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The lights and music were almost overwhelming just from the street. Remus pulled his jacket tighter against the chill air and raised an eyebrow at Sirius as he sidled up next to him in the queue and looped his arm into the crook of his elbow while grinning at him. “You realize we’re in public, right?”
“Yeah, so? It’s dark and we are surrounded by people.” Sirius kept grinning.
“Yes, surrounded by people. That’s the point, Pads.” Muggle London wasn’t exactly welcoming to gay couples and they made a point of acting like friends or roommates in public.
Lily nudged Remus’s other side and smiled sweetly at him. “Quit worrying about it, you two. No-one here is going to care.”
“Besides, Padfoot’s hair is long enough to pass as a woman anyway,” James quipped, ducking out of Sirius’s reach as the man aimed a weak right hook at him. He laughed as Sirius just glared at him while opting to stay at Remus’s side. Peter snickered to the side while Alice politely covered her mouth to hide her laugh.
“He does have a point, Sirius. You haven’t cut it since what, sixth year? Three years now,” Frank commented, grinning.
“I hate all of you,” Sirius answered, earning more giggles and laughs from the group as a whole. Marlene was unable to hold it together when Sirius just pouted at them and she slumped against Lily’s shoulder.
“I like your hair, cariad,” Remus whispered to him, bringing back the grin and earning an affectionate squeeze on his bicep.
“‘Least someone does.”
As they moved closer to the door, the music, loud and upbeat, just got louder. Though they’d all left their wands at home for the night, Remus cast a wandless muffling spell on himself to avoid giving himself a headache. When Lily had said she wanted to go to something called a roller disco, he hadn’t expected it to be quite so noisy. He should have known though. Sirius was excited, though, a lover of all things music, and when Lily told them she’d managed to get ahold of most of the old crew, Remus didn’t have the heart to say no. He remembered roller skating as a child and enjoyed it so he figured it wouldn’t be so bad. And he had to admit, he was incredibly amused by the idea of perpetually clumsy Marlene on roller skates.
Once they got inside, a man in flashy sequined shorts and a tank top checked their IDs and waved them on in to check out skates for the night. The result was well worth the almost deafening cacophony of Barry Gibb’s high pitched vocals to whatever Bee Gees song was playing over the loudspeaker. Peter stared at the wheeled shoes, dumbfounded, while James thought they were absolutely brilliant and quickly got them on. Sirius was confused while Remus just quietly put his own on and coaxed him to do the same. Lily was right at home and quickly got to her feet, spinning around and then gliding to help Marlene up as she was stumbling all over the place. Alice and Frank, while initially a bit shaky, soon got the hang of it and shuffled towards the entrance to the rink to make the brave first move. Remus went to help Peter figure out starting and stopping while leaving Sirius and James to figure it out for themselves. He had a sneaking suspicion that the other two Marauders would catch on quickly enough between James’s quidditch skills and Sirius’s natural grace.
“Go Longbottoms!” James cheered from the entrance to the rink as Alice and Frank started their fledgling loop.
“How about you go, Potter?” Frank yelled back at him with a grin. Alice waved at him rather than answering.
“Good suggestion,” Remus commented dryly from behind James, making his best mate jump. Remus just smirked at him and then slipped onto the rink for himself. Peter stayed behind, holding onto the dwarf wall and staring in unconcealed awe as Remus glided around with just as much ease as Lily had shown earlier. As he passed Frank and Alice, he spun around and skated backward for half a lap to wave at them. When he flipped back around to face forwards, he beckoned the others to join him. “Come on!” Then he winked at James and Sirius. “Or are you scared?”
That was obviously the motivation the two needed to join him on the rink. James smirked at him and tried to chase him while Sirius’s eyes went wide and then he shot off like a rocket after James. Remus laughed as Sirius about crashed into the wall while James realized he didn’t know how to crossover to get around a corner properly. He called out to Lily, skating backwards to help Marlene, as he went past to take a look at her fiance and she grinned at him before laughing along with him.
A few laps around had the entire group on the rink in some form or another and it seemed like just about everybody in the club was skating by then. The DJ came over the loud speaker to greet them all enthusiastically before the lights started flashing in time with the music and they were encouraged to dance and sing along. So that was what made it a roller disco and not just a standard roller rink.
“We’re supposed to dance on these things?” Peter whined as Remus finally took pity and slowed down to help the bewildered wizard who had never been on skates before. Alice and Frank had figured out how to get around by then and Marlene could skate without Lily holding her up. Sirius had at least figured out how to stop and was trying to figure out how to turn efficiently while James had watched Remus long enough to start mimicking crossing his feet over to glide around corners.
“Apparently, but let’s just worry about getting you off the wall for now, Pete.” As Remus gave Peter some pointers about holding his balance to move without the wall, James started teaching Sirius how to get around as well. Before long, they were all mobile and Remus took off again, catching up to his boyfriend who had taken to chasing James.
“Moony!” Sirius exclaimed, delighted as Remus skated a circle around him. He gave him that sweet smile of his before it broadened into a grin as he noticed some groups starting to properly dance in the middle of the rink rather than skirting the edges like they had been.
“Are you doing alright, Pads?” Remus asked, glancing over his shoulder to see what had caught Sirius’s attention.
“I am now.” Sirius grinned and grabbed Remus’s hand abruptly. “I bet we can do better than that.”
“You can’t even skate a full loop properly yet,” Remus retorted, straight faced. They probably could out-dance those who were already out there if they were in regular shoes. On skates, unlikely.
“You then.” Sirius grinned wider, a wicked gleam in his grey eyes as they caught the multicolored strobes overhead.
James skated up to join them as they went around another lap. “Am I interrupting something, lads?”
“Tryin’ to get Moony here to go dance,” Sirius answered, turning the grin onto James as he continued to cling to Remus’s hand to prevent escape.
“Oh, yes, do it!” James beamed at Remus and Remus just groaned.
“You lot are not allowed to team up on me.”
“This is nothing! Oi! Gryffindors! Get over here!” James yelled, cupping his hand to his mouth. He snagged Peter as they went past, holding him up while the bewildered blonde stared at them. Alice and Frank caught up to them and Lily helped Marlene join them as well.
“What is it, Jimmy?” Marlene asked with a grin.
“Do not call me that, Merlin!” James mock glared at her before grinning again, most of the group laughing at his expense. “We’re trying to get Moony to dance!”
“Oh, yes, do it, Remus!” Alice piped in with an emphatic grin from Marlene beside her.
“You’re a great dancer, Re,” Lily encouraged.
“Yeah but-” Remus tried to argue before Frank cut him off.
“I dare you! Go dance, Lupin!”
The grin that spread across the collective seven faces of his friends was too much. Dare was the Gryffindor challenge. No rightful lion ever turned down a dare no matter how stupid it might be. It was why Remus never picked that option when they played because he knew full well they would not let him live it down for refusing one.
“Can’t turn down a dare,” Sirius cooed at him before almost falling down laughing.
Remus looked between all of them before groaning. Then he gave them all a Marauder smirk and righted Sirius before letting go of his hand. “Fine. Fine. Alright. I’ll go and dance.”
Sirius wolf whistled at him as he skated into the center of the rink to join the dancers. The others cheered and clapped if they could handle using their hands for anything other than balance. Remus made a rude gesture at them before spinning around gently and getting a feel for the music. He genuinely enjoyed dancing and had learned early on that his wolfish reflexes and dexterity made him very good at it. It took him a few beats to get into the swing of it but once he let himself go, he was spinning, jumping and weaving around in time with the rhythm. He barely realized when people around him backed off and started clapping along to watch him. As the song ended, applause and cheers came from the entire rink and he bashfully waved to the crowd and caught his breath. Sirius wolf whistled again and Remus felt himself blushing, glad for the lights hiding it from the people around him.
The DJ called for requests after giving a public shoutout to the dancers. For the next few songs, Remus alternated between dancing again, since he had genuinely enjoyed it, and skating laps with his friends. Sirius caught him on a passby and stole a brazen kiss before releasing him to the dancefloor again with a mischievous look in his eyes.
“Where are you going?” Remus called to him but only received a wink and a Marauder grin in response. It wasn’t until the song ended that he realized what Sirius had done.
“This next one’s not much of a dance song but it’s a personal request dedicated to the absolutely amazing dancer we’ve been watching all night. We now have a name to go with the moves! This one’s for Moony!” the DJ called out before the next song started. Soft drums started to play before a jaunty piano struck out the melody that would carry through the whole song. Remus was going to murder his boyfriend.
Sparkling grey eyes met narrowed green across the rink. Remus was frozen in place for a moment before a chant of his nickname started from nearby. Of course James was in on it. It wasn’t long before most of the crowd was chanting, “Moony! Moony!” You know what, fine. He would dance. And he would make Sirius dance with him. As the lyrics began, Remus skated over to Sirius, snagged him by the arm and dragged him back onto the rink. He could hear James and Peter absolutely laughing their asses off as Remus started spinning Sirius around and dancing with him with as much gusto as he’d done before. Sirius didn’t take long to catch the rhythm and then it was on. Those gorgeous grey eyes of his were so full of mischief as he started to perform more daring moves on his own and with Remus alike. And then he started singing the chorus.
“Awooo, Lupin’s in London! Awooo!”
“I will kill you,” Remus hissed as he spun Sirius close. Sirius just smirked at him and repeated the line. By the end of the song, the entire crowd was singing the chorus though only Sirius was singing it wrong. As he had done every time he’d heard the song since it’s release half-way through their seventh year. Two could play at that game. Once the song was over and Remus performed the last spin, bringing Sirius in close again, he actually howled. Not just the silly fake howl of the song, a realistic howl that could only be made by a man who actually made the real sound every month. There was silence from the entire rink before cheers broke out. Sirius just stared at him, eyes wide. Remus gave him a positively wolfish grin and then kissed him hard. Sirius was breathless and almost limp in his arms when they broke apart.
“I don’t think I’m dead yet, Lupin,” he whispered, not loud enough to be heard by anyone but Remus over the music.
“We’re not home yet.” Remus just smirked at him and he swore that Sirius actually blushed.