I do not own Harry Potter

James Potter was sick. Love sick. His three friends, Remus, Sirius, and Peter, sat on Sirius' bed watching James as he lay back on his own bed, agonising over Lily Evans. His hair was messier than usual, and he held a pillow.

"She's so beautiful, you know? Her hair is so… gorgeous and fiery and perfect, and her eyes are such a beautiful shade of green. Not to mention she's so smart, and caring. But she absolutely hates me," James moaned. Remus and Sirius exchanged a look.

"Do you really blame her, Prongs? You bullied her best friend, you constantly asked her out, and she thinks you have a big head. You do, by the way," Remus said, "Yeah, you've stopped the first two, but she's not going to instantly jump at you because you seem to have changed. Give it time."

"She'll never change her mind," James complained.

"No, she won't," Remus said, "You're just going to have to let her go. You really stuffed up, Prongs, and to be perfectly honest, I don't think she's ever going to want to be with you. Your best bet is to let her go." James sat up, dropping the pillow, his eyes flashing in anger.

"Why don't you let..." James started to snap before remembering Sirius was in the room, "Well, why don't you try letting it go with the person you're in love with." Sirius and Peter looked confused.

"Wait, Remus is in love with somebody, and you know who it is?" Sirius asked, feeling his stomach drop. Remus in love… he had always known one day Remus would find someone, but he'd never thought about how he'd feel about it.

"I wouldn't say in love…" Remus said.

"Of course he is. Completely besotted," James said, "He just hides it well. Not from me though, I could tell." Remus sighed. Why couldn't James have just kept quiet? Remus was already trying to let it go, because he knew nothing could ever come of it. He didn't need James to tell him that.

"What? Who? Moony, why didn't you tell me?" Sirius whined.

"It's not like I willingly told James. It doesn't matter, anyway," Remus said, "And why did you have to say anything, James?"

"Sorry Moony," James said with an apologetic grin, "I wasn't really thinking. I was just annoyed that you'd tell me to let it go when… well, you know."

"For your information, I am trying to let it go because he's less likely to be with me than Lily is with you," Remus said. James nodded.

"That's true. Sorry, Moony," James said.

"Who is it?" Sirius whined, "I need to knooooow!"

"You absolutely do not," Remus said. He couldn't stand the idea of Sirius knowing he was in love with him. He'd never live it down, and it could be that one thing that lost him Sirius' friendship, and Remus wouldn't be able to stand that.

"But Prongs knows," Sirius complained.

"He guessed. I didn't willingly tell him, I never would have," Remus said.

"Aw, come on, Moony, we won't laugh. Unless it's Snivellus, then there's nothing wrong with it," Sirius said.

"Let it go, Padfoot," James said, "I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry, Moony."

"Yeah, fine. I'm going to leave you lot to it," Remus said, standing up and walking out of the room, James, Sirius, and Peter all watching him.

"He's gone, can you tell me now?" Sirius asked. James shook his head.

"If he doesn't want you to know then I'm not telling you. I feel awful enough as it is, I shouldn't have even said that," James said, "And you should be careful, Sirius, it's getting close to the full moon."

Remus, standing just outside the door, smiled, glad that even with him not being in the room, James still wasn't going to tell them. He knew that James hadn't really meant to say anything. Trusting in the fact that James wouldn't say anything, Remus went down to the Common Room, somewhat annoyed with Sirius. He could be very obnoxious at times, and that was one of them. Anyone else would have just let it go after it was obvious Remus wasn't going to say anything, but not Sirius, who seemed to think everything was his business.

Remus sat down on one of the seats next to the fire. Thinking about Sirius was never a good idea. As annoyed as Remus was, it still led to thoughts that he shouldn't have about one of his best friends. One of his straight best friends. He tried to stop it, but his mind went to imagining what it would be like to kiss Sirius, to pull his hands through Sirius' hair…

"Are you okay, Remus? You seem upset." Remus was pulled out of his thoughts and he looked at the source of the question. Lily was sitting in the seat next to him.

"Yeah, Sirius is just… frustrating me," Remus said lightly, deciding that was the best way to describe it.

"Black frustrates everyone," Lily said sympathetically.

"I hope he doesn't frustrate you in the same way," Remus muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing. Don't worry. Just talking to myself. Spending so much time with James and Sirius causes madness," Remus said, smiling. Lily smiled.

"Black more so, I imagine," she said. Remus frowned.

"What, have you changed your mind about James?" Remus asked. Lily shook her head.

"No! Of course not!" she said in an oddly high voice, "Well… maybe a little bit. We're getting along now, you know, for our Head duties."

"I bet you have head duties," Remus said before he could help himself, then he covered his mouth, "I'm sorry, Lily, I've been spending too much time with Sirius." Lily went bright red.

"Or you're just a seventeen year old male," she said, "And believe me, that won't be happening."

"Oh, I know. James is giving up on you, anyway," Remus said, stretching the truth a little. It didn't hurt to give James a little help, even if Remus didn't think James had a shot in hell.

"Oh? Really?" Lily said in a strange voice, "Well, that's good. I mean, he hasn't asked me out so far this year, which I'm grateful for, it was really irritating. But it means it will be easier to work with him if he's given up on me. It's a good thing. Good." Remus frowned at Lily.

"Are you sure you really believe that?" Remus asked. Lily nodded, but her expression said differently.

"Oh, yes, absolutely. It's a good thing. A good thing," Lily insisted. Remus narrowed his eyes at her, not fully believing her. He didn't understand. For years she'd asked James to leave her alone but now he was, was she disappointed?

"Moony! Oh, hey Evans. Moony, you have to come upstairs, we've dared Wormtail to eat an Every Flavour Bean that looks like a vomit one, it's going to be brilliant!" James said, hardly looking at Lily as he stood next to her seat. Remus raised an eyebrow.

"You know we're going to have to end up cleaning up real vomit, right?" Remus said. James nodded.

"Doesn't matter, this is going to be hilarious, we've got him to wait until you're up there," James said. Remus nodded, standing up.

"Bye, Lily," he said as he followed James who was bounding back up the stairs.

"Lily, what are you doing?" Lily blinked, noticing that Mary MacDonald was sitting next to her.

"How long have you been there?" Lily asked.

"Five minutes. You've been watching the Marauders," Mary said. Lily shook her head, but Mary was right. Lily was watching them. Before this year, she'd never taken much interest in them. Remus was a decent guy, and she considered him a friend, and Peter seemed to be sweet, but overall her interactions with the Marauders were her annoyance with them and Potter constantly asking her out. She wasn't entirely sure where her new interest in them came from, but she had a feeling it had to do with what Potter had said about their friendship, and her own friendship with Remus.

Remus had all but confirmed for her that he was a werewolf, and if he was, and the other three knew, then they were good friends, and Potter and Black weren't as bad as she thought they were. As irritating as Potter was, he was a good friend, and she wanted to know more about their friendship. It interested her. From the outside it did seem like James and Sirius were best mates and Remus and Peter just hung around with them, and they enjoyed the admirers, but now she knew differently. Not everyone was lucky enough to have such close friends.

"Making sure they're not causing trouble," Lily said as Remus stood up and left the Common Room. Tonight was the full moon, and Lily felt sorry for what Remus had to go through every month. He was such a good guy, and certainly didn't deserve it.

"If they cause trouble I reckon it will only be Sirius, James hasn't been any trouble lately. Head Boy and all. They haven't caused much trouble so far this year," Mary said.

"It's only a matter of time, though," Lily said, "I don't trust them."

"You're friends with Remus," Mary pointed out. Lily shrugged.

"It's just a matter of time," Lily said. Mary shook her head.

"You just don't like the idea that maybe James Potter has matured. Because if he's matured, and changed, then maybe you might actually like him," Mary said.

"Like him?" Lily scoffed, "Potter? Yeah, I'll like Potter when Voldemort is compassionate." Mary gave Lily a knowing look before looking back at her homework.

"You already do like him," Mary murmured, low enough so that Lily didn't hear her.