Remus looked at the flashing, singing, exploding, rainbow coloured birthday card from Sirius and sighed. Oh, there was no doubt Sirius' greeting was the biggest, flashiest, and most obnoxious of them all... but it was exactly that. Underneath all the outward signs that screamed: "You're a great friend, Happy Birthday!" Remus could detect no thought that went into it. In typical Sirius fashion, he probably just pulled out a piece of extra-large parchment and threw on a few showy charms to ensure his card would stand out among the rest (not that Remus had received many – just three others from his dorm mates and a few from a group of Ravenclaws he'd befriended).

The thoughtlessness of it was what nagged at Remus' mind. He thought that after last Thursday, when their shared moment of laughter at a particularly funny joke abruptly went quiet, when the initial awkwardness gave way to sudden understanding and uneasiness... surely Sirius had finally understood Remus' feelings for him?

Had he?

The card revealed nothing. My dear Moony: The line's getting old, but Happy Birthday anyway. Your next butterbeer's on me. Padfoot. Remus could have written the same note to Lily Evans without inciting James' jealousy. He threw the card onto his bed. Sirius had no clue and would never know.

Footsteps raced up from the Common Room and Remus turned around. James poked his head in.

"Remus, you there? Good. The concealment charm for our little project isn't working. It keeps giving out the password to everyone who asks. Mind working on an alternate charm?"

Who could say no to James Potter? Besides, Remus took as much ownership in their project – devising a charmed map of Hogwarts – as the rest of the Marauders. He nodded. "I'll look into it right away."

To work on concealment charms, a revealing charm needed to be set in place first. Remus grabbed the closest parchment, not caring that it was Sirius' card, turned it over, and cast an altered form of priori incantatem for papers on it.

Remus gave it little notice when the expected blots and ink smears broke free from magical erasure and showed up in their original glory. He waited five seconds and was about to cast another charm when writing kept on appearing and disappearing... and wouldn't stop.

Dear Remus...

Hey Moony...

I waited until your birthday to...

About last Thursday...

Happy Birthday, dear love Remus...

I think you're cute...

I (pause) like you (long pause) a lot...

(Illegible scribbles, quickly crossed out.)

Oh forget about it...

My dear Moony: (pause) The line's getting old, but Happy Birthday anyway. (pause) Your next butterbeer's on me. Padfoot.

Remus wasn't sure if gaping and grinning were simultaneously possible, but he felt like he was doing both. Sirius had put thought into writing his greeting, even if he erased it all. A lot of thought.

This was the best birthday ever.