Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or settings. They belong to J. K. Rowling, and, sadly, I have nothing to do with her besides being an avid fan. Don't sue me. You will not get anything, believe me.

Note: Thanks to all who reviewed! I had no idea how amazing it feels to have people review your writing, especially when you work so hard on it. Constructive criticism is always appreciated as well, and I've tried to incorporate it into my new chapter. I tried to make this one a bit less fast-paced.

Alright, if you survived listening to me ramble on, on to the story!

"Remus, I…"

"No, it's—"

"I just…"

We trailed off into silence, avoiding each other's eyes, staring down at the floor for what seemed like hours. Then, finally, Sirius spoke.

"I don't want to hurt you, Remus," he said softly, his voice barely concealing the strangled pain I knew he was feeling. I felt a sudden urge to throw my arms around him, to never let go. I tried to speak, but the words caught in my throat. My head was spinning.

Strange feelings surged within me, mixed and contradicting. I wanted to let go, to kiss him back, to let him have me and hold him for all I was worth. Yet at the same time, I wanted to run. To run and run and run and never come back. Ever.
I looked up finally, into his eyes. They were like dark pools, deep and hopeful, beautiful. I felt as if they could see straight through me. They knew what my heart wanted. All of a sudden, I did too.My lips were forming the words before I knew what was happening. I closed my eyes, and whispered into the darkness.
"I love you, Sirius Black."

His lips were on mine again, passionate, understanding. I forgot the rest of the world as our tears ran together. My heart beat as his, my soul was his soul, and nothing else mattered. We weren't two separate people anymore. No, we were one.

It was the most beautiful feeling I had ever felt in my entire life.

We kept on kissing, pausing only momentarily for air. I didn't want to stop. Nothing in the world was as important as this. There existed no past, no future, nobody else in the universe. There was only now and us. Until—

Footsteps.

We sprung away from each other—guilty, terrified. We were both panting heavily, unable to speak, standing there, frozen. It seemed an eternity.

At last, I slowly picked up a sponge from the floor. With it, I began to polish a trophy. After about a minute, Sirius seemed to snap out of his dazed state and follow suit. Neither of us spoke a word as the footsteps drew closer, then closer, then closer.

I didn't know why I was so scared. It wasn't as if we had anything to hide. We had received orders to serve detention in that room, polishing trophies, and there we were in that room, polishing trophies. Perfect.

The door creaked open. Argus Filch walked in with his cat, Mrs. Norris. He looked at us suspiciously.

"You 'aven't got much done, 'ave you? Floor's wet, too." I didn't look up. "Well, I've got to let you go now," he retorted, his disappointment evident, "But," here he paused, his face cracking into a twisted grin, "See you tomorrow— for twice as long."

He left.

Finally, Sirius and I were able to stand up and really look into each other's eyes. The world was returning to us; our fear, our pain, our angst. It was all coming back, as if we were waking up again after a long, contented sleep. We stared at each other, and I swallowed hard. Sirius was the one who first mustered up the courage to speak.

"Remus, I love you," he stated, sounding so confident, I almost cried again. "I know that for sure now. I've wondered for a while, but tonight… tonight I really knew. Tonight I'm positive." His voice was amazingly strong and calm.

And for the second time that night, I said it.

"Sirius, I… I think I love you, too."