Saying no to You

Relationships: JP/LE, SB/RL

Rating: PG-13 for now; may change to R in later chapters

A/N: My first fic to be posted. Be nice and I'll continue it (I intend to anyway). And as always, review! Please?

It was late at night when Sirius finally returned to the Gryffindor common room. Peter had long since retreated to their dormitory, so only James and Remus were present to witness Sirius's triumph. Indeed, Sirius looked much more pleased with himself than usual. His mischievous grin told his friends exactly what he probably would not without exaggeration: he had just come from a particularly excellent shag, obviously with some new girl with the looks to earn his attentions.

            "Who was it this time?" asked James, not out of curiosity, but to get the bragging part of his friend's confession over.

            "Chloe Mathers," Sirius replied, grinning broadly. "You know, the Ravenclaw sixth-year."

            James nodded. Remus only frowned.

            "We had to meet later than we wanted to because McGonagall was hanging around." He winked roguishly at his friends, neither of whom was very entertained with what he had just told them.

            Remus kept his mouth closed and felt his frown deepen. Of all things to brag about, it had to be how good a shag Chloe Mathers was. Remus personally got tired of hearing Sirius voice his belief that he was God's gift to women. After all, there were only so many girls in Hogwarts, and it seemed that Sirius's goal was to have gotten inside each of their skirts at least once before he graduated. Yet somehow, it wasn't the idea that Sirius was bragging about his escapades that bothered Remus. No, what really disturbed him was that it was Sirius who was going about sleeping with every girl in the school. He puzzled over the thought for a moment before rejecting it. Why should he care what Sirius chose to do with his life? It wasn't as if their friendship was going to suffer because of it.

            Sirius was busy telling James exactly what Chloe was like. "She wasn't very good, but since she's attractive…" he was saying. James only nodded with feigned interest as Sirius went on, with more flagrant details than before. He was using such descriptive language about his experience that Remus was sure he was about to vomit. Indeed, he stood up abruptly and left the room, taking the stairs to the dormitory three at a time. "What's wrong with him?" asked Sirius, all interest in his talk about Chloe Mathers flying out the window as he looked up the stairs after Remus.

            "Maybe he doesn't like detail," said James blandly.

            Sirius dropped the whole boast and went dashing upstairs after his friend, arriving in the dormitory in record time. He approached the closed hangings around Remus's bed and jerked them apart. He gulped hard and faltered, forgetting what he was about to say. Of course, Sirius Black never lost his train of thought without good reason.

            He was looking down at a very wide-awake – and quite scantily clad – Remus. The regulation black school robes had been shed for smoky gray sleep shorts, enough to make any sane person's mouth water when they saw what was outlined there. Sirius, sadly, was a sane person. He stood with his mouth hanging open until Remus sat up, not even bothering to pull the blanket around him, and said, "What is it, Padfoot?"

            Sirius nearly fell over, still dazed. He closed his mouth for a moment, but it fell open again within seconds. "Uhh, nothing," he lied. God, why did he have to behave this way around one of his best friends? After all, it was only Remus, though at the moment he was looking incredibly sexy. Sirius tried to push the thoughts out of his head, but he failed. He sat back on his bed, still facing Remus, and managed to close his mouth.

            "Are you sure?" Remus asked, stirring as if to move closer.

            "I'm just tired," Sirius said quickly before adding a hardly decipherable, "Good night." He jerked his curtains closed and fell back against his pillow. It had been a close call. The strange thoughts he had about Remus were intensifying by the day. He'd almost ducked out of his meeting with Chloe tonight, though he went anyway and pretended that she was Remus. Why was he thinking this way? He'd never really found Remus attractive…or had he? Sirius blushed with private guilt as he thought of all the times he'd fantasized about his friend. He quickly changed into his pajamas and got under his covers, but he couldn't sleep. Only a few feet away, he could still hear Remus breathing slowly. He must be asleep by now. Sirius waited a moment, sat up, and slid out of bed.

            He crept quickly to Remus's bed, pushed the hangings aside silently, and studied the werewolf. Sure enough, Remus was asleep now, on his back with the sheets kicked down around his feet. Sirius eyed the long, leanly muscular legs for a long time before he jerked his gaze back up. He fought back the temptation to brush a stray lock of tawny brown hair back from his friend's forehead, as well as resisted the urge to stroke his cheek. What was wrong with him tonight? His heart was pounding madly as he leaned over and dropped one butterfly kiss on Remus's forehead. The other boy didn't even move, didn't make a sound. Sirius smiled and retreated to his bed again, his tumultuous mind eased.

Breakfast the next morning brought a strained atmosphere over the Marauders. James was talking about ideas for their newest prank, which he claimed was only a stand-in till he could pass "prankster's block," while Peter was immersed in a deeply boring book and seemed not to be truly listening. Sirius was staring across the table at Remus. Just moments before, their knees had bumped together again – unavoidable, since both were quite tall – and both had blushed uncontrollably. Remus seemed not to notice Sirius's rapt gaze, and instead continued to eat as he nodded and agreed with James's plans. "And then we rip the stupid git's robes right in front of the girls," James was saying, referring, of course, to Severus Snape, a greasy slimeball of a Slytherin whom they loved to hate. "Mind, we'd have to follow that up with something spectacular…"

            "Catch his shorts on fire," Peter said halfheartedly.

            "Brilliant," James grinned. "You know, it could just work. We rip the back of his robes and catch his shorts on fire right in front of all the girls." He was positively beaming now, pleased with how horrible his plans would be for Snape. "He'll never live it down." James was starting to laugh maniacally, ignoring the stares of several confused girls.

            "There's only one problem, Prongs," said Remus quietly. "Severus will know that it was us. He'll go straight to Professor Dumbledore, and there's no getting out of it if it's our less than honorable word against his."

            James looked as though his Christmas had been canceled. He scowled darkly. "Scratch that plan," he said. "For today, let's just drop some Dungbombs and rip Snape's robes. No fire," he added, noting the warning look on Remus's face. "Just ruin part of his reputation for now, and shatter the rest later when he least expects it."

            He fell silent, and Peter excused himself, stating that he needed to visit the library again to study for History of Magic. Sirius looked back at Remus and felt his face go scarlet when Remus met his eyes. Their gazes locked and for a long time, they stared at one another, both blushing furiously. Sirius was shocked to see that a deep passion was burning in Remus's beautiful chocolate eyes, but he was too busy fantasizing about his friend to ponder what it meant. Only when he heard James's voice did he break out of the trance. "Padfoot, Moony, snap out of it," said James. "We need to go to class!"

            Remus nearly fell out of his chair with shock. "What?"

            James sighed, seeming slightly annoyed. "We need to go to class. Dungbombs, remember."

            "Oh…right." Remus looked confused.

            "C'mon, Padfoot, you have to come too. No more being late because you're shagging some girl."

            Sirius jumped and blushed guiltily as he glanced over at Remus. "You've got me all figured out," he said blankly. James didn't seem to notice the lack of mirth in his friend's voice, and rather he stood up and started to walk. Remus followed closely, but Sirius took a moment before realizing what was happening. He had been too busy wondering what Remus thought of all his nighttime adventures. After all, there had been so many…

            He hardly paid any attention as Professor McGonagall lectured the class. He didn't even know what she was talking about, and halfheartedly polished his wand as she continued. When it came time to actually demonstrate his knowledge of what was happening, he sat blankly looking at the raccoon that he and James were supposed to share. It was asleep, but he still had no idea what it was supposed to become. He noticed that Remus was doing well, as usual, and hadn't looked once in his direction. For some reason, Sirius felt disappointed.

            Come on, Black, you know how you feel about him. Why can't you just admit it?

            But Sirius did not want to think about one of his best friends that way. Why, why couldn't he just feel like he always did?

            But you've always felt the same about Remus, said that soft, irritating voice in his head.

            "Shut up," Sirius mumbled under his breath. No one noticed.