Title: Delicate Treasures

Author: Stardrops

Genre: Romance

Rating: PG 13 (For slash and occasional swearing, precautions only)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter. I do, however, own the plot. I am very proud. But the rest belongs to our creative genius, J K Rowling.

Chapter Eight: James's Dilemma

James didn't tear himself away from Lily until four in the morning. Remus and Sirius walked with him and Lily to the Gryffindor Common Room and stood awkwardly to the side as Lily and James took their time saying good night. When they finally parted, Remus and Sirius dragged him upstairs to the dormitory and attempted to get the details.

"All right, Prongs. What happened?" Remus demanded.

"Yeah, spill! How in holy hell did you manage to snog Lily Evans?" Sirius asked in amazement.

James grinned. "With my charm and personality, obviously."

Sirius and Remus groaned. James sighed and rolled his eyes, relenting.

"Okay, fine. Well...I told her that she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen and that combined with her amazing personality, spirit and intelligence; she was the most incredible being that ever existed. I think that buttered her up a bit."

Remus and Sirius began hollering and whacking James on the back.

"You softie!" Sirius said, grinning.

"Who would have though Prongs had the heart – and the will – to say something so sweet?!" Remus joked.

"Hey, shut up! I didn't see either of you two with anyone!"

"Why would we need anyone? We got all the entertainment we needed from you and Lily!" replied Sirius gleefully.

James groaned. "I'm going to sleep." He pulled the curtains around him and the covers up over his head. Within minutes he was asleep, his gentle snores filling the room.

Remus and Sirius glanced at each other and chuckled. "That was totally worth it," said Sirius, getting beneath the covers of his own bed. He glanced over at Remus who was still standing at the window and staring out at the brilliant morning sky.

"It'll be morning soon," Remus announced. "The sun will probably be rising within the next hour."

"Remus – you're not going to stay up all night just to watch the bloody sun come up are you? Come on man! It's winter! It's bloody cold outside and inside."

"Yes, I believe that is why they light fires in the common rooms. Besides, I'm a wizard. Don't you think I'm perfectly capable of warming myself?" Remus said shortly.

Sirius sighed. "Fine, stay up if you must."

Remus turned. "I'll be in the common room."

Sirius watched him leave the room. His back was strangely bent, like he was carrying a secret that was weighing down on him more than usually that night. Sirius was struck with a vision of Remus sitting in one of the comfortable armchairs in the common room, silver moonlight from the half moon spilling over his face as he watched the night pass by himself. Sirius threw the covers off him. He didn't want Remus to have to spend the night by himself on New Years, especially if something was bothering him.

But then, he reasoned with himself, what would happen if Remus had wanted some time to himself particularly tonight, perhaps to mull over whatever was troubling him. He didn't want to interrupt if Remus wanted to be by himself. Maybe he would let Remus have just an hour to himself. Once the sun began to rise, Sirius would go out and share the dawn with his best friend.

Sirius sank back down onto his bed. He didn't dare lie down; he knew if he shut his eyes for more than a few seconds, sleep would claim him for probably half the day. Instead, he wearily splashed his eye with water from his wand and reached for the photograph album he kept hidden in his lowest drawer. He'd never told anyone about this album – it was his secret.

Pulling out an old red book that was ragged and stained, Sirius ran his finger over the cover lovingly. No matter how disgusting the old book looked, he would never part with it, nor could he bring himself to alter its appearance in any way. His aunt – one of the few relations he had that didn't completely condemn him for not following the ways of the Dark Lord, had given it to him.

Inside were all the magical, moving photographs he'd ever taken or been given of himself and his four best friends. There weren't very many, but they were all equally beautiful, showing how much fun and, occasionally, trouble the four got into.

Most prized out of all of them were the two photos right at the back of the album. One was of himself and James on their broomsticks – James's mother had taken that at James's house one summer and given it to Sirius. The second was a photograph that James himself had taken of Sirius and Remus. Sirius stared down at this photo for several minutes, watching the moving Remus laugh and shove the photographic Sirius, who was playfully shoving back. A small smile crept across the real Sirius's lips as he watched Remus's clear brown eyes dance and sparkle happily. There was a slight breeze blowing in the background of the picture: their hair was ruffled slightly and their cloaks were flapping about.

Sirius closed the album and place it back carefully in its drawer. He knew that if by some absurd chance, any of his friends were looking through his drawers and they found the book, they wouldn't think anything of it. It looked perfectly innocent, like a novel from Muggle London back when people bought books that were covered with fabric.

The time on James's watch read 5:30. He'd given Remus forty-five minutes to be by himself, and now he rose once more from his warm and comfortable bed, grabbed a thick black cloak to drape over his shoulders and descended the stairs to the common room.

At first when he entered, he couldn't see anyone, and thought for a moment that Remus had left Gryffindor Tower altogether. But when his gaze turned, he saw Remus lying back in a comfortable armchair in front of the window. His eyes were closed and he was fast asleep.

Sirius smiled and silently joined Remus at the window. He seated himself in another armchair and contented himself by watching Remus sleep. There was an expression of peace on his face, but Sirius noticed little worry lines around Remus's forehead and knew that beneath the cheery exterior, there was something bothering Remus that he didn't seem to want to tell.

Sirius was quite happy to watch Remus sleep. He sat back for a good half hour as the skyline began to brighten and the first signs of daylight approached. The black sky softened into a deep, dark blue and a yellow orange line appeared on the horizon. The light from the rising sun shone off Remus's hair, and Sirius could not draw his glance away from the beautiful boy who lay sleeping so close to him. Almost involuntarily, his hand reached out and smoothed back the stray locks of Remus's hair, and Sirius left his chair to kneel next to Remus.

The floor was cold and hard, but Remus's face was warm as Sirius traced gently around his eyes and mouth. He softly placed a feather light kiss on Remus's cheek, which was velvety and smooth. In his sleep, the boy sighed softly, and Sirius noticed that he was clenching his fists very tightly. Sirius reached a tender hand to Remus's fingers, and stroked his knuckles lightly. Remus seemed to relax beneath the touch and his hands loosened the fists enough for Sirius to link with his own hand.

Turning to look out the window, the sun had almost fully risen. The sky was pale but filled with pastel colours in the early morning, and the grounds shimmered with white glittering snow. There was serenity about the moment, and Sirius smiled as his eyes met once more the sleeping face of Remus.

Releasing Remus's hand, he shrugged out of his cloak and placed it over Remus's torso, tucking it in around the sides so Remus wouldn't feel the cold draft that was circulating through the room. With one last glance at him, Sirius left the common room, shivering, and crept back into bed.

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When Sirius woke, Remus's bed was still empty. It was about midday, and Sirius groaned as the bright sunlight hit his eyes. He'd forgotten to draw the curtains around his bed, and really could not be bothered to do it now. Instead, he wearily threw back the covers one again, thrust his feet reluctantly into his slippers and with a start realised that James's bed was empty also.

He looked around for his cloak and remembered how he'd left it with Remus. Leaving the room, he wondered where his friends were. As he entered the common room, his question was answered, for Remus, James and Peter all sat around the fire with a large quantity of marshmallows, and were toasting them on long metal skewers.

When he entered, the three of them looked up and grinned. "Good morning, sleepy head!" James teased. "Had a late night, did we?"

"Shut up," Sirius replied grumpily. He knew his eyes would be bloodshot, and there would probably be dark circles beneath them from his lack of sleep.

Remus noticed his goosepimpled arms, and immediately relinquished the cloak that he was wearing. "Here, have your cloak back." He handed it to Sirius with a smile. "Thanks for the lend, though, it was a bit cold last night."

Sirius refused to take it. "No, you'd better keep it, it's still cold in here. Besides, I don't feel the cold."

Remus lifted an eyebrow and looked pointedly at the goosepimples that rose on Sirius's forearms. "You're wearing a t-shirt. At least I'm wearing a jumper. Come on, take the cloak."

Sirius grudgingly took the cloak. "Thank you," he said. Remus returned to his place on the carpet. Sirius noticed James looking at him oddly. "What?" he asked in confusion. There was a little essence of comprehension dawning on James's face as though he'd realised something.

"Huh? Oh – nothing!" James replied hurriedly and returned to his marshmallow roasting.

"Come join us," Peter invited. Sirius accepted the invitation and sat down beside Peter, picking up a marshmallow and spearing it with a skewer.

The conversation was mostly about the whereabouts of Peter the previous night, and a lot of discussion about Lily and James's new relationship.

About half an hour later, the four of them were groaning and clutching their stomachs.

"Whose brilliant idea was it to eat marshmallows for breakfast?" James moaned, glaring at the marshmallows remaining as though it were somehow their fault.

"It was yours," Peter reminded him.

"Oh yeah..." James trailed off.

"Can we please go eat some normal food?" Remus pleaded.

"I'm with Moony," Peter said. Sirius nodded. The four of them trudged through the portrait hole and down to the kitchens. James and Peter went inside and were immediately served by house elves. Remus and Sirius were left standing outside together. Sirius was feeling rather awkward after the previous night. He really hoped that Remus had been asleep – how embarrassed he would be if Remus had only pretended to be asleep so as not to humiliate Sirius.

"So you came down after me last night?" Remus asked Sirius with a grin.

"Yeah...I gave hour forty-five minutes to yourself then decided to plague your peace with my existence. Unfortunately for me, you were already asleep. That spoiled the fun a little bit."

Remus smiled shyly. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

Sirius paused. "Well – you looked so incredibly handsome in that light that I couldn't wake you," he replied, pretending to tease Remus. He'd never have to tell him that he wasn't in fact being sarcastic.

Remus shoved him in the side playfully. "Well, I missed the sunrise anyway, so you should have woken me, no matter how handsome I looked." His eyes were wide and mischievous as he said the last few words, and Sirius snorted.

At this point, James and Peter came out bearing lots of delicious, freshly baked pastries which they distributed evenly between the four of them. It didn't take them long to devour the still warm breads – no crumbs were left by the time they reached the common room again. Peter ducked off once more, claiming he needed to go to the library for some reason or another.

Remus and Sirius reached the portrait hole first, James bounding happily down behind them. Catching sight of Lily Evans sitting by herself on the couch beside the window looking blissfully absorbed in her thick book, James's smile broadened. He immediately began striding purposefully towards her.

"This is going to be interesting..." muttered Sirius to Remus. Remus nodded and strained to listen as James reached the couch where Lily sat and began to speak to the occupant.

"Hey, Lil - ," James began, but Lily, upon noticing him, looked up with a startled gasp and promptly accidentally dropped her huge book on his foot.

"Holy fucking crap!" James howled. Remus and Sirius snorted with barely concealed laughter as James hopped on the spot for a moment, rubbing his foot and glaring at the large book that lay innocently on the floor beside his evidently throbbing ankle.

Lily stared at it with a completely expressionless face as though she hadn't even noticed the pain she'd just caused James, and then got up to stand next to him. He let go of his foot and attempted a smile. "How are you on this fine, beautiful morning - "

"James – about last night," Lily interrupted. "I'm really sorry about what happened."

"You're - what?" James said, clearly taken aback. Remus and Sirius slowly ceased laughing as what Lily was saying sank into their comprehension. They stood and watched confusedly in the corner out of Lily's line of vision.

Lily was standing and looking James earnestly in the eyes – a more civil glance than she'd ever given him before, save for the previous night when they'd been glued to each others faces. "Yes, I really didn't mean to – well – do that. Let's just pretend it never happened, shall we?" Lily's tone was matter of fact and slightly brisk, very businesslike and completely oblivious to James's sputtering of bewilderment.

"But - " James began, but Lily interrupted him once more.

"I'm really sorry about it; I just got really caught up in the moment. It won't happen again, I promise." She gave him a very sincere smile and waited for his reply.

"It won't?" James said unhappily.

She gave him a half smile and picked up her book from the floor. "I promise. Never." Rising, she gave him a quick one-armed hug and started to leave. Over her shoulder, she called, "Thank you for being so understanding, James. I'll see you around sometime."

With that last comment, she left through the portrait hole, carrying her impossibly thick and heavy book with her. James turned to Remus and Sirius with an expression of complete incomprehension.

"What – why – huh?" he sputtered.

Sirius and Remus slowly walked forward to join him in the centre of the room, both also puzzled but feeling sorry for their friend. Remus squeezed James's shoulder bracingly and Sirius patted him awkwardly on the back.

"What just happened?" James finally managed to ask, his cheeks a violent shade of red.

Sirius and Remus looked at each other in alarm. "Well – er...I think Lily just took back what happened last night," Sirius said quietly.

James stood silently in the middle of the room, staring straight ahead at the spot where Lily had sat only a few moments before.

"Oh," he replied miserably.

"Don't worry, mate," Remus comforted him. "I read lots of Muggle books, they're always behaving like this. Something happens between them and someone they like, and they're immediately uncomfortable. Then, if you at completely normal, but give them time to get over what happened and become human again, they'll be yours again in no time."

"You really think so?" asked James, his expression hopeful.

Remus and Sirius looked at each other. "Yeah – sure," Sirius replied quickly. "Just be a friend to her, Prongs, and stop continuously asking her out."

Remus nodded and slung an arm over James's shoulder. "Let's go have a game of Quidditch," he suggested. James brightened immediately and he agreed, scampering up the stairs with Remus to collect their broomsticks.

"Coming, Padfoot?" James called over his shoulder.

"Yeah, in a minute!" Sirius smiled at the sight of Remus and James retreating. That was something he loved about Remus. No matter what had happened, he could always comfort whoever it was that needed it, and could distract them by remembering the simplest things that always evaded Sirius's mind whenever it came to having to comfort someone.

There was no doubt about it – Remus was an incredible guy.

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TBC

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A/N: Poor James. The things I put him through. Arent I cruel.

Grimy Grunhilda Grunt: Yay! Thank you! Well, James can't be a lil pushie to Lily cos Lily wont talk to him. :P hehehe im so evil.

ickle ronnie: i like you! lol you keep my ego boosted. i hope it continues to your standard!

Isis Fire Dancer: Thank you! wow - i hope you continue to like my story, and i love your name by the way!

Seraphina Pyra: Well, I'm very glad you stumbled across it! Hope you continue to like it!

MelissaMoony: Of course. How stupid of me. :P Kidding! Well, thank you for your compliments! I hope you continue to like/love......:P

TTF: Thanks! Lol, that made me giggle anyway! I was going to make Sirius tell him....but the timing wasnt right. so...yeah. sorri about that. hope you still like it!

neutrons: he might eventually. i wont keep him hanging forever! but yes, yes i am cruel and a meanie. hangs head in shame well, it must work cos you reviewed! so thanks for your review, and i will give you a hot remus sirius makeout...soon. :P

Piper13: My dear Piper. Sorri to break your heart, but Lily and James aren't happily ever after yet. :P note - i said yet. that means something. ;) and dont worry, eventually he will. but for the time being...i am going to fill their lives with misunderstanding and angst! hehehe

Waffle Avenger: I'm very glad! Thank you!