"I feel excluded," James pouts when Sirius enters the shop, pulling a disoriented looking Remus behind. Sirius shoves Remus into a chair and pulls his list out of his bag. "Aw," he grins at James, practically jumping on to the counter to squish James' cheeks. "Does Prongsie miss me?"

"Not you," James huffs, pulling away. "What has gotten into you?"

"Nothing!" Sirius shakes his hair. "Can't I be happy?"

"Not when depression is your self-proclaimed aesthetic," James says dryly before turning to Remus. "Look what you've done to poor Re. He looks exhausted."

"As much as I would've loved to, I didn't get to do anything to poor Re," Sirius smirks, glancing at Remus, whose pale cheeks immediately get washed over in bright red. "But he wouldn't stop studying. I went to check on him at three in the morning, and he was reading about Inferi. I had to take his books away to get him to-"

"Wait, wait, wait," James' mouth falls open. His dark eyes dance with mischief as a small smirk befalls his lips. "Three in the morning? Do you live with him now or what?"

"He does not," Remus protests, finally speaking up. The motorbike ride today has left him unsteady. Still weak after a particularly difficult full moon, his body feels disconnected from his mind. "He just..." Remus doesn't know how to explain it. He feels shy, unable to look at Sirius or James. They're both wearing the most odious of smirks on their faces, and it makes Remus want to simultaneously crawl into a hole and explode into a million miniature Remus Lupins.

"He just comes over." He manages to say.

"Every day," Sirius clarifies.

"I see-" James frowns. "Wait, what?"

"It's for the new shop," Sirius adds, very helpfully.

"New shop... okay, no. From the beginning, please." James blinks twice and pushes his glasses up his nose. He quickly disappears to the back and returns with a plate of biscuits. "You," he points at Remus, "Eat. And you," he points at Sirius, "Explain."

Half an hour later, Sirius is finally done unveiling his master plan. "So," he looks at James. "Will you help?"

James looks up from labelling a parcel he's tied. "I can't believe you're asking me," he frowns. Remus doesn't miss how Sirius deflates a little. His change of mood causes a small ripple that passes through the air. Remus doesn't know if Sirius' magic is physically affecting his surroundings or if it's something entriely different, something incorporeal that Remus somehow keeps witnessing. Maybe it's both.

James notices it too. Unlike Remus, he is neither entranced by this, nor is he secretly wondering how beautiful Sirius looks even when he's dejected.

"Of course I'm going to help, you big sob," he laughs. And the grey recedes into Sirius again, leaving him with a big, big smile. It's so adorable that Remus wants to kiss it.

"Don't call him a sob," Remus shakes his head at James, trying to stop smiling himself. God, everyone's smiling and it's so happy it hurts Remus. He loves happiness. It's so beautiful with all its colours and all its smiles.

"But I am a sob," Sirius says. Remus raises an eyebrow at him. "It's in his name," James adds.

"Literally," Sirius grins at Remus. "Oh?" Remus is beyond confused, but he still wants to kiss that grin off of his face.

"Yes," Sirius says as if he's stating only the most obvious. "Sirius Orion Black. S.O.B. Sob."

It takes Remus a second to get it. Both Sirius and James are laughing, as if it's the highest form of comedy, and Remus can only groan. "That's so unfunny," he tells them.

"You are such an uncultured nerd," Sirius flips his hair. "Who is this boy and where did you find him?" He asks James, who is still howling in laughter. "He..." James gasps out, "Lily-"

"Ah, an associate of Evans," Sirius shakes his head gravely, "That explains it."

"Oh and," James says after he calms down, "She wanted to thank you for the flowers. Come over some time. If you're not too busy," he gives Remus a cheeky glance. "Now, go and get me some coffee from the street, thank you." He orders.

"I would love-" Sirius frowns, "Coffee? You just had your tea! I'm not going anywhere."

"Just go, I need it. Come on, off you go," James all but shoves Sirius out the door. Sirius leaves in a series of loud protests marked with very colourful words.

A brief silence washes over the two remaining boys. "Okay," James hops on to his seat behind the counter. "You are so into him," he says.

"No I'm not..."

"Oh, yes you are. You literally haven't even looked away from him since you came in, Re."

Remus realises that it's true. Everything around him seems so much clearer now, the bottles and the jars and the racks and the sunlight. Things that he practically breathes in every time he walks into this shop. But today, he hasn't spared them a glance until now. It makes him feel oddly guilty.

"Oh God, don't look so miserable," James taps Remus' cheek. "That idiot's rubbing off on you. Smile, Remus. Sirius clearly has it bad for you too, so why not do something about it?"

"Ugh," Remus covers his face with his hands, feeling his neck burn in embarrassment. But he can't help smiling. Sirius clearly has it bad for you too.

"What should I do?" Remus asks. It still feels a little unreal. He doesn't want to accept this. He has known Sirius for little over a month, and it's just too soon.

"You know I can't tell you that," James says just as the bells ring out, announcing Sirius' return. "Just think about it."