Remus loved his friends. He had always loved them – but he had never thought that would bring him into this kind of position. Lily was beautiful, smart, kind and he loved every moment he spent with her but at the same time, James had marked her as his from Day 1. While James's crush could be slightly obsessive and come across as creepy, he knew his friend did care for Lily.

I never meant for this to happen.It was true. He had never meant to fall in love with the girl that his friend loved. But it had happened anyway and now he wasn't sure what to do. So, he had been avoiding the other Marauders, but he knew this would not last long. He would not be able to hide from them forever. Oh well. Their friendship would not last long anyway if James found out what he was thinking.

He was sitting behind a tree and saw the other Marauders coming out, heart beginning to race. They would see him on the map – he had forgotten to take it in his haste to hide but he could at least try to run from them. Hopefully, everything would be okay, and they wouldn't confront him – oh, who was he kidding? They had nagged at him to know what was wrong when it came to his furry little problem. A new fear overtook him – what if they told everyone? No, no matter how furious James would be, that was something he would never do.

He was in such a haste to get away that he bumped into someone else, almost causing the other girl to stumble as well.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking," Remus said, slowing turning realising it was Lily, the girl who had been on his mind far too much lately.

"I can see that, Remus," Lily said jokingly. "Are you alright? You've been really pale, even in class and you haven't been sitting with your friends either." Her face had morphed into genuine concern now as she peered at him.

"I…I can't," Remus managed to get out. "I did something I never meant to do. They'll hate me, they'll never forgive me."

"That'll never happen," James Potter, the one person he had been avoiding in all this came up behind him. Crap. They had used the map to locate him after all. "Hey Evans. Nice of you to be comforting Moony." He winked at her causing her to scowl.

"This is really not the time, Potter," Lily replied. "Aren't you even the least bit concerned about your friend?"

"Of course, I am!" James sounded offended. "We didn't spend the last half hour looking him for nothing."

"I'm fine, guys," Remus cut in, not wanting to be the reason they got into a fight. "I just want to be alone."

James turned away from Lily to focus on him as Sirius moved to his side. "Moony, what's going on? Come on, let's talk in private."

Remus shook his head. There really was nothing he could say to make this blow any better for his friend. It was betrayal. No matter how he looked at it, he was hurting his friend by this. Even if James forgave him for the feelings he had developed, he would never forgive himself.

Lily put a hand on Remus's arm. "Remus, what's wrong? Did Potter being annoying finally set you off?"

"No," Remus said, and he put his hand on hers to remove it but found himself cupping it instead. Had her hands always been this warm or did him being a traitor make them like that? "Lily, don't. Please. I can't." He looked up and he looked over at James whose expression had changed and while he couldn't pick up on what his friend's expression meant, he knew James had realised something. He pulled away from Lily and ran again. He knew this was not the solution, but he couldn't face James.

He couldn't bear to see the hurt on his friend's face if he had realised what he felt for the girl he loved. He had always somehow known that he would hurt his friends – but this was not the way in which he was expecting to hurt them.

Finding a spot in the corridor, he sunk into his chair, curling his knees up to his chest. Why did he always hurt the people who were the closest to him? He knew he was a disgrace to his parents after he had been bitten and they took every opportunity to remind him as such about what him being a werewolf did to their reputation. But now, the people who had accepted him as family, he had hurt them too.

"You know, I thought you'd have more faith in me than that," James's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, but Remus didn't reply, simply staring at the ground. He couldn't respond. He didn't know where he would even begin to respond. It was a good thing his friend was not expecting a response from him though because he kept speaking.

"I could tell from the way you looked at Lily," James admitted. "You like her, don't you?"

The question slammed into him like a ton of bricks and Remus curled into himself further, but he knew he couldn't keep denying it. He had been fighting himself, beating himself up over it but he knew he could not lie to his friend.

"I'm sorry," Remus whispered. "I don't know when or how it happened. She was always just a friend, I told myself she was off limits because you liked her, but she found out my furry little problem. She soothed me and helped me deal with stuff going on with my family because of the way they were treating me so…I found myself…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to betray you." There he said it. He had worked up the nerve to tell his friend what he really felt for the girl of his dreams.

James shook his head. "You didn't betray me, Moony. Is this why you've been fighting yourself and avoiding us for? Did you really think I'd leave you because you had feelings for Lily?"

"I…" Remus began but James cut him off.

"Moony, you're my friend," James said firmly. "You always will be, no matter what. I'm not going to dump you. It's not like feelings are something that you plan to happen anyway. Besides, in the end, it's up to Lily, right?" He shrugged. "I don't think I'm even an option in her eyes no matter how much I ask her out and if she picks you…well, I won't lie. It'll hurt a lot. I really like her, but I can't force her to feel the same. But Moony, I will never abandon you for that. You're my friend first."

Relief flood Remus's heart and he bit down on his lip hard as his eyes stung. He should have known. He should have known but everything had made it hard for him not to doubt it. He reached out with trembling arms and hugged his friend. James wrapped his own arms around him. He had managed to find the courage to confess to his brother and they were still brothers. Hopefully, no matter what they came next, they would always be brothers.