When We Fell In Love

Chapter 14: New Year's Eve - Part 1

Christmas Day and Boxing Day passed in an unreal bliss. Sure, James missed Regulus more than anything in the world, but he could not feel too melancholic because he had his entire family with him. Christmas lunch had been, as usual, a big event, with all his uncles, cousins, relatives, and neighbours coming and going, moving freely around the house. Euphemia had been incredibly busy baking trays of all sorts of goodies, and Fleamont had a natural talent for entertaining people – James was sure he had inherited his charisma from his father. Andromeda, Ted, and little Nymphadora had joined the celebrations as a surprise, almost bringing Sirius to tears (though he would never admit it out loud).

Speaking of Sirius, James had noticed a strange energy between him and Remus. They had exchanged greetings in a somewhat stiff and awkward manner, both of them blushing. They had sat rather far from each other at the table, but kept exchanging fleeting glances. James did not have time to investigate further at the moment, but he knew he would bombard Sirius with questions as soon as they got a minute alone.

They had opened all the presents, cuddled Nymphadora, and Sirius and James even managed to down a few glasses of wine. Everyone was in high spirits, huddled together by the fireplace, singing Christmas carols.

That same evening, when the guests had gone home and the others had retired to their rooms, James snuck out of his room and headed to Sirius'. He knocked lightly on the door, trying not to wake anyone else. Sirius opened it, his cheeks still flushed, and his lips wine-coloured.

"Prongs! Come in!" Sirius moved aside to let James in, then closed the door behind him, casting a Silencing Charm.

"Sirius."

"James." Sirius tried to say it in the same serious tone as James, but only managed to chuckle.

"What’s going on between you and Remus?" Sirius' face turned scarlet, and he began to stammer.

"N-n-n-nothing." James crossed his arms, giving Sirius a stern look. "Don’t look at me like that, Prongs."

"You spent the entire day exchanging longing looks like two lovebirds."

"That’s absolutely not true!" Sirius blurted, turning redder with every word. James waited, tapping his foot slightly to signal that he would not leave until Sirius spilled the beans.

"Stop it, you’re making me nervous."

"I’m not leaving until you talk. Black, I know you like the back of my hand, I can tell when you’re hiding something."

"Fuck you, Potter… I… I…"

"Come on, Sirius, you know you could tell me anything, and I’d still love you the same."

"IKISSEDREMUSLASTNIGHT!" Sirius sputtered, almost shouting it all in one breath.

"Oh... oh... okay, okay." James had been expecting it after all. "How was it?"

"Are you serious? I just told you I kissed Remus, our best friend, our Moony, and that’s your reaction?"

"I don’t see anything wrong with it. So, how was it?"

"It was…" Sirius could not find the words.

"Ahhh, Prongs, it’s weird to see you at a loss for words. You must really be smitten!" James teased.

"It’s not like that. It’s Moony, I can’t be smitten with him. It must have been the heat of the moment, the fact that I haven’t kissed anyone in days, I don’t know. A glitch in my system."

James could not believe Sirius was downplaying what had happened, but he also knew that insisting would only make Sirius close off even more.