May I have this dance?
Remus is lying down at the foot of his bed, next to Sirius, alone in their dorm room. The rest of their group had decided to go to hogsmeade but the two of them didn't feel up to it after all of the school work they had been doing. Perhaps Remus had also managed to get ahold of a packet of cigarettes and a new Bowie album but their friends don't have to know about that.
The windows are open to air out the swirling smoke as they take in mesmerizing the sound of music. Remus can almost feel Sirius’ mind running while his eyes dig into the side of his head.
“What's on your mind?” Remus says, tilting his head to meet his friend's eyes. Sirius looks away.
“Why do you not want to go to the ball?” He answers after taking a long drag of his cigarette. Remus’ whole demeanor changes as soon as the words exit Sirius’ posh mouth. He becomes uncomfortable, knowing how this conversation will end.
“Cause it's stupid” He's going to attempt to drag it out.
“I don't think that it's stupid” Sirius sits up, looking down at Remus, confused. Remus sits up as well, not liking the power dynamic of being looked down on.
“Well I do” Remus sighs
“Tell me why?” Sirius asks gently, not wanting to upset his friend further, but still being curious.
There's a pause. Sirius tries to read Remus’ expression, but he's just breathing.
"I can't dance.” There's a pause again while Sirius patiently waits for him to say more. “Everyone else will be dancing, I can't be the only one standing to the side”
“I'll stand with you” Sirius offers. Remus’ response is immediate.
“No.” He says.
“Then I will teach you how to dance”
“Seriously?” Remus considers it.
“Yeah” Sirius starts to fiddle nervously with his hands. Remus notices, and makes up his mind.
“No, I'll be fine.”
Remus is about to lay back down when Sirius straightens his back and gets determined.
“Too bad. I gave you two options, you have to choose one” he says, beginning to smirk. But that's not going to work. He has to say something that will bother Remus a bit, get under his skin a little. “Don't be a chicken moony, you're supposed to eat those not be one.”
“Fine. Teach me how to dance” Remus gives in. It makes a stupid grin spread across Sirius’ face.
Sirius gets up and stands right in front of Remus.
“May I have this dance?” He asks with a silly, cursive accent.
"Yes, you may.” Remus says, normally.
He takes Sirius' slender, outstretched hand, and lets himself be lead to the center of the room
Remus made sure to keep a mental note of how well they fit, Remus' strong, rough, hand over Sirius' elegant, smaller, and gentler hand. The differences make it perfect.
"Now put your other hand on my waist and come a bit closer" Sirius instructed in a professional tone.
Remus obliged, putting his hand high on Sirius' upper back and taking a small step forward. Sirius started laughing at this but Remus didn't understand what was funny. He then guided Remus’ hand to slide down his body a bit so it would end up closer to his lower waist.
"Closer" He demanded, so Remus took another small step towards his friend, but Sirius still wasn't happy.
"Closeeer" He asked again, looking straight into Remus eyes, almost like hes trying to hypnotize him. This time when Remus moved he ended up so close to Sirius that their chests almost touched.
"That's better." Sirius noted, red spots growing on his cheeks. "Feel the beat of the music and follow my lead. When I step back with my left foot, you step forward with your right. We will move in a circle-ish pattern. Understand?”
“Yeah, sure” Remus says, not really believing himself.
They started slowly, moving around the room in small steps, Bowie still playing in the background.
The first few seconds went well so Sirius decided to speed up to a more normal pace. It made Remus lose his focus and-
“Sorry!”
Sirius let out a squeak as Remus stepped on his toes.
"It's no problem, let's continue.” He says, a breath later.
They continue with the faster tempo and it doesn't take long until another accident.
“OW!” Sirius half shouts with a murmured curse.
Remus has somehow managed to kick Sirius’ leg while trying to take a step. When Remus looked at Sirius he had a look on his face that implied a lot of pain. It made Remus feel bad since it was all his fault.
“Hey, we should stop.” He tells his friend.
“No, I'm fine" Sirius replies, taking his hands off his aching ankle and giving puppy eyes to seem convincing. He's getting really good at them because of being an animagus.
“I don't want to hurt you.'' Remus turns around and is about to leave, when Sirius gently grabs his arm. “No. I want to do this for you, okay?”
They look in each other's eyes for a minute, silently pleading their own will to the other.
“Let's at least take a break, we can continue once you’re not in pain .”
“Deal!” Sirius agrees.
“Now c’mon, we’re missing dinner.” Remus says, reminding of the time.
“I am an old widow with injured ankles! Would you be so kind as to help me walk, mister?” Sirius jokes as they walk out of the dorm.
“Shut up or walk by yourself.” Remus says, trying to keep a straight face,but there is a small smile on the corner of his mouth. Sirius obeys with a quiet giggle and leans into his friend as they walk to the great hall.