Remus frowned into the bathroom mirror, adjusting the swoop of his hair once again. He was wearing one of James's black velvet suits, paired with a Gryffindor-gold tie. It was a little wide in the shoulders and a bit too long for him, but Remus had refused to let James buy him a new suit. It was just one dance, after all.
Someone rapped softly on the door. "All good in there, Moony?" Sirius's voice asked.
"All good," Remus called back, finally satisfied.
Sirius stepped inside, allowing Remus to see him in his suit for the first time; it was a dark grey like his eyes and a perfect fit, showing off his angles and curves and muscles. He wore his hair down, letting it flow over his shoulders in soft, dark waves, and he'd painted his fingernails black for the occasion. With a grin, he held a red carnation up to Remus: a boutonniere.
"Oh." Remus froze. "Oh, God, Sirius, I totally forgot to get you one."
"You have magic, don't you?" Sirius shoved him good-naturedly. "I'm sure a flower is well within your capabilities."
"Ah," Remus said; "right." Frowning, he flicked his wand and conjured up a silky white gardenia that fell lazily into the palm of his hand. Sirius took the hand and raised it to his face.
"Impressive, Remus," he said as he breathed in the flower's scent. "You even got the smell right."
The two of them fixed their boutonnieres to the other's suit jacket and gave each other the quickest and lightest of kisses; then Sirius offered his arm to Remus. "Ready for this?"
"Ready as I'll ever be." Remus took his arm and followed him down to the Gryffindor common room, where James and Peter were already waiting with their dates. Lily was, as promised, wearing a gorgeous green gown with shimmering fabric, her hair done up in an intricate bun. James has procured a silvery corsage for her wrist, giving her a Slytherin-esque appearance, but Remus had to admit it went perfectly with her dress. Fiona Sakai's gown was dark blue and sleeveless; she looked absolutely radiant next to Peter.
"Finally," James exclaimed when Remus and Sirius reached them. "The ball started half an hour ago."
"I thought our plan was to arrive fashionably late," said Sirius.
"Maybe it was," Lily replied, "but I do not enjoy standing around in these heels. Let's get a move on."
The six of them climbed out the portrait hole, Peter having to stop to help Fiona after she knocked off one of her shoes, and made their way to the Great Hall, which had been cleared out and repurposed for the ball. The enchanted ceiling revealed a sky bright with stars, and the Hall's floating candles had been replaced with tiny orbs of light like even more stars hovering just overhead. A band made up of recently-graduated students was set up on a makeshift stage where the professors' table usually stood, crooning out slowed-down covers of popular wizarding songs.
In addition to the professors lingering silently around the walls, the Hall was packed with students, seventh years twirling their dates blissfully around the floor. Several of them turned to grin at Remus and Sirius as they stepped inside—everyone thought the two of them were going together as a joke, a typical Marauder stunt to keep Sirius away from all the girls who would have sold one of their kidneys for the chance to go to the ball with him. Remus wished they could have gone as a real couple, the way that James was going with Lily and Peter with Fiona, but he knew that Sirius didn't want to publicize their relationship, and he understood. As long as they were together, he supposed the context didn't really matter.
"Hold on a moment," Sirius said into Remus's ear, breaking away from him and disappearing into the crowd. Remus stared after him, confused, but he waited obediently by the doors while James and Peter brought their dates onto the dance floor.
Remus watched as Sirius pushed his way onto the back stage and began speaking to one of the backup singers—he exchanged something with her, most likely money, and the singer nodded before going to murmur something to each of her bandmates. By the time Sirius had returned to his date, the band had begun a rendition of "The Sounds of Silence," one of Remus's favorite Muggle songs.
"Muggle music at the Hogwarts New Year's Ball," Remus said, shaking his head.
Sirius held out his hand. "I know you like this one."
"It's not really a dance sort of song."
"Who cares?" Smiling, Sirius led Remus forward to join the other couples, placing his arms around Remus's waist and humming along to the music. Occasionally he would twirl Remus around, eliciting laughs from the nearby students; Remus didn't hesitate to return the gesture.
The two of them danced and danced, caught up in the music and the atmosphere and each other—Remus hadn't realized how much time had passed until the music faded away and a soft "ahem" from the back drew everyone's attention up to the stage, where Dumbledore stood with a microphone in hand. "We have only a couple of minutes left until midnight," he said. "I'd like to take a moment to say that, although this year has come with some incredible difficulties, I know that it has also been filled with unforgettable moments of happiness, love and learning for each and every one of you. The wizarding world has fallen upon dark times, and I will not attempt to persuade you otherwise; but I believe it is of the utmost importance to remember the light as well as the dark, the good alongside the bad. As we make our way into 1978, I will ask one very important thing from all of you: look for the light, and cherish it wherever you find it." The Hall was silent as everyone blinked up at the headmaster; Remus's hands tightened around Sirius. Cherish the light. He would—he had to. Remus had so much darkness in his life, but he also had Sirius, and James and Peter and Lily, and his father…. So many people who loved him no matter what he did or what he was. He wasn't going to let himself take any of them for granted.
Dumbledore smiled, breaking through the solemnity. "Now, enough of that," he said. "I believe it's time to start the countdown." He glanced up, waving his wand, and a glittering number 30 materialized over his head. With another gesture, the number began to change, becoming 29, 28, 27…. The gathered students began to chant the numbers as they appeared, counting down the final seconds of the year.
"Five! Four! Three! Two! One!" they yelled, growing louder and louder with each number until the giant 1 exploded with an enormous bang. Glittering confetti began to rain down from the ceiling in all shapes and colors, brighter even than the stars. The seventh years let out a deafening cheer, many of them pulling their dates in for a kiss.
"Happy New Year, Moony," Sirius murmured over the noise. His eyes were gleaming as if their stormy gray had somehow been electrified by lightning.
"Happy New Year, Padfoot." Remus and Sirius leaned into each other as the confetti settled to the ground and the music and dancing resumed, pressing their foreheads and the tips of their noses together as they swayed gently back and forth, held fast in each other's grasps. It wasn't quite a kiss, but Remus thought it felt just as good as one.
