#bunfox

Sirius never thought they’d become a morning person, but growing older comes with all kinds of new experiences. Remus claims it’s character development. Sirius thinks their increased patience is more about being tired than anything else, but if Remus interprets it as something cooler, Sirius is going to let her.

Their bedroom is located on the north side of the cottage, but it’s still the sun that wakes Sirius. Remus is snoozing, hair spread over the pillow like a silver halo. Sirius always used to prefer gold over silver; another thing that’s changed as the years have gone by.

Sirius makes a cup of tea, opens the window and gets comfortable in the kitchen, waiting for the paper to arrive. Their feet are chilly, so they go to get a pair of the summer socks Remus has knitted for them. When they get back there’s a grumpy looking brown owl perched on the window sill.

“Now, now, Archimedes.” Sirius pets Archimedes on the head before taking the paper. Archimedes gives them a haughty look before flying away to their space in the shed on the opposite side of the garden.

It’s 6 am; much too early for annoying or upsetting news. Sirius goes right for the crossword, summoning the erasable ink and a quill from its place on the microwave. They’re almost done with it when Remus enters the kitchen. She yawns and puts a finger on the kettle, frowning when she finds it cold.

“Why,” she whines.

“Morning,” Sirius replies with an affectionate smile. They get their wand and heat up the water again with a flick of it. “There you go, babe.”

Remus gets crumpets, butter, and jam, and they eat in comfortable silence. Sirius finishes the crossword and reads the rest of the paper.

“Hermione has started a sex ed class at Hogwarts!” Sirius exclaims. “Not a century too soon, if you ask me. Imagine if we’d had that when we went.”

“And how’s the Ministry taking that?” Remus looks amused, licking away a bit of jam from the corner of her mouth.

Sirius waves their hand. “I don’t know, I can’t be bothered to read the whole thing. I assume it’s a shit show as usual.”

“They know better than to openly defy Hermione, though, don’t they.” Remus smiles. “Remember what she did to Umbridge? Rita Skeeter? Snape?”

“She’s my idol.” Sirius grins. “Especially for the Snape thing.”

Remus chuckles her agreement, then asks, “What do you want to do today?” She leans back in her chair and rests her hands on her stomach, smiling. “I was going to work in the garden, if you want to join me. Looks like nice weather.”

“I might later, I want to go for a swim first.” Sirius stretches.

They share a jam-sticky kiss, and then Sirius heads out. It’s a two minute walk to the ocean. The sun isn’t overly hot yet, just warm enough to let Sirius dry on their walk back to the cottage. Small waves are lapping at the shore, blueish grey and invigorating. At first, the water is cold on their skin, but as soon as Sirius is immersed in the water it feels refreshing. They swim a little bit off the shore, then along it until they reach the lighthouse, and back again.

When Sirius gets out, they turn into Padfoot and shake the water out, then back into a human. They’re still damp, but not dripping.

Remus’ head is buried in the raspberry bushes when Sirius gets back. She’s muttering something, Sirius can’t hear what.

“What’s that?” They stand behind Remus, who startles and emerges from the bushes with her grey hair full of leaves and a streak of soil on her cheek.

“Just checking to see if there’s any more berries yet.” Remus groans a little when she stands up, hands resting on her knees as she slowly straightens her back. “We eat too much jam, you know.” She pats her belly so it jiggles.