If In The Heavens

Chapter Four: Midday

Any outside observer would have seen this: a pale and thin man (though not so thin as he had been only a month ago) driving down the road talking to himself - or perhaps to his dog, who sat on the seat next to him. If this outside observer had been able to hear what was happening inside the car, their eyes would have gone wide, for when the man spoke, the dog responded in a series of quiet barks.

"He'll be all right, Sirius, don't worry so much. Dumbledore will look after him, you know he will."

I know, but I can't help but worry.

"Do you want me to rub your back when we get home?"

God yes.

"Do you still want to stargaze on the roof?"

Of course! Let's eat dinner up there too.

Remus marveled at how romantic Sirius was. None of his former lovers (not that he called them lovers; to him they were "people he had slept with", for Sirius was his one true lover) would have ever thought of anything like that. And it was a great opportunity to -

Hermione looks so much older, don't you think?

"Yes, I did notice that. There's something really different about her face, but I can't quite place it."

Her front teeth are smaller.

"You're right! That's it. And Ron's a lot less gangly-looking than he used to be."

Sirius yawned. What do you want for dinner?

"I thought it was my night to make dinner."

Too bad. I'm making it tonight.

"Sirius, you don't have to - "

Reme, if you don't be quiet, I'll slobber on you.

"Fine. Make dinner."

Remus?

"Hmm?"

Next full moon, do you want to make love as canines?

"Where did that come from?"

I don't know, just popped into my head. Do you?

"Well, I hadn't really thought about it, but...yes."

Hey, we're home.

Once they were inside, Remus insisted on rubbing Sirius's back before he started dinner. Sirius lay down on the couch and felt Remus's gentle hands draw out the tension. "You're amazing," he murmured.

Remus kissed his earlobe. "Thanks." His tongue traced Sirius's jawline and moved down toward his neck.

Sirius moaned softly. During the week that Harry had stayed with them, they'd only made love once - early in the morning, in the shower, with a Silencing Charm. Desperately hungry for Remus, Sirius turned over so that he lay on his back and pulled his lover on top of him.

Within seconds, Remus was straddling Sirius and undulating against him, his hands on Sirius's chest and his mouth pressing hard. They kissed almost as if they were trying to devour each other. Gasping for breath, Remus began to undo the clasps on Sirius's robe.

Although Remus had seen Sirius naked many times, each time was like the first time, because of how Sirius changed as he got his health back. Their first time together, he had been so delicate-looking, although the intense passion with which they had loved each other betrayed that image. But now Sirius looked more and more every day like the boy Remus had known at Hogwarts...only older and even more handsome.

Remus sighed and closed his eyes as Sirius undressed him. Nothing in the world felt as good as Sirius's touch. "Padfoot," he moaned.

"Moony," whispered Sirius, and began to gently bite Remus's neck, pressing him closer.

Suddenly, a rustle of wind came over the room. Both men looked up and saw a snowy-white owl circling the room.

"Of all the times for the mail to come," Remus said, rolling his eyes and reaching for his clothes. Hedwig dropped the letter on the floor and then flew over to the corner, carefully averting her eyes from the couch.

Dear Sirius and Remus,

I'll bet you didn't think you'd be hearing from me this soon! I'm still on the train, but Ron's fallen asleep and Hermione's already studying, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to write.

No word on the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher yet, but I heard a rumor that it's a woman this time. Seeing as I heard it from Draco Malfoy, I have no idea if it's true. You both should be happy to know that I've avoided him so far. (I only heard about the new professor because he was shouting to Crabbe about it.)

No word yet on who the new Quidditch captain is going to be. Fred and George are hoping that both of them will get it, but Angelina Johnson wants it too. They're a bit irritated at her because she's already Head Girl.

By the way, I left the Invisibility Cloak under my bed. Could you send it? Thanks. I'd better go now - Hermione is choking on a mold-flavored Every Bean.

Harry

Chapter Five: Under the Stars

The moon was waning, and Remus smiled as he looked at it. It was at these times that he truly appreciated how beautiful it was, and saw it as a light in the darkness instead of his fate. A light in the darkness, he thought. Sirius. The brightest star in the sky.

"There's your star," he said to Sirius, who was stretched out on the blanket next to him. "There, right above the top of the birch tree." He extended one long arm and pointed.

Sirius's gaze followed. "My parents once told me that they named me Sirius because I was conceived in August, when the star rises and sets with the sun," he said. My love for you will never set.

Remus moved closer to him. "Sirius...there's something I've been meaning to give to you."

Sirius turned over so that he faced him. "What's that?"

From the pocket of his robe, Remus took out a small burgundy box and handed it to Sirius. "Here. Open it."

Inside of the box was a ring; golden and smooth, it had a black stone in the middle. Sirius gently took it out and placed it on his fourth finger.

"I inherited that from my mother's father," said Remus. "It's the only thing of worth I have."

No it isn't,

thought Sirius. You are of so much worth that I can't even begin to describe it.

"I - I gave it to you because I wanted something that would remind you how much I want to give you," said Remus, glad it was dark so that Sirius couldn't see him blush. The long years of secrecy and hiding had made it hard for him to express what he felt. Even though this had improved greatly since Sirius had returned, it was still difficult for him at times.

"You've given me so much already, Reme," said Sirius solemnly. Then he laughed. "You aren't going to believe this."

"What?"

Grinning, Sirius handed Remus another box. When Remus opened it, he found inside another ring, this one also gold, but a little smaller, and with a white stone. He gasped. "How did you get this?"

"It's been sitting in my vault at Gringotts since I was eighteen and my parents gave it to me. I had Harry get it out for me."

"Harry!"

"Yeah, when you took him shopping for school supplies. When you went to go buy his books and he went to get new robes, he took a detour and - " Sirius was interrupted by a hard kiss on the mouth.

"I take it you like it?" he asked a minute later when Remus finally released him.

"Of course I do, you silly git," said Remus, and rested his hand on Sirius's chest. He rested one finger lightly on the stone. "What kind of stone is it?"

"A moonstone, ironically enough."

"Yours is an onyx. The blackest stone there is. Ironically enough," said Remus, smiling devilishly.

Sirius twisted the ring around on his finger. "It feels like a wedding ring."

Remus looked at him. "I'd marry you if I could. You know that, don't you?"

"Darling, of course I do. And for all intents and purposes, we are married."

Remus smiled. "I've got the most handsome husband in the world."

"No. I do," said Sirius firmly, and with that, he slid on top of Remus.

"Sirius, we'd - ohhhh - better not, love," Remus gasped as Sirius kissed his neck. "What if the neighbors see us?"

"There aren't any for four miles," said Sirius as he undid the top button of Remus's robe.

"Still, I'm paranoid."

"One minute then," said Sirius, climbing off of Remus and walking over to where they'd left the dinner dishes. From underneath the folded tablecloth, he produced the Invisibility Cloak.

"We'd better not," said Remus. "It's Harry's, and I doubt he'd want us making love under it."

"You know, James once offered it to me for this exact purpose," Sirius said.

"He didn't!"

"He did. It was in our seventh year. I remember we were sitting on the roof smoking - "

"Since when did you and James smoke?"

"We did it for maybe a week. Stupid idea, James quit because Lily couldn't stand it and I quit because it was, like I said, a stupid idea. But that's beside the point. Anyway, we were sitting on the roof smoking, and I was talking about you - "

"I didn't know you talked about me to James when we were in our seventh year."

"Well, I did. So, we were talking about you, and out of nowhere he said, 'You know, Padfoot, if you and Moony ever get over your hang-ups and actually have sex, I'll loan you the Invisibility Cloak for privacy.'"

"I refuse to believe that James said any of this. I think you're making it up so I'll give in and make love with you on the roof."

"I am not! He actually said this. Sometimes I think he wanted us to be together almost as much as we did." He paused. "Come on Moony, we'll wash it afterward."

Remus considered. "All right."

He moaned as Sirius climbed on top of him, loving the delicious pressure of Sirius's body pressing against his. Letting his head fall back, he allowed Sirius's tongue to explore the crevices of his mouth as his hands stroked his neck. Remus loved Sirius touching his neck. Sometimes, even when they weren't going to make love, he'd ask him to stroke his neck until he fell asleep. And even if the moon was nearly full, he would never have trouble sleeping on those nights.

There was one thing that Sirius loved above all others about making love with Remus - one man's bliss fed the other's. Neither were the type of lover that could be satisfied by receiving pleasure and not giving equal amounts back. Trembling, he closed his eyes as Remus undid his robe. Every touch sent delectable shivers through his body.

Experimentation. If there was one thing Remus adored about their sex life, it was the experimentation. Now that he thought about it, they had never made love in the same way two nights in a row...not that it was only nights. When it came to different positions, locations, and desires, Sirius was willing to try anything he thought would please both of them. "Just tell me how I can make this better," he often said. "Anything, darling. It's yours."

And, despite his sense of sexual adventure, he wasn't kinky. Which was good; neither was Remus.

Suddenly, Remus realized something. "We forgot the Silencing Charm."

"Damn," said Sirius, climbing off with the cloak wrapped around him (for Remus was still dressed) and groping about for his wand. Finding it, he said the charm and they resumed where they left off.

Since he first became attracted to Remus (that is, since the moment he met him), Sirius had dreamed of undressing him: slowly unfastening his clothes, letting the fabric fall away from his skin, exploring its alabaster softness. They had yet to make love once with Remus removing his own clothes, and tonight was no exception. Kneeling over Remus, Sirius unbuttoned his robe and slid it off.

Remus's scars had always been shameful to him, but with Sirius, he hardly noticed them anymore. "If I were an artist," Sirius had told him once, "my studio would be covered with pictures of you, naked and beautiful."

Now they were completely naked together, Sirius smooth and Remus hairier, both of them with skin the color of a pale eggshell. But an eggshell would have been quickly crushed by the passion with which they clung to each

When it was over they lay together under the stars and moon, exhausted but satisfied. "Let's sleep up here," Sirius whispered. "It's warm enough."

Remus nodded and pulled an extra blanket over them. He turned to Sirius to tell him he loved him, but then their eyes met, saying so much more with one look than a thousand words could.

Chapter Six: Timeless

Dear Harry,

Remus and I were surprised and pleased to receive your letter. Poor Hermione...I once had a similar encounter with a mold-flavored Every Bean. Your father told me it was lime.

As you can see, we've sent your Invisibility Cloak, along with your compass for your broomstick. (Remus found it when he was dusting in your room this morning.) Things have been fairly quite around here lately. Reme is busy at work and I'm doing "things-that-must-not-be-named", as he calls them.

I suppose by now you've heard about the Montrose Magpies'

tragic loss to the Chudley Cannons. Well, I find it tragic. Ron is probably ecstatic. My God, what did they think they were doing?! I can't remember the last time their Chasers played so badly. Remus and I were listening to the game on his wireless and he had to keep telling me, "You don't need to scream like that, it's only a Quidditch match." Two hours later I was still muttering under my breath about it.

Harry, I know it must seem to you that all I do lately is give advice, but here's one last little bit, if you can take it. If you ever find someone whom you love so much that even the thought of losing them makes your heart stop for a second, don't let fear get in the way. Ever.

Not signing my name in case this letter is intercepted,

S.

P.S. Remus wants to add something...

Harry: Don't let all of S's advice intimidate you. Even if you make more mistakes in your life than the two of us have combined, we will always be there for you. Remus.

~~*~~

On the wall in the stairwell of the house, there were many photographs. Pictures of laguidly beautiful dark-skinned men, of red-haired girls, of family members, of dark and messy-haired boys past and present. But the one loved most by the occupants of the house was of two lovers, holding each other close. For eternity.

THE END