Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. However, since Rowling discarded my favourite characters I picked them up and took them into my care to give them the love and attention they deserve...and occasionally give them reason to need that love and attention no matter how much they deserve it without needing a reason.

Summary: A nightmare leaves not one, but three boys awake in a silly situation.

Warnings: Strong bromance, can't stomach boys being extremely close without it being sexual, then this is not the story for you and you should hit the return button.

This story is part of the A Bond of Family series. The correct order of the stories can be found on my profile.

Special thanks to Kitty for beta-ing this story for me and giving me endless support and inspiration for this series. Thank you for your endless patience with my grammar and for all the lessons you've taught me and are still trying to stamp into my brain.

Just a little something for the thirty-fourth anniversary of James and Lily Potter's deaths.

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James startled awake as Sirius abruptly shot up and sighed as he sat up as well, shivering as the cold air hit him while he turned on the lamp on his night-stand.

"Another nightmare?"

"Yes...no...I," Sirius blinked confused, looking entirely disorientated as his wide eyes flashed through the dorm.

"You're really shaken, aren't you?" James asked surprised as he rested a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Want to talk about it?"

Nightmares weren't unusual for Sirius at all, but it wasn't often he was left this twitchy by them after waking.

"I...it wasn't a nightmare like usual. I...it's rather silly," Sirius flushed as he calmed down and seemed to determine the dorm was free of whatever he'd been looking for.

"Normal nightmares usually are upon awakening," James tried to comfort him.

"I've never..."

"Tell me?" James gently tried to push Sirius as the other now looked thoroughly embarrassed by his reaction.

"I was attacked by gummy bears."

"What?" James couldn't stop the snort from escaping at his friend's words.

"I told you it was silly," Sirius shot him a glare, pushing the comforter away.

"I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting gummy bears to leave you this shaken," James tried but failed to keep a smile from his face as he shuffled to the side of the bed to sit beside Sirius.

"It wasn't you they were trying to eat," Sirius grumbled, but allowed James to wrap an arm around his shoulder and pull him close.

"Maybe we shouldn't have let Peter eat all those gummy bears before bed?"

"They ate Peter; a gigantic mass of them swallowed him whole."

"Definitely no candy before bed any more," James raised an eyebrow as he glanced at Peter's bed. "He's quiet."

"Think he got eaten for real?" Sirius whispered as James rose to his feet and crossed the room.

"By gummy bears?" James grin faltered as Sirius stared at him intensely. "I'll check, all right?"

"Watch it, there's bears on the ground," James swirled around to indeed see several gummy bears lying on the ground by Peter's bed.

"Here," catching the wand Sirius tossed to him James watched his best friend half hide behind a pillow, looking much like a small toddler waiting for his big brother to see if it was safe.

Taking in the wide eyes and the fact that Sirius had pulled his legs back onto the bed, James swallowed thickly as he realised his best friend truly had been shaken by the ridiculous dream.

"Okay...surely," feeling a little nervous himself now, he shifted as he stared at the bed. "He really is awfully quiet."

Berating himself for being swept up in Sirius' unease, he inched forward with a raised wand and reached out to inch the thick comforter back a little.

More bears fell out of the bed and James backed up nervously, Sirius' small squeak of fear making him swirl around as the other slipped from the bed on the other side and almost ran to Remus' bed.

"What?" Remus startled awake as Sirius dove under the covers and bleary-eyed he blinked confused from Sirius to James and back again. "What's going on?"

"Peter's been eaten by gummy bears," Sirius squeaked as he crawled to Remus' other side.

"G-gummy bears?" James had to suppress a giggle at Remus' utterly confused expression as Sirius hogged the blankets and hid behind him.

"They'll eat James if he checks the bed so you go, you're bigger and scarier. Moony will scare them off."

"I...what?"

"He had a nightmare about gummy bears trying to eat him after they'd already eaten Peter and there are gummy bears all around Pete's bed and he's quiet," James tried to explain.

"You do realise they are tiny, right?" Remus frowned as he turned on his own bedside lamp.

"Don't underestimate them! I saw them swallow Peter whole," Sirius hissed from the cocoon of blankets.

"I'll go check while James keeps you safe from the little monsters, all right?"

James darted away from Peter's bed relieved, plopping onto the bed with Sirius as Remus slipped from the bed and grinned sheepishly when the older boy raised an eyebrow.

"Gummy bears fell out of the bed when I inched the blanket back," he explained.

"You two held your ground against a dozen Death Eaters and Voldemort himself only a month ago, but you're afraid of gummy bears?" Remus looked at them in disbelief.

"That's different," Sirius' hand shot out to grab Remus' wand and automatically Remus accepted the piece of wood as it was poked against his hand.

"It are gummy bears!"

"You tell me why Peter's not snoring then," Sirius shot back.

"He's got a point," James wasn't sure when he'd become infected by the sheer ridiculousness of the situation, but he gripped his wand tighter as Remus rolled his eyes.

"Normal people would appreciate the silence for once, not think up a murder conspiracy by candy," James heard him mutter as he made his way to the bed, sidestepping the gummy bears, turning on the light and reaching for the blanket.

A mountain of gummy bears immediately burst free as he pulled the blanket back and with a scream Remus dashed back, tripping over James' bed and scrambled further back to his own, where Sirius and James both pulled him onto the safety of the bed.

"I told you!" Sirius hissed as Remus stared wide-eyed at the still falling pile of gummy bears.

"How..." James could feel the other's heartbeat slamming from where he was holding him and stared at the bed in utter surprise. "Did you turn him into gummy bears?"

"What? No, how would I have done that?"

"You've changed me into a bird once accidentally," James piped up.

"I was awake then and thoroughly annoyed!" Sirius defended himself. "I wouldn't change people in my dreams...w-would I?"

"Go see if you can detect a trace of magic," Remus indicated to the pile of gummy bears.

"Get off this bed? Not a chance," Sirius' grip on James' arm tightened. "I don't want to be eaten; I don't even like gummy bears."

"What's going on in here?"

James wasn't the only one who snapped his head at the familiar voice of their head of house. "Peter was eaten by a pile of gummy bears, Professor!"

"Don't be silly Mister Potter, Mister Pettigrew came to the infirmary because he complained about stomach ache," Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow as her eyes fell onto the pile of gummy bears.

"Why would you think he was eaten by these small things?"

"Sirius had a nightmare, Professor. Said Peter had been eaten by gummy bears," Remus explained.

"When I went to reassure him Pete was fine and pulled back the blanket, tons of them fell down and..."

"We were startled, that's all," James cut Remus off, not wanting to admit all three of them had been scared out of their mind by the sight.

"Right...well Mister Black, I can assure you that Mister Pettigrew is just fine as I've just escorted him back from the hospital wing," Professor McGonagall turned to the entrance, where Peter stood a little uncomfortable.

"You're not eaten!" James blurted out relieved as Peter shifted.

"Eh...no?"

"I assume these are the culprit of your complaints? It should teach you not to eat so much candy," she took in their equally pale and huddled forms on Remus' bed.

"It might be wise to warn your friends next time if you're leaving a nightmarish sight behind," she produced a bar of chocolate and all three of them startled as she snapped it.

"Here, I think it's wise if you take this," James was fairly sure there was a hint of a smile on their Head of House's lips as she gave them all a piece.

"Thank you, Professor," Sirius seemed to be the first to regain his composure as they all stared at her sheepish and offered her a small smile.

"Eat up, I'm aware of how real nightmares can seem when foolish boys do not clean up their mess, leaving all kinds of things to the imagination," she berated Peter, who flushed.

"Why did you dream I was eaten by gummy bears?" Peter asked as he half hid behind the door.

"I don't know...there were gummy bears everywhere and then you disappeared in a pile of them and I just..." Sirius trailed off uncomfortable as everyone stared at him.

"So you were awake?!"

They all turned to Peter, who immediately flushed deeply as he realised he'd said it out loud. "I eh...I thought it would be a fun experience to sleep in a pile of gummy bears so I piled them onto my bed and then I dove into them. When I turned I noticed you were staring at me, but you didn't say anything as you simply turned around so I thought you hadn't been aware of anything."

"It seems Mister Black was in fact aware and in his sleepiness formed a nightmare around the incident," she pocketed the rest of the chocolate.

She turned to the overrun bed and a wave of her wand vanished all the gummy bears.

"Now you should all get some sleep, you will have to be up bright and early again tomorrow morning."

She turned back to them, raising an eyebrow as they remained on Remus' bed.

"Should you not return to your own bed to sleep?"

"No, I think we'll be fine here tonight," Sirius swallowed. "Bed's big enough for the three of us."

James and Remus both nodded quickly to show their agreement and now James was sure McGonagall was trying to suppress a smile as she looked at them.

"Very well, lay down then."

"What?" James couldn't help but ask, even as Sirius and Remus automatically did as they were told.

"It would not do for three of my lions to not pay attention in class tomorrow because they are too tired to concentrate, so I am making sure you actually go back to bed and get some sleep. Lay down Mister Potter," hastily following her orders, he shifted so he was on Sirius' other side and laid down.

Feeling rather surreal he blinked as their Head of House basically tucked them in before turning to Peter.

"I believe that for now, having ...startled your friends is more than enough punishment, but if I find your dorm like this again, you will receive a detention. I expect better from my third year Gryffindors."

"I'm sorry, Professor," Peter looked down bashfully.

"Now get some sleep and I don't want to hear another sound in this dorm tonight."

"Yes, Professor," they all chorused as Peter scrambled to his bed at her stern look.

"Good night, Professor M," Sirius piped up as she moved to the door and a sweep of her wand turned off the lights.

"Good night, Mister Black," McGonagall allowed a small smile as she looked at them before she left the dorm again.

"What the heck just happened?" Remus whispered as he turned onto his side.

"I'm not entirely sure I even want to know," James bit his lip to keep from laughing before he yawned as adrenaline left his body.

"Sorry I woke you both," Sirius burrowed deeper into the blankets and shifted so that he was facing James.

"It's all right, it's quite funny when my heart is not stuck in my throat," Remus chuckled as he shifted so he could wrap his arm around Sirius' waist and James got comfortable as well so that Sirius could curl up against him.

"I'm sorry I scared you all by my actions," Peter called out from his bed.

"Just warn one of us next time you're leaving," James called back.

"Why didn't you wake us in the first place? You know we'd have gone to the hospital wing with you, right?" Sirius asked.

"I know, but you were all sound asleep," Peter apologised.

"How's your stomach now?" Sirius wondered as he shivered and both Remus and James pulled the blankets up a little further, almost burying their friend between them.

"Madam Pomfrey gave me a potion, so it's all better. I'm actually a little hungry," Peter confessed with a small grin.

"Don't you dare eat any candy," Remus growled, making them all chuckle as Peter immediately squeaked, ducking under his covers.

"Let's just get some sleep, McGonagall was right that we need our sleep," James suggested, smiling as they all fell quiet and rest returned to the dorm.

Shaking his head at the sheer absurdness of what had happened, he curled up again and was quickly lured back to sleep by the soft breathing around him and the snores quickly picking up from Peter's bed.

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A/N: I had a weird dream about gummy bears being out to eat me and with a mind full of Marauders, this is the result.