Chapter 45

James collapsed on the ground with a huff of laughter. "I told you it was gonna be fun," he said, letting his head flop to the side as he peered up at Sirius and Remus where they were perched on Remus' bed. Remus rolled his eyes and leaned over to grab his book and glasses from the bedside table. Sirius grinned dopily at Remus, seemingly not paying attention to James anymore, now that he had permission to openly stare at Remus.

James rolled his eyes. Not like that ever stopped him staring before.

The two had been dating (!) for two weeks, but it felt like it had been longer. Not much about their relationship had really changed (at least on the outside that James could see – he did not want to think about what went on behind doors), but now it seemed Sirius had become even more enraptured by Remus than usual. Which James hadn't thought possible, but then, he'd had money on them only getting their act together after they had left Hogwarts.

And even then, it was patchy as to whether they would have ever moved past pathetically pining for each other from afar (not even that far – their beds weren't even two feet from each other!).

"Yeah, yeah Prongs. You were right, we were wrong." Peter rolled his eyes as he trudged over to the bathroom, trailing mud across the floor. "No-one disturb me for at least an hour. I've got mud in places I didn't know I had," he muttered darkly as he closed the door behind him. He could be heard clattering about in the bathroom and there was a woosh of water before the pipes gave an ominous rattle and Peter let out a squeak.

"I forgot to mention!" James yelled, "The hot water isn't working!"

"Fuck you, Prongs!" Peter yelled back, and James could hear him cursing under his breath.

He laughed, clutching his sides as his wet hair flopped into his eyes.

James looked up at the other two with laughter in his eyes, only to find them wrapped up in each other. Remus was cross-legged on the bed, his book in one hand and his other tangled in Sirius' hair where his head was rested on Remus' shoulder. Sirius was wrapped around Remus from behind, holding his waist as he read over his shoulder. As James watched, Remus scratched Sirius' scalp with his fingernails, and the other boy buried his face in Remus' neck.

James was going to get a cavity if this continued any longer. He rolled his eyes and decided to call it a night.

Hauling himself off the ground, James slumped over to his bed (he may sleep in the Head dorms now, but that didn't mean he didn't keep a bed in the Marauder's dorm – it was a Full Moon tradition to spend the night after together). He launched himself into the air and landed on his stomach. Bouncing for a bit, he flipped over onto his back and looked up at the hangings, using his feet to manoeuvre his shoes off. They landed on the floor with twin thuds and James scooted further up his bed.

As he rolled back onto his stomach, his eyes fell on the book sitting innocuously on the bedside table. The title on the spine had been smudged enough to make it unreadable, and the front cover had been mended a few too many times with magic; but it was obviously a treasured possession.

James picked it up, flicking to the front title page once again. He traced his fingers over the faded blue ink.

Hermione Jean Granger.

The bathroom door opened with a slam and James dropped the book, scrambling upright to see a soaking Peter Pettigrew standing grumpily in the doorway. His hair hung bedraggled down his neck, dripping into his shirt, and his clothes stuck to his skin.

James grinned at him. "Nice shower?"

Peter's hooded eyes narrowed at James and before he knew what was happening, Peter had flung himself across the room and tackled James to the bed. James got the wind knocked out of him with a woosh, and couldn't get his breath back before nimble fingers started assaulting his sides.

It was common knowledge amongst the Marauders that the best way to get James Potter to concede, was by tickle fight to the death.

James let out a shriek of laughter, trying to buck Peter off him, but Peter hung on valiantly, ruthlessly tickling his sides as he cackled madly.

Unnoticed by the two wrestling boys, was Remus rolling his eyes and pulling his fingers from Sirius' hair to pull the curtain closed. Sirius' whine in protest was cut off as Remus applied privacy charms to the drapes.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

When James had caught his breath, and he and Peter lay side-by-side on the bed, Peter spoke. "What's this?" he asked.

James rolled over to see Peter studying Hermione's book curiously. He pulled himself up into a sitting position against the headboard and tugged the book over to himself. Peter sat up next to him.

James fingered the cover. He stifled a yawn. "It's Hermione's."

"Hermione's?" Peter asked quizzically, taking it from James gently. He turned it over in his hands. "Why do you have it?"

James yawned and manoeuvred his legs under the blanket. "She left it in the common room last week. Haven't had time to give it back."

Peter furrowed his brow, studying the pages carefully. He looked up. "I could give it to her?"

James burrowed down into the bed, mumbling sleepily, "Yeah, sure Wormtail. Whatever you want."

With a snore, James fell asleep and Peter was left staring down at the book in his hands.

"Yeah," he murmured. "Whatever I want."

A/N: I love these boys. I feel like there needs to be more appreciation of just how much they valued each other. Oftentimes, Peter is treated like an outsider, but from what we know of them - he definitely was not. Any outsider-feelings were his own insecurities, and I hope to convey that here.

Also. James is Wolfstar trash :)