Disclaimer: Here are some handy references for you. I do not own them :)

James Bond - Ian Fleming

Moving Out (Anthony's Song) - Billy Joel

Merry Pranksters - Ken Kensey and friends

Superfly - Curtis Mayfield

"I'm a rocket ship on my way to Mars on a collision course. I am a satellite; I'm out of control. I am a sex machine ready to reload, like an atom bomb about to oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, explode!" – Queen, 1978

Peter Pettigrew thought about jumping in, but decided against it. He wasn't brave enough to get in front of Sirius when he was this mad.

"Padfoot, you need to calm down."

"It's been seven days, seven!"

"Don't you think she's still just sorting it all out on her own?"

"She needs help! And she refuses to accept it! She never leaves that room of hers."

"She's going to lessons, isn't she? Meals in the Great Hall too?"

Peter tried not to wince. It was true, she was, but her sudden need to be alone hadn't gone unnoticed; there were several theories going around the Castle to explain why she wasn't hanging all over Sirius. Of course, none of them were true. But the main one seemed to be that their relationship was causing her to fall behind on her schoolwork and she needed to catch up without his distraction.

"Maybe if I can get her to come tonight, she'll cheer up."

"She doesn't seem to want help at the moment. You have to respect that."

"But you haven't seen the yarn - she's going mental. I need to help her. She shouldn't be alone!"

"Aye mate, it seems she is going a bit mental, but she's going through a lot right now and apparently this is how she deals with disruptive visions. You respected me when I asked space after Marianne."

"But you didn't fuck off for seven days without talking to any of your mates!"

"Well … true."

"… She's looking better. Honestly."

"Prongs – you saw her? Where?"

"Just before Charms today, in the corridor. I didn't know if I should tell you … but now that you know … I think you should give her a little more time. There was some color in her cheeks. Just wait."

"Oh, you too then? Merlin, can't you see? I DID my waiting! SEVEN days of it!"

The dormitory door flew open and promptly slammed shut after Sirius tore down the stairs, taking the Map with him. The remaining three Marauders stood in silence.

"Well," Peter finally remarked, "that certainly went well."

James growled as he straightened the black bow tie of his tuxedo.

"If he wants to sulk, then we should let him."

"Prongs, I know he's been acting like -"

"Moony," James cut in, "drop it." He nervously spun his fake Walther PPK around his finger to try and hide his distress. "Now happy birthday to me - that firewhiskey isn't going to drink itself!"

Before they could protest, the Head Boy shot out of their dormitory and Peter and Remus had no choice but to sprint to keep up with him. Once they reached the Sixth Floor and hurried down a few corridors, they arrived at their destination: a door to a disused bathroom. Peter quickly glanced at James and saw him pull himself together before opening the door and stepping inside.

"Frank, good to see you - and Alice, don't you look lovely!"

As Peter followed James' lead, he couldn't help but admire Lily's attention to detail. The Head Girl had very convincingly charmed and transfigured the old bathroom to look like a modern Muggle city pub, complete with a wooden bar, darts, billiards and a jukebox in the corner. He could tell everyone loved it; groups of costumed guests smoked hand-rolled cigarettes and laughed while they drank their cocktails and danced to the Muggle rock and roll music.

Despite the fun atmosphere, he suddenly felt the need to decompress away from his mates. Peter chose not to say anything before snaking through the throng of people to find his girlfriend.

"Bloody hell."

"Hmm?" Aeryn asked softly. Peter failed to notice her indifference and barreled forward to get it all out.

"Sirius. He's angry and starting to lash out at us - and starting to smoke more cigarettes than she does. And that's saying something. So we finally had an intervention of sorts, to tell him to settle down and get it back together … but he didn't take it well." The Marauder sighed dramatically. "I think he's taking the Castle gossip too personally. He overheard someone say she cheated on him with Gio, since he yelled at him in the Great Hall last week. But for fuck's sake, he knows that's bullocks."

The words stopped tumbling out of his mouth, but Aeryn didn't continue the conversation; she softly tapped her foot to the music and idly stuck out her tongue as she surveyed the crowd. Peter felt confused. Why wasn't she listening to him? Where was the Aeryn he knew, the girl who secretly reveled in the Castle's hottest gossip? And why was her costume a little different than what she'd described to him earlier?

"Er -"

"Will he show up then?"

"Sorry?"

"Will Sirius show up tonight," she repeated, showing that she had been listening despite her bored face.

"I dunno," Peter admitted as he scratched the back of his head. "I hope he does, but you never know. He would skip James' do because of a petty row."

Aeryn lazily raised her brows in agreement, but continued to act slightly disinterested. He tried to entice her with other tidbits and rumors, but not even Miranda's latest tumble down the Hogwarts staircase could grab her attention. The girl was simply elsewhere.

But when the door swung open and a couple more students joined the party, Peter watched his girlfriend's face light up with delight – an expression usually reserved just for him. He followed her gaze and saw Cora, dressed in a large red monstrosity and waving from across the room. Peter's mood darkened. In accordance to the party rules, the girl had dressed as something that started with the same letter of her first name: a core. More specifically, an apple core, fashioned in the same color as Aeryn's three-dimensional fruit costume.

"Did you two plan to match?"

"Yeah. Cora knew how to make us look more like apples. Well I'm the apple. She's the core."

"But I thought we were supposed to match," Peter countered as he looked down at his green robes. "You know, as an apple and a pear."

"We still do."

"But -"

"It was very last minute," Aeryn teased lightheartedly. "Cora didn't have any ideas so I told her she could match with me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go thank her for the Comfort Charms she attached to my shoes – be back in a second!"

As his girlfriend's red heels clacked away, the Marauder felt his jaw drop slightly; his astonishment faded into a warped sense of jealousy as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Cora this, Cora that. Oh Peter, did you see her amazing grab against Slytherin? Did you know that powdered burbur root helps soothe itchy skin? Cora told me that. She's brilliant. She finished her Potions assignment in one hour exactly. Can you believe that? Just brilliant.

Despite his multiple defections with Luciana, Peter apprehensively forced a cigarette into his mouth and huffed tensely as he raised his wand to light the end. It seemed that Cora was the only thing Aeryn cared about these days; Peter and his Merry Pranksters were merely an afterthought.

And he didn't like it. Not one bit.

Meanwhile, Remus Lupin sighed, ran a shaking hand through his hair and tried not to think about the upcoming Full Moon as he ostracized himself in a corner. The werewolf failed miserably, however, when Lily suddenly appeared, sat down in a vacant chair and put a plateful of birthday cake in front of him. The sweet, chocolaty scent tickled Remus' nostrils and he tried to restrain himself from stuffing the entire slice in his mouth.

"Eat," she insisted and pushed the plate closer to him.

Remus pounced on the dessert, unable to contain himself any longer, and devoured it within seconds. When he finally came up for air, he noticed that he had smeared chocolate all over his toga and swore softly. Lily laughed before casting a few cleaning spells under her breath.

"Good as new, Founder of Rome."

"Thanks," he muttered with a slight grin as he wiped his mouth. "How's James doing?"

"Quite well, all things considered." She threw a glance over her shoulder; the birthday boy was busy socializing with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, playfully yelling about his character's trademark Aston Martin. "I do hope Sirius shows, though."

"Me too," Remus admitted. He bit his lip and tried to ignore the aching pain in his chest. Their earlier conversation was almost too much for him to handle tonight.

The noise level settled down as the jukebox flipped to another request and the two Gryffindors processed their conversation in silence. Moving Out echoed throughout the room and the party picked up again. Remus found himself staring at the empty plate.

"It's pretty bad this time, innit?" Lily teased as she levitated over another piece of cake.

"It's not really something I can control," groaned Remus.

"Well you shouldn't turn around then," she said with a knowing smile. "You'll completely lose it."

The werewolf gave her a look that said something like 'Well, aren't you being cheeky?' and chose to ignore her advice. But when he twisted round in his chair and caught sight of Marianne across the room, his fork fell to the floor with a loud clang!

"Told you."

Remus barely heard her voice; he was too entranced. The Ravenclaw wore a vibrant, dark blue Roman toga, white cords holding her draping silhouette in place, and shifted a long skinny pike to her other hand as she greeted someone with a hug. However, it was the red Phrygian cap atop her head that finally gave her costume away. She was Marianne, the personification of liberty and reason and national emblem of the Muggle French Republic.

"She's clever."

"I think it's the first time I've ever seen her wear a color," Remus remarked breathlessly.

"Blue suits her," Lily grinned. "Red too – well, actually, the whole tricolor look is quite lovely." She plucked a fork out of thin air, reached over and stuck it in the cake. "Alright, no need to entertain me any longer. Go to your lady."

"I can't," Remus croaked.

"What do you mean you can't?"

"It would look odd," he pointed out, his hand tightly gripping the table's edge, "if she walked in and then right back out. She has to socialize." He ground his teeth in an attempt to quell his insane desire. "We agreed to meet in an hour."

"Well … I guess that means you have an hour to summarize your feelings on the Death-Cap Draught," Lily said, matter-of-factly. She noticed his confused expression and began to smile. "Judging by the way you inhaled that cake, you're going to need some help distracting your furry little friend."

Remus smiled appreciatively and forced himself to recount a long-winded explanation of the poisonous effects of the dark potion. The pair continued to bicker back and forth about brewing techniques, but Marianne never left Remus' thoughts; the academic conversation barely deterred his salacious cravings. Once an hour passed, he thanked Lily for her kindness, sprinted out of the party and threw open the door to the Room of Requirement. Marianne was waiting for him on their favorite plantation island beach.

An unfamiliar sexual appetite flooded through Remus' body, making him unable to focus on anything other than his tingling manhood. The werewolf staggered towards her and swiftly gave into his feral urges without a word. He wrapped his arms around her and devoured her lips with his own, his tongue swirling around with an eager and desperate passion. She did nothing to slow him down.

Both pairs of hands explored without abandon and strategic knots on their togas quickly became undone. Marianne's fingers dove under his clothes, wandering south with every scorching caress and driving him crazy until she finally touched him intimately. It was then that everything went south; his insecurities roared to life and jolt of painful anguish ripped through his thoughts. He jumped back immediately, stumbling in the sand and desperately gasped for air. The sexual energy between them evaporated.

"Remus? Are you alright?"

"No," he choked.

"What is it?" She lightly placed a hand to his cheek. "I know I was playing a little rough, but it just felt right -"

"Do you realize what we're about to do?" Remus asserted, grabbing her shoulders. "If we decide to … make love …"

He hated himself for pausing to think what that might actually feel like – how wondrous that would be.

"We would possibly make something else. If something happened, if you became p-pregnant -"

"Is that where your mind automatically goes?" Marianne lamented. "You see sex as an act of procreation and not something for pleasure? And connection?"

"I have to. Any offspring of mine has a chance of genetically inheriting my lycanthropy. I could never do that to anyone. I have to … remain a virgin. It's the only way to prevent passing on my curse."

"It's not," she frowned sharply. "There are birth control potions."

"But they aren't 100% effective."

"So maybe we use two methods. There are charms -"

"Marianne," Remus pleaded, "I'm sorry, I can't. I shouldn't have let it go this far – I'm just not r-ready."

The Ravenclaw inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. Her saw a number of emotions – desire, hurt, compassion, stubbornness – flash across her face, but she eventually collected herself and gave him a chaste peck on the lips.

"Alright," she conceded, "I don't mind slowing things down and waiting. I must confess, I don't really know what I'm doing. I'm quite new to all of this."

Remus smiled appreciatively and cradled her in his arms after placing a kiss on the top of her head. As the sky began to blush a shade of pink, the secret lovers sighed, embraced further and watched the fiery sun set over the turquoise Caribbean waters. For one second, however, Marianne wriggled out of his grasp and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Please know, I'm not trying to pressure you … I just want to love you completely - emotionally and physically. So if you change your mind, if you decide you want to … I'm ready."

The werewolf silently nodded his head and kissed her timidly to say thank you, desperately fighting his continuous primal urge to pick up where they left off. Instead of attacking him eagerly as she had done before, Marianne smiled into his lips, pulled away and snuggled back into his embrace as the hot tropical day faded into a cool night.

"Great party!"

"Can't wait for the next one!"

"Thanks, mates. Now be sure to get home safe," James Potter slurred as he shook his finger. "Don't want anyone in charge to catch you out of bed!"

Geoffrey and Josephine doubled up with laughter and attempted to quiet themselves before stumbling into the hallway. James spun around on his heel - almost falling over in the process - and saw Frank and Alice snickering behind their hands. The birthday boy grinned, completely ignoring their looks of amusement and engulfing them both into a big group hug.

"I love you. Do you know that?" he drawled lazily. "I love you."

"We know," Frank laughed as he slapped him on the back, "believe me we know. Happy birthday, ya drunken bastard."

"Take care, James," Alice said as she gave him a goodbye kiss on the cheek. As his two friends moved to leave, the jukebox reached the end of its current song; when another record flipped over, Superfly began to play, slinking out of the speakers with every note. An inebriated confidence washed over James when he zeroed in on his girlfriend, who was delicately pouring drinks for Marlene and Dorcas, some of the last people left. They took their alcohol and walked away and he smirked when Lily turned around and noticed him sitting on the barstool across from her.

"What can I get you, Sir?" she joked. She wiped her hands on the blue apron she wore over her white, hand-sewn lily petal skirt.

"A martini."

"Any particular way?" she asked, barely containing her smile as their impromptu role-play continued.

"Stirred, not shaken. Wait no, bullocks, it's the other way 'round."

Lily broke character and let out a barking laugh in response to his mistake, but still poured a couple of ingredients into a martini shaker. As she agitated the object back and forth, James couldn't help but watch her shimmying breasts and when she caught him staring, she rolled her eyes good-humoredly. She poured the drink into a triangular glass and slid it towards him. He picked up the martini and mimicked his disguise for the evening as best he could.

"Merlin, this is good!" James exclaimed once the drink touched his lips. He coughed, realizing his slip up. "I mean, just like it normally tastes … since I order this all the time." He took another large gulp, partly to prove his point and partly to keep drinking the icy cool mixture. "So do you work here most nights?"

"I do," Lily tittered.

"Excellent," James smirked, "because I need some information on the owner of this place - Dr. Yes. What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing, keep going."

"As I said," he continued after he clearing his throat, "I'm looking for Dr. Yes. I've been sent here to Russia with love from MI16, on the behalf of my boss, N -"

Lily finally broke down as she slapped her knee with glee; her peels of laughter continued until tears started gather in her bright green eyes. When she finally collected herself, she shook her head, circumvented the bar, and stood next to him. His mistakes had ruined their playful role-play, but James still smiled at his fortune and stared up at her lovingly.

"So did you have a good time tonight?" Lily asked as she pushed some of his messy jet-black hair out of his face.

"I did," he grinned.

"Even though Sirius never came?" she asked honestly. Her jovial mood slowly bubbled away, replaced with sincerity. James' smile turned upside down. His best friend's tantrum was something he had been pushing out of his mind the entire night and now it was back to torment him. He turned away from her gaze and as he fixated on a flickering candle across the room, his lip wobbled emotionally. Lily's eyes widened.

"Do you want me to tell everyone to leave? Are you done for the night? We can leave, you know."

"No, no," James replied, shaking his head. "We still have a bit before curfew. I want to be here. And besides, no one is paying attention to us. Not when Bigsby is doing handstands like that. Nutter."

She glanced to confirm and he took a deep breath, his heartbeat slowing down. And then, because it was his birthday and Lily was by his side, James decided to let it all go.

"It's just … frustrating," he finally admitted, "because I know why he's doing it. He may have run away from his family, but he still misses some of them. The good ones. He misses … that comfort you feel when you're around other people you love who help you make sense of it all. He knows he's got it with his mates, but it's something else with Gemma. He's latching onto her like his life depends on it, all in the name of romance … And don't get me wrong, I love her, I really do. She's amazing and a beautiful human being … but their current situation is making him act like a possessive, Fourth Year girl. They go back and forth - her running away because she's too independent and him chasing after her because he's too scared to lose her. And it's just not healthy."

He groaned, tilted his head back and then caught her gaze once more.

"Something has to change, Lily."

"Something will," she reassured.

"Yeah," James responded, "and that's what scares me." He grimaced and looked down at his shiny, black dress shoes. Yet, as soon as he started to feel sorry for himself, his girlfriend hit him in the shoulder. He yelped in surprise and Lily cracked a smile.

"This is not your fault, James Potter," she warned playfully as she wagged a finger in his face. "Not in the slightest. You tried to help him, but he didn't listen. You are not to blame yourself for his actions." Lily's expression slowly turned serious as she placed her hands on his cheeks. "I know this is hard for you, but you're a loyal friend, never forget that. You did the right thing by confronting him about his behavior – just like you did with Remus, might I add - but now it's time to let him figure it out by himself."

"I know," James huffed, "but he's my best mate. He's my brother. I don't want him to do anything stupid."

Lily quickly wrapped her arms around his shoulders; together, they shared James' tremendous emotional burden as another song finished and silence washed over the room. James looked up, expecting another tune to blast out of the speakers, but sadly, the jukebox had finally reached the end of the recent request queue. He exhaled softly - admitting defeat - and returned his head to his girlfriend's shoulder.

As soon as he stormed out on his friends, Sirius Black knew he needed to get drunk; the only problem was that his firewhiskey stash was back in the dormitory. He cursed his stupidity and tucked behind a corner to wait for the other Marauders to leave for the party. As soon as they did, he rushed back inside, reached under his bed to pull out his flask and took a long gulp.

"Ahhhhhh," Sirius sighed, falling back onto his bed. His stomach felt like it was on fire, but he took another swig. He didn't want to feel his feet anymore.

Ten minutes later, he took another swig, but ultimately grew bored; the whiskey wasn't doing the job fast enough. He pulled out his little stash box of tricks and rummaged around until he found the end of an old joint. Sirius then lit it, took a few puffs before it finally went out and melted into the tingling feeling drifting across his forehead. Maybe there was a little trouble he could get into; maybe Snape was close by and he could prank him for old times sake. The thought brought a smile to his face.

"Where can you be, Snivellus?" he pondered, jumping into action and peeling open the different sections of the Map. It didn't take long to find him; he was in the library study area on the Fourth Floor, probably making up some stupid potion. Sirius grabbed his cloak and slightly botched the Disillusionment Charm he cast on himself. He could still feel his feet, but the whiskey was definitely starting to kick in.

Sirius stumbled out of the Common Room and down the stairs towards his target. He tried to avoid running into other students who were minding their own business, but forgot a couple times and almost gave himself away. But nevertheless, he made it to the library and took a moment to collect himself outside the door with another long gulp from his flask.

A hair color changing hex. That's all he'd do. For now.

He tucked into the library, cast a spell to turn Snape's hair bright pink and backed into a shadowy corner to avoid the Slytherin's glare. As Snape made a scene and tried to figure who pranked him, Sirius held back his laughter and tried to sneak out of the library undetected. But he accidentally ran into Rose, his old fling, just before the doors. Thankfully she was alone, but presumably meeting someone to study with.

"Who – who's there?" she gasped, clutching her textbook. "Show yourself!"

"It's just me," Sirius laughed, taking off his camouflage without thinking. His heart began to race with the adrenaline from getting away with his prank. "Nothing to be worried about."

"Sirius," she breathed, taken aback. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm up to no good," he grinned.

"BLACK!" Snape yelled from across the room. "He must have done it!"

Again, without thinking about the consequences, Sirius grabbed Rose's hand and shot of the study room with her in tow to avoid leaving an accomplice. His brain was on autopilot as he led them to the opposite end of the floor to a storage room.

"Quick, in here!" he said, almost giggling.

He didn't notice Rose's wistful expression as he pushed her inside; he barreled in after her and let out a barking laugh after he closed the door and cast a protection spell. When he turned to address her, he found that she was quite close to him. But oddly, Sirius didn't back away. His thoughts were aloof. She grinned and took another step forward, lifting a finger to brush some hair out of his face. He still didn't move. Not even when she lifted her lips towards his and kissed him.

He didn't feel anything at first. It was almost like he was outside his body, watching himself deepen the kiss and wrap his arms around her. But when she moved to nuzzle his neck, he inhaled sharply. He expected to smell Gemma's cinnamon scent, but took in Rose's foreign, woodsy perfume instead and finally jolted back to reality. His conscience screamed at him to stop.

"Fuck!" he yelped, pulling away. "We shouldn't be doing this!"

"Then why else did you pull me into this storage room, if not for a snog?"

"I'm not sure." His heart started to race.

"I should have known," she growled. "As soon as Persephone told me you'd left her, I should have known you'd come back to play your silly games with me."

"Left her?" he questioned. Rose's jaw dropped sharply.

"Wait … wait, no." He dropped his gaze so he didn't have to look her in the eyes any longer. "Merlin, no." She gasped. "I heard a bad rumor, didn't I? You're still with her, aren't you?"

He couldn't bring himself to answer. Rose gave him a hard slap across the face.

"You fucking bastard! How dare you lead me on - and have the nerve to snog me back, while you're still with her! I hope you lose her over this. For good. Because you've certainly lost me!"

And with that, she ran out the door, leaving him drunk and alone. He leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor, putting his head in his hands. Unlike before, he felt present and emotionally torn apart; the tears came easy. Because he knew Rose was right. He was going to lose Gemma over this, for good. There was no way around it. It was all his fault and lying and covering it up would only make it worse. He had to own up to mistake.

After a few minutes of crying, Sirius lifted his head and pulled out the Map to see if anyone was still at the party; it was getting close to curfew, but he had to check if there was anyone he could talk to. He noticed that James, Lily, Peter, Aeryn and a few others were still there, but it was the marker coming up the stairs on the other side of the floor that took him by surprise.

Gemma.

His fingers automatically brushed past her name on the paper and followed her movements. His stomach dropped; fresh tears rolled down his cheeks as James eventually let her inside the party. His chest hurt, but he took her presence as a sign and felt a strange sense of accountability. It carried him up the stairs as guilt, shame, fear, worry and remorse fought against him. He knew she was going to hate him, but he couldn't bring himself to prolong the inevitable. Not after she'd finally felt strong enough to come looking for him.

"Sirius!" Lily called as soon as he entered. "You made it!"

A few other guests turned around to see what was going on, but all Sirius could focus on was Gemma. She was standing alone in the corner and looked down at her fringe moccasin boots before giving him a small smile. He bit his tongue and drew blood as he walked over to her.

"Padfoot!" said Peter. "Where have you been? Oi, you look like shit -"

Sirius didn't say a word and put a hand to his friend's chest to push him aside; he still had tunnel vision for Gemma. Her smile started to waver when she too noticed that he didn't look so great.

"Sirius, are you -"

"I snogged someone."

The Hufflepuff's face burst into topsy-turvy look of surprise. Her drink dropped to the floor and Sirius saw James out of the corner of his eye. Lily held him back from doing anything.

"You what?"

"I'm drunk, alright? I made a mistake. But I can't hide it from you. You don't deserve that."

Gemma took a deep breath and tried to launch into a convincing rebuttal, but no words came out of her mouth. She gasped and ran a hand through her hair, looking away. When the news finally settled in, Sirius watched her quickly plunge into hysteria. She bawled endlessly, sniveling and whimpering with each breath.

"Please, say something."

"Fuck you, Black!" Gemma sobbed from behind her shaking hands. "I never want to see you again!"

She immediately fled and for the first time, Sirius didn't chase after her. He accepted his fate as he clenched his fists and shoved them into his pockets.