You Can't See That I'm The One

"Remus!" James called to his friend, during the morning break a few days later.

The boy with sandy-colored hair looked up suddenly, surprised. "James?"

James plopped down next to his friend and ran his fingers through his messy hair. "Remus, Remus, Remus..."

Remus closed his book and sat up straight against the tree behind them. "What did you do, James?"

He glanced at his friend out of the corner of his eye. "I kissed her."

"Sorry? You kissed who exactly?"

"Who do you think?"

Remus smacked the side of James's head. James flinched and rubbed his head. "Ow! What was the for!?"

"How could you be so stupid, James?"

"Wh-what?"

He sighed. "You kissed your best friend's girlfriend. Does nothing in that sentence sound wrong to you?"

James sighed. "I'm not saying I didn't make a mistake. But what do you expect me to do now?"

"Perhaps you should just come clean about your feelings for Lily. I mean, she and Sirius have a right to know..." Remus started.

"Are you crazy?"

"Well, she probably has an idea since you kissed her, James!"

James rolled his eyes and the nudged Remus. "Look, there they go."

Remus looked up and saw Sirius and Lily pass them on their way back into the castle. They were in deep conversation, Lily's eyes shining with love and laughter and Sirius was grinning, hands held tight. Both of their book bags were slung on his shoulder and he was carrying three of her textbooks in his free hand.

Remus chuckled. "Even you have to admit that Sirius has never been such a gentleman to any of his girlfriends before."

James huffed. "Damn it, Remus. Why didn't I grab her when I had the chance?"

"Aside from the fact she found you a pompous ass at first?"

"She did?!"

"Oh...I guess you didn't know that."

"Some friend you are, Moony."

He smiled and leaned against the tree, maintaining his straight posture. "Besides the fact that she didn't like you until the end of our first year, I think you thought she was kind of awkward and a know-it-all, so not every guy would see her really good qualities. Why you would wait is beyond me, I like to think it's because you knew you were too immature for her, but I'm pretty sure it's because you wanted to check out your options. Your problem was keeping it to yourself because your best friend realized how phenomenal Lily is and had no problem telling us. After that, you couldn't exactly say, 'Hey! I'm in love with Lily!'"

"I'm not in love with her," James muttered.

Remus gave him a skeptical look, but didn't justify such stupidity with an answer. "But now, it's eating away at you and driving you mad. Besides, Lily's not dumb and I already figured it out. It's just a matter of time, Prongs."

James sighed and slumped against the tree trunk, bumping his head. "When did things get so out of control, Moony? And how?"

Remus shrugged, opening his book again. "People change, Prongs."

James looked around the grounds, desperate for a subject change. "Hey, full moon next week. Are you ready?"

Remus sighed. "I never am."

"Moony?"

"Hmm?"

"Ever sit around and wonder 'Why me?'"

Remus looked up from his book and gave his friend a sad smile. "Every full moon, my friend, every full moon."

~*~

Later that day, before dinner, Lily and Sirius were sitting by the lake, studying the multitude of leaves that had already changed colors, fall from the branches and get blown about by the chilly October wind.

"Lily?" Sirius asked, quietly, enveloping her in a warm embrace.

"Yes, darling?"

"You know what you should do?"

She shifted so that she was able to look up at him. "What should I do?"

"You should...oh, I dunno...casually suggest that we have a Yule Ball."

Lily snorted. "Why would we have one, Sirius?"

"Because...Dumbledore's great? No...oh! I know! Professor Ava's retiring."

"Yes, she is..."

"Well, she's a loved Professor. And...the prefects, Head Boy, and Head Girl have meetings with Dumbledore, correct?"

"Yes..."

"Okay, brace yourself for my brilliance. Casually suggest that it would be nice to throw a party, preferably around Christmastime, you know, since the castle's so nicely decorated. This party should be for Professor Ava, who is retiring this year and who will be missed. However, only students who have had her should be allowed to attend...say, third years and up in formal apparel. I know you can see it."

She laughed. "You are very good at justifying your ideas, I'll give you that, but..."

"But..." Sirius prodded.

Lily was silent for a few moments. "It's actually a really good idea. It could work."

Sirius looked a little surprised. "Really?"

She nodded. "Absolutely. I'll run it by Kingsley first. It might be better if the Head Boy or Girl suggests it. And I like Kingsley better than Martinique."

"Don't we all?" Sirius muttered.

Lily giggled. "I'll talk to Kingsley at dinner. We have a meeting next week, we can probably bring it up then."

Sirius tightened their embrace and kissed the top of her head. "That's amazing! I love you."

Lily smiled. "I love you, too. Why are you so eager for a Yule Ball?"

Sirius smile, shyly. "I wanna dance with you. Besides, the castle's so romantic at Christmas. I want our first Christmas together to be something to remember."

Lily smiled fondly and kissed him, sweetly. "You're perfect," she murmured.

"Am not. I'm just trying to use my powers for good and longevity." He grinned.

Lily burst into laughter. "You're crap."

"You love me," he said, simply, kissing her cheek.

She squeezed his hand. "Let's head t dinner. I'm starved."

Sirius nodded and swept Lily up in his arms. He grinned at the sound of her giggles as he carried her to the castle.