He certainly raised a lot of questioning eyebrows, one brown eyebrow more notable than the rest, when, in the middle of a bustling common room, he casually asked Lily out on a date. Before Lily could flat out refuse and hex him into oblivion, Sirius pulled her aside, out of earshot, and explained what James told him earlier in the hallway. Being as perceptive as she was, she figured that he didn't have any lewd tendencies toward her and that he was just doing it to satisfy James's odd logic and even odder thoughtfulness. Nevertheless, the idea was not so repulsive to her, being it Remus's birthday and all. So she accepted.

"You will?" Remus asked, highly surprised. His heart hammered wildly in his chest as Lily turned to him to smile and nod. He then turned to Sirius who shrugged indifferently and jumped onto the couch beside him, settling his head down onto Remus's lap and closing his eyes. "Where... where's James?" the werewolf asked meekly. Sirius peeked one gray eye open and replied.

"He promised me a piece of pie from the kitchens. I'm sure he'll be up shortly." Remus frowned at the disappointed note in his voice, but his thought shifted as the exact bespectacled boy he was looked for walked into the common room. He shoved a startled Sirius off his lap and unceremoniously dumped him onto the floor. The prefect stepped over him and hurriedly pulled James up to the dormitory.

"Sirius is taking Lily on a date" he informed, starting to panic. James noted it and grinned inwardly.

"Yeah, I know. I told him to" he said. The werewolf looked downtrodden.

"Why?" he asked, thoroughly confused, "Don't you like Lily anymore? You know I like Sirius... If he's going out with Lily, then... he and I..." Then he looked up at James questioningly. "Did you purposely do that to keep him and me apart? Are you, you know... in... in lo-- falling for... me?" the smaller boy stuttered, barely able to utter the words. James eyes widened as the intention of his decision for Sirius to take Lily was misunderstood and he shook his head wildly, holding both hands up in front of him.

"Moony, that's not it, I swear!" he protested. Remus was about to speak again, but he placed a palm over the other boy's lips. "There was no other purpose but for Lily and Sirius to not feel left out, okay? I love you, Remus, but I've already told you, you're like my brother. Lily is the only one for me" he smiled dreamily as he thought of the redhead.

"Okay... I just wanted to clear things up" Remus exhaled in relief. "So there's really nothing between them?" James shook his head. "Okay..."

"I have something for you by the way" the stag grinned and gestured toward the bed. Remus followed the length of his arm with his eyes until his gaze landed on his bed. Upon it was a formal tux with a white coat and a red carnation on the lapel, evocative of the muggle fashion of the 40s. Glancing around at the other beds, he found that they too had tuxes upon them, in black, gray and navy blue.

"What are they for?" he asked, walking over and inspecting the one on his bed.

"For tonight" James answered triumphantly, "Why don't you get ready? Go take a shower and put this on. We'll all go down together" he suggested and exited the dorm in search of the other two Marauders and their dates to inform them to get ready as well.

*****

Lily was decidedly impressed with how James had planned and executed Remus's birthday party. She looked down on her bed and fingered the soft fabric of the emerald green silk charmeuse dress. Beside it lay a box of simple and yet elegant jewelry and matching shoes. Needless to say, everything was much too opulent compared to her usual style but, for heaven's sake, she was a woman and she loved dressing up beautifully.

After casting a quick drying spell on her hair, she dropped the towel around her frame and slid into the dress, loving the feel of it on her newly-showered skin. After doing her hair in a cascade of barrel curls and pinning up one side with a barrette, she put on the earrings, necklace and the shoes.

James, she decided as she twirled around in front of a mirror, inspecting her attire, has fabulous taste. Then, a little abjectly, she realized that he was no longer courting her. She gazed at the pair of green eyes looking back at her from the mirror. After all those years of pushing him away, he finally did. And she didn't like it one bit...

"Lils?" came a call from the doorway. One of her roommates, Tasha, came in, "The boys wanted to know if you were done..." then stopped and remarked "oh, wow." Lily smiled at her.

"It's not too much?" she asked, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.

"Not in the least bit" Tasha hugged her briefly, "You are certainly going to give the devilishly handsome Sirius Black a run for his money."

He's not the one I'm trying to impress the redhead thought mentally while nodding in careless agreement.

"Go ahead, they're waiting for you downstairs." The girl sighed wistfully. "It's not fair that they're taking Belinda... I'm your friend, I should get to go" she pouted. Lily laughed.

"Well, then you should have targeted Peter instead of Sirius, shouldn't you?" To that, Tasha scrunched up her nose.

"Off with you now!" she ordered, ushering Lily out the door. Lily took one step out and matched the intake of breath James took when their eyes met. Sirius may be the resident Greek god of Hogwarts, but in Lily's eyes, he paled in comparison to the strikingly good looks of James in muggle formal wear. His glasses were once again discarded and his hair was neatly parted (Lily made a mental note to ask about the spell later. It must be akin to one hell of a sticking charm to tame the wild mop that was James's trademark). He practically turned Lily into melted butter the way she nearly gracelessly descended the girls' dormitory steps as he watched her. At the base, though, Sirius was awaiting her and she reluctantly hooked her arm into his as they made their way out of the common room.

Ahead of them, James and Remus walked, arm in arm, with the stag arrogantly smirking at those who watched them with wonderment as they passed by. Behind them, Peter had collected Belinda from the Hufflepuff tower and had caught up as they neared the entrance hall. Curious as to where they were going and why they were doing so in their designated attire, Lily had to ask.

"Where are we going?" James looked back at her and smiled mysteriously. The rest of them realized they were headed toward the quidditch pitch, which only served to make them even more confused. Just before they could fully see what James had concocted, the stag stopped, turned to Remus, kissed his cheek and said:

"Happy birthday, Remus." He swept an arm out, inviting them to gaze upon the middle of the pitch. Remus was mildly stunned.

In the center of the grassy field, a table for six was set up quite magnificently. Soft candlelight made the crystal goblets and gold-plated cutlery glitter romantically, as did the centerpiece of flowers and foliage, whose dewdrops were charmed to imitate diamonds. The floor beneath it was covered with hardwood that stretched just a little more to the right, revealing a string quartet who were playing soft music. The setting was covered by a tent, in case of rain, but more importantly, to create a warm, intimate feel. Fairly lights and yards of red and gold chiffon fabric certainly helped in setting the atmosphere.

"Wow..." the werewolf murmured after a long while. Sirius raised an eyebrow at the stag's gesture but otherwise said nothing. The girls softly echoed Remus's sentiment as James lead the way toward the table and helped Remus into his seat.

The birthday celebration was, indeed, in a formal setting, but its commencement was hardly so. In between courses, James and Sirius told the girls stories of the exploits of the Marauders with great enthusiasm and detail and were met with laughter and smiles. Remus and Peter often interjected with a smilingly sarcastic comment from Remus and gushing adoration from Peter. Lily figured that, as a prefect, she should report some of their misdeeds, as Remus had obviously failed to do, but for tonight, she couldn't care less. James's hazel eyes were alight with mirth when he caught her gaze and his smile widened even further.

At the end of the main course, James stood up. As the activity around the table settled down, he held out his hand to Remus and murmured: "Dance with me." Remus smiled warmly and nodded, taking the proffered hand and being led toward the empty space in front of the quartet. Soft music enveloped them as James waltzed him around the dance floor surprisingly well. This prompted a question from Remus for it was not everyday that you found one of your best friends had a rare talent that was rather frowned upon in normal teenage society.

"Where I learned to dance?" James asked back, "Most pureblood families require their offspring to learn such dances. You see, we often attend formal events and parents wouldn't want their sons or daughters to make fools of themselves, now would they?" he smiled, "In fact, I know quite accurately that Sirius is a very good dancer and that I am sure he will forgo his fear of appearing all Black-y in favor of asking you for a round." They both turned when Sirius tapped James on the shoulder. James seemed to be expecting it as he dipped his head, matching Sirius's bow, and stepped aside. Sirius smiled hesitantly and swept Remus into his arms and around the floor.

Remus was even more stunned. James had been a good dancer, but Sirius was on another level. Not only was the lad good, he made even Remus seem like a professional with the way he lead the prefect. Remus caught his gaze and nearly melted. The warm hand pressing his back and the other clasped around his own right hand were not doing him any favors either. As their bodies naturally drifted even closer and as Remus dipped his head to rest on Sirius's chest, the pureblood slowed his pace and placed both of Remus's arms around his neck. His own arms wormed their way around the smaller boy's waist.

They were barely aware of any other occurrences around them, such as James and Lily and Peter and Belinda joining them on the dance floor, as they swayed slowly against each other. The dimmed lights, the ethereal glow and the warmth around him only made Remus doubt any of it was actually real. But it was.

He was here.

In Sirius's arms.

The one place he, for so long, wanted to be.

"Rem?"

"Hmm?" He really didn't want to lift his head from the perfect spot on the broad shoulders of the dog animagus, but if it was only to look into his eyes, well... Remus could tell you with ease what the better option was.

"I have something for you" Sirius smiled lopsidedly. He stepped back and reached into his pocket, hesitating only slightly before drawing out a small, velvet pouch. "I don't want to seem all girly and all, but I really hope you like this..." he thrust it into Remus's hands and looked away nervously. James smiled knowingly and twirled Lily around. Remus's heart increased in pace as he pulled open the drawstrings. Reaching into it, he gingerly drew out the object and held it up into the light. Sirius ran a hand through his hair. "I really wasn't sure what to get you and this was the best I've seen, but if you don't like it I can always take it back and exch--" Words were lost among the kisses lain on his lips.

Remus wrapped his arms around the animagus's neck and failed to stop himself from doing something he hadn't fully thought through. When Sirius responded, though, he dropped further protests from his rational mind and parted his lips for Sirius's tongue.

"I take it, you like it?" he asked with a smile once they had parted. Remus simply nodded as Sirius took the necklace from the werewolf's palm and wrapped it around his neck. Remus delicately fingered the pendant, a gold crescent moon wrapped around a silver star, and a small smile settling upon his lips.

At the risk of sounding cliche, tacky, corny and hackneyed, this was undoubtably the best birthday he'd ever had.

*****

Okay, so it isn't really clear that Sirius and Remus got together at this point, though I hope it is. Anyway, to make things clearer, I'll come up with the final chapter soon enough. Of course, it wouldn't be fair if James and Remus got to shag whereas Sirius and Remus don't, so, maybe if I get a lot of reviews, I could be persuaded to write a smut scene?

Okay, not necessarily 'a lot'. Maybe even 'some'... or at least 'one'... review? (Note pleading voice and a totally failed and pathetic attempt at puppy dog eyes=)).