Hey gang! I've got a good feeling about this chapter; it's the longest one yet. Once again, thanks muchly to all the reviews, I wouldn't know what to do without you guys. Keep at it!

Sirius and Remus emerged triumphantly from a particularly empty corner of the library, looking flushed and sporting quite guilty smiles. Neither of them had managed to go so far as to take the other's pants off, but the risqué fun of sneaking about to do dirty business had driven them both well past the point of ecstasy. Madam Pince had caught students before, after all.

Remus seated himself on the chair where he'd left his tattered book bag and looked through it distractedly. "What time is it, Padfoot? Transfiguration starts at ten."

"Nine-fifteen. It'll be funny to see if McGonagall treats us a little strangely." Sirius was sitting across from him, resting his chin on his hand and gazing at Remus rather fondly. "Honestly, Moony… I had no idea you could do things like that."

"I doubt she will..." Remus blushed profusely at Sirius's second statement, refusing to address it. "Oh, your robe is a little undone at the top… s-sorry…"

"Is it? You're an animal, Moons." Sirius looked down and began re-doing his robes.

Suddenly an all-too-well-known smirk was heard, and Remus's face went blank with fear. Not him… not now.

"Did your scraggly little werewolf get the better of you, pouf?" Snape's voice had its usual irritating soft sneer as he crept up behind Remus. "That weak, tame thing couldn't crush a flobberworm, you must be getting slow."

Sirius made to rise and Remus promptly kicked him in the shin. "Not now!" Remus hissed at him.

It seemed that Sirius had passed a certain point of reason, however. "If he's so weak, that only makes you a coward for cornering him." His voice was dangerously quiet.

'Coward' was a word that struck a nerve with Severus, apparently, because his eyes suddenly flashed with a deranged madness and he had his wand out before Sirius finished speaking. "Sectum—ack!"

Remus had just neatly elbowed Snape in the ribs with great force. He knew what that curse did, and despite his dislike of confrontations he refused to let his dearest of friends get hurt. "Try that hex on any of us again, Severus, and I will make sure that you regret it." His voice was as even and calm as ever, as though he was merely giving Snape directions to a particular dungeon. "It would be suggestible that you leave the library."

Snape scowled, rubbing his chest gingerly and wheeling around on his heels to leave.

"Thanks, Moony. You didn't have to do that." Sirius looked as though he wasn't sure whether to be upset at Remus for ruining a perfectly good fight, thankful for his help, or amazed at his cool competence in the situation. He must have decided on the latter because he said next, "You'd make an excellent Auror, mate."

"Somehow I don't quite think jabbing someone in the chest and then threatening them would be considered Auror's work." He smiled a little sheepishly at Sirius, despite his dismissive tone. "And besides, I did have to do that. Sectumsempra is filthy magic, and I don't know the countercurse. Didn't particularly fancy you lying in a pool of your own blood, Padfoot." Remus was his usual calm, unreadable self again, but there was a distinct air of distraction about him – worry about Sirius had slightly ruined his mood.

Sirius gave him a thoroughly amused grin and sat down cheerfully. "You're such a lovely peach, Moony."

"Somehow the fact that you also called me an animal a few minutes ago makes me think you may be too eager to label people." Remus sent a wry grin over the book he'd finally found. "Perhaps actually studying something for once would give you a better command of your adjectives."

"My dear Mr. Moony, you're the only one among us – aside from our beloved Wormtail – who ever needs to study. And Merlin knows Wormtail could study day and night and still fail everything. He really shouldn't bother."

"Many, many apologies for not being quite as clever as yourself and Mr. Prongs, good sir." One of their more familiar teasing patterns had fallen into place, and they were both deadpanning spectacularly. Remus closed his book and tossed it at Sirius. "Be a good puppy and quiz me for the charms test."

Sirius led Remus into Professor McGonagall's classroom. It was double transfiguration with Slytherin, and neither of them looked forward to seeing Snape. He hissed "poufs" at them when they walked by, but Remus just squeezed Sirius's hand warningly and they went on their way without so much as blinking.

Sirius sat down next to James. "So how did the poem to Evans go?"

"The one I got Moony to write? The man must be in love, because his poem made her smile at me. Well, half-smile. But still! She didn't crumple it up like the one I wrote myself."

Remus sat on Sirius's other side and cut in. "That could just be because Quidditch metaphors aren't all that romantic."

"If she sent me a poem saying my hair was as shiny and black as a bludger's, I'd be extremely smitten." James mussed his hair up to make it look further windblown.

"Only a chap could dream something like that up. You should marry Wormtail here, and then we'd be a set."

Peter blushed bright red and squeaked, "D-don't be silly, P-Padfoot! I wouldn't want to m-marry James."

James cast him a sharp look that only the two of them seemed to understand. He turned back to Sirius and said quietly, "What was with you two at breakfast? I was really afraid you'd been having a lover's row."

"What? Oh… yes. We were a bit odd at breakfast. But don't worry; we got it straightened out in that secluded corner of the library." Sirius gave him a cocky grin that implied only one thing.

"I didn't want to hear that! Honestly, you love birds are getting way out of hand. What am I supposed to tell my children some day, when me and Evans get married?" His voice jumped an octave as he said, "'Well, back in my day, my two best friends were flaming homosexuals who made it in the school library as often as they could.'" James was giving them their life's worth of fake glares.

Sirius, however, burst out laughing so loudly that Professor McGonagall scolded him. "Sorry, professor! Yes, I know I haven't gotten about to transfiguring my turtle. I'll get right on it, professor. You can count on me." He gave her a military salute and turned to Remus. "Can you believe what Prongs just said? Him, marry Evans? With children! Oh God, I owe you twenty galleons if that happens. Thirty if one of us tells his kids that we're flamers and have sex in the library."

This was a rather inconvenient time for Lily Evans to walk by their desk. And so, naturally, that's what she did. She turned on the spot to face the four of them when she heard this, her "quaffle red" hair following suit.

"For your information, I would rather marry Peter's turtle over there (which had begun to shoot fire) than marry James Potter. That's right, James. You may have written a better poem this time than your last one, but I still won't go out with you. Especially considering you've gone and had the indecency to snog him," She gestured at Peter with disgust, "while trying to court me! Have you no sense of morals?" With that, she stormed off.

Sirius and Remus just stared in horror, while James looked ready to strangle Peter. Finally, Sirius managed to choke something out. "You… you snogged Wormtail?"

"Correction: He snogged me," James snarled. Peter squeaked with fright and bent back over his turtle, which promptly burned him. "In the bloody hallway! Everyone saw us!"

This jogged something in Remus's memory. "McGonagall saw you, too, unless you've been snogging other people in the hallway."

James put another disgusted look on his face and turned back to Peter. "You couldn't just tell me you liked me, could you? No. You had to show me and everyone else! Now McGonagall must think that I'm like these two over here, only a good dozen times worse, because it's you."

"Prongs, mate, I'm sure McGonagall doesn't care. She probably thought it was just for giggles."

"Not the way that rat kisses. And besides," James threw another look at Peter, "Evans didn't think it was for giggles."