Remus Lupin despises Valentine's Day at Hogwarts.
It's not the silly cards and it's certainly not the chocolates, but rather it's the ridiculous and embarrassing tradition that has grown exponentially and spread rampant over the years; it's a hormone fueled epidemic.
The Game of Three Kisses
It's a senseless game based on some barmy superstition, in which one must share three distinct kisses on Valentine's Day or they will be doomed to a year of bad fortune. The final kiss should be saved for that whom is most important, such as a crush or a significant other. In previous years, the Marauders had used the day like a prankster's Christmas, sabotaging carefully planned dates and secret snogging sessions left and right. However, this year was shaping up to be a total wash, as James Potter and his raging hormones had pumped the brakes on their mischief in order to pursue other plans.
"Boys, I'm going to kiss Lily Evans—even if it kills me."
And with that, Remus had resolutely decided that his day would be spent with his nose buried in a book, avoiding the commotion in the corridors of the castle at all costs. Students, mainly the girls, tended to flit around all day looking for easy targets to knock the first two off their list. Remus had no interest in being kissed by any girls, period, and the only person that he truly wanted to kiss was nothing more than a laughable fantasy. A fantasy, which lead to far too many uncomfortable early mornings in his four-poster bed, tossing and turning to bite down the heat crawling through his body at the sound of the voice in the bed beside his as the occupant roused—rough and husky from sleep.
His miserable crush was nothing new, and Remus had long since come to terms with the fact that Sirius Black would never be his. He settled for revelling in the quiet and accidental intimacy that their friendship sometimes awarded him, like when Padfoot would affectionately nuzzle the wolf and lick his wounds in the soft, waking daybreak after the full moon, and how Sirius would fall asleep in the chair at his bedside in the hospital wing afterward. Sirius was under the impression that the lycanthrophy was Remus' most dangerous secret, and Remus intended to keep it that way. Sirius Black, the handsome, disowned pure-blooded rebel, would someday take the hand of a beautiful girl while Remus confined himself to a life of empty solitude; it was the reality of being a werewolf, after all.
Their friendship was enough. It would have to be.
The dreadful holiday started off with a commotion, but Remus had expected nothing less. As the sun crept over the horizon, Sirius immediately launched himself onto James' bed before the other boy had a chance to wake up. James sat up with a start, bewildered and reaching around wildly for his glasses. Sirius ignored James' state of duress, grabbed his face, and planted what appeared to be a wet, slobbery, and very dog-like kiss on his cheek.
"PADFOOT!" James croaked, shoving Sirius off the bed without hesitation.
Sirius quickly stood up and made a show of dusting himself off as he exclaimed, "Prongs, my friend, you're now one step closer to sealing the deal with Miss Evans! You should be thanking me, honestly."
James rolled his eyes and chucked a pillow at Sirius' head as hard as he could, which unfortunately hit Remus in the face instead as Sirius ducked out of the way in the knick of time. He had been hit with much worse in the midst of Marauder-antics, so Remus was far from bothered. However, that didn't stop James from exclaiming "Oi! Moony!" and quickly jumping from his bed to saunter over to Remus'. Remus, horrified, attempted to dive under the covers. However, Sirius had immediately caught on to what was happening and roughly dove on top of him, effectively trapping the sheets in place between their bodies.
Remus had but a moment to contemplate Sirius' panic-inducing proximity to his embarrassing morning problem that he was hiding beneath the covers, as James quickly swooped in and planted an obnoxious kiss on his cheek.
He backed up and pumped a fist in the air, then made a peace sign as he exclaimed, "Two down! Lily Evans, I'm coming for you, my love!"
Remus collapsed back onto his pillows and grumbled, "Padfoot, you weigh a ton."
Sirius, who had been laying across Remus in the opposite direction, snickered and shifted around so that he was laying side by side with him. Remus, knowing that looking into the grey eyes that were staring at him would be far too dangerous, resolutely stared up at the canopy of the bed instead.
They laid side by side in silence for a few moments, before Remus carefully asked, "Sirius, what are you doing?"
Sirius made a show of stretching, lewd noises and all, before propping himself up on his elbow to lean over Remus as he replied in a playful voice, "Well, James is already ahead of me now. I need to get caught up to him, don't you think?"
Sirius leaned in and Remus froze, momentarily forgetting how to breathe. With much more care than was given to James, Sirius' lips ghosted his cheek—something that was akin to a kiss but not nearly enough to sate the hunger that coiled deep inside of Remus' chest. Sirius pulled back, searching Remus' eyes with an unreadable expression.
"OI, YOU WANKERS COMING TO BREAKFAST OR WHAT?"
At the sound of James' voice, Sirius quickly rolled off the bed and slid an easy grin on his face as the two began to bicker. Remus sighed, packing his emotions in tight in a battered box that was now threatening to burst, and followed suit as he got up and began to pick through his trunk in search of a fresh pair of trousers.
They hadn't been in the Great Hall but for five minutes and Remus already regretted leaving Gryffindor Tower. James was babbling on about Lily like a broken record, Peter was eagerly eyeing the room for any willing prospects, and Sirius had been propositioned by no less than seven girls on the way down. He had gracefully turned them all down—"I have to save my last for someone really special, sorry gorgeous!"—and Remus was torn between feeling grateful and nauseous upon each encounter. Not being forced to watch Sirius snog someone right in front of him was certainly a blessing, but his chest ached painfully in knowing that he was also not that special person, either.
Remus was thankful that it was a Saturday, as he was able to hurry off to the library and immerse himself in the familiarity of a pile of books like he often did when the Marauders weren't stirring up trouble in their free time. Sirius had given him a curious glance when he announced his departure, and had opened his mouth to say something, but it was shortly forgotten when James loudly interrupted as he woefully lamented about his first of many Valentine's rejections from Lily that had occurred moments earlier.
Remus lounged in the library until early evening, making no move to leave until he knew that dinner was most likely finished; he wasn't too keen on the idea of the lovesick commotion that had most likely erupted in the Great Hall over the final meal of the day. He had written two papers and made headway on a third, which was an accomplished day in his opinion. On his way back to Gryffindor Tower, he poked a head in to the kitchens and gave a bashful smile to the house elves as they scurried around to fill a plate for him. He was always a welcome guest down there, as his kind and thoughtful demeanour was reverently appreciated.
Carefully stepping through the portrait hole, Remus entered the common room to find his friends sitting around the fire, joined by Lily Evans and a few other girls. James was seated beside Lily with an arm draped on the back of the couch behind her, and Remus idly wondered how he had managed to miss such a monumental accomplishment in the course of a single day. His eyes then drifted to Sirius and his heart clenched as he watched him throw his head back in laughter, eyes sparkling with amusement as he conversed with Marlene McKinnon. Remus blanched, regretting his unfortunate timing, as he had intended to remain scarce until after Sirius woo'd his intended conquest. He purposefully headed for the stairs without acknowledging his friends, thankful that they were seemingly too busy to notice, and failed to see the way that Sirius' eyes glanced over to follow him until he was out of sight.
Remus climbed the stairs, and ran a hand over his face as he tried to temper down the burning, empty feeling that was raging in his chest. The wolf inside of him whimpered, as this kind of distress was heavy and painful like the self-hatred that Remus felt after the full moon. The wolf whined and paced, craving the comforting presence of Padfoot like it had grown to expect. Remus shook the feeling off, as he solemnly reminded the wolf that that presence was not theirs to desire.
The dormitory door shutting behind him with a click startled Remus, as he had left it slightly ajar in his wake. He turned around to find Sirius standing there, hands in his pockets and a curious look on his face. Remus looked away, he couldn't handle this right now. Sirius took two steps forward, stopping to stand within arm's reach of him. He gave him a sad smile, which confused Remus.
"You've been avoiding me today, my friend," Sirius stated plainly, and Remus just barely picked up on the hint of dejection in his tone.
Remus worried at his bottom lip as he replied, "I had some papers to finish, you know."
Sirius took another step forward, close enough that Remus could feel the warmth of his breath as he spoke, "Bullshit."
Remus looked down, unable to hold Sirius' gaze any longer. He shrugged and threw caution to the wind, hoping that their friendship was strong enough to weather this storm, stomach turning in anticipation as the words tumbled out, "I couldn't wait around to watch you kiss the person you want, Sirius. This hurts too much as it is."
Sirius' expression quickly morphed into something else as he cocked his head in confusion, "Wait, what?"
Remus sighed and opened his mouth to continue, but Sirius raised a hand and gently brushed his thumb over where Remus had been biting his lip, and the words died on his lips. Sirius regarded him for a moment, before he dropped his hand back to his side and chuckled.
"I was saving my last kiss for you. I panicked when you ran off and figured that I had weirded you out this morning. I spent the rest of the day tuning Prongs' whining out while I tried figure out whether I had misread what I've been feeling between us and—"
Sirius was cut off as Remus' lips crashed into his. When the initial shock wore off, Sirius kissed him back eagerly and then softly trailed his way down Remus' jaw and buried his face in the crook of his neck. He took a deep, shuddering breath and said, "Ah, well, I think you still need one more kiss then, yeah?"
Remus cupped Sirius' face in his hands and leaned his forehead against his. The wolf inside hummed happily as Remus inhaled the intoxicating sweet, woodsy scent of Sirius. He closed the distance between their mouths once more and spoke softly against Sirius' lips, "I think I'm going to need a lot more than that."