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Amore et Amicitia	By : Kimmimaru Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Sirius/James Views: 6683 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any characters or settings by JK Rowling. I make no profit from this story.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
AN: Firstly, my thanks to Treana and Cham I am ever so grateful for your reviews, they made me extremely happy. :) I would only like to point out one thing, I do not use this as an excuse but a reason; I am Dyslexic so grammar and spelling are not my strong points. I would like to apologise as although I try my hardest to correct my mistakes I know that there are many I miss, please forgive me as I do try to make sure I don’t make too many. But anyways, thank you, your reviews have given me the confidence to continue and I hope you continue to enjoy.

Chapter Six: Occulta Semitas (Hidden Paths)

That night Sirius and James sat up all night, they were on Sirius’ bed talking softly in their pyjama’s. Sirius clutched a pillow to his chest as James wondered out loud what Remus and McGonagall had been doing. Sirius’ eyes were lingering on the full moon that could be seen dangling in the sky over the Grounds, he shivered slightly as something nagged at the back of his mind.

“I can’t think of any illness that would cause him to have to be isolated from us so often...” James said slowly, his eyes on his hands as he played absently with a frayed bit of bedspread. “I mean, it happens too often to be anything mild, and afterwards he always looks so ill, and stays in the Hospital Wing for a long time...what do you reckon, Sirius?” He looked up and frowned at his best friend, Sirius was gazing out the window with a strange glazed look to his eyes as they reflected the full moon. “Oi! Siri!” He snapped his fingers in front of his face making him jump. “What’s wrong?”

“I...I’m not sure...” Sirius frowned. “I thought I had an idea but you distracted me.” He sighed. “There’s something not right about all this, you know...Its much too regular, there’s almost a pattern to his Hospital visits...even when he goes to see his mum in Hospital...”

“You reckon its genetic?” James asked eagerly.

Sirius shrugged. “It’s a possibility I mean...” His eyes landed on the moon again, a bloated silver orb that hung in the sky like a giant Sickle. “...When was the last time he was sick?” He said suddenly, eyes widening with a terrible mixture of emotions.

James considered for a while. “Um...I reckon it was September...last month...and last year it was once a mon-...” His eyes widened like Sirius’ as a possibility dawned on him, abruptly he sat up and saw the same conclusion in Sirius’ eyes. “You think that...?”

“...We’ve been sharing the dorm with a Werewolf for the past year and a bit? Yeah...yeah I do.” Sirius whispered, gripping his pillow as the night was rent by the most chilling howl. Both boys shivered and looked towards the open window.

That night James awoke to feel something warm on his arm, he groaned and pushed it away but it came back and shook him. “Mmmhnnn...” He grumbled and rolled over, once he had blinked the sleep from his eyes he saw Sirius hanging over him. “Whass wrong?” He murmured as Sirius pressed a finger to his lips and slid beneath James’ covers.

“Can’t sleep.” Sirius whispered as he curled up and gazed at his friend through his fringe. “Can I sleep here tonight?”

James yawned widely before nodding his permission and rolling over again, but, as he tried to fall back to sleep he couldn’t help but feel how close Sirius was to him. “Jamie?” Sirius whispered softly, causing James to sigh and roll over so their faces were inches apart, in the half-light James was struck by the ethereal beauty of Sirius’ face, he looked like a painting of a young prince, the random thought gave him pause.

“What’s wrong?”

“I...I’m worried.” Sirius said, a frown marring his brow. “Remus is a werewolf...and we’ve been hanging around with him...what if something had happened? Where are the teachers taking him to change and what if he escapes? Werewolves are vicious creatures, little more than animals who would not be able to tell friend from foe...”

James nodded slowly, he too had been brought up with the same nightmarish tales concerning the Beasts. “I know but...but it’s not any old random Werewolf...he’s still Remus...He’s still our friend.”

Sirius bit his lip hard enough to taste blood, he rolled onto his back and pushed a hand into his hair. “I...I don’t know...I can’t stop thinking about all the old stories...”

James couldn’t say anything to that so instead he yawned and snaked out an arm, cautiously he wrapped it around Sirius’ waist, for a split second he thought Sirius would throw him off in disgust but then he turned his head so they were looking at each other. For a long time they simply stared before Sirius shifted closer, he smiled nervously and James returned it. Together they closed their eyes, but Sirius couldn’t sleep, he was tense as he felt James’ breathing even out and the hand that was clasped into a fist on his hip slowly began to relax. Sirius suppressed a shudder and yet he felt the corners of his mouth lift in a small smile.

James awoke feeling very confused, his body was tangled with something. Panic seared him as he struggled free of the constricting embrace, he skidded backwards, nearly falling from his bed as he blinked down at a figure lying sprawled in his bed. The sleep in his eyes confused him briefly as he was convinced he had a girl in his bed, it took him a full minute to realise that the long hair and slim body did not belong to a girl. Sirius lay fast asleep, his arms and legs sprawled inelegantly across the brilliantly white sheets, his ebony hair fell across his face and hid everything except his lips which were parted. His chest rose and fell beneath satin pyjama’s, his shirt fell open at the chest to reveal an odd shaped scar that ran down the centre of his sternum like a jagged lightning bolt, James recognised a curse mark when he saw one. Slowly, as his shock wore off and he remembered Sirius coming to his bed during the night he crept closer to inspect him.

The early morning light spread across his face highlighting his features and enhancing the strong line of his jaw and sharply defined cheek bones. James reached out tentatively like a curious child seeing something new for the first time, he ran a finger down Sirius’ cheek to his throat, he abruptly snatched his hand back when Sirius stirred and muttered something in his sleep, it sounded like a very familiar name and the word slipping past those soft lips made James shiver.

Slowly Sirius’ eyes flickered and opened, he gave a wide yawn and stretched, his pyjama’s riding up to expose his belly as his fingers brushed the headboard above his head. He turned his head towards James who fixed a grin on his face and Sirius returned the smile, revealing sharp, unnaturally sharp canine teeth. “Goo’ Mornin’ Jamie.” He muttered sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

“How did you sleep?”

“Mmm...Better than I have done in a long time.” Sirius replied, suddenly sitting up and shaking himself like a dog out of water. “Hungry though...”

James’ eyes lingered on the scar on Sirius’ chest, without thought he reached out and traced it with a finger, Sirius froze, his back stiffening as he watched him from dark, heavily lidded eyes. “What did this?” James whispered, his fingers feeling the slight ridge in the soft skin, he finally looked up to see Sirius gazing at him through eyelashes as black as soot.

“Does it matter?” Sirius muttered, grabbing James’ fingers tightly in his own. “Just leave it...”

James was shocked by the vehemence in Sirius’ voice so he pulled away with a sharp nod, Sirius relaxed slowly and smiled a little. “So...breakfast?”

“Yes, and then we should go to the library, we have some things to research.” Sirius stood up and went to the bathroom to wash.

XXX

The Library was dusty, Sirius and James had piled books around themselves and the only sounds were the soft turning of parchment papers and sometimes the scratching of a quill, eventually James fell asleep with his head resting on his arms as the Librarian began extinguishing the lamps. Finally Sirius put down the book he had been reading and rubbed his eyes, he looked to his left and saw James breathing softly with his head cushioned upon a huge leather bound tomb, he leaned over as the light caught his hair turning it blue. “Jamie...” He muttered, shaking his friend slightly, James jerked upright.

“’m not doing nuffink!” He gasped, eyes wide as he gazed around. Slowly it dawned on him where he was and he sighed, rubbing his tired eyes and yawning.

“What on earth were you dreaming, Potter?” Sirius asked as James stood and began gathering their notes.

“Not sure...but I think it involved the goose that my grandparents used to use to guard their house...” he smiled when Sirius laughed.

“You’re so weird.”

“Talk about pot and kettle.” James smirked and Sirius punched him lightly in the arm as they walked down the aisles replacing the books they had been using.

“I’m not weird, I’m...just different.” Sirius said, standing on tip toe as he pushed one of the books onto a shelf.

“Different in a weird kind of way.” James countered, dodging Sirius’ kick with cat-like grace.

Sirius smiled despite himself, James giggled lightly as they scampered out the Library and dashed through the halls. Sirius chased James, he reached and grabbed his shirt, yanking him backwards. James spun on one foot, perfectly balanced and tore himself free of Sirius’ grip, together they fell into the wall, wrestling violently and laughing brightly all the while. James managed to kick Sirius’ feet from beneath him but Sirius had wrapped one arm around his shoulders and gripped his shirt, they fell to the stone with a loud burst of merriment. James landed on top of Sirius, his hands planted on both sides of his head and his legs straddling his hips. They stared into each other’s eyes for a long, intense moment. Sirius swallowed a dry lump that had settled in his throat, his chest heaved as he tried to regulate his breathing as James smiled brightly down at him, hair brushing his cheeks as it fell into his eyes. James leaned down so his lips brushed Sirius’ ear, he closed his eyes and bit down hard on his lower lip as James whispered; “I win.” Sirius failed to hide the shudder that ripped through him as James drew away and his body regretted the loss of contact and the intimate warmth as he stood and held out his hand. Sirius took a moment to collect his scattered wits before taking James’ hand and let himself be pulled to his feet.

“I will concede this victory James Potter, however, next time I will win.”

“Keep telling yourself that, Black.” James smirked and bounded off ahead of him, laughing loudly as Sirius swore and followed.

XXX

To Sirius it was as if his relationship with James had become stronger, they spent a lot of time in each other’s personal space, they wrestled together often, enjoying the physical contact. James would sometimes, while doing homework, find Sirius lying in his lap as he read a book or memorised spells, the closeness was almost natural to them and they accepted it without a second thought.

Sirius was happier than he had been for as long as he could remember, even though he and James found themselves in the Library more often than not or noses buried in books the time they spent together was more precious than he could or would ever admit. He felt that every moment he spent at James’ side brought them closer together, they began to finish each other’s sentences, communicate with simple looks or body language, sometimes they would not speak for hours and yet be able to understand everything the other was thinking. This new closeness began to intrigue Remus, he tried to find out what they were doing but if he asked they would look at each other and smile before turning their backs on him. His curiosity went unsatisfied as Halloween drew closer.

Peter watched the bond forming between the two dark haired boys, in their first year he had known they were close but they had never been this close. Sirius would lie back with his head on James’ lap, James would automatically reach out and play absently with Sirius’ hair, the two movements seemed so perfectly natural that no one even thought twice about it. Peter felt pangs of jealousy when he saw them together, he liked James and wanted to take Sirius’ place as his best friend, but he was being shunted out of the picture, he hated it.

XXX

“Eureka!” Sirius exclaimed loudly, jumping from his bed and throwing himself at James who lay on his own. It was the weekend, they were both still in their pyjama’s and were having a lazy day in bed. Sirius flattened James and leaned over him grinning like a maniac. “Hey, potter, I have our answer!” He was waving a sheaf of parchment at James who couldn’t focus on what they said as they were inches from his nose.

“Well?” He asked when Sirius refused to elaborate.

Sirius sat back so James could sit upright and lean against the headboard, however he still straddled his hips, their bodies continuing their contact. “Well, Mr. Potter, the ever brilliant Mr. Black has happened to discover how we will be able to help our Mr. Lupin.” He grinned wolfishly.

“And?”

“It’s been in front of our noses all this time!” Sirius bounced up and down excitedly making James’ face flush with unexpected heat, his fingers twitched towards Sirius’ hips but the long haired boy was too excited to notice James’ reaction to his constant movement. “While looking into Werewolves we came across Animagus several times, at first I ignored it as having little to do with our goal but then, last night I had a brainwave! Do you remember what old Rathburn told us in our first Defence class?”

“About werewolves?” James nodded. “That their bites can only harm a human being, that an animal is immune...” He stopped, eyes widening as he gazed up at Sirius. “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?” He whispered, hands resting absently on Sirius’ hips as he nodded exuberantly.

“We help Remus with his transformations by becoming Animagus, we could transform into animals every full moon when he does! Not only would be immune to his bite, we could perhaps help curb his fury!”

James gaped for a long period before a grin split his face. “You’re brilliant Sirius! Handsome and intelligent!”

“I try.” Sirius grinned nonchalantly but his cheeks went slightly pink at the compliment.

XXX

Remus yawned as he entered the dorm, he had spent most of the night trying to catch up with his studies yet again and he was looking forward to collapsing in bed and forgetting about the horrible ache in his limbs. When he closed the door to the Dorms he looked up to see James and Sirius sitting on his bed with smiles that made him instantly wary, his wolfish instincts told him to be careful and he heeded them. “Hello.”He said and walked over to his friends.

“Hello.” They chorused, still wearing foolish grins.

Remus raised a curious eyebrow. “What’s wrong with you two?”

They looked at each other before returning their eyes to Remus. “We have something to tell you...sit down.”

Remus went on even higher alert, something was definitely wrong. He sat down and eyed his friend suspiciously. “What’s going on?”

James cleared his throat, arranging his face into something a bit more serious. “Remus, we know that you have been hiding something from us.”

Remus went cold as Sirius took up the explanation. “Yes, we worked it out and have been searching for a way to help you with your...”

“...Furry Little Problem...”

Sirius turned to James with a grin. “I like that, that’s cool.”

“It is isn’t it?” James returned his smile before they adopted serious expressions again.

Remus was stunned into silence, everything took on a surreal quality as if he was only dreaming, he wished he was. His throat went dry as he opened and closed his mouth, his fingers contracted into fists as they rested on his thighs and he felt his world begin to unravel, terror gripped his heart; they knew. His friends knew about him. Everything he had worked so hard for, everything he had fought to gain the past year was all for nothing. He took a shuddery breath but couldn’t release it.

“Aw, he’s stunned...” James said.

“Reckon he’s sick?” Sirius leaned forward and placed a hand on his forehead, Remus was as still as a hunting rabbit. “Not hot, feels a bit cold though.” He smiled a smile that was so gentle Remus felt tears in his eyes as he reviewed what they had said to him.

And then it hit him. He was on his feet and backing away so rapidly he tripped and fell on a suitcase. James ran over to him and crouched down, holding out his hand as Sirius stood behind him, both were still smiling. “It’s fine, we’re ok with it.” He said in a gentle voice, his hand still out in a gesture of help.

“Of course we are, we’re your friends.” Sirius agreed, lifting his own hand and holding it out to Remus. “We’ve decided that we’ll become your pack, Moony.”

James looked up at Sirius. “Moony?”

Sirius shrugged, “It suites him.”

James nodded thoughtfully. “It does. Alright then Moony, we’ve decided to help you.”

“We’re going to learn to become Animals so we can help you during a transformation, you won’t be able to give us Lycanthropy because we’ll be in animal forms and hopefully we’ll be able to transform into something that will help us to subdue you if you turn on us.” Sirius’ smile widened to reveal his sharp teeth. “If you want us to that is.”

Remus gaped at them as if they had gone insane, in fact, a part of him was convinced that was what had happened, because surely they weren’t serious about taking on such a seemingly insurmountable task. Becoming an Animagus was one of the hardest things a witch or Wizard could accomplish, he was almost certain that a pair of twelve year olds would kill themselves if they tried. Finally he found his voice and stated these concerns, Sirius shrugged and James chuckled.

“Moony,...” James paused. “You know, I like that nickname.” He said absently before continuing. “Moony, we’re young but even McGonagall said we’re talented at transfiguration. We’ve studied everything to do with becoming Animagus...”

“And we’re going to work whenever we have any spare time.” Sirius finished.

“B-But...what about the legality of it...you’d have to be registered and...”

Sirius and James exchanged a glance that Remus had come to recognise as one they reserved entirely for him, it was mixture between mock pity and fondness. “Moons, we have never cared about rules.” Sirius stated firmly. “It will be an easy enough secret to keep, especially if you and Peter keep your fat mouths shut and your conscience tucked far away in that big brain of yours.”

“Exactly, we’re well aware of the risks we are undertaking but I for one will do anything to help a friend.”

Sirius agreed.

Then it hit him, Remus felt as if his world was spinning around him, he gazed up at his two friend; James kneeling, hand extended in a gesture of friendship and an offer of help, Sirius stood at his side with a grin and his hand held up as well. His eyes burned and his cheeks along with them as embarrassment coloured them, he couldn’t help the flood of unexpected tears pouring down his face. Gratitude swelled within him along with a powerful, all-consuming emotion that at first he wasn’t able to put his finger on, but, as he took his friends hands in his own, he realised it was love. He loved them like he had loved no one else in his entire existence and he realised that now, at long last, he had a pack of his very own.
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Amore et Amicitia