"It's cold."

"It is not cold, you ninny."

"James...did you just call me a ninny?"

There was a pause, then the entire Gryffindor Common burst into laughter. Well, as much laughter as was possible. All of the Gryffindors had gone to see their families over Christmas Break with the exception of Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and James Potter. Remus sat in a nearby chair, a hand over his eyes as he shook his head and chuckled to himself softly, a bit of a grin upon his features. The firelight from the warm fire gleamed in his hair, causing the silver in his chestnut hair to be highlighted a bit. He looked up and gave the quarrelling Black-Potter duo an amused expression, his silver streaked blue eyes shining with laughter.

"You two are impossible," he stated as he crossed his arms with a wry smile. James was giving Sirius a very perturbed expression; his dark blue eyes were gleaming with amused frustration at his best friend. He pushed his glasses back up onto his nose and ran a hand through his naturally messy ebony hair as he sat down beside Remus. "Besides, I can see where Sirius is coming from. After all, James," Remus began, standing and waving his hand about the room, "This is a rather old drafty castle."

"HA!" Sirius said accusingly, pointing his finger at James from his bundle of five woolen blankets. "I knew Remus would side with me!" He grinned triumphantly, his grey eyes gleaming brightly.

But Remus waved his hand at his zealous boyfriend and put a calm expression upon his face. "Now now, Sirius," he replied as he started for the staircase that led to the Boys' Dormitory, "I never said that I agreed with you."

He vanished inside of the dorm for a few moments, then reappeared at the top of the steps dressed in his thickest wool robes and his crimson and gold Gryffindor scarf. He stepped down the steps and finished tying his scarf as he smiled at the two of them.

"Yes, yes you did, Remus! You-"

"No, Sirius," Remus replied with a smile. "I merely said that I saw where you were coming from. Never once did I say I agreed with you. Personally, I rather enjoy the cold. I'll see you two later." He then started for the portal that led into the corridors beyond.

James stood quickly. "But Remus, it's almost dinner time. Aren't you hungry? You haven't been eating much lately."

Remus paused as he was about to step through the doorway and shrugged. "I just haven;t been very hungry. Don't worry, I'm just fine. I'll see you later." His silvery eyes gleamed reassuringly,and with that, he stepped out of the Common and out of sight.

Sirius looked over to James with a worried expression, and stood suddenly, disentangling himself from his thick blankets.

"Where are you going, Sirius?" James asked curiously, watching him as he stood and started for the dormitory.

"I'm going to follow him; he's been acting very strange lately, and I'm worried that he's getting depressed or something. I mean; he has had it rough, and now, here we are in our last year; I'm sure he's pressured a lot."

James thought about this for a moment as Sirius came back bundled tightly up, and nodded.

"Very well, but don't be too obvious. Take the Marauder's Map and my Invisibilty Cloak. He probably doesn't want to be followed."

Sirius nodded, and after retireving these items and slipping underneath the silvery cloak, he stepped into the corridor and tapped his wand upon the magical parchment.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he whispered, and watched with a slight smile as the welcoming message appeared in great curly green letters and the lines of the map spread out like spiderwebs over the oherwise blank parchment. He scanned the small labeled dots that moved lithely about the map, and suddenly spotted the name, "Remus Lupin" meandering around on the snow-covered grounds.

"Aha," he replied, and tapped it with his wand again. "Mischeif Managed," he added, then rolled it up and put it in his pocket. "Found you now, Moony."

"Hm...all alone and without and any of his friends?" Severus Snape replied from his hiding spot in a cluster of nearby bushes. He was hidden quite well, actually, as he watched Remus walk about underneath the leafless trees thoughtfully. He had been planning this bit of trickery for quite some time, and never before had he found a more appropriate time than now to put his trick to work. Slowly, he waved his wand and whispered a quiet, "Crescendium..."

A clear stream of magic leapt from the wand and fell upon Remus lightly. The seventeen year old lycanthrope didn't even realize what had happened until it was too late.

Remus smiled to himself as he wandered the grounds alone. He took a breath, inhaling the brisk, cold wind that had reddened his nose and cheeks a bit,and stepped thorugh the glimmering snow. As he looked out over the grounds and towards the Quidditch pitch, it suddenly reminded him of a vast field of diamonds.
Or a salt flat. Yeah...it was more like a salt flat, Remus decided as he stopped. He looked up into the sky at the sun a bit, and started to wonder why he had become so restless lately. He couldn't sleep well...he wasn't eating a lot...it puzzled him. Then his thoughts fell back to Sirius, and he shook his head and smiled. He and the zealous Sirius Black had been together unofficially for a good two years...and even now, there were moments when Remus had to stop and think to himself, "I must've been drunk when I said 'okay, sure' to his dating proposal." But he always thought this with a fond smile; there was no spite. But things had seemed to change lately...and he didn't understand it. He felt...suddenly different, as if by magic...

A soft jazz tune started to lift into the air, as if coming from nowhere, and Remus started nodding his head slightly to the beat as he passed under a large tree. A trumpet solo rang out prettily through the crisp air, and then...

"I keep singing and there's no one there...I smell blossoms and the trees are bare..." he began, his voice floating melodically on the air as he looked up into the leafless tree. "All day long I seem to walk on air...I wonder why...I wonder why!" He smiled, as if he didn't even realize he was singing, and ran a hand over the rough bark of the tree. He looked up through the spidery branches thoughtfully, the sunlight gleaming in his silver bespeckled hair.

"I keep tossing in my sleep at night...And what's more! I've lost my appetite! Stars that used to twinkle in the skies are twinkling in my eyes...I wonder why!" His silvery azure eyes gleaned a bit as he closed his eyes and sighed curiously.

Then, the jazz music from nowhere continued into an interlude, and Remus smiled a bit, leaning against the tree silently, still looking over what he thought resembled a salt flat.

Severus, still hiding in his bushes, froze as he heard the music against the soft wind. His dark eyes went wide and he nearly dropped his wand as he listened. He pushed a few srands of his long hair back from his face and stared, all the while thinking, "Oh God...what have I just done?"

"What...on...Earth....?" Sirius managed to state dumbfoundedly as he heard the words flow into his ears from the air. He stared at Remus, grey eyes wide and feet wet and cold in the snow. Why was he...singing? And where was that music coming from? But...then again...Remus' words did seem to fit himself very well...Now that Sirius thought about it, Remus hadn't been eating a lot, nor had he been getting a good sleep. And he seemed to by very daydreamy lately.

Suddenly, the music went from a dreamy ballad to a quick, swinging swing jazz, and Sirius found himself tapping his foot to the trumpet duet that played up to the next words.

"You don't need analyzing; it is not so surprising that you feel very strange, but nice!" Another voice had joined the fray of singing, but it seemed to be a disembodied female voice that sang loud and provacativly. "Your heart goes pitter-patter; I know just what's the matter, because I've been there once or twice! So put your head on my shoulder; or you need someone who's older? Or a girl with velvet gloves? There's nothing you can take to relieve this pleasant ache! You're not sick, you're just in love!"

Sirius blinked as a saxophone started to wail away at a solo. Just in love? Remus? Surely not. He looked towards his boyfriend curiously, and started to hurry towards him, when suddenly, the two voices, Remus and the woman from nowhere, began to sing again, this time in a duet that joined their two parts in the quick swing tempo.

Finally, the woman's voice dropped out as the music swelled to the end, and a look of understanding had dawned on Remus' face as he sang the last words.
"Oh! I'm in love!"

A little trumpet ditty rounded up with his words, and then the song ended as fast as it had begun. Sirius again found himself staring into Remus' cheery silver streaked blue eyes from underneath the Invisibility Cloak.

"What the HELL was THAT?!" he cried, not remembering that he had been rendered invisible to all. Remus' calm, mirthful expression vanished into one of horror and fright as he leapt back against the tree, crying out in terror. His silvery blue eyes were wide in shocked surprise, and looked as if he had seen a ghost. He put a hand to his chest, trying to calm himself. After all, it's not *every day* that you were bombarded with disembodied voices.

"Who on Earth-" Remus stared to cry, but then it hit him. He knew that voice...
Blushing furiously, Remus swung his arm forward, his hand catching on invisible fabric, revealing the equally shocked face of one Sirius Black. He was toting the Marauders' Map in his robes, and was looking at Remus with a flushed, surprised expression.

"Sirius Black!?" Remus cried, and dove underneath the cloak so he could glare at him privatly. "I could kill you for that, you know...why were you following me!?"

Sirius was silent for a moment, trying to get over the surprise that Remus was now glaring at him and no longer singing. Grey eyes gleamed as he tried to understand why he had been singing...but it just didn't make sense...

"Well? Aren't you going to speak to me?" Remus asked, his anger ebbing into slight embaressment and amusement.

"...You can sing?"

Remus didn't know whether to slug him or kiss the hell out of him. He just stood there, in between laughter and fighting back tears of realization. He finally nodded.

"Yes, I can sing. But I don't do it very often; I've never been one to think much about my singing ability." He smiled sheepishly.

Sirius looked at him incredulously. "WHAT?! Are you nuts!" he asked, putting his hands on Remus' shoulder. "That was amazing! I wish you would sing to me!" he replied without thinking about it. He failed to notice the small smile that crept up onto Remus' lips.

"I never said I wasn't," he said softly.

Sirius stopped in his tirade and looked at Remus with a dumbfounded look. All the words he had been saying died on his lips, and he just looked at him silently, eyes fixed upon Remus' own. He brushed a few ebony strands from his face.

"What..?" he asked quietly. The pieces started to fall into place then...Remus acting strangely; the singing in the middle of nowhere...it would explain his strange, day-dreamy state; him not wanting to eat...A look of soft understanding came upon Sirius' face, and he smiled. "Now I understand..." he said softly. Remus looked at Sirius, a blush creeping onto his face along with a hopeful smile.

"You do?"

Sirius nodded. "Yep. Someone has put you under some sort of spell! We'd better find out who! I bet it was that Severus Snape!" He grinned superiorly as if he had all the answers in the world.

Remus grabbed his arm just as he started to walk off, and looked with firm gentleness into Sirius' eyes.

"Wait, Sirius. I'm not through speaking with you..." he said softly, and smiled. "You're correct when you say that someone put a spell on me. But I don't beleive his name was Severus Snape..." Remus smiled knowingly.

Sirius looked at him blankly for a moment.

"Wait a minute...you mean you knew who it was the *entire* time!?" he cried, and shook his head. Then he noticed the gleam in Remus' eye, and it struck him like a ton of bricks. "Oh wait..." he replied, and slowly brought his gaze to meet Remus'. He smiled sheepishly; his mind whirling. "It's me, isn't it?"

Remus laughed a bit, and stepped closer to Sirius, taking both hands into his own.

"It never really occured to me that it was you that was causing my strange behavoir...but now that I know what was wrong...I sincerely hope that I'm never cured of it."

Sirius looked at him with a crooked smile. "Cured of me?"

"That's right," he replied. "Because I'm just in love," he added, and leaned in, kissing Sirius warmly. He brought his arms around him in a gentle embrace, pulling the dark haired young man against him. Their warmth caused the chill of the winter air to flee. Remus' mind was whirling. Their few kisses before this had been nice, yes...but this one..it held so much more emotion; more depth than any before...it was a frightening, wonderful feeling.

Love? Remus was in love? With him? Sirius felt an upsurgance of emotions at those few words, and he almost pulled away from Remus' heartfelt caress. But at the touch of their lips, he realized that it had been bound to happen sooner of later. He laughed at himself for being so thick...but it felt wonderful...wonderful to know that he had found something that was worth more than any map or invisibility cloak...more magic than even the greatest wizard might conjure.

"Just in love...?" he whispered after the caress, meeting Remus' eyes. Remus nodded.

"Just in love with you, Sirius. Always you."