Title: Puppy Love - Lunar Love Part I
Author: juxtaposed
Summary: Remus and Sirius' lives and relationship - as seen from Sirius' point of view.
Companion to Puppy Love - Stargazing Part I.
Timeline: From when they meet, up til when Harry is born. Aka, 1971-1980.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Slash!! That means guy-on-guy lovin'. Dont like it? Dont read it! Simple enough.
Pairings: Sirius/Remus, James/Lily
Disclaimer: I do not own Remus, Hogwarts, Platform 9 3/4, etc...I do own Sirius, James, and Lily, cause JK Rowling killed them off, and we all know you cant lay claim to dead persons, right? Mwahaha. Nah, I dont own them, so dont sue me for dreaming. Bah.

Puppy Love – Lunar Love Part I
by juxtaposed

Chapter Three: Conversations On the Train

"…was weird that the train just stopped for a while…" I heard Lily saying to James. Remus, James and I couldn't help but laugh. Lily looked at us, confusion written all over her face. "Um, did I miss something?" she asked, her brows knitted.

"Oh, no, it's nothing…just that we know why the train stopped…" James explained. Lily looked at him expectantly. He cleared his throat. "It was, um, because of us."

"What?" Lily blinked. "How'd you manage to stop the train?" Apparently she thought we had done it while aboard, as her voice held a note of scandalized awe. James seemed to realize this as well, and a sly grin crossed his face.

"Well, you know, we have our secrets," he said conspiratorially, giving us a wink.

"Wow," Lily breathed. "I cant believe you did it. I heard some people on the train saying that it was because of a few idiots who didn't board the train on time. But it was actually you guys…." At her words, James started to squirm nervously, his face slowly turning crimson.

"Well, uh…." James cleared his throat again, looking rather embarrassed as he admitted, "Not exactly. Those idiots were us."

A giggle flew out of Lily's mouth and she clapped her hand over it, trying to stifle her laughter. James didn't seem to know whether this was a good thing, or a bad thing. "Um, I'm glad you find it…funny?"

"I'm sorry," Lily apologized, still a little giggly. "Its just…I was thinking you were really powerful wizards or something, getting Hogwarts Express to stop when it was already moving, and it turns out…you just nearly missed getting on it!"

James seemed slightly offended, and puffed out his chest a little as he said, "Well, we did manage to stop it, didn't we?"

"I'm sorry," said Lily again, sobering up for a short while, before dissolving into girly giggles again. James huffed, then a grin crossed his face and he slowly began chuckling along with her.

After that spiffy ice-breaker, we spent the rest of the ride talking to each other, getting to know the others better. Or more precisely, I spent the whole time talking with Remus – much to my delight – and James spent the hours practically interrogating Lily, the poor girl; and we occasionally, out of politeness, asked general questions, aimed at no one, just to maintain the feeling that we were having a group conversation.

I learnt a great deal about Remus, which pleased me greatly.

I discovered after asking him about the initials inscribed on his trunk, his full name. "Remus John Lupin," he had stated shyly. "I was named after one of my uncles."

"Oh," I said. Then suddenly remembering what he had said earlier to me, I asked, "Is it the one you live with?"

"Oh, no," he shook his head. "I stay with my Muggle relatives – Uncle Gary and his wife Luna."

"You stay with Muggles?" Lily suddenly piped up, looking at Remus with interest. Remus flushed slightly and nodded warily. Lily beamed. "I'm from a family of Muggles – of course, I never knew they were called that until I got my letter. I'm the first person in my family to be a witch."

James looked surprised at that little nugget from Lily. "Really? So you never knew about our world before?"

Lily shook her head. "Nope. The closest I ever came to it was books." She smiled wistfully. "I always loved reading fantasy stories, where there were magicians and all these mythical creatures… When I discovered that I was a witch, I was so happy I cried." James looked slightly disconcerted at that.

Remus, however, looked interested. "You like to read? Who are your favorite authors?"

"Oh, I love Enid Blyton, and CS Lewis…" Lily shrugged. "I love reading anything, really." She looked at Remus, who seemed eager to continue this subject. "I'm guessing you like to read, too?"

Remus nodded emphatically. "I love reading…I didn't have too many friends growing up, so I spent all my time barred up in the library reading…" he smiled fondly at the memory. Lily nodded in understanding.

James and I shared looks of horror. Reading really wasn't our thing, you could say.

"Yeah, I loved the Narnia Chronicles," Remus was saying. "And Roald Dahl – have you read his stuff?"

"The Witches!" Lily said gleefully, and she and Remus shared a laugh.

"Er, right then." James interjected.

"Yes," I spoke up. "Um, speaking of witches…" I trailed off, suddenly realizing I had no idea where I was going with this. "Do you still keep in contact with your family?" I asked Remus.

He shifted about nervously. "Yeah, I do. We talk and see each other regularly…I just don't live with them." He didn't seem to want to talk about it, and I had no wish to make him uncomfortable around me.

So I immediately tried to change the subject, and I asked him about Quidditch, which immediately garnered James' attention, especially when Remus admitted that he had only heard of the game and had never watched it before. James was horrified. He was even more so when Lily actually asked, "What's Kee-Ditch?" – I think he would have had a heart attack if he weren't only eleven. He had then declared solemnly that he would "induct Remus and Lily into the wonderful world of Quidditch" himself. They had exchanged amused looks, and seemed to decide that no harm would come of it.

I laughed at their naivety.

This seemed to worry Remus quite a bit. Lily, I supposed, would have felt this way as well, except James had begun talking to her about something – probably Quidditch itself, since I heard the terms "Bludger" and "Keeper", among others, spouting from his mouth in a torrent of excitable words. I wasn't too sure, really.

Because all of a sudden, Remus was touching me.

Alright, so it was just his hand – fine, three fingertips – and it was just lightly brushing across my shoulders. But it sent jolts through my spine like nothing I'd ever felt before. Even more so than when I'd shook hands with him – somehow the fact he had caught me unawares had heightened my senses and it was electric to have him touch me, even if I had my robes in the way. There was just something about this boy, something very special…

"Er, Sirius?" Remus asked hesitantly, shaking me out of my thoughts. "Just how bad could it be to have James, er…'induct' me?"

I laughed again, a little bit out of nerves, mostly out of amusement. "Jamesy is a Quidditch maniac, Remus. One of those nutters who hex the newspapers when they write one bad word about his favorite team."

At this point James interrupted with a loud, "Wood most certainly does not have sausages for hands!" then returned to explaining to a very overwhelmed Lily how the scoring system worked.

Remus' eyes widened at James' sudden outburst, and I couldn't help but feel vaguely lost in his rich coffee-colored eyes – they just drew me in, and drowned me in their depth. It was like swimming, only I would never find the shore, I would just keep discovering horizon after horizon of beautiful molten bronze…and even though the thought of being so completely swept away should have frightened me, it really didn't.

I smiled. Something very special…

"He's, uh, got an ear for Quidditch, that one." I nodded at James. Remus grinned.

"I couldn't help but notice."

A while after that, there was a knock on our compartment door, and we opened it to find a lady wheeling a cart full of treats. She smiled at us as we gaped at the wide range of snacks. "Anything for you dears?" she asked.

I snuck a glance at Remus to see what he was having, and I had to smile. He looked adorable – he was grinning happily as he carefully examined the whole assortment of candy. However, he seemed to have trouble deciding, and was spending a while trying to choose.

Next to me, I noticed Lily was doing the same thing, and I exchanged a look with James. James, however, simply chuckled as he pulled out his money bag. He smiled at the snack-woman.

"Two of everything, please," he said politely, as he removed the money required. Lily was gaping at him, and I saw Remus' head snap to look at James. "Lily, it's okay, really," he was trying to tell her, as she weakly protested.

"But James, you really don't have to pay for me," she said, even as James was doing exactly that, and money exchanged hands. James seemed to consider his next words, and I saw a faint hint of color rise to his cheeks before he said it.

"It's alright, Lily. I…I want to." I smirked at him, and he shot me a look, then returned his gaze to Lily, who was blushing brightly.

Smiling sweetly at him, she quietly thanked him. "Thank you so much, James. I mean, really…"

"It's alright." James was saying, but I knew he was immensely pleased with her reaction.

With the sudden feeling that perhaps my best friend wasn't quite as thick as I liked to tell him, I turned to the lady, who was still waiting for a response from Remus and I. Remus was still contemplating his choices, his brow crinkling slightly, his lower lip pouting slightly. He seemed to want everything, yet was holding himself back…

"Er," I looked at the snack lady. "Make that two more rounds, thanks." She nodded and smiled at me. Remus' head whipped towards me, a look of shock on his beautiful features. I couldn't help but grin at him. "You can't seem to decide, so why not try them all?"

"But – Sirius," Remus was stammering out. "I cant really – that is, I – are you paying for me?" he seemed completely flabbergasted as I cheerfully paid the woman the money. Blinking at me, he began to stammer again. "Why – what – that is to say -" He shook his head in frustration, before finally deciding upon, "Have you lost your mind? I can't let you pay for me."

I cocked my head at him, smiling widely at his reaction. "Why not? You're my friend." I said as casually as I could, although I was thoroughly pleased with how he was acting. I emptied a whole lot of Chocolate Frogs, among others, into his lap. I picked one up and held it out in offering to him, and he accepted, still looking a little stunned. I took one for myself and tore open the wrapper eagerly as I regarded his expression. He seemed to be more than just a little hesitant about accepting me paying for him. "And if you're that hung up about it, you can pay me back another way." I offered, biting into my Frog as I did so, and smiling at him.

He opened his own Chocolate Frog and smiled at me warmly, shaking his head in amusement. "Alright then. I owe you a favor."

"You might want to reconsider that, Remus buddy." James interjected. "When Siri and I require, er, favors, its…well…its usually not pretty."

Lily turned to look at him in alarm.

Remus just shrugged and grinned, though. "Its alright. Whatever I have to do to have gotten this lot of chocolate will be worth it."

"Weakness for chocolate?" Lily asked.

Remus nodded at her. "The worst. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is my idea of heaven."

I had no idea what he just said, and I knew James didn't either, but Lily just grinned. "Me too. You're sounding more and more like me, you know. First the reading thing, and the Muggle household, then Quidditch, now this."

Remus chuckled. "I foresee lots of literary sessions in the library with a stash of chocolate, while avoiding our sports-mad friends."

"I'm not sports mad!" James objected.

"Quidditch mad, then," Lily said.

"That's better."

Remus and I shared a smile.

AN: Again, yes, yes, I know, I took way too much time to update this. Read my LJ for more details. Oh, and fan art! Hehe. I did some sketches of Remus and Sirius, among others, and well - just go to my LJ if you're interested (hopeful look), the link is in my profile page.

Hopefully, this much, much, much longer chapter helps to buffer the fact that its been about five weeks since I last posted a chapter.

As always, never-ending thanks go to: lala, X-Mas Gurl, Lilsi, Soka-Chan, MelissaMoony, musicgirl141, and LythTaeranethfor all being so incredibly nice and supportive of my fic. You guys seriously rock, and I'm sorry for stretching your patience! I do solemnly swear not to keep doing it.

And if you guys review...it'll help, trust me. (grin)