Remus curled up in the comfortable armchair in front of the crackling fire, studying in the Gryffindor common room as students laughed and talked and generally caused mayhem all around him. Small for his age, he looked more like a first-year than the fifth-year he was. Peering intently at an account of the Goblin Wars of 1546, Remus didn't notice anything around him until Sirius sat on top of his history book, crushing the smaller boy in the process. Remus's cheeks tinted pink as he tried unsuccessfully to shove Sirius off.
"Get offa me, Padfoot!" he cried, trying to dislodge himself from the armchair before Sirius could notice how unsettled he was.
"Aw, Moony, I'm not that bad, am I?" Sirius pouted, and Remus's heart almost tumbled out of his throat. When Sirius's eyes went wide like that, Remus knew that he had to get out of there before he ended up embarrassing himself. Forcefully removing himself from underneath Sirius, he pulled his book to his chest and muttered an excuse. Cheeks now flaming red, he raced up the stairs before anyone could see his…condition, and threw open the dorm door.
Tossing himself onto his bed, Remus unbuttoned his old trousers and pulled himself off in three long strokes. When the blissful tremors had stopped running through the small boy's body, Remus collapsed against his pillow and cursed himself for nearly giving his secret away. It was bad enough that he had a crush on another man when his parents were both homophobic, but on Sirius of all people...Remus had long ago accepted the fact that he would never be able to tell Sirius, but it was moments like these when he was nearly very persuaded otherwise. Curling into a small, misery-racked ball, Remus fell asleep, his dreams haunted by images of Sirius's face.
After Remus had run away from him, Sirius's first thought was that Remus was sick, and that he should go run after him. Getting up from the chair, he was interrupted both by another thought, and James: the thought being that maybe he had said or done something to upset Moony, and that it might be better to leave him alone; James, being much more intrusive, leaping in front of him with four bottles of butterbeer. Sirius, being the teenage boy he was, had been instantly distracted by the thought of the warm beverage and had drunk his fill, deciding to talk to Remus later.
"Later" was at eleven thirty, an hour after Remus had raced up and away from Sirius. Seeing the extra bottle, he had decided to bring it up to Moony. Seeing as James was now dancing the can-can, complete with vocals, with an equally drunk Lily Evans (he figured that James had finally convinced her that even Prefects could let loose once in a while), Sirius decided that he didn't need any more butterbeer. And Wormtail was, well, Wormtail. Grabbing his own half-empty bottle, he walked up the stairs and twisted open the handle. The dorm was dark, and it looked like Remus was asleep, but tomorrow WAS Saturday. Crossing over to sit on his bed which mirrored Moony's, Sirius leaned close to his face.
"Moonyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy-" he wailed, the sound echoing in the small room. Remus jerked up, a wild look in his eyes, until he saw Sirius rolling around on the floor, wracked with fits of laughter. His expression changed from panic to confusion, to exasperation and a tiny bit of anger, and finally to a fond look of something Sirius couldn't place. Affection? No, that didn't seem like it. He was interrupted out of his reverie by Moony's high, soft voice.
"How drunk are you, Padfoot?" he asked, sounding slightly like a fussing mother. Sirius grinned, and showed the only half empty bottle.
"Not drunk at all. I've only had half of one, unlike James and Lily. They're dancing the can-can Dow there right now, and the entire Gryffindor house is cheering them on. Besides you and I, anyway." Just at that moment, a loud cheer came up from the Common room.
"I can hear," Moony replied wryly, corners of his mouth twitching like he was trying not to laugh. The sounds of laughter and drunken singing were audible through the floor.
"Anyway, I've brought you a bottle," Sirius said, holding out the butterbeer like a piece offering. Accepting it, Remus popped open the top in a practiced motion and mock-toasted Sirius. Picking up his own half empty bottle, Sirius clinked his against Remus's and the two boys drank, the warm liquid sliding down their throats. Sitting silence, the two drank and listened to the ruckus coming from the Common Room, smiling whenever a clearly audible phrase could be heard from the drunken roar.
"Anyway, why did you run away from me before?" Sirius asked, nudging Remus a little with his elbow. Moony visibly stiffened, and a wide-eyed look akin to terror crossed his face. No! This couldn't be happening! He'd successfully avoided these types of questions and situations before, but how was he going to wriggle out of this one? Casting a quick glance over at Sirius's expectant face, Remus could tell he wasn't going to get out of this one.
"Uh…I, uh, I just wanted to…um, go to bed. Yeah, I just felt really tired," Remus finished somewhat lamely. Looking up at Sirius's incredulous face, he cried, "Well, I did!"
"Moony, you're terrible at lying," Sirius replied, and Remus's cheeks flamed red. Thankfully, he didn't pursue the subject any further. Again, the two boys drank, Remus now feverishly plotting ways to avoid the subject and Sirius plotting ways to get the former to talk.
"How about a game of truth or dare? I mean, we're too full of butterbeer to go back asleep, and there's nothing else to do," Sirius proposed. Maybe, just maybe, he could find out why Remus seemed o be avoiding him a little these days.
"Well…alright," Moony replied somewhat doubtfully. But it was true. There was nothing else to do, and besides, it was with Sirius. He would do anything for the handsome boy.
"I'll go first. Truth or dare?" Sirius asked, wondering which Remus would choose.
"Dare," Remus said confidently, sure that anything that Sirius would want him to do couldn't be worse than confessing his secret. Sirius pondered for a moment, and then spoke.
"Let me into your bed." At Remus's alarmed look, Sirius grinned. "What? It's cold, and your warm," he said, wrapping his arms around the thin, small boy. Remus's heart skipped a beat and his eyes widened as Sirius's strong arms held Remus close.
"S-sure," he stammered, pulling open the covers. Sirius clambered in, and Remus relaxed, only to feel Padfoot pull him into the bed as well. Stammering in protest, his cries were unheeded as Sirius pulled the sheets over Remus's body and curled up next to the now trembling werewolf. Wrapping his arms around him, Sirius rested his head in the crook between Remus's head and shoulder, his lips pressing into Remus's collarbone. This didn't help Remus's tremors a bit, and he became very aware of a growing hardness in between his legs. Finding it slightly hard to concentrate, Remus opened his mouth only to forget what he was about to say.
"T-t-truth or d-dare?" he asked, extremely conscious of Sirius's hair tickling the back of his neck.
"Truth," Sirius promptly replied, his lips moving against Remus's neck. Remus took a couple of breaths that were meant to be calming but did absolutely nothing for Remus's libido.
"Why exactly did you leave the party downstairs and come up to be with me?" Remus asked, eyes wide and innocent-looking. Sirius took a deep breath.
"Moony, I really l-" he started, but was cut off by a drunken Wormtail staggering up. Catching him under the arms, the two boys pulled him to his bed. When the crisis was over, the question had been forgotten.