"Hi guys!" James greeted with Lily hanging on his arm, smiling shyly. Which was totally out of character.
"Hello." She said.
"Hi James! Hi Lily!" Peter responded eagerly while the other two just stood there gaping at the couple.
"We should probably go, the train leaves in two minutes." James noted glancing at an expensive watch on his wrist. A present from his parents for his seventeenth birthday.
"Yeah, okay, we already dragged all our stuff inside." Peter nodded.
"Great. We kind of have to sit in the front, but we'll come back here as soon as we can." James said gesturing towards the front of the train awkwardly.
"Okay, well, see you then." Peter said.
Sirius and Remus nodded dumbly.
James and Lily fidgeted uncomfortably looking in between Remus and Sirius as if waiting for them to speak up.
When that didn't happen James gave them a sharp nod and turned around leaving. Lily followed him.
"Let's go then." Peter prompted, entering the train.
Sirius and Remus stood completely frozen for a moment.
Remus snapped out of it first.
"Did you just see what I saw?"
"I think so." Sirius answered uncertainly.
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"Did you know about this?"
"No. Did you?"
"No." Remus muttered weakly.
"When did this even happen?" Sirius asked appalled.
"I really have no idea, Sirius." Remus shook his head slightly.
"Do you think Wormtail knew?" Sirius asked suddenly realizing that Peter was the only one not in the least bit surprised.
"Hmm, that's actually a good question." Remus shrugged still looking at the spot James and Lily had just stood contemplating.
"Well that was… very unexpected." Sirius concluded, still not being able to fully understand what had just happened.
The guys looked at each other.
Each noted that the other looked shaken, maybe a little bit too shaken. Their eyes widened.
Remus was about to open his mouth to say something when Peter stuck out his head.
"Well, come on!"
The only thing preventing the silence was the sound of train grounding the tracks. The strange rhythm was like a salvation to Peter, who was sitting with two very silent and very sickly looking boys.
"Sooo…" He dragged out cautiously.
"Did you know about it?" Sirius barked all of the sudden, not taking his eyes off the window.
"Did I know about what?" Peter edged away.
"James and Lily." Remus explained, his tone cold. He was sitting in front of them and when Peter raised his eyes to him, he immediately regretted the decision.
"Y-Yeah, kind of. I saw them together a week ago in Diagon Alley." Peter murmured feebly, feeling rather unsafe under the werewolf's intense gaze.
"And you didn't tell us." Sirius growled under his breath, turning his grey eyes on Peter as well.
"They asked me not to. They said they wanted to tell you themselves." Peter tried to defend himself, shifting closer to the exit.
"Since when are they together?" Remus asked.
"I didn't really ask." Peter shrugged. He was scared. You would be too if you had Sirius and Remus glaring at you like that.
The door opened and Peter almost fell out. Not having realised his back had been pressed up against it.
"Hey, we're just checking in." Lily said with James standing behind her.
No, his hand on her hip did not go unnoticed.
Suddenly Remus smiled at her brightly.
"Hey."
Sirius glanced at him, mouth agape and his expression looked as if he had just experienced the greatest treason in his entire life.
James and Lily seemed to be taken aback a little by Remus reaction but slowly began smiling too.
"I swear, I thought it would be more fun." James complained, looking disdainfully at his badge. "We spent last hour listening about school rules, as if I didn't know them already."
They shuffled in and took seats beside the guys.
"Yes, James, I'm sure you even have a list of them somewhere, crossing them out one at a time as you break them." Lily rolled her eyes.
"Not exactly, I'm pretty sure the list could be brought down to two words 'no fun' - and I broke that the day I entered this world, love." James smirked, running a hand through his hair conceitedly.
"Call me 'love' again, Potter, I dare you." Lily's smile fell and she gave him a threatening look.
James backed away from her and glanced at his friends for help.
"I see not much has changed." Remus laughed at them and they stopped in their tracks looking between Sirius and him.
"Yeah, about that..." James dragged out awkwardly.
"We wanted to tell you guys, we just didn't really know how." Lily started uneasily.
Remus could see Sirius glaring daggers at her with the corner of his eye.
"Well, it's kind of okay- I mean it's your business, not ours." The werewolf smiled easily, trying to defuse the tension Sirius' aura was giving off.
Sirius huffed silently stood up and walked out leaving them all stunned.
"Si-"
"Why don't you let me, James." Remus insisted quickly going after Sirius, not even waiting for response.
He managed to catch up with the guy before he reached another cabin.
"Sirius!" Remus groaned.
"Sod off!" Sirius responded hastily.
"Really, Sirius? 'Sod off' and everything is fixed, huh?" Remus said, trying to play on Sirius' anger.
It worked- the boy turned around and gave Remus his best glare.
"Wow, you're glaring." The werewolf said unimpressed provoking the guy further.
"Leave me alone." Sirius growled.
"Uh-huh, so you can go and went your anger on some first year that gets in your way? I'd rather you just hit me." Remus said completely calm.
"I'm not angry."
"Of course you're not." Remus agreed, but his eyes were shining jokingly, making Sirius' patience melt away little by little.
"Why would I be angry?" Sirius tried another way.
"You tell me, actually." Remus said, looking genuinely interested.
"I'm not."
"Okay, when what is it?" Remus pressed the matter further, not paying any attention how dangerously tight Sirius' fists were pressed to his sides.
"He should've told us." Sirius gritted out. "Aren't you annoyed that he kept it a secret?"
"Hm, no, not really. He told us now, I don't expect him to report every single step he makes right away. It's not exactly keeping a secret- especially since things like this are private." Remus reasoned, knowing that his arguments will probably go unnoticed, as the guy in front of him was not the most reasonable person, especially when he was mad.
"I'm his best friend- it's never been like this before! He tells me everything! The moment it happens!" Sirius flailed his arms wildly.
"It's never been Lily before." Remus stated as if it should explain everything. And maybe it should have and would have if Sirius wasn't angry and confused.
"What do you mean?! Some stupid bird can't take away my best friend! He's –" Sirius started yelling, but fell silent and looked around quickly lowering his voice. "He's-"
"He's what Sirius?" Remus challenged, knowing well which buttons to push.
Sirius looked at him with a silent question in his eyes.
"Well come on now, finish the sentence." Remus taunted.
"Nothing. He's not supposed to keep things from me, from us."Sirius said flatly.
"Is that what you were really going to say?" Remus raised an eyebrow.
"Yes." Sirius cut off sharply.
"Too bad for you then, because that is the most hypocritical thing I have ever heard. And trust me I know a lot about hypocrisy." The werewolf took a step closer to Sirius frowning at him in a way that made him feel like a kid getting scolded.
"How is that hypocritical?" Sirius asked, but his voice was wavering, clearly showing fear behind it.
"How is it not?" Remus laughed. "Here you are, still trying so desperately to hang onto your lies even now. I don't understand how you didn't see this coming, Sirius, really. Your best friend, you say? Keeping secrets? How about you? If you think you're any better than this when, by your own standards may I add, you are three times worse." His voice was far from cool now, he himself was now struggling to keep it a whisper.
Sirius stood there with his mouth slightly open and a look of a deer caught in the headlights.
Remus backed off and sighed.
"Sorry, that was out of line. But Sirius, try to get your own feelings in check, before you go off blaming everyone else."
"How did you know?" Sirius breathed out.
"What?"
"How did you know?" He repeated.
"I'm observant." Remus shrugged.
"But he-"
"Of course James doesn't know, he might be my friend, but I swear, I've never met anyone dafter." Remus shook his head as a mother talking indulgently about her children.
Sirius suddenly was beet red.
Remus looked at him and chuckled.
"It's okay, Padfoot, I'm really in no position to judge."
"I just... I don't really know why." Sirius forced out shamefully.
"I don't think it's something we can control." Remus hummed.
"I know I shouldn't be feeling like this though." He whispered hiding his eyes behind his hair.
"It happens. So you like guys- big deal. So you're in love with your best friend- who cares. At least you don't turn into a blood thirsty monster every full moon." The werewolf guy joked lightly, in attempt to change the mood.
It worked as Sirius laughed.
"Yeah, wanna change?" He asked.
"You have no idea how much I'd love to." Remus replied.
The boys stood for a while in silence, in the strangely empty passageway. (Remus wouldn't be surprised if everyone was afraid of the new Head Girl biting their heads off for moving around too much.)
"I don't get it." Sirius muttered after a while.
"What?"
"How are you so calm?" He wondered and his eyes bore into the golden ones.
"Huh?"
"Didn't you want her for yourself?" Sirius asked quietly.
Remus was thrown off guard. He didn't know whether it was the fact that someone knew, or the way that it sounded coming from someone else. So dirty and impure, the complete opposite from what it felt like.
"Hm. Well you got me there, Sirius. With a risk of sounding conceited, I dare to say that I thought I was much more discreet than you are." Remus concluded uncomfortably.
"Oh I didn't know for sure, but it seems I guessed correctly." Sirius smirked.
Remus blinked a couple of times.
"Well."
"Yeah." Sirius nodded. "Anyways, what do you even see in her?" He asked frowning and Remus got a feeling he wasn't only asking about him.
"Don't, Sirius. Hating her is not going to change anything." He tried to reason.
"How can I not hate someone, who's wrapping their filthy little hands around the person I'm in love with." Sirius grumbled.
"They're happy. Both of them." Remus sighed.
"What about us? Our happiness? You're not even gonna fight?"
"We had six years for fighting, before they got together. This now, would simply be playing unfair." The lycanthrope shook his head solemnly.
"You know what? You can think whatever you want, but he's mine and no one can take him from me!" Sirius snapped angrily and strode back to their cabin determinedly.
"Sirius," Remus said calmly, even as Sirius brushed his shoulder forcefully passing by, "Does he know that?"
And so the new school year started. With Sirius glaring at Lily every time she so much as toughed James and Peter glancing awkwardly around trying to escape the tense atmosphere hanging over their group.
Remus felt pain making his stomach churn as Lily smiled at James, but even so, he knew this was bound to happen someday. He didn't feel angry, didn't feel wronged, he just felt hurt- hurt by the circumstances.
The only one who truly annoyed Remus was Sirius, who somehow thought that had the right to hate Lily, though she did nothing wrong. Who thought that he had some kind of claim over James. Whose whole world seemed to be revolving around himself.
The annoyance doubled when he saw a concerned look on James' face.
Who did Sirius think he was?
