I'm still a little comatose / dead, but my Easter holiday is in the process of... existing, so that should (hopefully) mean that the updates are more with less time between. Or whatever. I've no idea. Either way, thanks for the reviews and let's roll!

Neither of them noticed the bolt sliding to one side with a soft click, and neither of them noticed two pairs of rather-large eyes (hazel and pale-blue) staring right at them from underneath an invisibility cloak in complete shock.

Remus Lupin was, for once, completely off-guard. His body was lax as Sirius continued to explore the lycanthrope's mouth and his skin, one hand slowly moving up Moony's shirt, fingers lightly tracing over the expanses of scars that crisscrossed over each other there…

Wormtail squirmed a little under the invisibility cloak, pale blue eyes forcing themselves shut against the image of Padfoot and Moony… James cringed slightly at the moan (which was obviously courtesy of Remus), groping around blindly for the sleeve of Peter's jumper before he finally found the cloth and tugged. Hard.

The smallest Marauder let out a stifled yelp and jolted forward, the cloak falling off of most of his upper body. James suddenly found the entire weight of the trapdoor on him and he grunted slightly, his arms buckling under the new burden.

Sirius' hands had stopped moving under Moony's shirt and now both Black and Lupin were staring, wide-eyed at Peter's disembodied head, neck and half of his shoulder. Remus' face was dark red and Sirius, annoyed at being interrupted, was glaring right at the partially open trapdoor.

"Prongs."

James let out a shaky breath, shoving the door backwards and swinging himself up onto the divination tower's floor, letting the cloak slide down onto the carpet, completely revealing himself. Peter followed suit, standing by Potter's side and trying not to stare explicitly as Remus shakily removed Sirius' hand from up his shirt, automatically straightening his tie. Padfoot, not fazed in the slightest, sat up and very openly placed a hand on the other Marauder's knee. It was a challenge, and James knew it.

There was an almost pregnant pause as the Marauders seemed to just bask in the awkward silence. Remus and Peter were both intent on looking away from the scene while Sirius and James were attempting to stare each other down. Finally, Peter cut into the quiet by pulling out a scrap of parchment and brandishing it, trying to diffuse the awkward pause by helpfully announcing that they had used the map to find them when they'd been away for several hours and that the prank had gone rather well.

The werewolf, desperately trying to play along, said that he was glad that nobody had been caught and Prongs merely grunted in affirmation. Sirius remained silent, squeezing Remus' knee in a slightly comforting notion that did not go unnoticed by James.

"How long have you two..." He paused rather awkwardly, brushing short black hair back with one calloused hand, guiltily averting his eyes from the 'couple'.

"About ten minutes, actually," Sirius spoke up, frowning a little at his best friend and scooting closer to the light brunette, who seemed slightly uncomfortable due to the eyes that were indirectly watching them. Remus J. Lupin was not an exhibitionist.

"Well... congratulations?" Peter tried, which drew a silent thank you and a wry smile from the lycanthrope's lips, but a deeper frown from Prongs.

"Moony?"

Remus looked up at the dark-haired male beside him, another brief smile escaping him as Sirius gave him a tiny kiss on the forehead and stood up, pulling the smaller Marauder along with him.

"How about you and Peter go down to the common room?"

Remus blinked almost owl-like up at Padfoot, astonished at the very suggestion.

"No. We're the bloody Marauders, if anyone has anything to say, we'll damn well say it here and now. With nobody excluded."

The werewolf had moved away from Sirius' touch and this time, it wasn't only because of discomfort but annoyance as well. Potter was silent, eyes breaking from the vicious glare that he'd been sending in his best friend's direction before he finally spoke, his voice shaking with repressed anger.

"Remus is not a girl."

This earned him a very blank look from Peter, a scowl from Sirius and a light blush from Remus before he straightened up, swaying on the spot for a moment before he brought his hands together. The applause echoed almost eerily through the classroom, forcing Peter to jerk out of his inner thoughts and stare right at the Marauder in question.

"Stunning observation, James. Next, are you going to point out my 'suspicious' disappearances every full moon or the fact that I've never had a girlfriend?"

He strode across the room to brood angrily by the window, thrusting it open and coughing as a storm of dust clouded around him, waving off the concerned look that Sirius tossed him with an air of aggravated contempt.

"What I mean is... Sirius, you can't treat him like the girls that you keep going out with, you can't just... randomly drop him when you get bored, he's one of us and..." he paused, his voice going a little lower, almost husky, "I'd kill you with my bare hands if you ever did that to him. You won't even have time to grab for your wand." Hazel eyes were glaring at Sirius with an intensity that Peter had never seen, except for when he was looking at Snivellus. Remus, having turned away from the window, was also astounded and in the process of staring, slack-jawed, at the admission.

Sirius suddenly found himself in a very awkward situation. Commitment, and this was a common fact when it came to how he worked, was far from his forte. His longest relationship had lasted for about a week and a half with a Ravenclaw girl, and only because she would go insane, crying and sobbing and sniffling all over him when he tried to let her down easy. He hadn't really given much thought as to how long he and Remus would last- hell, he hadn't even asked the werewolf out yet, and he also hadn't thought about the possible effects that it would have on them, as a group of friends. One hand ran over his chin, then through his hair before it rested at the back of his neck. Damnit, he couldn't think of what to say... He could feel everyone's eyes upon him and it weighed heavy against his thoughts as he stood there and stared at the dish of incense that he'd lit earlier on.

"N... No, I won't treat him like them, he's different," he stumbled to get the words out, to choose the right ones to calm all three of them down at the same time. James didn't look convinced, although Remus had given up his post at the window to stand by Padfoot's side again, still looking a little apprehensive, but partially relieved at the same time.

"Well, um... Let's go back to the dorms, then?" Peter's voice broke through with an interestingly high amount of optimism, "Now that that's settled... Bring the bottles, right?" One hand reached down to grab the invisibility cloak, the other checking to make sure that the Map was still stashed safely in his pocket. "Come on, Prongs?"

Prongs snorted a little, although Peter knew that it wasn't in his direction, and followed the shortest Marauder down the ladder, leaving the trapdoor open for Remus and Sirius. Footsteps of a very relieved Wormtail and an irritated Prongs started down the stairs and gradually faded away.

Remus stayed silent before he was sure that the two were gone. "I... I don't want this to go on if it'll only last a few days. If you'll get tired of me so quickly."

"No, no, I won't. I'm just... still a little unsure about it," One hand moved up to brush against Remus' jaw, tilting his head up to where their eyes met before continuing, "Maybe you and I should wait a bit? Figure things out first before we do anything that we might regret."

Moony nodded almost dazedly, a quiet, "Mmn," leaving him. So they weren't together. He could handle that- it'd be no different from before the prank, right?

... Right?

A light sigh left him as he moved away from Sirius' touch for at least the hundredth time, ignoring the puzzled look that Padfoot gave him as he bent down to pick up his firewhiskey and made his way down to the Gryffindor common room, leaving a slightly confused Sirius Black behind.

HAH, NO SEX FOR YOU. ... Yet. It'll come later, I promise, I proooomise. But, as you can tell, this is -not- a one-shot and therefore you have to wait for the smut. Because plots are amazing. And yeah. I was going to put in a really poorly placed Princess Bride quote, just to spite you all, but...

... Yes.

65-70 reviews is when I'm gonna update next. Poor Sirius! He seems to be messing things up even worse... (10 reviews in 12 hours or so? Dear god, I need to start working! XD)