Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue! ;D

Random Music Alert: Viva la Vida, by Coldplay. I am not in their band, so therefore, I am sad. ):

For the purposes of this fic, I'm assuming that Lily and Sirius don't exactly get along. I mean, she's not dating Potter yet, so she probably still thinks they're all total idiots, haha. And I have a feeling like they wouldn't really get along even then until they all joined the Order and had to work together and such and stuff.../rant. Anywho. Yeah. Enjoy!

Sirius headed for the common room, thinking frantically as he walked. What could he use as an excuse? His mind raced, but by the time he'd gotten to the portrait of the Fat Lady, he had his lie in place.

James looked up over a game of wizard's chess with Peter and grinned as Sirius entered through the portrait hole, his earlier anger either gone, or not showing, "Pads! Where've you been? I was starting to think you'd found something more interesting than us."

Remus glanced up from the book he was reading to watch Sirius' face. Sirius just laughed breezily, "Oh, come off it, Prongs, there's nothing more interesting than my three best mates! Not even the excitement of sneaking into Honeyduke's for the first time again would keep me away from a normal day with you guys!"

James grinned, but then, glancing at the chess set, gasped, "Oi! How'd you get my queen!" He wailed at Peter, staring over the board frantically as he tried to work out where Peter had moved. Peter just grinned. He wasn't the best strategist in the world - he'd admit that himself, but even he could beat James at chess. The seeker couldn't hold his attention long enough on it to win. It made you wonder how James could concentrate long enough to win a Quidditch game.

Sirius flopped into an armchair, staring into the fire while he listened with a smile to James complaining and Peter laughing. He glanced at Remus and smiled; Remus smiled back, but Sirius noticed something was off with the werewolf, and it wasn't the approaching moon. He shot him a questioning look, but Remus just blinked - later.

Padfoot shrugged it off, and turned back to Peter and James right on cue as they pulled him back into the conversation he hadn't been paying much attention to. He pulled out his lie for them - that he'd been making plans for their midnight excursion the following day - and winged it as he went (he hadn't thought far enough into his lie to actually come up with said plan for their 'romp around the grounds'). But if there was one thing Sirius Black could do best, it was improvising. Remus smiled to himself as Sirius came up with the same excuse that he'd made for his friend earlier that evening, but then his face fell again as his thoughts continued on to why he'd had to lie.

Eventually, James gave up waiting for Lily to come back and headed upstairs for bed, while the other three Marauders stayed up, doing homework and laughing. Well, Remus, at least, did some homework, and Sirius and Peter laughed and joked. Peter eventually started falling asleep, so, laughing, Remus banished him off to the dorm room to sleep.

The last two canine-teens stayed up, laughing and joking occasionally, but content to sit in each other's company. When the last of the students had trickled up to bed, Remus set down his quill and turned to Sirius.

It took Padfoot a few minutes to realize it, and that was only when Remus slid something across the table to him. He looked at Remus and smiled, then glanced down at what Remus was holding. All the color drained out of his face. "You forgot it this time," Remus said quietly, sitting back in his armchair, his body language unassuming. Sirius just mouthed soundlessly at the Marauder's Map, trying frantically to think.

"Oh, silly me," Sirius half-laughed, rubbing the back of his head in worry, tearing his gaze away from the map, "I'd better get more careful, or I'll have detention all through break!"

"Sirius. Be…" Remus sighed and rolled his eyes, "Serious. Why the hell your parents gave you that name is beyond me, because you're anything but serious."

"I am Sirius!" Sirius said brightly, wondering if he could worm his way out of this one. Something about Remus' look told him he couldn't though.

Remus watched Sirius' face and continued, tapping the map, "Would I be naïve to think that the two very close dots I saw on that were that way because the two people were trying to strangle each other?" he asked.

Sirius' face fell again and he sighed, pulling his legs onto the couch to sit cross-legged. When no story was forthcoming, Remus supplied another question, "So that begs the question, what were you doing?"

Padfoot threw Remus a dirty look, who took it in stride, "Come off it Remus. You're not stupid. You know perfectly well what we were doing. Well," he thought back to the evening and smirked again, "What I was trying to do."

"So it's only happened this once?" Remus said, slightly hopeful. It wasn't that he didn't approve of that sort of thing. He'd known Sirius long enough to have gotten over that early on, and he wasn't afraid of Sirius getting hurt, either. He was simply worried that Sirius had gotten himself in over his head this time. He didn't seem to understand that when he eventually blew people off after his fun with them, they tended to be hurt. He didn't exactly care for Snape's welfare either, but all the same. People were people, and it wasn't the nicest thing to be strung along and then hung out to dry.

"Er. Not exactly. It was the first time he stopped me…" Sirius laughed uneasily, and Remus sighed, amazed that Sirius was able to make jokes out of things like this.

"What are you doing, my friend?" He asked, sighing. "This is one prank I don't think he's going to like very well when you pull the grand finale."

Sirius looked up sharply, his voice slightly odd, "Who said anything about a prank?"

Remus' eyebrows almost disappeared into his hair, "What the hell?" Was all he could say.

Sirius looked away miserably and stared into the fire again, crossed his arms, and gritted his teeth. "Look, I-" he paused, and started again, "Well, he's…" He sighed and rubbed his temples, "Snape and I aren't as different as I once thought, in ways. We both enjoy attention of that sort - well, I enjoy attention of any sort, really - but we don't exactly enjoy the attachments that come with that attention, per se," he shrugged, and said it, as if he were trying to convince himself, "We both get what we want out of this."

Remus let out a slow breath, "Sirius, that's not smart. One of you is going to get very badly hurt by this. Why can't you ever be careful?"

"Oh, come on, Remus! It's Snape; he can handle anything, and I'm me, aren't I?" Padfoot smiled reassuringly at his friend, but his face fell when Moony's didn't change, "Remus, look, I know it's a road to self destruction. So does Snape. Besides, we've always hated each other. What could possibly go wrong? The worst thing that'll happen is that we'll go back to resenting each other."

Remus didn't look convinced, "How long has this been going on?"

"Uh, remember when he slipped that bewitched frog into my drink, and then it exploded all over me when I spat it out?" Sirius smiled awkwardly, "It's not a prank now - at least, I don't intend it to be - but…it was when it started." He made an amused face and glanced pointedly downwards before grinning widely.

"Oh, Merlin, Sirius," Remus said, following Sirius' subtle train of thought rather easily, unable to keep the horror out of his voice, "That's disgusting."

Sirius just laughed, "Wasn't to me."

"Ack! No! Enough!" Remus clapped his hands over his ears and laughed, while Sirius grinned. They fell into silence again, but Remus had another question all too soon.

"Sirius?" He glanced at the boy in question, who rose an eyebrow, uncannily like Snape could, "Uh, if you don't mind me asking…I mean, I know you don't screw and tell, but…how far did you two go?" He seemed uneasy about the question, and Sirius' other eyebrow joined the first.

"Why do you want to know? Jealous?" Sirius smirked, even though he knew the time for joking was long since past.

Remus looked uncomfortable, "You know I've always been slightly uneasy about us teasing him." He shot Sirius a glance but knew he wouldn't tell on him. Remus went along with it mostly because he was afraid of losing the only friends he'd ever had, "But, well, it's because when I first came here, Professor Dumbledore had a meeting with me to discuss what they'd do with me at the full moon. You know that, but, um, afterwards, when I left, Snape was coming up the stairs with Professor Grubbly-Plank." He smiled slightly, "Apparently Dumbledore wanted to discuss personal matters with him as well."

Remus looked so ashamed at this point that it was making Sirius feel bad just watching him. "I guess I already had more than a bit of Marauder in me, because after Grubbly-Plank left to go back to the feast, I snuck back up to listen to Snape's conversation," his face was twisted with unease and anger, which made Sirius all the more worried. He was beginning to see where this was going, and he didn't like it one bit. Remus seemed to struggle with what to say for a minute, "I'm never going to say exactly what they talked about, ever, because I should never have gone back up there, but suffice it to say that Snape's father is seven shades of abusive."

"Oh, fuck." Sirius said quietly, his voice barely audible, and Remus jumped up to sit down next to his friend, taking his arm comfortingly. Sirius stared at the table and repeated his last statement again.

Remus merely nodded, and was silent for a while, lost in his own thoughts, before speaking up again, "Sirius…" he hesitated momentarily, "My question still stands." He put an arm around his friend soothingly, giving Padfoot's shoulder a squeeze of encouragement.

"I…he…" Sirius opened and closed his mouth several times and then swallowed, still too stunned at what Remus was hinting at. Snape's father abused him? And not only that…Sirius shut his eyes for a long moment, unable to even think it. How could a father - let alone anyone else - do that to a defenseless kid? A strange feeling dashed through him, and then he grimaced as sympathy and understanding shot into his thoughts for Snape. He'd never have thought that a day would come when he felt sympathy for the Slytherin.

"Blows, each. Lots of snogging, that sort of stuff. And the other night, I let him top me," Sirius spat it out as fast as he could, feeling a lump rising in the back of his throat. Wait, what? Was he, the Sirius Black, about to cry? That thought alone upset him, but he realized that he truly did feel awful about what he'd done. I mean, Sirius thought, Yeah, I kind of took advantage of him the first time, but after that…why didn't he say something? Why hadn't he even so much as mentioned it to me? Sirius could feel his anger flaring up. The damned git was making him feel so horrible! He'd instigated this, and apparently at the cost of Sev- of Snape having to relive some bad memories. Sirius felt sick with himself, at the fact that it was all his doing.

Remus was stuck momentarily, trying to sort out what Sirius meant. He wasn't as well versed in sex as Sirius was, but he figured it out well enough. Part of Remus was absolutely appalled that Sirius even liked that sort of thing. He honestly could never see how it'd be very comfortable. But that was a very, very small part. Half of the rest of him was completely shocked at Snape, and what he'd let Sirius get away with in their…relationship, he supposed it was called. The other half of him though, was merely trying to think of a way to comfort his friend.

Sirius let out a breath he'd been holding, but it ended up being a choked sob. He shut his eyes tightly again as he felt the hot tears start to roll down his cheeks. Merlin, he hadn't cried for a long time. It did happen though, occasionally, when he got really worked up over something. And he was definitely worked up. He couldn't stop feeling guilty, and horrible, like the bad guy out of a really twisted story.

Remus pulled Sirius sideways into a hug, and Sirius buried his face into the other boy's shoulder. Remus let him, patting his back and just being there. Sirius let out several more gasping sobs, curling up on himself.

Damn Snape! Damn him from one end of time to the other! Sirius' mind was torn between guilt and anger. How could Snape not have said anything? 'Oh yeah, Sirius, we can go ahead and be fuck buddies. My dad only abused me like that when I was little, but hey, no worries.' Sirius' hand clenched on Remus' robe and he wrenched out a growl, feeling completely wretched. Now he felt like a completely horrible person, like he was as bad as Severus' father, and it was all Snape's fault! He hadn't told him! How was Sirius to have known? He gritted his teeth and sat up, glaring at the fire.

"I'm a complete scumbag, Remus." He said flatly, his tears welling up again, and he wiped furiously at his eyes. "I can't believe myself. Or him. I can't believe he didn't tell me. Don't you think he should have?"

Remus lifted a shoulder, unsure. "I don't know, Sirius," he said honestly, wrapping his arm around Sirius again. Sirius sighed, his tears slipping out as he gave up trying to rein in his emotions.

"Listen, Remus, can you keep this between us?" He asked, glancing at his friend, who nodded, "Thanks. Um, I…could you…I just…want to be alone for a while."

The werewolf nodded again, smiled at Sirius, and pulled his friend into another hug. "I'll be upstairs." He left quietly, and as Sirius sat back to brood miserably, he heard the portrait door open.

Drawing his legs up, he buried his head in his arms, hiding from whoever it was like a little kid. He didn't want to deal with anyone at the moment. Hopefully they'd get the message and go away.

"What's wrong with you?" Demanded an all too familiar and, in Sirius' opinion, all too annoying voice.

"None of your business, Evans," he muttered, snuggling his head down deeper and clamping his eyes shut. She probably knew, of course. Snape and she had been friends for years. She probably knew everything about the Slytherin. There was no response, and it was quiet for the longest time. Sirius thought maybe she had gone up to her dorm room. But he'd have heard the door open and close, wouldn't he? Maybe he missed it over the noise of his thoughts and his erratic breathing as he tried to stop acting like such a girl and crying.

He sniffed again, and uncurled himself, wiping at his eyes. Blurrily, he immediately noticed that Lily was not only still in the common room, but she'd somehow managed to get to be standing right in front of him without him realizing. He glared despondently up at her, trying to be sarcastic, "Oh no. You caught me. Good job." It sort of ended up sounding bitter, instead of sarcastic.

Lily just stared at him, her mouth slightly open, as though he'd surprised her. Maybe he had. Sirius wasn't exactly known for crying. In fact, he was known for making other people cry. Mostly girls. Sirius finally looked away from her, sniffing once. He wiped at his eyes again.

"You're crying." She said finally, as though she didn't quite believe it.

"And the Captain Obvious Award goes to…" muttered Sirius, drawing his legs up again to hug them. He stared at Lily again, waiting for her to say something.

"Why?" She asked, which was the usual question one usually is presented with in an unprecedented situation such as this one.

"Because I'm unhappy?" Sirius guessed, as if she were being rhetorical.

Lily frowned at him, already regretting having come over to see what was wrong with her classmate, "What, having love troubles again?" She snapped, about to throw in a more scathing remark, but Sirius' eyes flicked away from hers and he half shrugged, laughing bitterly, causing her to pause.

"You might say that," he mumbled, his face sad, resting his chin on his knees, and Lily stared at him again.

So, let me get this straight, Lily thought to herself, Sirius Black, the notorious man-slut and bothersome prick is crying. He's doing so because of my best friend, Severus. Somehow, he's finally got it through his thick head that you can't screw with people the way he does. She winced at her unintended pun, Or maybe he feels…bad. Wow, I have to give him more credit than I thought. Maybe he has a conscience after all. Lily surveyed Sirius again, quirking an eyebrow, and then she did something unexpected.

They'd never been on the best of terms. Sirius always teased her, and Lily always annoyed him. So Sirius was rather confused when Lily sat down, pulled him into a crushing hug, and told him, "It'll be okay." Even though she wasn't actually sure about that. She sat like that for a long moment, and Sirius, after getting over feeling awkward, leaned his head on her shoulder. Then she finally broke away from him, "You should get some sleep." She gave him a small smile, patted his head, and then left for her dorm room.

Sirius didn't heed her words until the fire was burning low in the grate. His tears had dried up, and he felt eerily calm. He didn't even stop to wonder if Evans had figured it out. She was a smart girl, so she probably had. Or at least, had a suspicion. Sirius could only hope that she was loyal to a fault, like most Gryffindors, and wouldn't go blabbing it around. Somehow, he was pretty sure that Lily wasn't the gossip type.

He stood up and headed for his bed, reaching a decision as he climbed the stairs. He would have words with Snape about this tomorrow, and let the bastard know just how upset he was that Snape hadn't said a word about what Sirius' actions might have dredged up in the young wizard's mind.

All Sirius could think of as he crawled into his four poster bed, was, thank Merlin he had control the other day. He thought back to their classroom escapade and half grinned, and half grimaced. Usually, he would have fought for - and, might he add, gained - top and made Severus lie there on the desk. But that brief glimpse of a self-assured and demanding Snape had been all too intoxicating.

He'd slipped from his usual beaten paths and strayed into slightly less known territory at the cost of seeing a usually so self-conscious person feel confident. Call it his inner dog if you must, but Sirius liked making people happier and to feel better about themselves, even if the person in question might have been a mortal enemy. Even so, his decision that day might have been a very good one. Sirius shuddered at the thought of what could have happened if their places had been swapped. Snape might have flipped out, had a flash back, been really really scared, or something even worse. And Sirius wouldn't have known what was going on, or why. He shut his eyes and shook his head, sighing.

Tomorrow, the less soft, more usual Sirius Black would confront Snape, and figure out what the hell was going on, of that, Padfoot was certain.

A/N: Reviews are made of love! Constructive criticism, even more so! Sorry that these two chapters were sort of filler, but they were necessary. I think.