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Sirius was sick of James and Remus dancing around each other and never doing anything about their obvious crushes on each other. It had started to drive him mad. Peter wasn't much better off, he was moments away from tying the pair together until they talked about it.
He'd said as much to Sirius. Which had given him an idea, and Peter was just about on board with it.
"It seems a little cruel," Peter said as they walked through the halls to figure out their plan.
"Maybe," Sirius said, shrugging slightly, "but it'll be worth it." Peter shrugged, he could only hope it worked because otherwise they'd have two very annoyed friends on their hands. He didn't think he could deal with that.
"How are we actually going to do it though?" he asked as they passed by a broom cupboard. Sirius grinned at him and grabbed his sleeve, he opened the door with one hand and shoved him in. The door closed behind Peter. He opened it again and stepped out, nodding slightly.
"You got the locking spell right?" Sirius asked. He nodded.
The plan was put into action several hours later as the four friends walked through the halls after setting up a prank. James laughed at something Remus had said, and Remus turned to grin at the side of James' face. It was perfect timing, they were just passing by a disused broom closet.
Sirius nodded to Peter. Peter smiled tightly at him. Sirius, being closer to the door, opened it. Peter was left to shove Remus in, with Sirius dragging James in. With them both fighting to get out, it was a little difficult to close the door.
They managed though, and Peter uttered the locking spell. Just in time too, because on the other side of the door Remus tried to unlock it.
"You two are stuck in there for the next however long we decide is long enough for you two to talk about your feelings," Sirius called through the door. Peter nodded, not caring that it was a useless gesture as they couldn't see through the door.
"What? Pads dude, let us out!" James called.
"No chance," Sirius called back.
"We're sick of you two dancing around it, so talk," Peter added. He could hear them both groan. Sirius and Peter left for the dorm.
Disused, dusty, and partially empty, broom closets were not a place Remus found himself in regularly. Really he'd only ever been in a few of them, and every time it had been to hide from consequences. This was much different.
There wasn't all that much room. Enough space for four people to squeeze in when McGonogal was after them, was not enough for two people who'd suddenly been unceremoniously shoved in. James was leant awkwardly into the shelves, and Remus couldn't imagine it was all that comfortable having slabs of wood press into his back.
Remus wasn't fairing much better himself, though he'd gotten lucky and ended up with a wall behind him and not shelves. There were old metal buckets and mops around him though, and it was dusty. He was pretty sure his head had gone through a cobweb at some point too.
"So," James said awkwardly. Remus made a ball of light float above their heads and James grinned at him. "How long do you think we'll be stuck in here?"
"Until Pete gets worried and Sirius gets bored," he suggested. James groaned.
"Anytime in the next ten minuets to what next week?" he said. Remus snorted slightly, and James grinned at him. He grinned back. Silence fell around them, and with anyone else it would have been awkward. Remus didn't mind silence with James. With James it was comfortable. He got distracted from the potential for awkwardness, by James.
James never lasted long in silence, even comfortable silence.
"What do you think they want us to talk about?" he asked. Remus sighed. He'd hoped to avoid it. He wasn't sure when Sirius and Peter had picked up on it, but he knew there wasn't any point in talking about it.
"I mean feelings yeah, obviously, but like do they think you're attracted me?" James went on. Remus felt his mind freeze, and then jumpstart at lightning speed. "Like yeah I've got a crush on you, everyone knows that. I'm pretty sure McGonagall knows it! But you're not interested in me," James continued. Remus subtly pinched himself, just to make sure. "Which is fine! I don't mind, I can work on it, fall in love with someone else eventually. But like what did they think you would say?"
Silence settled between them again. James was fidgeting, shuffling sort of awkwardly on the spot, and pulling at his shirt. Remus couldn't do anything other than blink.
"You what?" he managed to ask.
"You didn't know?" James asked. Remus shook his head.
"No, I didn't. I would've liked to know!" he said. James leant back again, visibly disbelieving him.
"You really didn't know?" he asked. Remus nodded again.
"If I had known, I would have kissed you by now," Remus complained. James grinned then.
"Well, you could always kiss me now," James suggested. There was a twinkle in his eye, one Remus had started to associate with mischief.
"Yeah?" he asked. James rolled his eyes and grabbed onto Remus' shirt.
"Yes," he said, pulling him down. Their lips brushed against each other. The kiss was soft, and barely there. James wasn't exactly nervous, but he could Remus was still processing everything.
They were interrupted by Sirius and Peter throwing the door open.
They stared at each other for a moment, all four of them in shock.
"All right then," Sirius said blinking rapidly.
"That worked quicker than I thought it would," Peter mumbled.
"We'll see you two lovebirds later then," Sirius added, swinging the door shut. Remus started laughing and James followed. They'd leave the broom cupboard eventually, but they needed some time to figure everything out.