-1I don't know how exactly this plot popped into my head. I wanted to do a dancing fic and this just… happened. It's melancholy fluff perhaps? Anyway, please R&R. And as always, nothing belongs to me, no matter how hard I try to convince myself otherwise. Enjoy!

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James had known since fourth year. Perhaps even before his two friends had worked it out themselves. He saw the looks that were too tender to be just friendly, the hugs that were just a second too long, the smiles that conveyed more than understanding, the shivers at seemingly simple touches.

He wasn't sure of when exactly they had realized it themselves, but he was sure they had. It wasn't as though either of them had changed, really, but a mutual understanding fell between them. He wasn't even sure if they had formally talked about it.

They just seemed to know.

They knew how they felt about each other. They knew what it meant for Sirius to be a Black. They knew what it meant for Remus to be a werewolf. They knew what it meant to be gay. They knew what it meant to be in a war.

It's a dangerous business, falling in love during a war. By all means, it's selfish. It's throwing caution to the winds. It's disregarding that in a war 'caring' is synonymous with 'weakness'; 'loved one' is synonymous with 'target'. It's sacrificing safety for happiness.

James and Lily were selfish. Sirius and Remus were not.

And so they continued through their last years at Hogwarts just as they always had, if not slightly more aware. Still, there were changes. And observant as James was, he noticed each subtlety. He noticed how the looks had become more intense, how the hugs had become more desperate, how the smiles had become more melancholy, how the touches had become more deliberate.

They lived for those moments. Those moments when they knew exactly what the other was thinking. That one loved the other, really loved. And with these moments, they were happy. Because, really, that's all they'd ever needed.

And so it happened, that sometime during their 7th year (no one now could remember the exact date) James realized exactly how much these moments meant. Sirius had clamored through the portrait hole, huffing as he carried a large, box-like muggle contraption. He rushed to where his three fellow Marauders were seated, well rushed as well as one could when carrying a large muggle-whatsit, and placed it carefully on a small table standing next to one of the larger armchairs.

"You do realize you're a wizard right," James asked, one eyebrow raised. "I mean, you are aware of the fact?"

"Yes, of course." Sirius answered distractedly. He was bent over the box, fiddling with its various knobs and buttons. It was about a foot and a half in length and width, and 5 inches deep. The box itself seemed to be made of a polished wood, except for the front panel that was metal. This panel featured a small screen which displayed some sort of gauge. Below it were various knobs and switches with small labels that James couldn't make out from where he was sitting. Atop the box was a lid with hinges connecting it to the box itself. The lid was black and what is was hiding, James could not tell.

"So you know that, as a wizard, you can perform spells like… oh, I don't know, a levitation charm? One that would save you from carrying a heavy box up six flights of stairs?"

Sirius looked up at this. For a moment he looked troubled. Only for a moment.

"Oh, never mind that. It was worth it. Do you know what this is, Prongsie boy?"

As James opened his mouth to inform his best friend of what exactly he thought of his new pet name, Peter stepped in quickly, ever the peace-keeper of the group.

"It's a record player!" The blond boy answered brightly. Peter had muggle cousins that visited quite often during the summer and so knew quite abit about various muggle technologies.

"Right you are, Pete. A muggle record player."

"And where exactly did you get this muggle record player, Padfoot?" Remus asked, looking up from his book for the first time, his eyebrows knit together.

"Professor Fletcher lent it to me," Sirius said, using his well-practiced 'innocent' face that was usually reserved for the school's staff. Fletcher was the Muggle Studies professor and was notoriously strict when it came to his muggle artifacts. Especially when concerning Sirius. The young Black had taken the class in hopes of, putting it bluntly, pissing off his mother. He had actually developed a fondness for the class and its subjects, calling the muggles "Bloody geniuses!"

"Right, we'll just pretend I buy that," The tawny haired boy answered, rolling his eyes. A faint smile played at his lips though, as one often did when he was talking to Sirius.

"It really just makes everything so much easier," Sirius said. He was not trying to hide his own wide smile. "And now I must thank James for reminding me that there are indeed other things my wand is good for," he quipped, pulling the aforementioned wand from his pocket and waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Before anyone could answer, Sirius quickly flicked his wand upwards, muttering a short spell under his breath. The chairs they were all sitting in were flung roughly backwards, banging against the wall. James had to clutch the armrests to keep from being thrown from his seat. Peter, lying in a heap on the floor, hadn't been so lucky. From the groans coming from across the room, James guessed that the tables and other chairs situated around the common room had suffered a similar fate. Indeed, when he looked up, rubbing his whip-lashed neck, he saw that the center of the room was cleared completely of furniture.

While James yelled a rather colorful array of swear words at Sirius, the latter now had his wand trained at the record player, a look of deep concentration on his face. An icy blue film covered the box, glowing as Sirius recited a rather complicated sounding incantation under his breath. As he finished, the film glowed white before seemingly melting into the box itself. Sirius propped open the lid, flipped a switch, and placed the needle on a record already situated inside. He held his breath as the record spun. After a few seconds, sound blared from the speakers. Music filled the common room, a quick swingy number, bouncing off the walls and lightening the mood considerably.

Sirius whooped and did a sort of celebratory jig on the spot. James' face broke into a grin (previous annoyance forgotten), Peter looked up from his spot on the ground with an expression of awe on his face, and Remus smiled fondly at the raven haired boy.

"Brilliant!" James cried, pulling Peter to his feet and then proceeding to clap Sirius on the back. "I told you there was a reason we kept him around, Moony. And you doubted me!"

"Other than my striking good looks, obscene amount of wealth, and perfect social graces that you so dismally lack, you mean?" Sirius said grinning, his voice raised over the music.

"I'm afraid you've mispronounced inbred features, big head, and social ineptitude, Pads," Remus responded calmly, his eyebrow arched.

"Oh that hurt, Moony, right here." Sirius stumbled backwards, his right hand clutching his chest over his heart, his left raised reaching out in front of him.

"I am so very sorry. How ever can I make it up to you?" Remus said monotonously, his head cocked to the side and eyes wide.

"You could dance with me!" Sirius answered, smiling genuinely at the other boy.

"Here?" Remus asked, laughing as Sirius grabbed both of his hands in his own looking imploringly at him.

"That would be what the music's for. And oh look, the furniture's cleared, how convenient."

And without further ado Sirius pulled Remus into the center of the room, his right hand clasping Remus' left, Sirius' own on Remus' waist. They spun around the room moving with the music. Both laughing joyously, their eyes never leaving each other's. James couldn't remember the last time he had seen either of them look so happy. In fact, he wasn't sure they ever had before.

As the music played, the fuzz of the record player crackling through, it seemed to cast a spell on Gryffindor tower. No one thought of their impending graduation, the deaths that had plagued the pages of the Daily Prophet, the war that was raging just beyond their school's walls. No, for a few moments everything seemed all right. For a few moments Sirius and Remus didn't need to think about what they were. For a few moments they didn't need to think about what the world thought of them. For a few moments they didn't need to think about what it meant to be in a war. For a few moments Sirius and Remus were only in love.

James saw Peter opening his mouth to yell to his two best friends, but he quickly clapped the boy on his shoulder and shoved him in the direction of a pretty 6th year he'd been eyeing for the past few months. James didn't want anyone distracting Padfoot and Moony, as he realized that these odd collections of moments were all they had and all they were going to get. And so, as he set off to find his girlfriend while Sirius and Remus danced around the room innocently and unequivocally happy, he willed his two best friends to enjoy it for all it was worth. Because really, in times like these, it was worth quite a lot.

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And Fin. Reviews always welcome, *winkwinknudgenudge*.