Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and make no money out of the writing of this fic.

Summary: "Their daring, nerve and chivalry set Gryffindors apart." Larry, a hufflepuff seeking to be friends with the marauders finds out that there are, in fact, other things also that set gryffindors apart. Marauder's Era!

Story: Of friendship, Loyalty and Warts.

Two loud voices were arguing.

"SHE DID TOO!"

"JAMES, YOU ARSE! LILY EVANS WOULD NOT WINK AT YOU IF YOU MIXED A CAULDRON FULL OF LOVE POTION IN HER DRINK!"

"SHE WOULD TOO! SHE'S JUST TOO SMART TO DRINK ANYTHING I GIVE HER!"

Peter, Remus and Larry reached them. It turned out to be two boys standing on top of two armchairs, fists clenched, obviously furious at each other.

Larry looked inquiringly at the two, a little bit frightened.

"James and Sirius," Remus said by way of introduction.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" Larry asked uncertainly as all the Gryffindors standing around them were looking quite unconcerned. They had cleared a 3 meter radius around the two, as the noise level beyond a certain distance was rather uncomfortable. "They look really angry. They might hurt each other."

Peter shook his head.

"Why?" Larry demanded.

"It's easier this way," Peter told him.

"LISA McCARTHY IS FAR PRETTIER THAN LILY EVANS!"

"Thanks, Siri!" a female voice called out from somewhere in the common room. Larry turned to see a really beautiful brunette smiling at the boy with long hair. Sirius turned briefly towards her and winked, flashing a smile. Then he turned back towards James with a scowl. James scowled back.

"NO ONE IS PRETTIER THAN LILY EVANS!"

"WELL YOU BETTER MAKE YOUR LILY RETURN THE SPECIAL POWDER I DESIGNED! I WORKED HARD TO CREATE IT!"

Larry felt a stab of sympathy for him. It really sucked to have hard work go to waste.

"YOU DIDN'T WORK HARD OVER IT, YOU GIT! YOU MADE IT BY MISTAKE WHEN YOU DROPPED BULBADDOX POWDER IN FLOO POWDER!"

"YEAH WELL IT'S IMPORTANT!"

"IT MAKES PEOPLE SNEEZE IF THEY INHALE IT!"

"QUITE SPECTACULARLY! HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYONE SNEEZE 67 TIMES IN A ROW?"

"YES I HAVE, THANKS TO YOU!"

"IT GOT YOU OUT OF TROUBLE WITH FILCH A FEW DAYS BACK!"

"THAT WAS NOT YOUR STUPID POWDER! THAT WAS BECAUSE YOU SPILLED YOUR "SPECIAL POTION" ON HIM AND HE SPROUTED PINK BOILS!"

Sirius drew back, a contented smile on his face.

"Yeah, that was fun."

James was grinning too. "And you said it would just turn his skin blue."

Sirius frowned. "Hey where'd I put that?"

James jumped of the arm chair, looking up at Sirius. "I'll help you look for it."

Sirius jumped down alongside and both boys strode out, huddling close and discussing something in whispers. "You know, Sirius, if we put a little bit of…"

Larry was looking stunned.

"Is this…normal?"

"Yes." answered a few gryffindors standing around, nodding. They were nonchalantly filling up the space now that the yelling males were gone.

Peter put a reassuring arm around Larry.

"You'll get used to it."

Larry sat down for breakfast with Peter, Remus, James and Sirius. The latter two were looking extremely gleeful, the other two were looking slightly wary.

Larry smiled politely at them. Remus and Peter smiled back. James and Sirius seemed preoccupied. Larry tucked in. The food was delicious as usual. There was a huge Swan shaped pudding today, magnificent in it's size – it was easily as tall as a man- and design. He took a bite. It tasted amazing too!

After a while, he sneaked a look at the other two.

Sirius was engaged in giving a Slytherin across the table a time honored gesture and James was smirking.

Larry looked from the boys to the Slytherin, who was now smiling rather nastily and reaching for his wand. Larry got worried.

"Uh guys," he said urgently, shaking Remus's arm, pointing to the Slytherin. "He might cause trouble. Hadn't we better inform the prefects?"

Peter snorted into his pudding and Remus smiled tolerantly and shook his head. "He's after those two, not us, don't worry."

Larry frowned. "But they're your friends! Shouldn't you help them?"

Remus was still smiling. "Oh no."

"But what if they really get hurt? That boy looks mean. James and Sirius could-and they don't even seem to have their wands with them!" He was seriously alarmed.

Remus once more shook his head looking quite amused. "Watch."

Larry settled down reluctantly, feeling quite peeved. And gryffindors were supposed to be loyal friends! Poor James and Sirius! Didn't they know some students could be quite unscrupulous in such matters?

He watched helplessly as the Slytherin, a look of fury on his face, discreetly pointed his wand in James and Sirius's direction and muttered something. Larry winced.

Then, 5 feet to their left, the pudding exploded.

Right on the Slytherin, covering him from head to toe in pudding-mess.

Larry blinked rapidly. But the curse couldn't have misfired like that! It was a whole different direction. James and Sirius were exchanging hi-fives and rolling around with laughter. The Slytherin looked apoplectic. Remus and Peter were watching serenely, smiling slightly.

The heads of the houses were hurrying towards the mess, looking furious. But, for some reason, the heads of Gryffindor house and Slytherin house were glaring at James and Sirius who were blinking innocently. James held his hands up, criminal style and mouthed "No wands."

"Remus, get up," Sirius informed the Marauder.

It was night time in the gryffindor common room and Sirius had been searching frantically for something for the past several minutes.

Larry had received special permission from the headmaster to bunk with the gryffindors for a week. He would sleep in their dorm and sit at their table. The headmaster had easily granted permission in the interest of inter-house unity and friendship. It was an interesting experiment.

James was reading a book, or what everyone hoped was a book. Remus was rereading his charms essay. Peter and Larry were chatting.

Remus was smiling without looking up from his work. "No."

Sirius looked slightly annoyed. "Moony, you better get your arse out of that chair right now! I know you're hiding my wand behind that cushion."

Remus looked at him finally, frowning slightly. "I will not! This is payback."

Sirius looked puzzled. "Payback for what?"

Remus glared. "You hid my Divination book yesterday! I had to go to class without it!" Then he smiled serenely. "It's only fair that you wait a few minutes for your wand till I'm done with my homework."

Sirius drew back. He stared at Remus for a minute then nodded. "Fair enough."

Remus relaxed and savored his much to rare victory over the other marauder.

Then Sirius turned towards James and raised an eyebrow. "Prongs?"

James also nodded without looking up and pointed his wand at Remus, who floated lightly halfway towards the ceiling.

Remus gave a cry of outrage and threw his hand up in exasperation as he bobbed up and down in midair.

Sirius calmly recovered his wand. "Thanks mate."

James looked up long enough to wink at him. "Anytime, mate."

He let Remus down and Remus bopped gently down on the chair.

Larry was staring with his mouth open.

"W-was t-that a non-verbal spell?"

James looked at him uncomprehendingly. "Yeah so?"

"B-but that's really advanced stuff! And that spell was dangerous! What if he'd fallen from the air? We haven't done nonverbal spells yet!"

James didn't understand what he was getting at. "So? We've been doing non-verbal spells since forever. And that was comparatively simple."

Larry looked uncertain. Somehow, he had trouble imagining James and Sirius being intelligent.

Peter and Remus were nodding. "Yeah they have been doing non-verbal spells for a long time."

Larry excused himself hastily. He liked being on the ground, thank you very much.

"SIRIUS JACKASS BLACK! GET IN HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Larry whirled around as soon as he heard Peter scream. It was a nice, sunny Wednesday morning and they had all just dressed for going to class. Peter had doubled back because he had forgotten a book.

They all went back in when they heard Peter scream. Peter's hands were covered in large purple warts that were beginning to sprout tentacles. Peter was, understandably, looking quite furious.

"What did you put in your sock, you git?" he asked through clenched teeth.

Sirius was looking interestedly at the hands, watching the tentacles' growth. "What the hell were you doing with my sock anyway, Pete?"

Peter turned slightly read. "I was looking for…for your Herbology essay…"

Sirius raised an amused eyebrow. "Haven't I told you not to snoop through my stuff, Wormtail?"

Peter looked sulky. "Well you let James do it."

Sirius gave him a flat look that plainly said that he wasn't buying it. "James does a lot of other things too, Pete. You wanna try all those sometime?"

Peter was looking quite panicked as the tentacles grew too quickly for his taste.

"I'm sorry, Sirius! I swear I'll never touch any of your stuff again!"

Sirius crossed his arms and appeared to consider it. Larry couldn't take it anymore. He stepped forward.

"Umm, go on, fix it already, Sirius…he's your friend."

Sirius looked coolly at the Hufflepuff. They had not taken a great liking to each other from the beginning and had barely spoken a word to each other. Sirius thought he was a bit of a pansy and Larry thought Sirius was a bit of an ass.

"I don't think so, Larry. Peter here needs to learn not to snoop."

Peter was on the verge of tears now. "Sirius, this feels weird! Please do something!"

Sirius looked unconcerned. "Hmmm I think I'll leave you like that for today, Pete. You know I hate people snooping through my stuff."

Remus stepped in hesitantly. "Sirius, look-" Sirius held up hand. He was looking quite pissed. "No, Moony. Not this time."

Remus turned appealingly towards James. "James, tell him something."

James shrugged. "Sorry no can do, mate."

Peter had begun sobbing softly now. Larry looked devastated. He immediately put an arm around the boy and glared at James and Sirius. "What's the matter with you two? Can't you see how upset he is? He's crying!"

James and Sirius both shrugged. "Pete cries at the drop of a hat."

"Sirius, I swear if you don't do something, I-I'll-"

Sirius raised and eyebrow. "You'll what?"

Peter fumed. "I'll go to the hospital wing and get it fixed!"

Sirius smirked. "You can try."

Larry looked scandalized. "Would you really let your friend spend the whole day in agony like that?"

James and Sirius looked at him dubiously. Agony? It didn't exactly hurt him…

"Sure," Sirius told him.

Larry lost it. "That's it! I'm done! Gryffindors are- are cruel and reckless and- and you don't know the first thing about friendship and you don't care for anyone- and I don't know why gryffindor loyalty is such a big deal coz you don't know the meaning of the word loyal…you don't bother to help your friends when they're in trouble and I think it was a big mistake trying to be friends with you!"

He stomped away. Remus was looking rueful, Peter was looking surprised and James and Sirius were looking unconcerned.

Remus sighed. "Well, it could've been worse."

Next morning, Larry was back at the Hufflepuff table. Looking over as the Marauders entered, he noted with

relief that Peter's hand was tentacle and wart free. Amanda, a fellow Hufflepuff who was sitting next to him, saw where he was looking.

"Do you miss being with them?"

Larry shook his head vigorously. "No, not at all. I mean Remus and Peter are pretty decent but the other two…"

He looked at her and smiled. "I think our house is far better. At least we help each other out, when there's a fight between friends, people bother to try and smooth things over."

He sighed. "I guess some people just don't understand the meaning of friendship."

A/N: Reviews appreciated!