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It was cold and dark on the night of December 31st, 1980. Ice frosted the windows and small hills of snow toppled through the doorway each time someone stepped inside. But juxtaposed to the cold, the darkness, the silence, and the looming threat of war that stood just outside the walls of the McKinnon family home, the bright, beating heart of a party roared with life. Leftover strings of lights from Christmas twinkled along the walls where they hung, dancing playfully with the flickering shadows cast by the sitting room fireplace. It was here, ankle set casually over his knee as he sank into a deep plush chair, that Sirius Black could get an optimal view of his gathered friends.
In the kitchen Emmeline Vance was pouring firewhiskey directly into the mouth of Edgar Bones, who then grabbed her by the shawl and kissed the beverage into her mouth. Raucous cheering and applause erupted from the others in the kitchen at the display, after which Emmeline raised her arms triumphantly in the air with a bottle in hand. Not only were those two known for being skilled wizards in battle, but they were also known for being a riot at parties. Dedalus Diggle playfully nudged Edgar’s arm, but it had been quite a long night of libations so Edgar lost his balance and grabbed onto Diggle to steady himself. Dedalus was nearly two heads shorter and less than half the weight of Edgar, though, so rather than steadying the drunken boy he was simply dragged down with him (which resulted in more cheering and applause).
Through the window outside, Sirius could see Fabian and Gideon Prewett trying to set up some fireworks that they had bought from Zonko’s a few days before. Although her voice was muffled, it was obvious that Marlene McKinnon was shouting exasperatedly at them to be careful meanwhile Dorcas Meadowes looked on with a smirk from her place leaning against the porch rail. Remus Lupin was chatting with Peter Pettigrew in the front room just as Sturgis Podmore came through the door, who they greeted with a fond clap on the back.
On the couch across from Sirius, Frank and Alice Longbottom were cuddling close as they slept, apparently relishing the opportunity to get some uninterrupted rest while they were away from baby Neville for a night. James and Lily Potter had also seized an opportunity to spend a night away from their little Harry, but by the state of their matching disheveled clothes as they came down the stairs and into the sitting room, it appeared that sleep was not the activity on which they had decided to spend their free time.
“Having a fun night?” Sirius asked, grinning mischievously in the light of the fire as the couple walked into the room with too-happy smiles on their faces and suspiciously-placed bruises on their necks. Lily blushed and wrinkled her nose at Sirius; James made sure Lily wasn’t looking before he waggled his eyebrows and dramatically winked at him.
“This was definitely one of Remus’s better ideas,” said James, his voice playful but quiet so as not to wake the Longbottoms.
New Year’s Eve wasn’t normally a holiday celebrated among wizards, but Remus had celebrated it with his mum a few times growing up and he wanted a chance to share the experience with his friends in the Order. The members of the Order didn’t need an excuse to throw a wild party; life was short, Death Eaters stalked in the shadows at every turn, and being blackout drunk helped to distract them from their crushing anxiety. Tonight they almost didn’t worry about the Death Eaters or the war at all. Tonight their minds were on having fun, enjoying each other’s company, and drinking themselves silly.
“Speaking of Remus,” Sirius began, sitting up straight and gripping the arms of his chair briefly before standing. “I think that he and I have spent far too much time apart. If I don’t hug him or give his cute arse a squeeze in the next five minutes, I might combust.” He smiled sweetly at Lily, then grabbed James by the shoulder and leaned in to whisper, “I’m sure that if you’re quiet enough, you and Lily could have a proper snog while I’m gone.”
Lily, who had apparently overheard him, pushed against his chest and exclaimed, “Pervert!” Frank snorted and rolled over to wrap his arm around Alice on the couch. With a chuckle, Sirius placed a finger over his mouth to signal Lily to be quiet before practically prancing away from the warmth of the fire to meet Remus in the front room.
To greet him Sirius crept up behind Remus and very suddenly grabbed him by the waist, yanking him back into himself so hard that he accidentally hit his chin on the back of Remus’s head and caused Remus’s drink to splash over the rim of his cup in the process.
“Fuck, Pads!” Remus groaned exasperatedly, sighing with a huff as he held his arm out to avoid spilling his overflowing beverage onto his shoes. “You have absolutely no sense of personal space, do you?”
“What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine, baby. That includes your personal space!” Sirius teased, reaching over to set down Remus’s drink before taking Remus by the hand and spinning him around so they could face each other. “Don’t you think?” he asked, tilting his head to the side so that his hair fell innocently over his shoulders. Perhaps it was the liquid courage or perhaps it was the simple fact that he hadn’t gotten to visit Remus in a few days, but before he gave his blond-haired beauty a chance to respond he pinned Remus to the wall by the wrist in one hand and his hip in another, leaning against him as he planted a warm firewhiskey-flavored kiss on his lips. His head felt foggy and his chest fluttered as their kiss lingered, Remus’s playful hums of protest quickly melting into eager reciprocation.
“Hell yeah, Black!” shouted Sturgis, cup in hand as he came in through the kitchen to plant a crisp high-five on Sirius’s palm. Peter peered around the corner with wide eyes and a deep blush on his face.
Sirius broke away from the kiss with a laugh, squeezing the hip of one very flustered and bright red Remus. “Piss off, Podmore! Can’t you see you’re embarrassing him?” he shouted back, although the tone of his voice made it quite apparent that he was not opposed to embarrassing Remus by drawing attention to him. And if the way Remus was smiling from behind his hands were any indicator, it didn’t seem to bother him too much either. “Now where’s Marlene and Dorcas? I need them to come and take the gay spotlight off of us for a minute so we can snog in peace.”
He waved Sturgis off dismissively and, with a quick kiss on the cheek, led Remus by the hand quietly through the sitting room (where he winked at James, who was being thoroughly kissed on the neck by an inhibitionless Lily) and out the back door to the lawn. Marlene had resorted to giving the twins pointed glares, but was huddled at Dorcas’s side to stay warm inside the coat they were attempting to share. “Hello, my sweet sapphos!” Sirius sang, grey eyes sparkling with exuberance even in the low light of the evening. Dorcas didn’t turn to face him, but he could feel that she was rolling her eyes.
“You need something, Sirius? Or were you just coming out here to torture us and freeze Remus to death?” Marlene raised a brow at him with a smirk, arms crossed over themselves to block out some of the cold. Her breath billowed out in clouds as she spoke, and quite suddenly Sirius was aware that he hadn’t put on his coat or his shoes before coming outside. He used it as an excuse to cling to Remus, sliding his arms up between his shirt and his coat in a hug. Remus was giving him that look — an annoyed frown, with one eyebrow slightly higher than the other and his nose a little crooked from the way he was wrinkling it. Sirius loved that look.
He shuffled (and shuffled Remus along with him) until he could hold tightly onto his beanpole of a boyfriend and simultaneously face Marlene with a look of feigned offense. “Must one need something in order to spend time with one’s beloved friends? Is it not enough to simply enjoy their company?” This question elicited an amused snort from Dorcas.
“I’m sure that our company is quite enjoyable, but you never come looking for the two of us unless you have something up your leather jacket sleeve,” retorted Marlene, although her accusing tone contrasted starkly to her soft and small posture snuggled under Dorcas’s arm.
“She’s right, you know,” chimed Remus, who chuckled at the overdramatic gasp and clutching of the chest that followed from Sirius.
“Oh, how dare you, Moony! Not once in my life have I ever felt so betrayed!” Sirius whined. He placed the back of his hand on his forehead, pretending to faint for a moment. When Remus instinctively leaned in to catch him, Sirius grinned and threw his arms around Remus’s neck to plant a solid kiss on his lips. It probably would have escalated into desperate groping and tangled tongues right there on the porch if not for Gideon shouting, “They’re ready, boss!” up at Marlene.
Remus backed off first, smiling nervously as his cheeks lit up as bright as the blinking string lights above them. Sirius suddenly felt even more painfully aware of how cold it was outside and how Dorcas and Marlene were staring slack-jawed at them and how the snow was melting under his feet and soaking right into his socks. Funny how easy it was to forget about all of that when Remus was pressed close to him.
“You’re not supposed to do that, you know.”
“Do what?” Sirius asked, genuinely puzzled. He ran a hand absently through his hair, pulling it forward to cover his ears from the cold.
“Kiss me,” replied Remus, although he couldn’t help but smirk and cast a glance at Sirius’s pursed lips. “You’re supposed to wait all night, then kiss at the stroke of midnight to signify the new year.”
Leave it to Sirius to ruin all hopes of having an affectionate moment, ever. “Stroke of midnight, eh? Sounds like a tradition I can get behind!” Remus snorted, Marlene shook her head, and Dorcas booed.
“Listen, lovebirds, why don’t you two go and find Sirius some shoes and a coat while we round up everyone else?” Marlene prompted, trying hard not to give Sirius the satisfaction of her laughing at his awful joke. “We need to hurry and get this thing started before Gideon burns Fabian’s fingers off.”
Remus looked down at Sirius’s feet with a look of surprise, as if he was only just now noticing anything other than the slope of Sirius’s jawline or the supple curve of his lips. “Oh, Merlin, Padfoot! It’s freezing out here!” he exclaimed before grabbing Sirius by the wrist like a mother dragging her child frustratedly out of the candy isle in a market. “Come on!” He marched back inside with Sirius in tow, who was grinning smugly the entire time. Remus always looked so hot when he was being demanding.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Remus said once they had retreated to the warmth of the fire in the sitting room. “And don’t say ‘like what’, because you know what I mean. That arrogant look on your face that you get when you think I’m going to kiss you again even though I just told you that I wasn’t.”
Sirius lifted his hands up in the air in a gesture that said, “Hey, don’t attack me, I’m innocent,” although the cheesy smile on his face revealed that he was basically purring with amusement. Remus just rolled his eyes with a smirk and went to get Sirius’s riding boots from the front door. It was then that Sirius allowed himself to take in his surroundings and think of something other than his boyfriend for a few seconds. Dorcas was shouting over everyone else’s drunken shouting in the kitchen to try and get their attention, meanwhile Marlene was waving people towards the back door. Lily raised a brow at the trail of wet footprints that led from the door to where Sirius was sitting on the hearth, but didn’t seem particularly surprised. She led James outside, whose hair was more wild and frayed than usual and whose neck was now covered in even more mysterious bruises. Sirius waved at them as they passed. Across from him Frank was whispering quietly to Alice to wake her, both of them giving a yawn and stretch before standing sleepily and shuffling out after the Potters. Next outside was Edgar, who was being all but carried by an almost equally-intoxicated Sturgis. Eventually a steady procession of drunken party-goers stumbled out and down the porch steps one by one, just as Remus returned with Sirius’s boots, a coat, and a scarf.
“Get these on,” he said, reaching forward to brush Sirius’s hair back and delicately wrap the scarf around his neck. Obviously it was purely innocent and definitely not just an excuse to touch Sirius’s neck.
Sirius opted out of wearing his still-damp socks and instead laced up his bare feet into his boots, much to Remus’s dismay. But even with all of his strange quirks and over-the-top gestures and inappropriate jokes, Remus loved him. Though honestly, who couldn’t love that ridiculous dork? Before he even realized what was happening, Remus found himself placing a kiss on those mesmerizing lips of his. Sirius, of course, couldn’t resist interjecting with a teasing remark.
“Thought you said you couldn’t kiss me until midnight, Moony,” he murmured, smiling against the corner of Remus’s mouth.
With a smile just as mischievous and playful as Sirius’s own, Remus leaned back and nodded in the direction of the grandfather clock that stood against the opposite wall. “It is midnight.” Outside, loud crackles boomed and rattled the windows followed by whoops of excitement from the crowd. Flashes of color danced across Remus’s face and glittered in his eyes, and in that moment Sirius felt that there couldn’t possibly be a more beautiful sight on this Earth.
Remus sat down beside Sirius, one hand on his thigh and the other gently caressing his face. Sirius nearly melted at the feeling of Remus’s thumb brushing softly across his cheekbone. He didn’t realize he was holding his breath until his chest began to ache, then releasing it with soft and contented sigh through his nose. Slowly he lifted a hand to wrap his fingers around Remus’s wrist, delicately and with utmost care. The moment lasted a lifetime — or perhaps only a second — with both of them staring into each other’s eyes and not saying a word, as if breaking the silence would wake them up from what must be a dream.
Another loud boom echoed outside.
“Happy New Year,” Remus breathed, and Sirius did the only thing he could imagine doing at a time like this. The only thing he wished he could do for the rest of his life. He leaned forward, almost shyly, and placed a chaste kiss on Remus’s lips.
When they finally pulled back from one another, Sirius rested his head on Remus’s shoulder and Remus wrapped an arm around his waist. He closed his eyes, and they sat together listening to all of their best friends cheering and laughing for the rest of the night, huddled together by the fire. They had no idea what this fabled new year would bring, but in that moment they knew that all they needed was each other.