The Lupin family had just sat down for dinner. Delilah was pestering John with every question she could think of about the Ministry of Magic, which he answered to the best of his ability, while Remus and Olivia were talking about a distant family member that had just gotten married.

In other words, everything was normal.

Seemingly out of nowhere, there was a loud crack, and Remus felt the weight of someone on his chest as he fell backward in his chair. Sirius was sitting on top of him, grinning from ear to ear.

“Moony! I passed my Apparition test!”

Sirius sat up in his bed, checking the clock. It was just past one in the morning. Despite the late time, he was quite hungry. He entertained the idea of stealing a bit of chocolate from Remus’ stash, but quickly thought better of it; he wouldn’t live to see another day if Remus found out. Deciding he’d much rather risk the wrath of John and Olivia rather than Remus, he quietly made his way into the kitchen.

Recognizing the small figure of Delilah Lupin on her tip-toes in front of the open refrigerator  Sirius realized he wasn’t the only one looking for a midnight snack.

He stood behind her and twisted his face into a ridiculously animated disapproving frown. “What the devil is going on here, Delilah?”

“I’m hungry,” she complained, but giggled at his silly facial expression nonetheless.

“That makes two of us, twerp,” Sirius admitted, abandoning his facade.

“There’s ice cream up at the top, but I can’t reach it,” she explained, reaching her hand up to point at it. “It’s sherbert.”

Half an hour later, Remus woke up in the middle of the night to find Sirius and Delilah sitting cross-legged on the floor of his bedroom, eating ice cream from the carton and conversing about Muggle music artists.

John Lupin unlocked and opened the door to his basement, careful not to be too loud - upstairs, his wife and daughter were still sleeping. The basement was where Remus would transform, and tonight had been a full moon. As he stood at the top of the stairs, the only sounds he could hear was his son’s muffled whimpering and Sirius Black’s voice.

“Moony, it’s okay,” Sirius whispered, cradling Remus’ beaten body in his arms. “It’s over. The wolf isn’t going to hurt you anymore.”

John remained silent. When Remus had told him about his and Sirius’ relationship, he hadn’t bothered to hide his dissaproval. Only now, seeing how committed and enamored Sirius truly was toward Remus, he realized how foolish he had been.

Remus and Sirius sat facing each other in Remus’ bedroom. It had only been three days since the end of the school year, and Sirius was spending the summer at the Lupin household.

“I love it here,” Sirius grinned. “It’s so different from my house. Have your parents ever even fought?”

“Well, I remember one time when I was younger,” Remus replied awkwardly. “I don’t even remember what it was about, but it lasted for a little over a week. They wouldn’t talk to each other, and my mum made my dad sleep on the couch. Eventually my dad had had enough, so he got down on one knee and sang that Elvis song - what’s it called? ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’ - and she forgave him immediately.”

“Lucky. My parents can’t even go two hours without going for each other’s throats. It’s almost as bad as how often they yell at me.”

Remus felt a mixture of sympathy for Sirius and hatred toward Sirius’ parents. “You won’t ever have to go back there,” Remus said after some while. “I promise.”