Author's Notes- Ah, random inspiration, what fun it is... Alas, a bit more focused inspiration would be far more useful, but hey. One can't be picky when one suffers from so many writer's blocks that one is beginning to lose count. I do believe that I have pissed off some deity or another, and this is there way of taking revenge. sigh
Disclaimer- Ah, unfortunately, I can lay claim to not one character in this story. They all belong to J.K. Rowling, whom, although respected, is certainly earning a bit of enmity from me at the moment. mutters darkly
Warning- Shounen ai, bordering on yaoi. (I do apologize greatly to all of you yaoi fans out there. I am among you, rest assured...but I'm rather paranoid about getting reported, and having a lemon out there for some random flamer to find would keep me up at nights. Well, maybe not, but it would bring me that much closer to being booted from ... and we wouldn't want that, would we?)
Inspiration- British slang, what fun! And remember, Saint Valentine did not invent the holiday. It was merely named after him.
)()()()()()()()()()(DIVIDER THING)()()()()()()()()()()(
Valentine's Day. What a stupid holiday. Absolute rubbish. Idiocy embodied in 24 hours or less.
Sirius had a mind to find whatever daft bloke it was that invented said holiday and give him a sound thrashing.
"I swear, if I see one more Valentine's Day decoration, I'll bloody well scream." Sirius scowled squarely at the air directly in front of him, not even bothering to turn his head to find out who had sighed in exasperation. That would be James. Nor to find who was asking a stupid question. That would be Peter.
Nor to find out who had given him a brief attempt at a comforting pat on the shoulder.
That... that would be a problem.
"Such a fuss, Padfoot. It's just a holiday." James took a momentary pause from his homework to give his friend a look. "You make it sound as if it was a day dedicated to Snape."
"Ha, might as well be." Sirius' scowl only deepened.
"Why? What's the matter with Valentine's Day?" Peter stared blankly from one Marauder to another, looking for an answer in one of their faces. Remus had gone back to being absorbed in a book. James had gone back to his homework. And Sirius... Well, Peter valued his life enough to not ask Sirius. Looks like the one Sirius was wearing did not often come with friendly replies. He didn't really want to find out what it was they did come with.
"Nothing." Reaching up to run his finger down a page in his Potions book, James scribbled down something before dropping his quill. "Sirius is just being a prat." The messy-haired teen shrugged, leaning back in his armchair. "A double prat, since he won't even share why he's in such a foul mood."
"None of your business, horn-head." Sirius slumped down into his own arm-chair, scowl slowly lessening until he was merely frowning. "I just hate this bloody holiday."
James scratched the back of his neck for a moment, appearing to be in deep thought. Finally, with the air of one who had just discovered the meaning of life, he voiced the results of his pondering. "I know!" He grinned mischievously, and Sirius raised an eyebrow. Remus rolled his eyes, and Peter just looked confused. "There's a girl you fancy, isn't there? But she won't give you the time of day, and she's gone and become someone else's valentine!"
Silence reigned between the four for a few moments, only broken by the occasional sounds coming from the rest of the common room. Sirius looked as though someone had just tried to convince him the world was, indeed, flat, and they were all heading for the edge at this very moment. Remus had, to all appearances, gone back to his book, but if one was paying attention, they could see that his eyes weren't moving. Peter finally decided that it was not worth the headache and began his History of Magic essay.
"James..." The stormy-eyed marauder seemed to be gathering himself. Remus risked a glance upwards. "You are so far from the truth that I'm amazed that you haven't met it coming the other way." James's grin immediately fell from his face, and no one heard the small sigh of relief from Remus' direction. "Stupid prat."
"Are you sure? I was convinced that was it..." James crossed his arms in a huffy manner. "Bloody hell then, what are you so worked up about?"
"Like I said, none of your business." Sirius managed to sink a bit farther down into his armchair, frown once again in place.
"Fine, fine, no skin off my neb if you want to make yourself miserable." Shaking his head, James shoved the parchment bearing his Potions homework into his book bag. "Stupid prat indeed."
"Ah, we're all in agreement then." No matter what mood he was in, there was no way that Sirius could have passed that one up. James merely stuck his tongue out in reply. "Oh, how very mature, Prongs. Near the end of your fifth year and still blowing raspberries."
"That was not a raspberry, for your information."
"Prat." Deciding that it was simply not possible to sink down any further into his armchair, Sirius took the opposite route and got up, strolling over to lean on the back of the chair Remus occupied. "Right, Moony? Isn't James an absolute prat?" He leaned forward, casually draping his arms around the smaller teen's shoulders, somehow convincing himself that it was a perfectly innocent action, merely a friendly gesture. Right.
However, once he had finished lying to himself, Sirius noticed that Remus had gone tense. Had he been able to see, he would have also noticed that the werewolf was also sporting a faint blush. "Right...?" Sirius wondered if he was making the sandy-haired boy uncomfortable.
"Like I'm going to get involved in one of your rows." Remus laughed, but the sound was a bit forced. "I refuse to take a side." He got up suddenly, moving forward so that Sirius' arms fell from his shoulders. "And I'm tired, so I think I'm going to go to bed. Good night." Then he was gone, up the staircase before anyone had a chance to question, protest, or hold him down and snog him senseless.
Though Sirius didn't really think he had the guts to do that.
"What's wrong with him?" James raised his eyebrows, looking from the now-empty staircase to Sirius and back. Peter glanced up from his essay, also giving Sirius a curious look.
"I've no idea." The raven-haired teen stared a bit longer at the place Remus had been before turning to James with a wicked grin. "Probably just sick of your rantings and ravings, horn-head." He ducked to a void getting hit by the textbook that was suddenly flying through the air. "Violence, James!" He screwed up his face to resemble a certain professor's. "Ten points from Gryffindor!" He ducked again to avoid the second book. "Make that twenty!"
"Don't you have homework, Mr. Padfoot?" James raised an eyebrow when, instead of returning to his armchair after the barrage of school supplies, Sirius began to head for the boys' dormitories. "You know, History of Magic Essay? Potions assignment?"
"Finished already, Mr. Prongs." The black-haired teen turned around, now crossing the common room backwards. "Some of us actually do our work when it's assigned instead of putting it off to the last minute." Laughing, he turned and dashed up the stairs before a fitting response could be made.
"That liar." Rolling his eyes, James returned his attention to his Potions work. "He must have copied off of Remus while I wasn't paying attention."
"Hey, James, about the Troll massacre of 1853, do you know who it was that ordered the raid on the house of Grindel the Grotesque...?" With an exasperated sigh, the messy-haired Gryffindor turned to help his very much less gifted friend with his essay.
)()()()()()()()()()(DIVIDER THING)()()()()()()()()()()(
"Oi, Moony...?" Sirius picked his way gingerly through the fifth year dormitory, progressing slowly towards the four-poster bed of his friend. He frowned slightly when he saw that the curtains were closed, implying that Remus was either trying to sleep, or didn't want to be disturbed.
He chose to ignore both plausible meanings of the drawn bed-hangings, instead choosing to believe that the sandy-haired teen was merely playing hard-to-get. Of course, that would entail his wanting you to get him in the first place, and that's being a bit more positive than is wise. Sirius pursed his lips slightly in annoyance at his inner-voice, pausing momentarily at Remus' bedside. He decided to try another vocal attempt.
"Remus...?" He heard a rustle of cloth, which told him that either the other boy was awake, or he thrashed in his sleep. The black-haired teen decided to go with the former opinion. "You all right in there?"
"Perfectly."
"I don't believe you."
"Why not? What's so wrong with wanting to get to bed at a decent hour?"
Sirius sat down on the edge of the other boy's bed, though still outside of the curtains. He gave said curtains a look, hoping that the message would be conveyed through the thick, crimson cloth. "Moony. Since when is eight o'clock a decent hour for bed?"
His friend seemed to be hard-pressed coming up with an answer for that one. "Now, are you going to tell me what's got your fur mussed, or am I going to have to beat it out of you?" Sirius heard a bitter laugh from behind the curtains, which caused him to blink.
"Like you'd ever beat me."
"... Point. But..." Finally deciding that the barrier had come to the end of its efficiency, the black-haired teen tore the curtain to the side, nearly ripping it from its hangings in his zeal. "I have no qualms about tickling you until you beg for mercy."
Stormy grey met liquid gold as the two marauders stared at one another; Sirius still sitting on the edge of the mattress, leaning over slightly as he held onto the curtain of his friend's four-poster, and Remus, sitting in the middle of his bed, fully dressed with his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs.
"... You wouldn't dare."
"Oh, but I would."
Remus' eyes widened slightly, and he slowly began to scoot away from the taller boy.
However, he couldn't move quickly enough.
Before he had managed to move a foot, Sirius had pounced, successfully pinning the smaller teen beneath him. Just as the werewolf opened his mouth to protest, his friend began his attack, fingers tickling the sandy-haired teen's sides mercilessly.
"Si-Sirius!" Remus was hardly able to get a single word out between fits of laughter. "Stop!" The command wasn't as forceful as it could have been, and Sirius sensed that no harm would come upon his person if he chose to ignore it. The black-haired boy simply continued his assault, fingers never ceasing their movements until the werewolf beneath him was quite out of breath, gasping for air between giggles.
Watching the pale marauder beneath him, Sirius allowed him to calm down, waiting until he had gulped down quite a few mouthfuls of air before interrogating him further. Remus' face flushed as he finally regained his senses, also regaining the knowledge that the two boys were in a very awkward position.
He prayed his body wouldn't betray him.
"What's wrong, Moony?" Sirius' voice was soft, and his eyes never left Remus'. "You can tell me."
"I could ask you the same question." Through his blush, the sandy-haired boy stared up at his friend pointedly. Sirius blinked.
"Who's sitting on who here?"
"That's hardly fair... I wasn't prepared." Knowing full well that he wasn't expecting it, Remus suddenly flipped the both of them over, successfully pinning Sirius to the bed. He tried very hard to ignore how very delectable the black-haired boy looked, sprawled beneath him like that. He also tried to ignore another part of him, which just had to mention that having Sirius on top was preferable, actually.
He would have been quite amazed to know that the very same thoughts were running through the other teen's mind, perhaps with a few changes in the subject matter. Except for that second thought, that one was pretty much mirrored behind Sirius' grey eyes.
"Well, if I can't have the advantage, than neither can you." Reaching up with one arm, the black-haired marauder gently pushed Remus off of him, turning so that both lay on their sides on the bed, face to face. "Now, tell me. I asked first."
Remus began to worry his lower lip, unable to tear his eyes away from his friend's. He wanted to know, didn't he? He had to tell. No, he couldn't tell. But he couldn't lie either...
Noticing the look of fear on the other boy's face, Sirius couldn't help but act. One hand, apparently moving of its own volition, reached out, softly running a thumb along the tender skin beneath Remus' eye. The smaller teen looked surprised, to say the least. "... You can tell me, Moony."
He searched, trying to find someway of telling some, but not the complete story. Finding something that seemed suitable for the task, Remus inhaled slowly. "My reason... is your reason."
The statement set fireworks off inside of Sirius' head before he had put a lid on his over-active imagination. The other boy most certainly did not know what his true reason was, and if he did... well, he certainly wouldn't be sharing it. He considered for a moment, wondering what the boy might have meant.
"Oh..." He grasped at a straw. "The Valentine's Day thing?" Remus nodded. "Well, what about it?" The smaller marauder stubbornly shook his head, and Sirius frowned. "Oh, come on, Moony..."
"Nope." The pale teen set his mouth in a determined fashion. "You haven't told me why you're upset about the holiday, so it's only fair that you don't get any further information either." Grey eyes blinked, their owner not quite having a comeback for that one.
"Well, I didn't shut myself up in my bed over the matter."
"And what does that have to do with anything?"
"Hopefully, it has to do with convincing you to elaborate."
"Unfortunately for you, no." Sirius pouted.
"Awww, Remuuuuus..." He drug out both parts of his plea, putting on his best puppy-dog face. It was quite convincing. "Pleeease?"
"You first." Another pout.
"You're so mean to me."
Remus shook his head slightly. Sirius' lips twisted into a gentle frown, not at the smaller boy, but at how to get him to fess up. There was always the option of him telling the truth, but he wanted an answer from his friend before he caused the teen to run away. He finally decided to come to his reason in a round-about fashion, hopefully gaining something from Moony before he himself had to share more than he cared to.
"Fine, I'll tell." Remus raised his eyebrows, looking mildly surprised. Sirius didn't often give in this easily. "But only if you promise to tell me as soon as I'm done." The sandy-haired teen bit his lip lightly at that, wondering if he really wanted to get into a deal of this sort.
However, in the end, he really didn't have much choice.
"...I promise."
"Good." Sirius took a deep breath, preparing himself. He'd have to be sneaky, and creative. Luckily, he was good at both. "Well... there's this... person I like, and... well, I don't know whether or not they like me in return, and I'm really having doubts about it even being possible for them to like me, and now that everyone's being all lovey-dovey, it just makes me remember that I'm without the person that I... feel for." Before he knew what he was doing, it had all spilled out. Once or twice he almost slipped, nearly forgetting to use third person or a clever 'them'.
"O-oh." The black-haired boy frowned, seeing Remus' lower lip begin to quiver slightly. Unconsciously, he dropped his hand from the other's temple, gently running a finger along the soft, trembling petal of skin. He bit his own lip at the sudden urge to quell that tremor with his own mouth instead of his hand. He held it back, if only barely.
"What? Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry..."
"... I... no." Remus didn't even appear to notice the soft caress of his lip, but did manage to get a grip on the physical evidence of his sudden pain. Clenching his teeth together, he forced his lip to still, refusing to allow the tears he could feel coming spill from his eyes. "It's just... I have the... the same problem, and now I know that..." He had to pause to keep himself from actually breaking into a sob. "Now I know that... there's... there's no hope for me, as if there was any in the first place..."
Seeing those beautiful amber eyes that he loved so much begin to fill with tears, Sirius felt something break inside of him. Had he been in a more reasonable state of mind, he might have been able to figure out the cause of Remus' sudden bout of depression, but at the moment he was only worried about making it go away.
"Moony..." The smaller boy squeezed his eyes shut, keeping the salty evidence of his emotion back. That was entirely too much for Sirius to handle. Before he knew what he was doing, he had bent forward, moving his hand to capture his friend's lips with his own. After a few seconds, he felt Remus gasp against his mouth and pulled back quickly, thinking he had somehow offended the boy. "...Sorry."
Looking away, Sirius sighed, not quite wanting to meet the rejection he knew would be waiting in the other marauder's eyes. "Guess you know who my someone is now, huh..." He stared fiercely at the bedspread, now having to fight to keep his own tears at bay.
However, before he could pull away and leave Remus to decide just how much it was that he now hated him, the black-haired teen felt a gentle hand against his cheek. Blinking in shock, he only just found the courage to turn, to look into the other boy's eyes and see what was the cause of this sudden, unexpected tenderness.
He couldn't quite believe what it was that he saw in his friend's eyes.
"Sirius..." For a moment, the two boys just remained still, looking at one another with in a mix of shock and wonder. It was Remus who moved first, hesitantly raising his upper body to meet Sirius' lips again in a sweet, soft kiss. The taller marauder felt his eyes widening in shock, and it took him a number of seconds to realize just what was happening and to begin to kiss the other boy back.
When they pulled apart this time, it was out of necessity. Once again, they were both still, although this time slightly breathless and a great deal closer.
"Now you know who my someone is too." Remus' voice was barely a whisper, but Sirius heard him as clearly as if he had shouted the words.
"...Oh."
The other teen laughed quietly.
"'Oh'? After that, all you can say is 'oh'?"
Sirius grinned.
"Ah, but my dear mister Moony... you have missed the point entirely. That was an 'oh' that signified the thirty-second countdown before I proceed to snog you senseless." Grin becoming a bit more predatory, the black-haired teen entwined his fingers with Remus', gently pinning them to the mattress.
"...Oh."
Valentine's Day. What a marvelous holiday. Absolutely spiffing. Definitely a worth-while twenty-four hours.
)()()()()()()()()()(DIVIDER THING)()()()()()()()()()()(
Later that night, as he was about to climb into bed, Peter noticed something strange.
"Hey, James..." Yawning, he looked over at his friend's four-poster bed, where James was making his own bedtime preparations. "Sirius isn't in his bed. Where do you s'pose he is? Should we be worried, d'you think?"
Mirroring the other's yawn, James surveyed the rest of the dormitory tiredly. Looking from Sirius' empty bed to Remus' closed-curtained one, he shook his head slightly, wondering why he hadn't seen it before.
"Nah, he's fine, Peter. Don't worry about it. Go to bed."
)()()()()()()()()()(DIVIDER THING)()()()()()()()()()()(
Author's Notes- Alas, I fear that cliches and rushing things will be the end of me. That or sudden holes in the inspiration field. Who knows. I truly do need to find out who my muse(s) is(are), hunt them down and force them to give me some lasting, plot-filled ideas. Ah, if only life were that simple. Woe is me, and so on and so forth. The job of an author is never an easy one. Alas.
Also, because I fear that some of you may get the wrong idea, I find it necessary to elaborate on one point. Sirius and Remus were merely sleeping together in Remus' bed, and nothing nearly as physical as you all were probably thinking. Don't give me that look, I know what dirty minds you have! Tsk. They did swap spit (to put it bluntly) for a rather long time, yes, but after that, they fell asleep, snuggled up in one another's arms. We're going solely for cuteness here people, not the horizontal mambo.
That's for later. Possibly. If I feel like it.
In conclusion, I apologize for the general crappiness of this story, and do hope I don't get too many rocks thrown at my head for it.