Title: Misunderstanding A Misunderstanding

Author: JULIA. If you don't know who that is whatsoever, go ahead and message me. I love new friends. :P

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Pairing: Remus/Sirius

Warning: Slashtasticness!

Status: Remus and Sirius are NOT together yet, just to say.

Era: MWPP Era/1970s

Word Count: 2,509

Length: OneShot

Reviews: Oh, I love them. :D

Ending: Happy.

Year: Fifth year

Author's Note: This was made because of Cuban Sombrero Gal, since she asked me to do this particular story for her… I feel very honored that she came to ME and not some other slash author. :D THANKS SO MUCH.

"Remus, you look a mess."

Remus groaned, raking a hand through his hair. "Do I? Well, considering that I went through about two more O.W.L.s than any of you lot did, I'm tired. And my head hurts." He said, putting his face into his hands. Lily patted his shoulder.

"I had one less O.W.L. than you did. How was Ancient Runes?" She said sympathetically.

"Not as bad as I thought it would be, but it was still long."

"I feel sorry for you, Moony," Peter piped up from the couch. "Want a butterbeer?"

"Nah," Remus declined, rubbing his eyes. "I just want to sleep right now. I think I'll go to the dormitory."

"But it's only nine, Remus–" Lily said concernedly, but Peter was a lot louder than her.

"NO! I mean – er – you can't go up there." Peter said awkwardly, his body halfway draped across the couch from his spontaneous lunging to stop Remus.

"Why not?"

"Because – er James and Sirius are up there." Peter said lamely, knowing that Sirius was talking to James at the moment.

"So?" Remus asked.

"You're not – uh – supposed to be there."

"And why?" Remus inquired rather impatiently, his face tiresome.

"Because they shouldn't be interrupted."

Remus sighed. "Well, my presence won't make much of a difference. I'm going up there anyway," He said determinedly. "Goodnight." The werewolf announced firmly, and traipsed up the stairs.

Through the door, he heard voices, and stopped suddenly, the creaking of the steps ceasing immediately.

"–it's just so hard, that's all." Sirius' voice whined, sounding clearly disturbed. "I mean, I told Peter too."

"You told Peter?!" James asked incredulously. "So now everyone but Remus knows?"

"Well, he's the hardest to tell!"

"Look, he's nice about this kind of stuff. He's not just going to run away." James said soothingly.

"Can't you tell him?"

"What?! No!" James screeched immediately.

"He might react better if you tell him."

"No, Sirius, I am not telling him." James responded firmly, finalizing that resolutely.

"He'll freak." Sirius said, his voice muffled. Remus figured that he had buried his face in his hands or perhaps his bed.

"You don't know that." James replied softly.

"Oh, come on, James! He's not gay, so I doubt that he'd be supportive of a gay couple." Sirius ejaculated.

At that point, Remus was gulping into his throat, biting on his lip.

"I wish this could be easier." Sirius muttered worriedly.

"But it's not, Sirius, so please stop whining about it." James groaned frustratingly, sounding quite annoyed.

"Well, sorry," Sirius emphasized defensively. "But I'm distressed at the moment."

"I can see that," James remarked wryly. "But honestly Padfoot, Remus has a right to know."

There was a silence.

"I'm not so sure about that. I think that things might stay a lot peachier if he doesn't know." Sirius mumbled.

"Oh please, Sirius, I mean, this has been going on for such a long time now that it's rather painful." James said with a sigh.

"I know."

"Then do something about it, you great git–"

At that moment, Remus decided to open the door, and James quieted immediately as Sirius went "Shhhh!!" in a hiss to him. Remus nodded curtly to Sirius and James.

"Hey." Sirius muttered awkwardly.

"Er, hello, Remus." James said.

"What are you doing here?" Sirius inquired.

"I'm going to sleep. Remus stated simply, throwing off his shirt.

"Oh. Um. Er," Sirius stuttered, slightly wordless. "Goodnight then." He said, and James laughed at him as Sirius' expression stayed unbelievably blank as Remus pulled off his pants as well to replace them with pajama pants.

"Wait," James said, turning around from the bed. "Why are you going to bed so early?"

"I had a long day. Exams and all." Remus said, cutting the conversation short and shrugging.

Sirius pushed James off of his bed, causing a 'hey!' of indignation from James.

"Sorry, Moony." Sirius said sorrowfully, before stalking to the bathroom rather hastily.

Remus shut his hangings swiftly, lying on the mattress with a sigh. His hand went immediately to his forehead, where he brushed off the loose wisps of hair, his brain deflating by the moment.

He had understood what had been going on. It didn't take genius to figure it out. James and Sirius were both gay – and obviously with each other. They were most certainly contemplating telling Remus about it – which actually was sort of an insult to Remus. Why wouldn't he understand his best friends being gay?

The werewolf wiped a single pair of tears away from his cheeks speedily. It wasn't the thought of his friends being gay – he was homosexual himself, even though no one knew of it – it was the thought of his friends being in a relationship.

Sure, Sirius should be happy. He definitely shouldn't be pressed into a forced bond with Remus when he wanted to be with James… Sirius being happy was what Remus wanted.

It was only about Sirius being happy.

Not with him, Remus, about being whichever girl or whichever boy in the school as long it would make Sirius happy.

As long as Sirius would be happy with them.

Remus sighed.

He could keep on telling himself that over and over again, but it wouldn't be true. In the werewolf's eyes – he didn't give much of a damn on how glad Sirius was. In his dreams and his hopes, Sirius was instantly happy with Remus, and that's what he cared about. Sirius being with him. Not being with anyone else.

Remus doesn't like sharing.

Not his chocolate, not his homework, and not his Sirius.

Yes, Sirius was rightfully and completely his. His.

Perhaps he's doing it to make me jealous, Remus thought desperately, horrifying images of Sirius and… James… together… entering his mind and chasing his brain. His scarred hand slapped onto his face, as some more logic kicked in.

For as long as he could remember, James had been infatuated with Lily. In first year, he had called her 'the pretty redhead'. In second year, when they hadn't matured much but his crush had deepened, he had called her 'the cute girl who is in denial about me'. In third year, he had called her the 'attractive and smart crush of his'. In fourth year, James knew her as 'the lovely gorgeous Evans', when he believed that machoness would win her over. Now finally in fifth year, he called her 'the gorgeous beauty made of scarlet anger', which, in his case, was partially true.

Nevertheless, she still had been his never-ending infatuation ever since age eleven. Why would Sirius all of a sudden be a light in the darkness?

Maybe he's finally seeing all of the things in Sirius that all of those lovesick girls are seeing. Remus reasoned, burrowing the back of his head into the pillow vigorously.

He was just trying to find excuses of the fact that Sirius and James were indeed together and that it was finally the perfect time to get over his crush.

Well, infatuation.

Actually, more like love.

Remus' mind swam back to the thought of 'what if he's just trying to make me jealous?' and his thinking turned to that.

Well, he certainly wasn't going to ask.

But he could make him jealous back… Remus' mind worked deviously, and he smirked at the thought.

Who was going to be his helpful victim?

---

"Wormtail!" Remus called down the stairs. "Peter, I need you for a moment!" He repeated a bit more anxiously, wringing his hands.

The flustered and slightly pudgy boy arrived at the tip of the stairs, his head looking around curiously for Remus.

"Remus?" He asked blankly. "You called?"

"Yes." Remus said, not being able to hide his wicked smile now.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong…" He said grinningly, undoing his fidgeting hands. "Actually I need your help with something."

Peter raised his bushy eyebrows in interest. "Oh?"

"Yeah. I… require some help making a certain someone jealous." Remus said slightly carefully, choosing his words tenderly.

"Who's that?"

"Er… well, Sirius." Remus muttered, blushing a brilliant shade of ruby.

Peter paled a little, the color seeping out of his skin while his watery eyes bulged. "I – oh. You like Sirius?" He asked.

Remus looked sideways, playing with a strand of hair. "Well, perhaps," He mumbled, and then sighed. "And look, I need to make him envious so he'll ask me out." He babbled out in the time span of three seconds.

Peter scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Wow. I mean – wow. I never expected someone like you, Remus, to go for Sirius… but… I… sure. I'll help." He said finally, looking up from the floor uneasily.

Remus grinned. "Thanks, Wormtail."

"So… er – how am I supposed to help?"

The werewolf colored scarlet. "You're supposed to be my temporary – very temporary – boyfriend." He mumbled embarrassingly.

"Well… since it'll only be for a little bit," Peter's face scrunched up in thought for a moment. "I'll do it."

Remus smiled again. "Great. Nothing big, though, I promise." He assured, beaming. Peter grinned back sheepishly.

"Okay."

"It sounds incongruous, I know…" Remus murmured with a sigh. "And even perhaps like I'm trying to flatter Sirius, but I'm not trying to be sycophantically obsessed with him in that way…" He rambled helplessly.

"Sure." Peter tried to end bureaucratically, backing up towards the stairs.

Remus looked up. "I appreciate this, Peter." He said, and then headed towards the bathroom.

---

So this must be what wickedness and hell feel like at the same time, Remus thought with a grimace as he held Peter's chubby hand in his own. How satisfyingly unpleasant.

If James and Sirius would have walked in hand-in-hand, every face in the hall would have been on them, but for Peter and Remus nobody even looked up from their plates. Looking over, he saw James squinting at the door, and then prodding Sirius into the arm before pointing them out.

Sirius' eyes grew wide and Remus couldn't suppress his smirk

"Hey." He said nonchalantly, taking his seat at the table and slipping his arm uncomfortably and very loosely around Peter's waist. James looked up and surveyed the two for a moment, before chuckling in amusement and elbowing Sirius in the ribs with a laugh, even though Sirius was already looking.

"Er… what happened here?" He asked bluntly, his voice slightly squeaky and his eyes wide.

"What?" Remus asked innocently, smiling inside.

Sirius pointed somewhat shakily towards the two of them.

Remus smiled knowingly, making a small 'ooohhh' sound of understanding. "Oh, you mean us?"

"Us?" Sirius repeated. "Not 'me and Peter'? It's us?" He asked incredulously. Remus let out a small laugh and nodded.

"It's excellent, isn't it?" He said.

"Of course." James said, obviously deeply entertained. "Isn't it, Sirius?"

"I – erm–" James poked him. "Yeah, sure, whatever, go ahead – you can stay together, sure." He muttered as though he wasn't exactly paying attention.

"Sirius?" Remus asked. "Are you even listening?"

"Uh, of course, Moony, what makes you think I'm engrossed in something else?" He ranted a bit too fast.

Remus smiled mischievously, looking down at his plate in amusement.

This might actually be fun.

---

But at seven in the evening in the common room, it was no longer fun. It was horrible.

Peter wasn't enjoying it either, but he was still playing along. The pair of them were sitting on the couch, no longer holding hands since Peter's hand had gotten rather sweaty and Remus certainly wasn't going to snuggle the boy. Sirius was glaring at the pair of them rather venomously, until he finally stalked over with James in pursuit.

"Er… Moony?" He asked stiffly.

"Yes?"

"I have something to tell you." He muttered, still quite remote, and dragged Remus up in one sweep. James chuckled.

Remus knew what this was about before Sirius pulled him up the stairs. Perhaps know he would finally reveal that James and him were an item since Remus and Peter had. Remus swallowed.

"Yeah?"

Sirius took a breath.

"WhyareyouandPetertogether?" He rambled out helplessly, his eyes closed tightly, as though it pained him to say this.

"Er – what?" Remus asked confusedly.

"Why. Are. You. And. Peter. Together?" Sirius asked slower, the same pained-to-say-expression on his face.

"Uh. Why are you asking, Sirius?" Remus asked, a little anxious. How was he supposed to answer this?

"Because." He responded stubbornly.

"Why are you with James?" Remus blurted out instead, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Sirius' eyes bulged, and for a moment Remus thought that he shouldn't have asked quite such a personal question.

"What?!"

Remus backed up immediately, holding up his hands defensively.

"You thought I was with James?! No!" Sirius said loudly, his voice furious.

"But I overheard you talking to James the other night!" Remus said.

Sirius paled. "Uh. Remus, exactly how much did you hear?"

"Enough to hear that James and you were planning on telling me that you were together even though you thought I wouldn't understand!" Remus ranted.

"Remus, Prongs and I are not together! Why the hell would he leave Evans for me? He's not gay!" Sirius retorted. Remus blushed. "But you still haven't told me why you and Peter are together all of a sudden!"

"Why do you care so much anyway?" Remus asked back.

"Because you're not supposed to be with Peter, you're supposed to be with me!" Sirius revealed with a stomp of hit foot. Remus froze.

"What?"

"I. Er," Sirius' face turned into a chunk of white. His head slapped into his hands and he sunk down onto his bed. "Ohh, noo… this cannot be happening…"

Remus felt a smile going on his lips as he almost shouted out:

"I'm not with Peter!" With a large immovable grin on his face.

Sirius looked up a fraction of an inch. "You're not?" Remus shook his head, wavering on the spot as he wanted to go over and snog Sirius senseless and he also wanted to have Sirius come over and snog him senseless. "Well then why is Peter even pretending to be with you?"

"Because I thought you were with James." Remus muttered somewhat embarrassingly, and walked over to the bed where Sirius sat.

Sirius' face seemed to light up as Remus took a seat next to him and grinned impishly.

"How immature of you, Remus. You're finally catching on how the marauders think." Sirius said with a large smile on his face, before grabbing Remus' shoulders and attacking him on the bed, kissing him while putting his hands at his hair and then his shoulders and then his waist and then his hips.

Remus gasped, but didn't bother to stop him. This was what he had earned, wasn't it? He flipped over so they were side-by-side and moaned into his mouth, slipping in his tongue.

This was definitely only heaven.

And this definitely was what he worked had for when had been holding Peter's hand all day, listening in at doors when he actually wanted to sleep, and misunderstanding a misunderstanding for an awfully long time.