The last guests were leaving at last; it was about two in the morning. Remus gave a sigh of relief and sat down on the couch where Sirius was sitting. Sirius had lipstick all over his face, especially on those dimples Remus loved so much and had often the pleasure of admiring, since Sirius smiled quite a lot. Remus tried not to throw up at the sight and instead looked around the common room. Peter had fallen asleep on an armchair and James was busy saying goodbye to Lily.

"Happy birthday to me," Sirius whispered, grinning, as he finished his glass of Firewhiskey.

Remus turned to him, torn between his instinct to tell Sirius to stop drinking and the feeling of fondness which reoccurred every time Sirius's hair fell on his eyes and he shook them away, somehow managing to do it graciously.

"Happy birthday, Padfoot," Remus said quietly, with a small smile.

Sirius yawned and stirred and Remus wanted his strong arms to –

"You look weird," Sirius said, interrupting Remus's thoughts. "And that's saying something…"

Remus rolled his eyes. Sirius looked too drunk and tired to be able to produce long sentences. Suddenly Sirius crawled towards him and lied down, his head on Remus's lap, his long legs stretched out over the couch.

"Hello, Moony," Sirius grinned, waving at his face.

Remus tried to keep a straight face as he looked down at Sirius. His face was so close he could see every little detail of it. Remus tried not to think too much about the most disturbing fact that Sirius Black's head was on his lap.

"Tonight we were having fun and what was Remus Lupin doing?" Sirius snorted. "Taking pictures."

"Well," Remus said with dignity, "tomorrow, when you lot won't remember anything, you'll be glad that someone kept some memories."

Sirius smiled widely, his hands reaching out to pat Remus's head.

"Good man, Moony," Sirius murmured.

Sirius closed his eyes. Remus sighed. Sirius Black had fallen asleep on him again (it brought back fond memories of when Sirius had first got plastered, for his fifteenth birthday).

"Good night," James whispered as he passed by, grinning.

"Bastard," Remus mouthed to him.

James would get to sleep in a bed tonight. Remus would just have to stay on the couch, as he didn't want to wake up Sirius. And yet Remus wouldn't have switched places with James for anything in the world. He watched as James climbed up the stairs to the dormitories. The common room was now empty but for his two sleeping friends and himself. Remus noticed that Sirius's hair had fallen on his eyes again. He gently tucked the offensive strand of black hair away.

"I took pictures," Remus whispered, to no one in particular, his hands still in Sirius's hair, "because I want to remember everything."

But even years after, he would not need pictures to remember it all. Some memories, Remus found, seemed to be so strong that they stuck in your brain, like it or not. There were times when he wished he could just forget them, but Sirius's smile was engraved in his mind forever.