Ten Galleons To McGonagall

Not Asleep

Sirius Black was in love with him. Sirius Black was in love with him.

This thought repeated in Remus Lupin's head over and over and over again. It made him happy and excited. It also made him nervous. What if Sirius was right when he listed all the problems of their possible relationship. Remus didn't want to take that risk, but knowing that his feelings were reciprocated made it extremely tempting to do something.

Remus wasn't sure how long Sirius had sat next to him talking, he had only woken up when Sirius said that it would also be bad if he didn't reject him. The rest of Sirius's litany was a bit confusing since Remus had woken up in the middle of it but he slowly began to understand. And now he knew that Sirius loved him.

Sirius Black was in love with him.
Sirius Black was in love with him.

Remus thought of little else while he lay in bed. The thought was even able to make him forget about the pain in his healing wounds.

He must have dosed off because when he woke up he was surrounded by the other three Marauders. Remus tried not to blush as he looked at Sirius, instead directing his question at James.

"How long have you all been watching me sleep?"

"Not too long, Moony. Class got out half an hour ago. We've been here for a bit less than that," James said.

"Here's the notes and work you missed from class today," Sirius said, handing over a stack of parchment. Remus reached up to grab the pile. His hand brushed Sirius's and he pulled away quickly, blushing.

"Thanks, Padfoot," Remus said, not quite looking at him.

"How's your shoulder coming?" Peter asked.

"Not bad. It's healing and has stopped bleeding but it still hurts a bit. Magical healing isn't working on this one."

James lowered his voice and asked "How much of the night do you remember?"

"Quite a bit," Remus replied "I'm sorry I got hurt. It would have been fun to stay in the cave a while longer. You and Padfoot are getting better at restraining me though, so maybe we can take more adventures soon."

"Sounds fun. We'll plan later. When it's more private." Sirius said glancing at Madam Pomfrey's office.

The bell rang, signaling that the next class was about to start. Peter stood up to leave and the rest followed. As the three boys left the hospital wing, Sirius looked back at Remus and waved. Remus smiled and looked away, feeling himself start to blush again.

This wasn't normal. Before he had found out about Sirius's feeling for him, he wouldn't have done that. It wouldn't be long before James, Peter, or Sirius himself noticed the change. And then who knew what would happen. He knew James would try to get the two of them in a relationship if he knew about the mutual attraction, but Sirius had made it clear that while he loved Remus, formally dating would be taking it too far.

And so Remus lay in bed working out a solution. He slipped in and out of sleep, but slowly he pieced together a plan. He wasn't the mastermind behind the majority of the Marauders's pranks for nothing. Remus Lupin had a creative mind and soon he was mentally rehearsing his confession to Sirius. It wasn't elaborate or elegant, it just told it like it was. He planned to deliver it as soon as he was out of the hospital.

That took a while. His wound was not small, but as soon as he had healed enough to stand and go to class, Madam Pomfrey released him.

Remus left the hospital and walked back to the common room. He gave the Fat Lady the password and climbed through the portrait hole. Sirius turned when he heard the door swing open and a huge smile broke over his face as he leaped over the see his friend. Remus smiled and let Sirius lead him over to the James and Peter. They began discussing the night of the full moon and how they could improve it for the next month.

"Well," James said "obviously it would be nice if Moony didn't get hurt, but we've got to find a way to get him in the cave without him escaping."

The other two contributed ideas but Remus wasn't really paying attention. His stomach was churning with anxiety about what he was about to tell Sirius.

"And then we've got to leave the cave earlier because we got to Hogsmeade at about 5 am and we cut it close because the shop keepers were starting to come out then." Sirius said.

The words 'come out' had jolted Remus back into focus. A voice in his head screamed do it now! and so before he lost his nerve, Remus said "Sirius can I talk to you upstairs for a bit?"

Sirius looked confused but agreed and followed Remus up the stairs to their dormitory, calling back at Peter and James to keep working.

They entered the dormitory and Remus closed the door behind them. Sirius noticed that Remus looked extremely nervous and uncomfortable.

"So... Um... Sirius... Did you um..." Remus started. This wasn't going as smoothly as planned, but Sirius stayed and listened and didn't interrupt.

"Did you come visit me and talk to me whenIwasasleepinthehospitalwing?" Remus asked. His nerves had got the better of him and he had started running the words together at the end.

Sirius opened his mouth to respond, but before he could Remus started talking again, this time more controlled, although the still more quickly than normal.

"Because I woke up in the middle of your speech and I heard you and-"

"What?" Sirius interrupted him looking shocked and a bit scared too "How much did you hear?"

"I don't know how long you were talking before I woke up, but I heard you losing all the reasons why um... Dating me would be a bad idea but um... I fancyyoutoo."

Sirius stood frozen in shock. Thoughts were swirling around his head so fast he couldn't process them. Remus heard him. Remus loved him. Remus was moving towards him. And then Sirius wasn't thinking anything because Remus had pressed his mouth to his and was kissing him. And Sirius kissed him back and wrapped his arms around Remus and Remus wrapped his arms around Sirius and the two stood like that for a very long time.