Happy Birthday
Saturday, November 6, 1971
Remus woke up and realised that he was alone in his dorm room. He slowly got ready for the day, pulling on an oversized sweater and a pair of trousers. As he entered the common room, he was grabbed by James and Peter and practically carried down to breakfast, and they explained how they absolutely have to sing happy-late-birthday to Sirius at every meal today, because they have to make up for his actual birthday where they didn’t get to sing it at all. Remus barely processes this and, as he is thrown down next to Sirius, finally opens his eyes all the way. Before he can even grab a piece of toast, the other two stand up and start singing. Remus, of course, joins them.
“Haaaaaaaaaapy late birthday to you, happy late birthday to you, happy late birthday dear Sirius, happy late birthday to youuuuu!” They scream-sang, earning scattered applause across the hall.
“Thanks, lads,” Sirius said, then turned to Remus, nearly asleep. “Alright, Remus?”
“Tired,” came Remus’ mumbled reply, and Sirius chuckled.
“Gathered that. C’mon, eat your toast you big lump,” he joked, and shoved a piece of buttered toast into Remus’ mouth.
“Fanks,” said Remus, and sleepily chewed his breakfast.
The boys spent all day mucking about, planning pranks and even executing a couple of them. Stink bombs in Slytherin common room? Check. Enlarging Snivellus’ ear? Check. They did countless of these pranks, all meticulously planned beforehand by James, and Sirius’ spirits were as high as ever, forgetting the no-fun birthday he had earlier in the week.
When lunch rolled around, James, Remus, and Peter stood up once more.
“ Haaaaaaapy late birthday to you, happy late birthday to you, happy late birthday dear Sirius, happy late birthday to youuuuu! ” They sang again, this time joined by a couple of other students from Gryffindor, and an eye-roll from most of the hall.
After lunch, James and Peter left Remus to distract Sirius and keep him out of the common room until after dinner as they put up the decorations. Remus, having done absolutely no planning, had no idea what to do for the next six hours. Thankfully, Sirius did have some ideas, and dragged Remus down to the Quidditch pitch to watch the Gryffindor team practice. Remus was falling asleep where he sat. Sirius, on the other hand, was absolutely enthralled, never moving his attention away from the sport, except for when he noticed Remus slump against his shoulder, asleep. Sirius smiled to himself, then shivered, because Remus must have put a warming charm on them both, which fizzled out when he fell asleep. He renewed it, wrapped a protective arm around his friend, and continued watching the Quidditch practice until it was over.
“Remus, hey, sleepy, wake up,” Sirius said, gently shaking Remus from his stupor.
“Oh, shit, sorry Sirius, my bad. ‘Dunno why I’m so tired today,” Remus said, yawning and stretching. “What time is it?” he asked groggily.
“About four, King really drilled them into the ground. Half of ‘em had trouble walking back to the castle,” Sirius mused, and seemed somewhat excited about that.
“Four? Jesus, what do they need to do for three hours?”
“All sorts of things, Remus. Anyway, what’s next?”
“Dunno, you have anything else in mind?”
“Well, I want a nap, but I can’t go back to the dorms, can I? Banned until Jamie says I can go back up,” Sirius said, and yawned as if to prove how tired he was.
“If you really want a nap, the library’s good for it,” Remus replied, and Sirius nodded in response.
The two went up to the library, and as they entered, Madam Pince gave Remus a small smile in greeting. Sirius gaped at this, as the stern librarian never smiled, but Remus only shrugged. He directed Sirius to the comfy couches near the back of the library and went off in search of a new book. He’d just finished Dreadful Denizens of the Deep and was looking for something else. Particularly interested in magical creatures, Remus picked up From Egg to Inferno: a Dragon-Keeper’s Guide . He wandered back towards Sirius, and found him curled up in the corner of one of the couches, eyes shut. When he sat down, Sirius mumbled a hello and continued drifting off. At some point in his sleep, Sirius drifted away from the arm of the couch and towards Remus, his head ending up on Remus’ shoulder. Remus didn’t mind, of course, and simply continued reading the large book.
Not too soon, it was time for dinner, and Remus shook Sirius awake. He returned the book, finished about a half-hour ago, to its proper place on the shelves, and the two walked down to dinner. For the third time that day, James, Remus, and Peter stood up.
“ Haaaaaaapy late birthday to you, happy late birthday to you, happy late birthday dear Sirius, happy late birthday to youuuuuu! ” This time, most of Gryffindor table had joined in, along with a couple of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. Even Dumbledore had joined in, and clapped and chuckled at the end of it. The rest of dinner passed by with no fuss, and then it was time.
James, Remus, and Peter made sure Sirius’ eyes were closed as the four walked through the portrait tunnel into the Gryffindor common room, and when Sirius opened his eyes, many of the first-years and a few older students shouted “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”
Wolpart was there and switched on her enchanted radio. Until someone requested something, it was to play a list she had put together. Many congratulations were said to Sirius, and there were refreshments on a table. Even Evans was there, at Remus’ request. The bigger the crowd, the better, he told her, and she relented. Remus was happy, enjoying the general splendour and cheer, until a song he had never heard came on. It was Elton John, he recognised his voice, but didn’t know the song.
“Hey, Wolpart, Elton John came out with new music?”
“Yeah, man, came out yesterday! Song’s ‘Tiny Dancer’, album’s Madman Across the Water ,” Wolpart supplied, and Remus enjoyed the song thoroughly. After this, he thought to himself, he’d have to ask her what spells she used on that radio.
Some old Bowie came on, and Remus could practically feel Sirius fall in love with it. It was the same for Peter when Barbara Ann came on, although Remus couldn’t fathom why. Nothing caught James’ ear especially, but he did seem to enjoy a couple of the Who songs.
When one of the songs came on, Evans finally stood up and started dancing with her roommates, Remus thinks their names are Mckinnon, Meadowes, and MacDonald. Apparently, this caught James’ eye, as he came up to Remus and leaned their shoulders together, absolutely ogling Evans.
“James, if you like the girl, go up and ask her out,” Sirius said, coming out of nowhere. James nodded and went up to her shyly. Remus saw her scoff and brush him off, and James came back to his friends.
“Tough luck, but there’s other girls,” comforted Remus, but James looked up at him, beaming.
“Not for me, Remus my old pal, Evans is the one!” he exclaimed, and wandered back off into the crowd. Remus and Sirius exchanged a glance, giggled, and went to find other people to talk to.
Remus spent the rest of the party mostly observing, being caught in conversation once or twice by friendly students not wanting anyone to feel left out. When he started yawning, he made his way up to his bed and collapsed into it. Not too much later, the other three boys came up, whinging about how Rivers, a sixth-year prefect, came down and told everyone to hush up and go to bed. All four boys went to their respective beds, but continued chatting.
“So, how about that Evans, James?” Sirius teased. James had this strange, lovesick look on his face.
“She’s perfect, isn’t she?”
“She rejected you, mate, move on,” said Peter.
“Never! That’s my wife, Pete!” James all but shouted, and the other three boys laughed at him.
“Whatever you say, James. What happened with you two, though? I didn’t see either of you much,” Remus asked Sirius and Peter.
“Oh, well I was sitting most of the party, y’know. Chatted a lot with Haley most of the night…”
“Who is Haley?” asked Sirius, clearly impressed.
“Haley Pearson? She’s in our year, for God’s sake! Do you pay no attention?” said Peter, a little incredulously.
“No, no I do not, thank you for noticing Pete,” said Sirius. “But really, I’m impressed! You got a girl to talk to you for a few hours!”
“It’s not that hard, Sirius, you just gotta listen to what they wanna talk about and they don’t shut up! It’s a lot of fun, and I got a lot of gossip too!”
“Gossip? Pete, I never thought you were the type!” said James.
“You and Sirius aren’t the only ones who like talking, James,” pouted Peter.
“Anyway, nicely done Pete. Interested in her?” asked Remus, raising his eyebrows.
“Of course I like her! She’s pretty,” he replied. “All blonde and blue-eyed and freckles and smiles.”
“Oh my god they’ve got both of you! Remus! You’re my last friend left! The others have been abducted by… by… girls!!! ” exclaimed Sirius, dramatically, rushing over to take shelter on Remus’ bed, and ended up practically in his lap.
“Okay, okay, ow, get off me! Jesus! What’ll you do when I get a girlfriend?”
“Die, probably,” Sirius said, matter-of-factly, still in Remus’ lap. Until Remus pushed him onto the floor and the room erupted in giggles.
“So dramatic, Sirius, none of us have girlfriends yet. Honestly, I’m surprised that you’re not gushing about some girl too.”
“Of course not, I don’t gush. I’m far too dignified,” Sirius replied, turning his nose up.
“Oh yes, so dignified,” joked James, and pushed Sirius back into his bed, which began an all-out pillow fight between James and Sirius, with Peter and Remus making eye contact with each other from across the room. When it was finally over, the two collapsed into their beds, giggling uncontrollably.
“You two are so annoying,” stated Remus, in the most affectionate way possible. When Sirius and James pouted at him, he laughed at them. “Oh, your faces! You know I still love you guys, but c’mon, a pillow fight?” He questioned.
“Okay, I’ll give you that one,” said Sirius, but threw a pillow at his head anyway. It hit.
“Ouch. Rude,” Remus said, using a mock-hurt tone. He promptly confiscated the pillow and lay down, laying his head on it, sticking his tongue out at Sirius.
“Hey, that’s my favourite pillow!”
“Shouldn’t have thrown it at me, idiot.”
“Gimme!” Sirius whined, stood up, and ripped his pillow from under Remus’ head.
“Rude again,” Remus said, chuckling, then yawned. This started a chain reaction, as yawns do, and all four of them determined that it was, in fact, time to sleep. They bid each other final goodnights and went to blissful sleep.
Or so Remus thought. When he heard the snoring of James and Peter, Sirius crept over to Remus’ bed and asked in hushed tones if he was awake.
“What is it?” Remus whispered back, opening the curtain. Sirius took the opportunity to clamber into Remus’ bed next to him.
“Thanks for today. It really meant a lot,” he said, beaming.
“Was James’ idea, go thank him,” Remus deflected.
“Nah, James would do this for anyone. You went to a party for me. You don’t do parties. I know you don’t, it doesn’t fit your demeanour.”
“You clearly know so much about my demeanour,” Remus said sarcastically, but when he saw Sirius’ smile falter, he quickly said “You’re welcome though, I’d go to any party for you mate.” This earned another grin from Sirius, who gave him a quick hug and went back to his bed. Finally, Remus could sleep.