Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Warning: Oneshot. A spin-off (in a way) from A Tale of Two Puppies – you really ought to read ToTP first, but I don't think it's completely necessary. This scene takes place something during the first few weeks of the Marauders' first year, between Chapters 2 and 3 of ToTP (so somewhere around the third week of school). Sirius's POV.

Before I Sleep

"I don't believe you, Sirius," Remus snapped, glaring angrily at the black haired boy. "We haven't even been in school a month and you already have detention."

"Not just me," Sirius pointed out proudly. "James does, too."

"That's not something to be happy about!" Remus's voice was low, but sharp. "Don't you have any sense?"

Sirius felt an unfamiliar sinking feeling in his stomach. "It's not that bad," he tried to reason.

"We have all sorts of work to do," Remus reminded him, amber eyes glinting dangerously in the firelight. "You're going to lose a whole night of studying. And why, Sirius? Because you just had to turn Snape's hair pink! Pink!"

"He was asking for it," Sirius muttered uncomfortably.

"Where did you even learn that spell?" Remus demanded. "It's not in any of our books."

"Romy has a book on hair charms," Sirius admitted and immediately wished he hadn't.

Remus's mouth had become a thin line, just like McGonagall's did when she was angry, and, for a split second, Sirius thought he saw that strange yellow in Remus's eyes that seemed to appear every time the older girl was mentioned.

"James and I borrowed it," Sirius rushed on, half wishing they hadn't. He was already starting to feel guilty. Not because he and James had turned the Slytherin's hair pink, of course, that had been brilliant (the color and the prank), but because Remus was upset with him. "We found the charm in there. We were trying to find something to make his hair lie flat."

"Good luck to you with that," Remus said, a little nastily, perhaps. He flushed almost instantly, as though he hadn't meant it to sound quite so vicious.

Though he was quickly learning that it was a bad idea to bring up Romy in Remus's presence, Sirius had yet to figure out why his friend was so bothered by her. Romy had been nothing but friendly, after all… Though, now that Sirius thought of it, he didn't think his friend and his cousin had spoken to each other since that first night. Romy always seemed to find him when Remus wasn't around.

"But what were you thinking?" Remus had jumped back to his lecture. "Or were you thinking at all? You know you're not supposed to do magic in the corridors. Nor are you supposed to cast spells on other students. And yet you just had to turn his hair pink! In the corridor outside Professor McGonagall's classroom! Are you thick?"

Sirius mumbled something that he hoped sounded like whatever the words were that Remus wanted to hear.

"What?" Remus hissed.

No such luck, Sirius thought.

"I asked you what you said, Sirius," Remus gritted.

"I didn't say anything," Sirius grumbled petulantly, feeling very young.

Remus's nostrils flared slightly as his eyes narrowed and the line of his lips grew thinner.

Guess that was the wrong thing to say, Sirius thought, chewing his lip uncomfortably.

"All right, then," the amber-eyed boy bit out. "If that's how it's going to be." His jaw clenched for a moment as if he were fighting for calm.

Sirius prayed for the floor to open up and swallow him.

"Good night, Sirius," Remus said stiffly and turned on his heel to stalk up the spiral staircase to the dormitory.

Sirius stared after him, torn between wanting to chase him down and apologize – or at least figure out why Remus was so angry – and wanting to prove that he was Sirius Black and could do whatever the hell he wanted without having to answer to anyone.

"Sirius!" James's voice rang out across the common room as the portrait hole banged open.

Sirius turned.

Peter and James were making their way across the room towards him, arms full of food from the kitchens.

Romy showed us how to get there that night when Remus was somewhere in the Abyss of Words, Sirius thought morosely.

"Why so glum, chum?" James asked, grinning so widely he looked at though his face would split in two. "Not even a month at school and we've got detention! That's got to be some kind of record. And did you see that git's face when he realized what we'd done?"

"Yeah," Sirius nodded, trying to smile. "I saw. Pretty great, huh?"

"You don't look so great," Peter informed him.

"Thanks, Peter," Sirius grunted.

"Just saying," Peter mumbled defensively. He turned his attention to the food in his arms, trying to extricate a roll without dropping everything else.

"So what's the what?" James inquired, peering closely at Sirius. "You look like someone just killed your dog."

"It's nothing," Sirius replied hurriedly. "So, pink hair. Pretty great, huh?"

"You already said that," James pointed out.

"Yeah, well," Sirius fidgeted. "It was pretty great." He glanced involuntarily towards the stairs and sighed. "Rem's upset we got detention," he admitted.

James quirked an eyebrow. "So? You know how he is about rules."

"Yeah," Sirius nodded, looking back at James. "Yeah, I know." He shook himself and smiled, forcefully pushing thoughts of Remus's displeasure to the back of his mind. "So, Snape with pink hair, that was priceless, wasn't it?"

James chuckled, though he was still studying Sirius with a speculative gleam in his hazel eyes.

Sirius shifted uncomfortably.

"Roll?" Peter offered, finally succeeding in his mission and shoving a chunk of bread in his own mouth.

– – – – –

That night, for the first time since he'd arrived at school, Sirius could not sleep. He lay in his bed and stared up at the curtains, vaguely thinking of counting unicorns, but unable to focus on anything except the furious glint in Remus's eyes as he called him 'Sirius.'

Sirius flinched just remembering, feeling again that guilty swoop in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't remember ever feeling guilty for anything and he didn't like it.

He shifted around a bit, punched his pillow into a better shape, shifted some more, and closed his eyes tightly. After several minutes he opened them again with a frustrated sigh. It was useless. He needed to know if Remus was still angry with him and if he was – which was likely – he had to find a way to fix it.

He slipped out of his bed and wandered over to the window. He sat for a moment, staring at the waxing moon, wondering what he could do to convince Remus to forgive him. He looked back towards Remus's bed, scowling at the closed curtains that seemed to taunt him. His gaze drifted over the bedside table and froze abruptly on an empty Chocolate Frog wrapper.

Chocolate! he thought, the proverbial light turning on over his head. Remus loves chocolate. He can't say no to it.

He scrambled off the window seat towards his trunk, digging frantically through the mess inside, trying to be quiet despite his haste.

Where is it? I know I have some somewhere in here – Aha! He pulled a large bar of chocolate from a bag and closed the trunk carefully to keep from making any noise.

He stood and tiptoed across to Remus's bed. He pulled the curtains apart a bit and peeked inside.

Remus lay sound asleep, tawny hair half covering his face, lips parted slightly as he breathed.

Without thinking, Sirius reached out and gently brushed Remus's hair back from his face.

Remus sighed softly and leaned into the light touch.

Sirius gulped, confused by the unfamiliar swooping sensation of his stomach, nothing like the earlier pang of guilt. He shook his head to clear it.

"Remus," he whispered, carefully shaking his friend's shoulder. "Rem, wake up."

Remus gave a soft moan – making Sirius's stomach flip over again – and opened his eyes. He took in the darkness, and Sirius standing by his bed, and sat bolt upright, eyes widening in alarm.

"What's wrong?" he demanded anxiously. "What's happened?"

Sirius waved his hands frantically in a shushing gesture at Remus's loud voice. "The others are still asleep," he whispered. "Nothing's happened. Everyone's fine."

"Oh." Remus relaxed visibly. "Then why are you up? What time is it?"

"Late," Sirius murmured. "After midnight. I'm not sure exactly."

"Then…" Remus prompted.

"Are you still angry with me?" Sirius asked in a rush.

"What?" In the moonlight creeping through the curtains, Sirius could make out the startled expression on the smaller boy's face.

"About McGonagall giving me and James detention," Sirius clarified.

"You woke me up in the middle of the night to ask if I'm still angry with you about getting detention." Remus was staring up at him in disbelief.

"I couldn't sleep," Sirius explained.

Remus gave an exasperated groan, dropping his head to his hands. "Oh, for the love of –"

"Because if you are angry," Sirius cut him off hurriedly, "I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry."

Remus looked up, surprise etched clearly on his face. "You're sorry?" he asked.

"And I brought you chocolate," Sirius added quickly, holding out the bar. "To make up for upsetting you."

"You brought me chocolate," Remus repeated, looking back and forth between Sirius and his offering.

"I was hoping it would convince you to forgive me," Sirius admitted, suddenly feeling very foolish.

"Oh." Remus still looked a little surprised. "Of course I forgive you, Siri." He smiled.

Sirius could suppress his sigh of relief and he impulsively leaned in and wrapped his arms around his friend, causing them both to topple over on the bed.

There was a very awkward moment as Sirius looked down at the boy pinned beneath him – who seemed a little flushed, but that was probably just a tick of the light – then he hastily clambered off the smaller boy and stuck out the chocolate. "Here."

Remus slowly sat up again and took the chocolate. "Thanks," he murmured.

"Well, er…" Sirius shifted awkwardly for a moment then turned towards his own bed. "Good night."

"Wait!" Remus's soft call brought Sirius back in a flash. The younger boy smiled. "Sit with me," he said. "Have some." As he spoke, he unwrapped the candy bar and broke it in two, offering one half to the grey-eyed boy.

Sirius felt a strangely shy smile curl his lips as he took the proffered sweet and sat down on Remus's bed.

They ate in silence, the warm, sweet smell of chocolate enveloping them in the darkness.

"Thanks," he said quietly when he was done.

Remus nodded, understanding that the gratitude wasn't just for the chocolate. He reached out and took one of Sirius's hands in his, giving it a tight squeeze before releasing.

Sirius rose and headed back to his own bed. "Good night," he said again, just loudly enough to be heard, as he climbed between his sheets.

"Good night, Siri," Remus replied softly.

Sirius smiled into his pillow, happy and comfortable, the taste of chocolate on his lips and the feel of Remus's warm hand on his. He sighed contentedly, eyes drifting closed. Within moments, he was fast asleep.

END

A/N: Erk. So, um… I know I was supposed to update RKoW this weekend, but work got kind of out of hand, so I haven't had a chance to finish the next chapter. Soon! I promise! So, um… What do you think of this one? Please review and let me know! - :hands out cookies to all reviewers: