Disoriented, an indeterminable amount of time later, Remus stirred awake. He had a crick in his neck and his shoulder would not be thanking him for the stiff couch tomorrow. He yawned slowly and breathed in. For the first time in a long time, he didn’t wake up afraid. He woke up feeling safe.
What a distant memory, this feeling of warmth and waking beside someone he didn’t loathe. Without even opening his eyes he knew it was Sirius. Yes, he could smell him, nestled as he was within the crook of his neck, but it felt moreso like his body simply knew - this is Sirius, and we missed him.
He listened to the rise and fall of Sirius’ chest, the light exhale of his breath ruffling Remus’ matted curls. He laced his hand into the fabric of Sirius’ shirt, spreading his fingers until his hand rested over Sirius’ heart, feeling it beat beneath the calloused pads of his fingers.
“I don’t want to leave,” he whispered, believing still that Sirius slept. “I don’t ever want to leave.”
He would eventually, whenever Dumbledore returned. He had work to do, and he’d slink back to Greyback with his tail between his legs and a fitting excuse for his absence, but for now, he simply let himself be here, and wish things were different.
The slightest movement would’ve woken Sirius from a dead slumber, so it wasn’t a surprise that he peered his eyes open when Remus stirred. He kept quiet though, his breathing even and slow, his eyes only barely looking at brown curls and the movement of a hand in his shirt. He smiled at the touch, the words. This was a safe place, for now, but it couldn’t be such for long. They’d both have to leave, they’d both have to go back into the wild (literally, for poor Remus) and unknown. They’d both be risking more than just their lives in the middle of a war they were fighting for their friends. But they had now.
He lifted the arm that had been lazily draped over Remus to card it through messy hair and shifted slightly so that they might both be comfortable. “I don’t want you to leave.” He answered, voice thick from sleep. He couldn’t help himself now, wrapping the other arm around Remus to embrace him, to let him know he was still tethered to something real, to someone who cared about him despite all the ugliness he’d had to endure.
“Stay here with me. Forever.” He was speaking groggily, the sleep not having left him fully. He squeezed Remus again, pressed his face forward and breathed in his scent. It made his pulse quicken a bit, being this close to someone he’d missed like a drowning person misses oxygen. “All right, there?”