A History of Romance

Year 6- Part Two: Siriusly Serious

'This is getting WAY out of hand!'

Sirius sat in the office alongside James and Peter, chewing on his lip like a madman, shooting occasional glares at Snivellus and Regulus, who sat at the other end of the room, side by side.

Dumbledore, meanwhile, sat calmly in his chair and waited for Madam Pomfrey to bring Remus in.

'I am an idiot! A complete an utter idiot … Moony will never forgive me. He'll hate me for the rest of his life!' Sirius thought miserably.

Sirius looked up when the door opened again and rushed to Remus, who's hair was disheveled and had one or two gray hairs in the front, the lines under his eyes were dark, black almost, and his body was littered with scars.

"Merlin, Moony, are you okay?" Sirius asked frantically and checked every bandage, even lifted the leg of Remus' trousers to check there.

Remus pulled away, scandalized, and limped over to Dumbledore's desk. "Professor Dumbledore, if I could be permitted to know the nature of our being here."

He looked around at James, Peter, Sirius, Severus, and Regulus, and turned back to the headmaster for an answer.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and motioned for Remus to sit on what had previously been Sirius' chair. "I think it best," he began, "that Mr. Black, Sirius that is, tells you the story."

Remus frowned a bit and looked at Sirius, who was walking towards him.

"Moony?" Sirius asked and got on his knees in front of Remus, who noticed the pallor of Sirius' face and immediately knew something was amiss.

"Something went wrong, Sirius, I just know it. My transformation … it wasn't like before. Something happened … something bad," Remus blurted out, voice shaky and eyes wide.

Sirius took Remus' hands into both of his own shaking ones and looked into the other's eyes. "Moony, I know. Godric … it's all my fault."

"What? What do you mean your fault, Padfoot?"

"I," Sirius let out a shuddering breath and continued, "I told Snivellus to go … to the Shrieking Shack-- to follow you. He was always annoying you, asking you where you went so much; Moony, he was spying on you so I told him. I'm sorry."

Remus' eyes widened and his face paled as well. His hand went limp in Sirius' grip.

"Moony, he … I didn't think he'd do it! And if he did, the bugger deserved it for being so bloody nosy! Moony, please don't hate me; that's all I ask."

Remus pulled his hand away from Sirius' and glared at him with the amber eyes that Sirius so loved and now shone with tears that threatened to fall.

"You wanted me to KILL Severus! Oh god, Sirius! What were you thinking!"

Sirius reached for Remus' hand, but the smaller boy snatched it away and said fiercely, "Don't touch me! You wanted me to become a murderer! How could you? I trusted you, Padfoot!"

Sirius turned away from Remus and looked at the ground. "Merlin …"

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "I do think you should all be on your way to class now."

James looked wildly at Dumbledore. "We're not getting punished?"

"I don't think there could be enough punishment for Sirius that would equal a friend losing his trust in him. As for the rest of you, there is really nothing to punish. Although, Severus, a good bit of advice: Curiosity killed the cat, and I think you will end your silly grudge towards James now that you are indebt to him."

Dumbledore stood up. "Alright then, what had to be said has been said, and I will thank you to not say anything about Mr. Lupin's lycanthropy; this goes for all of you."

"I would never," Regulus said softly, but didn't look up.

Remus stood up and walked out at a quickened pace; Sirius followed him, running to keep up and grabbed his sleeve.

"Moony! Merlin, Moony, please, listen to me! I didn't do it out of malice, I just-"

"You just wanted me to kill someone! Thank you, oh, so very much!" Remus yelled and Sirius was surprised to see his eyes shining brighter, and a few escaped tears cascading down his cheeks.

"Moony, no, don't-"

Remus twisted away from him and shook his head. "I trusted you, Sirius. That's in past tense!"

Sirius watched him go, torn between wanting to give him some time to cool off, and wanting to run after him and plead, beg on his knees if he had to.

Remus didn't speak to Sirius for three days; he still spoke to James and Peter, called them Prongs and Wormtail, but wouldn't even glance at Sirius; whenever he was mentioned, Remus face would grow dark and he'd be silent for the rest of the day.

It was a test of wills, for Sirius didn't speak to Remus either, although he watched him, stalked him even, went to the bathroom when Remus did, did his homework near him, and sent Remus notes (which usually ended up unread and in the trash).

Sirius cracked first. He was in the dormitory with James and Peter; it was lunchtime and close to when the bell would ring so they'd come up for their Potions' class books. Everything was fine, James was rambling on and on about how Lily had said hello to him that day without grimacing or glaring at him, when Sirius threw down his books and yelled, "I'VE HAD ENOUGH!"

James turned to him slowly and said. "Dude, if you don't want to hear my story just tell me."

"Not that! Moony! He's been acting like a total … arsehole for THREE days! He could have forgiven me by now!"

"Um …" James began and looked helplessly at Peter. "How can I explain this, Paddy? You could have landed him in Azkaban for getting him to take out your arch nemesis. I mean, I know he's annoying and he's an utter snitch, but to make Moony kill him is kind of …"

"Drastic," Peter finished.

"Dramatic," added James.

"Extreme."

"Radical."

"Fanatical."

"And unbelievably stupid! The wanker isn't worth it!" James finished.

Sirius ran a hand through his hair and sat on Remus' bed. "I didn't do it because I hate Snivellus, or because he tells on us and ruins our plans, or any of that. Prongs … I'm jealous of Snivellus. He always flirted with Moony, sent him those stupid black valentines written in blood, remember those? And, and, Moony loved them, and-"

Sirius stopped talking when he saw James and Peter staring at him, eyes wide and mouths open.

"What!" he asked defensively.

"Dude, you tried to kill Snivellus for Remus' attention! You risked losing his complete trust because you were jealous. You're serious about this!"

Sirius gritted his teeth. "Ah, DUH! I've been serious for about three years and you were supposed to help, remember? All you've done is confuse me and ridicule me!"

"I didn't KNOW you were serious, Sirius! I thought it was just a phase!" James said, trying to wiggle himself out of the fact he had quite enjoyed seeing Sirius make an arse out of himself.

"But, Prongsie, I SAID I was serious!" Sirius yelled, nearly tearing his hair out.

"You ALSO said you were related to Napoleon! Remember that one?"

"I COULD be! I'm part FRENCH! But, that's beside the point! We were six years old!"

James shrugged. "Well, you still act six years old. I can't tell when you're serious or not serious, Sirius."

"Quit tongue-twisting with my name!" Sirius yelled. "We're getting off topic."

"But, seriously, Sirius, I didn't know you were serious. I mean, I knew you were Sirius, because, seriously, it's your name, but Sirius …you're serious!" James continued, nearly outright laughing at the unbelievably red shade Sirius' face had become.

"James … just, just, shut up!" Sirius yelled. "I'm trying to be … serious about this."

He could have punched himself for not knowing a synonym for "serious."

"Okay, Padfoot, talk to us," James said, finally paying attention to his friend.

Sirius sighed. "James I-- I do stupid things just to get his attention! I feel like an idiot, but if it makes Moony laugh, or at least glance at me … I'll do it. And, and when Snivellus talk to him … I feel like wringing his skinny neck! When I'm not with Moony, I think about him; and when I am, I never want the moment to end."

James nodded and said, "Uh, yes, hello, is Sirius home! Of course you do stupid stuff for him; you like him!"

"No, Prongs! I'm in love with Moony!" Sirius declared.

Petergasped, and James' eyes widened behind his round glasses, and he pointed over Sirius' shoulder. The longer haired boy whipped around and found Remus at the doorway, arms laden with books, but eyes wide and blushing.

Sirius' cheeks turned redder than they were and he automatically went up to Remus to carry the books for him. Without protesting, and just giving Sirius a strange, shocked look, Remus handed the books over. Padfoot made a huge deal about carrying them over to Remus' bedside table, stacking them up in alphabetical order, and smoothing down the bed.

'Stupid bell, why don't you ring!'

Sirius cursed inwardly and turned around. He was surprised to see James and Peter had gone, and only Remus remained, sitting on Sirius' bed in front of him.

Sirius cleared his throat. "Better get to class, right? Wouldn't want to be late!"

Remus nodded; he seemed much calmer to Sirius, more ready to forgive, so Padfoot gave it a shot.

"Moony?" Sirius began, unsure of himself. "I am so sorry. You have the right to hate me, and I want you to know even I think I'm an idiot. I'll do whatever you want for a month, a year-"

"I heard what you said," Remus interrupted him in a voice that was almost a whisper.

'Wait, am I forgiven or what?' Sirius wondered. "Wh-which bit?"

Remus looked at his hands. "Well, you said, um, you said … that you loved me."

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, I did, didn't I?"

"I guess so. Sirius, I really don't know what to say."

Sirius' heart sank as he heard Moony's tone of voice.

"I mean, after all that's happened I don't know if I can ever trust you again. Besides, look at me. I'm too dangerous to be with. If I should hurt you, I would never be able to live with myself."

Sirius noted that the fact that they were both male made no difference to Remus.

'One point for me!'

"Moony, Moony," Sirius said, got on his knees in front of Remus, and took the skinny boy's hands. "Please, forgive me … I sweat to Merlin and Godric Gryffindor and whoever, I'll never do anything so stupid and reckless with your trust again! I'll do anything, just, please-"

RING!

Sirius was interrupted by the bell, which was now on his hit list.

'Yeah, now you ring, you worthless piece of-"

"Class!" Remus said and made his way around Sirius to fetch his books. "C'mon, we'll be late, Padfoot."

'Score again, he called me PADFOOT!' Sirius thought bitterly.

Sirius stayed on the ground as Remus stuffed all his books into his book bag.

"Sirius, are you okay? Come on, I don't want us to be late!"

Sirius shrugged and leaned against the bed, feeling sorry for himself. "I'll be there, Moony. Go ahead."

Remus looked at him, sadly, and shrugged. "I'm sorry, Padfoot," he said softly and walked out.

The next two weeks were complete and utter hell for James and Peter. Remus talked to Sirius now, but not as much; he kept to himself more and more, and spent most of his time studying in the library. Sirius, meanwhile, acted as if the end of the world was coming, it was his entire fault, and there was nothing he could do about it. He sulked alone for hours, and snapped at whoever interrupted his "thinking time." James and Peter agreed it was time to do something when Sirius refused to work on the Marauder's Map, choosing instead to get drunk on Firewhisky and do his History of Magic homework.

"Padfoot, I think there is something very wrong with you," James told him and sat down next to him while Peter quietly sneaked the half-empty whisky bottle away from him.

"Yeah? Well, what else is new, eh!" Sirius asked and looked up, eyes bloodshot and unfocused.

James shook his head sadly. "Well, Pads, I see you've given up on Moony."

"S'not my choice!" Sirius shot at him. "I did my bit-- told him I was sorry and stuff, and that hard-headed old wanker still won't take me! I'll be stuck with some ugly girl for the rest of my life."

James rolled his eyes and spoke slowly to make sure Sirius would catch every bit. "Padfoot, listen, all is not lost. So what if you've tried to tell him and gotten rejected! aha! The number of times Lily has rejected me- anyway. He's just playing hard to get. Mind you, what you did was pretty major. The point is, now that you've tried to tell Moony how you feel, and that didn't work, maybe you should try to show him. Shower your fair laddie with presents! Go all out!"

Comprehension dawned on Sirius' face. "Riiiight! It worked in Fourth Year with the Beatles' record! Although … Snivellus sent him bloody valentines."

"Yes, well, we'll make a list of the crazy things Moony might like. I'll help you, Padfoot; and this time, it'll be foolproof!"

Sirius crossed his arms. "Marauder's honor?"

James put a hand on his heart. "Marauder's honor; I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Sirius grinned. "Rock on! This calls for a song; sing with me, Prongs! Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall- hey, where's my whisky?"

James quickly sang. "Ninety-nine bottles of beer!"

Sirius forgot the whisky in an instant and slung an arm around James, singing loud enough for the whole common room to hear.

James' foolproof five-day plan really did consist of showering Moony with presents. They made a list of all the things they could do to make Remus realize Sirius was truly sorry, and thoughtful enough to fall in love with.

On the night before first day of The Plan, Sirius and James distracted Professor Slughorn enough that Peter was able to sneak into his office and steal a copy of the "Pop Quiz" he had told everyone about, but not what subject it would be on. James and Sirius, of course knew all the answers, and they levitated the answer sheet in front of Remus while he was sleeping.

Needless to say, the first step of the plan was a complete failure, seeing as how Remus was scandalized that his friends would think he would dare to cheat.

Sirius glared at James after Remus had yelled, yes, you read right, yelled at Sirius for exactly three minutes straight, about how he wasn't a cheat and never would be, and although he had helped them cheat enough, he didn't like the thought of getting grade he didn't deserve, and so, on, and so on, and that, if they thought he couldn't get along without them, they were wrong, AND should he fail this exam, he would fail with honor.

James grinned back sheepishly. "Maybe we shouldn't have charmed the answers to wake him up with Slughorn's voice yelling, "POP QUIZ!" Moony likes to be woken up ... nicely, you know."

Sirius sighed. "It was your idea, you moron! Yeah, well, today was a waste!"

That evening, Sirius spent all his time in the library, in the Muggle Studies section, taking notes on knitting. He kept telling himself, "Knitting is manly, yes, very, very manly ... look at all these instructions! Only a true man can accomplish this. Manly ... yes ... dear Merlin, just because this is for Moony! This is for Moony, Moony, Moony."

That night, Remus lied in bed, awake, and looking at Sirius' empty bed.

'I wonder where he is... and who he's with ...'

The next morning, the first thing he did was look over at Sirius' bed. There was a small package on it. Red letters made of smoke hovered around it. They read, "For Moony, from a very, very sorry Padfoot."

Remus got up from the bed and walked over to the package. He ripped away what looked to him like a roll of parchment stuck with Spellotape around a very soft object, to reveal a badly knitted red and gold Gryffindor scarf with Moony stitched on both ends. Remus could tell it was much too long, and had a few loose stitches, but he appreciated the thought.

'Is that why he was out all night? Oh, Padfoot!'

Remus dressed quickly, wrapped the scarf around his neck about three times so it wouldn't drag on the ground, and walked downstairs.

"You didn't use magic! You're an idiot, Padfoot! Don't you see it probably looks like a five year old made it! I told you to look in the Household Magic section!" James was yelling.

"You should've come with then, you bugger! Argh! You're right! I can't knit to save my life. He'll probably just yell at me and throw it in my face," Sirius slumped in his chair.

Remus cleared his throat, "Good morning Prongs, Wormtail, Padfoot."

Sirius looked up. "Moony ... you're wearing the scarf I made you. D'you hate it terribly?"

Remus shook his head and smiled a bit. "I like it. But what I like most is that you took the trouble to make it the Muggle way."

Sirius smiled at James smugly as they all walked down to breakfast.

On the third day, Sirius waited until the last class was over to give Remus something James had tried with Lily.

"Moony?" Sirius said and he wiped his sweaty hands on his robes as Remus bid Lily good-bye and walked over to him. He reached into his book bag and took out a box. He thrust it at Remus and waited for him to open it.

"These are roses," Remus said once he had.

He picked the bouquet consisting of five roses and almost dropped them when they started singing.

"And they called it puppy love! Just because we're seventeen! Tell them all it isn't fair, to take away my only dream! I CRY EACH NIGHT THESE TEARS FOR YOU! MY TEARS ARE ALL IN VAIN!"

Remus' eyes widened and people started staring.

"Th-thanks Padfoot."

'What in the world.'

Sirius nodded, red-faced and grabbed his hand.

"Run, quick!"

Remus let himself be pulled along, to the stairs, up the stairs, and into what he recognized as the Room of Requirement.

Inside, there was a couch and a fireplace, burning; soft music was playing in the background. Sirius was prodding at the roses, trying to figure out how to stop the spell.

"Shut up, you damned things!" he yelled as he lost his patience.

Remus giggled. "God, Sirius, calm down."

He prodded them once and said, "Silencio."

Sirius blushed and looked at the floor. "Yeah, I know that one, but I totally forgot right now."

Remus took his hand. "It's okay."

Sirius looked up at Remus. "Moony ... you know that-"

Remus put a finger on Sirius' lips. "It's okay."

Sirius reached over and touched Remus' cheek. He leaned close and licked his lips quickly. Remus looked at Sirius' lips, coming closer and felt his mouth dry up.

"Padfoot, what-?"

"That was BRILLIANT!" James announced as he strode into the Room of Requirement.

Remus pulled away and let go of Sirius' hand.

James realized he had interrupted a very, very private moment and slapped his forehead. He mouthed, "Sorry," and cringed when Sirius pointed to him and made a slashing motion at his neck.

Remus stood up and walked out. "Let's go to dinner, shall we?"

Sirius was left with James, pulling at his hair and stomping his feet madly.

"Padfoot, chill out!" James commanded. "We still have two more days, but from the looks of things, we'll make it one."

"What are you babbling about, Prongs!" Sirius demanded.

James sat next to him on the couch, the famous mischievous Marauder glint in his eye. "I've got a plan."

A/N: Year six, I think, is by far the longest ... I'll try to update faster. Heh. Thanks for reading, please review.