I want to say thanks to Rena Lupin for reviewing! Anyone else want to follow her example? Hint hint, nudge nudge.

This is my last update for a while. I'll be on a camping trip until Sunday, and I won't be able to write any more until Monday at the earliest. I may try to write some stuff by hand on the trip, but that all depends. So, hopefully I'll have some reviews waiting for me when I return! More hints, more nudges. Ahem.

One warning, there is some singing in this one. It's karaoke night at the Three Broomsticks (hence the title), and they have some fun. There's other stuff besides that, but it was my favorite part. Heh heh... So, enjoy! It's not too terrible.

Chapter Six

Karaoke Night

Remus woke up before the sun and rolled over to survey the semi-dark room. His hand brushed against something wet and he looked down, horrified, to see a large blotch of blood on his once-white sheets. He looked at his arm, which he was appalled to notice was still bleeding profusely. Swallowing nervously, he slipped out of his blood-soaked sheets and tiptoed to the bathroom. He was surprised and slightly angered to find it locked.

After a few moments, Sirius emerged from the room. He tried to smile at Remus, but the expression on his face stopped him cold.

"Remus, are you-" he began, but stopped at a glare from his friend. "Never mind..." he muttered as he walked back to the dorm room. Remus slipped into the bathroom and locked the door. He pulled back his sleeve and leaned his bare arm on the counter, then placed a dry paper towel against the cut. It immediately began soaking up blood, and he soon had to find a drier place on the towel to work with. When this, too, became soaked and the wound showed no sign of beginning to close up or stop bleeding, Remus began to get a little worried.

He carefully washed the cut with a wet paper towel and inspected it as fresh blood began to spill out of it. It wasn't incredibly deep, but the amount of blood coming out of it was astounding. Within moments, Remus had to wash it all away in order to see better. He noticed that the cut looked fresh, as if he'd just inflicted it upon himself five minutes ago. He wiped away more blood and inspected it further, but found nothing else strange about it. After searching for a bandage or a roll of gauze fruitlessly for about five minutes, Remus finally grabbed some paper towels and retreated back to his room, where he dug around in his trunk for a while. Soon enough, he sat back against his bed with a pair of old pajamas clutched in his hand. As quietly as he could, he ripped away a few long strips of cloth and set them aside. He wrapped the paper towels around his bleeding arm, then tied them in place with the makeshift bandages. It wasn't much, but surely it would do until the cut closed up. At least it would keep blood from running down his arm during class.

But two hours later, when the rest of the Marauders where finally awake, the towels and the strips of cloth were already soaked with blood. The sight made Remus sick; he carefully covered it with his sleeve before going downstairs. He'd probably have to change the towels after breakfast.

Breakfast was interesting for Remus; he tried desperately to listen to the conversations going on around him, which were all focused on Professor Binns' death, hoping to figure out exactly what had gone on. He felt a little upset that he'd missed such an event-Hogwarts simply didn't get this much excitement every day. And to think, he'd been there but hadn't even noticed!

But paying attention was difficult to do: between owl post, eating breakfast enough to make up for two lost meals, and trying to ignore suspicious glares from Sirius, Remus found himself hard put to keep his mind focused on one thing.

Sirius was by far the most annoying of the various distractions around Remus. He was sitting across from him and pretending to eat, but was actually staring straight at Remus. It was a disconcerting feeling, made all the worse by the fury in Sirius' eyes. Finally, as breakfast was drawing to a close and the Great Hall was emptying out, Remus stood suddenly and slammed his hands palm-down on the table. Everyone around him, including Sirius, looked up in surprise.

"Alright Sirius, I get it! You've rubbed it in enough with your guilt trips, your lectures, your temper tantrums, and your angry looks! I'm not dense, as you seem to think-I can take a hint, especially when applied with a sledgehammer! Now, having made your point, would you kindly LEAVE ME ALONE?!" The last words he screamed at the top of his lungs, attracting the attention of everyone who hadn't been staring at him already. A few Slytherins snickered from across the room, but Remus ignored them.

There was a moment of complete silence in which everyone in the Great Hall waited for Sirius to respond, but he was spared having to say something by another shocking event-Lily suddenly burst into tears.

James, sitting next to her as always, put an arm around her shoulders and looked at her with concern plain on his face. Peter looked up from his plate, startled, then looked back with a red face; he hated seeing people cry. Jesse stood up and moved around Sirius to comfort Lily as well, and Sirius himself looked completely lost. Remus stared at her in shock, obviously uncomfortable with making her cry. The rest of the school looked from her to Remus to Sirius, thoroughly enjoying the drama as it unfolded.

"Lily, Lily I'm sorry..." Remus murmured, leaning over the table towards her. She shook her head and tried to get control of herself.

"It's-it's not you...I just h-h-hate seeing y-you all screaming at each other!" she managed between sobs. Remus looked alarmed. "The wh-whole group is breaking apart!" she sobbed loudly. James, shocked, tightened his grip on her shoulders, almost as if comforting himself as well.

"No, no, don't say that! Never say that! We're brothers-we could never break apart. We'll be together forever, all of us. Nothing can break up this group...we're the Marauders!" he said finally, as if this explained everything. "No silly fight is going to have a lasting effect on us," he continued, looking pointedly at Remus and Sirius. They nodded vigorously and exchanged an uncomfortable glance. Neither had realized how much strife their tension was causing.

"Lily, we're sorry," Sirius said quietly, taking her hand. "We had no idea...we're guys! To us, this was just another fight. Just something more to work through-and we will work through it! And we'll come out all the stronger for it," he concluded firmly.

"Wow, Sirius," Remus said quietly, obviously impressed. "That was pretty deep-for you," he added, almost as if to take the seriousness out of his words. James laughed nervously, trying to get everyone to lighten up, but the sound echoed hollowly in the hall. As if suddenly realizing how much attention they were getting, Remus sat back down, red in the face. He carefully avoided Sirius' gaze as he finished eating and gathered his books.

"I'm going to class now," he announced to the group as he stood up. "I'm not storming out in a huff or anything," he clarified with a touch of a smile around his eyes. Lily gave him a watery grin and nodded. The others said they'd catch up with him later, then turned back to their meals.

"I'll go talk to him," Sirius muttered, grabbing his books as he did so. He gave James a knowing glance. "Again." James grinned and patted his friend on the arm. Jesse gave Sirius an encouraging smile.

"You want me to come along?" she offered, but Sirius declined.

"I don't think that's a good idea-he might feel cornered or something. Remember-Moony's got animal instincts." Jesse laughed lightly and nodded, leaving Sirius to follow Remus alone.

Sirius finally spotted his friend just outside the boys' bathroom on the second floor. He followed him inside unobtrusively, hoping he wouldn't anger his friend by this simple action. But Sirius was a short way behind Remus, and when he entered the bathroom, he hissed at what he saw.

"Cutting again, I see," he couldn't help but comment, gesturing at the blood-soaked bandages around Remus' arm. Remus glared at him, but thankfully didn't explode.

"Actually, I'm not," he said in a surprisingly calm voice. He seemed to have taken Lily's words to heart. "This is all that same cut." Sirius raised an eyebrow, his anger fading along with his friend's.

"Bleeding kind of a lot, isn't it?" he asked casually, setting his books on the counter and approaching his friend. Remus shrugged.

"I guess it's just deeper than I thought."

"Take all that crap off," Sirius said impatiently, now standing right next to Remus. "Let me see for myself." Remus shrugged and began untying the ragged strips of cloth. The paper towels came away reluctantly, clinging to the sticky, half-dried blood on his arm. Before letting Sirius inspect the cut, Remus carefully washed it with warm water, hoping to make it look better than it really was. Sirius snorted, guessing why Remus was stalling.

"Don't bother, buddy-it looks bad enough, you're not helping anything." Remus glared at him, but held out his arm for inspection nonetheless. Sirius was surprised at how cooperative he was being. He leaned forward over his friend's outstretched arm and tried to see what was so terrible about the seemingly thin cut on his arm. Other than the amount of blood spilling from it, it didn't look too serious.

"It doesn't look half bad, actually," Sirius finally admitted out loud. To his surprise, Remus looked relieved.

"You really think so?" he breathed, unsuccessfully trying to keep the relief out of his voice. "Is it healing, d'you think?" Sirius shrugged.

"I'm not a doctor-though we have a perfectly nice nurse here at Hogwarts, as I'm sure you know," he said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm sure she'd be delighted if you paid her a visit before your next change-she really doesn't get to see enough of you as it is, I'm sure she sees you as a sort of son." Remus gave him a withering look and took a few paper towels.

"I hardly think this is worth a visit to the hospital wing," he scoffed. "I'll take care of my cuts and scrapes myself, thanks." Sirius shrugged.

"Makes no difference to me, long as you take care of them, rather than add to them." He shot Remus a meaningful look. The other boy shook his head.

"No, I don't think I will be anytime soon," he admitted, meeting Sirius' eyes in the wall-length mirror. "I wanted to apologize, by the way," he said slowly. "I've been a real prick to you-to you all-for the past week or so, and I realize I've been pushing my friends away just when I need you most." Sirius smiled, a genuine smile that lit up his face.

"My choice of words exactly, Moony," he joked. "I should apologize too, though-I haven't been exactly understanding," he continued more seriously. Remus shrugged.

"When have you ever been understanding?" he said with a perfectly straight face. Sirius gaped at him for a moment, then a smile crept across his face.

"You did not just say that," he said in mock anger. Remus maintained his straight face.

"Yes, actually, I did." Sirius grinned.

"It's the first words of truth you've spoken in a long time, then." Remus' face finally broke; he laughed heartily and clapped his friend on the shoulder.

"Hark! I hear the bell summoning us," he said, reverting to formal speech for no reason at all. It was a joke he and Sirius had, one that none of the others could understand. Sirius carefully composed his face.

"Ah, I see the wondrous werewolf hath not lost his senses as the moon hath lost her shine!" Remus looked at him quizzically.

"That made no sense at all." Sirius grinned and tapped his temple.

"The joys of having my mind," he said wistfully. Remus laughed and picked up his books, heading for the door. He noticed as he pushed it open that Sirius wasn't following. He looked back questioningly. "It's good to have you back, Moony," Sirius said seriously. Remus smiled.

"And it's good to be back, Padfoot." Sirius grinned back and grabbed his books, then followed his friend into the crowded hall.



James, Lily, Peter, and Jesse were amazed when Remus and Sirius walked into the classroom, laughing and joking as if they'd never fought a day in their lives. They greeted everyone cheerfully, Sirius raising his eyebrows meaningfully at James, and seated themselves in their usual seats. James knew from that simple gesture what had happened, and he smiled. Both Sirius and Remus were so stubborn about some things, and he'd actually feared for their friendship for a while.

Professor Flitwick was particularly cheerful that morning as he stood on his pile of books in front of the class.

"Today we'll be reviewing Cheering Charms, with a twist!" he squeaked.

"He looks like he's been hit with a stray one," James commented to Sirius.

"Can't have been-we're his first class today, remember?"

"I've been practicing the new charm with Gregory Grimely," he continued with a giggle. Grimely was their caretaker-a very old and very morose wizard who hadn't much control of his wand. Then, in a very loud, overdone whisper, Flitwick said sneakily, "I figured he could use some cheering himself!" Everyone laughed loudly, more to see their teacher acting drunk than at the comment itself.

"I rest my case," James whispered triumphantly. Sirius was looking very happy. "Why are you so pleased this morning?" James asked, though he was sure he already knew. Sirius continued grinning happily.

"'Cause I haven't seen Moony this happy since-" he frowned slightly. "Actually, since he was dating Daisy last year." James grimaced at the memory.

"Let's keep to a lighter topic, shall we?" he suggested. Sirius nodded.

"My point is, I think everything's going to be fine, after all," he concluded. James was mildly surprised by his friend's choice of words.

"You had doubts, then?" Sirius shrugged.

"It seemed pretty bad at times," he replied, remembering the first time he'd found Remus with a knife clutched in his bloody hand. He gave an involuntary shudder. "I've honestly never seen him that angry before. Not at me, anyways...and that's saying something. He really loses it with me sometimes." James chuckled.

"That's true, he does... But y'know, I think he's just stressed out about some stuff lately. I honestly don't think he would've been so harsh towards you if there wasn't something else." Sirius gave him a sideways glance.

"I honestly don't think he'd have started cutting at all if there wasn't something else." James raised an eyebrow.

"I never thought of it that way...I wonder what's actually wrong?" Sirius shrugged, considerably subdued. It looked like they'd need those Cheering Charms, after all.

A few minutes later, they all started cheering each other up. When the professor deemed them ready to move on, he wrote a new incantation on the board and demonstrated the somewhat complicated hand movement that went with it.

"Many people get frustrated and un-cheerful just trying to work this one out!" he squealed with a long laugh. The students, some of them already giggling from the charms, joined him. "Now, this one can have strange effects if overdone. Some people come out of it looking positively drunk," he explained to the class happily.

"How much you wanna bet Snape hit him with a hard one?" Sirius whispered to James, who was his cheering-up partner. James laughed a bit too hard at the joke, actually slapping his knees in mirth. The professor giggled when he saw him.

"It appears Mr. Potter already feels that way," he joked. Everyone burst into peals of laughter, especially James. When they'd finally calmed down, their cheerful teacher pointed to the board. "Okay, get cheering!" They did, and once they'd gotten the hang of the tricky movements, they were all considerably happier. When the bell rang, the halls echoed with their drunken laughter.



"Y'know," Sirius pondered as they all sat around the table at lunch that afternoon. Peter grinned.

"Uh-oh, Sirius is thinking," he teased, still feeling the effects of Lily's cheering charm. "That can never be good." Everyone laughed heartily, also still feeling a tad tipsy. Sirius grinned along with them.

"Yeah...you're right. And I've been thinking-about what Flitwick was saying-and I think it's high time we paid Rosmerta a visit at the Three Broomsticks." James perked up at the idea, but Lily looked rather worried.

"Sirius...I don't like what happens to you when you go there," she said firmly, hardly feeling Peter's weak charm at all. "You either, James. Or, in fact, you, Remus. I don't think that place is good for you." Sirius stared at her in shock.

"Not...not good for us?" he spluttered. "But it's for re-lax-ation!" he exclaimed, enunciating the word to emphasize it. "We need an occasional bout of fun!"

"Today was fun enough to last you a good long time," Lily said firmly. "If you ever want to feel happy, come to me-I've got this charm down, I'll perform it in a second." Sirius was not convinced.

"Lily, you know it isn't the same!"

"I'm sorry Sirius, but I've watched you guys do so many stupid things- become Animagi, play pranks, pick fights with Slytherins-and this time I'm going to have to put my foot down." She looked at James for support. "It just isn't right. You're fifteen years old, for Pete's sake!" Peter looked up.

"I heard my name," he announced. James and Sirius laughed.

"No, you didn't," Sirius explained. "Lily was just cursing-or as close as she comes to it." She glared at him.

"I'm serious about this," she said firmly, starting to get angry.

"No you're not, I-" Sirius started, before realizing she'd carefully worded her phrase to prevent him from making the usual joke. Remus, James, and Jesse burst into laughter. Sirius grinned too, then looked at Jesse as if noticing her for the first time.

"Hey, Jesse-you should come with this time!" he suggested happily. "It'll be-"

"Have you been listening to one word I've said, Sirius?!" Lily practically screamed. He went silent and the smile slid from his face. "I don't want you to go-and I'm certainly not letting you corrupt Jesse!" Jesse shook her head with a smile.

"A bit late for that..." she muttered to Remus. He laughed, forgetting for a moment that he was angry with her. A result of the Cheering Charm, of course. "Sirius," she continued in a normal tone of voice, "give it a rest. You can't win against Lily." The red-head smiled at her gratefully, not noticing her wink slyly at the black-haired boy.

"That's right. And don't think I'm going to back down from this-I'm serious." Sirius grinned.

"You can't be-I am." Everyone groaned, then burst into giggles.



Sirius burst into the boys' dorm with a huge smile on his face. It was shortly after midnight on Friday night, and the others were all awake and waiting for him. He had a bag slung over one shoulder and was clutching a bright green piece of paper in his hand.

"Look at this!" he whispered excitedly, holding out the paper. James took it and held it between the other two so they all could read it.

The Three Broomsticks

Karaoke Night!!!

The Three Broomsticks is holding a free karaoke night this
Saturday at 9:00! Bring your friends, bring your voice, and
bring an appetite-there will be free food for all singers!

Choose from a large selection of songs, both magic and Muggle!
Then stand onstage and sing your heart out, while reading the
words from the air in front of you. It's sure to be good times
for all!

Sirius grinned at the others when they looked up from the flyer.

"Karaoke night?" James muttered in disbelief. "That's a Muggle thing!" Sirius shrugged.

"So? What are you, a Slytherin? We've picked up plenty from the Muggles- they really know how to have fun sometimes!" James glared at him.

"Don't," he warned, "call me a Slytherin."

"Then don't knock karaoke night before you've tried it!" Sirius countered. Remus, to everyone's surprise, grinned.

"Yeah, James-it's jolly good fun!" James raised an eyebrow.

"And you would know?"

"Sure, it was a huge thing at a bar near my house when I was a kid. We lived near a Muggle city, and there was a great little pub at the edge that held karaoke nights every week. It was a tradition for me and Jesse." His smile faded slightly, but he quickly perked up again. "We should go, it'll be worth it."

James looked sideways at Sirius, who was giving him puppy-dog eyes. He switched his gaze to Peter, who shrugged.

"I'll go, but I'm not singing for any amount of food," he said firmly. Sirius smirked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, little buddy," he said evilly. Peter blanched, but didn't reply. Sirius turned back to James. "C'mon, Prongs! You don't have to sing, I promise!" James laughed.

"I wasn't planning on that, anyway-I'm a terrible singer."

"It'd make a nice date with Lily," Sirius goaded. James hesitated.

"Are you sure about that? It seems like it'll be loud and brackish."

"Brackish? Ha! I don't even know what that means!" They all laughed. "But seriously, James, Lily likes that kind of stuff more than you'd think. It'll be a nice change for her!"

"But you heard her-she doesn't want us going to the pub at all." Sirius shrugged.

"If she honestly thinks we can get drunk with all those other people there, she's crazy!"

"Sirius, you can get drunk anywhere," Remus pointed out with a grin. Sirius blinked at him innocently.

"Who, me?" He shook his head sadly. "You just go on thinking that... But back to more important matters! If you don't come, I'll drag you there by your ears!" Peter suddenly spoke up.

"How are we going to get there? We're not allowed even out on the grounds this late at night, much less in Hogsmeade on a non-designated weekend." Sirius gaped at him.

"Wormtail! Are you even worthy of your nickname anymore? How could you have forgotten our lovely tunnel, right into the heart of Honeydukes?" He held up the bag he'd been holding to prove his point. "Where did you think I got that flyer?" he said with a grin, dumping a load of candy onto the floor. Remus' eyes lit up, and he immediately joined Sirius on the floor and opened a chocolate frog.

"C'mon, Peter, James," he said through a mouthful of chocolate. "It'll be great, and you know it. Stop being such babies and learn to live a little!" At this, James looked offended.

"Babies-!" he exclaimed. "Well! That does it-I'll show you who's a baby when we get up onstage!" Peter nodded in agreement, and when they had joined the others on the floor to devour the candy, Sirius nudged Remus in the arm.

"Good one-I couldn't have put it better myself," he muttered. Remus smiled happily, his teeth covered in chocolate.



"C'mon Lily-it'll be fun!" James pleaded in the common room the next evening, an hour before it was time to go. She shook her red head.

"I'm sure it will be, James, but I don't want to sit there while you guys get drunk!" James looked shocked.

"I'm not going to get drunk!" he said defensively. "I can't vouch for Padfoot, but I promise you I won't do anything stupid!" She hesitated.

"So this really is about the karaoke, not the pub?" James nodded. To his relief, her face broke into a smile. "Well, then, I'll just have to go change!" He grinned happily and dashed up to his own dorm to relay the good news.

"Great," Sirius said when he heard. "That makes six of us, then. Jesse's coming too." He glanced across the room, where Remus was digging through his clothes looking for something to wear. "Just don't tell Moony, if you can help it. I don't want him to get all pissed off before we even get going." James nodded, then noticed what Sirius was wearing for the first time.

"What are you wearing?" he exclaimed, jaw dropping. Sirius grinned and looked down.

"Don't you like them?" he asked in mock offense. Remus looked over.

"They're...pretty tight, aren't they?" he asked slowly. Sirius looked at him in amazement.

"They're supposed to be, duh," he replied, rolling his eyes. He proudly inspected himself in the wall-height mirror between his and James' beds. He was dressed in a pair of very black, very shiny, and very tight leather pants.

Jesse knocked and entered, mouth open as if about to say something. When she saw Sirius, however, she burst into a fit of giggles and couldn't speak for several moments.

"Why does everyone hate my pants?" Sirius asked, looking rather hurt. Jesse shook her head.

"No, no, it's not that-they look fine, Sirius. In fact, they look pretty damn good." Sirius grinned triumphantly at his friends. "It's just...seeing you in leather pants...that's more of a Muggle thing, isn't it?" Sirius shrugged.

"So is karaoke night." Jesse nodded.

"I suppose that makes sense. Well...I hope you're prepared to be bombarded by girls-single or not." Sirius wiggled his eyebrows.

"Hey, that's the norm for me!" Everyone laughed happily and Jesse informed them that they should be leaving soon. She left them to continue dressing and went downstairs to wait.

Remus was surprisingly good about keeping his temper around Jesse. He seemed to have realized that his tension with her wasn't doing his friends any good, either, and was trying desperately to be civil towards her. But his thoughts were far from civil, and it was hard to be kind to someone like her...

The six were lucky that evening; there was no one near the statue when they arrived, dressed as they were, and slipped into the tunnel. James and Peter were in their usual robes, but Remus had put on Muggle jeans for the occasion. The Marauders and Lily thought he looked strange in baggy jeans and a bright red t-shirt, but Jesse understood his motives and left him alone. She was dressed in Muggle clothes as well, and seemed to match Remus if one looked closely. She wore tight jeans that flared from the knee and a dark red spaghetti-strap shirt that showed her stomach. Lily swore she'd freeze, but Jesse knew how hot the pub would get once everyone got into the music.

The Three Broomsticks pub was, indeed, packed. Sirius' face lit up when he saw all the girls dressed their best and milling about with butterbeers, but James kept close to Lily and did his best to ignore them all. He knew he'd get a lecture if he did anything worse.

Shortly after nine, the six found themselves seated relatively near the stage, butterbeers in hand. They were chatting contentedly, Sirius rather surprised at how nice Remus was being to Jesse. He seemed to have set aside all their differences so as not to ruin the evening, and Sirius made a mental note to thank him for being so considerate. Suddenly, the pub quieted down, and everyone looked up to see Rosmerta, the owner, standing on a makeshift stage and beaming down at them all.

"I'm so pleased with the turnout tonight!" she began, her voice magically louder. "We haven't done this since my mother owned the place, and I thought it would be a nice treat. Now, in front of you you'll find a paper that lists all the songs available-Muggle songs on one side, magical on the other. We figured that since this is a Muggle tradition, we might as well offer some of their songs, as well." There was a murmur of agreement around the room. "I've only been to one of these, and that was when I was very young, so excuse me if I do some things strangely. To get things going and loosen everyone up, I've got a few people who will do their songs first. So sit back, drink up, relax, and please welcome Miranda Miller and Bertie Drange, who'll be singing "Do You Believe in Magic," a great Muggle song!" There was a round of applause as the two took the stage and performed the sonorous charm on themselves.

Jesse grinned as the two waited for the music to start. A golden ribbon appeared in front of them, sporting the first five words of the song. When the music started and the two began to sing, the ribbon changed, like a scrolling screen sporting the words to the song, in order. Miranda Miller obviously knew the song very well, but Bertie Drange was a bit off at parts. The song was not made to be a duet, and didn't sound quite right as one, but no one in the pub cared. It was all part of karaoke night to screw things up.

Remus listened happily to the song, letting the conversations around him go unnoticed. Just being in a pub again, listening to someone sing a strange song only halfway in tune, made him feel like nothing was wrong with his life, and Jesse had never run off, and he had never been bitten. He shook that thought from his mind; it would only destroy the fun of the evening.

Many songs later, when everyone was in the mood and some people were singing from their seats, not even bothering to get up on stage, Jesse moved around the table and sat next to Remus. He swallowed nervously, knowing what was coming next.

"They have our song, Remus!" she whispered excitedly. "And no one's done it yet-let's do it! Just for old time's sake!" she pleaded. He looked up at the stage, where the previous act had just gotten off and the next one was wandering on. It was like a sign from some higher power: on the stage were two small children, no more than five years old, beaming around at the crowd. Sure, the boy had black hair and the girl bright blonde, but the meaning was there. They had already been charmed, and were trying to whisper to each other without letting their audience hear. The boy took the girl's hand and cleared his throat, looking embarrassed when the sound echoed in the small pub. The words to the song appeared in front of them, and the music began. It was a song by a wizard group that Remus didn't recognize. He looked back at Jesse, who was practically on her knees in front of him.

"You know you feel it, too," she whispered, her voice almost inaudible over the children's loud singing voices. He sighed and nodded.

"Alright, but just that one song!" Jesse beamed and stood up, dragging him with her.

"C'mon, we have to go get in line if we want to use the stage!" Remus sighed again, wondering what he'd just gotten himself into. "I'll be right back," Jesse told him, leaving him to hold their place in line. She returned a moment later, her smile even bigger. She held two microphones in her hands. "I knew they'd be able to conjure something up!" she said excitedly, handing Remus one. "You'll still have to use the charm, and these don't actually do anything, but it's the thought that counts!" Remus couldn't resist a smile. Jesse was so obsessed with keeping up traditions, silly as they might be.

It seemed like only seconds later that they were being ushered onstage by Rosmerta herself.

"What song are you singing?" she hissed as they passed her.

"Your Song, Elton John!" Jesse told the woman quietly. Rosmerta nodded and signaled to someone at the bar. Remus, his stomach churning, followed Jesse onstage.

"Don't look so nervous!" Jesse whispered before performing the sonorous charm.

"I'm not!" he growled, then performed the charm as well. Before long, the music started and the ribbon of words appeared in front of them.

"It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside," Jesse began when it was time. Remus was amazed at how good her voice sounded. "I'm not one of those who can easily hide. I don't have much money, but boy! if I did, I'd buy a big house where we both could live!" Remus turned to her and sang his part.

"If I was a sculptor, but then again, no

Or a man who makes potions in a traveling show,

I know it's not much but it's the best I can do.

My gift is my song and this one's for you!"

They sang together:

"And you can tell everybody that this is your song!

It may be quite simple, but now that it's done,"

Remus took over:

"I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind,

That I put down in words,

How wonderful life is, now you're in the world."

They harmonized on the last few words. The music picked up a bit, and Jesse began to sing again.

"I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss

Well a few of the verses, well, they've got me quite cross,

But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song,

It's for people like you that keep it turned on."

Remus sang again:

"So excuse me forgetting but these things I do,

You see, I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue!

Anyway, the thing is, what I really mean,

Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen!"

Jesse lost track of the rest of the song; she sang it as though in a dream, remembering vaguely to put some emotion into it. Remus' eyes, the expression on his face when he'd sung that last verse, had startled her. She knew how much of an actor he could be, and how seriously he took everything he did, and tried to convince herself that he'd simply been getting into the song. But that didn't help; whatever he'd meant by that look, it didn't matter-the feeling she got thinking about it gave her the shivers. The good kind.

The song ended and they jumped off the stage and returned to their seats, where the others were grinning and congratulating them. Sirius was gone; he gave them a thumbs up from his place in line.

Jesse took her seat between Lily and Remus, immediately regretting doing so. Suddenly it was very different sitting next to him; it made her feel self-conscious, and she had to keep her hand firmly on the table to keep from brushing her hair behind her ears over and over-an obvious sign of nervousness. It didn't help that Lily was shooting looks at her, and even James had a little smile on his face. Peter didn't seem to have noticed anything, so she talked mostly to him.

Jesse felt bad that she didn't even listen to Sirius' song; she didn't recognize it anyway, but it would have been nice to hear him sing. When he came down and sat across from her, she grinned at him and told him he'd sounded great, anyway. He gave her a strange smile.

"So did you two," he said slowly. Jesse beamed.

"Thanks," she said, trying to keep her voice nonchalant. "It's kind of a tradition...it's from a long time ago, when we were next-door neighbors."

"You were neighbors?" Sirius asked in surprise. Jesse nodded, but didn't continue. If Remus hadn't mentioned any of this, it was likely he didn't want them to know, for whatever reason. Lily stood up, holding her butterbeer.

"Hey, I'm all out," she announced, shaking her empty bottle and looking around. "Anyone else need more?" Sirius held out his bottle, as did Jesse. "Oh, no, you're coming with me," Lily muttered to Jesse, picking her up by the elbow. "I'm not navigating these crowds of horny guys alone..." Jesse laughed and followed Lily towards the bar.

"So what's this really about?" she asked suspiciously when they reached the bar and Lily ordered three butterbeers. Lily glanced at her sideways.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jesse scoffed.

"Don't play dumb with me! You dragged me up here, what do you want to tell me?" They sat on stools at the bar, sipping from the bottles they'd just received.

"Actually," Lily said slowly, "it's more something I want to ask." Jesse raised her eyebrows, suddenly realizing what was going on.

"There's nothing to tell," she replied quickly. Too quickly. Lily got that knowing smile.

"Yes there is! I can tell from your face," the red-head teased. Jesse forced herself to look natural.

"Well, I have nothing to keep from you, so you can ask away-but you're not going to learn anything worth knowing." Lily grinned.

"Good, I'm glad I'm in the clear, then." She took another sip and considered how to word her question. "First off, I guess I should know the basics-how do you know Remus? And don't try to tell me you only met him here," she warned.

"You already know better than that," Jesse said with a shrug. "I was his next-door neighbor until we were ten years old. Well, he was ten, I was almost there. I haven't seen him since then-except, of course, here at Hogwarts." Lily pondered this.

"Who moved-you or him?"

"I did. I moved to America, actually, to live with my uncle. My parents came, too, of course, but we lived in his house 'cause it was so big."

"How come you moved at all?" Lily wanted to know. Jesse had decided to answer her frankly up until now, but she knew that answer was none of Lily's business.

"My uncle was lonely," she said with a shrug. Lily smiled.

"That was a lie, and you know it. But I don't really care why you moved, so I'll let that one go." Jesse swallowed nervously. If Lily could detect that lie...she'd never been good at keeping things from people. "Next question: why is Remus pissed at you?" Jesse sighed.

"I don't know, honestly. If he'd only talk to me, maybe I could fix things... But he's so stubborn! Even as a kid, he'd never talk if he didn't want to." She smiled wistfully. "Ah, the days of fighting over toys and things..." Lily laughed.

"Alright, we'll have to come back to that. How come you guys sang that song just now?" Jesse smiled.

"Tradition, like I told you. We had a pub near our houses back when we were kids, and our parents liked to go to karaoke night together, just as friends. We tagged along, of course-all ages were aloud inside on karaoke night-and it became a tradition to sing that song together. I don't know why we chose it-I just think we liked the music."

"Okay...how about those clothes? You guys match, or I'm crazy." Jesse laughed happily.

"I'm glad you noticed. That's tradition, too. The pub was run by Muggles, and we always had to dress up like them in order to go. After a while, when our little act became popular at the pub, we started to dress as a pair, just to make it more interesting. When we were really young, this was just a charming thing that all the Muggles loved to no end. By the time the charm wore off, it was a set tradition." She paused. "I don't know how he knew what to wear tonight-or how I did, for that matter. Jeans was all I had in terms of Muggle clothes, and I'd assume the same goes for Remus, but the red shirt...that's almost uncanny." Lily grinned, but said nothing more about that.

"Next question: do you love him?" Jesse was taken aback, despite herself. She'd known the question was coming, judging by Lily's sly glances, but it was still very sudden.

"No," she said truthfully. "I'm fifteen years old, and I don't even know what love is. Plus, he hates my guts-it's hard to feel that way about someone who won't even talk to you except on rare occasions." Lily pondered this.

"But you feel something?" she pressed on.

"I suppose," Jesse admitted with a sigh. "It's hard not to, but I wonder sometimes if it's just this whole night. It's really strange, like I'm ten years old again. The last karaoke night before I moved was a lot like this, though I guess they're all pretty much the same. I remember I'd been joking around with some of my girl friends the night before, and they were teasing me about him because we spent so much time together. Y'know, we were getting to that age... Well, onstage, when he looked in my eyes and sang that verse..." Jesse trailed off, her chin in her hand and her eyes focused on the memory. Lily smiled and let her think, looking back to the stage to see who was singing what. She almost laughed out loud when she saw that Sirius was up there again.

"Some people call me the space cowboy,

Some call me the gangster of looove!

Some people just call me Maurrrice..."

Lily burst into giggles when she heard Sirius roll the 'r' and give a girl in the front row a wink. Someone backstage, who apparently knew the song, gave the catcall at just the right moment. She poked Jesse out of her reverie.

"Sorry to bug you, but this is something you're gonna want to see..." she said with a laugh. Jesse looked at Sirius in surprise, then burst into peals of laughter. She managed to control herself enough to hear him say, "I really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree-e!" This almost made her lose it again, but she controlled herself, wanting to see the rest of the song.

"I don't recognize that song," Lily said when it was over and Sirius had jumped off the stage, his leather pants catching the light. "What is it?" Jesse shrugged.

"I've heard it before, but I don't know who it's by." She laughed again. "Do you think they'll have missed us by now?"

"Oh!" Lily gasped. "I'd totally forgotten about that...yeah, we'd better get Sirius his butterbeer."

"'Cause he's gonna need it after a song like that," Jesse joked as they made their way through the crowd. When they got within sights of the table, Lily groaned.

"Of course...we've attracted every girl in the place!" Jesse laughed. Surrounding their table were girls of all shapes and sizes, all vying for Sirius' attention. He was basking in the glow of it all, obviously very pleased with himself. Jesse and Lily skirted the group and took their seats.

"Should I give him his drink?" Jesse asked. Lily was about to respond when she noticed the gleam in her friend's eye.

"Uh-oh, what's going to happen if I let you?"

"You'll see..." Jesse replied vaguely, a mischievous grin on her face. She took the butterbeer and pushed through the crowd of girls, approaching Sirius. He looked up at her with a grin.

"Ah, fame!" he said happily. Jesse smiled seductively and leaned over the back of his chair, holding the bottle out in front of him with one hand and rubbing his chest with the other.

"Your drink, sweetie," she said, loud enough for most of the girls to hear her. Sirius took it, looking at her in surprise. She winked and whispered in his ear, "You know what they say about having too much of a good thing..." To the girls watching this, it looked as though she were whispering something much less innocent. Most of them snorted in disgust, gave her a dirty look, and walked away. The remaining ones redoubled their efforts. "There ya go-that should be enough to keep you busy for the rest of the night without clogging our table." She walked away, swishing her hips and laughing. Sirius watched her go, shaking his head, and took a long drink of butterbeer. He'd ordered his own when the girls hadn't come back right away, and had since had at least five. They were starting to get to him, just enough to make him voice his thoughts even more than usual. He did so then, as Jesse was swishing back to her seat.

"You're a damn lucky guy, Remus," he said to his friend, who was sitting next to him. Remus had been watching the whole ordeal and looked at Sirius strangely.

"Why would that be?" Sirius looked at him.

"What?"

"You just said I was a lucky guy," Remus explained exasperatedly.

"Oh, yeah, that." Remus waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. Remus rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. Well, at least Lily hadn't had to watch Sirius get drunk...she'd come back just in time to see him already at that stage. He stood to get himself and Peter drinks, then thought better of it when he saw the crowd he'd have to maneuver. The karaoke night was, apparently, a huge success.