"We're going to have to do better than this."
Before Remus could ask what "this" meant, Sirius caught him by the scarf and tugged him behind one of the stone pillars overlooking the courtyard.
"The hand-holding," Sirius said under his breath. "It's lost its effect."
Remus raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess, that girl is stalking you again."
Sirius risked a glance around the pillar before ducking back again. "She's still there."
Remus leaned sideways to look.
"Disillusionment charm," Sirius shot back instantly. He reached out and slid both of his hands into the front pockets of Remus’s jumper, stepping in so close their chests brushed. "She's advanced. You need to look at me like you're madly in love with me so she loses hope."
Remus eyed him. He knew exactly what the shimmer of a Disillusionment charm looked like. He knew for a fact there was no invisible girl spying on them. He had known for three weeks.
But Sirius’s hands were warm inside his pockets, and the smell of him was completely short-circuiting Remus’s brain.
So he shifted his weight, slowly bringing his hands up to settle firm on Sirius’s hips.
"Alright," Remus said after a moment. "We should probably kiss then."
Sirius’s eyes widened. "What?"
"To scare her off," Remus said simply. "We should probably make it convincing."
For the first time since he'd concocted the whole ridiculous plan, Sirius seemed to run out of words.
"Yeah," he managed after a beat. "Convincing."
Remus didn't give him the chance to think twice. He leaned in and pressed their lips together. The kiss was slow at first, almost tentative, until Sirius let out a soft, startled breath and kissed him back with enough feeling to make it painfully obvious they'd both been waiting for an excuse. Sirius's fingers curled into the front of Remus's jumper, pulling him closer as the kiss deepened.
When they finally pulled apart, the chilly air rushed between them. Sirius was flushed from the cold and something else entirely, his breathing uneven as he searched Remus's face like he was trying to work out what had just happened.
After a long moment, he cleared his throat.
"...Do you think she believed us?"
Remus laughed softly, his thumb brushing absentmindedly along Sirius's jaw before it came to rest beneath his chin.
"I'm not sure," he admitted. "Might have to keep it up for a while."
Remus pretended to consider it.
"I don't know." A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Hopefully, for the rest of our lives."