A/N: Okay, my break ended and I'm pushing myself to write as quickly as possible. I'm so sorry if my updates have been rather slow, but I promise that I'll see this story through till the end! Your reviews kept me writing! Keep them coming! I adore every single one of them. :"D

THE STAR AND HIS MOON

Chapter 5

To say it was awkward and tense during the breakfast in the next morning was an understatement. All five boys were sitting in uncomfortable atmosphere. Their conversations felt shallow, superficial; made simply to cover the unusual silence that had never happened between the Marauders before. They had to act as if it wasn't stifling trying to breath within the tense atmosphere. It wouldn't do for people to start some gossip about their falling out or anything of the sort.

The main cause of the current discontentment was the odd interaction between Sirius and Remus' new boyfriend. They seemed to be sitting as far away from one another; and did not utter a single word in one another's directions. It was odd. They were fine yesterday and the days before. And while James had a pretty clear idea as to why it happened, Remus John lupin was feeling completely out of the loop.

He couldn't fathom a single reason as to why two of his favourite people were acting so out-of-character. They were both friendly people; the both accept other individuals easily; opening up delightful conversations as naturally as breathing. So, why?

He had a feeling that whatever had nearly happened between Sirius and him last night must've been the trigger. It wasn't as if it was planned. He didn't know what could've possessed the two of them to move closer to each other as if they were going to...

Was Sirius really moving closer? Or was it just my imagination?

It wasn't his fault that he was interested in the member of the same sex and that Sirius was so perfect. Jennings was attractive and proved himself to be a caring boyfriend, but he couldn't help being attracted to his fellow Marauder.

Even though he knew the impossibility anything to happen between him and his all-ladies' man best friend, Sirius was like a magnet. Remus couldn't ignore or avoid him. He felt somewhat guilty towards his boyfriend. After all, if he found out that his boyfriend was holding a torch for someone else instead of him, he wouldn't be pleased either.

There wasn't anything he could do though. He was going to say no to Jennings, but before his mind registered it, he had somehow answered the confession with a 'yes.' He had a feeling that he was feeling somewhat irrationally responsible - and very much pleased that his ordinary looks could somehow attract Jenning's attention - about the other boy's feelings towards him.

He knew just how much bravery is needed to confess to the one you love – and he was a living proof of someone who wasn't brave enough – and he didn't want to hurt the other boy's feelings.

Now though, he realised just how stupid that decision was. If Jennings found out that Remus didn't actually care for him that deeply, he was going to end up even more hurt. Every night, the werewolf spent his time thinking about this problem. The only way for him to fall asleep was by listening to the calming breathing from his sleeping crush on the bed next to his.

He mulled over his thoughts until he felt a headache started to appear at the back of his nagging mind. He was so absorbed with his thoughts that it took a shake from his boyfriend to bring him back to the land of breakfast conversations.

"–mus! Remus! Are you listening?"

He blinked.

"Huh? What? I'm sorry, I was miles away," he replied with a sheepish smile.

"We were asking as to whether you already started on the potions essay that'll be due the day after tomorrow. James here said that he hasn't and I didn't believe him," Jennings explained.

Remus mentally sighed. Of course he wouldn't believe James, he's a Ravenclaw.

"Yes, I have. But you better trust him on that one. If he said he hasn't, then he probably hasn't touched his potions book. And I'm assuming you are the same as him, Padfoot?" Remus asked while turning his eyes towards his unusually quiet best friend.

Sirius seemed to snap out of his stupor and a toothy grin was present as an initial answer before the words themselves, "You bet I haven't."

Remus sighed. "That wasn't something you're supposed to be proud about, Padfoot."

Sirius stuck out his tongue at him before retorting, "But I finished my transfiguration essay. There."

"Padfoot, that six thousand words essay is due this morning, so if you haven't finished it, Professor McGonagall will chew your ears off."

"Blah. Minnie loves me, she won't be that mad."

"Oh, yeah? Last time you didn't finish your homework, you got sent to detention, Sirius. She didn't seem like she was smitten with you then," Remus replied with a smile at his friend's antics.

"That's because she's trying to hide her feelings from me. You know me, I'm irresistible," Sirius joked while fluttering his eyelashes and pouting his lips dramatically.

The other three Marauders burst out into laughing at seeing his face.

"Hey! No need to be so mean about it! You're all just jealous," Sirius complained.

"Of course, Sirius. We're soooo jealous about you finally being in touch with your feminine side," answered James sarcastically.

"Oh, Prongsie darling, I didn't know you felt that way! Oh, here, come with me and I'll conjure a make-up kit for you."

Sirius pulled a screeching James closer to him and transfigured his drinking goblet into an array of make-up. This time, Peter, Remus and Sirius ended up being the ones who laughed at James' horrified expression.

"Who knows, maybe Lily would appreciate it," Peter piped in; causing the trio to laugh harder at James' expense.

"Hmph! See if I'll talk to any of you today."

"Just see, he'll talk to us by the end start of the first class," Sirius replied at his best friend's sulking.

He was thankful for the distractions that allowed him to act like usual. This didn't mean that he couldn't feel the sharp gaze that was directed at him from one direction though. He knew who it was without even looking. It seemed as if Jennings was set on finding something wrong about him ever since yesterday.

True to his words, James was in an animated conversation involving Quidditch with Peter by the time they were entering their first class. It was hard for any of the Marauders to stay mad at one another for too long. They could forgive and forget each other's mistakes in a span of seconds; their strong bonds don't allow them to stay silent with each other for any length of time.

This didn't make Sirius into a speech of 'I told you so' like James and he often did to each other though; his attention was being riveted to the uncomfortable feeling of being watched.

Hasn't he given up watching me already? What's he trying to find? A loop-hole of weakness?

He didn't understand why Jennings had to become so paranoid. Remus and he were able to act just like always despite the fact that they'd nearly kissed each other, so why can't he? The best way to face a situation like this would be to pretend that nothing was out of the ordinary, pretend that he couldn't feel Jennings' gaze burning a hole to the back of his head.

By the end of the day, Sirius was ready to run towards the Gryffindor tower and escape that calculating look. Merlin, does the boy ever give up?

"I'm going to sneak into the kitchen and ask for some afternoon snacks," Sirius exclaimed to his friends on their way towards the tower.

"Oh. Then, I'll come and – "

Remus' offer was cut off by his boyfriend's pleading words, "Remus, I need help from you in editing my potions' essay. Can you please help me?"

"Oh. Alright. I'll do it aft – "

"It's a pretty long essay and we need time. Sirius is a genius at sneaking into the kitchen; he can do it by himself, right?"

Sirius was stunned into silence. He was intending to let Remus spend time with his boyfriend anyway. And it wasn't as if he would be trying to steal Remus; they'd always sneak into the kitchen together. Nothing's changed, except for a paranoid mind of one Ravenclaw student. The said student was looking at him with a sharp gaze, as if threatening him if he dared to say no.

Steeling himself to be patient for once, to not fight back, because this is Remus' boyfriend for god's sake, he plastered a smile onto his face and answered the question with an energetic, "Sure!"

I'll need the time to cool off anyway.

After getting sufficient amount of sweets and snacks from the Hogwarts' kitchen-elves that James and he'd sweet-talk at the start of their first year, he walked back towards the tower laden with the food in his arms. He was feeling calmer and better; the walk alone was clearing his head in a positive way just as he'd hoped.

Standing in front of the Fat Lady and giving her the password 'Flibbertigibbet' he stepped into the common room and was immediately greeted by James and Peter who moved to take some of the food that was partly obscuring his view. As soon as he was able to see what was in front of him clearly, however, he wished that he was still unable to see.

Jennings and Remus was sitting side by side on the rug in front of the low table, looking at scraps of parchments that Sirius guessed to be the potions essay that they were talking about before. They were sitting closely, heads bent together; looking intimately close. It was the sort of pose that you can only feel comfortable with when placed next to your best friend or loved ones.

It made the fact that his Moony's heart was taken away by somebody else painfully real.

"Sweets! Moony, your favourite chocolate drink is here! The kitchen elves practically memorised what we liked!"

Remus' ears perked up at the word chocolate and he turned to face his three best friends. His eyes lighted up in the way that only did when faced with things that pleased him more than words could express. It never failed to speed up Sirius' heartbeat. That delightful expression on Remus' face should really be considered to be illegal.

Sitting in a circle on the rug in front of the blazing fireplace of the common room, the five boys found themselves munching the mouth-watering snacks. The tension was temporarily forgotten in the face of such delicious delicacies.

"James, I haven't heard a peep from you about Evans today. Come to think of it, I haven't seen her at all today. Where'd she disappeared off to?"

"Hmm? She has a big project for potions. She'd been off doing it for the whole day. Slughorn gave her permission to use one of the labs and skip classes today," James replied.

"I don't know whether to say she was lucky or not. Spending a whole day in front of a smelly cauldron is not my idea of fun," Sirius retorted.

"And yet, you're doing Advanced Potions. Now that we're talking about it, if Lily is doing her assignment, how come you're so relaxed Padfoot?" Questioned Remus.

It took Sirius a few seconds to reply, his throat having been lodged with a piece of muffin, "Mmh. I've finished my project."

His other three best friends all turned to look at him with wide eyes.

"What?" He asked warily.

"You? Finishing your project before Lily Evans? The world must be coming to an end," mocked James.

"Har har, James. I'm sure Lily would appreciate your drama skills," replied Sirius dryly.

"But it's true, Padfoot. You've never finished anything until the last minute."

"Oh, hush Moony. This was an easy enough task and I wanted to finish it earlier than usual. It takes some time for people because they probably didn't know what potion to brew, but I already chose mine, so doing it wasn't particularly difficult."

"Hmmm. So, what potions did you choose?"

Sirius smiled a secret smile before replying, "It's a secret." This answer made all three of his best mates frowned.

"I'll tell you all when the time is right."

"You're no fun, Padfoot. What's so important about it that you felt it necessary to keep a secret from us?"

"Nothing. Just don't wanna spoil my fun before I hand in my project."

With those words, all of the boys went back to ravaging through the goodies that Sirius had brought in.

"Gaaah, I feel like I don't even need to eat for another week!" Exclaimed Sirius on their way back from the Great Hall. They'd just finished their dinner and were walking back towards the tower to head in for the night.

"Well, with the amount of sweets we ate, and followed by the dinner soon after, there's no wonder our stomach are ready to burst open," Remus commented.

James sighed partly in contentment of a full stomach and partly from the feeling of sickness that appear with his current state of a bloated stomach.

"Okay, I think I'm going to disappear into my bed for the night. I feel like I can't walk properly. My body feels so heavy."

"How many months along are you, Prongs?"

"Shut up." James retorted to Sirius' teasing question.

"Geez, I was just acting up in my duty as your best friend. If you get knocked up, I'm meant to be comforting you and all that, right?"

"If I ever do get knocked up, it'll be by Lily."

James' answer caused the others to fall into loud guffaws of laughter. Realising just what exactly it was that he'd said, his face turned red in embarrassment.

"Oh, god."

When they reached the bottom of the moving staircase that would take them towards the entry of the tower, all five boys paused following Remus and Jennings' sudden stop.

"Well, I'll be off from here then. I've got work to do so I have to get back to the common room," said Jennings as a way of explanation.

Remus opened his mouth to reply, but before the words were even out of his mouth he found his boyfriend's arms circling his neck and his lips were suddenly occupied with another pair that was attached to his.

As soon as it registered in his mind that his boyfriend was kissing him, Jennings had pulled away with a smile. He then proceeded to whisper a "good night" onto his lips. Remus was stunned into silence, remembering to reply to Jennings' words at the last minute.

"Well, well, well. Seemed like your particular Ravenclaw is bolder than we took him credit for," commented James in a teasing tone as soon as the subject of his words walked away.

"Uh, umm..." Blushing, the golden-haired Marauder was unable to reply.

"Prongs, our Moony's all grown up now! This is an important moment in our lives!" Sirius exclaimed dramatically.

"I know. Who'd have thought that the little boy that we'd met five years ago was all grown up?" James sniffed and dabbed at his dry eyes.

"Hey! Stop treating me like your child! I'm taller than both of you, for god's sake."

"Moony, just because you're taller doesn't mean we can't be older."

"I know that! It's just that - the two of you are actually smaller than me, especially you, Sirius. You probably look younger than me."

Their conversations grew from that. There were laughter and shouts coming from the quartet climbing up the stairs. They were feeling cheery from all the sweets that they'd consumed throughout the day and no one noticed that the smile of a certain someone from their little group was wholly forced and his empty laughter remained unnoticed.

TBC

Okay, I was going to make this chapter longer, but I feel bad if I have to make all of you, my dear readers, wait even longer, so I decided to update it sooner rather than later.

I'm sorry if the story is somewhat progressing slowly, but there will be some more tension coming soon between our two Moony-lovers. *Grins*

So, review please? To make me feel better and write quicker? :"D