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Remus stared at the large metal contraption in front of him in silence. The rest of the group seemed similarly perplexed, but from the way Sirius was bouncing on the balls of his feet, he was expecting an enthusiastic response at the very least.
“Er-“ James began, running a hand through his hair bewilderedly. “Wow.”
“I know!” responded Sirius eagerly. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Yeah,” Peter said loudly, as though volume could make up for his lack of understanding. “Gorgeous.”
Sirius turned to Remus with a grin.
“What do you think of the new addition, Moony?” he asked happily, and Remus allowed himself a little laugh.
“I think you’ve done an amazing job with the bike,” he said honestly, while trying to decide the best way to phrase his next question. He looked up at Sirius, the bluntest person he knew. Perhaps being forthright was the best way to approach the situation. “I’m just not exactly sure why you’ve got a matching sidecar.”
Sirius looked at him blankly for a moment, before his face fell into a frown.
“Sidecars are very trendy in the muggle world, Remus,” he said slowly, as though repeating an oft-spoken fact. “I’d expect you of all people to know that.”
Remus couldn’t quite stop the little burst of laughter that broke through at those words. Sirius’ frown deepened.
“Bullshit,” came a cheerful voice from behind them, and Sirius’ eyes narrowed as Lily slipped into the Potters’ shed. “Sidecars are trendy nowhere,” she said with a kind laugh. “Unless there’s a dog in it, and we all know you won’t be letting anyone else ride the bike long enough for you to hop into the sidecar.”
They all looked away as casually as they could, silently avoiding the fact that not only had she figured out Remus’ wolfy secret nearly as quickly as James had, Lily also seemed to have somehow sussed out their illegal animagi activities. Lily looked around and snorted.
“Besides,” she continued after a moment, during which Sirius and Peter glared accusingly at James, who looked helplessly at Remus, for some unknown reason. “What in Merlin’s name do you know about muggle vehicle trends?”
Remus frowned at that. Sirius did, in fact, have several subscriptions to the top muggle motorcycle magazines.
“He actually does know quite a lot about that,” he said slowly, staring at the boy in front of him. The boy whose ears were suddenly pink, and whom he knew well enough to know that he was scratching his nose to cover up the fact that he was lying about something.
Lily hummed in thought.
“Perhaps there’s another reason for the side car, then,” she said, eyeing the rest of the group with a small smile.
“Nah,” Sirius said with a laugh, rubbing the back of his neck and grinning widely in the way he did when he was vaguely embarrassed.
“Why are you being dodgy about it, mate?” James asked, running a careful hand over the door of the sidecar in question. Remus could see him desperately biting back a request to jump inside.
“I’m not!” Sirius protested. “I just… I tried to expand the seat, but it would only go so big. So this was the next best thing.”
There was another silence, and then Remus started to laugh. James and Peter looked at him, startled, but Lily was grinning too.
“Oh Padfoot, you old softie,” Remus said, letting just a tinge of the fondness he truly felt into his voice, and shaking his head. “You know we could have just taken turns.”
Sirius shook his head.
“I know,” he said, “but who would be left behind the first time? That’s not fair.”
Remus smiled widely at Sirius before he could stop himself, before he could tamp it down into something less exuberant the way he usually did. Sirius’ face went a bit blank at the sight, and he blinked at him a few times before slowly smiling back.
Remus felt his stomach clench in a way it hadn’t in quite a while, not since he’d firmly shoved those feelings away. He wasn’t a good candidate for anyone to fall in love with, let alone Sirius, who burned brighter than anyone Remus had ever known. The thought of his light being dimmed by the monster inside Remus was too much to bear. Not to mention that the idea of Sirius falling in love with Remus was preposterous at best.
Except… his mind whispered, recalling all the little smiles they shared, and the way Sirius would stroke his hair when he thought he was asleep on the settee in the common room and wouldn’t notice, and the way he spoke so gently after a full moon, as though Remus was something precious rather than a vicious beast.
“You’re all dangerously codependent,” Lily said into the odd moment, and Remus blinked, quickly breaking eye contact with Sirius. He felt strangely bereft.
“Of course we are,” James countered with a wave of his hand. “But that doesn’t explain whatever you’re all talking about.”
“For Merlin’s sake,” Lily said, rolling her eyes. “He obviously got a sidecar because he wants you all to ride together.”
Sirius shrugged, and James’ smile grew so big, Remus was sure it must hurt his cheeks.
“ Padfoot,” he said loudly. “You’re a beauty . Did you really?”
“Yeah of course,” said Sirius with a shrug, shoving his hands into his pockets and rolling his eyes as though people built flying motorcycles and matching sidecars for their friends to ride in every day.
“I love you,” said James, kissing his cheek with a loud smacking noise.
Sirius laughed and pushed him away, but he looked pleased.
“Is it safe to ride now?” Peter asked, staring at the machine with his signature expression of excitement and terror.
“Perfectly,” said Sirius with a nod, bouncing again as the anticipation flooded back into his face. “Who wants a ride?”
Remus’ stomach seized with nerves, but he couldn’t bear the thought of disappointing Sirius after all the work he’d put in.
“It’s definitely safe?” he asked, echoing Peter, who was already clambering into the sidecar, seeming to have taken Sirius at face value, and immediately abandoned his previous trepidation. That was the thing about Peter: he may be riddled with anxiety, but he always seemed to push it aside if his friends told him it was alright.
“Entirely,” Sirius said, smiling at him again. “I’ve done so many safety charms, I could probably keep all of Hogwarts safe at this point.”
“Wouldn’t that be a change,” Lily said dryly. Sirius bumped her shoulder with his fist in silent agreement as Remus bit his lip.
“I promise, Moony,” Sirius said. “I got a muggle mechanic and a magical expert to look it over.”
“How did you manage that?” Remus asked doubtfully. “Who would look at this and not immediately report you for tampering with muggle objects?”
Sirius grinned and tapped his nose.
“I’ve been sworn to secrecy,” he said.
“It was Mr. Weasley, wasn’t it?” Remus asked, and laughed when Sirius mimed locking his mouth shut.
“Arthur Weasley is a magical expert in motorcycles?” Peter said doubtfully, and Remus shook his head.
“Not Arthur. His dad, Septimus. He’s got a safety gear shop in town that Sirius and I went to a few weekends back.”
“Safety gear?” Peter asked, missing the look James was shooting at Sirius. Remus didn’t, but he had no idea how to decipher it, as was often the case with James and Sirius, so he let it go.
“Charmed Quidditch gear mostly,” Remus explained, eyeing James, who was now watching him innocently. “But also helmets and clothing with levitation and cushioning charms built in.”
“Oh clever,” Peter said approvingly, and James nodded in agreement. “Did you get some to wear on your bike?”
Sirius nodded, producing four helmets from a shelf behind the bike.
“Got enough for everyone,” he said proudly. “And I asked him to check the bike too. Secretly, of course, but he was too excited to care much about how many rules I might be breaking.”
“Several,” murmured Lily, but she was smiling.
“So what are we waiting for?” James crowed. “I know you’ve spelled this full of concealment magic, so let’s take a ride now!”
Peter nodded eagerly, but Sirius looked at Remus.
“What do you say, Moony?” he asked, his eyes as big and pleading as Padfoot’s, and Remus was helpless to do anything but agree.
“Just a quick ride,” he said carefully, and Sirius whooped loudly. “And not too fast.”
“Be careful and listen to your mum!” Lily chimed in, patting Remus’ shoulder.
“Oh shove off,” he said with a laugh, and grabbed a helmet from Sirius. When he turned to climb into the sidecar, Sirius made a strange, aborted noise in his throat. “What’s wrong?” Remus asked him, buckling his helmet securely into his head.
“Nothing,” Sirius said, shaking his head. “I just… I think your legs might be too long for the sidecar.”
James snorted, but smiled at Remus.
“I’ll ride with Pete,” he said. “You and your giraffe legs can hop on behind Sirius.”
Remus, to his horror, felt his cheeks heating up for the first time in weeks. He’d thought he had finally managed to control them, but apparently today was the exception to several of his rules.
There was a bit of a tricky moment when James and Peter almost toppled the whole contraption in their attempts to comfortably fit two fully grown teenage boys inside the sidecar, but Lily solved that by suggesting it might be easier if one of them were somehow able to use a different form that was significantly smaller than a human.
Peter grumbled, but took the hint, waiting until Lily turned around with a roll of her eyes to shiver down into his rat form.
“Oh my,” Lily said, her voice deadpan as she turned around after the transformation was finished. “Wherever did Peter go? Why is there a rat in your lap, James?”
“Peter is ill,” James announced, poking one finger into Peter’s furry side and making him squeak indignantly. “He had to go to bed. Just got this dirty old rat for company now.”
The dirty old rat in question punctuated James’ statement by biting his finger softly enough as to not draw blood, but hard enough that James withdrew it quickly, glaring at Peter sharply.
Lily watched the interaction with fascination, but Remus and Sirius ignored them, used to such displays.
Once James was strapped in, Peter securely in his lap, Sirius threw a leg over the bike, and looked up at Remus with a grin.
“Your turn,” he said, patting the seat behind him.
Remus tried not to grimace when the whirring in his stomach was swept into a frenzy at the thought of climbing onto the bike behind Sirius. He knew his cheeks were heating again, so he ducked his head as he awkwardly straddled the bike, making sure to leave a substantial gap between him and Sirius.
“You’re going to want to hold on,” Sirius said, looking over his shoulder with a smirk.
Remus nodded, gripping onto the low handles on either side of the seat. He knew what Sirius had meant, but he was determined not to make more of a fool of himself than he already had. Sirius rolled his eyes, but didn’t comment.
“Everyone ready?” he asked, and James yelled nonsensically. Remus nodded, and he could hear Peter squeaking eagerly. “Sorry, Evans,” Sirius said, looking at Lily and not sounding remotely sorry. “You’ll have to wait your turn.”
Lily grinned and stepped back, holding her hands up in protest.
“I think I’ll be fine if I never set foot on that thing,” she said, shaking her head.
“Scared?” Sirius asked, and Remus could hear the taunting smile in his voice.
“Of motorcycles? Yes,” said Lily firmly. “Do you even know how many people they kill each year? Not to mention this one flies. ”
“Even better,” Sirius said, and Remus was momentarily worried that perhaps this was some sort of kamikaze last hurrah, before Sirius was going to hurtle them all to their fiery doom. All for one and one for all, even in death.
He shook himself to dispel the ridiculous image, and inched slightly closer to Sirius, gripping tightly to the handles beside his legs. His helmet knocked against Sirius’ in the process, and Sirius gasped.
“I almost forgot!” he said, grabbing his wand and murmuring a spell Remus had never heard before. Their helmets disappeared as he flicked his wand, though Remus could vaguely still feel the strap around his chin.
“What’s the point of that?” he asked, reaching up to find that his hand went straight through to his hair, the helmet feeling like nothing more than a gentle gust of air. His faith in Sirius’ safety measures plummeted sharply.
“We’ve got to look cool , Moony,” Sirius responded, as though it should have been the first thing on Remus’ mind. “Our hair needs to flow dramatically in the wind.”
“Safety is cool,” Remus muttered, but Sirius just laughed, and busied himself with one of the switches in front of him. The bike roared to life beneath them, and Remus subconsciously pressed his legs harder against the metal. He could feel all his muscles tensing up, and his heart was thudding wildly in his chest.
“You do know how to drive this, right?” he asked, raising his voice above the growl of the motor. Sirius scoffed in response, which Remus didn’t find particularly comforting.
“Here we go!” he said, and then they were moving. Slowly at first, as Sirius guided them out of the shed, but then they were out in the open expanse of the Potters’ land, and they began to rapidly pick up speed. Remus heard Lily cheering behind them, but the sound was gone in less than a moment, and then all he could hear was the growl of the motor, and the wind rushing past his face. His eyes immediately teared up, and he ducked his head behind Sirius’ back.
“We’re going to start going fast now,” Sirius called back to him, and Remus strained to hear him. “You might want to actually hold on now.”
“We’re not going fast yet?” Remus shouted back incredulously, and Sirius laughed.
“Hold on, Re,” he shouted, and then they were surging forward. Remus was jerked suddenly back against the metal bar at the back of the seat. His hands slipped off the low handles he was gripping, and he lurched forward, grabbing frantically for Sirius. His hands gripped at Sirius’ shirt, and he felt more than heard the other boy’s laugh this time.
“I told you,” he shouted back, before reaching behind to tug Remus’ hands around him, one by one. “I’m not made of glass,” he added, pulling so that Remus was forced to press himself against Sirius’ back. Remus held his breath as the bike began to rise from the ground. He felt an odd rushing sensation as Sirius engaged the concealment charms, and the ground began to get smaller and smaller below them.
Remus’ stomach swooped violently as the bike jolted slightly against a pocket of air, and he tucked his head against the back of Sirius’ neck, closing his eyes. He knew he was squeezing tightly around Sirius’ middle, but he couldn’t stop himself. He had the very irrational and very disconcerting feeling that if he let go now, he was sure to plummet to the ground.
They continued to bump and sway their way up into the sky, and Remus kept his eyes tightly closed, focusing on breathing slowly and steadily. He could hear James and Sirius exclaiming excitedly, but he couldn’t move. After what felt like hours, the bike finally steadied out beneath him, and he felt Sirius squeeze his hand.
“You can look now,” he said over his shoulder. Remus shook his head against the other boy, and he felt him laugh again. “Come on, Moony,” he shouted. “We’re in the clouds.”
Remus took a deep breath and ventured a cautious peek, turning his head slightly against Sirius’ back. He let out the breath immediately, opening his eyes wider. They really were in the clouds.
“Oh,” he said softly, lifting his head to look properly. The air was still rushing past, playing with his hair and freezing the tip of his nose, but that somehow didn’t matter any more. The world was small and hazy below them as they shot through the sky, the view broken up by thick curls of white, misty clouds. Remus sucked in a surprised breath when they drove straight through one of them, plunging into a sudden burst of cold, damp air. He heard James whoop beside him, and he couldn’t contain a laugh of his own.
“This is amazing,” he said, leaning forward to speak into Sirius’ ear. Sirius turned to flash him a wild grin. Remus looked over at James, and laughed to see Peter still in his lap, fur ruffled in the wind and face pointed happily towards the sky. James beamed at him, and leaned over to knock his fist against Remus’ shoulder. He mouthed something that Remus couldn’t quite catch, but he just smiled back, catching the general gist of excitement.
They soared over the countryside until Remus was certain he would never feel his nose again. Sirius kept the bike steady, steering with such careful precision that Remus knew he must be making a conscious effort on his behalf. He was sure that if it was a James-and-Sirius ride, there would be a considerable amount of reckless abandon involved.
When they finally began to descend, Sirius tapped Remus’ hand.
“Time to hide again, Re,” he called back. Remus poked his shoulder with his chin in retaliation, but quickly closed his eyes and tightened his grip when the bike dipped alarmingly.
The landing was much smoother than he’d been expecting, and he suspected a significant amount of cushioning charms were to thank for that. They came to a gentle stop back in front of the Potters’ shed.
For a moment they were silent, and then Peter snapped back into himself with a soft crack.
“Holy Merlin’s balls,” he exclaimed loudly from where he was still squashed on James’ lap. “That was incredible!”
James shoved him out of the sidecar, laughing, before climbing out himself and stretching widely.
“Padfoot, you’re a genius,” he said, striding over and clapping Sirius on the back. “It’s brilliant.”
Remus was very aware that he was still clutching tightly around Sirius’ middle, but his fingers were so stiff he wasn’t sure he could move them at all.
“I think I’ve frozen to you,” he said apologetically, and Sirius laughed quietly. Reaching down, he pried Remus’ hands away, patting them gently, before sliding off the bike and turning to look at him.
“Need a hand?” he asked, eyeing the way Remus had listed forward in his absence.
Remus shook his head, rubbing his hands together in an attempt to bring life back into them. They were so cold he could barely straighten them, and he winced as he braced himself against the bike in order to climb off.
Sirius rolled his eyes and grabbed him by the arm, carefully positioning himself underneath so that Remus could lean on him as he swung his leg back to the ground. Once he was standing again, Sirius slowly let go. Remus stretched carefully, grimacing when several loud pops emanated from his legs and back.
“I sound like I’m ninety,” he muttered, hating the way lycanthropy affected his body even when the moon wasn’t full.
“You’re a pretty cool ninety,” Sirius remarked. “Sliding off a flying motorcycle like that.”
“Yeah, so gracefully,” Remus said with a snort as he rubbed at a particularly stiff spot in his neck. “In my fluffy blue jumper and everything.”
James reached over casually and swatted Remus’ hand away, digging his thumb deep into the skin there until the ache began to dissolve. As loathe as he was to appear weak, Remus let him. James was the best at getting rid of knots, and he wasn’t about to walk around with his head at an angle just to prove that he didn’t need help. He’d tried that before, and it never ended well. Not with the Marauders around, desperate to help in whatever way they could, requested or not.
“It was brilliant though, Sirius,” he added, closing his eyes as the tension disappeared beneath James’ fingers.
“I’m glad,” Sirius said, and when Remus opened his eyes again, the other boy was watching him. “I’m glad you all had fun,” he said after a moment, blinking and glancing around at the other two.
“How was it?” Lily’s voice drifted over to them, and Remus could see her making her way back across the yard towards the shed.
“Brilliant!” James shouted, letting go of Remus’ neck in favour of bounding over to her and pulling her into an exuberant hug. “You’ve got to try it!”
“I’ll think about it,” she said, kissing his cheek as they reached the group. “For now I’ll just be grateful that you all survived.”
“Of course we did,” Sirius said indignantly. “I’m a very good driver. Right Moony?”
Remus nodded in agreement.
“You were very careful. I appreciated it.”
Sirius smiled happily at him, before turning back to Lily.
“Plus, you’ve got to admit, we looked pretty awesome,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
Lily squinted at him for a moment, before laughing.
“Yes, you looked very cool,” she allowed, patting Sirius on the shoulder. He grinned proudly at her, and turned to fiddle with something on the bike. “I don’t get why it’s green, though,” she added. Sirius turned back with a frown.
“What do you mean?”
Remus eyed the bike. He had noted the colour before, but hadn’t paid it much mind. It was green, although it reminded Remus more of a minty sort of colour, than a bog-standard green. Now that he was really looking, he realised that it was nearly the same colour as his favourite jumper. He wondered if Sirius had noticed that, then shook his head at himself. More than likely, the colour had just been the farthest thing from his family’s uppity, pureblood aesthetic that he could find, and there hadn’t been much more thought put into it than that.
“I mean, it’s not exactly punk rock,” Lily said with a laugh. “Isn’t that what you’re all about?”
“I take offense to that,” Sirius said, folding his arms. “It’s not what I’m all about . It’s simply what I am .”
“It is very soft,” James remarked, as though Sirius hadn’t spoken. “I’d have pegged you for a black bike, or flashy silver.”
“Or red,” Peter chimed in.
“Exactly,” said Lily triumphantly. “So why green?”
Sirius was starting to look uncomfortable, so Remus decided to take pity on him.
“It’s a nice colour,” he began, not realising that Sirius had already opened his mouth to speak.
“It’s Moony’s favourite,” Sirius said at the same time, his words overlapping with Remus’, and startling him into silence.
Remus blinked.
“What?” he asked, his voice louder than he meant it to be.
Sirius shrugged, but didn’t look at him.
“It’s your favourite colour,” he repeated, his face going an interesting shade of pink. Remus could feel his own face rushing to match.
“So?” he asked, still not understanding.
“So, it’s calming,” Sirius said, his voice barely a murmur. Remus was vaguely aware of the others around them, but he couldn’t look away from Sirius. “Like that jumper you love.”
“You painted your bike mint green because it’s my favourite colour?” he asked, his voice sounding slightly strangled. He heard James make a strange little noise behind him.
Sirius shrugged again. Remus watched as he sighed, before nodding, and looking up to meet his eye.
“Yeah,” he said.
Remus could feel his heartbeat in his throat.
“Why?” he asked quietly.
“Because,” Sirius began, and then stopped. His eyes flicked to James, then to his bike, before settling back on Remus. He looked suddenly determined, and straightened his back with a deep breath. “Because,” he said again, nodding somewhat fiercely, “I fancy the pants off you, and I really wish you’d finally notice.”
Remus stared at him. The blood was rushing in his ears loudly enough to rival the sound of the wind from their ride, and he didn’t know if he would ever be able to speak again.
“What?” he finally managed to choke out. There was a loud exclamation behind them, which instantly broke off with a muffled thump. He glanced around to see Lily dragging James and Peter bodily towards the house. He exhaled shakily and looked back at Sirius, who was wrinkling his nose.
“Don’t make me repeat it,” he said, rubbing at his neck. “It took me two years to work up the courage to say it the first time.”
“Two years ?” Remus repeated faintly, and Sirius let out a strangled laugh.
“Merlin, Moony. It’s fine. Forget I said anything.” He paused and smiled in Remus’ direction, not meeting his eye. “Don’t worry about it.”
“No, wait,” said Remus quickly, the words coming out breathy and awkward. “What if I want to worry about it?”
Sirius looked at him, eyebrows pinched together.
“It really doesn’t have to be a problem,” he said quietly.
“Yes it does,” Remus answered stubbornly, determined to force himself to say it before Sirius could talk himself out of it. “It is a problem, because I fancy you back.”
Sirius’ expression froze.
“You do?” he asked, his eyes wide.
“Yeah,” breathed Remus, all his private protestations fading away when faced with the prospect of a Sirius who actually liked him back . “For so bloody long.”
Sirius laughed once, disbelievingly.
“Is this a prank?” he asked, eyes roving over Remus’ face. It didn’t escape Remus’ notice that he was walking slowly towards him, and his heartbeat trilled at the observation.
“Of course not,” Remus said with a snort. “When have I ever orchestrated a prank on my own?”
“That’s true,” Sirius said, stopped an arms’ length away from him. “You’re a genius, but you’re pants at subterfuge.”
Remus grinned at him, half-aware that it was a bit of a shaky smile.
“So,” he said, his heart hammering wildly.
“So,” Sirius said back.
“What now?” Remus asked, clasping his hands together when he suddenly noticed they were trembling.
“Now,” Sirius said slowly, stepping just a little bit closer, “I’d really like to kiss you.”
Remus’ stomach swooped as though he was still on the bike, soaring through the clouds.
“Then you probably should,” he said, and he couldn’t help the smile that kept breaking over his face.
“Okay,” Sirius whispered, reaching forward and tugging gently at a stray curl on Remus’ forehead. “I’m sorry if this sucks. I’ve never kissed a werewolf before.”
And with that he closed the gap, covering Remus’ burst of laughter with his lips. Remus felt a bit giddy, and he had to tell himself sternly to pay attention because Sirius Black was kissing him .
The kiss was gentle, and over in a manner of seconds. Sirius pulled back to meet his eyes, and Remus frowned impatiently.
“What are you stopping for?” he asked, reaching out and taking hold of Sirius’ striped shirt with both hands.
“Sorry,” Sirius said with a laugh, leaning forward to kiss him again. This time Remus pushed back, moving his lips against Sirius’, and finally, finally they were kissing.
“Fina-fucking-ly,” Peter’s shout floated across the yard, echoing Remus’ own thoughts, and he laughed into Sirius’ mouth. He felt Sirius smile, and pulled away, cheeks hot.
“I think they might have known,” he murmured, and Sirius laughed, leaning forward and resting his forehead on Remus’ shoulder.
“I told James in Fifth Year,” he whispered, his voice chagrined. Remus felt his eyebrows creep upwards.
“Fifth Year?” he asked incredulously, and Sirius lifted his head to look at him.
“I told him I was pining horrendously for the best person I’ve ever met, and he said, ‘Just tell him. Moony won’t mind.’” Sirius rolled his eyes. “It was the most anticlimactic coming out I ever could have imagined.”
Remus laughed, feeling a burst of affection for James.
Sirius smiled, that small smile he only ever directed at Remus. He reached out and ran a finger gently over one of Remus’ cheekbones, and Remus had to hold his breath at the sensation.
“Sirius,” he whispered, smoothing a hand down his friend’s chest. “Let’s go somewhere.”
Sirius’ eyebrows shot up.
“Yeah?” he asked, his voice rather breathy.
“Yeah,” Remus affirmed. “I’d like to snog you properly, without that lot ogling us the whole time.” He pitched his voice loudly in the direction of the house at the last part, and laughed when James exclaimed affrontedly that they were not ogling .
“Speak for yourself,” Remus distantly heard Lily answer, her voice heavy with laughter.
“I have an idea,” Sirius said, flipping the others off as he spoke. “Hop on,” he said, patting the motorcycle. “I know where we can go.”
Remus grinned and climbed back onto the bike. Sirius waved his wand, and watched with satisfaction as the sidecar detached itself, and began to trundle its way back into the shed.
“We don’t need that thing,” he said, jumping on in front of Remus and starting the bike.
“I thought that was so we could all ride together.”
“It is,” Sirius said with a nod. “But it was also sort of so that James wouldn’t hop on behind me, and deprive me of your arms around my waist.”
Remus wrapped his arms tightly around Sirius in demonstration.
“Was it really?” he asked, resting his chin on Sirius’ shoulder.
“Absolutely,” Sirius said, reaching back and laying his hand against Remus’ cheek for a moment.
He started forward, saluting in the direction of the others as they rode away. As the world began to rush by them again, Remus settled in, holding tightly to Sirius.
“Besides,” Sirius continued, shouting to be heard over the wind. “Sidecars aren’t very trendy in the muggle world,” he said, patting Remus’ hand with his own. “I’d expect you of all people to know that, Moony.”
As the bike jumped up, and they began their ascent into the sky, Remus let himself laugh fully, holding nothing back. The air was freezing around them, but Sirius was warm and firm, an anchor in front of him.
For the first time in what felt like years, Remus realised he was nothing but happy.