A/N: Phew. . .it was hard for me to think up of ideas for this chapter. What a treat for all of you readers! This is the longest chapter yet!

This chapter is dedicated to kurot from Deviant Art. Check out kurot's amazing fan art of the Marauders, entitled "Harry Potter – Nostalgia." The four Marauders look so adorable in this image!

Shining Star

Chapter 4: Heartful Song

It was the night of the Valentine's Day semi-formal and everyone was scrambling to get everything ready. The prefects of each house were assigned different tasks and it was Gryffindor's job to handle the decorations, so Remus was in quite a rush to return to the dorms in time to get ready for the actual event. By the time he got there, Peter and James were already about to leave.

"See you there, Moony!" called Peter.

"You better hurry and get dressed quickly, Moony," James looked his friend up and down. "You look like you need a shower first though."

As James and Peter left the dorm, Sirius entered, his hair wet and a towel around his waist. Remus blushed as he could not help but check out the other boy's slender, toned body. His wet hair was slightly spiky, textured and sleek. His arms and legs were muscular, yet not too burly. His skin was smooth and pale; an even, creamy color.

"Moony? What are you looking at?"

Remus snapped out of his daze.

"Oh, uhh. . .nothing! Nothing at all." Remus replied, shaking his head. He quickly grabbed his towel and headed for the boys' bathroom to take a shower.

Upon returning to the dorm after his shower, Remus towel dried his hair and put on his dress robes in a hurry. With a final spritz of cologne, he was about to head out toward the Great Hall when he was stopped by Sirius.

"Moony, you can't go out looking like that."

Sirius faced Remus and straightened the copper-haired boy's tie, who blushed slightly.

'He's so close. . .and he smells so nice. . .'

"There." Sirius brought his gaze level to Remus's, stepped back and held out his hand. "Let's go!"

The two boys stood there for several seconds, with Sirius's hand outstretched towards Remus.

'Does he. . .expect me to hold his hand?'

Remus gingerly placed his hand on top of Sirius's, who cocked his head to the side thoughtfully, with a slightly confused expression on his face.

'Oh no. . .he wasn't expecting that! Argghh. . . what do I do, what do I do, what do I do?'

After a moment, Sirius flashed Remus his trademark boyish grin and slipped away, motioning for his friend to follow. As they headed towards the Great Hall, the harsh beat of rock music met their ears, which got louder and louder as they approached. Finally arriving at the hall's doors, Sirius opened them and let Remus in first. The copper-haired boy was met with a near explosion of sound and flashing light that pierced through the darkness, which he quickly adjusted to as he scanned the room for the other Marauders.

"Moony! Glad you could make it on time!" James had to yell in order to be audible above the music.

Remus smiled and waved to James, Lily and Peter, who were chatting together by the punch bowl. Sirius headed toward the group of three while Remus, deciding that he was a bit hungry, went for the desserts. Grabbing a plate, he took a slice of chocolate cake, some cookies, a pink cupcake decorated with heart-shaped sprinkles, and a glass of punch before joining his friends.

"The decorations look great, Moony," Peter complimented his friend. "You prefects really did a fantastic job."

The group took a moment to eye the room from floor to ceiling. Indeed, the Valentine's decorations that the Gryffindor prefects had put up looked fabulous. The floor glimmered with pink and white confetti while the walls were adorned with various floral arrangements, paper chains and various Valentine's motifs. Heart shaped lanterns that floated in the air above everyone's heads gave off a gentle pink glow that created a sort of romantic ambience in the room. It had taken Remus hours to make all those lanterns and paper chains, so he felt rather proud that everyone seemed to be enjoying them.

"I'll be right back," Lily called as she went over to talk to a group of Ravenclaw girls.

The Marauders continued to chat excitedly amongst themselves until a few minutes later, when a slow song came on.

"Remus, will you dance with me?" asked Brenda.

"Certainly." Remus smiled politely and took Brenda's hand, leading her onto the dance floor. They danced together in silence for the first few minutes of the song. Brenda, as Remus found, seemed to be a bit shy to meet his gaze, so he smiled gently every time she did, which caused her to look down, blushing. Remus was quite enjoying himself until he heard James's voice yelling over the peaceful violin music.

"Hey Snivellus! What's the likes of you doing, dancing with Lily?"

"Fancy that," Sirius spoke up. "She probably feels sorry for him, the poor, sniveling fool."

Remus sighed. He hoped that James and Sirius would not do anything drastic, but then out of the corner of his eye, he saw James pull out his wand. . .

"James, no!"

Remus rushed to his friend's side and restrained him with both arms.

"Psshh, let him," Sirius spoke casually. "It's no less than what Snivelly Snape deserves anyway."

"Sirius, please!" Remus pleaded exasperatedly. "Don't start a fight! Not here, not now!"

After much struggling, James sighed and tucked his wand away. Remus let him go.

"Fine, Remus. . .look, I won't do anything. I hope you're happy."

"James. . ."

Without a word, Sirius turned his back on the group and headed out the door.

'Gahh. . .now they're both mad at me. . .'

End Chapter 4

What a tricky chapter to write! Hope you all enjoyed it. As always, don't forget to leave a review!