Extra update this week because the last chapter was such a nothing and I can't stop thinking about posting this!

HPHPHPHP

Sirius waited until everyone was eating before he gestured his knife to Regulus and told them all, "we have a problem by the way."

"Aside from your general lack of table manners?" Remus muttered as he watched him use said knife covered in potatoes to spear a kipper and keep going.

Sirius smirked but otherwise kept speaking at large, "when Reg and I get back, we're going to hide out in the Muggle world rather than that lovely little loaded landscape of doom in Islington." He turned and looked purposefully at Regulus now, just waiting to see what he'd do. "Problem is, when we get back to school and if the Black family will try any shite to pull us out of Hogwarts in retaliation when they finally figure it out."

The chewing and general movement had come to a slow, grinding halt as they all looked at Sirius, who just shrugged and kept eating. He'd delivered the problem and given Regulus his wish, he had nothing else to add, and no better solution himself sadly. His little brother watched him, then everyone while biting his cheek the whole time, but he was smiling.

Remus moved and took his hand with a pained face, it made the others flinch for how much worry he compacted into that one expression. He'd never looked that concerned when speaking of his lycanthropy, just what went on in that house?

James, in his usual single minded stubbornness, only seemed to hear one part as he snapped at once, "what are you on about, you'll just come over to mine-"

"That's the first place they'll look," Sirius reminded with a shrug.

"They can't just make you-" his voice was getting louder a decibel at a time.

"Oh yes they can," there was an ugly look of unguarded vengeance on Padfoot's face now, the unspoken threat was going to curdle the food. He was only watching Prongs, there was something the others were missing just a bit in their silent exchange.

Sirius may have gotten away with leaving before, but he wouldn't let Regulus go back alone now, he'd go back with him, and he wouldn't just cause little distractions in the house and take it. He'd fight back. It was going to somehow still get worse.

James swallowed, flushed with guilt as he looked to Regulus, and then glowered at the table in fuming, silent, defeat. For now.

"Surely, if you two are really afraid for your life, the Ministry can keep them away?" Lily asked, her voice cracking in frustration for her own ignorance, but it seemed the obvious solution they weren't saying. She'd once watched Tobias use magic on a muggle to shoo them away, while Severus had whispered up on the roof with her.

"Takes some time and shite," James spat not at her. "Paperwork and hearings, Sirius would be of age by the time it all got sorted out anyways, and that's just not happening."

"The Black's have friends in the Ministry," Frank slowly agreed. "Whatever happened, it would have to be fast, something they didn't know was happening until the two were long gone."

"A charm in the meantime then, confund them or even make them forget until it is," Lily snapped viciously. "We can delay and put them off even wanting to find the two."

"Besides, that's no long term solution," Peter put in, watching Sirius start, stumble, and close his mouth over his own input in fascination. "Even when they are of age, that won't stop retribution."

"It would have to be a lot more than just our parents," Sirius didn't sound unconvinced of the idea as he slowly twined some pasta around some chicken. "Bellatrix, anyone attached to the Black line and even more would know something was up and would help even if those two lunatics didn't know to ask."

"Maybe we should more permanently erase the idea of you two then," Alice said in a smooth voice, but she was looking daggers around this house. "They don't deserve kids, we should just make them forget you two exist."

Silence was her answer as they digested that. Remus's hand tightened on him uncomfortably and Peter made a little noise of distress, but Regulus brightened just a bit at the idea. "Make our existence a secret, yeah, that makes sense."

Sirius did not disagree, but he was looking from James to Remus and back to her with a very troubled expression. Had she been hearing the same book he had? That spell hadn't once gone right without someone suffering for it...

To be cast off and forgotten for no matter how long it took...he'd do it for Regulus, he owed the kid his own future and this was as good of a way he could ever make up for it, being there with him until this mess was sorted out. What would that even look like, what sort of resolution was there without the Black family always tangling up their life?

Their magic would not be strong enough yet, there would have to be an adult Secret Keeper, Dumbledore or more preferably Mr. and Mrs. Potter, someone in the know of how to go about this... but James and Remus would forget about him until then, as if he didn't even exist. Would he be able to reintegrate back into their lives, or would they keep spacing out any memory associated with him until the secret was told?

Move on with their lives without him... He wondered what it would be like in school, would their eyes just gloss right over him as if he weren't in the room? Would Moony still see Padfoot when he joined him on a full moon, would Prongs sense him there like a real Grimm?

A chill crept up his spine, it sounded like a worse sentence than Azkaban, but he tried to shake off that nightmare. Whomever they picked would obviously tell the other six, they had no reason not to, it was everyone else to be worried about.

"Guess that's that then," he spoke gruffly, determined to not show anything but casual hope this would work. "It's a start anyways." He stuffed the last of the food into his mouth, and then gave his plate a casual lick just to make Moony roll his eyes while he interlaced their fingers. Sirius reached over and tossed a roll at Frank, calling him out on hoarding the basket at his end and keeping the others in a lively state by being as rambunctious as ever until the general tension of his proclamation had eased out and he excused himself to the bathroom.

Remus stayed at the table as James animatedly followed Alice into the living room speaking their usual lively laughs while Regulus and Frank were swapping how to go about even finding that Fidelius Charm years early. Peter hesitated but left Remus be as he needlessly stacked the plates, Lily was already whisking them to the sink.

"Sirius is going to be okay," Lily quietly assured him as he lingered at the table, balancing a fork upright under his fingers. "Those whackjob parents won't get near him or Regulus, we'll see to that."

"Oh I'm not worried about that," he vowed. He didn't give a damn what his dad wanted anymore, he'd be over at the Potter's with Sirius as much as James's parents would allow this summer to make sure the rest of the plan went off without a hitch. Padfoot had clearly made it his mission to keep Regulus out as well, and Walburga and Orion would have another thing coming if they thought they could pull anyone from Sirius's side.

Not that they'd even get that far with him keeping watch, though it only made him even more horrified at this future to come, now threats were lining up from all sides whether they had Harry or not. Greyback coming for him, Sirius instigating the wrath of his parents by assisting the prince, and James would stop at nothing to get his hands on those Horcruxes and end this threat. Lily was about to start a feud with Severus Snape when they got back, and Alice and Frank could only help so much, not being in the same year as them would cause a great distance when they got back he'd half forgotten at this point, not to mention their own future. From what he'd seen, they were more set than ever on being Auror's, cleaning up this mess before it even got started.

He would have to be more watchful and weary than ever, he couldn't just skip off with Padfoot at all hours anymore. No, they'd have to plan and be diligent of everything, inducted into the Order the moment they left school- he cleared his throat harshly to stop himself. That was heading down a dangerous road of repeat... he didn't know what to do to stop this!

Lily felt a bit chilled at the menacing tone for a moment before he cleared his throat and smiled at her like nothing had happened. The transformation was astonishing, he always came across the most mild of the Marauders until she was abruptly reminded he had a much more razor sharp edge than all of them put together, he just hid it best. "Thank you, for all you've done for us," he said randomly. She gazed at him in confusion for the tonal whiplash. "I'm glad you've been here Lily."

"Um, thanks," she smiled lightly. She couldn't help but go back to sit next to him in a bit of concern, though he hid well whatever had prompted that. "Something on your mind? I can still call you an arse if it helps." He chuckled softly and smiled at her back, he could really be so sincere, a calmness to him he kept leveled by sheer force of will, creating something quite dangerous in itself. An active volcano almost, always dangerous but never to you until it erupted. She really understood why James enjoyed his quiet company, and she was sorry she hadn't talked to him more now.

Remus gazed at her for a few moments before again admitting to her what he just couldn't to James, he needed that little bubble of hope they both seemed to carry, but she had a tenacity Prongs lacked. He was headstrong and vibrant, a plan and action in hand. She was ruthless, she'd keep them from getting killed while doing it. "Sirius's sodding advice to me about my problems was, to fix my perspective. How the hell am I supposed to do that? It's not like I know what to fix if I don't know what's broken!"

"Maybe you're not asking the right question then," Lily said with a sad smile.

Padfoot got out of the shower and got back dressed in Fred's sweater, pulling his pants up without even looking at him, though both were rather aroused for the sudden implication in the bathroom and the locked bedroom door. Sirius spent his time plucking every silvery blonde hair out of what was unmistakably Fleur's brush before humming as he ran it through his own.

Remus closed the toilet lid to sit and watched with a powerfully deep ache for how, domestic it all was. The smell of damp air and Sirius was lustful to him, the ocean on the distance calming. A forbidden wish that he could not wrap his head around. He could never have this, or if he did, it would all somehow be taken away from him, whether because of himself or Greyback was the horrifying path.

"Tell me what I'm like, when I change."

The humming stopped abruptly. He went still for a few moments before he finished in silence, and then gave the comb the same treatment of pulling his own hairs out, before prodding around the teeth and speaking to it. "You've never asked me that before."

"I've never wanted to know before," he tried to shrug, pretending like this was something casual and not a borderline horror story.

He put the brush down abruptly and went to sit on the edge of the tub, leaning forward and watching him very carefully, his wet hair hung in chunks off his shoulders and clung to his neck a bit. "I'm not going to tell you just so you can keep, vilifying yourself."

"I'm not," he promised that much. "I'm honestly trying to figure out, what it's like."

Padfoot let out a very slow breath, but he smiled a bit now, even reaching out and brushing at the back of his hand, a bit of eagerness in his voice like he was showing off again. It occurred to him the Marauders talked about him the other way all the time to each other, but he'd spent so long never wanting to hear what he did to them or himself they really didn't get a chance to say much at all about it. "You're easily distractible. Whenever we come across Hagrid, or a centaur, or anything we don't want you around, I can almost always get you to race me or wrestle around, you love to chase me all over our Forest. Some nights, if we time it right, I can get you to follow me down right under the Willow and you don't even look back. You're always so happy to see me and just, to run."

"So far this sounds nothing like me," he was smiling despite himself, Sirius looked so happy, he was even using his other hand to wave through the air with brimming energy.

Sirius scoffed and flicked him on the ear. He reached out and took his hand properly, Padfoot scooting closer, their legs slotting between each other as he watched him curiously. "Did that not answer you?" He asked gently, reaching out and brushing his neck, he could tell he hadn't helped what was really on his mind.

"In the mountains?" He prompted, and Sirius shook his head with disappointment again, throwing just the tiniest flecks of water at him.

"You were so on edge out there, surrounded by the scent of those giants. I should have been paying more attention. I got distracted, that was my fault." Sirius watched him with his own apologies clear in his voice and squeezed his hand when he frowned. "I'm not taking that back."

He reached carefully for those scars along his side and Sirius kept breathing gently beneath his fingers as they brushed over his shirt. "And the school?" He wasn't going to pick a fight right now when Padfoot was being so calm, but he still spoke to his slightly trembling hand.

The barking laugh echoed slightly in the bathroom, and he looked up sharply to see he looked genuinely amused. "It's a shame we can't ever recreate that, you had a blast. Sniffing every single thing we passed, you loved it, like our first night in the Forest all over again. You found the Ravenclaw common room fast enough, unsurprisingly really, I'm not nearly as attuned to the smell of magic as you and it was radiating the stuff. You were going to hurt yourself trying to bust the door open though, so I got you to chase me back down the stairs, but you're always such a sore loser, when you don't get what you want. You tried to take a snap at me at the bottom and Prongs separated us," he was still smiling the entire time, this really was as casual to him as their classes now. "So you retaliated by barging into the next available door and tore apart a bathroom, I don't know if it was spite or you actually thought it was funny to go around and break them like that, but you spent the rest of the chapter in that hallway doing it."

He didn't try to stop an involuntary snort of amusement of his own at the mental image, how could he when Sirius was so happily recounting this for him.

Sirius continued unprompted this time with a shrug, "that last one got a bit hairy, but nothing that hasn't happened in the Forest too when you manage a kill and I get too close, you're a bit territorial. Not sure what you think you're missing, I told you everything there. I dumped you in the water at one point." He added glibly.

The images in his head Sirius described seemed honest, he didn't think he was holding back persay, but it left something to be desired as well. None of this explained to him how Fenrir had gone so far, he couldn't find any indications to suggest a long term solution that wouldn't get Sirius or anybody else hurt. "I sound, unwieldy."

Padfoot was clearly toying with words in his head, making faces as he tried to phrase it right. "You're predictably undomesticated?" He scrunched up his nose and tried again, "you, you're just, free and, relaxed, that's not the word I want either," he sighed and looked imploringly at him. "I never see you so," his face lit up. "Unburdened. You don't over think anything, I always know how you're going to react even if I can't always anticipate every single thing you're going to do." He finished triumphantly.

"Sounds harmless," he muttered snidely.

Sirius huffed his own noise of frustration now. "I don't know where you got this idea I think you're some toothless puppy! Have you seen what you used to do to yourself?" He dropped his hand from neck to arm, brushing up, just the start of them. His hand restricted involuntarily along Sirius' side. "That doesn't make you some menace to society at all hours though! I'm not going to ever just sit quietly and let anyone say otherwise, let alone you! It doesn't have to be either or!"

He wanted so badly to believe him, his throat restricted painfully, but the words began tumbling out before he'd want to stop them this time. "Sirius, I'm scared of that gray area! I don't know what I'm doing, or if I'll even know when it'll tip one way or the other."

There was a very long pause as Sirius digested that, he took his hand off his arm and started a little rhythm as he tapped each digit to his thumb, but the fingers around his hand pressed in harder as he searched for the right words. "None of us know what we're doing," he finally concluded, and he could tell how much it really frustrated him to admit to that, but a wash of relief hit him all the same Sirius said it. "You're right, okay, I don't know what you're going through. I probably never will, not fully, but I want to. We're all stumbling around figuring this out Remus, you're not special," he added with a little smile once more.

Sirius waited and even smirked when he huffed to suppress a smirk and squeezed his hand again. "Look, we just do, one thing at a time, right? You don't contaminate me when I'm changed, we figured that out the first night." Moony had bitten him and Prongs multiple times and the saliva had not carried over from animal to human, so the opposite was obviously true, whatever bodily fluids Remus was afraid of weren't going to hurt them. "You're not hurting anyone by just breathing the same air as us," they'd been eating after each other since first year, to young to worry about such a thing even crossing their minds, "hell," he added with a salacious look Moony already started rolling his eyes for, "after everything we've swapped, I think I'd know."

"You're a menace," he told him briskly. Sirius was not exactly the prime candidate to find out if his curse passed on biologically. He still wanted to be sick every other hour as he anticipated that news. Sirius was right in some regards though, at least now he'd know for certain and wouldn't ever make such an unforgivable mistake in ignorance again. There was no hope for his future if he was capable of that, it would mean they were truly incompatible on some level.

Sirius nodded his agreement to his words and kept going with only mild sarcasm. "You've never intentionally hurt anyone, I can't even say that!" He squirmed uncomfortably beneath his hand now, and Remus soothed him with a gentle stroking on his side, getting him to relax into his hand again. "I'm sorry we don't have all the answers Moony," he spoke sincerely, returning the gesture on his neck. "Merlin knows we tried, but nobody's looking! Back when you first told us, James spent ages looking up all kinds of werewolf stuff, but nothing matched what we knew of you. I speak from experience when I say the general opinion isn't the right one," he finished brutally, whether for what his parents had told him word of mouth or what the students whispered in the corridors. Probably both. "I'm not going anywhere while we figure it out."

It should have been enough, maybe Tonks had convinced him to come back for that question to be answered, but he still wavered terribly, it felt like giving up to the inevitable. He couldn't just be unburdened from all this like Sirius so clearly wanted from him and let himself fall back to before. He stood up slowly and Sirius willingly went with him, he leaned in and held tight, and Padfoot as always took what he was given and then gave back tenfold.

The waves crashed in the distance, the house that was not theirs creaked around them, the moment he pulled back the illusion was shattered and he still remembered that to go back meant a world he had no clue how to take a chance on. He cupped his boyfriend's cheek and Sirius melted in his touch, leaning into him without a trace of concern.

Sirius moved brazenly as always, leaning forward to kiss him before pulling back and clearly ready to let it drop, but he didn't want the night to be over yet. There were too many unknown days ahead not to take advantage of this. He pressed their foreheads together and whispered, "come to bed with me?"

Padfoot hesitated though, watching him with clear regret. "Not when you're like this, I can feel you still over thinking Moony."

"Then help me stop," he offered, playing dirty as his hand crept into his hair, the roots were still wet to the touch.

"And if I said I didn't want to," he sort of half joked as he leaned into him, clearly still hesitating, weary he'd regret it later most likely.

"I'd call you a filthy liar," he murmured into his ear.

Sirius laughed and whispered back, "hopefully that's not the only filthy thing you call me," but he still pulled back and contemplated him. He stroked his neck for a few moments, then brushed under his eyes until his lashes fluttered against the side of his fingers in confusion, like he was literally trying to feel for something as Sirius watched him with that look in place that meant a detention was on the horizon, and he should be weary.

"You know, it occurs to me," Sirius said as he leaned in closer, "I haven't ever tried to seduce you. Poor showmanship on my part really." Their lips were brushing just a hair's breadth apart, Remus kept trying to tip his mouth closer unconsciously, skin parted to take in a little more.

"Seduction implies I've ever needed coercing," he smiled all the same as Sirius turned away and nuzzled along his neck.

"Indulge me?" He trilled softly into his ear. Hardly touching with more than his fingertips, he guided him to sit back towards the bed. Remus complied, because his gray eyes were actually smoldering, a look of desire some part of him still couldn't believe was being put right on him. He stumbled on the threshold of bathroom turning to bedroom and they both laughed breathlessly. Sirius clearly had an idea of how to get him to relax and he found it really hard to remember all of a sudden why that was a bad thing as he sunk onto the comforter.

Sirius didn't fully get on him, but instead put all his weight on his knees and began a truly sinful slow grinding that he just barely felt, making the slight brush of pressure whenever he did roll all the more needy. "We haven't even consummated our relationship yet," Sirius whispered with a devil's grin.

"That's marriage too you dolt," he corrected on pure autopilot, hands trembling against the sheets as he chanted in his head to play along but not to far but he really wanted to do this but Sirius was such an idiot- his mind snapped all of a sudden as he saw the way Sirius' smile was playing up, and something occurred to him. "How often do you say something just so I'll correct you?"

This earned him a harder press down, he hissed. His hands were now holding Sirius' waist with no conscious thought to do so as he tried to encourage him again, but his boyfriend was right back to the slow, soft movements and he never wanted that to end either.

"More than I'll ever admit," Sirius' hand snuck up the front of his shirt, only using the pad of his thumb to ghost around the area of his pants right between skin and material. Sirius kissed him then, long and slow, and Remus opened his mouth but Sirius actually turned away and began kissing along his jaw and up to his ear again instead. "You have no idea how much you love it, you get this spark in your voice. Even I can't count the number of times I've asked a question I know the answer to, just so you'll smile while you explain." He grazed his teeth along his ear, and Sirius chuckled low and deep to feel the effect as he rose up to meet his next pass, the muscles trembling deep in his stomach. His hand crept higher, pausing for a moment to tease lightly over a nipple before grasping his shoulder. His hand felt like pure warmth as he finally, properly sat on him and he exhaled a pathetically needy noise. "You're going to make a great teacher Moony, should I start calling you professor?"

"Don't push your luck Padfoot," he whispered back, pulling away just enough he started tugging at the hem of his shirt.

Sirius just pressed closer and growled a bit, "I haven't even started."

He was a goner after that.*

"He won't do it you know," Sirius told Moony, still hovering over him, the heat of his skin like a small campfire everywhere they brushed.

"Huh?" he muttered incoherently, still stroking his hair.

"James, he won't go through with that, that threat," Sirius whispered, bending himself just enough to kiss the scar on his shoulder, swollen lips gentle over the cursed bite. He didn't know what exactly Remus hoped their friend would do to him, but he wasn't going to let him live in that delusion anymore.

Remus' hand stilled. Sirius looked him right in the eye now. Remus swallowed uncomfortably for a moment before he resumed his hand, letting it dig past his hair down to the skin on the back of his neck. Sirius shivered but didn't break eye contact as Remus whispered, "I know." Sirius' face puckered in confusion, but Remus kissed him to stop, already resigning himself to say what he wouldn't before, he feared a reaction too much, but not anymore. "He'd call me out though, and I wouldn't ever let it get close after that. I'd, I'll..." He stopped, seemingly to horrified at the prospects himself. "Can't we just, enjoy this?"

Padfoot's breathing was sharp and heavy again, but not remotely for the same reason as he glowered up at him. "Couldn't ask you to do it," Remus said sadly as he realized he'd only made Sirius angrier. "You're no killer Sirius." Remus let go of his neck and waist to hold his face, his thumbs stroking just under his eyes as he brutally finished, "I'm glad for it. I couldn't love a murderer."

Sirius reached up to touch Moony's neck wearily as he pleaded with him to agree, "and you're never going to be one."

"You've too much confidence," Remus whispered back, still holding his gaze, but there was no hint of change in him he might feel the same way.

Sirius looked into his prematurely lined face, the soft gray bangs in his hair. There were other werewolves out there besides Greyback who could be trusted, there just had to be, and he'd find every one of them and ask just how dangerous a werewolf could be until they knew, rather than these soundless and insulting solutions in his eyes.

Moony would not accept them though. He already knew that before he even opened his mouth. He would still run, just as he had from Tonks if Sirius kept pushing. Sirius would do it anyways...but he could not continue going back to Remus like this. If he didn't believe it himself, there was no point. His friend deserved an answer, but he would not be a part of any more than exactly that if he accepted none of them. "Remus," he hated how his voice broke. He hated what he knew would happen when they left this bed as he touched his face in goodbye.

Remus watched as each emotion passed across his boyfriend, could practically feel them all beneath his finger tips. The anger at him for still not believing as he did, the betrayal of how Remus had planned it, and the acceptance he couldn't force him to see it any other way. Sirius reached up to touch his face as he pleaded, "Remus, don't think like that."

Remus relaxed in relief, his hand came up to cup the back of his neck and pull him close as he whispered, "better safe than sorry," and then kissed him again. It was all he could offer.

...

James was tempted to use an earthquake charm on the bed at this point to get one of these two to wake up. He'd been shaking at Sirius who was literally sleeping on top of Remus for a whole five minutes. Padfoot had just grumbled and kicked at him, Moony had yet to even flinch.

Both were shirtless, he did not want his mind forever tormented if he stripped off the bedding to force them out from the warmth.

"Sirius!" He would never live down the mother hen jokes from the others at that tone and he did not care. "Come on mate, we've got breakfast going, would you please pretend your brain still works!" While giving him a forceful shake so that his hair fell across his face.

The combination finally worked, it helped the smells of bacon and sausage were finally permeating the house and the black strands began tickling his nose, so that he sat up abruptly but still had the groggy look of sleep clinging.

"Finally," he said in exhaustion, thinking he'd even gotten lucky, as Remus held tight to Sirius' arm preventing him from moving away.

"Oh he's still out," Sirius corrected in a raspy voice, brushing his hair with one hand and tugging on the other with a look of fondness. "Those reflexes mate," he reached over and began prodding him in the cheek. Remus snored on. Sirius was honestly lucky he wasn't decked in the face for doing it like he had been last time James woke him up.

"I don't know how you stand that," Prongs told him as he sat on the edge of the bed and watched as Sirius began working his fingers into Remus' to try and get his arm loose. "The amount of times I've had to put a silencing charm on his bed just to get him to shut up, and you sleep on it." They were not speaking remotely quietly.

"I prefer when he's like this, better than his restless arse moving around and kicking me all night," he shrugged before releasing a triumphant cheer as he got his arm free and wiggled his fingers about. Now fully awake though, his face settled into something very uneasy as he brushed along Remus's bangs.

"Everything okay?" Padfoot was eyeing the edge of the bed and plucking at the blankets, and it wasn't for shame of getting out he knew.

Sirius swallowed, he looked at him, Remus, and the floor again before whispering, "think we're making a mistake?"

He shifted uncomfortably and bounced on the edge. "I don't know Pads, that's not really my thing to say." He looked at the new bite mark on Sirius' shoulder, no worse than the ones that used to be on his neck, so he was just the same level of worried about that.

Sirius bent up one knee and wrapped his arms around it, then his chin on that as he watched him. He could tell there was something on the edge of his mind, and he waited patiently to see what. "He used to be happy all the time," Sirius finally muttered while jiggling his knee around uneasily. "Back before I screwed all this up, he talked about what pranks we'd get up to next and laugh along with us, even used to look forward to the full moon! Now he's, he just worries all the time, he's said some horrible shit about himself and can't even seem to imagine he has a future! I think I'm making that worse James," he added imploringly even though he hadn't been about to interrupt, Sirius looked ready to scream if he didn't get this off his chest now. "I like sleeping with him, but I still don't think it means the same thing to us, it's just fun for me, but I was hooking up with others for months- he, it's like he's got it in his head nobody would ever care about him. I, that's not, he shouldn't-"

He stopped with an alarming groan and pressed his face into his arms now. Remus grumbled for the first time and shifted unconsciously, pressing his back into Sirius' side but still kept at the rattling, deep breathed noise.

James ruffled up his hair, and tried to ignore the uneasy twisting in his stomach as he figured out how to tackle that. He had not had enough morning tea, but it felt rude to say so. "It'll be better when we get back," he could promise that much. "We'll tell Dumbledore all about this, and it'll save us from this future before it even starts, right? Plus our OWL's," Sirius looked up at him in pure betrayal for that reminder, but he smiled unrepentantly. "Moony won't get a choice but to acknowledge he's got to think ahead again while he's studying his arse off."

His hand dropped uneasily to his lap though and he felt so awful for admitting it, but wasn't going to sugar coat it, "you can't deny it's not going to be as easy on him when we leave school as it will be for us, I get why he's worried. At least he's talking to you about it? I just suspect he thinks this shit, it's got to be better than bottling it up, right?"

Sirius gave a restless shrug of agreement, still leaning all his weight on his knee and bouncing it slightly, jolting the bed that was bothering literally nobody.

"You," James winced just a bit, but pushed on, "look Sirius, he's as bad as you about not letting other people get close. No offense mate, but I don't think you're my type," he happily added on, and Sirius snorted and nudged him in the hip for that with his other foot, "and Moony's had even less, time, oh bollocks," he grumbled before just flat saying, "you two latched onto each other. If the sex is making it awkward than take a break." He could feel he was bright red at the end and got up but still added heartily, "he does need us Sirius, nobody wants to be alone. So long as you're both happy and know what you're, getting out of it, don't freak."

He shifted restlessly in place, but Sirius was still watching him like he was waiting for something else. He glowered at the floorboards and wanted to curse Alice even if he knew he never could. "If the idea of committing to just him isn't sitting right though, then yeah, hell, maybe you two should knock it off."

Sirius flopped back onto the bed and wished he hadn't started this now, petulantly and bitterly thinking James had only made it worse and he couldn't even hate him for it anymore than Remus. "Right," he finally grunted when he still hovered. "I'll think about it. Go on, I'll wake him up."

James gave him a fingered salute as he finally left, and Sirius selfishly rolled over so that he was lying on top of Remus again, maybe for the last time. He wasn't sure how long of a break they'd taken from sleeping with each other, but it probably should have been longer. He still knew, could feel the tension in Remus's jaw as he achingly worried about everything, at least the sex hadn't made it worse this time. He would put off breaking up with him at least until they got back to school, Prongs was hopefully right and being back in a routine would help him at least somewhat?

He considered though, for the first time, maybe asking Regulus or Alice too. Prongs didn't know everything and he didn't want to be hasty about this...

Remus offered to take the book once everyone was settled down in the living room and find out Harry's next trip for them.

Padfoot wasn't so happy with where it was heading.

He tried, his boyfriend at least made an attempt to pretend he wasn't freaking out at the idea of being dragged back to Gringotts and locked down in there until someone got this book to get them out. Remus reached out and took his hand without a second thought to anchor him right here, the contact finally forced a breath out of him he'd been pretending he wasn't holding.

"It's okay Padfoot," he grinned and did his best to lightly tease away the nightmare. "We'll get revenge on that dragon for you, maybe grab a souvenir?" He got a soft laugh at least from Sirius for his troubles even as he crushed Remus's hand in his.

"Hey, Padfoot!" James exclaimed eagerly, leaning forward with just as much concern. "Just change now mate!"

He wanted to argue the point, bluster and tell them that wasn't necessary, but his pride crumpled rather quickly for once. "Let's just hurry this up," he grumbled before there was a little pop.

The huge black dog sprawled himself across James and Remus's lap feeling like a coward but unable to refute it did feel less this way. Less terrifying to go back, less debilitating to his sanity at being trapped in the dancing flames and loud roars that he would not escape-

Padfoot sat up, making James oof at the sudden increase of weight as the dog watched Remus's sudden change. He was officially a dad in this future, the baby had been born...and he'd never looked happier at the prospects spreading before them. Tonks had never been in danger, she'd been right all along...maybe Sirius was too.

If it really just boiled down to the fact that he didn't want to be like Greyback.

It couldn't be that simple, could it?

HPHPHPHP

* The most poorly subverted lemon ever inserted here.