For @goodboylupin 2024 Candy Hearts Challenge! Thanks for hosting and making it the most relaxed fest! My prompt was âwhiz kid.â Thanks @phoebe-delia for the quick beta!
âIâm pretty sure Iâm fine,â Remus started. Sirius froze and looked up at him in alarm.
âBut?â
âButâŠmy throat really hurts and also I am hoping you think the house is a bit chilly.â
âHouse temperature is normal.â Sirius was already moving away from Remus. Remus briefly closed his eyes, resisting the urge to roll them at his husbandâs fear of germs.
âWell, like I said. Iâm pretty sure Iâm fine.â
âDid you take your temperature yet?â Sirius asked from across the room.
âNo. Iâm good,â Remus stubbornly insisted. He began to make a mental catalog of what he would have to do if he called in sick tomorrow. Sub plans. He had no papers copied. He had been planning on going in early tomorrow to make his copies before the machine became overrun with other teachers.
âGo take your temperature, you impossible man. How many of your students have been sick this week?â
Remus thought of his fourth graders. Poor Ron Weasley puked on the floor on Tuesday; theyâd had to evacuate the classroom for a good 45 minutes while Mr. Filch cleaned it up. Then there was Seamus, who had been out Monday, back Tuesday (just in time to share his germs, Remus was sure) and out again Wednesday and Thursday. Pavarti had been out two days as well, which reminded him that he probably needed to contact her mom since he hadnât heard from her about the absencesâŠ
âThat pause tells me the number isnât zero. Temperature. Now. Iâll make dinner tonight. Itâs just sandwiches anyways.â Sirius said as Remus trudged off to find the thermometer.
Remus grumbled as the thermometer climbed. It beeped. Final answer: 99.9.
âVerdict?â Sirius asked as Remus reappeared in the living room to cocoon himself in a blanket on the sofa.
â99.9. But thatâs like. Low-grade. And also. It might be a false read. Iâll check it again in fifteen minutes.â
âThatâs 100 degrees. Theyâre letting you teach rounding?â
âRounding decimals is a fifth grade standard, so no.â
âAlright, whiz kid. Start on those sub plans. Iâll bring dinner over to you in a minute.â
oaweihriewopoergijo the way he acknowledges that parents sending their sick kids to school spreads the illness around and still insists he's fine. remus. baby.
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If you could take a moment to read our story, consider donating, or simply share our campaign with others, it would make an incredible difference. Every act of kindness, no matter how small, brings us one step closer to safety and a new beginning. đ
For @goodboylupin's Candy Hearts Challenge. My candy heart prompt was Ever Yours!
This is a little tidbit I wrote as a second work :)
âCheers, Moony.â
As Charms class was dismissed, Sirius tossed Remus a small pink box.
Narrowly missing the catch, he frowned at it and gave it a slight shake before opening it up. Sirius had his legs propped up on the desk in front of him and was leaning dangerously far back, hands gripping at the sides of his chair.
âSirius, thereâs a single candy heart in here.â he said, frowning at Sirius who shrugged without wiping away his sharp smile.
âAnd whatâs it say?â
Remus rolled his eyes and fought back a grin as he popped it into his mouth.
âEVER YOURSâ
âThanks, Padfoot. Ever yours.â
â
A few minutes later, in the Gryffindor common room.
âSirius?â
âHm?â
âWhy hasnât this dissolved into wet chalk yet?â
Sirius settled his book across his chest and looked up at him slyly.
âRight, well, I enchanted it to last forever too.â
Remus screwed his face up in disgust.
âIâm sorry, I love you, but I will be spitting this out now.â
For @goodboylupin's Candy Hearts Challenge. My candy heart prompt was Ever Yours!
Summary: Snippets from the many reincarnated forms of Sirius and Remus in one universe, across time.
Word Count: 5k
Read the full work on AO3! Preview below.
Two wildflowers grew side by side. Every full moon, they spread. For millennia the flowers multiplied each month, spreading through marshy lands into the xeric woodlands. Their roots infused the earth with their magic, sourced from the first two that still stood tall together. Unlike the rest, they remained evergreen through the seasons and never wilted. Animals left them alone, as if they could sense their magic. When the earth grew cold in the last ice age, the multiplied flowers decomposed into the earth where their traces would remain for the rest of time.
â 1200s
A small, tawny wolf wandered into a clearing one day, all knobby limbs and matted fur. He was so tired, curled up at the edge of the clearing against a tree. He closed his eyes, exhausted from his injury and incapable of hunting for any food. Soon awakened to the scent of fresh blood, he feared it was his own. But when he opened his eyes, a rabbit lay before him, and a large black dog nudged it towards him with his nose. The wolf shakily stood and narrowed his eyes. The dog was much stronger than him in his current state, but he still tried to appear threatening. The dog slowly retreated, and when he disappeared into the shadow of the trees, the wolf greedily ate the rabbit and went back to rest.
The dog did this everyday, bringing a kill for the wolf. He waited in the trees for him to fall back asleep after his meal, and curled up in the same clearing with him each night. The wolf got better very quickly and began to trail behind the dog during the day. He stayed just out of sight, knowing they could smell each other. He did not know why the dog had helped him, but he quickly grew fond of him. Soon they caught small animals together, chased through the wooded area, and splashed in the stream. They play-fought in their clearing, trampling over two flowers that grew side by side. However each day the flowers stretched back towards the sun, perfectly intact with their leaves touching. The wolf and the dog lived out their days here together until they peacefully accepted death, not living a minute without the other.
Hi itâs AO3 user Miniberry! Just wanted to let you know that my fic is up! (Sorry for being a little late!) Thanks for running this every year, it is lovely â€ïž
You're not late at all!!
LINK for yeah, right by Miniberry
Itâs just that the more he looked for signs, the more he convinced himself that Peter was full of shit. And the more he convinced himself that Remus was not in love with him, actually, the more he found he rather wished Remus was in fact in love with him, which was a whole new confusing set of feelings he refused to interrogate.
Series of sixth year snapshots. Sirius sorts out some sentiments.
(This was written for @goodboylupin 's R/S Candy Hearts. The prompt was "beary cute".)
They were seated at a small table with white linens and a flickering candle. Sirius shrugged out of his jacket and hung it on the back of his chair. He and Remus eyed each other before breaking into embarrassed chuckles.
âI donât really know how to do thisâŠI met you because my godson made a mess in the produce aisle. You already know Iâm not cool or mysterious or anything,â Sirius admitted.
âAnd you already know Iâve got a kid, so thatâs a major secret sorted,â Remus returned.
âSo now what?â Sirius asked, amused.
âHow aboutâŠwhat kind of wine do you want with dinner?â Remus said as the waiter approached.
For @goodboylupin 's Candy Hearts Challenge. My prompt was U R #1
1977
The first quidditch match of seventh year was set to be a tense one. As always, Slytherin and Gryffindor were the first teams that would face off. It was James's last season as captain and he was determined to go out on a win. The opposing captain was Regulus Black. It was his first year as captain and he wanted to start on a high.
And then there was Sirius, who had been welcomed back to the team after a year's suspension and would be facing his brother for the first time since leaving Grimmauld Place. He had been practising with James all summer, trying to get back to where he was before he took the time off. He was looking good, possibly better than he'd ever been, but it wasn't enough for him.
Sirius had spent every night on the Quidditch pitch for weeks. Remus had followed him out, braving the cold evenings to sit on the stands and watch his boyfriend hit bludgers back and forth with startling accuracy. Remus had practically had to drag him back to the dorms the closer it got to the game.
Sirius was exhausted leading up to the game. He was overworking himself and still wasn't happy with his performance. He didn't just want to be good. He wanted to be perfect. For James. For himself. Even for Regulus, at least a little. Remus was worried. He had to do something.
He started with gentle encouragement, watching Sirius's every move at practice and telling Sirius everything he did well as they walked to the dorms together. Sirius would blush and smile at the ground bashfully. When that stopped working, when Sirius stopped taking him seriously and began talking down on himself, Remus switched tactics. He'd head down to the pitch with a thermos of herbal tea for Sirius and walk to the castle with his boyfriend in silence. When they got to the dorms, Remus would massage Sirius's sore muscles and put salve on any bruises he'd acquired that day before they lay down to sleep.
The night before the game, James had physically withheld Sirius from going to the pitch and carried him back to the dorm, insisting that he get a full night's sleep to be at his best. Remus waited until he was snoring gently before extracting himself from Sirius's grasp and sneaking back to the common room to meet Lily. He felt bad leaving Sirius alone, but he would be back soon, and it would be worth it when Sirius saw what they had been doing.
The next morning, the quidditch team was first at the breakfast table, meaning Remus, Lily and Peter were also present, if much more sleepy. Sirius pressed a kiss to Remus's head before he left for warmup, muttering something about a good luck charm that made Remus smile into his second cup of coffee.
The game started a while later, and it was tight from the beginning. The Slytherin team was ruthless, breaking a few rules and attempting to shove Gryffindor players off their brooms, but the Gryffindors were good flyers and held their own. It took a long time for a point to be scored, James finally breaking through Slytherin's defence and putting the quaffle through the middle hoop as Sirius hit a bludger at the Keeper, distracting him from blocking the point.
The crowd cheered for the two marauders and Sirius grinned, searching the crowd for his boyfriend. He finally spotted him and his eyes widened slightly in surprise.
Remus Lupin, who always brought a book to quidditch matches, who barely bothered to wear a Gryffindor scarf to the games, was decked out in Gryffindor colours, wearing Sirius's old quidditch jersey that he had charmed to fit him. Next to him was Lily Evans, also dressed up with her boyfriend's jersey. They were hiding a sign between them, a beautifully drawn lion at the bottom - likely Lily's work - with words in gold spanning the length of the sign.
POTTER AND BLACK
U R #1
Sirius was nearly hit by a bludger as he stared at the sign, snapping back to attention as Marlene flew up next to him and slapped him upside the head. He blew a kiss to Remus before refocusing on the game.
Sirius didn't miss a single hit for the rest of the game, managing to defend the chasers in perfect sync with Marlene. He eventually hit a bludger towards his brother, blocking the seeker's path and allowing Gryffindor to catch the snitch. He flew straight to Remus when the game ended, ignoring the team's celebration on the ground. Remus caught him easily and wrapped him in a tight hug.
"Brilliant," he whispered into Sirius's hair. "You're bsolutely brilliant."
(For @goodboylupinâs Candy Hearts Challenge. My candy heart prompt was "best day". thank you for hosting this mini-fest once again.)
Days are bad. Life is hard. Love is the easiest thing in the world.
-
It was raining outside, wind howling through the cracks of the windows, rattling the pipes outside of Remus and Sirius's flat. Remus was wishing right about then he hadn't insisted on paying part of the rent. Maybe then they would be tucked away in some lavish home in London; someplace where they didn't have to shut the windows with such force and didn't seem to be swaying with the wind.
He knew it was going to be a bad day the moment he rolled out of bed and heard the sound of the steady rain. Because his joints ached, and his hands were stiff. Because he was going to be one of those idiots outside in this weather--the kind everyone pointed at from their car windows, snickering behind their palms--holding fast to a withering umbrella, hoping he didn't get blown away with everything. Ordinarily, he wouldn't have bothered leaving their flat on days like this. Ordinarily, he would have made himself comfortable on the armchair they had found at some woman's estate sale, that had stains on the arm from too many nights with wine and mornings with cups of coffee and not moved a single muscle.
Waving his wand to do the simplest tasks and asking Sirius to do the others.
But today he had an interview at the Ministry, which required a lot more than a wand wave. Moving.
Remus sighed as he rummaged through his closet, pushing past worn t-shirts that Sirius insisted be hung up to find his slightly less worn button-downs. He pulled a pale green one off the hanger. No holes. No stains. It would do.
Brown trousers and a fraying belt that had survived both sixth and seventh year. He was overdue for a replacement, but when did he wear belts? For interviews, almost exclusively. Maybe once he got a job. If? He got a job. Blame it on wartime, blame it on the weather, blame it on himself, the market had been bleak. The prospects had been bleaker. Hogwarts certainly hadnât advertised how difficult it would be to find any type of job let alone something he could actually find himself doing in the long term or had any interest in. It was all well and good to âJoin the Order!â and âFight the Good Fight!â, which Remus had been doing (whether he was doing it particularly well was another story) when you didnât have to worry about working or making money to support yourself.
James and Sirius had both offered.
Remus always said no.
Even if right now, as he pulled a navy sweater over his collared shirt, he was wishing he had said âyesâ.
Remus was wishing a lot of things.
He sat on the bed, unrolling a pair of mustard-colored socks to put on his feet.
The toe gave way. How long had he had these socks? Had they been his Dads?
Remus stared down at his big toe, poking through the top of his sock, the rest of his toes safely tucked inside.
âWell, this seems about right,â he muttered to himself, putting on his other sock before slapping his hands to his thighs and forcing himself out of the bed again.
Brushed his teeth.
A hair on the top of his head wouldnât lie flat.
He sniffed a bottle of hair potion Sirius had in the cabinet, contemplating taking his chances, but decided better of it.
Brown loafers. Remusâs bare toe wiggled inside the material. Somehow already sweating.
âSirius?â Remus called, lingering in the threshold, realizing the flat was quiet. There was no singing; bread wasnât baking; it wasnât the weather for Sirius to be outside tinkering with his bike. âSirius?â he tried again.
He ignored the sinking feeling in his chest. It was early, maybe he had just stepped out to the shops.
Maybe, maybe, maybe.
Remus inhaled and reached for the door handle, the wind blowing it open. At least he could wave his wand for an umbrella.
--
The day got worse from there.
Before Remus could make it to the underground, a car rushed by, splashing his pants with mud and water. Loafers soaked, and it seemed pointless to keep drying them off. A spell wasnât going to be able to fix the sweat under his arms, or his heart that only seemed to beat faster and faster, a racehorse trying its fucking best and going nowhere, as he got closer to the front desk of the Ministry to check in for his interview.
His shoes squeaked down the hallway; his toe poking through his sock, squelching and squirming.
His voice cracked through every answerâfor a job he was certain he could and would do in his sleep. Filing for fucks sake! Putting things in drawers and sitting around waiting for more papers to go into drawers or be sent to the owlery and Remus couldnât answer a single question without clearing his throat or sounding like he was en route to a second puberty.
He didnât bother with the umbrella on the way home, letting rain soak through his clothes, drip down his face. At least the hair on his head was now flat.
Remus sighed as he walked in through his front door, beyond defeated, dropping his soaked RJ LUPIN briefcase on the floor with a thud.
âIs that you, Remus?â
âWho else would it be?â Remus shot back, rougher than perhaps warranted.
âThe Queen. Invited her over for tea,â Sirius responded as he turned the corner, stopping in front of Remus and smile fading as he took in the sight before him. Remus returned with a weak jazz hand and a feeble grin. Ta-fucking-da. âTrying out a new look, are we?â
âWhere were you?â
âWhen?â
âI donât know, Sirius,â Remus said, shrugging off his jacket and letting it fall to the floor, âThis morning?â This month?âI wentââ
âIn the pouring rain?â
âYou didnât let me finish.â
âForget it.â
Siriusâs eyebrows were a straight line above his hooded eyes, and he opened his mouth to speak again, pick the fight Remus wanted him to. The wind groaned outside, Remus feeling like the flat was swaying and Sirius looked over his shoulder, breaking the irritated eye contact he had with Remus to make sure the âliving roomâ windows were still holding fast.
Remus peeled off his stuck loafers, that probably needed to go straight to the bin. The hole in his sock was bigger now, his second toe trying to come to the surface for air. Sirius turned back around to face Remus, slowly scanning the pile of wet clothes, the umbrella that wasnât used. The hole in his sock. A body that was a breath away from giving up hope and strength to keep him standing on two feet.
âHave you eaten?â
âIâm not particularly hungry.â
âBut I have an idea.â
âFor dinner?â
âNo,â Sirius said with a slow grin, grey eyes turning up slightly, and he inclined his head toward the bedroom, âSort of.â
âSirius.â But Sirius just grabbed Remusâs hand and pulled him down the hallway through the door of their room. One by one Sirius slowly took off Remusâs soaked clothes, folding everything as Remus stood there near the bed. Too curious for what was going to happen next to want to continue a fight that neither of them wanted to have. But it was a hell of a lot easier than being afraid. Remus held his arms above his head, for Sirius to take off his sweater; watched deft fingers undo every single button on his nice shirt. Watched as Sirius took off his own clothing until they were both in their underwear.
Remus swallowed and brought his hand up to push a long dark curl out of Siriusâs face, safely behind his ear.
âI think we need a redo,â Sirius said, putting his both of his hands around Remusâs waist, pulling him closer.
âA redo?â
âOf today. Fresh. Never happened.â
âWhat are youââ
âShh, shh,â Sirius hushed him with a kiss to his mouth before pushing him backward onto the bed. Sirius made quick work of throwing the blanket over the top of them. Positioning Remusâs hand around his waist, and Sirius flicked his wrist, to turn the lights off. âGood night.â
âAre you out of your mindââ
âRemus Iâm trying to sleep. Donât you have a job interview tomorrow? You should really get some rest.â
âIââ
Sirius feigned a snore, and Remus fell silent, kissing the back of Siriusâs neck before getting comfortable underneath the blanket, resting his nose along Siriusâs shoulder the same way he did every night to fall asleep. It was probably only five minutes, maybe less, but when the sound of birds chirping magically filled the room, and gold and orange light appeared on the ceiling, Remus couldnât help but feel restored.
Rejuvenated.
A brand-new day.
Sirius yawned and stretched. They took their time getting out from underneath the covers, throwing on sweatpants and old t-shirts. Toothpaste kisses in the bathroom, with matching foam goatees. A shower that was going to add some trouble to the water bill, but the steam, and the hands and the fancy bath soap Sirius liked pushed every worrying thought out of Remusâs mind.
A record played as they walked down the hallway into the kitchen, Sirius going to the cabinets and pulling out flour, while Remus went to the coffee machine.
âFancy a Dutch Baby?â Sirius asked.
âHave you ever made one before?â
âNo, but I do know how to read instructions.â
âCan you follow them though?â
âWhere is the fun in that,â Sirius grinned, reaching for a recipe book on top of the fridge that had been a gift from Mrs. Potter, âIf I recall, thereâs one in hereâŠâ
The sun was getting close to setting outside. It was dark and gloomy, and the rain was determined to keep beating down on the pavement and windowpanes. Inside it was warm, sunlight radiating off of a boy with dark hair and big heart.
âSirius, heyââ
âForget about it,â Sirius said, âDonâtâŠthink on it for another second, alright? LetâsâŠjust have a good day. The best day even.â
A good day. They needed more of those.
Remus paused, before closing the lid of the coffee maker, âI love you.â
âLove you too, Moons. Nowâremind me how the oven warms up,â Sirius said, gesturing to the stove and oven combination in their tiny kitchen. Remus shook his head and pressed a kissed to Siriusâs lips. Soft. Sighing. He looked down at his feet.
His socks were still onâSirius hadnât taken those off when the day restarted. The seam was intact.