a beautiful world | wolfstar

like sandpaper

Remus glanced at Sirius, then looked away. Sirius glanced at Remus, then looked away, too. They both slouched even further into their seats, sad, confused and silent.

James wanted to kill them. Brutally.

"Potter," Lily whispered from the table beside him. He smiled brightly at her, trying to shove down his murderous urges. Murderous urges were not attractive. Although Lily seemed to have many murderous urges. Usually for him.

But anyway, that's beside the point. James smiled brightly at Lily, all murderous urges successfully tamped down. Or most of them, at any rate.

"Yes, my love?"

The redhead snorted. "I am not your love."

"Not yet, but you will be some day." James thought he saw Lily blush. He probably imagined it, though - Lily wouldn't be blushing over him. "Anyway, what did you wanna ask me?"

"Stop glaring at them, you grumpy turnip. It's freaky."

"Where do you come up with these insults?"

She shrugged. "I have no clue. It's like some obscure being puts them into my head." Peter sniggered beside him.

"You are the ultimate weirdo, love."

"You sure do know how to charm a woman."

Grinning, he leaned closer to her. "But you're my weirdo, and I love you even more for it."

She was definitely blushing. Lily looked down at her paper, a reluctant smile on her lips, cheeks glowing pink. James felt his stomach fumble futilely for support. Gosh, he loved her so much.

"Nice one, James," Peter whispered, smirking. [A/N: would it surprise you if I said he practised these kind of lines in front of his mirror? Eh, probably not. Also yes, I'm back with the A/Ns. Yay!].

Remus turned around in front of them, eyebrows raised. "Guys, will you shut up? Sprout isn't gonna be pleased."

"Do you really care, Remus?" Sirius muttered thinly, back still turned. "Or are you just pretending to make yourself look better?"

The taller boy rolled his eyes. "Believe it or not, some of us can't get away with shit just because we're Sirius fucking Black."

"Well, excuse me for assuming otherwise. I would hate to think you ever meant anything else."

A scoff. "Of course you would. My fault, once again."

They turned back to their papers, shoulders tense and heads drooping. James face-planted onto his desk.

It had been a week ago that James and Peter had found the two boys cuddling in Remus' bed. They had all been so sure that they would finally, finally get together.

But no. Sirius had been distant and irritable, and Remus, although he had tried to keep things neutral, had become the same. Now their speech was like sandpaper, scratching uncomfortably against their skin.

James was losing his mind. They were in love. They cared about each other. They were the most perfect OTP. They were the ones he and the rest of the Wolfstar fan group had been shipping since second year.

And they still aren't together! What is life?! I am done. I am just done.

"James, you're glaring at them again."

"Can you blame me, sweetheart?"

Peter gave him an odd look. "While I appreciate the sentiment, I thought Lily was your sweetheart?"

James blinked, looking at Peter. The other boy looked back, and then smiled slyly. "Although I wouldn't mind being your sweetheart..."

Grinning coyly at his friend, James tilted his head forward. "I don't think I'd mind either."

"I genuinely think Sirius is the straightest person in your group," Lily whispered, lips clenched tight together to prevent any laughter from escaping.

James nodded. "You know what, I think you're right."

The lesson finished. James and Remus left for Religious Studies together, the others going to their own lessons.

Remus was quiet, eyes drifting downward and bag loose on his shoulders. James could see his exhaustion in the way his feet trailed across the floor. He could see his sadness caught up between his eyebrows.

"James, while I'm flattered that you find me this interesting to look at, you're gonna bump into someone and I am not going to pick you up."

"That's a shame, I thought we had a real spark."

Remus scrunched his eyes up in confusion. "What does that even mean?"

James grinned. "I have no fucking clue, my friend."

They walked into the classroom, sat down behind their shared desk and pulled out their books. Their teacher wasn't there yet. He was probably hungover, to be honest. He usually was.

James glanced at Remus, noting the thoughtful, melancholy look in his eyes. Damn. This was just depressing.

"So, Remus..." James stopped, wondering how to continue.

"Yes?"

"Well, er, you see, you and Sirius are friends, yeah?"

"I don't think we are right now, but sure."

James cleared his throat. "So, you both are fighting about something, and it isn't really, erm, ending quickly, and I want to, well, I don't know - "

"Get to the fucking point or I'll punch you in the face."

A gasp. "How rude!"

Rolling his eyes, Remus pulled out a pen. "Aw, did I hurt your feelings?"

"You always hurt my feelings." He pouted.

"It is my goal in life, I'm afraid."

"Well, I suppose I shall just have to get used to it," James said dramatically, throwing out his arms and nearly hitting Remus in the face.

Remus smiled a little. "Keep going, then."

"Ah, yes." He stopped again, chewing his lip. "...What actually happened between you two? I heard about it from Peter, but I don't understand why you're mad at each other."

Sighing, Remus studied the table with absent eyes. "I don't know."

"What?"

A shrug. "I woke up with him in my bed and couldn't remember the night before. Not much, anyway. And I guess I felt embarrassed, so I left."

"Why did you feel embarrassed?"

He paused, turning very faintly pink. "I don't know. I mean, it's just being that close to someone I suppose, and also not knowing why, since I didn't remember what happened - still don't, actually - and I'm straight, so why would we have shared a bed? It didn't make any sense and - "

"I'm gonna stop you right there." James' head hurt.

"Sorry."

"Don't be, friend." James patted him on the back. "I think you should ask Sirius what happened, though."

"That's the other thing." Remus sat a little straighter, looking annoyed. "He's being an absolute dick to me and I don't know why. There isn't any real reason!"

James thought back to his conversation with Peter. "No, not from where we're standing, but maybe he does have a reason."

Remus huffed. "I suppose."

Smiling gently, James gave Remus a hug. "Don't worry about it. Whatever it is, it will all be fine."

At first a little stiff, Remus carefully wrapped his arms around the other boy.

"I hope so."