Do Tell, Dearest Black
Back by popular demand, a continuation of my originally-intended-to-be-a-one-shot.
Disclaimer: I don't actually hate pistachio ice cream and I don't mean to offend any die-hard fans that particular flavor may have. Also, I still don't own Harry Potter, though that should be implied as this is being posted on FanFiction.
"I do not fancy Sirius."
That sentence had plagued Sirius' mind since he first heard Remus mumble it from the other side of the shower curtain. He never mentioned what he overheard to Remus or the other Marauders, but he hadn't been able to forget the incident from nearly six months ago.
It had been far too busy at the end of term to mull over the implications during their final exams, but over the summer vacation there was little else to occupy his mind than memories of his friends; especially the friend that would have an argument in the shower about whether or not he fancies Sirius.
It was possible that Remus had gotten into an argument with someone where the offender had insisted Remus had a crush on his friend, and Remus was still riled up about it to the point where he relived the fight in the shower. But a more logical tangent (in Sirius' opinion anyway), would be that his friend was simply in denial about having romantic feelings towards Sirius. Sirius was, after all, quite dreamy. It was completely possible for him to attract the attention of even the male students in school without even trying.
Everyone was beginning to settle back into life at Hogwarts, the fourth years already complaining about the increased workload that was being shoved upon them by the professors that no doubt strove to see them drown in a sea of litterature. While the first and second years were goofing off with various joke products and games while they gorged on sweets in the common room, the third through sixth years all had their noses burried in their assignments, while the seventh years wisely went to bed at a reasonable hour.
Of course, Sirius was not wasting his time with such nonsense as studying. All he had left to work on was transfiguration after all, and he could do that in his sleep. He lounged against one of the oversized armchairs close to the fire as he scanned the common room. James was dutifully working on a quiz in Which Broomstick? while occasionally stopping to help Peter with his homework with only the slightest show of annoyance. Remus was curled up on the floor next to the fire, a potions textbook resting on his lap and a smudge of dried ink on his fingertips.
As Sirius moved his gaze away from his friends, he could have sworn he saw Remus watching him, but looking back, noticed the boy casually flipping to the next page still devoutly reading the text in front of him.
"Hey there, handsome," Mary Macdonald cooed as she leaned against one of the arms of Sirius' chair. She batted her eyes in what she certainly believed to be a seductive manner as she twirled a thick brown curl around her finger.
He looked up at her through thick eyelashes, his lip curling up with the classic Black Family Charm that no one could resist. "Why hello, Macdonald. What can I do for you?"
Taking the question as an invitation, she siddled down into the tight spot to Sirius' left, her right leg draping over his lap. "You just looked so lonely, I thought I should keep you company." She leaned in close to him, the scent of the cauldron cakes she had eaten moments before wafting against his face. Mary placed her hand gently along his jawline, tugging him just enough in her direction, silently asking for him to close the distance as she moistened her mocha-painted lips with her tongue.
Sirius was tempted, he won't lie. While he knew that Macdonald would just be a fling and nothing more, she was still pretty, and it had been a long time since he'd snogged anyone. As he inclined his head in her direction, he heard the thump of a textbook being slammed shut.
Sirius glanced towards the fire to see Remus rising from his spot on the hearthrug, the potions book tucked under his right arm. His tawny hair was obscuring his face as he kept his eyes focused on the carpet, but as he walked briskly past Sirius' armchair towards their dormitory, he noticed irritation in his posture and clenched jaw.
Not taking into account his distraction, Macdonald attacked Sirius' mouth, momentarily causing him to forget his roommate's abrupt departure. She was definitely a tenacious one, and he was quickly reminded why he was so accepting of her advances. After all, in only a few years his mother would no doubt be forcing him to marry some stuck-up pureblood that he would be far too closely related to for comfort, so he might as well have as much fun as possible before that time came.
"I do not fancy Sirius."
There was that cursed thought again. If there was a chance that Remus was in denial about having a crush on Sirius, Sirius would be a right jerk to make out with a girl right in front of the poor star-struck boy. Of course, Remus had escaped the situation, but who's to say he isn't upstairs bawling his eyes out while Sirius snogs some bird he cares nothing for?
Reigning in his libido, Sirius pushed Macdonald, who was now straddling him, off and stood up. He quickly waved away her indignant scoff before running to the dormitory to make sure Remus was alright.
The curtains were drawn on Remus' bed, but the glow of a lumos charm indicated that the boy was still awake and no doubt stuffing chocolates into his mouth to heal his wounded heart.
"Moony?" When there wasn't a response, Sirius let out a soft breath and walked over to Remus' bed, knocking gently on one of the posts. "Are you doing alright, Moons?"
There was an audible sigh from the other side of the curtains before they were pulled open and Remus glanced up at Sirius with only the faintest trace of annoyance in his amber eyes. "Of course I'm alright, Sirius. Is it not it obvious I came up here for peace and quiet?"
Sirius shrugged, unsure how to respond. He really hadn't thought peace and quiet was Remus' motive, but James had always insisted he was rubbish at reading Moony's mood-swings. Perhaps the overly-perky chaser was right about that accusation.
Remus peered over Sirius' shoulder, noticing his distinct lack of female companionship. "Where did Macdonald go?"
He shook his head in what he hoped to be an indifferent gesture. "I decided I'd rather spend time with you," he said with a grin. "All those girls are getting in the way of quality time with my fellow marauders."
Remus nodded skeptically. "Well, I still need to finish this chapter, so if you want quality time with me, you will just have to wait. Why don't you hang out with James? Last I checked he was wasting time instead of being responsible."
Sirius sat down on Remus' bed uninvited, peering down at the page Remus had his hand resting on. "Mate, we aren't even on that chapter yet! What are you trying to do? Read the whole textbook before we even get to Halloween?"
A flush spread across his face as he ducked his head, dropping his voice to a mumble. "You know I'm rubbish at potions. I need to get as much of a headstart as possible."
"Come on," Sirius urged, tugging the book away. "Over-studying won't do anything but wear you out. Let's play a round of exploding snap."
Remus reached for the book that was kept well out of reach, protesting weakly. "Come on Sirius! Give my book back!"
"Let's make a deal," he said, a mischievous grin adorning his features. "If you beat me, I'll let you study in peace."
He tutted with a scowl firmly fixed on his face. "So you intend to use extortion to get me to play?"
"Whatever works, Moony. You know I won't take no for an answer. You can either play with the hope that I will leave you alone, or you can attempt to study with me pestering you the whole time. Your choice."
Remus rolled his eyes dramatically. In all fairness, he really should be accustomed to Sirius' ridiculous demands by now. "Just get the blimming deck of cards."
In the following months, Sirius continued to maintain a distance from his usual female companions under the pretence that Remus was a sad love-struck fool. While he certainly knew he had no desire to be with Remus as Sirius was definitely straight, he didn't want to cause any undue heartache on the poor werewolf. He could at least wait until Remus had gotten over his crush and moved on to someone that would be able to reciprocate his feelings.
Since the beginning of the school year, Sirius had been paying much closer attention to his friend. Behaviors that he had always shrugged off before now seemed to stick out. When Remus would make a suggestion for an improvement to one of James' many prank schemes, he would watch Sirius as if wishing for approval from him more than anyone else. Whenever Sirius would laugh, a grin would creep onto Remus' face no matter what the other boy was doing, even when he would be on the complete opposite side of the room. After the full moon when Remus was still recovering from his injuries, he would ask for Sirius to stay by his side, almost always falling asleep on the other boy's lap, much to James' amusement.
What stood out the most though, was now that Sirius was looking for signs, he felt as though he was being watched by Remus. He had caught him a few times staring at Sirius whenever he would look up from his homework, but Remus always denied that he was staring, insisting that he had only just glanced up. There had also been a tremendous improvement in Remus' general air of happiness since Sirius had decided to stop fooling around with all the girls in school.
He knew that his first hunch was right. Remus hadn't just gotten into an argument with someone. He really did fancy Sirius, but was clearly in denial about it.
It was shortly after the winter holidays that Remus finally approached the other three marauders in their dormitory, saying that he had something important to tell them. After a long and rather uncomfortable silence spread throughout the room, he opened his mouth and blurted out what he had been so nervous to say.
"I'm gay," Remus said, his cheeks turning the faintest shade of pink. He knew it was foolish to be so nervous about the confession. These were, after all, the very same people that were still his friends after discovering that he was a werewolf. Surely him being attracted to the same gender as himself was nowhere near as terrifying as him turning into a slavering blood-thirsty beast every twenty-eight days.
Peter blinked in response while Sirius and James made eye contact with one another, clearly having one of their typical mental conversations.
"Well, yeah," Peter said, breaking the silence. "It's totally obvious."
The other three mauraders stared at Peter with equally dumb-struck expressions. After what felt like an eternity, James coughed.
"What do you mean, 'it's totally obvious'?" James choked out.
"Well, it is." Peter gestured wildly, like he was searching for some unknown source of wisdom. "I mean, he's never even looked twice at any of the birds, Remus is way too clean to be straight, and the amount of chocolate he consumes is on par with Alice Fortescue."
Sirius scowled. "That's profiling, Petey."
"But I'm clearly not wrong!"
Remus scrunched up his mouth, eyeing the floor in a nervous gesture.
"Hey look, Moony," James said, patting his shoulder consolingly. "It's okay mate, we aren't going to ditch you just cause you play for the other team. In fact, we should thank you. With you out of the field, that leaves a whole lot more girls for the three of us." He gave Remus one of his over-exaggerated winning smiles that were always far to infectious.
Remus snorted lightly, a grin threatening to spread across his face.
"So, uh," James started, clearing his throat. "Has anyone caught your eye?"
Sirius moved his focus from James to Remus, noticing the way those amber orbs devoutly avoided his eyes. Certainly Remus knew he didn't have to admit his feelings in front of the group. Sirius knew he would have to turn him down, and he would much rather do that privately when everyone wasn't watching the painful rejection that would certainly follow Remus' confession.
"Yes," Remus whispered, gnawing on his lip nervously.
"So, who is it?" James prompted, far too eager to play matchmaker.
Remus' gaze was now firmly set on the grout between the stone tiles on the floor. "It – well, he's someone in our year."
Here is was, the admission of love followed by the disappointing let-down. Sirius wanted to scream for the conversation to stop, but he couldn't. He knew that if this didn't happen now, James would just keep pestering Remus until he got the truth out of him. At least here Remus was safe; there were only the four of them involved. Who knew if James would next corner their friend somewhere more public like the common room or, worse yet, the great hall. No, this was where the conversation needed to take place. Sirius just needed to figure out the best way to tell his friend that, despite how much he cares for him and wants him to be happy, he is most definitely not attracted to him in that way.
James rubbed his hands together excitedly. "So, tell me about him! What's he like? Do I know him? Is he in our house? Oh! Do you need me to find out if he's interested in you before you make your declaration of love?"
Remus shook his head, his tawny hair obscuring his face slightly as the pink hue that had been adorning his cheeks turned into a bright red. "N-no, you don't need to do anything, but yes, James, you do know him."
"Well? What's he like? Tell me!"
"He has silky black hair, a nice jawline, beautiful eyes, a great build, lips that -"
Oh crap, he was certainly describing Sirius. It was too late now. Soon both James and Peter would know that Remus fancied Sirius, then Sirius would finally have to admit to being aware of this situation the whole time. He was quite surprised his silence this far into the conversation hadn't been noticed by anyone, but that definitely wouldn't last once they figured out that Remus was completely smitten with the sexiest of the mauraders. Correction, the sexiest man at Hogwarts. Maybe even in all of Europe. Yes, definitely all of Europe.
Seeing the glossy sheen that had begun to overtake Remus' eyes, James stopped him mid-sentence. "Please, don't go into a tirade about how sexy this guy must be."
"But you said - "
"I meant what's he like? You know, his personality. Will this bloke fit into our group?"
Remus nodded, assuredly. "Oh, definitely. He's a lot like you."
Sirius still hadn't figured out what he could possibly say to calm down the situation. How was he to tell his friend that, while he is flattered and can completely understand that he could turn anyone gay, he simply wasn't interested in Remus in a romantic setting? He was completly at a loss, and there were only seconds to spare before everything came crashing down and he had to have the perfect words ready. The words that would keep their friendship in tact somehow.
"So, who is he?" James smiled kindly, tilting his head to the side. "I can definitely help set you two up."
Remus shook his head, "That's not necessary, James. I actually already have a date planned with him this weekend."
Sirius' eyes widened. This was a Hogsmede weekend, but he certainly didn't remember asking Remus out. He quickly scrambled through his mental log trying to see if there was anything he could have done to inadvertently cause Remus to think that he was inviting him on a date. He was now thoroughly screwed. He had led the poor boy on somehow, and now he would definitely be devastated. All hope of keeping their friendship in harmony slipped through his fingers as despair flooded his mind.
"Oh?" A mischievous twinkle sparkled in James' eye. "So who is this lucky man?"
Remus finally made eye-contact with Sirius for the first time since the conversation started. He offered Sirius a strained smile before looking back at James. "Edgar Bones."
"What?!"
Three sets of eyes turned to stare at the until-now silent Sirius who gaped, open-mouthed, at Remus.
"Edgar Bones? Seriously?" How could Remus possibly have agreed to a date with Edgar Bones when he was clearly infatuated with Sirius Black? Who in their right mind would choose that goody-two-shoes over him? The most eligible and smoking-hot fifteen-year-old at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? You don't just move on from Sirius to Bones. It's illogical!
"What," Remus started, irritation clear on his face, "you don't think I could land a guy like Edgar?"
Sirius froze up, realizing that his reaction may have been inappropriate. Even though he was surprised, he probably took it a little too far. "I just," he backpedalled, trying to correct his mistake. "I didn't realize that he was gay, is all," he finished lamely.
Anger quickly left his friend's face, though doubt was still present in those entrancing amber eyes.
"You didn't?" James asked, curiously. "Everyone in school knows that bloke is bent. He was outted at the beginning of last year."
Sirius was well aware of that incident. It had involved a great deal of hexes from his Hufflepuff classmates aimed at the Slytherins who dared to mock the young boy for being queer. He couldn't admit that though without revealing the truth, so he was forced to feign surprise. "No, I don't remember that."
This response seemed to work at bringing the attention off of Sirius, and he spent the remainder of the evening only pretending to listen as Remus explained how the other boy had asked him out to the easily excited James Potter.
Sirius was supposed to feel relieved that he didn't have to turn his friend down, but the only thing he felt at that moment was jealousy. It was completely baffling. He certainly had no desire to be with Remus like that, but he couldn't help but hate that another boy had caught the young werewolf's eye. What did that Hufflepuff have that he didn't?
'An attraction to men,' the irritating voice in his head provided.
It shouldn't bug him, but it did. Bones didn't deserve someone like Remus. Remus deserved someone amazing, and Bones was just your average student. He didn't know Remus the way Sirius did, and he doubted that Bones would make him as happy as Sirius could. Worse yet, would he even still be there for Remus once he found out his secret?
When he couldn't take listening to Remus prattle on about his date plans with James any longer, Sirius excused himself to the library to finally work on his History of Magic essay that was due the next morning, no matter how uncharacteristic this behavior was. He ignored the odd glances his dormmates gave him as he slipped away, seeking an escape from his tangled emotions.
"What are you doing, Sirius?"
Sirius glanced briefly at James before returning to unfolding the invisibility cloak he had shoved under his robes before they left for Hogsmede earlier that afternoon. "Spying, of course," he replied as if it was the most obvious answer.
James tisked and rolled his eyes dramatically. "Yeah, but why? And on who?"
Sirius didn't reply, instead ducking into the shadows and sweeping the cloak over his body in a fluid movement that showed it wasn't his first time doing this.
"Sirius!" James hissed in the direction his best friend had disappeared from.
He felt a little bad leaving James in the dark, but he knew that if he admitted what he was up to, James would stop him. After all, how could he justify stalking one of their mates on a date?
After twenty minutes of scouring the village, he caught a flash of tawny hair and hustled over.
Remus was leaving Honeydukes with a decent-sized bag of chocolates while Bones had the nerve to hold the door open for him. The boy then reached forward, grasping Remus' free hand with his own, causing a shy smile to appear on the werewolf's face.
A scowl adorned Sirius' face as he stalked after the couple, uncaring as he pushed through other students who looked around curiously for the invisible person that had bumped into them. Sirius knew that he had to be careful for fear of having Jaems' cloak discovered and consequently taken into custody, but, right now, all he could focus on was how Bones was telling stupid jokes that Remus was actually laughing at. They weren't even funny! Clearly Remus had to be faking interest in this dull Hufflepuff he was walking with.
Next they stopped at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, where Bones no doubt was trying to appeal to Remus' love of all things chocolatey. Remus ordered a triple scoop, fudge dipped, chocolate custard with chocolate sprinkles in a chocolate coated waffle cone, while Bones had plain old pistachio custard in a cup. Sirius shook his head in disdain at the bloke's choice of dessert from his position on the other side of the shop window. Who eats pistachio ice cream when there are so many more interesting flavors to choose from. They are at Florean's for crying out loud! There's over three-hundred flavors to choose from including the best flavor ever, sparkling unicorn extreme.
As Remus licked the chocolate from his fingers, the ice cream long-since devoured, Bones watched him with a sly smile on his mouth. He reached forward, wiping a chocolately smudge from the corner of Remus' mouth with his index finger and sucked on it in a manner that was far too seductive for Sirius' liking. He saw the boy whisper somehting to Remus that caused a violent flush to overtake Remus' face as his eyes widened. Not being blessed with supernatural hearing, Sirius was unable to make out what Bones said through the thick glass, but he glared all the same.
Sirius spent the next three hours stalking after the two boys, his mood darkening as the day progressed. What Remus saw in Bones was completely beyond him. From what he could tell of the date, it was incredibly dull. They went into nearly every book shop in Hogsmede, visited the post office, Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, made a second trip to Florean's (where Bones got another cup of pistachio), and then went on a walk along the riverbed before it was time to head back to school. The two of them held hands nearly the entire trip, and Bones was constantly whispering into Remus' ear, causing him to giggle like a young school girl. It was completely sickening.
He followed them at a much more sedated pace as they joined the mass of students bustling through the Hogsmede gates back to the school, but maintained his vigilant watch on the couple. Sirius noticed Bones leading Remus to a secluded spot between a fence and a small shed just off the main road and tailed after them, far quicker than he had been earlier. There was only one reason that boy would be taking Remus away from the crowd, and Sirius nearly growled as he realized his suspicions about Bones were correct. Clearly Bones was planning on hurting Remus. He had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to get Remus alone so he could do something horrible to him like use the cruciatus curse.
"- really enjoyed our date." Sirius could just make out the end of Bones' sentence as he edged closer.
"Yeah, me too," Remus replied.
Was the nervous expression on Remus' face from fear, or something else? Sirius narrowed his eyes as he took a step closer, but wisely stopped about twenty paces away. He knew that Remus' sense of smell was better than the average person, and he wasn't so sure the young werewolf would appreciate Sirius spying on him, even though he was only doing it to keep him safe. He couldn't trust this Bones guy; he was definitely up to something rotten.
Bones bit his lip as he paused, clearly trying to come up with the best way to convince Remus to let his guard down. He was even worse than those Slytherin thugs. They would at least attack you from the shadows, where this guy wanted to convince Remus to trust him before striking. Despicable. "Do you – would you like to, um, you know -"
Remus tilted his head to the side in a distinctly canine gesture. While the boy was book-smart, he was definitely ill-experienced when it came to human interaction. Mind reading was not one of his specialties.
Bones cleared his throat before continuing, gathering his courage. "So, are we, like, boyfriends now? I'm sorry if it's too soon, I just, really enjoyed spending time with you, and I would like to do this more often. Is that, I mean, you don't have to-"
"Edgar," Remus said with a small laugh. "Yes. I would like to be your boyfriend."
Bones beemed, Remus smiled shyly, and Sirius scowled. He had a feeling scowling was becoming his new go-to expression.
"So then, is it okay if I kiss you?" The question was so quiet, Sirius almost missed it.
Remus inhaled sharply, obviously being caught off-guard. He gave a slight nod, rose blossoming on his cheeks.
Edgar placed his right hand under Remus' jaw, inclining the other boy's head towards his own as he leaned forward slowly, Remus leaning in as well, his eyes fluttering shut. Without thinking about his actions, Sirius lifted his wand and cast the first curse he could think of at Bones right before their lips met.
As black hair tickled Remus' nose, he blinked his eyes open and took a step back, making a strangled noise as he took in Bones with his head on backwards. Bones reacted even worse, completely freaking out as he tried to figure out what had happened to him.
Remus tried to console his boyfriend who was completely losing it, running in confused circles and stumbling over himself. Remus was insisting he take Bones to the hospital wing, that surely Madame Pomphrey would know how to fix it, that everything would be fine, but Bones was apparently more interested in figuring out who did this, yelling about homophobic bastards in Hogsmede.
Sirius felt a rough hand grip his left wrist through the thin material of the cloak and tug him away, back into Hogsmede, not stopping until they were in the center courtyard. With his wrist finally freed of the vice-grip and the tugging no longer threatening to make him fall face-first onto the dirt road, Sirius righted himself, pulling the cloak off and giving James his best bewildered expression.
"How did you know where I was?"
At the question, James' already hard glare intensified from the other side of his spectacles. "Because I saw the trail of magic come from your wand when you hexed Bones, you prat!"
"Oh." Sirius' expression blanked. He supposed it was to be expected that James had also curiously followed Remus and Bones when he noticed the two of them wander into a deserted location. He hadn't thought that there would be an additional bystander to that specific event. He wasn't sure whether he should be moved by James' brotherly protection, or affronted by his keen interest in Remus' personal affairs. Lupin Watching was his thing.
"What were you thinking?!" James yelled, completely uncaring about bystanders.
Sirius sputtered, as if the answer was obvious. "That prick was trying to kiss Moony," he exclaimed, arms waving for emphasis.
"From where I was standing, it looked like Moony wanted him to."
Sirius scowled, refusing to accept that Remus would ever want to kiss someone as lame as Bones.
"Just what is your problem? You've been acting off all week, and now you've literally wasted your Hogsmede trip by spying on Moony's date? Then, as if just creepily watching them wasn't enough, you went and ruined what was most likely Moony's first kiss! What has gotten into you, mate?"
Sirius flushed, pursing his lips. He hadn't thought about that being Remus' first kiss, but he supposed it was obvious in hindsight. What was meant to be a special moment for Remus, Sirius turned into a truly horrific memory. No doubt poor Remus would be scarred for life.
"Do you have some problem with Moony's sexuality? Are you hell-bent on ruining any relationship he has?"
He shook his head fervently. "What? No! Of course I don't have a problem with Moony's preferences. He's Moony!"
James gave him an expression that said Sirius had better come clean or there would be hexing in the very near future. Obviously fishing for answers was wearing out James' patience.
Sirius sighed dramatically. "It's just that Bones isn't good enough for him. He deserves someone better than that pompous teacher's pet."
"Is that so?" The glare didn't lesson on James' face, much to Sirius' surprise. "He deserves someone better than a kind-hearted, hard-working, polite young man that seems to take a genuine interest in him?"
"Exactly!" Sirius agreed, pleased to see that James was finally coming around.
James scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief. He rubbed his eyes in a way that resembled a weary parent before deciding to go along with Sirius' argument. "So if Bones isn't good enough for him, just who would be worthy of Moony's affection?" he asked, the skepticism clear on his face.
"Someone fun and carefree, extremely handsome, great at playing Quidditch, of course. Someone that's good at school but not in that nerdy way that Bones is, and that can look past our Moony's furry-little-problem. Someone that would take care of him when he isn't feeling well. That feeds him lots of chocolate, would remind him not to stay up too late working on homework," Sirius grasped for more qualities that this perfect man needed to have, coming up far too short for his liking. After all, Remus deserved the perfect boyfriend, not just some average Joe. "You know, someone like me."
He rose an eyebrow. "Someone like you?"
"Yeah," he nodded in affirmation. "I am pretty perfect if I do say so myself."
"But you're straight."
There was a long pause between them and Sirius could almost see the cogs turning in James' mind as his hazel eyes sharpened in deep concentration, carefully analyzing the events over the past several months. This expression was almost a staple when he would be solving a hard transfiguration problem or when trying to figure out a mystery, such as Remus' lycanthropy, and Sirius wasn't entirely sure he liked where James' thoughts were no doubt going at the moment.
"Someone like you," James started, pausing for effect as his eyes resumed their normal intensity, "or you?"
Sirius blinked.
"You fancy Remus, don't you?"
"What? No! Of course I don't!" He cursed himself for the blush that crept up on him when he wasn't paying attention.
"Blimey, you actually fancy Remus!"
"Don't be ridiculous James," Sirius scoffed, turing on his heel and heading back towards the gates leading to Hogwarts, James hot on his trail.
"That would explain why you've been in a pissy mood ever since he mentioned his date with Bones, as well as why you recently took up your old habit of Lupin Watching that you gave up once we discovered his you-know-what. Don't even try to deny it, Sirius, even Peter has noticed you staring at him intently all year. It would also explain why you suddenly started pushing all the girls away instead of sneaking off with them like you usually do. No one just suddenly stops playing around unless something big happens, such as suddenly realizing you want to play for the other side."
Sirius shot a glare over his shoulder at the other boy before speeding up his pace, determined to return to the castle faster so James would stop talking so openly about this issue. Not that it was an issue. It was a complete fabrication of James' imagination.
"You have always been a bit more effeminate than a normal bloke is anyway, but I just figured you really cared about your hygeine. It's so obvious now though. I mean, no straight man takes an hour to brush his hair and has a five-cycle conditioning regimen. And don't even try to deny that you use mud masks on your face once a week. I've seen it, Sirius."
"It's perfectly acceptable to take care of yourself," he grumbled. "You're wrong though, James. I do not fancy Remus. I'm into girls."
"Oh, really? Then why did you fight off Meadowes last week with a baguette?"
Sirius stopped and turned around to face James, his eyebrow furrowed. "Because she wouldn't take no for an answer! What does that have to do with Moony?"
"I'm just saying, you suddenly stopped accepting female advances for no apparent reason. Clearly you've realized you have feelings for Moony, and that is what made you not interested in girls anymore, am I right?"
He opened his mouth to deny the accusation, but realized if he told James it was to avoid hurting Remus' feelings, it would eventually lead to what he overheard Remus say in the shower last year. While he wanted to get James off his case, he felt as if telling him about Remus being in denial about liking Sirius would be a betrayal of some sort. He scowled, not knowing what excuse he could possibly come up with.
"See! It's because you prefer blokes!" James said in victory. "I knew it!"
Sirius huffed in annoyance, as James cheekily walked past him, leading the way to Hogwarts.
Sirius chewed on the side of his mouth, in frustration before following after the other boy. "I do not fancy Remus," he mumbled to himself, trying to ignore all the logic that James had laid out for him.
Word Count: 5755
I hope you enjoyed the second installment. I tried a slightly different style than I'm used to with mixing in the character's personal opinion with the narration, but hopefully it was still easy to follow. Naturally, Sirius has to be a little full of himself.
Just to clarify, Sirius is not homophobic. In this chapter he is upset about the fact that Remus is attracted to someone that isn't him, but he is a bit slow to realize that is his issue. Naturally, you would be disguisted by someone you fancy being with someone else no matter the sexuality as that person belongs to you. Or at least that's my experience.
Please review!
Constructive criticism is always appreciated.