Disclaimer: Remus and Sirius are like a car. I may steer them, but JK Rowling invented them.

Author's Notes: After a very long and painful hiatus (::sob sob::), I am back to end your sufferings and provide more to this story! This seems, oddly enough, to me, to be my most popular story, judging from the reviews. So, it seems to me that, oddly enough, this is the story I should continue with first. And let's face it; it's pretty darn cute, yeah? And feel-good Remus/Sirius slash and suchly is most important. So pull on your pantaloons and get ready for more Remus and Sirius loveliness….

"Secrets of the Heart"

By

Padfootwolfboy

Chapter Three: Confrontations with Nail Polish

Sirius!" a dazed Remus Lupin gasped through the veils of sleep. He could hear a voice was whispering his name and he was nearly sure it belonged to Sirius. Who else was going to be in his room at this time of the morning? The confidence and ease of his assumption startled him as he realized just what finding Sirius half-naked in his bed in the wee hours of the morn could imply. A concern started somewhere inside of him and worked its way somehow to his brain, where the state of sleep began to wear off and the voice became clearer. It was male and saying his name viciously as a pair of hands tried to shake him awake. However, it wasn't Sirius's voice. The feeling of concern fueled into panic and Remus bolted upright as if he'd been woken from a nightmare and not the pleasant dream starring his favorite animagnus he had been really having.

"Remus?" Peter questioned hesitantly, a bit rattled by his friend's sudden alertness. "You all right?" Remus turned his head jerkily to face him. Embarrassed rosy cheeks highlighted his high cheekbones against a backdrop of pale, clammy skin. His amber eyes stood out wide in their sockets, electrocuted with a vibrant flair that brought out the specks of gold in them. His lower lips sat trembling. If one were to only judge from the expression of his face and his rigid posture, it would seem like he had just witnessed a ghost and really not his friend of many years who also happened to be his rightful roommate. "It's just me," Peter mumbled meekly, eyeing the other boy warily as he panted until he could stabilize his breathing back to normal. "Remember?"

Remus sighed and gave a reassuring smile. "Sorry," he replied softly. "Bad, erm, dream." Peter nodded understandingly and mirrored the smile on his pudgy face. The only thing bad about it, Remus thought to himself bitterly in a brief, rather un-Remus-like momemnt, is that it had to end. He sighed again more heavily this time as he prepared himself to once again accept the fact that it was only a dream and now he had to face the reality of "only friends."

If Peter noticed the wistfulness, he made no action to show it. Instead he busied himself at digging around his trunk for a new pair of trousers to put on as he was still wearing the ones from the night before. It reminded Remus of his own need for clothing before he went down to join the others and so would Sirius— The thought of Sirius and his presence, or lack thereof, had escaped him before. He made the theatrical gesture of hurriedly looking about the room before landing his eyes on Peter, who was half in and half out of his overly large trunk, still rummaging for the pair of pants he wanted. "Where's Sirius?" Remus asked, confused.

"Oh, he's downstairs with James and Lily," Peter responded, waist deep in the black box. "They're nearly finished with breakfast." He emerged joyously with a pair of jeans that looked exactly like the pair he had on. Obviously there was some great difference that had escaped Remus because the boy was regarding the current pair with much scrutiny and the newer pair like an adorning child. Remus subdued a teasing grin at his friend's obvious affection for his clothes.

"That's actually why I'm up here," Peter continued, walking over to the bathroom to change his pants. "You weren't coming down for breakfast and since I needed to change clothes anyway, the others had me send for you." He poked his head out of the doorway. "S'not like you to sleep so late. Usually you're up with the sun."

"Yeah," Remus chuckled, uneasily rubbing the back of his neck. He wasn't going to tell Peter that he was up with the sun. It was actually just as the sun had finished rising that he and Sirius had both clambered into the same bed together and fallen asleep. "Long night," he gave by way of explanation. "Didn't sleep too well."

"Oh," Peter's answer echoed, still inside the bathroom. "Sirius was complaining about the same thing. Said he didn't really sleep all that well. It was strange too. He was up when I was up and that was at six in the morning." The newly dressed boy emerged from the room, grabbing his hairbrush and walking over to the mirror.

"Six in the morning?" Remus reiterated, surprised. They had only climbed into bed at about five thirty and Remus had assumed he had fallen asleep as quickly as he did. Yet it seemed impossible for Sirius to only sleep for half an hour. The shortest time was an hour, an entire class period. He concluded that Sirius must have never gone to sleep. But because he knew that Sirius had been in bed with him, at least for some portion of time, meant that while he had been sleeping, Sirius had been watching him. Remus wasn't quite sure what to do with the deduction of events. He thought it best to consult Sirius about it, if he had enough courage to bring it up. Peter was still ignorant to the war of emotions he was fighting inside himself. When he had run the brush through his hair a few times, he continued the conversation.

"It's been real weird, I'll tell you," he said, rounding about Remus's bed. "With you sleeping late, and Sirius being up so early, it's like you guys switched places. " He grinned broadly and left the bedroom, shouting for Remus to come down before either the house elves cleared all the food away or Sirius devoured it all. Remus figured that he should probably obey Peter's suggestion. Knowing Sirius, it was very likely that he would've eaten all the food by now, even with James' house elves preparing it non-stop.  He climbed out of the warm bed covers and went to join his friends before the morning was completely lost.

As Remus slowly opened the door to the dining room, he saw his four friends all gathered at one end of the table. Peter was chewing on the remained of the last muffin from the basket of freshly baked muffins that sat on the table in the middle of all of them while Sirius reclined in his chain across from him. James was sitting at the head of the table with Lily comically leaning over him, teasing him in a whisper about something. A bottle of nail polish sat by his right hand. Remus wasn't sure what was going on, but James seemed very happy for once in his life to get away from Lily and enthusiastically yelled out his name.

"Remus!" James cried, causing Lily to straighten and look in the direction James was screaming. Sirius also glanced his way. Remus gave and weak smile and fought back a blush before it found a way to his face. Sirius gave him a similar smile in return, that seemingly all he could muster. His eyes were bright but tired from his lack of sleep. It was strange to see Sirius without some passionate emotion spreading over his face. James, in the meantime, was very agitated and quickly dragged his friend over to the table, guiding him into an open spot near Sirius.

"You're just in time to eat breakfast with us!" he cried, delighted not just by Remus's presence but also from being away from whatever Lily was tormenting him with. He then caught glimpse of the empty muffin basket and his eyes trailed up to Peter. His cheerful grin turned into a somewhat scolding smirk. "Or you were in time for breakfast until Pete ate the last muffin." Peter smiled sheepishly. "Oh well. No matter," James said again, grasping Remus's shoulder certainly. "I can just get one of the house elves to make us some more. Hold on."

He began to walk away to fetch one of the many house elves the Potter family had before Remus called him back. "No, actually, James, it's okay. I'm not that hungry anyway." He smiled to reassure the questioning look James gave him. "I guess all that sleeping made me loose my appetite." He shot a small glance at Sirius who seemed to be avoiding his eyes. Another blush was rising so he looked away again. "I think we should just get on with whatever we were going to do today."

This time Lily chimed in. "That sounds like an excellent idea!" she exclaimed giddily nearly. James gave a loud gulp as her green eyes sparkled mischievously his way. "I think we should just get on with today's plans if Remus is sure he doesn't want anything to eat." She looked to Remus for his last chance to change his mind. He shook his head no if clarification. "All right then!" she said smiling somewhat devilishly. She looked back at James, who kept inching towards the door. "Potter your mine!"

With that declaration, James immediately disappeared through the door with Lily fast on his heels. She had taken the bottle of nail polish with her. Remus looked to Peter first for explanation but he only shrugged, smiling, and chased after them, leaving Remus alone at the table with Sirius. Now is the best time to talk to him, I guess, Remus thought to himself glumly. He smiled an awkward smile at Sirius who was again reclined in the chair with his eyes closed.

"I heard you didn't sleep to well last night…" he started carefully, seriously.

The tone of his voice opened Sirius's gray eyes. They trailed down to his. "No. I didn't really," he said with the same so of caution.

"Why?" Remus asked, feeling his muscles tightened.

"Thinking maybe," Sirius replied, eyes closing again thoughtfully. "Thinking about love, maybe." A grin was beginning to tug at his lips, doubling Remus's anxieties. "Thinking about you and love, actually." Remus felt his stomach twist itself into a million and one butterflies. He doubted Sirius would really say what he wanted him too, but he secretly still hoped he would. He remained silent, drawing Sirius to explain himself further. The left gray eye opened and studied him, hopeful expression on his face. "I was wondering just who you had deemed special enough that they could make you love them." He opened the right one and stared at Remus seriously for a second. Remus tried very hard for a second not to move, though he wasn't sure why.

The grin finally broke on Sirius's face. "Why don't we go see what Lily has done to James with that nail polish?" he asked simply, changing the subject abruptly. Remus nodded, not knowing how else to move his body, and both left breakfast with nothing resolved.

When they reached the hallway that held their bedrooms, they saw Peter standing just out of the doorframe to the large Common Room they all shared. Sirius was raising his hand to call to him but Peter shushed him by putting his finger to his lips. He went back to watching whatever was going on it the room. Sirius and Remus rushed to see what it was.

James and Lily were lying on one cough together. A bottle of pink nail polish was a sitting on a table besides them, open. Lily was holding the applicator in her hand. The hand on the arm James had wrapped around her had three pink, messily painted nails. All but the thumb and the forefinger were done. Remus couldn't see his other hand but it was very clear that whether it was painted or not didn't matter. James and Lily were kissing!

Whether or not it had been their very first kiss, Remus didn't know, but he did know it was one of the firsts and he knew how much both of them liked each other. He held back the cheer for James that was forming in his throat. He understood the pain of longing to kiss someone very well. He also suppressed the want to look at Sirius, to see how he felt about his best friend finally getting the girl he wanted, to know if Sirius understood at all the longing to kiss someone he couldn't. But by Sirius's sudden whoop of joy, it was clear he was as happy for James and Remus was.

The cheer spooked Lily and James away from each other. A streak of red painted their faces as they saw the three standing in the doorway, Sirius rooting James on, Peter looking embarrassed himself, and Remus softly smiling knowingly. Lily climbed off of James slowly and James himself then slid of the couch. He ruffled his hair and grinned back at his friends. Lily screwed the cap back on the bottle and walked to a table out of view as James neared the door.

"Lily was just trying to paint my fingernails," he said by way of embarrassed vindication. A large smile was still on his lips.

"I see that," Sirius beamed at him suggestively. James playfully pushed him in the arm and Sirius shoved him playfully back. His happiness for him was understood. The four of them stood there quietly until Lily came back into view. She was holding several more colors of nail polish.

"So whose next?" she asked, smile growing larger as three faces dropped into slight fear.

Author's Note: As I did promise, I came back. It's been several months, but I did come back. Now if you review like I know all you good ickle slash fanatics will, I promise to come back with a fourth chapter very soon that has more Remus and Sirius slashy instead of Lily/James such. (Not that I mind so much the Lily/James, I just prefer the Remus/Sirius moments.) So… Review! And yes, you must make up your own review this time. Mwahahahahahahahahaha! Okay. I stop. ::Drives her slash-mobile away with Sirius and Remus in the back seat::