The magic we call love

“Aright!” said Sirius, pleased with himself, “thank you all for coming. Don't forget, we'll rehearse every day of this week and the next one until Saturday.”
The Gryffindor students that Sirius had carefully selected started to head out for the door. The room of requirements slowly began to appear less and less crowed until Peter and James were the only ones left.
“I can't believe you are already planning something.” Spoke James as he got closer to Sirius. “I still have no idea what I'm getting Lily”
“Oh don't worry Prongs, you've got plenty of time and plenty of ideas, don't you? We'll help you narrow them down” answered Sirius as he passed his arm around his best friend's shoulder to give him a reassuring squeeze.
“Thanks mate.” Said James, while the three boys headed out as well. “Are you sure Moony will appreciate his surprise? I mean, don't get me wrong I'm jealous of the idea but neither Moony nor Lily like that kind of attention”
Sirius had been wondering the same exact thing, but he tried to appear calm if not uninterested in front of his friends, so he stretched lazily and answered.
“Jamie, boy, that's why I've only picked a few gryffindors. I will make sure the common room isn't crowded, so Moons won’t get… so he can enjoy it.”
James and Peter exchanged a look, neither of them daring to argue any further since Sirius seemed so invested in this idea. The silence the three boys were walking in wasn't uncomfortable. They were the marauders, after all, but nevertheless Sirius couldn't stop thinking about his gift. James was right. What if he didn’t liked it? Well, at least, Sirius was sure he'd appreciate the second part of the gift. Or at least he hoped so.
“We saw it in a muggle film the other night, remember? He said he liked it” said Sirius, not sure if he was rather trying to convince himself.
’S´alright mate” said James, hugging him from the side. He knew when Sirius went into his own head, and knew how intrusive the thoughts of his friend could be. “He's gonna love it, you'll see.”
But still, Sirius had one and a half week to worry about his idea. He thought about cancelling rehearsals and changing his plan, but James always talked him into it again. Bless James Potter and his persuasive tactics. Between practising in the room of requirements, detentions with McGonagall and helping James practice the meterolojinx for Lily's surprise, Sirius hadn’t had a lot of time to overthink his gift. And thank Merlin did they have a busy Valentine’s Day morning. As usual, Sirius was the first one to wake up. He sat slowly in order not to make the bed crack a lot, so he wouldn't wake up Moony. He sat there and stared at Remus. The other boy had his mouth lightly opened. The morning sun was illuminating his face faintly, so he looked like a renaissance picture. His hair was messy and soft curls cover lightly his left eye. His long dark lashes against his freckled cheeks. Sirius watched him fondly. He couldn't believe how happy could he be by just looking at a person. Well, not a person. His persons.
“I can feel you watching me” whispered Remus; voice low and rough.
On Sirius face, a shit eating grin appeared. His favourite part of the day was sleepy Remus. The part of Remus only he saw, the intimate moment inside the curtains they shared every morning before pulling them and starting their day with their chaotic roommates. Remus turned a little in the bed, so he was facing up. Sirius eagerly moved towards the other boy, positioning himself on Remus's chest with his chin resting on the back of his hand, so he could continue watching him. Remus hadn’t even opened his eyes yet, but the familiar pressure above him made him smile, and his hand flew instantly to Sirius's hair.
“Hmm, what time s´it?” his Welsh accent came out like this every time he was sleepy and every time, Sirius melted.
So instead of receiving and answered, he received a kiss. Remus chest, Sirius felt, went up and down when a little giggle that escaped his lips. Sirius, also, loved making Remus giggle. He had only seen moony giggle with him, and that was something he took pride on.
“Happy Valentine's Day, Moons! Can't wait to show you got I got for you! Tonight, you'll have to groom yourself. Of course, you are already pretty Moony, don't get me wrong.” Started rambling Sirius, but Remus was too asleep to process what his boyfriend was saying.
“Happy birthday love” Remus said sleepy.
“Moony!” Sirius complained with a laugh. “It's Valentine's Day”
“Oh. Oh, right.” He said, rubbing his eye with his hand. “Happy Valentine's Day, Pads. What time is it?”
“We have time, Moons. It's still six o´clock.”
Remus growled.
“Why did you wake me this early? James and Peter won't be up for another half an hour.”
“Excuse you” complained Sirius, “I didn't wake you up”
“I felt your gaze” answered Remus finally opening his eyes, and, oh boy, was Sirius gone.
The amber eyes glowed in the little sun ray that was starting to enter through a crack in the curtains. And Sirius couldn't help but to stretch to give Moony a good morning kiss. Morning breath and all, he couldn't help but love kissing his boyfriend.
“Well now that you are up” started Sirius, “Maybe I can help you with your little problem until James and Peter wake up.”
“What little problem?” asked Remus, looking confused. He felt Sirius ground down his hips. Oh. That problem. “Little?”
Sirius chuckled.
“Well, maybe not that little.”
They were all done when, at quarter to seven, James snapped the curtains back.
“Oh, thank Merlin, you are decent” joked James while he threw himself on top of both boys.
“Hmpf”
Moony air escaped his lungs under the weight of James.
“Move you git” Sirius shove him towards the end of the bed. “You are crushing my man, and he's the only one I've got”
“Glad to hear that” mocked Remus.
“Aw, looked at you two” teased, as well, James. “Start getting ready, okay? Lily will be up in about twenty-three minutes”
“I don't even wanna ask how you know that” said Remus stretching his arms above his head.
Sirius stroke Remus's lower stomach, which had been revealed by the stretch. It sent a shiver down the others' boy's back, and Sirius grinned wickedly at having this effect on Moony. Just a single touch.
“You'll have time later” interrupted James, as if reading Sirius thoughts. “Get yourself out of bed and change now” he commanded in his quidditch captains voice.
James gave each of his friend a kiss on the forehead before jumping out of their bed and slamming the door of the bathroom. If Peter hadn't woken up by now, he was now awake. James bloody Potter couldn't, for merlin's sake, be a quiet person.
Everything went according to plan. Maybe not everything, since the girls had seen Sirius's patronus but, nonetheless, it had been very impressive and Lily did seem surprised. The couple was heading out when James and Sirius exchanged a look. James didn't need words to know what Sirius was asking, and it only took one slight nod from the other boy to assure Sirius.
He went out to meet Moony, who was on the quidditch pitch. He was crossing the practice pitch when he spotted his boyfriend. A tall figure standing in front of the stadium, behind him the snow has falling; product of a perfectly well executed climate spell. Sirius couldn't help but run towards him. He was almost close when he tripped. Remus moved as fast as he could to catch his boyfriend before he fell into the ground. Sirius looked up at him with a mischievous smile.
“Bugger of you prick” said Remus as he helped the other one getting up. Although, he hadn't let go yet. “I know you do it on purpose”
Sirius in fact did it on purpose. He loved whatiching Remus panic facial expression and how he would scold him afterwards, but what Sirius loved most was having any excuse to have Remus's arms around him. So whenever he felt like he hadn't touched Moony on a while he would trip and Moony would always catch him, even if he had something on his hands he would definitely drop whatever he was holding to catch him. Like the other day in potions. Remus was helping a fellow raven claw get some ingredients down the shelf and bringing them back to the station. Sirius was going to the front desk with the excuse to check something in his notes with Slughorn. Before they crossed paths, Sirius fake a fall and in no time Remus dropped the ingredients, sending crystals everywhere, and ran to catch him. Of course, they had got in trouble for that.
“One of these days…” complained half-heartedly, Remus; he was holding Sirius by the elbows. He yanked a little to bring the smaller boy into a kiss.
“Hey, why don’t we go inside the stadium and play a little in the snow?” suggested Sirius, with Remus's forehead laying on his.
“Because this was James's idea. Let him enjoy the snow alone with Lily for a bit, okay? We can come latter.” Argued Remus.
“Moony!” the other boy pouted.
“Come on love” Remus planted a kiss on Sirius's forehead before straightening up. “Let’s take a stroll by the forest. Shall we?”
“Or….” Sirius tried to look as innocent as he could. “We could wait for James and Lily to come, and then we can go to our dorm”
Remus' lift one eyebrow, trying to hide a lopsided grin.
“Ah! Your mister have a dirty mind” accused Sirius dramatically. “I wasn't talking about that at all.”
“Sure you weren't” laughed Remus passing his arms around Sirius waist as they started to walk towards the main entrance.
“I was thinking we could go up, so you could give me my gift.” He jumped a bit on his foot; if he were Padfoot we'd probably be wagging his tail right now.
“Honestly Pads.” Complained again Remus, but he seemed nervous.
So, in response Sirius got nervous. What if he had found out Sirius's gift, and he didn't like it, but Moony, blessed him, would sit down for the whole thing and then pretend he had liked it. Yeah, Sirius knew that was how he would react. But he couldn't possibly know about his surprise. James wouldn't have told him. But then again, there were lots of people involved. Maybe Peter had spilled the beans. Then Sirius wonder if Remus had forgotten it was Valentine's Day. He couldn't have. With James rambling about his surprise all week, he couldn't possibly have. What if Remus simply hadn't got anything for Sirius and was now embarrassed? Although, Sirius felt a bit disappointed by this; he knew Remus wasn't the most romantic.
“Where are you going?” asked Remus when Sirius changed the direction they were walking in.
Sirius had decided to spare Remus the embarrassment of having to tell him he hadn't got anything.
“Oh, I just decided that stroll after all.” Shrugged the raven haired boy.
Remus regarded him a minute.
“If that's what you want” he said, letting go of Sirius and getting ahead of the shorter boy. He turned his head slightly to give Sirius an over-the-shoulder look. “I did get you something, you know?”
"What is it?"
Sirius trotted up to Remus and intertwined their fingers. Remus laughed. The taller lift their hands towards his mouth, he crouched down a bit; he gave Sirius's fingers a light kiss while maintaining eye contact with him. Sirius felt a heat crawl all the way to his face. He was sure even his neck was red.
They spent the next hours inside the forest, wandering around and at some point getting rid of some clothing layers. It was around twelve o´clock when James called Sirius through the magic mirror to asked them where they were ad why weren't they at the stadium. It seemed like they had a snowball fight going on, boys vs. girls, and Peter and James needed back up against Lily, Dorcas and the two M´s. So the two boys headed that way once again with a light heart on their chest, a big grin on their faces and a sheepish look in their eyes.
“Hey Pads! Check this out mate!” screamed James dismounting his broom, so he could show it to his friend.
“No way! Look at that!” said Sirius, running to James's side.
Remus stayed behind, chatting with Lily. They spend the whole morning playing in the snow. James had a little muggle artefact that produced photos instantly and, for Lily's dismay, James lend it to him the moment he asked for it; even considering his history with cameras.
“Hey Marls, I have to go; could you maybe distract Remus a bit, so I can sneak out?” asked Sirius crouching behind a snow fortress. They were currently in a snow ball battle against Lily, Remus, Mary and Peter.
“I've got you!” Marlene winked at his friend.
She then proceeded to cast a spell, her own nose, and it started to bleed. Sirius had seen Marlene do this a million times to get out of class, but he still was very impressed because Marlene would never tell what spell she was using. “I came up with it, myself” she would answer or sometimes “well if I tell everyone I won't be able to use it any more”.
So Sirius left the stadium as Marlene screamed “Fire off! Dorcas! My nose”
A bunch of gryffindors were already in the common room. Others had been warned to stay out of it until the afternoon. Sirius was coordinating everything, trying not to show his nerves a lot. He needed James, but it would have been far too suspicious if they disappeared both. Sirius went up to their dorm to change and to get Remus a bouquet he had been carefully hiding.
Suddenly the portrait whole opened. Sirius gave a little jump, rushing everyone to their places. But who came through it were none other than his friends, cover lightly in snow.
“Lily is behind us” informed James trying to catch his breath.
“Well what are you waiting for?” said Sirius talking to everyone, “to your places' everyone!”
They all hid themselves in the designated places and the only one who was left was a first year who was apparently doing their homework in front of a radio.
“Where is everyone?” asked Remus as soon as they entered the common room. “Were we going that slow?”
But Lily didn't have time to answer as for at the moment the first year old turned on the radio and “Lover boy” by queen started blasting to it. Remus stood frozen, taken aback by the sudden music but then, as the first students appeared, his entire face went red. Hell, basically his whole body was read.
Some first years started dancing around while two other students flew on top of Remus to bathe him with rose petals. Lily had left his side and her and the girls were going around the room waving ribbons. Some older students came with the single person sofa and made Remus sat on it. The whole scene looked like a carnival.
Sirius was waiting on top of the stairs. "Please, Merlin, let Remus be enjoying this", he begged on his mind. James and Peter unrolled a red carpet. It was Sirius's cue. He came down the stairs, leaving the bouquet behind; James would hand it to him once he was finished. He hadn’t even climbed down the stairs completely when he spotted Remus. He looked completely embarrassed.
"Oh, Merlin! Please." He prayed again as he started dancing around him. Sirius and James did some twirls around Moony while singing the song. Moony could not take his eyes away from Sirius, but his gaze was unreadable. Once the song was about to finish Sirius stood in front of Remus offering his hand. And Remus just stared.
“Crap. He is so mad right now”. Sirius thought, and his smiled started to fade. But Remus took his hand. Sirius looked up at him and against all odds, Remus was smiling. He twirled Sirius around and then started slow dancing with him, mind you the song was not something very suitable for slow dancing. Once the song had finished Remus crouched down to Sirius's ear.
“Thank you.” He simply whispered. But the way he had said it. The low voice and the warm breath hitting Sirius's ear made Sirius melt right on the spot. And so the raven haired boy held to his boyfriend like his life depended on it cause he was sure if he let go now he would fall to his knees.
“Pads” said James softly from behind him. “The flowers”
Sirius turned around with a strange look on his face, as if he were high.
“Oh.” He said taking the flowers from James. His best friend gave him an amused smile. “Yeah…” he said, turning around to face Remus but looking at them as if he didn't know what they were for. “Moony”
“Yes Pads?”
“I… I hope you liked… there’s also a picnic waiting… but right now… you…” he cleared his throat.
The sandy haired boy arched a brow with a smug smile on his face. Remus Lupin was the only person on the face of the earth who could make Sirius Black trip on his own words.
“Are those for me?” asked Remus. Sirius simply nodded.
He practically shoved the roses onto his boyfriends face. Remus laughed and inhaled the smell of the roses. Then he proceeded to pull his boyfriend into a tight hug. He would kiss him later, when the common room was less crowded. For now, he pressed a gentle kiss on the shorter boy's temple.
After that Sirius had a strange but exciting afternoon and around seven o´clock when he finally returned to the boy’s room he found Remus on his bed reading.
“You won’t believe the day I just had” said Sirius dramatically. He knew, Remus knew damn well just the afternoon he had had. But Sirius was happy because Remus's girt have been unexpected and fun.
“Did you enjoyed yourself?” asked Remus, nose still stuck in his book.
“Yes Moony, thank you!” answered Sirius, taking the book away from Remus to kiss him.
And as promised, Remus kiss him harder this time. Sirius felt his heart thumping against his chest. He always liked it better when they kissed privately. Remus whispering in between the kisses things like “thank you” “you look damn good in that skirt” “I really love you git” this was all it took to make Sirius happy. Remus's company and knowing that they both treasured each other.
“As much as I would like to… spend the afternoon here Mr. Moony, " said Sirius rearranging his clothes. "There’s a surprise waiting for us in the astronomy tower”
“Oh yeah. The picnic?” Sirius face fell and Remus snorted. “You said it while you were blabbering nonsense with the roses, remember?”
Sirius blushed a little. His eyes wandered to Moony’s night stand where he had carefully put the roses on an improvised base which they had sneaked out of the room of requirements.
“Ah. Yeah. The things you make me do” said Sirius, extending a hand to Remus.
Remus hid something underneath his cloak. Sirius got excited. He had thought he had already received his gift, but apparently there was something else. He rushed Remus up to the tower for several reasons – mind you the curfew was not one of them-firstly he was excited to show Remus his gift, and secondly he wanted to see what Remus was hiding.
When they arrived to the astronomy tower, Remus seemed dumbstruck and Sirius felt very pleased by this fact.
“Sirius” he whispered. Remus only used Sirius's name when he was really… well, serious about something. So this was all the hint Sirius needed to know Remus had liked it. “This is beautiful”
Remus paced around the balcony admiring Sirius work. There were candles floating a cloth on the floor with chocolate, cookies, wine and some other shenanigans displayed. Sirius leaned against the railing, waiting for his boyfriend to end his inspection. Suddenly he heard Remus gasped in horror. Sirius immediately stood straight like an alert dog.
“Fuck! Sirius, I didn't know” said Remus turning around with a desperate look on his face. “I must have messed up!” he said, practically running towards Sirius, “We need to get to the shack right now!"
He was panicking, his breath was caught up and Sirius follow the taller boy gaze. And then it hit him. The night sky was painted with a beautiful, white and fully round moon.
“Moony” said Sirius cupping his boyfriend's face, but Remus seemed zoned out “Moony!” he said this time louder. Remus eyes focused on Sirius's “I made that”
“You… what?”
’S´not full moon today. I have them all marked down.” He started explaining. “I just thought that... you've been a werewolf practically your entire life and even when you don't see the moon you always transform... I just figured you had never seen a full moon without transforming and well I figured you'd… I think it's beautiful, but if it makes you uncomfortable I can cast it away.
Sirius watched as the tears formed in Remus face. For a moment he panicked. Remus never cried. Had he made him this sad? But then Moony started peppering his face with kisses. He was half laughing, half sobbing, whispering “thank you” again and again. He connected his gaze with Sirius once again. Moony had tears streaming down his face; nonetheless he was bearing the brightest smile that could over shine all the stars and the moon in the night sky.
"Remus is crying." Sirius thought. "He is crying from happiness." Sirius had never seen Remus cry from happiness. Moony rested his forehead on Sirius's still sobbing lightly. And Sirius felt his cheeks getting wet with his own tears. They both laughed softly as they kissed.
“Pads…” said Remus with a shaky, deep voice.
“My Moony” whispered back Sirius.
“Sirius…”
“I know Remus.”
There are some emotions so big and pure that words aren't just good enough.
Besides, Sirius did, in fact, knew. He had always known.