The idea for the unspoken conversations comes from a Twilight story about Alice and Jasper called Unspoken Conversations by Terez, which is on my Favorite Stories list. Check it out if you like Twilight.

Disclaimer: Don't I wish.

Summary: An unspoken conversation between James and Sirius leads to a life-changing decision. Rated T for language. SBRL

James Potter and Sirius Black were best friends; that much was common knowledge. What was not common knowledge was the bond between them, a bond stronger than mere friendship. James and Sirius would be the first to tell you that they were more like brothers, and due to this, border-line mind readers.

Sirius sat on the couch in the Common Room, watching Remus write his essay. He watched as his hand gracefully swept across the paper, leaving neat streaks of black ink behind. He watched as Remus would bring his quill to his lips in concentration, nibbling on the end as he thought. He watched as he pushed his sandy brown hair out his face time and time again, his long fingers gently tucking the locks behind his ear. He watched as his left hand drummed on the table to the beat of a muggle song.

James's elbow dug sharply into Sirius's side and Sirius's longing gaze lingered on Remus for a moment before he turned his attention to his best friend. 'What?'

James raised an eyebrow and his eyes flickered to Remus and back to Sirius. 'When will you finally tell him?'

Sirius dropped his stare to his feet, his shoulders slumping. 'Never.'

James jabbed Sirius with his elbow again to regain his attention and jerked his head toward Peter, who was engaged in a violent chess match with Frank Longbottom. 'Peter already knows.' Sirius's eyes began to widen but James shook his head slightly. 'No, no, only that you're gay,' his eyes narrowed, 'which you told him but not Remus.'

Sirius glanced back at Remus for a moment and sighed, turning helplessly to his best friend. 'I love him.'

James held his gaze, his jaw firm, and very pointedly nodded in Remus's direction. 'Tell him.'

Sirius studied him, his desperate eyes flickering between him and Remus, before locking with James's once again. He nodded. 'Okay.' His eyes softened. 'Help me?'

Sirius wrung his hands and paced before the dim fireplace. Remus should have already been back from patrols. His resolve wavered and his nerve was fading with the fire. When Remus finally stumbled through the portrait, Sirius was sweating profusely and had bitten a hole through his bottom lip. Remus's eyes were drooping and he staggered toward the stairs without a single glance at the fireplace, where Sirius was frozen to the spot. When Remus tripped over a step and nearly fell, Sirius suddenly gained control of his body again and rushed to catch his exhausted friend, barely making it in time. Remus was now wide awake as he found himself limp in Sirius's arms and being hauled to the couch. He sat up stiffly and looked around to be sure no one else had seen the embarrassing scene. The Common Room was deserted. His gaze wandered back to Sirius. Sirius's eyes swept over Remus's body to ensure he was unharmed before he looked away, dread flooding him with the knowledge of what he was about to do.

Remus spoke first, his weak voice thick with fatigue and curiosity. "What are you still doing up?"

Sirius's reply was immediate. "Waiting for you." He was gazing intently at the carpet he was sitting on, his back against the couch where Remus sat behind him. Remus shifted, climbing down to rest beside his nervous friend.

"Why?" Sirius carefully avoided this question, posing one of his own to get the conversation on the track he needed it to be on.

"Do you reckon that Ravenclaw bird, the one from your study group, is rather, er, fit?"

Remus was stunned by this change of subject, and took a moment to find his voice. "Yeah, I suppose, why? Interested?" Sirius again deftly avoided his question with another one of his own.

"What about the bloke? Her brother, the 7th year I mean." Sirius saw Remus's eyes widen and his body stiffen in his peripheral vision, and inwardly winced. This couldn't go well.

"I-I guess, I...um...I wouldn't really, um-" Remus sighed and put his hand on Sirius's cheek, turning his head to face him. "I'm sorry Sirius, I should have told you sooner, and I swear I was going to but - dammit, I didn't want you to find out on your own!" Remus removed his hand and ran his fingers through his hair before noticing Sirius's wide eyes staring at him in shock. "Shit! You didn't know!" Remus exclaimed, jumping to his feet and preparing to run. Sirius's hand shot out and pulled him back down as Remus tried to stutter out an incoherent explanation. Sirius cut him off by pressing a finger to Remus's lips and whispering, "Shhh."

Sirius braced himself and dove in. "Remus, I wanted to tell you that I'm gay," Remus's lips parted beneath Sirius's finger but Sirius just whispered 'shhh' again before continuing, not quite meeting Remus's eyes, "and that I'm in love with you. I know I shouldn't tell you, because I love being your friend and I know this will ruin our friendship but I can't stand being around you and wanting to say and do all these things but having to catch myself, and James said you deserve to know and I know you do and I know you'll hate me because of this because you trusted me and I just went and fucking fell in love with you, but I can't help it, you're just so perfect, how can someone not bloody love you -" It was Remus's turn to press his finger to Sirius's lips, removing the one over his in the process.

"Sirius," Remus whispered, and Sirius shuddered. "Sirius, I'm bisexual. I thought you'd figured that out already. But how could you think I'd hate you? I thought I was lucky just to have friends! Now I find out someone's in love with me, and I'm supposed to hate someone who can overlook all these flaws and still find someone worth loving? Even if I didn't return your feelings, I could never hate you. Granted, our friendship would be a bit awkward, but there could never be any hate." Sirius grinned widely. It did not escape him that Remus was speaking about hypothetically not returning his feelings. Remus smiled. "Sirius," it was a sigh, "I fucking fell in love with you too." Remus then moved his finger and replaced it with his lips, all traces of his previous exhaustion melting away as the warmth of the other boy flooded his body, every nerve jumping into overdrive.

Sirius strode out of the bathroom the next morning, a towel wrapped lazily around his waist and whistling a tune he'd learned from Remus. The curtain around James's bed rustled before being pulled away, and Sirius was met with a sleepy pair of hazel eyes under a mop of untidy black hair. James raised an eyebrow. 'And the verdict is?'

Sirius grinned inanely. 'He loves me too.'

James smirked. 'Told you.'

Sirius simply stuck his tongue out, 'Shut up,' and went about getting dressed.

When he was properly clothed, James walked up behind him and clapped him on the shoulder. 'I'm happy for you, mate.'

Sirius turned and smiled back; not a grin, not a smirk, but a sincere smile. 'Thank you.'

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