small_gifts | Fic: "Together Together" for deathjunke

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Title: Together Together
Author:

flaminia_x
Recipient:

deathjunke
Rating: PG
Contents or warnings (highlight to view): *none *
Word count: ~2500
Summary: Remus and Sirius are a couple—Ron is sure of it.
Notes: Thank you, thank you, thank you for allowing me to write my favorite kind of Ron—smart, insightful, observant, and analytical. I hope this little tidbit is to your liking!

Together Together

“Good morning, Harry,” Hermione said, looking up from her books.

Harry trudged down the stairs of 12 Grimmauld Place, wiping the sleep from his eyes. “Morning, Hermione,” he said. “Ron up?”

“He’s in the living room, I think,” Hermione answered, waving her hand in the general direction. “There’s toast and bacon in the kitchen if you’re hungry.”

“Did someone say bacon?” Ron said, walking over and peering over Hermione’s shoulder.

Hermione looked up at him, closing her book carefully. “Honestly, Ronald. You appear the second anyone mentions food. Didn’t you eat once already this morning?”

“I’m a growing boy,” Ron protested, smiling. “Right, Harry?”

“Well, go on, get it before it gets cold.” Standing up, Hermione said, “I’ll be in the library. You two should think about joining me after breakfast; we only have a few days before start of term, you know.”

Ron rolled his eyes and looked at Harry, shaking his head. “Come on, mate, I’m famished.”

As they walked into the kitchen, they saw Remus and Sirius huddled together over their cups of morning coffee, heads bowed over the day’s newspaper. Remus’s hand hovered near Sirius’s, pointing at a headline; their knees brushed against each other casually under the table.

“Morning, Sirius,” Harry said through a yawn. “Morning, Remus.”

The two men looked up, sitting back in their chairs. “Ah, good morning, Harry, Ron,” Remus said smoothly. “Coffee?”

“No thanks,” Harry said. “Any tea, though?”

“Kettle’s on the hob,” Sirius said through a mouthful of toast, gesturing vaguely toward the stove.

“Oi, Padfoot—swallow first,” Remus said, mock-horrified.

Sirius waggled his eyebrows and shoved the rest of his toast into his mouth, licking the butter from his fingers in the process.

Remus sighed, a small smile tweaking the corner of his mouth, and turned his attention to the two younger men. “Well, gentlemen. Any big plans for today?”

Ron shrugged, fixing himself a cup of tea. “Not really that much to do, I reckon. Can’t rightly play Quidditch, can we?”

Harry chuckled. “I think Hermione’s got us a study schedule already,” he said, grinning at Sirius.

Ron grimaced and reached for a plate. “School hasn’t even started yet,” he complained.

“What’s your point?” Harry joked. “It’s Hermione. Toast?”

Ron nodded, taking a small stack and waving a few more slices of bread onto the fire. “What about you two? Anything going on?”

“Well, there’s the Order meeting tonight,” Sirius said jovially, spearing a bit of bacon with his fork. “Before that—oh, I don’t know, Remus; what do you think? Shall it be the opera or the ballet? Oh, no; today’s Wednesday, so of course it’s the royal hunt.”

“Pads,” Remus said quietly, a hint of warning in his voice.

“Uh, sorry, Sirius,” Ron mumbled. “We know you can’t really … leave, or anything.”

“It’s alright, Ron,” Remus said a bit louder. “Sirius knows you were just making conversation, being polite. Right, Padfoot?”

“Oh, of course, of course,” Sirius said, waving a hand in the air. “No harm done, none at all. No, I imagine it might be another fascinating day of the library. Found a book in there yesterday with the most amusing pictures. You see, when you flip the pages, they sort of—”

“That’s enough, Sirius. Would you please pass the coffee?” Remus’s calm tone held more than a hint of sternness.

“What, no Accio?” Sirius asked under his breath, looking up at Remus impishly from under long eyelashes.

“It’s right behind you, you lazy sod,” Remus retorted.

“All right, all right,” Sirius said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. Reaching over, he topped off Remus’s coffee, adding cream and sugar and passing the mug over. Catching Remus’s eye, he took a sip of his own coffee, licking the milk from his mustache with the tip of his tongue.

“Thank you, Sirius,” Remus said, his eyes lingering on Sirius’s mouth for a second before returning his attention to the boys. “Now, if you two honestly don’t have anything planned yet for the day, I was wondering if you might not want to get a head start on some Defense against the Dark Arts.”

Ron and Harry glanced at each other, smiling.

“Like what?” Harry asked.

“Oh, who cares, Harry?” Ron interjected. “Whatever it is, it’d be better than studying.”

Remus chuckled. “Yes, Ron, nothing says ‘not studying’ like learning something new.”

Ron blushed, ducking his head. “I just meant—”

“Oh, I know what you meant, and I can’t blame you,” Remus said, smiling. “Your Hermione is quite the task-master. It’s just that I think that there might be some work we might do in some of the closets and old bedrooms that would help fix the place up for the Order, and along the way, you three might actually get a bit ahead for the year.”

Harry grinned at Ron. “That sounds great, Remus,” he said. “What about you, Sirius? Going to join us?”

Sirius swallowed the last of his toast before answering, earning a small, throaty laugh from Remus in the process. “Maybe—if I finish that picture book in time. That is, if it’s alright with Professor Lupin here.”

Remus glanced at Sirius out of the corner of his eye. “Of course, Sirius. We’d love to have you help around your own house,” he teased.

“Why, Moony, whatever are you talking about?” Sirius asked, eyes wide in pretend innocence.

Remus laughed. “Nothing, Pads.”

“Well, I don’t know about you lot, but I need a shower,” Ron said. “Won’t take long.”

“Yeah, I should get changed myself,” Harry said, finishing his bacon sandwich. “Be back in a bit.”

Harry and Ron walked out of the kitchen, but before they could turn and go upstairs, Ron grabbed Harry’s arm. “Come on, let’s get Hermione.”

“What for, Ron?” Harry asked, confused, but Ron waved him off until they had found Hermione in the library.

“There you are,” Hermione said as they walked in. “Are you two ready to look at our study plans for this year?”

“Not quite,” Ron muttered. “Sit down.”

“What’s this about?” Harry asked.

“Okay, Harry, you were there. You must have seen it,” Ron said excitedly.

“Seen what?”

Ron stared at Harry. “Remus and Sirius, of course.”

“What about them?” Hermione asked. “Is everything okay?”

“Oh, I’d say so,” Ron said with a small smile. “I’d say more than okay.”

“Ron, what are you going on about?” Harry asked.

“Come on, Harry; you have to have noticed,” Ron said.

“Ronald, clearly neither one of us has a clue as to what you’re talking about,” Hermione said testily. “What is going on?”

“Remus and Sirius,” Ron explained. “They’re together. I mean, together together.”

“What?” Harry asked dumbfoundedly.

“Ron, you don’t mean … romantically?” Hermione queried, surprised.

“Well, of course,” Ron said. “It’s so bloody obvious. Why hasn’t anyone noticed it before?”

“Because it’s not true, of course,” Hermione answered matter-of-factly.

“Oh, it’s true,” Ron said. “This morning proves it.”

“What are you talking about?” Harry asked. “I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.”

“But that’s just it,” Ron exclaimed. “Everything’s too ordinary. It’s too comfortable. It’s not just a friendship.”

“Wait,” Hermione interjected. “You and Harry are friends, you share a room here, you share a dorm. You’ve slept in the same bed. You’re rather comfortable with each other, wouldn’t you say? But there’s nothing more than that between you two.”

Ron shook his head, exasperated. “No, no, it’s different.”

“How?” Harry asked. “I was there. It all seemed perfectly normal to me.”

“Okay,” Ron said. “For one thing, when we walked into the kitchen, did you notice where they were sitting? Right on top of one another.”

“They were reading the paper together,” Harry said.

“Sure, but with their heads practically touching?” Ron continued. “I’m pretty sure they were almost holding hands, too. That’s not quite how I’d read the paper with you, Harry. And then when we said good morning, we startled them. They hadn’t heard us walk in at all.”

“So, they were interested in whatever they were reading,” Harry countered.

“Maybe, but in that case, they would have just been caught off guard. But when we said good morning, they sprang apart, almost like we had caught them doing something wrong, or doing something they didn’t want us to know about,” Ron clarified. “Remus was almost blushing.”

“That doesn’t mean much,” Hermione said doubtfully. “They could just have been reading something that they didn’t want to share with us.”

“In the newspaper they know we’re all going to look at later? Hardly,” Ron scoffed. “But that wasn’t all of it. Remus got after Sirius for chewing with his mouth open.”

“I’ve been doing that since you were eleven, Ronald,” Hermione said drolly.

“True, but later, Sirius actually did it. I mean, chewed with his mouth closed. On purpose. And Remus knew it, too. I saw the look on his face. It was”—Ron paused, glancing at Hermione and flushing—“the kind of look you give someone you love.”

“Oh, come on, Ron,” Harry said. “They’re best friends, they’re close.”

Ron snorted. “Harry, they were flirting with each other. We’re best friends, you and me. But we do not flirt with each other.”

“They were not!” Harry protested.

Ron sighed impatiently. “Didn’t you notice that even though Sirius gave Remus a hard time about the coffee, he still knew exactly how Remus liked it, and fixed him a cuppa?”

“So? I know how you like your tea,” Hermione said.

“Yeah, but when I ask you to get me a cup, you tell me to get it myself,” Ron smirked. “Besides, when Sirius handed him the cup, I’m pretty sure I saw Remus wink at him. I don’t think he thought we could see. They were watching each other’s mouths, like you do when you want to kiss someone.”

“Oh, ew,” Harry said, shuddering.

“Harry, you don’t have a problem with homosexual relationships, do you?” Hermione asked in surprise.

“Huh? Oh, no, no, it’s fine, it’s just that … well, it’s my godfather, and our teacher, and I just do not need to be thinking about this,” Harry hastened to explain.

“Well, I don’t think they’re going to stop just so you won’t have to think about it,” Ron said.

“No, no, I just … I mean, I don’t care what they do or anything, but I just don’t need to think about it. Just like you probably don’t want to think about your parents, you know—right, Ron?” Harry asked.

Ron paled. “Okay, good point. But look, everyone knows you meet the love of your life at Hogwarts. Your parents did, Harry, and so did mine. Think about how long Remus and Sirius have known each other—they were probably together together back in their school days.”

“Oh, how romantic,” Hermione sighed. “Not that I necessarily believe you yet, Ronald,” she added hurriedly. “I think everything you’ve described could be interpreted as just a friendship. But if it were true, then their reunion at the Shrieking Shack—”

“Exactly,” Ron said. “And you saw the looks they were giving each other that night.”

“I have to admit, I was a bit preoccupied,” Harry countered. “And how on earth did you notice something like that, with your leg, and all the excitement?”

“I have eyes, Harry,” Ron retorted. “Come on, it was practically staring us in the face then, and it’s even more obvious now.”

“Maybe to you,” Hermione muttered.

“You mark my words, Hermione,” Ron said. “Remus and Sirius are together, they are. You don’t have to ponder the details or anything, Harry, but maybe if the two of you would just pay attention, you’d see it too.”

“Well!” Hermione harrumphed.

“ ‘s true, though,” Ron said stubbornly. “You only have to take one look at the two of them, one really good look. It’s in their eyes, y’know.”

***
Outside the library, Remus and Sirius leaned back against the wall. Remus wiped tears from his eyes while Sirius laughed silently into his shoulder.

“I always told you there is more to that young man than most people think,” Sirius whispered.

“Yes, he is quite the young strategist,” Remus agreed. “Anyone who’s ever had the misfortune to play him in chess should have picked up on that by now.”

“Still, here I thought we’d been so careful,” Sirius said, a somber note entering his voice. “I wanted the chance to tell Harry properly, you know.”

Remus hugged the man to his side, murmuring into his ear. “Well, you still can. And from what we’ve heard, he won’t care a jot. He just doesn’t want the mental image.”

Sirius chuckled. “Good, because I don’t want to share that with anyone.”

Remus laughed throatily. “Gods, me neither—you are too beautiful to share.”

“So,” Sirius said, twirling his fingers around the buttons to Remus’s waistcoat. “Exactly how long do you plan to be cleansing my house of evil, again?”

“Oh, I’m fairly sure we can have an extended lunch break,” Remus whispered. “After all, we simply must give Hermione the time to torture the boys with study schedules.”

“You evil man,” Sirius grinned. “It’s no wonder I love you.”

“And I you, Padfoot,” Remus said, leaning down and capturing the other man’s lips in an intense kiss.

“Ahem,” Ron coughed.

Remus and Sirius looked up to find Harry, Ron, and Hermione staring at them.

Hermione’s mouth had fallen open and she looked back and forth unbelievingly between the two older men. “But … you …”

“Er, sorry for the … interruption. We were just on our way to get changed,” Harry stammered, flushing and looking away.

“Harry, I meant to tell you sooner,” Sirius said hastily.

“No, no, it’s fine,” Harry interjected, looking up at his godfather. “Really, it’s fine. I’m happy for you.”

“Really?” Sirius asked. “You’re not mad at me for keeping it a secret?”

“Not at all,” Harry said. “I’m glad you have someone that makes you happy, y’know?” Harry flushed again and looked up at Remus. “You too, Remus.”

“Thank you, Harry,” Remus said sincerely.

“Well, I guess we’ll just … be going to get ready, then,” Harry said awkwardly. “See you in a bit.” Grabbing Ron and Hermione, he ushered them toward the stairs.

“See?” Ron crowed. “They ARE together together.”

“What can I say, Ron?” Harry said, a bit numbly. “You were right. I don’t know how I didn’t see it before. Seems so obvious now.”

“Well, the kiss helped in that regard,” Ron said sagely.

Hermione closed her eyes. “That was so …”

“Romantic?” Ron supplied.

“Hot,” Hermione sighed dreamily.

Behind them, Remus and Sirius looked at each other and burst into laughter.

FIN