Late summer, 1978
He rolled over for the hundredth time, the sheets sticking to his hot skin. He hadn't felt right since the full moon. Maybe even since before then. He was sleeping only a few hours each night, and now it was almost four o'clock in the morning, and he hadn't drifted off yet.
"Can't sleep?" Sirius rolled over too.
"No." Remus sighed, sitting up. "Sorry. I should go in the other room."
"Please don't." Sirius said, rubbing his eyes, "It's fine, I'm up too now, I'll keep you company."
"I'm really not in the mood to talk."
"That's ok. I can talk, I'm always in the mood to talk."
Remus smiled, though he didn't want to. Bloody Black.
"Go on, then." He murmured, lying back down slowly. His back hurt from the last full moon, and he'd rubbed some of Marlene's ointment on there before bed, but it was wearing off already. Sirius rolled over onto his side, stretching an arm over Remus's body and talking sleepily into his ear.
"I can't wait for tomorrow," he murmured, "I can't wait for you to see the flat finally. I never had anywhere that was just mine before."
"Me neither." Remus replied, eyes closing.
Sirius had bought the flat the week before, while Remus was recovering from the full moon. It had been - of course - an impulse buy, but Remus thought that was ok, really - he had too much on his mind to be much help, and it was Sirius's money, after all.
It was in London, and a muggle neighbourhood too. After the Potters' initial surprise at the boys' decision, Fleamont had insisted on ensuring that all of the standard security charms and alarms were in place before they were allowed to move in, so Remus hadn't even seen it yet.
"Tell me what it's like." Remus said, turning into Sirius's body, curling up. He didn't make himself small very often - after all he was bigger than Sirius, and it seemed silly. But just now, sleep deprived and filled with anxiety, it felt nice to bury his face in Sirius's night shirt.
"It's small," Sirius said, resting his chin on top of Remus's head, "Just one bedroom, one bathroom, one kitchen."
"Sounds massive." Remus replied. He meant it. He'd never imagined living somewhere like that, not in a million years.
"We can have it however we want; furniture, wallpaper, anything."
"I'll leave the interior design up to you."
"Fine. You can build the bookcases."
"Bookcases?" Remus raised his head. He hadn't thought of that.
"Yep, bookcases," Sirius replied, a smile in his voice, "Space for the record collection too, obviously. And there are some garages nearby I might be able to rent..."
"We're getting a car?!" Remus was a bit alarmed by this; he'd only just agreed to keep James's old broom for travel on Order related business, he really didn't fancy learning to drive too.
"Not a car..." Sirius said, evasively, "But I was just thinking... I mean, it would be really useful to have another means of transport."
"There's the tube." Remus said, "Buses. London is actually sort of famous for them, y'know."
"Yeah..."
"Have you already bought it?" Remus pulled away to see Sirius's face.
"Er... "
"Sirius!"
"What?!" Sirius was grinning mischievously, "It's an early birthday present to myself."
"Your birthday isn't for months!"
