"Rise and shine, Padfoot!" The much too cheery voice of James Potter tore Sirius from his peaceful sleep. He grumbled unintelligibly, snuggling further back against his shirtless boyfriend who was spooning him from behind. Remus' arm around his waist tightened, but he remained asleep.

"S'too early, mate," Sirius whined, keeping his eyes screwed shut and praying that James would go away.

"Big game today. I'm bringing the team down to get one last practice in." Sirius could hear the grin on James' face and it only annoyed him further.

"I'm not technically on the team," he groaned, pulling the blanket over his head. Remus stirred in his sleep and nuzzled Sirius' neck. "G'way or you'll wake up my big scary werewolf boyfriend and he'll eat you."

"Shuddup, Padfoot," Remus mumbled groggily.

"It's part of the deal with McGonagall, Sirius. You've got to come to practices. Come on," James sighed.

Sirius grumbled some more and turned to face Remus whose eyes were open and not very happy looking, but the corner of his lip twitched up. "You'd better go, or he'll drag you out there half-naked."

Sirius laughed and kissed him quickly. Then he pouted. "You're going to miss my first game."

One of Remus' hands came up to stroke his cheek. "I know, babe. I'm sorry. Bloody moon…" he looked sad for a moment. "You, James, and Peter are going to come to the Shack right after, right?"

Sirius nodded, taking Remus' hand and squeezing it gently. "Of course. Straight there, I promise." He kissed him again. "I love you."

"I love you too," he smiled sleepily as he watched Sirius get up and dressed. "Pads…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm proud of you, you know. You've been working really hard to keep focused."

Sirius grinned, feeling his face heat up which he tried to hide by pulling his shirt on over his head. "I'll see you later, Moons. Rest up." He pulled the curtains closed around Remus' bed and followed James down to the common room where Dorcas, Marlene, the Prewett twins, Frank, and a fit-looking seventh year, Eric Fieldman, were waiting. They all looked about as happy to be awake at such an early hour as Sirius felt.

It was a windy March morning and although it wasn't raining, there was a heavy mist in the air that James kept insisting would clear before the game started.

Sirius sat up in the stands, pulling his leather jacket tightly around him to keep out the chill and wishing he were still in his warm bed, under the warm blankets, with his warm boyfriend.

"Bloody Potter…" he muttered, tying his wet hair up in a knot.

"Hmm, you can say that again."

Sirius looked up and saw Lily Evans, layered in a thick cloak and holding two steaming mugs. "Cocoa?" She held one out to him and smiled.

Sirius smiled back. "Sure, thanks," he took the mug from her as she took a seat next to him. "What are you doing out here?"

Lily sighed and nodded out to the field. "Making sure Marls doesn't make a complete fool of herself to get Dorcas' attention."

Sirius snorted, rolling his eyes. "She still hasn't told her, huh?"

"Afraid not. Although, it's painfully obvious. I'm sure Dorcas is already well aware."

Sirius chuckled, taking a long drink and feeling the warmth spread through his body. "It's not easy to tell one of your best mates you're in love with them," he smiled, looking down at his lap. "Even if it's obvious to everyone else that the feeling is mutual. It goes deeper than just a fear of rejection, you know? If you tell them and they don't feel the same way, you can get over that with some time… but if they do feel the same way and it doesn't work out for whatever reason…" he shivered and pretended it was from the wind. "Then you could lose them forever…"

Lily watched him, taking in the emotions of his voice and face. She smiled softly. "I didn't think about that."

"I think about it every time I look at him," Sirius admitted, worrying his bottom lip. "I'm sure you're well aware that I don't always think before I do or say things," he looked up at her and smirked a little, catching her agreeing look. "But… I am trying so hard every bloody day just to be good enough to be what he deserves… I don't want to screw this up. I can't."

"Wow," Lily breathed, seeming a little surprised. "You really do love him, don't you?"

He nodded. No hesitation. "Yes."

Lily sighed and looked back out to the Quidditch pitch and the players who were flying back and forth. "I've underestimated you, Sirius."

Sirius snorted and took another sip of his drink. "Many people do."

Lily hummed. "But you see, I didn't underestimate you because of your name. I'm muggleborn. I don't know much about the politics of pureblood families," she shook her head and Sirius rolled his eyes at the mention of it. "It's just… I suppose I've only ever seen you and Potter as immature, conceded, prats-"

"Gee thanks."

"And part of me still sort of does see that… but I never really thought much about your own lives and feelings and the things you all do for each other. It's quite admirable, you know. How much you, James, and Peter care for Remus with his…" she trailed off and Sirius held his breath for a moment. He let it out when she didn't seem to wish to continue the thought.

He shrugged. "We're a family. That's what we do."

—-

"AVERY SHOOTS FOR THE GOAL- ANOTHER BRILLIANT SAVE BY GRYFFINDOR KEEPER LONGBOTTOM! No surprise, of course. Everyone knows Avery can't score."

McGonagall gave Sirius a warning look but let the comment slide. Sirius shrugged innocently and put his focus back on the game. "GRYFFINDOR CAPTAIN JAMES POTTER HAS THE QUAFFLE! OI! SLYTHERIN BEATER FLINT JUST SENT THE BLUDGER TOWARD POTTER ON PURPOSE! NICE SAVE BY MARLENE MCKINNON! That's right Marls! Show that slimy piece of-"

"Sirius!"

"Sorry Professor, but that was out of order and you know it! GOOD BEATING, MCKINNON! HEY MEADOWES, YOU IMPRESSED? I'M IMPRESSED!"

Marlene flew past the commentator's stand and flipped him off, but she was grinning ear to ear. Sirius snickered to himself.

"GREAT INTERFERENCE FROM GIDEON PREWETT! AS HE STEALS THE QUAFFLE FROM SLYTHERIN CHASER JASPER PARKINSON! PREWETT PASSES TO POTTER, AND POTTER SCORES! TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR! EXCELLENT PLAY BY BOTH POTTER AND PREWETT RIGHT THERE, then again we all know how good he is with bal-"

"SIRIUS BLACK! You had better think before you finish that sentence!"

"What?" Sirius laughed. "He's a good chaser!"

The students, or at least most of them, perhaps not the Slytherins, seemed entertained by Sirius' comments. Some of them even shouted back at him and were hooting and whistling. He liked the feeling. It was sort of the same as when he and James would pull off a massive prank that got even the teachers to laugh. A natural high. He was surprised by the things McGonagall did let him get away with, but he couldn't help but push the limits now and then. He did think maybe she had been just slightly too trusting, allowing his first game to be against Slytherin. At least Gryffindor was in the lead, 30 to 10.

He was glad that Regulus was the team's seeker and that he didn't have much to do for most of the game that would be worth commenting on, and he tried his best not to pay him any attention, but he did find himself occasionally allowing his eyes to wander to the younger Black.

"ANOTHER TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR SCORED BY FABIAN PREWETT! Slytherin Keeper Goyle may want to lay off the pudding at dinner tonight, maybe you'd be a little faster, eh?"

There was loud booing from the Slytherin stands, but the rest of the crowd roared with laughter.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sirius saw Regulus start to fly faster. "OI MEADOWES, GET YOUR EYES OFF MCKINNON! SLYTHERIN SEEKER REGULUS BLACK HAS SEEN THE SNITCH! DON'T GIVE THAT BRAT THE SATISFACTION!"

"Sirius…" McGonagall sighed, shaking her head. But Sirius was too busy, as was the rest of the crowd, watching Dorcas speed off, coming nearly shoulder-to-shoulder with Regulus as they both chased after the snitch. Suddenly, they both dove straight down, almost completely in sync with each other, both reaching, both straining.

Once they were close enough to the ground, Dorcas jerked her broom to the left.

"MEADOWES HIP CHECKS REGULUS! GO DORCAS! GET IT!"

Regulus did the same back to her and both seekers tumbled off their brooms into the sandpit where they seemed to be wrestling.

"WHO HAS THE SNITCH?! Kick him in the bloody shin, Dorcas-"

"Sirius, no!"

"All in good sportsmanship, of course, Professor."

After a moment more of struggling, Dorcas stood and shot her fist into the air, holding the tiny golden ball.

"DORCAS MEADOWES HAS THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS!" Sirius shouted and the crowd cheered excitedly. The rest of the team flew down, throwing their brooms aside and running to congratulate their seeker. Marlene was the first to get there, throwing her arms around Dorcas and, lost in the excitement of winning perhaps, crushed her lips against the other girl's. Sirius grinned, watching from the commentator stand as Dorcas pulled Marlene closer and kissed back.

"Looks like Quidditch isn't the only thing Meadowes and McKinnon have won today," Sirius snickered into the microphone. Both girls smiled and waved up at him before they were tackled by the rest of their team.

—-

Eventually, Sirius made his way down the field where the members of the Gryffindor team were still busy congratulating each other and the new couple.

"Good game, you lot," he grinned and clapped James on the shoulder. "That was some nice flying, Dorcas. Hope you got a punch in for me at the end."

Dorcas laughed and winked at him. "Kicked him in the shin, just like you said."

"You are an absolute goddess. I owe you a drink," he hugged her and then turned to Marlene. "And you," he smirked knowingly. "How do you feel?"

Marlene nearly flung herself at Sirius, knocking the wind out of him. "Thank you, Sirius."

"Me?" He laughed when she finally released him, pushing some of his hair out of his eyes. "I didn't do anything."

Marlene just smiled at him and shook her head. "You've done more than you know. Just accept my gratitude, Black," she kissed his cheek. "Love you, prat."

He smiled and hugged her again, much gentler this time. "Love you too, McKnickers. Best to you two."

The team headed towards the lockers and James held Sirius back. "I'm going to jump in the shower," he glanced up at the sky, judging the placement of the sun. "It's what? Five o'clock? Hour til moon rise?"

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, Pete ran to the kitchens to grab us something to eat. I just have to stop in the dorm real quick and grab my bag. Meet in front of the willow in a half hour?"

"Sounds good," James agreed and followed the rest of the team, still cheering each other on, into the lockers as Sirius headed off to the castle on his own.

He was in a relatively good mood, much better than he had been in quite some time, and although he didn't enjoy the pain the full moon caused Remus, he couldn't deny that the monthly adventures running around the forest with the wolf were some of his favorite nights. In fact, he couldn't think of a better way to add to his already existing adrenaline rush.

In the dorm room, he quickly grabbed the usual items he always brought along; a water bottle, Remus' sweater, a handful of chocolate frogs; and the tiny potion bottle that contained a healing draught for mild injuries. He tossed them all into his bag and hurried out, glancing quickly out the window at the setting sun.

He bounded down the stairs as fast as he could, skipping steps and avoiding the trick ones and he was nearly out of the castle when he collided, hard, with another student, causing them both to fall to the ground.

"Shit," Sirius muttered, picking himself up and brushing himself off. He turned to give the other boy a hand. "Sorry, I- oh… it's you," he frowned when he came face to face with Severus Snape.

Snape glared at him as he stood and fixed his robes. "And where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"None of your bloody business," Sirius snapped. "Out of my way, Snivellus. I've got somewhere to be." He went to step around him but Snape just shifted, not letting him through.

"Awfully curious how you and your friends are always sneaking around late at night," Severus had his wand out but not raised. Sirius' hand went to his own wand in his back pocket.

Don't do it. Don't fight him. Not tonight. You can't risk detention on a full moon. Remus needs you.

Sirius smirked. "You're one to talk. You're always lurking about in the shadows, following everyone around, sticking that giant beak of yours where it doesn't belong. We've warned you before, Snivellus. Stay away or we'll stop playing nice," he shoved past the other boy roughly.

"What's the matter, Black? You can't fight me without your friends to back you up?" Snape called to him. Sirius slowly exhaled a deep breath and spun around.

"I'm not going to fight you because you aren't worth my time or effort," he took a threatening step closer. "And at least I've got friends. I don't see anyone ever hanging around you," he made a face. "Probably the smell."

Snape gave him a sick sort of smile. "Enjoy them while it lasts, Black… Only a matter of time before they get sick of you, just like your family."

Sirius inhaled sharply and his fingers curled into tight fists at his side. He turned his back on the other boy again. He took another deep breath and counted in his head.

"Lupin's going to get sick of you too, Black," Snape sneered. "He's only with you because he knows no one else is ever going to want a freak like him."

Sirius' eyes went wide and before he could stop himself, he turned and shoved Severus against the wall. "I warned you, Snape," he growled. "I warned you if you didn't keep Remus' name out of your damn mouth, you'd regret it," he was breathing hard, his entire body felt like it was on fire as rage surged through him. He wanted to hurt Severus Snape more than he had ever wanted to hurt anyone. "You just can't mind your own business, can you? You really want to know what it is we're up to? You want to know what's wrong with poor little Remus Lupin? Where's he always disappearing to? Fine!" His eyes flashed to the window, it was nearly dark. He smirked. "Go on out to the Whomping Willow. Grab a long stick, press the knot in the middle… The tree will stop moving and you can take a hidden tunnel. So go, unless you're a scared little shit like I think you are," he released Severus with one last hard shove and started to walk away.

"You…You're joking, Black."

Sirius kept walking, not bothering to look back. "Oh I assure you, I'm completely serious."