Her Single Rose (Remus Lupin)

Ninety-Eight

"It's about time you show your face again." Sirius grinned at the first sight of Remus. James came from the kitchen with a couple rags to wipe off the ash from the fireplace.

Next came Peter, who stumbled a bit into Remus. The mousy boy shook his clothing, swiping away the debris in disgust, "why did we have to flu?"

Remus shrugged with a smirk, "more fun." Peter rolled his eyes at the teasing remark.

It didn't take long for the two to get cleaned up and catch up with Sirius and James.

"You said you've been traveling, where'd you go?" James asked Remus, plopping down on the couch. The rest followed suit, Sirius next to James, Remus on a love seat and Peter on the floor beside James.

Sirius nodded, "yeah, where'd you go? Meet anyone interesting?" He wiggled his brows.

"All over America, my dad has family there and my mum as well. Ironically on opposite sides of the country so we stayed in California for a bit and then headed to New York. Made a trip out of it and visited a few other states in between."

Remus smiled talking about his adventures, it wasn't something he was able to do all of the time, but definitely something he loved when he could.

"Next summer we plan to go to Europe, maybe France. My mum asked my dad to take us since they decided to renew their vows a few weeks ago. Nothing more romantic than Paris, huh?" Sirius shook his head in awe.

He then turned toward James, "why can't we go to France? I could be meeting my future wife!"

"Sirius it would take you forever to even think about dating a girl let alone marry a women." Peter chuckled, earning a pillow to his face.

James agreed along with Remus, "He's not wrong, it would take a miracle to for you to actually date a girl rather than shag every female in sight." The bespectacled boy pointed out.

"Wanna bet?" Sirius asked.

"You wouldn't." James rolled his eyes.

"He couldn't." Remus corrected.

Sirius looked to Peter for backup, only to see him shrug in response, "alright, fine, five sickles I get a girlfriend before Valentine's Day. Five Galleons I marry her."

James jaw dropped, "you can't be serious."

"Actually I am, Sirius." The raven haired boy grinned cheekily.

Remus winced, "I don't know, Sirius. We're talking about an actual person here. A female nonetheless. You can't just pick up a girl and put a ring on her."

Peter furrowed his brows, "what else is he supposed to do? Knowing him, he'd probably make it happen."

"Thank you!" Sirius fist bumped the boy.

"As much as I hate to feed Moony's intellectual ego, he's right. It can't be that easy. Especially if she finds out it was a bet." James shook his head, his thoughts leading to Lily. If it was her in this bet, she'd break up with him and never speak to him again, that goes without a doubt.

Sirius merely smirked, "that's why it's a bet, it's not supposed to be easy. I can be a gentleman and I can win a bet at the same time. She won't have to know. Better yet, I pick the right girl and she won't even care."

James shrugged, "I don't think he can keep a girlfriend anyway, bloody hell, I'm in."

Remus gawked at his friend while Sirius grinned, "I can't believe this."

"You're not supposed to say that until after I win, Moony." Sirius smirked, if there was one thing he knew he could do, it's the key of persuasion.

Remus sighed looking between the three of his friends, ultimately succumbing to their peer pressure, "alright, fine. But we need to have some sort of boundary. You can't just marry a girl for the sake of a bet."