9am the next morning, sunlight came pouring in through the spare bedroom window and hit Remus directly in the eye. He gradually woke up a little, and cursed as the brilliant sun exacerbated a certain photosensitivity he seemed to have developed. As he moved his head to escape the blinding glare, he discovered two things.

One – he was hot and sweaty, his head ached and his tongue tasted worse than it did after his transformations. His mouth was dry and clacky and his stomach was churning uncomfortably.

Two – he was lying on the Potters' spare bed with Sirius Black.

The discovery of the second fact drove his fragile physical state from his mind. He was lying flat on his back and Sirius – Sirius had his head on Remus's shoulder and his arm lay heavily across Remus's stomach. With a further jolt of surprise Remus realised his own arm was protectively encircling Sirius's shoulders.

Confronted with this unexpectedly, he panicked. He wrenched his arm out from under Sirius and leaped to his feet. Instantly, he regretted doing it, as not only did he feel denuded of something he had long desired, but his physical maladies came rushing back to him in an uncontrollable wave of nausea.

Sirius woke up just enough to see Remus disappearing quickly from the room.

'Re -' he yelled, sitting up suddenly.

He couldn't continue. His head spun and he flopped back down on the pillow, closed his eyes and pressed the heels of his palms into his forehead. Stupid, stupid. Not only had he now got the hangover to end all hangovers, but he'd frightened off the one person in the world he really didn't want to frighten.

As he lay there, Remus stood shivering under a freezing cold shower in the bathroom. He hadn't been sick but he was feeling truly appalling, and all he wanted to do was go back to bed. But he couldn't. Sirius was there.

'Dammit!' he said out loud.

It was unfair to blame Sirius, he realised. If he was a proper boy, a proper friend, then he wouldn't be feeling anything like this way, and he could just go and stagger back to bed next to Sirius. But he couldn't, not feeling how he felt. It would be taking advantage of Sirius's ignorance, he decided.

Time went on. Eventually he realised he was going to have to get out of the shower. His fingers and toes were turning blue and he was so cold he couldn't stop his teeth chattering violently. He turned off the water and quickly towelled himself dry before wrapping the towel round his waist and tiptoeing back into the bedroom.

Sirius was still lying there, his eyes closed, though they flickered open when he heard Remus's footsteps.

'Ahhh,' he said.

Remus laughed, almost against his will. However upset or angry or frustrated Sirius might make him in private, when he was with him he could forget everything that plagued him. "That's how I knew I loved him," he thought swiftly, before padding over to the curtains and yanking them shut.

'Better?' he asked.

No matter how shite he felt, Sirius was definitely suffering more. He had drunk vast quantities the night before.

'Nerrr,' Sirius moaned.

'Do you want anything? Water?' Remus asked with a hint of a grin on his face. It was surprising how rapidly he was recovering when faced with Sirius in a much worse state. 'Painkilling potion?'

Sirius definitely showed a spark of interest there. Remus bent down and withdrew a green bottle from his trunk. He took a few sips quickly, amazed at how he'd forgotten he had brought Healing Elixir. For after his transformations, Master Talis had told him, but it definitely helped with hangovers too.

'Open up,' he said to the prone Sirius, and obediently Sirius opened his mouth. Remus carefully poured a few drops in, before laughing at the almost instantaneous effect on his friend.

'You're a treasure Re! Gods, that's brilliant!' he exclaimed. 'Wow! Think I'd better go and wake James and Pete up!'

He jumped to his feet, before both boys suddenly realised Remus was clad only in a towel. He blushed hotly.

'Bugger off Sir,' he said to cover his embarrassment. 'Don't torment them too much – and save enough Elixir for me for two full moons, okay?'

Sirius nodded, and left the room wordlessly whilst Remus dressed quickly, still pink with awkward discomfiture. About five minutes later, there was a soft knock on the door, and Sirius reappeared.

'I saved you loads,' he said, and handed over the bottle. Their hands brushed and their eyes met, as eyes will, and both boys pulled away as if stung. Remus packed the bottle away, his wet hair hanging in tousled curtains concealing his face, and Sirius quickly grabbed some clothes and went for a shower.

When he eventually turned up downstairs, he found Remus, Peter and James eating scrambled eggs on toast and talking about the events of the day before. Sirius joined in easily, and the little house rang with the boys' laughter.

Soon, however, the talk turned to the plans they had had for the previous night.

'Well, I think we should do it tonight,' James announced, and Peter nodded agreement with his idol.

'Good plan Jamie,' Sirius said. 'What do you think, Remus?'

All three stared at him, and he blushed and muttered assent. James and Peter immediately started discussing what they thought it would be like, whilst Sirius turned to Remus.

'You sure you're alright with all this?' he asked in a low voice.

'It's a bit, well, embarrassing really. The four of us in some gay club in Muggle London. And all because of me. And they'll all just fancy you anyway,' Remus said, trying to sound light hearted, but his worried eyes gave him away.

'Oh Re, they'll definitely fancy you. The question is, will you fancy them?' And Sirius laughed loudly to cover his own unhappiness. 'Seriously though, if you don't like it, we can always leave, and besides, we'll stick together. Marauders hunt in a pack, you know!'

Remus smiled, looking a little happier, and joined in the conversation with James and Peter, good-naturedly enduring a lot of jokes about how many men would be hassling him, and how they weren't sure they could trust him to keep his innocence.

The day passed quickly enough in happy indolence. They went to the cinema, at Remus's request, to watch a Muggle 'film'. Sirius was utterly entranced and babbled excitedly about it to Remus all the way home, who laughed and teased him. Sirius wouldn't be mocked out of his earnestness though, and as they walked through the streets he was planning excitedly for a film club at Hogwarts.

'But Muggle technology doesn't work inside the grounds,' Remus said for the hundredth time.

'Ah, Dumbledore'll know how to make it work. I'm sure he could sort something out,' Sirius said, waving a hand impatiently.

Remus just laughed and let him carry on, enjoying his friend's boundless enthusiasm.

When they got home, James's parents were back from work at the Ministry. They asked the four about their plans for that night, and were most amused to hear they were going to Soho, as James said, 'to get Remus a bloke!', although Remus heartily denied the necessity of this.

After dinner, they all headed upstairs to change. Remus wriggled into his trousers and t-shirt in the bathroom, and stared at himself in the mirror. He ran his fingers through his hair and squinted at his reflection.

'Alright, I suppose,' he said aloud. He had always thought he was too skinny and strange-looking to be attractive, but as he stared at his reflection, for once he thought he looked kind of striking. "Wonder what Sirius'll think," he thought, before attempting to banish such thoughts as he returned to their shared bedroom, feeling a little more confident than usual.

Sirius's reaction did nothing to dispel this.

'Re! You look sexy!' he yelled, and laughed at Remus's 'sexy' face.

'What's funny?' Remus demanded, emboldened by his friend's comment and amusement, and then pouting more and shaking his arse.

Sirius collapsed on to the bed, hysterical.

'Rrraow baby,' he managed before sinking back into giggles. 'Seriously, though,' he managed eventually, 'if you fancy it, you could have any guy you like!'

"I bloody wish!" Remus thought, before grabbing Sirius's hands and dragging him upright. 'Come on, let's look at you!' he said.

Sirius, it had to be said, looked hot. He was wearing tight hipster jeans with flares bigger than Remus's and a red t-shirt.

'Are you sure you're not trying to pull tonight?' Remus asked, looking at him narrowly before giggling at Sirius's stunned face. 'You'll be luring all my men away from me!'

Sirius made his 'sexy' face in turn. 'That's the plan, baby,' he purred, before racing out the room with Remus chasing him.

Finally they were all ready, and assembled downstairs in the lounge.

'You look lovely, boys,' James's mother Athanasia told them. 'Be careful, and look after Remus, won't you?' She smiled at Remus. He had always been her favourite of her son's friends, and this 'gay' thing hadn't surprised her half as much as anyone else who knew. 'And have fun!' she added.

'We will, Ma!' James said, giving her and his dad Inigo a quick hug before rushing out of the door with the others.

After a short tube ride and an even shorter walk, they were in Soho. It was getting dark now, and all along the streets were people in bizarre clothes (and often very few of them). Scantily clad young people of both sexes posed provocatively in doorways and shouted invitations.

Alone, Remus would have been very intimidated, but he reminded himself that he was with his friends and that whatever happened, whatever this place was like, they would enjoy themselves. Still, his courage failed him momentarily as Sirius pointed to a shabby sign over a dingy flight of stairs flanked by two massive blokes, and said 'that's it!' He jammed his hands into his pockets to disguise their shaking, and followed his friends up the stairs...