Remus and Sirius, Harry and Ginny.
The audience grew quiet as the lights in the auditorium dimmed. A muffled chorus of children shushing each other came from backstage, and a chuckle went around the auditorium.
Remus pulled Sirius towards the left of the stage, knowing all the students would be entering from the right wings to avoid disturbing the back curtain, which had always been a temperamental piece of kit and apparently had not been fixed almost twenty years on.
They watched as Teddy’s class performed the nativity, complete with sea creatures and Callum the camel being the star of the show. Teddy spotted his dad in the wings and waved wildly. Sirius and Remus waved back, then exchanged a fond look as Remus’ heart skipped several beats and he had to pull himself together.
“Thank you, for staying, Sirius,” Remus said quietly as thirty-four seven-year-olds assembled on stage to play I Have a Dream on recorders.
“Thank you for pushing for me to stay,” Sirius replied, not taking his eyes off Remus. “I’m really glad you did.”
“Well, if nothing else, it’ll be nice for you to see your nephew.” Remus could feel his cheeks growing pink and was grateful for the almost non-existent lighting of the wings. “I’m sure he’ll be so glad you stayed.”
“I’ve been teaching him drums. He’s trying to woo some girl.” Sirius grinned proudly.
“You can play drums?” Remus hissed, fighting back a groan. Of course, Sirius had been a drummer on top of everything else that drew Remus to him.
“I’m a bit rusty… but yeah, I was in a few bands as a teenager. It’s a nice stress relief too. Leader of the opposition is a twat in the chamber? Beat the shit out of my kit when I get home. Instantly feel better.” Sirius grinned. “Works almost every time.”
The tiny recorder players left the stage and as the front curtains closed, a drum kit was quickly dragged from the wing where they were situated, leading to a very wide-eyed teacher almost choking on her own saliva as Sirius said hello and smiled politely at her, and Harry rushing over and throwing his arms around Sirius.
“You came!” He said, “Dad said you probably couldn’t, so I didn’t get my hopes up but shit! You’re here!” He eyed Remus, appraisingly, “Is this the guy you and Dad are always whispering about when you think I can’t hear?”
It was Sirius’ turn to blush. “Harry this is Remus, Remus this is Harry, who definitely needs to get on stage now! And don’t say ‘shit', you little shit!”
Harry grinned at both of them with a knowing nod, before taking his place behind the drums and testing the kick drum a few times.
“You talk about me?” Remus asked with a smirk. "To your brother and nephew?"
“Shut up, Remus.” Sirius covered his face with the hand that wasn’t still interlaced with Remus’. “Yes, of course I do.”
“Good,” Remus whispered, his lips brushing the shell of Sirius’ ear, relishing in the palpable shiver that ran down Sirius’ spine.
The Headteacher of the school, Mr Flitwick took to the stage. He looked contagiously cheerful as ever. “For the penultimate song of the evening, I would like to introduce Ginny Weasley from year 6, who will unfortunately be leaving us after Christmas to move to Liverpool. A few of my fellow teachers have gotten rather involved with this number and I have allowed myself to be dragged into it. Apologies in advance for our part in this magical moment.” He draped tinsel with fairy lights around his neck and tossed one end over his shoulder with a flourish. “Ginny Weasley, everyone!”
A storm of applause rang out as he ducked behind the curtain, which opened to reveal a single spotlight on Ginny. A single piano note sounded and she began singing the opening bars of Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas.
She was good. Almost so good that Sirius and Remus were completely distracted. Almost. As the band came in, Remus pulled Sirius into the corner of the wing and pushed him back against the wall, gently but firmly. He held Sirius’ burning gaze as he leaned in slowly.
As the song reached the bridge, Harry was having a ball, he spotted his dad in the audience and smiled broadly. He’d managed to play without making a single mistake so far and honestly, even if Ginny was going to Liverpool and he lost his first love to the city of The Beatles and Sporty Spice, maybe his second love could be drums.
“Make my wish come true, all I want for Christmas…is you,” Harry’s breath caught in his throat and it was all he could do to keep playing as Ginny turned around and pointed at him, with a sparkle in her dark eyes. But before he could think about it too much, she had turned to point at the bass player, then the guitarist and finally the audience. He frowned and perhaps played the last part of the song a little more in the style of Sirius after a bad PMQs than was entirely necessary.
Sirius and Remus saw none of this, however. After several seconds of feeling Remus’ breath ghosting across his lips, Sirius grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him into a fierce kiss. As their lips touched, Remus felt every cliche at once, fireworks, the earth moving, the sensation of doing a loop the loop on a rollercoaster, or driving over a bridge really fast. Something like that. He dragged his fingers through Sirius’ hair, pulling him even closer by the soft strands.
Sirius pushed Remus backwards and walked him towards the pile of stage blocks behind the curtain, not breaking the kiss. Neither of them was even aware that the final song of the night had started, all 200 students somehow crammed onto the stage to sing 'We wish you a Merry Christmas’.
Remus hooked his fingers into Sirius’ belt loops to pull him even closer as Sirius’ hands roamed enthusiastically. He dragged Sirius’ lower lip between his teeth, eliciting a soft groan from Sirius’ throat. But before he could do anything about it, which was probably for the best given their location, Sirius knocked the back curtain. It was only a slight brush, but of course, the whole thing came tumbling down, exposing them to not only 200 scandalised primary school pupils but also their families. The music and singing stopped and the room was silent.
Sirius looked at Remus with wide eyes for half a second before going into rescue mode. “Trust me?” Remus nodded as Sirius reached for his hand and interlaced their fingers. “Smile and wave.”
“What?!” Remus hissed, looking out at all of the curious faces, but Sirius already had a cheeky grin on his face and was waving. To Remus’ utter bafflement, the audience started to applaud. He specifically heard Mary cheer 'Get it Remus!, which made his cheeks flush even pinker, which he wasn’t aware was possible. He awkwardly waved with his free hand, finding Teddy’s eyes in the sea of children and smiling at him.
“So sorry, didn’t want to interrupt.” Sirius said, “But seeing as I seem to have already done that, I just want to say that every child on this stage is utterly fantastic. I never get to go to events like this anymore, but I am so glad that I was persuaded to attend this evening. In March I will be fighting hard for funding for arts subjects in schools, so to see this first hand… well, I’ll certainly be fighting harder for it now I’ve seen what’s possible from such talented young people.” He looks around at the proud looks on the children’s faces and grins. “Finally, I hope everyone has an easy and peaceful festive season. We’ll just be…” He gestured towards the wings and dragged Remus off with him, to rapturous applause.
When they left the wings and stood in the corridor behind the theatre, they stared at each other for a few moments before Remus started chuckling. Before long they were both struggling for breath as they laughed.
“What on earth… just happened?” Remus managed finally.
“I have no idea.” Sirius snorted, “Shit, I’m so sorry if that’s going to make things awkward with you with Tonks, or Teddy, or any of the parents you know… or Mary?”
“Are you really asking me if there’s anything between Mary and me right after we got busted kissing on stage at my kid’s Christmas show?” Remus wiped a tear of mirth from the corner of his eye. “No, she’s been my friend since uni. Nothing like that going on. I tell you what though. She rarely dates men, but your brother is her exact type. Maybe when he’s ready we could introduce them.”
“Wow, I’m still reeling from what happened in there, and you’re ready to play matchmaker?” Sirius teased him, “Sure, why not? I also apologise for whatever The Sun and their ilk write about you. I know you didn’t ask for any of this, and I should have been more careful, but you’re just…”
“It’s ok. I mean, not that the tabloids will probably go through my old Twitter account and find all the cringe stuff I’ve ever said, but I don’t regret it. Maybe the timing and location could have been better, but still. I don’t regret it, Sirius.” Remus said, holding his gaze.
“Yeah, neither do I.” Sirius smiled at him. “I suppose we should have a proper conversation about this soon, but you should go and congratulate Teddy on being the best lobster I've ever seen in a nativity play.”
“Alright. Then please pass on my compliments to Harry. He’s a natural! I hope he gets his girl.” Remus squeezed his hand. “Why don’t you come round for brunch tomorrow? We can talk about it and I can feed you something other than biscuits.”
Sirius mentally checked his schedule. “I can do brunch. 11ish?”
“Sounds good to me,” Remus said.
There was a pause. “Why am I nervous to kiss you goodbye?” Sirius whispered.
"Because it’s real now.” Remus took a step towards him and tilted Sirius’ chin up gently before kissing him softly. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Sirius.”
“Yeah, tomorrow.” Sirius said breathlessly, as Remus walked away from him grinning.