Once in a Blue Moon (COMPLETE)

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There’s No Escape for You
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Sirius, despite his preoccupation with worrying about what went where, could not fail to notice that when Remus had finally returned from his walk, shortly before dinner, he was more subdued than he had ever seen him before.

He was also observant enough to realise that when Remus had crawled into bed with him that night, he had clung to him with a desperation he hadn’t displayed since the first days after Romulus had returned as a ghost.

Sirius had thought that Remus would tell him what was wrong in his own time, but decided to press the issue a couple of days later, after the other boy had nearly bitten his head off, for griping about his mother and her latest dinner party, of all things.

“You want to talk about it?” Sirius asked as he sat down on the staircase, a few steps above where Remus was sitting.

“Not really.”

“Is it the full moon?” Sirius questioned. “Are you worried about going to the Ministry?”

Remus shook his head.

“Are you worried about Romulus? I know he’s not been round to see you since you came here, but I’m sure he’ll be by soon.”

“He can’t visit me here,” Remus said. “Something about the wards on the house. I’ll see him at the full moon.”

“I’m sorry,” Sirius said. “I didn’t realise. Do you want me to ask Father to remove the ward that keeps out ghosts? I’m sure he would if I told him why.”

Remus shook his head again. “It’s okay. I’ll see him at full moon in a few days.”

“So, not seeing Romulus is what’s bothering you?” Sirius asked.

“There’s nothing bothering me,” Remus replied. “Nothing at all.”

“Why won’t you talk to me any more?” Sirius asked quietly. “I’m still your best friend. Or are you still worried about me? About how I feel about you?”

“It’s not you,” Remus assured him.

“So, what is it?”

“Nothing.”

“Damn it, Remus,” Sirius snapped. “I can’t help you, not if you won’t tell me what’s wrong.”

“You can’t help me even if I did tell you,” Remus replied, jumping to his feet and pushing his way past Sirius, up the rest of the stairs and back to his room.

Sirius watched him run away, still no wiser as to what it was that was bothering Remus so much.

-o-xXx-o-

The afternoon of the full moon arrived, and Remus gathered the things he was taking together, trying to ignore the sounds of Sirius arguing with his father coming up from downstairs.

“I’ve got to come with him!” Sirius yelled. “You don’t understand. Moony needs me there.”

“Who in the name of Salazar Slytherin is Moony?” Orion asked loudly.

“The wolf,” Sirius explained. “I told you before, he needs me there.”

“You’re not coming!” Orion repeated. “The Containment Facility is no place for a teenage boy.”

“But I have to!”

“That’s enough!”

Remus sighed as they continued to argue. Tonight was going to be bad; he could feel it with every fibre of his being.

He gathered the rest of his things together and made his way downstairs to the study.

“Ah, good, you’re ready,” Orion said as he entered the room.

Remus nodded and glanced across the room to where Sirius was standing by the fireplace, looking to all intents and purposes as if he was planning on blocking the floo unless he was allowed to come along.

“Sirius, step aside,” Orion ordered. “You’re staying here, and that’s final.”

Sirius folded his arms across his chest and shook his head. “No. I’m coming, too.”

“We don’t have time to argue,” Orion pointed out. “Remus must be at the facility at least half an hour before sunset.”

“I agree,” Sirius replied. “We don’t have time to argue, and that’s why I should come with you.”

“Sirius…” Remus warned. “It’ll be all right. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You could be dead tomorrow!” Sirius yelled. “You know what happens when I’m not there; you know how bad it is!”

“I’ll be okay,” Remus said, gently guiding Sirius out of the way and taking up a handful of floo powder from the large porcelain jar at the edge of the mantelpiece.

“You see,” Orion said. “He knows what’s best for him.”

Remus turned to Orion and smiled sadly. “Oh, this isn’t what’s best for me,” he said quietly. “What’s best for me is to be home in Hogsmeade, with Sirius watching over me. But the Containment Facility and Sirius not being with me is the price I have to pay for being here for the summer. I’m willing to pay that price, but it isn’t what’s best for me.”

With that Remus stepped into the fireplace and flooed to the Ministry.

“Father, please,” Sirius begged.

“No, Sirius,” Orion replied as he stepped into the fireplace. “And don’t even think about following us.”

Sirius, already reaching for the floo powder, swore under his breath as he watched his father floo away, the container with the entire stock of floo powder held under his arm.

-o-xXx-o-

Unlike during his previous visit, the Containment Facility was now bustling with activity. Ministry officials were guiding werewolves into the various cages, ready for the coming of the full moon.

Remus stepped into his own cage and began to undress. He passed his clothes to the Ministry worker who had been allocated to him, and wished that Sirius were there with him.

Across from him was another cage, this one containing a man and a woman. “Is it that crowded here?” he asked the worker.

“Huh?” the worker replied distractedly. Remus pointed across to the other cage. “Oh, no. They’re husband and wife; they always share a cage. Have done for years. It’s not a good idea to put two strangers in with each other, so don’t worry, you’ll be on your own in there.”

Remus nodded as he watched the couple opposite him kiss briefly.

Orion had disappeared to talk with the head of the department almost immediately after they had arrived, and Remus wondered if he would see him again tonight. He even wondered briefly whether he would be collecting him in the morning, or whether he would leave him there for the duration of the holidays.

“It’ll be all right, Rem,” Romulus said, appearing behind him within the confines of the cage. “I’m here. I’m not going to leave you.”

Remus nodded, but in his heart he knew that it wouldn’t be enough. Moony wanted Sirius... Moony needed Sirius... he needed Sirius.

-o-xXx-o-

Remus had never heard another werewolf howling before, and when he woke up the next morning, he was sure he never wanted to again.

The howls of the caged werewolves, each protesting their captivity at the loudest possible volume, echoed through his mind.

“Remus?” Sirius’s voice was nearly drowned out by the memory of the howls.

“You came?” Remus whispered.

“Ah, I see you’re back with us, Mr Lupin,” a new and strange voice chirped.

“What happened?” Remus asked.

“The full moon was bad,” Sirius explained. Remus felt a slight pressure on his fingers and realised that Sirius was holding his hand. It didn’t even cross his mind to pull his hand away, and instead he clung to it like an anchor.

“How bad?” Remus whispered.

“You’ve been in St. Mungo’s for three days,” Romulus told him.

“Three days?”

“Yeah. For a while there we didn’t know if you’d make it.”

Remus turned to look at Sirius, and once he had focused on him properly he could see quite clearly the redness of his eyes. He wasn’t sure whether it was from tears, lack of sleep, or a combination of the two.

“Takes more than a full moon to get rid of me,” Remus said with a weak smile.

“Father says I can come with you to Hogsmeade for the next full moon,” Sirius said.

Remus nodded his head as much as he could, but he was too tired to even feel happy at the news.

“I think he was actually scared for you,” Sirius continued. “I’ve never seen him like this before. He’s been here at St. Mungo’s the whole time.”

“He has?” Remus was surprised at this news, but then he realised what Sirius either hadn’t yet figured out, or maybe didn’t like to say – Orion Black would not get his promotion if he had died while in his care.

Sirius nodded. “He let me come with him to collect you in the morning. You were worse off than any of the others, even the woman who was going through her first transformation. One of the others down there has been using the Containment Facility for over twenty years, and he said he hasn’t seen anyone down there as badly cut up as you were.”

“Sirius?” Remus whispered.

“Yes?”

“You’re cutting off circulation in my fingers.”

“Oh,” Sirius said, letting go of Remus’s fingers with a mumbled apology. “Sorry.”

Remus remained awake only long enough for the Healers to poke him, prod him and pour potions down his throat. The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes was Sirius’s face, worried and tired.

-o-xXx-o-

Remus was in St. Mungo’s for another two days. Sirius was at his side for a lot of that time, along with Orion Black and Romulus.

“I’m not sure I’m ready to be sent home, yet,” Remus said as the Healer in charge of his ward expressed the opinion that he could be sent home that afternoon.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” the Healer replied with a smile. “Just be careful not to do anything too strenuous for a few more days. I’d also advise against playing Quidditch for at least two weeks.”

“But…”

“It’s okay, Rem,” Romulus said. “Sirius’s father has removed the ward keeping me out of Grimmauld Place for the rest of the summer.”

“He has?”

“I’ll be with you for just as long as you need me.”

“What about Cecily’s birthday?”

“I’ll visit her some other time,” Romulus said.

“No,” Remus replied quietly. “You should visit her on her birthday, she’ll be waiting for you.”

Romulus nodded in agreement, and Remus felt a brief rush of pleasure when he saw pride in his older brother’s gaze. It was something he couldn’t remember seeing in rather a long time.

-o-xXx-o-

That night Remus decided to tell Sirius about the visit to his parents’ home.

“I saw my mum,” Remus whispered as he curled up alongside Sirius, his head rested on Sirius’s shoulder and his hand on his chest.

“When?” Sirius replied. “At St. Mungo’s? Did she visit you?”

Remus shook his head. “No, it was that day I went for a walk on my own.”

“Oh. That’s why you were so late back, you wanted to spend some time with her. Sorry you got in trouble with my mother for it.”

“I was only there about half an hour,” Remus said. “She hates me.”

“No one who knows you could ever hate you,” Sirius assured him, hugging him closer.

“She does,” Remus whispered. “She didn’t even want to let me into the house. In the end, she only did it so that the neighbours wouldn’t see me on the doorstep.”

“Are you okay?” Sirius asked.

Remus nodded. “Rom visits them. That’s where he disappears to. He was hoping to haunt them until they came round.”

“That sounds like him,” Sirius said with a chuckle.

“I’ve got a little sister, too,” Remus said. “Her name’s Cecily. She’s seven this summer. I always wanted a little brother or sister; I hated being the baby of the family.”

“I think you’ll always be a baby brother to Romulus,” Sirius pointed out with a smile.

“She wasn’t scared of me,” Remus continued. “She likes Rom; she trusts him. He’s taught her not to be scared of werewolves when it isn’t the full moon.”

“I’m sensing a but in this somewhere.”

“But… I’m never going to see her again,” Remus whispered. “Because my mum doesn’t want me any more.”

“Your mum’s a hateful bitch,” Sirius snarled.

“I hate being a werewolf,” Remus whispered, saying out loud the words he had thought so many times in the last ten years.

“I know.”

“No,” Remus whispered. “You don’t know. You can’t know what it’s like. You might complain about your parents, but at least they haven’t turned you out of their lives forever. At least you still have a home under their roof. You don’t have to worry that if they see you in the street, they might report you to the Ministry for stalking them. You... you...”

“It’s okay,” Sirius crooned as Remus’s voice cracked and he began to shake. “It’s okay.”

Except it wasn’t okay. Until now, Remus had always hoped that maybe one day his parents might change their minds and welcome him back into their lives. They had lost Romulus, and he had foolishly believed that perhaps they might one day come to regret losing their youngest son and last remaining child, too. Except he wasn’t their only remaining child any more. They had replaced him with Cecily, a sweet little girl, and one who didn’t deserve Remus’s jealousy.

“I’m jealous of her,” Remus admitted. “I’m jealous of a little girl, and one who was sweet enough to hug me on behalf of Rom. I don’t deserve to be a part of a proper family, not any more. What sort of a selfish person could be jealous of a six year old girl?”

“Stop that,” Sirius ordered, sitting up and pulling Remus up with him, so that he could look him in the eyes. “You’re not being selfish. You have every right to want to be a part of your own family. You know as well as I do that if you were living there with your parents and Romulus and Cecily, you would adore and spoil Cecily as much as any big brother ever could. You know it’s true, don’t you?”

Remus nodded slowly, but didn’t speak.

“Don’t you, Remus?” Sirius insisted. “Come on, let me hear you say the words.”

“I’d adore her and spoil her,” Remus whispered.

“That’s better,” Sirius said with a grin. “And your mother’s a cruel bitch, and if I ever see her I’ll tell her so myself.”

“That probably wouldn’t be a very good idea,” Remus pointed out as he lay back down.

Sirius stretched out alongside him and waited until Remus was settled beside him once more. “Maybe not, but it would make me feel a hell of a lot better.”

-o-xXx-o-

The next morning, Sirius woke up to the truly terrifying sound of Kreacher cleaning. He opened his eyes and saw the house elf scrubbing away at the windows.

“Shit!” he swore as he shot up in bed and glared across the room.

“What is it?” Remus asked sleepily.

“Kreacher,” said Sirius, pointing to the house elf.

Remus sat up and rubbed at his eyes. “Bloody hell.”

“It’s okay,” Sirius said, calmer now that the initial panic had subsided. “Kreacher...”

Kreacher turned round at his command, though he looked thoroughly sulky about it.

“I am ordering you not to tell Mother or Father that Remus has been sleeping in my bed. I order you not to communicate that to either of them in any way at all. I...” Sirius’s voice trailed off as he saw the house elf’s sulky expression turn to one of gleeful delight.

“Mistress already knows where the werewolf is sleeping,” Kreacher said with a snigger.

Sirius thought that maybe his blood had turned to ice, and he struggled to force out his next question. “How long has she known?”

“Since Kreacher told her,” Kreacher evasively replied.

“When did you tell her?” Sirius snapped.

“On the werewolf’s second morning here,” Kreacher answered with another grin. “When Kreacher noticed the werewolf’s bed had not been slept in. Kreacher was worried that the werewolf might have run away and told Mistress right away. Mistress ordered Kreacher to search all the rooms in the house until the werewolf was found.”

Sirius felt queasy as he listened to the house elf as he pretended that it was concern for Remus that had prompted his tattling to Walburga. “Does Father know?” he whispered.

Kreacher shook his head. “Mistress ordered Kreacher not to tell Master Orion.”

Sirius could tell that Kreacher was not entirely happy about that order and would have been only too thrilled to tell Orion as well. “I’m also ordering you not to tell Father,” he said firmly. “I am ordering you not to tell Father, even if Mother changes her mind and says that you can.”

He was about to fill in all the little loopholes so that Kreacher could not circumvent his order when Remus tapped him on the shoulder. “If your mother changes her mind, she’ll probably tell your father herself.”

“Oh.” Sirius scowled as he realised that Remus was right.

“Just saying,” Remus said. “Anyway, it’s not like we’re actually doing anything other than sleeping.”

Sirius didn’t need the reminder and scowled even more.

“I wonder why Mother hasn’t said anything to us…” Sirius said, turning back to Kreacher once more. “Did she say anything to you?”

“Mistress says a lot of things to Kreacher,” Kreacher replied. “Mistress trusts Kreacher above all others.”

Sirius groaned and ran his hand through his hair impatiently. “What did Mother say to you after you told her where Remus was sleeping?”

“Kreacher can’t remember.”

“I’m ordering you to tell me,” Sirius amended, knowing that the house elf was simply being difficult, just for the sake of it.

Kreacher’s scowl matched Sirius’s own, but he knew it was only that the house elf was annoyed at being ordered. This was proven to be the case when Kreacher told Sirius what he wanted to know, his voice becoming less sullen and more cheerful the longer he spoke. “Mistress was angry to hear that Master Sirius was sleeping with the werewolf. She asked Kreacher to change the bedding and bring the dirty sheets to her. Mistress wanted to know what perverted practices Master Sirius had picked up from the werewolf. Mistress called Master Sirius a bloody shirt-lifter and a half-breed lover. Mistress was very angry.”

“That sounds about right,” Sirius muttered. “What else? Why hasn’t she said anything to me?”

“Mistress knows that Master Sirius is the last wizard of the noble house of Black,” Kreacher explained. “When Mistress calmed down, she say that Master Sirius can fuck who he likes, as long as he marry well and has pureblood children.”

“She still wants me to marry one of those half-witted girls?” Sirius exclaimed, turning to Remus with an expression of disbelief on his face. Kreacher, seeing his chance for escape, hurried from the room before any more orders came forth.

“They can’t all be that bad,” Remus said. “Surely one of them would make you happy?”

Sirius glared at Remus. “You make me happy, when you’re not insisting you’re straight.”

“But I am straight.”

“Straight blokes don’t snuggle up with other men like you do,” Sirius pointed out. “I just don’t understand why you won’t admit that you’re attracted to me, too.”

“I’m with Charlie,” Remus reminded him.

“You don’t need to remind me,” Sirius muttered. “You know something, Remus, this is getting really old now. How long are you going to stay in denial?”

“I’m not in denial.”

Sirius sighed. “I don’t want to spend the summer fighting about this,” he said.

“Me neither,” Remus replied with a small grimace. “I just wish you’d accept what I tell you...”

“Maybe I would, if you hadn’t kissed me back so enthusiastically,” Sirius pointed out.

Remus climbed off the bed and grabbed his robes. “You know what I’m finding really old?” he asked in a mocking tone. “You reminding me of one weak moment and turning it into something it wasn’t.”

“We kissed,” Sirius shouted. “More than once as well. We shared kisses. Shared, Remus, as in there were two of us participating in them.”

Remus ignored him as he tied his robes and hurried out of the door. He didn’t want to be reminded of those kisses, or of how much he had enjoyed them.

“Well,” Sirius muttered to the door. “So much for making progress.”

-o-xXx-o-

Sirius sat at the breakfast table, eating his scrambled eggs, and trying not to listen to his mother rattling on about the latest insipid female she was planning on marrying him off to.

He was in the middle of deciding whether to say anything about what Kreacher had said when the sound of flapping wings heralded the arrival of the morning post. Three owls swooped into the dining room, much to the annoyance of Walburga.

“Honestly, what possesses people to send owls scheduled to arrive during meal times?” she muttered as she paid the owl that had delivered the paper and sent it on its way.

Sirius looked at the owl that was standing with one leg in his eggs and saw that it was carrying a letter addressed to him. Remus also had a letter, although the bird delivering his had at least had the sense to perch on the back of his chair.

“O.W.L. results,” Remus whispered, reaching to get his letter from the bird.

“Already?” Sirius questioned, mentally counting the weeks since school had broken up.

“You can read them after you’ve finished your breakfast,” Walburga ordered. “I refuse to have mealtimes interrupted for every little thing.”

Sirius sighed, but knew that it would be pointless to argue. He took the letter from his bird and placed it beside his plate. “Can I at least replace my eggs?” he asked.

Walburga nodded and summoned Kreacher, ordering him to bring Sirius a clean plate of eggs. Kreacher nodded and disappeared.

He took nearly fifteen minutes to return with the fresh plate, and Sirius was sure he had done it on purpose, because he knew that he was eager to read his letter and see what his results were. Remus had already finished his breakfast, but was kindly waiting for Sirius to finish, too. Sirius shovelled his eggs into his mouth as fast as he could, at least until he was told to remember his manners and eat properly.

Finally, Sirius had finished his breakfast and was able to open his letter. He stood up, intending to go and read it in his room, but one glance at his mother’s face was enough to force him back into his seat.

He tore open the envelope, and quickly scanned the contents of the letter.

“Well?” Walburga asked.

“Not too bad,” Sirius replied.

“Let me see,” Walburga ordered and Sirius reluctantly passed the letter over to her. She read it quickly and Sirius could tell that she was far from pleased with his results. “How did you manage to get a Dreadful in Potions?” she asked.

“I blew up the cauldron in the practical,” Sirius admitted. “I didn’t mean to.”

“At least Professor McGonagall has indicated you will still be allowed to do the N.E.W.T. in the subject, and retake your O.W.L. in the autumn. It seems that Professor Slughorn believes you are more than capable of the N.E.W.T. level work, and that this incident was an unfortunate accident.”

Sirius nodded, he hadn’t actually read that part of the letter, focusing instead on the list of results. He turned to Remus, who was still reading his letter. “How did you do?” he asked.

“Okay,” Remus replied. “I didn’t really expect to get a whole load of Outstandings, what with only having two years to do the work.”

“May I see?” Walburga asked politely, reaching across the table for Remus’s letter.

Remus passed it over to her and waited as she read it through, openly comparing his results with Sirius’s.

“You’ve done very well,” Walburga stated as she passed the letter back to him. Sirius shifted in his seat and fiddled with his cutlery, knowing that now she was through with comparing them he was the one that was being found wanting.

“May I go and see if my brother is around?” Remus asked. “I’d like to show him my results.”

“Of course,” Walburga replied with a wave of dismissal.

“I’ll come with you,” Sirius said. “We’ll find him faster with the two of us looking.”

“You haven’t been excused yet,” Walburga interrupted, sending Sirius back into his seat for the second time.

Sirius knew what was coming, or at least he had a rough idea. The moment Remus had closed the door behind him, Walburga turned to him with an icy glare.

“Mother...”

“You do realise that that half-breed has got better results than you?” Walburga hissed, cutting him off before he could say more than a word. “They’re only O.W.L.s, and employers don’t take much notice of them when you have your N.E.W.T.s, but you need to be applying yourself properly and clearly you’re not.”

“I…”

“I will be writing to Professor McGonagall and requesting monthly reports from her,” Walburga continued. “I will not have you shown up by a werewolf!”

Sirius nodded, knowing that it was entirely his own fault, his results weren’t up to his usual standards. He just hoped that his parents wouldn’t take their anger at him out on Remus.

When Walburga had finally finished ranting, he made his escape and tracked down Remus in the study.

“Hi, Romulus,” he greeted the ghost. “I take it Remus has told you how well he did?”

“He could have done better if he’d bothered to knuckle down more,” Romulus chided affectionately. “He hasn’t beaten me in any of the subjects we both did.”

“I’ll beat you at N.E.W.T.s,” Remus told him with a smirk.

“Since I didn’t do any, that won’t be too difficult.”

“You shouldn’t be too hard on Remus,” Sirius said as he sat down on the sofa. “He did better than I did, and he didn’t have as much time to learn everything as you and me.”

Romulus grinned. “I’m not that hard on him; I’m just making a point.”

Remus nodded in agreement. “Is your mother really pissed off?”

“Language, Remus,” Romulus scolded.

“She’s not what I’d call happy about my results,” Sirius muttered. “Father will probably have something to say about them, too.”

“I’m sure they’re proud of you really,” Romulus said.

Sirius snorted. He wasn’t so sure at all.

-o-xXx-o-

The rest of the summer went by so quickly that Sirius barely knew where the time had gone.

No sooner had their exam results arrived, than it seemed like the second full moon was upon them. They travelled to Hogsmeade by floo, Orion accompanying them, and making a huge song and dance over it in the process. Sirius was sure that everyone in The Three Broomsticks already knew why Remus was there, they didn’t need to hear it all over again from Orion.

Sirius would have complained at the way that he was embarrassing Remus, but he knew that this was far preferable to the alternative option of shutting Remus up in the Ministry of Magic’s Containment Facility for the second month running. So, instead, he kept his mouth shut and let his father show off his care and consideration for the werewolf he was sheltering for the summer.

Orion had brought paperwork from the Ministry with him, and remained in the living room throughout the night, working on it. He left Romulus and Sirius to watch over Remus.

The night passed by as smoothly as could be expected and all too soon they were back at Grimmauld Place, and getting ready to return to Hogwarts.

-o-xXx-o-

Sirius had managed to persuade his parents to let Remus and himself shop for their school items alone. Walburga, who was in the middle of organising a lavish party to celebrate Orion’s new promotion, reluctantly agreed that as long as they travelled by floo, and didn’t leave Diagon Alley itself, they could be allowed out on their own.

“I’ve got to get a bunch of Potions ingredients,” Sirius said to Remus. “Why don’t you go ahead to Madam Malkin’s and get started on your fitting. I can catch up with you.”

Remus nodded and hurried through the crowds towards the shop.

Sirius turned in the other direction and made his way to the Apothecary, checking his list of required ingredients as he wove in and out of the shoppers.

He was pretty sure that he had everything on his list and was standing in the queue to pay when he caught sight of the display at the back of the counter. He felt his face flushing as he realised what he was looking at. There, discretely stocked between lotions for curing burns and potions for dispelling foot odours, was a small collection of jars labelled lubricant.

“Is that everything?” the elderly wizard behind the counter asked him as he rang his purchases through the ancient register.

“Er...”

“Is there anything else?” he asked again, a little more impatiently this time.

Sirius could hear the grumbling of the customer behind him in the queue and he felt his face burning even more than before. “Can I get one of those please?” he finally blurted, pointing at the display.

The wizard nodded and pulled a jar of burn lotion from the shelf. “Better safe than sorry, eh?” he said with a smile.

Sirius shook his head. “I meant the other one, to the right,” he whispered.

The wizard apologised for his mistake and turned back to the shelf. He replaced the burn lotion and picked up a jar of lubricant. “This one?” he asked, turning back to Sirius questioningly.

Sirius nodded, wishing that the store had been empty, or that the jar could have been somewhere in one of the displays that he could reach. That way he could have just slipped it in with the rest of his school supplies, without having everyone staring at him like this.

The wizard, who had clearly seen numerous young men make similar purchases over the years, took the jar and added it to the rest of Sirius’s shopping.

As Sirius left the store, he wondered if it had been worth all the embarrassment, after all, he was still no nearer in winning Remus over than he had been a year before. If he was honest with himself, then he was in a worse position now than then. A year ago he had come to terms with his sexuality and decided that it was Remus who he wanted. A year ago he had had hope of making Remus fall for him, too.

Now... now he was standing outside of Madam Malkin’s, watching Remus greet Charlene with an awkward kiss on the cheek. Awkward because her parents were standing close by, and not because Remus was secretly crazy about his best friend.

Sirius sighed and walked on to Flourish and Blotts. Perhaps by the time he had purchased his books, Charlene would have left?

Perhaps by this time next year, he and Remus would be the couple, and Charlene would be out of the picture?