This is a drabble-tag entry, for the pairing James/Sirius and the prompt "Brave". I've never written James/Sirius before, and I was kind of intent on leaving it somewhat canon. Enjoy :)
The Cowardly Lion
Sirius was brave, as any Gryffindor ought to be. He was a Black, too, so that sort of made him nearly perfect. But no, he wasn't perfect. Nobody was. Not even James, though he sure came close.
Taking a deep breath, he tried to gather up his courage. The object of his affection sat in the dorms, just behind the door Sirius was standing at. He could do this. Gryffindors are brave. What have you got to lose? He tried to convince himself that even if this whole thing was only one-sided, it wasn't the end of the world. But it was.
No, shut up.
You shut up.
Shit.
He raised his fist to knock, but stopped himself just before his knuckles touched the wooden door. It's his dorm, too. Why would he knock?
He shook his head, biting his lip in frustration. This was difficult. Come on, Sirius.
He heard laughing from the dorm room. James's laugh. How wonderful, he thought bitterly, he's not alone. He put his ear to the door, trying to listen in on whatever was going on there.
He was being stupid. James would never like him. James liked girls. But Sirius has let his hair grow, so maybe... No, there were other things about girls James liked. Like tits. Sirius didn't have tits.
Maybe there's a spell that-
Bloody Mordred. This was getting out of hand.
His eyes widened when he heard a female voice coming out of the dormitory. He growled under his breath. Lily Evans. It couldn't get much worse than that.
James fancied the girl, followed her between classes and every single day, without fail, asked her out with a brilliant grin that Sirius could only stare at from afar. It was a special grin, just for her. Never for Sirius. Oh, no. Why would he smile at Sirius like that? He wasn't Lily bloody Evans, after all.
A girly giggle cut his thoughts and he decided it was way too breathless to be innocent, and opened the door, a scowl still present on his face.
And wanted to die. Or hit something. Someone. Lily Evans.
Merlin, What was he thinking? He can't hit a girl. He was a Gryffindor.
James, beautiful, glorious James was sitting on his bed holding the damned redhead and kissing her neck.
Disgusting.
When he saw that Sirius was standing motionlessly at the entrance of the room he smiled. "Padfoot, my friend, you wouldn't believe what just happened," he said dreamily, his arms still around Evans.
Lily, you should call her Lily now. She's James's girlfriend, after all.
"She said yes?" asked Sirius without any real interest. James didn't seem to notice.
"She said yes!"
Sirius sighed.
It did get even worse.
Seems like he wouldn't tell James after all.
There you have it.
Gryffindors are not brave.