Author's Notes: I'm going to try to update this story every weekend now that school has started. Thanks for all the reviews! Keep them coming, I love them! Peegchica, I hope this chapter answers some of your questions. :-) brilliantbrunette89, I'm glad you like this story too! MoonyPadfootJr, I'm glad you are liking the story so far – we are getting close to December, when Jack goes to talk to Remus and Cassius. And they will both make more appearances in the story – including this chapter. :-) Special thanks to Xaverii Jade for her feedback and beta!

Chapter 13

"How can we help?" Jack asked, walking up to Remus and Cassius. Tabby and Moody's wedding ceremony was a few hours away. He and Corbin were guests, but Remus had fire-called thirty minutes ago asking for extra help.

"If you can keep Cassius from completely going insane – that would be very helpful." Remus looked frazzled. "I feel like a conjoined twin."

Jack looked down and tried not to smile. Cassius had a white-knuckled grip on Remus's wrist. "Sure," he replied, with more confidence than he felt.

"Hi Jack!" Harry came running over. "Papa, Stevens says the flowers are fine – he's repaired the frost damage."

"You are an extremely lucky man." Remus said to Cassius. "Now, darling, sweetheart, husband of mine, I love you. But please go with Jack so Corbin, Clara and I can change the seating arrangements." Cassius let go of Remus very reluctantly. Remus turned to Jack and Corbin. "Apparently there are grudges between some of the aurors – and we didn't know – so people have to be moved around."

"I'd be more help, I grew up surrounded by aurors." Jack said. "You could keep Cassie company, couldn't you?"

"Sure." Corbin muttered.

"Would it be all right if they sit together if you can see them?" Jack asked.

"Yes." Remus answered after a moment's deliberation.

Jack quickly conjured up two chairs, a small table and a deck of muggle playing cards. Remus kissed Cassius after he sat down and whispered something in his ear. Cassius nodded. Jack debated about kissing Corbin, but he was already shuffling the cards with a scowl on his face while he and Cassius started bickering about what game to play. With a last glance over his shoulder, Jack followed Clara and Remus towards the tables.

An hour later, Jack walked over to the table. Cassius was resting his chin on one hand and had his other hand wrapped around Corbin's wrist. The two men were silently regarding the cards in front of them.

"What are you playing?" Jack asked.

"Solitaire." Corbin answered.

"It's a stupid game. The whole point of games is to win. How can it be useful when you're only playing yourself?" Cassius asked.

"It's the challenge." Corbin replied, sounding very put upon. "I would have played something else if you could manage to remember any of the rules."

"You were changing the rules, I know how to play gin rummy and you weren't doing it right."

"I was! Idiot."

"You were cheating so you could win."

"Which is so different from how you play." Corbin sneered.

"You're pretty when you're angry." Cassius drawled icily. Jack quickly grabbed Corbin's arm and pulled him away from Cassius before any blows could be struck. Luckily, Stevens came jogging up a second later.

"Cassie, Remus says you need to get dressed now." Stevens slung his arms around Cassius's shoulders and pressed him towards the table.

"It's not fair Corbin gets to wear a suit. I want to wear a suit." Cassius sulked. Jack glanced over at Corbin who was staring into the distance. He looked very handsome in the black muggle suit and his hair was long enough now that it was in unruly curls, just like Jack liked it. He'd been very quiet all day. Jack had thought memories of his wedding were bothering Corbin but now he wondered if it was the fact he had to be around Cassius Malfoy. Jack reached over and rubbed between Corbin's shoulder blades. That spot usually had an almost immediately calming effect on the other auror, although it didn't seem like it was working today.

"I've smuggled in a bottle of tequila." Stevens whispered conspiratorially. "Meet me in the shed in twenty minutes."

"I'll be there in ten." Cassius answered. Stevens let him go and Cassius stood up and walked quickly towards the house.

"I've never seen him so agitated." Jack said, smoothing a wayward curl behind Corbin's ear.

"His home's being invaded and he has to wear dress robes." Stevens shrugged. "He didn't mean to be a twat. Want some tequila?"

"Sure." Corbin shrugged. Jack waved his wand and the table, chairs and cards all disappeared.

"Aren't you not supposed to have tequila?" Jack asked as Corbin started towards the shed.

"Shut it, Bartleby." Stevens said warningly. "What Remus doesn't know won't hurt him."

"What don't I know?" Remus asked as he and Clara walked up.

"Uh." Stevens answered eloquently.

"If it's about the tequila, I can smell it." Remus said smoothly. "And whatever you do, do not let him have more than four shots."

"Takes seven." Stevens answered quickly.

"I'm not taking any chances. Four is the limit. And he better think I don't know. That way he'll behave." Remus walked off.

"That goes for me too….so…you better forget we just had this conversation."

"Yes, m'lady." Stevens answered, bowing low over Clara's hand. Clara waddled off after Remus.

In the end, Jack wasn't certain how many shots of tequila any of them had. The guests started to arrive after the first two and Jack was surrounded by a crush of aurors, many of whom had known and worked with his parents. Once in a while, he would look around for Corbin and find him, silent and aloof, on the outskirts of the gathering.

"This is the social event of the year," Jack said, finally able to break away and get to Corbin. He slipped his hand through the crook of Corbin's arm. He'd discovered that was the limit of what Corbin would allow in public, not that he allowed much more in private. "Dance with me?" Jack asked, as the band began to play a swing song.

"Oh." Corbin grimaced.

"Please?" Jack batted his eyelashes for effect. "If you don't say yes now, I'll ply you with drinks until you agree."

"You need to limit the time you spend with Liam." Corbin said, following Jack onto the dance floor reluctantly.

"Because you're being so nice, I'll even let you lead." Jack said, putting one hand on Corbin's shoulder.

Later in the evening, once the guests were gone and Remus was putting 'the children' to bed, Cassius and Stevens challenged each other to a swimming race. They both stripped down to their boxers.

"Is that a ring on his chest?" Jack asked Clara, looking over at Cassius.

"Yes, his wedding ring."

"Through his nipple?" Jack wrinkled his nose.

"Well – he wanted to keep it secret." Clara shrugged, looking over at Stevens and Cassius who were now swimming across the small pond. "I think it's rather hot."

"Huh." Jack shook his head. "Must have hurt, though, right?"

"It was a spell, but yes, I think it did. Not like he used a needle or anything. You know, Jack, there are people who like a bit of pain."

"Never understood that myself, it's just weird." Jack looked over at Corbin who was laying down staring at the stars, a slight frown on his face.

For Jack's thirty-third birthday, they drove up to Loch Ness, a place Jack had always wanted to visit, and had a picnic lunch. They got back to Corbin's house after dark and Jack convinced Corbin to floo over to his flat. He snuggled up to Corbin on the sofa.

"So, muggles really don't believe there's a monster in the Loch?" Jack asked.

Corbin laughed. "Most muggles don't, there are some who believe though – they're considered a bit...odd."

Jack thought about that, watching the firelight flicker on Corbin's handsome face.

"What?"

"What?" Jack answered vaguely. Corbin's brows drew together as he looked at him. Jack threaded his hands through Corbin's hair, feeling the curls wrap around his fingers. He tugged until their mouths met and Corbin was kissing him. Jack started to run his hands down Corbin's back and immediately felt the muscles tense up. He moved his hands back to Corbin's shoulders and broke the kiss gently. Corbin would say he needed to get home now, Jack thought as he suppressed a sigh.

"I should get home." Corbin said softly.

"All right." Jack answered. "I'll be at your house at ten."

"Are you sure you don't just want to floo?" Corbin asked as he stood up.

"No, I like the drive. And I'd have to come over anyway, the presents for Harry and Remus are there."

"Right." Corbin nodded. "Um." He ran a hand through his hair as Jack stood. "Happy birthday, Jack." He kissed Jack swiftly and Disapparated.

"I just feel like I'm losing my best friend." Jack said sadly, raking his hands through his hair.

"You know Corbin." Liam took a drink. "He always said Janna wished he'd talk about his feelings more. She would talk to Katrina about it – and boy, you don't want to know what Katrina thinks about Corbin's ability to be a good boyfriend."

"Katrina thinks any man who doesn't buy her flowers every week is a bad boyfriend." Jack said calmly. "I don't care about flowers. I'm not a girl. I just want him to talk to me."

"How's that not being a girl?"

"Sod off." Jack punched Liam's arm.

"So he doesn't talk, he's not some mushy romantic man who's in touch with his feelings and writes you poetry. You can't really be surprised."

"He wrote songs about Malfoy."

"When he was sixteen." Liam pointed out.

"Well…oh, I don't care." Jack said with frustration. "I just thought it'd be different with me. We've been friends for so long! And I want to talk to him about all this, it's driving me crazy not to talk all this out with him. But how am I supposed to talk to my best friend about the troubles I'm having with my boyfriend when the two people are the same person!"

"Got me." Liam shrugged. "That's why I'm straight."

"Hello!" Jack called as he entered Corbin's house.

"Hi." Corbin answered from the kitchen.

"How are you?" Jack crossed over and kissed Corbin.

"Fine." Corbin answered breathlessly, a good ten minutes after the question had been asked.

"What's that?" Jack watched Corbin put a scroll down on the table.

"Letter from Draco."

"Oh. How is he doing at school?"

"Good. Busy with classes and Head Boy duties."

"I remember our seventh year. It doesn't seem like it was so long ago. Sixteen years now."

"Yeah."

"Some of the memories are still so clear." Seventh year had started under the dark cloud of Voldemort's ever increasing power. The death of his parents had happened right before school started.

Flashback

Jack walked down the train corridor towards the prefects' compartment. He knew people were staring but no one said a word to him. He tried to smile, to act normal, but it was hard when no one would make eye contact. His parents' murders and their funerals had both been featured on the front page of the Daily Prophet. The funeral had been yesterday, the Minister of Magic had attended, as well as many other Ministry officials.

He noticed Cassius Malfoy standing in the corridor in front of him, his back was to Jack but the hair was unmistakable.

"Malfoy." Jack said in greeting.

Malfoy turned and nodded silently. The tall young man had a Head Boy badge on his robes. Jack wasn't surprised, he knew Dumbledore had favorites.

"Jack, " Corbin, who'd been hidden from view by Malfoy, reached out a tentative hand. "I'm so sorry about your parents."

Jack shook it, noticing Cassius's eyes narrowing. "Thanks."

"If you need anything-"

"Thanks." Jack said.

"The train's going to leave soon, you should get back to Owen." Cassius said, pulling Corbin close to him.

"All right." Corbin tried to get out of Cassius's grasp, glancing over at Jack. Jack looked away, but he could see the reflection in the window as Cassius leant down and kissed Corbin.

"If Cousin Regulus comes near you, let me know." Cassius's icy voice made the hair on Jack's neck stand on end.

"Don't worry." Corbin said softly as Cassius kissed his cheek, moving down to his neck. "I can protect myself. See you later, Jack."

"See you." Jack turned back and gave a small wave as Corbin walked off.

"I'll take your share of the cars – if you don't want to patrol."

"No, it's fine." Jack said coolly. They didn't know who had killed his parents, but Lucius Malfoy was one of the chief suspects and Jack held Cassius responsible by association.

On Halloween, the darkness had been swept away when Voldemort had been defeated. Jack had felt sorrow that James and Lily Potter were dead, he had admired them when they'd been at school, but the fear that had hung over the school, and the world, was gone. The world had seemed to open up with possibilities. Corbin had broken up with Malfoy, although he spent most of his time in the library, Jack knew that he'd applied to be an auror and Jack was looking forward to training together.

EndFlashback

Jack smiled fondly at the memories, realizing he'd been half in love with Corbin for years. He looked up at Corbin who was staring out the window with a scowl.

"Corbin?"

Corbin jumped, startled out of his thoughts. "What?"

"It wasn't all bad, at Hogwarts, was it?"

"No, of course not."

"You told Draco you and Cassie were never friends. I thought you were."

"Does it matter?"

"No, not really, I suppose." Jack paused. "Did you love him?"

"Christ, I don't know. He was so overwhelming and it was all so... I thought…" Corbin shook his head. "It's not important now."

"I think it is. It's shaped who you are."

"Cassius Malfoy has nothing to do with who I am." Corbin snapped. "Or who I was. Bloody hell, Jack, why do you want to talk about the past?"

"Because talking is good! Because I tell you everything and you tell me nothing!" Jack replied with frustration. He pulled a thin package out of his robe pocket and threw it on to the table. "Happy anniversary."

"What?"

"It's six months. Since our first date."

"Oh." Corbin stared at the package. "I…didn't get you anything."

"You didn't need to. I saw this and I thought you'd like it. Then I realized it'd been six months so…."

"Oh."

"I'm going out of town tonight. Shacklebolt had a change of plans so I'm going to a conference for him, in Moscow. It starts tomorrow. I'll be gone a week." Jack looked at Corbin who was still staring at the package on the table. "I'll miss you." He said quietly.

"I don't know why you would," Corbin sighed heavily, "I'm a prat."

"Just because we're dating doesn't mean we're not friends anymore. You're my best friend in the whole world."

Corbin shrugged. Jack felt a surge of frustration. Since they'd started dating, there'd been a shift in how Corbin acted towards him. While Corbin had never been very open about his feelings, he was less so now. He was acting just like Cassius…or rather, just like Jack had always supposed Malfoy acted – cold and aloof.

"You said once you wanted to be loved like you were the most important thing in someone's life – but you won't let yourself be loved like that! I want to love you and you just push me away!" Jack realized he was shouting and took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"You're my best friend and we're dating but I feel like we're further apart than we've ever been." He continued softly. "I miss you. I miss us. Does that make any sense?"

Corbin nodded silently.

"I want it to be like it used to be. Only with snogging, with more than snogging. I want you to let me love you. Do you think we could work on that when I get back?"

"Yeah." Corbin answered hoarsely.

"Good." Jack sighed with relief. He walked over to Corbin and kissed him lightly on the mouth. "I have to pack. I'll owl to let you know I've arrived safely. Bye." Jack said, swallowing the 'I love you' that wanted to leap out of his mouth. Somehow, although he had said those words often to Corbin over the years, they seemed to be weightier now and he wasn't able to speak them as easily. Jack Disapparated without another word.

"And the thing is, he does tell me everything! He tells me things I'd rather not hear – you wouldn't want to know the things I do about Liam - and I…I barely talk about anything other than work! I'm such a bastard! He misses me. We spend almost every bloody day together and he misses me! That's how much I'm not talking, apparently. And…the whole sex thing…I know he wants…I just…I completely panic whenever he tries to do more than kiss me."

"Haven't found the spell to remove the piercings yet?" Stevens asked calmly after Corbin finished his rant.

Corbin shook his head, taking several gulps of beer. "I know you think I'm being unreasonable, but Jack thinks they're weird. I mean, not that he knows I have any, but he freaked about Cassie's."

"And is that the only reason you panic about having sex?" Stevens asked. "You don't think you're obsessing about your irrational fear of Jack's reaction to your other kinks?"

Corbin took a long drink of his beer. Stevens waited. Corbin took another drink.

"Maybe. I think…If I don't actually say I love him or fuck him, it's like…I could still deny it, being gay." Corbin grimaced, staring at his now empty pint of Guinness. "Plausible deniability. That's so stupid, isn't it! Jack deserves better. Sirius probably said I love you all the bloody time and he probably talked about his feelings all the time too, probably while they had sex all the time."

"Stop comparing yourself to Sirius. He wasn't perfect, and he wasn't without kinks, no one is." Stevens said softly. "You still need to let go of all that baggage your parents gave you about being gay. They still should have loved you, even if you are gay and a wizard. You're a great guy."

"Sure." Corbin agreed sarcastically.

"You are. Hell, if I weren't married to Clara and I was gay, I'd date you. Except I think Jack would have something to say about that. He loves you a lot. You make him happy – most of the time, anyway."

"I'm going to lose him. Because I'm a huge git."

"You won't lose him. Talk to him."

"What do I say?"

"Say whatever you feel! Merlin's beard, he's known you for years. And now he finds you're shit when it comes to talking about your romantic feelings, well…he's probably always known that. You need to take the pressure off yourself. Say…'Jack, I love you and I want to have sex with you but I'm worried you're going to freak because I'm a kinky bugger.' Need me to write it down?"

"Come on."

"When does he get back?"

"Tomorrow."

"Get him a present. Make it a six month and one week anniversary present. Then snog him senseless and stick your hand down his pants. Clara does that to me and I completely forget that I was ever mad at her."

"You never get mad at her."

"Right…well…it means she's forgotten she's mad at me, then. Regardless, it's something that a boyfriend appreciates."