Another Sirius Severus Story

AN: Voldemort went after Neville instead of Harry and died making Longbottom the boy who lived. Also, Regulus did not die, but went traitor with Snape and told the OotP about the Horcrux's which they are now hunting down.

It is now one year after the Dark Lord fell, 1982, and Harry is now 2 years old.

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Severus Snape sat silently on the bottom stair and watched little Harry zoom around his father's feet on his toy broom. It was Mabon at the Potter's this year, a sort of Thanksgiving for magic folk, and the house was alive with the aroma of the much anticipated holiday meal.

After the war, the wizarding world was ready to embrace a new life, and Snape had been no exception. It had taken a great deal of effort to rekindle the friendship between Lily and himself, but with times changing and the future looking up, and with all he had done for the Order, she couldn't help but forgive him for his wounding words so many years ago.

He watched Harry with a half-amusement as he zoomed about before the boy nearly crashed right into him. "Watch it there." He plucked Harry off his broomstick and tossed him in the air before catching him again. "You almost got me." Harry just laughed and wiggled enthusiastically to be let down.

Just as Snape was setting his favorite two-year-old back on his broom, the front door opened with a bang.

"The fun has arrived!" Sirius Black, equipped with his long black hair and stubbled face, proudly displayed the 24 pack of beer he graciously brought with him. He closed the door with his foot and handed the booze over to a very appreciative looking James. "Thank you very much. Now, where's that Godson of mine?"

Harry, so excited to see his favorite 'uncle', flew right over, right into one of Black's shins. Severus smirked, and very quietly chuckled.

Sirius grimaced and rubbed his leg, but quickly got over it and picked Harry up off the broom before he could hit him again. "Is that how we say hello?"

"Hello!"

"That's better, and may I remind you that I bought you that broom, so if you're going to be running into anybody it should be that greasy git right over there."

James sighed and lightly hit his friend on the shoulder. "Not in front of Harry. You know Lily doesn't want him learning words like that."

"Yeah, yeah." Sirius plopped Harry back on his broom and pointed him at Snape's legs before letting him take off. Harry, however, veered off to the side and out of the room with James following protectively behind.

Sirius , remaining where he was and making himself quite at home, threw himself down on the couch, sufficiently covering all three of the cushions, while Severus sat back down on his reclusive stair. "So, Snivellus, what do you think you're doing here?"

Severus glared venomously. "I have every right to be here, Black. Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with your family? Your mother is dying after all. Seems very un-sonly of you not to see her off."

"What do you know about it?"

"A good deal more than you do, I'd wager."

The very thought of his family being so close with someone like Snape burned at Black's insides. He missed Regulus desperately, but when his mother seared his name off her precious family tree, that was that. He wasn't going back, not for her, not for anything, even if it meant Reg would be pissed at him for a while. "I don't like you hanging around my brother behind my back."

"It wouldn't be behind your back if you bothered to show up once in a while."

"Sod off."

"You first."

"Now boys, Sirius get your feet off my couch, I want you two to behave yourselves in my house. You know how much Harry adores the both of you, and I don't want either of you poisoning him against the other. Understood?" Lily had exited the kitchen, pudding covered wooden spoon pointed menacingly in their directions as though it were her wand she was threatening them with. "And where's my hug?"

Sirius grinned and hopped up, giving her a modest squeeze before lifting her up and spinning around for a bit before putting her back down. "How's that then?"

"Wonderful, best hug I've had all day." She smiled happily and kissed Sirius warmly on the cheek.

"Hear that, Snivels? You can't even hug as good as me."

"Piss off, Black."

Lily waved her spoon disapprovingly. "Mind your language. Now, why don't you come and help me for a bit in the kitchen."

"Sure." Sev stood and strolled into the kitchen with Lily while Sirius sank back down on the couch.

"You ladies have fun. I think I'll just stay here and play with the Tele." Sirius picked up the remote and tried to remember how it was supposed to turn the black box in front of him on.

Once the kitchen door was closed safely behind them, Lily put down her pudding spoon and leaned against the counter. "Alright, I've got a while before the roast is done. What did you need to tell me?"

Severus looked down at his feet suddenly, feeling very uncomfortable.

Wanting to keep the pause from becoming too awkward, Lily tried again. "I thought you were going to be spending Mabon with the Blacks this year."

"I was, but then…" He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his midnight hair. "I screwed up. Things got… weird."

"Oh, Sev." It proved difficult to keep the knell of disappointment out of her voice. She had been so happy for him for having found a friend in Regulus. What with her being married and a mother now, she really didn't always have the time to spend with him. It was a relief to know that he had someone he could rely on besides just her.

She rubbed her forehead, feeling very tired now after a full morning of nonstop food preparation, bracing herself for the news. "What happened?"

"I kissed him."

Even though she didn't know what she had expected him to say, that certainly wasn't it, and though she didn't voice it, the entirety of her demeanor begged the question.

And he answered it. "I'm gay."

The second that passed between them seemed like an eternity to Snape, and as Lily's befuddled expression gave way to a grin, Snape's feeling of dread didn't seem to lessen any.

"That's fantastic." One might have thought it was Christmas by her reaction to the news. She excitedly wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a suffocating hug. "I'm so happy for you."

"Happy?" He detangled himself from her web of arms and held her hands to his chest. "Lily, he rejected me. I've ruined everything."

"No, no. You two were such good friends. I'm sure he'll get over it."

"But I didn't want to be just friends. I wanted something more than that." He pulled away from her and her reassuring smile. "I really liked him." He looked down at his jacket and played with one of the intricate silver buttons as Lily slid up beside him and rubbed his arm comfortingly. "He was my first kiss."

Suddenly, Snape was shoved to the side in one of his friends more enthusiastic moments. "Get out! There's no way he was your first, your first kiss?"

"Quiet, keep your voice down." Severus glanced around in a fit of paranoia. Surely either Black or Potter could waltz in at any moment.

"But, Sev. Your first? Your 22 years old. He can't have been, I mean, really?"

"Well you don't have to rub it in."

Lily tried to hide her smile. "I know, I'm sorry. You're just too cute. You know that?"

"No."

"Well, you are." She reached up and tucked a few stray strands of hair behind his ear. "And might I add, very handsome."

"Right."

"I mean it. Especially now that you're taking better care of yourself."

He glanced up slightly. "Regulus was insistent."

"Good for him." She played with his collar and smiled a mischievous smile, rocking a bit on her heals. "Sooooooooooooo?"

"… So?"

"Tell me all the details."

"Merlin."

"Oh, come on now. You're gay, you're supposed to like girl talk."

Honestly, Sev would have more than happily complied, had he been given the chance, but the abrupt caw of laughter from the kitchen doorway stopped him cold.

James and Sirius quickly ran back to the couch and set Harry in front of the television, acting as innocently as possible, when Lily and Severus stepped out of the kitchen. Neither of them bought the act, and Lily crossed her arms suspiciously.

"What was so funny?"

James looked up from the picture box with an almost successfully suppressed grin. "Hm? Oh, just something on the Tele. "

"Really?"

"Yeah, " Sirius could hardly keep his shoulders from shaking, "and Snivellus is a bloomin' poof."

Sirius Black took advantage of every opportunity to share Snape's scandalous secret with the world, wizarding or otherwise. Naturally, word got 'round to the more prudish members of magical society, and suddenly a number of parents weren't so sure about having a former Death Eater instructing their impressionable children. As well disguised as the reason for his being dismissed was, Severus knew he was now unemployed for the simple reason that he was gay. Dumbledore, for obvious reasons, defended him as best as he could and insisted that he remain potions master and head of house, but the school governors had the final word.

Much to James' irritation, Snape had subsequently spent the past fortnight supping with the family to save on money. "So… any luck with the job market?"

"Not yet." Snape sulked quietly as he feed small bits of fruit to Harry who ate them up with gusto.

Lily smiled in an attempt to be uplifting. "I'm sure something will turn up."

Just then, a knock sounded on the door, and James got up to answer it.

Severus waited until he was out of the room before speaking. "How can you be so sure he didn't have anything to do with it?"

"Because he promised me he wouldn't tell anyone."

"And you believe him?"

"Of course, and not just because he's my husband."

Severus rolled his eyes.

"When James makes a promise, he keeps it. " Lily picked up her son and helped him eat more of his own food when her husband popped his head back into the dining room.

"Sirius' mom just died." Both Lily and Severus stood in surprise of the news.

Lily tucked Harry onto her hip and held up a handful of cheese cubes for him to continue snaking on. "How's Sirius?"

"Me and Lupin are gonna take him to go get some drinks. Try and get his mind off it."

She nodded, trusting James to take care of his friend in his own way. "Alright."

"I'll try not to be out too late." James disappeared back out of the room.

"Poor Sirius."

Snape pulled his jacket off the back of his chair. "I'll be going too." He walked solemnly out of the room with Lily following behind him.

"Where to?"

Severus paused by the door to pull on his overcoat. "I promised Regulus I'd be there for him."

Lily gave him a kindly smile. "I understand. Be sure to send him our love."

"I will." He kissed both Harry and Lily quickly on the cheeks before departing, leaving the rest of the group without so much as a glance.

Standing not too far off, with Lupin's arm around his back, Sirius glared at the door. "Bloody Bastard. What makes him think he's welcome there?"

Lily gave him a short glance, not wanting to start anything right now, and knowing by the smell that Sirius has probably already had a few too many, simply walked out of the room without saying anything.

James hooked his arm around Black's other side and began leading his friends to the door.

It had only been a few hours at the pub before it was plain to James that Sirius had had enough alcohol for one night. He and Lupin helped their inebriated friend back to his flat and paused at the door while Remus searched Black for his keys.

Sirius smiled crookedly at his probing friend. "Can't keep your hands off me, can you?"

Remus only rolled his eyes. "Forget it, I can't find them." Looking carefully down either side of the hall, Lupin slid out his wand and pointed it at the lock. "Alohamora." Quickly depositing his wand back in his coat pocket, he helped James drag the useless lump between them to the only piece of furniture in the room big enough for the three of them. James left Remus to handle the tangle of arms to close and lock the door, and Sirius, lost in a drunken haze, blindly snuggled into his couch mate, nibbling slightly on his neck and letting his hands wonder.

"Ah! James, get the harry sex octopus off of me." Remus was struggling to pry Black's hand away from his backside by the time James hurried over to help.

"Really, mate, why do you get so grabby when you're drunk?" It didn't take much force to remove him from Lupin, and the two of them led Sirius back to his room. Remus took off Black's shoes while James kept his hands in check. They slipped him into bed and James stayed behind to tuck him in while Remus slipped away to make use of the loo.

"Hey James, don't go."

James couldn't stop himself from smiling at how childlike Sirius could be sometimes. He reminded him of a kid with the flu more than a grown man pissed out of his head. He sat down on the edge of the bed and ran a soothing hand over his friend's forehead. "I can't stay, it's one in the morning."

"Why did you have to get married?"

James' smile faded. He was pretty sure what Black was really asking, and honestly, sometimes he wished things were still like they were in their school days too. But he fell in love, got a job, and got married. Then there was the war, and Harry… and Peter, Peter was in Azkaban now. Things would never really be the same, but at the same time, James didn't really mind. He loved Lily. He loved Harry and he was happy. "Times change, mate." He ran a thumb over his forehead again before standing up and quietly made his way to the door. "Good night." He slipped out.

"I loved you."

But all James could hear was the incoherent mumbling of his friend from the other side of the door.

Once Remus exited the toilet, James motioned for him to move quietly, and they both made their way out, locking the flat door behind them.

Remus zipped up the front of his jacket after pocketing his wand. "Well, that went pretty much as expected. You think he'll be ok?"

"Well, his mom did just die. I know they didn't exactly get along, but, you know, she was his mom."

"Yeah." They both stood there quietly for a while before Remus spoke again. "You ok to head home, or do you need some help?"

James thought about it for a bit, but as he swayed slightly where he stood, he figured it would be best if he let Remus take him home tonight. "I think you better do it."

"Alright." He glanced around again before taking James by the arm and apparated him back to his house in Godric's Hollow. "Here we are." Remus was always the one to think ahead, and so he was usually the one to stay sober and serve as the self proclaimed designated apparater when he thought his friends might need a little assistance getting home safely.

"Thanks again."

"What are friends for?" They exchanged a quick hug, patting three times on the back, before parting. Remus flashed James a wave and a smile before disappearing with a moderate pop, leaving him to fumble with his keys and stumble inside alone.

This really wasn't something Regulus was ready to deal with. He loved his mother dearly, and being forced to orchestrate the funeral and commission her living portrait had placed a definite strain on him. He would have preferred it if Sirius were still head of the family and in charge of such things so he could be free to mourn his loss properly. As it was, his elder brother didn't even bother to show up to the funeral.

Today, he was to begin the process of executing his mother's will, and once more, he was grateful that Severus was with him. All weirdness put aside for the time being, Severus was a true friend, and Regulus didn't know how he would have managed the past week without him. Naturally, the kiss would have to be discussed at some point, but he simply didn't have the time or the mental stamina right now.

The lawyer's office was cold and heavy. The walls were lined with books and degrees, and the large mahogany desk which took up most of the space in the room seemed sharp and intimidating. At the fore of the desk sat the two chairs in which Regulus and Severus sat. The lawyer, a Mr. Goldiger, sat rigidly over the many papers of the late, Mrs. Black, until at last, he held up the sealed envelope containing her last will and testament. "If you are ready, Master Black, we can be-"

The door creaked open, shattering the reverence of the moment with its hideous and inappropriate noise, as in stepped a man hardly dressed for the occasion.

The lawyer examined the hoodlum's unshaven face and disarray of cloths with disgust. "Young man, we are in the middle of some important business. How dare you intrude into my office so candidly. Who are you?"

"Sirius Black. I have to every right to be here." Severus harrumphed with disdain and Black's eyes shot over to the man sitting in what should have been his chair. "You're in my seat." He growled the words out through his teeth as he approached the chair. "Get out."

Severus didn't even turn to look at him. "I have more of a right to be here than you do."

"You bastard!" Sirius grabbed Snape roughly by his lapel and pulled him forcefully out of his seat.

Regulus surged to his feet in outrage, hissing "Sirius, don't you dare."

The venom in his brother's words stilled him instantly. He'd never seen his brother so angry or his eyes so threatening.

"You can stay, but if you do you will stand. Severus will stay by me… now let him go."

Slowly, very slowly, Sirius loosened his grip. Severus haughtily adjusted his robes before sitting down again, calm and fully composed. Regulus did the same, and held out a hand to his friend, which Severus took, displaying an open brotherly affection not yet lost among the upper crust in wizarding society.

Sirius, however, read it differently, but either way it didn't matter. Regulus was siding with his mortal enemy against him. He stormed to the office door, grasping the handle, but left it unturned. After a moment, he released his grip, and slammed his back against the door instead, arms crossed in agitation. "Read it."

Mr. Goldiger collected himself after such an outrageous display and readjusted his gold rimmed spectacles with some apprehension. "As I was saying, if you are ready?"

Regulus nodded his head, appreciating the gentle squeeze to his hand from Snape. "You may continue."

"Very well." The lawyer's stubby little fingers skillfully slid a delicate knife under the waxen seal imprinted with the Black family crest, and opened the will. Time seemed to slow down as its contents were revealed. Another sealed envelope was handed to Regulus with care. "For your eyes only."

Regulus took it and looked upon it for only a moment before tucking it away safely in his cloak pocket.

The actual will was then pulled out and respectfully unfolded, and Mr. Goldiger cleared his throat before beginning to read aloud:

"This is the last Will and Testament of Mrs. Walburga Delilia Black, wife of Orion Black,

daughter of Pollux and Irma Black (née Crabbe), sister of Alphard and Cygnus Black, and

Mother of Sirius and Regulus Black.

"I hereby leave the entirety of my estate to my most worthy son, Regulus Black, with the

exception of the contents of my library, which I leave to Severus Snape, who has been

so much like a son to me these past few years."

That was more than Sirius could stand to hear and he turned to leave before his dead mother managed to spurn him further, but the next few words in the lawyer's continuous drawl made him pause.

"To my estranged son, Sirius Black, I give only this:

"It is my dying wish that if he should change his ways and repent in the eyes of his

remaining noble family, that the estate which I have left to my son, Regulus Black, will on

that day be divided as Regulus should see fit, however that may be, so that no more than half of

it will be given to his prodigal brother, Sirius Black, as long as this act of humility and

proper devotion to his (Sirius Black) bloodline is done within three years

of my death.

"In the more likely event in which my eldest son (Sirius Black) is unable to

reform in the appropriate amount of time, it is my wish that he receive

nothing.

"In Regulus' judgment on this matter, I would like to express my absolute faith,

and belief that he will respond to this duty with all the intelligence, honor,

and proper dignity required of him.

"Signed, Walburga Black.

"Witnessed by Lauren Smith, Notary."

Goldiger quietly refolded the Will, placed it back into its envelope, and handed it to the executioner of the estate. "That is the end of it. Naturally, of course, I still have a number of documents for you to sign, and one for you as well, Mr. Snape, if you please." He paused a moment to look up from his precisely arranged documents to the back of Sirius Black. "You, Sirius Black, on the other hand, may leave. I have nothing more for you here."

With his back still to the three gentlemen behind him, Sirius obediently opened the door and went out. Lost in his thoughts, he shut the door quietly behind him and walked, feeling rather misplaced and deflated, down the dark and echoing corridor.

Christmas and New Years passed number twelve Grimmauld Place with cold indifference. The living portrait of Mrs. Black was finished and hung proudly upon the wall at the top of the stair, and with a heavy heart, Regulus finished riffling through his mother's things and made the master bedroom his own. His old room was subsequently cleaned out and Severus was soon after moved in. Still fully unemployed, Snape could no longer afford his one bedroom flat, and the rent free living space was much appreciated.

At first, things were a bit uneasy between Regulus and his lovesick roommate, but Severus soon accepted the fact that the only feelings Regulus had for him were of a brotherly sort. He was more than disappointed, however, and shared his roommate's morose disposition for some months.

March came, and the pristine snow covering the ground turned into a muddy slush due to the warming weather. It was then that Snape was thrown back into his work. He had the idea to finally use his copious notes littering his old potions textbook and transform it into a new textbook of his own.

It was on one of those busy days, when Severus reluctantly decided to take a break from his tedious editing to join Regulus for some evening brandy, when the two of them happened upon a peculiar idea.

"It could work."

Regulus could only smile and shake his head. "I still say he would never go along with it. He doesn't care about the money."

"No, no, but he might care about a few items your father left behind. It could be enough to coerce him into trying it."

"But marriage? I mean, would you really be willing to marry my brother?"

Severus laughed. "I would prefer not to have to, but it may be the only way." Regulus shook his head again, but Snape pressed onward. "Look, you want Sirius back in the family, Sirius wants his rightful inheritance…"

"How are you so certain of that?"

"Lily tells me he won't shut up about it. How unfair it all was and all that. Besides, he owes me for loosing me my job." He took another sip of his drink. "Not to say that I liked teaching those dunderheads, but I was good at it and it paid the bills. Ha! Just think of it, one quick marriage followed by an even quicker divorce, and half of his inheritance would come to me. Then we could part ways and never speak of it again."

Regulus held out his near empty glass to Kreatcher who happened to be passing by with the brandy bottle and was pleased to see it refilled. "It would be something to see, but mother certainly wouldn't approve."

"Regulus." He looked over at him with the most sincere affection, "You are the head of this family now."

Black looked down at his glass with a meek and guilty expression. "I know, but…" He looked up towards the stair where he knew his mother's portrait hung just out of view.

"You want your brother back. I know you do. I know you, Regulus."

"I can't go against mother and just give him his half."

"Not without an act of humility on his part."

"Marrying you does not require an act of humility."

The incredulous look Severus shared with him was aimed mostly at Reg's own unwillingness to even court him, let alone marry him. "Doesn't it?"

"No." He sighed and once again emptied his glass. "I like the idea of you coming into the family. I can't think of a better way to thank you for all you've done for mother and me, but this idea of marriage…"

"It could work."

"I don't see how it would bring him back. You two hated each other, hate each other, and those feelings aren't going to improve after you're forced to live together."

Severus casually waved it off. "Our feelings for each other don't enter into it. What matters is that he would be welcomed back into the family, and once he's seen that you aren't as… strict… as your mother, he's sure to warm up to you again."

Regulus lightly traced the rim of his glass absentmindedly while he thought about Snape's proposal. "Well…"

"Well?"

He sighed, "Alright. If he agrees, you may tell him I'll accept it as an act of… whatever, and give the two of you his half of the estate."

"I may tell him?"

"Well I'm certainly not going to. This is your idea, not mine."

"Technically, you suggested it first."

"Yes, but I wasn't serious."

Severus smiled and shrugged. "Then I'll tell him. He'll probably be there when I visit Lily next anyway."

And so he was, slouched on the couch a week later staring blankly at the flashing colors and confounding lights of one of Harry's muggle cartoons. Harry was tucked in neatly beside him browsing through one of the magazines his mother got in the mail and was busy trying to show his 'uncle' the picture that caught his interest.

"Car. Look, car." He patted him on the arm in the vain attempt to get his attention. "Sirius, car!"

The door opened, as Severus had been granted open door privileges to the Potter's house, and he walked in, immediately eyeing his soon to be fiancé gloomily ignoring their 'nephew'.

"Sev!" Harry rolled off the couch and ran into Snape's open arms to be picked up and paid attention to. He pointed back at the magazine laid open on the couch next to one of Sirius' legs. "Sev, car!"

"Really? Where?" He followed the direction of Harry's pointed finger until he could see the magazine. He carefully placed Harry on the back of the couch leaning safely against his stomach and curled over him to pick up the object of his excitement.

"Car."

"That's right. It's a red car."

"Red car."

"And there's a blue car."

"Blue car."

He continued going through the magazine making sure Harry could still recite his colors properly, correcting him every now and then, before putting him down in order to talk to Sirius. Harry had other ideas, however, and grabbed his hand to lead him away to play some more. Not being one to be able to often deny the two-year-old some quality time, Severus smiled and went along with him. "Sirius, don't leave before I get the chance to talk to you."

After maybe a half hour of house exploration and gentle roughhousing, Severus could hear Sirius telling his goodbyes at the door to the master of the house. As swiftly as possible, Severus swooped through the hall to catch Black before he managed to leave. "Sirius, I thought I asked you to wait."

Sirius responded with a silent, yet very expressive, hand signal before walking out the front door.

Severus grumbled and handed Harry to his father before hurriedly following the brooding figure out. "Sirius. Sirius, wait." He jogged to meet up with him on the other end of the street. "I need to talk to you."

Sirius glared. "About what?"

"Regulus and I have decided on a way for you to qualify for your portion of the inheritance."

Black suddenly stopped and glared down dangerously at the shorter man. "Qualified? You decided how I could qualify for my own birthright? Who the hell do you think you are! You can't talk down to me as though you have any place dictating my family's affairs, you son of a bitch."

"Damn it, Black, I wasn't talking down to you."

"The hell you weren't." He shoved a finger painfully into Snape's chest. "I don't want you seeing my brother anymore."

Severus stood taller, though he still only came up to eyelevel with the other man's nose, and sneered. "I'll do whatever I want with your brother whenever I please."

"Why you-" Black grabbed Snape by the collar and cocked back his fist to hit him, but Snape's reflexes were too swift.

He spun in place, wrapping the arm grasping at his cloths around him, and apparated them to uneven ground. Thrown off by the apparition's spin, Sirius fell on his side, and Snape had his wand out and aimed at his chest before Sirius could stand.

"You mother fu-"

Severus moved his wand to jab towards Black's face. "Don't you dare."

Sirius growled under his breath, but didn't risk finishing his insult. Instead, he remained sitting there, stuck in the slurry of mud and snow, and grit his teeth in frustration.

"Now, if you're ready to listen to what I had to say, like an adult…" With somewhat of an exasperated expression, Severus lowered his wand, and in the most serious of tones stated rather matter-of-factly what he had come to tell him. "I want you to marry me."

"What?"

"We thought you marrying someone the family approved of, namely myself, would be something Regulus could consider an act of… coming back into the family."

Still sitting frozen in the snow and muck, Sirius stared unblinking up at Snape with an expression of dumfounded shock, and although he no longer had a wand pointed menacingly at his face, he was too stunned to think about pulling himself up onto his feet. "I'm sorry I don't think I caught that. Did you just propose to me?"

Severus placed his hands in his coat pockets, feeling the chill now without his gloves on. "I suppose, if I thought of it as a business proposition, then yes."

That brought Sirius more back to earth and he stood up to get his back side out of the numbing cold. "What do you mean?"

Snape rolled his eyes at how slowly information seemed to sink into the other man's too thick skull. "We marry," Black pulled an unpleasant face, "Regulus passes along your inheritance, and I get half in payment, for you getting me fired, in the divorce."

"Wait wait wait, there's no way I would give you half."

"It's half or nothing for both of us, but honestly, if it comes down to it I could forget the money and simply keep my room at Grimmauld Place. I've become quite comfortable there, you know."

"You live there! I can't believe this, my own brother!" He stomped about for a moment in powerless frustration before turning back on Snape. "Just tell me you're at least not sleeping together."

He glowered despite his attempt for apathy and the muscles in his jaw tensed painfully, grinding his teeth together. "No, were not sleeping together…"

"Thank Merlin."

"…unfortunately."

He threw him another look of disgust, and then looked over toward the playground they had appeared by. "Where are we?"

Sev looked towards the swings, and after a moment of what appeared to Sirius to be fond reflection, he answered. "This is where Lily and I first met."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You absolutely sure you're not bi?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Because you know you still talk about her –"

"Yes, I know."

"– like you were in love with her or something."

"Are we getting married or not, Black?" The words came out more sharp and terse than Snape would have liked and he instantly regretted his momentary lapse of control.

Sirius raised his hands in self defense. "Well well well, still a sore spot, aye?"

Severus only glared.

"So what happened? Couldn't get the girl so you became one? No! You couldn't even get the boy could you? Failed with one Black so now you're trying for the other? You really are pathetic aren't you?"

"Good lord, I'm not interested in, in … you! I could use the money, Black, that's all."

"That's all, hu?" He lowered his hands and stepped forward, ignoring the wand that pointed itself at his chest once more. "Well, that's too bad, 'cause I'm not giving you one knut, not one bloody knut from my family, you got that? I don't care if you become some homeless starving beggar who has to give blow jobs to the scum lurking around Knockturn Alley for food. Know why? Because you would deserve it, Snape, not because you're gay, just because you're you."

Snape's whole body tensed with fury. He couldn't even put the words together to formulate a half decent response, so instead, he simply blasted Sirius back with a hex from his wand, and hoping it hurt like hell, apparated back to Grimmauld Place before Sirius could recover from the blow.

"I must admit, I am a little surprised to see you." Regulus sat facing his older brother with the comfort of the nearby fire and his glass of brandy in hand.

"Did you know about this? About Snape's crazy marriage idea?" It had been almost a week since the debacle at the park, but Snape's promise of his getting his share in the family estate by, of all things, marrying him, never stopped drumming in his head. He was a bit reluctant to see his brother about it at first, but he had to know what was really going on at home in his absence. He just had to.

"Yes I did."

"And you agreed with it?"

"It sounded fair."

"Fair?"

Regulus slammed down his chalice, spilling the elixir over his fingertips. "Yes fair. I want to give you your half. Damn it, I've already divided the estate hoping you'd be able to pull something off." He pulled out a handkerchief from his sleeve to clean off his hand. "Then we came up with this ridiculous idea, I think we were a little drunk at the time, but it could, would work if you could only be reasonable."

"Don't lecture me on being reasonable. This whole thing is absolute crap. I'm not going to just hand over half of my inheritance to that slimy bastard because he –"

"My inheritance." A flicker of anger began to grow into a flame behind his eyes. "It would be I who would give him the money, not you, since it is mine, and mine alone to give."

Sirius stood and shook furiously. "Then why don't you just give it to him if you're so damn keen on him getting it!"

Regulus rose to his feet as well. "Perhaps I should. He deserves it as much as you ever did!"

"The hell he does! I'm your brother, I'M FAMILY!"

"YOU ABANDONED US! He was there when you were off screwing around with your stupid friends. When I was at my lowest, he was there to lift me back up. When I was frightened, he was always there to give me courage. HE was there at OUR mother's death bed giving her potion after potion to alleviate her pain while she called out for YOU!" His voice broke at those final words, and he was forced to turn his back on his brother. He wasn't about to show weakness now, not with Sirius there to mock him for it. He held the back of his hand to his lips for only a moment before he let out a long, heavy breath. "You don't know how many times I found her in your room after you left. I knew she wanted you back, but she was always too proud to ever admit it." He turned, his face softened and his manner more sincere. "You two were so much alike sometimes. Stubborn and so set in your ways, never willing to admit it even when you knew were wrong." He looked at Sirius, looking for something, anything left in him from the days when they were still so close. "You didn't even show up at her funeral… why?"

It hurt to hold back his emotions, but like his brother said, he was too proud to show regret. When he finally spoke, he spoke softly, as though he was almost too ashamed to admit it out loud. "I couldn't." He lowered his head and was disheartened to see how faded the emerald rug they used to play on together as children had become. "I didn't think I was wanted." The ticking of the clock mocked the heavy silence between them, until two thin and hesitant arms slowly wrapped around his down curved neck.

"I wanted you."

Sirius couldn't hold back his arms from returning the embrace if he had wanted to. It was so good to hold his little brother again, to comfort him again. This is where he belonged, this is what he was missing. This is what he wanted. Like a stone plunging into the depthless sea, his heart sank deep within his chest. He knew what he would have to say to make things right again, and he let the whispered words fall mournfully from his lips. "Alright. If it means so much to you… I'll do it. I'll marry that slimy old git."

Severus was slightly startled to discover that the wedding idea had been accepted by Sirius. He agreed that the ceremony would be short and simple, just the two of them, no friends to witness their shame, and Regulus alone to act as the witness. He was unpleasantly surprised, then, to find what was left of the Order clumped together on either side of the front pews on the day of the wedding. Not too far behind them also sat the Black family lawyer, Mr. Goldiger, to make sure the proceedings were on the up and up, and the notorious Rita Skeeter, the busy body of the wizarding world. Still only a small name in the realm of reporting, the scandalous union of Mr. Snape and Mr. Black was number one on her snoop list and sure to be the feature of Rita's next gossip column. This displeased Severus severely.

Sirius, on the other hand, couldn't presently care less who was there or not as he was only sober enough to walk down the aisle without falling flat on his face which he just barely managed to accomplish.

It had also been an agreement that Severus would be taking the role traditionally reserved for the bride, at least for the ceremony. He hadn't cared at the time, thinking no one would ever know, but now he dreaded walking down the aisle if only for the reason that there were now people to see him do it. People like James whom he would have to deal with seeing later who would rub it in his face.

Once the pipe organ began the wedding dirge, Severus muttered a few choice words to himself, cursing whoever dared to let it slip about the wedding, and walked as briskly as possible to where Sirius stood. The music continued, however, after he found himself at the altar, the blind old organist entirely too focused on reading the sheet music to notice the 'bride' already stood by his would be groom. The music stopped mid cadence after a few moments, and the priest smiled and began his spiel only to be cut off when the organist found her place again and continued with the final few measures of the march. The priest smiled and waited patiently for her to finish, and when the final chord was finally released, he started again. He spoke of love and never ending devotion, and the longer the priest prattled on, the more sick Severus began to feel.

Snape's head spun until the words the priest spoke were nothing but discordant murmurings in the back of his mind. He looked up and saw the old woman at the organ peering down at him through her inch thick glasses and over her thin, beaklike nose. She looked like a raptor peering down from her stoop, observing the farce with harsh judgment. Her dark cruel eyes burned into him, and he felt as he did back in the bowls of the ministry when he was tried for his ties to the Dark Lord. He could hear the snickering of James and Remus, and the curious whispering of many of the others behind him, but to his ears, it sounded more like nails being dragged down a chalkboard.

A cold sweat began to condensate on his skin. He was panicking and he knew it. He tried to remain calm as best he could, but nothing made sense anymore. Suddenly he was aware that he was talking, repeating the vows the priest spoke to him. He slipped the ring on Black's finger, but couldn't remember when they had taken each other's hands, and Severus was only vaguely aware of Sirius' slurred words now as he took his turn in the ceremony. The ring placed on his finger was cold and terrifying, like a shackle on a chain, then all at once, the world around him sped forward trying ferociously to catch up with real time. Everything went dark, and his conscious screamed at him desperately to wake up. Something was happening, something important, something that should be stopped. Then, like a whip crack, Severus was suddenly very aware of what he was doing and his eyes snapped back open.

He was kissing Sirius Black.

The alcohol in Black's system was in full sway forcing him to act purely on instinct when the priest finally closed with 'you may kiss the groom.' He had grabbed Snape by the lapel as he had done so many times before when he meant to hit him, but this time, he pulled him in to a fully fledged kiss. It wasn't a long kiss, or an overly passionate kiss, but it was a kiss all the same. The audience sitting down in the pews wasn't sure which was more surprising, the fact that Sirius had actually kissed Snape, or the fact that Severus had actually kissed back, open mouth, closed eyes and all.

Sirius pulled away with an inebriated grin leaving Snape looking ashamed and defeated for reacting so badly. He strolled back down the aisle with mock pride and swaggering steps while Severus followed befuddled beside him not even daring to glance away from the carpet until they cleared the chapel and the pleasant fresh air hit his face.

It was April tenth of nineteen hundred and eighty three, and the nearby trees brought the fragrance of freshly bloomed spring flowers in through the chapel doors as the wedding party made their exit. The grey sky was littered with patches of icy blue, and the sound of singing birds fluttered on the wind. New, green leaves rustled on the tops of trees, but neither Severus nor Sirius noticed any of the charm and beauty of the day.

Before they could leave and find the sanctuary of the carriage that waited to take the three brothers (two by blood, and one by law) back to Grimmauld Place, they were pulled aside by Mr. Goldiger to sign the legal documents recognizing them as worthy of receiving the inheritance as Misters Black. Yes, Severus had taken the Black family name for his own, leaving what he hopped was the last of his father's legacy behind him.

All things accounted for, signed and witnessed by Regulus, Severus wanted nothing more than to return home and not come out again until the divorce was finalized. However, things weren't going to be that easy for him after all.

"This is for your perusal, gentlemen. I really wish you three had met with me before the ceremony, but as long as things continue to go smoothly, I don't foresee any problems arising." Goldiger held out a large grey envelope for the new couple to take. "You'll be hearing from me when the first examination comes due. Until then." And with that, he tipped his hat and was gone.

Sirius, too drunk to understand anything that was going on, lay down on the grass for lack of balance. The other two Blacks, conversely, were a bit more concerned.

"What did he mean… examination?"

Severus opened the envelope with dread as Regulus looked on, and after perusing the contents, he couldn't help but express his displeasure at the world shattering documents before him. "Fffffuuuuuuuu..."

"What do you mean THREE YEARS!"

"Really, Sirius, we're all in the same room. There's no need to shout." Severus rubbed his forehead wearily. He had had a bit too much to drink on his wedding night and the migraine that greeted him this morning was almost unbearable. How Sirius could be so functional considering how much he downed the day before was one of the world's greatest mysteries. They way Severus figured it, he either drank so much in life he had actually become immune to the after effects of booze, or he had a stash of liquid sobriety hidden somewhere in his old room where he had passed out the night before.

"I'm not staying married to you for three years! I thought you said this was going to be quick and painless."

"I never said it would be painless. Nothing is ever painless when you're involved." He groaned quietly and sheltered his eyes from the morning light when Kreature kindly brought him a strong cup of coffee and a small vile of the sobriety Severus was so longing for. "Oh, bless you for living."

Kreature bowed. "Anything for you, sir." He bowed again before walking away, glaring openly at Sirius before leaving the dining room where the three Blacks were gathered to discuss the papers Mr. Goldiger had left for them.

Sirius glared back with gusto. "How come he brings you coffee?"

Regulus smiled as Kreature brought out a second cup for him. "Because he likes Severus, because Severus treats him like he should be treated."

"Thank you, master." Kreature bowed once more before glaring at Sirius even harder as he went to leave a second time.

"I want coffee too, you old dust rag."

Severus downed the ivory elixir with haste, sighing with contentment as his hangover melted away. "Lovely." He eased back in his chair and sipped his coffee, feeling more awake now and ready to discuss the matter at hand. "I didn't care enough to look into the legal rigmarole of marriage for gain. How was I supposed to know we would have to prove anything?"

Sirius picked up the grey papers angrily. "Because it's your job to know everything!"

Severus raised his eyebrows, a bit surprised. "Thank you."

His husband growled and crushed the paper in his fist, "That wasn't a compliment! This is so stupid. Why do we have to pass some bloody random examinations? James and Lily don't have to pass any examinations."

"They didn't marry under suspicious circumstances. The law wants to insure that when people stand to gain something from a union like this, like English residency or large sums of money, that it's legitimate."

Really, Sirius didn't understand how Severus could be so calm about all this. "How can you be so calm about all this? You're stuck in this mess with me, you know."

"I was aware of that, yes."

"I mean look at this," he scanned the list of expectations, "we have to live together, share a BED even, for three years. It's ridiculous!" He threw the paperwork back onto the table in disgust.

"It wouldn't be if we actually liked each other. They obviously make these rules to weed out con artists. Besides, three years really isn't that long."

"Not that long? It's FOREVER! I don't want to live with you for three days let alone three years. THREE YEARS. And there's no way I'm sleeping in the same bed with you. It's disgusting." Sirius took to pacing up and down the room, hands still balled into fists, while Kreature begrudgingly brought him his cup of coffee.

He tossed it on the end of the table, spilling most of the steaming brew in the process, then ran out before Sirius could think to demand a new one or for him to clean up the mess he had made.

Regulus glanced at the new, half empty cup. "It will all be over before you know it. You're both adults, I'm sure you will be able to figure out some way to live together. Besides, mother always said arranged marriages more often than not end up the happiest." He tried to cover up his teasing smile by sipping at his morning coffee, pretending not to even notice the looks both Sev and Sirius were giving him for the comment.

But Severus wasn't fooled and surveyed his brother in law with dark suspicion. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

Regulus put down his cup in fain shock. "What? How could you suggest such a thing? I only meant that, after yesterday's kiss, sleeping together might prove to be not so unpleasant."

"That's it."

But before Severus could do anything, Regulus was already on his feet laughing and racing for the door leaving Sirius with a look of confusion and a deep, profound concern.

"Kiss?"

------

Buying a place to live together in was a depressing endeavor, but Sirius had to admit, Sev had a head for these kinds of things. On his advice, the two of them picked out a dilapidated old estate out in the country. The sheer size of it served as the brunt of the expense. The amount of land they were getting along with it and the fact that it was fully furnished only added to the price, but the house itself was in tatters, and the land surrounding it was nothing but a withering mass of overgrowth. Severus knew they could just afford it with the inheritance money Regulus signed over to them. He also knew the two of them would be able to fix it up fairly quickly with some magic and a bit of hard work, and then sell it after the divorce for a damn site more money than they put into it. The house would be repaired structurally first to insure it was safe before moving in. In the meanwhile, Sirius would remain in his flat and Severus would stay in his room at Grimmauld Place.

As life would have it, it turned out to be very beneficial for Severus that he was still unemployed. Taking a break from his text book writing, Severus was left with gads of free time to repair his new home while Sirius came by on the weekends to help out. The work was slow at first, but seemed to gain momentum the further they got into it. By July, the framework had been completely repaired and the master bedroom was fully restored to its former glory. It was a beautiful room, elegantly decorated with intricate murals and hand carved reliefs, only further inspiring them to finish their work. They were certain when they were finished the house was going to be a masterpiece, and though it would never be as grand as Malfoy Manor, it would still be a far cry more POSH than either of the houses they had grown up in.

In celebration of the first room being completely finished, Regulus wished to give his brothers a wedding present worthy of it. They were not amused, however, to discover what his present was.

Bone white sheets of the finest silk, two plush pillows, and a down comforter for the marriage bed.

Tonight would be the first night Sirius and Severus would spend together in their new home. After all, the master bedroom was finished, with new sheets and everything, and after all the work they had put into the house thus far, both men were ready to move in. Problem was neither of them wanted the other to be there with them.

"So," they stood there, both tired and ready for bed after a long day of moving some of their things in, in front of their king size bed, wondering what to do about the sleeping situation, "how are we gonna do this?"

Severus sighed, too tired to care too much about anything at the moment. "I want the right side."

"What?"

"I don't know, my mother would sleep on the right… and I already put my cloths in the wardrobe on that side."

"No, no. No. I don't want to sleep with you. It doesn't matter to me what side you're on."

"Good, then I get the right side." He walked over to his newly claimed half of the bed and began unbuttoning his jacket.

"You're not actually suggesting we share the bed..." He grimaced as his husband's jacket was tossed over the back of a nearby chair. "Stop undressing. I know you're… clean now and all, but I still don't want to see you without at last one layer of cloths on."

"Then you have nothing to worry about, as I have no intention of sleeping naked in the same bed with you." He took off his shirt, and then his pants, revealing a simple pair of black boxer-briefs that were, in Sirius' opinion, far too small and tight around his pert backside.

That's right, pert. It was the first word that came to mind as Sirius took in the view before him before he remembered whose bottom it was he had just been ogling. "This is insane."

"Yes, it is rather, but I'm tired, so I'm going to bed, with or without you." He crawled into the bed and curled up with the down comforter, letting his head sink into this pillow with a smile. Sirius or no Sirius, this was the most comfortable place he ever had the pleasure to sleep.

Sirius looked less happy and more like he was about to vomit or cry, or both. He thought about sleeping on one of the moth eaten couches or in one of the other beds, but they were all covered in dust and rat droppings. No, this was the only decent place to sleep, so he might as well get used to the idea. After all, the bed was big enough, if they both stuck to their sides like they should, they might never even notice one another. "Alright, but just so you know, I sleep naked, so stay on your side."

Suddenly, Severus wasn't so comfortable feeling anymore as he listened to Sirius undress as join him under the covers. He curled up smaller than before, and though there was plenty of room between them, he scooted farther towards the edge of his side of the shared bed.

Sirius turned off the light on his side, and after a few moments of subsiding tension, Severus managed to pull a little out of his covers to reach out and do the same.

------

The night was long and arduous with the never ending battle of tug-a-war with the comforter. Neither of them felt nearly as rested as they would have liked come morning. Severus made sure to rise first, not wanting to accidently see anymore of Sirius than was totally necessary.

He went to work on what he fancied would become his personal library were he could put the many books Walburga left to him and where he could work on his own writing. Being pre-furnished, there was already a large writing desk, and an impressive array of bookshelves. Once, the cobwebs were cleared, the rats eradicated and removed, the dust dealt with, and the wilting wallpaper washed with its tares fully tended to, Severus set to work on renovating the rug.

By then it was already noon, and having skipped breakfast in his hurry to work on his precious library, Severus was left starving and exhausted. Being one to think ahead, Severus had already had the largest fireplace connected to the floo network which cost him the last of his petty cash from before the wedding. He made his way down the sturdy yet still tarnished staircase to the main room.

The hardwood floor was bare with the exception of dust and the leaves and grime that managed to blow in over the years from the formerly shattered windows. The cotton sheet covered furnishings didn't help with the abandoned look of the place, but the fireplace, heightened to fit the standard sized man, looked new and well tended. To a muggle, the height of the hearth would be an impressive conversation piece, but for Severus, it was simply a comfortable height to walk under.

He grabbed a small handful of floo powder from the silver urn resting morosely on the richly carved mantle before he stepped inside and called out, "Number twelve Grimmauld Place."

------

With Severus gone to lunch with his brother-in-law, Sirius was left alone in the house.

Finally.

He had been looking forward to this for a while now. He stretched good and long before bothering to leave the warmth of the bed, and shifted into his animagus form. He ran top speed down the hall, sniffing out the vermin that still plagued most of the unused rooms. Being on the hunt brought Sirius back to his Hogwarts days, running through the woods in the dark of night, taking down his prey.

But there was a darker reason Sirius sought out the rats that lurked in the secret corners of the house. Every time his teeth sunk into that tender flesh, every time he heard that high pitched scream or felt their necks snap inside his jaws, he thought of Peter. Peter who betrayed them all. If it wasn't for Snape, they would have never known that Peter had joined the Dark Lord. He shuddered to think what could have happened if Voldemort had chosen the Potters instead of the Longbottoms to be his next targets. Peter was their secret keeper for Merlin's sake. If it wasn't for Severus, they would have been killed.

Come to think of it, though he never said it in so many words, Regulus often alluded to Severus saving his life at some point as well. How? How could Snivilous, that little grease stain on a pole, be responsible for the lives of the people he held dearest?

His thoughts were put on hold when the fireplace next to him in the main room suddenly roared to life producing the subject of his thoughts.

Severus jumped back with a start at seeing the large black dog only a few feet away from him. He inactively went for his wand, but the dog was off in a flash before any spells could be cast. He ran up the stairs after the canine, but was further surprised to find Sirius waiting for him at the top.

"You scared my dog."

"Your dog? Since when do you own a dog?" He pocketed his wand, but remained on guard.

Sirius barked out a hearty laugh. "Don't worry, he won't bite unless you provoke him. Besides, he's mostly an outside dog anyway. He'll be good for guarding the house."

Severus grumbled to himself, but as long as the thing left him alone, he could deal with it. "Fine, just keep him off the bed." He moved around the human obstacle before him and made his way back to the library to finish his work, keeping an eye out for the dog on his way.

------

By evening, the room was finished and ready for the books to be moved in the next day. Magic was truly a marvelous thing and was something that, as a half-blood, Severus never took for granted. Just as he was about to leave to grab a bit to eat before bed, Sirius lightly tapped on the door.

"Hey."

"…Hey."

Sirius rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "…Room looks nice."

"Thank you."

He looked around, kicking himself for not being any better at this at twenty four then he was at twelve. "Look, um," he blew out a long puff of air, "I know I was a bit of a jerk back in school, but, we have to live together now and I want to… try to get along. So… I thought it would work out best if we could… start over." He looked around the room, only glancing at his husband long enough to gage his reaction which wasn't easy with the mask Severus was so used to wearing around most people.

"That could prove difficult. It won't be as easy for me to forget our school debacles as it will be for you, being on the receiving end and all."

"Yeah… sorry about that." He looked up again to watch Severus' expression noticeably soften.

"… I never… ok."

"Ok?"

"Ok. We can start over."

It would be a lie to say Sirius wasn't a bit surprised, but he was too relieved to pause and reflect on what may have just passed between the two of them. "Good then." He let an uncomfortable silence hover around them for a second of two before edging back out into the hall. "I guess that's it… then."

Severus wasn't all together certain what was really going on in the mind of his housemate, but at the same time, he wasn't about to stop him from slipping out of the room and disappearing mysteriously down the hallway to ask.

Room by room, hall by hall, chair by chair, the house was slowly coming back to life. Three months of living in their work-in-progress and it was finally finished, but the yard still looked like a dead jungle of weeds. Burning them away was the best idea Severus could muster and Sirius was content to follow behind him and trim the unwanted vegetation that grew too close to the trees for Severus' comfort. The trees, it seemed, were still thriving despite the oncoming chill and tangle of weeds and Severus wasn't willing to risk damaging them now by accidently setting them on fire somehow.

Sirius was more concerned by how well Severus could so easily control such powerful dark magic like Fiend Fire, and how willing he was to use it for such a mundane task, but the flying fire eagle was actually pretty cool to watch as it swooped through the dead grass. He nearly had a heart attack, however, when Severus suddenly cried out in surprise and put out the flames.

After a moment of digging through the bramble of thorns in front of him, Severus turned back to Sirius with a grin. "We have blackberries! Oh, just look at all of them. There, there, and there." He pointed along the banks of the creek that traversed lazily threw their property. "We have to move the house warming party to next Tuesday for Michaelmas."

"What's Michaelmas?"

"An excuse to stuff your face with blackberries."

Sirius grinned. "Sounds like a good time to me."

"It was my favorite holiday growing up. Mother and I would go down to the river and pick blackberries, gobs of them. Then I would help her make blackberry pie, black berry cobbler, OH and black berry jam. I swear I ate that stuff everyday till Christmas. Even when I started going to school, she would always send me one of her jars of jam…at least for those first few years." His smile faded slightly for a moment before he turned back to the house. "I don't suppose you would help me pick some today."

"Only if I get to eat some while I'm doing it." They walked back up the path and pulled out a large pan and mixing bowl from the kitchen to fill with the dark and juicy berries. "So, why'd she stop?"

"Hm?"

"Your mum, you said she only sent you jam for the first few years. Why'd she stop?"

Severus knelt down and began picking the berries for awhile before answering, careful not to get caught in the nest of thorns. "She died."

It wasn't so much what he said that made Sirius pause from his own berry picking, but how he had said it. He was bitter, angry that his mother had died.

Severus noticed Sirius' sinking mood and shrugged casually. "You don't have to feel bad about it, we weren't really all that close anyway."

"But you sounded so… happy about the Mickeymas or whatever…"

"Picking and fixing up those blackberries was really the only quality time we had. It was something we could enjoy doing together without my father bugging us too much… he liked to eat the stuff we made so he pretty much left us alone on those days. It was… nice, for a while."

"You don't sound like you much liked your dad."

"I didn't. Him I was glad to see go."

They picked for a while in silence before the topic was brought back up.

"Did you get along with your father?"

Sirius smiled a small, crooked smile. "Yeah. I mean, he was still a purist, but he didn't seem to care as much about it as mum did. We still got along pretty good most of the time. He could be real laid back and fun to hang around, ya know? It always seemed to be me and dad and Reg and mum… then when he died, my mother just got worse, like she had to make up for him not being there to keep me in line. He died when I was still in school too. Didn't really want to go home that summer, not without him being there."

"I know what you mean. Mother wasn't really all she should have been, but at least she stood up for me once and a while."

"Exactly!"

They caught each other's eyes then, and both came to realize that things had changed between them somehow. In all the time they had spent together in the past six months, three of which spent sleeping in the same bed together every night, becoming accustomed to the others peculiarities and learning to get along despite or even because of them, they had formed a strange, awkward sort of friendship.

Sirius smiled then, but never having been one to let these sort of moments last for too long, tossed a blackberry at the man he once knew as Snivilous. Much to his surprise, Severus responded by tossing half a dozen berries right back at him, which of course meant that he would have to retaliate by smearing a handful of berries across his face.

By the time they finally filled their containers and were making their way back up the path towards home, both of them were in desperate need of a bath, though Severus swore (with a smile) that no amount of soap was going to save them from being purple for the next few weeks.

Sirius, on the other hand, was more optimistic. "I've got some soap that can clean off anything."

"And it's meant to use on people?"

"O'course. Why wouldn't it be… it's soap."

Severus rolled his eyes, "Not all soap is safe for human skin… idiot." He stole the bottle of cleaner from his husband once they had deposited the berries on the dining room table and reached the master bath. He looked over the directions and glanced at the ingredients before looking slightly defeated and handed it back. "It's fine."

"Yeah, I already knew that." He walked out of the bedroom where Severus was still examining the purple covering the majority of his face and turned on the bathtub faucet. "Hey, I'll let you use my soap to get that smear off your face if you wash off my back for me."

"In the tub?"

"Where else?"

Severus rolled his eyes and somewhat hesitantly walked into the bathroom to find Sirius already stripping. "Gah." He covered his eyes. "You could at least have the decency to keep some clothes on."

"You're such a nancy."

"You're naked."

He stood there, arms akimbo, showing himself off proudly even though Severus couldn't see him. "So what? You've seen me naked loads of times."

"Never on purpose."

"That's beside the point. We're both guys, I just don't see what the big deal is."

Severus sighed as he listened to Sirius slip into the tub, and dared to uncover his eyes. "There's a big difference when you're gay."

"Whatever, nancy. Wash my back."

The look on his face would have normally been enough to strike fear into the average man, but Sirius wasn't looking. "Fine." He took off his jacket and shirt, then his shoes and socks, and finally, he rolled up his pant legs before sitting on the edge of the tub. "Give me the soap."

Sirius smiled smugly and handed him the bottle of soap.

"Lean forward."

He did, and sighed contently as Severus scrubbed the purple smudges off his back. "That's nice."

"I bet. You're definitely getting the better end of this deal."

"Ha ha, well, if you want, I could scrub the purple off you too."

"Heh, I suppose you can if you want to."

"Well then get in here." And much to Severus' surprise, Sirius grabbed his arm and pulled him onto his lap, pants and all.

"Sirius!"

"Stop fidgeting and hold still." He grabbed the bottle of soap from him and began rubbing the suds over his face.

Severus squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to know how much it would sting if the soap got in them while Sirius grabbed a wash cloth and scrubbed the blackberry stain off of the other man's cheeks until all the purple had disappeared.

He looked over the job he had done, satisfied that his face was now pristine, and admired the faith Severus displayed in him. He just sat there in the warm bath water, eyes closed, waiting for word that the soap had been rinsed off.

Still holding his chin lightly in his hand, Sirius couldn't seem to stop gazing over the other man's features, no longer checking for more purple spots, just… looking. He never noticed how dark his eyelashes were before, or how soft his lips appeared to be, and he wondered if the taste of blackberry still lingered on those lips. The past few months of celibacy was weighing down on his libido, and having another man in the same bed with him every night was becoming more and more of a temptation. Now, sitting naked in a bath of warm water with a man so many expected him to sleep with nestled snugly against his lap, the urge to close the remaining distance between them was nigh irresistible.

To be honest, Severus knew perfectly well why the washing had stopped, and why Sirius' hand hadn't left his cheek, or why he could feel the warm air of his breath against his mouth. He knew what was happening, but he also knew that he didn't want it to stop. He wanted the kiss, he wanted it badly, so he sat there, eyes closed, and waited.

Sirius couldn't stop himself from leaning in. He was so close, so very close, eyes drooping closed, head tilting in anticipation, lips parting ever so slightly, and then… it happened.

Skin met skin, soft and pressing and warm.

And everything changed.

The way Severus figured, it was about time. He was twenty three years old and was, up 'till that night, still a virgin. It was the only reason he could think of as to why he had allowed himself to be taken over so easily. Sirius hadn't been exactly gentle about it either. Not that it was a poor first experience once his body got used to the invasion… it was rather pleasant actually… something he looked forward to doing again, but there was no way, come hell or high water, that he would ever admit that to his husband.

Sirius wasn't as secretive about his feelings concerning their new intimacies as Severus was. Instead, he dug himself pleasantly into a deep, unyielding denial. The way he figured it, he had simply been denied adequate physical attention for too long and Severus had simply been there. He was sure that if anyone else had been in Severus' place, he would have been overjoyed to pounce them instead. All Severus was to him was a willing partner and he could easily imagine the man in his arms as someone else whenever the time came… which turned out to be often.

Ever since they slept together after their blackberry fiasco, Sirius found it increasingly difficult to keep either his mind or his hands off the man. He would catch him from behind in the hallways or sneak up on him around unsuspecting corners and do things to that ivory body that would make a sailor blush.

Severus didn't mind Sirius' sultry surprises either, though it did impede his work. Sirius, that undeniably, devilishly handsome rouge of a man, had become a definite distraction, and Severus found it increasingly difficult to concentrate on his book as daydreams of the things those strong, calloused hands could do to him always managed to interrupt his thoughts with memories of how good it felt to have his stubbled chin graze over his sensitive flesh, how intoxicating it was to run his hands over his tight, straining muscles, and how beautifully his silver eyes shone, peering down at him, pale and hypnotic, between dangling strands of ebony locks. It was maddening. No one could blame him for his fantasies though. Anyone who liked men liked Sirius, at least his looks anyway.

In comparison, Severus Snape was simply average. He had an average build, was an average height, and had an average set of teeth. His nose was more prominent than others, and his fingers a bit longer and more eloquent, but it was his eyes that captured Sirius' senses. At times, those pitch black orbs seemed to sear straight into him with a sort of intensity he hadn't seen since their school days. They were scrutinizing, calculating, and to many people they could be rather frightening. Amid the pallor of his skin and behind the inky blackness of his hair, those eyes could be cold and monstrous, but as of late, they seemed to warm and become intolerably inviting with a sort of unseen fire that called out to Sirius like twin sirens in the darkness.

He didn't know why, but all the characteristics about Severus that most people would over look seemed to endear him. Sirius supposed that sleeping with someone can open people's eyes to things they never would have noticed before. Like Severus' smile. Severus had a smile that could brighten the whole house, and when he laughed he downright shined. Sirius would never admit this, of course, neither to himself nor to his bed partner, and easily explained away his increased interest in his husband simply by reminding himself that he was a man with a healthy libido and the promise of great sex could make anyone more attractive. No further explanation required.

By Tuesday, the evening of Michaelmas when their friends would be arriving with a menagerie of blackberry delights, both men were forced to put on high collars to hide the decorative bruises on their necks.

Remus was the first to arrive, followed by Regulus and the Potters, and it was good to have their home filled with the voices of loved ones and the smell of so many promising desserts. Severus spent most his time playing with little Harry whose vocabulary had expanded far more than he would have liked without his being there.

"He's gotten so big."

"Don't I know it." Lily smiled, very happy to see her friend in such high spirits. "So, how have things been living with Sirius?"

"Better than expected."

"Really?"

"Yes. He seems to have matured a bit since Hogwarts. Then again so have I."

"Well, I'm surprised. I was betting one of you would have killed the other by now."

Severus laughed. "Not yet."

Suddenly, Sirius appeared behind him giving both Harry and Severus a surprise. "Hey! Ha ha. Hey Sev, you wanna give me a hand in the kitchen?" He rubbed his hands together lecherously. "It's time for pie."

"Sure." Severus handed his nephew back to his mother and followed Sirius to the kitchen leaving Lily to marvel the use of Severus' pet name.

Once in the kitchen, Severus made his way over to the table holding three mouth watering pies. He reached out his hand to pick up one of the delicious pastries when he was stopped by Sirius gently grasping him by the elbow. He eased him into a turn until his back was pressed against the counter and stepped in against him with a grin.

"No. Are you mad? Anyone could walk in on us."

"Exiting, isn't it?" He waggled his eyebrows and leaned in with a crushing kiss, keeping Severus from protesting further. Slowly, he worked their mouths open and eased his tongue inside getting a very satisfying weakening of the knees from Severus. He then used this reaction to move in-between Severus' legs to further the friction between their hardening bodies. It wasn't long, however, before Sirius wanted more and lifted Severus off the ground to place him on the counter alongside the blackberry delights with Severus' legs wrapped tightly around his waist.

Severus squeezed his legs tighter as Sirius slowly moved against him. "Merlin, Sirius stop."

"You don't want me to stop." He nuzzled into his neck and sighed contently.

"No. Yes. Ugh." He carefully placed his hands behind him on the counter's surface to balance himself without getting a fist full of pie. "Now is not the time for this." He let his head fall back and his eyes drift closed. He knew he should be fighting him off, knew they should bring out the pies and control themselves until their guests left for home, but he couldn't. He couldn't pull himself away from the source of those sweet sensations.

"It's always the time for this." He grinded against him harder letting out a groan of delight.

"OH MY GOD."

Both men snapped their heads towards the door, Sirius jumping backwards away from Severus, and Severus nearly falling off the counter without Sirius to hold him there.

Severus hopped off to stand on the floor with more composure and began adjusting his cloths. "Lily, please. You can't tell anyone."

But she was already out the door.

"Lily."

They followed her into the living room and found her taking Harry back from her husband to use as a tiny human shield while smiling smugly to herself.

"Um…where are the pies?" James glanced from wife to man to man, empty hand to empty hand. "There's nothing wrong with the pies is there?"

Sirius looked around trying hard to suppress his panic. "No, um, no. We don't have a pie server and we wanted to know if it was ok for us to scoop the servings out with a big spoon."

James chuckled. "They don't need to look pretty, just bring 'um out. I've been waiting for a slice Lily's blackberry pie since last night. I can't go much longer."

"Ok," he tugged on one of Severus' sleeves. "Let's go get them then."

They slipped back off to the kitchen leaving Lily with one last worried glance before venturing out of site.

"So what was the fuss about?"

Lily turned to Remus with the most innocent expression she could think of to plaster over her face. "Fuss?"

"Yeah, the 'Oh my God' we all heard from you in the kitchen just a bit ago."

"Oh…Mnnothing." She looked away and started bouncing Harry on her knee before smiling even broader to herself and adding, "Just caught the newlyweds snogging is all."

A few moments later when the aforementioned newlyweds reentered to the room with the three pies in hand, they could instantly tell Lily had spilled the beans.

James looked like he'd just had his insides pulled out with a pointy stick, Regulus seemed to bounce repeatedly back and forth between shock and triumph, and Remus simply shared a knowing smile with Lily who was busy holding an animal book open for her son.

"Damn it, Lily! How could you?" Sirius was beside himself with rage and embarrassment.

"How can you ask me that? After what you pulled."

"What?"

Lily stood up with Harry, beginning to look angry now. "You're such a hypocrite! After all that…gossip you spread around about Sev being gay and you've been gay the whole time."

"Hey, hey, hey." Sirius held up his hands in self defense. "I am not gay."

Both Lily and Severus threw him a nasty disbelieving look.

"I like women. Mate, James, you gotta believe me."

James looked between his best friend and his wife, really not wanting to be pulled into the thick of their argument.

"Remember the sex octopus, James." Remus smiled despite the dirty look Sirius was now burning into him.

"How could I forget it?"

"James."

"I'm sorry, Sirius, but the harry sex octopus is pretty good evidence against you."

"Harry sex octopus?" Severus was becoming lost in the conversation, but Sirius didn't have time to explain.

"I'm Not Gay."

"Really, when was the last time you were with a woman then?" Lily folded her arms and waited to hear an incriminating response.

"Well," all eyes were on him. "OK now, that's not fair. I've been married! If I had an affair now we'd lose everything."

James recoiled further back into his chair. "I'm sorry, mate, but no amount of money would be enough to make me sleep with Snape."

"Black."

"Whatever."

Severus rolled his eyes. He was tired of having to remind James that he wasn't a Snape anymore. Frankly, he was also tired of holding his pies and went ahead and set them down on the coffee table.

"Mother must be rolling in her grave."

"Don't bring her into this."

"I'm sorry, I just, I can't believe you're really gay." Despite his best effort, Regulus could do nothing to suppress his grin and trembling shoulders.

"I'm not gay!" Sirius looked around in desperation, but it was clear that no one in the room believed him, Severus especially. "Alright… I'm…. … … bi. So what? No big deal. But I'm NOT Gay."

James still wasn't taking the news well and sat there grimly shaking his head. "But your snogging Snape."

"Black, and we've past snogging." The eyes of the room suddenly flashed between Sirius and Severus in a sort of stunned silence. "What? I'm not ashamed of it. We're sleeping together. There. It's been said. Now we can move on and eat some pie."

Sirius went pale as Severus nonchalantly bent over and scooped himself a healthy serving of blackberry delight and topped it off with a scoop of freshly whipped whipping-crème from a nearby bowl.

James groaned and let his head fall into his hands, but the others didn't seem to be bothered by the news at all. Remus even got up and was the second to serve himself a bowlful of delicious looking pie while complementing Severus for the great holiday get together.

Trying to stifle his chuckles with little success, Regulus rose to join them. "So it's official then? I suppose you won't have any trouble passing those examinations now, aye?" He wickedly winked at his brother and nudged Severus in the ribs with his elbow before helping himself to the desserts.

"I'm so proud of you." Lily let Harry down to play again and walked over to give Severus a great big hug. "You'll have to share all the details about it with me later."

"I would be delighted."

"Really?" She picked up a bowl. "Weren't you the one who asked me not to say anything back in the kitchen?"

"Yes, which leads me to wonder why you went ahead and said it."

She served herself and Harry some of the dessert and shrugged, looking a little guilty now. "It needed to be said."

Severus thought about that. "I suppose so." He was quiet for a few bites of pie, sacrificing his next bite to Harry before quietly speaking again. "Sirius didn't want anyone to know. I was merely respecting his wishes."

"Until just now."

"Yes, well… "He glanced over at Sirius. "The cat's head was already out of the bag. There was no point in hiding the rest of it, was there?"

Remus, grinning from ear to ear as Sirius' pallor shifted into a rosy hue, lifted his glass filled with blackberry wine for a toast. "To the newlyweds."

"To the newlyweds."

Lily walked over and lightly hit her husband on the arm after he failed to repeat the toast and, as discreetly as possible, demanded he show his friend some support.

He looked up gloomily for a moment, then smiled awkwardly and stood up from his chair, took the pie Sirius was still holding away with him and set it on the table. "Look, I'm not against your liking guys or anything. Frankly I suspected as much since seventh year."

"What?"

"That was the year we were finally old enough to buy our own firewhiskey. You know… the year the dreaded sextapus was born," he turned to Severus, "something you can look forward to later on when he gets plastered." He smiled, then frowned and shook his head as he stood there, arms akimbo. "But…Sna- Black… Sev? I gotta say, mate, you really have poor taste in men." He laughed then, and smacked Sirius hard on the back as a sort of male version of a comforting embrace.

It was only then that Sirius could finally relax a bit and sheepishly grin at his best friend.

Lily glared passively at her husband, but Severus waved the comment off, too pleased to see the situation work out for the best to care about the insulting remark.

At last, the atmosphere had returned to normal and things went pretty much back to how they were before the revelation, with one exception.

As the evening progressed and everyone become comfortable with everyone else again, it became clear to the house guests that there was more growing between the two wedded Blacks than a simple physical affair.

Severus smile came easier, and he actually laughed at one of Potter's ridiculous jokes to the surprise of all.

Sirius talked mostly about the house and how much he loved it, never mentioning the divorce that was supposed to follow in two and a half years time when he would be forced to sell it. In fact, the way he went on, it sounded as if he planed of living there with Severus for far longer than their marriage required.

The most remarkable event, however, that left the greatest impression on their company, was nothing more than a small and simple gesture.

Severus, having nowhere else to sit as all other seating was occupied by company, chose to perch upon the arm of the chair occupied by Sirius Black who, without thinking, moved his arm to make room for his lover. Naturally he needed a place to rest his displaced appendage, so he simply wrapped his arm around Severus' waist and placed his hand high on one of his thighs giving it a little squeeze.

Being somewhat ticklish, Severus rested his hand on Sirius' and moved it further down…

And their hands remained in contact for the remainder of the evening.

Autumn fell away into a snow filled winter and the holidays, both wizarding and otherwise, were in full sway.

It was December twenty-second, Winter Solstice, and only three days until Christmas Day, when a stranger suddenly appeared on the walkway of the Black's country estate not long before dusk. Her cinnamon hair was pulled up and away from her face, and her small Robin-Hood-esk hat sported a long pheasant tail-feather which bobbed enthusiastically as she walked briskly towards the front door. She knocked three times and waited for a response huddled in her heavy overcoat, but before anyone could answer, there was a startling bump to her left thigh.

She jumped and staggered away from the source of it, holding her coat tighter around her as she warily looked down at a large black dog which looked back up at her curiously.

"Hello?" The voice sounded from within.

"Good evening. I'm Mrs. Batterbee… from the Ministry. I'm here to evaluate your marriage."

The door opened and Severus moved aside to let the woman, and apparently the dog, in. "I'm afraid my husband isn't here at the moment. He went out for awhile to run some errands. However, "he glanced unhappily at the dog bounding up the stairs towards the bedroom, "he should be back any moment if you would like to wait."

"I suppose if I must, but only fifteen minutes please. This is my last appointment and I would like to be home for the Solstice."

"Of course." He took her overcoat and hung it by the door as the dog bounded back down the stairs and out of the room towards the back door.

As they sat down, the sound of the door opening lead them to believe that Sirius had just come in.

In reality, Sirius had just run into the kitchen, changed back into his human self, and opened the door. Severus still didn't know that the black mutt that occasionally harassed him and the man that occasionally harassed him were one in the same, and Sirius fully enjoyed playing up his little secret. "Hey you mutt, get on out. You know Sev doesn't like you tracking dirt all over the house. Go on, get get get." The door shut.

"That's my husband now."

Sirius walked into the family room brushing off the last remnants of loose snow from his hair and cloths.

The woman stood. "Mr. Black, I am the official from the Ministry here to evaluate your union. I believe the two of you were expecting me?"

Sirius looked to Severus. "Was that today?"

"Obviously."

"Ha." He walked over and shook Mrs. Batterbee's hand. "Well I hope I didn't have you waiting too long."

"Not at all."

"Well good. Um… can we get you anything to drink?"

"No thank you."

Severus motioned for her to resume her seat. "Then shall we begin?"

"Yes, of course." She and the two men sat in their respective chairs while she pulled out and opened a thin maroon folder with 'Black' printed in large, black letters on the front. "Now then, according to my records, your marriage was off to a bit of a rocky start. No intimacies until early October, and no-"

"Wait," Sirius sat looking slightly confounded. "what?"

"It's all here in my report."

"How could you have a report on that?"

A slight tint of pink crept onto Batterbee's cheeks as she stammered out a flustered reply. "Well… whenever… you know..."

"No, I don't."

"Ooooooh, that's right…" Severus leaned back in his chair, looking greatly troubled by something.

Sirius still didn't have a clue what was going on. "What is it?"

"We're being traced."

"Traced?"

"That's right." Batterbee did her best to hide how uncomfortable she was so openly discussing their sex lfe. "It should have all been in the paperwork Mr. Goldiger gave you… your lawyer."

Sirius' look of confusion shifted into one of annoyance. "I know who he is."

Still a tad troubled that the Ministry was keeping such intrusive tabs on him made Severus feel somewhat violated, but he ignored the feeling and kept his focus. "It was, but I didn't know exactly what was being… observed. I hardly think it appropriate for the government to be keeping track of such things."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Mr. Black, but it is a high factor in separating the genuine relationships from the fraudulent ones. Surely you can understand that."

Sirius was slowly catching on. "Wait, wait, hold up a second. Are you telling me… that every time… we have … sex … the Ministry knows about it?"

"I'm afraid so. Each act is recorded down in your events calendar."

"Can we see it?"

She sighed, "If you must," and took out a perfectly innocent looking calendar from the maroon folder and presented it to them.

Sirius took it and held it up for Severus to see. At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary calendar save for the fact that it accounted for three years instead of one. Upon closer inspection, hardly any events were marked down until early October where a sudden smattering of little red X's appeared symbolizing their newly kindled passions.

"Huh…" Sirius looked over the incriminating markings, now all too aware of just how often he made it with his old school rival.

The woman straitened the hem of her skirt and held out her hand for the paperwork before she continued. "Thank you. Now as I was saying, there were no intimacies until the beginning of October, and very little in the way of affections at all."

The two men averted their gazes, not willing to confirm or deny the idea that anything between them could be categorized as affectionate.

"The most damaging evidence against you, however, would be the total lack of 'I love you's."

Sirius laughed. "Well, what's the point of saying it when he already knows?" He grinned charmingly at the stern Ministry examiner, but she didn't look the least bit amused.

"You need them to pass the final examination."

"Well, if you really need to hear it." He turned to Severus, "I love you," and winked.

Severus looked unimpressed and Batterbee checked her calendar. "You didn't mean it."

Sirius looked back at her in disbelief. "Oh come on."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Black, but we can tell the difference between a genuine and an empty love proclamation," she turned the calendar over to show them the little black X on the square marking the current day, "and I suggest you refrain from anymore attempts at deception as these little black marks hurt your record." She placed the calendar back into her file. "I wouldn't worry about it too much though, so far, despite the slow start, the both of you are progressing at a satisfactory pace. I'm sure by the end of your three year test period you'll be able to pass with little difficulty."

------

Those final words of the examiner haunted Severus for the rest of the day and echoed in his thoughts as he tried to fall asleep later that evening. Apparently, love would have to be achieved and expressed before the final examination took place, but what bothered him most was the examiner's calm assurance of their inevitable success.

How could she be so sure they would fall for each other before the next two years were up? Were things between them really progressing that fast, and that predictably? Why wasn't she bothered by the fact that ten months of marriage passed before they consummated the union? Was it common for forged marriages to turn genuine before the end of the three years? Could two people really fall in love in so short a time simply by being forced to live together… even if they had hated each other to start with?

It was an endless string of questions and worrisome thoughts that lulled Severus to sleep that night, while Sirius slept next to him, snoring like a wounded hog, seemingly without a care in the world.

After almost a year, excluding the hiatus for tending to the house, Severus T. Black proudly published his very first text book, and it took off like wildfire. Not only did it replace the old potions text for Hogwarts, but also became the standard literary authority at every scholastic institution across the continent for the following school year. It won him several awards, earned him a membership in the Order of Merlin, and began a public outrage about his being dismissed from teaching more than year earlier. It wasn't long before letters began pouring in, harassing the school governors to rehire him before he got snatched up by some foreign academy, which was a definite possibility.

Severus had been pleased enough by how well his book was doing, but he was nearly alarmed at the number of invitations he received to teach or lecture at academic conventions. He declined most of them being as antisocial as he was, and even declined Dumbledore's invitation to return to Hogwarts as Head of House. Instead, he accepted a grant from a highly esteemed German university to continue his studies and publish a book regarding the negative stigma ignorantly placed upon the Dark Arts.

Sirius was a bit dubious about the subject of his lover's next project, but was pleased to see him succeed with his work. To be perfectly frank, the amount of revenue brought in from Severus' first book was enough to allow Sirius to quit his job and pursue employment elsewhere. Secretly, Sirius had always wanted to be a bartender at a gay nightclub. Hot men and hot lesbians dancing, pressing their bodies together, acting drunk and slutty under flashing lights accented with the smell of sweat and alcohol would be like a beautiful dream he would get paid to watch. Plus, he knew he'd get to serve himself a few free drinks when his shift was over. What could possibly be better?

It wasn't long before he found the perfect spot and started working the early night shifts at Fierce, the local gay dance club. Severus didn't seem to mind Sirius' late evenings too much either as he didn't need to wake up at any particular time in the morning, and Sirius' usual come-home-and-wake-Sev-up-to-shag routine was anything but a bother.

Severus also enjoyed his quiet mornings to himself when his other half was still asleep in their bed. It was peaceful and relaxing and gave him a few moments to collect his thoughts before returning to his German masterpiece. All in all, it was a wonderful existence for the both of them.

------

The sun had set a few hours before Sirius left the house to go to work. He loved the shift between the peaceful escape of his country home and the throbbing beat of the club. The lights, the sounds, the smells, everything was sweet and erotic. He danced his way behind the bar, winking at a few of the regulars and getting his backside smacked or squeezed by a few others on the way. He tied his black apron around his waist and immediately began shamelessly flirting with the clientele, earning lots of tips, and mixing countless cocktails as the hours rolled by.

That night, the dance floor was busier than normal, and the whole place felt electric and alive. By three AM, when his shift was finally over, Sirius decided to join the throng for a little while before returning home. He downed a few quick drinks before he shimmied and swayed his way into the heart of the crowd. There, he was discovered by a bronzed and muscle bound stud who seemed to share Sirius' carefree, flirtatious nature. They drifted closer until their bodies met, hard abs rubbing roughly against hard abs, rapidly moving to the rhythm of the pounding music. Sirius closed his eyes. This was turning him on, there was no denying that, and it was now obvious the intoxicated dancing was affecting the other man the same way, but in Sirius' mind all he could see was Severus' smooth, sweat glazed torso against the silken shimmer of their sheets.

All at once he was overtaken by the irrepressible need to mount that slick, salty body, and there was nothing he wanted more than to get home as quickly as possible, but strange and unfamiliar lips met his, ruining his sweet daydreaming, and his eyes flashed open. He pulled away as politely as he could, took a step back, smiled, and shook his head slowly, and though the stranger looked angry and disappointed, Sirius walked away. Once outside, a firm hand grabbed his arm and roughly turned him around.

"What is your problem!" It was the dark and handsome stranger from just a moment ago, but in the brighter glow of the streetlights, Sirius could only wonder what drew him to the man in the first place.

Compared to Severus, he was horribly ordinary looking. His nose was too small, his expression too blank, and his stance was far too childishly overbearing. "I could ask you the same thing. We were just dancing. Back off." Sirius pulled free from his grip and started to walk away again.

"You some kind of homophobe or something?"

"Nah, man. I'm bi, and I'm taken."

------

Sirius returned home in a funny sort of mood. His experience at the club and left him confused and still slightly amorous. A few years ago, he knew he would have found the man from the bar attractive, might even have taken him back to his flat for some fun, but now… he didn't know. He just wasn't good enough, he just wasn't Severus.

He walked up the stairs, into the bedroom, and looked down at his husband peacefully dreaming. And then he knew. This was the only man he wanted.

He loved him. There was no denying it now. There was no one else, not even James could have been this perfect for him. The two of them fit so wonderfully together in a way Sirius never thought possible.

He stripped, and joined the other man in bed, carefully slipped under the sheets, and slid up behind him. He listened to his breathing for a moment until he was sure Severus was only lightly sleeping, wrapped his arms tightly around the man he married, and breathed in deeply taking in the sweet smell of him.

------

After a few rounds of reconfirming their passionate feelings for each other, they held each other close, both breathing heavily from the excursion, and smiling, fell happily fast asleep.

Come Valentine's Day, Sirius was determined to tell Severus how he felt. He loved him. He didn't want to get divorced, he didn't want to leave their house, and he didn't care about anyone else's opinion on the matter. He wanted Severus and it was about time he told him so. When the time came, however, Sirius found his mouth dry and his words faltering. Every opportunity to confess failed him and made him increasingly nervous and tongue-tied as the time flew past him.

By nightfall, Sirius was so tense and befuddled he simply lay there pretending to sleep when they went to bed, leaving Severus feeling frustrated and somewhat rejected on what should have been the most romantic of evenings.

The next day didn't go any better, and neither did the following week, nor the week after that, nor the week after that. In fact, the rest of the month was nothing but a sad series of failures and Sirius' strange behavior did nothing but convince Severus that his interest was waning. In response, Severus spent more and more time cooped up in his den to work on his book with only Sirius' moping dog to keep him company.

Sirius knew he was ruining everything with his strange and sudden cowardice, but he was a stubborn man, and Blacks were never known for backing down once their minds were made up. So, after trailing Severus around the house as an overly affectionate dog for a few days, Sirius slowly concocted a plan.

------

It was more then week into March, almost a full month since what should have been the most romantic day of the year, when Sirius' plan came to fruition.

Severus had spent the day over at the Potters, sharing his woes with a very sympathetic Lily, before returning home late in the evening. Much to his surprise, he found the living room lit only with the faint and flickering glow of a few sparsely placed candles. On the floor at his feet, was what appeared to be a black bear skin rug, and on top of it, almost invisible in the dim light, was Sirius' loyal mutt.

For a few moments, Severus surveyed the room, looking for any trace of his husband, but found none. He took a few steps in, rousing the canine with his movement, and made his way over to the coffee table where something glistening caught his eye. He picked a small glass bottle from off the table and stared suspiciously at the label.

"Lubricant?"

A noise from behind caught his attention and he looked to see the dog sit upright and look back at him. Then the black animal shifted among the shadows, the form lengthened, and the fur pulled back to reveal toned flesh. Bare, tanned, toned flesh.

Severus nearly dropped the bottle as an unclothed Sirius grinned at him and casually lay back on his elbows.

"Evening." Sirius chuckled as he watched the gears in the other man's mind turn. Yes he was the dog, but more importantly, there were candles, a very nice bottle of lube, and he was very, very naked. He smirked, and waggled his finger for Severus to come closer.

He felt a bit lightheaded as blood rushed away from his head, but he managed to walk over and kneel in front of the other Mr. Black without too much difficulty. Sirius took the lube from him and winked and whatever spare blood Severus had left in his upper half stained his cheeks a rosy pink.

Without so much as a word, Sirius placed a hand on his chest and guided him down to lie over the thick fur rug. He leaned in and placed a few chaste kisses on Severus' eager lips, then trailed them down his neck and stopped at the top button of Severus' shirt. Severus reached up to remove the obstacle between his lover's lips and his skin, but Sirius took his hands in his and smiled mischievously. "Ah ah, hands are cheating."

Severus bit his lower lip in anticipation while Sirius took the first button in his mouth, and after a moment, the button was undone and he slowly moved down to undo the next one. "Merlin."

Sirius paused from his work and grinned. "That's not my name."

It took an agonizing moment for Severus to realize his husband was stubbornly waiting to hear his own name between Severus' heavy breaths. "Sirius." He took advantage the opportunity presented by the pause to better maneuver himself and wrap his legs tightly around Sirius' waist. "Sirius, Sirius."

"That's better." He leaned back down, and button by button, slowly finished undoing the top portion of Severus' clothing. Then he looked up, and with a twinkle in his eye continued further down to work at removing the lower portion as well. This turned out to be far more difficult for him then planned as the large bulge he found there at mouth level proved to be very distracting.

Having two layers of cloths in between himself and the other man's attentions was maddening, and Severus reached down once more to remove the obstacle out of the way only to have Sirius hold on to his hands as before. "What did I just tell you?"

Severus' hips rolled from frustration and desire. "Hands are cheating."

"Good boy." He went back to his work, completely ignoring the fact that the zipper was still up and that he wasn't even trying to fix that problem anymore.

Severus pushed his hips forward and gripped large handfuls of the rug to keep his hands in place, but Sirius couldn't help himself. He loved driving Severus crazy, and he knew Severus loved it just as much as he did.

------

Hours passed, and the two men lay soiled, exhausted and exposed below the dying candle light. Caught up in the throes of passion, Sirius had finally declared his love for Severus Black, and Severus had answered him with enthusiasm and vigor.

It felt strangely calming now, dozing in the afterglow of lovemaking, to know for certain that they loved each other.

Sirius pushed closer against Severus' body and nuzzled into him affectionately. With his mouth pressed against one of Severus' shoulders the muffled echo of "I love you" could barely be understood, but Severus still smiled knowing exactly what was said, and basked in every word.

"I love you too." He never imagined things would have turned out like this, that he could be so serenely happy with someone he once hated so venomously. Now, as he lay peaceful and still in his lover's arms, his thoughts sped off to what their future held while the man he loved held him tightly and slowly drifted off to sleep.

------

When the time came, though they had had their difficulties, the ministry was forced to accept their union and approve their permanent marriage license.

They stayed in their beautiful country home until the fullness of their years when they were buried together on their favorite spot overlooking the meandering stream among the blackberry bushes that had brought them together so many years ago.

And when the old Black family home was ever visited by Regulus' grandchildren, it was always with the most fondness that he spoke of their great uncles whose names showed proudly on the mended family tree of the most Noble House of Black.

FIN