Expressing Yourself

Pairings: Remus/Sirius, James/Lily

Warnings: Slash! You know you love it.

A/N: Psycho Hippy just decided to bold this stuff cos she was getting confused…anyway! Sorry about the long wait! Work etc…

Disclaimer: None of these characters etc. are ours.

A week or so passed without much mishap. James and Peter quickly learnt that when the dorm door was locked, it was usually locked for a reason.

Nowadays, people were more likely to find Peter hovering beside a portrait of a bowl of fruit down near the kitchens, and James either in an armchair in the Gryffindor common room talking to Lily or in the library (yes, he did in fact know that the school possessed one) watching her study.

However, nobody really saw much of a change in the Marauders, other than the fact that they saw less and less of Sirius and Remus every day. Peter was, and always had been, one to lurk around the kitchens, and after the date, James and Lily had been on, well, let's just say they were getting on rather better than they were last year...

The fangirls were a little disappointed at Sirius' strange new habit of staying in his dorm for hours at a time, but they had lots of time to ogle him at mealtimes so they weren't too bothered. Everything was fine. Until...

"James!"

"Ack! What?" Sirius' eyes were glinting wickedly.

"I have just had the most brilliant and wonderful idea in the history of all ideas!" All eyes turned to Sirius, who made the most of it by leaning back on his chair and placing his hands behind his head, feigning relaxed indifference to the many stares from fellow Gryffindors up and down the table. Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius.

"You're such an attention whore."

"Oh you love it, Moony." Sirius replied, winking. James cleared his throat before Remus could reply.

"Hello? Brilliant idea?"

"Huh?" Sirius' laughter was abruptly halted by a sharp kick under the table from James.

"Oh, brilliant plan, gotcha." He rubbed his leg, scowling, and continued. "Well, you know how every year we always say it'd be nice to do something really FESTIVE for Christmas, yeah?"

"Yeah..." James said, brightening up considerably. "What did you have in mind?"

"A party!"

"...A party?" James looked a little doubtful. "That's your brilliant idea?" Sirius sighed huffily.

"Not just any party, James! A Marauder style party!" Instantly James brightened, and without even a sideways glance at his new girlfriend, he jumped onto his chair and cried to the breakfasting Gryffindors.

"Saturday 10th of December, Gryffindor Tower! A party to end all parties - costumes optional, and entertainment will be provided. Be there or...erm...be square!" There were some things that would never change, now matter how much Lily tried.

Excited chatter broke out across the Great Hall as James sat down again, grinning broadly, completely oblivious to Lily's disapproving look. "Sorted! Now all we have to is plan..."

"Plan?" all eyes were once again on Sirius, his eyes glinting mischievously. Remus leaned forwards in his chair, accidentally on purpose rubbing his leg against Sirius' own. Sirius' eyes flicked to him and he smirked, pressing back with his own leg for a moment before grinning wickedly at his fellow Marauders. "Oh no. Not in here. These be secret plans..."

Everyone on the Gryffindor sighed, slumping back in their seats, annoyed at having been led on in such anticipation. The Marauders got up, and, swaggering, left the Great Hall in pursuit of a suitable empty room in which to hatch their plans.

"Hey, Lil? You coming?" James called back to her from the entrance to the hall. Lily shook her head, rolling her eyes at the many cries of "aw" coming at her from all sides.

"You go on; I'll meet you in the common room before supper." And with that, James flew off, blowing her a fleeting kiss as he went.

Eventually, they found a classroom that wasn't being used (i.e. contained a couple enjoying some quality time together) and Sirius threw himself into the nearest chair with a flourish.

"Right lads! Time to get down to business!" With a general cheer, the boys jumped onto various horizontal surfaces and began to plot...

…

Lily scratched another line in her essay and paused, frowning slightly. Then she sighed and rested her hand on her chin, staring into space. It was odd, not having James around and trying to distract her. She sort of missed it. Shaking her head slightly, she leant back on the sofa and closed her eyes. She was never going to get any work done at this rate.

"Concentrate, Lily!" she berated herself silently, though she knew it was no good. All she could see was James' smile; see the way his eyes lit up every single time he saw her without fail. She could hardly believe she'd actually finally said yes to him. And not only once...they'd been on a few dates actually. Down by the lake...Hogsmeade...on top of the astronomy tower. The astronomy tower never felt so warm and comfortable in the November weather, snuggling up to James Potter with a flask of hot chocolate and a book between them.

She'd been surprised that he'd wanted to read with her actually. She had never, ever thought of him as the intellectual type, but he was actually quite clever once you got past the idiot exterior. She had discovered his love of fantasy muggle literature one day when she found him sleeping on a sofa in the common room with 'The Hobbit' balanced on his chest, glasses askew. Clearly, the dormitory was off limits to heterosexuals that night. She'd kissed him on the nose and removed his glasses before laughing quietly to herself and slipping upstairs to bed.

So two nights ago, there they were, reading quietly to each other under the stars...Lily sighed again and sank into the cosy cushions surrounding her, propping her feet on a spare pouf. It had been so romantic...a really clear night so they could see all the stars. And James had been so warm next to her, with that lovely deep voice of his...

"LIIIIIIIIILYYYYYYYYYYY!" Lily was jerked out of her musings by James launching himself onto the sofa next to her. She jumped. Violently, her hands flying up and accidentally smacking James in the face.

"Oomph! Erm...thanks Lil." James groaned, feeling his nose gingerly.

"Oh, James! I'm sorry, you just...erm...startled me a bit!" Trying to make up for the smack, she took his head in her cool grasp and turned it so she could survey the damage. She found that this put them in the rather dangerous position of being nose to nose on a sofa, bathed in warmth from the open hearth fire...

James blinked as he realised their position. Lily could feel her face flushing but she didn't move away. In fact, she moved just a fraction closer...and closer...

"Get a room!" Lily sent Sirius a huge glare.

"Oh like you can talk." Sirius grinned innocently.

"I can't think what you mean, Lily dearest!" Lily rolled her eyes, and glared some more at Sirius, under which he instantly cowed.

"We've got a room Sirius. Look around you - this is the Gryffindor common room. At least my occupation of this sofa for an evening doesn't stop people from sleeping in their own beds for a night, unlike someone I could mention." A couple of Gryffindors started listening in curiously. Remus shifted uncomfortably and stared resolutely at the floor. Sirius twitched.

"Seriously Lily..." Lily looked from one boy to the other.

"Oh...right." James laughed and grabbed her hand. "Hey, Lil? Come with me." People turned back to their work - James and Lily being together wasn't half as interesting as Sirius and Lily fighting.

She resisted half-heartedly, secretly enjoying the feeling of him tugging on her hand, getting her to stand up.

"No, James. I have an essay to write. "James dismissed this excuse with a wave of his hand.

"You can do it later. Come on!" He leant in close to her ear, his voice low and sexy. "I know you weren't concentrating on that when I came in...You were thinking about me. You were sighing a lot and mumbled something that sounded a lot like 'Hobbit' and 'stars'" Lily shivered and glanced quickly around the common room before whispering back.

"Well, maybe I can leave it for a little while then..." She got up off the sofa and they left hand in hand through the portrait hole, Sirius snickering and giving James a thumbs up as they jumped down.

As soon as the portrait hole shut behind her, Lily felt a hand cupping her jaw, another snaking behind her waist. She looked deep into James' hazel eyes and subconsciously opened her lips a little. She could feel her heart speeding up just a fraction. James smiled at her. Why did all this never seem to affect him, dammit?

He leant down and gently touched his lips to hers, sending a zing of electricity through her at the moment of contact.

"Not...not here, James..." He chuckled quietly and stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Alright...somewhere more private?" He waggled his eyebrows, grinning cheekily. And suddenly the romantic moment was lost. She whacked him in the arm and rolled her eyes, pulling out of his grasp. Sighing, she turned to give the Fat Lady the password.

"Lily, wait!" James cried, coming up behind her and took hold of her hand in his again.

"Yes?" She turned round to face him again. Oh crap. Puppy dog eyes...

"C'mon I was only joking..."The corners of her mouth twitched, but she refused to be won over that easily, despite how cute he looked just now...James' eyes widened and Lily's knees went weak. Oh dear. She sighed and James, taking that as a sign that he was forgiven, kissed her on the cheek with a grin.

"But don't think you can win me over that-" she tried to say, but was cut off by a pair of lips on her mouth, a pair of hands crushing her body to his. Breaking off after what seemed to Lily like several minutes but what was in reality only a few seconds, James smirked again, and bent so that his mouth brushed her ear as he murmured,

"I already did, Lils. And that's why I love you." She huffed irritably.

"Why? Cos all you need to do is make eyes at me and all is forgiven?" James gave her a squeeze and let go, grabbing her hand instead.

"C'mon, let's go for a walk." Lily sighed and followed him. She really was a completely hopeless...wait a second. Loved her?! She stopped in her tracks, halfway down the stairs into the entrance hall.

"What...what did you just say? "James turned around, a slightly confused look on his face.

"What?" Lily pointed at him accusingly.

"You...you just said..."

"That...I'm sorry?"

"No! That...that you loved me."

"Well yeah. I thought you knew that." He came towards her and gave her a hug, kissing the top of her head and rubbing her back in slow, rhythmical circles. She looked up, and he was astonished to see that her eyes had filled with tears.

"James...I..." she looked down again and hugged him closely, burying her head in his chest. James looked down at her and smiled. Wrapping an arm around her, he led her down the last flight of stairs and though a secret passage hidden behind a tapestry of Duncan the Delusional.

Lily smiled, trying to wipe her eyes subtly. It was times like this that she really had no idea why she'd resisted James Potter for so long...Well, OK. He was immature and pathetic along with the best of them, and broke rules like that was what they were made to do. And yes, he was slightly obsessed with Quidditch...He was very good at Quidditch... Lily began to daydream again as she snuggled closer against James' chest as they walked. She was completely unaware of the goofy smile adorning her face as they walked and, to be honest, she probably wouldn't have cared much anyway.

James stopped outside a door to what looked like an ordinary, empty classroom or store cupboard.

"James, what-"

"Shh." He opened the door and pulled Lily into the room. The door swung shut behind them, leaving them in total blackness.

"Wha...James, if you think I'm..."

"Hold on a sec!" Lily heard a muttered incantation and suddenly, candles burst into life around the room, filling with a warm glow.

Her mouth flew open, and her hand tightened its grasp on his. The room was small, only a few metres square, and was lit by the few candles and a small fireplace, in front of which stood a sofa - an exact replica of the one in the Gryffindor common room. On a table on one side of the sofa was a pile of several books and on the rug in front of the fire a tray was laid with dinner.

He grinned broadly at her stunned expression.

"Did I do good this time?" Lily beamed at him and kissed him quickly, hard on the lips.

"Yeah, James. Absolutely perfect."

…

Peter sat on his bed staring at the wall and trying desperately not to blush. Sirius and Remus were flirting...again. But of course, in true Sirius style, he didn't just flirt. He practically raped Remus with his eyes right there in front of Peter! Not that Remus was any better...

"Siri, you know for a fact that I'm not ticklish...oh...oooh, get off! Fine, I admit it! My hips are ticklish? Happy?"

"Very, Remie, very, very happy..." Peter wailed, covering his eyes as the two adolescents leaned in to share a rather lust-filled kiss in the depths of the dormitory.

"For Merlin's sake, do you two ever stop?"

"Nope." Sirius grinned unashamedly. Peter whimpered and stood up.

"Right, I've had enough of your frolicking. I'm off to the kitchens." Peter made a hasty exit, leaving the two boys alone again. Sirius leaned in and licked the underside of Remus' jaw. Remus closed his eyes and bit his lip, flushing.

"This can't go on forever, Siri." He caught the shocked expression on the darker boy's face and hastily amended his last statement. "I mean, sneaking around behind everyone's back like this. And fine, it can be fun-" he grinned "Definitely lots of fun...but we're losing friends again." Sirius scowled and sat back on his heels.

"I don't give a monkey about what that little..." Remus shook his head, cutting off his boyfriend mid-flow.

"Not just Peter, Siri! And...and anyway it's weird having to pretend in front of other people. "Sirius sighed and launched himself backwards so that he lay flat out on his bed with Remus beside him.

"I guess..." Remus fiddled with the quilt, and then glanced over at Sirius.

"You...you don't mind...do you?" he asked hesitantly, "That I want to tell people..."

"No...I just..." Remus frowned. If the situation wasn't so serious he'd point and laugh at Sirius for displaying such un-Sirius-like qualities like awkwardness.

"What, Siri?" he asked gently. Sirius let out a huge sigh and mumbled.

"Well...Ok, we'll tell them."

"Fine, so we tell everyone. But how, Siri? And when?" Sirius grinned, and began playing with his lover's hair absentmindedly. "Well, I was thinking...remember my latest and greatest idea?"

"Uh huh..." Remus eyes him warily.

"I've just had another one..."

And here's an update! Woot! Next chapter is the final one…oh how sad. But it's all planned out and should be with you this week. Love xxx