Thursday, 10 March 1977

Remus had been acting slightly jittery ever since Sirius and James recommended that he tell Peter that he planned to ask Lena out. He knew it was the decent thing to do, but he did not want to do it. There was just something so awkward about planning to inform one of your best friends that you want to ask their younger sibling out because they're all you think about, Remus thought.

Remus wasn't sure what came over him as he, Sirius, James, and Peter rearranged the beds in the room so there would be more space for Remus' party for when their friends arrived.

"I'm gonna ask your sister out!" Remus blurted.

James and Sirius exchanged panicked looks.

Peter laughed as he turned around. "That's funny, Moony," Peter said. His laughter died as he looked at Remus' face. "Oh, fuck! You're serious!"

"No, I'm Sir—"

Peter glared at him. "Padfoot, don't even finish that sentence or I will kill you."

Sirius frowned and looked at his lap as James whispered to Remus.

"We told you to tell him gently and in private!"

"You two knew!" Peter cried and pointed at them accusingly.

"Don't look at us, Wormtail!" James said.

"He's the one who wants to ask out your sister!" Sirius finished, pointing at Remus.

Remus groaned as Peter turned his attention back to him.

"You're asking me if you can date my sister?"

"Oh, no," Remus said. "I'm not asking for your permission. I'm just informing you that I'm going to ask your sister out."

There was a long awkward pause. James pretended to clean his glasses and Sirius rested his forehead on his hand. Remus and Peter just stared at each other, with Peter's mouth hanging open.

"So, do you have any questions?" Remus asked, breaking the silence.

Peter nodded. "A lot, actually. Like why are you asking her out?"

"Well, I've liked Lena for quite a while now and it's been killing me not to do anything about it.

"How long?" Peter demanded.

"How long what?" Remus asked, although he knew what Peter was asking.

"How long have you liked my sister?"

"I've always liked her," Remus said simply.

The fact that he admitted to his best friend that he liked his sister was no longer phasing him. Admitting it had taken a load of nerves and stress off of Remus' shoulders.

Remus could practically see the steam coming out of Peter's ears. "I meant romantically! How long have you fancied her?"

"Oh, definitely since this summer. Probably before then too, if I'm being honest. I just don't think I realized that my feelings changed before this summer."

James and Sirius wanted to run out of the room and both of them silently thought this was one of the worst experiences of their lives. That said a lot considering Sirius had grown up with Orion and Walburga Black as parents, Bellatrix Lestrange as a cousin, and was disowned by the age of sixteen.

"What if she says no?" Peter asked. "Things are going to be weird if she says no."

"She's not gonna say no," Sirius snorted.

"We don't know that," Remus said, disheartened.

"She's gonna say yes," James said. "She's got a huge crush on you, Moony."

"She does?" Peter asked, astounded.

"It's really obvious," James said, slightly apologetically.

"She's always blushing around and she's constantly worried about him," Sirius nodded in agreement.

"How did I miss that?" Peter asked in disbelief.

"If it makes you feel any better, I missed it too," Remus said.

Peter shook his head. "No, it doesn't make me feel better, best mate who plans on asking out my little sister."

Remus shrugged and another pause followed. It was somehow worse than the previous pause.

"Alright," Peter said, waving his hands around. "Say you do start dating. What happens when the two of you break up? Are we still gonna be friends?"

"Who says they're gonna break up?" James asked. "They're perfect for each other! They're gonna be together forever!"

Remus shook his head. He doubted that Lena liked him as much as he liked her and that she would say yes. "So when Lena breaks up with me—"

"Who says Lena's gonna break up with you?" Sirius cut in. "You could break up with her."

Sirius was well-meaning in his comment. He was trying to boost Remus' confidence but it backfired spectacularly.

"Oh, so now you're gonna ask my sister out just to break up with her, huh?" Peter said, crossing his arms. "What, is she not good enough for you?"

"Of course not! Lena's out of my league! She would definitely be the one to end the relationship, not the other way around."

"That's not true," Sirius insisted. "Lena's not of your le—"

James stopped Sirius before he could make things worse. "Okay, let's all calm down. It doesn't really matter who breaks up with who to answer the question."

"Right," Remus agreed. "So if Lena agrees to go out with me and we date and then we break up, we'd still be friends because we're mature. It would be a bit awkward but overall nothing would change."

Peter just stared at him in silence.

"Wormtail, you okay?" Sirius asked.

He said nothing.

And then Frank walked in with the cake.

"I couldn't find the cake knife, so I bro—"

"Not now, Frank!" Peter shouted

"Merlin, Pete. Calm down!" Frank said. "The cake will cut just fine."

Peter groaned.

James looked at Frank. "He's not mad about the cake."

"What are you mad about then?" Frank asked.

"Apparently the birthday boy here fancies my sister and is gonna ask her out," Peter said, unsurprisingly still annoyed and shocked.

Frank smiled. "That's great, mate! I know how long you've fancied her. She'll definitely say yes!"

Peter's face turned a vibrant shade of red. "I'm sorry, but who else knows about Remus liking my sister?"

"Alice," Frank said rather simply.

"Lily," James said.

"Marlene, too," Sirius supplied.

"So everyone but Mary and Dorcas?" Peter went on.

"Actually, they know I fancy someone. They just don't know it's Lena," Remus said, giving Peter an apologetic look.

Peter looked up at the ceiling. "I can't believe you fancy my sister."

Frank glanced at Remus. "Why'd you tell him right before your party and everyone gets here? Including Lena."

"I'm not sure honestly. I think in the back of my head I thought that if I told him on birthday before the party, he wouldn't get mad at me."

"Ya thought wrong, mate."

Even though one of his best mates was mad at him, Remus was happy. How could he not be when he was talking to Lena?

"I can't believe you didn't get you chocolate cake with chocolate filling this year. You always get double chocolate," Lena said with a smile as they talked in the corner of the room.

"You've made a convert of me, Lena," Remus laughed as he bit into the chocolate cake with the caramel filling.

He liked caramel, he did, but just not as much as he liked chocolate. The only reason he didn't get his normal double chocolate cake was because Lena liked caramel and he liked making Lena happy.

"So how does it feel to be a full-fledged adult in the wizarding world?"

"Incredible. The prospect of being able to go to Azkaban excites me," Remus joked.

Lena shook her head laughing. "Yeah, but you can do magic outside of school and you can Apparate."

"I still need to pass the test."

"We both know you're gonna pass the test."

Remus laughed. "Thank you for the record player by the way. The designs on it are incredible. I love it."

Lena had gotten him a wooden Victrola record player for his birthday. On the outside of the lid was a golden plaque on the center. Lena had gotten the plaque engraved.

REMUS

wishing you all the very best

LENA

Lena blushed and tucked her hair behind both ears. "You do?"

"Of course. I love anything from you."

Peter could not help but stare at his sister and Remus as they were laughing with each other. His sister's blushing did not go unnoticed. Peter wasn't pleased, but he wasn't angry. He was just thinking about how well his sister and best mate got on and all the signs he had missed.

"They look really happy together," James said, appearing at Peter's side along with Sirius.

Peter nodded, unable to disagree even though he wanted to.

"They'd make a lovely couple," Sirius said quietly.

"We'll see."