Remus Apparated into the deserted alley off Grimmauld Place with a sigh of relief. His latest mission had kept him away for four days this time. While he had wanted nothing more than to get back as soon as possible to check on Sirius, who was not coping well with the continued strain of house arrest, he had to stop off at the Ministry of Magic first, to report to Moody. A werewolf entering the Ministry for any reason was required to check in with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, where they looked down their noses at people like Remus and asked him humiliating questions about his personal life. When all was said and done, it had not been a pleasant afternoon.

Remus tapped his wand lightly on the door of Number Twelve, before easing it open as quietly as he could manage. The last thing he wanted just now was more sneering bigotry from the portrait of Walburga Black which hung at the end of the entry hall.

He must have made some noise, however, or else his arrival had been noted from an upstairs window. Quick footsteps padded down the stairs, and when Remus turned from the door, his arms were suddenly full of an exuberant and very naked Sirius. He greeted Remus with a thorough "welcome home" kiss.

When they broke apart, Remus frowned. "There's no one else here?" He tried to arrange matters with Tonks so that Sirius was never alone in the house for very long, but sometimes things came up, and it was not always possible for them to compare schedules.

"Just me and the world's sexiest werewolf," said Sirius, nuzzling his neck. "I hoped you'd be back today."

Remus's frown melted away. Sirius appeared to be in good spirits, and his enthusiastic welcome was just the antidote Remus needed after his dealings with the Ministry.

"Missed you," he sighed, kissing Sirius again.

Sirius responded eagerly. Remus stumbled backwards against the door and put out a hand to steady himself on the doorknob.

"Shit!" he gasped a little too loudly, snatching his hand away as the silver seared his skin.

At the end of the hallway, curtains snapped open. The portrait of Walburga Black took one look at her naked son, suddenly tense in Remus's arms, swelled visibly with outrage, and began to shriek at the top of her lungs.

"Filth! Monster! How dare you set foot in the house of my ancestors? How dare you lay hands on a son of the House of Black? Beast! You're not fit to look at me and mine!"

Remus sighed, flexing his burnt fingers. "Go upstairs and wait for me, Padfoot. I'll deal with her."

With an effort of will, Sirius unclenched his jaw. "No."

Taking Remus's unburnt hand in his, he stepped towards the screeching image of his mother, and stood glaring defiantly back at her as she rained invective down upon the pair of them.

"Hello, Mother," he said, voice chilly. "I take it you remember Remus?"

Walburga quieted somewhat in the face of direct address. "Oh, I remember that thing," she spat. "How it dragged the reputation and good name of the House of Black down into the slime it came from. How it humiliated my family. It should be ashamed to show its face in this house."

"This is my house, now, Mother," said Sirius with cold satisfaction. "I decide who is welcome here, and who shares my bed, not you."

"Padfoot," Remus said quietly, "let's just -"

"No," said Sirius again, louder this time, eyes still locked with the woman in the frame. "I'm done hearing her talk that way about you, Moony. You're worth ten times her whole fucking family put together. I want her to know - to see. Her precious House of Black is finished. It ends with me: a queer who takes it up the arse from a half-blood werewolf."

At this declaration, Walburga Black's protests crescendoed to steam-whistle pitch once more. The sound set Remus's teeth on edge. He drew his wand.

"Silencio."

Blessed quiet descended upon the entry hall, but the woman's wide, staring eyes and gaping mouth showed that she was anything but finished giving her opinion of the matter.

"She has nowhere else to go," said Sirius, turning to Remus, eyes burning with intensity. "No other portraits. There's not a fucking thing she can do but watch."

Remus knew they shouldn't. It was completely and utterly wrong to force a person to watch a sexual act against their will. But a portrait was not really a person, and after being away for days without Sirius's touch, followed by the humiliation and disdain heaped upon him by the Ministry, Remus was rapidly ceasing to care. The whole world looked down on him. Everyone except for this bright, brilliant man whose arms twined around him, body and mouth pressing fervently against his own. If by this act Remus could make Sirius's life of confinement even a fraction more bearable, how could he refuse him?

Sirius felt his surrender, and grinned against his mouth. "I'll make it worth your while," he murmured.

"Mmm, that sounds promising," said Remus, lips brushing Sirius's jaw. "What exactly do you think my while is worth?"

Sirius's grin widened. He sank to his knees and looked up at Remus, one elegant eyebrow raised. "Maybe we could start here?"

Remus hid a smile. "You have my attention."

"I can see that," said Sirius, eyes dropping to the bulge in Remus's trousers.

He bent his head and nuzzled it, hands sliding up Remus's thighs, nose and lips tracing the shape of his rapidly stiffening prick. Deft fingers made quick work of Remus's belt and fly, and then Sirius was mouthing him through the thin material of his pants.

"Mmm," sighed Remus, carding his fingers through Sirius's silken locks. "That's nice."

Sirius gave a throaty chuckle. "I haven't even started yet."

A hand insinuated itself into Remus's pants to wrap around his cock, pulling him free. Sirius's eyes locked with his as he gave the head a slow, teasing lick. Remus knew he was putting on a show for the benefit of his mother's portrait, back arched, hands moving to kneed Remus's arse as his lips slid down the shaft and he sucked him deeply and noisily into his throat, but Sirius looked wanton and gorgeous doing it, and it felt marvelous.

"Merlin, you're good at that," groaned Remus as Sirius drew back to wrap his tongue around the sensitive head, lapping at the slit.

Sirius released him and sat back, looking smug. "I am the fucking king of giving head," he declared. "But as much as I love having you come in my mouth, I think I'm more in the mood to be fucked against the wall today."

Remus's cock twitched, and Sirius gave it a final lick before rising to his feet and initiating a messy kiss.

Eyes sliding sideways, Remus regarded the silently screaming woman in the portrait. He could still vividly recall all the times Sirius's mother had humiliated and sneered at him in life, both before and after she learned about his condition. Remus had never said a word in his own defence, because it would have done no good Because Sirius would have suffered for it. Because she held all the power. Walburga Black was the embodiment of pure-blood privilege and a society that made Remus struggle and grasp for and do without many things other wizards and witches took for granted. Surely he was entitled to a little satisfaction.

"Tell her," he said hoarsely. "Tell her how much you want it."

Sirius turned to smirk at the portrait. One arm disengaged itself from his embrace of Remus to move to his own hard prick, openly fondling himself.

"Oh, I want it, Mother," he said. "I've always wanted it. I fucking love cock. I love it as much as Uncle Alphard did. As much as Regulus did. As much as my father, your husband did. I love feeling it deep inside my arse. Riding it. Begging my half-blood werewolf lover to bugger me senseless, until I scream his name. Feeling him come inside me. Feeling his spunk drip down my thighs. I'd rather have that just once than a lifetime of everything you ever gave me."

The portrait's eyes were rolling in its head. Remus suspected that if it had had any power at all, the two of them would have burst into flames on the spot. But it did not. Neither the portrait, nor the woman it represented, held any power over them any longer. He raised a hand to Sirius's cheek, turning his face for another long, slow kiss, before drawing his wand.

"Accio lube," he murmured, and Sirius grinned.

The small jar whistled down the stairs and Remus caught it in the air. "Turn around."

Sirius obeyed, throwing a defiant sneer in the portrait's direction as he braced his hands against the wall, legs spread, waiting.

Slipping the tip of his wand inside Sirius, Remus muttered the Cleansing charm, then uncapped the jar and dipped his fingers into the cool, slightly viscous potion. Sirius made a pleased sound and pushed his hips back as Remus's fingers entered him. It did not take long to ready him; they were both well-practiced at it, but Remus took his time nevertheless, drawing out the moment, taking pleasure in the way his lover's body relaxed and opened to his touch, a sign of the restored trust between them.

"Please," Sirius begged between gritted teeth, as Remus's fingers twisted deep inside him. "Do it now, Moony!"

Bending his head to plant a kiss on Sirius's shoulder, Remus slipped his fingers free. His arm circled Sirius's waist, turning him around to face him once more.

"Face to face," he told Sirius, kissing him softly on brow and cheek. "We don't win just because I fuck you; we win because we love each other, and there's nothing she nor anyone else can do about it. Let her see that."

"Mmm, yes," Sirius sighed happily, turning his face up to receive Remus's kiss.

Scooping more of the Lubricating potion onto his fingers, Remus set the jar aside on a small antique table. His hand closed around Sirius's cock, stroking the potion over his skin, enjoying the soft, needy sounds his lover made as he thrust himself into Remus's fist. When Sirius's moans and clutching fingers indicated that he was close to coming, Remus let him go, transferring his slippery hand to his own erection.

He cast a sardonic glance at the mute portrait as he pinned Sirius to the wall, capturing his mouth again. His hands skimmed down the other man's sides and over the boney ridges of his hips to slide under his arse, fingers digging into the muscle of his thighs, urging them up and apart. Sirius anchored a hand on Remus's shoulder, and reached up over his head to grasp the twisted iron arm of an ancient wall sconce, taking some of his own weight as Remus lifted him.

"All right?" Remus asked.

Sirius nodded, legs wrapping around Remus's hips. "I'll be better when I've got you in me."

It took a moment to get the angle right, Remus's hand guiding his cock to Sirius's entrance, then -

"Oh," Sirius groaned, head tilting back to rest against the wall as he sank down Remus's shaft. "Yesss ..."

Remus pressed his face to his lover's shoulder as the glorious snug heat of Sirius's body enveloped him. He held Sirius close for a moment against his heart, one arm about his waist, the other hand clutching his thigh, supporting him, before he began to move, slowly at first, deep, sure strokes driving into Sirius.

"Harder," Sirius panted. He gripped the wall fixture tighter, pulling himself up, seeking leverage to thrust back against Remus. "Need you -"

Remus was only too glad to comply with Sirius's demands. He had almost forgotten their audience; his mind was occupied by other things now. Shifting his weight to one foot, he shoved a knee up, bracing it against the wall between his lover's thighs, and pulled Sirius's hips towards him, deepening the angle of penetration.

"Better?"

"Yes. Fuck me, Moony -" Sirius rocked his hips, trying to rub his own erection against Remus's belly.

"Such a tart," Remus grinned, bending his head to taste the sweat on his throat.

"Only for you, Love," moaned Sirius. "Always for you. Merlin! So close -"

"Let go of that thing," Remus panted. "I've got you. Touch yourself. Want to see you come."

Obediently, Sirius released the wall fixture, hand falling to fist his prick in swift, tight strokes, whimpering and writhing on Remus's cock. Remus drove up hard and deep, biting down on Sirius's shoulder, and - "Oh! Oh, Moony -" a broken sob escaped Sirius's lips as his hips bucked and hot spunk spattered Remus's shirt. His internal muscles flexed, quivering around Remus's cock, sending Remus into the sweet rush of climax along with him.

Like puppets with their strings cut, the pair slid down the wall to the floor, trembling as taut, straining limbs relaxed into post-coital bliss.

"Merlin, I love you, Moony," Sirius sighed as Remus's softening cock slipped free of his body.

"Mmm." Remus leaned back against the coolness of the wall, pulling Sirius into his arms and kissing him tenderly on his sweat-beaded brow. "I love you, too."

Sirius idly trailed his fingers through the mess soaking into Remus's shirt tails. "The seed of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Doesn't look like much, does it?"

"Oh, I don't know," said Remus. "I'm always glad to see it."

He drew Sirius's fingers to his mouth and carefully sucked each one clean. Sirius seemed to have temporarily forgotten how to breathe.

"Bath?" Remus asked, nuzzling his palm.

"Oh, I think so. And then bed," Sirius said with conviction. "I'm getting too old for acrobatics in drafty corridors more than once or twice a day, even if it is in a good cause."

Remus grinned. They helped one another shakily to their feet, and he drew Sirius close for another thorough kiss. Then they turned away, hand in hand, and went up the stairs without a backwards glance, pausing only to retrieve the jar of Lubricating potion from the small antique table. They would need it later.