The Complications of Falling in Love with your Best Friend

Chapter 13 - Christmas Eve Part Two: Lily's Plan.

Can't explain all these feelings that you're making me feel.

My heart's in overdrive and you're behind the steering wheel.

~ ~ ~

"Nervous?"

"A little. You?"

"No."

"Really?"

"No."

The thought that Sirius was as nervous as he was did not comfort Remus in the slightest. On the contrary, it only intensified his fear. It would have been acceptable if one of them was feeling confident, but with both of them in this state it looked like the evening had the potential for being disastrous. Remus tried not to show he was nervous. He was better than Sirius at concealing his emotions at least. When Remus was nervous he usually managed to keep a composed exterior. Sirius went the opposite extreme and would resort to hyperactive behaviour to deal with his nerves. Which was why he was currently walking with a slight skip and was clicking his fingers compulsively.

"Sirius?"

"Mh?"

"Stop that."

They walked a little further in silence.

"It's going to be fine."

"Yeah."

The silence was beginning to become oppressive. It came as a relief to Remus that it was broken by a group of Hufflepuff girls and their boyfriends who were also making their way down to the hall. The small congregation passed Sirius and Remus somewhat apprehensively. The boys addressed a curt nod to the two, the girls smiled hesitatingly but one waved with slightly more vigour.

"Hey, Remus, Sirius."

"Hey, Sandra," they replied. Sandra Leavesdon sat with them in Herbology.

"Have fun at the dance tonight!" She grinned and took her boyfriend by the hand, leading the group on who now smiled at them bit more warmly.

As their footsteps died away, Sirius grinned at Remus encouragingly and took his hand.

"Like I said, it's going to be fine."

"And you're always right."

"Of course."

They were almost at the doors. Soon, they would enter the Great Hall to confront... well, Remus didn't know what exactly, but he thought it might be something that required the verb 'confront'. His morose thoughts were interrupted by a flying blur of dark red and bright green.

"Remus, Sirius! I've finally found you!"

"Easy, Lily, what's wrong?"

Lily took a deep breath and swept away a stray curl of hair that had fallen from its elegant pile on her head. She had eventually settled with the green dress she had asked Remus' advice on. It was a bright, but not acid green, long-sleeved, low-cut dress that had an almost medieval look. It had a bodice and long, sweeping skirts that trailed behind her. Lily looked down at her dress.

"Do you like it?" she said, tentatively lifting up her arms so the sleeves hung lose at her elbows.

"It's nice," said Sirius absently.

"It really suits you," said Remus, a little more enthusiastically. "But what's the matter?"

"The matter?" said Lily looking perplexed.

"Yes, the matter. You came running up to us like you had discovered the cure for Snurckle-bug or something."

"Oh." Lily laughed. "No nothing's the matter. I'd just been looking for you all over the place. Where were you guys?"

Sirius and Remus exchanged a brief glance. "Talking," answered Sirius.

"Ah," said Lily nodding. "Talking's good." She gave Remus a knowing glance.

Sirius frowned. "What's up with you? And why were you looking for us?"

"I have to show you something."

"What sort of something?"

"An important sort of something."

Lily grabbed the two boys by their arms and dragged them towards the staircase.

"Lily, I'm really not in the mood for games," grumbled Sirius.

Lily ignored him.

"Lily, we're going to be late," said Remus apprehensively.

Lily ignored him too.

"Remus, Lily's ignoring us," stated Sirius.

"She's in her meddlesome mode," observed Remus.

"What's she meddling in now?"

Remus shrugged. After a few minutes of walking in silence, they found themselves on the fifth floor.

"Hey," said Sirius. "Are we...?"

But Lily just shushed him. A door materialised in the wall, and Lily opened it.

"Lily, you'd better have a damn good reason for locking me in here," came a voice from inside. "I thought you said we were going to..."

"Hush, James."

"Don't hush me! Why the hell...?" James stopped short when he saw Remus and Sirius enter the room. "Oh for fuck's sake..." he muttered under his breath.

"Now," said Lily firmly, "I guess you all know why you're here, right?"

The boys nodded sullenly. They felt slightly humiliated. It was like being scolded by a teacher.

"You're here because this stupid argument has gone on long enough and if you're not going to settle it in a civilised way by your free will, then you're going to be forced to settle it in however way is going to bloody work by my will."

"But Lily..."

"James, be quiet."

James fell silent. Remus was quite impressed. Lily really had determination, and a firm hold over James too.

"The time is now..." Lily checked her watch, "...half-past eight. Dinner has started in the Great Hall. The sooner you get this sorted, the sooner you can have something to eat. But mind," Lily pointed her finger at them, "I want you to sort this properly and mean what you say." She gave them a stern look and walked out of the door, which instantly faded behind her. There was absolutely no way out.

"Bloody hell," muttered James as he walked over to the wall and ran his hands along it. "We're completely locked in."

"Well it's the Room of Requirement isn't it?" said Sirius irritably. "And I require a way out. So a way out should appear." He stared expectantly at the area where the door had been.

"It's not going to happen guys," said Remus heavily, sinking into a soft armchair.

"Why not?" said Sirius, looking a bit aggravated.

"Because we're held here by Lily's will. She's the one who required this room, and so it will only change when she wants it to." He looked at James and Sirius sternly. "When we've sorted out our differences and fixed this silly argument."

James and Sirius looked at each other for a long while. Finally James broke the silence.

"Right, let's do this," he said resignedly, and he too sat in an armchair. Sirius followed suit. The three boys were now sat in an uneven triangular shape each looking at the other but none of them talking.

"I'll start then, shall I?" said Remus blandly, not actually expecting a response. He'd meant it rhetorically.

"No, I will," offered Sirius. Remus leant back in his chair, observing Sirius with interest, and watching for James' reaction to whatever it was Sirius was about to say.

"I'm going to start by saying something... sort of difficult..." He glanced at Remus, then turned back to address James. "And you should appreciate it, because I never thought I'd say this now, here of all places and under these circumstances... but here goes." He screwed his eyes shut. "I'm in love with Remus."

There was a long pause. Sirius opened one eye. "Is that okay?" Remus didn't answer. He was shocked into silence.

James stared at Sirius, taken aback. "I... er... I didn't..." He cleared his throat. "What was the point of that exactly?" he asked.

"The point was, you stupid, stubborn prat, to show you that I'm not just in some meaningless fling with Moony, I actually love him, so you'd do well to pull out whatever stick is shoved up your arse and get over yourself."

James raised an eyebrow. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, actually," said Sirius leaning forward in his chair. "I've never said that to Remus before. That was the first time, and it probably should have been said in a romantic moment under the stars or some shit like that, but I said it now, in front of you too, and he probably doesn't appreciate that very much, but the point is, you imbecile, that I told you something that is really important for me and Remus. And I told you so you can see that I am still willing to share things with you, and be your friend, and me being with Remus doesn't change that. So okay, I might be more likely to shag him than you, but I guess you wouldn't mind that too much anyway. So my point is... my point is..." He stopped. "Oh bugger it all, I've lost my point." And he sat back in his chair sulkily.

"Basically," said Remus, finally finding his voice, "me and Sirius being together doesn't mean I come between you. We've got a different sort of relationship, but that doesn't automatically exclude yours. I don't want you to think I'm... you know, taking Sirius away from you. It would really be a relief if you could be okay with us. It's hard enough to get people to... accept us, but it's even harder if you avoid us too."

James had the grace to look guilty.

"I mean, I won't deny that I'm a little angry at the way you reacted. It was certainly immature, but I guess I can see why you acted that way. If we could all just forget it now, and go to the dance, and have fun, and be altogether as friends, it would make Christmas really great." Remus finished and looked down at his hands.

"So stop being such a prick," added Sirius.

James looked from Sirius to Remus. He wrinkled his nose in frustration then let out a sigh. "Oh all right." He drew himself up in his chair. "I'm really, really sorry," he said sincerely. "I did act stupidly and immaturely and I deserve all of the many insults that Padfoot decided to throw at me."

"Quite right," said Sirius, nodding. "Stubborn prat."

James rolled his eyes. "And I'm sorry, because... well I obviously like you guys, you're my best friends, and I missed you loads when we weren't talking. The whole... gay thing was kind of weird, but it wasn't what bothered me most. I guess I was just jealous because it's like you guys were in this new relationship that didn't include me and I thought I was going to be always left out or on the side and I overreacted and then I was too stubborn to come back and apologise." James scratched his head, looking uncomfortable. "Um... yeah. So I'm sorry... and I'm really happy for you guys."

"Apology accepted," said Remus immediately and he stood up to hug his friend. James looked a little embarrassed, but pleased.

"Honestly. You really are an idiot Prongs," said Sirius, still sitting comfortably in his chair.

"Sirius..."

"Stubborn idiot - huh? What's that Moony?"

Remus rolled his eyes and pointed at James. "James just apologised. What should you do now?"

Sirius grinned sheepishly. "Ok, ok. Apology accepted, Prongs. No problem."

"And?" asked Remus.

"And what? Oh all right," said Sirius grudgingly. "I'm a stubborn idiot too. So I'm sorry," He hugged James. "But it was mostly your fault," he added.

James punched him playfully on the arm. "Shut up."

"You shut up."

"No you."

"You."

"You!"

"Daft bugger."

"You're the daft bugger!"

"Git."

"Idiot."

"Hey guys," interrupted Remus. The two boys' heads swivelled round. Remus pointed at the wall and smiled. "We've got a door."

There was a momentary silence as the boys realised what that meant.

"FREEDOM!" shouted Sirius, bounding through the door. "Oh sweet fresh air and oxygen and liberty and LIFE!"

Remus looked at his watch. "You know, we were only in there for ten minutes."

Sirius stopped mid-bounce. "We're still free," he said, looking unpeturbed. "We should celebrate freedom every day. It's a wonderful thing to be free, and must not be taken for granted."

James laughed. "Shut it, Padfoot, and let's get to the dance. I want food and I want to tell my beautiful girlfriend what a manipulative and interfering thing she is." He grinned.

"By the way, James," Remus said casually, "how exactly did Lily lock you up in the room? Surely you didn't just walk in blindly?"

James' smile faltered and he looked slightly embarrassed. "Well," he said, clearing his throat, "she promised me we'd... er... try some... things... out before dinner."

Sirius grinned gleefully. "And you fell for it!"

"She was very convincing."

"I'm sure she was."

"Stop grinning like that."

"Right," said Sirius grinning more widely.

"Prat," grumbled James.

Sirius laughed and clapped James on the back. "At least things are back to normal now, eh?" He took Remus' hand. "Onwards to the feast!" he cried and led the way down the corridor, James beside him. "Oh and one more thing..." He stopped to quickly kiss Remus, then pulled him along, singing loudly and laughing with the two of them.

Remus made a mental note to thank Lily very, very much.