Word Count: 574 - @wolfstarmicrofic
The writer's block got me but I finally managed to finish something!
The moon crept out from behind a veil of white clouds and cast a dim, silver glow across Sirius' bedroom. Andromeda's face looked softer in this light, at this hour, when the rest of the house was hushed and safely in the arms of sleep.
A quiet breath - a brief hesitation - and Sirius asked,"How did you know he was worth it?"
He studied his older cousin, not entirely sure that she had heard him. Andromeda's eyes remained firmly transfixed on the heavy gloom that hung above London and the pale, round light that phased in and out of view. The faintest traces of starlight flickered in the distance if Sirius focused hard enough. Silence crept between them, filled only by the soft brush of gauzy curtains in the breeze. Then, ever so gently, she turned to look at him.
"Sirius," she began, and his name sounded so warm on her lips. She had told him once - when he was in the midst of a wild strop, huffing at the initials embroidered into his handkerchief - that she loved it. She had said, with such grace and genuine adoration, that he suited the brightest star in the sky. Her words were rounded at the edges, smooth to touch like wave-weathered stone.
"He makes me feel alive." Her words took the air from Sirius' lungs but she held him, took his hands in her own tender hands, and went on. "I could talk to him about everything and nothing at all. He listens all the same. He makes me laugh. He makes me laugh like you make me laugh!"
That pulled a snort from Sirius. He couldn't count the amount of times he'd nudged at Andromeda's feet under long, ornate dining tables. He would steal her attention, do something stupid…get both of them in trouble later.
"It sounds stupid to say out loud but the world is so much more…beautiful when we're together. He sees the beauty in it. Points it out for me until I can see it too. Did you know he stops to move ladybugs out of the street?"
Sirius hadn't known that. The sheer reverence in Andromeda's voice evoked memories of rainy afternoons, splitting stashed-away chocolate, and feeding birds outside of his dormitory window. Sirius had seen beautiful things in the world too.
"And he feels like home. Not this home," she clarified, gesturing around the shadowy room. "But the kind of home that always has a fire going, and a warm meal cooking, and never asks for anything in return. He's nothing like this and I find that quite perfect." She squeezed Sirius' hands softly. "That's how I know he's worth it."
She went quiet after that, watching as the words sunk into Sirius' very soul and snagged on something precious inside.
"And I suppose it doesn't hurt that Ted's easy on the eyes too?"
Sirius couldn't help it. Too much sincerity might kill him.
The corners of Andromeda's mouth pulled up. Her gaze drifted past Sirius, landing somewhere in the midst of his pinned-up polaroids. "Oh, your Remus isn't half bad either."
Sirius' heart lurched in his chest. His voice stuck in his throat. Try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to dispel the implication.
He searched Andromeda's eyes. They looked so much like his mother's. In them, he found nothing but acceptance and a touch of amusement.
"Your turn, then. Tell me why he's worth it."
