p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Remus awoke suddenly, as he usually did./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sometimes he was jerked awake by one of his well meaning friends as they yelled that he was about to miss breakfast. As tired as he always was, those were the good mornings. At times like this he wasn't so lucky. There was sweat on his forehead and the hangings on his bed seemed much more claustrophobic than they had when he had fallen asleep. He pushed his comforter down and turned to sneak the right side curtains open, revealing the section of the dormitory containing James' and Peter's beds. Perhaps some airflow would help him calm down./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The dormitory looked different at night, he noted. During the daytime it looked regal. The deep reds had an iridescent and expensive quality to them, and the sunlight flowing through the many windows brought a golden tone to the room. At night, the rich colors swallowed the darkness and took on a muted, shadow-like tone. Perhaps it wasn't just the absence of light creating this effect, but also the frozen energy. When the sun was up there would always be someone joking, complaining, or even quietly scratching their quill on parchment, but now Remus was almost afraid to breathe./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The thought to wake up James and give some half formed plan to sneak into Hogsmeade was crossing his mind when Remus heard a noise to his left. His pulse quickened and he began to listen more intently. Someone was opening their trunk, but why would anyone but him be awake at this hour? Had they heard him wake up? Surely they hadn't, as he'd barely moved. They were moving towards his bed now though, even though the exit was on the other side of the room. Before Remus could panic any more, the fabric on his left was pulled aside, and Sirius's face appeared. Remus stared at him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Honestly Moony, do you ever sleep? Here I am trying to surprise you and you're already awake." Sirius wasn't a morning person, but Remus was surprised to see that he was smiling and his eyes were open wide./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Maybe if my roommates didn't keep the most wildly varying schedule known to man, I'd be a little more stable." Remus may have sounded reprimanding, but he was too eager to be up and about to truly commit. He sat up and shot Sirius a questioning look, desperate to know his plans. "Should I wake James and Peter?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No." Sirius responded hurriedly. "No, it's alright. I've already got the cloak." He held the glossy fabric up in one hand, and Remus noted that the other was hidden behind his back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Sirius," Remus chided, "what are you hiding from me, and why don't you want James to know about it?" There was no response, unless you counted the innocent look plastered across Sirius' face. "And when did you take that cloak? You know James doesn't like us using it without his permission. It was his dad's."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Don't worry, James gave me permission to use the cloak." The innocent look was still in place, and Remus wasn't buying it. He crossed his arms in response, smirking as Sirius faltered for just a moment. "No, really. He said I could use it, he just. He may not have given me permission to use his broom as well, because I didn't ask."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Sirius you have a broom. Why would you need to steal James' in the middle of the night?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well yeah, *I* have a broom. You on the other hand are broomless. Now get up and change, but don't wake James up." Remus sighed, but there was no real weight behind it. He wasn't really sure why he was objecting so much, seeing as he had been on the verge of waking the group up before Sirius had saved him the trouble. All he knew was that the idea of Sirius knowing how much he appreciated this made him feel warm again, so he turned to the side and slid out of bed./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't have quidditch robes." Remus looked at Sirius as he spoke, taking in his red and gold house robes and suddenly feeling self conscious. "/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""That's alright, they just look flashy really," Sirius assured, but when Remus didn't look placated he turned to go through his trunk again, digging all the way down to the bottom. He reemerged after a moment, holding something out for Remus. "Here, these are what I played in before I made the team." Remus took the robes and was pleasantly surprised at how light the material was. "You can have them, if you want." Sirius reached a hand up behind his head as he spoke, playing absent-mindedly with the hairs at the nape of his neck. "I mean, it's not as if I really wear them anymore. Flashy suits me better."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Taking Sirius's explanation at face value, Remus began changing, removing his pajamas and slipping on the light athletic robes. Sirius became intensely curious about a bug on the window sill, That was probably a good thing considering Remus almost tripped twice trying to get the pants on. They were a tad tight–which made sense considering Sirius had made the team two years ago, during their third term–but Remus liked them all the same. Once the sounds of shifting fabric had stopped, Sirius lost interest in the rather ordinary beetle he had been studying. He turned on the spot and held James' broom out. Remus too it, vowing to himself that he wouldn't somehow find a way to break it. A wide smile broke out on Sirius' face that Remus couldn't help but return, and they slipped out into the common room together./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Right, so we've got about four hours until the sun is up, and we need to make a quick stop before we go to the quidditch pitch." Sirius was speaking a bit louder now that they were out of the dormitory. There was no longer the risk of waking someone up./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""A quick stop?" Remus stopped short of the portrait hole, shooting a critical look at his friend./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah, just a quick one. It'll take two seconds." Remus continued to stare him down, and eventually he sighed. "Honestly Remus, you're overthinking this. We just need to break into Hooch's office to get the game balls." Remus gave a skeptical look, but allowed himself to be covered with the cloak, careful not to hit James' broom on the edge as he fell out of the portrait hole./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The trip to Madam Hooch's office did indeed take two seconds, and Remus got the distinct impression that Sirius had done this before. The room wasn't locked, but there were a wide variety of places the balls could have been hidden. Seeing his hesitation, Sirius grabbed his arm and ushered him to the side of the room, pointing to a tall cabinet with several oddly shaped compartments. Remus was forced to climb onto the short cabinet next to it with him, or else be left standing in plain view without the protection of the invisibility cloak. The cabinet didn't offer a very wide surface, and Remus had to hold on to Sirius' cloak in order to prevent himself from falling backwards. Sirius however, remained steady. Remus felt warm again as he mentally noted that somebody less athletic would have easily been pulled off, and he stepped off the cabinet again as soon as Sirius had procured the case they were after./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They met no obstacles on the way to the quidditch pitch. While students had been known to prowl the castle at night, it was the middle of the winter and nobody in their right minds would be perusing the grounds for leisure. Even if professors had been patrolling the grounds, there was hardly a moon tonight, and their chances of being seen were slim. Sirius threw the cloak off of them the minute they arrived at the pitch, folding it carefully and setting it on a low stand where it would be partially protected from the wind. He set the case on top of it and flicked open the clasps. Remus mounted his broom, hoping to gain his bearings before Sirius turned around./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm not releasing the snitch, since it'd be impossible to find in this dark." Sirius was running his hand over the catches, waiting for a response. Remus didn't give one, as he was too focused on trying to steady himself. "I could do a bludger if you want. Do you think you could dodge it in this visibility? I know they're dark but they're pretty easy to hear if you know they're there." Remus could feel himself shifting to the right, losing his balance. He stumbled off awkwardly, unhooking his left leg with difficulty from the still hovering broom. He looked up to see Sirius staring at him, an indescribable look on his face. He quickly turned it into a smirk "Then again, maybe we should start with the basics. I mean honestly Moony, you look like you've never touched a broom before." Remus felt his cheeks coloring as he debated his response./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well, I mean." He brought his arms out awkwardly, not quite a shrug but not quite anything else either. "I haven't." Sirius' eyes widened in surprise./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You've never flown?" Sirius was clearly in shock. "How come I didn't know that? I should've known that Remus."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well, it's not as if I had anyone to play with before I came to Hogwarts." He said placatingly "And my parents had more important things to worry about. Not that they, I mean, they were fantastic, just. We just didn't play quidditch, that's all. I thought I'd learn our first year, but the lesson was on the day after the full moon. You lot didn't know about me yet." Sirius was still staring, but after what seemed to be some very intense concentration, he took in a deep breath./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Right. Basics it is then. First, grab James' broom. He'd kill you if you let it blow away."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Remus turned as saw that James' broom was indeed several feet from him now, slowly drifting away. He bounded towards it, grabbed it, and turned back to Sirius, silently asking what to do next./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""So, go ahead and mount it." Sirius held one arm out to gesture towards the broom. Remus bristled, very aware of the gaze fixed on him. He swung his leg back over the broom, looking back up for his next instructions./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Your grip is wrong, it needs to be up a bit higher." Remus moved his hands up higher, shifting as he leaned forward. "No, now you've got them twisted." Remus looked down at his hands and hesitantly shifted them out. It made his elbows bend awkwardly. He stared perplexedly at his hands, sure that he was still wrong but not quite sure *how* he was wrong. Suddenly, there was another pair of hands on his own, twisting them back inwards and prodding him to move them even further up. He hadn't realized how quite how cold he was until he'd felt that body heat, and he was disappointed when the contact ceased. It returned quickly though as Sirius grabbed his elbows and prodded them inward, forcing his bodyweight to shift into a more comfortable balance./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Right." Remus' voice cracked and he almost broke his grip to cover his face in embarrassment./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Right." Sirius responded cooly. Remus was endlessly grateful for his nonchalance. "Now you fly. Just kick up a little, not much. Try to stay straight, or you might go drifting off a bit." Remus took a deep breath and kicked up into the air. It was an odd feeling, hovering like that, even though he'd barely gone a foot into the air. He stayed in place, wobbling slightly a couple of times but quickly righting himself. He felt Sirius move his hand to his back, urging him to shift his weight forward. He did so and was rewarded with a return to solid ground. He felt a smile crawling onto his face, and quickly turned it on to Sirius. Sirius smiled back, wide and genuine./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I've just flown!" Remus let his incredulousness seep into his voice. Sirius shook his head./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Technically, yes, but you haven't *really* yet. Not the fun stuff." He hooked his arm around Remus' shoulders and gave him a conspiratorial wink. "Wanna learn the fun stuff?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The next two hours saw a rapid improvement, and Remus even managed to catch the quaffle a once or twice. James' broom scared him a bit if he was being honest. It was quite high end, and if he leaned forward too far he would find himself flying far to fast to control. When that happened he would slow down as quickly as he could, and Sirius would fly over and throw a steadying arm around him. He would talk about some quidditch rule or suggest a broom model as if that was the reason he'd flown over in the first place. Eventually though, Remus noted that the eastern sky was looking a bit less dim, and he knew they needed to leave if they were going to be back in the dormitory before dawn. Remus wasn't sure where the four hours had gone./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sirius agreed to leave on the condition that Remus race him around the pitch first. Remus wasn't going to agree, but then he thought about Sirius rushing over to him the last time he'd gotten out of hand. He nodded his head, suddenly unable to speak for the knot in his throat./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It shouldn't have been a close race, but Sirius remained just in front of him on purpose, egging him on. It wouldn't have usually worked, but Remus found himself taking the bait anyway. He was pushing himself a little further at every turn, laughing as Sirius turned back to check on him. He couldn't stop right away when they made it back to the hoops, but Sirius caught up with him and helped him back down. He didn't remove his arm from his shoulders after they'd dismounted, keeping it casually draped in place as he stuffed his other hand awkwardly into his pocket. He led the way back over to the case, and cursed as he realized he'd left the quaffle on the pitch. He awkwardly removed his arm and bounded towards the center of the pitch where he'd abandoned it, running back and thrusting it unceremoniously in the case and closing it. Remus grabbed the cloak and threw it back over them, smiling at Sirius again and grabbing both brooms in one hand as he did so. Sirius gave a nervous laugh, and they both walked back towards the castle./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They were about halfway to Madam Hooch's office when Remus felt something jab him painfully in the leg. He swore a little too loudly, glaring at Sirius–who had been moving the case from his inside hand to his outside hand, hitting Remus with the corner in the process. They both froze as professor McGonagall's voice rang out in the hallway./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Whoever made that noise, show yourself immediately." The hallway lit up as she turned the corner, wand lit. Sirius grabbed Remus' arm and pulled him back against the wall. McGonagall was looking around suspiciously, lips pursed. Remus held his breath, and the stillness of the boy next to him suggested he wasn't the only one. After an unbearable period of time somewhere between thirty seconds and four minutes, she let out an unconvinced "hmm" sound and left the corridor. Exchanging looks of triumph, Remus allowed Sirius to lead the way again. Sirius had not let go of Remus' arm fully, but his grip had softened and his hand had moved from his upper arm down almost to his wrist. He didn't even let go as he was returning the case to the cabinet, which Remus found to be quite the feat, as he'd had to manage lifting the case above him with only one arm./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As they climbed back down from the lower, neighboring cabinet, Sirius shifted his hand again, lacing his fingers in Remus' own. Remus turned around and saw an uncharacteristically cautious look on Sirius' face and felt his own face heating as well. He wondered absently just how many times that was going to happen tonight. He felt a smile creep onto his face despite the awkwardness, and Sirius looked equal parts relieved and terrified as Remus tightened his grip, taking the lead as they walked out of the room. Sirius caught up quickly, walking so close to Remus that their arms were touching all the way up to the shoulder. That two minute walk back up to the common room was the best part of Remus' night, and that was saying something./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As they walked back into the dormitory–reluctantly letting go of each others hands and returning James' things quietly back to his trunk–Remus thought back to how this evening had started. He thought about how the night could have turned out had he simply stayed awake in his bed until morning. He turned to Sirius and gave him a shy smile before retiring into his bed. He wondered what it would be like tomorrow morning. If things would be different. He pulled his comforter up to his chin and noted that he was still wearing the quidditch robes Sirius had given him. He had no desire to change into pajamas./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Thirty minutes later, he awoke suddenly. Sirius was smiling at him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Wake up Moony, you're going to miss breakfast!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sometimes he was jerked awake by one of his well meaning friends as they yelled that he was about to miss breakfast. As tired as he always was, those were the good mornings. At times like this he wasn't so lucky. There was sweat on his forehead and the hangings on his bed seemed much more claustrophobic than they had when he had fallen asleep. He pushed his comforter down and turned to sneak the right side curtains open, revealing the section of the dormitory containing James' and Peter's beds. Perhaps some airflow would help him calm down./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The dormitory looked different at night, he noted. During the daytime it looked regal. The deep reds had an iridescent and expensive quality to them, and the sunlight flowing through the many windows brought a golden tone to the room. At night, the rich colors swallowed the darkness and took on a muted, shadow-like tone. Perhaps it wasn't just the absence of light creating this effect, but also the frozen energy. When the sun was up there would always be someone joking, complaining, or even quietly scratching their quill on parchment, but now Remus was almost afraid to breathe./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The thought to wake up James and give some half formed plan to sneak into Hogsmeade was crossing his mind when Remus heard a noise to his left. His pulse quickened and he began to listen more intently. Someone was opening their trunk, but why would anyone but him be awake at this hour? Had they heard him wake up? Surely they hadn't, as he'd barely moved. They were moving towards his bed now though, even though the exit was on the other side of the room. Before Remus could panic any more, the fabric on his left was pulled aside, and Sirius's face appeared. Remus stared at him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Honestly Moony, do you ever sleep? Here I am trying to surprise you and you're already awake." Sirius wasn't a morning person, but Remus was surprised to see that he was smiling and his eyes were open wide./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Maybe if my roommates didn't keep the most wildly varying schedule known to man, I'd be a little more stable." Remus may have sounded reprimanding, but he was too eager to be up and about to truly commit. He sat up and shot Sirius a questioning look, desperate to know his plans. "Should I wake James and Peter?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No." Sirius responded hurriedly. "No, it's alright. I've already got the cloak." He held the glossy fabric up in one hand, and Remus noted that the other was hidden behind his back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Sirius," Remus chided, "what are you hiding from me, and why don't you want James to know about it?" There was no response, unless you counted the innocent look plastered across Sirius' face. "And when did you take that cloak? You know James doesn't like us using it without his permission. It was his dad's."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Don't worry, James gave me permission to use the cloak." The innocent look was still in place, and Remus wasn't buying it. He crossed his arms in response, smirking as Sirius faltered for just a moment. "No, really. He said I could use it, he just. He may not have given me permission to use his broom as well, because I didn't ask."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Sirius you have a broom. Why would you need to steal James' in the middle of the night?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well yeah, *I* have a broom. You on the other hand are broomless. Now get up and change, but don't wake James up." Remus sighed, but there was no real weight behind it. He wasn't really sure why he was objecting so much, seeing as he had been on the verge of waking the group up before Sirius had saved him the trouble. All he knew was that the idea of Sirius knowing how much he appreciated this made him feel warm again, so he turned to the side and slid out of bed./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't have quidditch robes." Remus looked at Sirius as he spoke, taking in his red and gold house robes and suddenly feeling self conscious. "/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""That's alright, they just look flashy really," Sirius assured, but when Remus didn't look placated he turned to go through his trunk again, digging all the way down to the bottom. He reemerged after a moment, holding something out for Remus. "Here, these are what I played in before I made the team." Remus took the robes and was pleasantly surprised at how light the material was. "You can have them, if you want." Sirius reached a hand up behind his head as he spoke, playing absent-mindedly with the hairs at the nape of his neck. "I mean, it's not as if I really wear them anymore. Flashy suits me better."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Taking Sirius's explanation at face value, Remus began changing, removing his pajamas and slipping on the light athletic robes. Sirius became intensely curious about a bug on the window sill, That was probably a good thing considering Remus almost tripped twice trying to get the pants on. They were a tad tight–which made sense considering Sirius had made the team two years ago, during their third term–but Remus liked them all the same. Once the sounds of shifting fabric had stopped, Sirius lost interest in the rather ordinary beetle he had been studying. He turned on the spot and held James' broom out. Remus too it, vowing to himself that he wouldn't somehow find a way to break it. A wide smile broke out on Sirius' face that Remus couldn't help but return, and they slipped out into the common room together./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Right, so we've got about four hours until the sun is up, and we need to make a quick stop before we go to the quidditch pitch." Sirius was speaking a bit louder now that they were out of the dormitory. There was no longer the risk of waking someone up./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""A quick stop?" Remus stopped short of the portrait hole, shooting a critical look at his friend./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah, just a quick one. It'll take two seconds." Remus continued to stare him down, and eventually he sighed. "Honestly Remus, you're overthinking this. We just need to break into Hooch's office to get the game balls." Remus gave a skeptical look, but allowed himself to be covered with the cloak, careful not to hit James' broom on the edge as he fell out of the portrait hole./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The trip to Madam Hooch's office did indeed take two seconds, and Remus got the distinct impression that Sirius had done this before. The room wasn't locked, but there were a wide variety of places the balls could have been hidden. Seeing his hesitation, Sirius grabbed his arm and ushered him to the side of the room, pointing to a tall cabinet with several oddly shaped compartments. Remus was forced to climb onto the short cabinet next to it with him, or else be left standing in plain view without the protection of the invisibility cloak. The cabinet didn't offer a very wide surface, and Remus had to hold on to Sirius' cloak in order to prevent himself from falling backwards. Sirius however, remained steady. Remus felt warm again as he mentally noted that somebody less athletic would have easily been pulled off, and he stepped off the cabinet again as soon as Sirius had procured the case they were after./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They met no obstacles on the way to the quidditch pitch. While students had been known to prowl the castle at night, it was the middle of the winter and nobody in their right minds would be perusing the grounds for leisure. Even if professors had been patrolling the grounds, there was hardly a moon tonight, and their chances of being seen were slim. Sirius threw the cloak off of them the minute they arrived at the pitch, folding it carefully and setting it on a low stand where it would be partially protected from the wind. He set the case on top of it and flicked open the clasps. Remus mounted his broom, hoping to gain his bearings before Sirius turned around./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm not releasing the snitch, since it'd be impossible to find in this dark." Sirius was running his hand over the catches, waiting for a response. Remus didn't give one, as he was too focused on trying to steady himself. "I could do a bludger if you want. Do you think you could dodge it in this visibility? I know they're dark but they're pretty easy to hear if you know they're there." Remus could feel himself shifting to the right, losing his balance. He stumbled off awkwardly, unhooking his left leg with difficulty from the still hovering broom. He looked up to see Sirius staring at him, an indescribable look on his face. He quickly turned it into a smirk "Then again, maybe we should start with the basics. I mean honestly Moony, you look like you've never touched a broom before." Remus felt his cheeks coloring as he debated his response./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well, I mean." He brought his arms out awkwardly, not quite a shrug but not quite anything else either. "I haven't." Sirius' eyes widened in surprise./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You've never flown?" Sirius was clearly in shock. "How come I didn't know that? I should've known that Remus."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well, it's not as if I had anyone to play with before I came to Hogwarts." He said placatingly "And my parents had more important things to worry about. Not that they, I mean, they were fantastic, just. We just didn't play quidditch, that's all. I thought I'd learn our first year, but the lesson was on the day after the full moon. You lot didn't know about me yet." Sirius was still staring, but after what seemed to be some very intense concentration, he took in a deep breath./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Right. Basics it is then. First, grab James' broom. He'd kill you if you let it blow away."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Remus turned as saw that James' broom was indeed several feet from him now, slowly drifting away. He bounded towards it, grabbed it, and turned back to Sirius, silently asking what to do next./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""So, go ahead and mount it." Sirius held one arm out to gesture towards the broom. Remus bristled, very aware of the gaze fixed on him. He swung his leg back over the broom, looking back up for his next instructions./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Your grip is wrong, it needs to be up a bit higher." Remus moved his hands up higher, shifting as he leaned forward. "No, now you've got them twisted." Remus looked down at his hands and hesitantly shifted them out. It made his elbows bend awkwardly. He stared perplexedly at his hands, sure that he was still wrong but not quite sure *how* he was wrong. Suddenly, there was another pair of hands on his own, twisting them back inwards and prodding him to move them even further up. He hadn't realized how quite how cold he was until he'd felt that body heat, and he was disappointed when the contact ceased. It returned quickly though as Sirius grabbed his elbows and prodded them inward, forcing his bodyweight to shift into a more comfortable balance./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Right." Remus' voice cracked and he almost broke his grip to cover his face in embarrassment./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Right." Sirius responded cooly. Remus was endlessly grateful for his nonchalance. "Now you fly. Just kick up a little, not much. Try to stay straight, or you might go drifting off a bit." Remus took a deep breath and kicked up into the air. It was an odd feeling, hovering like that, even though he'd barely gone a foot into the air. He stayed in place, wobbling slightly a couple of times but quickly righting himself. He felt Sirius move his hand to his back, urging him to shift his weight forward. He did so and was rewarded with a return to solid ground. He felt a smile crawling onto his face, and quickly turned it on to Sirius. Sirius smiled back, wide and genuine./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I've just flown!" Remus let his incredulousness seep into his voice. Sirius shook his head./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Technically, yes, but you haven't *really* yet. Not the fun stuff." He hooked his arm around Remus' shoulders and gave him a conspiratorial wink. "Wanna learn the fun stuff?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The next two hours saw a rapid improvement, and Remus even managed to catch the quaffle a once or twice. James' broom scared him a bit if he was being honest. It was quite high end, and if he leaned forward too far he would find himself flying far to fast to control. When that happened he would slow down as quickly as he could, and Sirius would fly over and throw a steadying arm around him. He would talk about some quidditch rule or suggest a broom model as if that was the reason he'd flown over in the first place. Eventually though, Remus noted that the eastern sky was looking a bit less dim, and he knew they needed to leave if they were going to be back in the dormitory before dawn. Remus wasn't sure where the four hours had gone./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sirius agreed to leave on the condition that Remus race him around the pitch first. Remus wasn't going to agree, but then he thought about Sirius rushing over to him the last time he'd gotten out of hand. He nodded his head, suddenly unable to speak for the knot in his throat./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It shouldn't have been a close race, but Sirius remained just in front of him on purpose, egging him on. It wouldn't have usually worked, but Remus found himself taking the bait anyway. He was pushing himself a little further at every turn, laughing as Sirius turned back to check on him. He couldn't stop right away when they made it back to the hoops, but Sirius caught up with him and helped him back down. He didn't remove his arm from his shoulders after they'd dismounted, keeping it casually draped in place as he stuffed his other hand awkwardly into his pocket. He led the way back over to the case, and cursed as he realized he'd left the quaffle on the pitch. He awkwardly removed his arm and bounded towards the center of the pitch where he'd abandoned it, running back and thrusting it unceremoniously in the case and closing it. Remus grabbed the cloak and threw it back over them, smiling at Sirius again and grabbing both brooms in one hand as he did so. Sirius gave a nervous laugh, and they both walked back towards the castle./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They were about halfway to Madam Hooch's office when Remus felt something jab him painfully in the leg. He swore a little too loudly, glaring at Sirius–who had been moving the case from his inside hand to his outside hand, hitting Remus with the corner in the process. They both froze as professor McGonagall's voice rang out in the hallway./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Whoever made that noise, show yourself immediately." The hallway lit up as she turned the corner, wand lit. Sirius grabbed Remus' arm and pulled him back against the wall. McGonagall was looking around suspiciously, lips pursed. Remus held his breath, and the stillness of the boy next to him suggested he wasn't the only one. After an unbearable period of time somewhere between thirty seconds and four minutes, she let out an unconvinced "hmm" sound and left the corridor. Exchanging looks of triumph, Remus allowed Sirius to lead the way again. Sirius had not let go of Remus' arm fully, but his grip had softened and his hand had moved from his upper arm down almost to his wrist. He didn't even let go as he was returning the case to the cabinet, which Remus found to be quite the feat, as he'd had to manage lifting the case above him with only one arm./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As they climbed back down from the lower, neighboring cabinet, Sirius shifted his hand again, lacing his fingers in Remus' own. Remus turned around and saw an uncharacteristically cautious look on Sirius' face and felt his own face heating as well. He wondered absently just how many times that was going to happen tonight. He felt a smile creep onto his face despite the awkwardness, and Sirius looked equal parts relieved and terrified as Remus tightened his grip, taking the lead as they walked out of the room. Sirius caught up quickly, walking so close to Remus that their arms were touching all the way up to the shoulder. That two minute walk back up to the common room was the best part of Remus' night, and that was saying something./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As they walked back into the dormitory–reluctantly letting go of each others hands and returning James' things quietly back to his trunk–Remus thought back to how this evening had started. He thought about how the night could have turned out had he simply stayed awake in his bed until morning. He turned to Sirius and gave him a shy smile before retiring into his bed. He wondered what it would be like tomorrow morning. If things would be different. He pulled his comforter up to his chin and noted that he was still wearing the quidditch robes Sirius had given him. He had no desire to change into pajamas./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Thirty minutes later, he awoke suddenly. Sirius was smiling at him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Wake up Moony, you're going to miss breakfast!"/p