Work Text:
"Is it true that you and Sirius are dating?"
Remus smiled slowly and kept writing his essay on ashwinder eggs for Slughorn. "Yes, James."
"So, like, together. More than friends."
Remus sort of wanted to prolong James's suffering after the years of putting up with his pining over Lily, but he resisted. His long legs stretched and popped beneath the table in the library where they were meeting that afternoon. Sirius and Peter were serving a short detention with McGonagall after another small episode during class. If Peter didn't learn to control his laughter he would be roped into every detention, even if he didn't do anything but laugh along.
But, when he looked up, it wasn't Lily that James was staring at. Remus followed his friend's darting eyes, landing for longer than strictly necessary on a group of Slytherins a few tables down. The group was a mixed bag of ages, but each and every one of them were on their House Quidditch team, so Remus immediately knew each name. Funny how, as he got older, the younger years seemed to blend together. But he could tell who James was fixating on at the table of athletes.
"Are you ever going to tell him?" Remus asked softly, wishing he could get James to stop staring at Regulus Black, before he got caught. James wasn't known for his subtlety.
"Tell who what?" James asked, finally turning to look at Remus.
"James, I'm not stupid."
"Neither am I! You think I can just walk up to him and say 'Hey, there, Black. Fancy meeting me in the showers after the game this Saturday?'"
Remus spluttered as the color drained from James's face as he realized what he'd said. "I didn't mean-!"
"I know exactly what you mean!" Remus said, wrestling down the giggles and pulling his essay back in front of him. "You need to try talking to him somehow or you'll end up like when you and Lily started dating." Here, his pen paused and he looked up. "Lily knows, right?"
"Yes," James said. "We both fancy him."
"Too much information, James, does Lily know you're sharing that kind of information?"
"I'm sorry, I don't have anyone else to talk to about this, and when I see him it's like when I saw Lily for the first time. I can't think. My brain falls out of my head and my mouth doesn't cooperate." James took a deep breath, holding it for a moment to puff out his cheeks before releasing it in a gust. "Sorry."
"It's fine, you can talk to me about anything, James." Remus put his hand on James's arm and reached over to move his chin to face him. "You haven't told Sirius, I assume."
"No," James confirmed in a small voice.
Remus put his hands down again. "I think you should tell him. You and Lily should. It's a little unusual for a muggleborn to be as open as wizards are, that she wants to date him and you at the same time, but not uncommon. I hope...I hope you can reach out to him."
"Yeah," James said. He turned away to start watching the Quidditch team again as they filed out of the library. He didn't know if he imagined it or not, but the smallest player took his time scanning the room before leaving, and he wanted to believe he'd lingered on him for maybe a bit longer than strictly necessary.