Title: A Question of Love

Pairings: JPLE, SBRL

Warnings: Slashy goodness! If you don't like, go away and leave us to enjoy it.

A/N: Written in Spain! Woot! Set whenever you like during the Marauders' school years.

Disclaimer: I would love to own them. I really would. Think of the millions I could make selling videos of Sirius and Remus…mmm…

James burst into the dorm with all the grace of a herd of stampeding centaurs.

"Sirius!" he yelled, jumping onto the bed that contained his lump of a best friend. "Sirius!"

"What?" mumbled the lump irritably. James prodded it with his foot.

"Why are you in bed? It's the afternoon! And not just any afternoon! I have Quidditch in an hour and a half and you have to be there to spy on Lily to see what she says about me!" The lump made a noise that was cross between a groan and a gargle. James scowled and prodded it harder. This was no time for gargling.

"James, get off."

"Did you not hear me? It's nearly time to spy on Lily!"

"An hour and a half." The lump suddenly sat up, revealing a disgruntled Sirius who glared up at the intruder on his bed. "And what's the point anyway?" James rolled his eyes.

"I told you! To see what she says about me!"

"I mean, what's the point because we all know that the only thing she'll say is what an arrogant prick you are."

"Hey!" James scowled. "Only Lily's allowed to call me that." Sirius sighed and flopped back down onto his pillow, staring morosely at the ceiling. James eyed him. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing." Sirius muttered. "Absolutely nothing."

"Do you take me for a fool? You're depressed about something and I demand to know what!" Sirius yanked the duvet, sending James tumbling to the floor, yelping.

"I am not depressed."

"Oh yes you are." James said from the floor, rubbing his head. "I don't think I've ever heard you say 'what's the point' unless you were depressed. You never need a point. Now confess!"

"It's stupid."

"Well then it can probably be easily resolved. Tell me!" Sirius just lay there, fidgeting with his duvet and looking melancholy. James was just contemplating trying a subtler tactic (sitting on him until he confessed) when his friend finally spoke.

"How do you know, James?" Well that was enlightening. Thank you Mr Padfoot.

"How do I know what, Sirius?" James asked in what he thought was a very patient tone. Sirius' fidgeting stilled and he moved his hands to lie on his stomach.

"How do you know that you love Lily?"

"How…wait, wait, wait!" James grinned delightedly. "Is Sirius Black having girl problems?" Sirius favoured him with a contemptuous look.

"No." he said. "That's just absurd."

"Well, I can dream." James sighed. "So then why ask about Lily?"

"Just answer the question."

"Well I don't know. I just do."

"But how?" Sirius sat up again and ran his fingers through his already messy hair. (How come when Sirius did that, it was sexy, but when he did it, it was conceited? No fair.) "What makes you so sure?" James just looked at him blankly.

"No other girl makes me feel like her. I never stop thinking about her. She's perfect."

"But what makes her so perfect? You say that, but why do you think so? What's so special about her that makes you want her so bad?" Sirius was becoming more and more agitated. "Why was it her that you fell for? And…just how do you know?"

James sat on the floor, all silliness gone. Sirius actually looked worried. This conversation was taking an emotional turn that made James feel more than a little uncomfortable.

"Well…she's beautiful."

"Why? Why do you think she's beautiful?"

"Merlin, what is this, Sirius?"

"Please! I just…I need to sort some stuff out in my head. Just answer." Sirius looked so desolate that James sighed. Weird emotional conversation, here we come!

"Okay…I love her hair. It's such an amazing colour, it makes her stand out from everyone else. Her eyes too. They're really sexy when she's angry, all flashing and wrathful like she could smite me down. Um…" James screwed up his nose in thought. Sirius was watching him anxiously. "Her skin looks really soft and pale, like silk. I reckon she has a soft side deep down. Er…she has these adorable freckles across her nose. She smells really good. And…I don't know."

"So…you don't think about her legs or her ass?" James rolled his eyes.

"Well duh! Of course I do! But I think about that on other girls too. It's all the other stuff that makes Lily special." For some reason, this just seemed to make Sirius even more upset.

"But that's it, right?" he asked with a desperate note in his voice, "You like her cos she's pretty?"

"She's not pretty." James scolded, wagging a finger. "She's divinely beautiful. And of course that's not the only reason I love her!"

"Of course." sighed Sirius, his shoulders slumping. "Why else then?"

"What's not to love?"

"Her temper?" Sirius said sarcastically. James shook his head.

"She's fiery. It's sexy. And she's so gorgeous when she's yelling."

"She's opinionated."

"She has a mind of her own! Better than some airhead who just agrees with everything you say."

"She's stubborn to the point of arrogance."

"That's because she's always right." Sirius shook his head in disgust.

"You're completely whipped!" James nodded happily, sporting a big goofy grin. Sirius bit his lip. "Okay. So what else? Anything specific?"

"Apart from the fact that she's clever, fun and gorgeous…I dunno. There are all these little things. Like that purple notebook she carries around. It's so cute."

"How could a notebook be cute?" Sirius said incredulously. James shrugged.

"She manages it. And when she twists her hair round her fingers when she's thinking. And reapplies her lip-gloss in Divination just to annoy the teacher. And the way her nose wrinkles when she doesn't want to do something. The little dimple in her cheek which she hates but I think is so unbearably cute. All kinds of stuff really." James paused, looking at his friend again. All of this talk had just made Sirius look even more upset.

"So…" he said, staring fixedly at his quilt. "You know you love someone when…when they look more beautiful than anyone else, in ways you didn't know people could be beautiful. And you can turn all their faults into good things. And…you notice things about them. Little things that make you like them even more." James nodded.

"Yeah. Pretty much." Sirius crumpled onto his bed again.

"Shit."

"What? Why? What's wrong?" Sirius pulled the covers over his head.

"Shit." James yanked the covers ferociously but Sirius remained resolutely bundled up.

"Sirius!" He pulled at the covers again, scowling. "You can't just ignore me after all that! What's wrong? Are you in love with someone?" There were some unintelligible mutters from under the covers. James got on the bed threateningly.

"Don't make me sit on your head. I will do it!" The covers were violently thrown off, causing James to hit the floor hard for a second time. Generously ignoring this, James stood to stare down sternly at Sirius, who glared up at him.

"You said it wasn't girl trouble."

"It's not." Sirius crossed his arms defensively, grey eyes mulish. James scoffed.

"All those questions about love and it's not about a girl? Don't be ridicu…" James trailed off, his eyes widening. Wait a second. Wait, wait, wait! Sirius sighed.

"Has the Knut dropped yet?"

"A boy?!" Sirius flushed a slight pink but didn't say anything. James gaped at him, his mouth opening and closing like a demented guppy. "But…but…you…ah…girls…a boy? A guy?" Sirius nodded, flushing harder. "Bloody hell. And you're in love with him?" Sirius moaned despairingly and clutched his head.

"I don't know! I thought…I thought it might just be a weird…thing. I didn't think…I mean, I don't like boys!" Sirius sat up, looking pleadingly at James, seeking reassurance. "Right? I like girls! I have to like girls! Not…"

"Sirius…" James said slowly. "If you like this guy the way I like Lily…then maybe you don't like girls." Sirius let out a kind of whine and put his head in his hands. James shifted uncomfortably.

"Look." he said nervously. "I'm no good at this sort of thing. Why don't you talk to Moony, I'm sure he'd…"

"I can't." Sirius' reply was muffled by his fingers. "I can't tell Remus." James frowned.

"Why not? You know he won't judge you, he never does, not even Snivellus."

"I can't tell him!"

"Sirius, he's way better at this than me! He's all understanding and good with people."

"I know." Sirius said, finally lifting his head to stare past James into thin air. "He's kind and understanding and gives wonderful advice. He's never makes you feel stupid or embarrassed and he gets me like no one else does." Sirius looked at James again, beseeching. "Which is exactly why I can't tell him." James looked back, comprehension dawning.

"Oh." he said quietly. Sirius sighed and looked away sadly. James watched him, mulling over this latest confession. In some strange way, it actually made a lot of sense. Remus was the only one that Sirius really listened to and seemed to respect. He was always the first one to visit Remus in the hospital wing and always bought the chocolate for him too. It explained why Sirius always acted especially stupid when Remus was working and went out of his way to try and distract him as much as possible. It also partially explained Sirius' dislike of Lily.

James suddenly thought back to an incident a couple of weeks ago. Snivellus had made some cutting remark about Remus and his scars plus lack of girlfriend. Sirius had snarled something back (getting unusually worked up, James now thought). Once Snivellus had continued on his slimy way, Sirius had turned to Remus.

"Don't listen to him, Moons. He's a bastard." Remus shook his head, smiling sadly.

"It's alright, Sirius. I already know I'm undateable." The usual self-deprecating reply. But he remembered clearly Sirius shooting Remus an incredibly intense look. James had thought it odd but dismissed it as Sirius being his typical, strange self. Now, as he looked back upon it, he realised that the look had been one of total longing.

Wow. Poor Sirius. James patted his friend awkwardly on the shoulder.

"Look, mate, I'm sorry I'm not good at this. But…are you sure you like him that much?" Sirius sighed and held up three fingers.

"One. Think they're more beautiful than anyone else ever. His scars are incredible. And his hair is soft and all these different shades of gold. And his eyes are just amazing. Check." he lowered a finger.

"Two. Turn his faults into good things. He studies too much but that's because his hugely clever brain needs the exercise. He practically eats books but then he wouldn't know all kinds of random cool stuff. And he can be overly serious about rules but that just makes it more fun getting him to break them. And he also happens to look really sexy when he goes into prefect-mode. So check." he lowered another finger.

"Three. Notice random stuff about him. He bites his lip when he's worried. That smirk he has when he's feeling mischievous. How he tries so hard not to laugh when we're being idiots. How his fingers are always ink stained. His exasperated looks when I'm trying to distract him. Check." he lowered the last finger. "It's official."

"Wow." James said, amazed. "You really do love him." Sirius nodded glumly. James, on the other hand, grinned hugely. "Well then, that settles it!" Sirius looked at him, startled.

"What?"

"Since you have been such a great help in my attempts to win the magnificent goddess that is Lily Evans, I feel it is my duty as a best mate to aid you in your quest to woo our wolfie friend." Sirius shook his head.

"There is no quest."

"What? No quest?"

"He likes girls."

"Nonsense." James said briskly. "If Remus is straight, I'm a banana tree. I mean, he's never looked at porn, ever. Even you've looked and you're not straight." Seeing Sirius still looked doubtful, James added. "Besides you never know until you try." Sirius paused then smiled gratefully.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Now stop moping and get your butt out of bed! I want the normal Sirius back!" Sirius laughed and swung his legs onto the floor. He crossed over to the mirror and began fixing his hair and straightening his clothes. James came up behind him and slapped his back, grinning.

"That's more like it! Now, if you spy on Lily during Quidditch, I'll lend you my cloak so you can spy on Remus' study group thing tomorrow, okay?" Sirius beamed at him in the mirror.

"Deal! Come on then, Prongsie lad! Off to the pitch we go!"

Well, thought James as he bounded down the stairs after his exuberant friend, one thing's for sure. He would never be able to look at Remus the same way again. Sexy prefect-mode? Ew…

Ramble Time: Mmm…Remus is a sexy prefect. Not much to say actually. Hmm. That's odd. Ah well. Thanks for reading! Love xxx