Remus rose from his chair, both his knees cracking as he did so. He grimaced and stretched his back until that also crunched loudly. He’d been hunching over his desk too long.
“That sounded painful,” said a voice, making him startle.
“Merlin’s balls, Lily!” He gasped, his hand automatically going to his heart as if to soothe its frantic rhythm. Lily snorted.
“Sorry, Grandpa. Hard of hearing as well?” Remus glared at her half-heartedly.
“Finishing up on Potions?” Lily asked looking at the books Remus had been reading.
“Oh… no, sort of my own… project.” Lily looked at him surprised before her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“For something I don’t want to know about?”
“It could be for my joints,” Remus said, attempting an innocent smile. It sort of was for his joints. More specifically for when they were bent out of shape at the full moon, but Lily didn’t need to know that.
“I’ll choose to believe that. I’m heading back to the common room, going that way?”
The two of them walked together in contented silence. Their friendship had bloomed during prefect rounds and had only continued to get stronger now Lily was Head Girl. It was nearing curfew and the corridors were quiet.
“Where are the other hooligans tonight then?” Lily asked.
“They went to get snacks and didn’t come back,” Remus replied, “And Peter’s in detention with Filch again.”
“Peter? By himself?”
“Yeah, the portrait covering one of our escape routes has a real grudge against him for some reason. Let me and the other’s through and he got stuck in the corridor.” The portrait is of a cat, who saw Peter transform one time and now thinks he is dinner.
“You’re all technically adults now.”
“Adults can need escape routes.” Remus said smiling, “Plus, we were on a rescue mission. Filch has something that belongs to us.”
“Was the mission a success at least?”
“No,” Remus said, “The crotchety old git lives like a hoarder, finding anything in his office is a nightmare.”
“You couldn’t summon it?”
“Summon it,” Remus laughed, “Oh, Lily. You’re so innocent. It’s lovely.” Lily glared at him and shoved at his arm playfully, making him stumble a few steps.
Just as they turned the corner into a new corridor, there was a loud clatter and James and Sirius stumbled through a portrait concealing a hidden entrance and crashed to the floor spilling Honey Dukes sweets, pastries from the bakery and several bottles of drink around them.
“Ow,” James groaned.
“Prongs for the love of Merlin, there is a step. Every time. How can you be so graceful in the air and so clumsy on your own fucking feet?”
“Oh shit, it’s the Head Girl and her pet prefect!” James said in pretend alarm, smiling largely at Remus and Lily from where he and Sirius lay on the floor.
“You’re the Head Boy,” Lily deadpanned.
“Slander! Lies! The absurdity,” said Sirius, climbing to his feet, making sure to dig his elbow into James’ stomach before pulling him up too.
The two boys smiled beatifically at them. They were a sight the pair of them. Dressed in muggle clothes, all denim and leather jackets and big boots. James’ hair was a wild mess, Sirius’ was pulled back into a bun revealing the piercings in his ear. They dwarfed Lily now. She didn’t even reach their chins. Remus, fortunately, had kept up with them. They ribbed Peter mercilessly for his height. Or lack of it.
“Let’s all agree you saw nothing,” James said dusting himself and Sirius down, while Sirius scowled at him, before swirling his wand around so the sweets and pastries and drinks filled a bag he had been carrying before he tripped.
“We didn’t see you with your own weight in sweets from the village,” said Remus nodding.
“It’s not for us,” said Sirius, “If that makes it better?”
“Then who is it for?” asked Lily, but Remus just groaned.
“It’s for your little fan club isn’t it?”
“Fan club?” asked Lily, “Please tell me you two idiots, don’t have a fan club?”
“We don’t have a fan club,” said James, his smile only widening, slinging his arm around Sirius’ shoulder, who has taken the bag from him, and pulling him in slightly to knock their heads together.
“We don’t,” repeated Sirius, more seriously, smacking his hand against James’ stomach.
“Please tell me you aren’t tricking vulnerable, gullible first years into pulling off your pranks with you?”
“We should. Lead the next generation of prankster down the right path, tell them everything we know…”
“Which wouldn’t be much,” said Lily.
“Hey! Actually, Sirius, they have such little hands… I bet they could reach things we couldn’t…”
“No. What are you doing with the first years?”
“Relax,” said Sirius, turning to walk down the corridor, “It’s all above board. Plus, we wouldn’t be much use without Moony there. He’s the actual mastermind.”
“Innocent bystander. You said innocent bystander wrong.” Remus called after them.
“Then what are you doing with them?” Lily shouted as they walked away.
“James, Sirius!” called a younger student (not a first year by the looks of him) from down the corridor, “Raymond set a stool on fire.”
“Ah, coming,” James called back. He turned and winked at Lily and Remus before trotting after Sirius.
“What are they doing with the younger students?” Lily asked rounding on Remus.
“They’re helping some of the students that were feeling anxious about the war. You know, teaching them charms and spells that might help in a tricky spot,” said Remus, “They aren’t all pranks and stupidity. They’re both annoyingly clever.”
“I know,” said Lily, “I have noticed they have grown up a bit this year.” She turned away from the corridor, apparently accepting Remus’ reassurance about the fan club.
“Don’t let them hear you say that.”
“I mean it. They haven’t interrupted half the lessons they usually do. James hasn’t asked me out once this year. And I haven’t found a Slytherin shoved upside down in a small opening for ages.”
“Shit, that means Mulciber is still there.”
“What?”
Remus sniggered. “I’m joking. We haven’t shoved any Slytherin’s in small holes. Or out of windows.”
“Why did you add that?” Remus just smiled and shrugged.
The two of them sat together in the common room, in front of one of the fires. Remus was reading one of his favourite novels from home, to help his brain relax after focussing on potions and ingredient amounts for the last 5 hours. He hated potions. It was the exactness of it. He just wanted to add a dash of this, a pinch of that. But you couldn’t do that in potions. Lily appeared to be people watching, a book open in front of her but on her lap.
“He has been more sensible this year,” she said.
“Who?” asked Remus.
“James.” Lily said, her face suddenly bright red and her eyes not meeting his, “He’s been attending all his classes. When he’s fidgety he fidgets without distracting others. He’s still a bit obnoxious about quidditch, but actually he has a bit of a right to be. I swear he grew a whole foot over the summer… and he’s got shoulders…” Her face went redder.
“Shoulders,” Remus repeated bemused.
“He’s helping the younger kids. He does it all the time. He’s actually really kind to them.”
“He’s always been very kind,” said Remus, thinking of the lonely 11-year-old werewolf half-blood child that James had gone out of his way to befriend.
“Yes, but the acting like a twat bit got in the way of people seeing it. I can only think of a few fights he’s had with the Slytherin’s… and, actually, they were justifiable.”
“They were always justifiable… mostly.”
“They look after you when you’re ill, I’ve noticed.”
“You’re doing a lot of noticing,” Remus said carefully. Lily flushed again, just as the boy in question came through the entrance, blowing the Fat Lady a kiss.
Sirius was hot on his heels. He made a beeline for the boys’ dormitory stairs, ignoring most people in his way. James got way laid by a few people springing into his path. He appeared to be handing them things from various pockets. People that had known he was heading into the village probably, who had put in requests. He beamed over at Remus, waggled his eyebrows suggestively, made a crude jester and then disappeared through the door to the boy’s dormitory with a brief wave at Lily. Remus grimaced; he wasn’t going to bed any time soon then.
When Remus turned back to Lily, she was still bright red.
“He is… rather good looking, isn’t he?”
“Who?” asked Remus again, “James? I suppose, if you like tall, dark and athletic.” Lily blinked at him several times.
“Why doesn’t he ask me out anymore?” Remus didn’t think Lily’s face could get any redder but even her eyelids were bright pink now.
“Oh… er…He is being more restrained this year. More mature.” Remus hedged, looking back down at his book in the hopes it would end the conversation. Which it did for a few minutes.
“Well… maybe I’ll ask him.” Lily said determinedly.
“Ask him… out?” Remus said.
“Yes, to Hogsmeade or something.” She was suddenly rising from her seat, Remus felt alarm spike through him.
“Oh, I don’t know if that’s a good idea…” He said.
“What? Why? He’s asked me out 1000 times since first year.”
“Yes, but…” This was the problem with secrets, Remus thought, he wasn’t good at lying. Anyone close to him figured out he was a werewolf in a matter of months, precisely because his ability to think of a plausible excuse on the spot was terrible. And anything he said here would lead to more questions.
He’d apparently been lost in panic for several seconds, because when he looked up Lily was marching towards the boy’s dormitory staircase.
“Wait! Lily!” But she appeared not to hear him. “Shit.”
Lily marched up the stairs, nerves squirming in her stomach. But she had been noticing those things she mentioned to Remus and maybe James was trying to be more mature and instead of asking her out constantly he was waiting for her to ask? She knocked loudly on the 7th year boy’s door, her heart banging against her rib cage. She’d been in their dormitory room several times over the years, mostly to tell them to shut up and stop setting off explosions or fireworks or stink bombs, so she knew the right door.
She didn’t wait for a response but pushed the door open and let out an alarmed squawk.
“Remus, for fucks sake I gave you the signal!” cried James, wrapping the curtain on the nearest bedpost around his bottom half as he turned, “Lily!” His face flushed bright red and he attempted to raise the curtain to also cover his chest. Lily stood stock still, unable to move, as she took in the sight of half-naked James Potter looking flustered. “What are you doing up here?”
“Lily?” asked Sirius’s voice, his head suddenly appearing above James’s shoulder, his hands resting on James hips, “Is something wrong? Is it Remus?”
“No, I err… wrong room!” She cried, slamming the door shut and back peddling down the corridor her face flaming hot.
“I tried to stop you,” said Remus, who appeared to be waiting several steps down the staircase. Lily glared at him.
“How was ‘I don’t know if that’s a good idea’ trying to stop me,” she hissed at him, embarrassment curdling her stomach, “How about James is fucking Sirius!”
“It wasn’t my secret to tell,” Remus said lamely looking truly sorry.
“Wrong room?” repeated Sirius, “Whose room was she looking for?”
“Probably some younger kids doing things they shouldn’t,” said James, still looking at the door with a confused expression.
“Can I get back to doing things I shouldn’t?” Sirius asked, using a finger to move James’ chin back to face him.
“You think Remus is alright?”
“She wouldn’t have said wrong room if there was something wrong with Remus.”
“I’m pretty sure she got a full view of my arse… it could stun the mind.”
“Hm, it’s stunned mine a few times.” Sirius muttered, his hands now trailing back down James’ body, pressing kisses to his jaw, “I’m sure Remus is fine, it’s no where near the full.”
James looked down at Sirius, the confusion and concern clearing from his face as he took in Sirius kneeling on the mattress, his hair still pulled back in a bun. He'd never get tired of this sight. He smiled at him, that wide beaming smile that filled Sirius with such exquisite joy when it was directed at him. He stroked his hand along Sirius’ jaw.
“Ok, pretty boy,” he said, pulling the tie from Sirius’s hair so it cascaded around his shoulders, as he tilted Sirius’ head up for a gentle kiss. Sirius lent even further back, inviting James to kiss down his neck and along his collar bone.
“You think I’m pretty,” Sirius said breathlessly. James smiled against his skin.
“I think you are beautiful,” he said, “clever, cunning, funny, loyal, incredible, strong, delicious, fierce…”
“Delicious?” Sirius gasped, James had been punctuating his words with kisses and nips down his torso. James, who was now on his knees in front of Sirius who was raised up on the bed, looked up at him through dark lashes, and licked the length of Sirius’s cock.
“Fucking delicious,” he said, before looking back down.
“Fucking hell, James.” Sirius moaned as James’ warm mouth closed around him.
“I wouldn’t go up there!” A very red-faced Lily said, as she rushed out the door to the dormitory stairs, and towards the girl’s.
“What?” asked Peter, who’s body was sagging with exhaustion, Filch, the absolute tosser, had had him cleaning trophies by hand. Remus came down the stairs next, looking amused.
“Might be the couch for us tonight,” he said, nodding towards where his book was before the fire.
“Again,” groaned Peter, "It's been fucking months. You said this would be a fling, get it out of their systems."
"I fear I was wrong. It think it might be more than teenage hormones and close proximity."
"More? Like what?"
"I think they might love each other."
"Gross."