When Doves Cry

So Uncomfortable Now

~~So uncomfortable now It's all gone to shit Or coming together Depending on how you look at it~~
I continued to lay in James's bed for a few minutes, my face still shoved into his pillows. "This is so awkward. How can I look him in the face again?" I sat up just enough to use my wand to pull the hangings around the bed shut. "That's it. I'm never coming out of here again. That way, things won't be awkward anymore."
"Really? Spending the rest of your life in the bedroom that Sirius also sleeps in will make things less awkward?" James asked, pulling me into his arms comfortingly.
"If he doesn't know I'm here, it might."
He shook his head, chuckling at me. "I think you're overreacting."
"Oh? What would you do if I walked in on you naked and saw your penis?"
He froze, frowning. "Yeah, that would be really weird."
"Yes. Yes it would. And gross. No offense."
"None taken. I agree. That's not something that should happen." He shuddered, whether for comic effect or for real I wasn't sure.
I sighed dramatically. "I guess I eventually have to come out of here. Just not yet. Five more minutes."
He gave me mock-stern-fatherly look. "Five more minutes. But then you have to get out of bed. Okay?"
I nodded. "Okay."
Just as my five minutes were ending and I was steeling myself to open the hangings around the bed and face the day, I heard the door open and brisk footsteps enter the room.
"James, are you in here?" Sirius asked. I froze, my hand a mere inch away from the hangings.
"Yeah, I'm here," James answered, motioning at me to continue opening the curtains. I shook my head and looked at him with huge pleading eyes. He rolled his eyes but didn't open the curtains. "But so's--" he started to say, trying to tel Sirius I was also here. But Sirius wasn't listening.
"Oh, bloody hell," he was saying, and I could hear him pacing around the room. "So you know how I was going to go bathe in the Prefetcs' bathroom since our prank got dirty? Well, turns out Roxi was in there. I didn't know it, so I kind of walked in on her." I could hear him throw himself onto one of the beds, and I could just imagine what he was doing. Laying on his back, covering his face with his hands, talking through the spaces between his palms.
"What all did you see?" James asked hesitantly. I squinched my eyes shut and shook my head, not wanting to know.
"It was... God, I can't get it out of my head... I didn't mean to, I really didn't..."
I gave James a desperate look, not liking the sound of that.
"All right, speak complete sentences now, Sirius," James said calmly. How could he be so calm? This was mortifying!
"It was just a flash but..."
"Everything?" James asked, his eyes wide in horror.
"No! Not everything. Nothing below her hips was noticeable because she had a lot of bubbles and foam, thank Merlin. But I saw a flash of... Erm..." I had a feeling his face would be bright red by now as he tried to figure out how to delicately term what he had seen. My face was the color of Snow White's apple. "Bosom cherries, shall we say?" Sirius finally said.
"You saw her bloody nipples??" James gasped out bluntly.
"Just for a second!" Sirius said quickly.
"Oh, my God! Now I'm never leaving this bed!" I cried, burying my face deeper into the pillows.
"Oh, shit!" Sirius said. "James, why the bloody fucking hell didn't you tell me she was in here??"
"I tried," James answered. "You didn't listen to me."
"Roxi, I'm really really sorry," Sirius said. "I didn't mean to see anything, I was just so surprised that my reactions were too slow to be any good."
"Um, it's okay, I know it was an accident. But don't expect me to make eye contact with you for the rest of the year."
"Don't worry, I'll be doing the same. I can't believe I walked in on you while you were bathing."
"You walked in on Roxanne while she was bathing??" Remus, apparently, had just entered the dorm room. "Merlin, Sirius! I knew you were a lecher, but I didn't think you try to spy on our own Roxi!"
"It's not like that!" Sirius said defensively. "It was an accident! I didn't know she was in the bathroom. I figured she'd be off somewhere with Cross."
"He was having group study with his friends. It was boring," I said. "And Remus was doing solo study, which was also boring."
"Well, did you see anything, or were you smart enough to turn away once you realized there was already someone in the bathroom?" Remus asked.
"Well..." Sirius said.
"Oh, for the love of... Sirius, sometimes you are incredibly thick. How could you not realize someone was already in there?"
"I was a bit preoccupied with the nasty goo all over my clothes! By the time I looked up and payed attention to my surroundings, it was too late to turn away."
"Maybe for someone as perverted as you," James said with a snigger.
"Look, I didn't mean to see... them... It was an accident! I'm not perverted!"
Silence met his words.
"Not when it comes to Roxi, you assholes!"
There was more silence.
"Oh, come on! You know I only joke around with her. James does it too!"
"James didn't walk in on her while she was bathing and then stare at her breasts," Remus pointed out.
"What did James do??" Peter had just entered the room. "Who's breasts did he stare at?"
"Roxi's," James answered. "But it wasn't me, it was Sirius."
"Figures," Peter said. "He is a bit of a creep."
"It was an accident!" Sirius sounded very exasperated by now. And more than a little flustered. "And I didn't stare at her breasts, Remus! I just caught a quick glimpse before we both turned away!"
"Hmm..." Remus said, as if he didn't quite believe Sirius.
"Roxi, please. You know it was an accident. Tell them I didn't stare at you!"
"No, he's right," I said. "He didn't really stare. He was just shocked. And so was I. No one had expected that horrible situation to happen."
"Well... If you say so," Remus said.
"I still think you're kind of a creep," Peter said. "I wouldn't put it past you to try and see her naked."
"Why would I do that? Roxi's like our little sister! I protect her from creeps, I don't creep on her!"
"He does have a point there," James said. "Now, can I open these curtains? It's weird talking to everyone without being able to see them."
"No," I said, but he opened them anyways.
I made eye contact with Sirius for one very brief millisecond before we both looked away, the situation still too awkward for such bold actions from either of us.
"So..." I said. "Now that we've finished discussing that -and we will never discuss it again- what should we do?"
"Um..." James said, absently running his hand through his hair, "We could... Well..."
"Damn it, how do we move on from this?" Sirius asked. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and saw him take a deep breath, clench his hands into fists, and turn to face me. "We've got to get past this. And we can't do that by avoiding eye contact with each other."
"We could try," I said, but I still turned to look at him. "Okay, now what?"
"Er... That's all I had. Any better?"
"No. Still feel awkward."
"I know, me too."
"Look, did you enjoy seeing her naked?" Remus finally asked. We all turned and looked at him in shock. Normally, he wasn't so blunt about things unless it was calling James and Sirius gits.
"What? No!" Sirius finally said, getting over his surprise. "No, it was weird and awkward and wrong!"
"Okay then," Remus said. "It was an accident, he's not gonna be daydreaming about it at all, and nothing has changed other than how awkward you two feel now. Just give it some time and eventually it'll all blow over. No worries. Yeah?"
I shrugged and nodded. "Okay. Sounds simple enough."
"As long as we can forget it ever happened," Sirius agreed.
"Good," Remus said.
"Now, hug and make up," James said. Sirius and I both turned to him with huge eyes. Just letting it blow over was one thing. But actual physical contact before we had gotten over it? Not ever gonna happen in a million lifetimes! James laughed at our expressions. "Kidding. Man, you should see your faces. You both look hilarious!"
"Glad our discomfort brings you so much joy," I muttered in annoyance. "Hey, Sirius, do you think Lily knows that James sometimes refers to her as Lily Potter in private?" I asked sweetly.
"You know, I don't think she does," Sirius answered. "But we should fix that for her. I bet she'd love to know her thinks of her as his little wifey."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" James said quickly, shaking his head at us. "Don't do that! She'll hex me and embarrass me in front of everyone!"
We both smirked at him. "Exactly," I said. "You will behave and drop the jokes I know you've been formulating this whole time, or Lily will find out just how stalkerish you really are."
"All right, I'll be good," James said. "Just don't tell her anything."
Sirius looked at me and we speculated silently for a moment before we both nodded. "Deal," we said together.
"But remember. If you go back on your word," I started.
"So will we," Sirius finished, grinning at James.
Turns out, plotting against James was a great way to get over the awkwardness with Sirius. It didn't completely fix things, but it did prove that nothing had really changed, which helped. There would still be some awkward moments, of course, but we would get over those. We were the Marauders, and nothing could stop us.