Remus is shaking his head before he can even process it. 

"No," he says firmly, taking a step back. Sirius' hands fall from his shoulders, leaving a cold sensation behind. 

"Oh," Sirius frowns for a second, but his face brightens up again immediately. "Well, it's this potion that you can use-"

"I know what Wolfsbane Potion is, Sirius," Remus can't help how offended he sounds. Of course he knows what Wolfsbane is.

"Then why did you say no?" Sirius asks, raising an accusatory eyebrow. 

"No as in we can't use it," Remus sighs. He would've brewed it himself if he could. 

"Why not?" Sirius frowns again, deeper this time. "Do you have an allergy?"

Remus almost snorts at that. "I'm not. I just can't afford it." He shrugs, then looks down at his feet. 

Now it's Sirius' turn to look offended. "You don't have to," he drops himself down on the chair he was sitting on before, and crosses one leg over the other. "If you haven't noticed, I'm quite rich." He shoots Remus a beautiful smirk, and Remus has to look out the window to make sure that he doesn't melt into a puddle of werewolf.

"I... Wolfsbane is really expensive, Sirius. There's a reason why hardly anyone uses it."

"That's why we have this very useful thing..." Sirius tilts his head, a finger on his chin. "Mm, what's it called... Oh, yes. Money! Ever heard of it?"

Remus shoots him a look.

"I can't let you buy me anything else, Sirius..." I feel bad enough living with you rent-free, Remus adds to himself. 

Sighing, Sirius stands up, coming close enough that Remus can smell the familiar scent of flowers on his skin. "I wasn't exactly asking for permission, Remus," he's mocking Remus, and Remus can't decide whether he likes it or not. 

"I can go home... there's a basement..." The look of horror on Sirius' face stops Remus' words in his throat. 

"I'll be fucking damned if I let you leave this house to lock yourself up in a basement."

The sudden edge to Sirius' voice surprises Remus. While not the ideal place to spend your summer holidays, his basement isn't that bad. Especially if you just ignore all the scratch marks on the wall... and the peeling paint... and the cold of  the stone floor. But watching Sirius' face, expressive as it always is, Remus feels uneasy. Even the room feels a little darker than it was a minute ago. 

"Sirius..." Remus trails off, unsure. Sirius looks at him, lips pursed. "Just let me take care of it," he says, and then adds, "Please?" 

Remus looks down at his hands, but turns his eyes back up as soon as they fall on the pink scars on his skin. He wants to argue against it, wants to stop Sirius from wasting his money, but God knows how much he hates going home.

It's not the creaky chairs that smell of cheap liquor, nor the void of a cabinet that once proudly bore Hope's china. And it's not the garden that never bears a flower anymore. It's not the sad wreck of a house that was once a home, and it's not even Lyall Lupin who hasn't been sober for the past decade.

What Remus can't bear is his mother. Her kindness, and that smile that blooms on her face when she sees him, no matter what she's going through. Remus hates it, he hates that she loves him so much. He hates even more that she loves Lyall so much, refusing to leave his side. He hates how hard she tries to find in a drunkard the man she fell in love with, the man who once loved her.

Sirius takes the long silence as a yes, and Remus doesn't stop him. Out of nowhere, a dull wave of pain washes over his whole body, concentrating at the small of his back. He sighs, knowing that it wouldn't go away until the full moon passes. 

"Remus?" Sirius breaks him out of his thoughts. 

"Hm?"

"Are you in pain?" 

"A little, but it isn't unbearable." Remus bites his lip. He watches Sirius rummage through a cupboard before returning with two white tablets in his hand. "Here," he offers. "Oh, wait..." he fills Remus' mug with water and holds it out. 

Remus feels a little like crying as he thanks Sirius for the medicine. "I think I might go to bed," he says after swallowing the tablets. Sirius nods. "Do you need me to come with you?" 

Yes.

"No," Remus smiles at him, "it's okay. I'm sure I'll fall asleep as soon as I lie down anyway." 

"Okay," Sirius takes the mug from Remus' hands. "I'm going to help Reg with the plants... if you need anything, send me a text or call me, okay?"

"Okay," Remus winces when his voice comes out strained. Shit, he really is going to cry. He watches Sirius walk towards the back door.

"Sirius," he calls, stopping  Sirius dead in his tracks. Sirius turns around, a hand suspended mid-air on its way to the handle of the door. 

"Thank you," Remus says, suddenly shy, "Thank you so much... for all of this."

***

Five days later, when Remus wakes up, there is a heavy blanket draped over his body. He's on the floor, but there's a fluffy rug under him. He opens his eyes to find Sirius sitting on his bed, directly in front of Remus. The frown on his face melts into a wide smile as he leaps off the bed, kneeling before Remus. With an arm around Remus' back, Sirius helps him sit up, careful not to let the blanket fall from his shoulders. 

"Hey," Sirius smiles. His eyes fall on Remus' hands which are clutching the blanket like his life depends on it. A flush of pale rose sweeps across Sirius' cheeks, and he quickly moves back. "Do you feel alright?" he asks, still flushed. Remus feels his cheeks burn as well, and draws the blanket tighter around himself. "Yeah," he bites hid lip. 

"I'll... leave you to get dressed..." Sirius stands up quickly. Before he exits the room, he stops himself to look at Remus. "Can you eat? I can make you breakfast..."

"Just tea, please," Remus cringes at the thought of anything other than tea going down his throat. 

"Yes, okay, tea..." Still visibly flustered, Sirius makes a hasty escape out of the room. Remus waits for a few more seconds before judging it to be safe enough for him to stand up. While the transformations were still painful, his head feels clearer thanks to the Potion. 

The very expensive Potion that costs almost half of what Remus earns a month. 

It's while he's brushing his teeth that it strikes him. 

A dog. A big black dog in Sirius' bedroom. 

He frowns as he guides his toothbrush over his teeth, and tries to recall any mentions of hallucinations as a side effect of Wolfsbane Potion. Or did Sirius have a pet dog that somehow Remus never knew existed?

He chokes on a mouthful of toothpaste.

It wasn't Sirius' dog... It was Sirius the dog. As derogatory as it sounds in his head, Remus is rendered in awe at the thought of someone as young as Sirius being an Animagus. His mind immediately flashes to James. 

Of course.

Remus spits the toothpaste out and cleans his toothbrush. He takes a quick shower and starts getting dressed. He's excited to reunite with his precious chamomile after a most excruciating separation of three days. 

As he's brushing his magic-dried hair, he smiles to himself, thinking of Sirius again. This boy is really proving himself full of nothing but surprises. Remus smiles a little wider, unable to help himself. They really were best friends, James and Sirius. For all Remus knows, they probably worked to be Animagi together. Actually, he's almost a hundred percent sure of this. 

Deciding to ask Sirius about it over tea, he practically skips down the stairs and into the kitchen, not even realising that he's never felt this good after a full moon.