Peter

Peter had a very strange two weeks following Halloween. And not just because he had to spend every evening re-potting hundreds of plants with Remus, and the second week cleaning out stables with Sirius. The really strange bit was that't he'd never once seen the horses that where apparently put in the stables over night. Not once in his 5 years at Hogwarts.

Remus insisted on talking about James and Evans. Pointing out all the little things he'd noticed James do and worrying about how the Halloween prank was really getting James down.

"Of course it's getting him down. The girl of his dreams suffered a night of Horrors thanks to him." Peter yelled so Remus would hear him though the earmuffs.

"How do you know it was a night of Horrors?" Remus yelled back. "Has she spoken to you about it?"

"No. She hasn't spoken to anyone about it. But I know because I suffered though a night of Horrors."

"Oh right." Remus sighed. "I'm really sorry about that."

"It's not your fault. You didn't want to pull the prank in the first place."

"But I didn't try very hard to stop it either." Everyone knew that Remus was being eaten up inside about the prank, because he couldn't be everyones knight in shining armour that night. Only McKinnon's. Which Peter found incredibly unfair.

While he sat, petrified in the Great Hall and was forced to watch as the food came to life and started to cannibalise each other, Remus was out rescuing naked girls.

"Sirius seemed to forgive you pretty quickly about the Marleen thing." He said once the topic of James and his failed endeavours ran dry.

"To be honest, I don't think he ever really cared."

"Probably more upset that you won't tell him what she looks like naked then the fact that you've seen her naked." Peter laughed.

"I think you where right, Pete."

"Of course I was. What about though?"

Remus laughed, but Peter couldn't hear it. Just saw the shoulders lifting and falling in his peripheral vision.

"The whole James and Lily versus Sirius and Marleen thing."

"I told you, I have a pair of working eyes. Anyone could have seen I was right."

"I didn't." Remus admitted. "Probably never would have if you hadn't said something."

"That's because you're daft." Peter joked causing Remus to toss a handful of soil at him, adding to the already prominent mess. "And because you don't have a single romantic bone in you're very boney body."

The next day, at the second of 16 bloody detentions Remus insisted on keeping the conversation going.

"What did you mean when you said I don't have a single romantic bone in my body?" Merlin, why where they discussing this? Why weren't they discussing Quidditch or boobs. If only he'd have gotten paired with James then they could have talked about Quidditch and boobs, even if it was Evan's boobs.

Instead he was seated here, covered in soil, trying to explain romance to someone who had complained for months on end about that one muggle play he'd seen with his Parents over the summer. The one with the girl, Mary? Maria? who's lover killed her brother.

"You think friendship is the most important thing there is." Peter sighed. They where done with the Mandrakes, which meant no more ear muffs and no more yelling, but this new plant kept trying to escape it's pot.

"It is." Remus insisted.

"Yes, it's important but-"

"You think James would ever choose Lily over us?" Remus was getting unreasonably upset.

"No. Of course not."

"See!"

"Remus, will you listen to me for a second. I'm not saying friendship is one of the greatest kinds of relationships, but you're reaction right now proves my point entirely. You can't even begin to imagine that there might be another kind of love that just as magical."

"You're right. I can't." And that was it for a while. There was no more talk of James and Evans or of romance. Which would have been fantastic, however there was very little talk of anything for the rest of the week. Peter even started to worry that he'd somehow offended Remus.

The following week wasn't much better. Why of why couldn't he be stuck listening to James go on and on about Evans instead.

"Do you think Remus fancies McKinnon?" Sirius asked while they where severing dung stained hay into a wheelbarrow.

"No. Do you want to talk about the invisible horses that live here instead?"

"Becasue, you know, they talk between classes sometimes and he calls her 'Marleen'."

"Yup. And their's a creature on the Hogwarts gourds that no one has ever seen before and produces a hell of a lot of shite."

"Is he worried that I will mind? Because I don't mind, you know, I really don't. Why wouldn't he tell me?"

"I'd even go so far as to say it was a herd. An entire heard of creatures that no one has ever seen."

"It's because he thinks I'm a bad friend, isn't it? Am I a bad friend?"

Peter had to admit it had been rather amusing how Sirius could keep talking with out hearing a word Peter had said. However, he also though it was rather annoying especially now that they where back to Sirius's weird insecurity about how good of a friend he was. Where had that even come from? Peter was pretty sure that up until the beginning of their 5th year Sirius had been convinced he was the very best friend there ever was (Not including James of course).

"You're not a bad friend." Peter assured, hoping, yet doubting, that that would be the end of it.

"Maybe not. But I'm not a good friend either." Sirius sighed, having suddenly gained the power of hearing.

"Sure you are. You hexed that Ravenclaw that made fun of me in second year and you have James's back though everything he dose."

"What about Remus? What have I ever done for remus?"

"You mean other than bring him chocolate after the full moon every month? You've done plenty, Sirius. Now can we please talk about the invisible herd who'd shite we've been shovelling for the past hour?"

That seamed to set Sirius's mind at ease for a while, for which Peter thanked Merlin. He didn't know how much more of this 'being the supportive friend' he could take.