A/N – I apologise for the lateness of this update. All my previous chapters were at least a little pre-written, and I've had a major block where this story is concerned. It is beginning to clear, which is good as I really love this story and would like to finish. I promise I will never abandon it however. At the moment I'm estimating there will be around two more chapters.

Disclaimer – I own none of the characters only the situations I put them into.

X

Harmony – The sound of two or more notes made at the same time.

Christmas passed in a frenzy of snow fights, last minute homework and seasonal cheer. Both Remus as Sirius had planned to stay for the holidays, and James and Peter opted to remain behind with them for Christmas day, returning home only for New Year.

Sirius and Remus had still not revealed their relationship to the other two boys. It wasn't that Sirius didn't trust them, he was pretty sure that James knew about his preferences, though they had never talked about it. Sirius just wasn't sure if he wanted anyone knowing about Remus and him until they had worked out what was going on between them.

"I sort of assumed we were going out." Remus had admitted, flushing slightly, one day when Sirius had queried him on it.

"I guess." He had replied uncertainly. "But to be going out with someone I've always thought you actually had to go out somewhere with them."

"Not much chance of that round here." Remus said dryly.

Sirius had contemplated Remus' words for the next few days, before the solution hit him as hard as the hand he smacked against his head when he realised how stupid he had been.

"I know exactly where we can go." He told Remus a few days after Christmas.

"Where?" Remus had enquired.

"It's a secret." Sirius grinned. "I was thinking we could go on New Year's Eve? James and Pete won't be here, so it's the perfect time." Intrigued, Remus had agreed, Sirius still refusing to tell him the location he had in mind.

As planned, on the night of the 31st Sirius led Remus out of the castle towards the back of the greenhouses. Jumping over the fence surrounding the castle ground, Sirius turned to face the other boy, peering up at him with wild eyes.

"Hurry up Remus," he hissed "we'll be seen if you take that long to get over the bloody thing."

"Embarrassed to be seen with me now are we?" Remus jested as he climbed down the fence to stand next to Sirius.

"Never embarrassed." Sirius replied, catching Remus' hand and pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

"Just embarrassing." Remus muttered, his cheeks burning.

"Come on, we have a bit of a way to walk."

Sirius led them down through the woods surrounding the castle, seeming to know where he was going though Remus was completely lost.

"Is this the part where you kill me?" he joked as Sirius walked past a tree Remus could have sworn he'd seen twice before.

"I have much better uses for you and none of them appeal to me if you're dead."

"Oh really?" Remus enquired, elevating an eyebrow. "Do tell."

"How about I show you?" Sirius whispered, backing Remus up against the cool trunk of a large pine tree.

"I might have let you if you hadn't said that cheesy line." Remus laughed, leaning back against the tree as Sirius followed him, pressing demanding lips against Remus' mouth which he quickly parted to allow Sirius entrance.

Sirius felt hands glide up to his shoulders and then suddenly Remus had swapped their positions, pushing Sirius up against the trunk and it was Sirius' mouth being invaded by Remus' tongue, not that he particularly minded.

"We'd better go." Sirius panted minutes later. "I still have lots of things to show you." Remus agreed and they continued their journey until they reached the edge of a small cliff. Leading them down the sloped side, Sirius walked over to a large natural alcove set into the rock at the base and walked into the darkened passage. Remus followed and stood next to Sirius wandering what he could possibly have to show him there.

"Here she is." Sirius said proudly, drawing off the plastic sheet covering a large motorbike with a flourish. Remus gaped at the gleaming black vehicle.

"It's a motorbike."

"Yes it is." Sirius agreed.

"You have a motorbike in a cave in the middle of a forest."

"Yes I do." Sirius admitted.

"Has anyone ever told you that you are not like other people?" Remus asked, shooting Sirius a slightly worried look.

"Why yes." Sirius said, not looking the least upset about it. "You did in fact, last week I think."

"And I presume you expect me to get onto the monstrosity." Remus inquired, his tone making it absolutely certain that he would be doing no such thing.

"Oh come on Remus!" Sirius cajoled. "You'll enjoy it once we get going, I promise. If not you can just yell at me to stop and we'll stop."

"You don't even have helmets!" Remus protested.

"They give me helmet hair, and I do not look good with helmet hair. You would not like me with helmet hair."

The two boys pushed the bike to the main road just out of the forest, by which time Sirius had convinced Remus to give the bike a go. Needless to say Sirius did not listen and did not stop when Remus yelled at him, and by the time they reached their destination Sirius knew he would have to do something amazing to get Remus back in his good books. Luckily enough for Sirius the sight of where he was planning on taking them that night had Remus' angry words dying in his throat. It was New Year's Eve and the crowds were out en masse. People were dressed up in varying stages of finery and costume and, as the two young men followed the crowd in front of them, they could make out neon lights from the club everyone was walking towards.

As they approached the club, Sirius could hear the music and increased his pace, eager to show Remus the other side of music. They were stopped briefly at the door by a bouncer, but on recognising Sirius they were admitted without a problem. The outside of the club was plastered with "Happy New Year 1978" banners. As the door opened and the sound rushed over Sirius he felt his face split into a vibrant smile. Looking to his right he saw Remus watching him, an almost savage grin spread over his face, as he took in everything around him.

"This," Sirius said proudly "is proper music. Rock, pop, soul, anything you can dance to they have it."

"I like it." Remus said, his heart rate speeding up as the heavy beat of the music resonated in his chest.

"I'm assuming you've never been somewhere like this before."

"I haven't been anywhere in the past few years." Remus laughed. "And this is certainly not the kind of place I would have gone to had I been allowed out." Sirius squeezed his hand encouragingly and Remus down the stairs into the twisting crowd below. The young men made their way to the bar easily procuring drinks as Sirius was eighteen and Remus looked it. They talked for a while but it was difficult to hear each other over the music. Finally Sirius got up and, offering Remus his hand, asked "Dance with me?"

"You want to dance with me?" Remus asked in surprise.

"Of course I do." Sirius smiled.

He led them across the dance floor towards the speakers where the bodies were thickest and the music was loudest. All around people were writhing in time to the music. They moved seamlessly along to the deep bass; jumping, swaying, grinding up against each other as they tried to feel the music deeper, to connect to the person dancing with them and the beat that pounded through their bodies.

Sirius pulled Remus towards him, relinquishing his hold only when their bodies stood flush against each other, and began moving in time to the music. Remus responded, slipping his arms around Sirius' neck and pressing their bodies closer.

Remus was wondering why no-one was giving them any problems when he looked over towards the darkened wall behind them and saw couples, most both male, half dancing half grinding up against each other. Snickering slightly he nodded his head towards the sight as Sirius asked him why he was laughing.

"It's quite funny." Remus explained. "Fenrir always has a lot to say about gay people. He told me that they are unnatural, that there aren't many in the world anyway, and those that are gay are so ashamed they usually hide it by getting married etc."

"I'm just laughing because the people in here certainly don't look ashamed to be gay. They seem to be enjoying it quite a lot actually."

Sirius gave a wry smile. "Yeah, they're pretty open to both gay and straight people here. I wonder if that's why I liked it so much. Because even if I was pretending I wasn't, coming here allowed me to see that gay men can be accepted."

"I think Fenrir's gay." Remus said suddenly.

"Why is that?" Sirius asked in surprise.

"I'd catch him watching me sometimes, and other men if they were at the house. Never the women. But he always had a strange expression on his face. Like he was disgusted by something, which is why I never thought he liked them."

"But you said he hates gay people."

"Exactly. Methinks the bastard doth protest too much." Remus grinned. Sirius laughed and started to say something in return when he heard the first bars of one of his favourite songs blast through the speakers.

"Shush!" he exclaimed suddenly. "No talking. Nothing must break this perfection." Remus shot him an amused look but complied, happy to simply dance to the music.

Sirius could feel a force rushing through him, escalating as it went. He needed to keep dancing, to feel the music around him, to get closer to Remus. Pulling back slightly, Sirius captured Remus' gaze as the song picked up in speed, the rhythm becoming smoother yet increasingly frantic. Remus drew Sirius closer, one hand round his neck, the other splayed possessively over his hip. He could feel a rising desire in himself, and smiled as he felt and answering need in Sirius. The two moved in harmony with each other, dancing in a way neither had been aware they could. Remus skimmed his other hand down Sirius' back to join the first and pulled their hips sharply together, a look of satisfaction colouring his face at Sirius' sharp intake of breath. Remus slid his lips down the column of Sirius' throat to rest against his pulse point, nipping it lightly then laughing as Sirius slapped his arse with a whispered command of "Behave."

Suddenly they were spinning, bodies on the dance floor whirling round them as each person felt the music calling to them. Sirius was panting, he could feel Remus' similarly laboured breathing on his neck, smell the sweat and alcohol and something that was entirely Remus radiating from the other boy. Remus was a barrage on his senses, each little thing acting like a siren's call to Sirius' over sensitized nerve endings. The crowd moved together in synchronised chaos, a single mass of writhing bodies. Remus felt Sirius backing him off the dance floor and had only seconds to contemplate the thought that maybe teasing the dark haired man hadn't been the best idea before he felt his back hit the wall and Sirius' mouth came down over his, ceasing all brain activity unnecessary for kissing. It was haste and heat and roaming hands all wrapped up in the continuous beat of the music, thumping in tandem with their racing hearts.

Through their lust frenzied haze the two young men were aware of the throng behind them shouting as one.

"TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN…"

"I think it's almost midnight." Sirius murmured unnecessarily against Remus' lips.

"SIX, FIVE, FOUR…"

"That much is obvious." Remus agreed, slanting his mouth over Sirius' again.

"THREE, TWO, ONE…HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Remus broke away laughing as he looked up at the shower of glittering confetti, tumbling down from huge nets suspended above the crowd. Sirius saw them fall through the reflection in Remus' eyes, preferring to watch the awed look on Remus' face than the spectacle behind him.

"Happy New Year, Sirius." Remus smiled. Sirius didn't reply, just kissed him again.

"I think we should tell James. He's coming back today." Sirius stated the next day.

"Go away." Remus muttered, burying his head under his pillow.

"I've been thinking it over" Sirius continued, completely ignoring Remus' order "and it makes more sense. I don't think James will react badly to it…"

"Urgh, too bright…shut the cutains…mph."

"he can tell Peter…"

"Stop talking so loudly…head hurts."
"and then we wont have to hide it all the time."

"Fuck off Sirius!" Remus snarled, sitting up so he was face to face with the other boy, who simply leant forward and pecked him on the mouth.

"If this is you after a hangover darling I don't think I'll be taking you out drinking anymore."

"This isn't me after a hangover." Remus stated, falling back onto the bed again. "This is me with less than…" he looked at the clock "six hours sleep. It's nine o'clock Sirius. Why are you awake?"

"This is just you sleep deprived?" Sirius asked, looking down at Remus in horror. "What are you like with a hangover?"

"I don't get hangovers." Remus declared.

"O thank God." Remus threw a pillow at Sirius' head then turned to face the opposite side of the bed.

"Don't sulk." Sirius smirked. "I actually find it kind of cute. It's endearing."

"Did you just call me cute?" Remus asked, outraged.

"Yep," Sirius grinned. "You're cute when you're mad too."

"I cannot believe you just called me cute. Twice!"

"Don't argue with your nature. Just embrace the fact that underneath your taciturn, unpleasant, vicious exterior is a soft cuddly person just waiting to be released."

Remus could do nothing but stare at Sirius in shock, uncertain as to whether he was being insulted or complimented, but suspecting the former.

"You're sort of like a sheep in wolf's clothing." Sirius continued, suddenly struck by the aptness of the description.

"I'll show you a sheep in wolf's clothing." Remus threatened, springing out from under the covers to tackle Sirius and pushing him off the bed and onto the floor with a crushed "Umph!" as Remus landed on top of him.

"Well this is rather uncomfortable." Sirius stated.

"I'm not moving until you retract your previous statement." Remus declared.

"Which one?" Sirius gasped.

"Any that insulted my masculinity."

Sirius smirked up at the other boy. "Now come on Remus, out of the two of us I think it's kind of obvious which is the more masculine."

"Are you insinuating that it's you?" Remus laughed.

"Of course I am." Sirius said. "I mean, I'm broader for one thing. And I'm taller than you."

"Excuse me! You are not taller, we're the same height. And you have long hair, how is that not girly?"

"Hey! Leave my hair out of this. My hair is gorgeous."

"Ok, I think that last comment just proved how much more alpha I am than you."

"I'll prove how much more alpha I am than you." Sirius said, grabbing the back of Remus' head and pulling him down for a fierce kiss whist trying to flip their position. Suddenly the door crashed open and James burst in, slamming it behind him blindly as he caught sight of the two boys lying on the floor who immediately broke apart.

"Well, at least we don't have to explain to James anymore." Sirius said, grinning at the shocked expression on his friend's face and the embarrassed one on Remus'.

"Sirius!" Remus hissed, getting up off the other boy as fast as humanly possible and nudging Sirius in the side when he didn't follow suit.

"No Sirius, I think I'd still like you to explain." James drawled.

"Well, you see Jamesie my boy, whilst trying to befriend young Remus here he took my attentions in the wrong light and jumped me. I put up a good fight, but in the end even I could not win against his passions."

"Sirius!" Remus hissed again, this time kicking him in the side. "Tell him the truth or I will tell him what you persuaded me to do on his bed last night."

"Oh my God Sirius, tell me you didn't. That is not cool man!"

"We didn't do anything on your bed." Sirius reassured him, shooting Remus a dirty look. "Remus just wants to get me in trouble…it was Peter's bed we did stuff on."

"Aaagh! I don't want to know!" James screamed.

"Ok, I'll just explain though Jame-"

"La la la! I'm not listening. I can't hear my best friend talking about his unexpected gay relationship with our up till recently chronically antisocial roommate." James shouted, sticking his fingers in his ears and dancing out of Sirius' reach as he tried to remove them.

"Oh for God's sake." Remus exclaimed as he walked over to James, grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to sit down on the nearest bed.

"Right." He said, grabbing Sirius and doing the same thing. "Both of you will stop being so immature, you will talk about this seriously and I will come back in fifteen minutes to find you two have got over this, and by getting over this I do not mean beating the shit out of each other or releasing James' latent homosexual feelings, Sirius."

"My what?" James spluttered. Remus winked at him and left the room to go and find Lily. He had become a lot closer to her recently and he knew she would not be pleased if she had to find about his and Sirius' relationship from her boyfriend.

The two boys left in the room stared awkwardly at each other, neither sure of what to say.

"I'm ok with it." James said finally.

"Really?" Sirius asked in surprise. "You're not going to throw a hissy fit?"

"I'll have a short one when you leave the room, but I'll get over it."

"Or judge me because I'm different?"

"You were already different. And I judge you anyway."

"Or refuse to sleep in the room of not just one, but two raging homos?"

"No. I'm actually glad there are two of you. I know you would have found it difficult to resist my rakish charms if you didn't have someone else to distract your attentions." James grinned. Sirius stared at him for a second, before launching his body at James with a cry of "Darling, your rakish charms are simply too overwhelming. I must have you now!"

"But honestly," James said a minute later, after he had detached Sirius from his leg, as they sat with their backs against the bed "it doesn't bother me. You could fancy doors but you'd still be my friend." Sirius sniggered at the idea of him being attracted to doors.

"I'm serious." James said, catching Sirius' eye.

"Thanks James. It means a lot." Sirius said, maintaining eye contact. "But you're wrong. I'm Sirius."

"Ouch!" Sirius said as James slapped him upside the head.

"Remus!" Lily called as she caught sight of him leaving the boys' room. "I was looking for you."

"What's wrong?" Remus asked, taking in her flushed cheeks and erratic breathing.

"Slughorn just tipped me off that a singing scout might make an appearance at the Academy today and I haven't practised all holiday. I came back early for that reason."

"Do you want me to listen to you?" Remus asked in confusion, not really sure how else he could help.

"Could you accompany me?" Lily asked, her eyes pleading.

"Why not get one of the actual accompanists?" Remus enquired.

"Because most of them are still on holiday, and those who I know are here aren't very good at sight-reading, which I know you're brilliant at, and I -"

"Ok, ok." Remus said, cutting lily off mid-babble. "I would be happy to accompany you."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Lily squealed, throwing her arms around Remus' neck.

"I'm only accompanying you." Remus said, bemused at her enthusiasm.

"I'm really nervous about this." Lily explained. "If I'm good enough this could be my chance. And I always do better with someone I know playing with me."

"I can play with you for the scout if you want?" Remus offered. Lily hugged him again. Remus detached himself suggesting they leave then, if Lily had her music with her.

"Where are you going?" Lily asked when, instead of turning left to go downstairs towards the practice rooms, Remus started walking in the opposite direction.

"I have somewhere better than the practice rooms." Remus smiled. "I'm not particularly fond of spending long periods of time down there. It makes me feel…trapped."

Remus led them to what he now thought of as his room, and opened the door for Lily to step inside first. Remus had, with Sirius' James and Peter's help, straightened the place out a bit. They'd dusted, aired and cleaned the bulk of the room, chucked out the old moth-eaten carpet which covered the majority of the floor to reveal the old wooden floorboards beneath. The final touch had been to clean the little square panes in the bay window. It was surprising how much lighter the room looked from that simple adjustment.

"Oh Remus, this is amazing." Lily breathed, enraptured. "How ever did you find it?"

"I didn't." Remus told her. "Sirius did."

"Hmm, I'm not surprised Sirius was sneaking around places he shouldn't be." Lily sniffed dismissively.

"He's not that bad." Remus said, a small smile gracing his face. Lily caught the smile and gave him a horrified look.

"Oh Remus, please tell me you don't." she whispered.

Remus shot her a bemused look. "Tell you I don't what?"

"You're totally in love with Sirius, aren't you?"

"I'm what?" Remus spluttered, taken aback by the abruptness of the question.

"I can tell." Lily insisted. Damn women and their powers of observation. "But, oh Remus, he's the worst person you could have picked. Have you not seen how he is with women?"

"Lily." Remus said, confused as to what she was saying but glad she had brought the topic up as he wad been deliberating how to tell her. "Sirius likes men. Well, he likes women too, but he likes men more." Lily gaped at him, her eyes as wide as her mouth, which was hanging open in a rather unattractive depiction of a fish.

"Is it really that hard to believe?" Remus asked her in amusement.

"But…but, he - all the women!"

"Overcompensation if ever I saw it." Remus smirked.

Pulling herself together Lily fixed Remus with one of her patented glares and asked "Have you told him you love him?"

"Um, no." Remus said.

"Why?" Lily demanded.

"Because I'm not sure if I do?" Remus hedged.

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course you do. And if he likes guys you might be in with a chance."

"We're going out, Lily." Lily performed her fish impression again.

"I don't believe it! How could you have withheld this information Remus Lupin?" she shrieked, slapping him on the arm. "And of all the people out there why did you pick him?"

"Hey!" Remus said, offended on Sirius' behalf. "There's nothing wrong with Sirius."

"So why haven't you told him you love him?" Lily asked, ignoring Remus' previous comment.

"Look Lily, we've not been together than long and things are…complicated. It's difficult to explain." Both of them stood in silence for a moment before Lily smiled and grabbed Remus' hand, dragging him to the piano.

"Ok, I'll let it go -for now anyway- let's practise."

But whilst Remus was playing Lily's words revolved around his mind. Thinking back to the amazing night before he wondered if she maybe had a point.

A/N – I hope you enjoyed the chapter and it was worth the wait. Please review, even if it's to constructively criticize. I've missed hearing what people think.

I've started to put news about my stories on my profile, which I will try to update regularly, just in case anyone wants to know what's going on with them. That way I'm not cluttering up my fics with information about other things I'm writing.