Author's Note: Don't be too mad, please. I'm back at college, and things are kinda crazy school-wise and otherwise. I'm not the happiest camper. Times are tough. And I can be busy. That being said, I also know that this chapter is not very long, but I wanted to leave it where I did. I will be starting the next chapter of The Good…perhaps today? Perhaps some time this weekend? We'll see. Anyways, I hope this chapter suits you all. Enjoy.

The way James acted…it was as if the other marauders imagined his reaction to the letter. He had emerged from the bathroom a few minutes after entering it, smiling like there had been no problem at all.

They didn't question him. If James could come out of the bathroom so happily so quickly, he was fine, right? Obviously he could handle everything himself, right? His problem couldn't be that serious.

Right?

So, the marauders kept their questions to themselves. If James wanted to tell them, he would. And if he didn't, they could respect that privacy.

Hopefully.

Sirius had his own problems to deal with, of course. James' obsession with Lily was coming at him on all sorts of different fronts: he had to help him win her over, he had to deal with however James being interested in Lily made him feel, he had to deal with Lily's complaining about it.

Besides that, Lily was also very upset about goings on with her and Severus, goings on that left her hurt and crying on Sirius' shoulder more than once. He had had to set aside special "Lily time."

James didn't like that so much. Which caused him to have a slight attitude about it that Sirius did not need to deal with.

It was a bloody mess.

Even though James was able to keep up appearances as being happy and having no problem with me and Lily hanging out, he still made Sirius feel like crap about it.

"So, it's like a Lily night, right?"

Sirius knew that James knew very well that it was a "Lily night." He only asked to have the chance to talk about it.

Sirius sighed. "Yes, that's correct," he said, rolling his eyes.

"So, after we're done eating here, you guys are going to like go get cozy on the Common Room couch or something?" said James, twirling some spaghetti on his fork.

Sirius shook his head slowly. "You know it's not like that. We're just friends."

"Right," said James, nodding. "Right, I know. I mean, it's not like you ever went on a date or anything."

Sirius turned to his other friends to see if they found this as unbelievable as he did, but Remus and Peter were busy in their own conversation about homework.

Turning back to James, he said, "Which led me to the realization that I was gay."

James raised his eyebrow. "Lily could still be into you."

"Lily's the one who broke it to me that the date didn't go well!"

James eyes Sirius suspiciously and then shrugged. "Okay."

It was getting seriously annoying.

….

"I definitely wouldn't say things are fine."

"Mhmm."

"I mean…" Lily paused, her eyes above Sirius' head. He noticed she had been refusing eye contact for weeks. "I mean, it's just feeling so…forced."

Sirius nodded. "I understand. Maybe it's time to just cut him loose?"

Lily shook her head quickly. "No, I can't do that! He's my best friend."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, perhaps more to himself than to Lily. "But…you just said it's feeling forced, right?"

Lily waved a dismissive hand, as if Sirius was supposed to disregard her "crazy talk" from before. "You just don't understand."

Truthfully, he probably didn't. He had only started having best friends—friends, in general, actually—only a couple years before, and he had never had a situation like Lily's with any of them. His friends were good to him, they had fun together, and if ever they had to be serious about things (which James made sure was a rare occurrence), they were very kind and respectful and wonderful about it. He had never had a situation like Lily's. And he had thought very much on the surface about it. Snape wasn't her friend anymore, it was forced, just give it up. Cut the cord. No big deal.

But finally, Sirius put it into a different perspective. What if things went this way with James? Snape had, after all, once been a lovely friend to Lily, at least according to her. They had had fun together, she cared for him, he loved her. What if this happened with James? He suddenly changed, and their friendship became a struggle, something that was so far gone, yet they didn't break it apart? Would he be able to cut the cord, or would he hold onto James the way Lily held onto Snape?

Through this perspective, Lily's actions and feelings made a little more sense to Sirius.

Sirius looked into her eyes, despite the fact that she wouldn't look back, and he saw their beauty. He saw her beauty. He could certainly understand what James saw, even if he couldn't feel the same way as James did.

"Anyway," said Lily, "it's not really his fault."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "It's not?"

"No," said Lily. She shook her head and glanced at the library clock behind Sirius' head. "We've been here nearly an hour."

Sirius shrugged. "That's fine by me."

Lily smiled sadly. "No, it's not his fault. I mean, he's surrounded by those people. He lives with hateful people. It's hard for him to—to be himself, I guess. But it'll be okay. It'll really be fine. I know him."

It was possibly just an excuse to get her through the day, but if it did get her through the day, Sirius wasn't about to smash it. "I'm sure you do, Lil."

Maybe Snape would come around. He was only a fourteen-year-old boy. They were known to be immature and go through stages of idiocy, no? If Lily could wait it out, he could potentially grow up. And if not, she would have to face it then. He wouldn't make her face it now.

"So, I'd better get going," said Lily. "I promised Alice I'd help her with her Potions essay, and it's getting later and later."

"Okay," said Sirius. "No problem."

Lily got out of her chair, pushed it in, and waited while Sirius did the same. "I assume you're going back to Gryffindor Tower?"

Sirius nodded. "Of course."

"Then, I'll walk back with you."

Sirius laughed. "I expected it as much, Lily."

Lily glared teasingly and shoved Sirius as they made their way out of the library and into the empty corridor. "Shut your mouth, Black."

As they walked, they talked of unimportant things, the conversation of Lily's male best friend not brought up since the library. They talked about classes and grades and things going on at Lily's house. The air was pretty relaxed. There was no serious topic, nothing that couldn't wait until a later time to discuss.

So, Sirius felt it was as good a time as any to bring up the subject.

"Lily?"

It seemed she could tell, perhaps from the use of her name rather than a casual start of a topic, that this was something on the more serious side.

"Yeah?"

"I'm gay."

It was about time she knew.

Before Lily said anything, Sirius added, "And please don't say you already knew. Apart from killing the excitement of giving new information, it also may be insulting to hear that it was just so obvious, that I just gave off the gay vibe."

Lily laughed. "I won't say that I knew, but I entertained the thought."

They were nearly at the entrance to the Common Room.

"So, this is just no surprise to anyone, huh?"

"I don't know. There are signs. Can I ask you a question?"

Sirius was thrown off guard by this. "Yeah, sure."

Lily stopped walking when they arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady. She turned to Sirius. "What is this deal with James asking me out?"

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked quickly.

"Like…why is he doing it?"

"Because…he likes you."

Lily laughed, but Sirius could tell she didn't find it amusing. "Right. Okay, thanks."

"What? You don't believe that?"

Lily shrugged. "I don't want to offend you. I know he's your friend… But this is probably just some silly thing he's concocted to bother me for his enjoyment for a while. It's well-known we're not the best of friends. Probably a new method of torture or something. If I had said yes, he probably would have just hurt me. I mean, not that I would have been hurt, not that I'm in love with him, but being played and then rejected can't be fun, right? This may make me sound like I find him cruel; I don't know that I do. But he is a boy, and this is probably a game. Boys like their games, I guess. I suppose he may grow out of it."

After listening to Lily's speech, Sirius was sort of frozen. He knew what he was supposed to do as a best friend to James and…someone who loved James very much. He knew it was his duty to tell Lily then and there that she was wrong, that James did truly like her, that he had liked her for years.

Sirius had to tell Lily that James was completely genuine, and though Sirius could not be sure what would happen after he got her to go out with him, James wanted it.

Sirius knew this was his duty as best friend and someone who loved James very much. He should have wanted James to be happy. He was supposed to want that.

But instead of defending James, instead of trying to set Lily straight…

Sirius said nothing. He made a slight, noncommittal noise that could have been taken as an agreement to what Lily said. And that was that.