It was a quiet night in the Gryffindor common room, thank the gods. Sirius Black did not want to be around people right now, which was a strange feeling for him. He usually surrounded himself with as many people as possible, but tonight he needed time to think. Another strange feeling.
The Marauders were stowed away in the Room of Requirement huddled around a small wooden table, the candles flickering about. The walls were metal and dripped with the rain outside. "James, what exactly did you think of when you were finding the room tonight?" Remus asked, when a drop of water hit him straight between the eyes.
"I wasn't thinking of anything actually, except this muggle movie I saw with Padfoot last summer. Something about battleships, but that is beside the point comrade," he said standing up tall, as if commanding his forces. "There are only three days until April Fools and our most grand, most spectacular prank is nowhere near finished. Hogwarts needs this! And where the hell is Sirius?!"
Hogwarts did need it, whether they knew it or not, Remus thought. The war had been creeping closer and closer and was now almost at their doorstep. Give it a year or two and the whole of the wizarding world would be in full on combat. Peter mumbled from Remus' side, sliding the map across the table. It unfolded at the tap of his wand "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Two tiny feet appeared, labeled Sirius Black, walking down a third floor corridor... by himself.
"Do you think its broken?" Remus asked, half sarcastically and yet actually worried. A Friday night in spring and Sirius was not only inside, but alone.
"That is... highly unusual," James said, bending over the table to see the small foot prints leading somewhere. They all gasped. "He's going to the Library!" Peter nearly fainted.
"What?!" James exclaimed again. "Why would he- Ohhhhh." A look of realization passed over his face, which was then replaced with a knowing smile to rival the Mona Lisa's "No need to panic men."
"Well, why is he going in there?" Peter asked. James stopped to think for a second, ceasing his admiral like pacing. He stroked his invisible beard, and Remus thought, just for a second, that Dumbledore would be proud of that twinkle in James' eye.
"Hmm. I think Moony should go see what he's up to!" he announced, like it was the best plan he'd ever had.
Remus disagreed. "Why me? He's your best friend and-" James fixed him with a 'don't you start with me, Remus Lupin ' look. They both knew that when Padfoot got crazy enough to wander into the library on his own or jump into the Black Lake in December, things of that level, Remus would be the only one to calm him down. That's the way it had been ever since third year, when Remus had told them all his secret. Since then, Sirius had been the one to stay in the hospital wing with him every morning after the full moon, had been the one to tell people off when they questioned him about his scars, sometimes even beat the hell out a few Slytherin's for such an offense.
They had a special connection, a special friendship, that while James was Sirius' long lost brother, he could tell Remus anything and always get that infuriating patience and support, or a hell of a reality-check if he pushed to far. They were not friends in the way that James or Sirius was, or even the way James had taken Wormtail under his wing, even if most people didn't see why. Sirius was the one Remus could tell secrets with in the middle of the night, both huddled under the covers of his bed. Remus was the one person who could see Sirius cry and know exactly what to do.
James knew this. Peter knew this. Everyone did. So Remus would go to the library.
Remus grumbled to himself most of the way to the library. The one time he thinks of the best prank to perform on their most grand holiday, he had to go find Sirius. "Bloody git hasn't even talked to me in the last week! Now I have to go find him..." he huffed, moving through a portrait that would lead him to the charms corridor.
"Ow!" Remus said as he knocked into a very solid Sirius Black.
"Hey Moony!" he said, helping Remus off the floor, as if he hadn't just been in the library and something wasn't obviously wrong with him. "I thought you were meant to be off scheming with James and Wormtail?"
"I was, until James freaked out because you weren't there and sent me to come get you, from the library. Why the hell were you in there? Please tell me you didn't do anything dishonorable to the books..." he said, trying and failing to pull Sirius along, back to the Room of Requirement.
"Oh, don't worry your precious little mind. The books are all still flowered and innocent, just like you." Sirius laughed lightly at his own stupid joke. Remus still being a virgin in their seventh year was always something that boggled Sirius, especially when you took the time to look at him, actually look at Remus. He was beautiful. It was his eyes, like burning amber, and his smile, crooked and gleaming, not there enough of the time.
"Ha, ha. That doesn't tell me why you were there, but okay. Back to the dormitory, if you don't want to come plan with us," Remus said, only because Sirius was not acting like himself. He would have been the first one to plan out their April Fools pranks and such, but for some reason he went to the library. Sirius put an arm around Remus' waist as they walked, but Remus did nothing to protest, hating the blush rising in his face along with all the feeling he had for Sirius that he buried into the back of his mind on a daily basis.
The common room was still mostly empty when they walked through the portrait. Only Lily and a few of her friends were gathered around the fire, doing the latest potions essay. Remus waved to her and few of the girls turned, giggling at the sight of Sirius. Lily only rolled her eyes in Remus' direction as he walked his friend up the stares. He hated the way girls acted around Sirius, not that he was jealous, they just didn't know him. Hardly ever did they take the time to actually talk to him, opposed to flirting and making out in the abandoned corridors.
In the dormitory, Remus pushed Sirius into his bed and pulled the blankets over the boy. Sirius patted the spot next to him and Remus sat. It was dark, and though Sirius' bed was not a new environment, something felt strange. "I went to the library to find you," Sirius said sitting back up. Remus pushed him back down and reclined against the headboard.
"You knew I was with James, I told you, today before the end of Potions that I would be." Remus spoke quietly in the dark. He could barely make out the rise and fall of Sirius chest in the bed.
"Not you, you. I don't know how to describe it, but I can just feel you there, even when your not." Sirius rolled away a bit under Remus' gaze.
"I had to do some thinking and I always think better when you're around, but if it was actually you, you would've asked what I was thinking about and I don't think I could've told you."
Remus pushed Sirius' hair back from his face meditatively. "Thats a lot of thinking... Did you come up with anything?"
Sirius sat up slowly. "Yes.. I think I did..."
"And?" Remus leaned forward, wondering what he was about to hear. He could feel Sirius' heart beat next to him and there was a strange zap in the air, a strange static that had only existed fleetingly before.
"I think that all those poets you read and all that music, the real slow songs, you listen to.. they were talking about this. I think I might love you..."
Sirius almost panicked when he got no response. There was a long silence before long elegant fingers brushed across his cheeks and cupped his face, drawing him in. It was brief and electric, that first kiss they shared, with the stars glowing outside just for them and the moon retreating behind its clouds, realizing that while he was in Sirius arms, nothing could pull him away. The war ragged somewhere else in the country, but for now, in the dark, huddled under the blankets the world held its breath, held its tongue, held its hate. In that moment, Remus thought, that if love were enough, they could have stopped the world, the war, for a second.