III
Remus entered the RoR with Sirius, where he was greeted by music, conversation and the smell of firewhiskey.
Basically all their friends were there: James, Lily, Pandora, Dorcas, Marlene, Mary, Frank, Alice. Even Sirius’ brother, Regulus, had come and brought his friends. If he remembered correctly, the blond was Evan and the dark-haired one was Barty.
Evan was wearing a light grey top and black jeans and Barty had on a black hoodie and grey jeans. They were sitting on the sofa, Barty had his arm around Evan, and was holding a glass of firewhiskey. Evan laughed at something Regulus had said before he looked up and saw that Remus and Sirius had arrived. He leaned closer to Barty’s ear to whisper something to him. Barty looked over at the two and smiled at Remus.
Remus smiled back out of politeness, wondering what Evan had whispered to him. He walked over to their friends with Sirius.
James smiled when he saw that Sirius and Remus had arrived. ’’So you two finally made it, huh?’’ He smiled like the sun. James was just the type of person to light up a room with his smile.
Remus smiled back at James and took a drink from the table. ’’We did, Siri took forever to get ready,’’ he said, earning an elbow jab from Sirius, ’’Ow, gast.’' ("bitch''in Welsh)
Sirius grinned slightly at Remus, before walking over to James, and putting his arm over his shoulders, ’’Now, where’s the firewhiskey?’’
Remus rolled his eyes affectionately and watched Sirius and James talk, while Sirius of course got his firewhiskey. He and James were like brothers. They supported each other through anything, even stupid pranks. Their energies bounced off each other and if they didn’t have different last names, it would be hard to tell they were not related.
Remus looked around the room, searching for a quiet corner to hang out in. He liked parties and hangouts, but he didn’t feel particularly sociable. At least he had managed to grab a book he was reading before they left the dorm with Sirius.
He sat down on the small sofa, crossing his legs as he opened his book, blocking out everything going on around him. Remus occasionally looked up, to watch what Sirius and the others were up to. Sirius had a habit of going hard with firewhiskey, so no doubt he and James would have to sneak him back to the dorms later on.
At one point in the evening, Barty and Evan sat across from him. Remus glanced up at them, wondering why they would come and sit here if they were with Regulus. He didn’t ask them about it and just focused back on his book.
Evan sat next to Remus, ale in his hand, ’’What are you reading?’’ He asked Remus, glancing at Remus’ book.
’’The Picture of Dorian Gray,’’ Remus responded, wondering why was there this sudden interest in him, ’’I thought you both came with Regulus, where did you leave him?’’ He asked.
Barty sat on Remus’ other side. Remus could smell the firewhiskey on Barty. ’’Well, Reggie boy went over to try to flirt with Potter, so we came over to meet you.’’ Barty told Remus, gently tilting Remus’ chin up to look at him.
Remus looked up at Barty, locking eyes with him. His eyes were pretty grey, with some hints of blue in it. They reminded him of the Forbidden Forest when it was foggy on a full moon. Or the Black Lake on a rainy autumn day. Both were places he liked to be at, if he could control his change enough on a full moon. The Shrieking Shack was horrible to be at, but the forest or the lake was where he felt at peace with everything. Barty’s eyes said so much yet so little about him.
Remus shook his head slightly, pulling away from Barty’s hand. ’’Well, you met me, hi, I’m Remus Lupin, I’m from Gryffindor house, now let me read in peace.’’ He told them, looking back at his book.
Evan glanced at Barty. Did he really have to get flirty on the poor boy immediately? Not that he didn’t enjoy flirting, but it wasn’t going to obviously work on Remus. He looked at Remus, gently closing his book. ’’I get that you want to read Remus, but come on, you’re at a hangout, with alcohol and friends. Do you really wanna spend the whole night reading, in this depressing corner, here?’’ He asked as Remus looked up at him. ’’If you want, we could join whatever the others are doing? I heard they’re gonna do some stupid games.’’
Remus debated it for a moment. Yeah, maybe it would be good to socialise for some time. ’’Alright, I’ll join you guys, but not for long.’’ He told them, glancing at both Barty and Evan.
’’Hey, guys, what if we play truth or dare?’’ Asked Dorcas, glancing around the room. Some time had passed and now everyone was sitting in a circle in the middle of the room, drinks in hand. Some had gone to bed, leaving only Lily, James, Sirius, Regulus, Barty, Remus, Evan, Marlene and Dorcas.
Regulus shrugged, ’’Sure, why not, I’m in.’’ He said, leaning back a bit, taking a sip of his firewhiskey.
Everyone said they were in, leaving Remus.
’’You gonna play, Remy?’’ James asked, ’’You don’t have to if you don’t want to, you can watch.’’ He said, knowing how Remus was about games at hangouts like this.
Remus looked at James, biting his lower lip. Why not, it was pretty much only his friends, except Barty and Evan, but they seemed nice. ’’Sure, I’ll play too.’’ He said, sipping his glass of firewhiskey. He grimaced. It didn’t taste the best, but getting tipsy helped him loosen up a bit.
Dorcas nodded to Remus, grabbing an empty ale bottle, ’’Anyone wish to start the game?’’ She asked.
Regulus held his hand out for the bottle, ’’I can start.’’ He muttered, looking at Dorcas. Dorcas gave the bottle to Regulus.
Regulus put the bottle on the floor, spinning it. The bottle slowed down, pointing at Lily.
Lily glanced at Regulus, ’’Hmm, truth.’’ She said, smiling at him.
Regulus nodded, thinking. ’’Have you ever cheated in a test?’’ He asked, looking at Lily.
Lily smiled. She wasn’t expecting something easy. ’’No, never.’’ She answered, spinning the bottle. It landed on Sirius.
Sirius looked at Lily, ’’Dare!” He said excitedly.
Lily hummed, “Kiss the cheek of who you find attractive.'' She said, looking at him.
Sirius glanced around before crawling over to Remus, giving his cheek a kiss.
Remus blushed, “Um, thank you..’’ He mumbled, flustered of course.
This went on for some rounds. Marlene and Dorcas ended up kissing, James had to rate the whole group from most attractive to least, Regulus and Sirius did a staring contest (which Sirius lost), Lily was dared to kiss with Evan. The bottle stopped on Barty.
“Dare.’’ Said Barty, looking at Marlene.
“Kiss the people you’d want to take to bed tonight.’’ Marlene challenged, smirking as she sipped her drink.
Barty smirked at her, “I like how you think.’’ He told her. Barty leaned over, kissing Regulus. They had done it with Regulus, but it was more out of need and casual, nothing special. Although he didn’t notice, that earned him a side eye from Sirius and James. He then leant over Evan, kissing him deeply, holding his cheek. His gorgeous boyfriend after all. He pulled away from Evan, smiling at him, before looking at Remus, gently grabbing his cheek.
“Can I kiss you?’’ Barty asked gently, looking at Remus’ eyes. Remus’ eyes were a darker brown, it reminded him of dark chocolate. They were warm and inviting, completely mesmerising him. He bet they look even nicer in the sunlight, melting into his grey.
Remus slightly leant into Barty’s hand, looking back at him. “Yes, you can.’’ He whispered, their lips instantly locking when Remus allowed him.
Barty tasted of firewhiskey and the bold flavour of the cigarettes he had been smoking every once in a while during this night. Remus found that he quite liked that flavour combo and kissed back, his hand moving to the nape of his neck. Barty’s lips were so soft and he was a great kisser, his reputation didn’t lie, he did indeed have experience. He felt Barty put his hand on his hip, pulling him closer, wanting more, wanting to feel and taste more of him. Remus didn’t wish for this to end.
Barty had his hand firmly on Remus’ hip, not wanting to end the kiss yet. Although from what he knew, Remus didn’t have much experience, but he was a good kisser. He could taste the firewhiskey he had painfully been drinking. He had seen from the faces that Remus made while drinking it, that he didn’t drink often. He teased Remus’ lips with his tongue, hoping he could take it a bit further. Remus opened up for him, letting Barty’s tongue in his mouth. Barty grunted quietly, pulling Remus into his lap, wanting more. He definitely wanted Remus after this kiss.
Sirius glared at Barty and Remus kissing and coughed, “Okay, I think we get the point, you can stop now.’’ He said, annoyance clear in his voice. He would love to hit Barty.
Barty rolled his eyes, but pulled away from Remus slowly. Remus was fully straddling his lap by this point. He looked at Remus, seeing his cheeks were hot red and he chuckled lightly.
Remus looked at Barty, feeling really hot. He didn’t even care about the fact that Sirius was staring knives into them at the moment. He bit his lower lip gently, wondering what Evan thought since he knew they were dating.
Barty leaned closer to Remus, “If you wish, you can hang out with us in our dorm after this.’’ He whispered into his ear, while staring at Sirius, giving him a wink. He could see the anger clear on his face.
Remus nodded gently to Barty, finally getting off his lap and sitting back down. He looked up, seeing that Sirius was fuming, practically red from anger.
Lily glanced around the room. “I think it’s perhaps time we all head to bed or else we’ll get caught by Mr.Filch or worse, McGonagall.’’ She said, hoping to diffuse the tension.
James caught onto what Lily was trying to do, “Yeah, I’m feeling quite tired actually.’’ He said, yawning to make it more convincing.
Dorcas and Marlene agreed with them, Regulus didn’t say anything, just stood up to get ready to leave.
Everyone started to clear out, grabbing their things and saying goodbyes. James and Sirius waited for Remus to join them, while so did Barty and Evan. Remus got off the floor, grabbing his book.
“You coming with us Remy?’’ James asked, looking towards Remus.
Remus looked at James and Sirius. James had no pressure on him coming with them, Sirius however.. He looked like if he said no, he would kill Barty on the spot.
He looked towards Barty and Evan. They were hopeful, but weren’t expecting him to join them. For the first time, Remus was questioning going back to the dorm after a hangout in the RoR.
“I think I’ll uh.. Come back to the dorm later.’’ Remus responded to James, who just nodded and dragged an angry Sirius out of the RoR.
Barty smiled at Remus, happy that he had decided to come to their dorm. “So, shall we go?’’ He asked.