Sirius was heading back to the common room after dinner. The sky outside the many windows he passed was streaked with pink and gold. He had eaten late due to the fact he had to clean up the potions room after a dangerous concoction of his own invention had exploded and left the room covered in multi-coloured dust.
As he continued walking, his thoughts drifted off to one of his best friends, Remus. He thought about the way he would surely be reading when he reached the common room, his brow slightly furrowed and his long fingers caressing the corner of the page before turning it.
"Password?" Sirius jumped out of his thoughts, which were fast turning to daydreams, when he heard the curt voice of the Fat Lady.
"Dilligrout." Sirius said, vaguely.
Sirius had been thinking about Remus a lot recently, more than was usual for a best friend…
Sirius smiled as he noticed Remus, his brown hair slightly dishevelled, curled up in a chair by the fire and, sure enough, he was reading.
"Hey Moony, what're reading?" Sirius said, sitting in a chair next to his friend.
"Nothing special," Remus replied, looking at Sirius and smiling. "James is in detention"
"Really?" Sirius asked, Remus' flawless smile melted his insides; he stared for just a moment too long, before continuing. "What did he do?"
" He exploded Filch's office, no idea how, but it exploded..." Remus answered, laughing.
"The idiot." Sirius commented.
Remus sighed, dumping his book on the table. "I'm bored Padfoot, I want to do something fun!"
Sirius grinned. "Are you the same goody-goody Remus I've known for six years?" he teased.
Remus frowned. "Hey, I've been in trouble loads of times, a few of more, genius pranks have been my design."
"A few, but most of them have been mine and James." Sirius grinned again. "Okay, Moony what do you think we should do?"
Remus thought for a moment, Merlin, he's gorgeous when he thinks like that.
Sirius mentally shook himself, before Remus grinned broadly. "We should steal that Salamander from the Care of Magical Creatures store!"
Sirius grinned back at him, before they both jumped up.
They had no idea what good would come of stealing a salamander. To be honest, there was not much point in it at all, really. But, it was against the rules, and the thought that they could be caught at any moment pumped adrenaline through their bodies.
"Shit!" Sirius shouted, jumping back from the salamander in the small cupboard.
"What?" Remus asked, worried. "What happened?"
"It bit me!" Sirius exclaimed, holding up his arm to show a deep tooth-shaped cut, surrounded in a shiny, pink burn.
"Shit." Remus muttered, closing the salamander's cage again. "You'd better go to the hospital wing."
They hurried to the hospital wing, which was luckily not too far away, and entered. Madam Pomfrey, the strict matron, began dabbing a potion on it, muttering about dangerous activities.
"It, err, escaped from the store, and we were trying to get it back in…" Sirius lied.
Madam Pomfrey nodded, though she didn't look entirely convinced. "Is it back in its' cadge now?"
"Yes." Remus answered.
Madam Pomfrey instructed Sirius to sit for five minutes while the potion healed his arm. Remus sat next to him, smiling.
"Does it hurt?" Remus asked.
"Yeah." Sirius replied, smiling back.
"Would you like me to kiss it better?" Remus asked. It was meant to be a joke; he meant it to be funny. James and Sirius made that sort of joke all the time, and it never bothered either of them. Remus was confused, therefore, when Sirius' eyes widened, and… was Sirius blushing?
"Sirius, I was joking…" Remus explained.
"Oh… right… of course!" Sirius spluttered, laughing awkwardly.
They walked back up to the common room in silence; Sirius couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened, he was such an idiot!
I mean, of course he didn't fancy Remus… I mean, Remus is a guy. Sirius isn't gay.
But, he has been thinking about Remus a lot…
Okay, maybe Sirius liked Remus a little more than usual, but that didn't mean he fancied him or that he was gay, did it?
Sure, he thought about Remus a lot, about his perfect smile, the cute disgruntled expression he wears when he's just woken up in the morning, the mind-numbing way he laughs when someone tells a joke and his amazing lips. Wouldn't it great to kiss those lips?
Okay, maybe Sirius was gay.
And, maybe he did fancy Remus.
Sirius stopped walking suddenly, taking deep breaths.
"Sirius?" Remus asked, looking concerned. "Is it your arm, are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine, yeah." Sirius replied.
Once they were back in the common room, they sat in the comfiest seats next to the roaring fire. Remus looked Sirius in the eye.
"Sirius, there's something wrong." He started. "You've been acting really odd recently."
Sirius sighed, not quite looking at Remus. "I-I'm sorry, Moony." He muttered, blushing again.
"See, that's what's wrong!" Remus exclaimed. "You don't blush and you never apologise!"
"Well, maybe I've changed!" Sirius replied, suddenly feeling annoyed at his friend.
"Why, why have you changed all of a sudden?" Remus questioned, careful to keep his voice calm this time.
"I don't know!" Sirius answered angrily, "Maybe for someone I like!"
Remus blinked, a dead weight fell from his heart and settled in his stomach. Remus had fancied Sirius for years, since he had realised he was gay. He had watched Sirius go from girlfriend to girlfriend, never getting the impression that they had meant much to him. It hurt knowing that Sirius liked someone, even though it wasn't Sirius' fault, and he had long since accepted that Sirius would never be his.
"Who-who do you like?" Remus muttered.
Sirius stayed quiet. He couldn't say, Remus would hate him. Remus wasn't gay.
"Please, tell me." Remus persisted, he needed to know.
"I-I can't say…" Sirius murmured, "I can't tell you, you won't like it."
"I won't think any less of you if you tell me, I promise." Remus had started to get a little worried now.
Sirius took a deep breath. "You." He whispered.
Remus stared for a moment. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard. He must be dreaming. This could not possibly be real.
"Remus?" Sirius asked, timidly.
Remus took a deep breath and leant his head to press his lips against Sirius'. Fireworks exploded in their chests, it was better than either of them could have possibly imagined.