A/N: Goodness. I have never had this many reviews in my life. I heart you all like nothing else. Lykaios Nyx – Thanks! And James, well, he just needs some time to adjust. Black's Crystal – Thanks, sugar. LOL. California smells funny – Thank you. And I do try to get updates ASAP. I know this one took a bit longer than usual. Tay1233 – TAYLER! teehee. No, you're mad hawt love. SiriRemy – Isn't it though? If only there had been chocolate involved somehow… Pforte – Thank you! I do feel that dialogue is probably my strong suit. Other people have commented that Remus forgives too easily, but you'll see in this chapter, he might have gotten carried away in the moment, but he's not quite over it. harrypotterislife – Katrina! LOL. It is much dirtier, isn't it? But much better, too. :) Jenny (Miss JaD) – Aww. I like that Sirius only cries for Moony, too. And your reviews aren't bad at all, sugar. I understand you 100 percent. Sandra (sanni) – Thanks, hun! Here's your update. ShaMak – "Sex sells" HA! I love that. And you are too sweet, darlin'. Appledagger– Radtacular is my new favorite word of all creation. And here's your update, dude. LOL. Tyleet27 – Ah! I love BTSM! Stupid me, I forgot to review, but I did now! And yes, Remus/Sirius is definitely my new fanfiction obsession. Jack (All Play No Work) – Gr. I hate Remus/Tonks. I'm glad you like my idea for how they got together! KawaiiMegami86– LOL! I'm sure Lily would gladly switch places with you. KatanaKira– Maybe this chapter you'll see that Remus didn't quite forgive Sirius as completely as he thought. Oh, and "my turn" was just an attempt at sexual innuendo on my part. LOL. Apparently not very good sexual innuendo, but oh well. :) mintypepperoni – Three reviews at once! Thank you so much! I'm glad you think everyone seems in character. Thestril – Ugh, yeah. With a series this long there's always incontinuity, I suppose. I prefer to just pick and choose which parts really happened. LOL. Remus/Tonks? Not in my version. :) molloch – Hey, thanks! I like it when they're back together too. Baka.Monkey.13 – Brea! Hey, lovah! Thanks for the review! rebellover – "every other fic has him be like yay ur gay go sirius! Like a peppy gay activist" Ugh, I know! It's so unrealistic. I have no problem with gay people, but if one of my BEST FRIENDS suddenly told me they were gay, I would need some time to get used to it. I probably wouldn't be quite as big a git as James. But, still. DragonChild-Malfoy – Ooh, a pocket watch, nice! Okay, okay, here's another chapter. :) N. Beresford – Thanks, sugar. As I've said to some other reviews, Remus is not as okay with everything as he appears. Captain Oz – Oh! I didn't realize I was breaking any laws. Whoops. Well, thanks for the heads up. And thanks for the flattery! Always appreciated. :) Twitch of Queenliness – Thank you! Um, yeah, I know my warning markers aren't strictly necessary, but, I dunno. I just wanted to make it clear that this fic isn't just lemons, you know? There's a few sexual scenes, but it isn't the purpose of the story. Does that make sense? JennytheSpam – Thanks, hun! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.
Disclaimer: Alas, I still do not own Harry Potter. If I did, the fifth and sixth books would have gone quite a bit differently…
Warning: For those of you who inexplicably jumped to the seventh chapter without reading the first six, this story is SLASH. If you have read the last six chapters and somehow managed to miss that, you might want to consider the possibility that you are mentally challenged.
Rating: T – For Lily painting a wonderful mental picture of our favorite duo, plus swearing, etc
Meh. This chapter ended up a little more angsty than I meant it to. But the next chapter is the last and it ends happy, I promise. And this chapter is actually longer than last chapter, but it feels shorter, somehow…
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Chapter Seven: Consequences
Oh my! Lily thought, backing away from the hospital wing door in shock. Well, I guess they're back together.
She had a strong urge to just walk away, rather quickly. But with a heavy sigh, she turned back just long enough to cast a disillusionment spell on the bed that was groaning under the weight of the two boys.
Taking a moment to brace herself, she turned back to one last time to make sure the spell was working – but she was suddenly overcome with the feeling that she was supposed to be meeting with James right at that moment.
She headed off to towards the common room with a sigh of relief that the spell was effective. Just because seeing Sirius' cock in Remus' mouth will haunt me for the rest of my life, doesn't mean I can't save others from the mental anguish, she thought with a slight cringe as the portrait hole to Gryffindor tower swung open in front of her.
James was sitting in the common room as she had thought, but he looked rather upset about something.
"They're gay." He told her in utter disbelief as soon as she sat down.
Lily winced.
"You didn't just come from the hospital wing, did you?" She asked cautiously.
"No. Why?" James returned, eyebrow raised.
"Oh… erm… I just… How did you find out?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Sirius told me." James replied. "I found him out by the lake, crying about how Remus won't forgive him."
"And what did you say?" Lily asked, curiously.
"Nothing, really." James answered. "I came back up here."
"So, you just left him in the middle of an emotional breakdown?" Lily returned, rolling her eyes to demonstrate her opinion of this action. "Way to be his best mate, James."
"Well damn, Lily!" James exclaimed. "What was I supposed to do? It's bad enough when your mate starts crying all over you without finding out he's also been shagging another of your best friends. Another male friend, mind you."
He ran a hand through his messy black hair in obvious agitation. Then he turned to Lily suddenly, giving her a sharp glance.
"Wait a minute. You don't seem very surprised about any of this." He finally realized.
Lily shrugged.
"I'm not." She admitted.
"You knew!" James practically shouted, drawing a few stares.
"Of course I knew." She responded calmly. "Remus told me."
"When?" James demanded.
"That first night when we visited their flat over the summer." She told him. "We were all drunk on firewhiskey and Remus and I ended up in bed together, remember?"
The look of intense loathing that crossed James' face told her that he did.
"Well, we spent most of the night talking." She continued. "Mostly about his new relationship."
"Did you at least try to talk him out of it?" He asked with a sigh.
"I think I told him he could do a lot better than Sirius, if that counts." She responded thoughtfully.
"And you didn't think to share any of this with me before now?" He asked, incredulously.
"Well, it's not really any of our business, is it?" Lily replied slowly.
"Not our business?" James repeated, his voice rising. "Not our busi – God, Lily! You don't think it's my business that my two best friends have probably been shagging in broom closets behind my back! I mean, they're both blokes, for God's sake! It's not natural! And I just don't understand how someone can be suddenly gay like that. Sirius has had more girls – I mean, he's shagged every girl in the school, practically! But now I'm supposed to accept that he suddenly fancies blokes?"
"It's probably not all that sudden, James. He's probably liked guys for a long time without admitting it to anyone, maybe not even to himself. Or maybe he doesn't even fancy boys, really. Maybe there's just something about Remus that…"
"Oh God!" James cut in, having not paid attention to a single word Lily had said. "They've both seen me naked!"
Lily put a hand over her mouth, trying in vain to stifle a laugh.
"No offense, love, but I don't think either of them is interested in you like that." She informed him as soberly as she could manage.
"Yes, but they're gay, Lily." He replied, carefully placing his emphasis as if explaining something to a child. "They like looking at other guys'… you know, guy bits."
"Oh honestly, James!" Lily burst out, completely frustrated with her boyfriend. "I can't talk to you about this is you're going to insist on acting like such a child."
She turned and made as if to go up to the girls' dorms, but she paused at the foot of the staircase, turning back to James.
"You know, Remus asked me – that same night, actually – he asked me why I finally said yes when you asked me out at the end of last year." She told him, softly. "And I didn't really have a good answer for him. But I've thought about it a lot since then and I decided it was because I had seen how much you'd changed, that you really did have a good heart buried under your arrogance and pride. But now, hearing you talk about your own friends like this… maybe I was wrong."
She gave James a searching look as if willing him to say something that would make things right again. But James was too startled to come up with a response, so Lily turned and headed up to her dorm, leaving James with more than just Sirius and Remus' relationship to think about. He slumped down into one of the overstuffed arm chairs, glaring into the fire as if it had caused all of these problems in his life.
He was still in that same position several hours later when the cover to the portrait hole swung open and Sirius entered, followed by Remus. Spotting him, Remus came over, sitting himself on the arm of the chair across from him. He failed to notice Sirius' worried glance.
"Well, looks like Madam Pomfrey decided let me off early for good behavior." Remus joked in greeting.
His voice seemed to snap James out of his apparent staring contest with the fireplace. He glanced up, took in Remus' seemingly new found good mood and his proximity to Sirius, and scowled sincerely.
"Are you two back together, then?" He asked, in a not altogether pleasant tone of voice.
Remus shot Sirius a rather startled glance. Sirius looked extremely guilty and uncomfortable.
"Erm…" He said uncertainly, cringing slightly at the look he was getting from Remus before turning his gaze back to James. "Well, we were until you asked. Now, I'm not so sure."
Neither James nor Remus seemed to find this statement particularly amusing. James stood up from his chair.
"Well, I suppose I'll leave you to it then." He muttered, moving towards the common room door.
"James!" Sirius called out, giving him a questioning look as he turned around.
Seeing Sirius' expression, James sighed.
"Had a fight with Lils." He offered up as an explanation for his attitude.
Sirius nodded.
"Wanna talk about it, mate?" He asked.
James shook his head.
"Nah. I'm just gonna go for a walk." He said.
He nodded to Remus in farewell, and then left out the portrait hole. Sirius turned back to Remus, his hands out in a gesture of apology.
"I know what you're going to say…" He began.
"You told him!" Remus burst out in a harsh whisper, cutting him off. "I can't believe this!"
He ran a hand through his hair, pacing the length of the couch in obvious agitation.
"Are you just running around telling all of my secrets? God, Sirius!" He continued. "You knew how I felt about this. And you saw how James was just now, that was exactly why I didn't want to tell him!"
"I know." Sirius said, pulling him down onto the couch so that they were both seated. "I didn't mean to tell him, it just happened. I was upset and I was rambling and it just came out. I'm sorry."
"I don't know why I trust you with anything." Remus said, pulling away from him, but not getting up completely. "You just can't keep your mouth shut about anything. 'Cause of you the whole Slytherin house probably knows about my condition."
Sirius looked up at him sharply.
"I thought you had forgiven me about Snape?" He said softly.
"Yeah, well, I'm starting to think maybe I let myself get a bit too caught up in the moment." Remus replied, blushing slightly.
"No one else in Slytherin knows except Snape." Sirius muttered, after a few moments of silence. "I made sure of it. I went to Regulus right after it happened."
Remus started slightly at this information.
"Regulus?" He repeated.
Sirius nodded in confirmation.
"I went to him right away and explained what happened." He said. "It took a bit of begging, but he promised me that if Snape even hinted towards what had happened, he would start rumors about Snape's instability and jealousy towards us. You know, discredit him from the inside. Then even if he said anything, no one would believe him. But he won't say anything, anyway. He wouldn't want to get on Dumbledore's bad side. Plus, Regulus has been authorized – by me, of course – to use violence if necessary. The 'make everyone think Snape is crazy' plan is just a last resort. It won't come to that."
Sirius knew he was babbling, but he couldn't help it. He wanted Remus to understand that he'd thought everything out, that he had a plan for everything. Remus tried to process what Sirius was saying, but he was still stuck on one particular detail.
"You went to Regulus?" He asked again.
"He already knew about you." Sirius reminded him, misinterpreting Remus' fixation.
"No, I know." Remus replied. "It's just… you… went to Regulus. You've never asked anyone in your family to help you with anything before. I'm just… surprised."
"Come on, Remus. After what I did?" Sirius shook his head. "I would have made a deal with the devil to make things right again."
He placed a hand under Remus' chin, forcing the other boy to look at him.
"I love you." He told him.
But Remus wasn't going to let Sirius kiss their problems away this time.
"I just don't know how I'm supposed to trust you." He said softly, pulling away from Sirius' grasp.
After a moment, he stood from the couch.
"I need some time." He muttered, avoiding Sirius' gaze.
Sirius looked up sharply.
"What do you mean?" He asked carefully.
"I don't know, I just… I'm going to go for a walk." Remus told him.
Before Sirius could say anything else, Remus disappeared out the portrait hole. Sirius slumped back into the couch, wondering how everything could turn around so fast.
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And there's chapter seven. Review, review! It makes me smile. :)
Last chapter… James has a heart to heart with Remus, and actually finds himself urging him to forgive Sirius. Also, more firewhiskey! Hazzah!
