You Make Me Lovely

Breathless

Sirius Black was not good at relationships. He never was. Maybe it was due to the fact that his parents never loved him. Or that he had never felt cared for by another person until he met his four best mates when he was eleven. Whatever the reason, Sirius Black was absolutely clueless when it came to relationships that lasted more than a few days.

"I honestly don't know why you're freaking out. It's not like you've never seen him before." James Potter was sat on the living room sofa, watching his friend pace around the room. In the seven years that they had been friends, James had only ever seen Sirius this nervous one other time.

"Um, James, do you not remember what happened the night before Remus left for his trip to France?" Sirius finally stopped pacing long enough to look at James, the worry evident on his face.

"That was six weeks ago, Pads. Do you really think Moony remembers what happened?"

"I literally walked up to him and kissed him, Prongs. How could he forget it?"

"I thought Dorcas said that you were both drunk?"

"So?" Sirius glared at his friend, not understanding how he could be so calm when it was obviously the end of the world.

"So...you always do stupid stuff when you're drunk. Honestly, Sirius. Have you ever met yourself?" This came from Dorcas, who had just appeared from the kitchen, Marlene on her heels. Hearing this, Sirius grabbed one of the pillows from the sofa and covered his face with it, letting out a muffled groan. Dorcas rolled her eyes at Sirius' dramatics before turning her gaze to James. "And why aren't the two of you helping? It was your idea to throw this welcome back party for Remus, yet you haven't done anything!"

"For your information, I actually have helped. I gave Lily the money for the cake and let her take my car to go pick it up."

"And what about Sirius?"

"He's keeping the sofa warm."

"Wow, I never knew how useful you both are," Marlene scoffed, sarcasm evident in her voice. "Why don't you guys go and make sure the backyard is set up?" When neither of them made any move to get up, Dorcas grabbed one of the pillows and hit James with it.

"Come on, James! You and Sirius need to help us get ready. The party is at 7."

At this, Sirius finally lifted his head from the sofa. "And what time is it now?"

"Almost 6." Right as James said this, Lily walked through the front door, cake in hand.

"Lily, will you please tell your boyfriend to get up and help?" Dorcas groaned, looking to the redhead for help. Everyone knew that Lily had James wrapped around her finger, and if anyone would be able to get him to do something, it would be her.

"James, stop being so lazy and help Dorcas and Marlene set up." When James made no move to get up, she sent him a warning glare. "I mean it James. You get up off that sofa and help, or I won't go out with you for a month." Sirius snorted, which caused the girl to turn her glare to him. "You too, Sirius. Get up and help."

Knowing that they wouldn't get out of it, they both pulled themselves off of the sofa and began to make their way to the backyard. As soon as they were out of earshot, Sirius leaned in, whispering "She's got you whipped, mate." James whacked his friend on the back of the head, frowning.

"Sod off, Pads. You know you're the same way with Moony." As soon as James said this, Sirius stopped walking, prompting his friend to turn around, a confused look on his face.

"What do you mean, 'I'm the same way with Moony'?" Sirius was now full-on glaring at James, and he realized that he had struck a nerve with his friend.

"I'm just saying...If Remus were to ask you to do something, you would do it without a second thought." Sirius was glad that they were now busy setting the backyard up for the party, as it kept James from seeing how red his face had become. He knew that what James said was right, but he didn't want to admit to that. Not when he was almost positive that Remus didn't feel the way. No. He wouldn't let himself get his hopes up. He couldn't compare this to what James and Lily had. He would only end up getting hurt if he got that confident. Before he had the chance to make himself more anxious with his overthinking, he saw Lily open the door and peer outside.

"I'm gonna go get Remus from the airport. I told Marlene that I would text her when are leaving the airport and when we're almost back here." James gave her a thumbs up and she went to go back inside. She was just about to close the door behind her, when she quickly pulled it back open. "And Sirius, calm down. It's just Remus. You'll be fine." And with that, she went inside. Sirius' eyes widened and his face blanched as he turned to his friend.

"Even Evans knows about what happened?" Sirius began pacing, gripping his hair and tugging at it. James quickly grabbed his friend's arms, pulling then away from his head and forcing then down to his sides.

"Pads, it's okay. Lily won't mention it to Moony." Despite the fact that his friend was obviously not put at ease by his statement, James didn't bother continuing. He knew that if Sirius was freaking out about something, nothing would be able to take the anxiety away. "Come on, let's finish setting up the backyard." And with that, the friends went back to their work.

After what seemed like only a few minutes (but was actually close to an hour), Marlene came out to warn the boys that Lily and Remus were five minutes away and that they needed to get inside. James made his way into the living room, Sirius dragging himself behind him. The lights were quickly turned off as Dorcas shouted at everyone to "Shut up, you idiots. You'll ruin the surprise!" Everyone stopped talking and hid, waiting for the moment that Lily would open the door and they could jump out.

They hadn't been hiding for three minutes when the door opened, prompting everyone to jump out from their hiding spots, shouting "WELCOME HOME REMUS!" Remus' face broke into a wide grin and he laughed, moving to give Dorcas and Marlene hugs as they ran up to him. "How was France?" they both asked, eager to hear about his trip. The boy, however, was no longer listened to the two girls. Instead, he was focused on Sirius who, for whatever reason, was avoiding his gaze. Sirius had to look at him eventually, though. And once he did, he turned to James and whispered something, before turning and walking into the kitchen. James caught Remus' eyes and gestured towards the kitchen, mouthing 'go'. Remus gave a small nod and made his way to the kitchen, desperate to find his friend.