Author's Note: Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

Hogwarts: Assignment #4, Herbology Task #5: Write a Firefighter!AU

Warnings: NA

This week's AU: Firefighter!AU

Happy Accidents

Alternative Title: Sirius Started the Fire

"'Live with Sirius,' they said" Remus muttered under his breath. "'It'll be fun,' they said. 'You get along so well,' they all said… absolute rubbish. I'm going to strangle James next time I see him."

"Oye," Sirius said. "I said I was sorry."

"For setting the flat on fire, yes," Remus said. He shuffled closer to Sirius nevertheless, since they had rushed out of the flat in the middle of the coldest night of the year. Remus had only had time to grab a blanket from the living room and stuff his bare feet in a pair of sneakers, and he was shivering greatly for it. His flannel pajama pants didn't feel nearly as warm as they did when he was tucked into bed—which was where he would love to be at this time.

"If the building was actually on a fire we'd be nice and toasty right now," Sirius said. "It'd kind of be preferable, actually."

"Don't try to be funny," Remus shivered. "I.. can't… feel… my… face…"

Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus to share his heat, and even if Remus wanted to murder him he didn't because a dead body wouldn't be as warm.

"At least this is cozy," Sirius said. "We can just get comfortable, you know?"

"Frostbite is not comfortable, damnit!" Remus said. "Sirius, this is the third time this month you've set off the fire alarm."

He'd say more things to the most useless flatmate in the world but his teeth were chattering.

"Yes, so you'd think everyone would stop panicking," Sirius said nonchalantly.

Just like that, it started to snow.

Remus sighed.

"What did you even do this time?" he asked Sirius. "I saw the final product, but what did you do to that poor toaster?

"I just wanted toast."

"At 3:26 a.m.?"

"The heart wants what the heart wants," Sirius shrugged.

"I'd ask you to tell your heart to want things that can't start small fires, but I don't even know how you managed to mess up toast that badly," Remus sighed. He shivered, which was when he saw the firefighters emerge from the building. "Oh, thank God…"

They reconvened by their bright red truck and quickly chatted with the building manager. A Black firefighter spoke into a megaphone, announcing to everyone that it was safe to go back inside.

"...Except for the tenants in Flat 24," he said.

Remus could have pushed Sirius into the snowbank—especially when he saw their landlady, a Scottish woman with grey hair and rectangular glasses who had no time for nonsense (which was essentially all they were able to deliver). She pointed them out to the firefighters.

Another firefighter came to see them. As she walked towards them, she took off her helmet and revealed crimson red hair, pulled back in a high bun. He was surprised by how slight she was in all that bulky gear. The moonlight, streetlights, and the light off the fire engine bounced off the reflective strips on her jacket and pants.

"Hullo," she said. "You're from Flat 24, yeah?"

"Yes, that's us," Remus said, trying not to sound resentful even if he wanted to melt into a puddle. Maybe he'd actually freeze over if that happened.

"Lovely," she said. She gave them a look-over. "Nice pajamas."

Remus gave Sirius a look but when he turned back to the firefighter she was smiling kindly, as if she meant it.

"Cold?" she asked.

"Yes," Remus said.

"I'd love to warm you up but I'm afraid that's unprofessional, so I'll make this quick. Anyways, you two are lucky—the toaster's done for, but you really minimized damage to the flat. Good move from whoever dumped it in the sink and turned the water on."

Sirius looked at Remus and mouthed 'thank you.'

"Smoke damage in the flat's not what it could have been either," she said. "Again, you were lucky. Be more careful, you might not be next time."

"I'll try," Sirius said.

Remus sighed.

The firefighter looked from Sirius to Remus. She cracked a grin.

"Well, good luck with him," she told Remus. "Now go back inside before you freeze, yeah?"

"Right, thank you," he said.

She gave him a wink before going back to join the rest of the firefighters.

"Bit on-the-nose for a firefighter to have crimson hair, I'd say," Sirius said as they hobbled back inside.

"I liked her," Remus said defensively.

"Huh," Sirius said. "Want me to start another fire to get her back here?"

Stacked with: MC4A; Shipping Wars; Hogwarts

Challenge(s): Gryffindor MC (x2); Hufflepuff MC; Bow Before the Blacks; Fire Time; Winter Wonderland; Old Shoes; Themes & Things A (Friendship); Themes & Things B (Risk); Themes & Things C (Blanket); Themes & Things F (Snow); Ethnic & Present; True Colours; Rian-Russo Inversion; In a Flash; Yellow Ribbon; Yellow Ribbon Redux

Word Count: 748

Shipping Wars

Ship (Team): Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks (Technicolour Moon)

List (Prompt): Fall Micro 1 ("I'm Cold" Trope)