"Wouldn't be that bad if I was 'llowed out. Seems like ages since I've been out!" Sirius waves his tankard, spilling hisdrink on the kitchen floor. "If I were 'llowed out, there'd be girls. But it's just me and Moony."
"You'll be cleaning that up if Molly has anything to say about it, you know." Remus says pointedly, watching his friend drink himself into a slurring stupor.
"S'alright, mate. S'my kitchen, innit?" He begins to dance wildly, arms flailing. "Wot's that song you always liked? 'S' a marvelous night for a moondance…" He trips dramatically over his own feet and lands with a resounding crash.
"Well then." He crosses the kitchen to the old-fashioned stove and, touching the tip of his wand to a burner, lights it. He summons a pan and begins to heat enough milk for his own hot chocolate. Sirius begins to snore.
"Wotcher, Remus." She's standing in the doorway of the kitchen, rubbing sleepily at her eyes.
"We have to stop meeting like this."
"Like what?"
"In doorways." She glances up to see the lintel of the door above her. She seems surprised.
"Yeah." She nudges Sirius a bit with one foot. "What happened to him?"
"He's drunk." She smiles a bit, letting the obvious go.
"Yeah, but why?"
He shrugs. "I only found him. Don't ask, I can't say." He turns back to face the stove, if only to have an excuse not to stare at her bare legs. He stirs chocolate into the milk.
"Enough of that for two, maybe?" And she's standing beside him at the stove, sheepishly rubbing a hand through her short hair. He notices it's no longer green, but a rather normal shade of brown.
"There might be. Hand me the milk then?" He regrets his words as she stumbles over Sirius' outstretched leg. She looks up at him from the floor and laughs, her position calling attention to the fact that she is only wearing an overlarge T-shirt.
He looks away hurriedly. She picks herself up off the floor.
"Oops!" She smiles at him warmly and hands him the milk jug. He adds a bit more to the simmering saucepan.
He smiles gently and ladles the steaming hot chocolate into two mugs and carries them to the butcher's block table in the middle of the kitchen. He sits on a stool; she perches on the table.
For a while, there is quiet.
Then, "A few days ago, when we met outside the Leakey Cauldron, you were right about it being the kind of day I shouldn't spend alone. It was my birthday." He shrugs, tracing the grain of the table with his finger.
"I know." He is startled. He glances up at her.
"Really?" She nods.
"I feel I should have taken you up on your offer. Had a drink with you." He sips at his drink. "I feel I owe you this one."
He meets her gaze, stunned because there seem to be stars in her eyes. Suddenly he stands and leans in to kiss her cheek.
"What was that for?" She whispers, a little shaken.
"I owe you that too. It's only fair. Goodnight, Nymphadora." And, taking his mug with him, he goes back to bed. As he walks up the stairs he sings a little to himself. "It's a marvelous night for a moondance, with the stars up above in your eyes."
hp hp hp hp
The song 'Moondance' is a wonderful song by Van Morrison. It's not mine and neither is Harry Potter.
Thanks.