Title: Tough Love
Author: OCDegrassi (Holly)
Pairings: Remus/James, Remus/Sirius
Rating: M
Warnings: Slash, Graphic Sexual Situations, Mpreg, Violence
Note: Chapter 10 is already here! Wow, this story is going even faster than I thought it would! I hope you guys like this chapter, because I loved writing it. It just flowed really well. Hope you enjoy!

XXX

"James!" Remus yelled when he spotted his boyfriend at the train station. He ran towards him and leapt into his arms. James hugged him back tightly. It had been a long winter break and he'd missed Remus. "I missed you so much." Remus inhaled the other boy's scent and smiled. "I missed you too." Sirius stood beside them and James embraced him in a hug next. "Hey, Padfoot." Sirius nodded in greeting, but there was something different. There was a guilty look in his eyes, and James' stomach squirmed. They made their way onto the Hogwarts Express and found the compartment that Peter had saved for them.

When they were all seated, James directed his question to Sirius. "So what did you guys do over the break?" He was waiting to study his friend's response closely. Sirius just shrugged and averted his gaze from James. "Nothing much. Just hung out…" James' eyebrows rose. He didn't buy that for one minute. Sirius may be good at lying to other people, but he was lousy at lying to James. He turned his attention to Remus, who just nodded in agreement, but there was a guilty look on his face too, and James did not like it. But, he didn't press them, because in all honesty, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

They got back to the school, and as per tradition, James and Sirius pulled their back-to-school prank. They caused the Slytherin turkeys and hams to blow up and sprinkle confetti all over them. The Great Hall laughed, aside from the Slytherins of course, but McGonagall gave Sirius and James a reprimanding look and mouthed "Detention. Tonight. 8" They rolled their eyes. It figured that she'd be a joykill to their fun. Remus tsked. "Nice going, guys." They just gave him their patented sheepish grins, and James gave him a peck kiss.

Remus had just passed out while reading a book in front of the fireplace when 8 o'clock rolled around. James didn't want to wake him, so he kissed his head lovingly, and he and Sirius made their way to detention. Upon arriving at Professor McGonagall's office, they saw cleaning supplies and groaned. "You two will be cleaning the trophy room by hand tonight. Give me your wands." They grudgingly handed over their wands and followed her to the trophy room. "You will clean until they are all spotless. I will be back in an hour to check on you."

They grumbled, but began cleaning. The faster they finished this, the faster they could leave. They made a few jokes about the looks on the Slytherins' faces when their food exploded, but they mostly worked in silence. After about 45 minutes, James decided that he needed to know. "Padfoot, what happened during Winter Break?" Sirius froze and looked at James. He laughed nervously. "Nothing. I don't know what you're talking about." James growled. "I know you're lying. You're supposed to be my best friend, so if something happened, then I deserve to know." Sirius sighed. James was right.

"I kissed Remus." He said it so quietly that James almost missed it. Almost. He stood frozen in his spot until the words had completely sunk in. Sirius opened his mouth to say "I'm sorry" but James launched at him. He wasn't even paying attention to where he was hitting Sirius; he just kept hitting and hitting. Sirius tried pushing him off, and when that didn't work, he punched him back, hitting James square in the jaw. The anger in James' eyes intensified and he hit Sirius so hard across his face that his head hit the concrete floor and he almost blacked out. His eyes were fading in and out of darkness when he heard McGonagall's voice.

"What on earth! Expelliarmus!" The boys were thrown apart and Sirius sat up as James was glaring daggers at him. "You two are best friends. What were you thinking? Detention. Potter, yours will be tomorrow at 8, and Black, yours will be the next day at 8. I have never, in all my years, seen friends act this way towards each other. Go back to your common room now, and if I find out that there's been anymore fighting, you two will be in serious trouble." They left the room and walked back to Gryffindor Tower in silence.

As soon as they entered the portrait, James went straight to Remus. "He kissed you, and you didn't tell me." Remus went from shocked to scared in less than 30 seconds. "James, let me explain," but James cut him off. "No, you cheated on me. With our best friend. How could you do this? What about our relationship? What about the baby? Is it even mine or is it Sirius'?" James knew that the baby was his, but he was so angry that the words just came out. Remus looked like he'd been slapped across the face.

"Don't talk to him that way," Sirius said angrily. James had every right to be mad, but that was low. James punched Sirius as hard as he could across the face, and then watched as his best friend hit the ground. "James!" Remus jumped down to see if Sirius was okay. James laughed in disbelief. "I can't believe this. I hate you both." Remus shook his head. "You don't mean that." James' eyes hardened. "Yes I do." He turned around and walked away, as Remus stared after him in anguish and began to cry.

Tears were spilling down James' face as he left the common room. He didn't even know where he was going, but he ended up at the Quidditch Pitch. He slid down the wall and curled his legs against his chest. He saw a flash of red and turned to see Lily walking towards him. He let her sit down without making a smart remark; mostly because he was too tired to bother. They sat in silence until Lily looked at him. "You ok?" He laughed bitterly. "Yea, I'm just great." Lily narrowed her eyes at him. "I came out here to help you, Potter, but if you're going to give me an attitude, then I'll just leave." She stood up to leave, but James grabbed her arm.

"Wait. I'm sorry. I'm just upset." She nodded and sat back down. He wasn't sure why he wanted her company, but he did. "I just can't believe they did this to me." She sighed. "What exactly did they do?" He winced. "They kissed." She nodded in understanding. "Was it a mistake?" He scoffed. "Who cares if it was a mistake? They kissed!" He yelled angrily. If she came out here to tell him that he should just forgive Remus and Sirius and move on, then she was wasting her breath. "Look, you have every right to be mad and feel betrayed. But they're only human. They make mistakes. Sirius has been in love with Remus for years now. I'm sure the whole pregnancy thing just sent him over the edge and he messed up."

James looked at her quizzically. "How do you know that Sirius has been in love with Remus for years?" Lily gave him a knowing look. "It was obvious. You had to have noticed. Maybe you just tried to deny it, because if you admitted it, then you would also have to admit that you stole Remus from Sirius. He was in love with him before you two even started dating, and you know it." James swallowed. It was true. He'd tried to ignore it and pretend it wasn't real, but deep down, he'd known all along. So who really was the worse friend?

Lily continued. "I'm not saying that what they did was right, but part of loving someone, whether it's your friend or boyfriend, is realizing that everyone makes mistakes, and being able to forgive them. Just talk to them." James looked at her, trying to discern how he felt about her encouragement. Her eyes shown with compassion and kindness and James found himself trusting her. "Fine. But I'm not going to just forgive them with the snap of my fingers."

"Nobody asked you to." James sighed and pulled her into a hug. "Thanks, Evans," he said quietly. "Anytime, Potter. Now get off me." He laughed and let go of her, and she laughed lightly in return. She really did have a beautiful laugh, James noticed. He stood up and the two walked back to the Gryffindor Tower in a comfortable silence. When they reached the portrait, James took a deep breath and walked inside to face Remus and Sirius.

XXX

A/N: Woo, so much drama! What'd you think? I wanted to show more of James and Lily because most of the last chapter was devoted to Sirius and Remus. Please review! Next chapter: More drama! I can't get more specific than that without giving anything away. Sorry. You'll have to tune in to find out!