×Black Angel×

"I am standing perfectly still, Harry," Remus sighed, looking down at the four-year-old who was currently wrapping a piece of yarn around his ring finger. "What are you even measuring me for?"

"Your ring size," Harry muttered, pulling the yarn tight and frowning in concentration.

Sirius snorted from his place on the sofa, flipping a page of the Daily Prophet. "A ring? Are you getting him one of those plastic ones from Zonko's that squirts ink in your eye? Because I fully support that."

"No," Harry said, tying a messy knot in the yarn. "I'm buying Uncle Moony a wedding ring."

Sirius choked on a laugh. "A wedding ring? For Moony? Who's the lucky bride?"

Harry gave Sirius a deadpan, deeply exhausted stare. "You."

Remus froze, the yarn slipping from his hand. "Harry—"

"Don't 'Harry' me," the little boy huffed. "I asked Mum why you guys don't have shiny rings like she and Dad do. She said it's because you're 'useless cowards' who don't know how to use your words."

Sirius's mouth opened and closed soundlessly, his face suddenly red.

"So I am fixing it," Harry declared. "I am getting the rings. Then you can finally get married and stop sighing at the door every time he leaves the house."

Remus made a high-pitched, strangled noise.

"I do not sigh!" Sirius protested frantically, his face burning. "I was just doing deep breathing exercises! For my health!"

james: uh, i dont know. i usually forget what im mad about when i look at him

remus:

Remus, not looking away from his book: You can't fuck yourself.

Sirius: Fine. Then I'd fuck only you and James.

James: I'm flattered, Pads.

Remus, still not looking away from the book: Yeah, we both are.

×Later×

Marlene: Still don't get your hints?

Sirius: I practically told them directly and no reaction.

×Meanwhile×

James: When are we going to tell him that we do get his hints and start dating?

Remus: A little bit later. I love this show too much. And I'm also curious what else he can invent instead of asking us on a date like a normal person.

Remus: I don’t want to actually

James: And you could only save one of us out of Sirius and me. Who’d you choose?

Remus: I got out of the hospital wing 10 minutes ago, why are you asking me this?

James:

Sirius: Does that mean you'd choose me?

​"Are you sure? Because I could definitely help you study for Potions if you wanted..."

​Remus was desperately trying to find a polite way out of this conversation. He was backed against the stone wall near the portrait hole, his hands shoved deep into his pockets while a very persistent Hufflepuff girl leaned entirely too close.

​"I appreciate the offer," Remus started, forcing a tight, awkward smile. "But I really don't—"

​"He really doesn't have the time," a voice interrupted suddenly.

​Remus barely had a second to process the shift before a hand grabbed the front of his jumper. The yank wasn't rough, but it was incredibly determined. Suddenly, he was stumbling a step forward, right out of the Hufflepuff's shadow and crashing straight into a solid, very familiar chest.

​Sirius had practically materialized out of the crowded common room party, his silver eyes dancing with a wild, electric kind of energy.

​"Sirius," Remus hissed, his pulse instantly rocketing into his throat. "What are you doing?"

​"Saving you," Sirius said simply. He stepped directly into Remus's personal space, his arms looping easily around Remus's waist. "And claiming my study partner. You're completely booked."

​The girl cleared her throat, looking bewildered. "I was just asking him to Hogsmeade next weekend, Black."

​"Well, you can't," Sirius said simply. "Because I'm taking him."

​Remus stopped breathing. The loud, pounding music completely faded into a rush of static in his ears.

​"Tell her, Moony," Sirius said, his breath warm and incredibly close against Remus's jaw. "Tell her you're already going with your boyfriend."

The panic flared instinctively, screaming at him to pull away and protect their secret. For so long, the fear of being seen had dictated every choice he made. But looking at Sirius, at how bright, unapologetic, and completely sure he was, he realized he was exhausted from being afraid. He didn't want to hide in the shadows anymore; he wanted this.

“Sirius…what the fuck?”

Remus Lupin was good at many, many things. However, he prided himself at knowing far too much about Sirius Black. It came from years of obsessing over the other boy, of staring after him like a prat, wishing for something he’d thought he would never have. It was mortifying, yeah, to look back and remember how down bad he’d always been, but now that he was actually dating Sirius, Remus at least had the advantage of knowing his boyfriend better than almost anyone.

So he noticed right away when Sirius showed up to breakfast one morning with all new jewelry.

The shorter boy’s style was a signature thing–something that most people, not just Remus, had witnessed for years and could speak about. Layers of necklaces and rings, piercings in his ears and a wish for one in his bellybutton. But Remus knew that all of those pieces of metal had always been silver in color.

Which was why it was such a shock to see him wearing all gold today.

“What’s up, Moons?” Sirius asked innocently as he joined them for breakfast, eyes wide. 

Truthfully, Remus wasn’t sure he liked it, but he wasn’t about to say that.

Thankfully, James Potter was not so tactful. “You look like a prat,” he said through a mouthful of toast. “All that gold shit. Why’d you change all your necklaces and stuff? Silver looks way better on you.”

Trust James to say what everyone else was thinking.

Sirius, turning a bit pink, just shot James a look. “Fuck you, Prongs, you look like a prat. I did it because of our Defense lesson on Friday. Didn’t you hear what the Professor said?”

“Since when d’you listen in class?” Peter asked, shocked, and Remus had to agree.

Sirius flipped him off. “Since we’re learning about werewolves,” he said in a murmur, looking around to make sure nobody overheard. “Don’t you guys think that’s a bit important?”

“Mmm. I’ve always wanted to meet one,” Remus said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and sipping his juice.

“I just mean–s’good to know, right? Practical,” the shorter boy shrugged. “And on Friday, the Professor mentioned silver can…y’know…irritate werewolves. So I…” he gestured to his body, to the new accessories.

Remus might have cried. “You…changed all of that for me?” he whispered, dumbfounded, wanting to pull Sirius into a kiss in the middle of the Great Hall.

Meanwhile, James snorted. “Sirius, our professor is shit! That’s probably not even true! Is it true, Moony?” he demanded, turning to Remus, who was too busy blushing and tearing up.

“Erm,” he swallowed. “It’s not, actually. But Sirius, the fact that you were willing to change–”

“Oh, thank Merlin!” Sirius exclaimed, pulling out his wand and moving to transfigure his accessories back. “I hate gold on me.”

Remus grinned even wider, completely enamored by the boy next to him. Leaning into Sirius’s side and murmuring into his ear, he said, “I love you so fucking much, Pads.”

Remus adored his son. 

Teddy was sweet. Kind, and very empathetic for a four-year-old.

He also didn't understand the definition of 'whisper.'

So when Remus unthinkingly told his son that he should go throw out his empty paper cup of hot chocolate in the bin 'by that beautiful man' in the coffee shop, he should have known that his words would be repeated.

Loudly.

But unfortunately, he didn't realize until Teddy screeched, "THAT BEAUTIFUL MAN THERE WITH THE BLACK HAIR?"

And half of the room turned to look at them.

Wincing, Remus gazed down at his well-meaning son, trying to remind himself that Teddy was innocent and there were only fourteen more years until he was off to Uni. "Yes, Teds," he muttered under his breath with a sigh. "Right there."

Of course, the beautiful man was looking at him with a small smile, his strikingly gray eyes boring into Remus's soul. The coffee he'd just finished drinking seemed to shoot right through him, bubbling in his stomach and making him nauseous. 

And then Teddy made it worse. After throwing away his cup, he turned to the beautiful man and beamed. "Hi!"

The man smiled. "Hi, there! I'm Sirius!"

The four-year-old frowned. "No...I don't think so. You're smiling."

Sirius laughed, his smile so gorgeous Remus nearly melted into his chair. "Yeah, my parents weren't the best with names. Hey, did I hear there's a beautiful man in here?" He made a show of looking around conspiratorially for the person that didn't exist.

"It's you!" Teddy insisted, laughing.

"Wait, no! I found him! That bloke, over there!" Sirius said, voice overloaded with excitement, squinting like he was looking at something very far and pointing.

To Remus.

Remus's stomach turned.

Teddy laughed, oblivious. "That's my da!"

Now Sirius nodded, actually looking serious. "Yeah, that makes sense. I can see where you get your looks. Hey, will you introduce me?"

Teddy beamed.

It was so sweet. So adorable. And so fucking edearing, because the whole exchange was happening only two meters away. Remus scrambled to fix his expression so he didn't look quite so enamored as Teddy dragged Sirius–who was wearing a leather jacket and skinny jeans, holy shit–over.

"This is my da!" TEddy said proudly, waving in Remus's direction. "Da, this is Sirius. He's not very good at following the rules of his name."

Smiling, Remus stood, offering a hand. "Erm...hey, Sirius, I'm Remus."

"Remus," Sirius grinned easily. "Your son is quite the wingman. Do you perhaps have any plans later?"

Remus nearly passed out. Sirius wanted to go out with him? "Erm..."

"We're going to the park right now! You should come!" Teddy answered eagerly, completely unaware of Remus's mental spiral.

Sirius squatted down to look at Teddy again. "I love parks. Can we play catch?"

"YES!"

"I'm in. Remus? That okay?

Remus could only smile. "Yeah. Yeah, that's...great."