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Sirius noticed it first. The disappearances. The flimsy excuses. Only what more could Moony actually have to tell them because they already knew he was a werewolf. And these were far more conspicuous. Just…random evenings gone. Then they’d wake up and Remus would be in his bed like nothing was different.
“Alright,” Sirius said, sat on Remus’ chest, poking a finger right into Remus’ big nose. “Tell me.”
Remus blinked, his amber eyes bleary, his mouth turned down in a frown because the very last thing he enjoyed waking up to was Sirius Black sat on him. “Tell you what?” Remus asked, his voice thick with sleep.
“Where were you last night.”
Remus averted his eyes and blushed.
A sure sign of guilt!
“Aha. Tell me, or suffer my wrath.”
“Get off me, Sirius,” Remus groused.
Sirius shook his head. “Nope. Not until you let us know. Are you a were something else? Something that turns once a week? Are you a vampire now?” He bounced a little on Remus’ chest, and the werewolf let out a tiny oomph.
“Sirius, why would I be a vampire? It’s morning and I’m awake, aren’t I?”
Sirius’ face went thoughtful a moment as he contemplated ways that Moony could be a werewolf and a vampire, but eventually he gave up and poked Remus in the nose again. “Tell me.”
Remus sighed, then gathered what strength he had, shoving Sirius to the floor. He hit the stone with a loud cry, rousing James who sat up bleary and tousled and very annoyed. Throwing back his duvet, Remus swung his legs over the side of the bed and stared at his thirteen year old friend.
“It’s a family thing. An actual, proper family thing,” Remus said. His cheeks were still pink which Sirius found very suspicious indeed—and okay maybe a little cute, not that he would ever say that out loud ever at all.
Swallowing, Sirius climbed to his knees and shoved Remus back to sitting. “What family thing?”
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?” Remus asked dubiously.
James groaned and threw a pillow, clipping Sirius upside the head with it, but he was undeterred. “Tell him, Moony. Or I’m going to kill him. It’s Sunday for Merlin’s sake! I should not be awake at half six.”
Remus scrubbed his face. “Fine. It’s…mybarmitzvah,” he muttered under his breath.
“Your what a what-ah?” Sirius bounced up higher, tackling Remus back down to the bed, holding him by the wrists. “What’s that? Is it a muggle thing?”
Remus struggled, but not very hard, and rolled his eyes. “Well no. I mean, I reckon not. I think there are other Jewish wizards.”
“Oh so it’s like a Hanukkah thing? Or like…what was that other one, Moony? Yommy pur?”
“Yom Kippur, and no,” Remus said with a sigh. “It’s like…it’s like a birthday party.”
Sirius’ eyes went wide. “What? A birthday party? Like a proper one! I can’t wait!” He flung himself off Remus and began pacing. “I’ll bring fireworks. No! No I’ll bring cake. NO! How about I make a potion that explodes glitter and…”
“No, Sirius,” Remus said, and dragged Sirius by the sleeve of his pyjamas out of the dorm because at this point James looked actually murderous and Remus didn’t feel like dodging hexes all week from their sleep-deprived mate. “It’s not like a regular party, okay? It’s a ceremony at the temple and then…then…”
Sirius blinked widely. “Then?”
“Then a sort of. Party. Thing.”
“But we’re coming, right?” Sirius prodded, and Remus licked his lips. “Mooooony,” Sirius whinged when he realised Remus hadn’t planned on inviting them. “How could you? This is a betrayal of the highest calibre. We’re Marauders!”
“It’s not that easy, you know,” Remus said. “I have special permission from Dumbledore but…”
“Oh is that all?” Sirius said, flapping his hand in Remus’ face. “The real question is…will we need dress robes?”
***
To Remus’ horror, Sirius actually managed to get weekend passes for himself, James, and Peter. And he had taken it upon himself to write both Lyall and Hope about invitations, and during post on Tuesday, their invitations arrived.
“Most excellent,” Sirius said, grinning at the muggle envelope.
James’ eyes widened. “Bar Mitzvah? Moony?”
Remus blushed and dipped his head low. “Can you not shout it out to the whole table, eh?”
“Why not?” Sirius demanded. “It’s a party, innit?”
“Well yes sort of. But it’s…” Remus began.
“It means he’s becoming a man,” Peter supplied helpfully.
James and Sirius both grinned like they’d been told they won the Quidditch World Cup, and Remus thought maybe if he hexed Peter under the table, none of the teachers would see and he’d avoid a detention.
“Our Moony?” James began.
“Is becoming a man!” Sirius finished.
“Shut up,” Remus grumbled. “It’s not that I’m…I’m becoming a man. It means that I’m now of age to make the decision about myself. About being a Jew.”
“Our Moony,” Sirius said, ignoring him and slinging his arm round Remus’ shoulders. “He’s all grown up now.” Nuzzling Remus’ cheek, Remus felt his face go red-hot and he looked away. It was difficult enough dealing with how handsy Sirius was all the time, and certainly didn’t make his crush any easier. Or the fact that no one knew he fancied—of all blokes—Sirius Black.
“I’m going to regret this,” Remus muttered.
“Never,” Sirius replied happily. “Now, we need to decide what we’re getting our Moons for his big, manly day.”
***
The Bar Mitzvah would have been perfect this year, as Remus’ birthday was on Shabbat—only it was also the full moon meaning that Remus would be incapacitated for a good portion of the night. And being that his parents—although overly fixated on making sure the Bar Mitzvah was perfect—were also kind and loving parents, they scheduled it for the following weekend. The Ceremony would be held on Shabbat, and the party later that night so as to allow Remus to have a proper party with loud music and fun with his friends and cousins.
It also meant that Sirius, James, and Peter would be staying at Remus’ for the entire duration of the events, and they’d have to act muggle.
Peter, being half-blood, was alright with it. But James and Sirius were both a bit terrified and overly excited.
“So there’s going to be no magic? None at all?” Sirius asked, bouncing on his bed as he watched James pack for them. “Like no…no household spells or anything?”
“My mam’s muggle,” Remus said, already at the very end of his patience. It wasn’t just keeping his very pureblooded friends from saying something outlandish and possibly outing his dad to his muggle family—but also they were going to see him. In his kippah. And his tallit. And they were going to be allowed to pelt him. With sweets. In front of everyone. Because he knew his mates wouldn’t understand the concept of being gently showered with them.
Oh it was going to be a disaster.
“I am so excited. This is like the best gift I have ever received,” Sirius said, flopping into his back dramatically. “I get to wear muggle clothes and talk to proper muggles and it’s like…”
“It’s like being an Unspeakable,” James declared as he closed his pack stuffed full of clothes. McGonagall had been kind enough to transfigure Sirius and James’ robes into proper muggle attire for the event, and Remus could see by her smile she found the whole thing rather amusing which Remus knew was not a good sign. At all.
“We’ll be under cover,” Sirius said, rolling now onto his stomach and grinning across the room at Remus.
Remus felt his stomach flutter and he glanced to the side. Not only was he going to be mortified by the end of this—he couldn’t even imagine the looks on their faces when they saw him in his tefillin he already knew his grandparents had made for him—and to hear him speaking Hebrew and everything. To have their cheeks pinched by all of his aunts and Merlin there was going to be dancing and these three were going to pretend to be muggles…
Remus wanted to melt into his bed and cry.
Why hadn’t he been more clever?
Although Remus had never ever been the most subtle. It really was a wonder it had taken the lads this long to find out he was a werewolf, let alone about to have a bar mitzvah.
Needless to say, they got very little sleep that night.
***
Sirius was like a hyperactive puppy the moment they arrived at the Lupins. He raced through every room, looking at every single muggled device and demanded a thorough demonstration of things like pencil sharpeners, biro, the telly, and his mam’s hair products.
Remus’ parents bore the boy with as much patience as Remus had, and his mam said after tea as Lyall was setting up sleeping arrangements, “Your friends are very erm…interesting.”
Remus sighed. “They’re actually really great, you know.”
Hope’s face softened. “I know. I’m happy for you that some proper friends can come. Don’t worry so much, ziesele.”
Remus sighed, then heard a crash upstairs and pushed away from the table. “I should erm…”
“Just don’t forget to practise before bed, alright?”
Remus rolled his eyes, but nodded as he hurried off before his mam could present him with more things to do. Up in his room, he found his father repairing a lamp, and Sirius looking sheepish but still overly excited.
“Alright Mo—er Remus?”
Lyall gave his son a curious look, but Remus pointedly ignored him. “Yeah. I just need to have my bath. Will you three be able to sit here without wreaking havoc?”
James and Sirius nodded whilst Peter looked a bit dubious, and Remus quickly gathered his pyjamas and hurried into the bathroom. He filled the tub, knowing a good soak would help relax him. “It’s not going to last forever,” he told himself. “It’s just one night. Well…two. With the party. Two nights and we can go back to normal and never ever think about this ever again.”
Once he was clean, he stood in front of the mirror and in his quietest voice, recited what he could remember. After going through it a few times, he opened the door and nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of Sirius stood there with his arms crossed, wearing a cheeky grin.
“Moony,” he said in a low voice. “Were you singing in there?”
Remus huffed. “Yes. It was practise.”
“You’re going to sing?” Sirius all-but crowed.
Remus wanted to melt into the floor again. “Yes. I am. And…and just…will you please not take the piss, Sirius. Please?”
Sirius rushed forward and draped his arms over Remus’ shoulders. “I won’t. I promise.” Pulling back, and pragmatically ignoring Remus’ blush, he poked his friend on the nose. “M’proud of you, Moony. This is really fantastic.”
He sounded so sincere, Remus actually believed him. Mostly. “Erm. Thanks, Sirius.”
“Any time, my Moonbeam.” Then grabbing Remus’ hand, he yanked him into the room and slammed the door.
***
Sirius had never been in any church at all, let alone a Synagogue which was almost like stepping into another world. He felt out of place a bit, but too excited to care as Mrs Lupin ushered them into the seats. Everyone round them was dressed smartly, all muggle which was really great. They wore those small hats on their heads which he’d heard Mr Lupin refer to as yarmulke, and he wished he had one a little bit, although he reckoned it wasn’t proper since he wasn’t Jewish.
He wasn’t entirely sure what this whole ceremony would entail, but he hadn’t been lying before when he told Remus he was proud. He was. He felt waves and waves of affection for his friend, and he wasn’t entirely sure where all the feelings were coming from, but they were nice.
He tried not to bounce in his seat as the ceremony began. It became very obvious right from the off that Sirius was going to understand little to none of what was being said, and he leant into James. “Any of these words the same as Hindi?”
James rolled his eyes. “No,” he hissed back. “They’re speaking Hebrew.”
“Damn.” Then Sirius blushed at swearing inside the Synagogue. He turned his attention back as Remus was called up and went through his ceremony. He looked so cute. His little curls poking out from under his kippah and the shawl draped round his shoulders. He was flushed in the cheeks and was determinedly not looking at his mates as he recited, singing in Hebrew and going through all the motions.
It was strange, Sirius had to admit. At least to him, but Remus seemed to be rather used to it all and seemed to perform flawlessly.
At the end, they were all given sweets and when Sirius frowned at them, Hope said, “To shower him. Think of it like a blessing.”
Sirius looked at James who was grinning rather maliciously, and he nudged him. “Be nice. It’s Moony’s very special day.”
James sighed, then elbowed Peter hard who had already stuffed three of them into his mouth.
Before long it was over. Remus had to see family so the boys shuffled round outside until they were stuffed into Hope’s car—something else that Sirius found bloody fantastic, and were taken to the hall where they’d have the party.
“Merlin look at all the eckletricity!” James said, his eyes wide as he glanced round at the lights and decorations and everything.
There were people everywhere, all baring a vague resemblance to Remus with their same dark curls and big noses and cute overbites. Sirius felt his face go hot for absolutely no reason at all.
He was feeling overly antsy to find Remus, and eventually he did just as music started up. “So this is really great,” Sirius said, nudging his friend.
Remus was still a bit flush, but shrugged. “Yeah I erm…it went alright. I didn’t mess up at all.”
“Knew you wouldn’t,” Sirius said solemnly. He glanced over at James who was attempting to chat-up a taller girl with black hair down in a plait. “Oh boy.”
Remus rolled his eyes. “That’s Miriam. Don’t worry, she’ll take care of herself.”
It seemed she could, as she dragged James out to dance.
Remus laughed and shook his head. “You could go ask someone, you know. I mean, most of my family are alright.”
Sirius shuffled his feet. “Well I don’t erm…I mean. You shouldn’t be alone, Moons. It’s your big night and all.”
Remus licked his lips and looked down. “It’s…I don’t…mind.”
“I’d ask you to dance,” Sirius said, feeling suddenly very bold. “But reckon your mam and dad wouldn’t like that much.”
Remus’ gaze snapped up, an unreadable expression on his face. “You’d…want to dance with me?”
Sirius felt his stomach twisting into a hundred tiny knots. “Well I…well. I.” He took a breath. “Yeah I would.”
Looking round, Remus suddenly grabbed Sirius by the hand and yanked him out of the hall, and immediately into the loo. He slammed the door, twisting the lock, then climbed up on the counter to flip open the vent. As he did, the soft music from the band filtered through the slats, and Remus hopped back down to the floor with a small grin.
“We could erm…” he said very shyly.
Sirius blinked, then grinned as he pulled Remus close. He put his arms at Remus’ waist as Remus’ hands came to Sirius’ shoulders and they began to sway. There wasn’t much room, and they were interrupted by knocks four times, but Sirius ignored it, resting the side of his face against Remus’ shoulders.
“That was really great, Moony. I know I bullied my way into coming but…I’m glad you let me.”
Sirius felt Remus hold on a little tighter. “I was afraid you’d just take the piss. I know it’s…different from what you’re used to.”
“You’re a werewolf, Moony,” Sirius said with a snort. “You think something like this would put me off?”
Remus shrugged against Sirius’ cheek. “Dunno.”
“Well I don’t think it’s weird. It made me feel all…all…” Sirius gulped. “I’m just happy.”
The music began to speed up again for a faster song, and carefully they pulled apart. Remus looked at him for a very long time and gathering every ounce of strength he had, Sirius stood up tall on his toes and pressed dry, closed lips to Remus’.
The werewolf froze, like he’d been hit with stupefy, then slowly brought his fingers to his lips, brushing them across lightly. “I…you kissed me.”
Sirius’ face erupted into a blush. “Yeah. Sorry.”
Remus wasn’t hearing that bit, though, as he grabbed Sirius by the front of his shirt and pulled him in for another. It lasted longer, though just as chaste, and when they pulled apart, they were both a little breathless.
“You want to go get some erm…food?” Sirius muttered.
Remus nodded, and carefully flicked the lock back open.
Just as they were heading back to the hall, Remus felt Sirius’ fingers brush his, and he couldn’t help his smile.
***
Late into the night, Remus was nearly asleep when he heard a shifting. Warm fingers grabbed his, and pulled him toward the end of his bed, down to the mattress on the floor where Sirius was laying. Remus rolled onto his side so they were nose to nose, and Sirius was grinning in the soft light of the stars.
“Moons. Do you fancy me?”
“I…think so,” Remus said quietly.
Sirius grinned and ran his knuckles down Remus’ cheek. “Good. Me too.”
“We should probably keep it quiet for a while,” Remus said, and felt himself relax when he saw Sirius nodding.
“Yeah. But this time it’s a secret I like. My Moony.”
Remus flushed through his entire body and buried his face into Sirius’ neck. His Moony. Yeah, he really liked that.