First Kiss - Innocent Experiment

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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry lay under a thick blanket of snow in the late of February. The snowfall had stopped several hours earlier, just after dinner, and now tiny trails could be seen across the pristine white of the ground. Trails from a wandering cat not content on curling by the fire with its owner, trails from the grounds keeper making his way between his hut and the castle and several trails from students who had braved the frigid air to cross the grounds to the owlery before rushing back into their commons room for some nice hot cocoa and a cozy blanket. A biting wind moved across the grounds, swaying the thinner branches of the trees on the edge of the forest and catching the robes of a young boy just right, forcing them open.

Sirius Black growled against the wind and secured the edges of his robes into his hands, pulling them tightly around his small frame. He tilted his head towards the ground in an effort to keep the sting of the wind from hurting his lips. He muttered profanities, more than a twelve year should even know, under his breath as he headed for the owlery tower just outside of the castle. The moon was bright in the sky, making him thankful since he didn't have to hold his wand before him to cross the grounds. As he rounded the corner of the owlery, he gave a relieved sigh, being cut off from the direct line of the wind. He started slowly up the steps, allowing the robes to fall proper around his body and shaking out the mess the wind had made of his chin length, wavy, black hair.

As Sirius entered the top of the owlery, he narrowed his eyes at the back of a thin boy, who seemed much too tall to be a mere second year. The boy had his hands on the window sill, leaning against it, looking up at the moon, so focused and lost in his own thoughts that he didn't hear Sirius come up behind him. Sirius folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall near the window that the boy with shaggy brown hair was staring out of. He watched as several owls flew out through the other windows and shook his head, grinning, at how most of them were choosing to stay inside rather than brave the chill for food.

"Even the owls aren't going out in this cold. I would have thought you smarter than a bird," Sirius said, smirking at the way his friend jumped at the sound of his voice. "Didn't mean to scare you. I thought you heard me come in." Lie. Sirius knew very well that the boy hadn't heard him come in and often found pleasure in the way he could be startled and scared so easily. He gave a quiet laugh and put one foot up behind him, resting it flat against the wall.

Remus Lupin frowned and pushed himself away from the window. "Owls are quite intelligent, Sirius. In fact, did you know that in the thirties th-" He cut himself off, instantly recognizing the same glazed over look that crossed Sirius' light grey eyes during every History of Magic lesson. "Never mind, I forgot who I was talking to for a minute there." He rolled his eyes and turned his back to the window, sitting back against the sill. "What are you doing out here?"

"I came out here to find you. You left to send that bloody letter over half an hour ago." Sirius stepped away from the wall and moved to stand in front of Remus with an annoyed look on his face. "We were afraid you'd gotten hurt or one of those slimy Slytherins was holding your head in a toilet." He shoved his hand against Remus' shoulder and huffed at him. "Instead, I find you out here staring at the full moon like a loony."

"It isn't full," Remus spat, defiantly. "It's called the Waxing Gibbous. It's the moon cycle right before the full moon." He crossed his arms over his chest and scooted his foot over the stone floor, hanging his head to watch as he moved a bit of straw under his shoe. "I wasn't trying to worry anyone, I just wanted a little time alone. Besides, if we were so worried, as you said, why are you the only one out here?" He cut his eyes up at Sirius without lifting his head and smiled at the way the boy was staring hard at the moon with an analyzing and determined look on his face.

"Well, Peter is in detention for taking the blame on the dung bomb incident and Jam- Are you sure?" Sirius asked, dismissing his own train of thought. "That sucker looks pretty full to me." He took a step towards the window, playfully knocking Remus to the side out of his way. "You're sure it isn't full?"

Remus had flung his arms out in an effort to not fall over from Sirius' shove and barely caught his footing to keep from tripping to the ground. "I'm sure. It is not the full moon," he said, his tone a bit angry at having almost been knocked over. "I already said that it is the Waxing Gibbous. It only looks full because the full is tomorrow night." He took a few steps towards the exit of the owlery and turned back to see Sirius over his shoulder. "You coming or what?"

"Yeah, yeah," Sirius muttered, throwing one more glance at the shining orb hanging clear over the castle. "I'm coming." He dashed ahead of Remus and charged down the stairs, his mind too focused on his quick formed plan to care about the wind, which stabbed him roughly as soon as he stepped past the tower. He dove his hands onto the ground, gathering as much snow as possible, doing his best to ignore the freezing burn it was creating on his hands. "I've got something for you, Mister waxy gibbits," he said, laughing manically as he turned towards the taller boy emerging from around the tower.

"Waxing Gibb-" Remus cut of himself once again, fear shooting through his body at the sight of Sirius holding a massive load of snow in his hands, his eyes flashing with the same sinister glee he had just before the aforementioned dung bomb incident. Remus held his hands up as a shield and shook his head, pleading with his eyes for Sirius to not do what he was planning. "Please, don't hit me with that." His body was stuck in place, his feet afraid to move for fear of setting off the easily excitable dark haired boy. "Sirius, just put it down and let's go inside." He let out a small whine when Sirius made no sign of changing his plan. "I'll…I'll give you some of my candy. Some of the good stuff that I keep hidden."

Sirius' eyes lit up and a wide smile crossed his face. He lowered his hands just slightly towards the ground, but didn't release the snow. "Really? You'll give me some of the good stuff you hide from us?" At Remus' nod, he bit his bottom lip and tilted his head, as though considering Remus' offer. "Would that be the same good stuff that you keep hidden in your shower bag in the fake shampoo bottle?" he asked, his grin turning sinister. At his words, Remus had gasped loudly, knowing he no longer had leverage, and made a quick dash for the door. Remus was fast. Sirius was faster, and he knew it. He chased after the thinner boy, letting out a barking laugh at the panicked scream that came from him as Sirius got closer. With one smooth motion, he swept in front of Remus, making him stop in place less he crash into Sirius, and shoved the huge collection of snow into his face.

Remus growled in frustration as the chill from the white crystals scattered over his face and into the neck line of his robes. "Sirius," he whined, loudly. "It's in my shirt now," he said, his words broken a bit by his attempt not the cry. He shook his shirt and hopped in place, desperate for the snow to fall from the bottom. Once he had rid himself of all that he could, he stomped around Sirius, his face fallen into a childish pout, and moved for the castle. He pulled his robes around his body, though it did no good for the cold was coming from the inside as well as the out.

Sirius jogged up behind Remus, still laughing hysterically over his success, and pulled him to a stop just inside the castle doors. "Remus, wait, don't pout like that, it's just a little snow." He tugged at Remus' arms in an effort to free his robe and see his neck line. He brushed his hands over the boy's collar, the laugh still escaping though a bit quieter now. "There, good as new. You're such a baby sometimes." He pushed against the brown haired boy's chest and quickly reached out to grab onto his arms as he almost tripped over backwards. "Clumsy too."

"I am not clumsy!" Remus cried out, jerking his arms away from Sirius and turning for the stairs. "You're always pushing me over, you jerk. I wouldn't fall, ever, if it weren't for you." He frowned over at Sirius as he fell in step beside him with a grin. "Stop smiling like that, I just called you a jerk. I'm not a baby either, I just don't like getting picked on by someone who is supposed to be my best friend. Why are you smiling like that. I am mad at you. You aren't allowed to smile like that when I'm mad at you."

"I'm smiling because you actually think I'm gonna believe that you're mad at me," Sirius said, shaking his head slowly. "Okay, you win, Remus, I won't pick on you anymore." He gave the boy a sincere smile and threw one arm around his shoulder, having to walk on his tip toes to do so. "Besides, I like picking on the grease ball snaky better than you anyways. I actually like it when he cries." He laughed again, but cut himself off when Remus shrugged his arm away. "Oh, I was only messing around. I don't like making him cry." Another lie.

"Where is James?" Remus asked, desperate to change the subject. "You were about to tell me earlier, Peter is in detention and James is…where?"

Sirius barked out another laugh and drug his hands back through his hair, tugging at a few knots, but giving up when it began to hurt his head rather than free the tangles. "James is upstairs in the common room being a total idiot. He's trying to sweet talk Anne Marie Duncan into giving him his first kiss. What a doofus. I don't know why he's bothered about it. I guess he got into some sort of bet with greasy that he could his first kiss first." He carefully jumped over the vanishing step in the staircase, but caught his toe on the base of the next, causing him to fall forward and smash his hands hard into the stone steps. He hissed in pain and looked up in astonishment at Remus, who was laughing.

"Who's clumsy now?" Remus asked, sticking his tongue out at the boy on the floor. "Yeah, don't see me tripping over any steps, now do ya?" He laughed again, and held his hand out to Sirius to help him off the ground. "That's what you deserve, if you ask me." He smirked as Sirius clasped his hand around his own. He started to tug, trying to pull the boy upwards, but was met with a downward pull he didn't expect, bringing him to the ground fast. "Hey! I was trying to help you."

Sirius scoffed and got himself pulled to sit on the step second from the top of the staircase. "Yeah, well you didn't have to rub it in while you helped," he said, bitterly. "Where did you get that mean streak anyways? I'd say you're hanging around me too much, Remus." He smiled warmly as Remus moved to sit down beside him on the step. "I don't even want to go back if I have to sit there and watch James act like an idiot in front of the whole common room. What's he so arsed about anyway? It's just a stupid kiss." He brushed his hands together, ridding them of the traces of dirt embedded into his palms from the fall. "I mean what is so special about a first kiss? It's all stupid if you ask me."

"I agree," Remus said, adjusting his robes around him and leaning his elbow onto the step behind him to rest his weight onto. When Sirius looked at him with surprise, for in wasn't often they agreed completely, he shook his head at him. "Not about the kiss, about James acting stupid. A first kiss is supposed to be special. It should be someone you want to remember, not the first person that you can talk into it." He gave a small nod and twisted the hem of his robes around his fingers. "I mean in three years, James probably won't even like Anne Marie and then he'll always be stuck with her as his first kiss. Stupid."

"You mean girl," Sirius said, pointedly. Remus looked over at the dark haired boy with confusion and raised his eyebrows. "You said not the first person you can talk into it. You mean not the first girl you can talk into it, right?" Sirius asked, elaborating on his first statement. He stared into Remus light blue eyes and waited for him to answer. "Right?" he asked again as the moment of silence stretched on a bit longer than he was comfortable with.

Remus shrugged his shoulders and leaned forward, laying his arms over his legs and putting his weight onto them. "Yeah, I guess I mean girl. I don't know, I mean for some people it wouldn't be. Like girls and stuff and some guys. I don't know. It's way too soon to be talking about stuff like kissing anyways. We're only in our second year. That stuff should wait till like…at least fifth year to worry about." He stretched his arms up above his head and gave a loud yawn. Fake. "I think I'm gonna head back to the commons, I'm exhausted. I'll see you later." He rose to his feet quickly, dashing towards the common room entrance, ignoring the sound of Sirius' hurried footsteps behind him.

"Wait," Sirius said, grabbing Remus by his arm and tugging him back away from the portrait hole entrance to the Gryffindor common room. "You're gonna be my friend in three years right?"

Remus snorted a laugh and nodded at Sirius. "If you don't push me down a flight of stairs and off me first, I will be."

"Stop making jokes, I'm trying to be serious here." Sirius stamped his foot slightly and pointed his finger into Remus' face as the boy opened his mouth. "If you make a joke about my name, I am gonna push you down the stairs," he said quickly, smirking when Remus snapped his mouth closed. "Now, I'm being se-honest here. Me and you, we'll still be friends in three years. Hell, I hope we're friends always, but I know for sure in three years."

"What is the point you're trying to make, it's getting late," Remus said, rather cattily. "Yes, we are going to be friends in three years. Yes, I do hope that we're friends always, now what's the point?"

"My point is that you…and I should…well you said that your first kiss should be someone you'll always like." Sirius chewed on his bottom lip nervously and twisted the edge of his robes over his hand.

"Actually, I said it should be someone you want to remember, but what's that got to do with us?" Remus asked, leaning over against the wall. He let out a quiet laugh and shoved his hand into Sirius' shoulder, playfully. "You sound like you're asking me to be your first kiss, Sirius."

"Your's too. I mean, it would be your first kiss too, wouldn't it?" Sirius asked, looking up at the taller boy with no sign of jest on his face. When Remus caught sight of the honesty in Sirius' eyes, he stopped his laughing and nodded slowly. Sirius smiled and cut his eyes away, taking in the empty hallways and breathing a sigh of relief at seeing no movement other than the occasional shift from one of the portrait inhabitants. "So…if we're gonna always be friends then it shouldn't be a big deal if we went ahead and got his whole first kiss business out of the way. Just…just so that we don't have to be all stressed about it later on." He rubbed at the back of his neck and cut his eyes back up towards Remus.

An audible swallow escaped from Remus as he stared down into Sirius' grey eyes. He licked over his lips, involuntarily, and let out a sharp breath. "I, um…I suppose it would be okay with me. I'm willing to have my first kiss with you." He shifted awkwardly in place and looked at the ground. "Like you said, just to get it over with and all, for later on." He nodded, though he wasn't sure why, and took a step towards Sirius. "N-now?"

"Now's good," Sirius squeaked out, his cheeks growing a hint of pink at his own words. "Just, lean down a little," he whispered. He pushed his hands back over his face and smoothed his hair out of the way, then rubbed his lips together, frowning at the dry texture. His tongue shot out, moving across them in a last ditch attempt at softening them, and he frowned again at his failure, still feeling as though they were too rough, not ready for what they were about to do. "Okay," he whispered, more to himself than Remus.

Remus leaned down a bit, to bring himself more even with the shorter boy, and took a long, deep breath to relax his racing heart. "Okay," he whispered back. A Sirius leaned towards him, he leaned away. "Close your eyes. I can't do it if you're looking at me. It makes me too nervous. Just close your eyes, alright."

Sirius did as Remus asked of him and closed his eyes tight. He waited with his lips pursed, his body utterly still, but nothing happened. He opened one eye to see Remus staring at him with a look of pure terror on his face. "Remus, you're such a baby," he snorted. "You can't be scared of a kiss. It isn't a big deal. Watch, I'll do it myself." With that, Sirius reached up and clamped his hands on the sides of Remus' face, pulling him down to where his own face could reach, and pressed his own dry, rough lips against Remus' soft, warm ones.

Ten seconds, maybe twenty at the most, they stood unmoving. Their lips held together in the nervous and awkward first embrace that neither boy was truly ready for. Their hands didn't move. Their bodies didn't move. Their lips certainly didn't move. When Sirius finally consented to release the other boy's face from his grip, Remus pulled away with a stunned grin on his lips. Both of them looked away from the other, finding random cracks in the stone walls and smudges on the floor to focus their vision on. An awkward cough and a strained sniffle was the only sound to escape either of them for a good five minutes.

Then, as though simultaneously hit with the same horrifying realization, they turned to each other. "Don't tell James." Their voices were as one, causing them to break the tension and bust into small, fitful laughs. They headed into the common room and past a sulking James Potter, who never got his kiss from Anne Marie Duncan.

We were just two twelve year olds without a clue about life. We were in way over our heads. Our clumsy first kiss was just an Innocent Experiment.

~o ~ o ~ o ~

I got a funny feeling,

the moment that your lips touched mine.

Something shot right through me.

My heart skipped a beat in time.

"You Shouldn't Kiss me Like This" - Toby Keith