AN: This fic is set in the Marauder's fourth year. They have not discovered that Remus is a werewolf yet and they can't transform yet, so they don't have their nicknames yet. Hope you enjoy :D
"James? James are you there?" James placed his mirror on the table in front of him. "Sirius, finally." He grinned at his best friend whose face had appeared in the mirror. "Sorry dude, Minnie just wouldn't shut up. You're lucky you got detention with old Sluggy."
"Stop complaining. You know it was worth it. Just remember Snivellus' face when he was forced to confess his love to Lily and in front of the Great Hall, too." James laughed. "Yeah, I know. A sappy and slimy confession just like his greasy hair, dripping with oil. Hilarious." Sirius agreed.
"Even I have higher chances with Lily." James beamed. Sirius sensed that he was about to start his usual rant about the beauty of one Lily Evans, so knowing his best mate wouldn't shut up if he got to start Sirius quickly interrupted him. "Don't get your hopes up, Jamesie. She still hates you." "But I'm sure she was less cruel to me today." James smiled dreamily. "She hit you over the head and then jinxed your precious hair." Sirius replied sarcastically. "Yeah, that was pretty bad. But she coloured my hair red. That's the colour of love, I'm sure that means something. It was a signal for me. She wants me to ask her out. I think I will, straight after we finish here." "Sure mate, whatever you say. But don't come running to me when she turns you down. Again." Sirius sighed.
James was his best mate but sometimes that boy was a mystery to him. James had asked Lily out on a daily basis since their first year and she had turned him down just as often. Still James swore that one day she would say yes and they would marry and have a baby boy called Harry. Sirius had laughed at him and then cheered him up when he was rejected again. Still he couldn't understand what was so special about Evans. Or in fact any girl.
They were all loud and childish and giggling all the time. They were good for some snogging but as soon as they wanted to get to know him closer or even worse wanted him to get to know them closer he dumped them. If they tried a normal conversation, he dumped them. Sometimes he even dumped them without a reason.
He just couldn't understand how James bloody Potter was in love with Lily Miss-Know-It-All Evans. She was insufferable and she scolded them for every prank no matter how funny it was. To Sirius only Snivellus was worse than the 'Perfect Prefect'. And as far as he was concerned the feeling was mutual.
"Have you seen Remus before detention?" He changed the topic. "No, I guess he's in the library again. He was really moody in the last few days." "I know, he hit me when I joked that he behaved like a girl during her time of the month. And he usually never hits me. That's more like you. I guess 'his mother is sick' again." Sirius rolled his eyes. "I wish he'd tell us the truth. We're his best friends. And I know he is lying but I just can't figure it out." James watched his best friend curiously. They all worried about Remus but sometimes Sirius' worry grew to be more of an obsession.
Now that he thought about it, Sirius behaved differently towards Remus. It was obvious to everyone that James was Sirius' best friend for they behaved like twins, closer than normal brothers. But Sirius worshipped Remus. "He will tell us when he's ready." James tried to calm Sirius. Sirius was about to answer when James shushed him. "I think Slughorn is coming. Meet you in the Entrance Hall in twenty." Their connection broke.
Sirius stared at his own reflection in the mirror. "How can he take this so lightly?" He asked his reflection. He ran his hand through his long black curly hair. It was smooth and messy just like he liked it. He was very proud of his Rock'n'Roll-Star looks that he carefully created with his leather jacket and long black hair. He even used eye-liner to perfect his look 'though he would never admit it; not even to James. He had his reputation as a playboy and he loved all the rumours that spread around the castle with how many girls he had been. Even he himself didn't know the exact number. But there had been lots of them. But the truth, that only James and himself knew, was that he still was a virgin.
He sighed an put away his mirror. McGonagall would come soon to release him from detention too. And he was right. Just moments after he put away his mirror Professor McGonagall entered the room. "You may go now, Black. Try to stay out of trouble, will you?" She looked at him sternly. "I try, Minnie." He gave her his best innocent smile and stormed past her. "No running in the corridors." She yelled after him. To herself she muttered: "These boys will be the death of me.", before walking back to her quarters.
In the meantime said boy continued his running down the stairs to the Entrance Hall, completely ignoring his Professor. Just before he reached his destination a hand slipped out of a hidden passage and pulled him inside. "James, what-" He began but James covered his mouth with his hand and shoved the Marauder's Map in front of his face. "Look." He said, pointing at a dot that was named Remus Lupin. He was accompanied by Madame Pomfrey and they were walking towards the huge double doors that led to the grounds. "I was looking for you when I saw them approaching."
The pair was now outside on the grounds and Sirius stepped out of the hidden passage and pulled James along with him. "Let's follow them." He said while crossing the hall and slipping out of the half-opened door. James followed him reluctantly. On the one hand he hated the idea to spy on their friend. On the other hand he was sure that Sirius would do something really stupid without him there to watch over him.
Soon it was clear to them that they were heading towards the Whomping Willow. They arrived just in time to see Remus disappear beneath the Willow. Madame Pomfrey was already on her way back to the castle so that James and Sirius had no other choice than to lay down flat on the ground to not be discovered.
"Where is he going?" Sirius asked when Madame Pomfrey had closed the castle's doors behind her. "I don't know." James answered. Now his curiosity got the better of him, too. It was obvious Remus wasn't going to see his mother like he always told them he did when he vanished.
They slowly tried to approach the Whomping Willow but as they got near it the branches tried to kill the intruders. "We can't get there without risking our lives." James stated the obvious and grabbed Sirius' tie to hold the other boy back. "Fine." The other boy answered stubbornly. "Then I'm going to sit here until he comes out again." He sat down and crossed his legs. "You're mad. You'll catch a cold." James scolded him and conjured a mattress, cushions and a blanket. He stretched himself out under the blanket and offered Sirius a place next to him.
They hadn't shared a bed since second year but still Sirius slipped under the blanket. It didn't even occur to him that he could have just conjured his own bed. "It may be a bad timing considering that we are sharing a bed right now but since we have time now I've wanted to ask you something." James said. Sirius looked at him curiously and nodded for James to continue. "Have you ever considered having a real relationship with one of those girls you are always snogging?" Sirius was silent for a minute before he shook his head. "They are just distraction." James gave him some time to continue this on his own.
After another silent minute Sirius laughed. "Well, I guess I can tell you even though it might make this situation more awkward that it already is. James, I'm gay and I've known for a while now." James considered this while Sirius watched him warily. Then, to Sirius surprise, he burst out, "So, fancy a snog?" and closed the distance between them. "Ugh, sod off Potter." Sirius pushed James away and James laughed. "So it's not my startling good looks you fancy?" James winked at Sirius. Sirius shoved him again. "But you wouldn't push dear Remus out of your bed, would you?" James continued and Sirius flushed a deep shade of red. "Don't you dare tell him." He growled. "I'm your best mate, of course I won't tell him. But for how long have you been pining after him?" James inquired. "I had a crush on him since third year and I knew I was in love with him since the start of this term." Sirius admitted. "So you're not disgusted? You don't hate me?" He added. "No, I don't. You're my brother in everything but blood. And I assumed it for some time now." James smiled and ruffled Sirius' hair.
The boy grimaced at him. "Let's sleep. We need to be up early to catch Remus. You can be the small spoon if you want." He added seductively. "Don't get the wrong idea, Black. Keep your hands to yourself." James retorted. Sirius laughed his barking laugh. "You know, you love me, Jamesie." He said and closed his eyes. Soon after that they were both asleep and due to the cold outside they were snuggled close together.
They awoke at sunrise with their limbs tangled together. They stretched and soon something began to move beneath the Whomping Willow. Someone crawled out from under the tree. The person was limping and obviously hurting. Sirius jumped out of the transfigured bed and ran towards his friend. When he was only several feet away he saw the stains of blood covering his friends clothes. "Remus." He yelled. The other boy looked up and backed off to avoid his friend's hug. "What happened to you?" Sirius asked concerned. James, who had approached them after vanishing the bed, nodded in agreement. But without listening to Remus' stuttered excuses he continued: "We need to get you to the Hospital Wing. Can you walk?" Again without waiting for an actual answer, he picked up Remus and carried him to the castle bridal-style. Remus tried to protest at first but he was too tired and too worn out to even get the other boys attention properly. James hurried along and he was too worried about his friend to mock Sirius for being a love-sick and overprotective puppy.
When they arrived at the Hospital Wing Madame Pomfrey jumped up from the chair she had been sitting in and beckoned Sirius to an already prepared bed where he could lay down Remus. She gave Sirius a suspicious look because Remus normally was on his own when he came to see her after the full moon. But she turned away to look after Remus' most severe wounds. After she was ready with treating all the greater gashes she turned to Sirius again. "Mr Black, I don't know how you found him but that's his business. But since you're already here you can help as well. I need to look after my other patients. Take this and put it on all the small scratches all over is body. You probably need to remove his clothes too." She handed him a deep red salve and hurried away.
"Yeah mate, you need to remove his clothes." James teased his friend and scooted out of the way to avoid Sirius' fist. After that Sirius began to treat Remus wounds carefully. He had to remove all of Remus' clothes like Madame Pomfrey had told him. While he did this he admired Remus' body. Sure, the smaller boy didn't have quite the tan like Sirius but his skin was smooth apart from the marks and scars that Sirius had never noticed before. He had also never noticed the strong abs that clearly stood out. Now that he considered it, he had never seen Remus naked or even shirtless. Remus had always dressed in the bathroom and he always slept in long-sleeved pyjamas instead of boxers. After he treated all the wounds he and James dressed Remus again and sat down on the chairs next to the bed. Remus was still sleeping having completely missed his treatment.
Finally around noon Remus began to move again. He groaned in pain but still tried to sit up. Sirius rushed to his side to support him. Then he placed a tablet with food on Remus lap. "Madame Pomfrey assumed you would be hungry when you finally woke up." While he said this his face was clear of any emotion. Remus eyed him with a careful expression. He knew he had a lot to explain to his friends now that they had seen him in his weakest state, coming out from under the Whomping Willow. He could tell that hey would not back off until they knew the truth. He remembered passing out in Sirius arms so there was no chance to get out of this. He fixed his eyes on his breakfast and began to eat slowly, dreading the moment he was finished. He neatly laid down his knife and fork then he looked up to his friends slowly.
"You know you can't lie to us any longer." Sirius stated emotionlessly. Remus tried to read his eyes before looking up to James for help. James gave him a look of pity but nodded in agreement with Sirius' words. Remus turned his gaze to Sirius again. "I know." "Where have you been?" The suppressed anger and betrayal were now clearly audible in his voice. "The Shrieking Shack. I was-" "But we heard all the noises coming from the Shack again. Are you some sort of Superman? Fighting all the ghosts in the Shack?" Sirius seemed amazed now. Remus could barely suppress a grin. He knew he shouldn't have shown those Muggle comics to Sirius who had been obsessed with them ever since. But then Remus got serious again.
"There are no ghosts in the Shack, Sirius. That's just a rumour." He gathered all his courage before he continued. "I am the one making those noises." "You make those noises? But they're not human..." James contemplated. Remus smiled sadly. "No, they're not. You two are clever. Tonight it was a full moon. Can't you work it out? I'm going to pack my things. It's fine, I knew you wouldn't want to live with me any longer. I expected it." He tried to get out of his bed but Sirius held him in place.
He considered what Remus had just told them. After a minute, realisation dawned on his face. He still had his hands placed on Remus' shoulders while Remus struggled to get away. "You're a werewolf." Sirius stated. Remus nodded and fixed his gaze on his lap. Then, without warning, Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus and pulled him into a tight hug. Remus awkwardly patted his back. "Sirius?" He asked carefully. "Are you not scared? I mean I just told you that I turn into a monster once a month." Sirius let go of him. "Of course not. Have you ever hurt someone?" "No." Remus answered. "You see, that's what I thought. You'd never hurt anyone. You just have a-" He paused and looked for the right words. "A furry little problem." James helped out and hugged Remus too. Sirius growled and pulled James off of Remus and sat beside him, putting his arm around him possessively. James gave him a knowing smile but let it slide for the moment.
"So you guys really don't care?" Remus smiled. "No of course not." Sirius answered. "You're still our best friend. You just get a little moonsick at times. You could even say you get moony. Hey, wouldn't that be the perfect nickname for you?" Remus groaned but he knew Sirius and he would not let this go so easily. But Remus would gladly accept this stupid nickname if it meant he could keep his friends. A tear rolled down his cheek. "Moony, what's up? Are you hurt?" Sirius instantly caressed the tear away. "I'm just so relieved." Remus sniffed. "I was so scared I'd loose you." "You won't." Sirius kissed his cheek.
"Did he really just do that?" Remus asked James stunned. James just looked at Sirius, it was obvious that the look said 'tell him'. "Remy, you mean the world to me. And sure as hell you won't loose me as a friend." James tiptoed out of the room to give them some space and to find Peter. "You mean so much to me too, Siri." Remus answered. He didn't know where this talk was headed but his heart fluttered at the feeling of having Sirius so close to him. Without thinking he leaned in and his lips brushed over Sirius'.
Then, suddenly, he came to his senses again and pulled away instantly. "Oh god, I'm so sorry." He mumbled. "I shouldn't have-" He was interrupted by Sirius' lips that were pressed against his. Soon Sirius tried to deepen the kiss and licked at Remus' lips, pleading for entrance. Remus opened his mouth and let Sirius explore him. Then he pulled away again. "Sirius, I don't want to be just another person in the long list of people you have snogged." He sighed and stood up. "Remus, wait. I'm serious about this. And don't you dare say THAT." He added seeing that Remus was already opening his mouth to make that pun. "So will you be my boyfriend?" Sirius asked and Remus nodded.
"But we take it slow?" He pleaded. "You know I'm a virgin and I only kissed one person before." Sirius laughed. "If you tell anyone I'll kill you but I'm still a virgin too. So yes, let's take it slow." He pulled Remus into a tight embrace. Just before their lips met Remus said: "You know, your eye-liner is smudged." "How do you know?" Sirius gasped, referring to his secret. "Oh please, who doesn't?" Remus laughed and before Sirius could answer he pressed his lips against Sirius' again.