A/N: Phew! This chapter is a long one and my personal favorite! So pop some popcorn or get a snack of your choice, grab a drink, sit back, relax, read and enjoy! And don't forget to REVIEW!

Warnings: I think some swearing...maybe *shrug*, OH and some very minor slash.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter! T_T, and credit to Glitchie for the masks that change your appearance in here (you'll see what I mean).

ENJOY!

Love is Blind So We Wear Masks
Chapter Three: Masks

Sirius stood in front of the large mirror in the dorm room, looking at his costume uneasily, and frowning deeply. James had given it to him after breakfast. He didn't question where he had gotten it, and didn't put up a fight about paying him back only because he never won when it came to that.

It was extremely well made, and even if he really didn't want to go to the masquerade, wearing the costume made him feel a little excited.

The coat was black with a sort of red shimmer to it, made with a silky satin material. There were also intricate designs hand stitched into the fabric with deep red thread. The shirt was also black, as were his pants. Altogether it fit him perfectly. His mask also matched, it also was made with the same material as his jacket, with beautiful red string designs that almost didn't look real enough to be stitched uniquely, they were so perfect.

He looked like a dark handsome prince who had been cast out of his own kingdom forever...which in a way, was how it was.

"Feel okay, Padfoot?" James asked, stepping up behind him and putting an arm around his shoulders so both of them showed in the mirror.

James wore a white dress shirt, with black pants and forest green robes. His mask was black and lined with what looked like deep green vines, curling and twisting along the edges. Lily said the two of them were going to match.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sirius swallowed, hoping tonight wouldn't be too terrible. He just kept telling himself he only had to stay for an hour, and then after that he could leave and it would be done with.

"At least try to have fun, instead of standing around for an hour until you're able to leave. That defeats the purpose of why we're making you go in the first place."

Sirius sighed, Damn. I swear he can read my mind! He thought moodily.

"I know but, James...but think about it, you're asking me to try and forget that I'm in love with Remus. Now to you, that would be like me telling you to forget about Lily."

"Sirius, that's a little different. Not much, but it's still different," James pointed out, "Lily has known – along with everyone else – that I've been in love with her since around the first day we met. As for you, Remus doesn't even know you're in love with him. Only me and Pete do," And Gem and Lily, he added in his head.

"Yeah, yeah okay. It's slightly different, but it doesn't even really change anything anyway!" He glared, "If I said, 'Stop being in love with Lily, and go try and find someone else,' what would you do?"

James frowned, "Look, I know what you're saying, Sirius. But I'm only trying to help and I just want you to be happy, okay? You're like my brother, and I really care about you."

A small smile crept onto Sirius' face, "Thanks Prongs...and I know you're just trying to help me, and that's why I'm going."

Putting a hand on Sirius' shoulder, James sighed but smiled back.

"Look, I'm not telling you to really 'forget' about Remus or anything, you don't have to, and to be honest I don't think you ever will stop thinking about him. I can tell how much you love him, so I know it'll probably never pass. But maybe you can at least try and have fun? Even if it's just with us, your friends. We're all here for you, Me, Pete, Gem and Lily."

Sirius nodded, the two of them giving each other a one armed hug.

"Are you ready to go? We'll hang out for a bit before it starts."

"Yeah, that'll be cool," Sirius smirked, "and maybe we can think up a few small pranks while we wait?"

"Hmmm," James hummed while doing a thinking pose, "I really shouldn't, because I know Lily will be pissed off at me...but what she doesn't know won't hurt her!" He smirked back, "What do you have in mind?"

"All in good time, my friend!" Sirius said, patting him on the back, "By the way, where's Peter?"

James waved a hand dismissively, "Off with Mary somewhere, they left early."

"Alright then," Sirius shrugged, and then frowned, "And where is Remus?" He asked as they made their way around the common room, "I haven't seen him since lunch."

James shrugged, "I don't know where he is." Even though he knew perfectly well that he had been with Gem and Lily all day.

Sirius frowned even more, "Do you think he's okay?"

"Oh come on, Sirius," James said, "You worry way too much, just relax and have fun tonight. He probably has prefect duties or something."

Sirius nodded and sighed quietly as they climbed out of the portrait hole, and went all the way down to the lobby. He was still a bit worried of what could happen at the Masquerade. Which James noticed, and slung his arm around his shoulders again.

"Don't worry buddy it'll all be fine. Remember, just try to have fun.

Just try to have fun, Sirius repeated to himself in his head, Just try to have fun...and who knows; maybe something exciting might happen...

Remus walked out of the bathroom that was in Gem's and Lily's dorm room, smoothing out his costume and feeling nervous.

They had gone over the whole plan several times, and even though the girls were completely sure of all of it, he knew there were many things that could go wrong. But he trusted them, and it seemed like they knew what they were doing.

"Does – does this look okay?" He asked Gem and Lily, blushing and feeling a lot like a girl, which made him even more embarrassed than he already was.

The two girls were fixing their own clothes and hair, already looking marvelously stunning.

Gem's short black hair was messy, and seemed to have a sort of blue shine to it when she got in the right light. Her dress was blue and silver, with white pearls and sequins decorated along the baby blue ribbons that flowed off the ends of her dress that matched her mask as well.

Lily looked absolutely dazzling. Her fiery red hair was done up in a bun, a few of the pieces curling down to frame her face. She wore a green emerald dress that contrasted her eyes, with black ribbons, and her mask like James', but instead it was green and lined with black vines.

For a moment Remus forgot all about what he was worrying about, and just gazed in wonder at the two gorgeous girls in front of him. They looked up at him, and immediately their eyes went wide, and their mouths dropped open.

Gem grinned charmingly, "Wow! And I thought the costume looked good in the package! And I thought you looked good before!"

Remus shuffled his feet a bit worriedly again, "Uh – so, does it look good?" He bit his bottom lip.

Lily groaned and rolled her eyes, then grabbed Remus' arm and pulled him over to a mirror.

"Remus! Look at yourself, you look bloody handsome!" She smiled.

"Sirius is going to be one lucky guy!" Gem said, coming over to them as well, "You're going to be great."

Remus looked at himself in the mirror. His costume was dark blue, which brought out his own blue eyes, and it was lined with gold cord. He also wore a white shirt and black dress boots that came over his navy blue pants just about to the knee.

It made him look like royalty. But he just couldn't see it; he kept his attention on his pale skin, and scrawny body that was littered with scars. He touched the two that were straight across his cheek, and closed his eyes.

The doubt started to bubble up inside of him, and he was more nervous and scared than ever.

"I can't do this..." He whispered, "Oh my God I can't do this!" He repeated, fisting his hair.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Gem and Lily said, grabbing both of his arms and leading him over to the bed, "You can do this, it'll be fine!"

He put his head in his hands, "No! He'll know it's me! And he'll either think I'm some big joke or he's going to hate me!"

Lily frowned, and hugged him tightly, "Remus we promise this'll work, and you said you trusted us, remember?"

Remus nodded, but didn't move or say anything else.

Gem looked at Lily, then raised her eyebrows and smiled. Lily rolled her eyes, but nodded.

"Okay, Remus!" Gem announced, going over to her bed and rummaging in her trunk, "Remember when I said that he wouldn't recognize you?...well I meant it, he won't."

Curiously Remus looked up, his brow furrowed, "What do you mean?"

He thought for a moment, then got a bit scared, "Please don't tell me you're going to make me drink Polyjuice Potion!" hHe begged, "That stuff is horrible!"

"Haha!" She laughed, as Lily snickered, "I remember that...anyways, nope, this plan does not involve Polyjuice Potion. It involves...this!" She shouted triumphantly, pulling out his blue and gold mask.

He raised his eyebrows, "My mask? Gem he'll still notice that it's me because of my hair, and eyes, my voice, and the scars on my cheek. The mask can't hide all of that."

"I know, Rem!" She rolled her eyes at him, "Buut, this is a special mask!" She held it out to him.

He looked at it in a hesitant way.

"Come on," Lily said, "It won't bite you!"

Remus took the mask and looked at it for a moment, the two girls motioning for him to put it on. He did so slowly, and when it was on...he didn't feel anything happen. But the girls gasped and grinned.

"I don't feel any different," he admitted, looking down at his hands, and examining them. They looked the same.

"Go look in the mirror!" Gem said excitedly, as Lily bounced up and down on the bed.

"Okaay..." He said, getting up and walking over to the mirror again. He then looked at his reflection.

He gasped as well, "Merlin!" He exclaimed, touching his face and hair.

He really did look different, but not shockingly so. His eyes were still blue, but now were a sort of brilliant almost electric blue, and his scars were gone. But when he touched where they were, he could feel them...but in the mirror they weren't there. Also his hair had changed, and it was a sandy gold, instead of a sandy brown. Altogether, he did look different but still himself.

"Wha – how...how did you guys do this?" And then his eyes went wide as he realized his voice was fairly changed too.

Lily motioned to Gem, "It was her who came up with it." She smiled.

Remus was astonished, "Where did you learn to do this?"

She leaned up against the post of one of the beds, and shrugged, "I made it up, it wasn't very hard," she smirked, "I knew you'd be nervous, and knew if you weren't disguised, Sirius would recognize you. I did consider Polyjuice potion at first but we'd still have to get DNA from someone here at the school, and I know it wouldn't work. And to add onto that, you'd have to take it every hour, which is just gross. So I tried to find a spell or a charm or something that would do what that mask does. But I couldn't find any, so I just made one up."

Remus took off his mask, and looked in the mirror. He saw that he was himself once more, "You're brilliant, Gem!" He turned around suddenly feeling like he could do it. All his fear gone once more.

She waved a hand at him, "Wasn't all that hard," she said plainly, though she was still very pleased with herself because she got it to work, "I knew you'd like it." She winked.

"Well the Masquerade should be getting started about now, you ready Remus?" Lily asked.

He grinned, and then put his mask on, "More than ready."

It was nearing 7:30 once the Masquerade started to really get going.

Groups, couples, teachers, and individuals passed through the doors to the Great Hall, feeling the enchantment of their masks sticking onto their faces. Everyone was laughing, dancing, mingling and eating a few of the sweet pastries and candies provided as refreshments.

The entire room was decorated with reds, pinks, whites and glittering candles that bathed the room in gold. There were also deep red heart shaped bubbles that floated up and around the room - every so often popping and causing the remains to turn into glitter mid-air, then gracefully fall upon the heads of everyone below. This caused everything to have an extra sparkling shimmer.

The whole room was full of life and movement. Even Sirius, who entered the enchanted hall minutes before was bursting with wonder and excitement at the site of dancers, the sounds of music and people laughing.

James stood by him, waiting for Lily to show up. He was also taken by the beauty of his surroundings as Sirius was.

"Wow! They really went all out this year, didn't they? Everything looks great!" James commented, looking around.

"Yeah, everyone looks really good. I'm glad you talked me into coming." Sirius smiled happily, waving at a few people he recognized.

"See, the night hasn't even begun and you're already having a good time! Hmm, imagine that!" James teased.

"Yeah, but I just can't stand here all night, where's that girlfriend of yours, Prongs?"

He shrugged, but a moment later he broke into a large grin, "Here comes Lily now."

Just a little ways across the room at the entrance, Gem and Lily walked in, looking elegant and extremely gorgeous. A bubble exploded over their heads, and dusted their hair with glitter, making them even more heavenly like.

Sirius whistled, and James bowed to Lily, and kissed the back of her hand, "M' lady," he smirked then suddenly twirled her around, "You look absolutely dashing."

She giggled, and pecked him on the lips, "And so do you."

He put a hand out to her, "Dance with me?" He smiled.

She blushed at his politeness, and accepted his hand, "Excuse us, my friends." He nodded to Sirius and Gem, flashing one last grin before leading Lily into a dance.

Sirius watched the two with envy. He mostly envied James, because after being denied and denied time and time again, he still ended up with the person he loved and wanted the most. And now, Sirius didn't even have Remus with him as a friend at the moment.

"I'm glad you're here with me at least," Sirius smiled at Gem, "and by the way, you look amazingly gorgeous."

She returned the smile, "Thanks Sirius. But just to warn you, I'm not standing here all night. And neither are you."

Sirius suddenly felt a bit overwhelmed. The noise, the colors, and everything else seemed so big compared to him. He was pretty much just like wall paper among the magnificent room.

"I don't really know how to handle these kinds of parties, Gem. There's so much to do, that I have no clue where to start."

Gem laughed, "Why don't you go get a drink to cool yourself down. Then go try and find a partner. Which is what I am going to do right now," she smirked, eyeing a handsome looking guy who was wearing white and silver, "Good luck Sirius!" And she was off.

And he was alone.

Sirius sighed, and decided to take Gem's advice and go get something to drink, and then he would start looking around for someone to partner up with.

He walked over to a long table that was backed up against the walls, with what looked like hundreds upon hundreds of different kinds of desserts. He then eyed a large punch bowl filled with what looked like a kind of red-ish pink juice. He picked up a cup, and began to fill it with the sweet liquid.

"I thought I'd never catch you alone." A deep, calm and smooth voice said from behind him, causing him to jump a little and almost spill punch everywhere.

He turned around quickly to find an incredibly handsome young man with golden hair, bright blue eyes, fair skin, and wearing a blue and gold costume.

Sirius tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he suddenly became speechless, and blushed very red, it only showing a little beneath his mask. The beautiful boy smiled warmly at him, and he finally found his voice.

"He – hello," Sirius studdered, clearing his throat and smiling back.

Remus smiled triumphantly in his head from making Sirius blush and become speechless, "I'm sorry I startled you, did you spill any punch on yourself?"

"Huh?...Oh! No, no, it's all good – uh, wow, um...not to be rude or anything," he blushed a deeper red, not able to stop noticing how amazing this guy looked, "but, do we know each other?"

Remus smirked inwardly, feeling more confident than ever. He put on the most charming smile he could, "Yes, we know each other, Sirius."

Sirius frowned thoughtfully. He did recognize this person...everything about him seemed familiar somehow. But he just couldn't put his finger on what it was about him. It was almost as if this guy was switching between two different people or something...

"What's your name?"

Smiling still, Remus shook his head, "I'll tell you by the end of the night, if you dance with me." He held out his hand.

Curiosity burned inside Sirius, he really wanted to know who this mysterious boy was, and if he really knew him. But he hesitated for a moment, and thought of Remus...the guy he loved, dreamed about...but wasn't here.

"Okay," Sirius gave in, taking his hand, "deal."

Gold, blue, purple, yellow, red and many other colors spinned around them. Candles flickered and glitter bursted, then floated down and lingered in the air so it caught onto their clothes and faces, hair and eyelashes.

Laughing, music, parts of conversations and all other sounds blended in with the rush of air as they moved along the dance floor together.

But Sirius didn't hear anything except his rapid heartbeat. He didn't see anything, but the gorgeous boy leading him through the dance.

Finally Sirius was aware enough to notice he was smiling and laughing, and having a great time. And for just a brief moment, he thought he saw Remus as the one under the mask. Which made him all the more happier.

Lust burst through his veins as they held each other closer, every part touching the other. And Sirius smelled the mysterious young man's intoxicating scent, as he buried his face in his neck. And Remus fought for control, tightening his hold on Sirius waist.

But then...the dance was over, and they were smiling, and talking, and flirting. Sirius knew this wasn't Remus, because there was just no way it could be.

"You're an excellent dancer, Sirius," Remus smiled, taking his hand and kissing it.

Sirius laughed, "You're an awesome dancer yourself. What else can you do?" He smirked.

Remus raised his eyebrows, then smiled mysteriously and brushed a lock of Sirius' hair from his face.

He noticed Sirius' eyes flutter shut as he stroked his cheek. He then leaned forward, close, so they were almost completely touching like they had done when they danced.

"I can do many things." He whispered seductively against his ear, his lips brushing the shell of it, causing Sirius to shiver and bite back a moan.

Pleased with himself, Remus stepped back and extended his hand once more, "Dance with me again?"

Sirius bit his lip, he was becoming hopelessly attracted to a guy he didn't even know...but he actually did know, in some way.

He leaned close.

"I'd love to." He whispered back, just in the same teasing way. Sirius took his hand, and this time, led him into a dance.

The night went on as such, them switching back and forth with leading and teasing each other, and then joking, talking, touching and flirting continued in an endless way.

Each almost daring the other to push them further and further. And before either of them knew it, it was rapidly approaching Midnight.

They found a place off to the side of the Great Hall that didn't have too many people, so Sirius settled there, and Remus went off to get them drinks.

Once he reached the refreshments table, Gem and Lily slid up beside him.

"How is it going?" They asked a little breathlessly, looking hopeful and excited.

Remus smiled at them reassuringly, "It's going great, we've been dancing and talking...and stuff." He blushed.

"Ooooohhh." The two girls smirked, winking.

"We get 'cha," Gem remarked, "so you don't need us?"

Remus shook his head, "No, I think I'm doing alright."

Lily patted him on the back, "I'm sure you are." She smiled, giving his shoulder a little squeeze.

"So, before we race back off to our partners," Gem said, getting their attention, "One question..." She paused for a moment, "Are you going to kiss him at Midnight?"

Remus was a bit shocked by the question. Of course he had been thinking about kissing Sirius and all, but he wasn't so sure Sirius would want to, "I – I don't know, maybe, if he lets me."

Gem took hold of Remus' shoulders, and looked him in the eyes.

"Remus, when you're in love with someone you take risks. Take Lily here for example, her risk...James," she said flatly, earning a glare from Lily, "but the point is, people don't get together by sitting around and waiting for something to happen. They have to make things happen themselves. So gather up your bravery, march over there to Sirius, grab him, slip out of here and kiss him."

Blinking a few times, Remus slowly nodded, "Okay...okay, I will." He grinned, straightening himself out, his confidence re-boosted a bit more.

"Okay, Remus," Lily smiled, "but you better hurry, Midnight's in about 20 minutes."

His yes went wide for a moment, and then he darted back over to where Sirius was, completely forgetting the drinks.

"Hey," Sirius smiled, but it faltering when he realized Remus came back empty handed, "Were they out of punch?"

Remus shook his head, "Oh, no, I'm sorry I forgot all about them, I just - ...look, can we get out of here for a minute, so we can be alone?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows questionably, and then nodded.

"Yeah okay, sure," he stood up, "but we have to be careful, the hallways are being patrolled by prefects and stuff." And for another moment, he thought about Remus...

"Yeah," Remus smiled, grabbing Sirius' hand, "but I know where we can slip passed them."

Sirius grinned, squeezing his hand, "Okay, let's go."

Remus and Sirius ran out of the Great Hall, hand in hand, laughing as they slipped past numerous other students who were leaving and entering the Masquerade.

"Shh." Remus whispered, putting a finger to his lips, as he began to creep down a dark hallway, then turned suddenly up a staircase as a prefect rounded the corner with his wand lit.

"This way." He still whispered, leading Sirius up the stairs and down another hallway, dodging a few more prefects. Sirius praying to the heavens that they wouldn't run into Remus.

"Hey! You two!" Someone shouted behind them suddenly, causing them to spin around wildly.

"Run!" Remus shouted, pulling Sirius by his hand down another side hallway, as the prefect chased them.

They laughed, dodging him every which way, and zig zagging down the corridors.

"Stop! Stop!" The prefect yelled, hardly able to see the evading couple as they dashed in many different directions, "I said stop!"

Sirius and Remus burst out laughing, and then shushed each other.

"In here, in here." Sirius whispered, pulling him into an empty class room, and ducking behind one of the desks. The prefect passed be right outside the door.

They continued to chuckle, but after a few minutes Remus got up, "I think he's gone, c' mon." He grabbed Sirius' hand once more, and they stuck their heads out the door and looked around.

Nobody in sight.

They walked out, breathless, and smiling at one another. And for the second time that night, Sirius saw within this boy, Remus. The adventurous, daring, Remus that he loved.

They stepped into a main hallway that went all the way around the whole floor. It had big windows stretching from the floor to the ceiling, and moonlight gushed through the crystal clear glass, casting long eerie glowing shadows.

Both of them looked at each other, completely silent, coming closer and closer together.

Sirius' breath hitched, He looks so much like Remus... He thought, as their faces were now mere inches apart.

When you're in love you take risks...Remus heard Gem say inside of his head.

Risks.

Remus leaned in, and gently placed a hand on Sirius' chin, then guided him to where their lips met in a breath taking kiss.

At first it was soft and tender, lips slowly moving on lips, caring and gentle. Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus' neck, pulling him closer and closer, and Remus slipped his tongue inside Sirius' mouth, where they tangoed and caressed and explored. Heat pulsed all over their bodies as they moaned together.

Then out of nowhere, the clock truck twelve, and they broke the kiss, breathing heavily and clinging onto one another for support.

Sirius looked into Remus' eyes for a moment, desire, passion, lust, curiosity and something else showing in his eyes...love.

He reached up to take off Remus' mask.

Risks. Remus repeated to himself, Risks.

And then Sirius slipped the mask off...

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