Practice Round

(If this seems dumb, I'm going to rewrite it from Remus view)

Written for QLFC: Season 5, Practice round

Position: Chaser 2

Position Prompt: Song: I think we're alone, "I think we're alone now"

Optional Prompts:

Parkin's Pincer — two Chasers trap an opposing Chaser, while the third Chaser commits blatching**. Write about breaking the rules

(colour) Steel Blue

(colour) Crimson

(Word) Bitter

Word count: 2574

Warning: Shonen ai. Sirius/Remus

Betas: The wonderful Rose and Aelys!

Title: Give it a chance

Remus had been so stressed lately. What with: upcoming O.W.L.s, and the threat of a full moon arriving before the exams started. He barely even spoke anymore; instead he buried himself in his books trying to prepare.

Sirius had been preparing too, but not for a test.

He couldn't hold back the laugh that escaped his lips despite his best attempts to remain quiet. Surely his success warranted him a small slip? He held the long, skinny glass steel blue bottle filled with red liquid, his smile growing. This wonderful tasting liquid was the key to getting Remus on side. Sirius had the entire thing planned out, he walked up to Gryffindor tower confidently, still grinning.

Most of his Housemates would be asleep if all had gone according to plan. James and Sirius had spiked a few cases of Butterbeer with small amounts of calming draught. A mild sleeping potion they had made personally and passed around for this very mission. Sirius was glad James had managed to keep his mouth shut; if Lily had found out she would have ratted Sirius out and his plan would have fallen apart.

Sirius slipped the precious bottle into his robes as he arrived at the Fat Lady.

"Bellowing dragon bottoms," he said to the portrait. She yawned and the portrait door swung forward to reveal a deserted and dark common room, the only light came from the fireplace. It was even better than he could've hoped. He went to the couch nearest the fire, forcing himself not to skip or dance, which was hard given his current state of mind. He would never forgive himself if Remus caught him skipping. He was trying for a calm, collected look. Sirius needed to show Remus that he was reliable, that he could take care of him.

"Why do you always wait until the last minute to do your homework?"

Sirius turned: Remus was coming towards him from the dorm staircase, and he looked ready to beat him with the books in his hand. Sirius couldn't help but wince; in the harsh contrast of light and shadow cast by the fire, Remus appeared paler than ever. The stressed werewolf's eyes were narrowed and ringed with almost black circles.

Remus chucked the books he was holding onto the couch where Sirius sat, and folded his arms. He gave Sirius a complete once-over.

"Where are your books? I'm not doing your homework for you," he said, his jaw set. Sirius was surprised to find he was intimidated by Remus, there was even a part of him that was tempted to bolt, to abandon this plan altogether, but Remus was so unwell. He had to do something to try and make him feel better. Not to mention there was a selfish part of Sirius that was sick of hiding his feelings from Remus, his friend.

"Come here." Sirius waved towards the couch.

Remus' expression somehow darkened. "I don't have time for this, I need to look over some ancient runes-"

"Just give me a few minutes," Sirius said. "Then you can ignore me for the rest of the evening."

Remus let out a long, loud sigh and trudged around the couch. He plopped down beside Sirius and fixed him with a look. Everything in his posture expressed his demand to know what was going on. There was an unspoken promise of a slow death for Sirius if he couldn't meet Remus' standard of dire need. Sirius hated to see Remus pushed to this attitude. This particular level of exasperation was reserved for Sirius alone, Sirius had never seen Remus behave this way toward anyone else. Not even when James' pissed him off.

"Explain or I'm leaving."

Sirius wasted no time in pulling out the wine bottle from his robe. A wave of his wand hand two wine glasses appearing on the couch, a spell he'd perfected months ago.
Remus' mouth fell open. "You...where did you get that?"

"The kitchen," Sirius replied, tipping his head back and reading the label with a haughty expressions. "It's an excellent year."

"We're underage," Remus said, refusing to play along.

"Then Dumbledore shouldn't keep it in the kitchen where I can get to it." He handed Remus the two glasses and popped the top off the dark bottle. He poured some of the crimson liquid into glasses and set the bottle down onto the floor before taking one of the glasses from Remus. "You need to relax before you collapse."

"Dumbledore will throw you out!" Remus said. His eyes kept darting from the bottle on the floor to the wine glass in Sirius' hand. He seemed to have forgotten he was holding one himself. Sirius took a swig of the drink, and closed his eyes. He felt better already. A pleasant taste of cherry balanced against oat flooded his mouth. He swallowed the rest in a cursory gulp.

"This is good, I was worried it might turn out to be bitter." Sometimes choosing wine from Dumbledore's collection was a guessing game when it came to quality and taste. He definitely preferred Firewhisky, but he knew Remus wouldn't touch the stuff. Opening his eyes he saw Remus' expressions of abject disdain had returned.

"Is this supposed to be relaxing? You realize you're just adding to my stress, right?" Remus asked. He put his wine glass down on the floor and snatched Sirius' empty one from his hand. "And you don't drink wine that way!" Remus didn't seem to know what to do with the empty wine glass once he'd taken it away from Sirius. He held it pointlessly between them..

"You're an expert, are you? What happened to: We're underage?" Sirius challenged. Remus' face flushed red and he looked away. It was good to see him look a little less pale, even for a moment.

"Come on,"Sirius pressed. "If we don't finish this Pinot Noir there's going to be evidence and then we really will get into trouble."

"No, you'll get in trouble," Remus said, standing up. Sirius was up automatically and grabbed his elbow.

"Hold on-"

"You are not helping!"

"Alright, no wine," Sirius said. He took the glass from Remus gently and placed it on the floor. Sirius' grip on Remus slipped down to the boy's wrist. "I'm sure the calming draught James and I made for tonight isn't all gone."

Remus' left eye and mouth twitched in unison, and he pulled himself free. "I really don't have time for this. We only have a month before O.W.L.S. start, and my problem will affect me soon before that. I won't be able to focus much during that time."

Sirius nodded. "I know. Believe me, I know, but if you keep this up you won't be studying at all, you'll be at the infirmary." This must've been the right thing to say, because Remus deflated with another sigh. The exhausted boy lowered himself slowly back onto the couch. He must have known on some level that Sirius was correct. Sirius noticed Remus' hand were shaking. He joined him on the couch. "While it's just us talking: do you remember what I told you in March? And you told me to wait for an answer? I know you like to take your time, but I hate seeing you like this. I just feel I could help you more if…" Sirius reached for Remus's arm again. "I love you more than I can handle."

Remus snorted pulling his hand away from Sirius' grasp. Sirius frowned, hurt at yet another rejection from Remus. Or had it been a rejection? Remus hadn't exactly told him no and he'd allowed Sirius to use his lap as a pillow a few times since he'd confessed his feelings. But that was nothing like what he'd wanted. He wanted Remus to admit that there was more between them.

"You are so corny," Remus said. He snatched the wine glass from off the floor and emptied its contents in a single movement.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, his grin returning. "I mean it."

"I know. That's what makes it worse." Remus took the bottle and poured himself another glass. "This is pretty good."

"Dumbledore has good taste." Sirius watched the liquid in his glass, wondering how much wine Remus would need to open up. He probably should have grabbed more than one bottle. "I had every intention of getting that answer out of you tonight. I thought maybe you'd feel better with one less thing to think about, but I can wait." Sirius focussed his eyes on the firelight. Admitting defeat wasn't exactly easy for him, but seeing Remus willingly drink in the common room felt like a sign that it might not be the best time to confront him.

"Sirius, I don't know if I love you."

Sirius finished his glass of wine and dropped it onto the floor. The words had not been what he'd been hoping for. There he was trying to make Remus feel better, and in return Sirius felt like he was being stabbed.

"Fair enough," he managed, after he'd wrestled to gain some control over his emotions.

"I knew how you felt long before you told me." Sirius shifted his gaze from the fire to Remus. He'd known? He'd known and still allowed Sirius to make a fool out of himself by confessing his feelings? He'd known and probably knew he didn't feel the same way, but had led Sirius on anyway? Something in his expression must've shown his horror, because Remus looked down at his hands. "I'm sorry Sirius. You're the only person to ever show any interest. I don't know how to respond."

"You say: 'I love you too', and I: take you out on a date?"

"You make it sound so simple."

"It is simple," Sirius said. He could hardly believe Remus was so dense on the matter, or perhaps he wasn't? Hardly noticeable - except to Sirius who spent a good deal of time staring at Remus - was the tiniest hint of a smile. He could feel his own eyes narrowing this time as he took in his friend's entire form. "You're messing with me."

"James warned me before I came down," Remus admitted. He started to laugh and Sirius didn't know if he should hit him or walk away, refusing to speak to him for the next few months. Both sounded good. And James? He was just going to kill his supposed best friend and leave him for the Dementors to find. How could he betray him like this?

"If you don't want to be my boyfriend then just say so," Sirius said, getting to his feet, his hands clenching. "I don't need you turning it into a game."

"Because this wasn't a game already?" Remus asked raising an eyebrow. "You planned this with James for over a week."

"I was trying to help you. I can see my efforts were wasted. You've already gone mad." He started for the stairs. If he couldn't have Remus, fine. He'd have to get over it somehow. Maybe tomorrow, but while his emotions were still running wild: he was going to cast a few Unforgivables on his best friend. Surely the wizarding community would understand.

"You're taking this way too seriously."

Sirius stopped, letting out a controlled breath. "You're not taking this seriously enough. I'm not joking. I love you."

"I know."

A thought occurred to Sirius and he turned back to his friend. A game. This was all a sick and twisted game, but this wasn't about Remus being dense or even being mean. He felt his head shaking and he was returning to the couch.

Remus appeared very confused as he did so.

"You had me going there for a minute. I almost thought you had turned into more of an arsehole than you already were." He slid down beside the werewolf enjoying the shocked expression on his face. He didn't wait for Remus to say anything now that he understood what was going on. He leaned forward and kissed him. It wasn't a long kiss, but Sirius had never felt such emotions stirring inside him before. He'd been was in love, no doubt about it. Any crush he'd ever had seemed like nothing compared to this.

"Sirius, you shouldn't -"

"You aren't going to hurt me. Who else can join you during your fluffy time and keep you out of trouble?" He snaked an arm around his friend and pulled him close. In the same beat Remus seemed to come loose like a trick knot, his head coming down onto Sirius' shoulder. "I've been with you from the beginning. I'm still here. Isn't that proof enough?"

"I'd never forgive myself if I hurt you…"

"You won't," Sirius said. He kissed Remus' hair. "And even if you somehow managed to, we have healers—"

"Not if I give it to you," Remus snapped. He tried to pull away then, but Sirius won in keeping him in the embrace. If he let Remus run away now he'd have to convince his friend all over again.

"You won't. I can take care of myself. Remus, you can't give up on having a love life because of this. I told you we were the perfect match. You can trust me. I won't get hurt. You would have already done me in years ago if you could, I promise."

Sirius held him, and Remus let him. Sirius wasn't sure how long it would last, but for now Remus had finally given in.

"I still don't know if I actually love you."

"Of course you don't," Sirius said. "You've been too busy trying to push me away. You're so caught up in your furry problem that you haven't even considered how you really feel at all." He may not think everything through, but he wasn't the idiot everyone had him pegged as. "You're a Gryffindor, so stop running. Please."

"We can give it a try," Remus said. One of his hands fell onto Sirius' own.

"R-really?"

"Don't make me regret this, Sirius."

"I won't," Sirius said. He pulled Remus into his lap, his arms wrapped around him tightly. "I'll prove to you that I'm the best choice."

"We'll see…" Remus' eyes were shutting. Sirius could hardly contain himself then. His grip on Remus tightened. He wanted to watch Remus sleep, but he also wanted to find James and shove his failed sabotage attempt in his specky face. Remus had agreed to date him, or "try" as his boyfriend, as he'd so nicely put it.

Boyfriend. That had a great ring to it. He couldn't wait to say it aloud.

"Remus is my boyfriend," he dared to whisper. The words sent a pleasurable shiver through his body. Yes, that was good. Wonderful, even. Not a single person could claim to have said those words truthfully and no one else would ever be able to, because he had no intention of letting him go.

Despite wanting to be quiet and let Remus sleep, he started to laugh. Only this time he was caught, and Remus gave him a gentle kick to the leg. He kissed Remus on the head and used his wand to hide the wine and glasses for later. He closed his eyes. The common room would be in an uproar when they woke up and found the two of them together. Best they get some sleep now.