You Make Me Lovely

Dependence

*For the sake of the texting parts of this chapter: Lily is italicized and James is bold*

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It had been a week since Remus and Sirius had last spoken to each other. At first, Remus was worried that Sirius was angry at him because of what happened at the party, but Lily had assured him that that wasn't the case. "He's just going through a bit of a rough patch right now," Lily had told him when he had asked.

"What does that even mean?" Remus questioned, eyebrows raised. "Is his family giving him a hard time again?" Remus knew all about Sirius' family. He'd lost track of how many times James called him in the middle of the night over the years, asking if he could come and help with Sirius. The thought of his best friend being victim to the ways of his family made Remus want to be sick. He was so caught up in his worrying that he almost missed Lily's response.

"It has nothing to do with his family. He's just been...um...having a hard time emotionally." Lily almost facepalmed at how dumb her statement sounded. Thankfully it managed to shut Remus up long enough for her to send a text to James about his and Dorcas' half of the plan.

Remember when I told you that I wanted to be a detective when I was younger?

She didn't have to wait long for a response.

Yeah. Why?

Well, let's just say that I no longer have a chance for that career

Or really any career that involves talking to and/or finding out things about another human

Please tell me your half of the plan is going better

I talked to Sirius and got him to stop mopping around long enough to convince him to come out with Dorcas and me for the day

So what's he doing now?

Dorcas dragged him upstairs and is forcing him to pick out something to wear

Remember, you and Marlene need to get Remus to the coffeehouse in one hour

Ugh, okay. Coffeehouse in one hour

The doorbell rang and Lily looked up, putting down her phone. She followed Remus into the living room, sighing in relief when she saw Marlene. Remus looked surprised to see her. Lily gave her a pleading look, hoping that she would be able to salvage their part of the plan. Thankfully she got the message. "So, I thought the three of us could go to that coffeehouse in town," she said, keeping her gaze locked on Remus. "You know, the one that has the earl grey you like." She looked at Lily, motioning for her to say something.

"Oh yeah! I love that place. Remember that time we went and I made you try that iced latte? You kept telling me that lattes are only good when they're hot and were convinced that you wouldn't like it—"

"But I did," Remus finished, laughing.

"So..." Marlene started, a hopeful look on her face.

"Will you come with us?" Lily finished.

"I don't know," Remus said, unsure.

"Please!" Marlene begged, wrapping her arms around his neck. "It'll be fun."

"Oh...fine," he conceded. "I'll go with you guys."

"Perfect," Lily beamed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sirius felt like he was gonna be sick. He hadn't spoken to Remus in a week and it was killing him. What if Remus knew about his feelings? What if he had figured it out and was disgusted by the thought of one of his best mates feeling that way towards him?

He had locked himself in his room after the party and he hadn't really left it since. For the first few days, James came and tried to coax him out of his room. When he didn't come out, James gave up, simply bringing food up and putting it outside his room in the hope that his friend would at least eat something during the day.

He had been hiding in his room for eight days when Dorcas barged in one morning. She ripped the sheets off his bed and dragged him out, cringing when she got a good look at him. His skin was paler than usual and his eyes were sunken in slightly. His face looked noticeably thinner and she sighed, grabbing his hand and tugging his arm so that he'd follow her. "I don't understand why you felt the need to drag me out of bed," he said, following Dorcas into the kitchen.

"Because James and I are worried about you," she responded, eyeing him worriedly. She sat in the seat next to him.

"Why?"

"You're sad"

"I am not sad, Meadowes. What makes you think I'm sad?"

"You haven't left your room since the party, you've barely spoken to any of us, and you obviously haven't been eating. We've known each other since we were 10 years old, Black; I know how to tell when you're upset." Dorcas grabbed his hand and he just stared at it, not meeting either of his friends eyes. It was times like these that James was glad that Lily was not the only girl in their group. While James loved Sirius to death, he wasn't always the best at comforting him. Dorcas, on the other hand, seemed to be able to get through to him consistently.

"I've left my room," Sirius mumbled. James sighed and leaned forward in his chair, forcing his friend to look at him.

"Leaving your room only for showering barely counts as leaving, Pads." Sirius met James' eyes. "You can't spend the rest of your life hiding from the person you love."

"You don't get it, James! I can't tell him how I feel. What if I do something and screw it all up? Then it won't matter if I hide from him because he'll hate me!"

James chuckled. "Pads," he started, a knowing look on his face. "I think you're ridiculously underestimating how much Remus cares about you."

Sirius scoffed. "You didn't hear him at the party. He and I will only ever be best mates. He said so himself."

"You don't know for sure, Pads," James tried to reassure his friend. 

"Can I go back to bed now?" Sirius asked, although the tone of his voice made it clear that he was not asking permission. James and Dorcas looked at each other worriedly, knowing that if Sirius went back to his room, the plan would be ruined. They had to think of something. James was trying to think of ways to tell Lily that the plan failed that wouldn't end with her killing him, when he heard a loud yelp followed by a thud. He turned towards the doorway and couldn't believe what he was seeing; Dorcas had jumped onto Sirius' back and tackled him to the floor.

"Dorcas, what the hell are you doing?"

"I'm keeping him from going back upstairs," she said, trying to blow some of her hair out of her face. Clearly she was taking the plan very seriously. James quickly made his way over to them and pulled her off of Sirius, giving him the chance to get himself up. Before Sirius had the chance to say anything, James spoke.

"So you are going to go upstairs and get your shit together at least a little bit. Then you, me, and Dorcas are going to go to the coffeehouse and have some fun." Sirius looked like he was gonna object, but James quickly cut him off. "Pads, you need to get out of the house and let yourself have fun. I miss my best friend."

Sirius sighed loudly. "Alright. I'll go with you guys." James and Dorcas high fived. "But," Sirius continued, "only if you guys buy me coffee." Dorcas groaned and James laughed, rolling his eyes.

"Fine," Dorcas said. She gave his shoulder a nudge. "Now go. We want to get there before it gets too crowded." Sirius gave her a thumbs up in response and quickly headed upstairs. James pulled out his phone and immediately sent a text to Lily:

He agreed to come out with us. Be ready soon!