Once in a Blue Moon (COMPLETE)

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This Feels Too Right
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When Remus arrived back at Hogwarts, the first thing he did was run up to Gryffindor Tower to get his books for the afternoon classes. He came back down the stairs to the common room and found that there was a crowd gathered around the notice board.

“What is it?” he asked as he drew nearer.

“They’ve set a date for the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year,” Lily replied. “Middle of November this time.”

Remus, who had a legitimate reason to go into Hogsmeade every month, was never quite as enthusiastic as the rest of the students about such notices. It didn’t stop him from enjoying the days in the village though.

“We can spend the day together,” Charlene said with a smile as she hooked her arm through Remus’s. “How was last night?” she added in an undertone.

Remus shrugged. “Not too bad.” He leaned in closer and looked at the notice for himself. “Oh.”

“What is it?” Charlene asked.

“Sirius’s birthday,” Remus replied. “The Hogsmeade weekend is on Sirius’s birthday.”

“Ah,” Charlene said, nodding in understanding. “You’ll want to spend the day with him, won’t you?”

“You don’t mind?” Remus questioned uneasily. “It’s his seventeenth and he’s my best friend.”

Remus could tell that she did mind, but she waved him away, securing his promise that they could at least spend the Sunday together.

Remus looked around the room, but there was no sign of Sirius amongst the students. Wondering where he was, and eager to find out if he knew about the Hogsmeade weekend, Remus darted back up the stairs to take a quick look at Moony’s Map. It didn’t take long to spot Sirius, sitting down near the lake.

Remus cast the spell to vanish the map, and headed outside to speak with him. He was still quite a distance away when he saw that Sirius was smoking.

“I thought you’d quit?” he said as soon as he sat down beside him.

Sirius shrugged and took another drag from the cigarette.

“It’s a filthy habit,” Remus scolded, wafting the smoke out of his face.

“It’s not bothering anyone,” Sirius replied, flicking ash away from the two of them. “I don’t light up that often anyway. Just when I really need to.”

“You managed to go all summer without having any,” Remus pointed out.

“No, I didn’t,” Sirius replied shortly.

“I never saw you.”

“It was the night you were at the Ministry,” Sirius explained. “I got through my whole stash in one night. I’d have got through even more while you were in St. Mungo’s, only they don’t let you smoke in there.”

“And doesn’t that tell you it’s something you shouldn’t do?” Remus asked impatiently.

Sirius sighed and turned to glare at Remus. “I know it’s a bad habit; I know it’s not good for me; you tell me often enough. I just need it sometimes. Just give it a rest and at least let me enjoy it in peace.”

“Have you seen the notice about the Hogsmeade weekend?” Remus asked, eager to change the subject back to the one that he had originally been seeking out Sirius to discuss.

Sirius snorted with what Remus was sure was feigned disinterest.

“It’s on your birthday,” Remus added.

“Yeah, I know,” Sirius muttered. He gave a shrug and took another drag of his cigarette.

“You could sound a bit more excited about it.”

“Why? It’s no big deal.”

“Of course it’s a big deal,” Remus argued. “You’ll be seventeen, an adult.”

Sirius looked out over the lake and flicked the last of his cigarette into the water. “I’ve got to get to Potions,” he said, standing up and stretching slightly.

“Sirius?” Remus asked from where he was still seated on the ground. “Are you all right?”

“Sure,” Sirius replied. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Remus frowned, wondering what had happened, but he had little time to dwell on things, he still had to finish his Defence essay, or rather start it, not to mention catching up on what he had missed that morning.

-o-xXx-o-

As October stretched into November Sirius found himself with little time to think about Remus. He re-did his Potions exam at the end of October, and was relieved that this time he didn’t blow up any of his equipment. Professor Slughorn, who told him confidentially that he was sure he had passed the exam this time around, had supervised him.

That didn’t mean that his workload slacked off after the exam was out of the way; the N.E.W.T. lessons were even more gruelling than the O.W.L.s, and unless he wanted to fail them, he knew he would have to apply himself.

By the time his birthday rolled around, Sirius had the entire day planned out ahead of him. He intended to sleep in an hour later than usual, the only birthday treat he was going to allow himself, and then spend the rest of the day in the library, working on his various assignments. That way he wouldn’t have to suffer through watching Remus and Charlene fawning over each other in Hogsmeade. He wondered again why fate had been so cruel as to schedule it so.

Remus hadn’t mentioned anything about the Hogsmeade weekend since they had spoken by the lake, at least nothing specific. He had been dropping hints about big plans, and it being a special day, but Sirius had tried his best not to think about Remus’s plans for romancing Charlene on his birthday.

It therefore came as rather a shock for Sirius when he woke up to find Remus curled up in bed beside him on the cold Saturday morning.

He looked across the room and saw that James and Peter had already left. It always amused him that James, who struggled to get out of bed for lessons and Quidditch practice, could manage to rise at dawn on days like a Hogsmeade weekend.

“Ah, good, you’re awake,” Remus said with a grin. “At last!”

“What are you doing here?” Sirius asked with a yawn.

Remus’s grin widened. “Where else would I be on your birthday?”

“Aren’t you going into Hogsmeade?”

“Of course,” Remus replied. “When you’re ready. Everyone else should be leaving round about now. I thought we could spend the day together, you know, just the two of us.”

Sirius sat up and looked down at Remus suspiciously. “Remus, you know how I feel about you…”

“I know,” Remus interrupted. “I’m not saying that today is going to change anything between us, but it’s your seventeenth birthday. Today’s supposed to be special and I want to spend it with you. Just the two of us, like it used to be.”

“What about Charlie?”

Remus shrugged. “I think she’s going into the village with some of her friends. She knows I’m spending the day with you.”

“And she doesn’t mind?”

“Why would she?” Remus asked.

Sirius sighed. “I want to hate her so much for taking you from me,” he whispered. “But…”

“She didn’t take me away from you,” Remus told him quietly. “I was never yours in the first place.”

Sirius nodded. “I know. I just wish…”

“What?”

“I don’t know. I guess I just keep waiting for you to throw me a bone or something.”

Remus laughed and climbed out of the bed. “Come on, get dressed and we’ll go to the village. It’s your birthday and you’re not allowed to be miserable today… I order it.”

Sirius chuckled and did as Remus ordered. “I never realised how bossy you could be,” he said as he opened the wardrobe and rummaged around for a clean shirt.

“Sure you did,” Remus replied. “I’m sure you’ve told me that before.”

Sirius grinned to himself. He probably had at that.

-o-xXx-o-

They spent the morning walking around Hogsmeade, visiting all their favourite stores and stocking up on treats and items for pranks. Sirius tried to pay for his own shopping, but Remus was adamant that he shouldn’t, and practically had to shove him away from the cash register in several stores.

They ate lunch in The Three Broomsticks, joking and chatting as easily as they ever had, before they decided to start on a bit of early Christmas shopping, since they suspected that there wouldn’t be a second Hogsmeade weekend before Christmas was upon them.

They were laughing at some of the new style dress robes in Gladrags when Sirius spotted Charlene across the road. He knew that Remus hadn’t yet spotted her, and waited for the girl to come and intrude on their day. He was mildly surprised when, instead of walking over to them, she merely called out ‘happy birthday’ to him and, after waving at the two of them, continued on her way.

“Told you she didn’t mind my spending the day with you,” Remus said as they walked towards his Hogsmeade house, hoping to track down where Remus might have lost his Quidditch gloves. Sirius wasn’t sure why Remus would have taken them home on a full moon night, but they had searched everywhere else and they hadn’t managed to track them down yet.

“Found them!” Remus exclaimed from the kitchen.

Sirius, who was half under the sofa, breathed a sigh of relief and got to his feet. “Where were they?”

“In the oven.”

“Why?”

Remus shrugged. “I don’t remember putting them there, but I guess they got wet.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “You need waterproof gloves, mate,” he advised.

Remus laughed and put the gloves into one of his bags of shopping.

“You ready to head back to school?” Sirius asked.

Remus looked like he was considering the idea, but shook his head. “Let’s just stay here for a bit.”

Sirius nodded and sat down on the sofa. He was hardly going to argue with the idea of spending more time alone with Remus.

“So,” Remus began after he had sat down next to Sirius. “Did you get what you wanted for your birthday?”

“Well, I didn’t get a howler from my mother,” Sirius commented wryly. “So, it has to be an improvement on last year.”

“That didn’t arrive on your birthday,” Remus pointed out.

“Near enough to it,” Sirius replied.

“Yeah, well, you only have yourself to blame for that one,” Remus reasoned. “But, back to my question, did you get what you wanted this year?”

Sirius sighed and looked at the empty fireplace. “You already know the answer to that.”

Remus gave a sigh of his own and they sat quietly for several long, and increasingly awkward minutes, neither knowing quite what to say.

“I’m sorry,” Sirius finally said, punctuating it with another sigh. “You’ve gone to the trouble of arranging to spend the day with me, and I’m just… I’m sorry… I just can’t help wanting more.”

Remus nodded slowly. “I’m with Charlie,” he said quietly. “I’ve not broken up with her or anything.”

“I know.”

“And you can’t tell anyone…” Remus continued. “Promise me you won’t?”

“Tell anyone what?” Sirius asked curiously.

“About this,” Remus whispered, right before he pressed his lips to Sirius’s.

Sirius was too startled to respond to the kiss, and he pulled back almost immediately. “What are you doing?”

“Throwing you a bone,” Remus whispered as he twisted round and kissed him once more. This time Sirius didn’t hesitate to kiss him back.

Sirius moaned into the kiss and tried to ignore what Remus had said about Charlene. They were still dating, and this wasn’t going to change that. But, damn it, he couldn’t help but respond to the kiss, not when Remus was climbing on top of him and deepening the kiss with every second of contact.

He wound an arm round Remus’s back and held him closer. His heart was pounding, and the blood, which his brain required in order to tell him how much he shouldn’t be doing this, had rushed south rather quickly.

Remus’s tongue was in his mouth, and Sirius brought his free hand up to caress his face, his thumb absently tracing the scar he’d received from the attack of the Ravenclaws.

He gave a choked whimper when he felt Remus rock against him, the movement only slight, and probably an accident, but more than enough to make him hard as a rock.

The arm that had been wrapped around Remus’s back moved lower, cupping his arse and encouraging him to repeat his earlier movement.

He could feel Remus’s hands on face, on his shoulders, on his chest, burning him even through the material of his clothes.

He moaned again, and this time Remus echoed the sound.

All thoughts of why they shouldn’t be doing this had disappeared from his mind, replaced with the thought that this felt too right to be wrong.

Remus continued to rock against him, no longer needing Sirius’s encouragement, and moving ever more forcefully as they each searched for friction.

Sirius knew he was close and he pulled out of their kiss only when he knew he couldn’t hold back any more.

Gasping and shuddering, he cried out as waves of pleasure washed over him. “Fuck!” he gasped. “Bloody hell, Remus!”

He opened his eyes to see that Remus was staring intently at him, his mouth hanging open slightly as he drew in sharp breaths of air. He felt his face flushing under the gaze, and despite the fact that they were both still fully clothed, without so much as a single undone button between them, he had never felt more exposed in his life.

The longer Remus watched him, the more fidgety he felt. He could feel the damp, stickiness in his trousers and looked down to see if there was any visible evidence showing. There was, but his embarrassment was somewhat alleviated when he spotted the similar patch on the front of Remus’s trousers, too.

“You okay?” Remus asked quietly.

“More than,” Sirius replied with a sheepish smile. “Are you?”

Remus nodded. “It’s never been like that before,” he admitted quietly.

Sirius smiled. “Never?”

“Never,” Remus repeated, shaking his head for emphasis.

“Does that tell you anything?” Sirius asked. He reached up to caress Remus’s face, running his thumb over his lower lip, all the while recalling just how sweet those lips had tasted just a few minutes before.

“It doesn’t change anything,” Remus replied with a sigh.

“You can’t tell me that you’re not attracted to me,” Sirius argued. “You can’t tell me that you don’t have feelings for me. Not now… not after what we’ve just done. You said yourself, it’s never been like this before.”

“It’s just hormones,” Remus said, and he climbed off Sirius and sat back on the sofa properly.

“You don’t really believe that, do you?”

Remus stood up and walked over to the window. He was looking outside when he spoke again. “It’s your birthday,” he said. “Let’s not do this today. I don’t want you to remember your birthday as being a day we argued.”

“I don’t want to argue,” Sirius agreed. “But I want to know whether what we just did meant anything to you at all?”

“Call it a birthday present,” Remus said.

“You got off, too,” Sirius pointed out. “That has to mean something to you!”

Remus snorted. “I’m a teenager, Sirius; pretty much anything can get me off these days.”

“So, you’re saying it didn’t mean anything to you?” Sirius asked. “It doesn’t matter if you’re rubbing up against me, or whether you’re rubbing up against a mattress?”

Remus frowned at him before quickly turning to look out of the window once more. “Yeah,” he replied. “That’s pretty much it.”

Sirius watched as Remus turned back to face him, and forced a bright smile onto his face. “Well, I guess I should thank you for the present then,” he offered. “As birthday presents go, it was one of the best I’ve ever had.”

Remus smiled and walked back over to the sofa. “Remember your promise?” he said.

“I won’t tell anyone,” Sirius agreed. “But…”

“But what?” Remus looked worried.

Sirius stood up and pulled Remus towards him. “But, let’s seal the bargain,” he whispered, pulling Remus into a final searing kiss.

As their tongues swept each other, tasting and teasing, Sirius wondered whether to point out to Remus that what they had done was a little more than getting each other off with a bit of mutual friction. In the end he decided against it. He knew that there was something more between the two of them, and that Remus had given him something more than his first non-self-induced orgasm… he had given him a little more hope that there would one day be more between them.

-o-xXx-o-

Back at Hogwarts, Remus tried to act as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened between the two of them. It was easier said than done, and worse than that, he had a feeling that Charlene was starting to suspect that there was something going on between him and Sirius. He had caught her looking across at Sirius with unconcealed suspicion on several occasions.

Sirius meanwhile, who had been walking on clouds for several days following his seventeenth birthday, hadn’t noticed Charlene watching him, and as such he was a little surprised to be taken aside by her the following weekend.

“I don’t know where Remus is,” he said, incorrectly anticipating what he believed her question would be.

“He’s with Madam Pomfrey,” Charlene said, and Sirius couldn’t stop his twitch of annoyance that she knew where Remus was when he didn’t. “It’s you I wanted to talk to,” Charlene continued.

“Yeah?”

“Is there somewhere we can talk privately?” Charlene asked, as she nervously eyed several groups of students heading their way from further down the corridor.

“Want to walk outside?” Sirius suggested. “It looks like rain, so there won’t be many people out there.”

Charlene nodded and they altered their direction towards the entrance.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Sirius asked. “If it’s about the full moon…”

Charlene shook her head. “It’s not the full moon. I know that you’ll take care of Remus.”

“Always do. So, what is it?”

“When me and Remus first got together, well, some of the girls thought you were jealous, and that you wanted to ask me out yourself.”

Sirius snorted with laughter, cutting Charlene off rather effectively. The girl glared at him and crossed her arms impatiently. “Sorry,” Sirius spluttered. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

Charlene nodded and her glare cleared. “I’m not saying that I believed them, but I did start to take more notice of you when you were around the two of us, which wasn’t very often, was it? Since you kept disappearing on us.”

“Do you have a point?” Sirius asked, looking up at the heavy grey clouds that were threatening a coming storm before the end of the day.

“I think they were right about you being jealous,” Charlene said. “But they got the wrong end of the stick about why, didn’t they?”

Sirius shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lied, even as he felt his stomach churning with the implications of what she was saying.

“You want me to spell it out for you?” Charlene asked, before steaming on anyway. “You fancy Remus, don’t you?”

“You’ve been reading Rita’s rubbish again?” Sirius asked with a forced laugh that sounded appallingly false, even to his own ears.

Charlene shook her head. “No. I’ve just been watching you.”

“Maybe you should try watching your boyfriend instead?” Sirius suggested.

“Would you just answer my bloody question!” Charlene snapped. “Do you, or do you not, fancy Remus?”

“I don’t see what it’s got to do with you,” he muttered as he turned to walk back to the castle.

“He’s my boyfriend,” Charlene reminded him, pulling him back by grabbing hold of his arm.

“And he’s my best friend!” Sirius retorted.

“Do you fancy him?” Charlene asked. “Please, just tell me the truth!”

Sirius turned to face her, unsuccessfully trying to get her to release his arm. No wonder the Beater never dropped her bat; she had a bloody death grip. “Yes,” he finally hissed. “So, what are you going to do about it? Run and tell him? Well, I’ve got news for you, he already knows.”

“He does?” Charlene asked. “Not that I was going to tell him, but I didn’t think he already knew.”

“Yeah, he knows,” Sirius said with a sigh of relief when Charlene finally loosened her grip on his arm enough for him to release himself. “Has for months.”

“Oh.”

“That’s all you have to say?” Sirius asked.

“I wasn’t sure if I was right or not,” Charlene admitted. “I hadn’t really planned on what to say if you said it was true. I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”

Sirius smiled and shook his head slightly. “Well, that’s us Gryffindors, isn’t it? Always charging in without thinking things through.”

Charlene smiled back. “So, I’m guessing you’ve liked him a while then?”

“Yeah,” Sirius admitted as they slowly walked back towards the castle. “Much good it’s done me though.”

“I feel like I should be apologising,” Charlene said quietly.

“What for?”

“I don’t know, stealing him from you or something.”

“You didn’t steal him,” Sirius told her. “Remus knew how I felt before you started going out together.”

“He did? You’ve liked him that long?”

“I’d liked him for ages,” Sirius said. “Finally plucked up enough courage to tell him on his sixteenth birthday.”

“But that was…”

“Right before he asked you out,” Sirius concluded for her.

“I asked him, after prompting from Lily,” Charlene corrected. “Bloody hell! No wonder you were looking daggers at me for those first few weeks.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Charlene assured him. “So much for thinking Remus was the most sensitive guy I knew… I can’t believe he did that to you. Damn, I’m going to have words with him when I see him later.”

“Don’t bother,” Sirius said. “I don’t think he did it to hurt me.”

“How about I really work him into the ground during Quidditch practice?” Charlene suggested. She was Captain of the team this year, and Sirius knew that she was working the team harder than ever already.

Sirius chuckled. “Now there’s an idea.”

“You must really hate me,” Charlene said quietly.

“I wanted to,” Sirius admitted. “You’ve no idea how much I wanted to.”

“You mean you don’t?”

Sirius shook his head. “How can I hate the Captain of the house Quidditch team, the girl that’s going to bring us victory in the championship at long last?”

Charlene raised an eyebrow and looked at him questioningly.

“Besides,” Sirius said with a sigh. “You’re my best friend’s girlfriend. I’m not allowed to hate you under the basic rules of being a best friend.”

“But you like him as more than a friend,” Charlene pointed out.

“Yeah, but unless he admits that he feels the same way, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“And if he does?”

“Then all bets are off,” Sirius told him with a wink. “I’ll fight dirty to get my man if I have to, even if I’m fighting a girl.”

“I’m the best female Beater in the school,” Charlene warned him. There was no real conceit in her words; they both knew that she was simply stating a fact. “I think I could hold my own.”

Sirius laughed. “I don’t doubt it, which is why I would have to fight dirty.”

Charlene laughed and sank down onto the front steps of the castle. Sirius sat down beside her and pulled out his packet of cigarettes. “Want one?” he asked, offering the packet.

Charlene shook her head. “Remus doesn’t like it,” she said.

“I know,” Sirius replied. “I’m not offering one to Remus; I’m offering one to you.”

“No, thanks,” Charlene said, shaking her head again. “But I meant that you might have had more luck with him if you weren’t a smoker.”

“I didn’t start smoking until after he’d rejected me,” Sirius told her, trying to ignore the bizarre position he was in, accepting advice on how he might have won over Remus from the girl who had. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it with his wand. “Are you finding this conversation as weird as I am?” he asked.

“A bit,” Charlene agreed. “I guess I was expecting an argument or something.”

“I don’t like arguing; I do too much of that with Remus as it is.”

“So I gathered.”

“He’s not told you about our fights,” Sirius said, and it wasn’t a question. The only thing that he and Remus really argued over was Remus’s persistent insistence that he was straight, and if he had told Charlene about that, she would not have needed to ask Sirius anything at all.

“You sound sure about that?” Charlene questioned.

“I’m right though, aren’t I?” Charlene nodded in response.

“Are you going to tell everyone about me?” Sirius asked. “I’d rather you didn’t, if you don’t mind. Remus knows, and some of my family, but I’d rather not have the whole school staring at me and whispering behind my back.”

“My lips are sealed,” Charlene promised. “But I should warn you that most of the sixth year Gryffindor girls are already doing some of that whispering.”

“They are?”

“Yeah. You’re the best looking bloke in the year, but you’ve never asked any of the girls to go into Hogsmeade with you. That alone is suspicious.”

“You think I’m the best looking bloke?” Sirius asked with a grin. “Does Remus know that?”

Charlene blushed. “Probably. Anyway, my point is most of the girls are already wondering, some of the blokes, too. I’ve noticed Potter giving you a few funny looks now and again. If he doesn’t already know, he at least suspects.”

“Terrific,” Sirius muttered.

They were sitting quietly on the steps when Remus found them a short while later. The rain had started to fall, but the wind was ensuring that the water didn’t hit the two students. Remus sat down on the steps beside Sirius, yanked the cigarette from between his fingers and stubbed it out on the stone step. “You know I hate it when you smoke,” he muttered with a sigh of annoyance.

“Told you,” Charlene said.

“So, what are you two talking about out here?” Remus asked.

“You, of course,” Charlene replied. “It’s not like we have anything else in common. Sirius isn’t the biggest of Quidditch fans, after all.”

“Sirius loves Quidditch,” Remus argued. “Tell her.”

Sirius shook his head. “I just like checking out the arses of the blokes on the teams,” he said with a grin.

Remus’s jaw dropped, and he cast a nervous glance past Sirius and across towards Charlene who wasn’t even trying to hide her laughter.

“She knows I like blokes,” Sirius told him.

“You told her?”

“She guessed,” Sirius replied. “She asked me, and I told her the truth… about everything.”

“Everything?” Remus squeaked.

“Everything?” Charlene echoed, looking across at Remus and his unexpected reaction to Sirius’s words.

“Well, not everything,” Sirius amended. “She might know who I prefer to fantasise about when I’m tossing off, but it’s not like I’m going to give her the details.”

“Well, thank Merlin for that!” Charlene laughed and stood up. “I’m going to head back to the Tower. I’ll see you later.”

Remus nodded and promised to follow shortly. As soon as she was out of earshot he turned to Sirius with a glare. “You promised,” he accused.

“I haven’t broken my promise,” Sirius replied in a quiet but harsh whisper. “As tempting as it was, I didn’t tell her that we got each other off last weekend, nor did I tell her anything else that might give her the impression that you’re not exactly a complete heterosexual.”

“I’m not gay,” Remus whispered back.

Sirius rolled his eyes and pulled out a fresh cigarette.

“Do you have to?” Remus asked, gesturing to the fag.

“Tell you what,” Sirius said with a grin. “I’ll do you a deal. I’ll quit smoking if you promise me that for every kiss you share with Charlie, I get one, too.”

“You’re not serious?”

“Why not?” Sirius asked.

“Why not?” Remus echoed. “Because Charlie’s my girlfriend, and it’s not fair to cheat on her like that.”

“Didn’t seem to bother you last weekend,” Sirius pointed out. “Besides, it’s not fair to keep seeing her when you have feelings for me either.”

“I don’t!”

“Don’t you?” Sirius asked innocently. “Maybe you should tell that to the bulge in your trousers…”

Remus looked down and flushed.

“A kiss for a kiss,” Sirius offered again. He took a deep drag of the cigarette. “And I’ll quit smoking for as long as it takes for you to come round.”

Remus laughed. “And then you’ll start up again? That hardly seems fair.”

Sirius shook his head. “No. If I had the promises of your kisses every day for the rest of my life, I swear I would never light up another cigarette ever again.”

“You’d quit smoking for me?” Remus asked.

Sirius smiled and nodded. “Don’t you remember, Remus? I’d do anything for you.”

“Anything?” Remus replied.

“Anything.” The word came out as a whisper and sent shivers down Remus’s spine. Shivers that had Remus visibly shuddering and Sirius’s smile stretching into a knowing grin.

Remus took a deep breath. “Then find someone else, and forget about being with me,” he said.

Sirius turned to look back out at the rain. He lifted his cigarette to his lips and took another long drag.

“And quit smoking for yourself,” Remus added as he stood up and walked back into the castle.

Sirius ignored him and sat on the steps for a long while. Eventually, Professor McGonagall spotted him, confiscated all the cigarettes he had on him and gave him a detention. Sirius handed the illicit goods over, accepted the detention and then walked out into the rain.

Upstairs, in the Gryffindor common room, Remus was snuggling in front of the fire with Charlene. Since he had returned to the Tower they had kissed three times, and whilst Remus had enjoyed each and every one of those kisses, he couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to claim an equal number from Sirius.