Chapter 2

Remus stood in the prefects' bathroom as he waited for the room to clear after the usual early morning rush. Thankfully he had a free morning and was able to dawdle as long as he wanted.

"See you in Defence," Lloyd, one of the sixth year Hufflepuff prefects called back as he left the room.

Remus breathed a sigh of relief that the room was finally empty and began to unbutton his pyjama top. He was just about to remove the garment when he realised he was being watched. He looked around the room but no one had come in. That left only one explanation.

"Sirius?" he asked. "I know you're here so you might as well take off the cloak."

"Damn," Sirius muttered as he revealed his presence. "How did you know I was here?"

"Who else would it be?" Remus asked with a grin as he re-buttoned his shirt. "So why are you spying on me? And how did you get in here?"

"I got in here with the password," Sirius replied with a casual shrug. "I just had to wait until someone came along and said it. And I wasn't really spying on you."

"Were so."

"Were not."

Seeing that the conversation had quickly descended into the realms of childishness, Remus shook his head and smiled. "So what are you doing in here?"

"I woke up early today and overheard Prongs and Wormtail plotting. I thought I'd better let you know so that you're forewarned."

"And spying on me in the bathroom was just an added bonus?" Remus asked.

"Yes," Sirius nodded. "I mean no…it was…erm…well…I..."

Remus felt a smile tugging at his lips as he tried to frown in disapproval at his friend. "So what are they plotting?" he asked curiously.

"They're planning on making you jealous," Sirius replied. "You remember Abby? That little Ravenclaw Peter dated last year?"

"The one he tried to keep secret by saying she was helping him study?"

"That's the one. Well Peter and James are going to persuade her to come on to me at some point today in the hopes that you'll get jealous and make a scene."

"A scene that would no doubt lead to a public display of affection and Peter winning his money." Remus shook his head and smiled. "I really thought James and Peter would have thought of something better than that. Since when do I like making a scene?"

"You just have to make sure you don't today," Sirius said. "No matter what she does. Apparently Peter promised to give her a portion of his winnings if they succeed."

"They won't. I think I can manage to restrain myself," Remus commented dryly. "So what are your plans for the morning?"

"Well James is in Care of Magical Creatures and Peter was heading down to the library, so you have me all to yourself."

"I still have my Defence essay to finish, so I'll be heading to the library myself."

"You mean you'd rather go to the library than hang out with me in the dorm?" Sirius pouted and gave an exaggerated sniff.

"Have you finished your essay?" Remus asked.

"Not even started it," Sirius admitted with a grin. "It's not due until this afternoon."

Remus rolled his eyes and shook his head in despair. "It shouldn't take me too long to finish my essay. I just need to check a few facts in the library and write a conclusion. I'll meet you back in the common room when I'm done. You head back there now and you may get your own work done before lunch."

"I'd rather stay here with you," Sirius replied with a grin.

"I'll just bet you would. I'll meet you back in the Tower."

"Spoilsport," Sirius replied with a laugh though he made no attempt to leave.

"Weren't you listening to what I said to James last night?" Remus asked. "If you need a reminder, it was that you weren't getting into my pants that easily."

"I seem to recall that I've already been in your pants," Sirius grinned.

"You know what I mean," Remus replied.

"I could scrub your back for you," Sirius suggested mischievously as he advanced on Remus and pulled him into his arms.

"If I get a detention for not doing that essay, I'm blaming you," warned Remus just before Sirius's lips came down on his own.

"I take it you two didn't have a very productive morning," James commented as he watched Sirius and Remus frantically scribbling on their parchments in between taking bites of food.

"Sod off Prongs," Remus muttered as he flicked through a book before turning back to the parchment.

"Such language," James laughed. "I think Padfoot is becoming a bad influence on you."

Sirius kicked James under the table without looking up from his essay.

"So what were you doing all morning?" Peter asked with a wink. "And where?"

"Done!" Remus suddenly declared with an audible sigh of relief. "Now what are you two blathering on about, or do I need to ask?"

"Just wondering what you've been doing all morning instead of homework," James whispered. "Come on you can tell your best mates, can't you? There's no one else in earshot."

Remus looked around the Great Hall and saw that James was right. "Well," he began. "First we made out in the prefects' bathroom for a while…" James's face turned slightly pale, he'd clearly not imagined that either Remus or Sirius would be forthcoming with details of what they'd been getting up to. "…then we went back to the tower for an hour or two. We had the common room all to ourselves and you wouldn't believe how comfortable that rug in front of the fire is. But a couple of seventh years nearly walked in on us so we went up to the dorm after that. You might want to change your sheets by the way…."

"What?" James squeaked. "I thought you two weren't…?"

"Sirius can be very persuasive," Remus confided. "And he has so much stamina, he can go for hours. That's why we ended up making use of all the beds in the room. Then we went back to the prefects' bathroom to check out the whirlpool function of the bath."

"The prefects' bath has a whirlpool?" Peter asked.

"It has a massage mode as well but we didn't really need that one," Remus whispered. "Sirius is really good with his hands, not to mention his mouth and tongue. And did you know he could hold his breath underwater for nearly ten minutes without coming up for air?"

"Enough!" James hissed. "I don't think we need to know anything else. Right Wormtail?"

Peter nodded mutely.

"If you didn't want to know, you shouldn't have asked," Remus pointed out calmly.

"I'm going to fetch my essay from the common room," James said. "Coming Wormtail?"

"You're evil," Sirius whispered to Remus as soon as the other two boys had left the table. "You do know they actually believed all that rubbish?"

"Serves 'em right for being nosy buggers," Remus whispered back. "Besides, they wouldn't believe us if we said we'd spent most of the morning just talking."

"Pity you made that up about the bath's functions," Sirius grinned. "We could have had some fun with those."

"That wasn't made up," Remus replied. "The bath does have whirlpool and massage functions as well as foam, bubbles, oils and loads of stuff. I've never tested it all out though I accidentally hit the whirlpool lever once when I meant to refresh the water instead. So when James and Peter sneak in there to check if I was lying – and you know they will – they'll find that the bath is exactly as I described. As I said, it'll teach them to ask personal questions they don't really want answering."

Sirius shook his head and laughed as he turned back to his essay once more.

"Hi, Remus," a soft voice cooed, causing Sirius to look up from his parchment again.

"Hi Abby," Remus replied with a smile. "If you're looking for Peter, he's just gone back to the common room. He'll be heading to Defence soon."

"I wasn't looking for Peter," Abby purred. "I was looking for you."

"You were?" Sirius asked in surprise. "You weren't looking for me?"

"Why would I be looking for you?" Abby asked with a frown of confusion. "No I was looking for my Remmie."

"Excuse me?" Remus asked.

"Your Remmie?" Sirius asked with a frown of his own. He looked towards the door and saw that either Peter and James had made it to the common room and back in record time for the performance, or they hadn't really left at all. He suspected the latter.

Sirius looked around the room and saw that once again he and Remus were the focus of attention as everyone waited to see what they would do.

"There's a Hogsmeade weekend coming up soon," Abby was saying with another bright smile towards Remus. "I thought maybe we could go together and check out Madam Puddifoot's new menu?" She fluttered her eyelashes rapidly as she inched her way further along the bench and practically onto Remus's lap.

"Maybe," Remus replied with a shrug. He was too embarrassed to admit that he had lost his Hogsmeade privileges for the rest of the year. "I've not made any plans yet and Puddifoot's new menu can't be any worse than the last, can it?"

Abby smiled again. Wrapping one arm around his shoulders and with the other hand resting casually on Remus's thigh they looked like the perfect couple. Sirius felt himself scowling at the sight and he couldn't stop the sudden stab of jealousy.

He forced himself to look away from the sight of Abby fawning all over Remus and instead shot a glare to the gloating James and Peter. He'd misunderstood what he'd overheard when he'd first woken up. Of course Remus wouldn't get jealous and make a fuss. That wasn't Remus. James and Peter knew that as well as he did. James also knew that Sirius was the type to turn into the green-eyed monster at the slightest provocation.

He looked back at Abby and Remus and saw that she was being extremely provoking. The fingers of one hand were casually twirling a lock of his hair and she was whispering quietly into his ear. Sirius moved closer to Remus himself, stopping only when his left thigh was lying flush against Remus's right.

Abby smirked at him as she continued to play with Remus's hair.

"I think you're bothering my friend," Sirius said pointedly.

"I don't hear Remmie complaining," purred Abby, planting a kiss on Remus's cheek before leaning her head on his shoulder.

"That's because Remus is too polite to say anything."

"You're sure it's not that it's bothering you?" Abby questioned with a deceptively innocent smile.

The collective gasp of half the school was enough to remind Sirius of how much money the students had been wagering on him and Remus and he bit his tongue rather than reply.

"I don't mind if you have a bit of a thing for Remmie," Abby continued. "He's so adorable and sweet and kind and funny and sexy and…"

"And sitting right here," Remus interrupted, his face reddening with embarrassment.

"His name's Remus," Sirius snapped.

"He doesn't mind being called Remmie," Abby replied as she gave Remus's leg a squeeze.

"I can speak for myself you know," Remus muttered as he glared first at Abby, then at Sirius.

"Oooh, a lovers' quarrel," a heckler called from the Hufflepuff table.

"I think they need to kiss and make up," another voice called out.

"Which ones?"

"Remus and Sirius, of course!"

"They need to get together soon."

"They're so cute together."

"Abby, push off and leave the boys alone!"

"Yeah, can't you see they're perfect for each other?"

"Oh my, check out Sirius! He's blushing!"

Sirius felt his face growing warmer by the second and he ducked his head.

"Hey Becky! Who's got January?"

Sirius looked up at that and looked towards the girl who now had the attention of the room. The brunette pulled a small book from her bag and after flipping through the pages she announced that Peter Pettigrew was the one who stood to win.

"Isn't Abby Peter's ex?" someone called out.

"No fair!"

"It's a set up to make it look like they're together!"

"Cheaters!"

"Are they a couple?"

"What counts as a public display of affection?"

"Does their embarrassment count?"

"Quiet everyone!" Becky called out as she climbed onto the table. She cast a quick glance over to the staff table and saw that they had all left for their afternoon classes. "Sirius, Remus, do you know about the pool?" she asked as she turned to face them.

"You can't tell them about it!" a voice called out from the Slytherin table.

"We already know about it," Sirius announced. "At least we know a bit about it."

"Who told you?" Becky asked calmly as she raised her hands for silence.

"I did," Lily Evans announced from further down the table.

"Under the terms of your bet that means you lose your money," Becky stated.

"I had June next year so I was going to lose anyway," Lily replied with a shrug.

Becky nodded and made a note in her book before turning back to Sirius and Remus. "The bets are all on when you two are or were going to get together and come out before the rest of the school. By come out before the rest of the school, we mean that you must engage in a public display of affection together and it must be romantic in nature."

"Why not just say they need to snog?" a snickering voice called out.

Becky frowned in the general direction of the voice before continuing. "Peter," she called out, scanning the room for the boy.

"Here," he called and waved from the doorway.

"Sending your ex to hit on one of the guys isn't exactly fair play," she told him firmly.

"There's nothing in the rules against it," he argued.

"Which is why your bet will stand…for the moment." Several students groaned at this.

"What's to stop Sirius and Remus from simply locking lips in order to win Peter his money?" someone else asked. "They're best friends."

Becky stood still for a moment as she thought things through. Finally she seemed to come to a decision and called Lily and a number of other students from various houses towards her. They held a whispered conference that lasted several minutes before they finally seemed to reach an agreement. Becky gave a final nod and climbed back up onto the table.

"Firstly it has been decided that the embarrassment of Sirius and Remus does not count as a public display of affection for the purposes of the bet. Secondly it has been decided that if either Peter, Abby or James should prove to be the winners of this bet then a rider will be attached to it just in case this is all a set up. Their winnings will be held until such time as it can be determined by those of us who have just spoken as to whether or not our two boys are really a couple or not."

"And how exactly do you plan on figuring that out?" Peter asked.

"We can't tell you that," Becky stated. "But it won't take long to find out, right Lily?"

Lily nodded and Becky smiled round the room. "Finally, there will be no more sending girls, or boys, to hit on either Sirius or Remus in the hopes it will prompt a reaction from them. We've decided that the aforementioned public display must be unprompted, spontaneous and not assisted by any magic whatsoever."

"That means that charmed mistletoe is out of the question as well," Lily called out. "I heard you plotting that earlier Potter, so you'd better think again."

Even half way across the room Sirius could hear the muttered "damn" from James at Lily's words.

Thankfully it seemed that Becky was now winding up her speech and she climbed down just in time for McGonagall to arrive back in the Great Hall in search of the fourth years who should have been in her classroom some ten minutes previously.

"You finished your essay?" Remus asked as Sirius crammed his parchment and quill into his bag and slung it over his shoulder.

Sirius shook his head. "I'll finish it off in class and borrow your notes for the lesson later."

"You're terrible," Remus chided him affectionately.

"Ah, you love me really," Sirius whispered in his ear as they made their way to class.