Lily entered the common room, just inside of curfew, to see the Marauders sitting in a circle, Sirius and Remus sharing the same armchair. Sirius said something amusing, which everyone promptly laughed hysterically at. James responded with something, which caused Remus to look disapprovingly at him, gently punching Sirius on the arm when he laughed. The taller boy then proceeded to tickle Remus until he finally conceded that what James had said was actually funny. Lily crossed the room to take a seat on the floor in front of James' armchair, leaning back against his legs and closing her eyes.
"What're you all talking about?" she asked, vaguely curious.
"Our next prank!" Peter grinned. Lily opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Oh really? Anything illegal?" she laughed.
"Hopefully not..." Remus muttered, being the sensible Marauder and all.
"Remus..." Lily warned, "You shouldn't be partaking in this discussion at all." She smiled, wagging a finger at him. "You're a prefect."
"Yeah Moony!" Sirius teased, prodding Remus in the arm.
"Sod off Pads!" Remus grinned. Lily simply smiled knowingly. Peter was the only one to notice this.
"What are you smirking about Lily?" he inquired.
"Oh, nothing!" she said, still wearing that smile and looking at Sirius and Remus, sitting closely, now almost occupying the same space. James sighed behind her, absent mindedly playing with her hair.
"I'm bored." He announced.
"You're always bored, honey." Lily said, looking up at him. He sighed again, then yawned. "Maybe you should go up to bed?" she added.
"Never!" he yelled defiantly. Lily rolled her eyes and looked back across the room to see that obviously James was not the only one getting tired. Remus had closed his eyes and was leaning his head on Sirius' shoulder. Sirius had draped one arm around him, and Lily was baffled as to how neither of them could have noticed what was going on there. She shook her head. Boys... she'd never understand them.
Finally, after valiant attempts at staying awake, James announced that he was going up to bed, and Sirius and Peter followed suit, leaving Remus, who said he still had some homework to catch up on. Lily also stayed downstairs, planning on talking to Remus. She moved over to the armchair next to his.
"So. Remus." She began quietly. Remus turned to look at her curiously.
"Yes Lily?"
"What was that all about?" she smiled.
"What was what all about?" he asked innocently.
"Oh come on!" she cried. "Don't pretend like you didn't notice. You and Sirius were practically occupying the same, tiny area of space, while there was an empty armchair next to you, that one of you could easily have moved into." She raised her eyebrows.
"So?" Remus shrugged.
"So..." Lily dragged the word out. "What's going on there?"
Remus paused. "Nothing's going on there. We're mates. It's no biggie. You share seats with your friends." He said plainly.
"Remus, we're girls." She said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Girl best friends do that kind of thing. It goes with the territory. Boys don't generally."
"Well apparently we do!" he snapped, and immediately looked sorry for it. "I guess we're close. We always have been. It's just how we are! It's how we all are! We're the Marauders for Christ's sake!" he protested, looking more and more unsure as he spoke. Lily looked at him understandingly.
"I know... but just think about it. Would you sit with James or Peter like that?"
Remus opened his mouth to speak, but faltered. "I- I-" he stuttered, not able to find words. "Lily?" he asked quietly.
"Yes sweetie?" she said kindly.
"I don't know what's going on..." he said miserably, hanging his head, a couple of tears welling up in his eyes. Lily quickly moved onto his armchair to comfort him
"Hey, it's okay! Merlin, don't cry!"
"I'm just so..." he sniffed. "I'm so confused..." he sobbed, covering his face. Lily wrapped her arms around him comfortingly.
"Oh honey, I don't know what to say. You could tell him?" she suggested.
"No!" he cried, his eyes widening in terror. "No, I can't! I can't." He repeated.
"Well, he has to know sometime..."
"No. He doesn't. I'll get over it. It's ridiculous and I'll get over it."
"Get over what?" Sirius had re-entered the common room. Remus and Lily both looked up at him, surprised at his contribution to the conversation.
"Nothing." They both said quickly, giving each other odd looks.
"What's going on?" Sirius said, incredibly confused, looking at the pair of them, and seeing the tears in Remus' eyes. "What's the matter?" he worried, running over to him. Lily moved back to her own armchair to allow Sirius to sit down next to Remus. "Are you okay?" he said, placing a hand on Remus' cheek and forcing him to look at him.
"Yes." He said bravely. "I'm fine." He said with a weak smile. Sirius moved closer to him.
"Are you sure?" he whispered as Lily excused herself to go up to the girls' dormitories.
"Yes." He replied, his own voice barely more than a whisper.
"No you're not." Sirius smiled kindly. "I know you're not." And without thinking he gently pressed his lips to Remus'. Remus was startled but slowly returned the kiss, moving closer to Sirius, putting his arms around him. Sirius smiled and with one hand, slowly traced the line of Remus' jaw, whilst the other hand was at the nape of his neck, sending shivers down Remus' spine. After a good few minutes had passed, they pulled away from each other, Remus' facial expression caught between joy and fear and confusion.
"Feel any better?" Sirius grinned.
"Much." Remus nodded vigorously. Sirius let out a bark of laughter.
"Good." He smiled, and intertwined his fingers with Remus'. "Come on. You need some sleep. Homework can wait." He said, and Remus happily allowed himself to be led up to his comfy, warm bed, and made no protest when Sirius climbed in beside him, and wrapped Remus up in his warm embrace.