The Marauders: Year Three | #Wattys2016

After the Kiss

After the Kiss

Peter went after Remus, leaving James and Sirius on the stairs. Sirius was still staring at the spot where Remus had been sitting, a dumbfounded look on his face. James bit his lip and watched Peter disappear out the portrait hole, then turned to Sirius. "...well, that was unexpected," he said.

Sirius blinked for the first time in several long moments and turned his head to look up at James, his face still blank with shock. He moved his lips like he wanted to say something, but nothing quite came out.

James extended his hand and pulled Sirius to his feet. "C'mon, let's go up to the dorm and talk," he said and he looked back over his shoulder to where Lily Evans was laughing with Annalee McKinnon and Ali Prewett and Frank Longbottom across the room briefly before following Sirius up to the boy's room. He wondered what it would be like to have the guts that Remus had just done and just kiss the person that you liked without any hesitation. He didn't think he could ever be that confident around Evans.

When the door had closed behind them, Sirius stumbled to his bed and sat on the edge, staring at the floor, puzzled. James kicked off his trainers and finally shrugged off his practice jersey, tossing it over the back of his desk chair. He cleared his throat as he pulled on a fresh t-shirt and took off his glasses to polish the smudges off them. "So. Remus." he said, breathing hot air on the glasses to help with the cleaning.

Sirius asked, "Did you know?"

James shook his head, "Not a clue, mate." He slid the glasses back on to his face and looked at Sirius, "Would've told you if I knew, of course."

Sirius shook his head, "I dunno what to do."

"Yeah." James sat down on his own bed, facing Sirius. "What do you think of it?"

"What do I think of it?"

James shrugged. "I mean... it's Rey."

Sirius stared at him, then laughed, "You're not insinuating that I -- he and I --- that I'm --" Sirius laughed again, his eyes sparkling with amusement, "Oh please, Potter. You know better than that. I'm not --" the sparkle dimmed. Then he looked down at the floor. "I'm not." He shrugged.

"Alright, so you're not, that's fine, I'm not saying you are. I'm saying it's Remus."

Sirius looked up. "I know it's bloody Remus! That's why it's so horrible! He's Remus, he's the funny blonde kid with the furry little problem and the goofy laugh and the old jumper smell." James nodded. Sirius sighed and covered his eyes. "Bloody hell."

Peter had run all over the floor and the next one, checked every corridor, and had even gone all the way down by the closed library to try and find Remus, but he wasn't anywhere to be found. He returned to Gryffindor tower, worried about his mate, and feeling a bit disappointed. There was something profoundly sad about what had happened, he thought. Remus really was such a good person, Peter wished that Sirius had just been nicer about what happened...

He stepped through the portrait hole. Most of the party had dispersed. He was carrying the silver and gold party cone that Remus had been wearing all night, having found it in the hallway. He turned it over in his hands several times, staring down at it. Lily and her friends were still in the common room and though he tried to sneak off ot the dorms without them noticing, Lily beckoned him over, "Peter, tell Rey to come down here, we didn't make him blow out the candles on his cake properly and look - Annalee's sister, Marlene's given us real birthday candles for Remus's day!" she smiled excitedly.