Sirius sighed.  "I know."

            "Here I thought you were just playing hard to get for all these years," Remus continued.  "You would never dance with any of the girls at any of the balls we had here."  A grin snuck across Remus's face.  "So, finally the truth comes out.  Sirius Black wasn't playing hard to get; he just can't dance."

            "Shut it, Moony," Sirius snapped.  "I don't need the whole school hearing about my deficiency."

            "It's hardly a deficiency."

            Sirius arched an eyebrow.  "Oh no?  I have a reputation to uphold here."

            "You could have just said no," Remus pointed out.

            Sirius sighed.  "How could I have just said no?  She's the most gorgeous girl in our year."  He stared at his friend and added pointedly, "She's the only good looking girl in our year that I have yet to take up to the Astronomy tower for a secret snogging session."

            "God forbid," Remus said dryly.  "Not the only good looking girl left.  Whatever shall you do all of next year?  You'll have snogged all the available girls in our year and there'll be no one older for you to ravage to your liking."

            "Has anyone ever told you how funny you are?" Sirius asked, still staring at him.

            Remus grinned.  "No, I can't say that anyone has told me that before."

            "Well, that's because you're not."

            "I was under the impression I was quite amusing."

            "Someone lied to you if they gave you that impression," Sirius answered.  "Now stop taking the piss out of me and help me."

            "Do you think she'll honestly expect you to dance?" Remus asked, pushing his body off the desk and moving toward Sirius.

            Sirius nodded.  "I think so.  She asked me to her date, after all.  Aren't dates supposed to dance with each other?"

            "I would hardly know," Remus replied.

            "You could if you bothered," Sirius said.  "You just don't pay attention to the girls flinging themselves at your feet."

            Remus raised an eyebrow and remained silent.

            "Okay, so it was one girl and she slipped in my spilled potion," Sirius said.  "Close enough."

            "Right," Remus drawled.  "Remus Lupin: Hogwarts' Man-Whore?"

            Sirius smirked.  "I was thinking more along the lines of Remus Lupin: Sexy Sidekick of Hogwarts' Man-Whore.  I can't have you stealing my titles, Moony."

            "Is that right?" Remus asked.  "Well, maybe I'll just not give you this dancing lesson and instead steal your date with my amazing moves on the dance floor."

            Sirius snorted.

            "What?" Remus asked.  "If you think I can't dance why did you ask me to teach you?"

            "Oh, I know you can dance.  But I think you're overestimating your ability to steal someone from me."

            "Because you're so suave?"

            Sirius grinned.  "Something like that."

            "Hey, some of us have to work hard for dates," Remus said.  "We're not all blessed with your good looks, you know."

            "Just shut up and teach me how to dance," Sirius demanded.

            Remus sighed.  "Fine, but if anyone sees us I'm telling them you tried to seduce me."

            Sirius grinned again.  "Teach me how to dance and I'll bet I could even seduce Snivellus."

            "Well . . ." Remus trailed off, wrinkling his nose.  "That was just a disturbing mental picture."

            "Dance, wolf boy," Sirius growled playfully.     

            Remus smiled and stepped forward, holding his hands out for Sirius to take.

            "What?" Sirius asked when Remus stared at him expectantly.

            "You really are hopeless," Remus muttered, taking Sirius's arm and placing it around his waist.  He grabbed Sirius's other arm and held it out, then folded their hands together.  He dropped his hand to Sirius's shoulder and then looked back up at his friend.

            "There.  You have successfully mastered the dance position."

            Sirius looked down at the two of them.  "Right.  Hand on waist, other hand holding yours . . . hers, whatever.  Then we move?"

            "You move," Remus said, nodding.  "Did you bring music?"

            "I . . . no."

            Remus sighed.  "Okay, that's fine.  We can . . . I'll hum, alright?"

            "Sure.  Just as long as my eardrums don't burst," Sirius said, still grinning.

            "Shut up and dance," Remus instructed.  "You have to lead me, okay?"

            "Why?"

            "Because you're the male."

            Sirius considered this.  "You're a male."

            Remus sighed in exasperation.  "Not tonight.  Tonight pretend that I'm your gorgeous girl that you have yet to snog."

            "Well, I'm no longer responsible for my actions," Sirius teased.

            "Dance, Padfoot," Remus instructed and began to hum.

            They moved slowly at first as Sirius tentatively made movements.  Remus either nodded or shook his head, making noises in his throat while he hummed.  He noticed how tense Sirius was, how his arm was locked tightly and his back was held upright.  Remus continued to hum, closed his eyes slightly and let Sirius lead him.  In all honesty Sirius wasn't that bad of a dancer, he just needed to loosen up a little. 

            "Don't think about it so much," Remus murmured, then started to hum again.

            "How?" Sirius asked, sounding panicked.  "How do I not think about it?"

            "Close your eyes," Remus replied.  "Just close your eyes and listen to the tune." 

            Remus cracked his eyelids a second later to see if Sirius had listened to him.  His friend had indeed closed his eyes and had reverted to shuffling awkwardly, his body thrust out backward in order to prevent himself from dancing into anything.  Remus suppressed a grin, then dropped his arm from Sirius's shoulder and forced his friend's body inward.

            "Moony!" Sirius exclaimed without opening his eyes.

            "Oh, shut up, Padfoot," Remus replied, inching closer.  "You're not going to run into anything, so just stop worrying and dance."

            "You're not humming anymore."

            Remus smiled, then began humming once more.  Sirius's eyes remained closed and Remus let himself melt a little closer to his friend, their bodies only inches apart.  Dark hair brushed against the hand he had on Sirius's shoulder and Remus found himself resisting the urge to reach up and brush it behind Sirius's ear.

            "How am I doing?" Sirius whispered.

            "Wonderful," Remus whispered back.

            Dark lashes fluttered against Sirius's skin and Remus found himself staring at a stray eyelash that had escaped and was now resting on Sirius's cheek.  He reached toward it and plucked it away, blowing it into the air, then turning back to his friend.

            "Eyelash," he explained.

            Sirius blinked, then nodded and closed his eyes again.  Remus watched as Sirius wet his lips, swallowing hard.  He wondered if Sirius's throat felt as dry as his.  He wondered what would happen if he were to reach up and touch Sirius's face again.  His fingers had brushed over his friend's skin only momentarily and yet he could remember exactly how it felt.

            A cool wind rushed over them both from the open classroom window and Remus wondered, only briefly, if anyone would look in from outside and see them dancing together.

            Sirius's hip bumped against his own and his attention flew back to his friend.  They had gotten extremely close, Sirius's eyes were still closed and the back of his thighs pressed up against the desk behind him.  Remus felt the arm around his waist tighten slightly and the hand wrapped in his own suddenly felt very hot and damp.  His heart felt very heavy in his chest as he pressed even closer, the whole time wondering what the hell he was doing.

            Remus let his hand creep up to cup Sirius's cheek softly and his friend finally cracked his eyes open at this.

            "Another eyelash?" he asked with a sleepy smile.

            Remus bit his lip uncertainly and Sirius's arm tightened more around him.  Sirius finally leaned back against the desk behind him and pulled Remus closer, Sirius's knee knocking between his legs.

            "Eyelash," Remus replied shakily, his hand sliding down toward Sirius's shirt, pulling at it gently and bending toward his friend.

            He felt Sirius's fingers slid up his face and run through his hair.  Remus felt warm lips beneath his own, his own hand still entwined tentatively in the partly open shirt front.  He pulled again, pressing his mouth down to Sirius's, kissing hopefully and clumsily.  He felt the knee come up between his legs again and he pressed closer, wanting to feel Sirius all along his body as they kissed.

            The hand in his hair toyed gently with the strands, sending shivers down his body to curl at the base of his spine.  The sensation sat there heavily, a pleasant warm feeling spreading through him.  Another tentative kiss from Sirius was followed by the hand sliding down to the back of Remus's neck and pulling him in.

            "This was a good dance lesson," Sirius breathed against Remus's mouth. 

            Remus couldn't find the words to reply.  He was terrified, absolutely terrified.  They'd leave the classroom and Sirius would go to the ball with the dark haired girl, snog her in the tower and move onto another one.  The kiss in the empty classroom would be forgotten.

            "We should do this more often," Sirius whispered, then kissed him again.

            Remus decided then that dance lessons were the best thing to ever happen to him.

            The two boys remained like that for a long while, leaning against the desk and kissing, exploring.  A wind brushed over their skin from the open window, but Remus couldn't feel it anymore.  All he felt where the fingers on his skin and the lips under his own.

            He couldn't wait for the next dance lesson.

End