The next month was an awkward affair for the self-proclaimed Marauders. Remus and Sirius weren't speaking, and Peter and James couldn't (or more likely, wouldn't) do anything to remedy the situation. None of them liked it, but Sirius knew he deserved it, and Remus felt that he couldn't just forgive Sirius immediately, especially when the betrayal was so fresh.

It certainly didn't help that Snape routinely went out of his way to make snide little comments at Remus about how he was looking a bit wane that day, and how beastly it was of him to glare when Snape was only inquiring after his health. No one who was unaware of Remus' condition would think anything of the wording Snape used, but Remus and his friends all understood.

Peter would never have done anything to Snape on his own, and all James could think of when Snape made these comments was how panicked Snape had sounded in the tunnel. Sirius restrained himself with difficultly, held back by his probation and terrified of expulsion.

Actually, it was inaccurate to say that Sirius and Remus weren't speaking. Remus wasn't speaking to Sirius, but Sirius spent most of his time apologizing to Remus, in one way or another. At lunch, he would hoard all the chocolate pudding for Remus. He took copious notes in all their shared classes and left them in Remus' textbooks. He spent a bucketful of galleons in Hogsmede, buying up all of the best chocolate Honeydukes had to offer, and leaving it all stashed in places where he knew Remus would find it.

In short, he groveled like the mangy dog he knew he was.

Remus took all this almost painfully, torn between staying angry at Sirius (as he thought he probably should) for a little longer, and forgiving his friend (Remus had always been a sucker for chocolate).

Peter, when asked for advice, was entirely unhelpful.

"Well, I dunno," he said, staring pensively at the arm of his chair. "Are you still mad at him? I mean, he really is sorry, but you shouldn't just forgive him because he buys you a bunch of candy. Unless you really want to of course, I mean -"

Peter went on in this vein for quite a while, and eventually Remus gave up on getting a definitive answer and turned to James hopefully.

"Well it is up to you," James began, and faltered when Remus gave him a look that very clearly stated, 'Thanks, Peter.'

"Well it is!" James said defensively. "We can't make the decision for you, Remus. Just ask yourself if it's worth it. Does this mean more to you than your friendship with Sirius?"

Lily, who had been sitting nearby and listening in, seemed very approving of James' burgeoning maturity. She got up from her seat and sat down on the couch next to James, giving him a smile before turning to Remus and saying, "James is right."

James preened.

"What Sirius did was terrible, but I really don't think he meant to do it," she continued, ignoring the boy next to her, who had somehow figured out how to strut without ever leaving his seat. "He's falling all over himself to make it up to you. I think you should at least talk to him, just once, and give him a chance. At the risk of James' head swelling back up, I think he has the right idea. Is this more important than your friendship with Sirius?"

Remus sat back in his chair and considered this, watching unseeingly as James pretended to act mortally offended by Lily's mention of his stint as a balloon animal. He really did miss Sirius, and if he was honest with himself, then no, this wasn't worth ruining a friendship over.

But could he just forgive and forget so easily?

Sirius sat in the library, grinning from ear to ear.

This was rather strange, in and of itself, especially as he had been moping not five minutes ago about the fact that he wasn't on speaking terms with one of his best friends because of his own idiocy.

But one little book had changed all that. One small, black, leather-bound book.

He wondered if he could check it out. It certainly would be useful, just being able to bring it right up to Gryffindor Tower to show them all. He wasn't sure if it would be allowed, though.

But before he could debate this any further, his brother wandered in and spotted him. Sirius quickly stuffed the book out of sight and waved halfheartedly as Regulus made a beeline for his table, a stony set to his face.

"Sirius," he said coolly.

"Reggie," he replied with a nod.

Regulus seemed slightly irritated by the nickname. "What did you do to Severus?"

Sirius frowned up at him. "That's none of your business."

Regulus scowled. "Yeah? Strangely enough, Severus said the same thing."

'Go figure,' Sirius thought. 'The git can keep a secret.'

What he said though, was more along the lines of, "That's probably because it really isn't any of your business, Reggie."

Sirius really did like his brother. When he could get Regulus alone, he was a great kid. He only ever had a problem with Reggie when the Slytherins or, god forbid, their parents were around.

Of course, the description 'great kid' could also sometimes mean 'stubborn git'.

Like now, for instance.

"Sirius, you did something to him," Regulus said, sitting down across from him and slamming his books down on the table as quietly as possible. "He was furious. And he won't even say a word. It has something to do with you and your friends, though, and I'm going to find out what it is."

Sirius wished he could tell Reggie some of what had happened. Just a little bit, enough to satisfy his brother's insatiable curiosity. Otherwise, his little brother would investigate, and very likely would find out exactly what had happened. Regulus was very, very Slytherin in that respect. He was the one who first found out about Andromeda dating a muggleborn, no matter how easily she had fooled the rest of the family. Reggie had gotten a tiny inkling of something being off and kept those sharp eyes of his peeled for weeks before finally dragging Sirius up to his bedroom and telling him everything he'd found out. Sirius had managed to keep his little brother from telling, though, and no one else had found out until Andromeda announced her wedding and was immediately blasted off the tapestry.

Point being, Regulus had not been sorted into Slytherin because his parents had wanted him to be. He had truly earned his place in the dungeons. So Sirius felt entirely justified in being wary of his brother's declaration.

"Look, Regulus," Sirius said. Regulus noted the change and straightened hopefully. "This is something really serious, okay? Something you can't go poking around in."

Regulus narrowed his eyes, and Sirius belatedly realized that he had practically just issued a challenge.

"He came back really late on the night all this started," Regulus said, watching Sirius levelly. "He seemed really shaken and furious. He lost ten points that night. You lost over a hundred for your house."

Sirius wished again that his brother wasn't so damned attentive to detail and said, "Listen, Regulus, it was all an accident, okay? Just let it be. Please. I made an oath to Dumbledore not to tell anyone."

Regulus sat back, surprise evident on his features. "It's really that important?" he asked, still sounding far more intrigued than Sirius could be comfortable with.

"It's very important," Sirius agreed. "And it's important that no one knows, but it's not something that affects anyone but the people involved. I'm asking you as your brother, please don't get involved. It'll only get people like Dumbledore and Snape mad at you for prying."

Regulus leaned forward with a sigh and propped his chin in his hands. "Fine," he said reluctantly. "I'll not pry too much, I promise." Then he looked up at Sirius and scowled again. "But you did something to Severus, something really bad, to have lost so many points. Can't you just leave him alone?"

Sirius was struck with a sudden idea. "Nope, can't. Take a look in this and you'll see why." He pulled out the leather-bound book again and slid it across the table to Regulus with a grin. Regulus took it curiously and opened it.

James and Peter were playing chess. Lily and Matilda were refereeing, which mostly meant Lily watching Peter like a hawk while he sweated and fidgeted, and Matilda trying to convince Lily to lay off the poor bloke. James, personally, was very happy that Lily was sitting there and scaring Peter. Not just because he enjoyed her company in general, but because Peter was hopeless when she loomed over him like that, glaring sternly and checking every move he made. James had won three games so far.

Remus was still sitting in his chair, looking thoughtful and subdued.

"Ah ah, Peter," Matilda said. "Your rook can't go there."

Peter looked up at her with as much defiance as he could summon at the moment. "It can so!"

"Nope, not at all," Matilda said with a definitive shake of her head.

"And why not?"

"Because I'm playing winner and I am not going to have Lily looming over the chess board like this the whole game." Lily's jaw dropped. "So lose," Matilda continued with a grin. "Go on, you know you were going to anyway."

Lily mock-glared at her friend, who grinned back at her cheekily. Peter frowned and moved his rook anyway.

"Good thing you didn't listen to her, Peter," James said. Peter looked up at him with dread and James responded with a smug grin and a declaration. "Checkmate!"

Matilda cheered. Lily booed. James and Peter looked at her in confusion.

"Just because I don't want him to cheat, doesn't mean I don't want him to win," Lily explained.

"Lily always supports the underdog," Matilda said absently, shoving lightly at Peter's shoulder. "Go on, get out of my seat." She settled down and prodded the players back into position before continuing. "It's why she likes the Chudley Cannons so much, no matter how many times I tell her how terribly they clash with her hair."

"Hair should have nothing do with what Quidditch team you support," Lily argued with a roll of her eyes. They'd had this conversation before.

"That's not what Sirius thinks," James disagreed, moving his pawn. "He only first started liking the Tornadoes because one of their Chasers has the same hairstyle as him."

"The Tornadoes are almost as bad as the Cannons!" Matilda said in surprise. "Maybe Sirius has a thing for underdogs too."

"No," James said thoughtfully. "I think it was mostly just the hair thing."

"Hey guys," Remus interrupted, pulling himself up out of his chair. "I'm going to go find Sirius."

"So you've decided to forgive him, then?" Lily asked approvingly. Remus nodded and left.

"What did Sirius do, anyway?" Matilda asked absently, staring mournfully at her rook, which had just been destroyed by one of James' pawns. "It has to be worse than ruining his Transfigurations project like you said, Lily. That's not worth a month of being ignored."

"Oh, er...well they've been, uhm..."

"It's really a combination of things," James cut in. Lily shot him a thankful look when Matilda wasn't looking. "They've been kind of irritated with each other for a while now, and the thing with his project was...what do the muggles say, Lily? The final straw?"

"Exactly right," Lily praised him, before looking at Matilda again and saying, "They just needed some time apart, Matilda."

"Oh, alright then," Matilda said, grinning up at James as she directed one of her knights to destroy his queen.

"Hey!" James said in surprise. "How did you...?"

James, Lily and Peter were all staring at the board in consternation when Remus and Sirius appeared at the entrance to the common room and made a beeline for their group.

"That was fast," Matilda remarked after she realized no one else was going to say anything.

"I found him in the hallway outside," Remus said with a smile. "You guys will never guess what Sirius found."

Sirius grinned and used the arm that wasn't slung around Remus' shoulders to reach into his pocket and pull out a small, leather-bound book.

"Remember this, James?"

James looked up from Matilda's befuddling little victory and his eyes fastened on the book.

"Sirius, is that...?"

Sirius nodded, and James rose from his chair, still staring at it.

"Something's changed, then?"

Sirius nodded again, grinning from ear to ear, and handed James the book when he reached for it. James flipped rapidly through to the last page and stood stock still, staring down at it with a smile growing on his lips.

There were his and Lily's names. But there was a new entry underneath it.

Sirius Black and Severus Snape

James looked up from the book to meet Sirius' eyes. Sirius nodded and James tossed the book to Peter and whooped.

"We're free!" he pulled Lily to her feet and spun her around. "Lily, we're free! No more Theory!"

Lily looked at him like he was insane. "What?"

"Don't you remember last year, Lily?" Remus asked her. "The Theory of a Stable Hogwarts through Stable -"

"Dysfunctionality?" Lily asked bemusedly. Remus nodded at her and smiled. "I remember that...why are we 'free'?"

"It's all in this book," Sirius said, snatching it out of Peter's hands and handing it to Lily, who opened it and began reading.

"Oh, wow..." Lily's eyes widened as she skimmed the explanation. "Even after Matilda explained it to me, I still sort of thought it was a myth..."

"Look at the last page," James said happily. Lily flipped to the end and skimmed again.

"Our names! And..." she looked up at Sirius, who grinned at her. "You and Snape?"

Sirius nodded happily and joined in when James grabbed his and Remus' arms and began to dance.

"Free free free," James crowed. "I don't have to worry about the stupid Theory anymore! Huzzah!"

"What happened to it being a bunch of rubbish, James?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow.

James was in too good a mood to be cowed. "Look at that book, Lily! It's clearly all true!"

Matilda took the book from Lily and looked it over carefully. "Certainly looks right, Lily." She paused thoughtfully, then smirked deviously at her friend. "I suppose you and James can go out now."

James stopped dancing.

"Damn you, Matilda," Lily said without moving her lips so that James, who was now watching her hopefully, wouldn't see.

"What do you say, Lily?" James asked. "I promise I won't get high and pass out at Hagrid's again. I haven't even looked at a Billywig since that whole thing with my head."

"He's been a real gentleman all year, Lils." Sirius pitched in, putting his chin on James' shoulder and making a puppy dog face. "After all we went through to make this possible, would you turn him down?"

"Yeah, I'm sure that whole thing with Snape was so that James could get a date," Remus whispered with a roll of his eyes.

"Here, Remus, have some chocolate," Sirius said, pulling out a bar of Honeydukes and handing it to Remus. Remus took it with raised eyebrows.

"Are you just going to carry around chocolate from now on to placate me when you say something stupid?" he asked almost fondly, unwrapping the candy.

Sirius nodded. "Something like that, yeah."

"So what do you say, Lily?" James asked again, trying out Sirius' puppy dog eyes. "Hogsmede?"

Lily sighed and smiled a bit. "You'll never leave me alone if I don't, will you?"

"You know me so well!" James laughed delightedly.

"Hey, James?"

"Yeah, Sirius?"

The four Marauders (plus Lily) were reclining against the wall in a corridor, basking in the warm glow that came from being sixth years and therefore not having any OWLs or NEWTs to study for. At first, the four boys hadn't understood why Lily had insisted upon sitting in this particular hallway, but after the first three fifth years rushed past, panicked and clutching stacks of books almost larger than they were, Sirius, James, Remus and Peter began to realize the merits of sitting so close to the library.

"You're a prat," Sirius said absently. James made a face at him and flicked a balled up scrap of parchment at him. One of the fifth years had dropped in on the way past.

Remus' stomach growled, and Sirius absentmindedly tossed a bar of chocolate at him. Remus grinned and unwrapped it.

"Bugger off, Sirius," Lily said with a smile. "At least he's not a cocky prat, like he used to be."

"Hey!" James started, but Remus interrupted him.

"James, I think you should just go along with this one," he warned teasingly. "It's a good think if your girlfriend doesn't think you're a complete arse." He unwrapped a bit more of his chocolate and stuck a piece in his mouth before examining the wrapper curiously and saying, "Sirius, there's a lemon drop stuck to my chocolate."

Sirius frowned and asked, "Pardon?"

"A lemon drop," Remus repeated. "On my chocolate bar."

Sirius examined said lemon drop, which was rather old and covered in lint.

"Hmm, strange. I have no idea where that came from." Sirius said, confused.

"How very bizarre," Lily commented, absently snagging James' glasses and trying them on.

"Doesn't Dumbledore give out lemon drops all the time?" James suggested, blinking curiously at the blurry figures around him.

"Hey, yeah!" Sirius said. "He gave me one when I was in his office once, I think. Want it, James?"

He picked a bit of the lint off and dusted it on his shirtfront before handing it to his legally blind friend.

"What's wrong with it?" James asked suspiciously. Lily grinned and refused him his glasses.

"It's just a bit old," Sirius said. "I haven't been to Dumbledore's office in a while."

James wrinkled his nose for a moment, then shrugged and held out his hand.

"Sure. It couldn't be too bad."

Sirius, Remus and Lily watched eagerly as he took the lemon drop. Peter moved from his spot on the wall for a better view.

James popped it into his mouth and they all sat for a second, staring at him until he suddenly made a face.

"Sirius," he said weakly. "It's furry."

Another seventh year passed them by, sparing hardly a glance for the group.

"It's furry and it's stale and I think the insides dissolved," James said, opening his mouth as little as possible and beginning to look faintly green.

"Well, spit it out then," Lily said.

"Too late," James said sadly. "I bit down and now the taste is everywhere. How long ago did you get this, Sirius?"

"Hmmm…remember that time last year when we were trying to make new dysfunctional couples and I got caught?" Sirius asked. James nodded feebly.

"It was then."

"Oh gods," James moaned, clutching his stomach pathetically. "Don't you ever wash your robes?"

"Do you want some chocolate to wash it down?" Remus asked with some concern. James nodded and held out his hand.

"Please," he said. When Remus gave him the chocolate, he handed it to Lily, who looked at it in confusion. "Is it really chocolate?" James asked hopefully. "It isn't old or nasty, or something else entirely, is it?"

"Noooo…." Lily said slowly turning the candy over in her hands.

"I'm trusting you, Lily," James warned. "You're supposed to be my girlfriend, right? You wouldn't poison me for fun, would you?"

"Why doesn't Lily just give you back your glasses?" Peter asked in confusion.

"Because no, that's why," Lily replied, blinking at him through the frames. "James, it's fine, I promise." She kissed him on the cheek and handed it back. "And I promise I would only poison you for profit or because you drove me to it. Never for fun."

"She's a keeper," Remus laughed, and Peter and Sirius nodded, grinning with approval.

James put the candy in his mouth dutifully, and let out a sigh of relief when nothing untoward happened.

"That really was quite disgusting, Sirius," he said nonchalantly, reclining against the wall again now that the crisis had abated.

Remus, Peter and Sirius watched him, expectant, waiting for some sort of revenge. James just sat placidly with Lily, watching various panicked students rush past.

"What gives?" Peter asked in confusion.

"Maybe he's on Billywigs again?" Remus suggested.

"Maybe…" Sirius narrowed his eyes. "Maybe there is something more to those lemon drops..."