Sirius shakes his head, then laughs. "We should've been. We were astonishingly reckless honestly. Arrogant and foolhardy. I suppose some things never change," he adds with a wink, sliding the cloth down the front of Kieren's chest now. The water's getting higher, encircling Kieren's waist and Sirius dips the cloth in and drags over his skin.

"He could've ripped any one of us to pieces at any moment, I suppose. But there's something about the communication between animals that's impossible to explain unless you've lived it. He knew we were his friends, even when completely transformed. He trusted us."

And again, he pauses. Because this is the hardest part, the secret he's never told a single soul. It feels important, particularly given everything Kieren's told him of his past. And given his affliction, of course.

He doesn't meet Kieren's eyes as he washes the line of his collarbone and takes a breath. "I loved him, I think. Remus. I never told him, not once. To be honest, I don't think I really knew what it was I felt til years later, long after it was too late. Not that he'd ever have wanted the likes of me anyway, of course."