Connection Over Books (Remus/Lily)

[slashluv18]

Connection Over Books
Warnings: Alternate Universe
Pairings: Remus/Lily
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,490
Summary: James loves Lily. Remus loves Lily. And Lily loves Remus.
Notes: For the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, Season 2, Round 4. Captain of Kenmare Kestrals. I had to start and end the story with the same conjunction.
For the Gift-Giving Extravaganza 2014. Written for Someone aka Me. Prompts: bibliophile, martyr, and emerald.
For the Relationship Bingo Board Challenge. The Marauders square.
For the Het-pairings Boot Camp. Prompt: time.
For taming the muse livejournal community. Prompt: triquetra
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em - not making any money off 'em. Dern it.

"Though, I find it interesting. It still seems incomprehensible," Remus said as his eyes lit up in his excitement. He was describing a new book he was reading to Lily, and he couldn't keep the sheer happiness out of his voice.

Remus was a bibliophile. There was almost nothing he loved more than books. He even admitted it to himself. It wasn't something he was ashamed of, but it was why he was almost made a Ravenclaw, something he kept from his friends. They never admitted to almost being put into different houses, so Remus was afraid to admit to almost being a Ravenclaw. He didn't believe the other Marauders would care. After all, it hadn't been Slytherin he was almost put into, but he didn't want to stand out even more in his friends' eyes.

Lily smiled. Her emerald eyes seemed to sparkle as she laughed at his enthusiasm. With other people, Remus would think they were laughing at him, but he knew she was laughing with him. She loved books almost as much as he did, "So, you think the triquetra represents something? It could be there, just for the heck of it, you know."

Remus grinned widely. "I'd usually agree with you, but I know this author well enough to know that nothing she writes is superfluous. There's always a reason behind something being there. I just can't wait to find out what the reason is."

Lily put her hand on his lap. "Can I borrow the book when you're done? Usually I don't go for that particular genre, but you are making me want to read it."

Remus swallowed and eyed the hand the rested innocuously on his lap. "Of course. Um, I think I should be going," he said as he quickly stood up, his heart picking up speed and his stomach fluttered.

Lily blinked a couple of times as her hand dropped to the seat he vacated. "Of course. Remus, are you okay?"

"Yeah, of course. Just need to go." And he quickly left.

Remus knew he shouldn't be feeling what he was a feeling. It was a betrayal to James. It didn't matter that Lily wasn't interested in James. All that mattered was what his friend felt. Friends don't developed feelings for friends' potential girlfriends.

After that incident, Remus did his best to avoid Lily. No one seemed to notice the difference, except for Lily and Snape.

One day, while he was sitting alone in the library studying for an exam, Snape found him.

"You're hurting Lily," he said without preamble.

Remus looked up from his textbook. "Excuse me?" he asked perplexedly.

"Did I stutter? You're hurting Lily. Stop ignoring her."

"What I do is none of your business." Remus tried to sound forceful, but he was sure it fell flat.

"Lily being hurt is my business. Go back to being her friend."

Remus looked down at his textbook, but he was no longer seeing the words as his mind wandered back to the forbidden feelings he had when he was near the beautiful fifth year. "You don't know what you're talking about. And if you did know, you wouldn't be telling me to stop ignoring her. Trust me."

Snape scoffed. "I know more than you think. I know you have feelings for her. That's why you're staying away from her. You think if you keep your distance, the feelings will magically go away."

Remus furrowed his brows. "Then why are you encouraging our friendship? Everyone in the whole school knows how you feel about Lily. You should be telling me to back off."

"If I thought I had any chance with Lily, I would go for it. I know she will never see me as anything more than a best friend and I've come to accept that. The truth of the matter is I would rather Lily be with you over Potter. I think you'd treat her better. I think you could make her happy."

Remus clenched his fists as he stood up. "First of all, James is my best friend. I'd never betray him in that way. Second of all, Lily doesn't feel anything akin to romantic love for me."

Snape rolled his eyes. "If you believe that second part, you're blind. Lily went out of her way to say 'hi' to you. She found every reason she could to touch you. She wants to be with you."

"Then why hasn't she said anything?"

Snape crossed his arms. "She was hoping you'd make the first move, but you didn't. Lily won't wait forever so you better decide what you want, and fast."

Remus thought about his furry little problem and wondered how Lily would react. He knew some witches would call him a monster if they found out, but he couldn't see Lily reacting that way. He could be wrong, though. She might not be able to handle the truth, and if they were to ever try a relationship, he would have to be honest with her.

Snape turned around. He took a couple of steps before he stopped. "Just so you know, Lily found out whatever your secret was, and she's the only reason why you still have friends. She yelled at them until they got over their aversion."

Remus' eyes widened. "She knows?" He ignored the part about how the marauders didn't react as positively as he thought.

Snape nodded with his back still to Remus. "And she doesn't care." And then he was gone.

It was only a couple of days before Remus made up his mind. He didn't get a chance to do anything about it though because Lily came stomping up to him where he sat underneath a big tree.

"Lily –"

"No!" Lily interrupted harshly. "I gave you a chance. Now it's my turn. I'm sick and tired of you pretending that I don't exist. I don't deserve it. All I did was fall in love with you. I don't deserve being treated like I have the plague just because you'll afraid of what Potter will think. He has no say in our relationship, or lack of relationship, as the case may be. It's time that you stop being a coward. Stop playing the martyr. Take what you want!" she finished, chest heaving visibly as she breathed rapidly. All of her pent up feelings of anger and love had poured out, and she suddenly looked exhausted.

Remus smiled. "You should have let me go first," he said as he stood up. Before Lily could question him about not being intimidated by her fiery redhead temper, he gently claimed her lips.

She moaned as his hands combed through her long hair before they moved to rest on her waist.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tightly. Her mouth opened as his tongue prodded, and Remus felt his knees weaken as she pressed her body fully against his. He felt her soft curves as he leaned his back against the tree and couldn't hold in the moan of delight as his knee moved to rest in between her thighs.

When they broke apart, Lily began peppering kisses along his jaw and neck as their breathing evened out.

"Wow," Remus said.

"Yeah," Lily agreed.

They laughed at the fact that they both seemed to have lost their voices, something that never happened when they were together.

"I told James today that I had feelings for you and I was going to tell you, no matter what he said."

"And?" Lily asked.

He saw the fear for him in her eyes, and Remus held her tighter, elated that she cared about his friendship with James even though she disliked James. "He didn't take it well, but I think we may be able to salvage our friendship. I hope we will at least. Now that I have you though, I'm not giving you up. Not even to James."

"Good." She gave him what would have been a chaste kiss if Remus hadn't decided to deepen it.

They ignored the stares and whispers as they walked hand-in-hand to the Gryffindor common room.

The only person Remus and Lily acknowledged was Snape. Lily waved as she smiled, her teeth showing in her happiness. Remus nodded minutely and received a nod in return. He knew he had Snape's blessing. And despite how weird it sounded, he was glad. Snape was important to Lily, so he hoped the two of them could come to a truce, even if it was only for Lily's sake.

There would be enough drama where James was concerned. They didn't need it from Snape, too.

Things wouldn't always be smooth sailing. Both Remus and Lily were aware of that, especially since there was a war brewing on the horizon.

Remus would sometimes still act like a coward, especially when it came to standing up for himself. Lily wasn't going to give up on him, though.