Chapter Text
Ah, Halloween. The most amazing holiday ever invented. Ever since Sirius was a small child he had loved it. When he lived at home he had stared out the dingy windows at the children running around, dressed in costumes, getting sweets. So when he had gone to Hogwarts and finally been allowed to celebrate Halloween he had gorged himself on all the treats available. He had been so sick that night in the Gryffindor dorm. James had held back his hair, while he emptied his stomach, but it was still an amazing high.
The next year the Potters had sent pumpkins and the four boys had enjoyed the muggle custom of carving gruesome faces to keep away the ghouls. Once again too much candy and sweets but this time Sirius had learned a little restraint, so all he ended up with was a slightly achy stomach.
Sirius had always liked Halloween. As the years wore on at Hogwarts the Halloween feast had also turned into a school dance complete with costumes. The Marauders had always tried to outdo each other. It had been during these dances that he had discovered that girls weren’t his thing. It had happened while sliding his hands up Marlene’s skirt. Thankfully, their friendship had survived such an awkward encounter.
After everything, the whole group of friends all graduated with fairly decent grades and made their way into an adult world they barely understood. Sirius regretted missing out on things like trick-or-treating but now he had different ideas about it. He could do those things with his own children and the children of his friends. James had already asked himself and Remus to be the godparents of his child currently residing happily inside of Lily.
Until such a time that he had to give up the riskier side of Halloween though, he was going to embrace it. Earlier this month he had gone to a haunted house. The muggle version was cute, and Sirius admired the effort. He had also carved pumpkins with Lily, Marlene, Mary, and Dorcas. James, Peter, and Remus had watched from a safe distance, only joining when prompted due to being called cowards (ironically seeing as the boys had all carved pumpkins their second year). Sirius remembered the handsome face of one Remus Lupin scrunching up in disgust at the slimy insides of the pumpkin. He pushed that away, he had to get a handle on that. He would not be the reason the decade-old friendship broke up.
Sirius admired his image in the mirror. Since leaving school, he liked that he had more freedom with how he could dress, look, and behave. He never would have attempted to wear something like this while back at Hogwarts. He smoothed the silk skirt checking his reflection to make sure his ass was actually covered. It was, though just barely. The tight top ended just under his chest, exposing his smooth, flat belly. A silver stud winked at passersby from his belly button. He had applied flawless red lipstick and dark smokey eye makeup. He pulled the red cloak over his shoulders, which was longer than the skirt.
He sat on the edge of his bed to pull on the thigh-high stockings, clipping them into place easily. He could have used magic to secure his clothes but there was something so much more organic about using physical clamps. He slipped on the dangerous-looking spike heels. They added several inches to his height, and he’d practiced walking in them all week so he wouldn’t wobble or break his ankle. He was pleased with his look, it felt wonderful. A quick fluff to his hair and then he was off.
He apparated to the home of his best friends, the Potters. An annoyingly smug, and happy couple, who married just out of school, now with a baby on the way. He couldn’t be happier for them. He tapped on the door smartly. When James opened it, Sirius snorted at him. James was wearing a silvery blue outfit that had clearly been enchanted.
The whole outfit legitimately glowed a soft wispy white. On his head were large antlers of the same glowy material. “Real creative there Prongsie,” Sirius ribbed as he was let into the small cottage. Outside children could already be seen getting into groups, ready to trick or treat.
“Oh sod off, you big bully. I am clearly dressed as my Patronus,” James straightened his antlers with the snooty attitude born of being obscenely wealthy. Sirius had it even as he refused to touch the blood money left to him. Sirius guessed this was only slightly better than going dressed as his Animagus. The year he had gone to the Halloween dance as Padfoot he had never heard the end of it. Even to this day, Marlene would still ask him if he was going as a giant black dog.
“Peter was even less creative,” James remarked, closing the door. The house was decorated inside and out. Sirius’ jack-o’ lantern was next to Remus’ on the front step. There were orange and purple lights wrapped around the tree outside and fake spiderwebs along the fence. Lily loved Halloween as much as Sirius. There was bobbing for apples set up inside along with an assortment of ‘spooky snacks’ and punch with “eyeball” ice.
In the kitchen, Peter was dressed as a rat. Or rather, he had just gone partially transformed. Small grey ears twitched under his hair, he had whiskers, and a pointy nose, which made the whole thing very disturbing and not very creative. Lily, the queen of Halloween looked like she was just wearing normal clothes. Sirius came around, hugged her, and leaned down to kiss her on her belly. “Between you and James my gut gets more kisses than my face,” she pretended to be affronted.
“Oh sorry my love,” Sirius teased. He dipped her carefully keeping her supported and placed a completely platonic kiss on her mouth leaving behind his red lipstick. “Where’s your costume?” he asked, stepping back so James could reclaim his wife. They all knew Sirius and Lily were the last two likely to have an affair, but it was a long-running joke in their group.
“I’m wearing it you tosser,” she snipped. Sirius looked her over more critically. He was usually good at guessing other people’s costumes, typically because his own outfits happened to become more obscure over the years. All he could see was the clothing she was wearing didn’t fit as well as her normal attire nor did any of it match. She was wearing a black and white checkered jacket, an orange skirt that fell loosely over her knees, and purple leggings that bunched up at her feet. She also had on a truly horrendous pair of large black trainers with green woolen socks bunched around her ankles.
“A bum?” he tried but was immediately smacked on the shoulder. He was completely lost on what she was. It was the best kind of costume, the kind that made him think. He liked costumes that were well done so they were either immediately evident or would be evident with just a bit of missing information.
“I’m a witch disguised as a muggle,” she chimed, and as soon as she said it, it clicked. She was poking fun at the fact that most of their kind couldn’t blend in, even when it was required. It was cute, low maintenance, and very creative. “I am very grateful I am nowhere near popping, so my child does not have to see one of their godfathers dressed up like that.” Her tone indicated somewhere between amused and disapproving.
“I’m Little Red Riding Hood, what’s so wrong with that?” he asked, crossing his arms. He knew what was wrong in her eyes, but he liked his costume. He liked the freedom he had with it. Lily gave him a look.
“Nothing as millions of children are proving, however, your version seems a bit more adult-themed,” Lily pointed out and Sirius shrugged. He was an adult, at an adult party, the secrecy charms around the house meant they wouldn’t get trick-or-treaters. He saw no problem with getting a bit more risqué with his costume. If children were going to be around of course he would have toned it down.
“The original Red Riding Hood is about the loss of innocence. The red represents a period, and the wolf was indicative of sexual advances from men as she entered womanhood. In many of the early tails the wolf assaults the girl before killing her grandmother,” a soft voice said behind them. “Although even with that in mind Sirius’ outfit is wholly inappropriate, though I guess what else is new?”
Sirius swallowed his nerves before turning to face the object of his recent infatuation. Only it wasn’t so recent. He’d been into Remus since their school days. One day in the fourth year it had just clicked. The reason he hadn’t felt anything with Marlene was that he wasn’t into girls, he was into guys. James had briefly fascinated him with all his hard sculpted Quidditch muscles and a lack of a shirt.
Soon though the softness of Remus had stolen his attention. Remus was very strong, a side effect of his furry little problem. Outside of a few days once a month though he was just Remus. He was a soft nerd who read too much, forgot to take care of himself, spoke in that wonderful Welsh accent, and ironed everything including his socks. It was hard to forget that he could easily rip them to shreds especially when the moon was waxing.
He was dressed as Frankenstein’s Monster. His scars were covered in expertly spelled lines of stitching. His skin was spelled a mottled green. Two pieces of metal were attached to either side of his neck. And combined with a dirty and ragged-looking black suit, it was a good outfit. He looked amazing. He gave Lily a hug and a gentle rub to her belly with a soft greeting for the baby within. He teased James about his outfit, tweaking the antlers and sending a cascade of glitter to the floor.
“You told me I looked cool,” James whined to Lily, very affronted.
“You do look cool… to me. I never said this would apply to the rest of our friend group,” she pointed out. Sirius and Remus left the kitchen allowing the couple to playfully bicker.
“I see you’re letting loose now that we’re not in school anymore,” Remus reached over and fluffed the cloak Sirius was wearing. He was so close Sirius could feel his warmth through the thin material of his shirt. Sirius shrugged, trying to not let on how Remus was affecting him.
“It’s Halloween. Isn’t there a rule that says we’re supposed to dress slutty?” Sirius mused. This was one of the many reasons he loved Halloween. It was a whole day to dress up and play a completely different person. The candy didn’t hurt either.
Remus poured them each a glass of punch with a few eyeball ice cubes. It writhed and fizzed in the cup. Lily had innocently labeled it “Witch’s Brew.” It tasted heavily of cinnamon, meaning Firewhiskey, he was sure it was mixed with something else but all he could taste was the whiskey.
“I think that rule traditionally only applies to women,” Remus pointed out, quickly setting the glass aside. He had no patience for fiery alcohol. Sirius knew Remus liked honeyed mead or a simple Butterbeer. So did Sirius, but the glass was a distraction from touching Remus.
“Tradition holds no sway over me, you know this.” Sirius reminded him. Remus gave him a half-smirk, the kind Sirius adored. He stored them all away like treasured pictures in a scrapbook. He had since the first time Remus had given him one when they were eleven.
“It never had,” Remus agreed. He picked up a glass of pumpkin juice. It had no alcohol. Sirius set down the still-fizzing “Witch’s Brew” and collected a Butterbeer. Sirius hated how stilted this conversation felt. Since leaving school, they had lost the ability to talk to each other. No, it wasn’t the lack of school, which was the problem, the strain had started when he had started seeing Gideon.
Remus had become distant. Sirius knew they hadn’t gotten along but he had hoped they would put aside their differences… for him at least. He had been so wrong. Remus would avoid coming out if he knew Sirius was bringing Gideon and Gideon would refuse to go if Remus was going to be there. He would usually ask Sirius to skip the get-together too.
It was as though he was reading Sirius’ mind that Remus asked in a tight voice, “How’s Gideon?”
Sirius swallowed. James and Lily knew, he was fairly sure Peter knew. Marlene had watched sappy movies and ate ice cream with him for three days. How could he have failed to let Remus know?
“Dunno,” Sirius replied with a nonchalant shrug. He didn’t sound as glum as he thought he probably should be. If he was being honest he didn’t feel the sadness most people claimed they felt following a breakup. He wasn’t happy about it, well except the deep dark part of him was a little happy. “We broke up.” Sirius was speaking into his glass. It sounded so simple like that.
“Oh, I’m sorry. You two seemed good together. What happened?” Remus asked, sounding genuinely sad for his friend’s failed romance. Sirius shrugged. There were several reasons things had gone south with Gideon.
“He just wasn't it, I guess. He didn’t really get along with my family. You all are important to me you know,” Sirius always put his family first. Lily, James, Peter, Remus, and even the new addition, Prongslette. If his partners couldn’t accept everything that went along with that they weren’t for him. “He even wanted me to skip full moons.”
This was a big no. Full moons were not optional. The wolf only tore Remus to shreds when left alone with him. This is why summers had always been the worst. They hadn’t been able to spend a whole summer in Wales with their friend. Not to mention that Lyall and Hope would never have let them stay over a full moon, in fear that something would happen. Sirius was determined that Remus would never again face Moony alone. Gideon was not worth his best friend suffering through debilitating injuries every month. No man was. Even Lily knew during the full moon she would be alone with the baby. Remus’ health and sanity depended on all of them.
Remus swallowed slowly, Sirius knew why. He never liked talking about his condition or all the things that went along with it. He had been livid when he found out they illegally underwent the very dangerous, very tricky process of becoming Animagi. Now it was just a fact of life. Once a month Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs roamed the forests.
“You shouldn’t have broken up with him for that. I would have understood,” Remus managed softly. Sirius frowned.
“I didn’t break up with him just for that, but it would have been enough. You’re my best friend, Remus. I will be there to subdue the wolf until a cure is found, or the wolf leaves you alone,” Sirius unconsciously stepped closer to Remus. He got a grateful smile. Remus would never ask for any of them to be there but was forever grateful that they were. “I was hoping you would wear your costume from last year so I could quote the story to you. What big eyes you have.” Sirius was aware he was slipping into flirting territory. He often did these days and Remus would play back. He wished it meant as much to Remus as it did to him.
He wished Remus’ heart squeezed the same way when they went in for a hug. He supposed it made sense that he had fallen for Remus though. Who else was he going to love but one of the first people to ever show him kindness, love, and compassion? He had known him since they were eleven and after getting the truth out of Remus, Sirius spent several years helping put him back together once a month. Pomfrey could handle the physical aspect of it, he helped handle the mental and emotional scars. That could lead to feelings of intimacy and even love for anyone.
Remus had only seen Sirius ill once. He had never let his friend know when he came back from a holiday injured. He had never let his friends see that most vulnerable side of him. When he had been sick he’d tried to carry on, but Remus had ordered him back to bed. Remus had spent the day draping cool flannels over his forehead, spelling his bedclothes to the perfect temperature, reading to him, and occasionally using a spell to clear up the congestion that made Sirius want to hack up a lung. Aside from that though it was always him helping Remus, so he was aware his feelings were pathetically one-sided.
“All the better to see you with my dear,” Remus purred. His voice was low and dark. Sirius held back a shudder at the tone. If he shivered Remus would notice. His heightened senses meant he knew more about them than was sometimes welcome. He’d known Lily was pregnant a week before she had. He had worked very hard not to spoil it for her.
“What big ears you have,” Sirius finally chimed back when he was sure his voice was level. He may have been able to hold back a shiver, but the green eyes and dark tone had him hardening. He prayed to all gods living and dead that his skirt wouldn’t tent.
“All the better to hear you with my dear,” Remus responded. God, that raspy voice sounded like how expensive whiskey tasted. It took everything Sirius had to remember to breathe. They were leaning into each other unconsciously.
“What big teeth you have,” Sirius muttered. Remus’ lips curled up in a devilish smile, revealing the line of the teeth that hid the secrets of his mouth. Secrets that Sirius wanted to taste and explore.
“All the better to eat you with,” Remus growled lowly. At that moment Sirius was caught. It sounded like Remus meant it. Like he was going to eat Sirius. His mind spun out to imagine all the different ways that could be interpreted. He was about to respond when Peter came out of the kitchen eating a brownie and the doorbell rang.
The moment shattered into a million pieces each laden with sexual tension. Remus went to let in their other friends and Sirius got another Butterbeer. As time wore on more and more people arrived. Marlene and Dorcas arrived both dressed as vampires complete with low-cut tops and fake blood. They all knew this was the last big hoorah, after this they would have to be child appropriate.
Mary showed up dressed in a sleek cat costume and spent the night heavily flirting with Peter and looking like she might eat him. Everyone thought James’ outfit was ridiculous and wasted no time in telling him, but Lily’s outfit was considered a stroke of pure genius.
Silly games were played. Sirius and Marlene tied in the apple bobbing. They all took a few whacks at a piñata until a well-aimed hex from someone in the crowd burst it. The wizard candy mixed liberally with the less spectacular muggle cousins spilled over the crowd. Sirius felt like he was playing a different game all night.
Every time he caught sight of Remus a pang of regret and desire coursed through his body. It was making him antsy. Especially since he’d often turn to find pools of green on him. There was a heat and an edge to that gaze he usually only saw in the days leading up to the full moon. The tattoo on his wrist reminded him that the moon was waning.
A dance floor was created in the backyard complete with more secrecy spells so as not to disturb others. Marlene interrupted his musings by pulling him out onto this. He only got to dance with her for a few moments before Dorcas grinding against her distracted the redhead. Sirius briefly entertained the idea of leaving. He had come to see his friends and make merry, both of which he had done. One of the Aurors from James’ work engaged him in conversation.
Sirius watched appreciative eyes trace the outfit he was wearing. It hadn’t been his intention to pull tonight. No matter what the outfit might imply, he had worn it for himself and that was it (maybe also for Remus, but the man didn’t have to know that). He wouldn’t turn down the opportunity though. He needed to move on from Gideon. He wondered how upset James would be if Sirius slept with his coworker. He had no basis for if it was appropriate or not
Sirius had no coworkers of his own and James would never do anything to jeopardize his relationship with Lily. Comparing it to Remus was impossible and not even in the same realm. In the end, it turned out not to matter. As the conversation wore on and it became very clear that this man had come over because of the outfit. He was just a dumb jock his brain in his balls. Sirius didn’t mind being sought after for his looks, after all, it wasn’t an accident, but he preferred his men to have a little more substance, especially between their ears not just between their legs.
“You, my friend, are attracting all sorts of stares and attention,” Remus groused as Sirius sent Robocop packing. He smirked over his shoulder at Remus. It seemed both of them with a little alcohol could be a good thing. Although Remus’ eyes were still bright and clear.
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