A/N: Yay! Chapter 2 is up! Thanks to all my lovely reviewers; you guys are the best ever:-) The triangle begins in this installment, promise. Apologies for any typos/weird things that may have popped up in the last chapter (or will pop up in this one) - has a tendancy to change things back after I fix them, and I don't know why because I'm not that technologically-savvy. So bear with me here. Thanks all!

Disclaimer: If I was JKR: 1) I would own Harry Potter and all that comes with it; 2) I would not be posting on 3) Sirius would be alive and actively involved with Remus.

WARNING: I really hope that if you've gotten past the first chapter, you're bright enough to realize that this is SLASH. Meaning it involves men who have more-than-platonic relationships. Not your ship? Get swimming.

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The next morning at breakfast, James took one look at his two best friends – who were not-so-subtly playing footsie under the table – and turned a very flattering shade of puce. Only Peter, however, noticed that his idol looked ready to hurl all over the scrambled eggs.

"You 'kay, Prongs?" the smaller boy mumbled around a mouthful of hash browns.

James jumped. "Me? Yeah, great. Peachy. Uh, I, er, left my essay in the Tower. Yeah, I'd better run get it before class. See you, then…" And he was out the door before any of the Marauders could say a word.

"What'd he go back for?" Remus asked. "This essay?" He held up a roll of parchment titled, "10 Reasons the Goblin Revolution of 1493 Was Important."

"James was acting a bit odd just now," Sirius said thoughtfully.

"Maybe he went to chase Lily," Peter offered, in a stunning display of originality.

"Yeah, that's it," agreed Sirius, cheerfully helping himself to more eggs, the mystery settled as far as he was concerned.

Remus, observant as he was, thought it best not to point out that Lily was sitting with her friends at the far end of the Gryffindor table, decidedly unbothered by James. And Remus, being the bright boy that he was, had a sudden flash of insight…

The Marauders, minus James (who'd had Arithmancy while the other three were at Muggle Studies), were heading to lunch, Remus shyly letting Sirius hold his hand, when James appeared. He was out of breath, as if he'd run to catch them, and after seeing Remus' and Sirius' linked hands, he blanched and looked away.

"Uh, P-Padfoot?" he said, in a voice two octaves higher than usual. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Sirius glanced at the other two Marauders – only rarely were there secrets among the four. "Sure, Prongs…"

Looking relieved, James grabbed Sirius by the arm and pulled him off into the throng of students, leaving behind a confused Peter and a worried Remus – his suspicions had been confirmed.

"Uh, you go on, Wormtail – I just remembered I've got to go see McGonagall – wanted to go over that last test – see you…" Remus dashed after the two black-haired boys, still trailing excuses.

James pushed Sirius into the nearest vacant classroom, then quickly closed the door behind them.

"You all right, mate?" Sirius asked as James shifted his weight between feet, refusing to meet the other boy's eyes.

"Um, yeah, listen, Padfoot…" James shifted his weight faster and messed up his already-mussed hair. "About – about you and, er, Moony…"

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "That's what this is about? Honestly, Prongs, it's never bothered you before. I don't know why it's different just because this is me and Moony."

"No," James protested. "It's not like that, Padfoot! It's –"

"What?" Sirius prodded.

"This." In one motion, James closed the distance between himself and Sirius, and kissed him, first uncertainly, then, when Sirius showed no signs of pushing him away, more heatedly. When he finally flicked Sirius' lips with his tongue, Sirius willingly opened his mouth and allowed James to deepen the kiss. As they pulled away, Sirius could only stare at James – jet black hair sticking up everywhere, piercing blue eyes catching the pale sunlight, tan face flushed – so dark and intense, so unlike Remus in every way. And when James leaned in again, Sirius, in spite of himself, returned the kiss.

Remus had tracked his friends to the empty classroom without any trouble. He had listened through the door, extra-sensitive wolf ears catching every word, and when all went silent, he froze. But the silence stretched out longer and longer until Remus couldn't stand it – in one swift movement, he swung the door open – to reveal his two best friends (one of them practically his boyfriend) with their tongues down each other's throats, hands wrapped in each other's hair, pressed against each other, eyes closed. Neither of them had heard the door silently open, and the kiss ended only when Remus cleared his throat pointedly. The startled boys sprang apart and stared guiltily at their friend.

Sirius spoke first. "Moony, I can explain –"

But Remus felt, all at once, two emotions rising in him: first betrayal, then a cold, hard anger. And he snapped. "Can you, Sirius? Well, sorry but I don't particularly care for any explanations right now. For Christ's sake, we haven't been together a whole day and you're already snogging other people behind my back? And not just any other people – oh, no, you're snogging James!"

James and Sirius looked dumbstruck at mild-mannered Remus' tirade.

Remus continued, more softly, "I'm sorry, Sirius, but I'm going to need a lot more than an explanation if I'm ever going to trust you. And you," he whirled on James, who cringed and looked appropriately shameful. "Don't even get me started on you, James." The young werewolf turned and fled before they could see the tears welling in his eyes, leaving James and Sirius alone once more.

James finally seemed to come to his senses. "Pads… I'm sorry, I, uh, don't suppose I should've done that. I just – needed you to know…" he finished lamely.

Sirius stared at James for a minute. "I've got to go after him, James. I'll see you later."

James watched Sirius' retreating back and swore loudly. "Perfect, just bloody perfect…"

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A/N: Yup, it gets even more soap-opera-ish in the next chapter... Thank you, dahlings, for the reviews that I know you're going to leave!