Sirius couldn't help but grin as his eyes trailed over the flickering sign of the venue. He had been begging Marlene for months to take him to one of the muggle shows she had bragged about attending all summer.
While it took a lot of convincing on his part, it wasn't until he agreed to purchase all of her drinks for the night that she agreed in return to drag him along. What seemed unfair to him was that by default it became a group event, that no one else had to fight for. He was starting to believe Marlene had just been holding out in favor of free drinks, but in the moment he couldn't care due to his excitement.
Glancing back at the group he saw Dorcas, who was undeniably the best at charms, handing out charmed IDs to get past the muggle bouncer. Marlene looked smug as even Lily complimented her girlfriend on the spellwork, clearly holding back some chastising at the fact this was clearly something they got away with often.
As the queue moved forward, Sirius switched his attention to Remus who was hunched in on himself, as they waited, hands tucked into his pockets. He had an unreadable look on his scarred face, and before Sirius could question it, he followed his friend's eyeline to Mary who flipped her blonde plait over her shoulder as she giggled with the other girls.
Sirius nudged his friend softly, pulling Remus' attention away from his ex-girlfriend. He didn't know what had happened between them but it didn't seem to have any affect on their friendship. Still, without knowing what was going through his friend's head he wanted to try to be supportive.
"Alright?" Sirius grinned up at him, reaching up to tossle the auburn curls on his friend's head, knowing his dislike for the action, "you've been quiet all evening, aren't you excited?"
Remus broke eye contact from Mary and rolled his eyes fondly, a soft smile breaking out on his face as his attention shifted to Sirius. Sirius couldn't help but grin wider at having his friends full attention, glad to bring a smile to his face. "Oh fuck off," he snorted, pushing Sirius' hand out of his locks. "You know this is your thing, I'm just here for the free drinks." Remus teased, their shoulders brushing, as they shifted forward in the queue again.
Sirius gasped in offense, "I'm sorry free drinks? That offer was for Marls and only her." He scoffed, crossing his arms. Pretending to ignore the pout crossing Remus' face. He knew the taller boy was messing with him but also knew he'd happily pay for him even if he hadn't promised. Sue him for being weak to his crush on his lanky, jumper clad best friend. The only person Sirius knew who would wear a cozy, threadbare jumper to a rock show.
He was about to cave to his pout when an unruly head of hair leaned into his sight, arm wrapped around his firey haired girlfriend. "Oh Remmy, my love, I will be your knight in shining armor." James grinned winking over the frames of his glasses. "I know what a snob this one can be."
Lily rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's antics as Sirius whined in offense, "I'm not a snob! And no, I will be his knight- well I mean- I can pay for the drinks!"
James just smirked and winked at Remus again, "There you go, Love, you win."
Remus threw his head back in a laugh at his friends antics, leaning against Sirius slightly as he sputtered in offense, realizing James had purposely riled him up, knowing he'd immediately step up to the bait. That's what he got for trusting his friend with anything regarding his crush on their taller friend.
Before he could protest any more Remus had pulled him to the front of the queue handing both their charmed ID cards to the bouncer who waved them in. Immediately, Sirius' focus moved to looking around the venue, watching as the opener got set up on stage. It was small and already crowded, but Sirius was immediately enamored with the ambiance. Remus beelined them to the bar, the rest of the group trailing behind them.
Remus, being the most familiar with muggle alcohol began ordering for them, then bat his eyes at Sirius when it came time to pay. Sirius could see the smirk his friend was trying and failing to conceal, as Sirius sighed dramatically and handed over some notes that Remus had helped him exchange for prior to their outing. The bartender had a gleam in her eye as she looked between the two as Remus handed drinks over to their friends, but said nothing but a quick thanks before calling the next in line.
The group shuffled over to find a spot with a good view when snickering caught Sirius' attention. Mary, who had been sticking with Marlene and Dorcas as usual, had now drawn both James and Lily into her story. Sirius only caught the tail end of her current statement as she finished with, "-it was absolutely horrible and embarrassing!"
Intrigued, Sirius leaned into the group making room for both him and Remus in their little circle, "what are we talking about?" He inquired, leaning into Remus lightly. He felt Remus press back into him and couldn't help the small smile on his face at the touch.
Mary's usual perfect smile grew a little more wicked, her eyes trailing over Remus. "I was just saying how bad it was when Rem and I danced at the last school ball. He kept tripping over his feet and mine. He's just ridiculously tall!" She laughed, a teasing quality to her voice. It was true that the height difference between the two of them when they dated had been comical at times with Mary's small stature coming in just above 5 foot meaning Remus often hunching over to make up for it. Still, Sirius frowned as he noticed his friend hunching slightly now, shrinking down his 6'3 frame a bit as a light blush dusted his frecked face, making the silvery scar across his nose stand out even more.
Before Sirius could defend his friend, Remus let out a small, self deprecating laugh, "yeah, I guess it was pretty bad...I guess I'm not meant for slow dancing."
Sirius let his eyes roam over Remus' face as Mary continued on with the story, noticing how as she went on a different look appeared in Remus' eyes that he couldn't read. Before he could ask the opening band was coming out on stage and the group pushed forward as they began to play.
Sirius was immediately drawn into the music, having been waiting a long time to see a show like this in person, he didn't notice immediately as Remus seemed to hunch in on himself more, making his stature smaller for the people around him. Anyone could see he seemed to feel a bit guilty to be taking space so close to the stage and possibly blocking their view. Mary came up between the two nudging them apart, to talk over the music, saying something in Remus' ear. This did pull Sirius' attention as he watched an awkward smile form on his friends face as he allowed his ex to take the space in front of him, vying for a better view.
As the song changed to one they knew from the record Marlene played for them, the hype of the crowd seemed to grow as people began Dancing, Mary included. Sirius glanced over at Remus to comment that the poor dancing seemed to be on Mary's part, only to realize he had slipped away. He spotted his head of curls over by the bar placing his drink down, eyes scanning the mosh pit that had formed in front of the stage. Sirius began to head his direction when Remus pushed up the sleeves of his baggy sweater, showing off freckled forearms littered with small silver scars he usually kept covered from public eye, and headed directly into the pulsating crowd.
Sirius couldn't help but gape as he watched his friend immediately took to the crowd, a certain gleam in his eyes. He seemed to take to dancing in the crowd as natural a breathing, to the point that people around him seemed to make space and cheer him on.
Sirius looked to his other friends, noticing they had joined in the cheering, James nudging him in the ribs. Mary had an annoyed look on her face clearly bothered by the attention her ex was gaining from the crowd, but Sirius didn't care. His eyes immediately flicked back to Remus, his eyes focused on the sheen of sweat on his forehead, the bright smile on his face, and the actual joy in his eyes. It wasn't often Remus let loose, often either focused on school or aching and dreading the days leading up to the full moon, seeing the elation on his face made something click on in Sirius' head.
He watched through the rest of the opener's set as Remus continued to dance, allowing anyone from the crowd to join him for a song or two, where they danced close but then dipped back into the crowd as they began to tire. A few times Remus allowed his eyes to flit back over to their group, always locking eyes with Sirius and sending him a grin before focusing back on his newest dance partner. As the music faded out, Remus made his way back to the group, swiping at the perspiration on his face with the hem of his jumper.
"I'm gonna grab another drink anyone want one?" Remus asked as if nothing had occurred, as if he hadn't just changed Sirius' entire life in the past 20 minutes, the only sign anything happened was the slight breathiness to his voice.
Sirius downed his cup quickly, nodding along, "yeah, I'll come with you."
Remus grinned at him his hand reaching out, long fingers slipping into Sirius' hand and dragging him through the crowd towards the bar at the back of the club.
He looked up at Remus, eyes tracing his profile, seeing him so open and free clearly fed up with Mary and her comments, Sirius couldn't help himself.
He decided to take a chance placing his hand on Remus' shoulder to get his attention. Remus glanced down at him for only a moment, a fond smile on his face, before Sirius was pressing forward, grip on his sweater just loose enough to allow Remus to pull away if he wanted, and pushing up on his toes to press his lips to his taller friend's. Remus was immediately kissing back, one hand moving to settle on the small of Sirius' back and the other cupping his jaw then sliding up into his hair. Sirius went to deepen the kiss when a cough and a tap on the shoulder got his attention. He pulled away quickly, catching Remus' fond gaze for a moment before looking at the person who drew his attention. The guy laughed lightly and pointed up ahead, "your turn, love birds."
Remus, as if nothing happend stepped up to the bar to order for them as Sirius pulled out the money without even being asked.
As they stepped away with their drinks, he chanced a glance at Remus again who was still grinning widely, reaching out to interlock their hands again as they headed back to their friends.
Their friends threw a few glances their way, but said nothing. When it looked like Mary was about to comment something snarky, Dorcas just rolled her eyes and tugged her closer to her and Marlene.
Remus wrapped an arm over his shoulder as the headliner came on stage. Sirius grinned up at him, tugging him into the crowd again, this time it was his turn to dance with him and he didn't plan on sharing.