"I thought it would be a nice surprise for you," Sirius tells Remus with a smile warmer than the jumper Remus is wearing. His messy hair melts from a brownish-black into a halo of soft orange as the sun creeps in behind him. When he turns a little to grab his own mug, half of his face gets washed over in that same soft light. He moves so slow, so smooth.

With Regulus having gone back to Grimmauld Place again, it' just Remus and Sirius today.

Remus watches him slide into his usual chair.

"James and I just tried it for fun... Back when we were at Hogwarts. We only registered after we got out of school because Euphemia found out. She nearly hexed James for it..." a huff of amusement leaves his mouth. "Anyway, how do you feel?" he asks, his fingers curling around his mug as they seek its warmth.

"Good," Remus says with a small smile. "I feel... really good."

Sirius' face blooms into an adorable grin. Remus has to squeeze his mug with both of his hands to stop himself from reaching over and pinching Sirius' cheeks.

"Good," Sirius replies, blowing at his tea. "You look happy," he adds, his voice soft.

Because I feel happy.

"I know what you're going to say... Please don't thank me. Thank you doesn't even sound like a phrase anymore." Sirius rolls his eyes. He dares to take a small sip from his peppermint, but winces and draws back immediately.

"Stop doing things that make me want to thank you, then," Remus shoots back. Sirius only rolls his eyes, again. Remus can see where Regulus gets that attitude from. Maybe it runs in the family.

"You know," Remus tilts his head, leaning his cheek on his hand, "I've never seen you drink coffee since the first day we met..."

"I hate coffee," Sirius sighs, "It leaves such a weird taste in my mouth,"

Remus lets out a short huff of laughter. "Then why did you order it that day?"

"For my aesthetic, duh," Sirius gives an unapologetic shrug. "Are you sure you can't eat anything? It's been three days since you ate, Remus..."

"Werewolf metabolism works weird," Remus shrugs right back, "I'm not even thirsty... almost like it's magic, or something."

Sirius narrows his eyes. "Well, don't get all sassy on me," he glares at Remus.

"Why, I wouldn't dare," Remus laughs, "Wouldn't wanna steal your role,"

"Exactly," Sirius grins at him. He pauses briefly to take another sip of his tea. "James and Lily are coming over, by the way. I asked them to come in the evening, because I didn't know if you'd feel alright... They're bringing Severus."

"Severus?"

"From the Quibbler... we asked him to write an article about you, remember?"

"Oh," Remus bites his lip. His eyes catch on the rosy scars on the back of his hands. He looks down at his lap, holding in a sigh.

"Remus?" Remus feels Sirius take one of his hands. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," it's more out of reflex that Remus replies. Sirius waits. Releasing that sigh from earlier which he tried to hold in, Remus looks up at Sirius again.

"I... I don't know if this is a good idea, Sirius..."

"Anything's a good idea if you execute it well enough," Sirius quirks an eyebrow.

"God, no, Sirius. That's a terrible philosophy,"

"And we live in a terrible world, so I'd say it's better than you think," Sirius challenges. "We can't let the Ministry get away with this, Remus. You know we can't." He adds, no longer playful.

Remus sighs again. He looks down at Sirius' pale fingers resting on the back of his hand. The nails on his fingers are a peculiar shade, almost blue. Remus waits in silence for a long time, watches how Sirius' smooth skin contrasts with his own scarred hand. Somewhat absent-minded, he rotates his wrist so that both their hands stand vertical on the table, palms together. He watches their fingers slowly slide along each other's until they fully intertwine in a firm clasp.

Sirius' palm is smaller than Remus'. The tips of his fingers are so warm as they rest on Remus' knuckles.

And for some inexplicable reason, Remus feels sad. As if the tips of Sirius' fingers are channels of sadness, passing it into Remus through where they touch his skin. He squeezes Sirius' hand once and slowly detangles their fingers, gripping with them the handle of his mug instead.

"I know," he says quietly. "I know. I'll... I'll talk to him."

***

Remus remembers Severus as soon as he sees him.

He was known at Hogwarts for being excellent at Potions... and being a bit of a black hole. Not that Remus can blame him. As far as Remus is concerned, anyone forced to sleep in a dungeon with no ventilation is completely justified in being a little glum.

Maybe it's his profession as a journalist, but Severus Snape is actually not half as unamiable as he was rumoured to be at Hogwarts. Not that would Remus would know for sure, he only ever talked to him once... to ask him for an extra pen if he had one. Remus still has that pen with him... well, he had it until his house was burnt down.

"Hi, I'm Severus Snape. I write for The Quibbler."

Remus takes his outstretched hand and gives it a firm shake. "I'm Remus Lupin. I uh..." Remus considers adding I'm unemployed to the end, but decides against it. "I'm pleased to meet you," he manages to save himself.

"Hey, Severus," Sirius gives a small wave. He's half-hidden behind Remus, and looks somewhat uncomfortable. "Right, um... Let's go sit down," he clears his throat. Severus follows him to the sofa.

"You okay?" Lily gives Remus a quick hug. "Sirius told us you took Wolfsbane."

"He pretty much forced me into it, really," Remus shrugs.

"How come he buys you Wolfsbane, but doesn't even send me a card on my birthday?" James pouts. "Never mind," he adds after a minute, "He doesn't have a crush on me." He manages to throw a wink at Remus before Lily starts dragging him behind her to join Sirius and Severus. Remus follows them, his cheeks scarlet.

Funnily enough, the only seat available is next to Sirius. Well, Marshbutton is hogging it, but Remus figures they can share. He moves her tail out of the way and sits down between her and Sirius, his cheeks still warm.

They only talk about things like the weather and Dumbledore's new haircut until they hear the kettle boil. Like the dutiful host he is, Sirius disappears to make them tea. Several minutes later, he returns with a tray.

The polite small talk continues over tea. Until Severus requests to speak to Remus alone. Remus watches James and Lily leave, with James throwing him a cheeky thumbs up. Sirius reaches for his hand and gives it a squeeze. "Don't be nervous, Remus. You don't have to worry about anything," he whispers, then joins Lily and James in the kitchen.

"I'm sorry about what happened," Severus starts, crossing a leg over the other. "You don't have to talk about everything right now. We can start with some background, if that's alright with you."

Remus shifts a little, letting Marshbutton climb on to his lap.

"Yeah, that's alright," he replies, wondering if this would even help.

The next hour or so is spent on answering Severus' questions. Where he's from, what his job was, what it's like being a werewolf and how he deals with it, all sorts of random questions. Severus reveals that The Quibbler ran an article on what happened at Hogsmeade, but couldn't reach him for any comments. He then asks about the night it all happened.

Talking about it isn't half as painful as Remus imagined it would be. It's actually the opposite. Speaking uninhibited like that, with no interruptions, he feels almost relieved. So he tells Severus everything. About the shop they had built together, how it had never even got to be opened. He tells Severus how he almost walked into the crowd, how Sirius dragged him away but he thought it was someone else, how he was sure that he was going to die. Severus doesn't say much, only scribbles everything down on a notepad. Occasionally, he asks Remus to elaborate on something or the other, but for the most part, he only listens.

Remus only holds one thing back. Mavis. It's just too much.

By the time they're done, almost two hours have passed. Despite Sirius offering him another cup of tea, Severus leaves as soon as he's done, claiming that his mother is waiting for him.

Remus gently moves a heavily sleeping Marshbutton off of him so that he can stand up. She gives him a look that makes him feel like he just committed seven murders. He scratches her chin a little so that she wouldn't hold it against him for the rest of their lives.

He notices that Sirius looks a little deflated, watching Severus leave. He wonders what that is about. On the contrary, James seems to be over the moon now that Snape is gone. The reason for that, Remus can easily guess.

Lily, of course.

For the first few years at Hogwarts, Lily and Severus were the best of friends. It was during their sixth year that Lily told Remus how Severus had admitted to liking her in fifth year. Maybe it was Lily's rejection that drove her and Severus apart, or maybe they just grew out of each other. Either way, while Remus is sure that they're still friends, he can't imagine that they're half as close as they once were.

And of course James took it upon himself to hate Severus, who probably wasn't the biggest fan of James either. How exactly Sirius fits into the picture isn't that clear to Remus. Maybe he can ask...

"So, how did it go?" Lily asks, pulling him down to sit with her. James sits down on an armchair, and Sirius makes himself content by sitting on the arm of said armchair.

"Uh... fine? I don't know... I just told him what happened," Remus shrugs, petting Marshbutton's soft forehead. He quickly withdraws his hand when she tries to lick it.

"Sev is great at what he does... I'm sure this is going to work out," Lily nudges Remus with her shoulder, probably sensing that he still isn't confident in any of this.

"As much as I don't like Mr. Grease, Lily is right, Remus," James adds, smiling wide like he always does. Remus feels better as soon as he sees that smile. "People read The Quibbler a lot more than you might think... Everyone knows that the Prophet is just propaganda."

"That's not really what I'm worried about..." Remus trails off, watching Marshbutton try to bathe her tail. He grabs it and holds it in front of her face to help her out.

"What is it, then?" Sirius finally speaks up. Remus blushes a little at his voice. God, how embarrassing.

"I'm just... You know how the Ministry is..."

"You don't have to worry about that right now, Remus," Lily tells him, patting his knee. "We still have a lot of time for that."

"I know," Remus gives her a small smile. "Thanks, Lily. And James. And Sirius," Remus slaps himself mentally. Sometimes, he marvels at his own eloquence. "I really don't know what I'd do without you guys."

"I know, right?" James grins, "We're the best friends you could ever ask for."

"Please don't push it," Remus rolls his eyes, but ends up smiling anyway. There's just something about being with his best friends that makes him feel so whole.

"Anyway, I'm gonna borrow Remus for a while," Lily announces, "If that's okay," she adds, looking at Sirius, who shrugs in response. "Come down for dinner then," he gives her a rather tight smile. "James and I... actually, no, I... just I will cook something for us."