The pale moonlight was streaming through a window in the kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place. Remus Lupin was carefully filling two mugs with tea while Sirius Black was sitting at the kitchen table reading the evening paper. Suddenly, Sirius roughly folded the Daily Prophet and threw it to the other end of the table.

"Don't tell me, let me guess." Remus handed Sirius a mug of hot tea and sat opposite him at the kitchen table. "They're saying that you were a Death Eater even in your first year at Hogwarts and that you bewitched the Sorting Hat to put you in Gryffindor instead of your proper house, Slytherin of course, so you could spy for the Dark Lord?"

Sirius responded with a quiet, non-committal grunt and sipped his tea. They sat in a companionable silence and listened to the stairs creaking as various Order members made their way to bed. Sirius eventually walked to the window and admired the way the moonlight bathed the windowsill in a pastel white glow.

"How's Tonks?"

Remus quickly looked up at Sirius and found his friend's eyes staring intensely into his. Remus diverted his attention back to his mug. "I don't know."

"I was under the impression that the two of you were becoming something of an item?" He was unable to hide the amusement in his voice and let a small smirk creep onto his face.

"You know that's not true."

"Well, you've done a good job of fooling Molly, not to mention Tonks herself."

"She knows there's nothing between us."

Sirius' normally joking demeanor diminished when his voice conveyed the sincerity of his next question. "Are you sure?"

Remus looked up at Sirius with a mixture of surprise and sadness written on his face. "You don't have to ask that."

Sirius turned his back to Remus to look out the window and clutched his mug close to his chest. Remus stood up and walked towards Sirius. He put his hand on his shoulder and firmly squeezed it. Sirius turned to face him and fruitlessly tried to blink back tears.

Remus reached out with his other hand and somewhat clumsily wiped tears from Sirius' face and tried to comfort him with words. "With everything else happening with the advent of a war against the Dark Lord, the one thing you choose to worry about is where my affections lie?" Remus chuckled and walked back to the table. He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a small flask and poured some amber liquid into his tea. He offered the flask to Sirius and when he declined he tucked it securely into his pocket again. He picked up the mug and took a deep sip, relishing the warm tingle that flowed down his throat. "A lot has happened since we left Gryffindor Tower so many years ago, my friend. But some things will never change. You know that." He swallowed the remainder of tea in one gulp and placed the mug in the sink for Kreacher to clean in the morning. "I'm going to bed."

Remus began to walk to the door, but before he could open it, he was harshly pushed against the wall. Sirius held his shoulders to the wall and gently placed a feather light, uncertain kiss on Remus' lips. "Goodnight, Remus."

Sirius released Remus and opened the door for him. Remus walked over the threshold and turned around to look at Sirius once more before going upstairs. "Goodnight, Sirius. I'll see you in the morning."