The professor is currently pacing in front of the class, droning on and on about something they claim is of the utmost importance, but they obviously don't know the meaning of the word if they’re delaying Sirius’ plans for longer than it has to be.
Today is actually an important day.
Sirius Black is going to make Remus Lupin fall in love with her.
He’s been planning it for days, for weeks, and now she’s finally prepared and giddy to go through with the plan.
If only this lesson would do everyone a favour and end already.
Sirius has been busying himself eyeing his bag with anticipation, biting back the smile that threatens to emerge from the thought of Remus alone.
At one point during the lesson, James and Sirius pass the snitch Prongs always keeps on him back and forth until they’re caught and given a one time warning to put it away. Sirius rolls his eyes and tucks it into his bag, he’ll return it to Prongs after.
It's ages later that he is closer to nodding off than he was before when the bell goes off, and she jumps up from her seat before it even finishes ringing.
There are no thoughts running through her head at the moment besides the careful steps he’s gone through one by one every night and of course, Remus, Remus, Remus.
As distracted as she is, she doesn’t forget her best friend, grabbing James’ hand– ignoring his surprised yelp of “woah-” –and pulling him into the direction of the classroom he knows Remus should be coming out of.
Her free hand securely clutches her courier bag by her side, holding everything she’s been working so hard on inside.
For the last ten days, Sirius has been secretly brewing Amortentia to sneak into Remus’ food. It was difficult keeping it hidden from the other three boys in his dorm.
James had almost uncovered it at some point, looking for the Map on Sirius’ side of the room to take for his daily mysterious evening walks, but getting distracted by the “unusual” scent.
“You really don't smell that?” he’d turned to ask Remus and Peter, still sniffing the air while Sirius tried to think of an excuse to get James away from his closet’s vicinity without seeming suspicious.
“It’s the same old wet dog smell,” Remus says, sparing a grin at Sirius’ outraged cry of how he definitely smells better than Padfoot. “You sure you didn’t get hit in the head last quidditch practice?” He jokes, but there’s a hint of worry there.
Sirius isn’t going to praise Remus for doing the bare minimum of caring about a friend’s well being, but… oh, how he cares. He’s endlessly lovely. Sirius has to hold himself back from sighing dreamingly out loud and try to think straight (ha) for a moment.
“I could’ve sworn I had smelled… nevermind.” James sighs and shakes his head.
“I think I get what you mean, Prongs. Can’t put my finger on what exactly it is but, what exactly did you smell?” Peter asks, looking around as if he can spot the smell.
Remus had told her once about muggle cartoons, something in which animals could see the trails of scents in the air. Animagi do adopt traits from their animal counterparts. But Peter surely can’t see the Amortentia… Can he?
Sirius can feel herself tensing the longer the conversation goes on and tries to ignore the concerned glances Remus’ throws his way from the corner of his eye.
“Thought I smelled French vanilla.” James mumbles.
Remembering Regulus usually wears a similar scent, Sirius quickly comes up with the excuse that some of their clothing may have got mixed together when they were packing for the school year.
Honestly, she deserves house points for how quick she had thought of that on the spot.
Thank Merlin James hadn’t thought to question why they hadn’t gotten their stuff in order, having all the time to do so as far as they are into the year.
Now, before you go and judge Sirius about the “moralities” of using a love potion on his best friend, let him explain first.
It's a foolproof plan, really.
Step #1: Innocently offer Remus his favourite treat, chocolate frogs that are, unbeknownst to everyone else, doused in the love potion Sirius has put her blood sweat and tears into concocting.
(She had to personally go undercover and steal from the boys’ sweets stash to make sure Remus would be craving it, but had no chance of getting a refill since the Hogsmeade trip is still a few days away.
The timing of it all is meant to be, it’s like the universe is begging for Sirius to do this, and who is he to deny the stars?)
Step #2: Make sure he is in Remus’ direct line of sight, and let the potion do its thing.
(Doing this in the open hall while students have just been dismissed might be a risk, but Sirius is literally going to throw up if he has to wait any longer to be held by Moony.)
Step #3: Remus is immediately head over heels for her. Simple. (Maybe Sirius can even pretend it’s real for just a moment.)
Step #4: They do everything Sirius only dreams of, go on the most romantic dates, hold hands for no other reason than the fact they just can, and make everyone else jealous because all of Remus’ attention belongs to him and him only.
By the time the potion’s effects wear off, Remus will have to see Sirius in a new light. A rose tinted light, if all goes well.
Which it will. Everything’s going to go perfectly. It has to, or step #5 will be pointless and the only reason it was added in the first place was because four is not a satisfying number to stop at.
Sirius doesn’t even realise he’s started full on running until James brings her down from her train of thoughts with a huff.
“Pads, I know you’re excited for the school day to end but slow down, would you?” James complains from behind him, but still matches Sirius’ speed, though against his will with the unrelenting grip she has on him.
Sirius chooses to believe it's because their twin flame mental link is strong enough for James to understand her need for urgency, even if he doesn’t know the true reasoning behind it.
“I’ll explain later, mate, but just trust me.” Sirius promises.
“I always trust you.” James replies genuinely, and Sirius briefly turns to give him a smile that’s only made for him.
She trusts him just the same, with anything and everything, but he can’t tell James about this yet. He wouldn’t understand why Sirius has to force Remus into falling in love, and would encourage her as a hopeless romantic to wait for it to happen naturally on its own.
The chances of Remus coming to the realisation of Sirius being deserving of his love are low. Like, find your way to hell and start digging and you might reach the chances, barely.
She doesn't want to wait around at the high chance Remus finds someone worth his attention, because it's Remus.
Remus. Lupin.
He could have anyone he wants, so why would he ever look right beside him and see his future with Sirius, the future she daydreams about every time they make the slightest eye contact.
(It’s not like he has it all planned out. Just the cottage by the countryside near Prongs and Wormtail. Two, or maybe three dogs, and five kids. Minimum.)
Sirius has never had a proper example of a good and healthy romantic connection to look at as an example his entire life. James grew up with loving parents who have a fairytale romance and expresses his feelings for Lily openly and proudly, even if he hasn’t done so in a while now.
So, no. James would not get the complicated relationship Sirius has with romance. But he'll explain it all better to him later and hopefully he’ll understand why this is the only way for Remus to open his eyes.
There won't be much to say, hopefully James will catch on on his own and Sirius’ mouth will be well preoccupied when Remus begins showing signs of the infatuation that's to come.
The idea of Remus looking at her with pure adoration makes her squeal out loud to herself as they stop by a corner in a, thankfully, mostly empty hall.
“Look,” James nudges his arm to get his attention (it takes four tries) until she turns to follow his gaze to Peter, who’s walking towards them with a smile. James meets him halfway, Sirius slowly and hesitantly following behind him because they’re getting further away from the secluded space where it’d be easier to make sure Remus won’t get distracted and look elsewhere after consuming the sweet.
“You ran right past me a few minutes ago, what’s the hurry?” Peter asks them.
James answers. With something. Sirius knows James definitely formed words of some sort, but her senses have shut down completely as her eyes lock onto Remus who’s walking down the hall.
Slowly, ever so slowly.
Or maybe Sirius is just seeing everything in slo-mo again as she usually does when anything that involves Remus (Remus!!!) is taking place.
Sirius can’t take his eyes off of him. He hasn’t spotted them yet, pulled into a conversation with Lily. What could they be talking about? Why is his Remus smiling his beautiful smile at another girl?
Sirius has learned long ago that Lily is to Remus what James is to Sirius, and Remus would never go after Lily when everyone knows how James feels about her. It doesn’t help the spark of jealousy that ignites within him at the sight of their linked arms when Sirius wishes it was him by Remus’ side.
Distracted by her very-soon-to-be-boyfriend, when James tugs on her bag and asks to retrieve his snitch, Sirius makes a vague gesture for him to get it on his own, refusing to take his eyes off of the love of his life whose eyes finally look up and find hers.
Love truly changes how people perceive the world, because Sirius swears Remus’ eyes soften as soon as they land on him. Is it love, or delusion? Because Remus definitely looks happier seeing her, right? So right.
Oh, Sirius can’t wait to make him fall for her, which, speaking of, it’s go-time.
Sirius would usually divulge in the few seconds without interruption that it feels like they’re the only two people in the room, and go on with his regular routine of greeting Remus in every variation of “hello” possible until he finally breaks into that pretty laugh of his, but she has another priority for now.
“I have something for you.” She tells him.
“Do you?”
Remus has to stop smiling at him like that, he can’t look away until the very last minute he has to as he opens his bag to get the– the chocolate frog.
There’s one chocolate frog sitting on his books, kept safely on top from being crushed by everything else in his bag.
The problem here is, Sirius had saved two chocolates, just in case something had happened to one and all her work had gone down the drain. And he remembers placing them both in here, so where–
“Thanks for the treat, Pads. I thought we had run out of these!” James called from behind her. Her head snaps up to see Prongs walking away backwards, smirking at Sirius’ alarmed expression, probably assuming she’s just acting dramatic over her sweets getting stolen.
(After all the times Sirius has repeatedly reminded everyone that he is not dramatic!)
“Shit.” Sirius hisses, running in his direction. “James, no!”
She watches in horror mid-run as James devours the chocolate whole as he turns the corner, bumping face first into– who Sirius has to go over to see is- Regulus.
Regulus who looks at James with unconcealed irritation, and James who’s looking right back at him, chocolate frog fully ingested.
Well, fuck.
“Uh, James?” Sirius asks after a moment, wide eyes moving between James and his brother, the latter looking more annoyed when he sees Sirius, if that was possible.
“Watch it, Potter.” Regulus huffs, fixing his robes even though they’re still as neat as they always are.
“Sorry, Reg.” James smiles.
Smiles normally. In a completely normal manner.
The hint of affection on his face must be a trick of the light because otherwise he's... fine?
Regulus tries to step around them to go on his way, but Sirius grabs his arm and keeps him in place.
Ignoring his brother’s glare, he asks James, “Do you feel… any different?”
“Different?” James asks, looking between the two siblings. “I’m not following.”
Regulus mumbles “What is wrong with Gryffindors?” under his breath that goes ignored as Sirius tries to work out what went wrong.
“That chocolate frog was drowned in a love potion, you should be obsessed with Reggie right now.”
“Oh!” James blurts out. Then more quietly, his eyebrows climbing in understanding, “Oh. Erm, maybe it didn’t work?”
Sirius scoffs, shaking his head. “I did not spend two weeks brewing the potion to perfection for it to simply not work. It must be something wrong with you.”
Regulus breaks his unusual silence before James could argue, “He’s right.”
James’ face twists in betrayal (now who's dramatic?) while Regulus appears to be emerging from a deep thought, his eyes slowly rising from where they seemed glued to the ground a moment ago and his face growing an alarming shade of red.
“Amortentia does not work on those who are already in love,” He explains, eyes never leaving James.
“Oh.” Sirius whispers, realising exactly what's happening.
James quickly turns to her, looking like a deer caught in headlights (ha!), “Sirius, I–”
“Don't worry, Prongs.” Sirius cuts him off. “You don't need to explain a thing.” because she gets it, she really does.
James can’t fall in love with Regulus when he’s already in love with Lily! Of course James’ love would be the only thing strong enough to render a love potion useless. Sirius should’ve seen this coming honestly.
She winks at James knowingly, patting his and Regulus’ shoulder in approval before turning to head back to his Moony, who’s already looking away from the conversation he was in with Lily and Wormy to smile back at him, which Sirius returns back ten fold.
It’s actually criminal that Sirius has to postpone the plans a bit longer, he could kill a person right now, maybe even twelve.
But time flies by much more easily when he’s spending it with Remus.
★
With how many unforeseen variables have been hell bent on ruining Sirius’ attempt at a love life, he didn't expect to find the time to have Remus all for himself for the day, especially not most conveniently in their dorm.
Just the two of them.
Alone.
She hasn’t seen James at all since earlier today with the failed Amortentia incident, and Peter is sneaking out and around with a girl he’s been seeing for a while now that he still thinks the other Marauders don't know about.
A few weeks ago, James had borrowed the Marauder’s Map from Peter’s stuff from when it was his turn to hold on to it, wanting to check if Sirius was still at McGonagall’s for their little tea dates, as Sirius puts it.
(Minnie claims they’re merely meetings for her to check in and provide her fellow students with any help they might require. Yet Sirius is the only one allowed to walk in at any hour while most students have to schedule a date ahead of time.
She won’t admit out loud, but Sirius knows he's her favourite, and he’ll respect that. Respectfully brag about to anyone who’ll listen.)
She had been on her way back to the dorm at that second, walking in to find James and Remus watching the Map with great interest, and joining them without question.
Peter was in one of the secret passageways with someone who they recognized as a Hufflepuff from their year.
“Why’s Wormy hiding a girl from us?” Sirius wonders out loud, a bit hurt about the not-so-much-anymore secret.
“Maybe he’s not ready to tell us, yet.” Remus suggests.
“Maybe he’s afraid of how we’d react.” James adds faintly, a bit nervous if Sirius is reading him correctly, and she usually is. Weird.
“What would he have to be afraid about, this is fine.”
James and Remus exchange a look before turning to Sirius, who huffs and tries to clear away the bothered expression she can feel her face forming. “This is fine. Amazing, even. Good for Peter.”
“Oh, it’s Peter now, is it?” Remus asks, amused.
“Wormtail. Wormy.” Sirius corrects, crossing his arms and focusing on studying the details of the David Bowie poster hanging on his wall. The one Peter had hand made for him for her birthday last year.
Staring at the ground it is.
James hands the map to Remus before stepping in front of Sirius, gently grabbing his shoulders and waiting for him to look up before giving her a soft smile.
“He hasn’t been acting any differently with us, right? Hasn’t distanced himself or anything.” He asks.
“No,” she mumbles.
Sirius knows exactly what James is doing.
She can read James like a book written in a language only they can understand, and that sort of link goes both ways. James didn’t need more than one look at Sirius to figure out his anger was just blanketing the hurt about their best friend keeping something big from them.
James explains that Peter will tell us on his own time, like he understands Peter’s perspective personally. He’s always been good at putting himself in other peoples’ shoes.
Prongs always knows exactly what to say to ease Sirius’ moods, helping the more rational thoughts make their way up because deep down he knows Peter would never hurt them, and that had been that.
Now, Sirius had laughed when Remus told her about Peter’s whereabouts before plopping down on his bed and laying herself across Remus’ lap.
“Hi,” he smiles up at him when Remus puts his book down after folding a page clean in half as a bookmark. He has yet to tell Regulus about how Remus cares for his books, already looking forward to the picture of terror that’ll undoubtedly be painting his baby brother’s face.
“Hi,” Remus says, beaming at her. For not the first or last time, Sirius is blinded once more, everything fading away around them, vision only perceiving the boy in front of him.
She meant to say something, meant to do something important, but all she can think about is how much he loves–
Love! The Amortentia!
Sirius flings himself up and away from Remus’ enchanting smile, already mourning it, but the plan must come first. He could turn around and steal a peek, just one…
Oh, Remus isn’t smiling anymore. He’s no less stunning but, can’t have that.
“I have something for you!” Sirius says, picking up his bag from his bed and bringing it back to Remus who’s, to Sirius’ joy, smiling again.
“You’ve been holding out on me, unless I’m missing a special occasion?” He asks when Sirius presents him with the chocolate frog.
“No special occasion,” Sirius grinned, sitting next to Remus, both their backs against the headboard. “I just wanted to save you the last one.”
Remus leans in closer, and Sirius almost faints from inhaling his scent too quickly and not subtly in any form. It goes unmentioned and Remus eats the chocolate before it could escape, which Sirius started considering as a possibility because there is no way this could be going steadily without more trouble.
“Thank you.” he says quietly into the space between them, close enough for Sirius to make out the specs of gold in his hazel eyes.
Maybe her luck is turning up.
Then a moment passes. Followed by a few more.
And Sirius internally berates herself for speaking too soon because now what?
She has seen love potions in effect, seen people go from disinterest to becoming infatuated with someone they wouldn’t even look at twice an hour before. The once quiet going on endless declarations of love to make their feelings known. It’s supposed to work immediately, so what could possibly be the problem–
“Amortentia does not work on those who are already in love.”
Regulus’ words replay in his head like a broken record, an unwanted loop.
It doesn’t work. His plan didn’t work.
Amo rt entia d o es no t.
It was useless from the start.
W ork on th o s e .
Sirius never stood a chance, never even got to try for Remus because he would’ve given him her everything but now he can't.
W ho ar e alrea d y .
And she never can because–
“Sirius?” Remus asks, eyes searching her face for what’s obviously troubling her because Sirius can’t fucking keep his emotions hidden and to himself. “What’s wrong?”
I n l o v e .
Because Remus is in love.
Amortentia does not work on those who are already in love.
Remus is in love with somebody else.
And it’s not Sirius.
★
It’s easy being strong when it comes to protecting someone else, but when it comes to himself…
If there’s one thing Sirius is consistently skilled at, it’s running away from his own problems.
Which is exactly what he did. Run away from Remus, who called after him, sounding as distressed as Sirius felt.
She grabbed the Map in her haste so Remus couldn’t try to find her. He needs some time alone.
Truthfully, he needs James. She’ll spiral otherwise.
And that’s another handy reason she’s glad she took it when she did.
The Marauders have gotten used to not having the map available for use around this time, since James takes it with him on his evening walks to avoid Filch and Mrs. Norris, even though he has the cloak.
Never having much need for it besides essential pranks they’ve all been together for most of the planning of, no one has questioned it much or complained about it yet.
It’s unusual for James to have forgotten it though, it surely has to be a habit for him by now.
Sirius opens the Map, tapping his wand against the blank parchment and reciting, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” quickly searching for James’ name as the ink reveals its contents.
He’s at the astronomy tower.
With Regulus?
Sirius waits for their names to move, but they stay in place, clearly sitting or standing side by side.
Huh. That’s an unlikely pairing.
If anything was to come from Sirius’ mess, he’s glad his best friend and little brother have found the opportunity to become friends.
Still weird, though.
Eh, it could be worse.
★
It’s worse.
It’s so much worse.
“What.” Sirius starts, pausing for effect as she takes in precisely what he’s seeing, “The actual fuck. Are you two doing!?”
If his sight is serving him correctly, which he hopes for everyone’s sakes it is not, James and Regulus were just snogging.
Each other.
On the mouth.
And apparently she must have said that all out loud because Regulus rolls his eyes and responds, “Real mature, sister.” before turning to James, “I told you he wouldn’t react sanely about us.”
“What exactly is this ‘us’ in question?” Sirius glares at James who takes an audible gulp and steps back from Regulus slowly, his eyes remaining on Sirius like she’s a feral animal who’ll pounce at any sudden movements.
With the amount of mental whiplashes she’s gone through in the last few hours alone, she just might.
“Me and Regulus, we’re–”
“Regulus and I,” Regulus interrupts boredly.
“Regulus and I. We’re together.” James continues, unperturbed by the interruption. “You… I thought you knew?”
“And why would you think that?” Sirius asks, surprising himself with how suddenly eerily calm his voice is.
Is Sirius’ eye twitching? She feels like her eye is twitching.
“You. Winked?” James says weakly. Regulus groans behind James, stepping in between him and Sirius.
“Sirius, you told him verbatim: Don't worry, Prongs, you don't need to explain a thing.” Regulus does a purposely terrible imitation of Sirius’ voice, but those are indeed her words. “Saying that right after I basically told you that he’s in love with me, we had assumed–”
“Wait, wait, wait. You’re what!?” Sirius cries looking over at James, who is literally hiding behind Sirius’ little brother right now.
So much for the Gryffindor bravery.
This is all too much and too baffling for Sirius to comprehend normally right now. Assuming she would be able to comprehend it normally under any other circumstances.
“But– Lily?”
“I’ve been over her for a year, Padfoot. We’re good friends now, and I didn’t really love her like that, not for real.” James moves beside Regulus and puts an arm around him. “Not the way I love Regulus.”
His brother melts into James’ side, staring at his side profile until James smiles at him, forcing Regulus’ face to soften in a way that’s against his control if it’s anything like what Sirius has had first-hand experience with.
Sirius remembers every time James defended Peter and his “secret” relationship, which she knows he still would have done if he weren't in the same shoes, but… Sirius has already been through this wave of emotions about Wormtail, so it all comes down to one thing.
Sure, the situation is vastly different because this now includes his brother alongside her best friend, but there's just one thing that matters to him right now.
“Are you happy?”
Regulus looks surprised at the question, most likely shocked at the newfound maturity his sister decided to grace onto them. Sirius has to hold back a scoff. She can be mature.
James merely smiles, nodding.
“We are.”
An unlikely pairing indeed, but they do truly look happy together.
“That’s– okay, yeah. Good, I’m glad.” Sirius wants to say more.
She wants to say she’s sorry they didn't feel like they could come to her sooner about this, having to hide behind his back. She wants to talk about it more, how long they’ve been seeing each other, how and when it started.
He has a lot of questions, but right now he just feels, to the fullest extent, mentally drained about Remus.
“You… are?” Regulus asks, carefully.
“Yes. I just said as much, didn't I?” evidently sounding miffed, even though it's not directed at them.
James is a breath away from asking what happened, but Regulus beats him to it, new to handling but familiar enough to Sirius’ temper tantrums.
“Well, you’re clearly upset about something. Did you encounter another failed Amortentia attempt?” Regulus guesses, unaware he hit the nail where it hurts the most.
A moment of silence follows, and then James is rushing forward to catch a sobbing Sirius in his arms, letting her bury her face into his chest.
A startled Regulus drops to the ground beside them, rubbing Sirius’ back in an appreciated attempt to soothe him.
Through his tears and countless sniffles, Sirius tells them everything.
When he’s finished, Regulus smacks his palm to his forehead. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding. You can’t seriously be this dense, it has to be an act at some point. Please, tell me it’s an act.” He groans.
Silence follows, and Regulus groans louder.
Now, Sirius is aware Regulus is new to this whole comforting gig, but he thinks it takes anyone with common sense to not insult the person weeping their eyes out. And Regulus is the smartest person she knows, so she rightfully asks, “What the fuck?”
She looks at James who holds him tighter before addressing his horrible troll of a brother. “Reg, I don't think–”
“Yes darling, clearly, neither of you do.” Regulus deadpans. “Amortentia does not work on those who are already in love.”
“I know what you bloody said,” Sirius’ whines, words muffled against James’ shoulder where he turns to hide from said words like he can pretend they were never spoken into existence for his knowledge in the first place.
“Sirius!” Regulus shouts.
“What, Reggie!” She shouts back.
“Lupin is in love with you, you wanker!”
And… What?
“What?” Sirius voices.
Regulus sighs, still fed up but seeming to try a different, more gentle approach.
“What I meant earlier about the potion was that it is only futile if it’s given to a recipient who is already in love with the giver.” Regulus tells her more kindly without a single snub, though he looks like it's taking a physical toll on him for showing an infinitesimal amount of warmth.
The James Potter effect is real, and it is powerful.
Regulus’ words are sinking in.
“Do I have to dumb it down any further, or…”
Sirius’ plan really was useless after all because Remus is already…
“Remus is in love with me,” he says, mostly for himself, in awe.
“Yeah, and you gave him a chocolate then ran away from him for no reason.” James chuckles.
Oh no, the Regulus Black effect is also real, James would never joke about something like this this soon.
But Sirius has more important things to worry about than her baby brother corrupting her best friend (unexpected turn of events), because Remus loves him back.
His Moon loves him back!
He’s up and running back to his dorm, barely processing James’ encouraging words and Regulus’ exhausted “Finally”, hoping Remus hadn’t disappeared off to somewhere when they needed to talk.
He didn't.
Sirius finds Remus on the dorm floor by his bed, surrounded by the Amortentia ingredients she had stolen from Slughorn’s class, aided by James’ cloak.
“You tried to use a love potion on me.” Remus says, still eyeing the ingredients around him at the same time Sirius says, “You love me.”
“Sirius.” Remus stands up, stepping over the items carefully as he makes his way to her. “You genuinely tried to magically drug me.”
This is a serious topic (a Sirius topic, if you will), and Sirius should consider Remus’ concerns and properly talk this out with him. But as we know by now, her brain shuts down completely when Remus’ eyes are on him, so all he does is melt into a smiley mess.
“It didn't work, because you already love me.”
There’s a part of Remus that looks like he’s in awe of the extents Sirius would go to for love.
His love.
Or maybe it’s awe at himself, because Remus still has the same look in eye that he’s always had, the one Sirius finally recognizes for what it really is now. What it always was.
The want.
No, the need.
So Sirius moves closer in a lovesick daze, until their bodies are touching and their breath is mingling. Pleasantly surprised at her own sudden confidence around the object of her desires, she pushes herself further.
He goes on his tiptoes to whisper against Remus’ lips, “I love you too.”
He feels as well as hears Remus’ breath hitch, and a switch goes off in him. In both of them, it seems, as they both push to close the gap between them.
Sirius had imagined kissing Remus a million times before, but none of his dreams have ever come anywhere close to the real thing. He runs his hands through Remus’ curls, tugging at them and swallowing his gasp in reward.
Remus’ grip tightens where he holds her hips, and as they move towards the nearest bed, which is fortunately Sirius’, she hopes Remus’ touch leaves permanent bruises in its wake, so he can have this memory ingrained on him forever.
He’s already been ruined by his moon, ten times over, but she wants more. She aches with a craving and Remus hushes her soft whines, whispers of promises to give as much as he takes, until Sirius is overflowing with as much love as he flowed pain.
They’re ripping the clothes off of each other's bodies with rough touches in contrast to their soft kisses, when the door opens, going unnoticed until Peter clears his throat.
Remus makes an effort to acknowledge their presence, but Sirius doesn't let him get far, successfully pulling him back on top of him and bringing their lips back together.
“...Hello? We’re happy and all for you but– Hey, Moony, Pads?” James tries, and Sirius groans, dropping his head onto the bed with a thump.
“Aren’t you supposed to be busy tainting my brother?”
“Wait, when did she find out about you two?” Remus asks.
“You knew!?” Sirius gasps. Aw, this calls for their first lovers quarrel. (Because they’re a couple!!)
“Pretty sure you’re the last one to figure it out, love. They’re not subtle.”
“Pfft, says you, Moony.” Peter mutters on the way to his bed, and James hardly stiffles his laugh.
“What was that, Wormtail? Why yes, we did notice you fucking Layla with your eyes in charms.”
“How do you know–”
Sirius sighs and listens to Remus and Peter playfully bicker back and forth while exchanging amused glances with James every now and then, only adding in comments occasionally to fuel their fire.
In the back of his mind when he’s falling asleep in Remus’ arms, Sirius recalls the fifth and final step of her plan.
“Moony. Psst, Moons.”
“Yes, sweetheart?” Remus mumbles tiredly behind her neck.
“We haven’t made it official. Us,” she clarifies.
“You’re mine, and I’m definitely all yours. Or are you looking for specific labels?”
Sirius shimmies back, trying to move closer when the space between them is already nonexistent.
“I’m telling every person who breathes the same air as you that you’re my boyfriend.”
Sirius feels the puff of laughter behind him.
“Sounds perfect,” he murmurs with a kiss on her neck.
With his plan a success, going better than he could’ve ever imagined, Sirius falls asleep in her lover’s arms with a smile on her lips.