Fleeting glances

A/N: Hello there. This thingy is an ongoing series of ficlets, drabbles and short fics. You know when you get an idea that just goes on and on in your head and you just have to write them down? These are mine.

These are fleeting glances at the life and relationship of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Not in any kind of order.

Please note, this is NOT A MULTICHAPTERED FIC, but a series of short fics.

Disclaimer: Not J.K. Rowling. Own nothing. If I did, the Christians would have burned ALL of the books, everywhere.

Warnings: Boy-love, cursing, stuff.

Spinning

'We need one more boy,' Lily Evans ordered.

'Why?'

'I've always played this so that there's been as many boys and girls,' Lily continued, crossed her arms and lifted her chin up. Sirius sighed and gazed around the common room. No one seemed willing to play. Some of the older students were giving them amused and exasperated looks.

'Go and ask that Lupin boy,' James said.

'He never plays with us,' Sirius muttered, but got up anyway and disappeared into the staircase. Three months to their first year, and he had found two best mates ever, James and Peter, but had hardly changed a word with the small, shy and slightly aloof dorm mate of theirs. Sirius had to admit, though, that he was curious about the quiet boy. There was something about him that made Sirius oddly restless.

Lupin was sitting on his bed when Sirius entered the dorm. He looked tired and his greeting smile was somewhat hesitant and wary.

'Hi. Could you come down and play with us? Apparently, we are one boy short.' Sirius asked, glancing at the various books spread on the bed.

'Um. I don't know...' Lupin started. His amber eye also swept over the numerous books

'Please. We can't play, if you won't come,' Sirius said. It wasn't strictly true, but it didn't matter. There had to be some way of getting the boy out of his shell. He was starting to annoy Sirius.

Lupin sat still for a while, staring at his fingers. Finally he glanced up.

'Okay, I'll play,' he said. Sirius grinned happily and skipped back to the common room, Lupin in tow.

*

Everyone smiled at Remus when he came to the common room. They were already sitting on the floor in a circle. Nervously Remus seated himself on the floor next to Sirius, trying to shift as far away of him as possible. He wasn't too fond of Black, actually he was almost scared of the loud and wild boy, although he would never admit it.

'Right, Spin the bottle, everyone knows this game, right?' asked James Potter, the other boy of whom Remus was slightly wary.

'I don't,' he still managed to utter. James looked a bit shocked, but launched into an explanation only a second later.

'You just spin the bottle, and kiss whoever it points at. Simple as that. I'll go first.'

As Remus watched the spinning bottle, he already regretted coming down. Kissing was something he didn't want to do, especially not with his class mates staring at his every move. He fidgeted nervously as the bottle finally stopped and pointed at a blond girl Remus didn't know. To his relief, the kiss was only a quick peck on the lips. The girl spun the bottle and it landed on Sirius. Another quick peck. The girls blushed and giggled. Sirius spun. The bottle pointed at Alison Williams, another class mate of theirs. A small kiss was exchanged. Remus was slowly starting to relax. The girl spun, and Peter got his first kiss. Peter spun and got to give a shy peck to Lily Evans. Lily spun the bottle and with horror Remus realised it was pointing at him. He looked at the girl with wide eyes, expecting to see disgust, but to his surprise Lily was already moving towards him with an almost eager look on her face.

And so Remus got his first kiss. It was quick and didn't really feel like anything much. Nevertheless, he was a bit dazed when Lily sat back again with a smug look on her face.

'Your turn,' Potter said, sounding bored. Remus quickly spun the bottle and paled when it stopped to point at Black. This wasn't even remotely fun anymore. Remus decided never to leave his dorm for anything else than transformations, food, classes and library. Before he had the chance to get cold feet, however, he turned his head and kissed the boy next to him quickly on the lips.

When he drew back, everything was silent for a while. Then, suddenly, the room was filled with raucous laughter that seemed to go on forever. Wide-eyed, Remus stared around. Everyone in the little circle was laughing madly expect for Sirius who was blushing. The boy had an amused grin on his lips, though.

Remus sat there, horrified. He had obviously done something very stupid, but he didn't know what. His heart was beating loudly and his face got hotter and hotter by the second. Finally the laughter seemed to die down a bit.

'You... you... aren't supposed to kiss... boys...' Lily Evans finally managed to say between giggles.

Remus stared at her for a while and said the only thing that came to mind:

'Why not?'

'Well, boys don't want to kiss boys, and girls don't want to kiss girls,' answered James Potter, still chuckling. Remus' face still seemed to grow hotter every second and he was close to tears now. He didn't dare to look at Black.

'You said to kiss whoever the bottle was pointing at,' he muttered, staring at the ground. He did NOT want anyone to see his red, shining eyes.

'I guess I did. But I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to kiss a BOY,' James snorted.

'He hasn't played before!' Lily Evans said, now sounding angry. James just chuckled again. Remus got up shakily.

'I've still got some homework to do...' he mumbled and escaped the common room. He thought he heard another burst of laughter behind him when he blindly made his way to the dorm.

*

Downstairs, laughter died when they realised Remus had run off.

'Gods, how stupid can you be?' James said, rolling his eyes.

'Don't call him stupid! He gets better marks than you, Potter!' Evans snapped.

'Only 'cause he hasn't got anything else to do than homework!' James huffed back. Lily pouted angrily and turned to look away.

'Your turn,' James said to Sirius. Sirius looked at the bottle and shook his head.

'Naah, this is bloody stupid game anyway. I'm off,' he said and slowly made his way to the stairs, not bothering to listen to the indignant shouts of James.

Lupin had already closed his curtains when Sirius reached their dorm. He wasn't surprised, he had seen how flustered and miserable the other boy had been. He shouldn't have worked himself up to such a state over something so stupid.

Sirius prepared himself quietly for bed, changed into his night clothes and brushed his teeth, and snuggled into the warmth of his covers. As he lay in the darkness, he could still feel his lips tingling.

It was probably the toothpaste.