The sun shone through 35 Chantry View Road, Guildford's windows. Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin's bedroom was filled with warm morning light and its curtains flowed freely, hanging from the tall rectangular glass panes.

It was the spring of 1980, and the two men slept deeply as the birds sang happily outside.

"BEEP! BEEP! WORK TIME! GET UP! BEEP! BEEP! WORK TIME!" shrieked the alarm in a loop. Small crackers exploded above Remus's face which then turned into confetti and fell on his eyes and nose. "Turn it off," Sirius groaned sleepily, covering his ears with his pillow. On the other hand, Remus was wide awake by the sudden burst of noise. He sat up and grabbed his wand, proceeding to mumble something which made the noise and confetti disappear. The tweets of birds continued and peace was restored.

"Now come back to sleep…" grumbled Sirius half-asleep, trying to pull Remus back down with his limp arm.

"There's a reason why I put on the alarm you know," the werewolf yawned, stretching his arms and rubbing his hands on his face.

"Yeah, I know. But come to sleep, just for a few minutes." He tried to get his curly bed hair mess off his face to look at his husband properly. Remus grinned at his lazily articulated words and leaned back down to his pillow, pulling the doona over him. "Thank you," Sirius sighed, resting his head on Remus's chest.

It was several minutes later when he once again sat up.

"Moony!" Sirius cried, a pout on his face as his eyes squint in frustration.

"You were the one that said I should get a job! Even though we financially don't have to!"
Remus's chuckles could be heard from their walk-in closet and Sirius drowned them out with long and hoarse groans. "I didn't know that Muggle teachers had to wake up at the crack of dawn!" he said as Remus came out from the closet (how ironic) with a frustrated look on his face.

"Pads, its 7 am. Now, can you tie my tie? I still can't do it myself."

"Isn't there a spell, early bird?" he grumbled as his face pressed on his pillow.

"It's better when you do it."

Huffing and puffing dramatically, Sirius stomped out of bed and towards Remus across the room. The man was looking at himself with doubt in the mirror. Sirius leaned on him as he watched his reflection. "Is this what you are wearing on your first day?" he asked, unsure of the other's clothing decisions.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you would look much better with that jacket off. Too much grandpa colour in my opinion. Makes you look old."

Remus tilted his head and looked at himself one last time, then carefully took off his maroon jacket. "Take off that sweater too."

"And that cardigan. And your shirt maybe…mmm, and the pants possibly-

"Yeah yeah go and hug a Colonel Cronus body pillow, but I have to work."

There was a short moment of silence. Even the birds went quiet.

"Rude." Sirius turned around, but Remus suddenly swept him off his feet and held him in a bridal style.

"I'm sorry, pads," he whispered between soft kisses. The animagus tilted his head forwards to kiss him back, but he felt like a crocodile jumping for a flying bird. Sirius's hand reached for the arm under his legs, swatting it playfully as his other hand held the other by the neck. Grinning, Remus let go, and Sirius's legs fell to the floor letting him stand on his own. Their mouths moved together in familiarity, hands wandering over each other's torsos.

Sirius tattooed arms wrapped around Remus's back- his sweater's fluffiness bubbling up a childish warmth for its softness- and his calming scent of dark chocolate and books made Sirius let out a relaxed sigh against the man's broad shoulder.

"Can you please tie my tie now?" Remus asked quietly in his ear.

Sirius grinned, kissing him one last time in the crook of his tanned neck.

"I suppose I can..."

Remus placed the tie- Still in his hand- loosely around his neck and Sirius's hands did the magic he had never known how to master.

The smiling man entered the Grade 4th classroom of Sandfield Primary School.
Covered with colourful unmoving posters, the room displayed dozens of math equations, similes and metaphors, maps of the world, and several colourful drawings that looked like they were made by the students in front of him.

"Hello. I'm Mr. Lupin," he greeted them with his usual casual but calm tone. A weak chorus of "Good morning Mr. Lupin…" was sung by the children. Most had boredom on their faces, some gazing out the window. They weren't meaning to be rude and give the teacher a hard time, they just could not be bothered.

"I will be your teacher for approximately two and a half months while Mrs. Pearson is away in Italy. Now," he clapped, getting the class's attention, "I want to know what to your names. Let's start at the back of the room," he said as he pointed at a blond boy sitting on the left corner. "What's your name?"

"Pablo," he squeaked nervously.

"Nice name. Next."

A tall-looking girl gulped. "Luce," she said quietly, her knee bouncing under the pressure of the classes knowing smiles.

"Glad to meet you, Luce. Over there!"

"Tododeku," he smiled. His hair had been dyed into a light-toned pink with green strands appearing near the top of his head. The name was obviously faked to make the substitute teacher's life harder. Backing up the man's theory, a quite giggle escaped a few of his classmates.

"Nice hair, how many boxes of dye did you use?" Remus chuckled. "Young man in blue, your name is?"

"Akihiro, sir." This boy had blond medium length hair and as he grinned goofily (but not challenging), a single sharper-than-normal tooth could be seen poking out from his closed smile. He looked slightly Asian, which was the most culturally diverse person he had seen all day in the school.

"A pleasure meeting you. Miss with brown hair?"

"Beth. Elizabeth for long," she grinned. Laughter run down the room. Her certain cheekiness made Remus smile. She remained him of James. He wondered that if in every class there was a James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus.

"Good morning, Elizabeth."

...

Remus, with his natural talent of teaching, by the end of the lesson, had made every student interested in mass migration and human (Muggle for himself) travel patterns in the last 20 years.

Grey, heavy clouds covered the sky until its end, filling the land with a looming growing shadow. The trees grew rigid with frost, butterscotch leaves fell to the ground like lazy maple keys.

Sirius had unusually woken up first.
Taken back, he inspected Remus's face which lay hidden by all of the blankets on top of them. His hand threw back the blankets to their shoulders.

Remus was pale. Like if powdery snow had fallen on his face.

"Moony? I don't think you should go to work…" Sirius said anxiously. He touched the man's head with the back of his hand. He was worryingly hot.

"Babe? Come on dork, wake up," he said softly, his fingers gently running through Remus's thick wavy hair. The days before the full moon were always the worst.

It sickened Sirius how a man would willingly bite a toddler, robbing him of living a normal life. Free from agonizing transformations every fucking month.

Groaning, Remus began to move. "I feel gross," he moaned gripping his chest. It felt like a monster clawed his insides with knife-sharp nails, turning them raw and bloody, screaming and howling for escape.

"I'll make you a potion, don't worry. Just give me a few minutes."

After hurrying to the small kitchen and completing the steps of the potion with extreme care, Sirius filled a large mug with a warm reddish liquid that the strong scent of pollen. He took it to Remus who laid exactly as when he had left, leaning on the bed head frame, gazing fixedly at one spot on the wall.

"There you go. I added some milk and chocolate to make it taste better."

Remus shakily grabbed hold of it with both hands, his eyes clouded with thoughts.

"Thank you." He said smiled weakly at Sirius, who sat beside him, head on Remus's shoulder. They stayed in a still calmness. As the heavens wept, their tears tapping gently on the roof.

"I love you," Remus exhaled deeply, the potion already half-drunk.

"I love you more."

"That's not possible," he said softly, leaning his head forwards and kissing him, but Remus yawned before Sirius could kiss him back. The black-haired man let out a low giggle, patting Remus's wavy hair. "Go to sleep, dork."

...

At exactly 7:45 am, the muggle phone rang. "Bastards can't let him fucking sleep..." Sirius hoped out bed, leaving the sleeping Remus and stomped over to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Who is this?" a woman bitterly asked.

"I'm Sirius Black."

"Hello, Mr. Black. Is this the household of R.J Lupin as well?"

"Yes."

"Is there a reason why he is not at Sandfield right now?"

Sirius's heart drooped deep into his stomach, pulling his temper with it.
He imagined the reaction that the lady would get if he told her that Remus's insides were growing and shrinking, moving around the acid inside of him causing his organs to burn like pork chops being licked by flames.

"He's… really sick. He just forgot to ring the school. I suppose you could get a substitute?"

The lady laughed at his words, her laugh cold and odd. Then there was a short silence if she had left the phone hanging to tell somebody something. The phone was picked up again, and the raspy voice continued to talk.

"No, sir. We cannot. Substitute teachers don't grow on trees and cannot be picked when they are needed. I'm sorry, but Mr. Lupin will have to come to school and teach the children."

"He can't teach! You wouldn't be saying all of this is you had seen him this morning," Sirius said, gritting his teeth as his hand massaged his forehead, trying to keep his anger and irritation controlled. As Remus would say, 'Keep your mouth shut Idiot, or you'll kill us both.' That was mostly when Death Eaters were shooting spells at them, but the conditions were irrelevant to their meaning. At least for Sirius.

"Unless you can find someone to take his place, by your own means, Mr. Lupin will be legally required to come by 8:05. Goodbye."

The soft click of the line being cut echoed in his ear and Sirius began to cuss and whisper-yell, feeling a deep sense of immature satisfaction.

Slightly less stressed and uneasy, Sirius went back into their room and leaned his shoulders and head on the doorframe as his arms crossed over his jumpered chest. Remus was sleeping quietly. He looked healthier and with warmer-toned skin.

Sirius knew what he had to do.

Several minutes of spell work later, Sirius stood standing fully dressed, a vintage leather suitcase at hand, and a note on Remus's bedside table. He had brewed all of the potions Remus would need to drink whilst he was gone and had made some chicken soup for him as well, plated in a "Forever Fresh, Forever Warm: Forever Magical Bowl".

The man snapped his fingers and disappeared into thin air after kissing his still sleeping husband goodbye.

A strong scent of wet tree bark smashed into his nose as he apperated in the park. Sirius hid in the shadows of the large tree looking over him. Its strong, firm branches concealing him from view. He had apparated in the Allen House Grounds, only 200 meters from the school. Wiping some leaves of his shoulders, Sirius carefully moved into the light and began to walk through the park towards the congregation of adults and children saying goodbye. Cars raced to get the closest parkings and parents who had come walking shouted with thick heavy accents at them to slow down.

Crossing a thin street dividing the park and school, Sirius walked beside the walls of the brick institution, gazing at the unfamiliar structure. It was like multiple stone cottages on a concrete yard, large playing equipment in the middle, and evergreen pines growing in a corner. The place had a small and cosy feel, as though it was more of a school for a tight-knit community. It couldn't be any more different from Hogwarts.
Amused by the short wooden fences that provided no safety, he opened the squeaky gate and entered the Muggle school.
With the help of friendly students and parents, Sirius was able to reach the office's school.

It was 8:02. Just in time.

"Good morning, I'm Sirius Black." He said loudly. The cream-cloured office had 3 slightly over-weight, middle-aged women, all sitting on large office roller seats. There was no response. "Excuse me, I will be substituting for Mr. Lupin."

The closest office lady slowly turned her head, keeping her body in the same position. She looked at him and he looked back. She finally then turned her body as well and rolled towards him still sitting, pushing herself with her pale legs that probably hadn't seen the sun in years.

"Name?" her voice was different as the one on the phone, this lady had a low voice, coated with boredom.

"Sirius Black."

"Address? We need it for paperwork," she added at the man's taken-back look.

"35 Chantry View Road, Guildford," he said calmly.

The woman looked at him suspiciously with her eyebrows knitted together at the mystery in front of her. "You live with Mr. Lupin? Roommates?"

A sudden pain hit him low in the stomach.

"Yes. Friends from childhood."

"Thank you. Mr. Black, I also need your qualification."

"Got it right here." The man took out a large bulk of paperwork and gently placed it on the counter. He had previously duplicated Remus's Muggle teaching qualifications (Which the werewolf also made with magic) and just changed the names.

The lady swiped through the papers, her eyes barely seeing, but she nonetheless handed the papers back and rolled away to a short nearby shelf.

"This is what you will need to be teaching for today. You'll be taking the 4th graders, just look through the planner and see what you can do. The class is Number 7 down the hall."

"Thank you!" Getting hold of the folder, Sirius hurried away to the class.

Right as the bell rang, Muggle children dispersed into their colourful classes, and he entered his designated room.

It can't be that hard…To teach…I mean if Mooney can do it, I can...

The room was oddly quiet as he walked through the open door. Every small pair of eyes on him. Sirius felt his cheeks start to glow warm, he shuffled behind his desk, heaving his suitcase on top. Time to act.

"Who wants to see a magic trick?"

The 10-year-olds looked at each other. Suspicious of the teacher's odd behaviour.

"Come on! Who wants to see a magic trick?"

...

After teaching for 6 hours straight and taking a stopping a bloody fight of two 6th grade girls, Sirius was ready to go home. But he first needed to take the end-of-day register. 31 names later, the bell rang, and he was finally free. It was like the chains of responsibility were sawed away and know he didn't need to keep random children from dying.

"Mr. Black? Why did Mr. Lupin not come to school? And why is he always away on days when the Full Moon is coming out? This is the third time…" a ginger-haired girl called out from the middle of the class.
"Is he a werewolf?" joked a tall boy. Laughter exploded as the students packed-up their things and gave back borrowed stationery. But Sirius's insides squirmed sickly.

"Aa-ooooh!" howled a boy, his arms like paws. Another boom of laughter filled the hyper-class.

"I bet that's how Mr. L got all those cool scars!" grinned a girl, trailing the back of a pen on her face.

"Hey," Sirius said loudly, a strange stern tone presented himself without his intent, "Don't spread these rumours with others. Especially Mr. Lupin himself."

A blond boy snorted, "Rumours?! We're just joking around Mr. Black. Werewolves don't actually exist!" he chuckled.

Tired and impatient, Sirius disapparated home once he reached the old tree in the park.

From the short walk of the door to their room, he dropped his suitcase on the floor, took off his oxford shoes and then hung his heavy wool topcoat on the coat rack in the foyer. Sirius opened the bedroom door and saw Remus asleep once more. The potions and soups he had made and placed on his bedside table had all been drunk. The note was also gone.

Taking off his clothes and putting on comfortable cotton trousers, he climbed onto the bed and next to the sleeping man. Wrapping his arms around Remus's humming body, Sirius's breathing began to sync with the werewolf's. A warm feeling began to settle in the bottom of his heart, his legs getting tangled in the bedsheets as he shuffled closer to Remus.

He gazed at his husband's calm face. "I'm here," the animagus whispered. His fingers traced down the man's slim nose. I'm here. Always.