Peter Pettigrew did not like Lily Evans—not one bit. He was honestly quite indifferent to her until James finally secured a date. Now, he couldn't help but be aware of her. James was with her practically every second of every day. Sirius and Remus were most definitely more than bad enough in Peter's opinion, but now he had two obnoxious couples to deal with. The worst part about the whole thing was the fact that Peter was utterly alone now. Before, when Sirius and Remus would go off to do Merlin knows what, Peter would at least have James (when there weren't any quidditch practices of course). But now James was cuddling up to Lily, and Peter was left alone with his status as the only single Marauder (and it didn't seem like that would be changing anytime soon). The blonde boy sighed and turned his attention to his Transfiguration essay. He sighed again as he finished his third foot of parchment—he needed at least five. N.E.W.T.s were going to be absolutely unbearable, Peter thought; especially since all his academic help was busy snogging.
Seventh year was turning out to be the nightmare he had sincerely hoped it wouldn't be. At this rate, the rat-animgaus wasn't sure if he should be looking forward to graduation or not. In an effort to ease his abandoned feeling, Peter thought about the next full moon. They'd always have the full moon, he thought. He smiled a little sadly and went back to his essay.
The next full moon arrived quickly to Peter's secret delight. Lily was momentarily forgotten as the three animagi slipped under James's invisibility cloak. Remus hurried to the Whomping Willow in front of them. Peter shifted into a rat as they waited the proper five minutes before he darted out through the thrashing branches. He pressed the knot; the boys ran into the tunnel. James and Sirius threw the cloak off themselves, scooped up Wormtail, and quickly made it to the Shrieking Shack. Remus—still in human form—was waiting for them. "Ready for a fun night, Moony?" The werewolf smirked (a bit bitterly).
"Always, Prongs." James shifted into a stag; Sirius, after stealing a kiss from Remus, shifted into a dog. The amber boy smiled at his friends before feeling the familiar tug on his humanity. His skin rippled; his fangs lengthened; and Moony came out. The four oddly matched animals stalked out of the shack and into the night. Although the war continued to rage on in the real world, the Marauders went through the night as they always had. Seventh year had brought them newfound maturity, but for the full moons they were still carefree pranksters; they were still Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs.
To Sirius it felt like fifth year all over again. Because of the impending doom of N.E.W.T.s at the end of the year, Remus was once again practically living in the library. The animagus had tried following his boyfriend to the library, but Remus would have none of it. 'I can't have you distracting me,' the werewolf said. 'You should be studying too,' the amber boy said. So Sirius was most decidedly in a sulk as he ate his eggs. "Are you really going to spend all day in that stuffy library again, Rem?" Sirius snaked an arm around his boyfriend's waist.
"N.E.W.T.s are only a few months away!" The animagus rolled his eyes. "You should be studying too, Pads."
"With these Black genes, studying would just be a waste of time." Remus laughed a little and slid a bit closer to Sirius. "Besides, I think of quite a few things we could be doing instead of studying." Sirius, not one for subtlety, was about to go into detail when his eyes caught something unpleasant. Heading directly for the Gryffindor table was a regal looking owl clutching a letter than bared the Black family crest. "Oh bollocks." Sirius caught the letter and ripped it open. The expression on his face quickly changed from one of suspicion to one of sadness. "Uncle Alphard's dead?" Remus, who had rarely heard his boyfriend mention any of his family with such affection in his voice, was extremely confused.
"Uncle Alphard?" Sirius, who had momentarily forgotten his friends, smiled.
"Yeah. He was great—even after all the 'blood traitor' stuff. He was never really a conventional Black." His eyes darted down to the letter. "He left me 500,000 galleons." The Marauders' eyes (and Lily's) all widened.
"I knew the Blacks were rich, but wow mate."
"And that's not even close to half of the combined fortune." James laughed as Lily's eyes widened even further.
"Guess you won't be bumming off my parents anymore." Sirius shook his head and stared at the letter again. What in the world was he going to do with 500,000 galleons?
"With money like this, I could probably get my own flat." Sirius smiled down at his Uncle Alphard's kindness. "Hell, I could buy a cute little country house; wouldn't that be nice, Moony?" The werewolf blushed.
"I think a flat's just fine, Pads." Sirius, after looking at it one last time, folded the letter and put it into his bag.
"A flat it'll be then." Remus's flush darkened; he wasn't exactly serious. "What do you think of Diagon Alley? Or Hogsmeade? Or—"Remus placed a hand over Sirius's mouth.
"I think we still have plenty of time to think about it. Besides, you should be worrying about N.E.W.T.s now." The animagus rolled his eyes and pushed Remus's hand away.
"Didn't I already tell you that Blacks don't need to study?"
"Well if that's the case, then it looks like I'll be heading to the library by myself." Remus gave Sirius a quick kiss before leaving the Great Hall.
"That absolute snake." The pureblood shook his head and returned his attention to his breakfast. He'll keep Remus all to himself once these pesky exams are over, he thought. Sirius smiled—he'll most definitely have Remus all to himself once they get that flat together.