"-Isn't that right, Sirius?" Sirius just nodded.

"You ok?" Remus was whispering. "You didn't seem to listen to a thing James said."

"Huh? Yeah, fine." Sirius flashed an unconvincing smile.

===

"You guys go ahead, I'll catch a carriage with Sirius," James dismissed Peter, Remus, and Lily. He climbed into the last carriage with his best friend. "So, what's up? You didn't get another letter from your parents, did you?"

"Did you see him, Prongs?" Sirius spoke in a stage whisper.

"See who?" James wasn't following.

"Remus! Did you see that lip piercing?" Sirius stared longingly at the carriage ahead of them.

"Yeah, so?" Confusion was evident on his face.

"It looks... It's so... AGH!" A few nearby birds scattered at the sudden shout. James just laughed, surprised to see his friend so inarticulate. 

A week into the new term, Sirius couldn't understand why he was so drawn to staring at Remus' mouth, specifically the piercing. James picked up on what was happening.

"Hey, Remus, can I talk to you for a minute?" James managed to get the taller boy alone for once, as Sirius was in detention and Peter was off with his girlfriend.

"Yeah, sure." Remus fell into step beside James, allowing himself to be led to an empty classroom.

"How do you talk to somebody about a sensitive topic? I'm not so good about this kind of thing." James actually looked nervous, a rare sight for the overconfident teen.

"Depends. Can you elaborate on what this sensitive topic is?"

"Well, I think I figured something out about someone, but I don't know if they realize it about themselves yet. I want to talk about it with them, but I want it to go better than talking to you about your furry little problem did." James could remember how terrible it went when they had confronted Remus. There had been a lot of screaming, some crying, and so much self-loathing, none of them knew how to handle it. 

Remus began chewing his lip piercing as he thought about the situation.

"Well, I guess just sit down with them, one-on-one, and ask them a few questions about how they feel regarding whatever it is. But, for Merlin's sake, James, be gentle." James seemed to absorb Remus' words as the latter left for the library.

James kept trying to find the perfect moment to talk to Sirius. The only problem is that they were always with Remus, Peter, or both. Sirius, on the other hand, didn't seem even to notice him or Peter. These days, Sirius only had eyes for Remus. 

After Christmas holidays, Remus came back with a new piercing. The boys didn't notice at first. Sure, Sirius saw a glint in Remus' mouth when he was speaking, but he wasn't sure what it was. But two weeks after they returned from their break, Remus stuck his tongue out at James, who was groaning at being blamed for Remus' spitball. Sirius choked when he saw, mumbling about something stuck in his throat as a weak cover. 

The boys were studying in the common room, preparing for a quiz coming up in transfiguration. James was preparing himself to speak to Sirius. He'd already put Peter's homework out three times because Sirius couldn't focus. The last aguamente charm and Peter's sigh as he gave up and left for the dorm sprung James into action.

"Sirius, mate, can we go somewhere and talk privately?" Remember his conversation with James, Remus' head perked up, a look of curiosity crossing his face as he stopped chewing his lip ring. 

Instead of giving James an answer, Sirius leaned across, kissing Remus. 

"Merlin, I've been wanting to do that all term," Sirius said, breathless. "The chocolate charm on the tongue stud is a nice touch, by the way. Very you."

"You could taste it?" Remus chuckled.

"Most definitely." Sirius turned to his gobsmacked friend, "You wanted to talk, James?"

"Oh..um...well," James tried collecting himself. "I was going to ask you if you were gay."

"Does this answer your question?" Sirius placed his hand on the back of Remus' neck, pulling him in. He could still taste the chocolate charm as he kissed Remus again, this time, more confident, more passionate, more in love. And Remus kissed back with equal force.