There was a knock on the door. All four Marauders turned at it. Remus got up quickly as though he had sat on something, then he went to open the door. Guinevere was standing there, in a light blue sweat suit, looking ready to kick butt. Remus gulped, and for a minute he couldn’t breathe. A blush crept on his cheeks.

“Hi, Remus,” she said shyly.

“Hi,” said Remus breathlessly, “I was wondering if you would, er, study with me tomorrow during free period. In the library?”

“I’d love to,” said Guinevere. She smiled.

“Pardon me, but we have a fight to attend to!” said James.

“Sorry, Prongs,” said Remus, “But it took me three and a half hours to come up with what I was going to say.” Remus stepped out of the way to allow Guinevere into the room.

“Well, I’m glad you gave it that much thought,” said Guinevere with a laugh.

“Can we just get on with it?” asked James irritably.

“Ready when you are,” said Guinevere.

“Wrestling. No punching or hitting of any form. I wouldn’t want to explain your black eye,” said James with a smirk.

“Alright,” said Guinevere simply.

The Room of Requirement had been set up with a wrestling mat for a floor. There were some seats for spectators and even a bell to begin the match. Remus took his place next to Sirius and Peter.

“Ring the bell, Padfoot,” said James.

“Round one!” shouted Sirius as he rang the bell.

Guinevere immediately took charge. Before James could blink he was on the floor with the girl on top of him. He struggled to get her off of him, but to no avail. She pulled his arm on behind his back and leaned on it.

“OW!” screamed James.

“One…two…THREE!” yelled the three boys.

“Round one goes to Guinevere!” said Sirius.

“My turn!” said Peter enthusiastically, grabbing the bell from Sirius.

“If you can handle it,” grinned Sirius.

“Round two!” Peter pulled the string to ring the bell.

James swung his legs around and caught Guinevere behind the knees. She crumpled at his feet. James promptly jumped on top of her. She struggled against his weight, but could not get him off.

“One…two…THREE!” yelled Sirius and Peter. Remus had hidden his eyes.

“Round two to Prongs!” said Peter.

“Don’t be a baby, Moony,” said Sirius after seeing his friend, “It’s your turn for the bell.”

“Alright,” said Remus, taking the bell.

“Now remember, this round decides it. Try to make it a little longer, because we’ve only been here a few minutes,” said Sirius.

“Round three!” said Remus as he rang the bell.

James and Guinevere had their hands on each other’s shoulders, trying to force the other to the ground. Guinevere tilted her body and sent the sparring pair onto the ground. She rolled on top of him, then sat upright. She put her face right up to his and grinned.

“One…two…” They were about to say ‘three’ when James grabbed her face and pulled her under him.

“One…two…” Guinevere rolled over again, this time putting James on the floor.

“One…two…THREE!”

“Yay!” said Peter.

“Shut up!” said James ferociously as he got up.

“I’m sorry, Jamsie, was I too hard on you?” said Guinevere in a baby voice.

“No,” said James curtly.

“Good job,” said Remus to Guinevere, “Both of you,” he added nervously when he saw James’ face.

“Nice try, mate,” said Sirius sympathetically.

“Yeah, whatever,” mumbled James.

“Hey, at least you won one round,” said Remus hopefully.

“Yeah, yeah,” grumbled James.

“Well, I guess I’ll be going then,” said Guinevere.

“Could you wait just outside the door? I can walk you back,” asked Remus.

“Alright,” said Guinevere with a smile. She walked out and closed the door gently behind her.

Remus sighed happily. “You’re right, Sirius,” said Remus, “There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of love.”

“Whoa, he must be in love if he’s agreeing with me,” said Sirius.

“She’s just so...beautiful,” said Remus wistfully.

“Remus, we don’t care,” said James irritably, “It’s your relationship, not ours. You don’t have to share it with the whole world.”

There was a stunned silence.

“That was pretty harsh, mate,” said Sirius.

“No, no, he’s right,” said Remus quietly. He had crossed his arms and was staring at his feet.

“I don’t mind,” piped up Peter.

“That’s because you’ve never had a relationship and therefore take joy in other people’s instead,” retorted Sirius.

“I’d better go,” said Remus, “Guinevere is waiting.” He walked across the room and left, without a word of goodbye.

“You idiot!” Sirius smacked James.

“What did I do?” asked James angrily.

“Moony’s finally got some happiness, and you go and ruin it just because his girlfriend can wrestle better than you can! You need to deflate your ego some,” said Sirius, “You can start by apologizing to Moony.”

“What for?” asked James heatedly.

“For acting like a git. Of course we care about him and any relationship he gets,” said Sirius.

James didn’t say anything.

“Prongs, mate, you didn’t even call him Moony. You called him Remus. You haven’t called him that since we came up with the nicknames.”

James’ actions finally hit him. He smacked himself on the forehead.

“Oh, man, you’re right,” said James with realization, “I got to go find him.” He made a move to leave, but Sirius held him back.

“Give him some time with Guinevere.”

Remus was silent as they walked. He did not look at Guinevere at all, but she would often look at him with concern.

“What happened?” asked Guinevere.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” muttered Remus.

She shyly grabbed his hand. “You can tell me anything,” she stated quietly. She stopped him and made him look at her face.

“James was just acting stupid,” said Remus, “What he said didn’t matter all that much. It’s just that...”

“What?” pressed Guinevere.

“That was the first time he didn’t call me by my nickname since we came up with them.” They continued walking and holding hands.

“It’s my fault; I shouldn’t have agreed to fight him,” grumbled Guinevere.

“No, it’s not your fault...” began Remus, but he left the sentence trailing.

“It was my fault; wasn’t it?” asked Guinevere.

Remus slowly nodded.

“I’m so sorry,” said Guinevere sincerely.

“It’s alright, Guinevere. Prongs’ll get over it eventually,” said Remus.

“Call me Gwen,” said Guinevere softly.

“Gwen,” Remus repeated, as if to give the name a try. His eyes twinkled.

“We’re here,” said Gwen. They had arrived at the Fat Lady.

“Password?” she asked in her dignified way. Remus turned to face Gwen.

“Amor Sempor,” said Remus, not taking his eyes from Gwen’s.

The Fat Lady gave a knowing smile and swung forward to admit them. They walked in dreamily. The couple strode over to the dormitory entrances. They paused in the middle of the staircases and turned toward each other.

“Did you mean it?” asked Guinevere.

“Yes,” said Remus.

“I love you, too. I’ve loved you since I saw you.”

“You know, just a half hour ago you were nervous about asking me on a study date. Now you’re admitting your love,” said Gwen with a smile.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” asked Remus.

He put his arms around her. She put her arms on his shoulders. They leaned in to kiss...

...and the portrait door swung open to reveal Professor McGonagall, holding James and Sirius by the ears.

“Sneaking around the castle at night! You had no right! Detention, both of you,” said McGonagall. Remus and Gwen, holding each other, suddenly registered to her. “Oh! Umm, did I interrupt something?”

Remus and Gwen let go quickly. “No, Professor,” they mumbled together.

“Well,” she regained her usual brisk manner, “None of you should be up this late. However, Miss Reynolds and Mr. Lupin were in the common room, so they weren’t breaking any rules. Mr. Black and Mr. Potter, I shall see you in detention tomorrow evening.”

McGonagall left. The four looked around awkwardly at each other. Then Peter entered the common room nervously.

“Uh, hey guys!” said Peter. Sirius glared at him.

“How could you leave us to Minnie’s mercy like that?” asked Sirius furiously.

“Err...” said Peter.

“Forget about it, Padfoot,” said James, “There are more important things to worry about.”

He turned to Remus.

“Moony, buddy, I’m sorry,” said James, “I was way out of line. You didn’t deserve that.”

“That’s all right,” said Remus.

“So, what were you guys doing before we came in?” Sirius asked Remus and Gwen suggestively.

“Nothing,” they answered at once.

“Sure,” said Sirius, although it was obvious he didn’t believe them.

“Well, we sure need our sleep if we have Muggle Studies tomorrow,” said Gwen, “Good night, all!” She gave Remus a hug and went up to her room.

Remus watched her with a smile.

“You really are in love, aren’t you?” asked James.

“Yeah. And it’s for real, too,” said Remus.

“How do you know?” asked Peter curiously.

“Hang on, I’ll show you.” Remus dashed up to his room and came back a few minutes later with something behind his back.

“What’s that?” asked James.

Remus pulled a bright red rose out with a flourish.

“Is that...?” began Sirius.

“...a Rose of True Feelings?” finished James.

“Yes.”

The three boys gaped at him.

“Red means love,” said Sirius in awe.

“And that is the reddest red I have ever seen,” said James, shaking his head.

“Where’d you get it?” asked Peter.

“Greenhouse Two. That’s where I was after the predicament with Lily,” said Remus, “By the way, I nicked your Invisibility Cloak, Prongs.”

“I don’t care, but I’m sure tomorrow I will,” said James.

“Smell it,” said Remus.

“Smell it?” repeated Sirius, eyebrows furrowed.

“I read that if it smells like the person you said when you pulled it that you were truly meant to be,” said Remus.

“I know what she smells like, I’ll do it,” said James. Sirius looked at him curiously. “What? I was wrestling with her, I think I would know.” James took the Rose and sniffed it. He gasped.

“It does smell like her. Cinnamon.”

“Goodness, Moony,” said Sirius, “I didn’t think you’d find your love after dating only one girl.”

“Are you going to tell her about...?” asked Peter quietly.

Remus sighed. “I should, but I don’t know if I’m ready for anyone but you three to know,” he said.

“But if she’s your true love you’ll have to tell her sometime,” said Sirius.

“Better sooner than later,” added James.

“I’ll tell her during our study date tomorrow,” Remus resolved, “Now come on, let’s get to bed.”

The Marauders were happily eating their breakfast, chatting merrily all the while. Sirius had just joked about Snivellus’ hair, when Guinevere walked up and sat down next to Remus.

“Hello, everyone,” said Guinevere cheerfully.

“Hello, Guinevere.” answered James, Sirius, and Peter.

“Hello, Gwen,” said Remus.

The other Marauders exchanged glances and whispers (“He called her Gwen; she doesn’t let anyone do that.”).

Gwen smiled at him. “So how was your sleep? I accidentally woke Lily up when I tripped over my own feet, so she knows all about last night,” said Gwen.

“What did she say about me agreeing to fight you?” asked James quickly.

“She said she’s surprised that you keep your head up with an ego that big,” replied Guinevere. The others laughed. James didn’t say anything but kept his head down.

“Hey, his ego has deflated a bit,” said Sirius, and this comment started a conversation about James’ apology.

“Did you tell her about us?” Remus asked Gwen under his breath.

“She just knows we’re going out,” said Gwen in the same tone, “I didn’t tell her anything else.”

“His apology did make up for his pig-headedness, wouldn’t you agree, Moony?” asked Sirius.

“Yeah, that did help,” said Remus, “But then again, I suppose I would have suffered a blow to my ego if I had lost to a girl.”

“Well, I must say, I do make a formidable opponent,” said Guinevere.

“Maybe...” said Remus.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Gwen fake-defensively.

“Well, James had stayed up until midnight so he was tired,” said Remus.

Gwen poked him. “So?”

Remus poked her back. “He had to be tired for you to beat him,” he said.

And so the poking match began. James and Sirius watched them with knowing smiles, having done that to several girls themselves. Peter watched with fascination, having never touched a girl. The match finally stopped when Gwen let out a giggle.

“Are you ticklish?” asked Remus, eyebrow raised.

“Maybe,” said Gwen. So Remus proceeded to tickling her sides.

“Moony sure is enjoying himself,” said James with an amused look on his face.

“Remus, I can’t breathe!” said Gwen between fits of laughter. Remus stopped.

“Fine,” said Remus, “But the war shall continue in the library.”

“Deal.” They shook hands.

“Come on, lovebirds,” said Sirius with a roll of his eyes, “Double Charms starts in ten minutes.”