March 10th, 1976, 4:32p.m., a Gryffindor boys' dorm

Sirius

"SURPRISE!"

Remus, who had just opened the door, gave a sudden squeak and dropped his bag. Sirius sniggered.

"What – How – What is this?" Remus spluttered, his eyes wide and roaming over the many balloons, the banners, the streamers, and the dozen grinning faces.

"It's a surprise birthday party," James said, sounding quite pleased with himself. "Happy Birthday, Moony."

Remus gaped for a second longer, then he rounded on Sirius. "Is this why you dragged me off to the library to check your Potions essay?"

"'Course it was," said Marlene as she threw an arm around Remus's shoulders, grinning at Sirius – who at that moment did not like the particular shade of smirk on her face – "he didn't drag you down there to have a snog."

Sirius blushed and Remus paled, but smiled weakly. James grabbed Remus's arm and dragged him away from Marlene to show off the expertly arranged buffet on top of the conjured tabletop on Peter's bed, and Sirius shot Marlene a scowl. Marlene simply shrugged and then elbowed him.

"Hey, he didn't look too disgusted at the idea, did he?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Fuck off," he told her, and wandered away.

He leaned on a bedpost and crossed his arms over his chest, taking great care to smile as if there wasn't a sudden feeling of being punched repeatedly in his chest. Remus was grinning and people were hugging him, and Lily Evans was hanging off his arm at every opportunity. It smelled fishy to Sirius, of course, since James didn't seem too bothered by the fact that the girl he'd been love with for five years was acting affectionate with one of his mates, but the pissed off look that kept getting swapped with cheery smiles whenever people looked at her on the face of Emmaline Vance made his stomach turn.

"Hey, mate, this is truly splendid."

"Thanks, Pete," Sirius mumbled.

Peter prodded his arm with an éclair. "What's up?"

Sirius gave a snort and shot Peter a grin, uncrossing his arms and pulling a cigarette almost by habit from the depths of his robes. "Nothing's up, what makes you think something's up?"

"Your smile twitches," Peter said.

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows at him but kept the smile. "My what does what?"

"When you're lying," Peter supplied, then took a bite of the éclair. "You smile, but it twitches, as if you're having to remind your lips to keep smiling."

The smile dropped immediately. Sirius stuffed the cigarette between his lips and flicked his wand to light it. Remus's back was to him, standing by the food tables with Evans and Vance on either side of him, laughing with some of their other yearmates. Evans was holding his hand, but Vance was leaning on his shoulder casually, a move she pulled often enough to keep it from appearing out of place, but not often enough to members of the opposite sex for it to not be just as obvious that she was interested in Remus. Sirius couldn't blame her, Remus had an easy sort of charm about him that had all the ladies running, apparently.

And at least one bloke, but people didn't talk about that.

"So, how do you think James feels being the only one underage still?" Sirius asked Peter, trying to change the subject.

"James'll be seventeen in a couple weeks," Peter answered. "Why're you lying and what about?"

"Mum, I didn't think you cared," Sirius said dryly, then took a drag on his cigarette.

Peter raised an eyebrow at him, then gestured with his éclair. "Now I know for sure something's bothering you, because you never call me mum, that's always James."

"Can't a bloke have two mums?" Sirius quipped.

"Well, that'd be weird, wouldn't it?" Peter asked. "Unless one of 'em's a step-mum, otherwise they'd have to be fags."

Sirius clenched his jaw for a second, then took another drag of the cigarette to avoid answering Peter. His friend sighed and took another bite of his éclair. They stood there for a long moment, the chatter around them filling their own silence.

"I don't get it," Peter said finally.

"Kay," Sirius said disinterestedly. He stubbed out his cigarette on the bed post, then vanished it with a wave of his wand. He pushed off the post and crossed the room, grabbing a cheese puff and biting into it.

Remus appeared at his elbow and Sirius half choked in his haste to swallow the cheese puff. "Sirius, thanks, mate."

"Hey, no problem, Moons," Sirius answered him, giving him a clap on the shoulder. "It's your birthday."

"It's still amazing," Remus said, then grabbed him in a hug. Sirius's breath caught in his throat and for a second he wasn't sure what to do with his arms, but then it was over and Remus was clapping him on the shoulder in return, his grin as broad as ever. "You're the best friend a bloke could have."

"'Course I am," Sirius said, "greatest friend in the universe. No one's ever had a friend better than me."

Remus's grin doubled and he laughed, and Sirius's own smile twitched. He and Remus were the best of friends, they'd be friends their whole lives, wouldn't they? Always just friends.