Light spilled out the door of the village community centre as the boys of St Godric's hurried inside, scuffing their feet on the mat and shaking their umbrellas. The hall, which doubled as the village pub on Wednesdays and Fridays, was transformed by balloons and streamers in autumn colours. The students, on the other hand, looked much the same as they usually did in their starchy and unstylish school uniforms.
"Let's grab a table before they're all gone," said James, herding the others ahead of him.
Peter looked around hopefully. "Are the girls here yet?"
"You'll know it when they are, mate," laughed Sirius, "all the noise they make."
"It's a bit chilly," commented Remus, who had surprised them all by deciding to come at the last minute. He caught Sirius's smirk, guessed its meaning, and added, "I don't mind. I just thought other people might."
"It'll warm up quick enough with everyone packed in here," James assured him.
The four of them sat down at one of the small round tables clustered at one end of the hall. Peter immediately stood up again.
"I'll get the drinks!" he declared, but Sirius knew he just wanted an excuse to peer out the window and see the girls when their coach arrived.
He hurried back a moment later, nearly slopping punch down his front in his excitement. "They're here! They're here!"
The girls of St Helga's came through the doors shrieking and laughing and shaking off the rain. They stayed in a tightly-packed flock, staring around the room, giggling and whispering behind their hands before rushing en masse to the toilets to fix their hair and do whatever else large groups of females did behind closed doors. Sirius largely ignored them, but grinned to see several of his schoolfellows stand up a little straighter, their walks becoming struts.
"I think I saw Maddy," said Peter, taking a sip of punch and almost missing his mouth.
"I definitely saw Evans. That hair is hard to miss." Unlike the other boys, James had arranged himself in his chair in an artful slouch, carding his fingers through his unruly black hair.
Sirius rolled his eyes. He had his share of fun, snogging and even doing a bit of furtive groping every now and then, but he had never gone silly over a bloke like his friends did about girls. It was hard to believe that James was one of the cleverest boys at school, the way he carried on about Lily Evans.
When the redhead emerged from the toilets, accompanied by an entourage of giggling friends, James rose, eyes already on his prize. "The bet's on, lads. Wish me luck."
"And that's the last we'll see of him tonight," sighed Sirius.
Remus turned to Peter as the four piece band in the opposite corner began to tune up. "What about you, Pettigrew?"
Peter sank lower in his chair and buried his flaming face in his punch glass. "Maybe in a bit," he mumbled.
"See what I mean?" smirked Sirius. "Too scared to even talk to her. How he ever thought he could convince us he got into her knickers -"
"What's the worst that can happen?" said Remus, giving Peter an encouraging smile. "All she can say is 'no'."
"She might laugh," Peter said miserably.
"I never heard of anyone who died of being laughed at," Remus told him. "Think about it. If she says 'no', at least you'll know. If she laughs, well, these things aren't compulsory, are they? You don't have to come next time if you don't want to. And she might say 'yes'."
"You think?" Peter's blue eyes were wide and trusting in the face of Remus's logic.
"I think it's worth a try."
"Better than sitting here like a lump all night," said Sirius, realising that if they got rid of Peter, he might get to enjoy a little one-on-one time with Remus.
"Yeah, I guess." Peter took a deep, steadying breath and got to his feet, looking pale. "Here I go, lads."
"Good luck," said Remus. "Think he's in with a chance?" he asked as the shorter boy marched away, shoulders squared.
Sirius shrugged. "Better than Potter has with Evans. I did mention that she slapped him last time, didn't I?"
"What about you?" Remus asked. "Aren't you going to try to win your bet?"
"Just waiting for someone to catch my eye," said Sirius airily. Someone who's not my roommate.
Their whispered conversation of two nights before had only increased Sirius's interest in Remus. Now, it was not only distracting thoughts about the quiet boy's mouth or hands or eyes; it was a deeper enjoyment of simply being in his company, and an irrational dislike of being out of it. Infatuation was not a new experience for Sirius, but this was proving rather more tenacious and difficult to ignore than the garden variety. He hoped it would go away soon.
Remus had just opened his mouth to say something, when a voice from behind Sirius said, "My friend wants to know if you'd like to dance."
Sirius groaned, turning to eye the tall blonde girl and the blushing brunette who hung back at her shoulder. "I'm not into girls," he said bluntly.
"Oh!" The blonde's eyes widened in shock, and she glanced from Sirius to Remus. "Are you - um - together?"
Remus blushed redder than the blonde's friend, and Sirius hastily said, "No, nothing like that."
"OK." The blonde girl hesitated for a moment. "Would you like to dance with my friend, then?"
Remus shook his head, giving the girls a lopsided smile. "I don't dance. But thank you for asking."
The girls had turned away, looking disappointed, when Remus suddenly said, "You're friends with Lily Evans, aren't you? I saw you come in with her."
Sirius raised his eyebrows. How had Remus noticed a thing like that? There was nothing particularly notable about these girls. They looked just like all the others, so far as Sirius was concerned.
"I'm Alice Finch," said the blonde, holding out her hand to Remus. "This is Dorcas Meadowes."
"Remus Lupin," said Remus, shaking the offered hand. "And my rude friend here is Sirius Black. Would you care to join us?"
"Black like the Shellingham Blacks?" Finch asked, taking Peter's vacant seat next to Remus.
"Exactly like," said Sirius blandly, schooling his expression to mask his true feelings about a pair of girls horning in on his evening with Remus.
"Our roommate, James Potter, has a real thing for your friend," Remus confided.
The girls exchanged a look. "We know," giggled Meadowes. "He's been after her for ages."
"So I gathered," said Remus drily. "Is he getting anywhere?"
"Set you to spy for him, has he?" Finch asked shrewdly.
Remus shook his head. "I'm just curious."
Sirius was amazed. He would never have pegged quiet, studious Remus as being good at talking to girls, yet here he was, chatting casually with two of them, as if they were normal people. Stamping out a weed of jealousy, Sirius listened intently. James would want to know what the girls had to say. Once he thought about it, he could see the wisdom in cultivating an acquaintance with the friends of one's quarry. At least, if one was interested in girls and knew how to talk to them.
"I think she likes him a little bit," admitted Meadowes. "At least, she seems to enjoy complaining about him."
Finch nodded in agreement. "She says he's pushy and up himself, and that if he really liked her, he would try to get to know her, instead of just going on about how good he is at rugby all the time."
"That seems more than fair," said Remus.
"What's the point of getting to know someone if you just want to get into their knickers?" Sirius muttered.
The girls looked scandalised, but Remus merely raised his eyebrows. "Does he just want to get into her knickers? Seems to me that he's going to an awful lot of trouble over one particular girl, if that's all he's interested in."
Sirius shrugged irritably. "I don't know. Maybe not."
"Potter's a decent bloke," Remus told the girls. "You probably wouldn't know it from the way he acts around your friend, but he's one of the best in our year, and Black here could vouch for what a good friend he is, if he cared to."
"Yeah," said Sirius hastily. "He's always been ace to have around. Looks out for his mates, you know?"
Finch gave them a knowing look. "We'll be sure to take back a good report."
"I'm sure he would appreciate that." Remus gave her a rare smile. "What about Maddy Yaxley? Our other roommate fancies her."
Finch pursed her lips. "Your friend wants to watch himself. Yaxley's trouble."
"How do you mean?" asked Remus.
"She - gets around with boys from the village," Finch said primly. "And men. I mean, a lot of girls fool around, and no one really cares, but -"
"She's not very nice," supplied Meadowes. "She uses people. You can't trust her."
Sirius glanced across the dance floor to where Peter was dancing with a pretty, dark-haired girl, looking awestruck. "She seems to like Pettigrew all right."
Finch frowned. "If all he's looking for is to get into someone's knickers, then he'll have no trouble, so long as he uses protection."
"Alice!" cried Meadowes, shocked.
The girls remained a few moments longer, until a boy called Frank Longbottom came over and asked Finch to dance. Meadowes, too shy to stay and talk to two boys by herself, left soon after.
"That was decent of you," said Sirius grudgingly. "Getting the low-down for Potter and Pettigrew. Where'd you learn to talk to girls like that?"
Remus shrugged. "I have a sister."
It was the first time Remus had mentioned anything about his family or his background in the two weeks that Sirius had known him. He carefully filed the information away in the compartment of his brain labelled "Remus Lupin". Aside from the fact that the other boy got into fights, smoked grass, read a lot, had nightmares, and had a mouth that looked made for kissing, Sirius still knew very little about him.
"So what would it take to get you onto the dance floor?" he asked, throwing Remus a teasing smile. "If the girl of your dreams showed up and asked you to dance, would you do it?" What would he say if I asked him? he wondered silently.
"It would take someone pretty special to get me out there. I really don't like dancing." Remus shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Sirius noted that his cheeks were flushed. "It's getting a bit warm in here, isn't it?"
"Yeah, a little."
Sirius watched, mesmerised, as Remus shrugged out of his school jacket, tugged loose his tie, and undid his top shirt button. The shadow of his collarbone was just visible through the open neck of his shirt. Sirius imagined running his tongue along the curve of it.
"What are you two boring tossers up to?"
Sirius jumped as James barged into his momentary fantasy and set two fresh glasses of punch on the table.
"I thought you might fancy a refill."
"Thanks," said Sirius, lifting the glass to his lips. He caught the strong whiff of alcohol and paused. "Oh. Thanks, mate. Yeah, definitely." He raised his eyebrows at Remus.
Remus returned the look and lifted his own glass, brown eyes going wide as he made the same discovery Sirius had. He tilted his head back and took a long swallow. Sirius wondered how drunk they would have to be before he could kiss Remus and play it off as a joke. His eyes fixed longingly on the other boy's pale throat as his Adam's apple bobbed. He shook himself and turned back to his best friend.
"How're things going with Evans?"
"Not as well as I'd hoped," James admitted. "Can I ask you something? Privately?"
"Sure." Sirius stood up and followed James into an empty corner. "What's up?"
James rounded on him. "Watch it, mate," he said in a low, earnest voice. "You know he's not like that."
"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," Sirius said with as much dignity as he could muster.
"Don't give me that," snapped James. "I saw the way you were looking at him just now. Get over it. Fast. He doesn't know you like I do, but he's bound to notice sooner or later if you keep making eyes at him. We don't need the kind of trouble that would cause."
"I'll bear that in mind," said Sirius loftily. "And now I believe there's punch that wants drinking."
"What did Potter want?" asked Remus when Sirius returned to the table.
"What? Oh, nothing." Sirius groped about for a quick lie. "He saw us talking to Evans's friends. He just wanted to know what they said."
"Right," said Remus distractedly.
"Are you all right, mate?" Sirius asked.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Fine."
Sirius dragged his attention away from Remus's exposed throat to the revolving mass of adolescents on the dance floor. Peter stood against the far wall, mournfully watching Yaxley dance with someone else. James hovered at Evans's shoulder. The redhead had her back pointedly turned to him, her head bent in conversation with Finch and Meadowes. When a new song began, James touched the girl's elbow and said something. Evans closed her eyes briefly, looking annoyed, then turned to James. Sirius could not hear what she said, but he saw her mouth form the words fuck off in the middle of it. James blinked, then bowed, grinning, and turned to her friends. Meadowes quickly accepted his invitation to dance.
Sirius laughed at the irate look on Evans's face. "Maybe he can learn. God, look how her face clashes with her hair!"
Remus did not reply, but sat slumped in his seat, plucking at his tie.
"Lupin?" said Sirius, brow furrowing with concern.
The other boy stood, mumbled something about the toilets, and hurried away, but instead of turning towards the gents', Remus pushed open the main doors of the hall and disappeared outside. Sirius hesitated for a moment, then followed.
The earlier rain had turned to a heavy mist, and Sirius belatedly realised he had left his jacket draped over the back of his chair. Remus stood in the shadows, leaning against the wall of the building. He did not look up when Sirius took the spot beside him.
"You sure you're all right, mate?"
"Yeah," said Remus, breath clouding in the chill. "Just needed some air. You should go back in. You'll freeze."
"I'll be OK," Sirius told him. "You're right. It was a bit warm in there."
The hall door opened, setting a patch of mist aglow, and Professor McGonagall stuck her head out.
"Ah, there you are," she said, prim Scottish voice edged with suspicion. "Just making sure nothing was - amiss."
"It's all right, Ma'am," said Remus, correctly divining her intent. "I've been warned about him."
Sirius gave the English mistress an impish grin. "He's in no danger from me, Professor. I swear."
She pursed her lips in disapproval. "If you are not back inside in three minutes, you will both be doing lines until you can't feel your fingers."
The door closed and Sirius sighed. "She doesn't trust me."
"Is she wrong?" asked Remus, quiet voice unreadable.
Sirius blushed, glad of the darkness. He had just been thinking how easy it would be to kiss the boy beside him.
"You've been alone with me before, and I didn't jump on you," he said, covering his embarrassment with a frown. "I don't go around snogging people who aren't up for it."
"Admirable," said Remus drily. "If I ever decide I want a snog, I'll be sure to let you know straight away."
Sirius did not trust himself to reply. "We should go back in," he said. "I hate writing lines."
"You saw it, didn't you?" said James for the tenth time. "She spoke to me! I think she's softening up."
The four of them were stumbling back up to the school in the darkness, a few paces behind the main herd of their classmates.
"She told you to fuck off, mate," Sirius reminded him yet again. "Not exactly 'take me now, you sexy beast,' is it? The bet's null."
"I almost won!" declared Peter. "I got to dance with Maddy, at least." He shot Remus a grateful smile.
"I would have won if I hadn't had the world's worst haircut this week," said Sirius. He was feeling pleasantly lightheaded, having accounted for rather more than his share of James's contraband, and had contrived to stumble into Remus once already, feeling the heat of his body through the thin fabric of his shirt as the other boy grabbed his arm to steady him.
"You?" snorted James. "You didn't even try."
Sirius knew his friend was right. He had been so focussed on Remus that he had not even thought about any of the other boys.
Get a grip on yourself, Black, he chided himself. What's so brilliant about Lupin, anyway? I mean, all right, he has that mouth and those fingers and those eyes. Nice arse, too. But that's no reason to start hyperventilating just because he's unbuttoned his collar.
He glanced at his new friend beneath lowered lashes. The collar in question was still unbuttoned, the exposed throat begging to be nuzzled. Sirius sighed.
When they arrived at the school, Remus mumbled a vague excuse about needing to check on something, and turned towards the administrative building for his nightly medication charade. James and Peter, whom Sirius had not seen fit to enlighten, looked after him curiously as they continued to the dormitories.
Back at their room, Sirius grabbed his toothbrush, toothpaste, and a few other necessaries, but he did not head immediately to the bathroom. He had more pressing needs, better dealt with in private. Glancing around to make certain he was alone, he ducked into the small private study room afforded him as an A-level student.
Privacy was a rare luxury at St Godric's, and certain kinds of necessary relief frequently had to be put off for hours, or even days. But Sirius could be fairly certain of a few minutes alone here. He hardly ever used the study, and it was not a place his friends were likely to come looking for him, especially at this time of night.
Pulling a hastily-stowed wad of tissues from his pocket, he unbuttoned his trousers, leaned back against the desk, and once more summoned up the image of full lips, brown eyes, and an enticing curve of collarbone.
When he finally fell into bed half an hour later, a warm glow of satisfaction still radiated from his groin, and he fell asleep almost immediately with a smile on his face.