**A/N: This is my first Harry Potter fanfic, so critique is welcome along with advice - as long as you're not rude about it. Please, enjoy!**
Remus had never felt so alive in his life. The wind in his face and the sense of flying was absolutely astounding; it took his breath away.
He had also never felt this terrified.
He clung to Sirius’s back desperately and thought to himself reassuringly, ‘It’ll be over soon. Sirius wouldn’t let you fall.’
Sirius then naturally decided to contradict Remus’s thoughts by taking a plunging dive towards the green grass of the Quidditch field. Remus did scream, if he was to be honest, and he could hear Sirius laughing at him despite the wind roaring loudly in his ears. Sirius only pulled the broomstick up when they were just inches away from the ground, and instead shot straight up, going upwards until the stadium grew small beneath them. He then proceeded to do a series of complicated loops and spins through the air. All Remus could do was cling to Sirius tightly until the animagus stopped imitating a rollercoaster.
As soon as they were flying at a relatively normal speed and gliding in a straight line, Remus loosened his grip and yelled; his voice slightly hoarse from screaming. “Sirius!”
Sirius winced dramatically and rubbed his ear, glancing at his passenger. “Geez, Moony, you’ve definitely got some lungs.”
Remus glared at Sirius’s back, upset. “Why did you do that?” he snarled.
Sirius grinned mischievously, even though he knew Remus couldn’t see his face. “Do what? This?” He did another loop through the air, flying at a much faster speed. “Stop!” Remus yelled, whacking Sirius’s back.
Sirius slowed down and laughed, the punch obviously not very effective. Remus took a calming breath. “You can take me down now. I can’t believe I even agreed to do this with you.”
Sirius pretended that the comment didn’t sting a little and began to lower the broom. “You really need to loosen up. It was just a bit of fun.”
“I refuse to speak to you.”
Remus didn’t speak to him even when they had landed, instead gathering his books off of the ground and setting off towards the castle, practically radiating irritation. James watched his retreating back and turned to Sirius, smirking. “What’d you do to him this time?”
Sirius scowled at his best friend and hit his arm. “I just did a few loops and turns. He’s just overreacting.” The pair began to walk towards the castle. James slung his broom over his shoulder, and glanced at Sirius. “Moony hates flying, you know that. You’re lucky you even got him to come down here.”
Sirius couldn’t help but feel a little guilty for making Remus upset, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to tell James that. “We’ll work it out. For now, I’ve got to concentrate on the Potions homework.”
James rolled his eyes. “You mean you need to copy off of Moony’s homework.”
Sirius shoved James playfully, and the bespectacled teen stumbled slightly to the left, laughing. “You need to copy off of him too, so I suggest you stay quiet.”
They were soon bent over a table in the Gryffindor common room, stressing over the large amount of homework they had been assigned by Slughorn.
“How the hell am I supposed to know what two potions make a completely different one?” Sirius groaned, flopping himself back against Remus’s chair, where he was curled up with a book.
“Maybe you should start paying attention. Then you might know,” Remus said absentmindedly, turning a page in his thick book.
Sirius did a mental fist pump. Remus was speaking to him again. “You could help me?” he asked hopefully, his lower lip jutting out in a pout. Remus peered at him over the top of his book. “No. Not after the broomstick incident.”
“I’ll give you chocolate.”
“No, Sirius. This is stupid. Just do your own homework.”
Sirius sighed and lifted his head up from against Remus’s chair. He squinted at his homework like he was trying to decipher a foreign language. “But I don’t understand any of it!” he gestured passionately towards the piece of parchment. There was only a small paragraph written on it.
Remus glanced at the parchment and smirked. “You’ve made it that far.”
Sirius gave Remus a pleading look. “That’s all I know, Moony!”
Remus rolled his eyes and dog-eared his book, setting it down beside him. He slid out of his chair and knelt next to Sirius, pointing at two potions in the textbook laying out it front of them. “Polyjuice and the Shrinking Potion go together. They make the growth potion because the transformative quality in the Polyjuice mixes with the size factor in the Shrinking Potion.”
“Thank you,” Sirius said dramatically, jotting down the information. Remus gave him a smile that was a little more than friendly, and Sirius felt his heart skip a beat.
Peter, Remus, James and Sirius all remained in the common room long after everyone else, Remus helping Sirius with his History of Magic homework, and James competing against Peter in Wizard’s chess. Soon, though, James and Peter rose out of their chairs, yawning. James stretched and said, “Me and Pete are off to bed. Coming?”
“No,” Sirius said at the same moment Remus said, “Yes.”
Sirius gave him a look. “No, you’re staying here and helping me with my homework.” Yes, he needed help, but that was only part of the reason Sirius wanted Remus to stay. He wanted his company.
“I’m tired, Sirius.”
Sirius put on his best disappointed face and looked at Remus mournfully. Remus sighed. “Fine. But only for a little while.”
James and Peter disappeared up the staircase. Remus and Sirius worked in silence, with the occasional correcting comment from Remus.
“No, the Great Goblin War occurred in thirteen eighty-five, not thirteen ninety-five.” Remus said, leaning over to point out where the mistake was.
“Oh, yeah,” Sirius answered, turning to look at Remus and inhaling quickly. The two were almost nose-to-nose, and Sirius found himself entranced by Remus’s big, tawny irises. “It was… no problem….” Remus muttered quietly, eyes glued to Sirius’s lips. They leaned in closer until their lips finally met, and they shared a kiss.
Sirius broke off in the middle of the kiss, an expression of utter horror on his face. “Oh my God,” he whispered. Remus was speechless. Sirius leapt to his feet and raced up the stairs to the boys’ dormitory, the door slamming behind him. Remus finally found his voice and called out, “Sirius, wait!”
But, he was left alone in the common room anyway. Remus buried his face in his hands and refused to cry, swallowing back a lump of tears. That hadn’t gone as well as he might’ve hoped.
Meanwhile, Sirius lay flat on his back on his four-poster, staring at the ceiling with his curtains drawn. He wasn’t gay. He can’t be gay. He was completely, one hundred percent straight. He was strictly into the ladies. But why had he enjoyed the kiss with Remus?
‘This can’t be happening,’ he thought, turning over and stuffing his face into his pillow, groaning softly. ‘I can’t seriously have a crush on Remus Lupin.’
Breakfast was one of the most awkward things Sirius had ever experienced. He refused to look Remus in the eye, and no one was talking. James was glancing between Remus and Sirius, obviously trying to decipher what was going on between them. The air seemed to be thick with tension, enough so that you could cut it with a knife.
“So….” James drew out the ‘o’ and glanced around awkwardly. Sirius glanced down at his plate, his appetite fading. He glanced at Remus from the corner of his eye. Remus was picking at his food, looking sulky.
James suddenly slammed his fist down onto the table, rattling their dishes and making them all jump. Several Gryffindors leaned over and glared at him.
“What the bloody hell is wrong with you two?” James asked, gesturing wildly between Remus and Sirius.
Neither Sirius nor Remus said a word, and Peter engaged in an awkward conversation with Arthur Weasley. James grunted angrily and stood up, walking down the table until he sat by Lily, who complained loudly.
Sirius almost turned to Remus, grinning at Lily’s obvious dislike, but the tension stopped him short. He turned back to his food, his appetite suddenly diminished.
James cornered Sirius in Potions class, plopping himself down next to Sirius and gave him a wicked grin. “Now, you are going to tell me what’s going on between you and Remus.”
“There’s nothing going on!” Sirius said a bit too quickly, and James immediately took this as proof. “There’s something going on, and I’ll bet fifty galleons it was your fault too.”
Sirius bit his lip and leaned over, whispering, “I’ll tell you after class, alright?”
Class went by a bit too quickly, in Sirius’s opinion, and soon he found himself in front of James, being questioned. He had no idea of how to tell James of the situation. ‘Hey, James, I’m gay! Oh, and I also have a crush on Remus, but when we kissed I ran away like the prick that I am! I hope you understand and know how to fix this problem!’
No, he’d have to be subtle. But not too subtle, seeing as this was James. “I, um, I have a crush,” he began, fidgeting in his robes. James snorted. “That’s new. What, does Remus have a crush on her also?”
“It’s, er, it’s a bloke.”
Sirius would have been laughing at the shocked expression on James’s face had he not been so nervous. “Oh. So, you’re…?” James asked. Sirius couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Yeah, I am.”
James seemed to puff up considerably. “Well, I’m fine with it. You like who you like. What does this have to do with – oh.” James’s eyes had widened a fraction of an inch. Sirius had to applaud him on his detective work; he had expected James to be much slower than that.
“We kissed last night,” Sirius blurted, suddenly unable to withstand the awkward silence that had been occurring. “What?” James squeaked. “But I ran away from him, James, and now he hates me!”
James took a moment to respond. “So you walked out on him? Why? I though you liked him.”
“I do, I was just… I don’t know! But I don’t know how to fix this!” Sirius ran a hand through his hair anxiously. James blinked and raised an eyebrow. “Just apologize.”
“Um.”
“You have to give him roses and chocolate, Moony loves chocolate. Then, if you want, just ask him out on a date.”
“So, chocolate?”
“And roses. Don’t forget the roses.”
***
Sirius forgot the roses. He had only gotten Remus a large box of chocolates and attached a small note to the box, telling Remus to meet him in the common room at midnight.
Oh, well. Remus would have to live without the flowers.
***
When Remus walked up to the dormitory, the last thing he’d expected was to find a gigantic box of chocolates resting on his pillow. He picked up the card attached and read it, hope filling his chest.
Remus,
Meet me in the common room at midnight. I have something to tell you.
-Sirius
Remus found himself waiting anxiously for midnight to arrive, and when it did, he tried to restrain himself from racing down the stairs. Instead, he walked down them quickly.
Sirius was already in the circular room, sitting on a sofa and obvious waiting impatiently. Even though Remus was two minutes early, he still felt slightly guilty for making him wait. “Hey,” he greeted, sitting himself in his favorite armchair.
“I’m sorry,” Sirius immediately said. Remus was slightly taken aback. It was unlike Sirius to apologize. “What?”
“I’m so sorry. I walked out on you last night, even though I really wanted to kiss you. I was scared, I didn’t want to admit to myself that I liked blokes, but then I kissed you, and realized that I wanted to be with you, and I know this all sounds incredibly sappy but I’m trying my best and—”
“I forgive you!” Remus laughed, interrupting Sirius’s ramble. Sirius looked at him, shocked. “You do?”
“Of course I do. Now, come here.”
Sirius grinned, and Remus knew that he now had the regular Sirius approaching him. Remus leaned in, and his lips met Sirius’s.
This time, Sirius kissed him back. They broke off, both of them gasping for air, and Remus commented smugly, “You have dog-breath.”
Sirius grinned and leaned in for another kiss. “Don’t tell me you don’t like it.” Remus smirked. “I’m not. I’m just simply stating a fact.”
When their lips met once again, the kiss was the best either of them had ever experienced.
At the breakfast table the next morning, Peter felt a little awkward. He had just witnessed Sirius and Remus exchange a quick kiss, and James had suddenly popped up with Lily in tow, and arm around her waist. He decided not to comment, and instead helped himself to his eggs. He didn’t want to know, anyway.