─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
“moon dust in your lungs,
star in your eyes,
you are a child of the cosmos,
a ruler of the skies.”
—meduesa.
It started in the heart. A warm feeling which bloomed floridly and slowly crawled to encompass his ribs in lovely pink flowers which stole the rush of oxygen in his lungs and soon, swathed his entire chest until it burst the seams in his ribs like an antiquarian book too worn of time to be able to stay knit together anymore. It then started to play a melodic, resonant little symphony with his heartstrings like a violin, and finally, the last liminal stage was where it danced all over his body until the tip of his toes, making his heart thrum when he looked at Remus, and that had been when Sirius Black reached the pure, undeniable stage of love. So when he stumbles over a bit of scree grazed neatly on the green hill Remus had taken Sirius to and looks up at the boy trekking in front of him, he thinks, dopily,
Yeah. It’s love.
They trudge over to the top — it really is a beautiful hill. There is a copse sleeping over them tranquilly, and as Sirius looks up, he sees an owl gawking oddly at them, perched on a thick branch, swaddling her babies pealing for attention with her feathers. There’s flowers of all kinds dotted about, some sprigs, some wilted, yet with their beauty preserved. Brambles with berries tangled in them look ripe, with the nice breeze harmonizing the ambience of it all, along with numerous little heaps of earth sloped over on top of the hill, producing a rich aroma complementing the breeze; of fresh earth and the dew produced from the earlier tempest. A rockery was piled with pebbles, some the size of marbles, some larger than their heads. It really is a beautiful hill.
A riverbed lays peacefully beneath them, flowing smoothly like satin and murmuring soothingly. A myriad of eddies swirl around, dancing prettily with the music of the breeze and the baby owls chirping, and right behind it, a forest of evergreens standing tall and proud. There’s a small thud over on the unruly grass blades which had bits of dew clinging onto them, catching the moonlight like pendant charms. He looks over to his left and sees his Moony already laying down on the tartan blanket he splayed out (the one his mother Hope gifted him for Christmas), smiling affectionately at him. Sirius does the same, giving him a small peck on the corner of his mouth and looks up at the sky.
“Woah,” Sirius whispers in awe.
The afternoon blue had been smudged to a darker shade, and blended thoroughly until it reached a skyglow color. It’s a young moon, tonight, and right next to it is the Dog Star; the brightest star in the sky. There are many stars sprinkled about; some bright, and some with light as damp as embers. Some are hidden behind the clouds, blurred of its light but still visibly there. Remus peers up at the sky, curiously, searching for something. He looks like he’s found it; his brows unfurrow and his eyes smile,
“Isn’t that the Dog Star? Next to the moon?” Remus whispers.
Sirius nods, “Yeah, it is. Right next to the moon,” he smiles, and it can be heard in is voice, “That’s us in the sky, Moons. Right there,” Sirius points.
“It is, my love. Not going anywhere.”
Somehow they are both down here and up there, two boys with their heads in the stars, floating, looking up at everyone and everything from where they are. Because on this very hill, right now, it feels like they are on top of everyone. The only two people in the world, or the only two people who matter, because they were each other’s tunnel visions; always, unchanging, in perpetuity.
Sirius easily would be able to spot Remus in a crowd, as if he were this lovely, glowing thing that managed to hook his eyes towards him every time. Because Remus is beautiful, he always is the only thing Sirius ever saw, or ever wanted to see, really.
Remus always wondered how Sirius’s godawful parents managed to land the perfect name for him; the star; the brightest one. A shining, luminous thing which shon and twinkled - he always caught the stars in his eyes.
Remus tips his head towards Sirius, and then he leans in closer until their lips were crashing like the slight waves in the riverbed beneath them, slower, gentler. Their lips dance along each other, like they had a thousand times before, and it is comfortingly familiar; the same hands snake around his cheek, like every time, everyday, and breathtaking in every way. Their brains shut down, turning into incoherent thoughts as their lips slotted perfectly, with Sirius’s cupid-bow lips adjoining with Remus’s heart-shaped ones. Their noses tickle when they brush, sweeping like the grass that sweeps with the wind, and the flowers that are pushed against them, slick and sweet like pollen.
They pull back and smile. Remus leans over to give Sirius a kiss on the corner of his mouth, and then another one pressed gently in his hair, smelling faintly of coconut. Sirius grins at the gesture.
“D’you reckon the berries are ripe?” Remus asks, gazing at a bramble.
“Let me check,” Sirius gets up and pads over, the beats of his steps echoing on the grass, a soft brush to his steps. He kneels over a bramble with strawberries stuck on the sprigs, crossing his legs, and observes one of the strawberries, rolling it around his hand. Remus gets up and walks over to him, kneeling down, sitting identically in front of him.
“Yeah, they are.” Sirius confirms.
“How do you know?” Remus asks, a curious lilt to his voice.
“The most noble and ancient house of Black praises the knowledge of herbs dearly. Fuck me if I knew why, but at least it came into use now.”
“Shame you don’t know.” Remus frowns, trying to conceal his laughter. Sirius clearly decided to change his mind on that, “It can go both ways, actually,” he comments, solemnly.
They both laugh, and Sirius plucks a strawberry off of the sprig, offering it to Remus. He smiles in thanks, and pops it into his mouth barring the leaf. Sirius plucks another one and eats it, humming from the pleasant taste. Their eyebrows ride up in enjoyment and smile, “They taste so much better when they’re super fresh.” Sirius remarks. “My dad grows them in the garden, and I’d help him out. Secretly used to eat them, though. Don’t tell him that.” He sticks his pointer finger in front of his lips in a silencing motion, and Sirius zips his mouth with his hand and throws away the key.
A hoot rings behind them. Sirius turns around and Remus looks over Sirius’s shoulder to see the product of the sound. The owl hoots again, swooping in front of them, a meter or so away. It tilts its head, curiously, and hoots once more. Sirius pulls off another strawberry, and offers it in his palm. The owl gawps at it, considering, until it hops over to his hand and pecks the strawberry out. Sirius looks at Remus and smiles. “Do you want to feed her one?” Remus nods, tugging another strawberry off and crawling over next to Sirius towards the owl, sitting on his knees. It stares at Remus for a few moments, as if assessing him, and soon deems him approachable, hopping over to the younger boy, pecking the strawberry out of his hands, nibbling at it until it was entirely devoured.
“I didn’t even know they ate fruit,” Sirius whispers in marvel.
“They do, occasionally. Sometimes I feed Io a bit as a treat.” Remus informs Sirius. The owl hoots, which is interpreted as a thank you, and flitters over to the branch where the baby owls were pealing. She pecks them. They both grin as she feeds them, each one hopping and flitting about for attention. Sirius gets up, offering his hand for Remus to take. He clasps his hand and hauls him up. They walk over back to their blanket, and lay over it clumsily, together, all tangled limbs and boyish laughs. They are just two kids in love, really, because in the end nothing was more important than that, and for a moment they let themselves pretend that the war isn’t raging outside; they are both here together, in the end.
“Do you want me to tell you the stars’ names?” Sirius asks.
“Okay,” Remus nods. Sirius moves so that his head is laying on Remus’s chest, making him hear the soft thumps of Remus’s heartbeat pulsing oddly fast - one of his favorite sounds, second to his laugh. Remus feels Sirius’s hair tickle him under his chin, smiling.
Sirius points up at the sky, telling him all the stars’ names and the constellations which formed together like sparkling fractals, glittering in the sky like champagne. This one’s Aludra, the tail right there, he explains carefully. He has such a passionate look on his countenance, complemented by the stars that glittered in his astral eyes, demanding and pleading for attention. Remus couldn’t help but obey, and so he stares at Sirius, looking at the stars when needed. No matter how much Sirius hates his family and anything that resembles it, they would never be able to take away his love for astronomy.
“And that’s Regulus…” Sirius falters, speaking Regulus’s name quickly like a forbidden charm, wanting to be rid of it. His eyes snuff out like a candle, dark, ripped of the happiness that had once been. No longer being the pretty color of silver Remus so very loved, and instead melting into hard ash. He zones out, as if clearly reminiscing something, yet with the knowledge of the harsh reality that Regulus was not here. Remus didn’t know it was possible to ache this much for another person. He presses another soft kiss to his hair again, and asks,
“Tell me a story about you and him?”
Sirius nods.
“We had a tradition. Every shooting star, we’d sneak out and make a wish. I always wished that we would both run away together, somewhere far away, to a castle or something,” his voice thick with unshed tears, “because then we could be the rulers, and feel more safe, I suppose.
“But I always did prefer the moon more, though. Always ended up staring at it, instead.” The words ached as he spoke. He smiles sadly, looking up at Remus with tears sloping down his florid nose and cheeks, leaving streaks of water behind. Remus hugs him, and speaks all the words he can through that contact; there was nothing needed to be said. They both knew.
He holds him firmly, grounding him, yet with the tenderness of glass, and he strokes his hair lightly, tracing soft shapes behind his ear as Sirius cries silently into his chest. His shirt begins to dampen, but he didn’t mind. He didn’t care about anything else except for making his star spark again.
“My mam loved everything celestial. Always had her head in the clouds, her. She taught me the names of all the stars.” At this Sirius looks up. His eyes are puffy, slightly pink, and the tip of his nose and cheeks are flushed. Locks of black silk cascade down his cheeks, curling at his jawline softly, and acting as a curtain, shielding them from the rest of the world. Remus thinks he looks absolutely gorgeous.
“You already knew their names?” Sirius whispers, his voice hoarse with bile.
Remus nods, “I did. Always did.”
“Then why did you let me tell them to you?”
“I wanted to hear you talk.” Remus smiles, and Sirius smiles back, dopily, as if enchanted by Remus’s words, thrilled by this news. “But my favorite’s always been the Dog Star, since it was the brightest. Even before I met you, it always has been.”
Sirius’s face lights up, like a splash of happiness thrown at him. His eyes twinkle again; a whirl of celestial proportions explode in this boy’s eyes. Sirius really was so alike to his namesake, Remus thinks; the brightest star in the sky. His star.
Sirius rolls onto him fully, propping his head on his hands which lay on his chest, and transforms into Padfoot. He licks Remus’s face affectionately, and Remus flings his arms trying to stop him, but still laughs loudly. “Stop!” Remus yelps.
Suddenly, they are rolling down the hill, tumbling as if the entire world is whirling with them, and Sirius transforms back into human-form out of shock, clinging onto Remus for dear life. Every leaf and bit of grass mixed in with their hair, twigs and scree, too, and they simultaneously yell with wide eyes. They keep on spinning, and Sirius soon starts laughing, whooping with excitement, “Mooooooony!” as Remus stares at him incredulously, but starts smiling, too.
They land with a hard pat, a myriad of leaves and grass clinging onto their hair. A flower somehow managed to stick itself onto Remus’s bird nest on his head. Strands of their hair flew up at all different angles like static, and they start laughing so loudly the owls still perched at the top of the hill could probably hear them. Something in both their chests began hopping excitedly, big and deep and golden like the sun, pouring out of their laughter like honey as they clutch their stomachs in amusement. Rapture. All the bodies above were probably laughing with them, as everything just felt so giddy, and if both the moon and stars were to land down on Earth and start giggling with them in their Elysium, they wouldn’t even be surprised.
“Oh my god! How did that even happen!?” Sirius gasps out in between laughter.
“You, you idiot! I told you to stop!” Remus replies while cackling.
Sirius rolls back onto Remus’s chest, both still laughing albeit a bit quieter, and plucks out everything that landed in his hair meticulously, poking his tongue out of his mouth in concentration. He always takes so much care in caring for Remus.
“Thanks,” Remus smiles.
“Shush.”
“How is my talking going to interrupt your plucking leaves out of my hair?”
“Godric, you talk too much,” Sirius began kissing every part of Remus’s face, ranging from his scars to the specks of brown sprinkled on his face to shut him up.
“That’s disgusting.” He was still smiling and blushing, though, and Sirius left one last loud peck on his pink nose.
“It’s still my saliva. And from what I recall, you don’t have a problem with swallowing it?” He grins mischievously.
“God, you are so gross.” Remus conjures up a towel from his wand and wipes his face.
“Hey! Keep them there.” Sirius frowns.
“I’m trying to wipe the dog drool, Sirius, not your kisses.”
“Oh.”
Remus sits up quickly, catching Sirius’s lips in a surprise kiss, propping him on his lap. Sirius’s eyes widen, and quickly shut on autopilot, smiling contentedly.
The thing with dating Remus Lupin is that you get love. Oh, you get love. Sirius can definitely tell you that, because Remus Lupin has thieved Sirius Black’s heart, and frankly? He doesn’t want it back.
They sit there, kissing, with the riverbed stirring and the owl feeding her young, until they lay back down and fall asleep tangled in each other’s arms as two boys in love. Their love will be carried by the very flowers that inhabit this land, sculpted into the very earth they rest on for all perpetuity. The owls will remember them, speaking of their story like Achilles and Patroclus. They will lay here, together, until they would awake tomorrow with the sun scorching in their eyes, but now they are here, in the sky with the stars, floating; like a cairn sleeping peacefully, until the time came for them to leave. The evergreens sway, like the moon and stars twirling overhead them, encasing them in their luminous light as protection. They cling onto each other like vines on a tree, blissfully, reaching the zenith of their joy.
The stars always shine bright, but it is the moon that helps them glow a little brighter, vice versa. They’d never thought they would ever reach happiness this great, but here they are, holding each other, under the young moon.
───･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───