Title: Fools in Love

Rating: K

Chapter: 1/1

Parings: Lily/Remus friendship mentions of Lilly/James and Remus/Sirius

Word count:1195

I DO NOT OWN HP

Lily sighed as she glanced at her watch. She was meant to be on patrol 10 minutes ago with the other Gryffindor prefect. Remus Lupin was a smart polite boy Lily had thought, he kept to himself but other than that he was a good boy. Except for the company he kept. James Potter, that arrogant, no good, gorgeous trouble maker. Lily started.

Gorgeous?

No way was she crushing on that idiot. Lily sighed and looked at her watch. 15 minutes.

Laughter suddenly burst through the doors of the common room, four boys entered. Two of them were exchanging high fives and howling at how well it had gone. Another boy looked resentful of being left out, laughing hard to try and get noticed. The last boy however, ignored them and rushed to Lily's side.

"I am so sorry!" Remus said quickly "I was meant to be back ages ago."

"Save it." Lily snapped tiredly. "I had to cancel a da..." She glanced at James "I was meant to have a study group." She sighed. "Now let's go."

"Wow. Feisty much Evans?" James grinned "why don't I come with you?" He asked "I bet We could find a broom closet to release your stress."

"Over my dead body Potter." She hissed as her face flushed. Remus rolled his eyes "Stop it. Sirius.." He looked over at him. Ignoring the pounding of his heart as Sirius' eyes met his before giving a slight nod in understanding.

Wow, I don't even have to say a word.

"Let's go upstairs... We need to plan our next attack." He pushed James slightly. He glanced back at Remus "see you later." He muttered before following him. Peter looked around. Not happy with being forgotten before following the two upstairs.

"Sorry." Remus sighed. "You know what he's like."

"He's a brat." She growled storming out the common room, Remus bit his lip before following her.

"He's a good guy... A little arrogant but then again, he is an only child after all. They generally are, I mean, look at Sirius."

Lily glanced at him. "You're not."

"No. Maybe because my mother didn't really want to spoil me. I had to learn my place." He shrugged. Lily knew about his dark secret. Being prefects together meant there were instances where lily needed to cover for him when he had to change.

"Oh... Sorry.." She mumbled guiltily.

Remus shook his head "it's fine. It's water under the bridge now. I've found friends, for the first time in my life I have people in my life who love and accept me. That's all I could ever ask for. Friends."

Lily frowned "so urm.. No one on the scene romantically?"

He laughed "not many people would want to deal with..." He motioned to himself.

lily rolled her eyes. "You're a sweet guy. Even if you hang around with those two trouble makers. It's them who's going to chase off anyone you like."

Remus didn't answer, keeping his eyes trained to the floor as a small blush graced his cheek. Lily froze as realisation set in. The disappointment that gripped her heart terrified her. He liked James. Did James know? Oh god were they together?

Remus stopped walking when he noticed lily wasn't next to him, he turned around before swallowing "I..." He knew that look. She worked it out. "Please don't tell anyone." He said softly.

"You..." Lily whispered. "You and James?"

Remus frowned in confusion "James? What does James have to do with it?"

Lily's heart pounded as it clicked. Not James...

"Sirius... You like Sirius!" She gasped loudly.

"Shhh!" Remus rushed towards her. "Please, please don't tell."

Lily let out a relieved laugh "I won't. I promise. Your secrets safe with me."

Remus smiled gratefully. "Thank you. For the record, yours is too."

"Mine?"

"It's a little obvious you like James. If I hadn't worked it out years ago that reaction to the possibility of James being unavailable gave it away." He smiled knowingly, Lily blushed.

"It's complicated…" She whispered and Remus laughed

"Love always is." He sighed.

"You know, I'm sure Sirius likes you too." She opened one of the closets well known for couples to have alone time in, it was empty.

"At least you know for sure James likes you. He's been crushing on you since 3rd year." Remus sighed. "I can't tell him. He's my best friend, while we all wouldn't have been friends if it wasn't for James, Sirius is the one."

Lily smiled "You seem very smitten. I'm surprised you can keep the act up around him." Remus laughed

"I'm a good liar." He smiled before turning serious. Why don't you say yes to him?"

Lily sighed sadly and shrugged. "He always seems so arrogant, how he treats Severus…"

"Who gives as bad as he gets." He pointed out. "Look, I don't want to tell you who to be friends with, but Snape and James both have something in common, and that makes them enemies. They both love you."

Lily gaped at him. "You're crazy. Severus does not love me. We've been friends for years."

"Lily, you're smart, funny and beautiful. Severus is hated by most of the school, he latched onto you. He hates anyone who isn't a pure blood except you, do you know what he calls them? He calls them…"

"Stop." Lily whispered before looking down.

"I'm sorry Lily." Remus said moving closer and putting his hand on her arm. "I know you and he are friends but the fact is he will always want more. As will James, and they will always hate each other because they both want you. Technically James hates him more."

"Why?" Lily asked discreetly wiping her eyes.

"You treat him with disdain. He tries every trick in the book to get your attention. He thinks he's already lost to Snape. He's jealous and don't tell him I told you any of this."

Lily giggled "Your secrets safe with me." She glanced at her watch. "Shifts over." She sighed "To be honest, I thought being a prefect would be more…"

"Fun?" Remus laughed. "Me too."

Lily smiled "Interesting but fun works."

"So, what are you going to do?" Remus asked.

"I like James." She finally admitted. "I just… It's hard, with Severus and James and his smug stupid face." She muttered. Remus laughed loudly.

"It is smug isn't it? You need to show him that you won't take any of his crap."

"And what about you and Sirius?" Lily countered "What's happening there?"

Remus shrugged "Nothing I guess."

"How about we make a deal? I ask James out, if you ask Sirius?" She suggested.

"I have a lot more to lose, I could lose my friend." Remus fretted.

"Or you might get a boyfriend." She told him. "On the other hand I am going to lose my dignity." She sighed "James flipping Potter." She turned to him as they reached the Fat Lady's portrait. "Thank you Remus. For listening." She hugged him tightly.

"Thank you. For keeping my secret." He whispered back. "We're both idiots aren't we?" He asked as they parted.

"We're fools." She agreed. "Fools in Love."