Saying no to You

Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin *SLASH*

Rating: PG-13 (may change to R)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I don't own a single character in this story, all right? Don't sue me for using them. Except Chloe Mathers…she's mine, though I don't know if that's a good thing. ^^;

A/N: Please be nice. This is one of my first slash fics, not to mention my very first fic to be posted. Please, please review! I really appreciate your input!

~Chapter Two: Past Prankster's Block~

Sirius stared at the blank piece of parchment in front of him. He was supposed to be writing a composition for History of Magic, but his mind wasn't on it. Of course, it never really was, but tonight that was worse than ever. He kept remembering last night's incident in the dormitory. Why had he kissed Remus like that? It wasn't as though the other boy knew what had happened, but it still plagued him. What had he been thinking? After all, Remus was one of his best friends. Most people didn't find their friend sexy when he laid about the dormitory in his sleep shorts. Most people didn't kiss their friends on the forehead when said friend was asleep, as were the other inhabitants of the dormitory.

            "Padfoot, what is wrong with you?" James's voice cut through Sirius's confused thoughts.

            Sirius jerked his head up and blushing, he looked at his best friend.

            "I've asked you three times, what do you think?"

            "About what?"

            "Padfoot!" exclaimed James, shocked. He clapped a hand to his heart and cried theatrically, "I'm wounded!" He pretended to sink to the floor, then sat back up. "I asked if you thought we should sneak into the Slytherin dormitory and light off some fireworks, drop some Dungbombs, maybe put some makeup on a particular Slytherin male's greasy face. Then we steal some of that Slytherin's underwear…" he trailed off, an impish grin on his face as he reveled in this latest idea.

            Sirius shook off all last thoughts of Remus and the previous night as he felt a grin creeping across his face. "I love the way your mind works," he said, beginning to rub his hands together. "It's ruddy brilliant! Imagine Snape's face when we get done with him." He began to laugh hysterically, soon joined by James.

            "May I ask what's so funny?" asked Remus, who had just entered the common room.

            Sirius wiped tears of mirth from his eyes and looked up at Remus. He felt himself blush, but he paid it no mind. "Prongs has come up with a brilliant new scheme. It seems he's gotten through prankster's block." He began to chuckle softly.

            "What is this brilliant scheme?" Remus sat down beside Sirius, looking interested.

            "Well," James took over to explain his vision, "We sneak into the Slytherin dormitory, light off some fireworks, drop Dungbombs, put some makeup on Snape's disgusting face and perhaps steal some of his underwear for future use…" He grinned as Remus raised an interested and amused eyebrow.

            "Isn't it great?" Sirius asked, beginning to laugh heartily again.

            Remus smiled. "Yes," he said. "And I would love to do it, but…"

            "But what?!" Sirius interjected, feigning a scandalized expression. "Why, Moony, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the plan!" He wiped imaginary tears from his eyes. "You're so doubtful of Prongs's abilities."

            "No, it's not that," said Remus, still smiling. "But remember you don't know how to get into the Slytherin common room."

            "Ah," James grinned. "I'm one up on you, Moony."

            "How so?"

            "I already know that we need the password. That's the thing. I was hoping you could help me come up with a way of getting in…"

"You're brilliant, Moony," praised James as they retrieved the Invisibility Cloak from his trunk. "I don't see why I didn't think of it before."

            Remus only blushed. "Come on. We have to go." The three who were going on the mission grabbed their supplies, loading their arms down, and James looked meaningfully over at Peter.

            Peter stopped chewing his nails and nodded, and took up his task of looking out to make sure the coast was clear. He nodded affirmation, so the other three covered themselves with the Invisibility Cloak. "We'll be back as soon as we're finished," said James quietly. Peter only nodded his head again and saw them out of the portrait hole. He followed them for a moment before turning around to go back to the common room.

            However, the other three went down towards the dungeons. James, who was in the middle, caught sight of two Slytherin girls headed down a nearby corridor, so he nudged his friends in the ribs. He gestured to the girls and the direction they were heading. The three boys followed silently. When the girls stopped at a bare stretch of damp stone wall, the Marauders stopped and waited patiently. "Parseltongue." The wall slid open as soon as the girl finished speaking.

            James nudged his friends and they continued into the common room behind the girls.

            It was quite a bleak room, and it seemed that most of the Slytherins had left it for their dormitories. It was Sirius's turn to nudge James, who poked Remus. Sirius gestured to a door where Snape himself was headed. The Marauders followed him and pulled back into an empty corner as soon as they got the chance. They sat down on the cold stone floor and turned away partially as the Slytherin boys changed from the regulation black school robes. Lucius Malfoy seemed particularly smug about something. One of the others asked him what it was, and he replied proudly, "Narcissa finally agreed to further our relationship." The tone in his voice suggested exactly what had happened, and Sirius pulled a face. Remus and James had to stifle their laughter quickly.

            Once the Slytherins were actually in bed, it was a matter of time before the Marauders could get to work. Remus pulled the various kinds of makeup out from his pockets. They threw off the Invisibility Cloak and moved forward to select their victims. "'Further their relationship,'" mocked Sirius. "He just wanted to get laid." James sniggered, but Remus remained tight-lipped. He seemed preoccupied, though there was no time to ask about it now. Sirius knew better than to do that in front of James, anyway. The other would be sure to get suspicious. Sirius never asked Remus what was wrong if he was quiet. Never.

            "Well then, you can work on Malfoy," said James, still sniggering. "What a shock poor Narcissa will get when she sees dear Lucius with some lovely lipstick." Sirius joined him in laughter before setting to. James took Snape, while Remus worked on one of the others. They were silent now except for occasional laughs or requests for a particular cosmetic.

"I think the red suits him nicely," said Sirius as they studied James's handiwork on Snape. "And I think the glittery blue is a nice touch. He looks like a cheap whore."

            "That's the look I was going for."

            "Imagine their faces when they realize it won't come off for a full twenty-four hours," Sirius added gleefully. He glanced over at Remus, and felt immense relief to see that the other was smiling. It's so cute when he does that. It should be against the law for anyone to be so beautiful. He shook himself inwardly, shoving thoughts of Remus out of his head. He needed to concentrate on the prank at hand. "Here, look at Malfoy." He pointed to the next bed.

            They moved on to study Sirius's work. "Hmmm," said Remus. "Interesting color choice."

            "Pink is his color," said James, starting to laugh again. "Besides, I like the clash between that and the eyeshadow."

            "Hey, I was only lucky that we had that horrible green. It looked like some kind of vomit."

            The three boys laughed again. "He looks like a cheap whore, too," said James.

            "I think they all do." Remus showed them his work. "But we still need to work on the last two. How about we collaborate?"

            "Good idea. C'mon, let's get to work."

            Moments later, they were sitting back enjoying the effects of their work. Before they could laugh too heartily, however, James shushed them and opened Snape's trunk. "Grab some of their underwear, too," he instructed the others. Sirius nodded enthusiastically and dashed to Malfoy's trunk. Once two pairs had been retrieved from each Slytherin's trunk, the three got back under the Invisibility Cloak.

            Sirius produced the fireworks and James tapped both quickly with his wand. They made a mad dash from the dormitory, but not before wild screams came from behind them. The girls started to trail out of their dormitory, looking sleepy and irritated. James dropped several Dungbombs as they left the common room. No one even noticed that the wall had just opened. They were all too busy tending to the emergency in the boy's dormitory.

            Once they were back outside the portrait of the Fat Lady, Peter was waiting for them. He said the password ("chocolate liqueur") and the three hurried in before him. Once the portrait hole was closed, and they noted that the coast was clear, the three shed the cloak once again. "So? What happened?" Peter asked eagerly. He seemed particularly jealous when he saw them exchange mischievous glances.

            "Lucius Malfoy got the pink –"

            "Snape looked like a cheap whore –"

            "They all looked like cheap whores –"

            "Screamed like girls when we lit the fireworks off –"

            "Oh," said Sirius, "and Malfoy was bragging about shagging Narcissa. He's just proud because he finally got laid. It's not like she's any prize, of course…" He trailed off because he had succeeded in making the other three howl with laughter. Sirius looked straight at Remus and felt a strange pull when he noticed that Remus's solemn air had vanished. Remus looked so good when he was in a good mood. For that matter, he looked good no matter what.

            Why was he thinking this way?

            Remus was only one of his best friends, after all, not some girl to shag for the sake of it. So why did he feel this way when he looked at his friend, rather than when he saw some attractive girl in the corridors? Of course, sometimes Sirius wondered why he even bothered to mess around with all those girls. He knew it didn't mean anything to him. All it did was give him a reputation as a player, because he rarely spent more than one night with a girl before he dumped her for another.

            If he got involved with Remus, he would only end up hurting one of his best friends. He couldn't bring himself to let a romance go beyond a one-night stand. Besides, there was no way to tell how Remus felt about him.

            How little Sirius knew.

A/N: Thank you for reviewing! I had hoped to make this chapter a bit longer, but this was the way it played out. Chapter Three will follow soon. For now, this is all I have ready. Wow! Progress is so good. Please do review! =)