A/N: Did my best to get this chapter out ASAP so you guys weren't left hanging too long :) if there are any mistakes let me know!
A/N2: Also, Frank and Alice in this chapter= probably the most fun I had writing a non R/S scene in this fic. I see Alice in my head looking like a blonde Brody Dalle if anyone is interested. Hope you like the scene (and the whole chapter for that matter) as much as I liked writing it...

Things weren't too bad, given the circumstances. Remus was trying to keep Sirius optimistic. On the bright side, Remus had called Alice and after a short, heated debate, was able to assure Sirius that she had no camera crew in tow and had yet to actually enter the hotel. Still, she was only giving Remus 5 minutes to show up before she entered and started to ask around for him. Alice was pissed and she didn't care how recluse Remus' boyfriend was.

To make matters worse, James and Peter didn't plan to leave the room any time soon. At least that's what their conversation seemed to tell the eavesdroppers. Sirius didn't have the energy or the calm to walk out there and try and get them out. Right now, he was fine with laying on the bed in just a pair of briefs and focus on all the glorious ways his life seemed to spin out of his grasp.

The only consolation to all of this was Remus was rubbing a hand along Sirius' thigh. While it did turn Sirius on slightly, his body understood that this was no time for sex…well it almost understood. Hearing the word boyfriend come from Remus' mouth added to Sirius' nervousness. It made his heart beat all the faster and jammed a lump in his throat but it still somehow gave him a feeling of hopeful excitement.

For ten more minutes, Remus listened to the conversation that was going on outside Sirius' room. During that time, Sirius had lace his fingers with Remus', mostly to stop the comforting hand from causing all of Sirius' blood to move towards his groin. The hand was still comforting though, giving Sirius a reassuring squeeze every so often.

Remus gave Sirius's hand another squeeze but this time it was in anticipation. The voices had suddenly stopped and there was a sound of a door closing. After holding his breathe for another few seconds and not hearing any more voices, Remus realised it was safe to leave and gave Sirius a final kiss before walking out. Relieved he had actually pulled it all off, Remus smiled to himself as he shut Sirius hotel bedroom door with affection. Turning around, Remus was flabbergasted to find James sitting on a sofa, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Uh..." Remus said unintelligently, a sinking feeling in his stomach making him almost want to vomit.

"What the-"

"I wouldn't walk in there for a while." Remus blurted, before bolting for the door, his self-preservation instincts kicking in. Yes, it was a little cowardly but he didn't want to be around for the conversation that was about to take place between James and Sirius. Especially knowing how much James didn't like him.

James watched Remus run out and panic started to well up in his chest. He didn't know what the punk was doing here, how he got in or what he had done to Sirius but it couldn't have been good. Wrenching open the door as fast as he could, all worry disappeared when James saw Sirius only in a pair of briefs as he stretched comfortably on the bed. The smile on the guitarist's face disappeared when he noticed his friend looking at him and Sirius quickly grabbed the sex-wrinkled sheets to cover himself up. From the love bites on Sirius' chest to the smell of sex in the room, James didn't want to believe what was happening even if all of Sirius' strange behaviour started to fall into place. They stared at each other in silence, not moving for a full minute. Then Peter walked out of the bathroom, waking them out of their dreamlike state and all hell broke lose.

Knowing Sirius' secret was actually rather fun. Frank decided this the moment he started making subtle jokes and remarks in connection to Remus and all things punk. Sirius, as of now, had been unable to retaliate properly and James had been going out of his mind to see that Sirius was but without a particular reason. In the prank war that was waging during this tour, Frank liked to think he was winning.

Humming to himself as he strolled up the stairs, Frank looked through the French magazine he found that had a short interview with Remus Lupin. Just tossing the magazine at Siruis and suggesting a certain page would get his point across.

Still engrossed in the brilliance of his plan, Frank didn't notice a shorthaired bleached-blonde as he turned the corner until she walked straight into his chest.

"Oh! Sorry! I mean désolé," he quickly said but almost backtracked when he saw the woman was wearing tight plaid trousers, chains, a halter vest top and a rather angry lip ringed sneer. A smirk met his lips when he noticed the tattoos on her arms and breasts spilling out of her vest.

"Oi, watch where you're going!" She growled while pushing him. The shove brought Frank back to reality as well as making him fall down against the wall. Completely shocked, it took a moment for Frank to gather his wits and reply just as angrily.

"Me? What about you? Why don't you watch where you're going Courtney Love?"

"Piss off before I snap you in two."

"I'd like to see you try. I expect you to piss off before I call security. How the hell did someone like you get passed the front entrance of the Ritz?"

"Excuse me? You little shit!" The woman pulled her arm back to bestow a punch on Frank's face and he lifted up his hands in panic.

"Whoa! Wait! Wait! Let's just calm down! I'm sorry I offended you."

"But you're not sorry about what you said?"

"Okay, I'm sorry about that too." In a final attempt to get her to lower her arm, Frank gave her a charming smile. The woman raised a calculating eyebrow before putting down her arm.

"I'm looking for a friend, if you're dying to know."

"Really?" It was Frank's turn to raise his brow, thinking for a moment and something finally clicked. He actually vaguely remembered seeing a picture of this woman. "Your friend wouldn't happen to be heavily tattooed, in a band and goes by the name Remus would he?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"The name's Frankie Long." Frank introduced himself, holding out his hand with a smile that normally made women's legs buckle. He watched as the punk's eyes slowly moved from his face to his groin in amusement. There was no attempt to take his hand.

"Long huh? I'm-" before she could introduce herself, the sound of thudding boots caught their attention. Looking over, they saw Remus Lupin running down the hall.

"Where the fuck have you been? We need to get down there!"

"I thought I told you to wait outside."

"You just don't want me to see who your boyfriend is!" She accused before taking his wrist and moving towards the stairs. A little upset at being forgotten so easily, Frank decided it would be best if he left those two and see what Remus was running from. He walked down the path he saw Remus running down and unsurprisingly, heard the panicked voice of James.

"What the bloody hell is going on? Why did Sid Vicious what's his name just leave? How long has he been in there with you Sirius? Why weren't you dressed when I barged in? Did he hurt you? What's going on?" James almost howled the last question. The door to the en suite that James and Sirius were sharing was still open and Frank could see Peter trying to calm James down. It was obvious that James knew what was going on- he was just trying to find excuses and lies to believe.

After a few more minutes of shouting and frantic arm waving, it was obvious James wasn't going to calm down anytime soon (he had always been the more reactive of them). To be honest, Sirius wasn't really doing anything to help. He had his shirt on inside out and his trousers weren't done up all the way. He looked thoroughly shagged and very ashamed, so Frank decided it was time to step in.

"James, shut up and breathe. Sirius was afraid to tell you what was happening because he was afraid of how you'd react. Which considering the present circumstances was a very sensible fear."

"You knew what was happening? Why did you tell him? I'm your best mate Sirius! What's happening?"

"He didn't tell me anything. I found out of my own." Frank insisted, seeing that this was slowly turning into an argument. Their bickering ended when Sirius finally spoke up.

"He's my boyfriend James. I think..." Sirius admitted, silencing Frank and James.

"You think?" Peter asked, trying to encourage Sirius to continue talking.

"We never really talked about it- look, I'm sorry James. I really am. I saw how you acted when you saw Remus the first time and I never wanted you to find out about it all like this. Fuck, I don't even know how I wanted you to find out." There was the weight of defeat in Sirius' words as he shrugged and just looked guilty. He raised a hand towards James in hopes of a sign that they would just laugh it all off but instead James sighed before grabbing his coat and walking out.

[Excerpt from Rolling Stone interview with The Marauders]

Rolling Stone: So tell me how the band started.

James Potter: Well it started 'round 2001? 2002? I remember we were sitting around my house one summer and moaning about there being nothing to do when my mum passed by. She told us to start something like a band that would be less damaging to our house. At first we thought it was a silly idea but Pete was the one who really took to it.

Peter Pettigrew: Yeah, I suppose she planted a seed. We all knew how to play instruments relatively well at the time but never thought about pooling our talents together. Then one particular day Sirius was being particularly moody and I suggested he write out how he felt in a song. The blokes made fun of me for the idea but I kept on insisting until he did it and then the rest really is history.

RS: The three of you have known each other for a while from the sounds of it. How did the three of you meet?

JP: Sirius and Pete and I have known each other since we started school at Eaton.

PP: We somehow ended up sitting together during a lesson on the first day and just started chatting- much to the anger of the teacher of course.

JP: Yeah, from that point on we were inseparable. We found we all had a love of pranks and joined forces against the school. After about the 4th call from the headmaster during our first year, my mum had taken to calling us the 'Maddening Marauders', which is eventually where our name comes from.

RS: Your debut album Pass It On was released when the three of you were only 17. How did you feel when you saw it climbing through the charts the way it did?

PP: A little bit of shock, a little awe. If the album hadn't done well, I'd probably had gone to university.

JP: Yeah, I don't think it really hit me until one day we looked out of our hotel room and saw all of these screaming girls. While that's exciting to a hormonal 17-year-old boy, it was still a little scary to think all those people hardly knew us but had somehow connected with us because of our music.

RS: Sirius? How did you feel about the success of Pass It On?

Sirius Black: I was excited I suppose.

JP: Sirius doesn't like to talk much in interviews I'm sure you've heard. I normally do the talking for him.

SB: He's quite good at it so I don't have any complaints.

JP: Don't let his attempts at stoicism fool you; he was just as giddy as Pete and I, if not more.

It was a little melodramatic of him to walk out but James had his reasons. They had been best mates since they were 13. If Sirius still thought that he couldn't tell James things because he was afraid of judgment then there was something wrong. Just the fact that Sirius was worried about it all showed that he didn't think very high of James and that's what hurt the most. The last time Sirius had kept something a secret between them had been when his family life got worse. More and more, the band became important to Sirius as he searched for a distraction in hopes of avoiding the issue. Suddenly and seemingly without warning, Sirius dropped out of Eaton. If James hadn't found out from a third source, he wouldn't have known to find Sirius and force him to live with the Potters as opposed to on the streets. Sirius doesn't keep secrets from James but when he does, it's normally because it's something horrible he doesn't want James to worry about.

James had to get out of that room before he started to punch someone...or cried. All he needed right now was to calm down so he could think clearly. To think that Sirius felt lying about a boyfriend was on par with being homeless- it was the stupidest thing he had done in a long while. And there had been some pretty stupid things along the way. Sure James would have been upset but he'd have gotten over it. That's what best mates do. Thinking otherwise was just disrespectful.

After walking blindly for about half an hour, James found himself in front of a music store. He looked at the various guitars in the window and was somewhat shocked to see a familiar multi-coloured red head flailing and shouting at an employee. Carefully opening the door, he walked in and found a slightly secluded area between a couple displays and listened in to the argument that was taking place.

"I don't fucking speak French! Speak English! I need this bass fixed by tonight."

"Non, mademoiselle, une semaine." The clerk tried to explain, getting angrier at Lily's refusal to try and understand him.

"I don't know what that means!"

They continued for a few more sentences until the clerk became too frustrated and started to shoo Lily out of the store.

"What do you think you're doing? NO! I need my bass fixed tonight. I have a show." Lily tried enunciating but could tell the French man was as stubborn as she.

"Please. I can't afford a new one right now and my fucking manager is being a dick and telling me that it's my fault my bass is smashed and won't lend me any money. I'm broke and I need a bass! Can I rent one?"

"Je suis désolé."

"Oh fuck you!" Lily all but screamed, packing up what was left of her bass guitar and walking with her head held high out of the store. James watched from his secluded spot, chewing on his bottom lip in thought. Suddenly, James pulled out his mobile. It was time he called in a favour.

It was about half an hour before their performance was about to start and it was one of the few times they weren't surrounded by cameras (the crew had followed Alice and Dorcas somewhere). Lily was sitting on the floor of the waiting room, trying to tune her bass as Remus watched from a chair. She had used a mix of glue and heavy-duty tape to fix it but it wasn't working very well. It would have been fine if the fret board wasn't busted. It wasn't sturdy enough to hold tightened strings. Sighing, it seemed she would have to borrow the bass from the opening band which would be a journey on it's own as she wasn't really getting along with that bassist either.

It frustrated Lily that she couldn't just buy a new bass but Dung had made sure she wouldn't get any more money in her account until after the tour. She had been living off of free food in the green rooms and her anger had just accumulated and resulted in her pretending her bass was Dung's head and smashing it during the encore of last night's show. She felt better until she realised she had smashed her bass and there was one more show left.

She was considering calling the record label and see how much they were really making and how much Dung was giving them. Something told her that Dung was pocketing quite a bit of it.

"You should have told us you couldn't get a new one. We could have pitched." Remus insisted as he watched Lily fail to tune the bass.

"It's fine. I'll borrow Davis' bass."

"Good luck with that one. If you weren't so proud, you'd have your own."

"Shut up Remus."

"You should have also told us that Dung was singling you out this whole tour. He shouldn't have made you pay for that mess in Frankfurt."

"I think he's taking money from us." Lily said seriously, looking Remus in the eyes. He looked back at her and nodded.

"I think so too."

"What are we gonna do?"

"Band meeting after he falls asleep. Dorcas and Alice should be able to say something."

Nodding and going back to her bass, Lily sighed. This was turning out to be a really shitty tour. Their solemn silence was cut off when Alice, Dorcas and the cameramen burst in holding a tall box.

"Lily! Some Frenchie delivery bloke told us this was for you."

"What is it? Who's it from?"

"We don't know. There's no sender name. Open it!"

With everyone watching, Lily took the weighty package and opened it up to find a guitar case inside. When she looked inside it, she gasped.

"Well that's lucky." Dorcas said with a smile. Inside the case was a bass guitar. It was painted a gorgeous streaked blue over black and was brand new. Gingerly, Lily picked up the bass, unable to believe her eyes.

"It's a Roscoe. They cost thousands of pounds."

"It says here number 3 of 10 ever made." Alice read from a card she found in the case, "Swamp Ash body, Spalted Maple top, Bolivian Rosewood fingerboard. Wow. Someone must really like you."

"Who the fuck sent this?" Demanded Lily, still dazed at the masterpiece she was holding close to her.

"We told you we don't know." Dorcas admitted, looking through the packaging to find a name.

"Hey, there's a note on the back of this," Alice noticed as she flipped the card over, "says, 'for Lady Bird, sorry about your dick manager'. What's that supposed to mean? Well despite Dung being a dick. That's a well known fact."

"I..." Lily sat thinking for a moment, trying to sift through her brain on why anyone would call her that. Suddenly it clicked and she started to blush.

"You're blushing. This should be a good story." Remus teased.

"It's nothing. Just...when I was little I started taking singing lessons and at the school there was this boy who followed me around calling me Lady Bird because I had lady bird wellies. Kept on bringing me the damn things every time he saw me."

"Aww, isn't that sweet? Lily's childhood lover."

"He was never my lover!" Lily insisted, blushing even more, "I only knew him for a couple of weeks before my dad lost his job and couldn't afford for me to take lessons. I don't even remember his name."

"Whoever he is, he remembers you and somehow knows that you don't like Dung. At least that solves the bass issue." Remus said, watching Lily still entranced at the clear sounds coming from the strings.