A/N: Peter's POV, this chapter is dedicated to my guest reviewer who asked for me to keep Peter out of the relationship. Hope this chapter satisfies that desire while still showing Peter's perspective!

-C

I thought that the world was ending, but somehow it kept on going in spite of my pain.

First of all, when we all came back from Hogsmeade on Valentine's Day not only were Lily and James together (which I honestly didn't care about anymore), but Sirius had somehow managed to overcome the issues between him and Amy.

They were together, too.

To Sirius's credit, in spite of how sickeningly sweet it was to watch either couple, Sirius had refrained from shameless displays of affection in public. I knew it had nothing to do with me. He probably still didn't know I wanted her. It was because of Remus, his situation with Sarah and his lingering crush on Amy.

I had thought of trying to capitalize on Remus's crush on Amy, which in spite of his best efforts to eradicate continued on, if nowhere near as strong as it had once been. But every time I tried to bring it up Remus would get depressed about Sarah and miss the point entirely.

No, if I was going to find some way to separate Sirius and Amy, Remus would be completely useless. I would have to get creative, to look down other avenues.

I was sitting at breakfast before the final Quidditch match of the year. It wasn't a Gryffindor match, but Gryffindor's victory of the cup was riding on Hufflepuff beating Ravenclaw. Everyone was sporting Hufflepuff colors, and Amy even had legitimate Hufflepuff gear borrowed from Sarah's little brother, Easton, who was a first year with a bit of a crush on his sister's best friend.

For good measure, of course, I had been keeping an eye on Easton as well, but the likelihood of losing out to a first year Hufflepuff was always a bit slim, especially now that she was dating Sirius.

Sirius had taken to feeding her off his fork, reminiscent to the days when she had been sick in his bed, only eating the things he put in front of her face. He seemed to take some sort of intense pleasure in feeding her, in seeing his lips wrapped around fork, and I averted my eyes, paying attention to my porridge instead of the way Amy's eyes sparkled as they wrapped around the sausage-laden fork.

Were they sleeping together already? It had been a few weeks, but had she already gotten to the point where her lips were wrapping around his cock in private? I stabbed my spoon at my porridge at the thought. I'd hardly even seen them kiss, quick pecks all, but I knew Sirius. I knew how quickly he often moved to take girls to bed, and if they had already begun to sleep together my task was not only difficult, it was nigh insurmountable.

Nobody had dumped Sirius after sleeping with him, not even Vanessa technically speaking.

Vanessa had actually proved less of an obstacle to things than I would have guessed where Lily and James were concerned. In spite of the obvious affection of the couple, Vanessa continued to watch from the periphery, perhaps waiting, like me, for the right time to take what she wanted. I had long since given up caring about her plans, much less trying to think about how to turn them to my advantage. She had, as far as anyone other than her was concerned, lost and lost miserably.

Granted, she hadn't really lost until there was a ring on Lily's finger, but I knew that it was only a matter of time unless she did something really big, like killing Lily, and I didn't think that even Vanessa Brown was capable of that.

Lily and James had gotten almost as sickening as Sirius and Amy, although they rarely kissed in public. Lily was obviously self-conscious about the whole thing, and James was taking their blossoming relationship at a pace that was comfortable for her. Still, he waited on the girl hand and foot, and as I saw Remus watching both Lily and James and Sirius and Amy with a grim sort of depression I couldn't help but wonder if the girls wouldn't be the destruction of the Marauders entirely.

After all, I certainly wasn't going to sit back and watch Sirius be with my Amy. I figured it was a matter of time before something shifted the balance between Sarah and Remus and Remus would either be elated and join their ranks of sickeningly happy people, or as I thought to be more likely he would be bitterly disappointed and would be able to stand being around either couple almost as much as it pained me to be around them.

All I could do was watch and wait, and as we all gathered in the Quidditch stands to watch the match I pushed all of the thoughts of romances from my mind. It was difficult with Sirius muttering things into Amy's ear the whole match, making her giggle frequently. James was giving Lily a running commentary on top of the actual Quidditch commentary, and she two was giggling. Thankfully Marlene and Sarah were not giggling or I probably would have just thrown myself off the stands. Rather, Marlene was cheering frantically for Hufflepuff and Sara was standing on the far end of our group from Remus, her face impassive as she watched the match proceed.

And proceed it did, and well in our favor. Hufflepuff managed to pull out a win, 490-200, and Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup. James Potter, captain of our victory, was praised by the whole House, and naturally a victory party was planned. I had no way of knowing the things riding on that party, but I went with my classmates to the party, decked out in my Hufflepuff colors. We took the time to change into Gryffindor attire and when I returned to the common room the party was in full swing with dancing, food, and even alcohol which Remus was serving. I crept over to where Remus was serving and sat down in front of his table, taking a butterbeer and watching the party.

"Some match," he said over the music, which was something from Sirius's collection, likely. He'd been listening to the Sex Pistols a lot lately, and it sounded like them. "Thought Ravenclaw had it when they hit Jeffery with the Bludger, but he's stronger than I thought."

"Hard head," I said, not really meaning to joke, but Remus laughed bitterly, glancing over at Sarah, who was standing with Marlene, watching people dance. Perhaps he was hoping she would come get a drink, or that I would relieve him so he could ask her to dance.

There was no way, though, that I was going to take over that easily. For one thing, I liked them to think I was a bit obtuse. If they were being even the least bit subtle I could always pretend I didn't understand and get out of all kinds of things I didn't want to do. What was more, though, was that I had a much better vantage point of the party as a whole when I wasn't at the drinks table. I wanted to watch from the front of the table, keeping an eye on Sirius and Amy, James and Lily, Remus and Sarah, without having to be involved in the party per se.

At least some amount of luck was on Remus's side that night, though, because Sarah did come over to get a drink, detaching herself from Marlene because some bold sixth year boy had asked Marlene to dance.

I thought it was obvious that Sarah was anxious about getting a drink from Remus, but the way his eyes lit up as she stood across from him said clearly that he was too blinded by love to realize what the look on her face meant.

"Sarah," Remus said a bit breathlessly, smiling at her like a fool.

I didn't bother watching the exchange. Listening would be enough. My eyes were too busy grazing the crowd to keep tabs on the other important players of the night.

Lily and James, they were easy enough, dancing together on the fringes, every song like a slow dance to them in spite of the wild songs Sirius had put into the playlist. Vanessa, predictably, was not far off, sitting in an armchair and watching them dance with danger in her eyes, sipping her drink casually and predatorily all at once.

Marlene continued to dance with the sixth year boy whose name I could not recall, although part of that probably had to do with the fact that in the half-lit room I had yet to get a proper look at the boy's face. Still, I had the feeling that his name was somehow on the tip of my tongue and I stared at them for a long moment before deeming any recognition a lost cause and letting my eyes wander to the very center of the action.

And where else could Sirius Black be but at the center of the action? He had not stepped away from Amy all night, obviously taking advantage of the party as an opportunity to shower her with unabashed public affection and attention. The smile on her face was incredible, and I was burning with jealousy that Sirius was putting it there, his hands on her waist, one of hers touching his neck and the other flicking her hair over her shoulder. He leaned in to whisper something in her ear and I watched, furious, as whatever it was he said caused her to laugh, throwing her head back as he grinned down at her.

I was drawn out of my jealousy as I heard Remus say to Sarah, "Peter can handle the drinks if you want to dance with me."

If I hadn't been so intent on keeping my cover of not listening I would have groaned. He was clearly clueless if he was volunteering me for something without asking me, without asking her if it was really what she wanted. And it was very clearly not what she wanted.

Sarah hesitated for a moment and my ears remained pricked until she finally said, "Remus, I don't want to dance."

I tensed, knowing instinctively that Remus also had tensed at her words. If Amy had said that to me, I would have probably gone directly to the dormitory and cried in despair. But Amy was dancing with her forehead pressed to Sirius's, giggling at him as he sang along with the song they were swaying to.

"Oh, sure," Remus said, pressing onward as though she hadn't just effectively given him the answer he'd been dreading for months. Was he being purposefully obtuse, or was he just so terribly afraid to accept what she was saying that he convinced himself she wasn't saying what she was? "D'you maybe want to do Hogsmeade later this month? I've heard the weather is supposed to be quite a bit warmer, and…."

She must have been shaking her head because he trailed off in such a voice full of pain that I was surprised he hadn't actually cried out in physical agony. I'd heard him do such on many a full moon.

"Remus," she said sadly, "I don't think I can do it. You're great, but…but that's asking a lot of me that I don't think I can give."

Remus said something about how he understood in a voice that clearly indicated that he was completely crushed and Sarah took her drink, returning to the other side of the party, watching the dancing. I turned discretely to watch Remus wiping away tears.

That was the end of that, I realized with a mix of emotions as the music changed to the song Magic Man, one of Amy's favorite songs. I turned my eyes back to the party to see that Amy was no longer quite as vibrant as she had been all night. She was starting to get tired, and Sirius was noticing it too.

He was murmuring something in her ear and she was shaking her head. I wondered what was happening, but even my rat ears couldn't pick up his words. She said something back to him and he replied and I watched like my very life depended on not peeling my eyes from them. Finally, Amy nodded and he led her over to the girls' staircase.

Amy was going to sleep, and she was not going off to have sex with Sirius. For one brief moment I could feel elation whooshing through my body.

The elation did not last long, though, as Sirius leaned down to kiss Amy goodnight. It began a chaste kiss like all the other ones I had seen them exchange publically, but Amy's arms wrapped around Sirius's neck as he tried to pull away, deepening the kiss with that one simple movement. I watched in both fascination and horror as Sirius backed her against the wall, his tongue visibly probing her mouth as he pressed their pelvises together. I could feel my heart racing as one of her hands traced down his chest and gripped his shirt to pull him closer while the other tangled up in his hair. I could see her graceful fingers interlocked with his silky hair in the half-lit room.

Sirius's mouth went to her jaw and he shifted them slightly, his leg between her legs as she pulled him closer, their dance almost continuing to the beat of the rock song, her eyes closed and her head leaning back against the wall with an expression of extreme pleasure as his lips traced down her neck.

There were people actually stopping what they were doing to watch the pair, although most people were still either dancing or talking.

I got to my feet and moved through the crowd of people, both wanting and not wanting to be closer. Were my feet taking me upstairs, or were they taking me over to where Sirius and Amy were snogging up against the wall? I stopped short of both and just watched, my eyes still glued to them. I'd given up caring what Lily and James were doing. It hardly mattered if Vanessa was still watching them. All that mattered was watching Sirius and Amy.

I was close enough to hear them, as they didn't seem to think about the fact that they were in a public place where anyone could hear their moans and sighs.

It was both deeply discouraging and disgusting and incredibly fascinating. I could almost imagine myself as Sirius, her hands in my hair, my mouth on her neck, her sighing my name instead of his. I already knew what nearly every part of her body looked like, so carrying the fantasy upstairs and into the night didn't take too much for my imagination. It was all incredibly arousing, but even amongst all of that I knew that it was Sirius holding her, kissing her, causing her such intense pleasure.

At this point, there were many more people whose attention was on Sirius and Amy, who were causing quite a scene as his hands cupped her ass. I was just wondering what the weight of her ass would feel like in my hands when some fifth year wolf-whistled above the crowd and cried, "Yeah, Black!"

If Sirius and Amy heard, they made no sign of it, Sirius pressing his thigh against her pelvis as she ground against it slightly. She had drank a firewhisky early in the night, but she shouldn't be drunk enough to be doing that in public. Perhaps it was the exhaustion on top of the alcohol.

The whole of the party had stopped what it was doing at this point, everyone's eyes on Sirius and Amy as Sirius's mouth returned to hers. He shifted her from where his hands cupped her ass so that she had to wrap her legs around his waist. Their faces were at equal height, and I could see her thighs so perfectly. What would it be like to have those legs wrapped around me?

I actually shuddered, but the show didn't last long after that. Lily and Marlene rushed over and broke the two up. Amy actually did look a bit abashed, although sleepily so. Sirius looked upset that he was no longer kissing her.

Lily and Marlene escorted a very tired-looking Amy up the girls' staircase as Sirius watched them go, eyes blazing. He was still ignoring the cheers and jeers and catcalls of the others at the party. When the girls had disappeared from view he turned to face the party with an impassive expression, lips tipping into only the slightest of smirks before he, also, disappeared up a staircase, this time the one that led to our dormitory.

The cheers followed him for a long moment, but they died out eventually and people went back to what they were doing.

I watched after Sirius for quite some time, heart still pounding, wondering what he would say and do when he encountered the devastated Remus in his own blissful state. My mind was still racing with fantasies of Amy and her body, still wondering what it would be to have her wrapped around me. My mouth was watering at the thought of my lips tasting her neck, my palms sweating as I recalled the sound of her moaning as Sirius had allowed her to grind against his leg.

Feeling someone watching me, I turned around and allowed my eyes to graze the crowd. Almost everyone was dancing or drinking or some combination thereof. The eyes weren't too difficult to find, though, as I spotted Vanessa Brown still sitting in her corner. She must have shifted her attention to me sometime when I had been glued to Amy and Sirius. She continued to sip her drink as she had when she'd been watching James and Lily, but there was a look of amusement and knowing in her eyes as she watched me watch her.

I shivered a little, wondering why I felt like something was about to begin.