BEST LAID PLANS
The hopefully-somewhat-anticipated sequel to Perfect Imperfection. You'll want to read that one first for this one to make perfect sense. Thanks to Liz for the spanking, semi-colon-fighting beta! ;)Remus hurried through the common room and out the portrait hole, not daring to look back and make sure Sirius had indeed remained in the dorm. The halls were quiet, and no footsteps seemed to be matching his, so finally the boy let out a deep breath and relaxed.
Well, he thought, a wry grin tweaking his lips, that was certainly interesting.
He'd hardly heard himself as he rambled to Sirius; he'd practiced that confession in his mind dozens of times in the last year. He never expected to have the opportunity or reason to actually speak it aloud, though.
Really, he didn't know what had come over him.
The raucous laughter from the Great Hall grew louder, and he forced the issue into the back of his mind. The high concentration of gossip mongers hovering over the tables like the busiest of bees meant that anything other than complete attention to his surroundings would be construed as "something on his mind" and a small-scale assault on his mood would drag out the meal far longer than he desired.
Luck was on his side this evening, though. The grand event that was the Head Girl's eighteenth birthday consumed the mood of the general student population, and Remus found that he was able to very easily tuck away enough food for four young men into his magically-expanded robe's pockets.
Turning back towards the doors, Remus paused: had he given Sirius enough time? And if so, was Remus ready to return to that conversation, to see what Sirius had decided? He swallowed, nervous now for the first time since the subject of love was broached by James.
He glanced around, and noted that Lily was momentarily free from birthday well wishers, so he took a moment to sidle up beside her.
"Happy birthday, Lily," he said with a gentle smile.
Lily grinned. "Thank you, Remus!" She glanced around him, then frowned. "Where's . . . the rest of them?"
Remus chuckled. "I don't think I can tell you." He leaned down, quickly kissed her cheek, and whispered, "It would ruin the surprise." Her eyes widened, and he just smiled encouragingly, then left the Hall, his nerves slightly calmed.
The trek back up to Gryffindor Tower was deliberate, but not slow. He ignored the few students lounging in the common room, and headed up the boys' staircase with purpose; unafraid of what he'd find when he entered the dormitory.
When he swung open the door, however, and saw four empty beds, he felt a little bit of panic twist his stomach.
"I'm over here, Moony." Sirius's voice was soft and muted. Remus frowned and moved more into the room, letting the door click shut behind him.
Sirius was sitting on the floor, leaning up against Remus's bed. "Pads, why are you on the floor?" He resisted adding, that wasn't an option.
The other boy looked up and said, unabashedly, "Because you said we'd talk, and frankly I think we're less likely to actually talk if we're sitting on a bed." He patted the floor next to him. "Come on, sit and stay a spell."
Remus smiled and folded his lanky body to fit in the space between the beds, accidentally-on-purpose sitting so his shoulder bumped up against Sirius's. "Here, help me with all this . . ." He reached into his robes and began pulling out food, handing it to Sirius who reached up to place it on his bed.
Task completed, there was nothing else to do but . . . look at Sirius's feet.
"Your shoelace is unti—"
"How long have you been in love with me, Remus?"
And here we go. "I've known since this time last year," he said, still staring at the untied shoe. "I guess I've had a crush on you for another year, maybe a bit more?" His words came out as a question, as though he didn't know the exact date and time that he fell for his friend.
Sirius sighed. "Were you ever going to tell me? I mean, if Prongs hadn't opened up the conversation?"
"Probably not," Remus shrugged. "Not as long as you kept showing interest in girls. I mean, I know I've no hope, which is why I resigned myself to this ages ago. I don't expect you to change on account of me, I mean I wouldn't even want you to change, I told you before that you're perfect and . . ." Sirius's hand clamped over his mouth, and forced his head to turn so that Remus could only stare into his friend's intense grey eyes.
"Think, Moony. Don't say anything, just think. When was the last time you saw me do anything with a girl that was more than flirting from a distance in the hallway between classes?"
Remus thought. Hard. But the only answer coming to mind was . . .
"Fourth year?" he asked, his voice muffled behind Sirius's hand and his lips brushing the other boy's palm. "You went to Hogsmeade with . . . someone. You came back with lipstick on your shirt collar." He smirked, remembering how they'd teased him. It occurred to Remus, in hindsight, that he may have felt jealous that day. At the time, he'd thought he'd eaten too many sweets at Honeydukes.
Sirius nodded. "There I was, a healthy fourteen-year-old lad being groped by a busty bird who knew exactly what she was doing . . . and it did nothing for me." Remus's eyes widened. "Do you remember how quiet I was the next few weeks? And then one morning I woke up very early, because James was having a wank and hadn't counted on anyone being able to hear him. That did something for me."
The bottom dropped out of Remus's stomach. James?
Sirius pressed his hand tighter to Remus's mouth. "I thought so, at first," he admitted, somehow knowing what Remus was thinking, "but I figured out he was just the cause of the epiphany, nothing more. Probably could have been Snivellus wanking anonymously behind the bed curtains and I would've figured it out all the same." He wrinkled his nose. "Ugh, mental image!"
Remus chuckled, and Sirius seemed to realize he was still covering Remus's mouth and dropped his hand.
"Anyway. Point is, if there's going to be a reason that you've no chance with me, it's not because you're a bloke. Really, that just increases your chances."
"Is there a reason?" Remus asked, almost afraid to know the answer.
"Well, I admit I purposefully deemed you and James and Peter off limits right from the start. Didn't want to ruin a perfectly smashing friendship."
"But . . . ?" Please let there be a 'but' . . .
Sirius grinned wickedly. "But best laid plans and all that. If you say you're in love with me, then I think I've got some catching up to do." And he ducked his head towards Remus, clumsily catching his lips in a sweet, chaste kiss that quite effectively communicated that Sirius might not have to go as far as he'd thought to catch up.
Suddenly the dorm door few open. Sirius and Remus broke apart, scooting away from each other to a less questionable distance as James announced, "I have Gobstones! I am ready to woo!"
Remus wondered if maybe he should have given Lily a more specific warning about this evening's surprise, though he couldn't help but smile at the frustrated glare Sirius sent towards their unfortunately still-lovelorn best friend.
James walked over and stared down at Remus and Sirius. "What . . . ?" he asked, frowning in confusion.
Remus shook his head and stood up, balancing himself on his mattress. "Nothing. Let's get to work. You're in no state to . . . 'woo' anyone like that." He stepped past Sirius, patting the boy's head to reassure him that they'd return to previous activities at a later date.
He didn't need to look back to feel Sirius's glare soften into a smile.
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