#omg its been 15 years since i've shown anyone anything i've written for this fandom

[willowbird]

Congratulations on reaching 100 followers!!! A little WolfStar drabble about the first time they hold hands romantically would be lovely. <3

Ahh thank you so much!! And thank you for requesting some adorable WolfStar. I’ll admit I am ancient and it’s been about 15 years since I’ve actually written any WolfStar that anyone can see so I hope this still jives with the fandom and I hope you enjoy!!

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Remus slipped as silently from his bed as possible, grimacing at the chill of the stone floor against his bare feet. James had stolen all of their rugs for some kind of scheme that Remus was sure they’d all regret later, and he wasn’t wearing any socks because he hated the feeling of them catching on the sheets as he attempted to get comfortable at night. As such, even when he did wear socks to bed, he usually ended kicking them off in the process of settling in. 

This wouldn’t be an issue, but for the incredibly annoying (and annoyingly repetitive) occurrence of Sirius stealing his slippers -- a rather redundant action, considering he had been the one to purchase them for him last year for Christmas.

He thought he was so clever, the slippers being shaped like wolves and all. Then of course he decided to take himself for a thief and swiped them regularly for his own use. 

As the slippers weren’t where Remus preferred to keep them in front of his nightstand, that meant that they were probably being held hostage by the nefarious dust bunnies lurking under Siruis’s bed. Unwilling to risk waking the other boy by rustling the drawn curtains of his four-poster, Remus opted to dig his socks out of the tangled blankets of the foot of his bed. 

Two minutes later, Remus was sneaking quietly down the stairs. He bypassed the cozy armchairs by the dimly smoldering fireplace and held his breath as he crept past the study tables where two fourth-year girls had passed out atop a smattering of books, quills, and bits of parchment. Remus could see ink smudged on one of the girls’ cheeks from where she’d taken an essay as a pillow. If he wasn’t attempting to be stealthy, he might have slipped over to them to either nudge them awake and send them off to bed or at least snoop to see what class they were about to be behind in. 

As it currently was, however, he did not want to wake them, so he curbed his curiosity and inched toward the portrait hole on sock-muffled feet. He got a whole six more steps before a quiet sound behind him had him whipping around. 

“Sneaking off without me, Moony? I’m wounded.” Sirius was kneeling on the cushion of his favorite chair before the fire, arms folded over the back of it, his cheek cradled in the crook of his elbow. The tilt of his head and the position he had arranged himself in meant that only one devilish dimple teased from the corner of his mouth. Remus’s heart didn’t particularly seem to notice the lacking, considering it had instantly switched from the jolt of alarm to the familiar stutter of Merlin-be-damnd swooning the second he caught sight of him.

With all the suave and distinguished eloquence he possessed, Remus said, “Uhh...”

Sirius chuckled, a low and warm sound that reminded Remus of the crackling of the hearth and the fizz of butterbeer tickling his nose. Then the other boy stood from the chair and as he rounded it Remus’s eyes were drawn down to the happy-looking wolf faces on the slippers currently warming the other wizard’s feet. 

Remus narrowed his eyes, lifted his gaze, and glared. 

Sirius paused and damn him and those big brown puppy dog eyes and sheepish smile -- but Remus would not be swayed. Those were his slippers.

“Why did you even get me those slippers if you were just going to steal them all the time?” he hissed, keeping his voice low even as he cast a quick glance over at the two fourth-years. One let out a small snore; the other appeared to be drooling. Remus really hoped it wasn’t Transfiguration homework.

“No changing the subject,” Sirius chided quickly, changing the subject because apparently, he could set the rules and then also ignore them -- prat. “Where were you sneaking off to at...” he paused and looked up at the lion-faced pendulum clock on the mantel “...two o’clock in the morning?”

Remus sighed. He knew it was no use to argue with Sirius now, especially not as he could see the shadow of concern behind his mask of amused curiosity. A couple of weeks ago, he still might have tried to brush it off. He’d have fidgeted and shrugged, dodging around the subject until Sirius got the truth out of him or gave up for the moment. 

Except... well, things had changed, hadn’t they? He and Sirius were... well, he wasn’t really sure what they were. No, that wasn’t true. He knew they were friends. But... they were also... more. That night in the forest had changed things between the two of them and just because they hadn’t exactly sat down and talked about it didn’t mean it hadn’t happened. 

“Remus?” Sirius spoke his name quietly, drawing him out of his thoughts. 

He offered a small smile and shrugged. “Sorry. in my head again. I just couldn’t sleep.”

“So you were going to... what, wander the castle on your own?” Sirius looked skeptical. 

Heat touched Remus’s cheeks and he rubbed the back of his neck. “No, I was gonna go down to the lake, just to sit for a while, get out of my head a bit.” With the exception of the first day of term when the first-years were brought across the river on the boats, the boathouse beneath the castle was all but abandoned. Remus used that exit to get out to the lake, sitting at the edge of the narrow pier or walking the strip of ground against the castle to an old stone bench dedicated to some long-gone wizard whose name was mostly eroded away. 

“In your socks?”

Remus scowled at him, which only made Sirius grin. 

“Sorry,” Sirius amended through a chuckle before sobering. He gestured toward the fireplace with a nod. “Come sit with me instead? It’s cold out there.”

Remus felt warmth returning to his cheeks as he looked from Sirius to the fireplace and the various chairs and couches around it, then over to where the two girls were still snoozing on their homework. 

“They aren’t waking up anytime soon,” Sirius said when he followed his gaze. “And we could sit on the small couch. I mean... if you wanted to.” The small couch had its back to the study tables. If the girls did wake up and look over, they wouldn’t see anything.

NOT THAT THEY WOULD BE DOING ANYTHING. 

Remus was blushing so hard he felt dizzy and was only slightly mollified to see that Sirius was also tinged pink. Except, of course, that Remus thought Sirius’s blush was really, incredibly adorable so that didn’t really help matters. 

Needing to move things along so he didn’t stand there any longer making a fool of himself, Remus cleared his throat lightly. “Y-yeah,” he squeaked. Then coughed and tried again a half-octave lower and closer to a normal speaking register for a sixteen-year-old boy as opposed to a nine-year-old girl. “Yeah. Sure. Good. Let’s yes. I mean, let’s do this. That. Not that we are doing anything! I mean--”

He stopped abruptly as Sirius reached out and grabbed his hand.

All the breath froze in his lungs as the whole world narrowed down to the warm weight wrapped around his fingers. Sirius looked about as surprised as he felt, but after a moment, instead of pulling away, Sirius adjusted his grip so that their fingers interlocked. His expression smoothed and he took a small step forward. 

“It’s okay,” he said quietly. “I know. It’s... we don’t have to talk about it. But... will you sit with me?” There was a rawness in Sirius’s voice that pulled Remus out of his own head and the echo-chamber of his own pulse resounding between his ears. He really looked at Sirius -- looked at him and saw the dark eyes with the faint shadows under them, the slightly pursed lips, the traces of tension in his proud shoulders. Worry, hope, fatigue, and a tremulous vulnerability that Remus wasn’t sure he really showed anyone else. 

Something inside Remus unlocked and relaxed. He squeezed Sirius’s hand and offered a small smile as he nodded. “Yeah. I... I would like that.”

Remus got to watch some of that tension fall off the other boy’s shoulders, got to watch the warmth seep into his eyes even as both dimples winked out to tease him now. Sirius tugged on his hand and Remus let him lead him over to the couch and pull him down beside him. The whole time, Remus was incredibly aware of the heat that was Sirius’s hand in his -- like it was an anchor of light tethering him to a secret universe only he and Sirius had access to. He’d known Sirius since his very first day at Hogwarts and over the years they’d probably held hands a hundred times over -- running from various bits of trouble and playing games and doing things as friends do them -- but this time... this was different. 

Sirius held his hand, but it felt like he had his fingers right on the pulse of Remus’s heart. 

When they were situated on the couch, side by side, Sirius still didn’t let go and Remus didn’t want him to. He squeezed lightly, and Sirius squeezed back. Then, after a moment there was a gentle weight against his arm, followed by the tickle of Sirius’s hair against his neck as his head found a pillow of his shoulder. Remus’s lungs tightened and his heart skipped. Then, making a decision, he let himself relax against the cushion. He let himself melt back and sink in. He let himself tilt his head in turn so that his cheek rested on the loveably tousled mess of Sirius’s hair. 

They sat there as the fire quietly crackled and dimmed, neither speaking but neither needing to. All they needed was to be there, together -- shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand.