A/n: PADFOOT LIIIIVES! ... cough Hm, yes, well... I'm gonna update this story as often as I can, but, as I havn't written a fic in about forever, my muse is still a bit rusty. Ok, this one takes place the summer after The Order of the Pheonix, and is slightly angsty the first chapter. Well, I suppose this is as long as I can make the A/n... On to the story!

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Fire Whiskey

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The only light in the common room came from a few candles that sat on several tables, their wax dripping unheeded. The sun was shining brightly outside, but the windows were so dirty that it seemed like dusk in The Hog's Head. Sitting around the bar were several shady looking characters, and littered through out the tables were even shadier characters. Every one of them twitched when the door opened, looking away until it was closed, casting the room into semi-darkness again. The bar tender looked up, squinting his eyes in an annoyed fashion towards the man who entered.

The man slumped over to a table on which a lone candle threw his features into stark contrast. His grey streaked hair hung limply into his shallow eyes, around which dark circles clung. His clothing was patched in many places, and torn in many others, his face haggard, with scratches on it, as if he'd just run blindly through the forest. Several of the people in the room looked at their watches, as if checking the time, but if one were to inspect their watches closely they would notice that, instead of numbers, the face held the phases of the moon. As it was just the day after the full moon, many of the bar patrons quickly turned from the werewolf.

An indifferent waitress waltzed over to his table, a dusty pad and pen in her hand. Reaching his table, she clicked her long, blood red nails agains the tabletop in a bored, impatient way. "What can I get for yeh?"

"Bottle of fire whiskey." The man's voice was hoarse, as he had probably been screaming all night while transforming to and from the werewolf shape. The waitress stalked away, then back again in a few moments, a bottle of some smokeing liquid and a dirty cup in her hands. The man handed over a handfull of coins, then poured himself a drink. Downing his first glass, the man's eyes went glassy, as if he were lost in memory..

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Remus Lupin was a respectable man, for all that he was a werewolf. Still, his friends would defend him to the death, as he would them. Remus and two of those said friends sat around a table, by which a fire happily crackled in the hearth, casting a merry glow across the room. Wreaths hung from the walls, and in the other room one could see a Christmas tree where real faeries danced instead of electrical lights.

"What?" Asked the much younger, healiter looking Lupin asked, an excited light in his eyes. "Lilly, you're pregnant!" Leaping to his feet, the man shook the hands of a very excited looking couple before him. The woman had startilingly green eyes, and flowing, red hair. The man, on the other hand, had dark, untidy hair, and glasses that slid down the bridge of his nose when Lupin excitedly shook his hand.

"The baby's due some time in July, the doctors said." Explained the man, his hand now entwined with that of the woman.

"Do the others know? Sirius and Peter?" Asked Remus, taking a drink of his mug, which held a different kind of steaming liquid than fire whiskey.

Lilly shook her head, glancing at her husband, who fidgeted slightly. Remus cocked an eyebrow, but didn't ask. 'It must be one of those 'married' things,' decided the werewolf, with a slight, mental sigh.

"We havn't heard from Sirius in a few days, which is strange. He's usually over here eating all our food." Lilly commented with a laugh. James, on the other hand, continued to look uncomfortable, to the point of where he stood up, reaching for every one's glasses.

"I'll just go refill these..." James said, stalking off to the kitchen and letting the door swing closed behind him. He made quite a show of tinkling the mugs, finding that tea had cooled to much, that he should probably make more, for Remus to make himself at home.

Lilly sighed, shaking her head. It seemed as if they'd talked about this before, and James was less than OK with the upcomming discusion Lilly was going to have with Remus. "Lets go outside. I could use a breath of fresh air." And Remus thought he heard her mutter something like 'And I think James could, too.', but he couldn't be sure. Following the woman outside, Remus was too far gone in his thoughts to remember to grab his cloak. Thankfully, however, Lilly seemed to be a mind reader, and grabbed it for him

Once out on the porch, the woman didn't make any atempt to stall, but got right on with what he knew was bothering James. "Look, Remus, don't mind James, he accepts you, and the lifestile you've chosen, its just going to take a while for him to get used to it. You know James, he doesn't like change." Lilly said, but it was clear that she had something else on her mind as well, something she was still fidgeting over.

"But you see, Lilly, that's just it. I didn't choose, it just sorta happened. For as long as I can remember, I've been like this." Remus explained, glad for the faint outside light that hid the sour expression on his face. It didn't seem fair for him to be so different.

"I'm sorry, Remus." Said the woman, looking at him with raised eyebrows and a stern expression on her face. "But you know, you can't go and all depressed because of the way James is acting. He accepted you when he found out you were a werewolf, and he'll accept you now. I guess homosexuality is just scarier to him than lacanthropy." She laughed, and the man joined her, rubbing the back of his head in a sheepish manor.

"Yes, Mother." He teased her lightly. It seemed that Lilly was forever trying to take care of everyone. He fidgeted with the snow on the railings of the porch."Speaking of mothers-"

"Ah-ah-ah! Don't you go changing the subject on me. I had something else I wanted to discuss with you." Lilly said, eyebrows raised again, arms crossed over her stomach that hadn't even began to show yet.

Remus sighed. He knew that he wasn't going to get out of it so easily. So, instead of speaking, for he knew he'd just blurt everything out, he surveyed her with alert brown eyes.

Grinning, the woman leaned back against a support beam. "Now, don't snap at me if you think I'm being nosy, but when are you going to tell Sirius." Remus opened his mouth to say something, but Lilly held out her hand. "No, I don't mean that. I know you already told him that you're gay, but when are you going to tell him the other thing? Its plain to anyone with eyes, except maybe those boys you call friends, that you have feelings for Sirius. You really should tell him though, Remus. You might be suprised with how he reacts."

The werewolf glared at his friend. Lilly's green eyes seemed to be able to see right into someone's soul. "I don't know how you knew, Lilly, but please don't tell him?"

"Oh, I won't. I might make you tell him, but I won't. That's something for you to do." The woman said, her voice soft.

With a sigh, Remus rubbed a large hand over his eyes. "I don't know, Lilly. I... I can't seem to find the right time. Things keep coming up, or we're with friends. I can't get him alone, and its not something you tell around a big group of people."

"Remus, you're not trying hard enough. I know its a scary thing to do, beleive me, I've told guys my feelings about them before, but you have to do it. You'll never know if he returns your feelings or not."

"But this isn't some childhood crush, Lilly. This is full blown love. I've loved him for as long as I can remember, before even I realised I was gay." The werewolf said, angrily pacing back and forth across the porch.

"Please try Remus. You never get anywhere with just sitting and wishing." Lilly pleaded, trying to talk him into it. She wasn't the only one who knew her friend was gay, but she -was- the only one who knew about Sirius. A few months ago, Sirius, in a half drunk explosion of revilation, came to see Lilly in the middle of the day, while she was headed to the market. She took a break, and took her friend out to dinner. There, he explained that he'd realised that he was bisexual, and that he'd been in love with Remus for as long as he could remember, he just didn't know it yet.

Now, Lilly promised both she wouldn't tell, and stuck by her word. All she could do was push the two with all her might, push them into telling. It was hard, and it might take her a while

"Alright Lilly, I'll try..."

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Lupin shook his head, coming out of the reverie and taking another swig of the smokey beverage directly out of the bottle. He'd drained his cup while lost in thought. He was beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol, but poured himself another glass anyway. He'd had a rough night, rougher than many he'd remembered. Maybe because just a couple weeks ago he'd seen his best friend and secret love die. Maybe because he was truely alone as he ran through the forest, howling his defiance to the moon. Or maybe luck was just agianst him. Either way, it was a hard night, and he wanted to forget. He wanted to forget everything.

However, his mind didn't always listen...

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Remus Lupin didn't have alot of money, and what he did have, he saved. He saved it for special occasions, and he considered this late march night to be very special indeed. After much prodding from Lilly, he'd finally decided to tell Sirius about how he felt. So, with the woman's help, he through together a gormet dinner to be served at James and Lilly's house. Everyone was there, and Lilly, now very pregnant, was not the only one there who was giving Remus her support. James, over his earlier homophobia, was now rooting his friend on.

They disguised the dinner as a small celebration for a recent small victory over Voldemort. They were going to get together and drink to their foe's confusion.

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"...only he didn't know that ol' Padfoot was really our Sirius!" James said, finnishing his story on how Sirius, as Padfoot, had taken down one of their foes.

"Poor man..." Remus said, a smirk on his lips belieing the words. "I don't see how you brought yourself to do that, Sirius." Remus said, his smirk turning to a grin, as he placed his hand on his friend's arm. All night long, he'd kept up at these little friendly touches, to see how Sirius would react. And all night long, he responded positively to them.

"I don't see how all his equipment will work after that!" Peter said, fidgeting with his fork. He seemed to have cought some of Remus, Lilly, and James's nervousness, and was twittering all night long.

James shot Peter a look that clearly said 'Watch your language around my wife!', but Sirius just laughed, rubbing the back of his head in a sheepish manor, a faint pink tint to his cheeks.

Dinner was finnished and Lilly cleared her throat, glanceing at Remus. He sighed, then began to fidget, knowing what she was trying to tell him. "Oh my, I think the candles are making me slightly light headed. I could use a breath of air," The woman said, looking rather pointedly at James, who coughed, halfway through a gulp of wine.

Coughing again, James sat his goblet down, "Oh, yes dear. Would you like help with the potatoes?" Asked the oblivious man, a blank smile on his face. Lilly giggled and shook her head.

"Yes James, please help me with the potatoes."

"But, the potatoes are right here..." Peter said, confusion evident on his face.

Hands on her hips, Lilly raised her eyebrows at him. "The -other- potatoes, Peter. Would you help me as well?"

Peter seemed torn between helping for the prospect of more food, and actual physical work. Evidently, though, he decided he'd have to see just what these other potatoes were, and so scampered off to the kitchen after Lilly and James. Remus heard a heated discussion seconds later, then the back door closing. He and Sirius were alone.

The werewolf glaced over at the object of his thoughts and couldn't help but grin. The man was looking around with a smile on his face, which seemed a little pale. Frowning in concern, he lay a hand on the other's arm, to catch his attention. However, when their eyes met, he completely forgot what he was about to ask. He cleared his throat, with the 'now or never' thought in his mind, and barreled on.

"There's something I need to tell you." Both of them said at the same time, then laughed.

"You first!" Sirius, always the quick one, said. With a sigh, the werewolf sat back in his chair, only then realizing that his hand was still covering Sirius's arm. Removing that to fiddle with his fork, he cleared his throat.

"Well... I've been meaning to tell you this for a long time now. You see, the thing is, I think I lo-" He was cut off though as James burst into the room, eyes wide with horror, panting.

"Come quick! They've found the death mark over The Abernathy's." The breathless man said, then barreled out of the room again.

The two looked at each other in horror. The Abernathy's (Yes, I made them up XD) were a happily newly wed couple who worked at the Ministry. And they lived close, only about a mile away from here. The two grabbed their wands and followed James at the run...

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'And after that, of course, the opportunty never came again, because the Death Eaters kept us busy...' Thought the man with a sour expression on his face. He was now feeling the full effects of the alcohol. He stood up and stumbled from the tavern, greif gripping his heart. He didn't know where he was going, where he was going to end up.

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A/n: Well, waddya think? The next chapter will be coming soon, I promise. I'm gonna start it right now. That chapter has a bit more angst, but we finally get to what little plot this story has. Sorry there wasn't any humor in his chapter ;-; But we'll get to it, I promise!

Review, please:D