There's either one or two chapters left after this! (Not sure if I want to split it into two cause it's a lot lol). Thanks so much to everyone who has followed and favorited this story: sorry it's taking so long! Hope you like this chapter :)

TW: Very brief implied homophobia

After that, it happened a lot.

They didn't share a bed every night, but on the nights that they did, Remus always asked Sirius to hold his hand. Sirius asked him about it once, why he always asked him to hold his hand when he falls asleep. Remus blushed and said that it made him feel safe, and he thought it made his nightmares go away. They both knew this wasn't always true, but Sirius thought the sentiment was adorable, and went with it without protest. Remus didn't even need to ask after that.

They had told their friends about their relationship the day that everyone came back after the Christmas break. Remus, of course, was hesitant, afraid of how his friends would react, but Sirius convinced him that it would be fine. He knew they would still support them no matter what.

And he was right. They all were happy for them, and assured them that it didn't change anything in their friendship.

(There was about a month were Peter wouldn't touch either of them, not even a high-five, and looked uncomfortable if Sirius and Remus so much as sat next to each other. Sirius didn't notice this, but Remus and James both did. James cornered him one day and told him bluntly to "Cut that shit out or get out." Everything went back to normal after that, although Remus never could forget it.)

The first time that the group learned about their habit was in the start of their sixth year.

The marauders, plus Lily ("I'm only here to study with Remus, Potter, don't get excited.") were in the common room spread out on the couches. Lily sat on the end of one couch with James on the other end, not-so-subtly trying to scoot closer to her, and Peter was on the floor leaning against the couch near James. Sirius sat on the couch across from them, with Remus curled up next to him, his head in his lap. His sandy curls could just be seen poking out of the thick blanket he was covered in. It was the night before the full moon, and Remus was exhausted. He had insisted on joining them to study, but after fifteen minutes he could hardly focus on the page in front of him and had discarded his book in favor of curling up next to his boyfriend. No one questioned him, as they all knew that he'd be tired for the next day until the moon.

Nearly thirty minutes after Remus had retreated to his blanket, the other four were talking in quiet voices about quidditch instead of the essay they were supposed to be writing, when Remus turned to face Sirius, his head popping out of the blanket, and pulled his hand out of the blanket (with some struggle). Sirius ran his fingers through Remus's hair, then reached down to grab his hand.

"Sleep, love. I'll help you with the essay over the weekend." Remus squeezed his hand in thanks, and fell asleep.

It was a few minutes before anyone spoke. Finally, James's curiosity won out.

"I thought he was asleep already. What was all that?"

Sirius blushed. Honest to God blushed. "He, well, he likes me to, you know, hold his hand, when he goes to sleep. Says it helps." Helps with what, he didn't clarify, but James got it.

They all knew about Remus's nightmares: some were enough to wake all three of the other marauders. But recently, he'd hardly had any. James grinned.

"Aww, Siri, that's so sweet! You've gone soft." James laughed as a pillow was thrown at his face, but Sirius was smiling too. He knew James was just joking with him, and that he was almost as protective of Remus as Sirius was. Almost.

"Nah. I think he's made me pretty hard." This was followed by a cheeky grin from Sirius and a groan from James.

"Aaand I'm out." Lily said, gathering her things, and starting up the stairs to the girls' dorm. "See ya, boys. Tell Remus I said good luck tomorrow."

She knew about Remus's lycanthropy; had since fourth year when she and Remus grew closer, but she didn't know about the other three being animagi. Sirius was secretly glad about this. He knew she would want to join them, and had the talent to, but the full moons were something sacred: something that only the marauders got to experience.

"Well, on that note, I'm headed to bed too." James said, standing up. Peter nodded, falling asleep himself, and headed up to the dorm without a word.

"Need some help with him?" James asked, tilting his head towards Remus. Sirius shook his head.

"No, I got him. He's skin and bones, really." Despite his casual tone, Sirius knew that James understood how worried he was about his boyfriend.

Sirius let go of Remus's hand, and slid his arms under Remus's shoulders and knees. He stood with little effort, and made his way up the stairs to the dorms, James following behind him. He placed Remus on his own bed, gently pulling off his boyfriend's robes. Saying goodnight to James, he closed the curtains around his bed. He knew Remus was still insecure about his body around the others, and even him sometimes, so he waited until the curtains were closed to gently remove Remus's trousers and school shirt, then his own. When he turned back to the bed, he saw that Remus was shivering, so he pulled out one of his own quidditch sweatshirts for him. As he gently sat Remus up to pull the sweatshirt over his head, he stirred.

"S'ris?" He didn't even open his eyes, just leaned into the hands on his shoulders.

"Shh, yeah it's me, love. Just go back to sleep." He finished pulling Remus's hands through the sleeves and laid him down.

"Mmmkay." Remus hummed. When Sirius laid down next to him, Remus rolled over, trying to lie next to him, but ended up half on top of him. Neither bothered to move. Sirius just kissed the top of Remus's head. He was obviously falling asleep again, but groped around until he found Sirius's hand.

"Love you." Remus mumbled.

"Love you." Sirius said back. But Remus was already asleep.