Betting on a Date

Let me set the scene for you: Astronomy Tower, midnight, beneath the starts. Not a single cloud in sight.

Romantic, right?

And Remus looked perfect, his eyes glittering in the dark, soft breeze ruffling his hair... It was warm enough that he had rolled up the sleeves of his robs. Every once in a while a strand of hair would come loose from behind his ear and he'd absent-mindedly brush it back into place. There was something about seeing him in half-lighting, features poking through but just barely, that made my fingers go numb.

He looked over at me. It didn't matter how many times I saw his eyes, they always managed to amaze me..

"Hey, Sirius," he said softly.

Breathlessly, I said, "Hey."

"Why are you staring at me?"

"Oh... right. Sorry."

"No talking, you two!" Professor Tofty called over to us, and I was forced to crouch over my chart again. The problem with standing next to Remus in exams is that, while I could've easily completed it, no sweat, if I didn't stick a paper bag over Remus's head I'd just end up staring at him the whole time.

"Fifteen minutes left, now," Professor Tofty said, letting out a little cough.

I realized that, in my drooling state, I'd drawn Jupiter twice and misplaced Venus; I was just finishing Mar's moons when Professor Tofty called for quills down.

"I could've done that in my sleep," James said confidently as we descended the tower.

"I dunno... I think I might've switched Mars and Saturn," Peter said worriedly. "Did anyone else get two Uranuses?"

"I'll admit, I may have left out a couple moons," I said.

"Maybe if you hadn't been staring at me the whole time you would've gotten more done." The corner of Remus's mouth twitched.

I went to say a pun involving Moony and the stars but couldn't think of one.

"We're done, though!" I said instead. "No more exams. We can just relax."

"Relax?" Remus snorted. "I don't think I'll sleep properly until we've gotten our N.E.W.T.s back."

"I'm sure you got all top marks."

"Can we not talk about exams?" James groaned. "One more mention of 'quills' and I think I'll throw up."

We were all much too tired to even keep a conversation afloat as we headed back to Griffindor Tower. I went straight to our dorm but Remus remained in the common room, saying he wanted to review his tests.

It was no secret that I was head-over-heels for Remus; it was a long standing joke that I could get any girl I wanted, including a few of the teachers, but could not get Remus. I didn't find it very funny.

No one knew it, but I had a plan—one that involved much more than making sexual innuendos and masturbating quietly in my bed. No, it was a plan of action that involved Remus and I eventually doing the vertical tango (or horizontal, whichever you prefer). Of course, I cared about the boy much more than just worrying about getting in his pants, but that was an important goal of mine.

A little while later, I heard Remus come up and flop on his bed. As tired as I was, I lay there for a while listening as his breath slowed and eventually turned to snores.

The next two days were spent very lazily: lounging underneath a tree by the lake, playing chess and making fun of James and Lily as they held hands and kissed a few feet away.

Though Remus was good at many things, chess was not one of them. Even Peter could wipe him off the board, which was saying a lot. After my fifth game with him (Remus had won the second, though that was because I let him) we finally put the chess pieces away.

Remus let me lay my head in his lap and he played with my hair while he talked about the International Wizarding Convention of 1795 with Peter. They were both the type that enjoyed going over exams, but the difference between the two was that Remus actually knew what he was talking about and Remus just asked questions and looked lost.

The warmth of the sun, the lazy sound of waves lapping at the lake's edge, was enough to lull anyone to sleep, and that combined with the strokes of Remus's long fingers through my hair put me to sleep almost instantly. I drifted in and out of consciousness, coming to just long enough to hear Remus mention dragon poaching before slipping off again. Somewhere off in the distance I heard a bell, and felt Remus lightly flick the side of my face. "Wake up, Sirius, unless you don't want dinner."

Groggily, I pulled myself to my feet and rubbed my eyes. Peter, James, and Lily were heading up towards the castle. We began the walk up in silence.

"Bet I could beat you to the castle," I said suddenly.

Remus looked over at me with an eyebrow raised. "You think so? Set the price."

"All right," I said. "I win, you go on a date with me. You win... you can cut my hair."

Remus seemed to be weighing the options. Over the past year I let my hair grow to a shaggy mess that I refused to cut. It drove Remus insane.

"You know I'm faster than you, right?" he said finally. I shrugged.

"Worth a shot."

With that we both broke into a run up the sloping hill towards the castle. Surprisingly, I wasn't too far behind him, and with every passing second I was gaining. We reached the school at almost the same time—I was a step behind Remus. Knowing I probably wouldn't make it, I made a wild dive for the door; Remus's hand touched it seconds after mine.

I looked at him, chest heaving wildly. "I won," I said faintly between heavy intakes. "I beat you. I actually beat you."

Remus looked amused. "You did. Guess that means your hair's staying, then."

"And you're going on a—oh god, one minute," I panted, leaning over and resting my hands on my knees. A stitch was tugging at my side.

"I'll meet you in the Great Hall. Don't bust a lung." Remus swung the castle doors open and left me panting and wheezing on the walkway.

Once I had gained control of my breath, I realized what was wrong with the situation.

The bastard hadn't even been short of breath.

*hopes you understand what i sneakily implied at the end*

well, it's been a while since i've posted anything. really, it's been a while since i've written anything that's not weird smutty bandslash. i hope you enjoyed this cute fluffy thing, it's one of my favorite oneshots i've written. (i'm re-reading the series for what must be the 20th time and have found that i cannot handle the remus/sirius interactions. i'm currently working on another story, this one set in the prisoner of azkaban. you're too much for me, mr. moony and mr. padfoot, way too much.)

thank you for reading! 3