O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. examinations had finally ended, and nearly everyone involved had escaped unscathed, save a few victims of potion blunders and mental breakdowns. A celebration was in order. While the rest of the Gryffindor students began their class examinations, the fifth and seventh year students planned an extravagant event to take place in the common room in the middle of the day when all others were in exams or studying in the library.

The Marauders had been put on food and drink duty, for it was well known in their tower that they had some secret method of procuring consumables whenever they desired them. They took the responsibility very seriously.

"Peter, Remus, you two go to the kitchens and get those elves making us some food, since you have the best relationship with them, Wormy. Make sure it's all ready and brought up by 1 o'clock. Sirius and I will head to Hogsmeade for drinks."

Peter mock-saluted James with a "Yessir!" as he and Remus left the dormitory.

"You really are acting a bit like a sergeant," Sirius mentioned as he dug through his trunk for that magical bag Remus had given him last Christmas. It could be filled with ten times as much stuff than one would expect from looking at it, and nothing placed into it would break or move at all until it was taken out.

James already had the invisibility cloak in his robes. "Well, someone has to take charge. Half the House is counting on us." Sirius gave him a pointed look. "Okay, not half the house." Sirius' demeanor didn't change. "Okay, okay. We've done this before and it's not a big deal. I get it."

Sirius smiled, satisfied. "Now, let's get going."

The mission had gone smoothly. They were able to climb into the hole under the hump-backed witch without being seen, though it took them several minutes of forced conversation to find a moment where they could sneak in. They had made it to Honeyduke's in record time, throwing the Cloak over themselves as they climbed into the basement and out through the shop. It was not a busy day for the shops in Hogsmeade, not being a Hogsmeade weekend or a holiday.

They made their way to the Hog's Head first. James remained in the shadows of the alleyway next to it while Sirius took the cloak and entered the pub. He successfully nicked several bottles of firewhiskey, leaving a pile of galleons hidden under the bar. Sirius stuffed the bottles into his bag and left to find James. Together, under the Cloak once more, they walked to the Shrieking Shack. Sirius was going to wait there for James to return from the Three Broomsticks where he was preparing to get a ridiculous amount of Butterbeer. Sirius had packed a few transfigured buckets in his bag for this purpose.

Sirius handed the bag and all of its contents to James before slipping out from underneath the Cloak. He sat in the shadows of the old house and waited for James' return.

"Alright, I've got it," came a voice from somewhere to Sirius' right.

Sirius stood up and looked around. "Where are you, you prat?" A hand flashed in the air about four feet away from him. Sirius reached out and grabbed the liquidy material of the Cloak, following it to the hem and slipping underneath.

"That took longer than I expected," he said as James handed the bag back to him. It felt significantly heavier.

"Yeah, well it wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done."

Sirius nodded in agreement. "Well, it's done now, so let's get back."

They snuck back through Honeyduke's and into the passage underneath. They removed the cloak and stored it back in James' pocket. Their return journey took a bit more time, for Sirius kept lagging behind.

"Alright, mate?" James asked after the fourth time he stopped and waited for Sirius to catch up.

"Yeah," Sirius replied when he had reached James. "Actually… no. I've got something I need to say." He looked up at James with an awkwardness that felt out of place on his face.

James took a deep breath and leaned back against one of the damp tunnel walls, crossing his arms over his chest. "This isn't going to be like that time at the lake last year when you told me you were gay, is it?"

"Actually…" Sirius began. "It is kind of like that, yeah."

James held his ears in his hands. "I told you I don't want to know anything about any blokes you want to shag!"

Sirius slapped him upside the head. James dropped his hands.

"You're going to want to know about this one, mate," Sirius continued as though James had not just been incredibly rude. "And heads up – I'm already shagging him."

"Oh, Merlin," James muttered exasperatedly. "Just get it over with, then."

Sirius suddenly got awkward again. He began fidgeting with his fingers and looking at his shoes. "He wanted to be here with me to tell you," he said to the ground, "but I thought it would be better this way. Coming from me."

James was beginning to feel very nervous indeed.

Sirius took a deep breath and raised his head. "Moony and I, Prongs. We're together." He paused for a moment as James attempted – and failed – to process the information. "Don't go getting all mad now, Prongs. We aren't wrong or disgusting and we won't ever do anything to make you uncomfortable, but it is what it is." He paused again, looking at James desperately, begging him to understand. "I love him, James."

James could only nod dumbly. He really didn't know how to process this information. A part of him hoped it was a joke, but he could tell better than anyone when Sirius was joking, and he definitely wasn't joking right now. After several seconds of painful silence, James knew he had to say something.

"I'm not angry," he began slowly, as though he were trying to puzzle out his emotions as he spoke. "And I don't think it's disgusting or anything. But…."

Sirius had been waiting for that. The big But.

"You know you're jeopardizing the whole group, right?" he questioned. "If you guys break up or have some huge falling out, Pete and me, we're going to have to take sides. We won't be the Marauders anymore."

"I know," Sirius said, "but it's not going to happen like that."

"You can't know that!" James exclaimed, suddenly angry. "It could happen. It could. And you know I would take your side. I care about Remus a lot, but you're my brother, and I'll stick with you 'til the end, Padfoot. I won't like it, but I won't betray you. And you know Wormtail will do whatever I do. It's Remus who's going to get hurt here, mate."

Sirius' face darkened. "It's not going to happen like that," he said defiantly. "I'm not going to leave him, and this isn't going to tear the group apart."

"Okay, okay," James said, holding his hands up in defeat. "I just hope you know what you're doing is all."

"I do, Prongs," Sirius said firmly. "I've never been so sure of anything in my whole life."

"Alright, Padfoot. 'Til the end, mate. I've got your back." James put an arm around Sirius' shoulder, and they began walking on through the passage again. "How long have you two been together then, eh?" James questioned, trying to lighten both his and Sirius' mood.

"Christmas holiday," Sirius replied.

"You've got to be joking! You waited nearly six months to tell me!?"

"It had to be at the right time! And Remus was worried you'd get angry. He didn't want to give you a hernia or anything. We'd just decided recently to tell you at all."

"You weren't even planning to tell me?" James was incredulous, though he wasn't all that surprised. He had gotten angry after all, hadn't he?

"Well, I did, didn't I? So it doesn't really matter what I was planning."

"The planning always matters," James corrected seriously, with a large grin on his face. "A prank is only as good as the planning."

Sirius nodded solemnly.

They reached the end of the passage in silence. James crept through the hump first, wearing the Invisibility Cloak. When the hallway was empty, he removed it and gave Sirius the OK to come out.

As they walked down the corridor in the direction of Gryffindor Tower, James asked, "Are you really shagging him? Like… when I'm sleeping. In the same room."

Sirius smirked. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

Pursing his lips briefly, James answered. "Nope. I really don't."

With the Marauder's help, the end-of-exams celebration was a hit. James had made the mistake of asking Lily out again, and she had hit him with an incredibly strong Bat-Bogey hex. He was now in the hospital wing getting his face repaired. Lily obviously hadn't quite gotten over the incident with Snape earlier in the week. Sirius foolishly thought James would be smart enough to realize that. He had underestimated James' horrible decision-making skills yet again, but other than that, the party was a hit.

As things began to wind down, Remus pulled Sirius aside.

"Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah," Sirius responded quietly. "He's okay with it. Worried we'll break up and ruin the whole group, but he's okay with it."

"Good," Remus said with a small smile. "Did you tell him that wasn't going to happen?"

"Of course I did. Shut him right up!"

"Very good." With a small kiss to the cheek, Remus returned to what was left of their celebration.