It was late at night, probably later than he should be up, but Sirius didn't care, he just couldn't fall asleep. It was Christmas night, the Marauders had filled their day with festive pranks and seasonal excitement, but Sirius just couldn't get that howler out of his head.

It had come at lunchtime, from his parents, them telling him the usual, how disappointed they were in him, but it had finished in a way that left him gut-wrenchingly nauseous,

"AND THE THINGS YOU'VE LEFT YOUR POOR BROTHER TO TAKE ON!"

Of course, Sirius knew it was hinting at his brother becoming a Death Eater, but that wasn't all that worried him.

The truth was, Sirius had left his brother alone to deal with their parents' wrath. He sighed sadly as he walked down the stairs, thinking of how he'd sat, expression blank and emotionless, as the howler screamed in his face, how the only sign of his upset or displeasure was the glint of tears in his eyes, tears he wouldn't let fall, tears he would never let fall.

He remembered that moment when he'd met his brother's eyes across the Great Hall, when silver had met silver, when both brothers had shared that same glint. He sucked in a sharp breath, the pain, guilt, and anger trying to swallow him as he fought to stay afloat.

He forced his inner demons from his mind, coming up short when he found Remus huddled on a sofa in the Gryffindor common room.

The boy was snuggled in blankets, reading a leather-bound book by the dying glow of the fire. "Remus?" Sirius asked as he made his way toward the boy.

"Sirius? What are you doing up?"

Sirius looked at the floor for a moment, his eyes downcast as he replied simply, "Couldn't sleep."

Remus patted the plush crimson seat next to him, inviting Sirius to sit with him. They sat in an almost comfortable silence for a minute, letting the crackling of the fire fill the space between them.

"That howler... at lunch today..." Sirius finally spoke up, turning to face Remus, his eyes turning blurry.

"It was right." He said finally, "I did leave Regulus alone... alone to bear the weight of being a Death Eater, to—to bear the anger of my parents... I l-left him to deal with it all... am... am I a horrible person, Moony?" He swallowed, guilt twisting in his gut as he bit his lip.

Remus put a hand on Sirius's shoulder. "No, Sirius, you're not a horrible person, alright? You did what you had to, you were dying there, you had to leave." Sirius ran a hand through his long, dark locks. "I know... but... I could have done something! I should have done something. Oh, Moony... why did I just leave him there?"

Remus's hand squeezed Sirius's shoulder. "You couldn't have done anything else, you had to leave..."

Sirius nodded reluctantly, leaning into the touch. "Thanks..." Remus gave a small smile, the expression lit up by the embers of the dying fireplace.

Sirius, desperate for something to distract himself with, picked up Remus's discarded book. "Ooh! Muggle romance novels! I didn't know you could be so sentimental, Moony!" Sirius thumbed through the pages, getting up and dancing out of Remus's reach. "Let's see, oh! 'Her eyes lit up like stars in an open sky'—how romantic."

Remus snatched it back with a playful glare as Sirius sat back down. "Give that back, you dork!"

Sirius grinned. "I'm a good dork, though, aren't I?"

Remus smiled again, giving a look that lit up Sirius's world. "The best," he whispered as he shifted closer. Their eyes met, amber gazing into silver. They leaned closer, their lips inches apart, Remus's book long forgotten.

Sirius gasped as their lips brushed together. Remus pulled back, his head ducking to hide his blush. Sirius leaned back, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. They sat there for a few minutes as Remus pulled his knees up to his chest, settling back down in the blankets to continue his reading.

Sirius's eyes followed his actions, admiring the young werewolf in all his beauty. He traced every scar with his gaze, thinking only about how beautiful they all were, how majestic, magnificent.

It wasn't long before Remus caught him staring, raising an eyebrow, a soft smile adorning his features. Sirius leaned back quickly, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks, even as he continued to think about that smile, the smile that lit up his world, that set his very core alight with joy.

Slowly, Sirius began to grow drowsy, shifting close to Remus in an attempt to get comfortable. He hesitated, on the verge of putting his arm around the young werewolf, before Moony smiled, that same, soul-lighting smile, and reached behind him to grab Sirius's wrist, pulling the other boy's arm around him and leaning into Sirius's warmth.

Sirius let his head drop onto Remus's shoulder as they began to get comfortable, snuggling into each other in silence. Their eyes began to flutter shut, and Sirius's last thought before he succumbed to sleep was of their intertwined hands, laced together even as the pair drifted off.

A/N
If you liked this, it'd mean the world to me if you checked out my other book 'Bound By Scales: A Dark Trio Story'