Remus sleeps for a surprisingly long time. Out of habit, his eyes land on the bed next to his as soon as they open. Remus tries not to feel disappointed that it's empty. With a sigh, he closes his eyes.

A sight without Sirius Black is simply not worth looking at.

A moment later, his eyes fly open. Since when is Sirius the most important person in his life? His feelings for Sirius, despite Lily's warning, are growing with alarming speed. Remus wonders if this is even healthy. All those years wasted at school, but not a single clue to distinguish healthy attraction from obsession.

Remus rolls his eyes at himself, and promptly sits up. And then he starts doing what he does best - thinking.

He has no job. As much as Sirius would refuse to hear of it, Remus feels like a leech, living off of his money. As frugal as his lifestyle had been back at Hogsmeade, it was still all his. He wonders if a teaching position at Hogwarts is still even plausible. Who would feel safe letting their child live with a monster for the majority of the year?

As Remus' mind starts to wander towards the option of going back home to his parents -maybe he could help his father with his work... surely, he could find something to do there- the door slowly opens. A head of messy black curls pops in.

"Hello, Sleeping Beauty," Sirius grins, stepping in and letting the door shut behind him. When he passes the window, he gets momentarily bathed in the warm golden light of the setting sun. With the halo of light reducing his features to a dark silhouette, Remus has to squint to look at him properly. His clothes are different from morning.

"Hungry?" Sirius asks, plopping down on his bed and crossing one leg over the other. Remus clears his throat, blushing. "A little," he says, when in reality, his stomach feels like it's on fire.

"Do you want lunch or dinner?" Sirius asks.

"Uh... Dinner."

"Well, that's too bad... Dinner's not ready yet. Come on, you can have a late lunch instead."

Almost an hour later, after lunch and a much needed shower, Remus exits the bathroom to find Sirius sitting on his bed, scratching Marshbutton's belly. "This one likes me," Sirius grins, giving her nose a little tap with his finger.

"Did you feed her?" Remus asks immediately.

Sirius looks up at Remus. His gaze lingers a little too long on Remus collarbone, which is exposed just a bit more than usual because James Potter is the worst at shopping for clothes. Blushing, Remus tugs at his sleeve, which covers his fingers completely. "Is... is it too big?"

"No, no," Sirius laughs, averting his eyes. "I like looking at pretty things... and pretty people."

Remus rolls his eyes despite feeling like he's going to melt into a puddle of werewolf. "You're so shameless," he scoffs.

"I won't deny that," Sirius brushes his hands together, and Remus can make out the residual cat fur flying off of them like powder from a puff.

"Biscuits." Sirius says, looking at the cat again.

"Huh?"

"She wanted my biscuit when I was having my tea, so I gave her two."

"Of course you did. Marshbutton doesn't love people, she loves food."

Sirius bursts into laughter, and Remus can't help but join in. "That's a really smart policy to live by," he squishes Marshbutton's cheeks, "You're such a smart girl, Marshbutton."

Remus feels himself wilt a little when he remembers how, seemingly so long ago, he walked in on Sirius playing with Mavis. A sigh drags itself out of him before he can stop it. Sirius looks at him again, smile fading. He looks like he's about to speak, but doesn't say anything. Remus sits down on his bed, chewing on his lip.

"Do you want some tea?" Sirius asks, and Remus thinks he can hear a touch of concern in his voice. Before Remus can answer, Sirius jumps out of bed and drags Remus out of the room. Remus lets himself be shoved on to a chair in the kitchen, and watches Sirius levitate the kettle to the tap, fill it with water, guide it on to the stove, and turn the heat on without moving anything but his wand.

"Where's Regulus?" Remus asks, remembering that he hasn't seen him since morning. "Probably talking to a cactus," Sirius shrugs.

"Shouldn't we call him in for tea?" Remus asks.

"Uh... okay." Sirius takes his wand out of his pocket again.

Of all the spells Remus knows, the Patronus Charm is not what he expects Sirius to perform. Something about using such advanced magic for something as mundane as calling your brother inside for tea seems almost taboo. Still, Remus watches in awe as a massive dog of silvery mist rushes out from the tip of Sirius' wand and disappear out of the kitchen through a wall.

A moment passes in complete silence.

"Impressive, no?" Sirius laughs, and for the first time, Remus considers the possibility of Sirius casting the charm for no other reason but to impress him. He doesn't know whether he should feel flattered or embarrassed.

"That's... You..." God, Remus hates how Sirius smirks at him. Actually, he loves it - perhaps a bit too much for his own good - but he tells himself that he hates it anyway.

"Rendered speechless, I see," Sirius teases.

"That's not what you're supposed to use it for!" Remus protests, wishing he could stop blushing.

"So?" Sirius challenges. Remus realises that he doesn't have an answer to that.

"Done showing off to your boyfriend?" Regulus' voice fills the room, and Remus blushes even harder. "He is not-" Remus starts, but Regulus cuts him off.

"Oh, I know, I know. He's not my boyfriend," Regulus rolls his eyes, dropping himself on to the chair next to Remus. "It's true," Remus tugs at his sleeve, feeling his cheeks go back to normal. Finally.

"But he wants to be," Regulus wiggles his eyebrows.

"No," Sirius huffs, placing two mugs in front of them, "he doesn't."

"Yeah, right," Regulus rolls his eyes again, taking a sip of his scalding tea like it's nothing. "I want biscuits," he demands.

"Go get them yourself," Sirius replies with a shrug, sitting down in front of them.

"But I'm so lazy... please, fetch me a biscuit?" he smiles sweetly.

Smiling to himself, Remus stands up. It feels so natural to just walk to the counter and open the tall ceramic jar in which Sirius stashes all the half-consumed biscuit packets that Regulus leaves behind. Remus finds a relatively full one, a packet of custard creams with maybe two missing. Sirius has wrapped it inside a polythene bag and tied a rubber band around it.

"Here," Remus says, handing it to Regulus before sitting down. "Thank you, Remus," Regulus smiles at him, "You're such an angel."

"I try," Remus smiles back. He looks at Sirius out of habit, and is disappointed to see that Sirius is staring at his tea, clearly deep in thought. Regulus notices it too, and gives Remus a small pat on the knee. Remus finishes his tea while Regulus tells him about the improvements he's made to the Spit-spitting Spitflower.

"I've got to get back," Regulus says after Remus is done. "Okay. Uhm, bye..." he trails off uncertainly. "Bye," Regulus smiles, and then disappears. Remus turns to Sirius, who's already reaching out to take the mug that Regulus has very considerately left behind.

"Remus," Sirius says in a low tone. Remus grabs his own mug and goes to join him at the sink. "What is it?" he asks, watching the water turn on as soon as Sirius puts the mugs under the tap. "I was thinking..." Sirius wraps up the remaining biscuits and shoves them in the jar, "About your transformation."

The room goes real quiet, real quick.

Sirius turns to Remus, probably to reassure him. Remus feels his throat go dry. How could he have forgotten? How many days does he even have left?

"It's okay," Sirius says softly, stepping closer to him. "I... we have two days."

Two days. Two fucking days. Did time really fly so quickly?

"Will you stop worrying and just listen to me?" Sirius pushes himself a little closer, grabbing Remus' shoulders. "Two days..." Remus whispers, "I'm so sorry. I can't believe... I shouldn't have forgotten..."

"Remus," Sirius says firmly. "It's okay. I have an idea."

"An idea," Remus repeats blankly.

"Yes, Remus. An idea," Sirius gives him a wide smile, and his eyes sparkle so beautifully when he smiles like that. Remus feels calmer just looking at him.

"What is it?"

"Wolfsbane Potion," Sirius grins, jubilant, like he's just stepped on the moon, "You have heard of it, haven't you?"