Remus and his friends sat in the dark corner of the common room, their backs facing out towards the rest of their housemates, covering their stolen Niffler from view.
"Do you think we are bad people?" Peter asked anxiously.
"Absolutely not, Professor Kettleburn was not treating this little guy right at all," Sirius replied, scratching the Niffler under the chin, "You're too good for this world."
Peter watched as his James and Sirius fawned over the Niffler…and the gold he had found for them. He looked to Remus, hoping he would impart his wisdom on them but he seemed to be at a loss for words.
"You could lose a lot of house points for this! McGonagall will have you in detention until the end of the school year!" Peter tried again.
"'You could lose a lot of house points for this!'" Sirius mocked back.
"Don't make fun of me!"
"My hobby is making fun of you when you talk."
"Sirius…" Remus said warningly.
"Oh Wormtail, lighten up!" James scooped up the Niffler while Sirius grabbed their loot, "Do you know how many of these Kettleburn loses? He won't notice." And with that, they marched up to the dormitory.
"I'm going to the library," Remus said quietly and slipped away leaving Peter wringing his hands.
"It's almost curfew." Sirius's voice floated quietly in the now empty library, barely audible above the near-constant hum of the books when Remus didn't reply, he laid a long-fingered hand on his friend's shoulder, trying to get his attention. "Remus?"
"I wish I didn't feel a damn thing." He finally replied.
"Remus," Sirius felt his heart speed up.
"You can be so dismissive. That crack you made at Peter?" Remus shook off Sirius's hand and stood up to face him. "You do these things and just expect your charm to get you out of trouble. I don't know how to you it, managing to cause havoc everywhere you go." Which each word he took a step closer to Sirius, "Your "bad boy" crap." He snarled.
Sirius said nothing, but his heart was pounding so hard in his chest it was physically painful. He hoped he knew where this was going—something a long time coming from that drunken night with the fire whiskey loosening his tongue, confessing how he felt to his best friend. Something Remus had ignored so well that even Sirius thought he had dreamed it. But now he was sure he hadn't.
"I tried my best not to feel anything for you. And guess what? I failed."
For a moment Sirius didn't feel Remus's lips on his—it wasn't until he felt the weight of his body pressing him into the bookcase that he had the brief clarity to cast a cloaking spell and kiss Remus back.