Yeah, yeah, this is a little late, but I've been insanely busy this month with my various… travelling… ordeals… so basically, I'll cut down on the pre-game chatter and dive right into what you guys are wanting. Fair enough? I thought so too. XD

ALSO: the titles of books and chapters-in-books have British spellings in them because… well, they're British books, so it seems understandable to me.

The first thing that Remus Lupin realized upon waking up was that he had not changed into his nightclothes before going to sleep. The second thing that he realized were the three uncomfortably sticky and disgustingly warm chocolate frogs that had been nesting in his pocket since the evening before. So, significantly crumpled and dazed, he sat up and pushed the sheets off of his weary body, trying to remember why he had-…

Amber eyes fell almost immediately upon Sirius' bed through his poorly drawn curtains and he frowned deeply, a knot of dread welling up in his stomach.

Oh.

Sirius had heard his argument with Prongs- he had even fought with James over it… and logically, for that was how Remus' mind always worked, that meant that Sirius was going to either formally break off every single attempt at fixing things with the young werewolf in an attempt to pacify James or… he would renew his efforts.

All of a sudden, Remus couldn't figure out which he dreaded more. Could he, Remus J. Lupin, possibly take that chance if it came to him? Or would he be able to cope with being dumped by Sirius before something even had a chance to begin? Both possibilities were horribly unnerving and Remus didn't think he would be able to face either of them with even slight confidence.

Standing up by now, the light-brunette shook the hair out of his eyes and silently crossed the cold wooden floor to kneel by his trunk, picking out suitable clothes as quickly and as quietly as he could. Even the slight ruffling of fabrics that came hand in hand with changing clothes seemed alarming in the near-silence. Changing took almost no time at all and by the time that he had pulled on his clothes, he had formed a sort of plan in his head. The map. He needed the map. Remus pulled on his shoes as quietly as he could before moving to grope blindly underneath James' bed for the familiar sheaf of parchment that they had only just perfected in the past year or so. Finally his thin fingers closed around it and he tugged it back out into the open before edging away from his friend's bed.

Drawing his wand from his pocket almost immediately, he took several steps closer to the door before tapping the map softly and whispering "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

As it had been enchanted to do, the spindly ink lines slowly flowed across the parchment, gradually showing the entirety of Hogwarts and its students, ghosts and professors. Only a few little labeled dots were moving and out of their respective dormitories at this hour- the Grey Lady was hovering through the great hall, several owls were roosting in a little out of the way courtyard and Professor Slughorn was near the kitchens, probably looking for an early-morning breakfast. The library, the prefect's bathroom and the classrooms were all empty.

'Now,' he thought as his finger traced the numerous halls and staircases with practiced ease, 'I just have to find somewhere to hide where nobody would think to look for me.'

This, unfortunately, was easier said than done and it quickly ruled out every single classroom he could think of, the great hall and the library. The prefect's bathroom, although it seemed to be a good idea, wasn't the most opportune place to hide unless he wanted to chance someone else walking in on him and it wasn't as if the Marauders didn't know the password to get in anyway. The next place that came to mind was the Forbidden Forest but that idea was quickly discarded as well. After all, the map didn't actually encompass much of the forest anyway and the only reason that he ever went into the forest was because of full moons and that was reason enough for the lycanthrope to avoid the area as much as he could while he was human. But he had to get back on the subject of finding a good place to hide…

Back and forth his finger went, deliberating over every single quasi-tempting room or area in sight, discarding room after room until…

He stopped.

The girls bathroom on the third floor. Nobody was in there and he wouldn't have to deal with anyone coming in there on a Sunday with no classes, extra-curricular activities or common rooms nearby and nobody would think to look for him in there… And even if it was a little humiliating to even consider camping out in a girls bathroom all day, he decided on it right then and there, straightening up and murmuring a quiet "Mischief managed" to the precious slip of parchment.

And without a second thought on his plans for the day, he loosely tucked the map into his trouser pocket and silently left the room, only pausing to cast a longing glance at Sirius' bed before hardening his resolve to stay out of the way and further delay whatever decision the dark-haired teenager made.

As soon as the dormitory door was safely shut, Remus took a little less care with being quiet- the door would filter out most of the noise anyway and they could always assume that it was another early-rising Gryffindor instead of their very own Moony. Descending down the spiral staircase into the common room, Remus allowed himself a small sigh and a reluctant sort of stretch. Maybe he would have a chance to think out that potion that he had been struggling with rather than this whole mess…

"Morning, Remus!"

The lycanthrope flinched automatically, whipping around to look in the direction of the voice and internally cursing when he saw that familiar mane of red hair. Taking a few seconds to compose himself, Moony straightened up and smoothed down his clothes, trying to act and look natural despite his obviously frazzled appearance. Not noticing a slight lack of weight in his pocket, he gave Lily a small smile and took a small step closer to where she had been sitting at a hard wood table. Papers were spread out around her and several books were lying open, supposedly as reference points rather than anything else. And, looking a little worn, Lily sat there amongst it all, wiping the approaching sleep from her eyes before giving Remus a friendly sort of nod.

"You're up early."

It wasn't the cleverest line that Remus could pull out of his hat but Lily took no mind of it and picked up her scroll of parchment to show off the miniscule, slanted writing that filled at least a foot and a half of it. Two mugs of what was presumably pumpkin juice were sitting there on the table- one was empty and the other was full and probably cold by now.

"Divination homework- it isn't due for another several days but I was on a roll…"

She trailed off sheepishly but Remus understood and gave her a warm sort of smile. He had pulled more sleepless nights of straight working than he could possibly ever count and, for once, it made him feel a little more normal to see someone else doing the same thing.

"Are you going to go have breakfast?"

Remus looked up and quickly shook his head, his earlier thoughts of hiding all day returning to him before he thought better of his reaction. He would go to the kitchens and ask for a little bit of food- that would be better…

Lily had leaned forward on her stacks of notes and books to look at him with scarily insightful green eyes and again, Remus jerked out of his internal reveries. "I'm just going to go… take a walk," he lied through his teeth and for a moment, Lily's left eyebrow raised but she seemed to write off the feeble attempt at a fib.

"Its fine," she said cheerfully, "I'll talk to you later then, I suppose?"

Remus nodded gratefully, brushing the hair out of his eyes with a weary hand before turning to the redhead and grinning.

"Of course… and be sure to tell James off for being late to your 'study group', won't you?"

She went a sudden shade of indignant pink at this, her lips pursing as if she was about to tell the werewolf off before she looked to the side, a silent admission to why she had really been up so early. Finally, she gave a small smirk, tilting her head to the side in a devilishly intelligent way before adding, "Don't I always?" and leaning back down onto the table, her head propped up with one hand.

Remus gave the girl another smile and, pushing the portrait to the side, stepped out of the common room, ignoring the slightly muffled protest from Lily for him to wait up as he strode confidently down the halls to his destination.

If he had turned back before the portrait swung shut again, maybe he would have noticed Lily standing there, baffled, with a slip of blank parchment in her hand, trying to work out why Remus would have had an empty sheaf of paper in his pocket for absolutely no reason at all. Sighing a little, she returned to her piles of books, notes and the two mugs- one empty and one still full. Lily, thinking nothing more of the seemingly innocent slip of parchment, folded it up carefully and slipped it between chapter 5, 'Colours of One's Aura and What They Say about You' and chapter 6, 'Popular Myths about Tea Leaves' before continuing her careful note-taking.

Sirius woke up with a start, his mind muddled and foggier than it usually was in the morning. Daylight had already streamed through the window- enough even to hit the bottom of Peter's drawn curtains… had he really slept in that late?

On a normal day with no classes, Sirius couldn't even be roused from his sleep by six naked girls with whipping cream and dirty thoughts in mind, but today, he groggily remembered that he had resolved to wake up early for a reason… An important reason… but what? It wasn't as if he had woken up next to some random girl again and it wasn't like he had to sneak out to get something or finish a sorely-put-off assignment before class started… James wasn't mad at him anymore, Peter was no longer humming that damnably annoying American theme song to the 'Brody Bunches' or whatever he had watched on the teli-vee-shun at his aunt's house over the last break and Remus…

The Animagus jolted as he remembered what he had decided to do, kicking the sheets off of himself as he practically tumbled out of bed to fall on the floor with an unnecessarily loud thump only to get tangled up in his curtains on the ground.

"Bloody… fucking… curtains…"

He was going to go after Remus today. He had forced James to give his half-blessing (which had been more of an exhausted but grudging admittance that it would have happened eventually and that Sirius should really stop bothering him in the middle of the night for seemingly no reason at all) and now he was going to 'go for the Galleons', as they say. So, practically ripping himself out of the curtains, he stood up in all of his sleep-mussed glory, shirtless and with messy hair- messier than James on a self-proclaimed 'good day'. And, slowly, relishing the look that he was sure would come over Remus' face when he saw a half-naked Padfoot standing before him, he turned and marched across the room to throw back the curtains to Remus' bed…

It was empty. He had woken up early, but not early enough.

"Dammit."

One strong hand, calloused from constant exercise and flying with James, ran through his hair irately before he turned on his heel to dig around for suitable clothes and his wand. Sirius Black was going to get what he had subconsciously wanted for quite a while and he wasn't going to even entertain the notion of failing. And much like James, when Sirius wanted something, he made sure that he got it and refused to give up until he had it.

Tugging on a slightly crumpled shirt from his trunk and stumbling around a little as he yanked on his trousers as quickly as he could (and nearly knocking into James' bed in the process), Sirius preformed a few basic vanity spells that he had taught himself in the interest of looking good on a constant basis. A hair taming spell forced away his bed-head, an ironing sort of spell got rid of those stubborn wrinkles and a quick breath-freshening spell got rid of anything else that he would have potentially worried about when going in for the figurative 'kill'. And so, ignoring James' muffled curses from inside his four-poster, he dropped to his knees by Potter's bed and groped around underneath it for the familiar sheaf of-…

Nothing was there.

Sirius pressed his face to the semi-dusty floor beside James' bed to peer through the space between the mattress and the floor and saw nothing but a pair of old socks, a Transfiguration book and a clipped article on a famous Quidditch star's record breaking Quaffle catches. No map.

Remus, unfortunately, must have thought ahead in that damnably clever way of his and taken it so that he wouldn't be found… and even though Sirius had no earthly idea as to why he was hiding- after all, who would want to hide from such a sexy beast?- he knew that if he was to find the lycanthrope, (soon to be his lycanthrope), he would have to start looking now. So, slipping on his coal black dragonhide boots that he had always been obscenely proud of, he started off, not caring enough to keep himself from slamming the dormitory door and pounding down the spiral staircase that led into the common room, heading straight to the portrait hole with a sense of fervor.

"Morning, Sirius."

Padfoot almost screeched to a stop, turning to look around for the source of the noise and finding none other than a certain Lily Evans at the exact same table that Remus had left her at. Part of Sirius really did not like the knowing smile that she was giving him, but he chose to ignore it.

"Ah- good morning, Evans…" He was hastily smoothing down his hair, taking this opportunity to tug at his hair in what could be seen as a nervous habit, "… have you seen Moo- Remus around lately?"

Lily closed one of her Divination books and adjusted her seating, choosing to smile sagely at the Marauder over her piles of notes and writing. And when she finally spoke, it was slow, deliberate and much too smug for Sirius' liking. Did she know something that he didn't?

"He passed by here looking sort of ill at ease about an hour ago," she informed him, still smiling in that new and slightly creepy manner of hers. But as soon as Sirius moved to set off again, she made another noise, jerking to flip through her book.

"Wait, wait, wait," she interjected, her voice a little more hurried- as if he too would dart away before she could impart her final dose of 'wisdom', "he dropped this- I don't know what it is, but I figure that he probably needed it for something. You should return it to him for me."

Something in her voice said that this was definitely not an option and, finally finding it between the pages of her book, she held it out for Sirius to take.

For a moment, Sirius stood there, gaping at her, then the paper, then back again. Was this utter luck or the workings of a Saint 'up there' who felt kindly towards him? Or did Lily know more than she was supposed to? Slate eyes narrowed in suspicion at the object of Prong's affections as he swiped the slip of parchment away from a now very interested Lily and pocketed it. Then, thanking her for returning it to him safely, he made his exit as quickly as he possibly could, avoiding the overly curious look that Lily was giving him. And as soon as he had passed through the portrait, he heard a slightly faint "good luck," coming from inside the common room, but before he could turn back to stare at her, bewildered, the fat lady was hiding the Gryffindor common room again and he gave up on looking for the source.

Dragonhide boots clicked almost uniformly against the stone floors as he moved away from the portrait hole, lest the Fat Lady hear him whispering at a piece of blank parchment. Finally, when he considered himself far enough away from anyone who might overhear him, he drew out his wand and poked the parchment rather roughly, mumbling a hurried "I solemnly swear I am up to no good". On cue, the ink began to form chamber after chamber, room after room, all spread out before the Animagus. But Sirius didn't care about Peeves terrorizing house elves in the kitchens or Snivellus lurking about the dungeons or Lily and her books. He was looking for that familiar light-brunette who wasn't in his usual places. The library, apart from the librarian and a boy that he recognized as a Seeker on the Hufflepuff team, was empty. The classrooms, save for a few teachers, were also devoid of any werewolf-like blots and the grounds didn't hold Remus either. So, peering closer at the map to the point where his nose nearly grazed the paper, he raked through the rooms. The Bloody Baron was busy scaring first years, the Grey Lady had moved to lurk through the tallest towers and Moaning Myrtle was busy bothering a huddled mass in the third floor girls bathroom, carefully labeled in slanting script as 'Remus J. Lupin'.

"…Moony?"

This, Remus decided, had been an utterly stupid idea. Not only was this bathroom just as shamefully kept as the boys bathrooms were (he had expected, rather stupidly, that the girls bathroom would be much cleaner in comparison. It wasn't.), but it also smelled and one simple fact had slipped his mind as soon as he attempted to make himself a little more comfortable against the wall of the stalls. Moaning Myrtle, unfortunately, had claimed this bathroom as her very own haunting grounds. That was why it was frequently abandoned, and for good reason too. For after all, if Remus had been looking for the one person in the entire school who was more miserable than he was, Moaning Myrtle would have been a first pick. And she most certainly lived up to her name.

"And then, then she poured an entire pitcher of butterbeer over my head…" a slow, mournful voice was echoing through the room, "and oh, everybody laughed and laughed… I hid in my dormitory for days…"

She had appeared only about 10 minutes after Remus had settled in with the chocolate that the house elves had so cheerfully supplied him with, spouting out of a faucet like a big, horrible, swelling raindrop. And even though she was basically translucent, he could still see the sticky, welling tears pour down her face slowly as she recounted the more horrible moments of her life.

At first, Remus had felt slightly bad for her and had engaged in a rather pointless discussion about what he considered to be happier things. It had been a pathetic attempt at steering the conversation in a more positive light, especially considering how Myrtle had been a diabetic in her past life, ruling out any type of sweets, got sunburn too easily and therefore had to stay inside and, of course, she hated reading with a passion. So, with that more pessimistic view on life in mind, Remus retired to a stall, pulled down the toilet seat and sat on the cover, brooding. He decided that if he had ever been forced to live through something like that without any good friends, books or chocolate, he would have killed himself long before any gigantic serpent could ever beat him to the punch.

And there he sat, listening to that doleful, monotone voice whine about how cruel everyone was to her and how her things had been stolen away and destroyed and that she had always been picked on… Remus yearned to tell her about how being a werewolf, nevermind a gay one blew all of that right out of the water but he managed to keep his mouth shut, opting instead to lean miserably against the side of the stall. Maybe it would be best if he simply hid in the library- at least then he wouldn't be bothered by stupid ghosts and their age-old grievances against the world…

The door opened and Remus froze, his stomach curling into a tight ball of nerves as he drew his knees to his chest instinctively. Someone was in here- maybe, maybe, it would be a girl who had needed the loo rather than…

Myrtle, strangely pleased with the prospect of someone else to sob about her life to, didn't hesitate in floating out to meet this newcomer head on, swiping away the remaining tears from her chat with Remus before sizing up her new visitor with beady eyes. One translucent hand reached out to flirtatiously toy with her equally translucent pigtails as she leaned forward to get a better look.

"Another boy?"

It was a giggle more than anything, as if she was deeply flattered that two members of the male sex would come and visit her in one day and her hands moved to smooth down her ancient robes in a self-conscious sort of manner. Remus' heart sank at this overheard snatch of information but he forced himself to stay silent and calm. After all, he still had the map… One thin hand groped into his trouser pocket before he froze. It was empty. And, unfortunately, save for his wand and a knut, his other pocket was just as empty as the first.

Footsteps were approaching his stall and Remus tried to muffle the hurried beats of his own heart, terrified that whoever was outside his temporary sanctuary would end up hearing them and knowing where he was.

"Moony,"

Said Marauder, who had only just attempted to stop breathing, forced his eyes closed- maybe if he couldn't see Sirius, then maybe Sirius wouldn't be able to see…

"I know you're in there- I have the map."

While that was a small relief when it came to the worry of having lost one of their most valuable possessions, Remus did not say a word- as if he would be able to fool his friend on the other side of the door by simply keeping quiet. Needless to say, this was a flawed plan from the start and as soon as Sirius knocked on the door, Remus knew that the gig was up, so to speak. Reluctantly letting his feet hit the floor, he stood and slowly unlocked the door, his stomach still curled into multiple knots. Sirius stood there before him in all of his glory, arms crossed and a slightly exasperated expression across his face.

"You know, I keep saying that you aren't a girl, but this isn't exactly helping my case."

Remus felt the back of his neck heat up a little and the desire to close the stall door in Sirius' face and hide again was getting stronger than he had ever anticipated. Merlin, this was not what he had wanted to deal with today...

Sirius, having taken a few steps back in a slightly encouraging way, as if trying to coax the werewolf from the stall, tilted his head at the silence, frowning a little. Maybe it would be best if he tackled this head on…

"Why were you hiding, Remus?"

Moaning Myrtle had rather inconspicuously moved to loiter by another toilet, feigning disinterest as she listened in on their conversation. Remus had, again, almost stopped breathing and he had to cough a few times to clear his throat before looking up at Sirius and taking a step out of the stall to face his friend.

"I was… being foolish," he stated quietly, toying with the ends of his sleeves, "and I was trying to delay something that I knew was… inevitable."

There was an air of finality in his voice, one that he couldn't quite shake off if he tried. Sirius, who had chosen to linger near a sink, cast an anxious look over at the shorter Marauder. Remus, however, did not meet his gaze.

The only thought that ran through Sirius' mind at this point was 'Why isn't he happier?' and he slowly moved towards the werewolf, concerned. Finally, he dared to ask the question.

"What were you trying to delay?"

Remus did not answer immediately, suddenly finding the wet tiled floor to be an incredibly interesting thing to look at. But, when he finally spoke, it was nearly inaudible, almost as if it would sound less shameful if he said it as quietly as he could.

"Your decision."

They were at a standstill, like two opponents before a duel, wands raised, breath held, waiting for the other to make a move to launch things into action. Both teenagers had stopped their every movement and for now, they simply stared at each other. Myrtle chewed on the end of her left pigtail.

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Sirius withdrew his hand from the strange tap that looked like a snake's head and walked across the bathroom to stand only a pace before Remus.

"Go out with me." It wasn't a question.

Remus hesitated, his face having gone an interesting shade of red. Myrtle made a surprised sort of squeak and fell through the nearest toilet's u-bend. Sirius' hands twitched a little, as if they were desperate to grab ahold of Remus and pull him close, to convince him that it was the right choice…

"I… but the Marauders… We can't…" but Remus could only imagine what would happen if he said no. He would be alone again while James went out to attempt wooing Lily and while Sirius left to find a girl for the night. Alone, sitting there miserably next to Peter for the rest of eternity. He bit down on his lower lip for the slightest moment before he added, "you know that I wouldn't just sleep with you immediately…" He didn't know if it was supposed to scare Sirius off or not, but he gave the werewolf a reckless sort of grin as he stepped forward to catch the other male in a tight embrace, whispering something in the other Gryffindor's ear that made Remus go an even darker shade of crimson, his lips turning upwards in a smile.

"You know that I've always loved a challenge."

AHA. A long chapter this time! I fucking win.

Next chapter may take a bit longer… 190-200 reviews or something? College/high school for those of you in America is starting up for me in about… two weeks or so, so I'm not gonna prioritize this over my studies XD Sorry guys? It'll be a fun side-project, as ever, but I'll be sure to keep up with everything.

Also! I love random IMs from people; so again, see the ending author's notes for chapter 7 if you want my contacts. Really, I adore them, so… keep talking to me?

Final note: great thanks to boiledpotato/Jayne! who happens to be my beta and a very good real-life friend of mine- if you have spare time and don't mind some D/H goodness, she has an awesome fic that takes place in a broom closet, only dialogue. Go look it up if you're bored- you won't be sorry. Thanks for being my beta-- Velvet Revolver, bitch! and you fucking rock.