AN: Some of you seemed to think I would be continuing the last chapter into a fight, but Sirius ran away before Remus could hex him back, soo yeah. That's not what I was going for. Anyway, thanks again for the lovely reviews. I hope you like this chapter! I think there will only be one more after this. Hopefully I can get it written before the premiere, because after that I'm busy for a few days. I'll try...! Review, pleeease. :)

Remus sat alone in the common room; James was at Quidditch practice and Peter was watching him. Remus pulled out his Astronomy homework and set to work labeling a diagram of the night sky. After a few moments of this, someone sat down beside him.

Lily leaned back on the couch. "Hullo, Remus."

"Hi, Lily," he replied, his quill scribbling on the diagram.

She frowned, moving closer to him. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"When are you going to forgive Sirius?"

The motions of his quill stopped, but he did not turn to face her. "I don't know, Lily. I see no reason to forgive him."

"Well, you see, he's much too immature to try and fix the situation himself, so you've got to take the initiative."

"I haven't got to do anything," argued Remus, finally throwing down his quill and looking into her eyes. "Why do you care, anyhow?"

"I…," she faltered, and started again. "James is really upset now that Sirius won't speak to you guys. He misses his best friend. And I could pretend that's the only reason I care, but… I can't stand to see you apart. You all care so much for each other, and it's awful for your friendship to fall apart. You're all jokes and laughter all the time, but I've seen Sirius truly caring for you, Remus. He can pretend that that's all gone, but it's not, and you know it. Don't you miss him?"

Of course Remus missed him. He missed Sirius's absurd humor, his ability to raise everyone's spirits, his heartwarming smile, his frustrating comebacks that had lately annoyed Remus so much, but previously were so endearing… "I do," he admitted to Lily, "but I don't see what I can do about it. He seems to hate me at the moment."

"He doesn't hate you!" insisted Lily, glad to finally be making some progress.

"He hexed me in the hallway," Remus pointed out.

"That doesn't mean he hates you," Lily argued. "He was just trying to get back at you for ruining his stuff."

Surprised, Remus almost asked how Lily knew about that incident, but then realized that James must have told her.

"He's big on revenge," continued Lily.

"Well," said Remus, "even before that, he said some things, and I said some things, about his girlfriend there, Nora- "

"They broke up, you know," interjected Lily.

Remus eyes lit up for a second, until he realized this really meant nothing at all. "Typical Sirius. Dates a girl for a week, then leaves her crying at his feet," he muttered bitterly.

"I heard she broke up with him," Lily clarified, having watched Remus's reaction carefully.

"Good for her. Learned what she was really dealing with, I s'pose."

Lily brought her hand to Remus's face and gently angled it so that he was looking straight at her. "Can I ask you something else?"

"Sure," he replied, uncertain.

She took a deep breath. "Sirius… Do you feel something towards him, something more than friendship?"

Remus stared into her thoughtful eyes for a few moments before deciding that she was trustworthy. "I did," he sighed, and it felt so good to admit it aloud. "I do. Yes." He shook his head. "Lily, I don't know what to do! I can't stop thinking about him. It was bad enough before, but now this!"

She looked at him pityingly.

He glanced up again. "How did you- how did you know?"

A soft smile appeared on her face. "Girl's intuition, I guess, but you've been rather obvious. Your obnoxious little arguments… the way your hands always linger for a moment too long… the way you look at him… the way he looks at you…"

"The way he looks at me?" asked Remus, confused.

"Oh, yes," said Lily. "He feels the same way, I'm sure of it. You two have been acting like it for a few years now. I've been waiting for something to come of it."

Remus's face scrunched up in incomprehension. That could not possibly be true, surely Lily was only trying to make him feel better. It was crazy enough for Remus to like a boy, when he had never before had feelings of this kind. The boy in question couldn't like him back – that would be impossibly unlikely, the probability infinitely small. Especially when the boy in question was constantly surrounded by an adoring cloud of females. Especially when the boy in question had made it clear that he disliked Remus very much at the moment. Especially when the boy in question was his best friend.