Sirius barked a laugh as he played with the edges of his robes. His fingers were always moving, noted Remus. Tapping along the edges of desks, gesturing wildly in the midst of speeches, twisting together when he'd forgotten something, searching along his arms when he didn't think anyone was watching. Now they danced through the air as he made a joke, and Remus reminded himself to laugh and play along.
"Come on you lot," said Remus with a fond smile, his nose wrinkling at the smell of fire whiskey, which he pretended not to notice. "Time for Transfiguration." Peter was the first person to respond, dropping his half eaten toast onto the plate in front of him and standing. James took another gulp of what the rest of the room thought was pumpkin juice, before rising slightly unsteadily to his feet. Sirius bounded up, jostling against the table in his rush to do something, in his need to be constantly distracted from himself. Remus saw all of this, and ignored it.
Peter just wasn't hungry today.
James only wanted to make class more interesting.
Sirius simply hated being bored.
And Remus himself was only a monster one day out of the month.
They had the attention of the rest of the Great Hall as they rose and walked together between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables. James gave a broad wink to Lily, and proclaimed her the love of his life for the twelfth time that week. Sirius slung his arm around his best mates somewhat wobbly form, tugging him away from Lily and her friends. Peter pitched in various words of comfort and support as she screamed about his uselessness. Peter was always best at calming him down, and re-boosting his ego. All of theirs, really.
The rest of the hall watched them walk with varying degrees of envy. The four Marauders, brilliant troublemakers who could get almost any girl, who could make even Professor McGonagall laugh. Remus only wondered if all perfection looked like this much of a mess from the inside.
I'm considering making this into a proper chaptered story- think its worth it? Hope you enjoyed!