Author's notes: This chapter is not what you would expect.

And now, Sakai Michiba presents:

First Kiss

Part 4 of the Smitten series


Lily Evans was a pretty girl. She was tall, lean, and full of Irish fire that made many a boy melt in her path. She may have been a Gryffindor, but even Slytherin boys lusted after her, and she was only in fourth year. She was smart, had common sense, and dressed smart.

James Potter had called dibs on her within his little group. "She may not think much of me now," he said to Sirius, "but when I'm older and a Quidditch star and dashingly handsome, she'll faun over me." Peter and Sirius had shared a good laugh over that, and Remus had just smirked quietly.

Lily Evans did not like arrogant pricks like James Potter. She liked quieter boys who read a lot, and so she was often seen in Remus Lupin's company. Remus liked to think of them as very good friends.

They were sitting in the common room on the squishy red couch in front of the fireplace, laughing over McGonagall's lesson earlier in the day (they had learned how to transfigure a kitten into a tea kettle with several hilarious results from Sirius and Peter). Remus did not think a thing of her leaning against him in mirth, or about the arm he slid around her as he cackled over Sirius's kitten which had whistled steam from its rear-end.

Sirius and James were sitting in the back, discussing their new plan to steal Frank Longbottom's underwear and enlarge them to hang in the Great Hall. Sirius glanced up for a moment, but his gaze stuck on Remus and Lily, who were clinging to each other, and while Remus's clinging looked completely innocent and merry, Lily was looking at him in That Way. James, who had been talking very fast, stopped to follow Sirius's gaze, and his eyes widened.

"Sirius," James hissed sharply. "Sirius, what is he doing!"

"Don't think it's him, mate," Sirius said, but James didn't hear it, and he was not so sure he even believed it himself when Remus looked Lily in the eyes and gave an awkward little giggle. The firelight between them was becoming smaller and smaller, and suddenly there was none as Lily leaned forward and planted her lips on Remus's.

Remus's eyes widened and he stared at her as she kissed him square on the lips, and when she pulled away, he scrambled quite abruptly away from her. "L-Lily! I—" He did not, however, have time to finish his sentence before James had lifted him off of the couch by his collar and pinned him against the wall.

"James!" Lily screeched, grabbing him by the arm and punching him in the shoulder. Remus was struggling against James, trying to kick out of his grasp, when Sirius hurried over and knocked James off of him.

"Damn it, James!" Sirius snapped, and he kicked James away as he came flying at Remus again. Holding the lycanthrope against him, he pulled him out of the common room and out of the line of fire. Hearing Lily begin to tear into James, he hid with Remus in the stairwell. "All right?" he asked quietly.

Remus swallowed and looked at his feet. "I…I guess. Sirius, she kissed me!" he whispered, suddenly in awe of it. "Me! I'd never…you know." He blushed fiercely and shook his head. "Never."

Sirius knew why his heart sank then, but he put on a grin and clapped Remus on the shoulder. "Good for you, mate," he whispered, and when Remus looked up at him, his heart caught in his throat. "Good for you…" He did not mean it.

Remus saw the lie in Sirius's eyes and he opened his mouth to say something. He wanted to say that it was not any good. He wanted to say that he had wanted Sirius to kiss him first, that he had wanted Sirius's lips pressed against him like that, that Sirius should kiss him now and then the kiss with Lily would not have counted. He could feel Sirius's hands on his shoulders and his breath on his hair, and it would not even take a whole second to close the six inches between them.

Instead, he just said, "Yeah. It's pretty great." Taking a step back, he started to continue up the stairs, but he felt Sirius's hand catch his sleeve. Hopeful, he turned back around, looking the other straight in the eyes. "Huh?" Eloquent.

Sirius swallowed hard and licked his lower lip, seeing that Remus's eyes followed the movement. "Um…W-was…Was she any good?" he stumbled out, and he saw clear disappointment in Remus's eyes.

"Yeah," Remus lied, and he tugged his arm from the other's fingers before he ran upstairs to the dormitory.


Notes: Poor Sirius…