Blind Date
By weasleywheezes

DISCLAIMER: Remus, Sirius, and the rest of the Hogwarts gang do not belong to me. They belong to JK Rowling. I borrow because I love.

Remus and Sirius entered the Great Hall and headed towards their usual table. Peter, James, and Lily were all seated together, chatting happily. Remus caught Lily's eye and they both smiled.

"Good morning, Remus," Lily said.

"Good morning, Miss Evans," Remus replied.

Remus and Sirius sat next to each other, grabbing boiled eggs and large tumblers of pumpkin juice. Remus scooped a big spoonful of oatmeal onto his plate, while Sirius gnawed at a piece of sausage. James asked Remus how his date was.

"All right, I guess," Remus retorted. He crushed a few sugar cubes on top of his oatmeal. "Thank Merlin for these bottomless sugar bowls. I don't think I'd last a full breakfast without them."

Sirius grinned and grabbed a few cubes for himself, as he continued to devour his breakfast as fast as possible. "It's your best friend, Lupin. You've got the biggest sweet tooth I've ever seen!" he laughed.

The group was quiet as Sirius and Remus ate their breakfast. Suddenly, Peter's annoying, high-pitched giggle pierced the air. "So, Remus, my friend, did you score?"

James smacked him on the arm. "Peter! Not in front of the lady! Sorry about that, Evans. I was wondering, though, Remus… you did try, didn't you?"

It was Lily's turn to slap James on the arm. "James Potter!"

Remus blushed a bit. "No. Didn't get any. Sorry to disappoint you."

Peter and James both groaned. "Remus, I set you up on these dates so you can get some action. You're letting me down! Where's the wild and crazy Moony that used to own Gryffindor Tower? Didn't you do anything? Didn't you hold her hand, smell her hair, anything? You've become such a prude!" James exclaimed.

Lily sighed. "James, you're the one who got him into this mess. You should lighten up."

The group sat with disgusted looks on their faces. Remus avoided looking into his friends' eyes, casting downward glances at his boiled egg. It was quiet for a while as Remus and Sirius ate breakfast, James and Lily murmured to one another, and Peter sat staring at them all. Finally, Sirius broke the silence.

"He kissed her."

"What?" James and Peter both shrieked and howled with laughter.

"He kissed Overbite."

"See! I told you! I told you!" Peter giggled again and danced a little in his seat.

Remus sighed and glanced over at Lily. She smiled affably, cleared her throat and said, "You guys, don't you think that maybe that's Remus' business?"

James smiled sweetly. "Remus' business is our business, Lily. You sound a lot like your nosy sister, you know, when you crack the whip like that," he said. He didn't like Petunia Evans in any way, and always spoke in disparaging tones about her. "Anyway, Remus is my friend, I want him to be happy."

Sirius' bark-like laugh brought everyone's attention to him. "It's no use being nice, Prongs. He's tightlipped about the whole thing. I tried to get him to spill the beans in the tower. Besides, he didn't like the kiss. He said it was 'dreadful.'"

Peter snickered. "You were beet red and sweating when I saw you on the stairs!"

Remus blushed again and looked to Lily for help. She obliged. "Remus was probably embarrassed that it got as far as it did, since he didn't have a good time."

James swallowed another chortle and looked at Remus with a straight face. "I'm very sorry I set you up with Overbite. Truly sorry. I have no one to blame…but Lily." He smiled wickedly.

"Hey! Potter, you creep!" Lily exclaimed.

"Oh! So, now I'm a creep, huh?" James stuck his tongue out at her. "You didn't say that last evening!"

"Remus isn't the only one who got lucky last night, huh?" Peter crowed.

James stopped laughing and stared straight at Peter. "You never know when to shut your mouth, Wormtail. Remus didn't get lucky, and you shouldn't talk about Lily that way. She's a lady." Peter gulped and muttered an apology to Lily. James glared at him, turned back to his girlfriend and smiled. "Well, Evans, shall we go?"

"Go where?" she countered.

"To the garden. I want to try and study for History of Magic and I need some help. Would you care to study with me?"

She giggled. Everyone knew that when James said "study for History of Magic", he actually meant a make out session. "Certainly. After all, who can help you study better than a Head Girl?" The two left.

Peter followed them out the door, but turned towards the library, leaving Sirius and Remus alone in the Great Hall. Sirius decided to try to talk to his friend man to man. "Come on, Moony. Let's talk. What's eating you, mate?"

"Oh, nothing."

Sirius nodded as he took a large gulp of pumpkin juice. "Is it because Christmas holiday is coming soon and you'll be all alone here at the school?"

"Oh, well, not really. I wasn't even thinking about it," Remus responded.

"Yes, you were. Well, I was going to keep it a surprise, but since you're so glum I feel like I should let you know right now. Hopefully it'll give you something to look forward to."

"What is it? Not another date, is it?" Remus asked.

"No way. I've decided that I'm staying on for the holidays instead of going home with Prongs and his family," Sirius said with a smile.

"You're staying here? At Hogwarts? With me?"

"Yes. Yes, and I think there's another yes in there, somewhere."

Remus grinned broadly. "That's wonderful! Just you and me, aye?"

"Uh huh. I figured that you needed someone to spend some time with this year, since this is our last boyhood Christmas together."

"That's very nice of you, Padfoot. Very nice," Remus replied.

Remus couldn't help but think that this was going to be a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because as far as he was concerned, he wanted to spend more time with Sirius, and there was the fact that Christmastime was quite lonely for him being alone every year at Hogwarts. However, since Remus' realization that he was, in fact, attracted to Sirius, he was afraid to be completely alone with him. A few days alone with no Prongs, Wormtail, or Lily to help buffer them would be uncomfortable and scary.

He shook his head. The full moon was upon them, and Remus knew that he'd have to go to the Shrieking Shack soon. He hated transforming into a wolf, but the loneliness was almost worse. At least his friends tried to keep him company during these times. Sirius' transformation into a great black dog had been most comforting. When the wolf in Remus went too far, it was up to the Animagus dog to rein him in and keep him from hurting the deer James Potter and the rat Peter Pettigrew. Remus knew that he would never have more devoted friends than the three who risked everything to keep him safe. They had kept his horrible secret for years. What would they do if they knew his other secret? What would James and Peter say if they knew that he had thought of Padfoot when he kissed Sarah Underwood? Worst of all, what would Sirius say to him, do to him? To Remus, it was unthinkable. He knew what he must do. He had to keep it clandestine in order for his friendship to survive, because without Sirius Black, his life felt so incredibly empty.

"Hello, Moony! Can you hear me? Have you suddenly gone mental? That's the second time in an hour that you've forgotten what a nice guy I am," Sirius said, bits of scone flying out of his mouth as he spoke.

"No, I'm just tired, Padfoot. It's almost time, you know."

Sirius washed his scone down with more juice. "Don't you worry, mate. I'll be here for you." Sirius took hold of Remus' shoulder and clasped it tight. "You can always count on me."

"Yeah, I know," Remus said quietly.

"Well, time for me to run. I think I've got a number of rocks to throw at some lovebirds," Sirius let out one of his barks and ran out of the Great Hall, leaving Remus alone with his cold egg and his rapidly shrinking appetite.