Chapter seven – Cheerful canines and a disgruntled stag

When they broke apart, Sirius felt very awkward. "Um well, that was um…" Sirius stammered. Remus smiled at him warmly which made Sirius' heart melt. "Are we a couple now?" Remus asked nervously, staring at the floor. "Yeah, if you want to be" Sirius replied, grinning.

"Of course I do! But what do we tell people?" Remus asked. Sirius' grin faded slightly. "Let's wait until we tell everyone. Maybe we should just tell James and Peter for now" Sirius replied. "Sounds good to me" Remus answered.

They smiled sweetly at each other but all was silent except for the gentle breeze rustling the leaves. "So, what do we do now?" Remus asked after a while. "How about…" Sirius began and then he pressed his lips against Remus' and gave him a longer, deeper kiss.

James watched from his dorm room window and smiled to himself. "It's about time".

The next morning, Sirius and Remus awoke slightly later than everyone else. While they made their way to the Great Hall, they walked hand in hand through the deserted corridor, or so they thought…

'No!' thought Snape angrily, tears trying to escape from his eyes.

When they arrived by the doors, their hands let go reluctantly and they walked in, taking their usual seats near James and Peter. James smiled knowingly at them. "Hey, you two are a bit late this morning. What have you two been up to?" James asked, winking at them.

Sirius and Remus both blushed and Remus muttered an excuse which didn't sound plausible to James. Peter didn't seem to sound very curious as to where the two of them were as he was too busy staring at his girlfriend. "What's our first class today?" Sirius asked, changing the subject.

"History of magic" James replied. "Oh…" Sirius said unenthusiastically. James laughed at his tone of voice. "I know what you mean mate, but at least you can get some sleep" James replied, smirking. "What are you implying?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrows. 

"Oh nothing" James replied unconvincingly. Sirius decided to drop it as he didn't want to talk about this in front of so many people.

The four of them made their way to History of magic and took their normal seats at the back. After ten minutes, James, Sirius and Peter were fast asleep but Remus was still wide awake and taking notes. "Come on you three, wake up!" Remus said quietly, nudging Sirius.

"No thank you gorgeous, I'm tired" Sirius mumbled. Peter shot up at that little comment. "Pardon?!" he said rather loudly. Sirius sat up, hoping no one had heard, luckily everyone was still in a deep stupor. Remus blushed slightly while James merely smiled with his eyes still closed.

"Ok, here's the thing…" Sirius whispered. "Sirius and I…" Remus began, not quite knowing what to say. "Are um…" Sirius said nervously. "Going out together" James finished for them, sitting up. Sirius and Remus gave him quizzical looks. "Yeah, how did you know?" Remus asked.

"I saw you two kissing last night" James replied. They both blushed at the thought that someone had seen them. "Ok… Peter?" Sirius asked. "Yeah?" Peter replied, still rather confused. "Are you ok with us two together?" Remus asked. Peter looked unsure for a moment but then smiled. "Yeah, whatever makes you happy". Remus and Sirius smiled back at him. "Well that's a relief!" Sirius said.

After lunch, the marauders made their way to defence against the dark arts which they unfortunately had with the Slytherins. Sirius could have sworn Snape was giving him the evils as he walked into the room, but he ignored it and sat next to Remus.

Remus smiled at him and slipped his hand into Sirius' under the table, they didn't let go until the end of the lesson.

Once they had left the classroom, they made their way to Transfiguration. "Will this day ever end!?" Sirius asked, throwing his hands into the air. "Of course, but we still have another lesson to get through" replied Peter. "Damn" Sirius muttered, lying on his table.

"Mr Black, your table is not your bed so I would advise you not to fall asleep" Professor McGonagall stated sharply. "Sorry miss" Sirius replied cheekily without any real apology. She glared sternly at him but carried on writing instructions on the board.

Remus gazed lovingly at Sirius. He loved it when Sirius was cheeky, it made him seem so carefree and adorable. "Like what you see, love?" Sirius asked Remus. "Yes…" Remus replied. Sirius smiled at him and he wished he could kiss his soft lips at that very moment.

The lesson finally ended and the four of them went back to the common room for a while until it was time for dinner. Everyone else had already left except for the marauders who decided to wait a while before going to dinner. Remus had seated himself on Sirius' lap and James and Peter were sitting opposite them.

"James, I just remembered something" Sirius said, smirking. "What?" James asked, feeling puzzled. "Remember our little deal? I tell, then you tell?" Sirius replied.  "Oh…" James said, his face turning white.

"What deal?" Remus asked. Sirius blushed slightly. "Well, I told James I um like you before we got together so he told me I had to tell you because then he'll tell Lily. Which he hasn't done yet" Sirius said, staring at James. "Aww all that trouble for me?" Remus said, kissing Sirius softly on the lips. "How sweet! Ok, I will. Happy now?" James asked. "Very" Sirius replied, grinning.

"When are you going to do it?" Peter asked James. "After dinner. Might as well get it over and done with" James said, sighing. "I'm sure she'll say yes. I mean, she did say she likes you" Remus said reassuringly. "Yeah I suppose you're right. As always…" James said smiling at his friend. "That's why he's so special" Sirius stated with a smile.

"Thanks" Remus said, snuggling his head onto Sirius' chest. Sirius stroked Remus' hair softly before turning to James. "Can I watch you ask her?" he asked, already knowing the answer. "No" James said simply. Sirius laughed to himself and James cracked a smile.

"Ok, let's go to dinner now" James said. "Yeah ok" the other three replied, following James out through the portrait hole. When James entered the Great Hall, he saw Lily coming towards him. "Hi James" Lily said kindly. "Sirius, Remus and Peter" she added, noticing the other three.

"Hey" they all said except for James. "Uh… I….um" James muttered. "Are you ok, James?" Lily asked. "Uh… um… I" he stuttered. Lily looked at him with a puzzled expression. James closed his mouth and looked blankly at Lily, not quite knowing what to say.

"Fine" she said, walking off rather annoyed. James rolled his eyes at his stupidity before following her.

Lily rushed back in the direction of the common room, fuming. 'Why can't he even talk to me? He can at least try, it's not as though I'm scary is it! What would it be like  if we were going out together? Like that will happen anyway…'  Lily thought, brushing away a small tear.

"What's wrong?" a voice asked  from behind her. Lily turned around and was relieved to see Tylon. "James. He's being weird again" Lily said bluntly. "Oh, you want to talk about it?" Tylon asked. "Not really" Lilly replied, leaning against the wall.

"I just wish he liked me" Lily said. "I'm sure he does, he's just nervous" Tylon reassured her. "I guess so…" Lily said, sighing. "Come here" Tylon said, opening his arms. Lily walked over to him and Tylon gave her a tight, brotherly embrace.

Unfortunately, a certain stag didn't see it that way…

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A/N: What did you think? Please review! Thanks.