The Dangers of Writing a Love Letter, pt. 3

Remus woke up sweating. He kicked the blankets off, shivering when the cold air touched the bare skin of his arms, and turned his head to look at the clock. 3:42. He focused on making his breathing regular until he was sure he could do it without thinking. The dreams were almost more vivid tonight. Now they included random people, people he didn't even know, outing him to Sirius in the hallways. Remus blamed Alice for this new addition to the nightmare, whether her comments had been intentionally suggestive or not.

Annoyed, he climbed out of bed and fixed the tangle of blankets so that the bed was more conventionally made. Then he picked Fellowship up off of his nightstand and tiptoed out of his room.

The common room was dark and empty, just as Remus had expected. The only light came from the still-lit fireplace; it usually burned all night, with the house elves tending to it occasionally to keep it from going out. Remus sat down on the couch in front of it, pulled his knees up to his chest, and began to read.

He had only been there five minutes at most when he heard a creak from the direction of the stairs. His head snapped up immediately. To his surprise, he saw Sirius padding down them. The black-haired boy had a blanket wrapped around his bare chest, and his hair was sticking up in multiple places.

"Remus?" he whispered. Remus suspected that Sirius couldn't actually see him; the back of the couch hid the werewolf from sight.

"Over here, Sirius," he said. Sirius followed the sound of his voice and sunk onto the couch. There he curled up against Remus, resting his head the blond's shoulder. Remus could feel him breathing.

"What are you doing down here?" Remus asked. He felt Sirius shrug.

"I woke up and you weren't there," he replied. His voice was husky with sleep. "I didn't know where you went."

"You should be in bed," Remus said reproachfully.

"I could say the same about you," said Sirius. "What are you doing down here?"

"I couldn't sleep." Remus tried to make his voice nonchalant. Sirius didn't fall for it.

"And that was enough to make you migrate down here? With a book, no less?"

Remus didn't respond, and Sirius seemed to sense that he wasn't going to get an answer. Instead he buried his face deeper against Remus's shoulder and pulled the blanket tighter around himself. Remus looked down at him.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Staying with you," mumbled Sirius. "You shouldn't be alone."

Remus opened his mouth, thought for a moment, and then closed it again. Within a few minutes, he felt Sirius's breathing grow heavier and more relaxed, and he knew that the boy had fallen asleep. Remus lifted his free arm and smoothed Sirius's hair, careful not to wake him. Impulsively, and only because he was sure that Sirius was asleep, Remus leaned down and gently kissed the top of Sirius's head. Then he leaned his own head against Sirius's, set the book down on the other side of the couch, and closed his eyes...

When Remus awoke, it was because he was being shaken. It was still dark, and the common room was still abandoned. James was kneeling in front of him, a concerned look on his face.

"Remus? You awake?"

"Mmm..." Remus mumbled. He didn't think he was capable of speech quite yet.

"Remus, you and Sirius are sleeping on the couch together."

Remus blinked. He turned his eyes downward. He and Sirius had moved in their sleep, it seemed; he had fallen backward, and Sirius had fallen forward. Now he was lying with his back against the seat of the couch, and Sirius was lying next to him, his head on Remus's chest and his arm draped across Remus's stomach.

Remus looked back up at James sleepily. The bespectacled boy was grinning ear to ear.

"What happened?" he asked eagerly.

Remus scrunched his nose several times, trying to convince his mouth to open so that he could speak. Finally he said, "Nothing. I couldn't sleep, I came down here, he followed me. I don't know why."

"But Moons, you-" James broke off, frustrated, and gestured at the pair of them. "Look at you two!"

"The last I can recall, we were both sitting up," said Remus firmly, making James frown. "What time is it?"

"About six o'clock," James told him. "That's why I came to get you. I woke up, and both your beds were empty, so I was suspicious, and I figured that I might as well check down here, y'know, just in case. You wouldn't want the rest of the house to get up and find you like this, would you?"

"I must admit, I can think of many other, much more preferable things," said Remus. He took a deep breath and whispered, "Sirius? Sirius, wake up."

"Mmm," Sirius moaned. "Bugger off, Moony."

Remus chuckled. "I'm afraid I can't – not with you lying on me, anyway."

Sirius sat bolt upright. "Huh-eh-wh-what?" he sputtered incoherently. Out of the corner of his eye, Remus saw James cover his mouth with both hands to keep from laughing out loud.

"It's six in the morning, and we probably ought to move back upstairs before the rest of our house starts to wake up," Remus explained. He tried not to sound too disappointed; he missed Sirius's warmth, and he desperately wished he could make Sirius lie down again.

"Oh." Sirius blinked. "Oh. Right." He stretched luxuriously and climbed off the couch, making his way back towards the stairway to the boys' dorms. James, who was now shaking with suppressed laughter, followed him.

Remus continued to lie on the couch for a moment, contemplating. He was sure that in those few hours, he'd slept better than he had so far all week. That struck him as strange. Shaking his head, he got up and trailed after his two friends.

Upon reaching their room, both Sirius and James fell back into their beds and fell asleep almost instantly. Remus, however, knew that it wasn't worth it for him to even try. He sat in a chair by the window and stared down at the calm surface of the lake outside. It would be lovely to sleep again, he thought wryly. If only he could figure out how. The full moon was in two weeks, and he would be sleep-deprived enough then. He wanted to get as well-rested as he could now, while he could.

Maybe if Remus could get the letter back, and successfully destroy it before Sirius could accidentally happen upon it, then he would be less stressed out. It wouldn't completely eliminate his subconscious fears of one of his friends letting something slip (even though he knew that they wouldn't, he still couldn't help worrying). But it would definitely lessen his anxiety if there weren't a love letter floating around the school in Lily's possession, where there was always the possibility of it getting lost. And maybe lessening that anxiety would enable him to sleep.

By the time Remus had made up his mind, the rest of his roommates were waking up for school. Remus dressed and packed his things swiftly. He left while Sirius and James were arguing over who would use the shower first – the main reason that Remus had developed a habit of showering in the evenings. He strode over to the staircase that led to the girls' dorm. Two third years were just coming down.

"Excuse me," he said quickly. "Do you know which room is Lily Evans'?"

They both flushed bright pink; apparently being addressed by a seventh year boy was too much for them. "Yes," said one of them softly.

"Could you please do a favor for me and tell her that Remus Lupin would like to speak with her?" Remus said, trying his hardest not to sound intimidating.

"Sure," the other one replied, giggling. They both sprinted up the stairs. Remus waited, leaning against the wall and tapping his fingers absently against his school bag. Within a few moments, the girls came running back.

"She said she's coming!" the first girl told Remus quickly. They stopped running in order to relay the message, but as soon as that was done, they continued on at a fast pace until they were out of Gryffindor tower. Remus watched them, torn between confusion and amusement.

"Remus, stop harassing little children, please," came Lily's humorous voice. Remus swung around to see the redhead, her arms crossed over her chest, standing just behind him. She was still wearing a pair of sweatpants and an extra-large sweater.

"They didn't wake you up, did they?" he asked.

"No," Lily shook her head. "But if they weren't awake already, you certain woke them up. I was sorely tempted to tell them that you're not into girls that way."

Remus glared.

"Okay, you know I wouldn't have said anything," Lily sighed. "But you can't deny, the looks on their faces would have been absolutely hysterical. So what's up?"

"I want the letter back."

Lily blinked. "Pardon?"

"The letter. The one you've had since Sunday, supposedly for research purposes. I want it back."

"Oh." Lily frowned. "Do you have to? I haven't been through all of my books yet, and I might need it for something–"

"Yes, I have to," Remus cut her off. "I need it back, Lil. I think I've been quite generous enough to let you keep it for this long."

"I suppose you're right," Lily grumbled. "Wait here; I'll got get it."

She raced back up to her room, and came back bearing the folded up piece of parchment in her hands.

"Here you go," she said. "One adorably sweet love letter, as promised."

Remus glanced around frantically for any eavesdroppers, but luckily the common room was empty.

"Thanks," he said. He opened his bag and shoved it inside before anything else could happen to it. Lily watched him with a wistful look on her face.

"But if, you know, for some odd reason you decide you don't need it anymore..." she said hopefully.

"No, Lily," Remus said firmly.

"Damn," Lily said.

"Black or white, Moony?"

Remus studied the chess set before him. It was perched on the faded purple seat of a wooden chair in the Gryffindor common room; he and Sirius were sitting on the floor on either side of it. Sirius had his elbows balanced on the edge of the chair, his fingers interlocked to make a platform to rest his chin on. Remus sat with his legs pulled in to his chest and his arms wrapped around them.

"Well," he said slowly. "I'm pretty sure that last time I was black."

"Right." Sirius flipped the board so that the white pieces were in front of his companion. "The first move is yours."

Remus smiled. He had taught Sirius the Muggle version of the game in the middle of second year; Sirius had promptly decided that he liked it better than the traditional Wizard chess he had grown up with. After that, they had started to play chess together every couple weeks. Remus always won, but Sirius always proposed the next game.

Despite the few hours of relatively good sleep Remus had gotten in the early morning, he was still fairly exhausted. Aside from that fact, however, today had been a pretty normal day. He had gone to class, spent time with the Marauders (plus one redhead), and attempted yet again to read The Fellowship of the Ring. He was beginning to suspect that some higher power was determined to keep him from doing so; not seconds after he had sat down to read, Sirius appeared out of nowhere to challenge him to a chess match. Remus consented, promising himself that if he couldn't sleep tonight, he would read his book then.

The game started out fairly slowly – both boys spent long minutes deliberating over which pieces to move, only to end up moving pawns. Their audience was already forming, though; Remus and Sirius's chess games were somewhat of a famous spectacle in Gryffindor tower. The older students came to watch as soon as they heard the rumor that a match was taking place, and the younger students were drawn to the presence of their older peers like bears to honey.

James and Peter arrived just as the game was beginning to heat up.

"Aw, brilliant," said Peter, scanning the chessboard. "Who's winning?"

"Sirius, for the moment," Remus answered him. Sirius was too busy planning his next move to realize that anyone had spoken.

"Does he actually think he has a chance?" Peter asked. Remus smirked.

"He always does. Merlin only knows why. You'd think that after two years of straight losses, he would realize that it was hopeless."

"That's our Padfoot: stubborn as ever."

"Would you shut up already?" Sirius hissed. "I'm trying to think."

Peter and Remus exchanged glances and shook their heads. Sirius moved his bishop three spaces to the left to take out one of Remus's pawns.

"Ha ha!" he shouted triumphantly. "Take that, Moony, my darling!"

Remus rolled his eyes and leaned forward to examine his options. James, who had been walking around the common room, came to sit down next to the rest of the Marauders.

"Have any of you seen Lily?" he asked. "She said she'd meet me back here, but she disappeared after dinner."

"I'll bet you five galleons she's in the library," Remus said without looking up.

"You're right!" James exclaimed. "Why didn't I think of that?" Without another word, he ran out of the common room.

Remus scrunched up his nose in concentration, and then used his rook to take out Sirius's other bishop. Sirius groaned.

The game continued for another half an hour. Their audience had practically doubled by the end, and whenever another piece was eliminated, a cheer arose from the crowd. James returned, Lily in tow, just as Remus caught Sirius in a checkmate. The audience applauded, and Sirius shrugged.

"Happens every time," he said cheerfully. Remus just smiled.

"Oi! Remus!" Lily called. She and James made their way through the dissipating throng of people. "I have something for you. Read it, okay?" She dropped a large, hardcover book into Remus's lap.

Remus froze when he saw the title. It was How to Tell Someone You Love Them (With Magic). Remus irrationally wished he had known that the book would show up later to cause him trouble; he would have thrown it out a window when he first saw it in the Arithmancy classroom. He made to cover up the title, but it was too late: Sirius had seen it.

"Why does he need a book like that?" he asked Lily, craning his neck to get a better look at it.

Remus felt his brain going into panicked overdrive. For a split second, Lily looked horrified. She quickly composed herself and said, her voice surprisingly calm, "I just thought it was an interesting read, and I wanted to share it with him. You know how Remus likes a good book."

Sirius continued to study the cover of the self-help book, his expression blank. Remus bit his lip so hard he was sure it was going to bleed. He looked up to see Lily wringing her hands and James pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and pointer finger. Peter was looking bewilderedly back and forth between the four of them. At last, Sirius stood up.

"Well, good game, Moony," he said. He looked just as cheerful as he had before, but now there was a strange tone in his voice that Remus couldn't place. "I should probably get started on my homework, though. Do you reckon I could borrow your Defense notes to get started on that essay?"

"Of course," Remus said, struggling to keep his own voice sounding normal. It was a testimony on how tense the situation was that no one even thought to tease Sirius about starting his homework early. "They're in my school bag, by my bed."

"Thanks," said Sirius. "I'll put them back when I'm done."

Remus, Lily, and James watched in silence until he had gone up the stairs and disappeared into the dorms. Then they exhaled in one, collective gust of air.

"Oh, God," Lily murmured. "Remus, I'm so sorry."

"What for?" Peter asked. "What's going on?"

The other three ignored him. "I wasn't thinking," Lily continued. "I just read the book, and I thought you should too, and I didn't think he was that close to you, and I can't believe I just did that, and I'm so sorry!"

Remus didn't move. He was still looking at the staircase in a state of shock.

"You know she didn't mean it, Remus," said James, patting Remus on the shoulder lightly. "It was accidental. No harm done, right?"

"What are you talking about?" Peter wanted to know.

Remus shook his head, his eyes still on the staircase, and addressed James. "I don't know. That might have just been enough to make him suspicious."

"Oh my God, I am SO sorry!" Lily cried, covering her mouth with both of her hands. She looked as if she could burst out crying at any moment.

"Will someone please answer me?" Peter half-shouted. Lily and James jumped.

"Well?" James asked, looking at Remus. Remus nodded ever so slightly to give James permission. "Basically Lily's been trying to research ways to help Remus tell Sirius that he loves him," James said bluntly.

"Oh." Peter blinked. "Is that all?"

Remus snapped. "What do you mean, 'is that all'?" he shrieked. His voice broke towards the end of the sentence.

"I just–" Peter paused, looking frightened. "I was just expecting something different – something bigger than that. I've known there was something between you and Sirius for months."

Remus's eyes widened. "Am I that obvious?"

The other three looked at each other. "Sort of?" Peter said.

"Oh, Merlin!" Remus dropped his head into his hands. "I don't believe this."

"Look, it's going to be fine, okay?" said James, glaring slightly at Peter. "We all know Sirius is kind of thick when it comes to important stuff. I'll bet that by tomorrow morning, he's forgotten all about this."

"Or he'll think I'm in love with him," said Remus miserably. "Or worse, he'll think I'm in love with someone else, and he'll start interrogating me nonstop until he figures out who it is."

"You know, if you just told him now, you wouldn't have to go through any of that," said Lily. Remus looked up to gape at her.

"I...but...eh...ah...bu-" he spluttered. Then he dropped his head back into his hands again. "Next time, just don't give me suspicious books when he's around, okay?"

"Next time?" Lily and James asked simultaneously.

"I mean, you know..." Remus groaned. "Ugh, you two are so irritating!"

"It's a natural talent," said James, smirking. Remus responded by throwing a pillow at him. The bespectacled boy squealed and jumped out of the way.

"Remus, why don't you just tell Sirius how you feel?" asked Peter.

"Because... just because! He might not feel the same, and I don't want to ruin our friendship or anything. You know."

Peter turned to shoot an incredulous look at James, who held up both of his hands in defeat. "How did you two find out?" he asked.

"Remus wrote one of those 'I'm writing you a love letter but I'm not actually gong to give it to you' letters," said James. "I came across it on accident, and then Lily stole it from me."

Lily glared at him. "I didn't steal! I just used every skill at my disposal to read it. I was curious!"

Peter ignored them, still thinking about what James had said. "I think you should give him the letter," he said to Remus at last.

"But that letter was written with every intention of it never being seen by human eyes again!" Remus cried. "Hell, I'm going to burn the thing as soon as I can get back into the dorm without Sirius being present!"

"Then why did you even-" Peter began, but Lily cut him off.

"Remus!" she shouted frantically, waving her hands in the air to get their attention. The three boys looked at her, waiting for whatever she had been about to say, but nothing came.

"Um, yes, Lily?" Remus said slowly.

At first, she still didn't respond. She was staring straight ahead, as if she were looking at something that no one else could see. She looked terrified. At last she said, "When I gave you the letter, you put it in your school bag."

It took Remus a moment to realize what she was getting at, but as soon as he did, he felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. The letter was mixed among all the notes in the bag. The notes that he had just sent Sirius to search for. The chance that Sirius had somehow missed it was slim to none.

He took off immediately. Sprinting for the staircase at breakneck speed, he nearly knocked over a tiny, first year boy, who yelled at him even as he raced in the direction of his room. Without bothering to knock, he burst through the door.

It was the closest thing to déjà vu that Remus had ever experienced. There was Sirius, sitting on the bed, just like James had been. There was the letter, unfolded on Sirius's lap (Remus could tell by the number of times the parchment had been creased). There he was, Remus himself, panting in the doorway and wishing that he had the ability to sink into the ground at will. Sirius looked up at him, his expression to intense for Remus to even consider trying to decipher. Remus knew that he understood everything.

"Oh, fuck," Remus moaned. "I– I can– I just–" He backed up against the door and felt it click shut behind him. "Fuck!"

Sirius stood up, swiftly folding the letter and shoving it into his pocket. "Remus, I–"

"I'm so sorry! You weren't supposed to see that! I mean, I never meant for anyone to see it... I mean, I– I didn't–" Remus could feel his cheeks burning; his heart was thumping wildly in his chest, and his breathing was ragged. Yet again, Sirius had managed to leave him absolutely and painfully speechless.

"Look, Remus–" Sirius tried to speak again. Remus interrupted him; he knew what Sirius was going to tell him, and he couldn't bear to hear it.

"I understand if you don't want to speak to me again. I'll leave you alone if you ask. You're completely within your rights to cut off all contact with me, and I'll respect whatever you want to–" Remus stopped, his eyes growing round.

"Remus?" Sirius asked anxiously.

The blond groaned. "I'm dreaming! Oh God, I'm dreaming, aren't I? This is just like every other time, and any minute now, I'm going to wake up and none of this will have happened!"

"Remus?" Sirius repeated. This time he sounded exasperated. Remus ignored him.

"That's it: I'm asleep, and I'm just going to wake up now... any minute now... and then everything will be fine..."

Sirius sighed impatiently. In two quick strides he crossed the room, caught Remus's face between his hands, and placed his mouth on Remus's.

Remus froze in shock, unable to respond. Sirius kissed him slowly, gently, and then pulled back. His grey eyes watched Remus hopefully, his hands never dropping from Remus's face. Speechless, Remus opened and closed his mouth several times before he could finally spit anything out.

"I am most definitely dreaming" he said with certainty.

Rolling his eyes, Sirius said, "Would you please stop with this ridiculous dreaming thing? I'm trying to tell you that I love you too, and you're not making it any easier for me!"

"Uh... er...what?" Remus whispered.

Sirius smiled, and it was the most beautiful thing Remus had ever seen. "I love you too, you great prat," he said.

Remus didn't need telling twice; he flung himself at Sirius. The black-haired boy gasped as Remus's body forcefully collided with his, and then he was kissing Remus desperately, his hands winding through Remus's hair as if to pull him closer. Carefully, because he couldn't see where he was going while kissing, Remus pushed Sirius in the direction of the bed; he knew he had reached his destination when Sirius suddenly fall backwards, pulling Remus with him. Sirius laughed; he kissed both of Remus's eyelids softly, and then the tip of his nose, before moving back to his lips.

"Are you convinced that you're awake yet?" he asked humorously when he pulled away. Remus laid his head on Sirius's chest and closed his eyes, determined to feel every heartbeat.

"Yes," he said. "I guess. I'm just... confused."

"About?"

"Everything. Why me? I'm not at all attractive or anything. And I thought you liked girls."

Sirius's voice echoed in his chest when he spoke. "I don't think you see yourself clearly. I think you're smart and fun and adorable and brave and very, very, very attractive." He kissed the top of Remus's head to accentuate each adverb. "And honestly, when was the last time I actually went out with a bird?"

"I know, I know," Remus said. "I just... I thought that there was no way you could ever have feelings for another guy."

"Oh, Remus," Sirius sighed, shaking his head. "Look, I'm going to fall in love with whomever I fall in love with, yeah? Regardless of gender."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh." Sirius chuckled. "And it just so happens that I'm in love with you. Have been for ages, actually. I can't believe you never caught on. I was throwing myself all over you, for Merlin's sake!"

Remus thought about this while Sirius traced circles absently on Remus's shoulder. "Wait..." he said slowly. "Then it wasn't because you didn't understand the meaning of personal space?"

There was an awkward pause, and then Sirius burst into hysterical laughter. Remus took that as an emphatic no. He sat up so as not to get jostled and crossed his arms, waiting for Sirius to sober up.

"And that conversation on Sunday, about knowing when it's right... that was about me?" he asked.

"Of course it was," Sirius said. "I was hoping you would notice, maybe even get jealous or something – anything, really, if it would help me figure out if you loved me back. But you were completely oblivious, as usual."

"But about what you said Sunday: you... you think we're supposed to be together? Like fate or whatnot?" The idea sounded too good to be true; Remus sternly ordered his heart to behave.

Sirius grimaced. "It sounds terrible when you say it."

"No, it doesn't," Remus objected. "It sounds perfectly reasonable to me."

"Really?" Sirius asked doubtfully.

"Yes."

"I'm glad you think so." Sirius grabbed Remus by the tie and pulled him forward for another kiss.

Remus reacted more strongly than he had anticipated. The blood boiled in his veins and he kissed Sirius back fiercely, running his lips along Sirius's until Sirius was trembling. His hands traced the contours of Sirius's chest, studying. He could feel Sirius's fingers loosening the knot of his tie, fumbling with the top buttons of his shirt. Once they were undone, Sirius pushed Remus back onto the bed and climbed on top of him, all the while still kissing him in a way that ought to have been criminal. Then his lips trailed slowly down Remus's jaw-line and all the way to his collarbone, where he began to suck on the skin there. This elicited a moan of longing from Remus. The blond hooked his legs around Sirius's hips, pulling Sirius even closer against his body, and Sirius growled. He moved his mouth back to Remus's...

"God damn it!" shouted a familiar voice angrily from the hallway outside the door.

Sirius and Remus froze, their lips still brushing lightly.

"What?" Sirius began to hiss, but Remus hushed him with a finger against his lips.

"Shh," he whispered. Carefully, he unhooked his legs. Sirius moved off of the werewolf and helped him to his feet. They tiptoed towards the door as quietly as possible, stopping just in front of it. Then Remus pulled the door open.

James, Lily, and Peter were all gathered outside. Lily sat cross-legged on the floor, looking at her lap, her face bright pink. Peter leaned against the wall, shifting slightly from one foot to the other, clearly uncomfortable. James stood in the middle of them, his hands clasped over his mouth and his eyes wide in horror.

Sirius and Remus glanced at each other, and Remus sighed. "May I ask why you found it necessary to sit out here and listen to us snog?" he asked exasperatedly.

The three of them looked at each other uncomfortably. Lily glared at James.

"We had a bet going," she said reluctantly. "And that child over there just lost."

"Hey!" James protested, but another irritated glance from Lily silenced him.

"A bet on what, exactly?" Remus asked, crossing his arms.

Lily seemed to realize that it was futile to evade answering him. "On how long you two would be at it in there."

"Who won?" Sirius asked. He sounded much more amused by the whole thing than Remus really thought he should be.

"I did," said Peter from behind his hand. Lily choked; she was trying not to laugh.

"Congratulations, Pete. How much?"

Remus ran a hand through his hair. "Sirius, is that really necessary? I'm trying to guilt them into going away, and your enthusiasm isn't helping the cause."

Sirius caught on immediately; his eyes widened, and he broke into an immense grin. He turned to address the eavesdroppers. "You're leaving. Now."

"Right," said Lily quickly. She grabbed Peter by the arm and James by the collar and proceeded to drag them back down the stairs.

"Ten galleons!" Peter called back to them, as he tried not to trip over anything. "The winner was supposed to get ten galleons!"

"Make sure to take more from James!" Sirius advised. There was the sound of muffled cursing from the bottom of the stairs, and then they were gone.

Still grinning widely, Sirius gave Remus as sidelong glance. "So, Remus, my love… where were we?"

Remus smiled softly and pulled him back into the bedroom. They didn't come out for quite some time.

Over the next several days, the weather began to get colder and the days began to get darker as winter approached. Remus didn't notice much, though. He was spending all of his free time with Sirius, and he was very, very happy about it. He was sleeping again; he was able to focus again; he could spend an entire afternoon sitting with Sirius in the common room, his head in Sirius's lap while Sirius played with his hair, and no one said a thing. Admittedly, he did receive rather sullen looks from occasional groups of girls passing by, but that didn't matter to Remus. Suddenly everything was as it should be.

He and Sirius had talked for hours after Lily, James, and Peter had left them. They discussed everything they could think of regarding their feelings for each other. Both boys found it extremely comical that they had been in love with each other for years without realizing it. Remus had felt it necessary to enlighten Sirius as to why he had been so stressed lately – and about the purpose of Lily's library research. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen Sirius so amused; the black-haired boy had laughed for nearly ten minutes without stopping and then, once he had calmed down enough, kissed Remus thoroughly.

Remus grinned at the memory. He was sitting in the dorm that the Marauders shared, jotting down some finishing touches on the Defense Against the Dark Arts paper that was due the next day. The rest of his companions were downstairs in the common room; Sirius had been in an exceptionally distracting mood, and, as much as Remus didn't like it, he had needed to request some alone time in order to get the essay done. Sirius had pouted for a while, just for the sake of teasing the werewolf. Then he, James, and Peter had gone down to the common room to annoy Lily, and Remus had started on his essay.

Now that he was finished, he rolled up his parchment, stood up, and stretched. He hadn't heard anything from downstairs in a while now, and it made him a slight bit nervous. If they had been serious about their plans to irritate Lily, it was highly possible that Lily had retaliated. The last time something like that had happened, Sirius and James had ended up hanging from the ceiling, each of them suspended only by a rope tied to one ankle. The spell had been so good that even Remus hadn't known how to undo it.

Once his essay was safely packed in his school bag, Remus opened the door to the room, planning to go see what was going on in the common room. He hadn't gone more than a few steps when he nearly tripped over Sirius. The boy was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall, reading Remus's own copy of The Fellowship of the Ring.

Remus stared. Sirius looked up.

"Hi," he said lightly.

"Hi," Remus replied. "Um... can I ask what you're doing, exactly?"

"Well, I'm reading, obviously." Sirius held up the book as proof.

"No, I mean... why are you sitting here?"

"Oh. I was waiting for you."

Remus thought about this for a moment. "You do realize that you are utterly ridiculous sometimes, don't you?"

"Unfortunately, I am reminded almost daily," said Sirius gravely. Then he leaped up and pulled Remus into an embrace, placing a chaste kiss on his lips. "Are you done now?"

"Yes, I am."

"Oh, good. Come downstairs with me."

Sirius offered Remus an arm, which Remus took, and led him down to the common room.

"By the way, why were you reading?" Remus asked. He lifted a hand to feel Sirius's forehead. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"Ha ha," Sirius drawled. "I just saw your book in the common room, and it looked interesting, so I decided to read it."

"Wow," said Remus. "I think I'm in shock. You're reading a book. And of your own, free will, no less."

Sirius ruffled the blond's hair playfully. "You could try not to act so surprised. I just know that you like it a lot, and I was curious."

Remus smiled and kissed Sirius. "I love you."

"I love you too," Sirius whispered, kissing Remus back.

"Moony and Padfoot, would you two stop snogging in the stairwell, please?" James shouted. The two looked up to see him sitting next to Lily on a nearby couch. "It is exceedingly uncomfortable to watch one's best mates snog each other."

Sirius smirked wickedly. "Well, that's odd, Jamie-boy. You didn't complain at all when I spent last night in Remus's bed. We had a pretty good time, I'd say; wouldn't you, love?" He looked at Remus mischievously.

"Oh, yes," said Remus, playing along, putting his arms around Sirius's neck. "A very good time. I must say, I was impressed; I had no idea you could move like that."

"There's a lot you don't know about me," Sirius said. He leaned forward to kiss Remus sensually.

"Well, aren't we lucky?" asked Remus, trying to ensure that his breathing was steady. "We have tonight, and tomorrow night, and the next night, and the next..."

James screamed in agony and covered his face with his hands. "STOP! Oh, Merlin, make it stop! My mind – my poor, innocent mind! You've killed it! KILLED it, I say! Don't make me revoke my blessing, because I will if I have to!"

"Oh, no, you will not," said Lily sharply. She picked up a pillow and hit him over the head with it. "How could you even think such a thing? Look at how cute they are!"

James blinked, twitched, and then collapsed, moaning, against the back of the couch. Sirius and Remus burst out laughing.

"Sorry, Prongs," said Sirius. "You're just too easy to mess with." He sat down on a chair next to Lily and James's couch, pulling Remus into his lap and tucking Remus's head under his chin.

"So, you didn't actually do anything last night, did you?" James asked nervously.

"Well..." Remus trailed off and looked at Sirius, who winked. James moaned again and shoved his head under the pillow that Lily had used to hit him.

"Hey, what's going on?" Peter had just entered through the portrait hole and walked over to them. Sirius, Remus, and Lily exchanged glances.

"Nothing," said Lily firmly. Peter looked at the four of them, his gaze lingering on Remus (sitting on Sirius) and James (still under his pillow). Then he shrugged and sat down on the couch next to Lily and James.

"So I found out where Professor Sprout keeps the speaking plant seeds," he announced proudly. "I went down to talk to her about our last project, and she was cleaning out her cabinets. They're in a locked dresser on the very bottom shelf, under the counters; she said they like the dark, dank environment there."

"Brilliant!" James popped out from under his pillow. "Do you think we could use them for the prank?"

Remus laughed softly to himself. Sirius had told James about his idea for a end-of-the-year prank, and James had loved it – in fact, he had been annoyed at Sirius and Remus for not telling him sooner.

"Probably," said Peter. "They aren't that heavily guarded. Just a few locking charms, from what I can tell. Most people don't even know that she had them, so I don't think she's worried about them getting stolen."

"But what would we do with talking plants?" Lily asked. She had found out about the prank fairly early on, when James accidentally let it slip. To Remus's surprise, she had actually liked the idea, and requested to be a part of it.

"We could plant them all over the school!" Sirius said with enthusiasm. "Wouldn't that be great, to have random talking plants on a staircase or in a hallway or in the dungeons?"

"But what would they say?" Lily wanted to know.

As Lily, James, Peter, and Sirius brainstormed, Remus simply closed his eyes and listened to the low rumble of Sirius's voice echoing in his chest. Sirius was fingering Remus's hair, and every so often placing a soft kiss on the top of Remus's head. Remus thought happily of the letter he had written, which he knew for a fact was currently residing in Sirius's pocket. Sirius had asked Remus if he could keep it, and Remus hadn't been able to say no. He really didn't even mind; now that he knew Sirius loved him, he didn't care what happened to the letter anymore. It was no longer important.

Sirius had absentmindedly carried The Fellowship of the Ring downstairs with them, and he had set it on the table next to them when they sat down. Sighing, Remus reached out and picked it up. If they needed to involve him in the prank-planning, they would say something to get his attention. But until then, he was going to read. Maybe, now that everything was the way that it should be, he would actually be able to finish the book.

... But then again, maybe not.

"Hey, look!" Sirius exclaimed, sitting up more and wrapping his arms around Remus to keep the blond from falling. "It's snowing!"

The four other seventh years looked up instantly.

"It's beautiful," said Lily. "I can't believe it's already snowing; it's only just November." She watched the snow for a moment, and then her eyes widened. "Ooh! We should go outside!"

James and Sirius looked at each other. "Snowball fight!" they declared at the same time. Lily rolled her eyes, but she followed when James jumped up, took her hand, and ran for the portrait hole. Peter shook his head and trailed after them.

"Will you come with us?" Sirius asked Remus.

"You think I'd miss the first snowball fight of the year?" Remus asked incredulously. "Although, admittedly, the snow probably won't last, so it most likely won't be that much of a snowball fight. It'll probably be something more like you and James trying to catch snow in your hands and lobbing it at each other. But, of course, there's no way I'd miss that, even if it is rather silly."

Sirius responded by turning Remus's face to kiss him. The feeling sent jolts of electricity through Remus's body, and he maneuvered himself so that he was facing Sirius, his legs hanging off either arm of the chair. He fastened his arms around Sirius's neck, and his hands explored the muscles of Sirius's shoulders and back. He could feel Sirius's hands on his body as well, making his breath came in short, ragged gasps. Sirius nipped at Remus's lower lip, and then slid his tongue into Remus's mouth; their breath intermingled as they tasted each other. Remus was just wondering how to convince Sirius that the bedroom would be a more appropriate place to continue this when Peter's voice interrupted them.

"Are you two lovebirds coming or not?"
"Ah, damn. Thwarted," sighed Sirius reluctantly.

Remus laughed. "Well?" he asked. "Shall we join them?"

"Why not? We always have later, don't we?" Sirius kissed Remus again, slowly, and Remus shivered in anticipation at the promise.

"Just so you know, I am leaving now!" Peter shouted significantly.

This time both Remus and Sirius laughed.

"Alright, alright!" shouted Sirius. He wrapped an arm around Remus's waist and the two of them followed Peter out of Gryffindor tower.

A/N: Well, that got a little bit cheesier than I originally intended... but it made my friend Mollie absurdly pleased, and since I dedicated this story to her, I guess that's alright. Thanks so much for reading, everybody! I hope you enjoyed it! Make sure to leave a review on your way out!