Sirius paced nervously back and forth past the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, checking his watch every so often. He'd asked Remus to meet him here after classes had ended, but his boyfriend, normally the punctual one of the two, was running late. Just as Sirius was beginning to worry that he wouldn't show up, Remus appeared at the end of the corridor looking tired and agitated. Sirius grinned broadly at him.

"You made it!" he said happily.

"Of course I did. You asked me here, didn't you?" Remus stopped in front of Sirius. "So what's so important that I had to skip the knitting club?" His eyes drifted towards the wicker basket that Sirius had clutched tightly in his hands and his eyes narrowed. "Is that a picnic basket?"

"It is," Sirius confirmed with a curt nod. Remus looked out of the nearby window and saw the rain battering fiercely against the window pane.

"As nice as a picnic would be, it's not really the weather for it," he pointed out.

"When have we ever let a little thing like rain ruin our fun?" Sirius winked. Remus stuffed his hands into his pockets and sighed.

"What's this all about, Sirius?" he asked wearily. "I don't have time to take part in one of your pranks or schemes. I've got a lot of homework to catch up on before the full moon. I don't want to fall behind."

"I promise this isn't a prank or a scheme," Sirius assured him. "It's an apology."

"You've already apologised," Remus reminded him, lowering his gaze. "And I said that it's fine. Really, it is. Let's just forget about Valentine's Day and move on, please."

"I know, but—" Sirius grabbed Remus's hand and tried to catch his eye. "I am sorry, I really am. It was a lousy gift and I should have made more of an effort. And the rabbit pun, that was stupid and insensitive of me. I thought that I was being funny and clever, but I know that your condition isn't a laughing matter. The last thing in the world I'd want to do is hurt or embarrass you, and I ended up doing just that. I'm so sorry."

Sirius worried for a moment that Remus would pull his hand away and leave, but instead, he listened carefully, his expression stony but his eyes were glassy with tears. "You can be an insensitive prat at times, you know that?"

"I know." Sirius gently traced his thumb over the top of Remus's scarred knuckles. "I'm insensitive and stupid and completely incapable of taking anything seriously. But if there's one thing in my life that I'm serious about, it's how I feel about you. I love you, Remus. I might not love you as well as I should, but I'm going to try harder if you'll let me. Please, let me make it up to you."

Remus finally looked up and met Sirius's eyes, giving him a searching look. Sirius hoped that Remus would believe his words were sincere, otherwise he didn't know what else to say or do to fix this between them. The tension eased in Remus's shoulders a little. "You're the most ridiculous, infuriating person I've ever met."

"I know," he grimaced.

"But...you're also the most kind and loyal..." Remus shook his head and gave Sirius a small smile. "And, more fool me, I wouldn't have you any other way."

"Really?" asked Sirius hopefully. Remus nodded and pulled Sirius closer.

"Really. But you're going to have a hell of a job making it up to me," he joked before pulling Sirius into a searing kiss. Sirius let out a breath that he hadn't realised that he'd been holding and melted into Remus's embrace, relief and love and lust coursing through him like the ebb and flow of the tide. He might just have a chance at fixing this after all. When they finally parted, Remus whispered, "I love you, too."

Sirius sighed contentedly and nuzzled Remus's neck, "I promise that I'll make it up to you."

"You don't have to," said Remus reassuringly, pulling away to look at him. "Lily and James told me how much effort you put in trying to find the perfect gift for me; how you tried your hand at poetry and baking…"

"Tried and failed on both accounts," Sirius lamented.

"Still, you tried," Remus shrugged. "And you know...the present you gave me wasn't that bad."

"It was terrible," Sirius chuckled.

"Still, I know that you put a lot of effort into creating the rabbit—its fur and eyes, the way that it moves—it's so lifelike...it was really beautiful magic."

Sirius smiled warmly at him. "Thank you."

Remus's smile faltered. "I'm sorry about how I reacted the other day. I know that you tried your best and I pretty much threw it in your face."

"It's fine," Sirius assured him, but Remus shook his head.

"No, it's not. You put in a lot of time and effort trying to find me the perfect gift and I just…I dunno. It was our first Valentine's as a couple and I had built up this idealised version in my head of what it was supposed to be like. I don't think it would have mattered what you did, the day would never have lived up to my unrealistic expectations. I'm sorry for how I behaved. I kind of let my inner wolf out a little bit."

"I don't mind your inner wolf coming out from time to time," Sirius teased, prompting a mischievous grin to spread across Remus's face.

"Peter told me about the photo shoot you two did as well."

"Oh Merlin," Sirius groaned, rolling his eyes dramatically. "Those photographs really were awful. I'm glad that you never saw them."

"Well...maybe we could conduct our own little photo shoot session sometime?" he suggested with a sultry note in his voice. "I'll be the photographer and you can be my model."

Sirius grinned broadly. "Oh, I'd like that."

Sirius was tempted then to abandon his visit the Come and Go Room altogether and whisk Remus off to the boys' dormitory instead, but he resisted his base instincts and stuck with his original plan.

"But before we do that, I have something to show you."

Reluctantly, he stepped away from Remus towards the blank wall opposite. Remus watched curiously as Sirius closed his eyes and paced back and forth three times. Just as he was about to ask what on earth he was doing, his eyes widened with surprise as a large wooden door materialised on the wall. Sirius grabbed the door handle and beckoned Remus over.

"I thought long and hard about what the perfect present for you would be—flowers, chocolates, poetry—but nothing can come close to describing how I feel about you. And the one thing I wish that I could give you is impossible. But for one night at least, we can make the impossible...possible."

As Sirius threw the door open, Remus peered inside and gasped.

Inside was no room of normal dimensions, but a vast field of moonflowers that stretched out as far as the eye could see. The flowers shone a luminescent blue under the silvery light of a full moon, which hung like a great crystal ball in the inky black sky. When Remus caught sight of the full moon he instinctively flinched and tried to back away, but Sirius quickly grabbed hold of his hand.

"It's alright Remus!" he assured him. "It's not the real moon, it's just an enchantment."

Remus cautiously lingered at the doorway for a few moments before allowing Sirius to pull him further into the room, his eyes transfixed and unblinking on the great moon in the sky. Sirius closed the door behind them which was carved into the trunk of a giant oak tree.

"So, what do you think?" he asked.

"It's so real," breathed Remus. "It's beautiful."

"I know, right?" Sirius chuckled. "Come on, I found a perfect spot down here for us to set up our picnic."

They wandered down the sloping hill, wading through the tall grass and flowers that swayed and bowed in waves with each gust of wind. As the ground began to plateau out, Sirius came to a stop and sat the picnic basket on the grass. With the flick of his wand, a large, checkered blanket flew out of the basket and laid itself flat on the grass, quickly followed by an assortment of sandwiches, pastries and a large flask of butterbeer.

"Did you make this picnic up yourself?" asked Remus, sitting down cross-legged on the blanket.

"Mimsy helped me. She made some more of that chocolate shortbread as well," said Sirius, kneeling on the blanket next to Remus. He rummaged through his pocket for a moment and pulled out the cassette tape that Remus had made for him. "Fancy some music?"

There was a loud pop and, suddenly, a large portable cassette player appeared on the edge of the blanket. Sirius and Remus grinned at each other.

"This room is awesome," Remus laughed. "How did you find it?"

"Regulus showed me," Sirius explained, popping the cassette tape into the player and pressing play. Remus raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Regulus?" he asked. "Are you two talking again?"

"It would seem so."

Remus smiled. "I'm glad. I know that you've missed him…"

He fell silent as the music began to play and Sirius began to sing completely off-key, "If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you! When mountains crumble to the sea, there will still be you and me!"

Remus grimaced. "I love you dearly, but please stop."

Sirius barked out a laugh and shrugged. "I'm so tone deaf that even this magical room can't make me sound any better! Fair enough, I'll leave it to the experts."

They sat and enjoyed their picnic, chatting about everything and nothing in particular as the moon soared through the neverending night sky. Remus couldn't stop himself looking at it time and time again, its opaque white light shining in his eyes, and Sirius couldn't stop himself looking at Remus, marvelling at the contented expression on his face. Once they'd had their fill of food and drink, they lay back on the blanket, hand in hand, staring up at the sky above.

"I haven't been able to look at the full moon with human eyes for a long time," Remus mused. "I'd almost forgotten what it looked like." He turned to Sirius with a serene smile. "Thank you for this."

"My pleasure," said Sirius. "So...have you forgiven me yet?"

"Not quite," Remus teased, sliding his hand around the back of Sirius's neck and pulling him closer. "But you're getting there."

When Remus pressed their lips together Sirius felt the world fall away, his focus narrowed to Remus's hand languidly playing with the hair on the back of his neck, the velvety heat of Remus's tongue brushing against his own, the way Remus's breath hitched when Sirius gave his arse an appreciative squeeze...

A loud rustling noise came from the wicker basket and, a moment later, a rabbit's head popped out, taking in its new surroundings. Eyeing the abandoned picnic, the rabbit hopped out of the basket, sunk its teeth into a cheese sandwich, and hightailed it through the long grass and out of sight. Remus and Sirius, however, paid it no mind, too lost in each other's arms and lost amongst the moon and stars to care.

Sirius Black was many things: a failed poet, a terrible baker and an even worse singer. He wasn't the best brother or boyfriend in the world, but he was trying his damnedest to be better at both. He had been accused of being a bit of an insensitive git at times—and he would be the first to admit that was true—but above all else, he was unabashedly crazy in love with one Remus John Lupin. And by some miracle, Remus loved him right back.

THE END

For anyone who's interested, this is the list of songs on the mixtape:

Led Zeppelin - Thank You

The Rolling Stones - Wild Horses

Pink Floyd - Pigs on the Wing

Velvet Underground - I'll Be Your Mirror

The Ramones - I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend

The Who - Love, Reign O'er Me

Emerson, Lake Palmer - From the Beginning

The Moody Blues - Nights in White Satin

Alice Cooper - You and Me

The Beatles - Something