Hey there peeps! I have posted another chapter of "When Love and Hate Collide" and I am posting another one with this chapter. So, I haven't been slacking off! I am attempting to post a chapter a week, and it should be much, much easier when I have next week over with. Next week the production of "Les Miserables" that I'm involved in is being performed, and then I'm on Xmas break! Yaay! So, bear with me, folks! These WILL come at a regular interval if I have to kill myself with exhaustion to get it that way!

On to better and brighter things, I was delighted by the feedback I got from this fic. As of the next chapter, every review shall be mentioned, and I shall be backlogging, so I will be adding thanks to the end of these. It doesn't make sense, I know I could wait, however I know what I'm doing and I also now that to add then on here and then post this will probably take a week (My ability to get online is incredibly limited!) so I shall do it this way. Besides, it gives me another opportunity to check for, and correct, mistakes. I am my own Beta (I'm on the market!) therefore I could have left mistakes in there. Huge, glaring mistakes like "the strange scent reached his ears", that was pointed out to me in WLAHC. Hmm, I think there may be something wrong with this statement, ne?

I have just written up the plan for this fic, and I realized that this will be about 45 to 50 chapters long. Bugger. I have the distinct feeling I will, more than likely, make about 30 to 35 of those a sequel piece. This doesn't strike me as a very long one. However, as with most things, the decision is entirely up to you.

Okay, enough of my blabbering. On with the fic!

The Deal.

Chapter Three, True Love.

James and Sirius danced around eachother for about a week after their little conversation. Sirius knew James needed time to get over it, and who knows, maybe he could even find a girlfriend in the process. James had sworn off men after his little escapade with Sirius, deciding girls could give him what he wanted where men (well, the ones he liked, anyway) all seemed interested in sex, and only sex.

James, on the other hand, wanted to stay out of the way and give Sirius and Remus a chance to develop their relationship. He knew that his presence would only cause tension, so whenever he saw the two together, looking 'Loverly' at eachother, he'd get out of there.

It had nothing to do with jealousy. That was James' story, and he was sticking to it.

James, however, did spend a lot of time watching the two of them. Within a few days, he came to a slightly painful realization. Sirius hadn't been lying; they could make it through mating. It was obvious, more than obvious, really, that the two boys were in love with eachother. He couldn't help a smile as he thought of it. How often had Remus told them he'd never fall in love, because no one would ever love him enough to mate with him? And here he was, in love with one of those he swore this to.

"What's got you all happy, then?" Came Remus' soft voice. James looked up at him and grinned.

"You, actually."

"Look, Jim, I may swing that way, but I'm with Sirius right now. I'm sorry, I just don't look at you in that way." Remus grinned to show he was only joking, and James laughed.

"Nah, sorry Rem, you know I've sworn off men. Terrible for your self esteem, really. I was actually thinking about you and Sirius. You two are so in love it's amazing." Remus grinned lightly, but his eyes looked as if he was elsewhere.

"Hah, yeah, I'll bet!" He laughed, brushing the comment off and heading off to do his homework.

It wasn't until the others had gone to bed and he was sitting in the Common Room with Sirius that he even thought about it again.

"You know, Siri, Jim said something interesting today."

"Yeah? What did he say?"

"He told me that we were so in love it's amazing."

"In love. Yeah, right. If only Jim knew, eh?"

"Yeah." Remus agreed, trying to suppress the stab of sadness he felt hearing Sirius laugh over it.

"Look, Rem, I'm going to go for a shower and then bed. Do you want to go out tomorrow?"

"Yeah, we could go to Hogsmeade, the four of us haven't gone there for a few weeks."

"No, no, I meant me and you go out on our own." It took Remus a few minutes to realize what Sirius meant.

"Sirius," he smirked, looking eerily like the other boy for a minute, "Are you asking me out on a date?" Sirius flushed deeply, looking away.

"Well... yeah, I guess I am. There's this fantastic little café in Hogsmeade, and it's a Hogsmeade weekend this weekend anyway."

"Yeah, yeah, that would be great. When did the Hogsmeade weekend happen? I didn't hear about it."

"Umm, three weeks ago. You were in the Hospital Wing." Remus' eyes darkened slightly. It had been a Full Moon that Tuesday, reminding him that the next Full Moon was only 3 days away. It seemed like they came on so quickly, especially this week. It had gone so fast, especially with the Prefects meeting the previous Thursday (It was the next Friday today). Everything since then had gone by in a whirl. It felt like, since that Friday, he'd barely had a chance to sit down.

Of course, that may have also had something to do with the fact that it took him four days to recover from that kiss on Friday. He hadn't dared to tell Sirius, but it had been his first. Since the bite, his parents barely looked at him, let alone touched him or kissed him. He couldn't even remember being kissed on the cheek, and suddenly he'd been kissed by his best friend. Even though it had been rather chaste compared to Sirius' usual kisses, which involved tongues, and a lot of them, it still blew him away.

"You okay, Rem?" Remus jumped, startled out of his thoughts. Sirius was so close; he could just reach out a little and kiss him again... It would be so easy.

"Yeah... I'm fine, I think I just need to go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow, on our," he smirked again, "date."

They went to up to bed, whispering goodnight as they crawled under the covers. Remus, however, couldn't sleep. Even though he'd meant it as a joke, he couldn't help but feel excited at the thought that Sirius had asked him on a date – real or not.

'God, Sirius, I wish you knew just what you do to me. I wish this could be real, but I know you could never handle that. I could hardly handle that. Ironic, isn't it, we'll last longer pretending we're together than we will actually being together. Such is life, and mine seems unbearably cruel right now.' Remus blinked away sudden tears, and rolled over, falling asleep quickly.