Big thank you to DemonAngi, xMadgirlx, killer-the-cat, Aubrey Miercoles, power of the stars, ddz008, Popcorn Leader, Lil-chick21, Demus, nekohebi, lizzie24, Loonymoon, alastormadeymoody51, PadfootMoonyProngs and driven to insanity, for reviewing the prologue and chapter one.
##
Remus Lupin climbed off the sofa and stretched his slender limbs. He yawned hugely. "Sirius?" he whispered. There was no reply.
He must have gone to bed, he thought. Where I should be.
Remus Lupin was about to make his way up the narrow stairs to his bedroom when his stomach growled and he realised he had not eaten that day. He groped around in the dark until he found the kitchen and opened the fridge.
There was nothing inside except a piece of mouldy cheese. Undaunted, Remus tried all the cupboards but found nothing. Shrugging, he went back to the cheese and scraped the mould off the surface.
As Remus bit into the cheese, he wondered if Sirius had eaten anything today. As the kitchen seemed devoid of crumbs Remus was forced to concede that he had not. I'll wake him and see if he wants some cheese, he decided.
Remus climbed up the flight of stairs and opened the door to Sirius' room. "Sirius?" he called softly. There was silence. "Sirius, are you awake?"
No response.
Remus crept forward and extended a hand towards the shape asleep in the bed. He tapped it. "Wake up," he said gently, even as he realised that something about the lump in the bed wasn't right. Remus pulled back the blankets on Sirius' bed.
And found a pillow shaped to look like a body.
##
The Star Club was packed with witches (and the odd wizard). Some were drinking beer and cocktails while the rest formed a screaming, milling throng on the dance floor. Disco music blared and the club was lit with flashing purple, pink and blue lights. Nearly everybody's attention was focused on a platform above the floor.
Sirius Black was dancing on that platform; gyrating to the music while slowly unbuttoning his shirt.
"Take it off!" screamed a witch. "Off! Off! Off!!!"
Sirius finished unbuttoning his shirt and tossed it to the crowd where a group of witches started squabbling over it. One witch emerged victoriously with the shirt after hexing all her opponents. Sirius kept dancing as his nimble fingers worked on his belt.
"God, he's gorgeous!" cried a small plump witch to her companion.
"Come on!" yelled her companion. "Off! Off! Off!"
Soon the belt followed the shirt.
"Off! Off! Off!" The whole crowd was chanting now. Even Orion, the manager, had joined in.
Tight leather trousers followed the belt.
"Off! Off! Off!"
##
Remus went to bed but found he was too upset to sleep. Thoughts rushed through his head- who was Sirius with right now? Why do I care who he's sleeping with? Why does this upset me? Two hours passed before Remus fell into a troubled sleep filled with uneasy dreams in which he was searching for an answer to a question he didn't know.
I was eight O'clock when Remus awoke. He would have to set off in ten minutes if he wasn't to be late for work. He dressed quickly and went downstairs.
He found Sirius sitting at the table drinking a glass of water. There was a packet of 'Henderson's Magical Headache Cure Ltd' on the table. "Did you sleep well?" asked Remus with a note of sadness in his voice.
"Yes, thank you," Sirius lied.
Remus took a deep breath. Why am I so bothered about where Sirius sleeps?
"Are you okay?" asked Sirius concernedly. Remus did not look well.
"Yes, I'm- I'm quite- uuummm yes- where were you last night?"
Images of the Start Club floated through Sirius' head: women screaming, himself naked and exposed, the music thumping and the lights flashing and all the time Orion watching him from the bar, his eyes roaming over every part of Sirius' body.
"I was asleep," he said, striving to sound nonchalant.
"Not here," murmured Remus.
Sirius' blood ran cold. Did Remus know about his night job? He wondered how to explain to him why he spent his nights dancing and stripping in an East London club.
"Who are you sleeping with?" asked Remus, his voice sounding oddly cold.
"Nobody!"
Remus seemed angry. Hurt. "Come on, Sirius! Who is she?"
Sirius remained silent but he could also feel anger welling up inside him.
"WHO IS SHE?"
Sirius' temper snapped. He hadn't had a full nights sleep in the last week and his head was pounding. "I don't like women!" he shouted and slammed his fist down on the table.
Remus just stared at him.
Sirius calmed down. "I'm sorry. I've scared you. So sorry," he said quietly and retreated upstairs, where he lit a cigarette and wondered what to do.
##
Try as he might, Remus could not get Sirius' words out of his head that day: I don't like women. What was Sirius trying to tell him? Is not liking women the same thing as fancying men? Was this Sirius' way of saying he was gay?
These questions troubled Remus so much that he unintentionally placed an order for twenty copies of 'War and Peace' instead of two and received a mind-numbing twenty minute lecture on paying attention by the chief librarian (an ancient man with bushy grey hair and a face like cardboard). However, the librarian then took pity on Remus who looked heart broken over his 'War and Peace' mistake and gave him a cup of tea and a sympathetic ear.
"It's my flatmate," said Remus to the librarian.
"Yes?"
"I think he's gay."
But the librarian didn't seem to understand. "Gay, did you say?" He raised his bushy eyebrows at Remus. "Gay? And why shouldn't he be? What's wrong with your flatmate being happy? I myself am gay on many occasions…"
In the future Remus decided to keep his problems to himself.