"Oi, Remus!" Sirius barged through the door to the study, cigarette dangling from lips.
"What, Sirius? I'm trying to work. Also, I know you have keys to my apartment but that doesn't mean you can barge in whenever you feel like it." Remus sighed, and massaged his temples. A sheet of parchment lay before him, covered in loops and curls of black ink.
"You need to start getting ready."
"Er… for what?" Remus said.
"Er… the party? You know, at Lily's place?" Sirius said.
"Yeah, sorry Sirius, but I'm not going to come. I need to have this finished by Wednesday and I'm just too tired." He turned back to his work.
"What! No! Remus John Lupin, you shall go to the ball. Well, small scale New Year's Eve party." Sirius pushed a disgruntled Remus out of the room, smirking.
An hour later, Remus crept out of his room. A brown jacket was wrapped around his shoulders, revealing the slightest hint of sunset coloured shirt. Above his red sneakers were a pair of slightly too tight white jeans. His hair was soft and wavy, tumbling over his smooth face.
At the same moment, Sirius barged out of his room. He was dressed in a huge leather jacket, a short sleeved black shirt and grey jeans studded with silver gems. His short black hair swept across his forehead, just skimming the top of- well, what seemed to Remus to be half a bottle of liquid eyeliner. Something inside Remus tightened.
"How do I look?" Sirius said, with an elaborate flick of his hair.
"Like…" Remus searched for an insult, but nothing came to mind, "…bad?"
"Thanks. You look like a 60-year-old man. Come on, we're going on the motorbike."
"We are not. I don't know about you, but I am going by broom, like any normal person."
Side by side, they soared through the air, Remus pressed down to his broom, wincing at the cold sting of the wind. Sirius, on the other hand, was grinning wildly as he dipped beneath Remus on his motorbike, headlights glaring out. They landed in Godric's Hollow in unison, breathless and frozen. Already, music and lights were streaming out of the cottage.
"Bloody James. Always gets the best- look at him, living in a lovely middle-class cottage with his wife whilst I'm stuck on my own in the dullest part of London." Sirius said, rolling his eyes, as they knocked on the door.
Lily answered and laughed as she looked at the pair, one punk and dark, the other serious and calm, both completely out of place.
"Come in! I didn't think you'd be able to persuade Remus to come Sirius."
"He didn't. He forced me."
"Nice to know that you're eager to visit me and James, Remus." Lily said.
"No, no, it's just… parties aren't really my thing." Remus said, blushing.
"I'm joking, Remi. There aren't many people here- just the old crowd, you know, Peter, Frank, Alice, Mary. Now, either come in or leave."
Inside, music was throbbing through each corner of the little house. Around twenty people milled around, chatting, dancing and eating food from the packed buffet table, which Sirius and Remus immediately made a beeline for.
Sirius piled his plate with pasties, meat and crisps, whilst Remus took advantage of the large bowls of chocolate. Sirius wandered among everyone, handing out over enthusiastic hugs, whilst Remus curled himself in an armchair. He generally avoided these types of gatherings at all costs, but Sirius was so persuasive…
Tonight was the worst night to party, because he'd just received yet another rejection letter- yet another, "Sorry, but because of your condition we cannot give you this job,", yet another grimace as he viewed his tiny stack in Gringotts, yet another sympathetic frown from James, who would then discreetly transfer some galleons to Remus's pitifully empty vault.
Remus highly doubted he would ever get an acceptable position, in any job. He'd tried everywhere, and he was always told that he was "too old", "too young" or some other stupid excuse. He closed his eyes and sank into the cushions.
After 10 minutes, James marched over, and handed him a cup.
"You," he said sternly, "need to have some fun. Stand up," he pulled him into the centre of the floor, "and dance."
Remus sighed, then downed the alcohol in one.
"If you want me to get drunk, James, then you'll have to get me REALLY drunk."
James laughed, then pushed a half full bottle of vodka into his hands. Remus took a deep breath, and tried to have fun.
Sirius, on the other hand, was having the time of his life. He was downing cup after cup of beer, whilst talking loudly to the few that would listen about "the new age of rock" and "vampire teeth". When he wasn't enthusing about the "pretty shiny" quality vampire teeth earrings would have, he was swinging his arms about, and performing some abysmal style of dancing in the centre of the dance floor.
The clock was ticking closer and closer to midnight, it's ornate silver hands gradually counting down a new year. At two minutes to midnight, James shouted for everyone to,
"Shut up! It's nearly New Year…" a chorus of yells showed everyone's appreciation.
"So, let's count it down together! Everyone, in a circle, and hold hands." After a moment of confusion, a lopsided circle had formed. James had Lily on one side, and Sirius on the other. Remus had somehow found himself on Sirius's other side, grasping his hand tight. He didn't know who was on his other side- all he could focus on was the goofy smile spread over Sirius's face, and the soft texture of his leather jacket.
"Ten, nine, eight…" Sirius pressed closer to Remus, smell of beer wafting into Remus's already intoxicated head."
"Seven, six, five…" Remus, for some odd reason, leaned his head against Sirius.
"Four, three, two…" Sirius freed a hand from James to stroke Remus's head. James snorted.
"One." From out of nowhere, fireworks shot across the room, lighting everyone's eyes. Streamers curled down the room, in a myriad of colours. Sparks flew around, twisting and flashing. And Remus, alcohol swishing inside him, reached up to Sirius's stubbly face, and pulled him towards him. Everyone stopped, and stared, but Remus, drunker than he'd ever been, didn't care. And neither did Sirius. As a purple catherine wheel twirled across the room, Sirius looked straight into Remus's eyes.
And, with a slight smile, Remus pressed his lips to Sirius's.
The room erupted with cheers.
"We thought you'd never do it, Moony!" Lily said.
"Moony, Moony, Moony!" James chanted.
"I'm drunk!" said Sirius.
Eventually the hubbub died down. Now that midnight had come and gone, people slipped away, murmuring goodbyes. Remus and Sirius, however, found themselves embroiled in a complex drinking game, which resulted in Sirius gently pouring whisky into Remus's mouth, whilst muttering,
"Just a little sip, Moon face. Good boy."
By three o'clock, everyone else had left, leaving only Sirius, Remus, James and Lily. James was forlornly packing away unused cups, whilst Lily twirled her wand in intricate patterns to clean the room.
"Can't we leave this till tomorrow, Lils?"
"James, much as I love you, you are not perfect. Tomorrow morning you are going to have such a bad hangover I would end up cleaning everything on my own. Now, hurry up."
Remus was examining the photos adorning the Potter's walls- snapshots of summer holidays, their family, and dozens of the marauders.
"Sirius," he said, "You looked shit when you were eleven."
"Not as bad as you. You were always very… hairy."
James, finally finished, turned to look at them.
"Remus, I don't think I've ever seen you so wild. It suits you."
Lily glanced over.
"I doubt either of them are going to be able to fly home tonight. Shall we put them in the spare room?"
"Great idea. Come on, Sirius, you can sleep in the spare room."
"Where's Remus going to sleep?" Sirius asked.
"Er…" James exchanged a glance with Lily.
"Could Remus sleep with you, Sirius?" Lily asked slyly.
Sirius's face lit up.
"Yes! Moony moon, let's go to bed!"
He grabbed Remus by the hand and dragged him up the winding staircase. Remus looked baffled, but faintly amused. He climbed into the bed, and pulled the cover over himself. He stretched his limbs out, one arm thrown over the edge of the mattress. Sirius lay down beside him, pulling his knees up.
They turned to face each other, faces faint in the dim moonlight. Remus stroked Sirius's cheek tentatively, then leant in closer, and brushed his lips against Sirius's stubble. Sirius curled his arm around Remus, then moved his jaw so his mouth was pressed against Remus. Remus relaxed completely, and melted into Sirius, their two bodies melding. Together, they made each other.
The next morning, Remus was woken up by a splitting headache. He groaned, and pulled the duvet over his tousled hair. After getting past the building pain in his head, and the slight nausea in his stomach, the first thing he noticed was that there was someone else in the bed beside him.
Upon further inspection, he deduced that the person was…was… Sirius?
With horror, the events of the night appeared in his mind. There were odd snatches of moments- drinking bottle after bottle of alcohol, dancing rigidly, and- urgh- kissing Sirius. The odd thing was, Remus thought, he couldn't feel any shame or regret over kissing Sirius. And, now that he thought more about it, he could remember, well, enjoying it.
He brushed away his feelings. First of all, Sirius would never love him, and secondly, Remus didn't love Sirius. They were just best friends, obviously, no romance, nothing at all. So why, when he looked at Sirius's sleeping face, did he feel the strong urge to kiss him?
At that moment, Sirius stirred, and gradually, he woke up. He started when he opened his eyes to find Remus staring down at him.
"Remus?" he said, "Why are you in my bed- oh." Realization dawned on him.
"Er… Sirius, I'm really sorry, I think we were both very drunk, and, well, James put us in here, and-" he was abruptly stopped, as Sirius pushed himself up, and pressed his mouth to Remus.
Once Sirius lay back down, Remus blinked a few times. Then, a small smile crept over his face.
"You… you… you like… me?" he stammered. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"No." Remus's heart dropped.
"I love you." And then, his heart flew, flew to Sirius, and, with a sense of ruefulness, Remus knew that he would never get it back.
"Right," said Sirius, "We're officially together then. It's taken a long time."
"No," said Remus, "We were never really apart."