off to the side before speaking.

"This is not a suitable conversation."

"Why can't you just answer the question." Remus said with a mischievous smile, Sirius laughed then pushed off from leaning on the railing walking a few steps away with his hand on his head. Sirius then turned around with a smile and spoke.

"This is absurd. You dont know me and I don't know you and we are not having this conversation at all. You are rude and uncouth and presumptuous and I am leaving now.." Sirius said quickly causing Remus to smile more- Sirius grabbed Remus' hand and started shaking it as he continued.

"Remus. Mr. Lupin. It's been a pleasure. I sought you out to thank you and now I have thanked you."

"And you've insulted me." Remus interrupted as they were still shaking hands.

"Well, you deserved it." Sirius argued back still smiling and shaking his hand.

"Right."

"Right."

Sirius and Remus agreed- still shaking each other's hand, holding eye contact before Sirius chuckled and Remus spoke.

"I thought you were leaving."

"I am." Sirius turned to walk away then quickly turned back around. "You are so annoying."

Remus laughed and Sirius then decided he was done and continued walking away- only to pause and turn around speaking up again.

"Wait. I don't have room leave. This is my part of the ship. You leave." Sirius said as he strutted back in front of Remus and pointed for Remus to leave. Remus laughed and spoke.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho. Well, well, well. Now who's being rude?" Remus said leaning back onto the rope again using his hand that was holding his sketch book towards Sirius who just laughed and looked away for a second.

"What is this stupid thing your carrying around?" Sirius said yanking the sketch book from Remus' hand- well Remus didn't complain or try and stop him. Sirius opened the book then looked between it and Remus before he spoke again.

"So, what are you an artist or something? Well.." Sirius said flipping the page and took a better look.

"These are rather good." Sirius said moving to sit down on one of the decks chairs- continuing to flip through the pages.

"They're uh.. very good, actually." Sirius said and Remus moved to sit next to him, Sirius turned one of the pages to get a better look. Sirius looked over at Remus then flipped to the next page.

"Remus, this is exquisite work." Sirius said mesmerized by a drawing of hands holding a baby.

"Ah, they didn't think too much of them in old Paree." Remus said.

"Paris?" Sirius asked turning to look at Remus who just nodded. "You do get around for a p-- Well, a-- a person of limited means." Sirius said trying to make it sound less rude causing Remus to laugh.

"Go on. A poor guy. You can say it." Remus said smiling at him- Sirius looked back down and flipped yet another page and paused staring at the drawing of a naked woman.

"Well, well, well." Sirius said in awe and flipped the page to see yet another naked body- this one a naked ballerina next to a mirror.

"And these were drawn from life?" Sirius asked looking over at Remus making eye contact. Remus nodded before looking up at a women waking by- Sirius closed the book a little to hide the image as she walked by.

"Well, that's one of the good things about Paris. Lots of girls willing to take their clothes off." Remus said causing Sirius to laugh and flip to the next page, seeing the same woman drawn again.

"You liked this woman. You used her several times." Sirius said touching the piece of paper, Remus reached over to turn the book then flipped to another page and spoke.

"Well. She had beautiful hands, you see?" Remus said looking from the picture to Sirius- Sirius smiled then spoke.

"I think you must have had a love affair with her." Sirius teased.

"No, no, no. Just with her hands. She was a one legged prostitute." Remus said causing Sirius to snap his head towards him to look at him confused.

"See?" Remus said letting out a small chuckle as Sirius looked down at the next picture and his jaw dropped.

"Uh- Oh." Sirius said shocked then they both laughed.

"She had a good sense of humor though." Remus said looking down at the picture, Sirius looked over at him but Remus' eyes lit up as he remembered something- he flipped to the next page.

"Oh, and this lady. She used to sit at this bar every night wearing every piece of jewelry she owned just waiting for her long, lost love. We called her Madame Bijoux." Remus said causing Sirius to look at him- Remus then pointed down at the sketch again as he spoke.

"See, her clothes are all moth eaten." Remus finished and looked up at Sirius who was still looking down at the picture.

"Well, you have a gift, Remus. You do. You see people." Sirius said looking over at Remus.

"I see you." Remus said looking Sirius in the eyes causing him to smile.

"And?" Sirius asked.

"You wouldn't have jumped." Remus said holding eye contact, Sirius smile faltered just a little- but he just continued holding eye contact with Remus.

~~~~

"But the purpose of university is to find a suitable husband. Sirius has already done that." Walburga said sipping her tea.

"Look, here comes that vulgar Brown woman." The countess said looking past Mrs. Black to see Molly Brown walking towards them.

"Quickly, get up before she sits with us." Walburga said setting her tea down and all three of them stood up.

"Hello girls. I was hoping I'd catch you at tea." Mrs. Brown said with a smile.

"We're awfully sorry, you missed it. The countess and I were just off to take the air on the boat deck." Walburga said turning towards the 2 women and then back to Mrs. Brown.

"What a lovely idea. I need to catch up on my gossip." Mrs. Brown replied, Walburga nodded with a smile then walked past her, the countess following soon after.

"So you have not yet lit the last four boilers?"

"No I don't see the need. We are making excellent time." Captain John Smith said.

"The press knows the size of Titanic. Now, I want them to marvel at her speed. We must give them something new to print." Ismay said taking a hit of his cigarette before continuing.

"This maiden voyage of Titanic must make headlines."

"Mr. Ismay. I would prefer not to push the engines until they've been properly run in." John said.

"Of course I'm just a passenger. I leave it to your good offices to decide what's best. But what glorious end to your final crossing if we were to get into New York on Tuesday night and surprise them all. Make the morning papers. Retire with a bang, eh, E.J.?" Ismay said gaining a nod from John, Ismay leaned back in his chair taking another hit of his cigarette and said.

"Good man"

~~~~

"After that, I worked on a squid boat in Monterey then I went down to Las Angeles to the Santa Monica pier and did portraits for 10 cents each." Remus said looking at Sirius then out at the ocean- leaning his elbows onto the railing next to Sirius.

"Why can't I be more like you? Just head out for the horizon whenever I feel like it." Sirius said then looked over at Remus and continued. "Say we'll go there sometime, to that pier even if we only just talk about it."

"No, we'll do it. We'll drink cheap beer. We'll ride on the roller coaster till we throw up." Remus said causing Sirius to laugh and look out towards the ocean, then look at him again as he continued.

"We'll ride horses on the beach, right in the surf. But you have to do it like a real cowboy." Remus said.

"I dont know how to ride a horse. Can you show me?" Sirius asked looking up at Remus with pleading eyes.

"Sure, if you'd like." Remus said with a smile plastered on his face.

"Teach me to ride like a man." Sirius said trying not to let his smile show as he spoke.

"Chew tobacco like a man." Remus said with his best southern accent causing Sirius to smile.

"And spit like a man." Sirius said trying out the southern accent- causing both of them to burst out laughing.

"What they didn't teach you that in finishing school?" Remus asked.

"No." Sirius laughed.

"Come on. I'll show you." Remus said tilting his head as he spoke then walked around Sirius and grabbed his hand pulling him with him.

"Wha-"

"I'll show you how." Remus said with a smile, Sirius grabbed Remus' hand that was hold his and tried to stop him.

"Remus! No, Remus, no. Wait. I couldn't possibly, Remus." Sirius said as the stopped and stood on up against the ship's half wall railings.

"Watch closely." Remus said as he hacked up phlegm- before spitting it off into the ocean.

"Uh that's disgusting!" Sirius laughed and looked at Remus.

"Alright, your turn." Remus said looking at Sirius, Sirius looked around then just did a quick little spit into the ocean.

"That was pitiful. You really have to hawk it back. Get some leverage. Use your arms and your neck." Remus said then did it again, Sirius watched him then tried.

"See the rage on that thing?" Remus said pointing out- gaining a nod from Sirius.

"Okay, go on." Remus said then Sirius hacked and spit, it wasn't as good as Remus but was good for Sirius' first try. Sirius and Remus didn't notice that Walburga, Mrs. Brown and the countess were walking up behind them.

"That was better. You have to work on it. Really try to hawk it up and get some body into it you know like-" Remus said as he snorted again but was poked and tapped by Sirius who was looking behind him.

Remus turned around and was met with all four women, Remus forcefully swallowed the phlegm and Sirius chuckled then spoke.

"Mother." Sirius said and walked out to be in front Walburga.

"May I introduce Remus Lupin?" Sirius said. Remus and his mother shared eye contact before she spoke.

"Charmed, I'm sure." Walburga said unimpressed, looking Remus up and down disapprovingly before she looked towards Sirius.

All three of the other women were gracious and curious about the man that saved Sirius' life but his mother looked at him like an insect. A dangerous insect which must be squashed quickly.

"Well, Remus sounds like you're a good man to have in a sticky spot." Mrs. Brown said smiling at Remus who returned the smile. Suddenly the dinner trumpet was sounded causing Mrs. Brown to scoff.

"Why do they always insist on announcing dinner like a damn cavalry charge?" Mrs. Brown said causing Sirius to laugh then speak up to his mother.

"Shall we go dress, Mother?" Sirius said offering his arm to his mother who took it and started to walk with him.

"See you at dinner, Remus." Sirius said turning back to Remus then continued walking, Remus gave Sirius a small wave and watched him walk away.

"Uh, son?" Mrs. Brown called Remus who just kept watching Sirius walk away.

"Son!" Mrs. Brown said louder this time gaining his attention.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?" She asked him.

"Not really." Remus said laughing.

"Well, you're about to go into the snake pit. What are you planning to wear?" She asked gaining a shrug and she scoffed at that.

"I figured. Come on." She said hooking her arm around Remus' arm, pulling him with her.

~~~~

"I was right. You and my son are just about the same size." Mrs. Brown said helping fix up the suit she had made Remus try on.

"Pretty close." Remus said turning to look into the mirror seeing his hair slicked back with gel, he fixed his suit jacket and whistled.

"Look at you, you shine up like a new penny." Mrs. Brown said then laughed.

~~~~

"Good evening, Sir." The man said to Remus as he opened the door for him allowing him to walk into the dining hall, Remus gave a small nod. Remus looked around the room and noticed the grand stairs and made his way over to them, he felt so out of place compared to all of these first class travelers.

He paused and looked over the railing to mentally prepare himself, he could already hear the rich classical music that was playing just down the stairs.

Once he started to make his way down the stairs he made sure to fix his jacket to make sure it looked just right, when he reached the bottom of the stairs he looked around to try and spot Sirius. When he was unsuccessful he turned back to look at the stairs, assuming they weren't there yet.

He leaned up against a pillar in the room when he noticed a man and women that had stopped to chat with some friends, Remus had fixed his posture to somewhat match that of the older man infront of him.

The man and his wife then decided to walk to their seats, saying goodbye to the other couple they were talking to. When they walked passed Remus the man gave a respectful nod to which Remus graciously returned, then turned his body to watch how he led his wife through the room. Once again copying his stance, so he didn't look like a total idiot.

"Thousands of tons of Snape steel are in this ship." Remus heard Severus say from the top of the stairs so he turned around.

"Which part?" Walburga had asked as Severus guided her down the stairs.

"All the right ones. Of course." Severus said with a chuckle.

"Then you're accountable if there's a problem. Where's my son?" She asked with a small huff of air causing Severus to look over at her.

"He'll be along." Severus said then he and Remus made eye contact for a second but Severus acted like he didn't even notice him or he infact didn't.

"There is the Countess. Hello my dear." Severus said as the made it to the bottom of the stairs, he reached his hand out and took hers to place a kiss upon it.

"Good evening, Severus." She said in return.

Remus hadn't noticed yet but Sirius was standing at the top of the grand staircase watching him try and copy people as he waited patiently for him, Sirius smiled then Remus turned towards the stairs again and did a double take on Sirius.

As Remus had walked closer towards the bottom of the stairs, Sirius started to walk down the stairs. Remus was in awe at how stunning Sirius looked, he couldn't take his eyes off of him.

Sirius was wearing a suit just like every else expect his was without a jacket and his shirt wasn't a white button up, no. His shirt was a bright coral shade with some black sparkled mesh on top of it, his outfit was completed with just some normal black pantsuit bottoms. His long curly black hair was up in one of those fancy updos but it complimented everything about him, unlike all the other rich folk in the room.

It complimented his skin tone, his eyes, his outfit, his face shape, everything. Remus had thought it was like looking at a prince from a fairytale, only he was living this fairytale instead of reading it.

Sirius was absolutely stunning.

Their eye contact never broke as Sirius came closer, their unspoken tension was sharp enough to cut the ship in half. Sirius stopped a couple steps before the bottom and gave Remus a small smile.

Remus grinned and gently grabbed Sirius' hand bringing it up to his face, leaning down to meet his hand with a kiss, Sirius looked down at him with small smile as Remus pulled away to speak.

"I saw that in a nickelodeon and always wanted to do it." Remus said causing both of them to laugh, Remus then let go of Sirius' hand and offered Sirius his arm.

Sirius took his arm with a smile and walked off the steps still looking at Remus, who stuck his chin up high as if a way of politely making fun of the rich folk in the room causing Sirius to hold back a laugh. Then they continued to walk towards Sirius' fiance and mother, Sirius' mood then suddenly changed infront of Remus' eyes.

"Darling.." Sirius said as he rubbed Severus' arm to get his attention, Severus turned around to look at them. "Surely you remember Mr. Lupin."

Severus looked at Sirius then at Remus and it took him a couple seconds to recognize him, so Remus guessed that earlier he did infact see him just didn't recognize him.

"Lupin.." Severus said with a surprised chuckle. "It's amazing. You could almost pass for a gentleman."

"Almost." Remus said with a click of him tongue.

"This is extraordinary." Severus said causing Walburga to huff out a small laugh as he offered her his arm, to which she took and they made their way to the table.

~~~~

Once they were now getting closer to their table Walburga and Severus were greeting everyone and making some small talk about the ship, that's when Sirius looked over and saw his brother walking in passed them.

"That there is my brother, Regulus. He is basically my mother's travel butler, she has always treated him at such and almost nothing more." Sirius said pointing Regulus out to Remus getting Remus to nod.

"There's the Countess of Rothes. His little wifey, Madeleine, is my age and in delicate condition." Sirius said and they both looked over at them.

"See how she's trying to hide it. Quite the scandal." Sirius said with a small smirk and a quick raise of his eyebrows.

"Hmm." Remus said with a small chuckle.

"And that's Benjamin Guggenheim and his mistress, MadameAubert. Mrs. Guggenheim is home with the children, of course. And over here, we have Sir Cosmo and Lucile, Lady Duff-Gordon. She designs naughty lingerie, among her many other talents." Sirius said and started waving at her as Remus chuckled.

"Very popular with the royals." Sirius finished smiling at Remus.

"Congratulations, Snape. He's splendid." Sir Cosmo said to Severus as he looked at Sirius.

"Why, thank you." Severus said with a chuckle.

"Care to escort a lady to dinner?" Mrs. Brown asked as she came into view on the other side of Remus.

"Certainly." Remus said offering her his arm which caused her to chuckle at take it.