Somebody's watching me

Sirius Black was being watched, he just knew it. Everywhere he went he could feel a pair of eyes following him. In the Great Hall during meals, on his way to class and even in the Gryffindor Common Room, the eyes were always watching.

Sirius didn't mind being watched, actually he quite liked it. He just didn't know who it was and it was causing him great distress, but enabling him to be overdramatic and gain everyone's attention. So it wasn't all bad.

Sirius liked attention. But when he felt the eyes on him as he spent some…personal time with…himself, well that was going too far. So he went each of his friends individually for help.

First, he went to his best-friend-who-was-more-like-a-brother-to-him-than-that-suck-up-rat-bastard-Regules-ever-was-or-will-be, James Potter.

"Padfoot, you're just being paranoid." James said rolling his eyes at his friend. "No one is watching you."

"But Prongs, you're wrong! I felt someone watching me last night, from in our dorm!" Sirius cried. He couldn't believe that James wasn't taking this seriously (no pun intended). "What if…what if it was Malfoy or Snivillus?" Sirius shuddered at the thought of Snape watching him wank. Definitely a mood killer.

"Pads, I really doubt a couple of Slytherins could break into our common room and hide out in our dorm without someone seeing them. Besides, Moony's allergic to Slytherin stink and can smell them a mile away." James answered.

"…true," Sirius said slowly. "But what if-"Sirius started but James cut him off.

"No Padfoot, no buts. Now, I got to go meet Lily for our study date and I can't be late." James said standing up and running a hand through his hair to ruffle it more than it already was.

"Prongs, when are you going to give up on her? It's been years. She'll never date you." Sirius sighed at his friend's pathetic attempt at looking cool.

"That's where your wrong, Padfoot m'boy. This year is my year. Her attitude towards me has changed since I've made Head Boy." James smiled broadly and puffed out his chest where a shinny silver badge with a HB stood proudly.

Sirius shook his head. The marauders had been shocked when James was made Head Boy, none more so than Remus. And Lily had turned positively green when she found out. Sirius had found the whole thing very funny. He had wanted to charm it to say 'horny bastard' or something of the like, but Remus had been appalled and absolutely refused to allow Sirius to deface 'such a symbol of importance and responsibility.' And Sirius couldn't resist him when he got that stern look on his face and put his hands on his hips and his voice took on that authoritive tone.

But then again, Sirius couldn't really resist Remus J. Lupin as a whole anyway. Remus with his golden shoulder-length hair, that he tied back in a leather strip when he studied, with the shorter pieces that always fell out and in to his face causing him to growl in frustration. Sirius loved it when he growled. It made his skin pebble and heat up and cool down in rapid secessions. Remus, with the constant ink spot on the side of his nose.

Remus with the slim, lithe body with a thin layer of muscle and powerful legs, all the running Remus did. Remus liked to run. Sirius just wanted to wrap his arms around it-him. Remus with the small, shy, lopsided, half-smile that he reserved for Sirius and Sirius alone that caused the dark-haired boy's knees to go weak. Remus with the desert sand skin and amazing amber eyes. Sirius loved Remus's eyes most of all. They were so unique to Remus.

No one had eyes like Remus. They were so expressive. They shone when he laugh, darkened when he was angry and shimmered when he was sad. Nor did any one have eyes that color of amber with flecks of gold around the pupil, or eyes that intelligent and all-seeing.

Remus had a way of knowing that something was wrong with a person simply by looking at them, and nine times out of ten he knew what to do to cheer them up. He had a way about him that people just felt comfortable around him. They told him their secrets, asked for advice and trusted him. Remus was an amazing person.

If it wasn't obvious, Sirius Black had to bad for his best mate, which was a horrible thing really.

Remus fogged things up for Sirius. He always had. Sirius felt things for Remus that he never had before. He wanted things with Remus that he'd never wanted with anyone else.

Sirius Black was in love.

He knew it, even with a limited background in love, he knew. How could he not know? Remus was on his mind all the time. He even invaded Sirius's dreams and they weren't the types of dreams Sirius usually had about someone he was attracted to.

In this dream there was no sex, or at least very little of it. These dreams were all about confessing to Remus who in turned professed his undying love to the dog animagus.

They'd kiss and cuddle and maybe a bit of touching but that's about it and yet it was still the best dream Sirius has had about another person to date.

This led Sirius to think about what he wanted with Remus. Though he did find Remus attractive and would not turn the werewolf down if he were to, say, rip all of Sirius's clothes off and proceed to ravish him, but he wanted more than that. He didn't want to have great but loveless sex with Remus he wanted it to mean something. He wanted something he had never even thought about with another person before…a relationship.

Sirius wanted to be Remus's boyfriend. This brought up another thing that was different with Remus.

With all of his other partners, be they female or male (yes, Sirius Black has had male partners from time to time. It didn't matter to him. If he was attracted to someone than gender didn't mean a thing. It was just a difference of equipment among other things and if there's one thing Sirius Black has learned from being friends with a werewolf, sorted into Gryffindor, and being disowned by his parents, was that being different wasn't always a bad thing.) Anyway, the thing is, Sirius had always been the dominate one. The boss, but with Remus he couldn't help but want Remus to dominate him.

Maybe it was his dog instincts recognizing that Remus was stronger and therefore the alpha male. Or maybe it was knowing that despite his small frame, Remus could still snap even the biggest Slytherin goon like a twig, so Sirius knew he didn't have to protect him and maybe the little boy in him wanted someone to protect him and love him.

Sirius didn't know.

But then again, Remus most definitely didn't like Sirius in that way. How could he after The Prank with Snape just two years ago? Sirius had been fourteen and stupid and Snape just made him so angry. But it was a mistake. One that could've cost Moony, Prongs and his own life. So Sirius could love Remus all he wanted but he'd never tell.

Since James was no help at all Sirius went next to Peter. Peter was a lot more perceptive and conniving than many thought him to be. He was able to fool people into thinking he was this bumbling idiot tag-along. Ok, so he was a bit clumsy and none too bright but he still wasn't given as much credit as he deserved. Sirius hadn't really known all that until Remus lectured him about teasing Peter.

"Hey Wormy," Sirius said, flopping down on the couch in the common room. Peter was kneeling before the small table in front of the couch, working on a potions essay. Peter was surprisingly good at potions.

"Oh, hi Padfoot," Peter said glancing at him over his shoulder. Sirius lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling for a while, before he spoke.

"Wormtail, have you noticed anything…out of place in our dorm?" Sirius asked. Peter turned and looked at him.

"What do you mean?" He asked his brow furrowed in confusion. Sirius sighed.

"I don't know. I feel like someone is watching me." Sirius said throwing his hands up in the air in frustration. Peter turned his back on Sirius.

"Aren't people always watching you? You're Sirius Black." Peter said as he flipped through his notes and wrote a few lines on his parchment. He sounded a bit distracted and very logical.

"That's not what I mean. It's like they're…I don't know. It just feels different. It's not the same lustful, drooling stare that the fan girls give me. It's different." Sirius replied.

"Hmm, how so?" He asked not looking up from his work.

"I don't know. It's driving me barking mad." Peter chuckled at that.

"You're already barking, Pads." Sirius growled and swatted at him with a pillow, missing him but succeeding in knocking over Peter's inkwell. "Merlin Padfoot! Can you do anything with out being destructive?" He asked glaring at the boy.

Sirius mocked thinking hard.

"I could," He said slowly. "But where's the fun in that?" He asked with a wide grin. Peter rolled his eyes.

"I'm busy and can't help you. Go bother Moony." Peter said trying to mop up the spilt ink.

"Fine I will," He said childishly and stuck out his tongue. Peter just waved him away. Sirius 'hmmphed' and got up from the couch to find Remus.

"He's in the dorm." Peter called after him. Sirius waved his hand and walked up the stairs.

"Phew, that was close," Peter sighed tossing the rag onto the table and wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "I don't know how much longer I can keep quite."

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness." A voice said from behind him. Peter turned to face a pretty red-headed girl with green-grass eyes.

"Oh, hullo, Lily, don't you have a study date with James?" Peter asked trying not to fidget, he didn't do well around girls, even ones he didn't like that way. Lily rolled her eyes.

"I'm tutoring the great lummox in Charms. Hardly call that a study date and I was just picking up some books I forgot." She said sitting on the couch Sirius had just vacated and placed the three huge books in her lap.

"Now what were you going on about a moment ago?" She asked leaning forward in a textbook 'gossip stance'.

"I was just talking to myself." Peter said lightly picking up his rag and mopping up the remains of the ink.

"And I said you were mental, ya I got it. But what brought on this attack from crazy town?" She asked pulling out her wand and muttered a spell. All the ink vanished.

"Thanks. I thought it was ok to talk to yourself but it was madness to answer yourself." Peter said.

"No, it's madness to talk to yourself and a one way ticket to St. Mungo's psyche ward for answering yourself." Lily replied.

"Ah," Peter said and nodded his head wisely.

"What's going on to make you contemplate going monkey shit and making a home at St. Mungo's?" She asked leaning further. Peter rolled his eyes.

"It's Sirius." He said.

"I'll stop you there. That fool can drive the sanest person around the bend." Lily said shaking her head. "What's he done now?" Peter sighed and threw his hands up.

"He's just so thick. I swear he's purposely being this stupid just to drive me mad." Peter cried. "He claims that someone is watching him. Someone who is in our house and our dorm. He knows it's not James or I, yet he still doesn't know who it is! I think he refuses to let himself believe that it's Remus. He's so head over broomstick in love with the boy that he can't see past his own hard-on to notice the looks that he's getting."

Peter was panting at the end of his tirade. He had a lot of anger bottled up about his two friends. He hated it when people didn't see the obvious.

Lily chuckled.

"I feel your pain, Peter. Remus is so dead set against the possibility that Sirius could feel the same way about him as Remus feels for Sirius. It's frustrating."

"I can't take much more of this." Peter said shaking his head. "They're my best mates, I want them to be happy, but I don't want to betray their secrets. Even if it'd work out for the best."

"I agree. We can't just tell them that they love each other. They have to admit to it themselves." Lily agreed. The both sat in silence for a moment thinking about what to do about the two canines. Then Peter got an idea.

"Hey Lily, I got an idea." He said. He leaned closer to her and whispered it in her ear.

"Oh, that's good." Lily said with a mischievous grin. Peter smiled back.

This was going to be good.

XxXxX

Sirius entered the seventh year boy's dormitory. His storm grey eyes immediately landed on Remus. The werewolf was propped up against the headboard of his bed reading a book.

"Hey Remy," Sirius said flinging himself across Remus's bed.

"Hullo Siri," Remus said not looking up from his book. "What can I do for you?"

"Why do you think I want something?" Sirius asked trying to sound offended. Remus looked at him over the top of his book and black plastic reading glasses. He raised an eyebrow.

"Is there another reason as to why you are lying on my bed than?" He asked.

"Maybe I just like your bed better. It's softer than mine. In fact I think I am going to sleep here from now on." Sirius said snuggling into the soft mattress.

"I don't think the others would take it well if you started to sleep in my bed." Remus said lightly turning his eyes back to his book.

"Bugger the others," Sirius replied, his voice muffled by the mattress which his face was in.

"I really rather not," Remus replied. Sirius lifted his head and glared at him. Remus sighed and closed his book and set it on the nightstand along with his glasses. "Ok you have my full attention. What's up?"

Sirius sighed and sat up.

"James and Peter won't take me seriously, no pun intended." Sirius whined.

"Take you seriously about what?" Remus asked.

"There is someone watching me, Moony. I know it. I feel it all the time." Sirius said. He looked around the room. "Even now."

Remus furrowed his brow and looked at a spot on his comforter as he thought.

"Hmm, do you have an idea as to who it is?" Remus asked not looking up.

"Well, I thought maybe it could be the Slytherins. Malfoy and Snape and the lot but James said that since you're allergic and all that you'd be able to tell if they were sneaking around our dorm." Sirius explained. Remus nodded.

"True," He said.

"But if it's not them than I don't know who." Sirius cried frustrated.

"That is quite a problem." Remus said still seemingly in thought. The two lapsed into silence until Remus spoke again. "You said that you feel someone watching you in the dorm?"

"Yeah, and the Common Room and the Great Hall, everywhere." Sirius answered.

"Well than that means they must be a Gryffindor. That certainly narrows down your search." Remus replied. Sirius's eyes lit up.

"You're right, Moony." Sirius said jumping up.

"Where you going?" Remus called after him as Sirius made his way to the door.

"I got some plotting to do." Sirius answered and left. Remus shook his head and picked up his book and glasses and continued to read.

XxXxX

"Woorrrmmmyy," Sirius said in a sing-song voice as he bounced down the stairs. He looked around the Common Room for his friend. He spotted him at one of the corner tables, and he wasn't alone. He seemed to be making eyes at Lily Evans.

Sirius made his way over to the two.

"Wormy, what 'cha doin'?" He asked. Peter didn't look at him; he continued to stare at Lily.

"Quite Padfoot, you're going to distract me." Peter answered distractedly. Sirius grabbed a chair from a nearby table and straddled it.

"What are you guys doing?" He asked curiously. Now that he was at their level, Sirius could see that not only was Peter staring at Lily but she was staring back.

"It's called a staring contest." Lily answered. "It's a game muggles play from time to time."

Sirius looked confused.

"Why would anyone want to stare at someone else?" He asked.

"It's really hard. You can't blink or look away." Peter said and as if to prove his point his eyelids closed briefly. So fast that he didn't even register that it had happened until a flashing light went off over his head.

Sirius jumped back in surprise.

"Oh bugger." Peter grumbled.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Sirius asked.

"We put a spell on each other so that a light will flash when one of us blinks." Lily answered smiling triumphantly. She then turned toward Sirius.

"Want to have a go?" She asked. Sirius looked at her and figured 'why not'. He and Peter switched places and they put the spell on each other.

Sirius had to admit, as foolish as the game might seem it was definitely a challenge. His eyes ached from the dryness of being wide open for so long. Not to mention that Lily's stare was rather intense. It felt like those green eyes were going to burn straight through him.

Well I know that Lily isn't the one watching me. I would have third degree burns by now. He thought to himself. Then and idea struck him, like lighting. He jumped up, forgetting all about the game.

"Wormtail! I've got a brilliant idea." Sirius cried grabbing a hold of his friend's arms and shaking him a bit. "Spread the word, I'm going to hold a house-wide staring contest. Everyone must participate and the winner will get 10 gallons." Sirius said excitedly. He let Peter go.

"I'm going to go work it all out." He said quickly leaving the Common Room and heading to the Marauder's tree by the lake where all their best plans were concocted.

When Sirius left the room Lily turned to Peter, who was grinning wildly.

"Phase one: complete." He said.

"Now on to phase two." Lily smiled and they high-fived each other.

XxXxX

The next day, Sirius had his 'Staring Contest' all prepared.

"Oi shut up!" He yelled from atop a table in the Gryffindor Common Room after dinner. The entire Gryffindor house was in the room and everyone stopped talking and turned their attention to Sirius. "Alright then," Sirius said grinning once he had everyone's attention.

"Tomorrow," He called out. "Is Saturday." He stopped and looked over the crowd to be sure he had their attention.

"But it's not your average Saturday. It is the Fourteenth of November. The date of the first annual, Marauder's Staring Contest." Sirius announced. "My lovely assistants are passing out flyers to you all now." He said indicating James and Peter who were going through the crowd handing each person a yellow flyer.

"For those of you who do not know what a Staring Contest is, it is outlined there on your flyer. Basically, two people stare at each other until one of them blinks. The one who doesn't blink is the winner. Now I know it sounds kind of stupid, but is actually a bit difficult and the overall winner will get ten gallons." He called out. "I hope you all intend to participate because I would really hate to have to hex my fellow house-mates." And with that, Sirius hopped off the table and went to the dorm. Leaving a Common Room full of people buzzing about his contest.

XxXxX

The night Sirius lay in his bed trying desperately to fall asleep. But sleep eluded him. He was simply too excited about the contest and possibly finding out who was watching him. He resisted the urge to jump up and down on his bed, hum or run around the room screaming until he exhausted himself.

His stomach was in knots and his head was buzzing. He tried everything to fall asleep. He tried to remember the day's history lesson in hopes it'd bore him to sleep. He tried to wank to relive some of the stress he had but he was still very self-conscious after being watched the last time and he couldn't do it.

Sirius sighed in frustration.

"Sirius?" A voice called. Sirius's heart began to beat faster. It was Remus's voice. Remus's bed was directly across from his own. Sirius didn't answer.

A few moments later he thought Remus was asleep. The dark-haired boy sighed again. His sigh drowned out the sound of someone padding over to his bed so he was quite shocked when his hangs were opened. Actually, he nearly shit himself until he realized it was Remus.

"Remus," He hissed. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"You're being overdramatic. Scoot over." Remus said and slid into the bed next to Sirius. This wasn't an odd occurrence for the two. Often when one of them had a bad dream or couldn't sleep, they would slide into one another's beds and talk until they fell asleep. James had almost shit himself the first time he had found them in bed together back in first year.

"Ay ya, Moony, your feet are cold." Sirius cried.

"Sorry," Remus mutter shifting his feet away from the other boy's legs.

"'S alright." Sirius mumbled.

"So, can't sleep?" Remus asked watching the dark-haired boy out of the corner of his eye. Sirius shook his head.

"No," He sighed again. "I'm just too nervous about tomorrow. I mean, what if I find out who's watching me and it's some first year? Or some strange girl who's been stealing my underwear to add to a shrine of me and then I have to let her down easy and she'll cry and it'll just be a mess, Y'know." Sirius said moving his arms wildly around. Remus was quiet for a moment as he thought about what Sirius said.

"You could tell her you're gay." Remus answered after a while. Sirius choked.

"What! That'll ruin my reputation!" Sirius cried. Had Remus lost his frickin' mind! Remus rolled his eyes.

"I was just kidding." Remus sighed blowing his bangs out of his face. Sirius loved it when he did that. "You could tell her you're involved with someone." Remus suggested.

"But I'm not involved with someone." Sirius answered.

"Doesn't matter, just lie." Remus said offhandedly. Sirius goggled at him.

"Lie? What do you know about lying? You've never lied." Sirius sputtered.

"Yes, I have." Remus snorted. "Have you forgotten that I lied about visiting my 'sick' mother for a year before you nosy sods found out my secret?"

"But that's different. That's more keeping something from us. You haven't lied lied." Sirius argued.

"Yes I have," Remus said getting annoyed now. "You just don't know it." Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, Remy." Remus growled in frustration. He sat up and began to leave the bed. "Hey, where ya going?" Sirius asked.

"You're pissing me off and I can't sleep. Thought I'd go for a run." Remus replied walking over to his bed and pulling on his track pants over the pair of boxers he slept in.

"Well, I wanna go too," Sirius said, ignoring the voice that told him he sounded like a child. Sirius got out of his bed and pulled on a pair of sweat pants and a long-sleeve shirt.

"You can come but I am not going to slow down for you." Remus said as he pulled a sweatshirt over his head. The two put on their socks and shoes and walked to the door. "Be quite; don't want to wake the others." Remus said softly.

"Think you should've thought about that before you guys decided to argue from across the room," James's muffled voice came from his bed.

"Just leave" Peter whined. Remus and Sirius looked at each other and had to clap a hand over their mouths to muffle their laughter. "Hallelujah," Peter muttered once they left.

"Shut up," James yelled.

XxXxX

The two boys sneaked through the halls of Hogwarts. Neither boy bothered with the Marauder's map or the invisibility cloak. The staff was well aware of Remus's night time runs. With Remus's condition coupled with stress, the boy often felt restless and needed an outlet. To avoid any…unhealthy activities the staff allowed the boy to go for runs undaunted.

The two stopped at the bottom of the front stairs, and began to stretch.

"You ready?" Remus asked as he stretched his neck from side to side. Sirius nodded and hopped up from the ground where he had been stretching his legs.

"Let's go," He said with a wide grin. Remus answered with a grin of his own and the two set off in a jog.

The two jogged across the Hogwarts grounds. Not speaking. Their ears filled with the rush of adrenalin and wind. Their hearts pounding and their thoughts filled with the nothing but to keep going. They kept good pace with each other. Sirius was right beside Remus for the most part.

When they circled the lake for the third time, Remus suddenly noticed that he was alone.

"Sirius?" He called panting. His hot breath turned the cold air around him into steam. He looked through the velvety winter night for any sign of his friends. The frosty air cooled his heated skin and caused him to shiver.

"Sirius, where the bloody hell are you?" He shouted, getting frustrated. He scanned the skeletal trees and the icy lake, but saw nothing. The wind stilled and nothing moved. The nearly full moon cast an eerie glow over the area. Then he heard something in the cold silence.

Remus turned his eyes over to where he had heard the sound. He didn't see anything.

"Sirius?" He whispered as he inched closer toward the sound. Suddenly he saw a flash of movement. It seemed as if a piece of the night sky was moving toward him. Before Remus could react he was tackled by the soft darkness. A wet warmth ran the length of Remus cheek.

"Ugh, Sirius get off," He shouted at the dog animagus who was licking his face. "Ew, gross," He whined. He shoved the dog off and got to his feet. He looked down at his friend and the dog looked up at him and cocked his head.

"Well, come on pup, let's see what you got." He told the dog and took off. The dog looked after him for a moment before it came barreling after him, nipping at his heels.

The pair went sprint across the grounds. Every once and a while Remus would turn around and shove the dog to give it more incentive to keep up, until finally the dog leapt at the werewolf and sent him tumbling to the ground again.

"Ah," Remus yelped when he went down and then began to laugh as the dog licked his face. "Ok, ok you win. You win! Get off me!" He cried through his laughter. The dog hopped of and pranced around in a sort of victory dance and barked at the boy.

"Yeah, yeah, you won, shut up." He mumbled at the dog who barked back. "I am not being a sore loser. You're being a ponce." Remus replied.

Sirius cocked his head to the side and barked.

"Yes, I do find it strange that I can understand your barks. Let's go in." Remus answered and walked toward the door. He had expected Sirius to change back but the dog continued to bound behind him. Remus was too exhausted to bother trying to tell the boy that he should change back.

The two walked up the stairs. Sirius would run up the stairs and wait for Remus to trudge up them, before running off ahead.

Finally they reached Gryffindor tower. Remus gave the password, (Sugar buttons) and the boy and his dog went up to their room. Remus shucked his shirt and pants and slid into his bed.

"No, Sirius," He whined when the dog hopped on to his bed and lay down beside him. "Change back and go to your own bed." The dog whimper soon became a groan as the black dog became a boy.

"You're no fun Moony." Sirius grumbled and padded over to his own bed. Remus didn't respond as he was asleep almost the second his head hit the pillow. Sirius drifted off not to long after.

XxXxX

Despite being out late last night, Sirius Black was up at dawn, and in true Sirius fashion, he not only woke at dawn but proceeded to make sure that his dorm mates were also up.

He literally hopped out of his bed and bounced about the room like a snitch on speed. He pulled on his clothes while humming a tune he had just made up.

"Staring contest day, staring contest day, Sirius Black is so sex-ayyyyy" He sang, "Staring contest day."

"Bloody Merlin's hairy Aunt Buttercup," Whined Peter.

"Sirius, shut the hell up!" cried James.

But the attempts to quite the excited boy fell on deaf ears. Or rather, Sirius was 'singing' so loud now that he couldn't hear anything over his own voice. Suddenly the room went silent.

Peter relished in the quite for a while before he realized that he was already awake now and curious as to what happened to his friend. The blonde boy poked his head out of his scarlet bed hangings.

"Oi! Moony, stop!" He shouted and scrambled out of bed. Remus was sitting on top of Sirius and had a pillow over the boy's face. Sirius was trashing beneath him trying to get the werewolf off.

Peter came up behind Moony and grabbed the boy's arm.

"Get off him. You'll kill him Moony." Peter cried tugging on the boy's arm. Moony looked at him with a crazed gleam in his eye.

"But he'll be quite. He is quite. I made him quite. Me me me! Meeheeeheee" Remus babbled. Peter stopped tugging and looked at him oddly for a moment or two before he renewed his efforts to dislodge Remus from Sirius.

"James! Help!" He shouted. Seconds later a groggy James was stumbling toward them. His hazel eyes widened behind his glasses at the sight before him. James quickly went to Remus's other side and began to pull. Between the two the boy's were able to pull Remus off.

Free from the pillow, Sirius took a big gulping breath and then began to laugh hysterically. Remus joined him after a moment and the other two marauders stared at their friends incredulously.

"We-we soooo got you," Sirius cried rolling around on the floor clutching his sides.

"Wha?" James asked intelligently looking between the two boys. Remus managed to stop his giggles and answer James.

"It was a joke. I wasn't really trying to kill Sirius." Remus said with a large smile.

"But…why would you do that?' Peter asked his jaw almost touching the floor.

"Because," Sirius said sitting up. "We're marauders and that's what marauders do." Peter and James stared at him in shock.

"You-you ARSEHOLES!" James exclaimed and leapt at Remus, who was closet to him. James sent them both to the ground.

Remus howled with laughter as James straddled him and proceeded to tickle him.

"Ah, James! No, p-please," Remus cried through his laughter and he tried to wiggle away from his attacker but it was a futile attempt. Remus was absolutely worthless when he was laughing. He couldn't do anything. "P-Padfoot, help! W-wormt-tail, s-save me!"

Remus's plea sent the other two Marauders into action. They both jumped James and knocked him off of the other boy. Remus loomed over him and was about to have his revenge when the door opened.

All four boys turned.

Standing in their doorway was a hoard of very pissed off girls. In the front, wearing a fuzzy pale green bathrobe and had her bright red hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, was Lily Evans.

Prongs immediately jumped up and ran a hand through his horribly tangled hair.

"What. The. Fucking. Hell. Is. Going. On. Here." Lily asked through clenched teeth. She seemed to be trying to keep her temper under control. The other girls, who were also in their robes and curlers, some even had mud masks on, glared murderously at the boys.

"Yikes, Evans, is that you?" Sirius asked leaning forward to peer at the girl. Lily reached out with lightening quick reflexes and grabbed the boy's tie and pulled him to her.

"I will kill you if you speak again, savvy?" She said her voice low and even. Sirius's eyes widened and he nodded frantically. Lily pushed him away from her. Sirius stumbled backwards and landed on the ground. Some of the other girls started to look less than menacing at that. They didn't want their Siri-poo hurt.

"Look, Lily, we're sorry. We're just excited about the staring contest today." Remus said stepping forward. "I hope you all plan to participate." He said smiling warmly at the gang of girls behind the evil redhead.

The girls smiled back a bit unsure and most nodded to say that they were in fact planning to participate.

Lily looked at Remus and her hard eyes softened.

"Alright, Remus. Apology accepted, but next time, please put up a silencing charm." Lily said with a small smile of her own.

"Of course, m'dear." Remus said kissing the back of Lily's hand.

"Oh you," She giggled. "Alright girls, let's go."

Lily and the other girls exited the room.

"What the hell was that?" Sirius demanded as soon as the dorm room door was shut. Remus turned around to face him.

"What was what?' He asked confused.

"What was that whole kissing Evans's hand thing?" Sirius said narrowing his eyes. Remus looked at him blankly.

"What do you mean what was it? I was being polite. Not to mention it got her to stop yelling and leave. Would you rather she and her hoard of girls hex us five times till Tuesday?" Remus asked narrowing his eyes as well.

"James," Sirius cried looking for reinforcement. "Are you just going to let him kiss your crush like that?"

James, who had been staring at the door, blinked and looked at Sirius.

"I don't see anything wrong with what he did. He only kissed her hand. It's not like he snogged her senseless." James shrugged. Sirius's mouth dropped open in disbelief.

"Padfoot, why is this bothering you?" Peter asked with a strange gleam in his eye.

"It's not. It's fine. Whatever." Sirius mumbled waving away the question. "I'm going to breakfast." And with that he left.

The other three marauders stared at the door than each other before they shrugged and got dressed themselves.

Down at breakfast, the marauders ate in silence. After the meal, Remus went to the library to finish up an essay before the contest which was scheduled to take place after lunch. Sirius, James and Peter, went outside and walked around the lake, sat under their tree and basically pissed away the morning.

Sirius was oddly quite. But no one mentioned it, nor did the mention his freak-out from the morning.

"Soo Sirius, you ready for the contest?" Peter asked nonchalantly. Sirius, who was lying on his back with an arm over his eyes, nodded.

"Yup, I plan to keep my eyes closed until the contest. So I don't wear 'em out ya know." Sirius answered. Peter looked at the boy. That didn't make much sense but than again, little of what Sirius said ever made sense.

"Who do you think your main competition will be?" Peter asked.

"Hmm, I think it's between Evans and Remus." Sirius answered. Peter smiled to himself.

"Why do you say that?" He asked trying to keep his voice light.

"Well, Evans for one has an amazing ability to stare down just about anyone. Though I've never personally been on the end of one of the stare downs I hear it's quite intense. Not to mention, her glare is right terrifying." Sirius responded. Peter nodded then it dawned on him that Sirius couldn't see him.

"I see your point. What about Moony?" He asked. Sirius sighed.

"Moony, is moony for one. He can be very distracting. Also, there's the fact that Moony can stare like no other. He just…has this ability to not need to blink as much as a normal person. I wonder if it's a werewolf trait." Sirius replied. Peter bit his lip to try and quash his smirk.

Peter knew that Moony had the amazing ability to stare. He had seen Remus stare at Sirius for hours on end and never seeming to blink or need to turn away.

"What do you think Prongs?" Sirius asked. There was no answer.

"I think he feel asleep." Peter said poking the boy beside him. James just mumbled something and rolled away.

"Bloody ponce, can't even stay awake to listen to his best friend." Sirius grumbled. Sirius didn't like it when people didn't listen to him. He demanded attention, he didn't ask for it.

Sirius's stomach grumbled loudly as well.

"Hmm, is it time for lunch yet?" Sirius asked sitting up and looking at Peter. Peter looked up at the sun.

"Just about," Peter answered. Sirius looked at him and shook his head.

"How do you do that?" He asked. Peter smiled softly. He liked having one thing that he could do that the others couldn't, even if it was something as simple as telling the time of day by the sun.

"The sun moves across the sky. It's easy to tell the time by its position." Peter answered shrugging. His father had taught him how to do that, he also taught the boy how to tell location by the stars, but that skill was less handy than the other.

"Whatever, Wormy. Let's just go eat." Sirius said standing up. Peter looked up at him.

"Should we wake Prongs?" He asked.

"Nah let the prat sleep. He's probably dreaming of Evans or something." Sirius said waving a hand at the snoring boy.

Lunch was also a silent affair. Remus and Peter attempted to fill the tense silence with conversation but it soon fizzed out. Sirius shoved food in his mouth and refused to look at Remus.

Remus ate silently and refused to try and find out what was the matter with Sirius. He was acting rather childish in Remus's opinion and he wasn't about to condone such behaviour.

After lunch the marauders went back to the Common Room and began to set up for the contest. They transfigured the couch, armchair and small coffee table into square tables and wooden chairs.

Soon the rest of the Gryffindors filtered into the room. Once it seemed that all of those who planned to come were there, Sirius stood up on one of the tables and addressed the crowd.

"Welcome all to the first annual Marauder's staring contest. I am your host, Sirius Black." Sirius grinned widely. "First off, would everyone take a seat at one of the many tables in the room?" Sirius waited as everyone did so. Peter sat down at the one that Sirius was standing on.

"Ok, the rules are really simple. You and your partner will stare at each other. The first to blink loses. Once someone from every table loses, we will go to the next round where you will have a new partner." Sirius explained. "In the end, the two who make it through all the rounds will go against each other for the prize of ten gallons. Everyone understand?"

All the people in the room nodded. Sirius beamed.

"Good," He said, and then turned to Peter. "Wormtail, if you would…"

Peter nodded and stepped up on the table beside Sirius. He waved his wand and said a spell.

"This spell makes a light flash when a person blinks so there will be no cheating." Peter informed the crowd. Everyone looked at one another than back at Sirius.

"Alright, let the contest commence." He shouted gleefully and hopped down. Sirius took his seat across from Peter and the contest went under way.

The first couple rounds went quick. Most people weren't that great at staring. The only reason they entered was the contest was, for the money, for the chance to stare at Sirius or because James had threatened to give them detention if they didn't.

Sirius easily moved through the rounds. Even the girls who were seasoned veterans in gazing dreamily at Sirius, found themselves fidgety and nervous as they sat across the table from him and their eyelids slid shut almost on their own accord.

James was also doing well until he found himself staring across the table at Lily Evans. She smiled shyly at him and James blinked causing him to lose.

Remus was also doing well. He looked straight into the eyes of his opponent and never wavered. He let his mind waffle on about books he had read or about the essay he had to complete for Potions.

Lily plowed through her competition. She made it all the way to the last round. There were only four opponents left. Sirius, Remus, a random muggle-born sixth year Gryffindor Mary-sue, and herself.

Lily was up against Remus. She reached out and they shook hands.

"Good luck," He whispered to her and she smiled and wished him the same. The last round took much longer than all the others put together. Sirius had already caused his Mary-sue to crumble thanks to a seductive lip-licking.

The crowd surrounded Remus and Lily. All eyes were on them. Lily and Remus were boring holes into each other. They were both utterly focused on one another. Lily's green eyes melted with Remus's amber. If you looked closely you'd be able to see a soft light glowing between the pair.

Sirius pushed his way through the crowd so that he was standing behind Lily. He had a clear view of Remus. He defiantly didn't like the way Remus was staring at Lily. He didn't care if it was a contest or a game or not. It just didn't sit right.

Remus noticed Sirius's presence at Lily's side. How could he not notice? Sirius just had this aura around him that completely ensnared Remus. It muddled his senses and fogged up his brain. Remus forced himself not to turn and look at the other boy. Instead he stared at Lily's green eyes with renewed vigor.

Lily stared deeply into Remus's eyes. And was shocked by what she saw there. She could see…love, shining through those amber eyes. Her first thought was that the look of love was directed at her.

But as she looked closer she noticed that Remus's eyes seemed to be unfocused a bit. Like he was trying to keep his attention on her but something else was demanding it. Lily turned her head slightly to the left and noticed that someone was standing very close to her.

At first she thought it was James but she quickly realized that it wasn't. James smelt like grass and a spicy scent of his cologne. The person next to her smelt like honey and vanilla.

Lily turned her head a bit more and saw it was Sirius. Suddenly realization hit her and she blinked at the force. A light went on over her head and for a moment she thought it was a light bulb until she remembered where she was and what she was doing. Lily cursed under her breath.

Of course, Lily had planned to lose, but she still had a competitive nature. Lily focused her attention back on her surroundings. The crowd was chattering excitedly. Remus looked a bit shocked and Sirius was smiling smugly.

"I believe you're in my seat, Evans," Sirius said cockily. Lily scowled at him. What Remus saw in a prat like him was beyond her.

"Sirius, don't be rude," Remus said and Sirius lost his cocky attitude and lowered his eyes like a puppy who was being scolded. Remus stood up and held out a hand to Lily.

"Good match," He said with an awkward smile. He was just too adorable. Lily pushed his hand away and hugged him instead.

"Good match and good luck." Lily whispered in his ear. She pulled back just enough to look in Remus's face. Remus looked back and was a bit taken back by the look of understanding and knowing in the green gaze.

Remus smiled shyly and blushed. Did Lily really know how he felt about Sirius?

Lily grinned. That'll be a yes, then.

Lily backed away and let go of Remus. Remus turned back to the table. Sirius was sitting slumped in his chair with his arms crossed and glaring at the table like it just did him a great personal wrong.

"Done fondling your girlfriend, then? Can we get on with the game?" Sirius spat as Remus calmly lowered himself into his seat.

"Yes, though Lily isn't my girlfriend which you very well know, and yes, though there really is no need to get snarky." Remus replied. Sirius looked up at him and shot him a dark look. Remus just smiled serenely, though inside he was a mess. Sirius opened his mouth, probably to say something that was not at all nice, when Peter jumped in.

"Alright, this is for all the gallons." He announced to the two as well as the crowd. He waved his wand and said the spell. "Let the match begin."

Sirius at first refused to meet Remus's eyes. There was no rule that said he had too. So instead he stared at Remus's eyebrows. Remus noticed Sirius's childish behaviour and resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Sirius, look me in the eye." Remus ordered. Sirius wanted to tell the golden-haired Gryffindor exactly where to shove it but he felt himself compiled to comply with Remus's order and so he did so.

What he saw, or rather felt when he looked into Remus's eyes was enough to send him reeling. Sirius lost all sense of where he was. He blinked, the light went off and he lost the contest.

The crowd roared its approval. Remus gave Sirius his small, shy, lopsided, half-smile, the smile than turned to a grimace as the crowd swarmed in on him. Everyone was patting him on the back, congratulating him. Remus tried to shy away from them but the sea of people wouldn't allow it.

Sirius was unable to move. He was frozen stiff. He watched as Remus got increasingly uncomfortable. He knew that Remus was not a fan of being touched. Only Sirius could touch him without the werewolf flinching. Not to mention that it was rather close to the full moon.

The wolf inside Remus was going crazy. Remus's senses were being plugged with human scent. The wolf just wanted to lash out at the people surrounding him. He was feeling caged and trapped. Remus tried to stop the low warning growl that rose from his throat.

His eyes flashed. He tried to back away but there were just more people. He had no way out. He tried to sniff out an escape or his pack. He but all he could pick up on was the people around him. The prey.

Remus finally caught the scent of his pack.

"Back it up, move!" James shouted as he pushed his way through the crowd. He knew how Remus was about large gatherings, that was why he hardly ever went to Quidditch games. He also knew that the full moon was just around the bend.

"Give the man some room." Peter cried. Also fighting to the sea of people to get to Remus and help him.

Sirius watched as Remus desperately searched for his friends. He stood up to help and suddenly gained a hundred and five pounds.

"Oh, Siri-poo," a female voice simpered into his ear. "I am so sorry you lost."

Sirius looked down and all he could see was a head of blonde hair resting on his chest. Sirius pushed the girl off of him. It was the Mary-Sue he had beaten in the last round.

"Look…whatever your name is; I have to go so I'll talk to you later." Sirius said as he tried to step past her. But this Mary-Sue was a very determined wench and she glopped on to the boy.

"It's ok, baby. I know that's the sting of losing that's talking and not you." She purred. Sirius put his hands around her and was preparing to pull her off.

"BACK UP!" Peter roared. The crowd went stun still. No one has ever heard little Peter Pettigrew raise his voice. James, Remus and Sirius stared at their friend in shock as well. Peter was seething. His breath came in short pants and he shoved people aside violently until he came to Remus's side.

The crowd backed away from the enraged boy. This gave Remus a perfect view of Sirius and the Mary-Sue. Sirius turned his attention away from Peter and was met with a pair of blazing molten gold eyes that were staring at him.

Remus couldn't stop the growl that came from his throat this time. The wolf was in a rage. He saw Sirius as his and he would make the tramp pay for touching him.

Peter heard the growl. He followed Remus's stare and his eyes widened.

"C'mon Remus," He said softly. Peter's soft tone seemed to cool Remus's anger. The boy suddenly felt very tired and sad. Remus nodded wearily and followed his friend up to the dorm.

Peter helped the boy sit down on his bed.

"You ok, Remus?" He asked. He felt horribly guilty. He knew it wasn't his fault entirely, but he did have a hand in it all. Peter was the one who came up with the idea of a staring contest and planted the idea in Sirius's mind. He thought it'd be a perfect way for Sirius to see that it was Remus who was watching him.

But it had all gone wrong and Peter didn't know what to do.

"I'm fine, Wormy. Just…all those people…" Remus said giving the boy a small smile. "It's just that the full moon is coming and all…I get stressed easy and my emotions go all wonky." Peter nodded.

The silence was broken as the door opened.

"Remus?" Sirius called as he stuck his head in the room. "Can I come in?"

"It's your room too, Padfoot." Remus replied. Sirius smiled sheepishly and entered.

"Are you ok?' He asked shuffling his feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine Siri." Remus said in that soft voice of his that just put the dark-haired boy's heart at ease.

"I-I was worried. I mean…I know that the- the full moon is just around the bend and all…" Sirius mumbled looking at the ground.

"Yeah," Remus responded quietly.

"Yeah," Sirius parroted. Peter looked between the two.

"BLOODY MERLIN'S ARSE AND HIS HORSE, THERESA TOO!" Peter exclaimed. Both boys looked at him in shock. "You two are absolutely hopeless. I swear, I will be absolutely barmy if you carry on this way!" Remus was the first to recover from the shock and speak.

"Carry on what way?" He asked confused. Peter shook his head and pulled his hair.

"I am going completely monkeyshit because of you guys." He said and then he perked up, a crazed gleam in his eyes. "That's it." He said and got up from the bed. "That's it."

With that the small boy ran out the door and shut it. Sirius and Remus looked at each other before bolting to the door. Sirius grabbed the doorknob. With a yelp he let go. The doorknob was roughly the temperature of the sun; you'd think that the fact that it was glowing red would be some kind of a hint…guess not.

Remus picked up a t-shirt from the ground and used it to wrap around the doorknob. The door wouldn't open. Sirius began to pound on the door.

"Wormy? Wormtail, open this door right now!" He shouted. His demand was answered by a loony cackle. Remus pushed Sirius aside.

"Peter, what's going on here?" He asked politely. There was no answer; instead a note was shoved under the door.

Sirius bent down and picked it up. He stood next to Remus so they both could read it.

Dear Moony and Padfoot,

I cannot take this much longer. You two refuse to talk about your issues so now you are going to be locked in this room until you sort it out.

Remus; ask Sirius why he got so upset when you kissed and hugged Lily.

Sirius; ask Remus why he was upset when the Mary-Sue glopped onto you.

Also, Sirius, I do believe you had an epitome during your staring match with Remus, please address this as well.


Happy talking,

Your dear friend,

Peter Wormtail Pettigrew

The two boys finished the note and looked at each other.

"Do you think he's serious?" Remus asked. Sirius had gone pale; Remus took that as a yes. Sighing Remus moved away from the door and sat on his bed. "Well, we might as well do as the note says. He won't let us out otherwise."

Sirius nodded mutely and sat on his own bed which was across from Remus's. The two sat in silence, looking everywhere but at each other.

"Oh, this is ridiculous," Remus finally said after a few minutes of silent avoidance. He looked straight at Sirius. "Why did you get upset when I hugged and kissed Lily?"

Sirius stopped staring at his bed post and looked at Remus for a split second before he found the floor rather interesting.

"I-I dunno," He mumbled, his ears going pink. "I…I don't want you with Lily." He finally blurted out. Remus looked at him incredulously.

"Just because I am a gentleman doesn't mean I want to be with her. Besides, if I did what business of yours is it?" Remus demanded. Sirius's ears went red.

"Only one question at a time," He said and coughed awkwardly. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Fine, ask away." He said waving his hand in a gesture that told Sirius to get on with it.

Sirius looked up at the other boy. Remus looked back.

"Why?" He whispered.

"Why what?" Remus asked annoyed.

"Why have you been watching me?" Sirius asked. Remus was taken back by the question.

"Wha-what do you mean?" Remus asked feigning innocence. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Don't do that. Don't pretend you don't know what I mean." His voice was still soft but it had a quite power behind it. Remus sighed and looked away.

"Why wouldn't I watch you?" He asked more to himself than Sirius. "You're perfect. You're gorgeous, fun, silly, smart, caring and the sweetest guy I have ever met."

Remus smiled softly as he thought about all the reasons why he loved Sirius.

"You're always up for anything, never back down from a challenge, are so strong and brave, yet so delicate and scared. I watch you to make sure that no one hurts you. I watch you because how can I not?" Remus turned his gaze back to Sirius.

Sirius's mouth dropped open. He didn't know what he had expected Remus to say but that wasn't one of them.

"Why do you watch me?" Remus asked. Sirius's eyes widened.

"I-I don't." He stuttered.

"Yes you do," Remus answered. "You've always have. That's probably how you found out about my secret, because you watched me. You watch me study, you watch me play chess with Peter, you watch me eat at breakfast, you watch me walk down the hall to class, you watch me take notes…You're always watching."

Sirius mind began to whirl.

"I watch you because I love you," Sirius said. Remus looked at him lovingly.

"I know," He whispered. Sirius gaped at him.

"You knew! Then why didn't you say anything?" He asked incredulously.

"Because I liked it. I liked watching you watching me. It made me feel…special." Remus said quietly. Sirius looked at him.

"You are special, Moony. So special and I love you." Sirius said. Remus got up from his bed and crossed the room to Sirius's.

Sirius leaned forward and pressed their lips together. It was a bit awkward and not much more than a light brushing of lips. Remus groaned in frustration, he flicked his tongue across Sirius's bottom lip.

The dark-haired boy gasped in shock and Remus pushed his tongue into the other boy's mouth. He slid his tongue around Sirius's mouth, tasting and exploring. Remus ran it over the boy's teeth, the roof of his mouth and his cheek before meeting Sirius's tongue in the center.

The two muscles met each other in a passionate battle. One that neither particularly cared about who would win. Sirius moaned as Remus hands ran through his hair. Remus shudder involuntary as Sirius's hands ran up and down his back.

The two separated when the need for oxygen was too strong.

"Merlin, Moony, I love you so much." Sirius gasped nestling his face in Remus's neck.

Remus didn't say anything. Instead he smiled and watched the other boy.

"I love you too, Sirius Black." Remus whispered to the boy and wrapped his arms around him. Sirius snuggled in the arms of the one who loved him.

Sirius Black was being watched, he just knew it.

And he never felt so great in his life.

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(a/n: And another one bites the dust… lol sorry that was lame)