Many Moons

6th Year

sSixth year began pretty uneventfully. Remus had grown to be 6'4", James was around 6'1", Sirius was almost 5'9", and Peter stood at a meek 5'5". The year went fantastic for Remus. He and Sirius went on dates, snogged in public, and held hands almost all the time. Their relationship was excellent. They also knew that a certain Lily and James had definitely fallen for each other, but wouldn't admit it.
One day, in the library, Remus brought it up to Lily,
"So Lils, any boys catch your eye this year???"
Lily flushed, saying,
"No, of course not, Remus..."
Remus smirked cheekily,
"So a certain bushy-haired brown boy named James hasn't gotten any cuter this year?"
Lily blushed even more now, stuttering,
"No Remus, I don't like James...okay, maybe I do? Fine, I really fancy James..."
Remus smiled and said,
"I think he likes you too, you know."

Meanwhile, James and Sirius, we're changing after quidditch (Yes, Sirius played quidditch. Even if he was smaller than most beaters, he was one of the best.)
"So Jamie, any new ideas on getting Evans?"
James blushed a bit, muttering defeated,
"Nope. I just might give up, mate. She doesn't seem interested in me AT ALL."
Sirius desperately wanted to slap some sense into James, but rather said,
"Mate, you just gotta talk to her. Don't play any games. Drop your little 'I'm the captain of the quidditch team so I can get any girl I want' James Potter act and just be James.
James looked down and nodded. He knew that he needed to be vulnerable, but that was probably the hardest thing he'd have to do. Behind all of his confidence and his eccentric personality, he was actually incredibly nervous and self conscious about having to earnestly speak with Lily.
Dinner that night was monotonous until Dumbledore announced that there would be a ball the following month to honor whichever house won the quidditch cup. Sirius and James eyed each other. They'd be asking their partners to the dance after they won.
The following few weeks held intense practices full of blood, sweat, and tears. Nonetheless, Gryffindor clawed its way to the top, preparing to face Ravenclaw for the cup.
The big day came and the match lasted around 4 hours, but, in the end, Gryffindor was victorious. Sirius flew over to Remus in the stands, looking absolutely gorgeous in Remus' eyes. Sirius' uniform was tight in all the right places and his hair was tied into a messy bun. Sirius announced loud and clear,
"Remus, how would you like to come with me to the ball?"
Remus knew Sirius would ask in a way just like this. Flushing pink, Remus squeaked,
"Yes..."
Sirius kissed him right there from his broom. James soon appeared on his feet, asking nervously,
"Lily, could you come with me?"
She agreed, following him. James recalled what Sirius had told him. Drop the macho act. Just be James. He stopped them under the stands and began to stutter out refusing to look into Lily's eyes,
"So, Lily, would you like to be my... date to the ball...?"
James' tanned skin had gotten redder than a tomato and very hot. So much so that his glasses had fogged up. Lily laughed at him, only causing James to blush harder. She gently reached up to remove his glasses, getting a full view of a bright red James with his gorgeous brown eyes. Smiling, she cleaned the glasses off, and looked right up into James' eyes, saying,
"I'd love to go with you, James."
She handed the glasses back to James, who replied,
"Wait, for real? You want to go with me???"
Lily laughed retorting,
"Of course, silly!"

The day of the ball had come and everyone was dressed to impress. Everyone felt amazing...except for one person. James and Peter had already left the dorm to meet their dates a bit early while Sirius stayed behind, waiting for Remus. Remus' mother had been able to find him a set of hand me down dress robes in his exact size. The only problem was that Remus never wore anything in his technical size. The shirt and jacket hugged his chest way too tightly for his comfort. The pants fit fine at the calves but were much too tight in the thigh/hip region. Remus felt dysphoric, which was something he hadn't felt in a long while. He lowered himself to the floor and began to cry. He couldn't be seen like this. He looked horrible. His stupid body was betraying him once again. Sirius heard Remus' low sobs and knocked on the door gently. Reluctantly, Remus unlocked it. Sirius saw his gorgeous boyfriend hunched over on the ground, arms covering the parts of himself he clearly hated. Sirius asked gently,
"Remi, what's wrong...?"
Remus snapped,
"Everything is wrong, Sirius! I look bloody horrible. My robes are too small, my chest looks huge, my hips look big, and the pants don't fit. I look like a f^^king girl! I just don't want to go, okay!"Sirius looked at Remus once again, saying,
"Don't say that Remus. You don't look like
a girl. You look like a bloody dashing bloke! However, I am sorry that your dress robes don't fit right...How about we just don't go in our dress robes then?"
Remus looked at Sirius, shyly asking,
"Really?"
"Yes, really. I'll wear my jeans and a jacket and you can wear your jeans and one of your jumpers. Would that make you feel better?"
Remus grinned,
"Thank you, Siri. And, yeah, it would make me feel better..."
Sirius went over to his trunk, trading his dress robes for skinny jeans, a Rolling Stones T-shirt, and a leather jacket. Remus came out of the bathroom. He was nervous, but he was ready. He asked shakily,
"Sirius, can I ask you something...?"
Sirius looked up, half-dressed, replying,
"Sure Remi, what's up?"
"Do you mind if I change in front of you...???"
Sirius walked over to Remus, only in his pants and T-shirt, and hugged Remus,
"I'm so proud of you. And of course! You always could, I just wanted to make sure you were ready."
Kissing his cheek, Remus began to shakily find his clothes. For the first time ever,
he wanted to be stripped down to his pants and binder in front of someone. Although Remus felt like he wanted to rip off his skin, he found comfort in knowing that the person he showed his body to loves it just as much as he wishes he did. Slipping into his clothes, Remus felt much better and the two headed to the dance, hand and hand after Sirius, of course, applied his usual makeup look.
They danced the night away, kissing, twirling each other around, and just living
their best lives. And they weren't the only ones finding love that night. After watching each other completely fail at dancing, James had pulled Lily to a quieter corner of the hall, red in the face,
"Erm, Lily...can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, anything"
Lily said.
James was so flushed and hot that his glasses began to steam up. Lily pulled them
off, wiping them on her dress, and, when she looked up, she saw that confident James fade away, leaving the brown boy with a bright red face and big brown eyes. He asked shyly,
"Can I kiss you?"
Lily smiled, pulled him down to her level, and kissed him. James melted into the kiss. It was everything he could have dreamed of and more. They separated and Lily gave James his glasses back.
They heard some muffled claps coming from Sirius, Remus, and Peter who had watched the final moments, proud of their two friends for finally being less dense and noticing how much they liked each other. The dance ended and everyone headed up to their respective dorms.
Remus, once again, was faced with the worst part of his day: showering. He stripped his clothes off, careful not to look down (or anywhere, for that matter). Stepping into the shower, he kept his eyes looking up, blindly feeling his body. His lumps and his curves still present; not to mention, his everlasting scars. He tried his hardest not to feel like he was different or broken, but, even on his best days, he was left feeling the same way: defective and gross. He let himself cry. He didn't want to, but he did. It was too much today, just too much. Unknown to Remus, he had left the door unlocked by accident. When Sirius heard the light crying, he slowly entered the bathroom. Turning, he saw Remus in the shower, completely nude.
"Oh sh^t!"
He audibly screamed.
Remus freaked out, concluding that it was Sirius, and shouted,
"Uffern waedlyd ('GET OUT' in Welsh, Remus' native language) Sirius! Get the f^%k out!!!"
Sirius rushed out of the bathroom, shocked. Remus is gonna kill me for sure, he thought. Remus cried some more. This is just great. Now Sirius had seen all his bits and would most certainly detest him. He got out of the shower, drying and clothing himself, before silently getting into his bed and closing the curtains.
The others took their turns in the bathroom, and, before long, everyone besides Sirius and Remus was in bed, sleeping. Sirius got up from his own bed knowing Remus wasn't asleep, tugging at his curtains and asking for entry. Remus said quietly,
"Come in..."
Sirius entered and sat crisscross at the end of Remus' bed. Casting a silencing charm, Remus could sense that a conversation would ensue. Sirius couldn't bring himself to look at Remus ashamed of what he had done, saying genuinely,
"I'm really sorry, Remi..."
Remus, annoyed and hurt, scoffed,
"Sorry doesn't do me much good when the boyfriend who supposedly doesn't care about my body can't even look me in the eye anymore..."
Sirius looked up meeting Remus' amber eyes and seeing every ounce of pain in them which he had caused. Sirius scooted closer to Remus so he could gently squeeze his hands, saying,
"Remi, what I saw doesn't change anything. I merely saw my boyfriend showering. The only reason I couldn't look at you was because I was embarrassed that I had crossed a boundary without asking. Seeing your body today when we changed was special. It showed that you trust me and that means the world to me. I am so, so sorry that I crossed that boundary before you were ready, love. It won't happen again. I promise..."
Remus was now crying happy tears. He loved Sirius so much and didn't understand how lucky he had gotten,
"Thank you, Siri; for everything..."
Remus kissed Sirius. They fell asleep in each other's arms, just like they did that night at Remus' house.