Disclaimer: These aren't my puppets, I just snuck in to play.

Chapter 4

Sirius watched as the three girls exited through the front door. Satisfied with that bit of business, he went off in search of Remus. As he suspected he would, he found Remus in the exact same place he had left him. But instead of reading a book, he was staring out the window.

"You look puzzled, Moony. So tell me what's on your mind. I want to hear about whatever intriguing conundrum is bouncing around up there." And he patted Remus' head affectionately.

"I have no clothes." Remus said flatly. Sirius looked him up and down.

"Well, I hate to call you of all people wrong, Moony, but those are definitely clothes that you have on right now." Remus rolled his eyes.

"Yes, yes I know that. What I mean is that I need something to wear to this blasted ball."

"Oh right…the ball." Sirius said, sounding distracted, but it was really all in good fun. Remus, however, didn't seem to think so.

"Sirius! Are you even listening to me? I need help!" Sirius stared wide eyed at his usually quite calm and composed friend. Then he grinned.

"All right, what's got your knickers in a twist, eh Moony? Could you be seeing things with pretty pink hair and faces shaped like hearts?"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? I just need something to wear so that I don't look like three kinds of schlub in front of Tonks at this thing."

"Trying to impress her, are you?"

"Well, trying at least not to scare her off actually."

Sirius sank back in his seat. This dilly dallying back and forth between them was starting to annoy him. Still, he shouldn't complain, there was nothing else to do, he might as well occupy himself with a little bit of matchmaking between friends. He stood up and gestured for Remus to do the same.

"Come on then."

"Sirius, I cannot believe you dragged me here and I can't believe you were able to brew a Polyjuice potion in the span of half an hour after planning an impromptu shopping trip." Remus was trying his best to furrow his brow in disapproval, but all said and done, he reveled in the fact that he was off on another half baked idea with his nutter of a best friend. It was just like old times.

"Sssh! Call me Mad Eye at least or you'll blow my cover. And for your information, I had a perfectly brewed potion all set up just in case the occasion to skip out of the house presented itself. And it has, so here we are."

Remus shook his head in slight amusement. "I still can't believe Moody let another of his hairs loose. You'd think after the incident last year, he'd be more wary of that sort of thing."

"Are you kidding? The man sheds more hair than you do on full moon. Now come on, we're here." Sirius, or rather Moody pulled on Remus' shirtsleeve as they passed through the doors of "Miss Mabel's Magical Muggle Marketplace." At first Remus squinted from the glare of the fluorescent lighting that was typical of most Muggle department stores, but when his eyes adjusted, it was just enough time to catch up to Sirius walking to one end of the huge store.

"Can I help you gentleman?" a saleswitch with aquamarine nails and a tape measure came sauntering up to them. Remus just about lost it when he saw Sirius, sorry, Mad Eye shoot her a "sexy" smirk and lean casually against one of the clothing racks. He was obviously forgetting what his current appearance was.

"Well, I think you might be able to be of some assistance. My friend here needs a nice tux for the ball this weekend. Let's set him up right then, love." And he winked. Remus' shoulders shook with silent laughter as he watched the saleswitch throw Sirius a dirty look. It couldn't have been dirtier if it had been dragged through the mud. He bit his lip at the look of confusion on Moody's face, for he knew if he didn't cause himself some little physical pain, he was for sure going to start laughing out loud in front of him. And seeing as how Sirius had insisted on paying for this little outing, Remus couldn't really afford to have him reconsider because he was angry with him.

The saleswitch turned to Remus, who thankfully was able to regain some composure before looking at her. "What color tux did you have in mind, sir?" she asked, giving him a much more favorable look than the one she'd practically spat at Sirius.

Remus' eyes still danced with amusement at his friend's unusual misfortune.

"A black one." his voice still hinted at the laughter that threatened to escape him at any second. The saleswitch smiled warmly at him and led them to the men's department, with Sirius throwing dirty looks at Remus the whole way.

"For the last time Sir-dammit!-Moody, I am not wearing anything resembling any sort of ruffle anywhere. End of story, so stop bringing them to me."

Moody's gruff laughter was heard from outside the fitting room door. Remus finished buttoning the jacket as he stepped outside. The laughter stopped as Remus turned to face the mirror.

"Wow Remus. I must say, you do clean up nicely. But then, I knew that all along." Sirius came up to stand behind him and he tugged at the bottom of the jacket, smoothing out the creases.

They heard a crash from behind them. They turned around to see the pretty saleswitch with aquamarine nails fumbling around on the floor trying to pick up everything she'd dropped. They rushed over to help and it wasn't until they were both eye level that they noticed her flushed cheeks. She stood up quickly, mumbling.

"Thank-thank you. I uh, I just, oh um, never mind. Sorry about that." she said quickly. Remus smiled at her as he placed a shoe on top of the pile of things in her arms.

"That's quite all right." he said. She glanced up at him quickly before looking away again. The blush had crept back into her cheeks and she smiled. As she walked away, they swore they heard her giggle.

Moody shook his head. "I don't believe it. That girl was totally smitten with you, you sly dog. Well if that little performance was anything to go by, that is definitely the tux to get. Tonks will be falling head over heels for you in no time." 'As if she hasn't already.' Sirius thought to himself.

Remus smiled as he went back into the fitting room to change. So perhaps he wasn't the only person who could envision that same scene happening with a pink haired, heart shaped face girl instead.

As they made their way towards the front of the store to pay for the tux, Remus suddenly felt himself being pulled towards a rack full of overcoats. He successfully managed to collide with the pole of the rack and get tangled up in three large fur coats meant for a man or woman with a much larger girth than himself. Once safe on the inside part of the rack, he noticed Sirius crouching low behind the coats. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Sirius, what the hell are we doing hiding in a rack of coats?" he asked, pinching the space between his eyes. He was worried for his friend, he truly was. Perhaps some of Mad Eye Moody's paranoia had transferred over to him from the Polyjuice potion he made.

Moody's calloused hand pointed through the coats. Remus followed his finger and took in a breath. It was Ginny, Hermione, and…Tonks. Remus moved away from the open space quickly, only to get poked in the back with a hanger.

"Ow! Bugger that hurt. Are they gone yet?" he asked, massaging his head where he had managed to hit that too. Sirius stood there motionless for a few more seconds, watching them. As Tonks turned the other direction, the girls followed and Sirius took that as their cue to get to the front, pay, and get out of there as soon as possible.

Having successfully carried out the plan of exiting the store, Sirius and Remus headed back towards The Leaky Cauldron. After Remus ordered himself a coffee and Sirius, a glass of Ogden's, they sat in the corner so as not to be disturbed.

Sirius' fingers drummed on the table impatiently until their drinks came.

"Can I ask you to do me a favor, Remus?" he asked suddenly.

Remus looked up from his coffee. "No Sirius. I cannot go to the Auror Ball with you because I already have a previous engagement."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Haha, very funny. I'm being serious, Moony."

"Of course you are, Sirius. You will always be Sirius." Sirius threw him a dirty look (again). "I'm not above throwing this drink at you, Remus. Don't think I'm too adult for that."

Remus smirked. He thoroughly enjoyed it when Sirius set himself up so perfectly. "I don't think you're too adult at all, Sirius."

Sirius put his head down on the table. "I give up. I don't even remember what I was going to say to you. Moony, my life has become a gooey mess that I can't remember because you're always taking the piss." He threw his head back up and slumped dramatically in his seat, his eyes closed tight as if he were trying to remember everything.

"I believe you were asking me about a favor." Remus sipped his coffee slowly, letting the warm liquid trickle down his throat. It spread warmth through his whole being. Coffee was the stuff of gods, he decided. He then remembered he was supposed to be listening to some favor for Sirius. So he listened.

A/N: Dude, two chapters in two days, whoa. I guess I'm making up for time that I know I don't have the rest of the week. This was just a bit of comic relief really. Cheers for reading!