It was actually kind of a good day until what happened in the common room.
Then everything just went to hell.
"Remus just confuses me sometimes," James complains, kicking back in the arm chair.
Sirius, from the chair next to him, props his legs on James' armrest and asks what he means.
"You know how he was late to lunch and wouldn't tell us why? Apparently Myra on Hufflepuff confessed to him," he explains. "And he rejected."
"So?" Sirius asks. "He must not like her. Simple."
"Yeah, but that's the fifth girl in two months," James continues. "And I've been chasing the same girl for five years."
Sirius rolls his eyes. "That's an unfair comparison and you know it mate."
"So I was thinking about that and I realized," James says, "that Remus has never told us if he likes anyone or not."
Sirius ponders this for a moment, searching through all their late-night conversations. "You're right," he admits, somewhat surprised.
"I'm going to ask him as soon as he gets back from the library," James declares. It's funny because it's at that moment that Remus walks in, hugging a big textbook to his chest.
"Ask who what?" he asks, and James smirks, standing up and draping an arm around Remus so he couldn't escape.
"Remus, mate, tell me something," James drawls. "Who do you like?"
"Like? What do you mean?" Remus coughs awkwardly, and Sirius just stares at his ears which are slowly turning pink.
"I mean who's your crush. Who sets your heart aflutter. Who's your Lily?" James asks, and Remus and Sirius both snort at the same time because who's your Lily? Really?
"No one," Remus answers, shrugging off James' arm. "And I mean it. I don't like anyone," he emphasizes. "So don't be off thinking up weird theories about me you two." With that he sets off to get his homework, leaving the other two behind.
"What a shame. I have nothing to tease him about now." James pouts, and Sirius laughs, patting him on the head affectionately.
"But I can see why so many girls like him," James thinks aloud. "I guess his quiet, caring self could come across as appealing. Possibly cute."
Cute? Sirius wonders. Is Remus cute? That wasn't necessarily a word that Sirius would have used to describe his best friend, but it might be true - for girls of course! He was just thinking that in a platonic way from a friend who is only thinking of his best interests-
"Hey, Lily," James yells, and Sirius can imagine the redhead's eyes rolling. "Do girls find Remus cute?"
"Loads of them," she yells back.
"What about me?" Sirius asks.
"Hot. But also a player," Lily retorts, and Sirius smirks.
So girls did find Remus cute.
The changes begin to surface when Sirius is getting ready to turn in for the night.
Remus is sitting in bed, reading the book from earlier. The soft candle light is illuminating part of his face, leaving some of him in darkness. His sharp jawline and lips are outlined by the golden light, and tawny strands of hair fall into his eyes. His long, thin fingers reach to brush them back and-
Sirius slams his face into a pillow, deciding he's pretty sleep deprived at the moment.
(His mind is a mess of RemuscuteRemuscuteheactuallyiscute and he can't forget the way his lips looked in the candlelight.)
It's happening all the time now, and Sirius doesn't know how to stop it.
Every time. Every fucking time. All he has to do is look at his best friend, and suddenly his mind corrupts and he becomes a fucking mess.
Remus. It's so weird to look at the guy he's been friends with for five years now and see not his best friend, but his cute best friend.
And there's so much of a difference.
Because Remus is just a brunette with green eyes but cute Remus is a guy with mousy brown locks that fall into his cloudy jade eyes. Because Remus is smart but cute Remus is smart with a dreamer's gaze. Because Remus has a voice and has a laugh but cute Remus has a silky, low voice and a happy laugh that Sirius would kill to hear again.
Because Remus smiles but when cute Remus smiles the world fucking stops to stare.
Sirius can't help but notice all these weird quirks that he knew before. Like his angular bone structure or his bobbing Adam's apple or slender fingers. Or how when he smiles it's with his entire mouth and Sirius kind of feels like everything's alright.
Peter's the first to notice.
"You alright?" he whispers in Sirius' ear, and Sirius thanks Merlin that Peter's not like James and would have demanded an answer as to why he was staring at Remus in front of everybody.
"I'm fine," he replies lowly, also thanking Merlin that Peter didn't ask why he was gazing at Remus like he was a gift to the world as he was changing because dammit maybe he is and dammit why he did he just think that-
His torso. It's not very broad and very pale. His waist is thin, giving him a slender, almost feminine curve-
No. He's not going there. Sirius Black will not-
"Sirius, what the hell?" James cries as Sirius throws himself into the wall.
It's official. He's gone completely mental.
Okay. So Remus Lupin is a little cute. He'll admit it. He'll agree to that statement, in the most platonic and objective way possible-
Remus is smiling.
Fuck.
A/N: I hope you like this Sam! I had fun writing about Sirius being a complete dork.