Everything's in the first chapter. Enjoy!

The Deal.

Chapter 7; Life and Love as We Know It.

Remus had a problem, a very serious one at that. He'd considered, briefly, the perils of pretending to date the bloke you fancied when he started this insane charade, but it wasn't until he found his hand wrapped firmly around Sirius' cock this morning that it hit him. What the hell was he doing? He was getting far too deep too fast. He had gone too far with this last one, and he couldn't continue lying to himself or to Sirius.

This wasn't a charade or a pretend relationship for Remus. This was the real deal, as far as he was concerned, and Sirius would be so angry when he realised this was the way Remus felt. And James - what was this doing to James? The poor man had been falling apart because of this, and Remus hated hurting such a close friend for this. There was only one thing he could really do, although it broke his heart just thinking about it. He was in love with Sirius, despite everything.

Sirius came into the Common Room at that moment, returning from a Kitchen Raid. It was far past curfew, and everyone else was in bed, but tomorrow was Sunday, so they could sleep in as long as they needed tomorrow morning. For now, they needed to talk.

"Sirius? Err... Sit. Please." Remus asked, wringing his hands nervously as he sat himself. Sirius nodded, grinning as he passed Remus a Butterbeer and sat beside him. Remus swallowed and began talking hurriedly to his hands.

"Well, Sirius, I've been thinking and I've decided in light of this morning - well, not just this morning, all of it really - I don't think we should do this anymore. We're just friends, and I think we seriously crossed the line somewhere and I think we should end this charade and go back to the way we were. You can go back to Mark or Adam or whatever his name was and I can try and find myself a real boyfriend." Remus chanced a glance up at Sirius as he swallowed a huge gulp of air followed by a similarly huge gulp of Butterbeer.

"Right." Sirius looked up at Remus, making his surprise and hurt behind a façade of nonchalance. "Okay. Are you heading up to bed?" Remus glanced up at the clock, flinched when he realised it was nearing three am and nodded.

"Yeah, I think so. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" Sirius sat back, leisurely swallowing a mouthful of Butterbeer.

"Tomorrow, yep. See you then." Remus just watched him for a few seconds before nodding once, finally, and going up to bed.

Sirius.

Sirius sighed once, as he watched Remus' cloak whip out of sight up the stairs. Remus just broke up with him. The reality is difficult to accept, to comprehend. He had broken up with him, they'd done enough to constitute dating, being lovers, and Remus had just...

Why? Why the hell had Remus done that? Was Sirius not good enough? It's not like they were looking at forever (yet, anyway), but did he have to end it so soon?

Sirius tossed the empty Butterbeer bottle to the side and, after a brief hesitation, Summoned an illicit bottle of Firewhiskey from his Trunk. He'd brought it from home over Christmas, and now was as good a time as any to break it open.

Half an hour and nearly a quarter of a bottle of (neat) Firewhiskey later, and Sirius was stumbling upstairs. He stashed the rest of his Firewhiskey away and turned to go to bed. He paused, however, at the sight of Remus curled up in bed. There was a sliver of his curtains open and through them Sirius could see a peacefully sleeping, tear-streaked face. He sighed, slipping between the curtains and sitting down gently next to Remus. He traced one saline trail and sighed softly.

"Why, Remus? Why did you push me away? Why won't you let me in? If you want a nice, normal boyfriend, I can be that for you. I like you, Remus, I love you, and I only wish you could see that." He murmured to the sleeping form of his friend. He pulled away and began to get up, but Remus mumbled unhappily and one hand gripped his wrist, a quiet "stay" escaping from his semi-conscious mind. Sirius, in all his (very, very drunk) wisdom, curls up next to his friend and settles into sleep, unconsciously tugging Remus closer in to him until they are both lying facing the tiny slip in the curtains (which, Sirius notes, has a perfect view of the window and the waning moon), Remus curled contently in his arms like two tiny kittens together.

Remus.

I went to bed alone, at three am, after ending things with Sirius. So how come it's barely eight and he's wrapped around me (and snoring. Loudly.) looking for all the world like we're lovers who always wake up like this.

Gods, this is nice.

Remus tried to crawl out of the bed, but he got as far as throwing the covers off and attempting to tug one of Sirius' hands off his waist when sleep-dulled grey eyes locked on to him and the arms tightened instinctively.

"Sirius, no. Let me go, I have to -."

"No, not letting you go. You're mine, I don't care what you say." Sirius mumbled, pressing a kiss to Remus' shoulder blades and settling down again, eyes fluttering closed with one final, possessive "mine." Remus hesitated, heart pounding in his throat, before eventually draping the cover back over them both and settling down to sleep a bit more. He could worry about everything else in the morning.