Note: Thank you to sophinisba and thedoingofit for the beta, and to forest_rose for the Britpick.

Part 5

From the moment he finished his poem James had been waiting for a chance to talk to Lily, but it was impossible to get her alone. She always seemed to be surrounded by her friends, and on the few occasions James glimpsed her by herself, Lily always managed to disappear before he could approach her. Times like these made James wish even more fervently that the map was finished.

But luck appeared to be on his side on Friday afternoon. James' heart leapt when he saw Lily climbing the stairs just one flight above of him as he headed back to Gryffindor Tower after Quidditch practice.

"Hey, Evans!" he called. Lily halted and turned around. At the sight of James her eyes narrowed.

"Go away, Potter," she said coldly, before she turned and continued marching up the stairs.

James scrambled after her, taking the steps two at a time. He was catching up, but Lily continued to ignore him. They reached the landing together, right as the staircase they had just climbed began to move. Seeing his chance, James grabbed Lily by the hand and tugged her down one step and onto the moving staircase.

"What are you doing, Potter?" Lily shrieked. She snatched her hand away and whirled around, her wand already out and pointed at James.

"Evans – Lily – please, I just want to talk to you," James said. "Alone."

"Yeah?" Lily said, glancing around. Their staircase was still moving, and all the others around them were empty. "You want to talk to me without an audience for a change? Without anyone to watch you embarrass me? Or are your friends hiding around here somewhere?"

"No, of course not," James said. "Look, I didn't plan this, all right? Well, I mean, I've been trying to get you alone, to talk to you, but I didn't plan this exact moment. But I have been planning what I was going to say. So I guess you could say that I was planning this. In a way. Er." James winced and ran his hand through his hair nervously. He was suddenly aware of how messy he must look, still dressed in his sweaty, muddy Quidditch robes. And he was babbling. He never babbled.

Sometime during James' desperate speech the staircase stopped moving and Lily lowered her wand. "All right, Potter," she said at last, folding her arms tightly across her chest. "I'm listening. What do you have to say?"

"Er." James rummaged through the pockets of his robes until he retrieved a crumpled scrap of parchment. Lily eyed it warily, as if she expected it to explode. Clearing his throat, James began to read:

"To Lily:

I wanted to write you a sonnet,
So I found a sheet of parchment,
But I didn't know what to write on it.

I did plenty of research, and read poems many and old,
I knew I should praise your beauty and your cleverness,
And that one time you hexed Mulciber out cold.

But most of all I wanted to say,
Will you come with me to Hogsmeade on Saturday?"

When James was finished, he looked up hesitantly. Lily still stood before him with her arms folded, but her expression had softened somewhat.

"That's not a sonnet, you know," she pointed out.

"I know," said James. "I'm sorry. I did try, though."

"Did you really write it all by yourself, Potter?"

James nodded.

"And you've been carrying it around – even to Quidditch practice?"

James nodded again. "Listen, Lily, I'm sorry that I always embarrass you. I don't mean to, honestly, I just want to get your attention but I never know how. I promise I won't do anything stupid tomorrow, if you come to Hogsmeade with me. Will you?" he asked hopefully.

Lily was silent for a long moment, considering. "Well," she said at last. "I suppose I wouldn't mind going with you tomorrow. As – as friends, of course. Just this once."

"Really?" James cried. "I mean, great. That's great."

"I'll meet you in the common room tomorrow morning," Lily said. She turned to go, but hesitated. "Oh, and Potter?"

"Yes?"

"May I have your poem? To keep?" The tips of her ears turned red. "Strictly for blackmail purposes, of course. In case you embarrass me tomorrow."

"Oh, right," James said, fumbling with the parchment in his surprise as he handed it over. "Here."

Lily folded it neatly and slipped it into the pocket of her robes. "Thank you, James," she said, smiling at last as she turned to go. "See you at dinner."

James watched in stunned silence as Lily climbed the last flight of stairs. It was only after she disappeared down a corridor that he roused himself enough to speak.

"She called me James!"

******************************

Peter hunched over the map, making a few final adjustments. Before James had to leave for Quidditch practice, they had both looked over the map and decided upon the last structural changes necessary before they applied the tracking and plotting charm later that afternoon. Remus and Sirius had not been there; Peter and James had somehow lost them between their last lesson of the day and Gryffindor Tower, and they had still not returned. Peter wondered absently if they had hexed each other unconscious or something. They had been acting oddly all week.

Peter gave the map one last look. It was perfect – now all they had to do was work on the charm. With a yawn and a stretch, Peter set the parchment aside and left the dormitory, heading to the common room.

There he discovered Mary Macdonald sitting by the window, without Lily for once. She appeared to be writing a letter and Peter dithered for a few moments, unsure if he should interrupt. At last he approached her. "Hi, Mary."

"Hello, Peter," Mary said, glancing up with a friendly smile.

They looked at each other for long moment, still smiling at each other awkwardly, before Peter spoke again, saying the first thing that came to mind. "Do you fancy a game of Exploding Snap?"

Mary's face fell. "Is James coming downstairs, then? Lily isn't here, you know."

"What do you mean?" Peter said, his forehead furrowing in confusion.

"She had to go and see Professor Slughorn about something," Mary said. "I'm not sure when she'll be back."

"What do James and Lily have to do with us playing Exploding Snap?"

Now it was Mary's turn to look puzzled. "Well, I thought – that is, it seems that you always ask me to play whenever James wants to talk to Lily," she replied. "So I'm not entirely sure why you'd want to play now, when neither of them is here."

Peter blushed. "I'm sorry, it's just – James – Lily – you know–"

Mary nodded. "I understand. I don't mind." Her smile was brief and, to Peter, seemed rather sad.

"I hate Exploding Snap," he blurted.

"What?"

"I hate it," Peter said, still blushing. "I never liked it. I only suggest playing it because I don't know what to say to you."

Mary tilted her head, and studied Peter closely. Peter wilted slightly under her gaze, but bravely went on.

"I don't just do it for James' sake, you know. Talk to you, I mean." Peter ducked his head. He had a sudden desire to turn into Wormtail and hide underneath one of the armchairs by the fire. "I, well, I like talking to you. Or I would, if I knew what to say," he mumbled.

This time Mary's smile wasn't sad at all. "Peter, are you going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"

Peter blinked at the abrupt change in subject. "Yes."

"We could walk there together, if you want," Mary offered. "We'll find something to talk about, I'm sure."

"Really?" Peter's head jerked up in surprise. "I mean, yeah. Of course. Definitely."

"On one condition," Mary said, suddenly looking stern. "Promise you'll never mention Exploding Snap again."

Peter raised an eyebrow. "Do you mean…?"

Mary nodded. "I never cared much for the game either," she admitted with a grin.

******************************

Back in the classroom, Sirius and Remus had not hexed each other into oblivion. Rather, Sirius stood, tense and glaring, as Remus fidgeted with the sleeves of his robes and shuffled his feet awkwardly, trying to figure out what to say now that he had Sirius' undivided attention.

Just when the tension in the room became almost unbearable, Sirius exhaled deeply. All the physical manifestations of his hurt and anger seemed to leave his body at once, and his shoulders drooped heavily, making him look very young and vulnerable. The sight seemed to shake Remus from his thoughts, and both boys tried to speak at once.

"Look, I-"

"I'm sorry-"

They fell silent once more, looking at each other closely as each tried to guess what the other was thinking. The emotions of the past week, all of the hope and the confusion and the awkwardness – and underneath it all the feelings of friendship and love and affection that had always been there between them – flitted across their faces in an instant.

Later, no one remembered who had moved first. One moment there was a desk between them, and the next it was being shoved aside, crashing into another desk with a tremendous clatter. Then Remus was clutching Sirius' shoulders – and Sirius had a firm grip of Remus' waist – and they were kissing.

The kiss was slow and almost tentative at first. Then Sirius shifted a little closer, and Remus shifted a little closer, and suddenly they were pressed against each other quite snugly. And then the kiss deepened, and Sirius managed to untuck Remus' shirt and his fingertips grazed against the soft skin at the small of Remus' back. Then Remus suddenly couldn't breathe at all and broke the kiss with a gasp, his forehead falling forward to rest against Sirius' shoulder.

"Well," Remus said when he had nearly caught his breath. "That was surprising." He straightened up but they continued to hold each other, both unwilling to end the embrace.

Sirius smiled and pressed a kiss to the top of Remus' head, "Actually," he replied, looking and sounding amused and, much to Remus' annoyance, far more composed than he felt. "I rather expected it."

"Did you?"

"Of course. Did you think I was so oblivious that I'd not notice how strange you've been acting lately? Or that you nearly kissed me last night?"

"Yes," said Remus. "In fact, I was depending on your natural obliviousness."

"Oi!"

"Although," Remus continued. "I suppose I was sort of expecting it as well, after all of your cuddling lately."

"I don't cuddle, Moony," Sirius replied somewhat tersely. His insistence on the matter, however, was thwarted by the fact that he was still clinging to Remus. "Anyway," he said briskly, clearly wanting to change the subject. "The question is: what do we do now?"

"There's the usual course of action," Remus said. "Avoidance, awkward silences, and promises never to mention this again."

"There is that," Sirius agreed, grinning. He brought one hand up to tangle in Remus' hair where it curled slightly against the collar of his shirt.

"Or," Remus continued, smirking in a way that made Sirius blush unexpectedly. "I could kiss you again."

"Moony," Sirius said, inching closer. "I always knew you were a genius."

******************************

That afternoon, after Remus and Sirius finally returned to the dormitory (unashamedly late and ignoring James' knowingly raised eyebrow), and after James regaled them with the lengthy story of how he finally got a date with Lily, the boys turned to the map.

They clustered around the desk, the parchment unfurled between them, and passed around the book of charms as they each took a turn in saying the incantations. When the final words of the spell were uttered, the thin lines of ink that made up the outline of Hogwarts castle glowed brightly for a moment, showing the dormitories and the dungeons, the kitchens and the secret passages. Then the lines faded, leaving the parchment blank.

There was only one way to know for certain if the charm had worked. The boys grinned at each other, hardly able to contain their excitement.

"Together?" Sirius said eagerly.

"I think so," Remus replied.

"All right, men," said James. "Wands at the ready."

Sirius reached for Remus' hand under the desk. With a smile Remus linked their fingers together and gave Sirius' hand a tight squeeze.

"On three," said Peter. "One – two – three!"

Four wands lightly tapped the parchment and four voices said as one, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good..."

THE END