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Remus was seriously considering going to bed early. He was alone in his flat, and even though that normally would have been his idea of a good night, society dictated that being alone on New Year's Eve was pathetic, and now Remus' tendency to go against what society wanted from him was at war with his want to be, well, not pathetic. It was quite the dilemma. It made him wonder if he had been right to decline Sirius' invitation to go clubbing, even though he had never been a big fan of the tradition of starting the new year with a massive hangover and sleep deprivation. Then again, that scenario did provide a solid excuse to go and kiss Sirius Black at midnight, which was a huge bonus that Remus hadn't factored in yet. Damn. Maybe he should go and call Sirius? But he didn't want to admit he had nothing else to do and was pretty much only motivated by his crush on his fellow volunteer and only friend he'd made since he moved to Godric's Hollow three months ago. Ugh.
He got up and walked to the kitchen to pour himself some more tea. Outside, it was snowing; a wet snow, one that wouldn't hold long. It looked pretty falling down all the same. He had already begun to feel quite at home. There were several people he interacted with regularly that he didn't hate. The town had a decent record shop, the coffee at the corner café was decent, and he could work on his manuscript in peace. He smiled slightly to himself. If his health held, it was going to be a good year.
In the living room, his phone buzzed.
Walking back quickly, he picked up, barely looking at the caller id. He knew who it was already.
"Sirius, hi," he said. "I didn't realize you wanted me to come out with you so badly. If it really means that much to you, I'll come, y'know."
"Hi, Remus- no, we're not going out anymore. Although it is good to know you crack so easy under pressure."
Remus blushed a bit and was glad this was a phone conversation. "You should know how easy I am by now, Padfoot," he replied, keeping his tone even. "Was there another reason you called?"
Sirius chuckled in his particularly attractive way that always made Remus hate him a little. "I did, actually," he said. "Lily and I are going to do something stupid and kinda illegal and we thought you'd want to come with. You could get hurt, but you probably won't, and it is for a good cause."
This already sounded way more interesting than any previous plan of Remus'. "Sure," he said. "What is the plan?"
"Marlene can not know. I mean it. If she finds out, or McGonagall, we're beyond screwed." Sirius said, sounding very, well, serious.
"I won't tell. I solemnly swear," Remus said.
"Cool. Be at the shelter in fifteen. And bring alcohol." Sirius paused, like he was going to say something else, but apparently decided against it, and hung up.
***
Fifteen minutes later, Remus arrived at the dog shelter wearing two scarves and clutching a Martini bottle, which had been the only alcohol at his place. Sirius was already there, but only just, as he was in the middle of taking his motorcycle helmet off. Lily was hopping from one foot to the other, with only the ends of her red hair peeking out from under a massive wooly hat. She grinned at Remus.
"Glad you could make it."
Remus locked his bicycle and walked over to them, presenting the Martini. "You know me. You had me at 'illegal,'" he said, ignoring the look Sirius gave him upon that comment that you could only describe as 'adoring'. It was dark, maybe he was imagining things. "So, what are we doing?"
"We're breaking in," Sirius said. "The dogs are gonna be afraid, and alone, and they are in their cold cages-"
"The kennels are heated, Sirius, you have worked here for five years, you know this-" Lily interrupted.
"-and it is dark and they're already traumatized enough, so I have made a full survival package to make their New Year's better." Sirius finished, unperturbed, pointing to his backpack that Lily had been wearing. He looked solemn, like this was Serious Business, and he was so adorable Remus almost kissed him on the spot.
"As the primary veterinarian of the place, I have the full set of keys. I can let you in. I'm going to leave the keys with Sirius, who can lock up again as I go home to my husband and child as the perfectly respectable woman I am. If you get caught, I'll tell them you stole the keys. If you lose them, I will have your balls. Make sure you are out of there at the latest by seven." Lily said, sounding as if she did this every other day. She walked up to the door, unlocked it, then turned around to look at both of them sternly.
"I don't usually abuse my power like this-"
"Bullshit," Sirius muttered.
"- but I owed Sirius one. Be careful."
"We will be." Remus said. "Thank you."
"It's no problem. And Sirius, for the love of god, don't feed the puppies dexmedetomidine." And with that, Lily gave her keys to Sirius, who gave her the motorcycle keys in response. He then turned to Remus, as if it was perfectly normal that their friend drove off on Sirius' bike, even though he usually didn't let anyone drive, ever, and flashed him a grin.
"Shall we?"
The shelter was a strange place to be at night. It was very familiar in a way - both of them could find their way around the large building blind - but also different, and a bit eerie. The hall at the ground floor was usually bustling with people, but now the place was deserted and dark; the only light coming from the strips pointing to the emergency exit. Sirius crept behind the reception desk to get them both their walkie-talkies and to turn on the lights. Remus wished he hadn't done that. Things felt more ordinary at once.
"So," he said, "what's the plan?"
"We put the dogs at ease," Sirius said, a bit of uncertainty in his voice. Remus strongly suspected Sirius hadn't thought past the point of breaking in. "They are all in their own cages, so we have to alternate, but there's two of us so that means we only have to do, like-"
"Twenty dogs each. That is not going to help them much, Padfoot. Can't we… Can't we help them in another way, besides literally sitting next to them?"
"We can play them music?" Sirius said. "I brought them Mozart and dex, doggy anxiety medicine. We can feed that to the big dogs and the adult ones, at least."
Remus nodded. "How many of the small ones have behavioral problems?"
"Only Sky and Muppet, I think?" Sirius' eyes lit up. "Oh! We can put the easy dogs in the canteen! That way, one of us can keep multiple dogs company, and the other can patrol and comfort particularly distressed dogs."
Sirius had lost his mind. "Sirius," Remus said, "we can't put the dogs in the canteen. The canteen is for humans."
"It is the only space big enough, Remus! I love the dogs, you know it, but even the easiest of them get too excited that they will go nuts when there's too many of them in a space that's too small!" Sirius said, apparently not seeing the problem.
"I know, but Pads, they will eat the chairs," Remus said, "There is absolutely no way we can get the canteen back into shape before we leave, and then they will find out we broke in, and all hell breaks loose."
"Let's get the furniture out, then. Empty out the room."
Remus hummed. "That could work."
***
It took a little over an hour to get all the dogs to eat the dex, and to get the two large tables and the twenty-six chairs out of the canteen. Sirius had put on the music and the lights, and the dogs were calming down.It was never truly quiet in the kennels, but the barking was a lot less and sounded more habitual than urgent. They worked quick. When Remus finally got upstairs with Rosa, a gentle husky with big, sad eyes, Sirius was already seated on the mess of doggy blankets they brought up earlier with a pup on his lap, and two more dancing around him. It was disgustingly adorable. Rosa padded over and pressed her nose to his neck, making Sirius squeak.
"That's cold, Rosie!"
Remus made his way over, greeting the other five dogs running around. Apart from Rosa, they were all on the smallish side (at least according to Sirius, who didn't think a dog was big unless it resembled a bear), which is why they hadn't dared to give them the calming stuff Sirius brought. In their company though, they seemed perfectly at ease, if maybe a bit excitable. Sheep, the tiny white mutt, was roughhousing with Mo, a german shepherd pup that was going to be at least four times his size but was still as tiny at the moment. Fry, a yellowish dog named after french fries (it had been Marlene's turn to name the animal) was tucked into Sirius's side, still a bit shy, and Pip, a pug that had taken a special liking to Remus, jumped at him excitedly to greet him. He sat down and let her butt her head against his sweater. She was exceptionally ugly, even for a pug, but had such a sweet disposition that she was becoming one of his favorites anyway. Remus petted her, laughing.
"Hey, girl. I'm happy to see you too!"
The last dog, Boat, was an old blind one with surprising amounts of energy. He was sniffing Rosa very thoroughly, although he paused that activity to bark at Remus once in greeting.
Remus caught Sirius's eye.
"Is there a contingency plan for if it doesn't work out and they start fighting?"
"The contingency plan is my amazing dog-whispering abilities? We'll see it if it gets to that." Sirius looked down at his lap, where Rosa's big, fluffy head lay sound asleep already, and added softly:
"I don't think it'll be a problem. And after all, what's life without a little risk?"
It was ten to twelve when Remus sat down next to Sirius.
He'd spent the past hour playing with Sheep, Mo, Pip, and Boat, trying to calm them down and absolutely failing, while Sirius sat in the same spot (I can't wake Rosa up Moony, what kind of monster do you think I am?) and laughed at their antics. He was slightly out of breath. Remus tried to tell himself this was because of the running around with the dogs, and not the feeling of Sirius's thigh against his.
"Do we have a countdown?"
Sirius dug up his phone out of his pocket while moving as little as possible, as not to disturb Rosa.
"I'll set one."
They sat in silence for a bit. Remus desperately wanted to say something witty, something smart, but his brain seemed devoid of all thought apart from Sirius, Sirius, Sirius. Anything flirty he could say would come out way too heavy and meaningful, so he just said nothing and scratched Fry's belly. She had completely gotten out of her shell and was now sprawled out over Remus's lap in a frankly indecent way. He smiled down at her; she truly was a sweet dog. He had good hopes for her finding a family in the New Year.
His breath caught a bit when Sirius extended a hand and started petting Fry too, still not moving too much, his fingers brushing past Remus's every now and then. The thousand times they'd pet a dog together had never felt so charged, but being alone together on New Year's Eve made things different in a way Remus hadn't anticipated. Again, he attempted to say something, but nothing came out.
"You know…" Sirius started, then trailed off. He looked strangely shy, a faint blush painting his cheeks. He looked at Remus, and soldiered on, "I feel bad for cheating you out of your New Year's Kiss."
Remus had the distinct feeling that was not what he had originally intended to say.
"It's okay," he replied. Dang it, Lupin, you could've been a bit more suave.
"I could make it up to you," Sirius said, very much not looking at Remus anymore. Remus' heart was suddenly in his throat.
"You probably should, yeah," he said, his voice a bit jittery. Sirius looked up, his face even more flushed and bearing a surprised, but happy expression.
"'S only fair," he said.
"It just makes sense," Remus agreed, leaning in. Sirius met him halfway, and kissing his smiling mouth was easily the best thing Remus did all year. Had either of them looked at Sirius' phone, they would have noticed it wasn't midnight for a minute and a half, but it didn't matter; they kissed well into the New Year, in the end.