Lily looked across the room to where James Potter and Sirius Black were sitting between their two other friends, Remus Lupin, on Black's side, and Peter Pettigrew, on Potter's. Potter and Black had their heads together and were staring at what looked like a particularly large piece of parchment, and from what she could decipher, was full of symbols and minuscule figures. She figured they were just playing hangman or something equally as childish, until she saw that Potter had another piece of parchment out, this time a blank one, and began writing diligently on it as though taking thorough notes for a class, something he had never done for anything academic.
Black was speaking in hushed tones to Potter, who was writing down everything as Black was now holding the larger and more filled-up parchment on his lap. He kept pointing things out on the parchment in his lap to Potter, who nodded at random intervals and scribbled down more notes. Lily shook her head in exasperation, figuring the two were probably plotting another prank against the Slytherins (what else would they work so hard to perfect, she mused humourlessly to herself), and then looked over to Pettigrew, who was fast asleep, using his text as a pillow and drooling all over his half-written notes. Disgusted by the shorter boy, Lily finally turned her attention to Remus, who was staring avidly at Professor Binns as the ghost proceeded to drone on about... well, Lily wasn't quite paying attention either.
Remus, Lily noted, had a glazed look upon his face, as though transfixed by whatever Binns was saying. He actually was taking notes for the class, but occasionally just stared fixatedly in front of him as he sucked the feather end of what was probably a Sugar Quill. Lily watched Remus's eyes, which hadn't blinked for several minutes, and wondered what he might have been daydreaming about. Surely that was the only reason he could be acting the way he was, especially in History of Magic class. Finally, after Pettigrew let out a particularly loud snore from the other end of the room, Remus blinked back into reality and looked down at his notes, scratching away the new information they were supposed to learn.
Lily snorted at the reaction of the only boy in her year she could tolerate, then immediately gasped at what happened next.
Black, whose head was still bent low with Potter's as they wrote more notes in their parchment, brought his free right hand up Remus's back. He settled the hand on Remus nape, and began, in slow concentric circles, to massage the back of his friend's neck.
No one had heard the gasp Lily had emitted, or if they had, they didn't really care and fell back to sleep. She was staring wide-eyed at Remus, whose head was still bent but posture was now far more rigid than it had been before Black's hand was on him. Remus wasn't moving at all, except for the fact that the hand that was holding his quill was turning white from squeezing it. Lily looked back to Black and was surprised to see that besides moving his hand to Remus's neck, he hadn't changed his position from where he was hunched over and whispering plans to Potter.
She watched in fascination as Black's fingers were tracing lazy patterns on Remus's neck, sometimes curving around to massage the sides. At one point, Black's forefinger moved its way up to Remus's jaw, where he traced it with such delicacy and precision, as though memorising every contour under his finger. This specific action caused Remus to let out a shaky breath, something he looked like he had wanted to release for quite some time. Black showed no indication of noticing how his friend had reacted to his ministration as he was still muttering things to Potter while holding the large parchment on his lap with his left hand.
A part of Lily was wondering how no one else had noticed this, even if it was History of Magic, at least someone like Potter would acknowledge the curious activities going on between his best friends. Potter, though, was still intent on writing what seemed like a good twenty inches of notes on his piece of parchment, and was sniggering softly at something Black had just said. Lily looked from the two dark-haired boys back to Remus, or more specifically his neck, and saw that Black's fingers were running through the course hairs on the back of his head, his thumb tracing the outline of Remus's left ear.
Just when it looked like Black was about to move his hand down to below Remus's nape and beneath the collar of his robes, the bell rang for the end of lessons. Lily practically jumped out of her seat at the sudden noise, and everyone turned around and stared at her as though she had gone mad. Potter looked up at Lily and smirked, winking back at her as he tucked his notes into his bag along with the parchment Black was holding. Black, noticing Potter's gestures towards her, looked over to Lily at the same time Remus did, and the two boys raised their eyebrow inquisitively at her almost simultaneously. It was about this point that Black realised that his hand was still on Remus's neck and he removed it immediately, but not before he saw that Lily was staring right at it. She looked at Black, raising back a challenging eyebrow with a knowing smirk, and he coughed uncomfortably before grabbing his things and shoving them into his bag.
Remus, on the other hand, looked quite flustered. He cleared his throat, staring at anything but the penetrating green eyes gazing back at him, and got up to pack his belongings as well. Pettigrew had woken up somewhere in between all this, and was already standing at the door waiting for his three friends. Potter had gotten to him first, telling something particularly funny to his shorter friend. They both then turned to Lily and began sniggering at her. She glared back furiously at the two boys and then turned her attention back to Black and Remus, who were standing a good three feet from each other as they made their way to finish packing their things. Once they were done they glanced at each other and Black gave Remus a curt nod, which Remus reciprocated, and the two boys walked over to Potter and Pettigrew before leaving the classroom.
Lily stood at her desk, blindly packing her things as she stared at the seats that were just occupied by the four boys, and began to wonder what on earth was going on between Black and Remus. Highly unusual, indeed.
It was Friday as Lily made her way to Hagrid's hut, where she was to visit Hagrid to discuss how their weeks were over a cup of tea. She was just about to knock on Hagrid's door when she heard some noises coming from nearby, somewhere amidst the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. Her curiosity getting the best of her, Lily turned to walk towards the direction of the noise. Making her way a bit past the trees into the forest, she was surprised to find Potter and his friends sitting around on the grass and discussing something over a large piece of parchment. If Lily gave it a better look she could have realised it was the same piece of parchment Black had on his lap back in History of Magic earlier that week, but her attention was elsewhere.
Lily stood stock-still behind a large tree and stared at Sirius Black straddling Remus's back.
She was at a loss for words. It was one thing to see Black massaging Remus's neck in class the other day, but to practically be sitting on him was just altogether bizarre. Sure, friends would joke around and sit on each other as such, but the pattern was just too peculiar to her. Lily looked over to Potter and Pettigrew, who were sitting across the other two boys, and laughing heartily at a joke Black had just said. They then went back to the parchment between the four of them, whispering a few things before speaking in a louder tone again.
"We really should check around the dungeons. I really feel like we're missing a few rooms from there," Potter was saying to his friends. Black nodded solemnly before he pointed at something at the very bottom of the parchment, and Potter wrote a few words there.
"I suppose I'll go do it tomorrow. It's not like I'm going to sit around all day and be your bloody cheerleader, Prongs. - Oy Moony, want to venture down to the Great Beyond to find these rooms the genius here claims he couldn't find at his first go there?" Black said to the back of Remus's head. Remus nodded back at Black as he was staring at the map from where he was lying on his stomach on the grass. Black made a move and pushed his entire body so that he was sitting firmly on Remus's lower back. This caught the other boy's attention, and Lily could see that he was a bit annoyed now.
"Do I look like your bloody cushion? Get your bony arse off of me, Padfoot!" Remus swung his right arm to try to hit Black from behind, but was way off. Black let out a loud, bark-like laugh at the failed attempt of assault by his friend and wiggled his own arse against Remus's back. It was at this point that Remus was a tad frustrated.
"If you don't get off, I will throw you off," Remus hissed through gritted teeth as he looked over his shoulder to Black, who was smiling cheekily at him. Black got up for a moment, looking as though he was going to listen to Remus's warning, but then sat back down on Remus's back, wiggling his arse against it once more as he started laughing.
Lily had to cover her mouth to stop the shriek that was about to escape from it when Remus pushed his back out and tossed Black off of him.
Black, sprawled on the grass on his back and looking at Remus in surprise, smiled once more before jumping at his friend. The two began rolling around in the grass, both fighting to see who would come out on top, to the loud cheers from their other two friends. Apparently this was a usual thing for Black and Remus, to engage in activities that were more than friendly, in Lily's opinion, but their other friends seemed to act as though it was normal play.
At the end, it was Black who was on top, straddling Remus's hips and laughing in his face. Potter and Pettigrew went back to writing on the parchment a few feet away from the other two boys, completely oblivious to what was going on with the two lying on the grass a fair distance from them. Lily watched as Black stopped laughing and leaned his pink face closer to the rather flushed face of Remus under him, whispering something to him. She watched, finally feeling like she was intruding on something very private, when Black moved his face so that his lips were just about a couple of inches from Remus's, still speaking to him in soft tones. Remus was smiling back and nodding at whatever Black was saying, and after about a minute, Black jumped off Remus and crawled back to where Potter and Pettigrew were.
Remus, Lily watched, was adjusting his clothes before he got up and made his way to where his three friends were sitting. She watched for a few more minutes to see if anything was going to happen, but the four friends went back to having a discussion about hidden rooms and corridors, and at this point, Lily, completely baffled, made her way back to Hagrid's hut.
The Gryffindor Quidditch team was having practice the next day, bright and early as Potter, the team's captain, had demanded. Lily was making her way to the library to start up on some homework when she heard the same annoying yet familiar voices a few feet away. She stood behind a stone column as she watched the four friends talking over something as she held a quill and ink bottle in her hand. Trying to remain hidden, Lily only peaked her head beyond the column to watch what they were doing. She noticed, in disgust, that Potter was dressed in his Quidditch robes, his expensive broomstick in hand as he was about to leave to the Pitch.
"Are you sure you two don't want to come?" Potter asked as he was bending down to pick up a large red bag between his feet. Black and Remus shook their heads no from where they were leaning against the walls, looking across and Potter and Pettigrew.
"As much as I'd love to watch you play with your massive balls, obviously overcompensating for something you're surely missing," - at this Lily couldn't help but to giggle - "I think I'll pass. Moony and I can work on the Map while you two run off and do your thing. Go on, get out of my face already! You should be working on getting that damn Cup or else McGonagall's going to have your balls hanging from the Quidditch hoops," Black said lazily at his best friend. Potter flipped him the bird and walked off with Pettigrew, who was probably going to cheer his friend on. The two waved back to Black and Remus as they made their way down the marble staircase, now leaving Black and Remus alone.
Lily was looking between the two boys walking down the stairs and the other two leaning against the wall not that far from her, curious as to why Black would not go watch his best friend play. It was rather cloudy that day, so the school, although lit with candles and chandeliers, was darker than usual, even in the morning such as now.
Black gave one last look at his friends' fleeting backs, and got up from against the wall to stand in front of Remus. Pressing his left palm against the wall next to Remus's head, Black leaned closer until the were practically nose to nose. Lily moved close in order to hear what they going to say, still trying to remain hidden behind the column she stood before.
"You know, one of these days he's going to get suspicious," Remus whispered to Black. Black merely waved off the comment with his free hand, still staring at Remus with a lazy grin on his face.
"I told him we'd go check out the dungeons for the Map, what's the fuss over?" Black said back, his face inching closer to Remus's, who didn't seem to be minding the intrusion into his personal space.
"We can only use the Map as an excuse so many times, Padfoot. I mean, we hardly work this much on that bloody thing as it is, he won't believe us." At this statement, Remus folded his arms across his chest, looking defiantly over at Black.
"Think of it this way. We are sort of working on the Map, or rather, the M.A.P., as in Moony And Padfoot, hmm?" Remus snorted in disgust at the horrible joke Black just made, but just then Black did something that made Lily nearly pass out in shock.
Black closed the distance between them, tracing his tongue along Remus's lips before he pushed it between the seam and plunged it into Remus's mouth. Lily was so startled that she dropped the ink bottle in her grasp on the floor, which made a loud noise as it cracked against the solid stone. Black jumped from Remus as though scalded by boiling water, and looked frantically around for the person who caused the noise.
Remus, who was once again looking flustered, was staring down the corridor to where Lily was standing, and pointed at the column she was behind silently. Black saw this and nodded, walking slowly to where Lily was situated, who was too petrified to flee from the scene of the crime, and gasped when Black gripped her by her arm and brought her over to where Remus was still leaning against the wall.
Still holding her arm vice-like, Black hissed, "How much did you see, Evans?"
Lily's wide eyes were staring from Black, who looked ready to murder, to Remus, who looked as though he wanted to crawl into a hole and die, and she mumbled something incoherent under her breath. Black growled at her in frustration, and finally gaining some semblance of her casual demeanour back, Lily tried to explain.
"Um... I was erm... just going to the um, er... library, right, and um... just um..." Lily stuttered horribly and grimaced when Black rolled his eyes at her. Remus was smirking at her, now quite amused with the entire affair.
"Lily, how much did you see?" Remus asked quietly, grabbing Black's arm. Black looked over to Remus and nodded before releasing Lily's arm and standing closer to his friend.
"I saw what Black did to you in History of Magic last week with his hand on your neck, and then I saw you in the forest yesterday, but that was an accident, and you two were rolling around on the grass, and Black was whispering to you and your faces were really close together, and it was all really strange, and then - I didn't mean to sneak up and watch, not really, I'm sorry, Remus - but I was going to the library to work just now, I swear, and then I saw the four of you together, and then Potter and Pettigrew went to the Pitch and Black... he... and you... and there was, oh God... his tongue was in your mouth, Remus! Lily whispered the last four words to Remus after her long line of rambling. The two boys stared at her, their eyebrows shot close to their hairlines in mild surprise, then looked over to each other before they burst out laughing. Lily felt her face burning red as she was highly embarrassed by her behaviour.
"Aren't you the perceptive one, Evans? What does any of it have to do with you, though?" Black said patiently as he stuck his hand inside his robe's pocket. In one swift movement he had his wand pointed at Lily's face, his lips pursed in suppressed rage. Lily gulped as she stared at the tip of Black's wand, then over to Remus, who was rolling his eyes at the both of them.
"Sirius, stop that. Honestly, she's not going to go around telling everyone what she saw, are you, Lily?" Remus asked with the air of a person whose tolerance was waning. Lily nodded her head furiously at Remus, still eying the wand pointed at her face from the side. Black didn't seem content with the answer, and so began his own interrogation.
"You saw... everything? You do realise I have to Obliviate you now, right? I can't believe... of all the people to find out first, it's bloody Evans!" Black huffed as he looked over to Remus, who shook his head back at his friend.
"I swear I won't tell a soul, you believe me, don't you, Remus?" Lily asked feebly at Remus, who she reasoned would be the more understanding of the two. He nodded back at her and moved his hand to wrap around Black's wrist, lowering his wand. Black glared at Remus, who gave him a pointed look before Black rolled his eyes again and pocketed his wand.
"Wait, I'm the first? Doesn't Potter know? What about Pettigrew?" Lily asked again in confusion, looking between the two boys, who were now shaking their heads.
"We're still not sure how James would take it, so we're biding our time there, and I'm afraid that we might alienate Peter if he ever knew. We just keep things low-key, as surprising as that might seem. No one knows, and to be honest, we prefer it that way," Black responded briskly as Remus nodded in agreement. Lily furrowed her brows as she watched them.
"This is almost an honour... sweet Merlin, Black, you'll break all the hearts of those simpering little girls who are in love with you," Lily said coyly, at which Black let out a bark of a laugh and Remus snorted, both clearly amused by what she said.
"I suppose it is, Lily. Just don't tell a soul, please?" Remus said with a hint of desperation in his voice. Lily looked over to him and nodded back with a small smile on her face, until an odd thought crossed her head.
"But Black... you spend all of your time with Potter. How on earth do you find time to be alone with Remus? From what I've seen you and Potter are practically joined at the hip," Lily stated, and Black looked over at her intently as though thinking of how best to word his response.
"I find time. I spend the entire day with James, sure, and it's like we're always spending every second with each other and such, but like you said, you saw us in History of Magic, didn't you? Sometimes," - and here Black glanced at Remus - "Sometimes, you don't have to say a thing to get your point across. It's just how we are, none of your concern how Remus and I find time to be alone, to be honest. I still ask that you keep your mouth shut," Black finished off and finally took his eyes off of Remus, who was grinning bashfully, and gave Lily a hard glare. Lily nodded her head at Black, and he gave her a curt nod in response.
"Thank you for understanding, Lily. I think we should head to the dorms to work, hmm?" Remus asked Black with a meaningful glance, and Black smirked back before pulling Remus off the wall and in his embrace. Remus smiled at Lily one final time, and she knew it was his way of thanking her, and the two boys walked off past the library doors and back to the Gryffindor boys' dormitory.
Lily watched them go, the entire encounter like one surreal trip, and finally concluded, as she picked up her things and walked into the library, that it was the little things you never notice that mattered the most.