It's 3am and the fifth-year Marauders are star gazing out by the still pitch-dark mirror of the Black Lake, piled up on an enlarged picnic blanket and huddled under a huge quilt James charmed out of some house elves.
A waxing moon is bright enough to illuminate individual blades of grass and the far-off castle, even the spires of the Quidditch pitch. Winter break was long enough ago that the boys are now itching for some freedom and have taken to sleeping outside despite how Merlin-forsaken cold it is.
"Stop, Moony," James complains, rolling away into Sirius.
On the other side of Remus, Peter sucks in a sharp breath when the motion pulls the edge of the blanket up from where he'd tucked it around him. Cold air hits his left side and he quickly yanks it back down and shivers despite being fully dressed in warm clothes. "Eat him without moving so much."
"Sorry," Remus mutters, doesn't stop shoving his face into James' neck to breath him in. "I think I'm hungry."
"I am not veal!" James yells up at the stars.
Sirius laughs and reaches over James to shove Remus' head away. "You are too far from a full moon to be trying to lick James."
"I think it's the honey soap you use," Remus guesses, shakes Sirius' hand out of his hair. "Or Moony really is getting too close."
"Your period is five days too early," Sirius snickers.
Remus shows teeth and the fake growl is real enough to vibrate through James' shoulder where they're pressed together.
"I'm going to go lie next to Peter, who's the only nice one here." James huffs and grips the edge of the blanket but isn't brave enough to pull it off. It's cold enough for his nose to hurt.
Peter frowns up at the sky. "I think I need to piss."
"Damn, so do I," James realises.
"You can piss together," Sirius says like he's come to some incredible realisation.
"Good luck," Remus muses. "Don't die in the forest."
There's no movement for a long time.
James groans. "Come here, Peter, let me hold your dick." And, just to make sure everyone is suffering, flips as much of the blanket off as possible.
Sirius shrieks at the freezing cold, Remus scrambles for the blanket and James makes his escape, crawling up and almost stabbing himself on the pile of wands.
(Sure, they could have used warming charms, but that somehow detracts from the full experience of sleeping outside.)
Remus and Sirius roll together and pull the blanket tight over them to try and retain as much warmth as possible.
James is shivering already as he edges around Remus' head. Peter jokingly holds up his hands but James isn't one to let a dare pass by and grabs a hold, quickly dragging Peter towards the Forbidden Forest.
Peter squeaks when his back his icy grass and flails. James laughs and starts running backwards as fast as he can, Peter leaving a long trail of dark grass where his poor jumper wipes off all the shining dew.
Sirius squints up at a patch of stars that might be a great uncle. "Do you think, if I made a muggle surfboard, I could ask the Giant Squid to make waves for me?"
"You're an idiot," Remus says fondly.
Only a few meters out, Peter kicks free and rolls to his feet, brushing off the back of his now wet jumper. "You sadist."
"Lies!" James scoffs, turns to flutter his eyelashes. "I'm everyone's favourite."
"I do like veal," Peter admits.
James chokes. "No one is eating Prongs! Merlin, when they find my body, you three will have already eaten half of it."
"I'll keep your antlers," Peter says reassuringly and laughs when James shoves him.
They reach the tree line where a curtain of darkness descends and stumble blindly through the undergrowth a bit deeper in.
"I'll go left, you go right," James says.
"I'm not going deeper into the forest," Peter complains. "Why don't you go right?"
"I said it first."
"Well I said it second."
They have a short stare off.
"James, you're a giant deer," Peter says. "Have pity on the poor, adorable mouse."
"You're a rat."
"Rats are cute. They like being tickled and tossed a little bit."
James raises his eyebrows. "If I die, it's on you, Peter."
"I solemnly swear-" Peter begins.
"To do no good?"
"-to come charging out, and beat the shit out of anything trying to mess with you," Peter finishes. "I'll take on a unicorn for you, James. It won't stand a chance. Full pro wrestler Pettigrew - I'll suplex bloody a centaur."
James cracks up laughing.
"I'll get expelled," Peter admits with a casual wave over his shoulder as he heads towards the left. "But I'll do it."
"Peter?" James calls.
Wormtail stops, turns to him with a smile.
"Are centaurs insects because they have six legs?"
Peter gags a little in disgust and James giggles, running off.
The distant castle fades from view entirely, and soon James can't even see the flat, open grass. He trips, catches himself on a tree, touches something gross and squishy. It's probably just moss but still, he wipes it off on his trousers with a grimace.
James pauses, bouncing a little on his feet because he really needs to go. He looks around for anything suspicious. Unbuttons his trousers. Does another check.
"If there's a mass murderer out there," James begins loudly. "I just want you to know, I'm underage with my dick out, and that means you're a paedophile if you're watching."
Peter's distant laughter can be heard.
James does another seven checks and then damn near breaks a world record with how fast he pisses. It really is impressive. He should have timed himself. He'll tell Sirius about it later and probably get a hi-five.
James weaves his way back to where he's pretty sure the meeting point was and hops over a large bush to find Peter lying on his stomach on the ground.
James laughs and jogs closer. "Aww, did you trip? What happened to suplex-ing centaurs for me?" James stops at Peter's side and leans over with his hands on his knees. "Was it really that embarrassing? I promise I won't tell…"
Peter's face is half in the dirt, but with James leaning over this far he can see one open eye staring out.
The smile falls from James' face. He swallows, opens his mouth to call Peter's name. It turns into a scream when he sees red light reflecting off the trees in his peripheral vision and a spell hits him in the back a split second later.
Remus' head snaps around.
Sirius starts to prop himself up on his elbows. "Did you hear something-?"
Remus is ripping the blanket off with a snarl that human vocal chords should not be able to make, in the next blink already halfway across the grass field towards the Forbidden Forest.
Sirius shakes apart into Padfoot and barely has the mind to grabs the pile of wands in his mouth before he's tearing after Remus. Padfoot leaps over a large bush, follows the sound of Remus' roar, skids to a stop next to Peter.
Padfoot breathes in, breathes out. Shifts back to human, sitting on his calves. Spit out the wands, finds his own through touch because he's staring into Peter's empty eyes.
The spell is fireworks, but flies like fiendfyre, blazing red that lights the trees, burns the shadows, until it speeds above the canopy and darkness descends again. It breaks with a deep crack that shakes the trees, as high as the tallest Hogwarts tower, paints the forest around them in red flares.
Sirius breathes in, breathes out. Turns and runs deeper, into the forest, wand at the ready. There's the crack of apparition just before he arrives but Remus is still there, holding a limp James around the waist with one arm, Remus' other hand tight around James' forearm that hangs at a strange angle.
Remus looks at Sirius, eyes bright and reflective.
"Hey," Sirius says, holds his hands out. "Come on, Moony. It's me. Look – look at James, look at his arm. We need to get him back to – Peter."
Remus turns back to the forest and Sirius carefully steps in, takes James whose eyes are closed – not dead. Maybe.
"Moony," Sirius says again, louder this time, angrier.
James drops fully into Sirius' hold. Sirius casts something to keep the arm still, enneverate. James gasps as he wakes up, chokes on a sob.
"They apparated away," Sirius says as if that helps.
Sirius half drags James back out but as soon as James sees Peter he lurches forward and falls to his knees, grabs his wand, broken arm held to his stomach. Through his tears James tries three different spells to bring someone back to consciousness, four different ones to end a spell, throws out an episkey like that can fix a dead body.
Sirius stands over the two, wand in hand. Remus paces circles around them, watches the forest.
Flitwick is the first teacher to arrive, skating over the ground with a speed charm. He throws out a light spell that splashes over the trees and sticks, sucks in a breath when he sees Peter.
Sirius breathes in, breathes out. It doesn't work. Sirius laughs. He laughs and he laughs and he laughs.
"Lupin," Flitwick tries.
Remus jerks his head, growls, can't talk, can't think. Watches the forest.
"James," Flitwick begs, puts a hand on the crying boy's shoulder. "James, please, what happened?"
"Appar-apparated away," James remembers, manages to choke it out even when the crying makes him stutter. "Back – I woke up nea-near a fruit-faced bush, straight i-in."
Flitwick casts something and all three of the students glow. A stretcher forms under Peter with a sheet over him. Flitwick checks the next teacher running across the grounds is close enough and heads deeper into the trees, to where the wards end.
"No!" James screams and yanks the sheet off Peter with the only arm that still works. "Peter needs to get to a hospital! Why – why is no one taking him-?"
Sirius sees this and he just laughs.
.
A/N: Hmmm not sure how keen people are on Marauders era but let me know if you want more. I'm undecided if I'll leave this as a one-shot or write more and encouragement really does help.
