Author's Note/DIsclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, JKR does. Anything in Italics is thought, as usual. Hope you all enjoy, and please review.

The week had started out like any other week. Massive homework loads for the lot of the Marauders. Remus was still displeased that he had to drop four courses due to Albus Dumbledore, who had made the wise decision in telling Remus he could not take History of Magic, Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Herbology, Muggle Studies, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Astronomy, and

Divination. Remus had to come to accept that he couldn't possibly pull off the grades he wanted in eleven classes, so seven would have to suffice. All of his mates were taking five courses a piece and barely had any time to socialize. None of them understood

Remus' need to focus so much on schoolwork. They tried as much as possible, but no one could really relate to him.

So on this quiet Wednesday evening, Remus found it suitable to go and relax in the privacy of the Room of Requirement, where he could wish himself pain killers and sleeping pills and go out for the night. Remus always did this the night before and night after his transformations, that was if the Room of Requirement wasn't occupied by some randy fourth years gits making out in his relaxation spot. As he trudged down the hallway, trying to forget the long day he had and the essays he had to finish by Monday, Remus watched his feet as the mindlessly carried himself to his

destination.

As Remus wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to his surroundings, he nearly ran into Slytherin Clarence Zabini and his foul girlfriend Louise Perkins. He continued to carry himself to salvation when all of a sudden his mind went hazy and he felt his knees weakening. Remus continued to walk but now stumbling and fell into a familiar pair of arms as he topple down to the ground.

"Remus! Oh good god are you okay?" Sirius fell into caring mode within milliseconds and bent down to the ground getting a better grip on his best friends body and carried him in his arms to the Room of Requirement as quickly as possible. Sadly for Sirius, carrying around dead weight is hard, but luckily Quidditch had paid off. As soon as he had imagined a room full of remedies and a place for Remus to sleep he rushed into the room and laid his dear friend on the bed in a much less hurried fashion.

"O Merlin! Moony? Remmy? Remmy?" Sirius seemed to be begging with his choked pleas, but Remus was not waking up from his unconscious state so easily. "Jesus, Remus John Lupin don't you dare do this to me! I love you and am not letting you just leave me like this god dammit!" Sirius fell to his knees next to the bed and leaned his forehead on the edge of the mattress.

Luckily, Sirius' wish for remedies in the room was granted, and a small vile of smelling salts appeared on the night-stand next to him. He quickly pulled the stopper from the top and waved the salts under his nostrils. Because of Remus' current "time-of-the-month", his sense of smell was heightened and he immediately jolted up from the bed.

"Remmy! Oh thank god! You're ok!" Sirius came near shouting, so ecstatic that his friend hadn't died or gone onto a coma.

"Siri, my head hurts. Can you get me some..." Remus paused for a moment, rubbing his forehead with his hands. His hands said so much about him. They were thin and pale, just like Remus. As much as he went outside, he could not keep a tan. There were scars all over them, especially his bony knuckles. And to top it all off, he had nails that were a bit too long and sharp. It all said so much about Remus, and only Sirius seemed to notice that. "some, some aspirin."

Without even speaking, Sirius hand his sickly looking friend a glass of water and several pills. Sirius had been so afraid, watching over a friend, not knowing if they would get better. If possible, Remus had looked paler than usual and Sirius just could not handle losing someone else he loved.

"Thanks mate." Remus croaked, after gulping three massive pills. "I think I am going to put head down and try to get some rest." Sirius, turned and gave Remus the most motherly look he could muster. "Don't worry mate, you've seen me, I'm alright, but I'm just

a bit..." Remus over exaggerated a yawn "a bit tired" he finished.

"Moony, are you sure you are ok? Do you need anything?" Sirius was only trying to help, but Remus had already flipped onto his side and was knocked out, in a much more peaceful way. Sirius was glad to see his friend was alright, but he still wasn't sure. After what felt like hours of just watching Remus sleep and looking around the room, Sirius imagined a book on helping lycanthropes, and it appeared in his hands. He tried hopping on the bed as daintily as possible, as to not wake Remus up, but he seemed to

cause too much movement, and the tawny haired boy switched sleeping positions.

The night passed on, and both boys had passed out of exhaustion on the large bed. As the castle had calmed down, and the Forbidden Forrest had even gone quiet, Remus rose from his bed and rubbed his eyes groggily. He stretched out his long arms and yawned. Noticing how hot the room was, he peeled his shirt from his chest and back, unbuttoning as quickly as humanly

possible. He was drenched in a cold sweat. Trying to push it to the back of his mind, Remus could not forget the recurring dream he had just relived.

Every time Remus was entering his transformation he had terrible visions in his sleep of scratching and hurting Sirius so badly, or at least Padfoot. Every time he dreamt this, Sirius died, and Remus never got to say goodbye, that was what hurt himself the most. The moment of the dream that stuck in his mind for

days at a time, was himself watching the funeral from the Forbidden Forrest, in shame, away from everyone else. He had never told anyone about his nightmares, because no one would understand how painful it was for him .He couldn't control himself under the full moon and he was so worried he would hurt his friends. Remus was grateful for their company and help, but it was so nerve-racking, thinking that he could easily kill any

of them with a few strikes.

Remus had closed his eyes, even though he was sitting straight up, and while he was taking in the silence around him, he could hear the delicate steady breathing of another. He turned his head and noticed Sirius asleep on his back with a book opened out on his chest. "Curing the Itch" was a book Remus had heard about. It was written a few decades back by Simon Lovegood, an opinionated "researcher" who claimed to have curing abilities. His grandson Louis had graduated last year, and was pursuing a similar

career. Remus knew that none of his writing could be taken seriously, but admired Sirius for caring enough.

" Look at his hair. It's always a mess when he's sleeping, all the silky black hair puddled around his face. He looks so peaceful, just laying there." Remus thought. He couldn't see his eyes right now, but he loved the deep piercing blue of those sparkling orbs, they seemed to hold a thousand mysteries of a misunderstood boy.

"Even in his sleep that little devil is smirking at me. There is nothing that shows Sirius' personality more than his lips. He usually has this devious smirk plastered on his face, his lips

curved up ever so slightly. He has a wide open laugh and when he's just trying to talk he puts on his "Serious Sirius" face, as he calls it. A little somber, but real enough to believe. Why am I thinking about my best mate's lips. They are just like anyone else's!" His mind had to butt in at this point.

"They are not the same as James' or Peter's or any girl you've met and you know it! You love how expressive he is and that only you can see it. Admit it." Remus wasn't used to getting in arguments in his own head, but this was one worth fighting.

"Don't kid yourself, I mean myself. Though I do love that smile..." his glances fell back to Sirius' face and then down neck, when he figured that Sirius must have been too warm as well, seeing as he didn't have a shirt on. "His chest is so perfect. He has a little muscle, toned just enough. His skin is sun kissed and honey colored and so smooth. He's so lucky not to be covered in scars. He isn't some sickly milk colored boy with scratches all across his chest and back. I envy that." Remus had been jealous of Sirius' looks before but had never thought about it like this before, in so much detail. "He doesn't have the same ripped abs like James, no he's perfect the way he is. Look at the way his little maroon boxers peek out right above his wrinkled dress pants. No one else can pull it off like Siri can."

Remus found himself tracing every bit of Sirius thathe was thinking about, with his fingernails. He couldn't help but admire the boy, no the man, laying in front of him. Not only was he a gorgeous man , but an amazing friend who had always stuck by Remus' side. They did seem to spend more time together than the rest of the Marauders did. Remus had always found Sirius more intriguing, though his friends were all great people, Sirius had some sort of magnetic attraction that Remus was so helplessly drawn to.

"I love you Siri" he whispered, not even sure what he was saying.

"I...I...I love Sirius?It can't be, I mean he is my best mate and all. That's it, he is just the best friend any one could ask for. But I do tend to watch him doing his homework, or in class, or during lunch. But that must just be me checking up on him. You have to keep an eye on a boy like Sirius, never know what kind of trouble he'll get into." Remus wasn't making much sense and didn't understand what was going through his mind, but his heart knew what it wanted, pushing Remus closer to the face of sleeping Padfoot. He neared him more and more, so close that he could

feel the heat of his breath grazing right over his own

face.

"I can't kiss him, especially not when he's sleeping. But he looks so..."

"You know you want to. It's what you've wanted since you were a small boy and you want it even more now. He's irresistible and you can't deny it." Remus' mind seemed to be getting caught up with itself again and he slowly followed his instincts, going in to kiss Sirius. As he got within millimeters, Remus tilted his head and kissed Sirius on the cheek. "When I do kiss him for the first time, I want him to be awake, I want him to feel it, I want him to want it." Remus had his mind made up.

He fell back to the wrinkled sheets and laid down next to Sirius, and spent the night watching him until he finally dozed into a deep sleep. It was the first time he didn't have his nightmare before a transformation.