Content Warning: Snogging/Kissing/Making-out

As it turned out, the Prefects' meeting lasted the remainder of the ride, where they were told it would continue in Dumbledore's office, and dinner would be provided for them. By the time the meeting was over, both Lily and Remus were bored to tears and wanted nothing more than to return to their dorms and collapse.

They walked slowly together, laughing about some of the ridiculous rules they would have to uphold as 'Official Officers of the School', as Lily mimicked in her best rendition of the Head Girl, Amelia Bones' stern voice, which sent them both into fits of laughter.

Remus sighed and shook his head. "This is a disaster waiting to happen," he flipped through the handbook they had all been given. "Merlin, James and Sirius break half these rules before breakfast."

Lily bit her lip, wanting so badly to ask the question that had been bothering her for years. Finally, she relented. "Seriously though, how can you stand them? I mean… they're so full of themselves and obnoxious and… for Godric's sake, they've given each other bloody codenames," she laughed to herself.

Remus shrugged. "You wouldn't understand, really. I know they can be a handful, but I swear when those two care about you, it's like no one else matters. All of their focus goes to the people they care most about, and their needs. They've done a lot for me and ask nothing in return… it's… It's a Marauder thing. All for one and one for all, you know?"

"That's a Musketeer thing," Lily chided and Remus grinned, nodding.

"Yeah, it is. But… it's not really that different. Can I ask you what you see in Severus?"

Lily nodded slowly with a knowing smile. "I should have seen that coming…" she sighed, running a hand through her hair slowly as she thought of how to explain what no one else seemed to understand. "Severus was the first person I met that was like me. Until I met him, I didn't understand why I could do things that other people couldn't… I didn't understand why I was born so different from my own sister."

They had stopped walking. Remus could hear a difference in Lily's voice. It wasn't sad, or aggravated… I was more desperate. "He showed me that I wasn't strange or… or a freak," she swallowed, tears filling her bright emerald eyes. "He was - is - a good person. He's just been hanging around the wrong sort lately and everyone is judging him because of it and… Black and Potter," she shook her head. "Sorry, I know they're your friends, Remus."

Remus shrugged dismissively, urging her to continue.

"But they are constantly after him, and it's not making things any easier. What's he ever done to them anyway?" She looked at Remus expectantly, as if he could supply some sort of answer. He could, truthfully. But she wasn't going to like what he had to say and he wasn't sure she'd ever see it the way James and Sirius did… not until she was ready to. He sighed.

"I think that James and Sirius and Severus are the same, Lily," he said carefully, trying to remain unbiased. It was true that Sirius and James were ruthless with Snape, and it was true that Remus sometimes thought they took it too far. But Remus also knew that something about Severus Snape made his skin crawl, and they had reason to believe that he wasn't as different from his Slytherin cohorts as Lily wanted to believe. "I think they either love you or hate you and there is no in between. They have very different opinions, but very similar ways of showing them. So they do things to each other and retaliate… I don't believe that either side is innocent."

Lily dabbed the corner of her eyes with her sleeve and smiled sadly shaking her head. "Very diplomatic answer, Remus," she laughed softly. "But I understand what you mean. It just hurts me to see him taking the wrong path out of necessity, you know?"

Now Remus winced slightly. "I wouldn't quite say that. Everyone has a choice in these matters. He can choose his own path, you know," he caught the hurt look she gave him and sighed. "Look, I'll try to talk to James and Sirius about easing up. I can't promise you anything, I don't really have as much influence over them as people seem to think… but I'll at least try. For your sake."

In an instant he found himself wrapped in the girl's arms and he froze up for a second.

"Thank you, Remus."

Remus sighed, gently patting her back. "Don't thank me just yet…"

It was getting late, much past curfew and when they climbed through the portrait hole to the common room, it was deserted. Everyone else was sure to be in their beds and asleep at this hour. Lily hugged Remus once again, kissing him sweetly on the cheek before she took the staircase on the right to her dorm.

Remus took the stairs on the left, briefly wondering if the Marauders were asleep, or if they decided to waste no time in taking the cloak and the map on an adventure. The dorm was quiet when he entered, but he could hear Peter's light snoring from across the room. He silently made his way to his own bed, careful to avoid the creaky floorboard between his own bunk and Sirius'.

Sirius. The thought of the other boy made his heart swell, all those things he had said on the train… that he was proud of him, and that Remus deserved to be recognized for his hard work. He smiled to himself. He wondered if Sirius was still awake…

"Moony?" That answered his question. Remus frowned as he realized that the hushed voice of his boyfriend had come from his own bed. The curtains of the bed moved and Sirius poked his head out, all lopsided grin and sparkling grey eyes that made Remus' stomach feel fluttery.

He smiled back at him. "It's late, Pads. You didn't have to wait up for me," he kicked off his shoes and grabbed his pajamas and toothbrush.

Sirius shrugged. "Wanted to. I wasn't tired anyway," his eyes did a once over of Remus and the goofy smile on his face widened a bit. "How was the meeting?"

"Boring," Remus said, trying to bite his lip to contain his own grin. "I'll be right back, I'm just gonna get ready for bed."

Sirius looked as if he wanted to say something else, but he cleared his throat and nodded. "Yeah, of course," he smiled and disappeared back behind the curtains.

Remus took his time in the bathroom. Sirius was in his bed. Alright, that wasn't unusual of course. They had slept in the same bed countless times in the last five years. But this was different. They were a couple now. They were allowed to touch and hold and kiss and…

Remus swallowed hard and splashed some water on his face. They hadn't gotten much time to themselves since they had officially gotten together, being stuck at the Potter's with James and Peter and sleeping on separate cots on James' bedroom floor… They had managed a few times to steal kisses and even climbed out of bed a few nights, sneaking out to the yard to snog, but that was it…

He felt slightly panicked. Remus looked at himself in the mirror, he looked pale. "This is silly," he said aloud to his reflection. "Sirius is your best friend. He wouldn't want you to do anything you're not comfortable with," it was very possible that Sirius had just planned to wait up for him and nothing more. He took a deep breath and changed into his t-shirt and pajama bottoms. "You can do this," he said to his mirror-self. "It's just Sirius."

If you say so, the voice in the back of his head said. He groaned before picking up his things and heading back into the dorm.

As quietly as he could, he padded to his four poster and pulled back the curtains. His heart felt like it was stuck in his throat when he saw Sirius, shirtless, for merlin's sake, laying across the mattress casually. His lower half was covered by the red Gryffindor comforter that adorned each of their beds. Sirius pulled the blankets back and Remus hesitated for just a moment before he slid in beside the other boy, reached behind him, and closed the curtains.

They both lay on their sides facing each other and propped up on one elbow. They didn't say anything, but Sirius' hand inched forward until it was resting over Remus', his thumb gently stroking over Remus' knuckles. Remus licked his lips, noticing the way Sirius' eyes lingered there.

"Sirius…"

"Yeah?"

He met Sirius' eyes. "Thanks for what you said on the train this morning."

Sirius frowned, brows coming together and Remus looked down at the joined hands. "Just… about me deserving recognition and… being proud of me and all that."

Sirius' hand moved from its place over Remus' and rested instead under his chin, lifting his gaze back up to meet the intense silvery stare of his boyfriend. "I meant it, Moony. I'm sorry if James, Pete, and I made your accomplishment feel invalidated or anything. We were only teasing you."

"I know-"

"No, really…" Sirius continued. "We shouldn't have acted that way. This is important to you. I know it is, even if you act like you didn't want it in the first place. Secretly you're really proud of yourself, you're just too modest to admit it."

Remus laughed softly and nodded. "Maybe a little bit…" he scooted a little closer and felt one of Sirius' thighs wedge itself between his own. "It also…" he sighed, "I mean… It's going to be very difficult for me to find work after school, Sirius. And anything extra I can have to my name is really helpful…"

Sirius nodded along, understanding what he meant. "I know, Moony."

A silence fell over them, the only sound was their own breathing, which was slightly heavier than normal, and Peter's snores in the distance. Remus felt like his heart was going to beat right out of his chest. Sirius was so close to him. He was absolutely terrified, but he also didn't want to put a stop to it either.

"Remus," Sirius' voice was barely a whisper, and Remus noticed that the look on his face was just as anxious as he felt himself.

"Y-yeah?"

"We," Sirius cleared his throat. "We don't have to do anything you don't want, y'know…"

Remus nodded. "I know…" their faces were centimeters apart, though neither of them could recall moving closer, and Remus could feel the hot puffs of Sirius' breath on his face. It smelled like mint from his toothpaste, but under that was the distinct scent of cigarettes and some sort of spice he could never place that was just uniquely Sirius. A strange noise escaped Remus' throat and he couldn't hold back another second, barely having to move at all to press his lips against the other boy's.

Sirius' hand moved to cup the side of Remus' face and he flicked his tongue across his bottom lip. He shifted his body slightly and Remus let out a small gasp as Sirius' fingers sent tingles down his spine. Remus felt Sirius hesitate so he attempted a small nod and placed his arm over the boy's waist, pulling him closer.

At first, Sirius didn't move. Then he flipped himself on top of Remus, concentrating on not breaking their kiss. Sirius deepened the kiss and Remus gasped into Sirius' mouth.

Sirius reluctantly broke the kiss and sat up. He felt around for something then held up his wand. "Silencio. There."

Sirius put his wand back down and turned his focus back to his boyfriend. He looked down at the other boy, long hair falling around his face. "This okay?"

Remus nodded, one hand slowly, if not hesitantly, moving up to brush Sirius' hair from his face and using the same hand to pull his boyfriend's head back to resume kissing.

Their nerves had subsided into pure lust. They didn't hold back as their lips crashed into each other, pulling content sighs from the other. Remus' hand began to softly stroke up and down Sirius' bare sides, over his chest and abdomen. Sirius' lips had strayed from Remus' mouth and were peppering kisses down his jaw. Sirius' hand then found the hem of Remus' shirt and that broke Remus from his wonderful daze.

"Wait," he heard his own voice say. Sirius stopped immediately, pulling away to examine Remus' face.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked. Remus groaned in frustration, hating himself for making it all stop. Embarrassed, he didn't say anything. His own hands pulled self-consciously at the bottom of his t-shirt and Sirius' eyes widened with realization.

Sirius lovingly pressed their lips together. "Moony, I've seen them before…"

Remus shook his head, eyes squeezed shut and feeling completely ashamed. "Not like this…not when you were actually… you know… looking."

Sirius was quiet for a moment, thinking. He kissed Remus' lips again. "Moony, I won't ever do anything that makes you uncomfortable… and if you don't want me to see your scars when we're… together… That's fine. But…" he sighed and Remus opened his eyes to see Sirius gazing down at him with a look of pure adoration, it made Remus' breath hitch. "I think you're absolutely beautiful, Remus. I've seen you at your worst, and even then… but I won't make you do something you don't want to do."

Remus stared at him, awestruck at Sirius' declaration. How could someone like Sirius, who was chased by everyone interested in guys at Hogwarts, say those things about someone as ordinary and defective as him? He shook his head. "Sirius, I'm not-"

"Don't," Sirius said sharply. "Don't argue with me," his hand went gently back to his cheek, making Remus forget whatever it was he had been so scared about. A sly smirk danced its way onto Sirius' face. "Just let me kiss you like you ought to be, Remus." Before Remus could argue, Sirius' lips were back on his own and the protest Remus had wanted to make was gone. He took a deep breath and reached to slip his fingers around Sirius' wrist. Sirius gave him a questioning look, but Remus gave no explanation. He sat up and gave the other boy a small smile before pulling his t-shirt off over his head.

He heard Sirius gasp and he looked away shyly, taking every ounce of self-control not to hide under the covers and never come out.

Again, Sirius' hand was under his chin, tilting his face up so he could capture Remus' lips between his own. "Beautiful," he murmured, and Remus could feel his smile. He smiled back, feeling his face heat up. He let Sirius coax him back into laying down, and then Sirius started to kiss down his neck, this time moving lower down his body. He planted soft kisses over his shoulders and…

Remus froze when he realized just what Sirius was doing. He was kissing each of his scars, muttering under his breath words like, "Beautiful," "Strong," "My Moony," "Love," and made his way down Remus' chest.

"Sirius," Remus sighed in contentment. He let his hands tug at Sirius' hair and the other boy sighed softly as well.

Suddenly, Sirius stopped for a split second, but only to refocus on Remus' lips. The kiss was firm but meaningful as they both dragged it on for a moment. Sirius slowly pulled back.

"You're amazing, you know that?" He murmured before planting one last kiss to his boyfriend.

Remus blushed and kissed him back. "Not nearly as amazing as you, Pads…"

They both pulled back and went to lay on their sides, facing each other again. Remus' fingers lazily traced circles on Sirius' chest and Sirius' hand rested on Remus' hip.

They laid like that for a while before Remus' eyes started to flutter close. Sirius lightly pushed his shoulder so that he lay in the other direction. He rewrapped his arms around Remus' waist and felt his breathing even out.

"Good night, Moony."

Remus was already asleep.