Author's Note: Harry Potter and all the rest is to J.K. Rowling. But you know that already, so let's get on with it:

Chapter Six

Sirius Black threatened and Sirius Black pleaded, but when Madam Pomfrey began to make tutting sounds whenever she happened to pass by, Remus had to stand up and leave his love-struck friend all but tied down one of the beds (Madam Pomfrey, well aware of Sirius' reputation, had tucked the sheets around him so tightly it was all he can do to turn sideways) and loudly complaining about Remus' lack of sympathy.

"And here I thought you loved me, Moony. How can you leave your boyfriend bored and alone here?"

Remus looked sideways at Madam Pomfrey, who was surreptitiously listening to the boys' conversation.

"Maybe since you dropped me like a hot potato for Edith Blewett?" Remus suggested, with a smirk. Being in the position where he had Sirius Black at his mercy as common as Snape maybe washing his underpants, Remus had to be a really good liar to say that he wasn't enjoying himself. If a small voice in his head was telling him that he was being vindictive, he could always pass it off as general white noise.

"I—" Sirius blushed, making Remus wish he had been able to save up for a camera after all. This was really a scene that needed to be preserved for their progeny (if any). "That's not the point here, and you know it! How was I supposed to know there was love potion in that bloody pudding, anyway?"

"What pudding?" said Remus, sitting back down, to Madam Pomfrey's dismay.

"The pudding I ate before dinner? There was no way anyone could have put the potion in the pot roast without you guys falling for Edith Blewett too, right?" Sirius shuddered when he said Edith Blewett's name. Remus had to feel a bit bad for the girl.

"I ate that pudding, too, you know."

"I know that you love me more than anything, Moony. No amount of poorly-brewed love potion could change that."

"What else did you eat before that?" said Remus, choosing to ignore Sirius' comment.

"Chocolate Frogs?"

Remus leaped forward suddenly, narrowly missing hitting the other boy's stomach with his fists. "The ones from my desk? The Pink Bunny chocolates?"

Sirius shrugged, trying for casual. "They might have been."

"Is there anything you want that I can give you, Sirius?"

"How about a kiss?" said Sirius, tapping at his own lips with one finger and raising his eyebrows at Remus.

"I thought you'd grown out of that idea," said Remus, pulling back a bit. "Don't be stupid."

"Then get me out of here!"

"Sorry, mate. I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast, okay?" Remus straightened up, then, seeing the look on Sirius' face, he relented a bit. "You're reacting badly to Edith's potion, so I think it's best if you stay here."

"Worried about me?"

"It's your fault for being a nosy git, but I won't have you poisoned on my account, yes," Remus said, exasperatedly. "I've never heard of anyone who had a panic attack after drinking a love potion."

"It was your fault for confusing me like that!" said Sirius, testily. He struggled a bit against the bed sheets in an attempt to sit up and Remus made a mental note to ask the school nurse how she does it. "I was doing fine bewitched to vow eternal love to that bloody munter—("Sirius!" said Remus.)—and you just had to ruin it all by looking at me like that."

"How was I looking at you?" said Remus, thinking back on it with something approaching dread.

"I don't know!" said Sirius, settling back down on the bed suddenly and looking away from Remus. "Mr. Padfoot bids Mr. Moony good night and wishes him to leave the room already."

Remus sighed. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Sirius didn't answer. Remus leaned down again, one hand reaching out to touch Sirius' hair. But then he looked at Madam Pomfrey, who was frowning at him prodigiously, and left the room as Sirius had asked him to.

*

"So, what's that all about?" said James, as soon as Remus had returned from the Infirmary. The other Gryffindors went on with their own business as usual, but James and Remus knew that they were all waiting eagerly to hear Remus' answer. There was an ongoing bet among the Quidditch team (and some other students from the higher years) about the reason that would get Sirius Black sent to the Infirmary at last, and as far as anyone knew, Sirius hadn't gotten Transfigured into another giant squid (as Peter was betting on). Nor was he quite mortally wounded by Remus (the option with the highest bet).

"Bad stomach," said Remus, glibly. There was a chorus of groans, while someone laughed loudly. "Nothing life-threatening, but I can't have my poor Siwikins fall sick like that, can I?"

"Something he ate?" said Peter, amidst a jangle of Galleons.

"Yes," said Remus. "It was indeed something he ate."

"Bully for him," said James, who was acting mightily pissed off for some reason Remus can't fathom. Unless James was betting on the giant squid option as well. He took a loaded plate from the desk and handed it to Remus. "Here, Evans asked me to save you some."

"Thanks, James." Remus smiled, looking surreptitiously in Lily's direction. She was talking to one of her friends, pretending that she didn't know that he was looking at her. "This roast is excellent, really. Too bad Sirius wasn't able to enjoy the rest of it."

*

The next day, Remus excused himself from going with James and Peter to the Infirmary to 'fetch' Sirius, saying that he needed to check something in the library.

"You can do that later on, right?" said Peter. "Come on, it's your boyfriend we're talking about, Remus."

"I've got Madam Pomfrey breathing down the back of my neck the whole time I was with him last night," said Remus. "An experience I don't want to repeat any time soon, thanks very much."

"Probably thought you were going to make out or something," said James, cheerfully. He seemed to have recovered his good spirits after last night, having realized belatedly that Lily Evans had just talked to him without telling him off for something.

"Grotty!" said Peter, just as cheerfully. "But better in the Infirmary than the dorm, right? How about the Shrieking Shack?"

"That's why it's called a Shrieking Shack, Peter," said James.

"If you sex-starved gits are done with that," said Remus, while the others snorted happily. "I'll be seeing you for Transfiguration, right?"

"Happy hunting," said James, waving at him. He'd taken Muggle studies for several terms to piss Burbage off, he said, but really because he wanted to see where Lily Evans was coming from. Remus didn't hold it against him, but it was still pretty surprising to hear James quoting from the same Muggle books that Remus had read growing up (salvaged novels from the library). Remus loved The Jungle Book and had spent some sleepless nights with James discussing Kipling's finer points. The rest of the Marauders had to read the thing as well since James kept on pestering them.

"Yes," said Remus, waiting for James and Peter to get around the corner before heading for the Ravenclaw tower. One Ravenclaw prefect had told him how to get there, although Remus hadn't really thought much about it at the time. This information had proved useful in writing the Marauder's Map, but hadn't been put to actual use by any of the Marauders. James, who could be decent if he wanted to, was all for leaving the towers for the different Houses as obscure as possible. ("That's something the future generation of magical mischief makes need to figure out for themselves.")

This is how Remus found himself standing before the Ravenclaw door looking like something of an idiot since he didn't know how to work the thing. He had already spent several minutes staring at the eagle-shaped knocker on the door when one Ravenclaw fifth year saw him loitering outside and asked him what he wanted, casting wary looks at the prefect badge Remus had pinned on his jumper.

"Is Edith Blewett in there?" said Remus, wondering if the news of Sirius falling for the Ravenclaw fourth year had gotten around already. The Marauders had done what they could to keep things discreet, but in a place like Hogwarts, you never knew.

"Oh, let me check," said the fifth year, whose name Remus could vaguely remember as Justin or Jeff. He walked towards the door and took a long time with it before managing to get inside. "Yeah, she's there. You want me to call her for you?"

"Yes," said Remus. "Please."

Edith Blewett was a rather lanky, sharp-faced fourth year who had a bush of curly blonde hair and a nice mouth. Remus, who wasn't nearly as tall as Sirius, had to look up at her the whole time they were talking, which didn't help make him feel comfortable at all.

"Yes? You're Remus Lupin, right?"

"Er—yes...?"

"Did you want me for something?" Edith said. She looked down at her shoes to hide her blushing face, making Remus squirm a bit.

"I was just going to ask about the chocolates," said Remus.

"Oh! Yes, I... well, I hope they were all right."

"They were fine—"

Edith looked up suddenly, bouncing a bit on her toes and almost falling down on Remus in the process.

"Did James like them? What did he say?"

"James?" said Remus, blankly.

"Yes. James! Did he send you for something?" She was now looking at him like Remus had started talking in troll.

"Ah, yes," said Remus, hunting around his pockets desperately. He came up with an eraser, the stub of a pencil and a piece of mint. A search around his robes was more forthcoming, however, since he still had some of the Peppermint Toads from Sirius' large box. "He wanted me to give this to you. Said a load of tosh about his Pink Bunny and all."

"James called me that?" Edith said, blushing more vividly. She scuffed the toe of her shoes against the walls, looking uncertainly at Remus. "Did he really say Pink Bunny? Does he like bunnies?"

"Sure. Loves them, actually. He even has a couple of soft bunny toys in bed with him and swears he couldn't sleep without them," said Remus, warming to his theme. "Well, I have to go, okay?"

Edith didn't seem to hear him, looking at her box of Peppermint Toads like it was a legendary spell that could kill Voldemort. Remus looked back before going down the stairs back to the Great Hall, but she hadn't taken her eyes off the box at all.

*

Sirius was waiting for him in front of the Transfiguration classroom. Remus, still a bit turned around by his interview with Edith Blewett, tried to ignore him, but Sirius reached out to grab his arm before he could get inside the classroom.

"Where have you been?"

"The library. Didn't James and Peter tell you?" said Remus, mildly.

"I didn't see you there," Sirius said, leaning down over Remus in his best intimidating manner. This was intimidating enough, except that it never seemed to work on Remus. "Where have you been, Moony?"

"All right, if you must know." Remus sighed. "I was with Edith Blewett."

"You what?"

"Keep your voice down! I was just checking on who sent those chocolates, you know."

"So what did she say?" said Sirius, frowning. "I mean, going for a guy who's already got a boyfriend like that. You did tell her that nothing in the world can induce you to leave me, right?"

"Why don't you stop interrupting me and keep still?" suggested Remus. "And you might want to take it all back when you've heard this." Quickly, he told Sirius what Edith Blewett had said. Sirius laughed a bit on the soft bunny toys bit, but by the time Remus had finished, he was grinning in a way that would have made most of the people at Hogwarts check their beds first before getting onto them. That is, if there was anyone else to see Sirius' grin aside from Remus.

"That git. What does he mean by it, anyway?"

"I don't know, Padfoot. Why don't you tell me?"

Sirius stepped back. "What are you saying, Moony?"

"I'm saying that you guys are up to something and were assuming that I wouldn't notice." Remus crossed his arms over his chest. "Now spill, love."

"I don't think it's something you'd want to know about, Moony."

"Try me."

Sirius threw up his hands. Then looking around the deserted hallway, he stepped closer to where Remus was standing again.

"But only under duress, okay?" he said, before leaning down and pressing his lips against Remus'.

If Voldemort suddenly appeared at Hogwarts to burn it to the ground, Remus wouldn't have bothered to bat an eyelash. He doubted he'd even notice if Godric Gryffindor rose from the grave and led the rest of the Hogwarts population down the hallway in an impromptu parade. What did register on Remus' mind was that Sirius Black was kissing him, actually pressing his lips against Remus', even if Sirius' lips felt dry and chapped and uncertain. And then Remus had to agree with Professor Flitwick when the latter said something about the imagined being nothing compared to the real thing while teaching the class about Conjuring Charms.

"What—wait," said Remus.

"No one's looking at you, Moony," said Sirius. "Just me."

"Is this some side-effect of that potion?"

"Be serious for once, will you?"

"Isn't that your department?"

They were both blushing. Remus hoped that anyone passing by and seeing them would think this was because of anger than anything else.

"Our date's tomorrow. Don't be late, Remus." Sirius straightened up, heading towards the classroom at the same time McGonagall reached the door.

"Lupin, Black! What are you loitering around the hallways for? Haven't you seen enough of each other that you need to talk before class?"

*

Afterword: If you didn't see that kiss coming, I must assure you that neither did I. Finally, we get to Sirius and Remus' date... and possibly the final chapter. Thanks for getting this far!