Thanks zakarin9, dragonhunter200, Icy Sapphire15, Nikufei, andrea-88, checkmarks, Demus, blackmage718, Tomiko the Muse, Achava, bloodyredlips, ChinChila1369, shakespeare's sister, Green Bird, miranda, Deathless Juliet, billy, 0mrsprongs0, Lain Iris, Scarlet Snow, carpe-nox-sulum-nox, Becky Greenleaf, sunnysparkles, Lucky Moony. Well done andrea-88, who guessed 'graduating'.

G is for Graduation

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go.
-Dr. Seuss


Sirius' Graduation

The graduation ceremony was held by the lakeside.

And yes, it was deadly dull.

Afterwards, the students and families mingled, eating cake, drinking champagne and talking. God, all that talking! So-and-so going to train to be a healer… What's-his-name off to wrestle green-striped Crumply Snorkats in the deserts of Mongolia.

Boring.

Sirius, already on his third glass of bubbly, was standing with James. "Just look at him," he said.

James scanned the crowd. "Sirius… I hate to ask but, um, who am I supposed to be looking at; there's, like, three hundred people out here."

Sirius pointed. "Remus! You're looking at Remus."

James looked. Sure enough, there was Remus. He was grinning and laughing as he talked with Lily. "He looks really happy," James said. He glanced at Sirius. "Why the hell is your boyfriend talking to my fiancée, while we stand watching like-"

"Voyeurs."

James groaned. "I was going for 'idiots', you prat."

Sirius shrugged. "Remus isn't happy when he's with me," he confessed. "He's been all cold on my lately. I don't know what to do."

James awkwardly patted his friend's shoulder. "What d'you think the problem is?"

Sirius gave a sigh, that somehow turned into a small cough and a lot of determined will-not-cry blinking. "I don't think he feels strongly enough about me to continue the relationship after Hogwarts… And I don't know what to do. There's probably this whole world of people out there that he wants to date and I was just this convenient guy who shared his dorm, you see?"

"Yeah… Well, no actually. That doesn't sound much like Moony." James squeezed Sirius' shoulder. "I sympathise, Padfoot, but I think you should be talking to him, not me."

"But he's happy, James. I can't ruin his graduation by telling him that I want to live with him and have a mortgage and loads of children – um- goldfish..."

Sirius Black - the infamous Sirius Black - wanting to settle down. Crazy.

"Children? Goldfish!" James had to laugh. "You two should adopt some puppies. Now that would be cute!"

Sirius swallowed. "I'm going to talk to him. I'm going to tell him how I feel… Right now. Wish me luck."

Remus' Graduation

From a distance Remus might have looked happy: up-close, however, his smile was too fixed; his laughter too shrill.

And Lily had her hands on her hips. "What's the problem?" she demanded.

"It's been bothering my for weeks and I know I should have said something but…" Remus glanced around. His eyes settled on Sirius and James, who were intent in conversation. They're talking about me, Remus realised. "…I don't think Sirius wants to continue the relationship now we've graduated."

Lily pursed her lips. "But he loves you!"

"Does he?" Remus shook his head. "All I want is a quiet life, just him and me. I don't think Sirius is ready to be tied down. I don't think he's ready to commit…" Remus gave a manic grin. "And anyway, who would want to spend the rest of their life with a werewolf!"

A tap on his shoulder. A familiar voice, smooth as honey. Remus turned around. "As it happens, I would rather like to spend the rest of my life with a werewolf," Sirius said.

"You would?"

Sirius leaned forward and kissed his boyfriend's cheek. "What do you say, Moony? Shall we grow up and get a mortgage?"

Remus threw his arms round Sirius's neck. "Sounds good to me…" he murmured.