“Truth or dare?”
Sirius contemplated his response as he skipped a stone across the surface of the lake. The idea of playing an overtly childish game while James and Peter served in detention had seemed like a brilliant idea, and thus far, it had been quite entertaining. But he had already done four dares in a row,; he wanted to surprise Remus this time. It was just a matter of whether changing tactics would actually be a surprise.
“Five second rule, Padfoot,” Remus reminded. “Pick one.”
Shrugging, Sirius said, “Fine. Truth.”
Remus raised a brow. “Interesting. You never pick truth.”
“Five second rule, Moony,” Sirius mocked, “so give me my question.”
“Okay, okay.” Remus thought for a couple of seconds before saying, “Mary MacDonald or Lydia Holmes?”
Coughing in disgust, Sirius said, “Neither. Mary will talk a bloke into an early grave and Lydia looks like the business end of a fire-crab.”
“Really?” Remus asked, frowning. “I rather like Lydia. She smells good.”
Chuckling, Sirius said, “Only you, Moony. Only you.” As his laughter died down, he said, “Truth or dare.”
“Dare,” Remus said, much to Sirius’s surprise.
Every other round, Remus had chosen Truth and got away with saying as little as possible, so much so that it actually seemed like cheating. Sirius had been dared to jump into the lake fully clothed and sing ‘Mary Had a Hippogryff’ while doing a headstand — and that was only the beginning. He could hardly keep the smirk off his lips at this brand new opportunity for revenge. “Oh, Moony, how you’re going to wish you never said that.”
“I thought you might say that,” Remus said.
“I want you to walk up to Lydia and tell her you like how she smells.”
Remus laughed, but his laugh morphed into a whimper when he saw that Sirius wasn’t joking. “You know I can’t do that. I’m a prefect; I can’t just go around upsetting people.”
“You won’t be upsetting her,” Sirius wheedled. “You’ll be doing her a favour. No one even talks to her, and you’ll make her day.”
With a groan, Remus said, “All right, but if she cries, you have to say sorry to her for making me do it.”
“Done.”
The boys strolled toward the castle and back to Gryffindor Tower. Lydia could often be found in the corner of the common room with her overlarge nose shoved in her Arithmancy book, muttering to herself. It wasn’t a surprise, then, that they found her doing exactly that.
Sirius clapped Remus on the shoulder and said, “I have faith in you, my friend. You are a Marauder through and through; you can do this.”
The pep talk had apparently bolstered Remus’s confidence, as he strode toward Lydia confidently. Sirius watched as he stood over their overly-studious classmate, and he silently cheered when Remus gave her his best smile. However, that only lasted a few seconds — until she closed her book and bashed it onto Remus’s foot. Sirius’s jaw dropped, and the few students who were inside on that warm spring day burst out in laughter as the would-be flatterer hobbled back toward the portrait hole.
When they were safely in the corridor, Sirius tried and failed to stifle his own amusement. “I had no idea she was that feisty. That’s hot.”
“Now do you see why it was a bad idea?” Remus said, his face still pinched into a wince. “Women don’t exist for your own personal amusement, Padfoot.” With that, he backed against the wall and rubbed his foot gingerly. “Damn, I think it’s broken.”
Feeling guilty, Sirius said, “It’s my turn. Feel free to make me pay for this, mate.”
“Are you mad? I think we’re done with this; my foot agrees.”
Shaking his head, Sirius said, “No, I insist.” He leant his head closer, catching Remus’s eye, and said more quietly, “Please.”
“Okay,” Remus groaned. “Truth or dare.”
“Truth.”
“I thought you wanted me to make you pay for this.”
“Truth hurts, mate.”
Remus sighed. “Um, let’s see...” His brow furrowed in concentration before he gave Sirius a sidelong look. “Tell me your deepest, darkest secret.”
Sirius’s face blanched. “You might want to pick something else. This isn’t a good idea.”
“As you said, the truth hurts. My foot hurts, so I’d say that would make us even.”
Words could not describe how much Sirius wished that Remus had picked something else. He wanted to rewind time and choose ‘Dare’. There was no way his most profound secret was going to end in any other way but yet more pain, though he would’ve happily taken a broken foot instead. “I can’t, Remus. It could seriously cock up a lot of things.”
“Let me be the judge of that. I know who you really are, and nothing’s going to change that.” When Sirius didn’t say anything, Remus added, “If you want, I’ll pick something else. Or better yet, we can forget about it altogether.”
But Sirius couldn’t bring himself to let it go. He felt like his honour was being challenged, and, if anything, he could view it as an opportunity to get something off his chest. For some time, there had been a need to know Remus on a vastly different level than any of his other friends. Even James. That he was cornered into taking the plunge with zero time to prepare for it, though, was borderline terrifying, but everything inside of him rebelled against the cowardice involved in backing out. Without another word, Sirius framed Remus’s face in his hands and crushed their lips together.
He’d expected a fight or struggle, but Remus did neither. Encouraged, Sirius softened the kiss, conveying far more of his true, pent-up feelings, but he wanted to know more than how his own body was reacting to this impromptu confession. He had to know how Remus felt about it, so he slowly backed away and met his friend’s eyes. Or at least he tried to, but they were closed. “Remus, say something. Please.”
“Ask me,” said Remus, still not looking at Sirius. “Ask me again.”
“What?” Sirius had expected rejection, a punch in the face, or at the very least some sort of comprehensible reply, but not... whatever it was that Remus wanted him to say.
“Ask me again: ‘Truth or Dare’.”
Not sure where this was going, Sirius said hesitantly, “Truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
“What the hell is going on, Moony?”
Opening his mouth, Remus finally met Sirius’s gaze. Several shifting emotions flitted in Sirius’s chest as he prepared for the worst, for a long list of reasons why this whole idea had been a disaster. However, instead of a reply, Remus pulled Sirius back toward him and kissed him with equal fervour. Their lips moved in tandem, as if they’d done this a thousand times before, and this secret side of Sirius wanted more and more of Remus than he could have ever imagined.
When they backed away from each other, Sirius couldn’t speak, but Remus asked, “How long?”
“A couple years. You?”
“Never gave it a thought until just now.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“How, er, was it? Does this mean that you and I are, you know... a thing?”
Remus shrugged. “I have no idea. I know it would shock Prongs and Wormtail, not to mention disappoint about half the female population of Hogwarts.”
Sirius smirked. “You know me, Moony. Since when have I ever given a Hippogryff’s hindquarters about what anyone thinks?”
“Good point.”
His joking demeanour dissipating, Sirius asked, “Really, though, Moony, how do you want to do this, er, whatever it is?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never snogged a boy before.”
With an eyeroll, Sirius said, “You’ve never snogged a girl before, either.”
“So, then, I would think the expertise would lie with you.”
Pulling Remus close to him by the waist, Sirius said, “Well, if I’m in charge, then I say you and me in the Potions storeroom at midnight.”
“Done.”
“Done?” Sirius almost didn’t dare believe that he’d heard right.
“Done.”