Title: The Trials of the Mauraders

Author: Lady Remus

Pairings: Remus/Sirius, James/Sirius, James/Remus/Sirius

Length: 12,963 words

Summary: What could possibly tear apart the Marauders? When two of them fall in love…with each other. And what could possibly save the friendship?

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: homosexual activity, mutual masturbation, voyeurism, first-time sex, threesome, homophobic behaviour

Disclaimer: The original characters come from the mind of J K Rowling. I don't own them and I'm certainly not making any profit from this.

Beta: faithinstars (GJ)

Notes: I was reading a web site about top clichés in Remus and Sirius fics and one was that James is always accepting of Remus and Sirius being gay and in a relationship. I decided the idea of James being uncomfortable would make a good fic and so here it is.

Review: Yes please.

Chapter 1

As James Potter walked up the stairs to the common room, he felt--no, he knew--that he was the happiest person in the world. After months of tedious attempts, he finally had the chance to become closer to Lily Evans.

Okay, he thought, it's only a few study sessions, but hey, anything can happen, especially when it's just going to be the two of us studying. Thank Merlin for Slughorn and his high expectations.

He walked into the common room, his head held high and a smug look printed on his face. He looked around the room, but the only Marauder he saw was Peter hunched over a pile of books, struggling to keep up his essays.

James shook his head. Oh, Wormtail. You never give up in trying to impress us. I've got to admire your determination, though.

He walked towards Peter and knelt down beside him. "Hiya. How's the schoolwork going?"

Peter grunted. "I just wish Remus was around. He could help me."

"Do you know where the two mutts are?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be struggling like this. You know, I think Remus is deliberately avoiding me."

"Don't be so paranoid, Wormtail." Although, from the way you keep bugging him, I wouldn't be surprised if he was avoiding you. "Anyway, I'm going to go and find them."

Before James could stand up, Peter said, "No, wait. Please could you help me out? I can't find anything on…"

"Hold on." James looked over Peter's shoulder and gazed at the rather childish writing on the parchment. After reading Peter's half-written essay, he sighed and picked up one of the books that was scattered on the desk. He quickly scanned through the pages, knowing exactly what he was looking for. After finding the correct page, he placed the open book on the table. "There you go."

"Cheers, Prongs." Peter bent over the open book and continued to study.

James rolled his eyes and walked out of the common room. He moved towards the dormitory and opened the door. He immediately saw Remus and Sirius lying on Sirius' bed. They were holding themselves close, too close for James' comfort, and they were…

Oh my god! They're kissing each other on the lips!

And indeed, they were kissing each other on the lips. James watched as Sirius stroked the brown-haired boy's hair and cheek whilst holding his hand. Remus placed a hand on Sirius' cheek, and the two pups drew themselves closer to each other. James felt his face become hot and red.

Oh my god! he thought. What the fuck!

He left the dormitory, slamming the door behind him. He rushed down the corridor and re-entered the common room. He saw that Peter was still writing his essay, a look of frustration stamped on his face.

Peter, I know how you feel.

He walked over to his friend, pulled a chair from under the table and proceeded to help Peter. He knew it would be tedious as his friend was slow and needed a lot of help. But he knew he had to do something…anything…to get the disturbing image of his two friends out of his head.

Remus felt like he was walking on clouds. That is until he heard the sound of a door slamming. He opened his eyes and quickly parted the kiss.

He whispered, "What was that?"

Sirius opened his eyes. "What was what?"

"That bang. I swear I heard a door slam."

"Oh, you're hearing things, love." Sirius wrapped his arm around the werewolf. "Come here and give us another kiss."

"What if it was James or Peter?"

Sirius shrugged his shoulder and flashed his cocky smile. "So what if it was?"

"I told you that we should have been more careful." Remus became tensed. "It could be all around school tomorrow."

Sirius stroked Remus' hair. "Then let it be, Remy. I don't care what they think. Do you?"

"I…I don't know."

Sirius cuddled his boyfriend tight, thinking, Remus, I love you, but sometimes you need a serious whack on the head. Instead of voicing this thought, he simply comforted his beloved. "It's okay. It's okay." They lied together on the bed, wrapped in each other's arms, and it was not long before they were kissing again.

The next morning, James watched the two pups during breakfast time. Sirius was his usual cocky and confident self, always cracking jokes. However, James noticed that, while Remus was usually quiet, he was more secluded than ever. He was also looking around the room as if he was afraid. As the Marauders shared the same classes, James noticed that Remus' behaviour was constant throughout the day.

Oh, Moony. You know I was there. You know I saw you, don't you?

After tea, Remus excused himself and went over to the library. He gazed at the rows and rows of books, trying to get the feeling of paranoia out of his head. He just knew that he and Sirius had been seen the previous night. He also knew that the whole school knew and that he was going to become more isolated than he was before.

Oh come, on Remus! he thought to himself, Maybe Sirius was right. Maybe I imagined the noise last night. Surely, if someone had seen us, it would be all over the school by now and you would have known it by now. You've been so nervous of being found out that your imagination has taken over.

Feeling slightly comforted at this thought, he concentrated on looking for the book he wanted. When he found it, he reached out for the book and was about to pull it off the shelf when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"What the fuck were you doing last night?"

Remus' whole body stiffened as he recognised the harsh tone of James. Trying to ignore his friend, he continued to remove the book from the shelf. He suddenly felt James grab hold of his shoulders and turned him around. He heard the book fall off the shelf and down to the ground with a loud bang. Before he could move, James grabbed hold of Remus' arms, pinning them to his sides.

"I said what the fuck were you two doing last night?"

Remus tried to sound confident. "I don't know what you're talking about."

James spat, "Oh, don't act so innocent. I saw you and Sirius were doing."

"Well, if you saw what we were doing, why are you asking me what were we doing?"

"I just wanted to know if I imagined it or not."

After a moment, Remus spoke. "And what do you think you saw?"

"You and Sirius kissing."

"Ah, so you're the one who slammed the door."

"Well, do you blame me? I had seen my two best friends doing something disgusting! How long, Remus?"

"What?"

James sighed in frustration and impatience. "How long have you two been doing it?"

As James continued to hold him, Remus suddenly felt a burst of energy and he was able to push his friend away. Before James had fallen to the floor, Remus had scampered away from the scene and out of the library.

As he ran down the corridor, his mind was focused on finding Sirius before James did. When he reached the Gryffindor tower, he ran up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. He opened the bedroom door quickly and saw Sirius trying to help Peter with his homework. The two boys looked up and saw the distressed werewolf.

Peter smiled meekly. "What's wrong, Moony? Did the library not have the book you wanted?"

Sirius playfully smacked his head. "Don't try to be funny, Wormtail. You'll never be as good as me."

Remus looked urgently at his boyfriend. "James knows, Sirius."

"He knows what?"

Remus' voice was more urgent. "He knows."

Peter asked, "Knows what?"

Remus heard loud footsteps and ran to be by his beloved's side. A few seconds later, James stormed into the room with a look of disgust on his face. It was a look that no-one, not even the other Marauders, had ever seen on James' face before.

Sirius grinned cheekily. "Hey, Prongs. What's up with you? Has Lily rejected you again?"

James said angrily, "Don't play the innocence with me! Remus has already tried that!"

Sirius got off the bed and moved to his friend. "Hey, mate! Calm down!"

"Don't tell me to calm down, you dirty git!"

The long haired student took a step backwards. "Whoa! There's no need for name-calling. If something has happened, then I'm sure we can sort it out."

James pointed an accusing finger at Sirius. "You know perfectly well what the problem is! I saw you last night!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Okay. What have I done now?"

"You've been snogging him!" James shouted, pointing a finger at Remus.

"So what?" Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "What's wrong with me snogging someone? You've kissed girls."

"Well, it's different now."

"How can it be different?"

James became more irritated. "Because you've been snogging a bloke!"

There was a moment's silence as the two black-haired students stared at each other. Sirius stood up and looked at his boyfriend and Peter, whose mouth was open with shock. Remus felt a dreaded feeling in his stomach. He hated bad atmospheres, and he knew that the thick atmosphere in the room was all because of him.

The tense silence was disturbed when Peter spoke softly, "So does that mean that you two are…gay?"

Sirius looked at Remus without answering. Their eyes were locked in a gaze for only a few seconds, but to the two pups, it felt like days. Remus smiled and moved towards the black-haired student and wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

He said, "Yes, Peter. Yes, we are."

No one said a word and the only sounds were that of James breathing heavily. Eventually, he spoke, "How long?"

Sirius said, "If you really must know, we've been together for three months."

"Three months! So I'm guessing that what I saw last night wasn't just a one-off then?"

Remus shook his head. "No, it wasn't."

James folded his arms. "Well, I'm very surprised at you, Sirius. I always thought you liked the girls."

"So did I, but for the past year, I've been fighting the fact that I fancy guys. It was only until that I kissed Remus all those weeks ago that I realised that I want him. And I'll tell you this," he turned to Remus and put his face in his hands, "it was a fantastic kiss. Better than any of the girls." Then he placed a tender kiss on his boyfriend's lips.

James could only watch with even more disgust. He couldn't believe he was seeing it…again! "You fucked each other yet?"

Sirius faced the bespectacled student, his face still cupping the werewolf's face. "That's none of your business!"

"Oh, so you have fucked him, then! Three months with him," James scoffed. "Everyone knows that your relationships don't even last three days. Three months! He must be a good fuck for you to stick around!"

Remus' face went red and hot with embarrassment. "What is your problem, James? You got a problem with me and Sirius liking each other in that way, hmm?"

"Yes, I do."

Sirius asked, "Why?"

"You know why!"

Sirius spoke "Maybe, but we still like to know!"

"Because it makes you two dirty!"

There was another pause as Sirius tried to understand what was going on. He could not believe that his friend, no, his brother, would react this way.

He looked at James again, feeling his eyes fill up with tears. "Well, I'm very surprised at you, James. I really thought I knew you."

James replied apathetically, "Yeah, and I thought I knew you and Remus, but I guess I was wrong."

Remus sighed with disappointment and took hold of Sirius' hand. "Come on. Let's go where we are more wanted."

James mocked, "You won't find that anywhere in this school!"

Sirius stared at James, feeling the anger building up inside him. He had the urge to beat James to a pulp, as well the urge to break down and weep. In the end, he walked out of the dormitory with dignity, holding Remus' hand. They walked down the stairs slowly and quietly, hand-in-hand. At the bottom of the stairs, they held each other tightly, and the two did not care who saw what was happening.

Eventually they parted, and Remus saw the tears brimming in Sirius' grey eyes. Sirius could see the prefect's face eyes wet with tears. As Sirius stroked Remus' face, he smiled and whispered, "Come on." They walked down the corridor hand-in-hand.

Meanwhile, James had slammed the dormitory door and rested his body upon it. The anger raised up inside him, and he punched the door several times shouting, "Bastards! Bastards! Dirty bastards!"

He looked at Peter, who had not moved from his place on the bed. He sighed and moved to his own bed. Taking off his shoes, he lay upon the soft covers and tried to sleep for a while, hoping that the last twenty-four hours had been just an awful dream.