More Than He Bargained For

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine. If it were, WolfStar would be canon.

A/N - This story was written for and inspired by the wonderful, multitalented, adVENTitiious. She's an amazing person who drew me an amazing WolfStar pic (see banner. Really. Do see it. It's freaking awesome), and to say thank you, I wrote this based off said pic. Thank you so much, Siri. I hope you like it, and I really hope I did the drawing justice! :)

Back muscles flexing. Breathy moans and grasping fingers. Ankles around hips, or sometimes over shoulders, wild hair and creaking springs. Arms straining and a mantra of curses and names, called out as if they were the names of Gods. But most of all, worst of all, the most traumatising and horrible thing of all, a snowy-white arse thrusting back and forth, back and forth, right in his fucking face.

James Potter stared in horror at the sight before him, somehow unable to tear his gaze away. The open curtains swung violently as the bed bounced, the longish black hair of his best mate swinging in time with them. He could just see the torso of the boy underneath him, flushed red with their combined activity, and if James hadn't been absolutely certain who the person was that Sirius was currently shagging into the mattress, the identity of the other boy would've remained a mystery.

It wasn't a mystery to James. It hadn't been from the very first time he'd walked in on Remus and Sirius going at it like bunnies, more than three months ago. You'd think they'd learn. Or that he'd get used to it. He'd lost count of the number of times he'd entered the dorm to find open curtains around a bed occupied with two sweaty bodies. But no matter how often he said something, no matter how much he whined and complained, they never listened.

Well, of course they didn't. He was well aware they were doing it on purpose. Or at least Sirius was. Remus, now, he was probably just caught up, lost in the moment so to speak, but Sirius would've latched onto the fact that he'd scarred his best mate for life the time he'd walked in to see Remus with his pants around his ankles and Sirius with his head between his thighs. Now, he was deliberately making sure that everything was visible, just so he could laugh his arse off at the green around James's gills.

Speaking of arses, why the bloody hell was he still standing there?

The thought jolted James into action and he scurried backwards out the door, blanching at the guttural groan that signalled Sirius was about to finish – and fuck the bastard for doing this so often, James knew his intimate habits by heart! He slammed the door behind him, leaning against it for a moment to control his urge to vomit, and then headed back down the stairs with gritted teeth.

This had to stop. James was all for getting your end away, he did it as often as girlfriend-ly possible, but the doing it on every available surface and making sure James saw them doing it on every available surface was doing his head in. It was a great prank, sure, but he didn't think Sirius realized the damage he was doing to his best mate's fragile psyche.

Merlin, he was even dreaming about Padfoot's white, naked arse, he was seeing it so often! That was just wrong!

Reaching the bottom of the stairwell, he entered the common room and stomped his way over to the squishy sofas by the fire, where Pete and his Lily-flower were sitting next to each other, sharing a Transfiguration textbook. Both heads rose, eyebrows rising further, when James threw himself down with a huff.

"Something the matter, Prongs?" Peter asked, slapping the textbook shut and chucking it onto the seat next to him, where it promptly slid onto the floor. Lily scooped it up quickly and threw her classmate a disgruntled look before turning to her boyfriend curiously.

"Something the matter? No, whatever could be the matter, Pete? I just walked in on those two prats going at it like the world's about to end again. What could possibly be wrong with that?" James grumbled, his head falling against the back of the couch with an agitated thump. He closed his eyes and let out a gusty sigh, screwing up his nose at the images playing behind his eyelids.

"Yes, Potter, what could possibly be wrong with that?"

James frowned and lifted his head, blinking when he met the annoyed green gaze of one Lily Evans. His girlfriend of five months – and lover as of a month ago, a date he had circled lovingly in his planner, to which Sirius had added the comment when he'd seen it, 'finally a man!' – was glaring at him with her arms folded across her chest. His frown grew as he took in her tense body language.

Since when had she reverted back to calling him Potter?

"Are you kidding me? It's gross! Like I want to see their hairy arses every time I go in to get a textbook!"

The words fell into a sudden silence, the expression on Lily's face puckering further as an unexpected tension built in their aftermath. James frowned in confusion at Peter's open mouth, his watery eyes wide with surprise.

"You, James Potter, are the world's most insufferable git!"

The Head Boy's mouth imitated Peter's as Lily jumped to her feet and stormed off, her face the mask of one very pissed off woman. He stared after her, dumbfounded. What had he done?

"What's got her knickers in a twist?" he asked the boy opposite him, the corners of his eyes creasing in puzzlement. "Is she still stressing over that test last week or something?"

"Ah, no, no, I don't think it's that," Peter replied, looking at him and then looking away, his hands twisting together in an anxious gesture. "It's just… umm, it might be…"

"Spit it out, Wormtail," James sighed.

"It's just, maybe she didn't expect you to react like that," the boy blurted, going red in the face as his eyes shifted nervously. "I mean, I, ah, I didn't really expect it either. They are, er, well… they're your best mates, Prongs. I guess she expected you to be a bit more tolerant."

With that, he scurried off the sofa and followed Lily out the entrance hole, leaving James behind, sitting wide-eyed and alone.

~0~

A week passed. Lily spent the entire time glaring at him whenever she could, and firmly turning her back whenever James tried to get her to explain why she was glaring at him. He just didn't understand it. At all.

He was 100% positive that it had something to do with Peter's comment about him being more tolerant, however. But how exactly was he supposed to do that? The very last thing he wanted to see was Sirius's – and sometimes Remus's – backside bobbing up and down, and his tosspot of a best mate was going out of his way to make sure that happened.

Pranks were common between the four friends – they were the Marauders after all – but James couldn't find it in himself to take this as a joke. The more often he saw Remus and Sirius together, the more his gut twisted, and the stronger he reacted.

Because of this, the cold shoulder steadily continued, going on on for so long, Sirius noticed.

"Merlin, mate, what did you do to Evans?" he asked one morning at breakfast, when Lily steadfastly ignored James as he sat down. His voice wasn't quiet, and James took note the way his girlfriend stiffened out of the corner of his eye. He sighed and turned to Sirius with a morose shrug.

"Beats me. But whatever it is, it's your bloody fault."

"Mine?" The Black heir's not-so-innocent smirk was wide as he sat back in his chair and surveyed the frustrated scowl on James's face. "How'd you figure that?"

"Because it has something to do with you and Moony breaking the fucking bedsprings every chance you get, and making sure I see it!" he hissed, leaning closer. "Somehow, she's got it in her head that I should be thrilled to walk in on that all the bloody time!"

Sirius's grey eyes twinkled mischievously. "Sorry, mate, but it isn't my fault you've got a terrible sense of timing, is it? Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got homework to finish."

He got up; his smirk growing when James glared at him, then sauntered away towards the doors without getting any breakfast. James's gaze followed him, eyes narrowing when Remus walked into the Great Hall, intent on food, only to stop and jerk backwards when Sirius grabbed his robes and tugged him back in the direction he'd come from.

Something told James that neither boy would make it to their first class of the day.

That thought went around and around in his head endlessly, and the Head Boy turned to stare down into cornflakes, brooding for another reason. He was so lost in it that he barely noticed Lily huffing in disgust, rising to her feet and stalking away.

The walking in at inopportune moments wasn't the big issue. Not really. That was part of it, but the actual shagging was a bigger part. The biggest part.

James was worried.

The Potter heir knew his three friends better than he knew himself. The four boys had been in each other's back pockets for seven years. They'd been through thick and thin together, surviving small, petty fights and larger, more important ones, and the bespectacled boy knew that no matter what happened, they'd always be there for each other. And though it was true that he enjoyed Peter's company and considered him a good friend and very much part of the group, he was much closer with the other two, Sirius in particular.

His mate wasn't talking about it. Sirius had never been the type of person to keep his conquests to himself. He'd lost his virginity in fourth year and had from then on – and even before then – been sure to tell James every little detail. He boasted; that's what he did. But with Remus, his mouth was closed.

That is, apart from one statement, repeated over and over.

It's just a bit of fun, Prongsie.

He would say it with a grin and a shrug, body language nonchalant, and every time he said it, James worried more. In the words of many a girl at Hogwarts, Sirius Black was a man-whore. Though he wasn't, really. He flirted a lot, yes, and he'd had his share of the fairer sex - both of his friends hadn't played for the other team before they'd started looking at each other - but his pecker would've fallen off if he'd had as many as the school assumed he'd had. The point was that Sirius Black enjoyed his fun, and all of that fun had always been just and only that. Fun.

Remus was the opposite. He had relationships, meaningful, emotional relationships. He didn't do one-night stands and he didn't do 'fun.'

So what the bleeding hell were they doing together?

They were going to get hurt, James knew they were. Remus was going to fall for Sirius – if he hadn't already, it was a high possibility considering they were shagging all the bloody time – and Sirius was eventually going to get bored like he always did. Or the other way around, and then Sirius would panic and try to sabotage the relationship.

But wait, it wasn't a relationship, was it? It was 'just a bit of fun.'

It was highly frustrating, is what it was. When Sirius had dismissed his questions outright, he'd tried Remus, but as soon as the werewolf had caught onto the subject matter, he'd tried to change it, then had blatantly run away when it hadn't worked. James was positive the sandy-blond was now avoiding him as much as he could.

He didn't want either of his friends hurt. And with no communication from them to explain the way things were going, he could see it coming a mile away.

James sighed, pushed aside his untouched breakfast and got up. There was a small part, a tiny part he tried his best not to acknowledge, that was hurt that his two mates were purposely keeping him out of the loop. Both of them knew every detail about his relationship with his lovely fellow Head. Why were they shutting him out on this?

Well, shutting him out in everything but when they went at each other.

With his nose screwed up, he headed off to class. The only thing he could do was be there if or when it fell apart.

~0~

When neither of his friends made it to their first or their second classes, the Head Boy decided to fulfil his duties for once, and go and after them. Remus would freak when he realized he'd missed two lessons. James was actually surprised the werewolf had allowed Sirius to distract him enough that he'd forgotten about school, especially considering it was last year and NEWTs were just around the corner.

Approaching the door of his dorm, common sense reared it's practical head, and James stopped himself with his hand on the doorknob. Though there wasn't any possible way for Sirius to know that his mate was going to pull a one-off and live up to responsibilities his title gave him, it was best to wait to see if they were done before walking in. He'd seen enough tackle that wasn't his own to last a lifetime, thank you very much. He didn't need to add another sighting to the list.

Stepping closer, he carefully pressed his ear to the door and listened hard. He couldn't hear anything, but that didn't necessarily mean they weren't busy. They could be quiet when they wanted to be – just not when Sirius knew James was on his way.

With his tongue stuck out in a grimace, he listened for a few more moments, and when he still didn't hear anything, decided that in this case, silence was golden. He stepped back, determined to break up anything if he came across it, twisted the knob and walked in.

James stopped dead. And stared.

Remus and Sirius were locked in an embrace. They were standing chest to chest, hip to hip, with Sirius's arm around Remus's back and Remus's hand gripping Sirius's elbow. Sirius's trousers were undone and fingers were edging under the back of those trousers, but James ignored the physical aspects in favour of gawking in amazement at their faces.

Eyes closed, heads tilted, mouths almost touching, so close to brushing against the other. But it was the emotion stamped right there for the world to see, however, that held the Head Boy in place. It was huge, that emotion. Private and aching and eager, and just plain naked. Craved into the cracks and creases, solid and true, clear as brightly polished crystal.

How could he have missed it?

This wasn't just a bit of fun. This was much bigger, much deeper than that. This was the way he felt about Lily, the way he saw his father looking at his mother and vice versa.

This was more than a shag at the other's convenience, more than just a quick rough and tumble, more than just a wham, bam, thank you ma'am.

This was forever.

Slowly, so slowly he wasn't sure he was moving until his back hit the doorframe, James backed away from the clearly private moment he was intruding on. As if a light bulb had gone off above his head, it suddenly made sense why neither of them would talk about it. Not even with him.

Some spells were just too fragile.

The heavy door was silent as he stepped over the threshold and closed it behind him, leaving the two boys to their moment. A smile grew as he turned around and headed down the stairs, getting wider with every step. Well then. This was unexpected.

This he could deal with.

They could still hurt each other, but there was something more there, something that would protect their friendship and hopefully bring them back to each other if anything happened. And if they did end up making mistakes – which they probably would, each had their own set of insecurities – then James would just have to push them back together again.

What he'd seen in that room was too right to give up on.

"What are you grinning at?" Peter asked as James took the same seat he'd taken the week before. Thankfully, James and his mates had the next period off, as did the Head Girl, and both Wormtail and his Lily-flower were sitting in the same place as well, though they were sharing a different book this time. James looked over at the redhead, his good mood dimming slightly when she ignored him. With a silent sigh, he turned back to his friend.

"They love each other."

Peter frowned. "Who do?"

"Sirius and Remus. They love each other. They're in love with each other."

For some reason, the statement did nothing to lessen the other boy's confusion.

"Well… yeah."

James blinked. Then blinked again.

Huh?

"Yeah? What do you mean, yeah? You're saying you knew?"

His gaze flicked to Lily when she lifted her head and then quickly looked back down at the book, as if she couldn't help herself. His eyes narrowed.

"Did you know as well?"

Her head lifted again, expression cool. "Of course I did, Potter. It's obvious if you look."

"Obvious?" James asked, tone incredulous. "Obvious? How is it obvious? They don't hold hands, they don't date, I don't think I've even seen them kiss! All they do is fuck!"

"Hey! Language!" Lily growled, closing the book and putting it down. "And that's not all they do! They're not demonstrative, sure, but it's always been there! If you'd pulled your head out of your homophobic arse, you might have seen it sooner!"

James's jaw dropped, a dizzying rush of shock turning him cold. What? She thought he…

What?

"You think I'm homophobic?" he asked very quietly. The word 'tolerant' floated through his mind.

Made sense now.

"Well, aren't you?" Lily asked, the question coming out more confused than accusatory. She was frowning at her boyfriend, who was acting as if she'd smacked him in the face with a brick. "You're the one who was disgusted when you walked in on them, like them being together was a horrible thing!"

"Only because Sirius is going out of his way to make sure I catch them in the act, Lils," James sighed, leaning back against the couch and rubbing his face with his hands. "I'm more than okay with them being together, especially now that I know that they're into each other and it's not just a game for them, but I don't particularly want to see them in action over and over."

"Padfoot's pasty-white bum giving you nightmares, Prongs?" Peter asked with a smirk. James groaned and rubbed his temples, sending his dorm-mate something not even resembling a smile.

"And Moony's. It's not a sight I want flashing behind eyes every time I close them." He glared half-heartedly when Peter sniggered before turning back to his just-starting-to-look-guilty girlfriend. "But I would never hold their sexuality against them. Hell, I'd never hold anyone's against them. It's not like it's a choice. Gay, straight, or leaning both ways, it doesn't matter to me. That's just who they are."

"Glad to hear it, Prongs," a voice said from behind them, and all three seventh-years turned to see Sirius and Remus walk into the common room. Sirius's belt was done up, his shirt tucked into his trousers, and if James didn't already know that they were together, he would've thought that they were just friends.

Or maybe not. Looking closer, the Head Boy noticed a few things that had flown straight over his head just ten minutes before. The two boys were walking very close to each other, their shoulders touching ever so occasionally, their thumbs bumping together. When Sirius stepped in front of Remus, the werewolf reached out and straightened his collar – something that would have been innocent and quite common for the meticulous teenager, if he hadn't allowed his fingers to linger on the back of Sirius's neck. And when they sat down, a respectable distance between the two, Sirius lay back and stretched his arm over the back of the couch, the tips of his fingers just brushing over Remus's hair.

James grinned to himself, the expression rueful. Okay, so it was obvious if you looked.

"So, now that we know that Jamie's all for the queers-"

Sirius grinned cheekily when Remus turned and pinned him with a pointed look.

"-care to explain what brought it up?"

"Oh, we just thought that-"

"Just something Snivellus said," James interrupted Peter quickly. He didn't want either of them to have any reason to suspect the same thing Lily and Pete had. "His opinion doesn't matter, though. Remus, you done that essay for Potions, yet? Think I can copy?"

"Oooh, oooh, me too!" Sirius wheedled, turning to the werewolf with his patent puppy-dog eyes. As Remus scowled and began to scold both of them – "if you'd done it early instead of leaving it to the last minute, you wouldn't need to cheat, would you?" – James sat back, his worry all but gone.

He blinked looked down when dragon made out of parchment suddenly landed in his lap. The words 'I'm sorry' flared up in his girlfriend's handwriting when he unfolded it, before fading to nothing. Looking up and over at the redhead, he found her staring at him anxiously.

Drawing his wand, he performed the charm that would send a message back. Lily's shoulders sagged when she read the 'it's all right' burnt into the parchment, and the two Heads smiled at each other before Lily got up and settled back down again, now pressed into his side.

And it was all right. James could understand how they'd get that impression. His horror had been pretty obvious, after all. Still would be if Sirius continued with his idiotic prank.

He smiled to himself as he watched Padfoot's fingers dip into Remus's hair and linger for just a moment. Somehow, now that he knew that his worry was unfounded, he found that he didn't mind the prank so much. Besides, if it did continue, then he'd just have to retaliate, wouldn't he?

Smile transforming into a wicked smirk, James hugged Lily closer and began to plan.

Game on, mate. Game on.