Sirius had never thought of himself as greedy. That adjective was for the rest of his family, if he could still call them that. He had no ambition to make the world bend under his will nor to make himself famous in history. His biggest ambition was perhaps to have James, which was arguably humble, considering he almost did not want anything else at all.

Then, he got James. It was a long process, but he got him at the end. This was when Sirius realised that it was not enough. He did not only want cuddles behind close curtains at night, chaste kisses within the safety of a private Marauders meeting, sweet nothings that only he could hear. He wanted cheesy love declarations that would make him blush in front of the whole school, terrible PDA that would land them detentions, sentences cut off by an urgent kiss during lunch. There was just not enough time to spend with James everyday. To have to wait till they were alone or alone with the Marauders only minimize their time together. There was this constantly pending need in his chest, screeching and groaning every moment he was not touching James in some way, and every moment he was touching James it was not enough. He had wanted him for so long that there was an insatiable hole in his chest that demanded to be filled. Until Sirius could hold James whenever and however he wanted, James did not feel like his–James would just be a dream that was too good to be true.

The idea that James would want to hide had never once crossed his mind. It was until the morning when they first got together that Sirius found himself surprised by James – he slipped his hand out of Sirius's just before they stepped into the Grand Hall.

Why would James want to hide? Sirius thought he knew everything there was to know about James. They functioned like well-oiled machines, communicating just by sharing the same air. Sirius would start a conversation with a statement of fact and James would already have a conclusion. Sirius knew James – it was instinct so primitive that Sirius had long forgotten what it was like to actually have to make an effort doing it. He could not even bring up this topic to James without feeling like an idiot. He expected James to raise his eyebrows as if to say you know why. He needed a plan to make James understand without talking.

"Planning for something?" a voice zoomed in really close, pulling Sirius's attention away from scheming his next step. Remus.

"No." He waved his hand dismissively.

" 'No' as in 'no' when you set all the mouse pie to explode into the Slytherins' faces?"

"No as in it's none of you business," he sighed, and ran his hand over his face. Sometimes it was good to have friends that knew you well, but right now, it was just not helping. Remus, as good as he was in helping him scheme all those pranks, was no help in this. There was nothing Remus knew about James that he did not. If he could not come up with a plan, then neither would Remus.

"Well, don't ask for my help later on."

Sirius gruntled reflectively, mind already elsewhere.

Remus did not know anything about James he did not already know. He just needed to find someone that did.

Lily Evans was easy to find. Her hair looked as if it would combust under the hazy glaze of fire in the common room and was the most eye-catching thing there even though the common room was completely in red. Sirius smiled. He remembered that first time James told him he had a crush on this girl. Sirius was impressed by James's good taste. He was relieved that James and Evans broke up because it would be hard to compete with her.

"Evans, I need your help," he said, doubling his usual upper-class accent. He found it quite useful whenever he needed something. He wondered if he should call her Lily instead, but he had never done that before.

"What do you need, Black?" Lily said tiredly.

"I need relationship advice," Sirius took a breath, "with James."

Evans's eyes widened in a way that was almost comical.

"He didn't want to let people know that we are seeing each other," Sirius continued before Evans could give any responses. Better to get it over with quick, he thought.

"I… um… yes. I would try my best," Evans bit her lips.

The chat with Evans was conducive. Sirius did not know what he was looking for from Evans at first, so he simply asked Evans to tell him everything she knew about James. Whenever Evans came to the parts which he knew, he would wave his hand and ask her to skip them. It was a disoriented conversation that had no clear direction whatsoever, but by the end, Sirius got what he needed and he knew what he had to do.

If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, Muhammad must go to the mountain. Sirius remembered an odd-looking muggle old man told him this, when he was wandering the streets trying to delay going back to Grimmauld Place one night during a summer long long time ago. He never quite see the point of this line. It seemed an easy and smart thing to say, but the world had always been flooded by wise-sounding words. But now he knew, if James would come to him in his own terms, then Sirius needed to go to him in his own. Sirius needed to make James want him as much as Sirius wanted James. Then, there would be no reason significant enough for James to hide.

"What are you thinking?"

A warm, familiar body pressed against Sirius. Sirius looked up and met James's hazel eyes. James smelt like summer breeze in the woods and he had his Sirius's smile on. Sirius's stomach churned. He wanted to close that gap between them, but not yet, not yet.

"You," Sirius breathed, almost challenging. James hummed noncommittally as he settled down next to Sirius, sharing a comfortable silence.

"James really liked it when I brushed my hands against his neck. You know, that spot near the shoulder," Evans said 'really' as if it had a meaning unknown to the world. She blushed and did not quite meet Sirius eyes.

The moment was as good as any, Sirius thought, as he casually reached out to that spot Evans showed him. He tapped it repeatedly at first, like he was just being obnoxious, but the tap slowed down and became a regular soothing motion. James tensed and jerked away from him, his eyes fleeting, dancing across the busy common room.

Sirius smiled. It was working.

Sirius's second chance came soon after, during the Transfiguration class the next morning. He was humming a tune softly to himself. James actually paid attention in Transfiguration, which left Sirius with nothing to do but to daydream. The tune transcended to excited whines as the lesson came closer to the end. He was disturbing James, but Sirius could not bring himself to care.

"Stop it."

Shove off. Sirius almost replied, but caught himself.

"James didn't like it when people bending to his every whim, but once you had his respect as an independent thinker, he liked it when you occasionally submit yourself blindly." Sirius knew that, but Evans reminded him the importance of this part of James. Yes, how could he have forgotten this?

Sirius stopped whining. He looked right into James's eyes and murmured, "sorry."

James blinked awkwardly, "Yeah? Just like that?"

"I can be good, you know," Sirius made sure to lick his lips and lower his eyes, tilting his head to expose his neck.

James gulped.

Lunch time came and went. At this point, it was almost reflex to seduce James. He was pushing every button he knew and every others that Evans told him. He had never knew he could eat dessert like that – all slow and sensual and sexy. He felt awkward at first, that he was doing that in front of Remus and Peter and everyone that sat near them, but then he saw Evans, few seats down, giving him a thumbs-up. She nodded her head to one uncomfortable James next to him and Sirius almost laughed. James's jaw was tight, his grip on the fork tighter. His eyes were determinedly not looking at Sirius. Sirius called the operation a success.

Double History of Magic was the last class they had that day. Sirius was determined to make it happen before the class ended. Yes, he would have James shoving his tongue down his throat in class and the class would see because it would be the most interesting thing happening in the whole lesson.

Sirius leaned closer to James. James's breathe hinched. He was so sensitive now. Everything Sirius had done to him had made him hyperactive.

"I am not wearing any pants, you know," Sirius whispered to James. He was, of course – he had manners, but it got James's attention. James gaze darted quickly to Sirius's lower body and back to Sirius's face.

"Yes, you are."

Sirius smirked, "And you know that because?"

"I–" James blushed, "stop it."

"Stop what?" Sirius leaned even closer to him.

"I only have so much self-control," James hands balled into tight fists, his eyes fixed on Mr. Binns.

"Don't control then," Sirius sniggered and laughed lowly. He was so close.

"Everyone would know."

"Let them, James, let them," Sirius looked intently at James. There were many questions he wanted to ask – why? is it something I have done? is it because I am a boy? But he realised they were not important. The reasons were not important if you could achieve your goal.

James seemed to be at a loss of words. He looked like he wanted to punch Sirius and hold him close at the same time. His lips twitched, turning slightly up then pressing down again. "You devious bastard, you planned everything all along, didn't you?"

Sirius grinned. If he was Padfoot now, his tail would be wailing. He fell off his seat when James kissed him in full force. This certainly got everyone's attention.