DISCLAIMER: The boys aren't mine, neither is the moon, which irks me because I went psycho the other night when I knew it was a full and I couldn't see it.

WARNING: Yes. There is mooning (ha ha) and there is slashing!

Moon boys (Yes, bad name)

By

LizzY Tears

It was unusual for Remus to go outside at night unless there was very dense cloud over and there was no possible way the moon could become uncovered and surprise him. He always possessed this sort of irrational fear that he would turn into the salivating, vicious monster he harboured inside him, at any time the moon's rays touched him, full orb or no.

But that night, he was traversing the Hogwarts grounds in the middle of the night when the moon was high in the sky and only a few nights after the horrific full moon. Why was Remus walking around in the dark, wincing every time he felt the silver rays on his skin? Because Sirius was missing and Remus had been allocated the grounds to find him.

He was inwardly yelling at the wayward animagus, knowing exactly why Sirius was missing and more than likely knowing where he was, too. Sirius had tried to get him to go out star gazing with him earlier that night, but Remus had quite bluntly refused, saying Sirius should know better than to ask a werewolf to go outside under the moon, let alone asking a skinny Seventh year to go outside in the freezing cold to lie on his back on cold, dewy grass.

But Sirius, as usual, had ignored his protestations and pleas and found a way to get him outside, even if it was indirect and as sneaky as any Slytherin.

"Sirius Black!" He bellowed furiously, rubbing his prickling arms thoroughly. "Where the bloody hell are you?"

"Here, Remus!" Called back the familiar voice and Remus rolled his eyes in confirmation of his suspicions.

He hurried over towards the direction of Sirius' voice and folded his arms impatiently when he reached him. Sirius was lying in the middle of the grounds, a stolen blanket underneath his back with his arms behind his head, staring quite contentedly up at the sky. Specifically the shining great orb in the sky directly above him.

"How nice of you to join me, Moony." Sirius said genially and nodded to the moon above him.

"I'm not joining you." Remus said testily. "I'm telling you to get your behind back inside or I'm leaving without you."

"Aww, c'mon!" Sirius grinned recklessly. "Just a bit of star gazing!"

"But it's not star gazing, is it, Sirius?" Remus said. "It's 'let's get Remus outside so that he learns the moon isn't entirely evil'. Move it."

He thumbed back towards the castle, but Sirius ignored his gesture. His blue eyes focussed on him intently instead, weighing up his reaction.

"No." He said. "I'm staying here, and I'll stay here all night if I have to."

Remus planted his hands on his hips.

"If you have to what?"

"To get you looking at the sky with me." Sirius stated. "If you lie down and look with me for a while, then I'll go inside."

"And if I don't, it's on my conscience when you get sick and die, right?" Remus said in annoyance.

"Yup." Sirius replied cheerfully and shuffled over, casually pulling one arm down from behind his head and laying it across the rug. "It's all warm …" He patted the space beside him and Remus huffed impatiently and sat down next to him.

"Lie down." Sirius said, refusing to be satisfied.

Rolling his eyes, Remus let himself fall backwards until he felt himself connected with the ground. He realised, however, that Sirius had neglected to move his arm from across the rug and his neck was now pillowed upon it. He thought it was probably going to go to numb, but he vindictively decided not to move. Besides, it was rather surprisingly warm, and Remus was not.

A compatible silence fell between them until Sirius glanced over and happened to realise that Remus did not have his eyes open. He frowned and poked the other in the ribs, none too gently.

"Oi, cheater." He proclaimed.

Remus cracked open one eye and observed him in distaste.

"Shut up." He said, but Sirius ignored him.

"That's not part of the deal. You have to look at the moon and the sky."

Remus sighed.

"Fine." And he opened the other eye, casting both his orbs towards the glowing great orb in the sky that haunted his dreams.

It hurt his eyes to see, shining too brightly in the liquid dark sky, so he focussed instead on the stars around it.

"Which one is your star, Sirius?" He asked absently.

"Over there." Sirius told him instantly. Remus tried to follow his finger, but it was impossible. "Come over here, then." Sirius told him, moving over slightly further, and letting Remus lie almost on top of him.

A moment later, Remus had seen the bright star in the sky and was simply pretending to still be looking for it, because Sirius was so very warm and Remus frankly wasn't. He realised, after a while, that Sirius had probably realised he had seen the star and was waiting for him to get off. So he did, crawling gingerly back to his original spot, and wrapping his arms around himself.

He was staring at the moon quite contentedly, unconsciously finding faces and shapes in the globe he had never truly looked at before with anything but fear. He was doing that quite happily until he realised he was shivering quite violently at intermittent stages. He unconsciously insinuated himself closer to the blazing inferno that was Sirius, until Sirius too realised he was freezing and pushed himself closer.

"Can we go in yet?" He asked, his chin shaking.

"Soon." Sirius remarked quietly and linked his arm was Remus' to keep him warm.

What Remus really wanted him to do was wrap his arms around Remus and keep him warm, but that just stepped too far over the boundaries of propriety. So instead he switched his attention back to the moon, trying to quell the writhing of fear and discomfort in his stomach.

He tried to see it from Sirius' point of view, who loved the night and loved the sky. He thought it was strange that he hated the sky so much and yet so many of the things in his life related directly the sky and the moon itself.

His name, Moony, was a derivation from the werewolf side of him and the nickname had been an acceptance of his nature from his friends.

His lycanthropy, as much as he hated it, was part of his nature and his life, and nothing else could relate so directly to the moon.

His best friend Sirius was named after a star in that very sky, and that thought, oddly enough, was enough to make the sky less sinister after all.

"You know," Remus remarked after a while. "I never understood how the moon and the sky could be so romantic, but I do now."

Sirius laughed softly and Remus thought he must have imagined in, but it seemed as though Sirius pushed himself just a little closer.

"If you do this." Sirius said quietly, his warm breathing ghosting over Remus' ear as he leant over and took Remus' hand in his, gently positioning his index finger and his thumb into a space vaguely two centremetres long and held it up to the sky. "You can take the moon in your finger and thumb," he continued. "And crush it forever."

Remus stared at their joined hands in amazement, both at the thrilling feeling of Sirius' soft, warm fingers wrapped around his own, and the concept Sirius was showing him.

"Wow." He whispered back, trying to fight the urge to curl his fingers around Sirius' and never let go.

"I used to do that to my star." Sirius told him. "I'd try and take it from the sky and keep it in a jar so that when it got real bad at home, you know how it did, I could take it out and remember that there was light somewhere."

Remus didn't know what to say. Instead, he gave into his desire and took Sirius' hand gently in his own, leaving it loose so that if the other boy was uncomfortable with the arrangement, he could soon rectify it. He held his breath hesitantly, wondering what Sirius' reaction would be. He gave none, but he didn't remove his hand from Remus' grasp, either. Even when their hands dropped from the sky and lay between them, no longer just one friend showing another friend something.

Remus was plagued with a thousand thoughts on what would happen if he just leant over and pressed his lips to Sirius'. Would the boy run, as Remus thought likely, or gently explain he might or might not swing that way, but that Remus wasn't his choice if he did?

Eventually, Sirius sighed and said they could probably go back to the castle now. Remus didn't respond for a moment, and Sirius looked over at him in concern. Remus turned to look at him, his heart pounding as he considered his course of action.

It would be so easy to just move forward a tiny little bit, they were so close, and just press his lips, closed, to Sirius'. But that would take a lot of courage, and Remus wondered if he possessed it.

He was still debating this, when he realised he must have moved forward anyway, because suddenly there were warm, moist lips touching his, gently brushing at Remus' mouth. He barely had the presence of mind not to pull away, before he leant forward further and increased the contact.

It was so uncertain, so cautious and so nervous, that kiss, that Remus sometimes wondered if it had happened at all. But maybe the fact that Sirius grinned when they broke apart and asked if the moon was so bad after all, meant that it must have done.

It was so foreign, this touching such a forbidden area of another male and it was a little exciting as well, touching the boundaries of what was acceptable. Taking such a leap in one's friendship was a huge step, something that left them both light headed and weak kneed until they clasped each other tighter and realised their leap had been well received.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

There I go, two fics in one night. I gotta be good. Also, now I'm exhausted so I'm going to go to bed. Sooo not getting up in time tomorrow morning and then I have bloody work that afternoon. Gah!

Anyway, dedicated to my friend Jayde, whom I went out moon gazing with not long ago and introduced her to slash on the same night, so she wrote a story about moon gazing. But it was my idea first! So here it is, like it?

Hope you did and I hope you review if you did, too!

Love all always!

LizzY