Carve Me Open / r.l. + s.b. /

Halfway to Heaven

"I am going to let our love take over,

as there is nothing better than your heart ruling mine."-via Parth

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London, May 1978

Sirius only had four favorite places. The first had been his flat. Of course, he'd always been the extroverted type, and his school years had been spent throwing parties in the common room or sneaking to the kitchens with Peter for a snack. He loved going out with his friends and delighting himself in whatever nonsensical whim his puny mind presented to him. But now that he was getting older, and perhaps the weight of their dark world was swaying him, he preferred the privacy of his own, warm, comfortable home. It had all he needed – tea, coffee, his art supplies, his new television set (complements of Lily), and his bed. Not to mention the oh-so-comfortable couch he'd bought from a Muggle furniture store with Remus. Oh. That was what the flat lacked: Remus.

So his next favorite place had been Remus' flat. Yes, it was small, and it had an odd sort of smell to it if you couldn't focus on the wonderful aroma of Remus John Lupin. Yes, Remus had painted the walls an abominable shade of peach to cover up the markings left by the old owner. And yes, the bed was far too small to cavort in – Sirius' main protest – but it had a sweet and lovely Remus written everywhere in it. From the poetry filled bookcases to the old typewriter he'd bought at an antique store – the same antique store he'd now been employed at for over a year. Sirius loved that shabby old flat and the memories that came with it.

The third favorite place had been his old room at the Potter's residence. One would think that he enjoyed Lily and James' apartment in the city with it's pleasant, soft décor and fresh chicken curry on Friday nights. He did, no doubt. It was a joy to visit them whenever he could, which was really any and every day seeing as though he had no form of employment – at the moment! However, his room at Fleamont and Euphemia's manor had been his first sense of privacy. He'd lived his life at Grimmauld in fear, and sharing a room with three other boys definitely had its perks and downfalls. The guestroom they'd converted for him had its own lock, but he'd never needed to use it. It was his.

There'd been plenty of things in his lifetime he could call his own, but not his own room. For that, Sirius would always cherish the first living quarters he'd ever called his.

The final place had only just popped up on his little radar. Remus had stumbled upon it during his lunchbreak weeks ago and had been scoping it out on his way home from work for several days. Sirius hadn't had a chance to visit just yet; his latest painting had been capturing his utmost attention for a span of a week, and since he spent most of his time in training, he'd barely gotten any time to work on it. Alone.

The bar was known as Halfway to Heaven, and, from what Remus had gathered, it was a bar for homosexuals. Sirius, no doubt, was in shock the night Remus had suggested they take a little trip for a drink. It wasn't in him to visit a place that called out your sexuality on a megaphone.

If anyone had eyes and a working brain, they'd figured out that Sirius and Remus were an item. They'd never officially announced it to their friends, and the only people who didn't seem to know, or maybe they didn't care, had been Mad-Eye Moody and Lyall Lupin. Sirius was unsure if he even wanted to loons to know. Even Regulus had agreed to at least try and support it, with much reluctance need you mind. Not the being glaringly gay part; Regulus claimed to have known since they were young. It was the part where he'd dated his best friend that was hard to swallow.

Another fact one many others might have spotted now was that Sirius was without a doubt, absolutely, entirely, unreservedly, unquestionably, one hundred percent gay. Not the one where you were happy, the one where you enjoyed cocks. Not the part where you were cheery and carefree, although he could be on occasion, the type where you liked to take it up the bum with flying colors. He liked men, there was no doubt in his mind about that.