AN: Comps and Prompts at the bottom to avoid those pesky spoilers.
The Raspberry Ripple Effect
AlwaysPadfoot
"It's all your fault we're in detention!"
Lily Evans' voice was shrill and Peter was still nursing a hangover from last night so he elbowed James hard in the arm to get his attention.
"Mate, just have some respect for yourself and stop arguing; you're not going to get a date with Lily."
Lily laughed, sarcasm thick in her voice as she flipped her red hair over her shoulder. "Oh, James. The only way I'm going on a date with you is when we get cast down to hell together when I murder you."
And with that, she stood up and moved seats, sitting as far away as she could from the desk that James and Peter had occupied. James wrinkled his nose and pushed his hipster lenses up it before punching Peter in the shoulder, proclaiming that — apparently — Lily had been about to agree on going on a date with him. Rolling his eyes, Peter dropped his head into his arms and closed his eyes. Every noise in the room was grating on him. The boy in the year below clicking his pen behind them; James leaning back repetitively making his chair squeak; the thud of a football hitting the wall outside. Last night was the final time that Peter drank on a school night, at least Sirius didn't have to get up early for school — what with being suspended and all that.
No teacher seemed to be appearing to take the detention either. Peter wasn't surprised. He couldn't think of one member of St Hogwarts Secondary School's staff that wanted to sit with a bunch of troublemakers during their lunch break.
James was just talking about the unwritten rule of them being able to officially leave after fifteen minutes when Peter heard a knock on the window behind him. Frowning, he turned, only to see Sirius Black grinning at him widely. He wasn't supposed to be on school property let alone smoking, which he was making quite clear by showing off and blowing smoke circles.
Peter nudged James. "Look."
"Padfoot, lad," the messy-haired boy exclaimed, pushing his seat back and striding over to the window to push it open.
A cold breeze blew through the room causing several exclamations of irritation before Peter heard Sirius' voice over the noise.
"Prongs, grab Wormtail there and let's blow this joint."
Peter pursed his lips at the use of his nickname. He hated it; everyone else had cool nicknames whilst he was stuck with a dick joke for his. He was about to remind them for the umpteenth time that he loathed it when James was bounding over to pull him to his feet.
"C'mon, let's get out of here before a teacher turns up."
Peter sighed. "My m—we best not get caught bunking off school."
"Don't be a wimp, Peter." James grinned at him, throwing his own bag over his shoulder in unison with Peter. "Let's bail."
Sirius met them on the edges of the football field, in the trees where there was a gap in the fence they could all squeeze through. James and Peter had sprinted across from the nearest building, which incidentally was where the staffroom was located, so Peter was itching to get off school grounds in case they'd been spotted through the heavily graffitied windows. Sirius, however, caught the shoulder of his blazer before Peter could climb through the gap in the fence.
"Hold your horses, P," he said, stamping his cigarette out underfoot. "We're waiting for Remus."
Peter raised an eyebrow, unable to keep the surprise from his voice when he spoke. "You convinced Remus to bunk off school?"
"Well—" Sirius began.
"—he promised me a blowjob. I couldn't very well say no now, could I?"
The three boys turned in unison to see the tallest of the group grinning goofily at them. Remus was wearing a canary yellow coloured beanie and matching fingerless gloves with his school uniform, looking just about as opposite as he could get to Sirius who was in ripped grey jeans and a faded leather jacket.
"Did anyone see you?" Peter asked.
"I'm fast."
That, Peter, knew was true, Remus was the fastest of them all. "Yeah, but you're wearing a yellow hat. You stand out like the fucking Reverse-Flash."
"Did you know that this little wanker proclaims he's faster than our Remy?" Sirius said as he swung an arm around Peter's shoulders and jerked him closer.
Lie.
"When the fuck did I—?"
"When you were smashed off your face this morning."
"Nah, I'd remember that," Peter protested as they left school grounds and headed in the direction of the nearest bus stop.
Sirius proceeded to tell a story that Peter knew was completely falsified. It was a tale of near run-ins with the police and dodgy gangs; a tale in which Peter claimed his strength and speed was far better than even he could imagine. Despite the fact that he knew none of it was true, Peter saw the way Sirius' eyes lit up as he spun the story, and he begrudgingly decided to allow Sirius to convince the others the whole story was true.
In reality, the actual story was far more sobering. Peter and Sirius had gotten drunk alone in the attic bedroom of Sirius' home. His father had come home and Peter had to hide and watch helplessly whilst Sirius' dad had yelled at him, eventually punching Sirius in the stomach before leaving.
"So the plan."
Sirius beamed and clapped his hands together as the boys took a seat on the sixty-three bus of which Peter had no idea what it's route was.
"The plan is: we hit the beach, we eat ice-cream until even Prongs here has a food baby, and if anyone is wondering if I have gone insane: no more than usual."
It was about five degrees outside. Peter wished he had more layers, and yet Sirius wanted to go to the beach. That being said, he was on board for ice-cream. Thanks to the detention he and James had been in, Peter had yet to eat lunch.
The bus journey wasn't too long though. Sirius draped his legs across Remus' lap, smoking again, much to the displeasure of the other passengers. Peter thought it was because he was stressed; that, or Sirius thought he was cool. Peter's thoughts wandered back to the previous night. James had spent the night before being forced to revise for their upcoming maths exam whilst Remus had been unwell so it was always going to be just him and Sirius last night. Peter felt simultaneously concerned and also a tad special to be the only one who knew. He knew the others should know, that Sirius shouldn't have to hide behind elaborate stories, but Peter had seen the look in Sirius' eyes when he begged him not to tell a soul.
He would remain true to his word.
Eventually, his thoughts drifted as the four laughed and joked around. What ice-cream should he have? Would the school even realise they were gone? Probably not. St Hogwarts was no outstanding school; it seemed to always be on the verge of being shut down.
Next thing Peter knew they were sat on a particularly cold stone wall eating ice-cream. He reckoned he could have guessed easily what flavours everyone was going to pick. Initially, he was going to just have something small — that was all he could afford — but then Sirius had pulled his wallet out and brought them all ice-cream. Remus had scoops of raspberry ripple and vanilla; James had mint green ice-cream with chocolate chips; Sirius had bubblegum, which was an unnatural colour of blue. Peter had gone for chocolate and honeycomb.
As the waves crashed at their feet Peter could only think that this was far better than the double history lesson he should be sat in with Remus.
"You know, I might just keep you losers around," Sirius said.
"Fuck off," James huffed. "I'm the leader of this gang."
Peter exchanged a look with Remus, who could see this going just about as well as he could. After loud arguing and James being put in a headlock, Remus was declared victorious as he smacked them both around the head and sat in between them. They bickered a little more and pulled faces across Remus, who looked less than impressed.
"You two are the worst," Remus muttered, still savouring his ice-cream.
Sirius slammed the palm of his hand to his chest, looking horrified. "Remus, I am wounded. I am stricken with grief and I promise—"
There was a whir of a siren and then suddenly their trip to the beach was put into a rather jarring perspective.
"Afternoon, gentlemen," a gruff voice said. "Enjoying your ice-cream?"
All four of them turned in unison to come face to face with two police officers.
"Guys, if I go to prison, my anal virginity won't last a day," Sirius whispered loudly.
"Sirius, you're literally fucking Remus," Peter remarked.
"Exactly, I'm fucking him."
"That's what he wants you to think," Remus sang under his breath causing James and Peter to stifle laughter despite their predicament.
The male officer cleared his throat. "Right, come on lads. Time to go back to…"
"St Hogwarts," the female chipped in.
"Could I bribe you in some way, Officers…. Moody and Tonks?" Sirius grinned. "I have money but if that's not your style I give great ora—"
Remus clapped a hand across Sirius' mouth, saving them all the embarrassment of Sirius' so-called banter.
"Good save, son," Officer Moody said.
Peter's heart was beating triple time. His social worker was going to be pissed off and they were all going to get in trouble at school, and yet Peter wasn't worried about either. He was worried about Sirius' dad's reaction when the police brought him home. Officer Moody was just about to radio for another car when Peter cleared his throat.
"Actually, Officer, you can't take my most idiotic friend back to school, he's been suspended."
Sirius pulled a face at Peter. "Rude, I know you meant me."
"Good," Peter said, maintaining eye-contact with Sirius, trying to convey his worry. "It was supposed to be obvious."
Officer Moody checked by ringing the school, and since Sirius wasn't doing anything wrong, the officers allowed him to leave to make his way back home on the bus. Remus, James, and Peter, however, weren't as lucky. They were hauled back to St Hogwarts and read the riot act by Miss McGonagall. She claimed they would all be in detention for the remaining weeks of term and that they should consider themselves lucky they weren't being suspended.
As Peter left school that day, dragging his feet because his social worker would be at home, he felt his phone buzz repetitively in his pocket.
Thanks for today Peter. I know why you did that.
I'm lucky I have you guys.
Don't tell anyone I said that; they'll think I'm soft. Don't let your social worker give you too much of a bollocking.
See ya x
Comps and Prompts
Assignment #7: Careers Advice Quidditch — Task 1: Write about a protector
IHC - 986. Food - Ice-Cream
365 - 364. Word - Victorious
Going Going Gone - 5. Remus Lupin
TV Addicts - Write an AU where your characters are at a stereotypical Muggle comprehensive school (bonus prompt), (dialogue) "If I go to prison, my anal virginity won't last a day.", (scenario) bunking off school, (word) exam
Scavenger Hunt - Write a gift fic for Sophie (Screaming Faeries; a nomad).
Film Festival - 17. Character - Compulsive liar.
Gobstones - White Stone - Risk-Taking (13. (character) Lily Evans, 9. (dialogue) "And if anyone is wondering if I have gone insane: no more than usual.", 6. (dialogue) "The only way I'm going on a date with you is when we get cast down to hell together when I murder you.")
WC - Character Appreciation - 43. Genre: Humour
WC - Disney - 7. Rabbit - Action - Stamping your foot.
WC - Creature Feature - 2. Harpy - (word) shrill
WC - Book Club - Mister Nancy: (action) smoking, (object) yellow gloves, (word) sarcasm
WC - Showtime - Entr'acte/Marilyn Monroe 2 - write about eating ice cream..
WC - Days of the Month - World Rat Day - Write about Peter Pettigrew in a positive light (10 points)
WC - CYB - 4. Wallet (o), 2. "Did anyone see you?"(d), 2. Respect (w)
WC - Ami's Audible Admirations - 18. Don't joke about the Full Moon - Character: Remus Lupin
WC - TV Show of the Month - TVotM: Sid Jenkins: (character) Peter Pettigrew, (colour) green, (trope) loveable geek.
WC - MMU CBP - 2. Style: write an ensemble fic (more than four major characters)
Word Count: 1850