Kristmas Wish Fulfilled for: ericahpfa
From: ceredwen + art by myprettycabinet

Title: Fire burn, and cauldron bubble
Characters/Pairings: Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Lily Evans, Frank Longbottom, Alice Longbottom (or will be), Hestia Jones, Emmeline Vance, Dorcas Meadowes; Remus/Sirius, James/Lily, Hestia/Emmeline, Alice/Frank, other various combinations that are too numerous to list (I have taken liberties with who the seventh years were outside of those known beyond doubt in canon)
Rating: NC17
Kinks/Themes Included: Group Sex, Noncon, Magic, Frotting, Handjob, Blowjob, Anal Sex, Cunnilingus, Hate Sex (well, angry anyway), Voyeurism, Exhibition (I think), Double Penetration, Object Insertion, Femmeslash, Slash, Het; also references to or out of focus: Rimming, Bondage, Spanking, Threesome (I really hope I got it all)
Other Warnings/Content: Angst, flimsy premise (but fun).
Word Count: 17, 020
Summary/Description: A potion is brewed to help the seventh years revise for their N.E.W.T.s, but it has a surprising, unexpected side-effect.
Author's Notes: Dear prompter, you gave me so much more to work with than I first realized and I had great time writing this. This was quite a fun challenge and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you mods for putting on another great Kinky Kristmas fest. Also many thank to W for helping me brainstorm the outline, T for reading the rough, rough draft and making sure it made sense, D for the content beta, and M for the SPAG beta. Also super mega thanks to the artist for teaming up with me. The pieces you created for this are just stunning and really bring this to life.
Artist's Notes:
-Materials Used: Derwent Graphic Pencils 4B-8B, and Charcoal
-First, literally, many thanks to the mods of this filthy and wonderful community for letting me pitch-in. I would like to thank the R/S fandom in it's entirety for how nice everyone is, which really spurred me on to make more art! The writer and I had such a great give-and-take with this project. Some of the things achieved through our symbiosis are my favourite bits - she made me better, and in turn, I hope I helped too.
Art Preview:




For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
- from Shakespeare's Macbeth

---

Sirius sighed. Loudly.

It was a gorgeous, sunny summer day, and he was stuck in James' room with Remus. Remus was reading. A point of fact was that all he had done since arriving at the Potters' was read.

James had ditched them both to go stalk Lily which meant Sirius, who was not considered a guest but family, was burdened with the arduous task of keeping Remus company.

Sirius sighed again.

Remus shifted a little on the pallet that was his bed for the remaining weeks of summer and turned a page. Sirius might as well have not been in the room.

Normally, spending time alone with Remus was no hardship. Sirius usually enjoyed the other boy's calmer spirit and quick wit, but all Remus did was read and ignore him. This wouldn't do.

Sirius sighed again, punctuating his housebound pain with a loud groan.

"All right, what is it?" Remus looked up from his book.

"It is summer, Moony! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and all you've done since you got here is read ahead for class. Let's go have some fun! We should be chatting up girls in the village, not sitting around like lumps!"

"You realize the coming year is our last?"

Sirius refused to answer such a stupid question on the grounds it was an affront to his intelligence. He gave Remus a bland stare.

"N.E.W.T.s, Sirius. Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test. Don't you remember what happened to Gideon and Fabian?"

Sirius grimaced. That had just been embarrassing.

"We're different, though. We know all this stuff. It's in the bag."

"No, you and James are different. The rest of us have to work twice as hard to be half as good, and you can wipe that smirk off your face because that is the reason you are stuck inside with me."

Sirius scoffed. "You aren't that bad and you know it."

"Because I work at it, Sirius." Remus' voice was strained with frustration. "What comes to you and James so easily, I have to work my arse off for." Left hanging in the air unspoken was that given his condition, Remus would need top marks to get anywhere in the wizarding world, and even then it was probably a pipe dream.

A hush descended in the specter of Remus' likely glum future. Sirius was shamed into silence, a rarity to be certain, and lay his head back against his pillow, fingers linked and resting on his stomach. He looked down from the bunk to Remus who had returned to his reading. There was a problem and the only thing to do with that was solve it; Sirius began to chase ideas around in his mind. He ran through all the ways one could enhance their absorption and retention of knowledge. The problem was that every spell or charm he knew offered a temporary boost at best or lost its efficacy with overuse.

The seventh years had three mock exams that simulated the N.E.W.T.s. Each successive exam incorporated elements from the exam that preceded it. Remus would need to retain everything he learned in their final and most demanding year. Sirius knew Remus would kill himself with stress and spend every waking moment reading; doing well was crucial for his success in wizarding society. It was the only advantage he would be able to give himself.

"What about a potion?" suggested Sirius out loud. Many potions had permanent effects, and Sirius was fantastic at potions.

"What?" asked Remus distractedly. He took a moment to finish what he was reading before looking up at Sirius again. "You realize I can't follow along in your head, yes?"

"It would probably only work if used sparingly, but if you kept up with your classes and only used it to swot up the night before the N.E.W.T. mock-ups, it might give you the advantage you need."

Remus tapped impatiently on the open book in front of him, his eyes narrowed and his mouth twisted in a grimace of confusion. "What the bloody hell are you on about? And what do you mean 'if I keep up with my classes?'"

Sirius needed James for a plan like this. Their minds worked similarly and they were frighteningly clever when bent to the same task. Sirius could outline the basics now, while James was out, and when he returned they could perfect it together. It wouldn't be easy and would be a lot like homework over the summer, which was sacrilegious as far as Sirius was concerned, but for Remus, it was worth it.

"You are going to get full marks in all your classes," said Sirius grinning.

He bounced off the top bunk and bounded over to his trunk, rifling through socks that needed mending and pants that needed binned before hauling out several large tomes on potion-making and one comprehensive index of ingredients and their properties. He tossed the books up on his bed before grabbing a quill and some parchment and slamming the lid shut.

"Your vote of confidence might be a bit premature," said Remus dourly.

Sirius ignored him, climbing onto his bunk and setting to work.

*

Sirius was almost as excited as when he, James, and Peter showed Remus in fifth year the animagus transformations they had been working on since second. That had been a special day, and an important one, too. From that point on they were always there to keep Remus from hurting himself on the night of the full moon. This potion was important, as well. He and James knew it would work, just so long as the instructions were followed to the letter. High marks would give Remus a fighting chance at getting a job, and this potion practically guaranteed all 'O's.

In a quiet, hidden place in Sirius' heart, he knew he was yet again trying to make up for the Incident in sixth. The aftermath of his mistake had resulted in an epiphany about the careless way he treated the people he professed to care about. It was a pivotal moment for him, when he realized he could define the kind of man he wanted to be. He wanted to be a friend that could always be trusted and relied on.

It had taken months for the ice to thaw between himself and Remus, months in which Sirius had determined to show these changes in action instead of words and promises. He had given up baiting Snape altogether, and while Sirius still pulled fun, harmless pranks, he'd ceased hexing other students just because he could. When Remus had finally forgiven him, they had come to an understanding and, to Sirius' surprise, their friendship had grown closer. Sirius had taken a step toward adulthood, a thing many had doubted would ever come to pass.

Not that there wasn't still plenty of room for growth and maturity.

James and Sirius sat on the lower bunk in James' room, grinning like imbeciles and waiting for Remus to finish showering. The door opened slowly, Remus in his plain house robe and fuzzy slippers. He rubbed his hair with a towel, coming to a dead stop when he finally got a look at James and Sirius.

"Oh, god, what have you done? We aren't even at school yet!"

"Remember when I said you were going to get full marks?" asked Sirius. Excitement jangled his every nerve, causing him to quiver despite his efforts at keeping still.

"Did you let him near your dad's coffee again?" Remus asked James. "You know how he gets."

Sirius and James grinned at each other.

"It was Padfoot's idea, and it is bloody brilliant. We've been at it for the last two weeks."

It had taken all of their practiced nonchalance and stealth to work on the potion right under Remus' nose. It had also taken a fair bit of gold to procure the potion's lengthy list of costly ingredients. They hadn't brewed it yet, but the theory was solid. They had worked out the base and active ingredients, countered dangerous secondary effects, and even knew precisely what it would smell and look like when finished. Well, on parchment at least.

There were one or two potential side-effects that were dependent on the brewer's skill to control. They were mild and also amusing, and since he and James would be brewing, they had dismissed them as unnecessary concerns.

Sirius rose and handed Remus a scroll tied messily with a piece of red yarn from Mrs. Potter's knitting. Remus gave them a wary glance before sliding off the yarn and unrolling the parchment, his eyes moving rapidly back and forth as he read.

"Merlin, this is brilliant," said Remus softly. "This has got to be against at least a dozen school rules."

Sirius and James grinned at each other again. Remus hadn't said he wouldn't use it. They knew it was just too tempting; his future hung in the balance, and though it was a slim, outside shot, it was something. All 'O's on your N.E.W.T.s was hard to overlook, even if you did happen to turn into a slathering, homicidal beast once a month.

"You did this just for me?"

Sirius was suddenly afraid Remus was going to get maudlin and emotional. Remus was staring at Sirius with an expression he had never seen before. Sirius fidgeted under the weight of it until Remus remembered himself and turned his eyes back to the parchment. He was quiet for several moments as he read through all the notes Sirius and James had written about how to prepare and brew the potion and then quite suddenly Remus laughed.

"Rampant horniness is a side-effect?"

"Rampant was James' word, and only if it is brewed incorrectly. It's nothing to be concerned about, and besides, we'll be the only ones taking it with you, so it isn't as though there's any sort of temptation."

Remus flashed a quick look at Sirius and worried his lower lip for a moment in concentration. "No, you're right, of course," he said quietly. "Safe as houses with you lot. Thank you, both of you." Remus furrowed his brow. "Why are you taking it with me, again?"

"Well," said James, grinning broadly, "we're not going to feed an experimental potion to our mate that we're not willing to take ourselves."

"I, for one, am curious to see if my genius can be improved upon," said Sirius arrogantly.

Remus and James both whacked him with pillows.

*

The left hand side of the third floor corridor had been abandoned Sirius' entire career as a student. There was never a reason given as to why the only occupants were dust, stale air, and the occasional mouse, but its lack of use made it the perfect spot to set up and plan pranks or sneak off with a willing bird for a little fun.

At the fourth hallway leading off the main corridor, Sirius made a left, keeping a sharp eye on the map. Filch was known to go Marauder hunting on this floor which meant one could never be too careful. When he reached the fifth door on the right, he pulled his wand out of his back pocket and drew down the wards and unlocked the door.

He entered quietly, closing the door behind him with a soft 'snick'. Remus was at the back of the room bent over a medium-sized cauldron, his face lost in shadows, and was adding what Sirius knew should be powdered aquamarine. In the air around him, a few candles hung suspended providing scant illumination. What Sirius could see of Remus' face was tense with concentration. Sirius approached on quiet feet, watching as Remus stirred clockwise seven times. A soft, bluish glow rose up from the cauldron, shimmering off the surface of the potion. It bathed his neck and chin in a low luminescence, and made the shadows around his eyes appear even darker by contrast. It gave him a dangerous, mysterious aura that Sirius found faintly appealing.



"You're doing well, I see," said Sirius, pitching his voice low so he wouldn't startle Remus.

Remus lifted his chin sharply and audibly let out a surprised breath, his eyes a bit wild.

"I told you and Prongs not to come here-"

"Yes, yes, I know," interrupted Sirius wearily. "James is Head Boy and is no longer allowed to have any fun, and I'm one really spectacular prank away from expulsion. You're a broken record, Moony."

"I never said James wasn't allowed to have fun," said Remus testily. "The way you exaggerate."

Sirius placed his hands on the table and leaned over to look into the cauldron, ignoring that Remus hadn't contradicted his other assertion. The potion held a silver-blue sheen across its placid surface, just as he and James had predicted it would at this stage.

"You don't have to keep checking on me," continued Remus. "You and James wrote very clear instructions that even a shite potion-maker like me could follow."

"We were the ones meant to brew it, Moony, not you," said Sirius, feeling a bit cross about this now familiar argument.

Remus gestured to the potion. "You've risked enough for me as it is. If I get caught, nothing much will change, but one of you-"

"Oi! Stop with the misery, please. This is what we gave up the final halcyon days of our last summer as hooligans for. Have a little gratitude."

"The end of summer does not make you any less of a hooligan, Sirius." A smile twitched at the edges of Remus' mouth, vying for freedom. "You'll still be a hooligan long after you've left school."

"I will be a gentleman of leisure," said Sirius haughtily, winking at Remus to let him know he was only joking.

Remus lost the battle with his grin and laughed. Sirius smiled; he could always lighten Moony's moods.

"Come on, let's put a Stasis Charm on this and head back to the dorm. It's getting late. Just mark the time and you can continue with it in the morning."

Remus agreed, and when they were set to leave, they sealed the room with locks and wards and returned to the common room, keeping a careful eye on the map as it was well after curfew.

The scene they entered to was a surprising one and fraught with tension. Frank and James were glaring at one another, standing nose to nose, attempting to shout each other down. Peter was on the couch, his eyes darting between Frank and James.

"What's all this, then?" asked Sirius, flanking James. It hardly mattered to him what the quarrel was about; he would have defended James regardless, but it was especially satisfying to see James having a go at Frank.

Sirius didn't care much for Frank, but not in the way he didn't care much for Snape. Frank was a little too concerned with rules and a lot too unimpressed by James and Sirius. They usually got along passingly with him as dorm mates, but they would never be close. Frank was a talented enough wizard, but terribly ordinary. He was also a jealous wanker who envied Remus for getting the Prefect badge and James for making Head Boy. Sirius had always gotten the impression that Frank thought anyone who missed as much class or received as many detentions as they had ought to be automatically disqualified from either honor.

"Frank took it upon himself to dig through your trunk while you were out. He's having a wobbler over that potion we worked out over the summer. Found a copy of it."

"There's no way you're not using it and I know it!" accused Frank, sticking his finger in James' face, causing James' eyes to cross and his fingers to twitch closer to the wand in his pocket. "Probably brewing it somewhere secret as we speak. It isn't fair to the rest of us who actually apply ourselves."

Sirius' irritation flared, heat rising under his collar. He drew a breath to speak but was beaten to words by Remus.

"It was my idea, Frank," lied Remus calmly, settling himself on one of the couches. "If you're so worried about our having an advantage, you could always take the potion with us."

"What!" said James. Sirius merely cocked an eyebrow at Remus, admiring his cleverness. The potion was all that weasel was after anyway. Might as well let him have a taste to shut him up.

"Share and I won't go to McGonagall with this," said Frank triumphantly, seizing on the opportunity.

"Done," said Remus. He opened his Charms text and turned his attention away from the sparring teenagers.

"Oh, of course! Why the bloody hell not," said James disgustedly.

Remus simply opened his book, sparing them all a last glance as if to say 'Isn't this over now?'

"Traitors, all of you," added James, sulking as he stomped over to the portrait hole.

If Sirius had ever remembered to ward his trunk, this wouldn't have happened. Truthfully though, James was more upset than Sirius was. After all, Sirius had been through Frank's trunk a time or two. The four of them--he, James, Remus, and Peter--were constantly in each other's belongings. Frank had always been an outsider to them, someone they didn't mind on a day to day basis. He was like a ficus that was watered by the house-elves but never given any attention by the wizard who owned it.

Sirius watched as James left and then bounded over to Remus and flopped onto the couch beside him. If it were something serious, he would have gone after James, but he knew the other boy just needed to sulk on his own for a bit.

"What a surprise! Moony is reading!"

Sirius received a sharp jab between his ribs, Remus never once raising his eyes from the text.

*

The glass containing the potion had a wide, spherical body that tapered sharply into a long, thin neck, completed by a small lip for pouring and a cork stopper. The liquid inside swirled about of its own accord--excitable--a palette of icy blues that shifted smoothly, color sweeping into color, the blending striations in constant motion. The potion sat on the flat top of a wardrobe and commanded the attention of five pairs of eyes staring in rapt silence.

"Blue is symbolic for air which represents thought and intellect," explained Frank.

The air, squeezed tightly in the silent, tense dorm, was released in a rush as James and Peter snickered. Remus shot a disapproving glance at them, his lips pursed in mute reproach. Sirius just rolled his eyes. Frank really was an insufferable know-it-all. Anyone who thought Remus was the swotty one only needed five minutes in a room with Frank to change their mind.

"Thank you, Stillwater's Compendium of Alchemical Signs and Symbols," muttered Sirius under his breath. He was about to follow that up with a louder, more direct snarky remark when out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw a flash of vermillion zip through the turbulent blue. Sirius watched the potion carefully for another display of red, and when nothing happened, decided it must have been a trick of the light. He turned his attention back to the others who were now openly needling Frank, particularly James. Sirius almost felt sorry for Frank; the rest of this year was going to be abysmal for him because he dared to push his way into a Marauders-only affair.

"I think we should just take it and quit stalling," said Remus, bringing the room to immediate silence. "I don't know what you're all worried about. James and Sirius developed it. The only student in this school who could have done better is--"

"Do not say Snivellus," warned James.

"--Lily."

James stood to attention like a soldier caught napping on guard and checked the wards on the door, as though saying her name might manifest her into their presence.

"We cannot tell Lily!" said James fervently. After fifteen times, and that was just today, this refrain was wearing a little thin. "This is going to be my year, unless there is something like this to bollocks it up."

"No one is telling Lily!" Sirius shot James an annoyed look. "Let that go already."

Remus ignored them all and rose from his bed and crossed to the wardrobe. He conjured five mismatched shot glasses, poured a measure of the potion for each of them, and returned to his bed with his.

"You've tested the potion, right? You were joking about having never brewed it before… weren't you?" blurted Frank in a sudden fit of nerves.

Sirius slid off his bed to go sit on Frank's, pushing past polite physical boundaries by positioning himself too close. He leaned in, meeting Frank's eyes with an even gaze. "You've always wanted to know what it's like, haven't you?" he said in low, conspiratorial tones. "You know, be one of us, a Marauder, popular, the brilliant ones always one step ahead of everyone else."

An ugly blush rose into Frank's cheeks, giving Sirius a vicious thrill at having hit the mark so well. It wasn't something Frank could deny. They had all known, but never said because they generally got on. To say it now, to call him out on it, was unthinkably rude, but Sirius really didn't care.

"Well, here you are, Frank, doing as we do, living on the edge. You aren't going to back down just because the potion's never been tried. Sure, it might not go exactly to plan, but we've all taken that risk," Sirius gestured to himself, James, Remus, and Peter, "many, many times over. And you're just as good as us, right, Frank?"

James grinned at Sirius over Frank's shoulder. The lout had pushed his way in and he would bloody well take the damn potion, either of his own accord or have it shoved down his throat by James and Sirius.

"God," said Peter, laughing, "do you remember how sick we got in third when Remus and Sirius tried to brew Felix Felicis?"

Remus, James, and Sirius chortled along with Peter, but Frank, much to Sirius' satisfaction, had just lost several shades of color.

"Oh, lighten up!" said Sirius, nudging Frank's shoulder as though they were mates. "It was third year! We're much improved since then." Sirius and Remus exchanged a glance. Remus had improved, some, but if Frank knew he was the brewer, it would take more than wards to keep him in this room.

Remus ignored them and swiftly downed his measure of the potion. Frank was forgotten for the moment as Sirius leapt to his feet, having no desire to show the slightest hesitation. James met him at the wardrobe and neither of them wasted a moment to slam their potion down, consequences be damned. It had a taste Sirius couldn't nail down to anything familiar, but it was cool on his tongue and seemed to rush around in his mouth like a gale force wind before swallowing it down. There wasn't so much an after taste as an after effect, like flash fire, quick and explosive, and then it was gone.

"Brilliant!"

Sirius set his glass back down and picked up one for Frank, feeling the first tingle of effect, masking it with a practiced impassive expression. Frank seemed to realize that the odds were against him since none of them had keeled over dead and now Peter was calmly getting to his feet to do as the others had done. Sirius, flanked by James, closed in on Frank, staring him down, making the inevitable obvious.

"You might as well do it on your own," advised Peter as he returned to his bed. "One way or another, they're getting that potion down your throat."

"Our Wormy makes an excellent point, Prongs." Sirius handed the shot glass to Frank.

"Indeed he does, Padfoot."

Frank looked beyond the pair to the flask which was only slightly less full than it had been, calculating, and then down at the glass in his hand. His expression was considering.

Sirius grinned at Frank maliciously. "The flask is protected with charms, so you can do what you like with the contents of that glass in your hand. It won't change anything."

Frank gave the glass a look of resignation and tipped it to his lips, the blue liquid sliding easily into his mouth, and swallowed.

Satisfied that Frank was now snitch-proof since he was complicit in this bit of rule-breaking, Sirius turned to check on Remus. Books and notes spread all around him and a book open in front of him, Remus was glancing at a page and then turning it, glancing and turning, glancing and turning, flip, flip, flip.

"You can't be reading that fast," said Sirius incredulously. Sure, he was one of the authors of the potion, but this was beyond all of his expectations.

"Am," said Remus, and nothing more.

Sirius just had to see this for himself and bounded over to his bed and opened the first text he could lay his hands on. The rush of it was incredible. His brain opened wide and swallowed the words down, one, two, three pages, every word perfectly comprehended and committed to memory. As fast as he could turn a page and glance at it, he absorbed every fact, every example, every single word.

"Prongs, we're going to make a fortune on this stuff!"

James looked up from his spot on the floor, being the only boy who didn't have a bed in this room, and grinned widely at Sirius.

"S'fucking unbelievable."

For the next hour and a half, the dorm quieted down as they reviewed the lessons and text given to them to prepare for the first mock exam. Eventually they assembled on the floor and began quizzing each other for the theoretical portion of the test. Remus began with a question about an obscure runic translation.

"That's a trick question," said Peter. "The current debate around that translation hinges on which of the italic alphabets constitute the origin of the Elder Futhark."

"The Marsilian d'Albegne tablet represents the earliest Etruscan abecedarium and is clearly the base used by the Germanic tribes that developed the Elder Futhark," informed Frank in his most annoying 'I'm-the-authority-on-everything-everywhere' voice.

"You're a knob, Frank," said James baldly. "Just because the Marsilian d'Albegna tablet is the oldest known does not make it the automatic choice."

"Peter's right," said Sirius. "The matter at hand is still being contested. The closest we can come to an answer is by starting with the Kylvar stone. It has the historical context linking the Germanic mercenaries with the Roman army."

Just about that time, a hand was placed on Sirius' thigh, distracting Sirius from adding that James was right: Frank was, indeed, a knob. The hand turned out to be Peter's and felt rather nice, so Sirius leaned over and rewarded him with a kiss, wondering why they had never done this before. It felt like the most natural thing in the world.

Peter's hand inched its way up Sirius' thigh and then, losing all subtlety, dove straight into Sirius' crotch, giving his cock a squeeze

Sirius lost track of the discussion; a hot snog with Peter was a lot more interesting than a loud, mostly obnoxious debate about runes. He was able to ignore the argument until James and Frank got to their feet to shout about who was right. Peter apparently cared even less than Sirius did because he grabbed Sirius by the hair, pulling him back into a kiss.

There was a crash and the tinkling of broken glass as James and Frank interrupted them, with James having shoved Frank against the wall to deliver a brutal kiss. Much to Sirius' disappointment, Peter removed his hand from Sirius' hair, releasing Sirius from the kiss to go help James with Frank. Sirius didn't think James needed all that much help and, since a different pair of hands had just landed on his ankle and were smoothing their way up his calves, Sirius simply couldn't be bothered.

He looked up to see who was touching him and his heart suddenly stopped beating as he stared into the smiling face of Remus. There was another loud crash, but Sirius didn't look to see what had happened. Every nerve and molecule in his body was focused on Remus.

He and Remus regarded each other for one heartbeat before rushing to their feet and each other. Hungry mouth on hungry mouth, hands, restless and eager, roamed each other's bodies and into each other's hair. Sirius' need for Remus spiraled dizzily out of his control; his desire to touch more of Remus was a point of infinite density that weighed on Sirius like gravity. He couldn't resist the pull and pushed his hand straight down Remus' pants, groaning as he took the hot, hard flesh he found in hand and gave it a squeeze. Remus moaned wantonly into Sirius' mouth, a sound Sirius eagerly swallowed as he began to stroke Remus slowly. Nothing had ever made more sense to Sirius than this.



Remus' hands dropped to Sirius' belt, fingers shaking and hurried, fumbling with the belt before finally pulling it free, undoing the button, and then lowering the zip.

"Not like this," purred Remus in Sirius' ear, low and husky. Remus pushed Sirius' trousers and pants down his hips to catch on his thighs. "Want to show you off. Show what's mine."

Sirius would have gone along with anything Remus wanted and didn't resist as Remus turned him. He faced the other three now, who were all in various states of undress. Remus pressed his body close to Sirius, sliding a thigh between his legs, and began to rut against him. Remus' hand slid around Sirius' hip and downwards, taking him in hand and stroking slowly.

Sirius didn't even bother to try and contain the noises coming from him. Remus felt so perfect wrapped around him, Remus' other hand now sliding up his shirt to pinch a nipple.

"Watch them," murmured Remus against his neck, then attached his mouth there to suck a mark into Sirius' flesh.

The scene on the bed was much more complex than one boy rutting on another while fisting his cock. Frank was on all fours, trousers and pants dangling precariously from his ankles, legs spread wide, moaning as James slammed ruthlessly into his arse. Peter was at Frank's head, stroking himself, teasing Frank with his cock. Between moans and James' thrusting, Frank begged Peter to let him suck it.

"Frank loves it, doesn't he?" said Remus, voice low. "I always figured him for a greedy bottom."

Sirius didn't understand how Remus was able to talk. He could only manage incoherent babbling and embarrassingly loud moans. Remus stroked Sirius just how he liked--fingers stretched around the shaft in a tight curl, thumb caressing over the head. It was maddening, though, because Remus wouldn't speed up. The hard cock against his arse moved steadily against him, though languorous and unhurried.

"Shame they aren't watching you. You're gorgeous like this. Can you see? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror yet?

Sirius had been so fixed on the scene playing in front of him that he hadn't glanced in the tall standing mirror in the corner of the room, which, it should be said, had to be a first. They were half a room away from the mirror, but even from here he could see the intensity glittering in Remus' eyes as their gazes met in the mirror. Now that he had seen what they looked like together, Sirius couldn't tear his eyes away. He looked so debauched-- trousers open, Remus behind him, rutting, mouth on his neck, Remus' hand slowly pumping his cock.

"Moony," said Sirius raggedly.

Remus whispered a spell and Sirius gave a small gasp as cool jelly was spread along hot flesh. Their eyes met in the mirror again, Remus now stroking him faster. Sirius held Remus' gaze until, trembling, his head fell back to rest on Remus' shoulder.

"Come for me, Padfoot. Let me see how gorgeous you are."

Sirius couldn't have held back if he tried, shuddering violently as his orgasm thundered through him. Long lines of white decorated the wood flooring, and then his legs threatened to give out. Suddenly sinking his teeth into Sirius' neck, Remus snarled as he came, his hips jerking erratically against Sirius.

Somehow they made it to Remus' bed and curled around each other, kissing slowly, softly. From the other bed there came sounds of the other boys finding their completion. Sirius closed his eyes and smiled, wondering why they had never done this before.

The last thing he thought he heard before drifting off was Remus whisper, "What have I done…" Sirius pulled Remus closer, certain he had misheard.

*

When Sirius woke up the next morning to the sound of the alarm, he felt more disoriented than usual. It took his brain awhile to fully engage and, as it stuttered to life, he catalogued a number of things that were off their usual mark. To start, he was still in his clothes. His belt, button and zip were open, and his trousers and pants were pushed down a bit on his hips. Next he realized his position in the room was wrong, which meant this was not his bed. Even more bizarre than that was its owner appeared to be in bed with him, wrapped around him like a cocoon.

His brain came fully aware with an explosion of absolute horror. Sirius pushed the body off him and leapt out of bed.

"Oh, buggering fuck." Sirius clamped a hand over his mouth. That was just a bit too apt.

The curtains on Frank's bed were drawn open and the occupants were coming to the same startling awareness Sirius had just reached a minute prior. Frank and James sprang away from the bed and each other like magnetic poles. Eyes darted around the room, one to another in silent assessment, all coming to the same horrifying conclusion.

Peter peeked from behind his curtains, took one look at Frank, squeaked, and ducked back behind them.

They stood for a moment --he, James, and Frank-- and then, as if by unanimous decision, scattered like frightened sparrows, Frank to the bathroom, and James and Sirius leaving the dorm. Once they were past the portrait hole, they fled in separate directions.

Sirius got beyond the castle's doors and escaped to the Forest as Padfoot. Once he was alone and transformed back into his human self, his mind repeated over and over, 'it was the potion, it was the potion, it was the potion.' After twenty minutes of that, he had almost convinced himself it was the truth.

Sirius glanced at his watch. He was unwashed, unshaved, in yesterday's clothes, and didn't even want to think about his hair. Unfortunately, the first mock exam started in fifteen minutes. There was nothing for it; he would have to go as is.

Once he was in the classroom he kept his eyes on his desk. He did not look at his dorm mates and forbade himself from thinking Remus' name or remembering how those long, delicate fingers felt wrapped around-

"Stop it!"

"Stop what, Mr. Black?" asked Flitwick.

Fuck. He'd said that out loud.

"Nothing, sir. Sorry, sir."

Flitwick gave him an odd, speculative look. "Very well, Mr. Black." Flitwick floated an exam to each student and then with his wand, tapped a small wooden bird on his desk. The bird promptly chirped how long they had to complete the test. "You may begin."

*

Sirius was exhausted at the day's end. Two exams and a day of avoiding everyone he knew was tiring. He'd skipped breakfast and lunch and was now so hungry, it felt as though his stomach was gnawing on his spine. He slipped into the Great Hall and looked for a spot away from his friends, not quite ready to look them in the face just yet. James and Peter were sitting a good distance from each other, each flirting with a group of giggling girls. They laughed a bit too loud and flirted a bit too obviously, though Sirius could well understand why. Frank was sitting with his girlfriend Alice in sullen silence. Remus sat at the very end of the table with several spaces between himself and anyone else and looked utterly miserable.

Against his will, his heart gave a flutter. Sirius promptly dropped an anvil on it to keep the daft thing still. His heart had not just fluttered over Remus, he told himself firmly. His heart never fluttered. Fluttering hearts were for gits like Potter, foolishly pining over a bird who was never going to have him. It was the potion, he reminded himself, without which he would never have experienced those exquisite hands on-

Not exquisite! Not exquisite! Not exquisite!

This was exactly why he couldn't be anywhere near Remus for a while.

Sirius had been standing there for a good five minutes, surveying the table for a place to sit when apparently he caught the attention of two seventh year girls, Hestia Jones and Emmeline Vance. Sirius sauntered over wearing his most charming smile as he took his seat between them. He spent the next hour flirting his way into a threesome in Greenhouse Four.

How's that for staunchly heterosexual, he said to himself as he walked the girls back to the tower from the greenhouse. He entered the common room with an arm around each girl, noting that the room was pleasingly full. He stayed there with them for the next hour, sitting on a couch between them in front of the fire, telling lewd jokes and making them giggle.

James seemed to have come to the same solution as Sirius, coming in through the portrait hole with Dorcas Meadows. The five of them sat together and chatted for a bit before the girls bid the both of them good night. Once they were gone, it seemed to Sirius that the air between them was easier than it had been. They left it unspoken that the madness of the night before was brought on by the potion and that they were never, ever to speak of it.

"I'm knackered," said Sirius with a lecherous grin directed at the girls' staircase. "I think I'll turn in."

"Be up in a few, Padfoot," said James.

Peter and Frank had already turned in for the night, their bed-curtains pulled shut and gentle snores coming from behind them. Remus wasn't in his bed despite the late hour and was off who-knows-where probably doing the same as the rest of them had. That thought was followed by an unpleasant twisting in his stomach. He must have eaten too much shepherd's pie at dinner.

*

As the week of exams passed, the air in the dorm continued to clear, the one exception being Remus. He had taken to disappearing from their company almost entirely over the last week. Sirius assumed he must still be feeling awkward about what transpired. Sirius could understand, he was struggling with it himself. It was troubling, the way his body was slammed with a near physical reminder of that night whenever he was near Remus. It was difficult to shake off the memory of how good it felt to have Remus wrapped around his body, his hand on his cock, or how sexy they looked together in the mirror. The potion certainly had some long lasting effects.

By the following weekend, Remus could be found more in their company than not and the atmosphere among all five of them was beginning to work its way back to normal. They were even mean to Frank, much to everyone's relief--Frank included.

Two days later when grades were posted outside the Great Hall, disaster struck. Sirius was on his way to see how he had fared when he was nearly bowled over by James and Peter, faces stricken with panic and running for their lives it seemed.

"Come on, Padfoot," said James, yanking on Sirius' wrist. "You got all 'O's, now let's go."

"What about Remus?"

"We all got all 'O's" said Peter. "Now for the love of all that is holy, run!"

"Black! Potter! Don't you move a muscle!"

Sirius turned at the familiar screech and gave Evans a cool up and down glance as she stormed into his view.

"Yes, Evans," he said calmly. "You bellowed?"

"Don't get cheeky with me, Black," she said, stepping right up to him. She wasn't the least intimidated by the height difference as she glared up at him. "You and your mates cheated!"

"Cheated?" said Sirius innocently as James and Peter hid behind him. "That's a heavy accusation, Evans. I hope you have proof."

"I don't know how you did it," she snarled, "but I'm going to find out. There's no way all four of you got all 'O's without cheating."

"You wound me, Evans," mocked Sirius.

"Not yet I haven't," she threatened.

"We didn't cheat, Lily," came a quiet voice behind Lily's shoulder. Remus came into view out of the throng of milling students who were gawking at the altercation. "We did revise heavily the night before, and it paid off."

Lily's self-righteous fury wilted a little. Remus had a reputation for being a saint among the sinners. It was completely undeserved; he was just as mischievous as the rest of them and the best liar in the group. Remus could look a person in the eye and lie straight to their face. It made Sirius proud.

"But all four of you?" said Lily, rallying a little.

"I've been after them about how important this year is, kept their noses to the grindstone."

"He's been an awful bore," supplied Sirius helpfully. Remus' lips twitched.

"We're here to learn, Black," snapped Lily, wheeling around to glare at him. "I'm just glad that has finally been impressed upon you."

"But Evans," said Sirius sweetly, "I've always gotten top marks and managed to be a delight to one and all."

"Really, Lily," soothed Remus before she could blow up like a puffer fish, "There is nothing foul afoot."

"Well, if you say so," she conceded after a moment's contemplation, and then added, "You can come out from behind your mum's apron now, Potter."

James cleared his throat and stepped from behind Sirius. "You look lovely today, Evans."

Lily gave him a withering glare and spun on her heel, storming off with a wild whipping of red hair and billowing black robes.

Sirius grinned at Remus. "You absolute genius, you. Marry me?"

Remus sniffed. "As if I'd have you."

Sirius shoved him playfully with his shoulder, grinning and feeling inordinately relieved they were able to joke freely once again.

*

Two weeks later Sirius and his dorm mates were revising in the common room with several of the seventh year girls, and it was turning out to be a lovely evening. James was missing from their crew because he had Head duties with Evans, much to the disappointment of Dorcas who thought she had a real shot with James. Sirius felt a little sorry for the girl because even though Dorcas and Lily got on well, recently he had seen Lily give James and Dorcas strange looks when they were together.

When James finally returned, he was with Lily, and he had a blissful smile on his lips, which meant she had been nice to him or at least not called him names. There was a look in Lily's eye that Sirius didn't like. He felt like a bull with a view of the abattoir. Frank, who had apparently caught the same wind as Sirius, sunk a little in his chair and gave Alice a glare. Sirius had an awful feeling about this.

He hastily began to gather his books and notes together, excusing himself to Hestia and Emmeline, and throwing panicked looks to Peter and Remus. "I just remembered-"

"Stay right where you are, Black," warned Lily dangerously. The bliss on James' face melted, replaced by the deer-in-headlamps look. He was just as unprepared as the rest of them, perhaps more so.

"Right," said Sirius, sinking back into his chair. The girls who had been so solicitous that evening were now recoiling like vipers, gathering to flank Evans, their steely glares matching hers.

Sirius put it together rather quickly. He likened it to the Trojan Horse, only instead of a horse, it was a gaggle of pretty girls who had kept them entertained and together in one spot with their giggles and their batted eye-lashes. Traitorous wenches.

"I know all about the potion," said Lily, crossing her arms. "Technically, it isn't cheating. You didn't bring in invisible notes that only you can see or have charmed quills or any of that other rubbish, but it damn well isn't fair, and we want in."

Frank had sunk even lower in his chair and Sirius knew exactly what had happened. Lily's post-exam tirade must have attracted the attention of Alice, who would know that Frank also had all 'O's, and then grilled him for answers. Frank had the constitution of a flobberworm when it came to Alice.

"Ah, no," said Sirius. "Absolutely not." To make his point, he unpacked a book and opened to the page where he had left off.

"Evans, we aren't even taking it again," said James. Sirius was pretty sure he had never seen James look more panicked.

It was only a partial lie. Remus would be taking the potion, locked in a classroom somewhere, but none of them would be.

"It has a side-effect," said Remus, "one that wasn't accounted for."

"Did it make you ill?" asked Alice suddenly, looking at Frank. "You never mentioned a side-effect." Frank turned scarlet.

"Not ill, exactly," said Peter, jumping in to save Frank. "But if we don't want to go through it again, we're pretty sure you don't either."

"Was it painful?" asked Hestia, her doe-eyes wide with concern as she looked at Sirius.

"No, poppet," he soothed. "It wasn't painful."

"Not physical pain, anyway," murmured Remus cryptically.

Lily stomped her foot. "What is the damn side-effect?"

"It doesn't matter what the damned side-effect was," said Sirius, rising. He stuffed the book back in his rucksack, and then looked back at Lily, staring her straight in the eye. She could make James cower like a beaten puppy, but she was dealing with the big dog now. "The fact is, we're never taking it again, and you're never taking it at all. Come on, lads, let's turn in. James, you too. Off to your tower. Hop to."

"This isn't over, Black!"

"Good night, Lily," he called sweetly over his shoulder, his dorm mates in tow and James hurrying out the portrait hole. "Have pleasant dreams."

Frank apologized profusely once they were in the dorm, a rather un-Frank-like thing to do. That was the trouble with a bloke having a girl he wanted to hold on to. She could turn her man's head to mush. Sirius was just relieved Frank hadn't told Alice what all had happened that night. He was also happy that Lily hadn't given in to James' charms, yet. Sirius was pretty sure James would give her at least a sketchy idea if she used her feminine wiles.

Sirius froze. "Bugger."

He raced out of the dorm and then the portrait hole, beating a fast track to the Head's tower, breathless by the time he got there. He gave the portrait the password (the one he wasn't supposed to know) and burst into the Head's common room. Lily was standing so close to James she was nearly pressed up against him. James looked dazed, a goofy smile wavering across his face.

"Potter, James, please tell-" Lily paused speaking at the commotion of Sirius barging into the common room. It did not escape Sirius that her voice had been sweet and low, sultry even.

"Aha!" said Sirius. Lily scowled at him and stepped away from James. "You little minx. I'm actually embarrassed it took me this long to work out what you would do."

Lily crossed her arms and glared.

"James, go to bed," ordered Sirius. "Don't let the pretty kitty steal your secrets, you great clod. Think man; do you really want her knowing?"

James awakened from his Lily-induced trance. "Thank god you came." Still slightly dazed, he gave Sirius a weak hug. "Night, Sirius," he said, and turned to retire to his quarters. "Night, Lily."

"Bite me, Potter."

Sirius gave Lily a long, lazy smile. "Good night, Mata Hari," he said with a smug, syrupy voice. Her razor sharp glare made all his Muggle Studies lessons worth it.

*

Two weeks later, James cracked. Not '-and then I buggered Frank while he sucked Peter off-' cracked, but enough. James confessed immediately to his friends, miserably and shame-faced. Lily had a sketch of that night. A poorly drawn, stick-figure-y at best sketch. A sketch displayed in a room with no candles and just a trickle of light filtering through heavy curtains. It wasn't a total disaster, but vague implications were known, the side-effect understood with hazy, out-of-focus details. They all agreed to be in the dorm at night before the younger classes left the common room for bed to avoid being trapped by Lily and her minions.

Their efforts were thwarted a week later. The Marauders found themselves cornered in the common room once again by the seventh year girls. This time Lily didn't wait for the younger students to head to bed. She ordered the clearing of the common room with a whip-crack tone of voice that not one student dared to disobey.

"We've talked it over and decided we're willing to take our chances."

Sirius gave a 'hold steady' look to his mates and pretended Lily and the other girls weren't there.

"At least tell us how the bloody potion works, damn it," said Lily, frustrated with the lack of response.

Sirius sighed. "Fine," and began to explain how the potion worked.

All four of them admitted that none of the information sucked into their brain had been lost, and that having that made revising for the second exam easier. It was an enormous boon because all of the warnings about this year were dead on accurate. A grueling pace had been set for them. The potion would only help with the theoretical knowledge. The practical had to be, well, practiced.

The explanation had the girls excited, and the exchange of looks between the four of them admitted a desire to have that advantage again. The presence of the girls in the room when the secondary effect kicked in could make the experience more bearable. Not that the experience had been unbearable, but that wasn't something Sirius was prepared to admit. Well, okay, he did admit it, but only because he knew his mind was a traitorous, cesspool of teenage hormones on parade.

The potion's seedier aspects--the ones for which the boys were reluctant to share details--were touched on only briefly. Peter mumbled something about being induced involuntarily into "the love that dare not speak its name." James promptly whacked Peter on the back of the head for being a girl, and then sunk into his chair under Lily's wilt-inducing glare.

"We're not responsible for what happens," said Sirius. "In fact, you're all going to sign something that states you knew prior to the event there were risks, and that you've chosen to disregard our warnings. We are not to be held responsible."

"I get it, Black, stop repeating yourself," said Lily. A sly smile crawled up the edges of her mouth. "I guess this means you're all taking it again?"

"We're damn sure not letting you lot get higher marks than us without a fight," said Sirius. "You're biting off more than you can chew, but it's your bordello, sweet thing." Then he winked at her suggestively.

Lily ignored the wink. "Funeral, Black; it's your funeral. That's the saying."

"Yeah, I know the saying," he said with a lecherous grin. "I meant bordello."

*

Due to its size and privacy, the Head Boy and Girl's common room was chosen to host the exam revisions prior to the next mock exam. A long table with chairs was conjured so that everyone would have a place to sit and read, and tea service for ten was brought in by the house-elves. On the table sat the flask with the icy blue potion within, surrounded by ten identical shot glasses.

The seventh years arrived in separate clusters on or very near to the appointed time. Once they all sat around the table, hushed and nervous, it was time to begin; Sirius poured and distributed the evening's libation.

"Bottoms up." Sirius tipped the contents of the glass into his mouth. The taste, the tingle, all of it was just as before.

The boys, who had been through this once already, followed suit, but the girls, for all their fighting for it, appeared nervous. It took the boys settling into revising, flipping quickly from page to page, for Alice to decide to be the first.

"Holy shit," she murmured. "It actually bloody works."

"Alice!" said Lily, clearly surprised by the coarse language. Alice never swore.

"It works, Lily," said Alice in low voice, awed. "It's amazing."

That was all it took for Dorcas, Emmeline and Hestia to raise their glasses. Lily, who had fought the hardest, was the last. Sirius watched her from under his lashes and saw that she cast a nervous look in James' direction. Sirius grinned and kept flipping pages.

He was no longer concerned about anything happening with Remus. It was the potion, and only the potion, and as there hadn't been any girls around, he and Remus wound up with each other. He had a suspicion that intense emotions played a factor in choosing partners. First, he surmised, normal inhibitions were stripped away from a body, which encouraged them to be intimate with whoever was nearby. That explained Peter rather neatly. Next, a person would gravitate toward someone they had strong feelings about. Hadn't he and James developed this for Remus? Didn't they care a great deal about him? James had simply been overcome by his irritation with Frank. It was all very logical. It didn't explain why the world had narrowed to just Remus or why it felt so right to be touched and kissed by him, but Sirius was ignoring that. Things would be completely different tonight.

Sirius took a look around the room, privately pleased that the potion worked so well. It was quiet save the soft whisper of pages being quickly flipped. Sirius turned his mind to his own studies, guzzling page after page--Charms, Arithmancy, Potions, and more. Once he worked through the last of his Transfiguration notes, he stood and stretched, and then poured himself a fresh cup of tea. The other seventh years were concluding their studies as well, and Dorcas suggested vanishing the table in favor of couches and more comfortable chairs so they could quiz each other. Sirius thought they ought to transfigure the floor to something softer than wood because the inevitable was, well, inevitable. He held his tongue, however, and helped with rearranging the room.

The chairs and couches were more conducive to working in small groups. Sirius looked around the room to see who was sitting where and found the perfect spot. He thought himself quite clever as he took his seat between Hestia and Emmeline.

"Arithmancy is my worst subject. Do you mind if we begin there?" asked Hestia. Sirius smiled into her pretty brown eyes, admiring her dark curls and kittenish face, and said that was agreeable to him.

Emmeline flipped her sheet of glossy black hair over her shoulder and began by asking the first question. Hestia pressed closer to Sirius as she answered--correctly, of course--and then Sirius posed a question with three possible right answers. Emmeline folded her legs under her to get more comfortable and placed a hand on Sirius' chest to steady herself. Her answer to his question stuttered and died as Hestia picked the hand up off his chest and sucked one of Emmeline's long, manicured fingers into her mouth. Sirius grinned, counting himself a lucky man as Emmeline crawled into his lap and pulled Hestia's face closer for a kiss.

He discovered, however, that he was nothing more than an obstacle, as Emmeline left his lap to straddle Hestia. He realized his mind was still quite his own, and that whatever change the potion wrought hadn't happened for him yet. He felt like an awkward third wheel as Hestia and Emmeline apparently didn't need him for anything. They were completely consumed with each other, and while it was definitely hot watching Hestia shove Emmeline's shirt and bra up to pull a pert, rosy red nipple into her mouth, he knew he wasn't going to be getting any part of that.

"Sirius, be a dear and give us some room," said Hestia. "Emmeline needs to lay back."

Well. Wasn't that a fine turn?

Sirius stood up to get out of their way, feeling more than a little disgruntled and took a look around the room. Alice was attacking Frank's mouth with a vehemence he hadn't realized she possessed, Dorcas had Peter's shirt off and Lily was working open his trousers while Peter looked on surprised and pleased.

The scene was a bizarre sexual bedlam with a range of assorted of grunts and groans, some of which Sirius found both arousing and amusing. The noises coming from one or two persons, however, were slightly disturbing - Frank's elephantine bellowing for example. Sirius turned, tuning Frank out and hoping to wipe the scene from his memory. He wondered who James had ended up with, and felt his stomach drop into his shoes: James and Remus were enthusiastically snogging on the couch.

Sirius' agony was short lived; he quickly looked away from them - not that he was in any way jealous. Peter, Lily and Dorcas caught his attention once again. They looked absolutely gorgeous together. Dorcas was standing on the couch, Peter's hands on her arse pulling her down, his face buried in her crotch. Lily was on her knees in front of Peter, head bobbing between his legs. It seemed a tragedy that everyone was getting pleasure but Lily, so Sirius kneeled behind her and kissed her neck.

Lily pulled off Peter's cock and grabbed Sirius' head in her hands, kissing him forcefully. She bit at his lips when her tongue wasn't trying to take control of his. Sirius chuckled softly at how she tried to take charge, yanking down her skirt and knickers before whirling around. Sirius guided Lily to sit down on Peter's cock, and then knelt between her legs. He had difficulty getting the angle right, so he hoisted her thighs over Peter's and then forced his way to her clit with his tongue. Lily howled as Sirius manipulated her with his hands on her hips, gripping hard and pulling her up, then letting her fall. Her hands rushed into his hair, gripping tight, and practically sobbing with pleasure.

"God, don't stop, Sirius, please don't stop."

Sirius had no intention of stopping and was at first surprised when he was roughly yanked off Lily. Remus had a feral glow in his eyes as he shoved Sirius to the wall. He knew instinctively that it was his name being cried out that had drawn Remus, with James only a step behind him. This was where Sirius knew he was supposed to be. When Remus crashed their mouths together and growled at the tang of Lily on Sirius' mouth, Sirius also knew he was in trouble. It sent a thrill through him to know he would be punished for that transgression. Remus licked and bit every inch of his mouth, seemingly to try and rid Sirius of the offending flavor and only growing irritable with his inability to do so.

"On your knees," snarled Remus.

Sirius sunk gracefully without a moment's hesitation. Remus practically ripped open his trousers and shoved his cock into Sirius' mouth. Sirius raised his eyes to Remus in silent apology as his mouth was roughly fucked. He loved the weight of Remus' cock on his tongue, the taste of it.

"You're mine."

Sirius sucked harder to demonstrate his agreement, swirling his tongue around the shaft and head as much as Remus' hard thrusting would allow. The tip of Remus' cock repeatedly nudged the back of his throat, an ache Sirius knew he had earned.

"So good, so fucking good. How long have you wanted this, Padfoot?"

Sirius could hardly answer with his mouth full of cock, but would have probably admitted that he'd dreamt of this since forever. To distract and dissuade Remus from his fit of jealousy, Sirius gently rolled one testicle between thumb and forefinger, feeling it slide smoothly within its sac. Remus began to tremble--and Sirius knew he was close--so Sirius hummed, sending vibrations along the head and shaft.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

Sirius looked up at Remus, begging with his eyes to have him come down his throat. Remus came with a growl, filling Sirius' mouth with bitter, salty fluid. Sirius swallowed it eagerly and then cleaned Remus' cock with his tongue until his head was pushed away gently. Remus sank to the floor beside Sirius and pulled him in his lap as much as one eighteen year old boy will fit into another. Remus opened Sirius' trousers and palmed his cock. He murmured into Sirius' hair, telling him how good he was, stroking and praising him. It didn't take long for Sirius to tremble and cry out against Remus' neck, spilling himself into Remus' hand.

"Padfoot, my Padfoot," murmured Remus.

Sirius tucked himself closer, casting a look at the room beyond them. At the far end, Alice and Frank were already asleep, dozing in the chair, Alice curled up in Frank's lap. Hestia and Emmeline were out as well, wrapped around each other like kittens. Somehow Dorcas and Peter were still going strong; Dorcas had Peter laid out on a couch was riding him vigorously - a wand moved enthusiastically in and out of her arse. In the chair Peter had occupied earlier were James and Lily. Lily was straddling James, arms around his shoulders, head buried in his neck. James' head was tipped back and he was doing the half-snore, half-wheeze thing he thing he did every summer. They were both fast asleep.

Sirius snuggled closer to Remus, though snuggling was never the word he would use, and closed his eyes, Remus' hands tracing patterns down his back.

"I'm so sorry, Padfoot," whispered Remus brokenly.

Sirius wasn't sure what Remus was sorry for, and feeling so close to sleep, just pulled tighter against Remus' frame to reassure him. Whatever it was, they could talk about it in the morning.


On to Part 2