“No, but you don’t get it,” Remus sighed, slightly exasperated. Surrounding him in the Room of Requirements were Dorcas, Marlene, Barty, Evan, Lily, Pandora, Regulus, Mary and Peter. Marlene was braiding Dorcas’ hair, Barty was sitting on the carpet laying his head on Evan’s lap with Evan playing with his hair, Pandora was lazing on the floor next to them with Regulus next to her and Mary and Peter were sharing a plate of cookies. Lily was next to Remus, all listening to the latest troubles of Remus Lupin.
Only James and Sirius weren’t here. They were off who-knows-where and anyways, Remus didn’t want either of them here. He was literally talking about Sirius to the lot in front of him and James would just spill everything to Sirius. “He’s my best friend-”
“And oblivious as fuck,” Regulus muttered, cutting Remus off. Remus nodded in agreement with Regulus.
Since all their friends between the two friend groups had started dating, they were all forced to be nice to one another, and Remus had found out that he and Regulus shared the same humor and the chaos he and Barty were able to cause. Dorcas was great fun at parties and had the craziest ideas ever, whether they were possible or not was a different story. Evan and Barty was a fucking dangerous couple to be around, but they weren’t afraid of causing trouble. Pandora had a crazy side she revealed only when high on alcohol or drunk. They were wild and Remus enjoyed being in their company.
Advice, however, was not their strong suit.
“Oh come on, Remus. It’s like Barty and Evan’s case then, isn’t it? They were best friends before dating as well,” Dorcas pointed out. Remus sighed.
“If you think this idiot wasn’t fucking oblivious either, you’re wrong then. Had to literally smack him over the head and say that I wanted to date him for him to realize,” Evan added, hitting Barty’s arm as he did so, to Barty’s yelps. Remus dropped his head into his hands, screaming internally. They weren’t helping much.
Pandora tilted her head, letting her braid fall over one shoulder as she spoke. “I think the easiest way is for you to just be direct and straightforward. Be very clear about what you want and what you expect.” Thank heavens for Pandora. But a lingering fear still seized Remus.
“What if-what if he doesn’t feel the same?” Remus said in a small voice, hating himself for it.
“I’ll punch some sense into him,” Regulus replied casually.
“What if I mess up? What if I-” Remus rambled on, starting to panic slightly. Too many things could go wrong. Yet what Remus feared the most was rejection. If Sirius didn’t feel the same, they could possibly never be friends again. Things would get awkward and strained and Remus could very possibly lose Sirius. He didn’t think he would be able to bear that. Staying as best friends was the safer option. Yet…
“Remus. I know staying as friends seems the safest,” Lily said gently, voicing out what Remus was thinking. “But do you really want that?”
Remus considered this. No, he didn’t want that. Pandora and Lily were the voice of reason right now, which was exactly what he needed.
“The things you do for love,” Barty declared, taking one of Evan’s hands and kissing the back of it. Evan smiled slightly, turning red.
“Well it is true,” Dorcas said. Everyone turned to her, listening. “What? I mean, James turned Regulus from a cold mean bitch to a mean bitch - still a mean bitch but definitely not as cold, not sorry Regulus - like, it was that easy?” Regulus threw a pillow at her, and Dorcas fell backwards into Marlene with a scream.
“Fine, since we’re on this topic, Evan, the asexual person he is, turned Barty from having sex like it’s oxygen-” Barty shouted about it not being true while throwing a pillow at Regulus and completely missing “- into not having it for a year,” Regulus stated, because of course he had to be a ‘mean bitch’, quoting Dorcas, even while being sort-of nice.
“I have complete control and power over him,” Evan said, flicking imaginary hair over his shoulder. Barty folded his arms over his chest, looking away from Evan, even though his head was in Evan’s lap.
“Why’s everyone attacking me today?” Barty grumbled like a little child. “And no, Rosier, you don’t have complete control over me.” Evan smirked, laughing slightly.
“Fine.” Evan slipped out from under Barty, shifting away from him and towards Pandora. Barty hesitated, lasting about ten seconds before sitting up and grabbing Evan’s hand, pulling his boyfriend towards him and securing Evan firmly in his arms. The rest of them erupted into laughter with a few fake gagging noises of disgust as well. Barty shot them the finger, still holding Evan captive.
“Don’t bring your lovey-dovey shit here,” Marlene hissed, a threat evident in her tone. Barty shifted the middle finger to her, causing her to yell a few profanities at Barty.
Seeing them, Remus felt slightly jealous. Being able to love their partner so freely must feel amazing. He glanced at Pandora, then Lily, and both smiled back at him encouragingly. If he pulled it off, he could love Sirius as freely as they could as well. A small spark of hope lit up inside him, as his mind searched for ways to confess to Sirius. Flowers? A picnic? Both sounded great actually. The lake would be a good place. It was currently 4pm. If he could get everything ready by 4.30pm, he could get Sirius by 5pm.
Remus stood up, causing a quarreling Barty and Marlene to pause their fighting. A bit of short-term relief for Evan and Dorcas, who were holding their lovers back. “I’m going to get ready. Wish me luck?” Remus asked, slightly hopeful. They did, even with Marlene pulling at Barty’s hair and Barty’s elbow in Marlene’s face.
Remus stepped out of the Room of Requirements, taking in a deep breath. He could do this. His friends said he could, so he could.
After all, anyone would do anything for love.