Purely Theoretical

Sirius Black was, in fact, a rather attractive person.

From a purely objective standpoint, of course.

Because Sirius was a guy, and his best friend, and James Potter was not attracted to him in anyway whatsoever.

He just happened to notice that his hair was rather nice. Sirius usually brushed it at least once a day, whenever he found the time. It looked quite soft as he ran his fingers through it, and James liked the way that it fell down his neck and across his forehead. He could see how someone might find it attractive.

Completely theoretically, of course. Because James was completely straight, and Sirius was, too, he assumed.

And no, he had never entertained thoughts to the contrary.

And yes, it was nice when Sirius pushed his hair away from his face and James could see his eyes. But anyone in James' position would have felt the same way. After all, his eyes were quite...nice. When there wasn't much light they were dark, like...like coal, or something. James was never one for metaphors. But if it was a sunny day, they would light up until they were almost blue. And he always looked right at you when you were talking, and made you feel important. And he could understand how someone could get lost in those eyes, just staring...

And you must understand that he was speaking entirely as an impartial outsider. Because he had never, ever spent any amount of time looking at Sirius, or his eyes. Well, not too much anyway.

And yes, it was true that he spent more time with Sirius than with anyone else. But that was only because they were friends. He could help it if Sirius was more fun than anyone else in the school. He couldn't picture spending a day without Sirius. And no, that did not mean he was in love with his best friend, thank you very much. It just meant that he liked him. Very much. And no, those rumors that he skipped that date with Evans so Sirius wouldn't have to spend the day alone were completely untrue. Well, mostly untrue. Okay, so they were true, but people were taking things out of context. They didn't know all the circumstances.

And no, he'd never considered Sirius romantically. Except on an entirely indifferent and unbiased level. Because they were best friends, and guys, and something like that could only end in Unhappiness. Not that James would be interested, anyway.

He had to admit that Sirius' lips usually looked quite kissable. They were a peculiar reddish pink, far darker than Lily's lips and far lighter than the Gryffindor banner. It was almost as though he had stolen someone's lipstick and smeared it on his mouth. But James was quite sure he hadn't, because the only thing Sirius put on his lips was a potion to prevent them from chapping in the winter. It smelled spicy, like cinnamon, but when James had stolen some to put on his own lips it had tasted sweet. Besides, it was to be assumed that Sirius himself was quite a good kisser. He did, after all, have Experience, or at least claimed to.

These were, of course, purely intellectual ponderings. Entirely theoretical. James would never...

Okay, maybe he would.

Sirius sauntered into the Common Room, looking quite disheveled. James thought he was probably better off not asking what had put him in such a state.

And before he had time to think it through, before he could stop himself, he grabbed Sirius's collar and pulled him in for a kiss.

They pulled apart breathlessly. James ran his hand through his hair. Sirius blinked. "What was that?" he asked, not sounding disgusted or disturbed in the least--simply curious.

"Ah," James said, turning red. "I don't know. I was just testing a theory."

Sirius nodded. "You know," he said thoughtfully, "they say you should always test your theories at least twice. At least I think so. Well, somebody said it. I think maybe it was--"

James grabbed him and kissed him again. Sirius blinked his eyes shut, and slowly relaxed into his friend. His arms found their way around James' waist, and James' hands were wound through his hair.

Sometimes, what works in theory does work in practice.